Chapter VI

Rontag wasn't happy. As he arrived at the outskirts of Winterhold, wearing his old worn steel armour and carrying his battleaxe in its sheath on his back, he noticed a hooded mage stood with his wife and Tam. Yesterday he had specifically told the elf that he didn't want any mage coming along. In fact it had been the inadvertent cause of the argument between him and his wife.

As of yet, none of them had noticed his approach, which was fine by him. He'd make them notice though, when he gave the elf a piece of his mind for even thinking of bringing that mage along.

He glowered at Tam before speaking, clear disdain evident in his voice. "I thought I said we weren't bringing that damned mage along!?"

They all looked over at him as he came to a halt a few paces from them. The mage revealed his Suthay-Khajiit features from under his college hood as he faced the Nord man. Valerie, who adorned her Imperial armour, bow and sword scowled at him, while Tam who wore the same old steel-plate armour she never seemed to be without, folded her arms with a frown.

"I asked him along," Valerie told her husband. "Not Tam."

"Oh, okay," he accepted. He decided not to pursue the matter any more, lest he upset his wife yet again. The couple hadn't talked much since Valerie had left the house yesterday morning, and Rontag dare not get into another argument with her.

The mage spoke up. "If there is a problem with Khajiit coming along, then Jo'Agro will return to college."

Valerie scowled at her husband once more. She then turned to the Khajiit who had referred to himself as Jo'Agro. "No, we'll need your help. Unlike my husband, I know when we need it, and not to be a total bigot about it."

Rontag shrank into his armour. He knew full well that his big mouth had probably just placed him further at odds with his wife, something that he had wanted desperately to avoid. But his big mouth and quick accusations had landed him in further trouble, a theme that seemed common these days. He wondered if he should just keep his mouth firmly shut and just not speak any more.

Tam broke the silence that had ensued. "It's a long trip to Stillborn cave and once we're there, we have to look the area for where the sabre cats are hiding. We should set off now and stop wasting time."

There was a silent agreement between the them, as they turned about and left the city. The four of them headed southwards, up the shallow incline of the snow covered road that lay at the base of the high cliffs to their right.

The cliffs themselves were part of a much larger mountain range, that according to rumour, had a vast shrine of Azura built somewhere among its many peaks. To their left was a barren snow-covered tundra that sloped downwards away from them, seemingly for an eternity.

At this moment in time, the sun was peaking itself over the horizon to the east. The clouds were scarce except on the horizon to the south, where they seemed to have accumulated densely. It was probably snowing at their destination, but with a little luck it would be clear by the time they reached the cave. Which would be in around four to five hours.

Rontag wondered if it was enough time to patch things up with his wife, but quickly decided against it. He wasn't generally good with words, especially in this kind of situation. With a silent sigh, he made the decision to leave it be until they returned home.


Rasha had decided to not only stay in Faldan's place for another day or so till she recovered, she had also decided that she wouldn't be the one to end his life. Whatever she was, she wasn't a cold-blooded murderer. She wouldn't kill someone she suspected was innocent, especially for the Thalmor.

The target up in Winterhold was a different matter however. She was the main target, and so far there was no information on her apart from her name, her race, her height and where she was. Taemwyn Orthar, or Tam was what she was called. She was an Altmer, and was close to being eight feet tall.

The Ohmes-Raht-Khajiit hadn't told Faldan that the Thalmor knew where he was, or that she had been contracted to kill him. Somehow though, she knew that he knew. She could feel it when he spoke to her, when he looked at her. Something played heavily on his mind.

Perhaps it was that he knew she was supposed to kill him, or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason for his internal plight, at the end of the day it wasn't really her business. She had decided not to kill him, though she knew warning him would be taking things too far. Her contractors would never allow her to get away with that, regardless of whether she took care of the target up in Winterhold or not.

The front door opened, allowing the hot air to rush out. Faldan stepped in, quickly closing it behind him.

He looked over at where she sat at the table. "You're still here?" he said with a small smile.

"Yes," she replied stoically.

The Bosmer had been out working all morning. Where it was he worked, she had no idea as he hadn't told her. Wherever it was it required him to get up at around four in the morning, and it now appeared that he got off work at around noon. However that didn't really fit with yesterday's timetable, as when he had found her unconscious, she had been under the impression that he was returning home from work, and that had been late in the evening. Perhaps wherever he worked required him to be flexible with work hours.

"How was your day?" she asked him out of courtesy.

"Erm," he began. "It went well I suppose."

"That's nice," she said, not really caring if he actually did have a good day or not.

There was a brief moment of silence between them, before Faldan reached into his large satchel, that he wore around his waist. "I have something for you," he said.

Rasha's eyes went wide as he placed her glass dagger onto the table top.

The Ohmes-Raht looked up at him. "How?" she asked in shock.

"I know of a Nord who's sympathetic to the plight of non-Nords here in the city. He helped get it back."

Rasha took the blade in her hand and inspected it. It was clear that it hadn't been taken care of since it had left her hand. Imperfections had cropped up along the blade edge. But it didn't matter, she had her dagger back.

"Thank you," she said happily with a wide smile.

Now she knew she couldn't kill him. Not only had he saved her life, he had also brought her back her most prized possession. It was a pity that he hadn't managed to get her armoured robe back.

As if reading her mind, Faldan told her what became of the robe. "I'm sorry I couldn't get your armour back. The guards threw them in a fire."

"That's a shame. I hand crafted the robe and attached the armour pieces myself." she told him. "I guess that I'll just have to remake them someday."

Faldan rose up from where he sat and moved over to the fire. He lifted the lid off a pot of cabbage stew that constantly simmered by the fire, before picking up a wooden spoon that lay on the mantelpiece. Slowly he began to stir the watery stew.

He looked over at Rasha. "I guess you'll want some of this?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied.

While the Khajiit were a feline race, they only leaned towards meats. Unlike other feline species, they could consume vegetable matter with little ill effects. Still, she would have preferred something a little more meaty than cabbage. Though considering the measly amount of cabbage that was in the stew, it was more of a drink than a meal.

Soon Faldan had scooped some of the liquid into clay bowls for himself and Rasha. He placed them on the table and they both began to consume it with their spoons in silence.

The silence didn't last long however, as Faldan began to ask questions much to the Khajiit's annoyance.

"So, when're you heading off?"

"Tomorrow, maybe," she replied after swallowing her mouthful of stew.

"That's very soon."

"I cannot stay much longer."

"Who is your target?"

"Sorry, but I cannot tell you."

"Am I the target?" he asked her, as a slight quiver crossed his lips.

Rasha stopped eating her food, and placed her spoon down carefully on the old wooden tabletop. She webbed her lithe, long thick clawed hands together, looking at him intently. It seemed he already knew he was a target, just as she had suspected. But what did she tell him? what could she tell him.

There was a good chance that the Thalmor had an ear in Windhelm. Whoever it was, might not only know that she was there in the city, but that she was currently in Faldan's house. If that was the case, then it really was too late, unless she killed him right here, right now.

It was time to make the decision. She just had no clue as to what that decision was.

"I signed a contract with the Thalmor," she began, thinking carefully as to how much she should actually reveal. "When I heard they had a bounty, I was curious. I was also starting to feel the pinch of a certain ailment known as lack of gold. I decided that it was probably above-board. I mean the Thalmor are in an Imperial province, they'd have to behave right?"

Faldan didn't respond to her rhetorical question. He just gripped his spoon tightly till his knuckles went white. His stare on her, unrelenting.

"But I was given no information on my targets," she continued calmly, keeping each word measured. "I daren't refuse the job. Not with the way I was being spoken to. No one knew I was there, so they could easily have just killed me so I didn't become a problem in the future."

"They still will," Faldan said. "If you do everything they say, they'll just try and 'remove' you so you don't become a liability in the future."

Rasha went silent, waiting for him to say more. When he didn't, she followed it up. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"The Thalmor had me under their grasp. They planted me in a small mining settlement in northern Cyrodiil. I was to keep an eye on someone for them. Soon they set a date, telling me that they wanted her in the mine so she couldn't escape. I left that morning and told them." he stopped as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"What happened?"

"They killed them all! But somehow she got away. They then told me to go to the Imperial City and inform them that the village had been wiped out. But not by them, by the person they were after."

"And what happened to you?"

"Well once everything was done, and the poor woman had been blamed for the death of everyone in the village, the Thalmor saw me as a threat and tried to kill me."

"But you escaped?"

"Yes."

"And you came here?"

"I was going to continue on into Morrowind, but lost my nerve."

Rasha pondered on what he had just told her for a moment, before a hunch entered her mind. Could it be that the two targets were connected somehow?

"Who was their target?" she asked.

"An Altmer, called Tam."

"Taemwyn?" It appeared that her hunch was in fact correct.

"I only knew her as Tam."

"Around eight feet tall, known to wear steel-plate armour?"

"She wore regular clothes while I knew her, but I was told she had some fancy armour in her house."

Things were falling into place. The two targets were in fact connected. As to why they had brought her in, an outsider into the whole mess confused her. perhaps they didn't want anything to connect them with the killings when they were discovered, and she was a scape goat. She knew that Faldan was probably correct. The moment she went to collect on the bounty, they would have probably killed her, removing a loose end in their eyes.

Rasha looked straight at him. "Do you know why they were after her?" He shook his head, meaning he didn't know. Rasha thought for a moment. What could it all mean, and why did they want the Altmer dead?

"You didn't answer my question before," Faldan said to the Khajiit. "Are you here to kill me?"

The Ohmes-Raht hesitated before answering. "I was contracted to kill you, yes," she said quickly.

He slouched in his chair with a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"You're dangerous to them," Rasha explained. "You know a secret that they don't want you to know."

He lowered his hands. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked, fear clear in his voice.

"No," she replied almost too quickly. It was time to make a stand. She wouldn't sell out her integrity for any amount of gold. Whether it be for the Imperials, the Thalmor, or the Divines themselves.

"So what happens to me?" he asked.

"I'll tell you," she began, a plan forming almost spontaneously in her mind. "We're both going to Winterhold."


It was early in the afternoon when the four from Winterhold reached Stillborn Cave. The snow had almost completely stopped, with only a few flakes now fluttering down from the white sky.

As they approached, they noticed a lone white snowy sabre cat sat resting outside. A quick plan had Valerie and Jo'Agro keep back, while Tam and Rontag got in close, circling the animal so they could cover both sides if it tried to run.

It didn't take long for the sabre cat to take notice of their presence. The animal kept its eye on Tam, the biggest of the two, only briefly glancing at Rontag, seeing him as a far lesser threat.

Once they were all in position, Valerie took an arrow out of her quiver and took aim. With the release of the bowstring, the arrow flew through the cold air, striking the sabre cat just below its right eye.

The large white cat instantly reacted, jumping to its feet, letting out a loud roar that echoed through the air. It began to run towards Valerie and the Khajiit mage, its mouth agape ready to strike. Jo'Agro formed lightning in his pawed hands, while Valerie prepared another arrow.

The large white cat halted as it sensed a new presence. It turned to face Tam, as she ran at it from the right. It lashed its paw out at her, as a bolt of magical lightning struck it in the side of the head. It roared, turning to face the Khajiit who was the origin of the magical blast. In the confusion of multiple attacking targets, the sabre cat had not noticed Rontag run up behind it. With a swing of his battleaxe, he brought it down on the creature's back, severing its spine.

A howl echoed loudly through the air, as the white cat's now useless hind legs crumpled beneath its own weight. The snowy sabre didn't suffer long as Tam brought her warhammer down on its head, crushing the skull with an instant kill.

Rontag turned to Valerie and Jo'Agro. "Now that wasn't too difficult, was it?"

Tam nodded towards the cave. "Yeah, but now we've got to check in there."

"Nah," Rontag replied. "Sabre cats don't usually go in caves."

"Could have young," Valerie suggested, as both she and the mage walked over to where the other two were standing. "It's not unheard of for snowy sabre cats to take refuge in caves when they have young."

Rontag pulled a face of disgust. "I hate caves," he said to no one in particular. "Not enough room to swing my axe."

Tam snickered. "You think you hate caves. Last time I was in one, I got trapped. That and I'm eight feet tall. Caves tend to have really small low bits I bang my head on."

The robed Khajiit moved over to the cave entrance, pulling his hood down. His ears twitched as listened intently. "This one hears moving water inside."

"Then there's your answer," Valerie said. "Water that isn't frozen is hard to come by this time of year. The cats probably liked a fresh spring better than licking really cold snow."

Rontag turned to look at the cave. "So we're checking it out I take it?"

"Yes we are," Valerie informed him before turning to Jo'Agro. "Are you alright with caves?"

"Khajiit is well with caves, however not so good with close ranged spells. Better at distance and with Restoration school than Destruction."

Rontag smiled. "Why didn't you tell me you were a healer. I have respect for them."

"This one did not give Khajiit the chance."

"No more talk," Valerie told them. "Let's get into that cave and finish this."

Jo'Agro who had been carrying some small unlit torches on his belt, gave all three out. One to Tam, one to Valerie and the last one to Rontag. With a flame spell he lit them all, ready for the darkness ahead.

"Don't you need one?" Rontag asked. Tam snickered, shaking her head at Rontag's racial ignorance.

"Khajiit can see in low light," Jo'Agro explained.

"Oh," he said, glaring at Tam who laughed at him once more.

"If we're finished with joking around, then we should head inside," Valerie said as she headed onwards, leading them all into the cave.

Inside they found it to be far more spacious, and not nearly as dark as they had expected. The white frozen walls and ceiling reflected light around, giving the place an eerie glow. Ahead of them at the bottom of a slight decline, water ran at an angle to the entrance, bursting forth from a gap in the wall, flowing further into the cave.

They followed it, soon coming across a half eaten wolf-sized giant frostbite spider. Just ahead, the small indoor river flowed under the cave wall where they couldn't follow it any further.

With no other option, they headed right through a tall narrow ice walled tunnel that almost appeared as though it had been carved into it.

After following it down, they entered a larger, darker cavern. They looked around cautiously before coming across a very large, and quite dead snowy sabre cat.

Rontag shone the torch at it. "What do you think killed it?" he asked the others. "Looks like it's been burned."

Jo'Agro took a closer look at it. "Sabre cat burned with magic."

"You sure?" Tam asked. "Do you think there's someone down here?"

They all spun around as a strange noise echoed through the narrow tunnel to their left.

"What was that?" Tam asked.

Valerie shrugged. "No idea whatsoever."

"Should we check it out?" Rontag asked the rest of them.

"I think we should," Tam said.

Valerie agreed. "We were sent out here to take care of the sabre cats, so that's what we'll do."

"That didn't sound like any sabre cat I've ever heard," Rontag said.

"We should still check it out," Valerie told him, as she began to head up a frosted rock incline.

The rest followed, moving through another narrow passageway that twisted to the right.

After a short steep ice ramp downwards, that Tam almost slipped on, they entered a larger rock tunnel with a smaller ice one to the right. Another strange sound echoed off the cave walls from somewhere ahead.

The four of them made their way down the rocky corridor, halting as a small strange hut came into view on the far right, by the entrance of another cave that descended downwards. The sound of water echoed off the walls as they cautiously approached the small makeshift structure.

Tam placed her hand on the ribbed wall of the hut, snatching her hand back at the strange touch. Valerie peered inside through the strange gated-door that appeared to be made out of the legs of some kind of giant insect.

"Empty," she whispered to them.

Tam placed her hand back on the surface. "What is this made out of?" she asked them.

Before anyone could answer, an arrow struck Rontag in the back of his left arm, below his armour's pauldron in the exposed flesh. He cried out in pain, quickly pulling the badly fashioned arrow out of his flesh.

They all turned around, ready to fight. Instead of seeing other men or mer, they found two small stooping goblin-like creatures. While only one of them had a bow, they both wore rudimentary armour which consisted of a spiked helmet with eight green bug eyes on it, strange dark gauntlets over their wrists and a strange armoured waist greaves. It all appeared to be made out of the shells and parts of some kind of giant insect.

"What are they?" Valerie asked.

There was no time for anyone to respond. The creature with the bow pulled out another arrow and readied it. Jo'Agro fired a fireball at it, while Rontag after throwing the arrow to the ground, moved in with Tam with their weapons drawn.

The large Nord man, swung his battleaxe at the one that had shot him with the arrow, but it managed to deflect most of the blow by raising its arm, pushing against his. Tam on the other hand caved the other's head in with a single strike.

Rontag took another swing, embedding his axe into the creature's chest. If fell to the icy ground with a shriek, writhing about as it clutched its mortal wound. It soon died in a pool of its own blood.

"What are they?" Valerie asked, once the commotion had died down. "Some kind of goblin?"

Tam knelt on one knee and removed the creature's helmet. They all gasped when they saw the thick wrinkled skin over where it's eyes should have been.

"Where's its eyes?" Rontag asked, wiping the sweat that formed on his brow.

"Are you okay?" Valerie asked him.

Rontag shook his head. "I'm not sure," He staggered, leaning against the cave wall. "I feel-" He didn't finish his sentence before he collapsed onto the frozen dirt.

"Rontag!" Valerie screamed out.

"The arrow must have been poisoned," Tam uttered, a hint of panic in her voice.

"This one needs to be taken to the college quickly," Jo'Agro told them. "Or he may die." The Khajiit rushed over and picked up the poisoned arrow that Rontag had discarded. "This is needed."

Valerie tried to pick up her husband, but he was far too heavy for her to lift. With a single scoop, Tam moved in and picked him up in her arms.

"I'll carry him," the Altmer said.

Soon they had left the cave, and were moving quickly towards Winterhold.

Valerie hoped they would get there in time. His life was fading, and she felt as though she were to blame.

Updated 31/03/2014