The room was dark and cold, lit only by a singular torch on the outside of Asmund's cage. He scrambled to it to take all of its heat to him.
Why did he come here? Why did he think that was a good idea? Nero is going to think I'm a fool now...
"Hello?"
Asmund turned towards the sound of life on his right, in the darkness beyond the wall of his cage.
"Hello?" he replied back, "who's there?"
Soon enough, a girl came forward to the bars of his cage; he soon saw there were two conjoined, his and hers.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm... Nero."
"Nero?" repeated the girl.
Asmund nodded. He didn't know why he said that. It made him feel better, braver. He came forward to the bars to get a better look of the girl. Soon enough though, he noticed the orange eyes that glowed in the darkness.
"Woah woah! You're a-!"
"Yes. They... they made me this way."
"They made you like this? Why?"
With no response, Asmund slowly edged forward, "you're a prisoner here?"
She nodded, "we both are."
"Where are we?"
"You really don't know? We're in the hands of the brotherhood."
It came back to Asmund then, the running through the woods, the hands that snatched him. Everything went black after that, and he woke up...
"We're in their hide-out?"
"The Sanctuary, I heard them call it."
Nero said that was in Dawnstar...
"How long have I been asleep?"
"I don't know, I think quite a while. Why did they bring you here, Nero?" she asked.
"I... well actually, I was trying to get here."
The girl raised her eyebrows.
"They must've got me on the road, the last thing I remember was running, and then tripping. Then I... I must've passed out."
"Why did they take you?"
"I was... I..." he looked up at her, "it's kind of a long story. Guess we are alone here though. What was your name?"
The girl leant on the bars near the fire, looking at Asmund with full attention.
"My name is Babette."
~ Dawnstar ~
Nero, Serana and Lydia dismounted together, and tied their horses to the side of the inn on the right.
"Do you think he's here?" asked Lydia.
"I honestly hope not," answered Nero, "he's in over his head."
"We have to hope Brynjolf and his get those Imperial people here," said Lydia.
"Vex shouldn't have any trouble with Isran," perceived Serana. She had more faith in the pale-blonde thief now.
"It will still take them more time to get here, so we need to find the Sanctuary now."
Nero led his companions around Dawnstar towards the sea, where small waves were riding up and down the ground. The moons strode across the night-sky above them.
"It just had to be night-time when we're hunting vampires, didn't it," moaned Lydia.
'He said the right side of the harbour', thought Nero. They passed the Jarl's longhall, the mine, and that Museum Nero had visited a long time ago. Eventually, they came around the side, away from the town, to a door.
~ Inside ~
"And that's when I came here. Well, when I was on my way. I didn't see or hear them before they got me on the road. I can't believe I was unconscious for the whole journey."
Babette listened intently, leaning against the bars.
"So your friends are coming here?" she asked.
"Yes, all of them. I should've waited. I've been so stupid. Nero will think...", he looked up at Babette, "but they're on their way. The Dragonborn said that he has to finish the Brotherhood once and for all."
"Once and for all?"
"He told some of the thieves to go and get help, from the Dawnguardians and the... the Petinus Ocu... the... a-another group," Asmund eventually disclosed.
Babette was silent for a moment.
"I don't know when they'll get here, but when they do, they'll storm this place and find us."
Babette stood up, "I'm afraid I don't think so."
Asmund looked at her quizically, "what? What do you mean?"
She looked down at him, "thank you for that, meat," she said with a very different tone. Then, in almost one swift moment, she kicked the door of her cage open with a loud clang. Asmund backed up as she walked out of her cage and went around to the front bars of his.
"I was skeptical when I heard the Dragonborn was on our tail, but now you've confirmed it for us."
Suddenly, behind her out of the darkness crept in one figure who was chuckling to himself, and was wearing strange jester's clothing, and then another figure with glowing eyes; a dark elf.
"Though we didn't know just how many allies he'd have with him, so thank you for telling us exactly that."
Asmund felt fear, but he tried to remember his courage, "the Dragonborn will come for you. He will find you in this place, and he will kill you."
Babette laughed, "perhaps he would've. Now, thanks to you, we'll be just fine."
~ Outside ~
Nero shouted the door in, and walked in with Serana and Lydia in tow, all of them with weapons and magic in hand ready for battle at any moment.
"So much for learning the door's password," said Serana.
Nero had tried to answer the door's question, but had used the wrong password, the one meant for the Falkreathe Sanctuary. He'd lost patience at this, and decided to use a much more effective means of entrance. Even if Serana and Lydia had forgotten to cover their ears.
Inside, they looked about. It was empty.
"Doesn't seem like anyone's here... could be a trap," posed Lydia.
Nero adapted to this circumstance and took a breathe,
"LAAS YAH NIR"
He looked about, and saw nothing but the life essences of himself and the other two.
"See anything?" asked Serana.
"There's no one here."
Lydia and Serana looked about quizzically, confused.
"Wh..."
"Ohhh shit."
"They're gone," said Lydia gravely.
Nero paced for a moment, before swiftly throwing his sword straight into a stone wall and screaming in anger. His shout rumbled the walls and ceiling of the Sanctuary, until he fell to his knees.
"They must've... they must have found out we were coming," deduced Lydia.
"From Asmund..." said Serana grimly as she closed her eyes.
Nero lay on his knees, almost as if in defeat. There was a deafening silence in the room. Serana felt no urge to break it.
"Did they kill him?" Lydia finally asked.
Serana turned back to her, and gave her a grey look. She then went to Nero, and placed a hand on his shoulder. He absently raised his own and placed it upon hers. They stayed there for a moment, before Nero stood up straight.
"If they knew we'd be coming, chances are they know everything. They won't have missed details. They know that the injured thieves are at the Falkreathe Sanctuary, the few remaining targets they have. They've probably gone there."
Nero went to his sword lodged in the wall and with one strong tug he yanked it out.
"Nero, won't they be waiting for us?" Serana asked.
Nero sheathed his sword on his back, "probably. I don't care at this point. They want me to chase them, I'll chase them. I'm not letting them get away this time. Not one of them is surviving. Not one."
He started to walk towards the exit, where the door used to be which was now just a broken-in hole, and turned to Lydia on the way out.
"Lydia, you stay here, wait for the others to arrive. Tell them to come to Falkreathe, to the Sanctuary there. It's in the middle of the woods, you know it?"
"Not exactly, but I'll just follow the sight of carnage and mayhem. That's where I usually find you."
She saw Nero's expression on that in the way out. Bad joke, she thought to herself.
"Serana, come on. We have to get to Falkreathe."
Serana wasn't feeling any kind of good, "it's literally on the other side of Skyrim, it's going to be a long ride, Nero."
"Not so long," he corrected as they left the Dawnstar Sanctuary, and went a few metres towards the water.
"DURNEHVIIR"
The undead dragon appeared in front of him, "Ahhh Qahnaarin, I have been seeing you very often of late. In no regret of course; I relish every opportunity to fly across the skies of Tamriel."
"Well then we'll both be happy. I have to ask a favour, Durnehviir."
Not long after, Nero and Serana were riding on the dragon's back as he flew across the skies above Skyrim. The light of the moons shone on the mountains below. Serana clung to Nero with her arms linked around him as they flew. She rested her head on his back.
"You seem a lot better with this now compared to last time," offered Nero, trying to lighten the mood.
She smiled, "you can't beat the view," she replied.
"There's nothing like it," agreed Nero.
A moment of silence passed as the wind blew strands of Serana's hair across her face. Nero looked over his shoulder at her; he could tell something was wrong, and knew just about what it was.
"We did everything we could, Serana."
"If we had, he'd be safe. He'd be protected," she said with a weak tone, "that's what we're meant to do, to keep them safe. How can..."
She didn't finish. As hard as it was, she didn't want to burden Nero with it.
"How can what?" he asked.
He needed to know.
"How can we protect our own children if we can't protect him?"
Nero didn't answer. Either he'd been thinking the same, or it had just hit him hard. He stayed silent. Serana took it as response enough, and closed her eyes. They flew the rest of the way in silence.
~ The Falkreathe Sanctuary ~
Asmund had a blindfold over his head as people pulled him along by his arms. They had been travelling quite a while. In a carriage too. He'd heard something about needing it for their mother, and someone being unyielding. There was also that girl's voice, Babette. There were more footsteps, but otherwise, Asmund had no idea where they were or where they were going. It was a long journey though.
He knew they were in woods, that much was clear. They'd stopped at some point for the strange man with the weird way of speaking to bring his mother with them. A man had grabbed Asmund by his collar and gotten him to his feet to walk with them. His hands were tied, so he had no way of properly fighting back. Not that he could anyway; these vampire-assassins were fast and agile, and used darkness to move, and he had a blindfold on. If he tried to resist or run away they would kill him. He had no chance and no choice. He followed the man pulling him.
Soon enough they came to a halt, and a deep, evil voice began speaking, "what is the music of life?"
"Silence, my brother," answered who Asmund assumed was the 'leader' of the group. He also assumed that to be the dark elf he'd laid eyes on earlier.
"Welcome home," answered the evil voice, and then he heard the scraping of stone on stone, like a door opening.
"Move," commanded the man holding him, and Asmund went along. They must've went into some sort of cave, he could feel the movement of wind and an enclosement around them. They walked down some stairs and past a room, down again, until they came to a halt.
"There's no one here?" asked some voice.
"They have to be," answered the dunmer.
The man holding Asmund took off his blindfold, and Asmund got a proper look at their whereabouts. They weren't outside anymore, that much he could be sure of. It was dimly lit, but a dying fire was burning out in the middle of the room.
There's a fire. Someone's here.
Looking around, Asmund shared eye contact with the dark elf, who looked straight at him with his evil glowing red eyes. He looked from Asmund to the dying fire.
"We are not alone. They are hiding. Spread out, find them," ordered the dunmer. The assassins around scrambled and went around the cave, weapons drawn. There was only about eight of them. The man holding Asmund pulled him along and forced him to the ground next to the fire, "stay here," he ordered before going off with the others to search.
Asmund looked at the dunmer, and at Babette who appeared next to him.
"He will know to come here," she warned him.
"He shouldn't even know about this place," answered the dunmer bluntly.
"But he does. He sent the thieves here, he knew it was abandoned. He will come."
"Maybe so. If he does, I will be ready for him."
"He is not our contract. We receive no payment for him."
"It's not about payment. He hasn't stopped since he became aware of our existence. I won't run from him any longer."
Babette went in front of the dark elf, getting his full attention, "we have lost almost our entire Brotherhood in a matter of days. It took us years to build it back up. Years. We cannot lose it all completely over a single man."
"We won't."
"And how do you know?"
Soon enough, the assassins came back, dragging two thieves along, a man and a woman, both of whom were bloody and beaten. Rune and Saphire, he thought they were called. They dropped them at the fire near Asmund, and nocked arrows ready to fire on them at any moment.
When Asmund looked back, the dark elf was looking at them, at Asmund particularly.
~ Outside ~
Durnehviir landed in the forest, and Nero and Serana climbed off.
"Thank you, Durnehviir."
The dragon bowed its head, before disintergating back into the soul cairn, out of existence. Nero turned from the empty ground to Serana, who was waiting. Silent.
"Let's go," she said lightly, and began walking.
Nero walked up and grabbed her arm, stopping and turning her to face him.
"We can't blame ourselves for what happened to Asmund."
"How can I not, Nero? He's been in danger so many times. And it's because of us. Even if we'd let the guards arrest him back in Solitude, he'd be safe right now. I just... how can we be parents if we can't even be guardians? I..."
Serana went and sat on a fallen tree, and put her head in her hands. Nero sighed sadly, and came over to is wife. He went down on a knee and cupped her face in his hands, raising it up to his own.
"There was never any stopping Asmund, no matter how much we tried. The most we can do now though is make sure that none of those filthy bastards ever harm another person ever again."
Serana looked up at her husband. She could see that he was fighting off the feelings she was having, but they were clawing at him nonetheless. But he was right. The Brotherhood had to be dealt with. Once and for all.
Serana nodded, and Nero leant in to kiss her. They stayed for a moment.
It made her smile, despite all.
"It's been quite a while," she said.
"Suppose it's been a busy week," smiled Nero.
Serana stood and they embraced each other, holding each other close for a moment, until Serana looked up at Nero, "then let's finish it."
Nero nodded, and slowly they separated, and pressed on.
They passed through the woods of the forest outside Falkreathe; Nero remembered being there with Brynjolf. It felt like an age ago, but it was just a couple of days back. They came to a small clearing, where Nero could see the door. It was open.
"They're here," he said, and unsheathed both his swords.
Serana scanned the darkness with her vampire eyes.
"We're not alone here, Nero. They've surrounded us. I see four at least. They're luring us into a trap."
"That's what they think," he replied bluntly, and went down to the doorway. Serana followed, magic at the ready to use in both her hands. Down the stairs they went in the dimly lit until-recently-abandoned Sanctuary. Soon enough, they came to the main room. Nero and Serana walked a few metres into it and stopped.
A dark elf stood centrally in the room, behind three people on their knees. They all had prisoner's hoods on, and their hands were bound. Four assassins stood spread out across the room, swords and bows in hand, and two moved further so that they now surrounded Nero and Serana. A jester stood in the corner in front of a stone coffin.
Nero frowned, looking straight at the elf.
"Knew I'd see you again."
The dunmer chuckled, "same to you. You haven't seemed to stop getting on my nerves. You've been in my way for a while now. Did you really think I'd run from you forever?"
"Well I thought that was how your little band does it: kill innocent people, then run away before anyone can stop you."
"Innocent people? You think everyone we get a contract for is innocent? You think those thieves were innocent, the ones you protected? There are monsters everywhere, Dragonborn, and unfortunately you aren't always there to stop them. Do you know what my first contract was?"
"No, and I don't care. You are all murderers, and even worse, blood-sucking murderers, when did that happen?"
"When we realised we were not fast enough to evade the Penitus Oculatus before they destroyed us. It was pure chance we survived. We needed to evolve, adapt if we were to live on. The blood of the beast makes us not only faster but stronger."
"Yeah, it really helped in Riften."
The dunmer growled, "why have you even been chasing us? We never came after you."
"Right now, it's because you took someone important to me."
"A thief?"
"A child."
"Ahhhh..."
The dunmer frowned, "you have your weaknesses, Dragonborn. Something that has become apparent to me very recently."
He took the hood off of the first prisoner, revealing a bound and gagged young boy with blonde hair and green eyes.
"ASMUND!" they both exclaimed at the same time, and made an effort to move forward, until the dunmer unsheathed a daedric sword and held it at his neck. Nero and Serana stopped, as the dunmer twisted the blade on Asmund's skin.
"Children. Of course. How ever did I not see it? Now I know what you must be thinking. Want to play your oldest trick and use your voice-powers. But nothing you say will stop me from killing this boy if I hear it. I will be faster."
Nero stifled his words; he was very anxious and angry, and Serana felt the same. She counted how many there were in the room. Four assassins other than the dunmer and the jester. She remembered counting four in the woods outside. That's all the Brotherhood left; eight assassins, a dunmer, and whoever the jester was. He was giggling to himself in his corner in front of the coffin.
"But of course, how could I forget, the very people that you bled to protect, for some reason. The weakest of them to top it off."
The dunmer pulled the hoods off the other two, both of whom were also bound and gagged. It was Saphire and... Rune. They were bloody and hurt, still not recovered from their injuries. They would barely be able to fight now.
"A child and a pair of thieves. Nero, is it?" the dunmer asked.
"What do you want?" Nero asked in a very serious tone.
"I want you out of the way."
The four assassins around them came closer, and two with bows drew their arrows back, ready to fire.
"It's not personal."
"Really? Not personal? After I destroyed you? Alright then."
The dunmer frowned, and then raised his other hand and the assassins stopped.
"What?"
Nero looked at him, "I thought you knew, I thought you all knew. The reason you're on the run like this, and have been for years... is me."
The dunmer frowned more in confusion, "wh..."
"I was there. I led the Penitus Oculatus, with Commander Maro. I killed them all. Including Astrid. It wouldn't have happened if she hadn't kidnapped me. I followed her. I found this place. And I ended you. At least I thought I did. If you're still here, that means at least one of you was a coward."
The dunmer was silent, eyeing Nero with his red eyes.
"I'll admit, though, you have me a lot better than Astrid had me. She didn't even gag me. It is pretty low, using Asmund and them as hostages, but with the Brotherhood, I'm not surprised."
"Enough talk! It's time to end this!" cried the dunmer, raising and pointing his sword at Nero.
"Asmund," said Nero, getting his attention. The kid looked up straight at him.
"When he kills me, stay with Saphire, and especially Rune."
Asmund looked confused for a moment, until his eyes widened. He then opened one of his bound hands, closed his eyes, and placed something on the ground. Almost momentarily, an explosion erupted right behind Asmund and almost direcly below the dunmer, throwing him, Asmund and the thieves apart. The blast sent the four assassins off guard, and Serana began throwing ice spikes and magic at them. Nero went straight for the dunmer, throwing himself at him. They staggered across the floor, but Nero was quick to scramble to his feet, and begin fighting. He threw hard strikes down and caused the dunmer to back up. Then, quickly, he looked back to Asmund,
"Asmund! Get yourself and the thieves back!"
Asmund heard and tried to get to Rune and Saphire who helped him to the other side of the room, away from the conflict.
Serana dodged one vampire-assassin as they tried to take a bite out of her, but was prepared for the next attack. The vampire came at Serana, and with her elven dagger, she staggered with it and plunged the dagger into the vampire's throat.
Nero kept up the attack; he was quick, fast, and strong. The dunmer was blocking his attacks though with his daedric sword. He pulled a dagger off of his belt though and added it to the fight, weaving in and out trying to get a cut at Nero. He was faster now though, and easily able to move to defend himself. At least mostly. The dunmer got a cut in on his arm, and across his stomach, barely though. Nero locked his swords with the dunmer's weapons at one point and struggled against him. The dunmer's vampiric strength was giving him an edge though.
Nero smiled, "WULD!"
They flew across the room into the word wall at the far end, cracking it slightly.
The dunmer got to his feet, and threw his dagger at Nero, who only deflected it away with his sword.
Asmund stayed with the thieves, thinkiing they were somewhat safe, until he saw the faintest shape of a shadow in the corner of his eye. He turned back, "WATCH OUT" he tried to say through the gag, it came out muffled though.
The little girl bit down on Rune's neck hard and he screamed, and Saphire backed away in fear. Asmund, now more angry than afraid, grabbed a rock and threw it at her. It hit her straight in the face and she reeled back whilst Rune quickly crawled away to hold his bite wound. Slowly, she turned back to Asmund, fangs bared, revealing her true nature. She screached, and ran at him, and Asmund barely brought his arms up in time to resist. She crashed into him, pushing him to the floor, and tried to bite him. He struggled to resist, pushing her face back with all his strength.
Serana grabbed a vampire and threw her into the wall, then immediately followed with an ice-spike straight into her chest, killing her instantly. Hearing a scream though, she turned to see Asmund struggling against a little girl trying to bite his face in the far end of the room.
"Asmund!" she called, turning to run for him, when suddenly something cut her side. She almost screamed and turned to her side immediately, just to see the jester with ebony daggers in both his hands.
"Mother is not pleased," he said very creepily before throwing another slash towards Serana. She stepped back just in time to dodge it, and was now holding her side which she could feel was bleeding. He came forward slowly with a very creepy smile across his face.
"We mustn't upset mother!"
Serana looked to Asmund, who was still struggling to push the little girl off. Anger built up inside her, and she stopped backing up. The jester laughed as he went in for the kill. It was too late for him to realise it was a trap though, as Serana was quick to step around him, grab his arm, and with her anger-fuelled strength, throw him across the room into the little girl on top of Asmund.
They bounded off of him, staggering away, whilst Serana ran to the boy. She helped him up onto his feet and cut his bonds with her dagger, and with his free hands he took the gag off. The jester and the girl though had recovered from their tumble and were now walking forward, the jester holding his ebony daggers, and the girl baring her teeth completely. Once up and standing, Serana kept Asmund behind her as she backed away.
"A vampire," noticed the girl, "fighting against your own kind. But I suppose that's to be expected from the traitor of the Volkihar clan."
Serana's eyes widened, how did she... well, she knows what I am.
"You know who I am, so you know I am much stronger than you," Serana warned her.
"Yes, but the boy isn't. Bring me her head, Cicero."
The jester rushed at Serana, blades raised to slice her. Serana barely moved herself and Asmund out of the way in time. They became separated though, and Cicero kept on her, whilst the girl aproached Asmund. He backed up, away from her, as she slowly came for him with fangs bared and a lust for blood.
Elsewhere, Nero fought on against the dunmer. Their blades clanged, rang and intwined in a dance of strikes and slashes. Nero caught the dunmer's blade in his own, locking it in place and trying to pull it away. The dunmer adapted, and pushed forward, bringing him and Nero to the ground. The daedric blade was now pushing down against Nero's swords towards his throat.
"I have sacrificed everything for this Brotherhood and I will not let you take it all away from me!" the dunmer screamed as he pushed down with all his might against Nero. The blades struggled and scraped.
Nero put all his strength into his arms and pushed the dunmer off, giving him time to get to his feet ready to block another attack the elf threw right after. He blocked with hard force, sending the dunmer off balance, which he used to his advantage as he smashed the hilt of his sword into the dunmer's face. The elf staggered back, blood splattered from his cheekbone. It made him angrier though, as Nero could see his fangs and teeth baring.
"I will kill you tonight, Dragonborn, and exact vengeance for my fallen brothers and sisters. I will cut off your head as an honour to Astrid, and to all of my brethren that you have slain!"
"You talk too much," said Nero as he threw his left sword straight at the dunmer, who barely blocked it with his own, before following up with a run and a battle cry as he brought his blade crashing down on the dunmer, and the chamber was filled with the clash of dragonbone of daedric metal.
Asmund raised his hands, and threw fireballs at Babette, who only dodged one, then another, then the next, and in a move too fast for Asmund to see, she lunged forward, grabbed his wrists and pushed him to the ground. He tried to struggle against her, but she was too strong for him.
"No one will save you now," she laughed before opening her mouth to take a bite, when suddenly a man tackled her off of him. Asmund sat up to see the thief, Rune, trying to get a hold of her.
Serana grabbed one of the jester's wrists and smashed the dagger he'd held in that hand away, breaking a few bones in the process. He brought his other towards her face though, trying to stab her.
"Come-EGH-on! Let Sithis take you to a better place! Stop upsetting mother!"
Suddenly, a blade pierced through him and protruded through his shoulder from behind, splurting blood out from him on Serana whom he released.
"Wha..?" he began, turning around to see Saphire, the thief, holding her bloody side. Serana took her chance, grabbing the jester by the throat and lifting him off the ground. He gurgled, trying to speak whilst choking. Then, with her other hand, Serana grabbed the side of his head, and with one twist, she snapped his neck, and dropped him.
"That guy had some mother issues," said Saphire.
Serana looked up at her, before turning back to see Asmund, and Rune on top of the girl, trying to keep control of her. He failed though as she threw him right off, and went straight for Asmund. Almost without thinking, Serana took out her elven dagger and threw it across the room, into the girl's chest. She screamed, and fell down as she ran.
Serana rushed over to Asmund and made sure he was okay. Rune recovered, though he stayed lying down.
"Asmund, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm-I'm fine. Really."
She hugged him, and he returned the embrace. It was a good moment before she heard the groans and cries of the little girl nearby. She looked over to see the girl crying and holding her side.
"I can't believe you've done this," she said in a whimpery tone. Serana stood up straight and came over. The girl pulled the elven dagger out, threw it away and held her side, before looking up at Serana as she stood directly over her. Serana wasn't moved or affected at all, and leant down to pick up her dagger. The girl began backing away.
"You would kill an innocent little girl?"
Serana reciprocated her innocent tone, "probably not, if you were an innocent little girl. But you can't fool me in here, I know exactly what you are."
The girl shifted her persona completely, and went back to feral and beastly as she tried to stand up and bite Serana. But she wasn't fast enough, as Serana punched her in the face so hard she was knocked out, and collapsed to the floor.
"Done and done," she said to herself.
Across the room, Nero smashed the daedric sword out of the dunmer's hands, leaving him armless.
"Give it up, already. It's over," ordered Nero.
"It is never over for us, dragonborn. We will always survive."
"Not this time."
Nero kicked him into the stone coffin, where he staggered and fell to the floor. He seemed defeated, until he suddeny turned and ran for the exit. He darted between Serana, Asmund and the thieves and began scaling the stairs. Nero bolted after him. Serana watched him go past; he was in no hurry to let the dunmer get away. She turned to the others, "stay here."
Outside, he followed the dunmer into the woods, and heard him cry, "kill him!"
Then, he immediately saw the four other assassins advance towards him. They came at him fast. But tonight, he was faster. In a scene of blood and death, Nero killed one and a second almost effortlessly. The last two were about to engage, when one felt a lightning bolt strike him from the side. Nero turned to see Serana.
"GO!" she shouted.
Nero obeyed and left the last men for Serana to deal with as he chased the dark elf. Through the woods, past trees here and there. He followed the dunmer, who didn't seem to let up. He was closing in. Closer. Closer. He saw a chance, and he threw his sword straight into the back of the dark elf, who fell straight over forward.
The dark elf almost screamed as blood began pouring out of the protrusion of the dragonbone blade. He did scream though when he felt it pulled out, and a hand grab his arm and twist him over so he laid on his back and faced the man now in front of him.
Nero stood above the dying assassin, his dragonbone sword stained with blood in the light of the moons. The dunmer panted, unable to move. He put the tip of his sword to the dunmer's throat.
"Any last words? Something you want to say?"
The dunmer almost laughed, "you would make a good assassin."
"Wouldn't ever be an assassin."
"You'll never get the chance now. Sithis has cursed you. The Night Mother has cursed you. I have cursed you. We will never stop, Dragonborn. The Brotherhood will never stop. We will be back! We will return, and we will kill everyone you love! Your wife! Those thieves! That boy! WE WILL KILL THEM AL-!"
Nero sliced his throat in one swift move, and the dunmer choked for a moment, before he lowered his head onto the ground, and he died. Nero stood there a moment, before cleaning and sheathing his sword, and then turning and walking away.
He returned to Serana who stood above the dead bodies of the last two assassins.
"I hope these two weren't much trouble."
"Two less to worry about," replied Serana, "'ll take it your walking back so calmly means you caught that guy?"
Nero nodded, "it's done."
She smiled, "now I didn't think I'd heard that all week."
Nero returned the smile, "I don't think the others did either. Let's go tell them."
Inside, Nero and Serana found Asmund, Rune and Saphire sitting by the erected fire, resting, but with weapons in hand. They each turned to see them enter, and tried to stand. Asmund broke into a run towards Nero and Serana, and embraced them. They held him tight, staying there for a good few moments, before slowly they separated.
"Is... is it done? He didn't get away, did he?" he asked.
Nero looked down at Asmund, and answered lightly but firmly, "no. He didn't. It's done. The Brotherhood is no more."
Asmund smiled, and embraced them both again.
Author's Notes
It's been quite a while, huh? Yeah my whole "next arc will be out by February" thing didn't quite go according to plan. End of year exams surprisingly turned out to be very time consuming, but now that it's summer I'll be free to get a lot more writing done.
So, it's done. the Brotherhood is defeated. Only one more chapter for this story which should wrap a few things up. I've already started writing it and I mean to get it out in a time frame that is a lot more reasonable than about three months, so I'll say it's 'coming soon' (I should've started saying that a long time ago).
Just a point about this story, I feel pretty bad about essentially making the dragons a taxi service for Nero. They really aren't, but riding a dragon across Skyrim can be damn helpful if you're in a rush (at least I like to think, if anyone's ever played the Dragonborn expansion, don't get me started, flying in circles, what?), but I'll try to correct that in future arcs.
Anyway, thank you for being patient my readers, you deserve a lot better than the three month wait, but rest assured the next chapter comes soon, and with it the end to this arc. I have a possible idea for the next arc and it would be shorter so I'll probably go for that, this long one has been... well, long.
Characters:
Cicero: a member of the Dark Brotherhood and guardian of the Night Mother, you can meet him in the DB Questline and on the road normally (he needs help fixing his wagon)
Babette: Also a member of the Brotherhood and a vampire who's hundreds of years old. If you decide to destroy the dark brotherhood though, she's absent, along with Cicero.
Dragon Language:
LAAS YAH NIR : Life Seek Hunt
WULD : Whirlwind
Thank you for reading, I'll see you in the next chapter.