163 Chapter XXVI: The Hunt
Dealing with the captured students took us far longer than dealing with the necromancer's lair itself. Instead of being able to just shove them at the Jarl of Falkreath, who was an Ulfric supporter, I had to march the dozen or so malnourished mages all the way to Riverwood and then wait for Balgruuf to send someone to pick them up and ship them to Solitude.
Part of me regretted sparing them but a bigger part, the one that understood that a bunch of barely twenty-or-so-year-olds didn't deserve to die due to the idiocy of one man, insisted on giving them another chance at life, no matter how unfair.
So it was only a week later, after meeting up with Irileth and handing the necromancers to her, that I was able to once more able to head back to Falkreath and complete my other goal in coming to this part of Skyrim, hunting down the Dark Brotherhood.
I had expected to find them with ease, they were after all positioned somewhere to the northwest of the city of Falkreath, I should have known better. The hills and forests of the southern hold were akin to a massive natural maze and trying to navigate it even with my clairvoyance was a massive pain in the neck.
So naturally when I realized that I was mostly wasting my time by bumbling around without any idea of where I was going I once more decided to just throw money at the problem. Hunters, poachers, merchants, and even bandits, I bribed them all for rumors or any information they could provide.
Well, with the notable exception of the latter, the bandits were more than happy to donate all the information they could once I showed I could crush bones with only my fingers.
Soon the radius of my search reduced greatly in size, and I started traveling between a number of small hamlets near the coast of Lake Ilinalta, following rumors of disappearances and howling in the night.
During my many days of rumor hunting the star of Azura started acting up. The idiot that imprisoned himself within tried influencing me using the star's power by inducing visions and other similar annoyances.
Credit where credit is due he would have succeeded if he were acting against a lesser Mer, but the moment I felt the influence of the artifact on my mind I grabbed the nearest box I could find and carved it with a bunch of containment runes, designed to power themselves from the star's emissions.
It took the dumbass only three entire days to realize he was just digging the hole deeper.
Four weeks after I started my search I finally caught a rumor of a hunter getting ripped apart by what his friends and kin believed to be a bunch of wolves. They were all too happy to lead me to the scene of the crime once I introduced myself and offered to learn what truly happened.
And so, finally, after my patience had been tested over and over again the hunt could begin.
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A duo of hunters leads Nightshade and myself to a small clearing in the forests of northern Falkreath, the many insects and critters buzzing in the night keeping their distance from our little group as we approached.
Soon we were stood before a large mess of blood and small bits of human flesh thrown about by whatever messy creature decided to feast here. And yet even as I gave the scene a passing glance I was immediately certain that it wasn't wolves that killed the unfortunate hunter.
"So, what do ye think sir?" A very young hunter, the deceased man's younger brother if I am not mistaken, asks.
I pretend to look over the traces a bit more while my clairvoyance attempts to present me a fuller picture, moments later I get a good impression of what happened here.
"It appears your brother had the misfortune of coming face to face with a werewolf." I say calmly and both the hunters stiffen "You need not worry, it is long gone by now."
They relax but the younger brother soon asks "Are you going to go after the beast?"
"Indeed" I nod "It is why I am even traveling in these parts, if I am right the beast is part of something far more sinister and I plan to hunt them all down."
The young man looks ready to say something, gulps, then sighs while shaking his head.
Realizing what he was thinking I speak up "There is no need to risk yourself in something that is well beyond your ability, your brother will have his vengeance and I will have my prize." Finally an image of a faint trail of blood appears in my mind and I speak once more "You two may leave, we will likely return within the day or not at all."
The two hunters seem unsure but after some more prodding they finally relent and return to their camp for the night.
I signal for Nightshade to follow me and start going after the werewolf's traces, as I walk I pull out a dagger made of iron and start channeling my Magicka within it. Soon the weapon turns from its iron sheen into lightly glowing silver.
I lazily offer the newly werewolf certified stabbing implement to Nightshade who just looks at it dumbly.
"You do know how to fight in melee, right?" I ask after an awkward moment.
She nods lightly and takes the knife, after checking it out she speaks "I am just unsure how this little thing will help me if something like a werewolf attacks me in close range. I read up on them and I don't think I would have the time to even cut the thing."
I nod, inwardly praising her for her initiative "I will be doing most of the fighting but having something in reserve is never a bad idea."
"Fair enough" She nods and awkwardly sheathes the dagger on her belt, moments later she asks "And how do you plan on killing the beast? I know magic works but the older the wolf the more resistant it grows."
I smirk and in instead of explaining myself merely pull out the purest ingot of iron I could buy on my trip and start stretching it out with Magicka, the metal slowly turning into a long spike and attaining a silvery sheen.
We follow the trail and it leads us in an almost circular fashion, we pass over three different creeks and two hills, finally ending up in front of a crack in the side of the third hill. We pass through a thicket and are met with an ominous looking doorway, the stone slab decorated with the visage of a skull, radiating the feeling of discomfort and a lack of life.
I nod at Nightshade, indicating that she should remain behind for as long as possible and approach the door, the moment I step too close a raspy whisper emerges from the skull "What is the music of life?"
"Force balance push" I respond with a cheeky smirk.
"You are unwo-"
"FUUUUS-"
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(General POV)
The four remaining members of Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood were all gathered at the center of the sanctuary, their constant failures at taking out their most lucrative target yet had made all of the survivors tense and paranoid and they were busy discussing an important topic.
Their leader, Astrid, had ordered everyone to hunker down in the sanctuary while she came up with a plan to get rid of their target and finally get the money to rebuild their little family.
She even went so far as to force her own husband, Arnbjorn, to cease his hunts for as long as he was able as to make as sure as possible they did not get found out by the shadowed hounds of one Reyvin Flame-tongue.
Still, the werewolf could not contain his ravenous instincts for too long, and so it was to no one's great surprise when he returned back to the sanctuary, completely covered in blood and guts. They were now discussing how best to feed Arnbjorn when the black door alerted them that someone had approached.
Festus Krex, the resident mage quickly connected to the door with a spell, just in time to hear it ask "What is the music of life?"
The visitor, whom they couldn't see without reaching the door itself, quickly responded, his voice was proud and regal with a light gravely undertone "Force balance push"
The worshipers of Sithis shared confused glances and Festus signaled the door to reject the newcomer so they can hunt them down as they left.
Unfortunately for them the newcomer decided to... translate his meaning, and the three words that followed felt as if they shook the very world itself "FUUUS RO DAH!"
The entire sanctuary rumbled with force and a cracking sound could be heard coming from above. Nazir, the Redguard swordsman, reacted quickly and pulled Festus out of the way just in time to dodge a massive slab of stone from flattening him.
It did not take them long to realize that the slab of stone was the venerable black door...
A figure soon descended from the entrance, coming face to face with the four assassins. Only Arnbjorn could hear them mutter "So the jester is not yet here... annoying."
"Who are you?" Astrid asked through gritted teeth, all the while signaling her family to prepare for a hard fight. All of them did so, naturally, but they all were veterans of many fights and each and every one knew that the man... no, creature before them was too far beyond their meager strength.
"You send your little amateurs whom I won't even deign to call proper assassins to take my life and you have the gall to ask who I am?" The masked figure responds in a voice both annoyed and exasperated "Truly either you are arrogant, incompetent or a disgusting combination of the two."
"You are Reyvin Flame-tongue then?" She asks, her face twisting into a snarl "You were foolish to come here alone, and now you will die for killing our dear family."
An arrogant chuckle leaves the Dunmer's throat as he looks down at the group "Oh you poor n'wah, kill me?" He shakes his head "Compared to you I might as well be a god" He states "How can you kill a god?"
The moment of dumbfounded silence is then broken by the visitor speaking once more "Oh and thank you very much for giving me time to prepare, very sporting of you." The sorcerer bows lightly and the assassins all have but the fraction of a second to jump away as they realize that there was now a massive explosive rune below them, glowing a malicious red.
An instant later an explosion of crimson lightning and fire consumes the center of the sanctuary, only three of the assassins still standing while their old mage friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn you!" Arnbjorn roars and starts transforming into his werewolf form, only for Reyvin to snap his fingers and summon four long silver spikes, the beast is impaled from four different directions in the next moment, sealing its fate.
A furious shriek comes from behind the elven sorcerer as he lazily moves to the side, easily dodging the attack of an enraged Astrid. As he does so he suddenly tilts backward, evading the swift slash of a scimitar.
Before Nazir can retreat from his overextended swing his hand is grabbed and all the bone within are crushed within an instant, he does not even have the time to yell out in pain as a dagger is rammed into his chin and through his head.
(Reyvin's POV)
As I end the life of Nazir, a cool guy from what I remembered but still a filthy murderhobo, I lazily bat away Astrid's next desperate attack, practically launching her into the nearby wall with the combination of my physical and magical strength.
She tenaciously attempts to get up but I mercilessly slam her back down with telekinesis "You know Astrid, I will give you this much, at least you didn't beg." I say and with a snap of my fingers summon a massive swarm of shadowy spiders "Still won't save you from an agonizing death, but good on you."
I do not even allow her to scream as the chittering swarm consumes her entire body save for her head, which I quickly place in a specialized container. A nice gift for my Altmer friends near Solitude...
As I walk out of the den of my broken foes I take one last look at the Dark Brotherhood's sanctuary and decide to cleanse this place from even the world's memory. I take a deep breath and shout "YOOL TOR SHUUL!"
Moments later all that is left within is dust and ash.
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I shall take the bounty for the brotherhood in cold hard stone.
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