Chapter 22: When Shadows Take Over

The Hunter felt that she was getting close, but her target kept slipping away like water right through her hands. She had to admit that the Thieves Guild's agents were unbelievably capable, and they had grown exceptionally cautious ever since the incident with the lost Khajiit caravan had taken place. The rest of the caravans had disappeared soon after and they only made an appearance when dealing with one of the Thieves Guild. Then they vanished again as though they had never existed in the first place. She knew there was a vast network of checkpoints and paths which connected them that the Guild was using to transfer supplies and information, but the checkpoints moved every once in a while. There had to be a pattern since the Guild members obviously did not need to communicate in order to understand the system and adjust their actions and movement immediately. This establishment had to be something that had been in effect even before the Thalmor had taken over.

She moved quietly along the flat rocks which created a low shelf tilting over one of the treacherous marshes presenting the majority of the vast delta through which the Hjaal River flowed into the Sea of Ghosts. She could not decide if she liked the Hjaalmarch hold or if the constant mist irritated her. For someone like her, such a place was perfect for hiding and tracking people completely unnoticed, for she knew the secret passages between the marshes, and the trees, rocky steps and platforms hanging over the soft hollows offered a great deal of means to hide herself. But she was now tracking her own kind and knew that they had the same options as she did, if not the advantage for they might be even more familiar with the place. Still, there were several people who would slow them down and there was no way that the general of the Imperial army or the self-appointed would-be High Queen of Skyrim would be able to conceal their movements just as well as the thieves did. Unless, of course, they had been granted some unbelievably powerful magic. And there was only one person that crossed her mind when it came to powerful magic that would be useful for the thieves.

She should have killed the Khajiit woman when she had had the chance. The Black Malkin, as she had personally named her, was always ahead of her, concealing all the traces of her movement so brilliantly that the Hunter was left absolutely clueless. But she had needed the woman to return to the Whiterun army so no doubts would arise before the dragon came down on them. Still, most of them had been saved by the Dragonborn and she had to secretly laugh at the Thalmor for not having taken that into account.

The Argonian agent was starting to question the Thalmor methods. It was true that the Nords were sturdy warriors, the Empire was a proud and unyielding nation and neither would give up what they thought rightfully theirs without a fight. Occupation was not easy, for most of the citizens just stubbornly refused to collaborate. But this war was getting tedious and there were disputes even among the elves. Now that they had learnt about Alduin and his involvement, the only way to keep order in their ranks was to threaten them with the possibility of the Black Dragon punishing them for potential betrayal. There was a certain beauty to it but she would have preferred the World-Eater to stay out of this completely. After all, he was not to be let loose.

She shook her head to chase the overwhelming amount of thoughts out of her mind and focused on her work. She was sure that a Guild path had to run through this area and her target would be taking it. There was a great number of shady spots which would be perfect for the Khajiit to hide in and it disconcerted her slightly. She studied all of them, her wand ready in her hand, although she was sure that the Malkin would resist its magic. Despite what it looked like, the artifact only attacked the victim's mind, and there was no doubt that the black-furred woman would have powerful barriers raised around hers. She was just like her, a powerful mage controlling illusions as if it was the most natural thing to do. And maybe it was for her.

There was a cave nearby and the Hunter quickly checked her surroundings before entering it. Apart from a bear which she did not exactly want to encounter at the moment, there was nothing suspicious inside and so she made her way out and turned right to continue southeast. But then something caught her attention and her nimble figure shifted on her feet. She looked back at the cave and discovered an almost unnoticeable crevice in its wall. It was partly hidden by a curtain of lichen which spread around the rock in all directions, and she had to silently compliment the Guild for making a secret passage in such an unlikely place. Yes, there had to be magic in it because there was no way that such a door would actually lead somewhere unless the space beyond it twisted and changed its character to something not of this world.

"Oh, sweet Nocturnal, you have really outdone yourself here," she whispered to herself wryly and examined the doorway. As this was something the Thieves Guild had created, or at least adjusted to their needs, she was sure that there had to be a lock somewhere. She ran her fingers around the crevice which created a natural doorframe and tried to locate an irregularity, but found nothing. There was nothing on the colorless ground under her feet either, nor did she discover a single clue on the opposite wall. Surely the Thieves Guild would not be so foolish to actually place a lock or a lever inside the cave so the passage would have to stay open until they reached it from there. Or would they?

Finally, on the far side of a protrusion on the right side of the passage, her deft fingers found a shadowmark. She had studied them before, having managed to steal a copy of their guide from a sloppy thief in Solitude before, but this one was not similar to any of them. It was a triangle with a spiral inside, and she had the feeling that she had seen a symbol of the sort before but could not recall where or when. A spiral. What could a spiral mean?

She touched the rock creating the door and slid her fingers along it, from top to bottom and back again, studying every inch of it. She must be really close, but there was something missing… She paused to think when she heard a movement behind her. The footsteps stopped suddenly and then there was silence. She froze and listened carefully. Nothing seemed to move around. Cautiously she crept around the rocky shelf, making sure her blending armor concealed her, in the way she had heard the footsteps from. Then she noticed them again, swiftly pacing past her in the opposite direction, and promptly followed them. They were quiet, almost unnoticeable, a mere rustle of the wind would be able to drown them out and even if the air was still, an untrained ear would most probably not register them. Again, she praised the Guild for their almost unmatched skill and caution. Just almost.

The door opened and she did not know how. It just did and there was a figure entering it. The image was still blurry as the effect of the invisibility potion was slowly wearing off but she could recognize the slightly curved horns and jagged tail of one of her own kin. She sneaked past him nimbly, stepping into the tunnel beyond the door. There were no lights and she did not have the time to quickly adapt to the shade inside as the other person spotted her immediately and a pair of daggers flew past her in a breath-taking speed. She jumped back gracefully and raised her wand. Her opponent wavered but avoided the dagger she had pulled out of her shoe by inches, dancing around her so she now stood back to the door which had closed behind her. This was no weakling.

A dagger slid down her armor from under her left arm to the belly, leaving a thin mark on the mirror plate, and she barely avoided being stabbed in her stomach, pressing herself to the door and sidestepping into the corner on her right. The other dagger was waiting for her there and she blocked it with her own. Her right foot shot up to her enemy's crotch but the figure stepped back swiftly and circled her from her left. That was a mistake. She used the opportunity immediately to sidestep to her right again, slowly gaining advantage and driving her target into the other corner. The dagger in her right hand lunged towards the belly, her opponent jerked and she scratched the hip which replaced it. A sharp scream of pain followed. So her target was a man and he did not wear any armor.

Suddenly, a dim light appeared on the other side of the tunnel and its intensity increased as it got closer. The Hunter could see the man before her whom she recognized as Gulum-Ei, the treacherous Thieves Guild fence, bleeding from his side and panting heavily, but the wound was not serious enough to stop him from using the distraction to attack her fiercely. He aimed straight at her neck and she had to crouch speedily to avoid being slit. His figure jumped at her violently and pushed her to the ground, and she raised her dagger to stop his bulk from burying her. He leaped over her in the last split second to land behind her in a rather elegant tumble. A black-furred Khajiit appeared by his side in an instant, handing him a torch and drawing her own dagger.

"Now look who we have here," the Malkin smirked and shot the intruder a dangerous glance. "Are you the one they so conveniently call the Hunter?" Her voice was sweet and attractive, just as was her slender body, and the Hunter felt strangely drawn to it. She did not have to think hard to figure where the Khajiit's power came from and why the repulsive Argonian fence, who had so firmly convinced Lord Arethil about his loyalty to the Thalmor, had decided to join her.

Without waiting for an answer, the black-furred woman attacked.

The shadows of the two fighting antagonists moved as Gulum-Ei put the torch in a nearby torch holder and hurried deep into the tunnel. The Argonian knew she would not have much time before others came, and for once she feared her opponent. The Malkin was immensely fast on her nimble feet and not only could she use the shadows to conceal her presence, it seemed as though she could also command them to move as she wished and deceive her opponent, tricking her into thinking that she was standing at a different place. The Khajiit circled her cautiously, slightly bent in her knees, a dagger in her right hand while her left hand remained empty and stretched out for whatever reason.

The Hunter made a lunge toward the Malkin's chest but her opponent danced around her elegantly and twisted her wrist with her left hand. It took the Argonian all her energy to evade the dagger which slid along her body from behind and almost made its way in between her ribs. She quickly turned around to face the Khajiit and tumbled backwards when the dagger charged at her again. A kick, so conveniently aimed at her bottom as she turned in the air, knocked her to the ground and she ineptly landed on her back and gasped with pain, panting and looking up into the ice-blue eyes which stared at her from the sea of black. Without wasting a split second, she kicked back. Both of her feet flew up from the ground and hit the startled Khajiit in her stomach, sending her a short distance until she hit the door behind her.

Immediately, the Hunter sent a spark of magic into her armor and blended with her surroundings completely. The Malkin rose and her fair eyes roamed the place furiously, searching for a trace of her opponent. The Argonian set for the most dangerous path she could which was, incidentally the only way out of this situation. She crept along the wall inside the tunnel, covering her footsteps in a blanket of absolute silence. The Khajiit followed her instinctively, although unsure where to look exactly. She played with the shadows again, trying to outwit her opponent and drive her into a corner. But the catwoman was not the only smart being here and the Hunter would not let her get to her that easily. She sped up to a silent canter, leaning to the wall on her right. With a fright she realized that the path ahead was shrouded in darkness and she was forced to slow down again, weighing every step she was about to take. Then, a dagger pressed to her neck and she froze.

"I'll admit that you got guts, Hunter," the honeyed voice whispered in her ear, "but this is as far as you go."

"You wanna kill me, Malkin?" the Argonian hissed with a smirk that would be lost in the darkness.

"Malkin?" her opponent sneered in wry amusement. "I even got a nickname? Sweet, I feel honored. Now move it, nice and slow."

The Hunter took an uncertain step forward and the dagger moved to let her continue. The Khajiit's senses were well-trained, not even once did she hesitate, her hand was steady and unshaken as she moved it, the blade in it constantly touching her neck ever so slightly. She did not need a torch to see, apparently, or did not need to see in order to move. Or both, and considering the armor the Hunter was wearing which denied the Khajiit the option of spotting her even before having faded in the darkness, she would bet on the latter. Either way, this was by far the most dangerous situation she had gotten into ever since the Empire's attack on her family, and she silently chided herself for having underestimated her enemy dearly. The only way out was now to look for the slightest mistake her captor might make.

The mistake was not coming. She decided to risk and take a sudden step back, trampling the Khajiit's foot and crouching immediately. The Malkin responded promptly and she hissed in pain as the dagger, obviously enchanted with strengthening magic, slit through her helmet and scalped her slightly. The Argonian kicked back hard enough to send her opponent flying to the ground and sped up again. Light appeared before her and she could see a group of people of various races run towards her. The magic of her armor was still active but she knew they would spot her thanks to the bloody stain on her forehead. She took a slide along the wall, avoiding the enemies before they could realize what was happening.

"Behind you!" she could hear the black Khajiit call to them and they immediately turned around. The Hunter did not wait to face them and sprinted forward instead. She entered a complex of corridors and rooms built in massive grey bricks which seemed like a maze to her. Rushing through them blindly, she spotted a few figures sitting at a table in one of the bigger rooms. And there they were, the guests of the day. General Tullius in an excessively ornate armor, a gilded Imperial dragon proudly decorating his chest, with his hands leisurely put on the table was conversing quietly with sharp-featured but still somehow attractive Jarl Elisif, so different now that she wore a simple grey dress, cut right under her knees to make it easier to move. No tiara was decorating her wide forehead and holding her long chestnut-colored hair together, and her body, already delicate and slender before, had definitely lost some weight. But the grey-haired muscly Imperial next to her was the one who made the Hunter clench her fists in fury. She wanted to kill him. She strived for it from the bottom of her heart, but now was not the time to be making such uncertain decisions, knowing that her pursuers could kill her before she would even get to him. And so she kept running, taking turns blindly, hiding in the shadows and throwing her enemies into disarray.

Nevertheless, the Malkin kept tailing her closely, not allowing herself to be tricked by any kind of unexpected turn the Hunter made. Her persistence was getting on the Argonian's nerves and she grew impatient, craving to find an exit as soon as possible. There had to be a vent somewhere, for such a vast complex would not be inhabitable without a generous supply of fresh air, and she checked every crevice on her way just to find it. It had to be close. Somewhere very close…

She slowed moderately and looked up.

Farkhali kept running and the blasted Argonian woman kept slipping away. She sure was sneaky, skillfully eschewing making any kind of contact, light on her feet, which was probably not even necessary in the cacophony of noises which rose as the whole place got on their feet. She turned around quickly, signaling to Gulum-Ei to stop moving and relay the message to the others. If she was to catch her target, obviously the Hunter must not hear her calling to them. Fortunately, the sneaky fence had obviously understood her unspoken words for the place slowly but surely stilled itself. So did Farkhali as she closed her eyes and spread her consciousness into the walls and the uneven cobblestone floor.

Since her childhood, she had grown accustomed to moving in shadows, using them to her advantage whenever she could. The shadows, as she had perceived eventually, had a mind of their own and they could be commanded. She had never shared her secret with anyone, keeping it a personal advantage against possible traitors, believing it was a blessing of Nocturnal's bestowed exclusively upon her. Where there were shadows, she felt at home, and if there weren't any, she would just make some. She could feel them spreading, and her mind itself had become one the moment her eyelids drooped over her eyes. Every dark corner, every crevice or secluded place had become her ally, and so she soon spotted the movements of her target and commended her in her thoughts for finding the closest walk-through vent with stunning astuteness.

She darted immediately in her direction, knowing that letting the Hunter escape to the surface would be disastrous, given the current situation. With her eyes still closed, she quickly caught up to her, reaching her with an elegant tumble. Her left hand stretched out to support her as she jumped up on her feet and charged forward with her dagger ready. The Argonian was clearly at a disadvantage but her senses were just as sharp and the dagger missed her shoulder by inches. She was forced to sidestep to the wall on her right and react quickly as Farkhali danced around her, blocked her way and lunged from the side, attacking her neck. The Hunter ducked and simply pushed her from below, which was a movement the Khajiit had not been expecting. She quickly jumped backwards but could not avoid getting stabbed in the thigh. The dagger left a burning wound and Farkhali hissed in pain. She charged back, aiming at her opponent's stomach, but the Argonian simply jumped over her as she lost her balance, and made her way up the vent. She had to climb an iron ladder leading to a small mountainous area which was inaccessible from the outside, but since the injured thigh slowed Farkhali greatly, she could not keep up with her target.

"Nocturnal curse it!" she cussed as she watched her increase the distance between them. She would not be able to catch up to her until the Hunter got outside and there she would have a considerable advantage over her. Farkhali let her go, ripping the bottom part of her sarong to tie it around her thigh and stop the bleeding. Then she immediately turned around, staggering her way to the bigger room where general Tullius and Jarl Elisif were sitting with their backs straight, guarded by several people, two members of the Thieves Guild included.

"We have to get out of here," she commanded abruptly. "Now."

"But what about Morthal? Are we going to just drop all our plans and escape with our tails between our legs?" general Tullius objected, shooting the Khajiit a rebellious look.

"There is no plan anymore," she shook her head. "The Hunter discovered this place and outran me. She is going to find herself on the summit right above Morthal and it won't take them till dusk to dig this place out. We have to get out and bury this place."

"I am not running away this time," Elisif raised her voice in protest but Farkhali cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"This is no time for strained bravery, my Jarl," she said quietly. "If they find us here, everything is going to crumble. And by everything, I mean everything. There will be no supplies for Balgruuf anymore, the Guild will be discovered, no chance to buy Ais… the Dragonborn some time either. They will capture and interrogate us. I don't know about you but I don't have the ability to fend off a group of angry elven mages and I certainly don't trust myself to stand my ground when it comes to torture. Especially if they have those Squires with them, and there are sure to be some."

"You thieves have no shame," Tullius hissed. "Can't stand a bit of torture, you say? Can't you just stand firm for your homeland? And by what right do you speak to the Jarl of Solitude with such arrogance in your tone?"

"Dear general," Farkhali whispered and her voice was now sweeter than honey and softer than silk, charming and tempting, as though it invited the robust Imperial to some mysterious unknown place, "have you ever been through a torture? Do you know what it's like when they take your hand and break your fingers, slowly, painfully, one after another? Have you ever felt the burning of a whip on your bare skin? Have you ever gone for a week straight without any sleep, having the soles of your feet beaten until they turned deep blue and paralyzed your whole body? Have you ever hung head down for a single day, shaking violently and barely able to breathe as they stuck stuff in certain places of your body? Have you ever woken up as they poured ice-cold water on you, only to realize that the nightmare has not yet ended? Have you?"

He stared at her in horror and there was a stifling silence before he shook his head.

"I am sorry…" he mumbled.

"General Tullius!" Elisif bellowed in rage. "Snap out of it! She is using a spell on you!"

Farkhali turned furiously to the Nord woman, wondering if she had some kind of inner strength to actually resist her voice, or if she was too stupid to even be charmed. She grabbed her shoulders, driving her out of the room.

"Excuse me, my Jarl, but I think we need to talk a bit," she told her and there were dangerous sparks in her fair blue eyes.

"But…" general Tullius started, but it was Gulum-Ei this time who stepped into the conversation, tugging Farkhali's elbow to signal her to wait.

"Listen to me, please," he said with an innocent casual smile. Out of all his traits, Farkhali hated this one the most. "I know the two of you are anxious to save this land and we all understand it." Seriously, this guy is not afraid to spill the most blatant lie as if it was common sense without as much as a blink of an eye, Farkhali thought to herself wryly. "But we have to be practical and try to help Jarl Balgruuf as much as we can. He is our only hope at the moment. There are a lot of things we can still do," Sweet Nocturnal, this guy's a beast, "and we will certainly not remain silent. General Tullius, you said you wanted to command an army, right?"

The man in the ridiculously ornate armor nodded.

"Then I think we will give you one," the Argonian said heartily. Tullius looked at him with sudden eagerness.

Farkhali's eyes widened in shock, silently cursing the fence with every name she could think of. Just what in Oblivion was he thinking?

The man looked at her with an unreadable smile, signalizing to calm down.

"Don't worry," his gaze said. "I got this."

Her brows furrowed at the thought of Gulum-Ei managing things his way, but for now, the fugitive pair seemed to be placated and she needed it to stay that way.

"All right," she nodded at last. "Let us be on our way. We vacate this place within an hour."

And with that, everyone was set into motion.

Okay, so this chapter did not go as I had originally planned it to. I actually wanted to also write about some events in Whiterun and then include a part about Aislinn and Brynjolf moving on. But this part just came out so long that I made it a whole chapter since I think it's not always best to write long chapters, especially when every new chapter turns out longer than the previous one. So Whiterun and Aislinn will have to wait a bit. There are also other places of Skyrim that are going to appear in the story soon and you will meet some more characters from the game that haven't gotten a role so far. A lot of things are going to happen. Well, when a place as big as Skyrim gets in uproar, I guess a lot of things happen at a lot of different places.

Also, I'm getting the feeling that Skyrim is gaining a new dimension in my story. Whenever I can't find a proper place, I just make one up. Well, I hope it's at least interesting for you. :D

To Twillin: So, what do you think of Farkhali now? :D

To cleopatra: Thank you for your lovely review, I'm glad that you like my story over there! Please, can you convince Caesar to write me a nice review as well?

All right, enough of my self-indulgent monologue, I'm out. Thanks for all your likes, favs and reviews, as always. :)

Mirwen