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<\/p>\nThe door had opened into a narrow, but well-lit tunnel with no shadows into which she might dissolve.\u00a0 Dagnell froze, listening for movement ahead of her and desperately afraid of pursuit from behind, and held her breath.\u00a0 But as the moments ticked by, nothing happened.\u00a0 What she could hear was an Orc up ahead singing off-key about the nights on Stros M\u2019Kai.\u00a0 She grinned in spite of her sadness.\u00a0 It was bad.\u00a0 He\u2019d never out-sing Roggi.<\/p>\n
Once she had maneuvered through the tunnel and out into the open, she saw that this was another water-filled cavern.\u00a0 There were more of the same racks of storage as in the warehouse, filled with goods.\u00a0 She could see boats, small ones, tied up alongside the wooden walkways but couldn\u2019t see how they might have gotten here from the warehouse.\u00a0 Regardless, this is where Gulum-Ei had gone and she needed to find him.<\/p>\n
There was no way for her to get past the singing Orc and his companion without an invisibility potion, and she had none.\u00a0 I could try to sneak past, she thought, but I\u2019m guessing that by the time I get to that stairway they\u2019ll have me within sword range.\u00a0 It was just too open and too bright.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dag pulled out her bow, poisoned one of her best arrows, and took aim at the Orc.\u00a0 Whether it was that he hadn\u2019t seen her, or that she had a particularly lucky shot, she couldn\u2019t tell; but he grunted and fell to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d the other guy yelped, running around the corner of the stacked crates with a one-handed mace high over his head.\u00a0 \u201cThere you are!\u201d he yelled, dashing toward her.<\/p>\n
Dag pulled her scimitars, blocking his first blow with the left and slashing at him with the right.\u00a0 The man staggered backward, but then came at her again, smashing the mace down into her left shoulder.\u00a0 It was all she could do not to cry out, but she was already afraid of having alerted the rest of the thugs in there and clamped her jaws shut to keep herself silent.<\/p>\n
Once again, her relatively short stature proved to be useful.\u00a0 From the crouch she\u2019d been forced into by the mace, she swung herself around in an arc and thrust with the right-handed scimitar, catching him just below the ribcage.\u00a0 With every bit of strength she had, she pulled the sword downward, its lethal edge slicing the man open.\u00a0 He started to scream, but she used her other sword to slash his throat, then stood panting as he dropped to the ground.<\/p>\n
She stood there for a bit, shoulder aching, casting a heal spell on her arm, and just stared at what she\u2019d done as the man drained into the dirt and curious flies began to gather.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t you think I\u2019d feel bad about doing something like that to a man? she thought idly.\u00a0 I mean look at it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made a mess of him.<\/p>\n
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She suddenly remembered the first time she\u2019d killed a person.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t been very old, probably ten or eleven, and the man had been a great deal older.\u00a0 He\u2019d wanted to touch her in ways she did not wish to be touched, and when he wouldn\u2019t back off as she asked, she\u2019d pulled out her original set of scimitars and slit the man\u2019s throat with them.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been expecting a little girl to have weapons like that or to know how to use them.\u00a0 He\u2019d found out the hard way to pay attention.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember being especially distressed then, either, Dag thought, just interested in the color of the blood.\u00a0 How odd.<\/p>\n
The path through this underground waterway snaked along the sides, following natural outcroppings where possible, occasionally crossing over the water on well-constructed rope and log bridges.\u00a0 Where there were wider ledges, there were cooking fires, chests, and even an occasional bedroll set up.\u00a0 Dag couldn\u2019t tell what sort of people these were for certain but they definitely weren\u2019t East Empire Company guards.\u00a0 Pirates, bandits, brigands, who knew; what was apparent was that she needed to avoid them.<\/p>\n
The problem was that there was too much light and too many of them for her to do that.\u00a0 A few of the bandits were oblivious, and she rolled past them in what shadows there were; but on one corner there was a group of three standing around a cooking pot. One of them saw her, tossed an armor spell on herself, and shouted, \u201care you prepared to die?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep,\u201d Dag muttered, \u201cI surely am.\u00a0 But not today.\u201d\u00a0 She got off one well-placed arrow that sank into the woman\u2019s eye, then leapt down into the water and ducked under the nearby footbridge while the other two frothed and screamed at her.\u00a0 On the far side of the water was a small boulder that had just enough space for her to climb up on, enough of a platform from which to exchange fire with the screaming bandits. One of them was an archer, but was a terrible shot; a single arrow grazed the arm of her leathers but failed to penetrate it, and that was all. She scooped his arrows up from the water as they floated past and sent them back to him one after the next, as fast as she could draw. The precarious footing made her own aim less than ideal, but she eventually put him down.\u00a0 The remaining bandit was simply flailing about with his sword, screaming obscenities at her.\u00a0 She sighed, poisoned an arrow, and took him down with one lucky shot, thinking sadly of Roggi\u2019s excellent work outside Cragslane Cavern.<\/p>\n
There were several more bandits to be reckoned with at the end of the cavern, near what seemed to have been a dock at one time.\u00a0 Dag simply had to get out of the water; the cold was starting to affect her muscles.\u00a0 Her fingers would never be able to draw a bowstring. \u00a0The nearest of them had his back to her; she crept up behind him, deciding to try a sneak attack.\u00a0 Gathering flames in her left hand as a backup, she flipped her scimitar and used it overhand, like a large dagger, stabbing the man almost through and through.\u00a0 That was disgusting<\/em>, her sarcastic voice told her. Nicely done.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Dag didn\u2019t have time to argue with herself, though; the two remaining bandits were rushing in from the back of the cavern.\u00a0 Without time to draw her second scimitar, she fired flames at the first man in line.\u00a0 Maybe she\u2019d gotten better at it with practice, she didn\u2019t know; but within a few moments a single sword blow finished him off.\u00a0 The second man was just far enough behind him that she was able to draw her left sword and use a dual attack on him.\u00a0 He was big, but he was clumsy.\u00a0 One of his swipes landed a slash on her arm, and this one did draw blood; but his swing had been so wildly uncontrolled that she was able to step into him and take him out with two tight slashes.<\/p>\n She stood and took a deep breath, shaking her head to clear it.\u00a0 At this far end of the cavern was a large area filled with shipping crates and chests, cages for dogs or other creatures, and one Argonian merchant cowering in the corner.\u00a0 She approached him slowly.\u00a0 Time to be intimidating, Dag, she thought.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease don\u2019t hurt me! Don\u2019t tell Mercer about this, I\u2019ll tell you everything,\u201d he pleaded, shivering in his huddle.<\/p>\n She frowned at him.\u00a0 Hope that is frightening enough.\u00a0<\/em> \u201cSo tell me again about the buyer of Goldenglow Estate and we\u2019ll talk.\u00a0 Mercer doesn\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKarliah! Her name is Karliah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAm I supposed to know the significance of that?\u201d<\/p>\n Gulum-Ei stood and gave her a look that she interpreted as astonishment.<\/p>\n \u201cMercer didn\u2019t tell you about Karliah?\u201d<\/p>\n Dag laughed to herself, but remained silent.\u00a0 Mercer, tell <\/em>me anything of import? No, Mercer didn\u2019t tell me.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s the thief who murdered Gallus, the previous Guildmaster – and now she\u2019s after Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh I see.\u00a0 And you\u2019re helping her.\u00a0 Tell me again why I shouldn\u2019t kill you, in that case. I\u2019m sure they\u2019d be willing to make an exception to the rules.\u201d\u00a0 Oh that was very good<\/em>, her other voice told her.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even know it was her until after she contacted me.\u00a0 Please.\u00a0 You have to believe me!\u201d\u00a0 Gulum-Ei was sincerely distressed, that was clear.\u00a0 She did believe this part of his story, but she was not going to tell him so.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I really don\u2019t have to believe you, especially not after you lied to me earlier.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you another chance, though.\u00a0 Tell me where she is now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 When I asked her where she was going, she just said \u2018where the end began.\u2019\u00a0 That\u2019s all I know.\u00a0 Here, take the deed. It\u2019s more trouble to me than it\u2019s worth.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t even want it.\u00a0 She wanted to keep the sale secret.\u00a0 I see how well that worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n Gulum-Ei looked almost as though he was going to soil his clothing. \u201cI know I\u2019m worth more to Mercer alive than dead.\u201d<\/p>\n He still thought she was going to kill him.\u00a0 How amusing.<\/em> Dag pondered.\u00a0 Looking about her she could see that Brynjolf\u2019s suspicions had been correct; the far end of this grotto was packed with goods and chests that probably contained more.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at all of this fine merchandise, Gulum-Ei.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure Mercer and Brynjolf would be happy to know about it. What\u2019ll you give me to keep your secret?\u201d<\/p>\n His eyes brightened.\u00a0 \u201cNow you\u2019re speaking my language.\u00a0 If you ever need anything fenced, let me know.\u00a0 Consider me your new friend in the north.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat will do nicely.\u00a0 Oh, but be sure you get the Guild\u2019s cut from the sale of all this to them, right away.\u00a0 I\u2019d hate to need to change my mind.\u00a0 Mercer\u2019s been, well, out of sorts lately.\u201d<\/p>\n She couldn\u2019t be sure, but it seemed as though Gulum-Ei turned a whiter shade of green.<\/p>\n She looked around at the goods he had stored nearby, but didn\u2019t want to weigh herself down except with one or two fat coin purses.\u00a0 Those went into her pack along with the slightly damp East Empire Company map.\u00a0 Gulum-Ei showed her how to leave the grotto by means of a lever-operated opening at its rear.\u00a0 There were some annoyed horkers in the cave behind the grotto, but she slipped out past them into the light of day, well north of the main entrance to the East Empire Company warehouse.<\/p>\n She stretched and smiled, breathing in the crisp salt air once again.<\/p>\n \u201cThat went well.\u201d<\/p>\n She started back toward Solitude.\u00a0 A good night\u2019s sleep was required before her return trip.<\/p>\n The door had opened into a narrow, but well-lit tunnel with no shadows into which she might dissolve.\u00a0 Dagnell froze, listening for movement ahead of her and desperately afraid of pursuit from behind, and held her breath.\u00a0 But as the moments ticked by, nothing happened.\u00a0 What she could hear was an Orc up ahead singing … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-2-4-3.png\")
<\/p>\nPart II: Shadows<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"