I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

And here we see the shining example of the rising action that's just about to reach the climax. It's good. Some true colors are shown, and some words that are regretted later are shared.

Don't you just love drama?

(Also this chapter is shorter than the ones I usually post by about 30 words and I apologize, but I couldn't give it all away. You'll just have to stick around to see the next one.)

Reviewer Responses:

Guest: Thank you, friend! Enjoy this one as well.

Guen: You're kind words are much appreciated! Here's the more you were hoping for.

Chapter 12: Revelations of the First Kind

"Gods," Vipir commented as Ziris managed to drop to the floor of the cistern from the ladder with only a minor curse at the pain that rushed up her side as soon as she did so. "What happened to you two?"

"There was a bit of an explosion," Thrynn grumbled in response when Ziris didn't. He'd been the first down the ladder, as he was in better shape than she was, and had been ready to catch her in case she lost her grip or footing, or just plain fainted on the way down.

"An explosion?" Ziris lifted her head when she heard Mercer's familiar drawl, and watched as he approached them, looking more bored than anything. Probably didn't want to show his curiosity to the others, let them know he actually felt emotion. "What happened?"

Ziris swallowed against what she was sure was ash that was lodged in her throat, and she gestured for him to follow her towards his desk. Thrynn helped her hobble her way in that direction, and then he made sure she was leaning safely against it before he took a respectful few steps back, to leave her and Mercer to talk in peace.

Ziris all but glared at Brynjolf as he came over to join them, but she couldn't exactly do anything about his presence.

Instead, she turned to Mercer. "Someone set up a trap for us in the East Empire Warehouse."

Mercer's expression didn't change. "And?"

"And… before we almost died, we were able to speak with Gulum-Ei, who… did die, by the way," she told him. She then swallowed again, and looked downwards. "You're not going to like this next bit, Mercer."

His eyes narrowed. "What did he tell you?"

Ziris squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, struggling to remain upright long enough to finish. "Karliah," she managed tiredly. "It's all been Karliah."

That was the last thing she knew, because after that, she fainted due to exhaustion and the pain in her side. Thankfully, Thrynn ran up fast enough to catch her before she could fall, and he silently carried her off to her bed, leaving Mercer and Brynjolf alone.

Mercer had barely noticed Ziris's fainting episode. As soon as she'd said the name he'd been dreading to hear, his vision had gone red. He turned his eyes to the floor and rested his hands on the desk, inhaling sharply. Everything he'd worked for, all these years, was ready to be washed away because of her. He should have known, should have assumed that all the time she'd spent running away, covering her tracks, was to ensure that she'd be free to enable his destruction, free to watch him fall and burn.

"Mercer?"

Oh, Brynjolf. Poor, pathetic Brynjolf, who had no idea of the truth, but would soon realize that the last twenty five years, had, in fact, been born entirely of lies. It appeared there was no other choice, at this point. Mercer had done as good of a job as he could, but it seemed that Karliah would finally achieve the thing she'd wanted for many years.

Mercer would have to leave the Guild.

Of course, that didn't mean he'd be leaving empty handed. Oh no, Karliah wouldn't have the last laugh, not quite yet. There was still a chance for him to escape from this unscathed.

Mercer looked up again at last, and glanced sideways at Brynjolf. He was watching him, obviously ready to take a quick step backwards if necessary.

Mercer exhaled the breath he'd been holding. "Is Ziris all right?" he asked him.

"Do… do you want me to check?" Brynjolf asked, sounding surprised. Obviously, that hadn't been what he'd expected to hear from Mercer after what Ziris had told them.

"No," Mercer responded, pushing himself upright. "I'll do it myself." Without saying anything else, he walked away from Brynjolf and headed across the cistern to where a crowd had gathered around Ziris's bed. They parted down the middle for him, however, and he stopped next to where she lay, glancing first at her, and then at Thrynn, who was squatting next to her.

"What happened?" Mercer asked him.

"I don't really know," Thrynn replied. "I just know that she went to talk to the lizard, and then an entire shelf of the boxes stored in the warehouse exploded." He shook his head. "I was barely able to get in there and grab her, but only after she was blasted backwards and landed on… something."

"So?" Mercer prompted.

"I think she broke a rib or two," Thrynn answered, "and I was afraid that'd she'd hit her head, so I kept her awake on the entire journey back. She probably fainted from exhaustion, more than anything." He sighed. "She has a pretty bad burn on her right side, from her shoulder down to her thigh. I think it's from the way she was facing when the explosion went off."

Mercer exhaled to himself and glanced around at the gathered thieves, who'd slowly drifted away a few steps each, pretending like they weren't interested in what was happening. He glanced back at Thrynn.

"Did you make her take a potion?" he questioned, and Thrynn nodded.

"We only had one."

Mercer cursed inwardly. One potion wouldn't heal her nearly fast enough. Without saying anything, he stalked back across the cistern, pulled open a drawer on his desk, and retrieved the tall potion bottle he kept in there for occasions when he'd need a healing mixture of this strength.

Ignoring the look Brynjolf was giving him, he crossed back over to Ziris's bed, pushed Thrynn out of the way, and crouched down next to Ziris's head. Without hesitating, he pulled the cork from the bottle, forced her mouth open, and poured half the potion down her throat.

Obviously, there was the bodily reaction of her choking the majority of it back up, but Mercer recovered for it by pouring the rest of it into her mouth, and closing it.

There was a few tense moments where he watched her swallow the potion, her throat constricting, and then he relaxed, leaning back.

If the potion was as strong as it was supposed to be, then she'd be awake within a few hours, rather than the few days he'd estimated the normal potion would get them. There were things the two of them needed to discuss, and it needed to happen as quickly as possible.

Hours passed, and Mercer paced restlessly around the cistern, starting first behind his desk, then around the edges of the room, and then at the foot of Ziris's bed. They were losing precious time, time he didn't need to be wasting when his future with the Guild was on the line.

He stopped pacing when there was movement on the bed for the first time since he'd made her take the potion, and then Ziris's eyes opened up wide, and she groaned, putting a hand against her forehead.

"Good, you're awake," Mercer grumbled, walking over to the side of the bed.

"For the most part," Ziris said, and then she placed a hand against her throat and swallowed dryly. "Could I get some water?"

When she'd gotten her drink, Mercer pulled up a chair beside her bed and folded his hands beneath his chin, looking at her. "I need to know anything else that Gulum-Ei might have told you before the explosion."

Ziris winced at the reminder. "I don't… remember much," she admitted wearily.

Mercer struggled not to get angry as soon as she said this. He inhaled and exhaled, and then closed his eyes for a moment. "Whatever you can think of," he said slowly. "It's very important."

Ziris let out a breath, and closed her own eyes. Her eyebrows drew together as she presumably went back to the meeting with Gulum-Ei, and Mercer waited as patiently as he could for her to remember anything.

"He… he said that she told him she was hiding out in 'the place where it all began'," she said quietly after a long minute of silence. Her eyes opened, and she looked at Mercer. "Do… do you know what that means?"

Mercer's expression had gone dark, his gaze fixated on a point she couldn't spot herself. "I know exactly what it means," he said lowly. "Snow Veil Sanctum."

Ziris gazed at him, waiting for further explanation. Mercer let out a breath. "The place where she killed Gallus, and tried to kill me."

Ziris blinked. "That's… kind of dramatic, isn't it?" she asked, and he huffed something that would've been a laugh had he not been so angry.

"Karliah only knows how to be dramatic," he told her.

"What are we going to do, then?" Ziris queried, and Mercer finally looked at her.

"What do you mean, we?"

"I'm assuming that I'm coming with you, considering the two of us are the best fighters in the Guild, and… I imagine that Karliah isn't getting out of this alive," Ziris replied. She coughed. "Right?"

Mercer stared at her for a moment, seeming to consider it. After a time, he nodded. "Yes," he said, "you'll come with me."

"Good," Ziris stated, leaning back against her pillow. She crossed her arms. "We'll take care of her together, and then maybe the Guild will actually be able to become something again."

She and Delvin had been working together the past few months to try and gain a foothold in each hold again, using jobs and people with higher standing to do so. Ziris had gone on several 'special jobs', as Delvin called them, in each of the holds, and the people who'd given them to her had promised the Guild their support.

It hadn't counted for much at first, but then, slowly, merchants had begun to move back into the Ratway outside the Flagon. Ziris knew it was a sign of the Guild finally returning to what it had been before Gallus's death, and maybe, with Karliah gone for good, they would be able to take the final steps to secure the relationships they had in the other holds.

Karliah needed to be dealt with. That much was for sure.

Ziris turned to Mercer again. "So," she started, "what's the plan?"

"Right now, the plan is for you to get more rest, and heal," Mercer replied, standing up from his chair. "We can't go anywhere with you in your current state, and we'll have to travel to Snow Veil Sanctum after you feel better."

Ziris winced. "Isn't it going to be… y'know, snowy?" she asked, and Mercer offered her a look.

"Yes, little raven," he said slowly, "it's going to be snowy, and cold." He tilted his head, and, trying not to sneer, queried, "Do you think you can handle it?"

Ziris was already shivering, but she managed a nod. "Sure," she said. "I can handle it."

"Good," Mercer finished, picking up the chair he'd used in one hand. "I'll have someone bring you some food, and then I want you to go back to sleep." He pointed at her with his free hand. "You're not to leave this bed without someone helping you. Understand?"

Ziris sighed in exasperation. "Yes," she said, drawing out the word. "I'll stay right here."

Mercer nodded, and then he turned and walked off. She watched him converse first with Thrynn, who hurried over to the kitchen, and then he paused next to Brynjolf. The two of them headed towards Mercer's desk. Ziris let out a jealous grunt and shifted a bit.

A sharp pain immediately shot up her side, however, and she froze. Deciding moving wasn't the best idea, she settled back down against the pillow, and exhaled slowly. She'd thought that there wasn't any pain left, but it was starting to creep back in. Her right side itched terribly, and a glance down at her arm revealed that the burn she'd received from the explosion had gone right through her armor and marred her shoulder and forearm. A piece of leather was missing near her right hip, showing off more burns, and her thigh was badly scorched as well.

She could only imagine what she actually looked like, seeing the state of her arm and side.

Thrynn came over to her after a few minutes, holding a plate with a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread in one hand, and small health potion in the other.

"Oh, good," Ziris said, reaching for the food. "I'm starving."

Thrynn handed her the plate, and then set the potion down on the chest beside her bed, before examining her as she began to eat.

Ziris looked up at him. "What?"

"How do you feel?" he asked. "Mercer gave you a health potion that was in the biggest bottle I've ever seen."

"It hurts when I move," Ziris told him after considering it for a moment, and Thrynn smiled a bit. Ziris dunked some of the bread into the stew he'd brought her, and then she glanced up at him again. "Thank you, by the way."

"For the food?"

"For… getting me out of there," she responded. "I would probably be dead if you hadn't been so quick, and if you hadn't kept me awake like you did. So… thank you. I guess I owe you my life, don't I?"

Thrynn held up his hands. "That is not something I want hanging over my head. Don't worry about it."

"But -"

"Ziris." She let out a breath, and he grinned. "It isn't like I would've left you there."

"Still."

Thrynn sighed to himself. "I'm serious," he said. "Don't think too hard about it." He waved his hand at her food, and then at the health potion. "Finish eating, take that, and go to sleep, all right?"

Ziris offered him a grin. "All right," she agreed.

Thrynn left her alone to eat after that, and as she did so, several of the others came over to bother her instead. Sapphire and Rune inquired about how she felt, and she replied similarly to how she had to Thrynn, telling them that it only hurt if she did anything. Delvin wanted to know how long it would be before she could go on another job, and Ziris told him that she'd have to take a break for a few weeks. The others offered her their sympathies for her injuries, and she accepted them.

After that, she was finally alone again, although her stew was rather cold by that point. She ate it nonetheless, because she was hungry, and then she set the plate down on the floor and reached for the potion instead. She grunted as reaching put a strain on her ribs, and she exhaled sharply, settling back again.

"Need some help?" She glanced up to see Brynjolf standing at the foot of her bed. Rather than deny the fact that she couldn't move, she merely nodded. Brynjolf stepped forward and picked up the potion, then handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said, pulling the cork out of the bottle. Brynjolf nodded, and watched her swallow the potion before he took the bottle back and set it down for her. Ziris shifted downwards so that her head was against her pillow, and she eyed him. "Do you need something else?"

"Are you sure you want to go to Snow Veil Sanctum with Mercer?" Brynjolf asked her, and Ziris refrained from immediately scowling at him in response. Brynjolf must've known that was going to be her reaction, however, because he offered her a look. "Don't. You understand why I'm asking."

"I'm going to feel fine by tomorrow," Ziris informed him, sounding a lot more confident than she currently felt.

Brynjolf didn't believe her, and he crossed his arms. "If you don't, you won't pretend like you do, will you?" Ziris offered a huff in response, and Brynjolf exhaled. "I just don't need you straining yourself to do something that any one of us could do instead."

"Oh, is that all?" Ziris inquired sourly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Brynjolf, that maybe you couldn't do this." He raised an eyebrow, and Ziris mirrored it. "I'm a better fighter than you. I'm better at sneaking than you. Going after Karliah is going to require a high level of both of those things."

Brynjolf visibly restrained from rolling his eyes. "Fine," he said shortly. "Whatever you want."

He turned and stalked off. Ziris watched him go, and then she growled to herself and pulled her blanket up to her chin. It didn't matter what Brynjolf had to say; she was going to Snow Veil Sanctum even if she couldn't do anything more than stand upright.

It was time Karliah paid for all she'd done to the Guild by killing Gallus.

And so we see Ziris and Brynjolf part on not the best of terms.

Next we see Ziris and Mercer, they will be on their way to Snow Veil Sanctum, for what will assuredly be the ultimate showdown.

Or will it?