Woo hoo!! Chapter 3!! Time for revenge!
I can't wait much longer….
_________________
Arianna never imagined the world to be how it really was. All she'd ever seen of it was glimpses through the window of the street. Her impression of Cyrodiil was that it was crowded and small. Now, as she wandered through the wilderness along the road outside of Skingrad, she marveled at how big and beautiful it was.
Two weeks had passed since Kitty's death. She had been given a simple grave out behind the chapel. No questions were asked about her death, everyone assumed that she had simply fallen.
Arianna had stayed in town for a while, gathering bits of information that might lead her where Berwick went. The bartender, Erina, at the West Weald Inn said that he had come in, very much in a hurry, and had purchased food and wine.
"Hardly could understand what he was saying, he had drunk so much here earlier that night. All I could make out was that he was going west and needed provisions for his trip. Sorry I couldn't be more specific."
"Oh, you've told me all that I really need to know." Arianna had said, smiling innocently.
"Say, what business do you have with him? It's not every day a lil' thing like you goes chasing after the likes of him."
"He… owes me something." She said "Let's say… something of a very large sum."
"Ahhh." Said Erina with a wink "No wonder he was in such a rush. Cheapskate. Hope ya catch him."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I will."
The smell of blood on somebody's hands never goes away, now does it?
Now here she was on the Gold Road, wandering west.
"But why did he run away?" asked Arianna out loud, kicking a stone. He had nothing that he was aware of to be afraid of! Was he running from her? No, he didn't fear her?
Was he running from somebody else?
Arianna heard hoofbeats up ahead and jerked her head up to see an Imperial Guard riding slowly towards her. The bay horse's head bobbed lazily as it plodded forward. It almost looked as if it would fall asleep and fall forward.
"Excuse me!" she cried. The guard jolted in his seat, startled by her shout, and his horse jerked its head up.
"Yes miss? Do you need some sort of assistance?
"Ah, yes, I need directions. Which cities lie to the west? And which one is the closest?"
He laughed. "By the Nine! How is it that a citizen of Cyrodiil can survive this long without knowing the geography of her own land!?"
"I haven't really been traveling before. Most of my life has been spent in the city."
"Anvil and Kvatch lie to the west, just keep following the Gold Road, and you'll come to Kvatch first. Follow it further if you want to get to Anvil. Good luck with your travels."
"Thank you." And she moved along quickly, not wanting to waste any time.
Though she was happy to be outside, it was a little frightening to be on her own. She was unarmed, and she knew nothing about combat. If something crept up on her, magic was her only hope. However, she did not know the extent of her magic, so she would have to be careful so that she wouldn't kill herself by using too much and draining her strength.
It wasn't long before the golden sun started to sink slowly down over the horizon and the moons began to show. She pondered whether to stop somewhere or not.
She didn't have much of a choice, for she discovered that there was no inn between Skingrad and Kvatch.
CRACK
The sound made her nearly jump out of her skin. As she paused, she heard voices. To her left was a large boulder, which was where they seemed to be coming from.
Arianna couldn't make out what they were saying, but they sounded like Kajiit voices. She crept around the side of the rock, careful not to make a sound, until she could see them.
There were two Kajiit, a male and a female, sitting next to a fire. Something glittered in the dirt before them, reflecting the firelight with a yellow hue as they counted it.
Gold!
But where had they gotten it? Why were they all the way out here?
They must be highwaymen. She reasoned.
Never taking her eyes off them, she reached her hand down and felt for something she could throw to see their reaction.
She felt something bulky and picked it up without further investigation. She was readying herself to throw it, when suddenly it squealed, and she realized it was also very furry.
Arianna let out a shriek as the rat tried to bite her, and flung it straight into the middle of the encampment. It landed right in the lap of the female Kajiit, who jumped up immediately, both startled by Arianna's cry and the flying rodent.
Oops.
She had given away her position. As they pulled their weapons out, a sword for the male and a bow for the female, Arianna racked her mind.
There had to be something. Anything.
She couldn't cast a destruction spell, she really only knew Alteration and Illusion magic.
Didn't that mages guild book Berwick had have some sort of chameleon spell?
She tried to cast it, but to no avail. The male was slowly advancing on her, and the female crept to the side behind him, cautious and ready to spring at the slightest sound.
Akatosh, help me!! She prayed silently.
Nothing.
Dibella, Arkay, someone!!!
Still nothing.
Maybe the Deadra favored her.
Malacath, Azura, Namira…??
Who was that god? The one she'd read about in that story? Might he be real?
The male Kajiit rounded the corner of the boulder, sword held, poised, ready to strike-
Sithis!
She braced herself for the blow, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her hands over her head.
But it never came.
There was a pause that seemed like forever.
"What is it?" she finally heard the raspy voice of the female.
"I don't know. There's nothing here. Whatever or whoever it was got away."
The Kajiit woman coughed a laugh. "If it were somebody, we would have heard them run away. But we should stay on our toes, just in case."
Arianna looked up to see the male sheath his sword and turn back to the fire.
They didn't see me???? Am I…??
She looked down at her hands. To her utter astonishment, they were not there. Not a trace.
She had not only managed to make the magic work, she had turned herself 100% invisible. It was a little disorienting really, feeling her hand touch the stone but not seeing it.
Did Sithis favor her, and help her find this powerful magic inside her? Or had she done it herself through pure luck?
Might as well use this to my advantage before the spell runs out…
She turned silently to leave, but hesitated. Those weapons the Kajiit had would be very useful should she have this happen again and she wasn't so lucky.
She turned on her heels back to the camp, and crept noiselessly forward. The Kajiit were within 5 feet of her…
It was dangerous, but she was willing to risk it.
Reaching out, Arianna touched the male's shortsword. He didn't even notice as she slowly undid the buckles that held it to his belt. She was an expert in carefully moving things without creating disturbance, Berwick had many small valuables in his house…
"Hey! Your sword!"
That was it. The female had seen the sword lifting itself away from its master.
At her shout, Arianna's concentration broke, and she shimmered back into view. Now that they knew she was there, she was going to need every ounce of magic to fight with, that is, if she could figure it out in the time it took one of Kajiit lady's arrows to drive into her skull.
At least now she had a sword, and she swiped clumsily at the male, who was closest. He laughed and bent down, drawing a flaming log out of the fire.
"You foolish Imperial. We'll teach you to steal from us!"
She flew at him, ignoring the pain from the red-hot log that burned her arm, which she was using as a shield against attack. She was completely focused, her target clear. It was like a dance, and she let her feet guide her, keeping him in between her and the female, who had an arrow notched, ready to fire.
To Arianna's ultimate surprise, he soon lay at her feet, bleeding out on the ground from a wound in his abdomen. She leapt forward and struck down the female easily with one less-than-graceful blow, as all she had to protect herself was a steel bow.
As the two Kajiit lay dead at her feet, she realized what she had just done. Though her swordplay was sloppy, she had killed two bandits, experienced (at least more than her) fighters, in less than a minute.
Two lives. She had taken two lives.
She searched her soul for any remorse she might have, afraid of what she would find.
Nothing.
No remorse, no regret.
And it scared her.
But at the same time, she couldn't suppress the wicked grin that spread across her normally innocent-looking face
If she had no problem killing two individuals whose only crimes were petty theft and highway robbery, then she would have no trouble at all killing someone whose crime was murder.
Her heart was racing in anticipation. But now she couldn't think about that, she had to gather supplies and rest. She stooped to pick up the gold and counted out 97 pieces. It would be enough for now.
There were several chests scattered about the camp, which she began to rummage through to see if there was anything of interest.
The first one held only clothes. Robes, dresses, and cloaks. She took a pair of leather shoes, lack gloves, a red velvet dress, and a dark green robe, but then a black robe caught her eye. If she wanted to be more camouflaged at night, this was perfect.
She quickly looked around to make sure the coast was clear before she pulled her tattered dress over her head and slipped into the black robe. It fit her well, resting snugly against her muscular frame.
Arianna folded the rest of the clothes, including her old dress, tightly and tucked them into her leather bag as she moved on to the next chest. It contained bundles of fur, which she soon discovered was armor. It would hardly shield her from attack, and it was bulky. As she dug through, her fingers hit something metal.
"Hellooooo, what have we here?"
She lifted it out carefully. It was chainmail of some sort, pale silver with gold trimmings all across it. It was pretty, and she laid it out on the ground to get a better look at it.
It felt very light and flexible, but as she touched the tiny rings it seemed very solid and durable, and she guessed it could take a blow well.
She fished the rest of it out, which actually was just greaves and boots. However, it was all she really needed. She figured that she could wear it under the robe so that she would be camouflaged and protected.
The last chest contained smaller items, including some steel arrows, two healing potions, a small soul gem, and a watermelon rind. Of course, she took everything but the rind, putting it all in her bag. It was bulging out now, but could probably still hold a few more things.
Arianna walked to the largest tent, prying the steel bow from the female Kajiit's hand as she walked past. Once she was inside, she laid down her supplies and kicked the bedroll that was in the tent to the side. It was probably infested with bugs or disease. Instead, she reached into her bag and drew out a blanket which she had swiped from an inn in Skingrad.
She laid down on the blanket, bag at her feet, her new sword in her hand, ready to use if somebody should discover her.
Tomorrow, I will not stop until I have reached Kvatch. If he's not there, then he will be in Anvil.
This was a pretty reasonable guess, as Berwick tended to hate wilderness. He usually stuck to cities, where there was plenty of alcohol.
She drifted in and out of sleep, barely touching on unconsciousness, but each time getting closer and closer.
Right as she was finally slipping off into subconscious, she swore she saw a large black shadow pass the outside of the tent.
A/N: Don't worry, I will get to the part y'all have all been waiting for. I will be posting the next chapter very soon, because I cut most of it off the end of this one because this one was getting too long. Thanks for reading!! Please review (I live off of them)!!!