Chapter Three

I awoke with a mammoth of a headache. I rose from my bed, careful not to rouse Le'Fey, who had consumed more mead than anyone else the previous night. I dressed quickly, donning on my leather armor. I pulled a bow and quiver of arrows from a chest, as well as a scimitar and dagger I had 'received' from the Redguard, Fenrik, on our last job. Many such items filled the crates and chests around our new house, Breezehome. Apparently another Thane had owned the house, but went away on a long mission for Jarl Balgruuf and had sold the house before leaving. She had also taken Lydia, her House-carl, with her. Currently Avenicci was looking for a replacement House-carl for me.

Before I left I looked to the mirror that was hanging above the mantle of the fireplace. I had no recollection of what I looked like before my awakening in Riften, but I assumed I looked about the same. My dark brown fur was interrupted by amber colored slashes at my neck. A scar ran down my left eye, but my sight was unaffected. I previously ringed my ears, but disliked the feel now, so they remained empty.

I took a last glance at Le'Fey, who remained asleep. Her fur was also dark brown, but was uninterrupted as mine was. She disliked rings on her ears, so she didn't wear them. To me she was beautiful, but we did not know our past's, so we knew of no one we were leaving behind.

I left Breezehome and soon arrived at Dragonsreach. I went past the throne, up the stairs, to where Balgruuf, Irileth, and Avenicci were discussing something. On the table in front of them, where there used to be some old map, were letters. As I drew near they stopped talking, but not before I had picked up the words 'Dragon-Born 'and 'Pit-Dog'. I assumed they were speaking about my last job, so I sat down and waited in a nearby chair.

"My Thane, I have news. Shadow Claw has threatened to attack unless you pay a ransom. They also want a ransom for a spy who was recently caught. This spy is responsible for finding the Blood-Letters you have killed."

"What do you wish of me, Mighty Jarl?"

Avenicci tossed me two bags and I caught them. Judging by the weight, each bag contained about 1000 gold each. I also felt several gemstones inside, making the exact value difficult to estimate.

"Do you really plan on going through with the ransom?" I asked.

"No, one bag is your payment for going to free our spy. The other is for the spy, who was inserted deep before her cover was blown. That is her portion of payment. The deal goes down at Bleak Falls Barrow, to the south. Do you have any questions?"

I smiled and asked "When do I begin?"

Le'Fey and I rode a cart to Riverwood, south of Whiterun. We got off and headed north, to where an icy mountain path led directly to Bleak Falls Barrow. We had weapons on us because I needed none and Le'Fey knew many useful spells.

As we climbed up the path the old Nordic ruin know as Bleak Falls Barrow came into view, a testament to the Nord's building skills. No one knew how many were interred inside, and no one wanted to try to find out in fear of upsetting draugr, Nordic warriors cursed to protect the resting place of their brethren.

We arrived at the door of the Barrow and entered quietly. In the main hall stood a mass of archers, bows drawn and aiming at us. From behind us came many footfalls, and a dozen warriors pressed against us, pushing forward.

From behind a pillar stepped a shadowy figure clad in full body lightweight armor. The only piece of skin shown on its body was its tail, by which I saw he was Khajiit. It stepped into the light, yet the shadow still persisted. So, this is their leader, Shadow-Claw.

"Welcome, brother." Shadow-Claws voice, yet I could not tell its gender. "Have you the gold?"

I held up my paw, in which lay a single bag. It nodded, and two Redguards came from the doors down the hall, carrying a Nord woman.

The woman shrugged off her captures and stood still, waiting. She was black haired, muscular, and was bruised all along her arms and legs. She looked toward me and spoke.

"Who are you?"

"That's right, this is the first time you two have meet. Rika, this is Te'Kaal, the one who you supplied with information. Using this information he killed many of my employees. That is what intrigues me. Even with that info, my men are strong, even the Blood-Letters. Unfortunately, you left no survivors, so I would like you to tell me how you did it."

I stood stock still, staring at Shadow-Claw. I felt my power gathering in my throat.

"Nothing? Do you not possess speech?" he nodded to an archer, who drew his arrow back even farther. "Answer quickly, or else your little pet gets harmed."

The archer let his arrow fly. Le'Fey grabbed it out of the air with telekinesis, then sent it flying towards Rika. When the arrow reached her she stuck her arms up, using it to cut her bindings. I looked toward Shadow-Claw and released my energy. At the same time, down the hall, I heard a voice that came from everywhere. It reminded me of when the Greybeards spoke in dragon tounge.

"Fos-Ro-Dah" I shouted

"Mul-Qah-Diiv" came the other voice.

Shadow-Claw disappeared before my thuum reached him. I looked around to find him, but as I was doing so my eye caught Rika.

Her body was covered in flames. Blue, green, purple, orange, red, all colors of flame shaped themselves around her to form horns on her head and spikes on her arms and back. As I watched she swept through the crowd of fighters, picking them off one by one, sometimes many at once. She grabbed an iron sword from the floor and wrecked havoc among the enemy. No were safe, for she chased the runners till none remained.

I stood there dumbstruck, mouth agape, when a sharp crack resounded throughout the chamber, and I felt a pain in my neck. I fell and knew no more.