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<\/p>\nDagnell couldn\u2019t move.\u00a0 She could still breathe, very shallowly, but she couldn\u2019t move any of her limbs or her head, nor could she roll.\u00a0 She was wholly, horribly paralyzed.<\/p>\n
She could still see, though, and what she saw was Mercer, moving forward into the great cavernous room.\u00a0 There was a slight woman on the top step of what seemed to be room-wide platform steps. There was only one person it could possibly be. She had her bow drawn and was aiming for Mercer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I have to stop her, Dag thought.\u00a0 She can\u2019t kill Mercer. I have to stop her if for no other reason than for the sake of all those people back in Riften who need Mercer to be alive. They can\u2019t lose yet another Guildmaster, not now. But struggle though she might, she could not so much as feel her arms and legs, much less move them.\u00a0 He would have to save her, again.\u00a0 So much for being useful to him.<\/p>\n
Mercer stopped short of the lowest platform and shook his head, then began speaking.<\/p>\n
“Did you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?”<\/p>\n
“Give me a reason to try,” said the woman.\u00a0 Her voice was soft, accented.\u00a0 A Dunmer.\u00a0 Definitely Karliah.<\/p>\n
“You’re a clever girl, Karliah. Buying Goldenglow Estate and funding Honningbrew Meadery was inspired.”<\/p>\n
“\u2019To ensure an enemy’s defeat, you must first undermine his allies.\u2019 It was the first lesson Gallus taught us.”<\/p>\n
She sounds sure of herself, Dag thought.\u00a0 Well it certainly was a good lesson, but we still managed to catch you at it, didn\u2019t we. I had a big part in that, and if I can only move my gods-damned legs I\u2019ll help catch you again.<\/p>\n
“You always were a quick study,” Mercer said.<\/p>\n
“Not quick enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive.”<\/p>\n
Dag\u2019s mind whirled. Wait. What? She hadn\u2019t been quick enough or Gallus would still be alive? But \u2026 she<\/em> killed Gallus. Brynjolf said so, everyone else said so. Mercer said so. Karliah\u2019s statement made no sense, no sense at all, unless Mercer<\/em> had been the one\u2026<\/p>\n Mercer\u2019s voice took on the tone it had had when he was talking about Karliah being his partner in crime.\u00a0 Slightly softer, almost but not quite a plea.<\/p>\n “Gallus had his wealth and he had you. All he had to do was look the other way.”<\/p>\n Dag\u2019s mind screeched again. \u201cGallus had you?\u201d Was Mercer — jealous of Gallus? Had he wanted Karliah for himself? Could it be? He certainly had cared for her, that was clear, and he had said so himself, but this put a different light on the whole situation.<\/p>\n Karliah spoke again.\u00a0 She sounded outraged. “Did you forget the oath we took as Nightingales? Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?”<\/p>\n Mercer had said something about a nightingale in connection with Gallus, Dag thought, but she only had a moment to try to remember it when Mercer shouted.<\/p>\n “Enough of this mindless banter! Come, Karliah. It’s time for you and Gallus to become reunited!”<\/p>\n As he had done when addressing Brynjolf, the very first time she had met him, Mercer put emphasis on her name, an audible sneer, placing her somehow as a lesser being. It sounded like hatred. He drew his life-draining sword and moved toward her.<\/p>\n We\u2019re supposed to be killing her. I should be happy, Dag thought.\u00a0 But this is wrong. I need to figure it out.\u00a0 I need to stop this.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t move<\/em>.<\/p>\n Karliah had shifted almost out of Dag\u2019s field of vision, but there was a motion that looked vaguely familiar.\u00a0 Then Karliah completely disappeared.\u00a0 A moment later she spoke, but from where was impossible to tell.<\/p>\n “I’m no fool, Mercer. Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence. But I can promise you the next time we meet, it will be your undoing.”<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe it, Dag thought, struggling vainly to move any part of herself.\u00a0 He<\/em> killed Gallus.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t Karliah, it was Mercer. He\u2019s been lying to everyone for twenty-five years. \u00a0He killed the Guildmaster and took that power for himself.\u00a0 Because\u2026 what had he said outside?\u00a0 Greed? Jealousy? Spite? \u00a0Maybe all of those.<\/p>\n Mercer was sauntering toward her, casually swinging that deadly sword.<\/p>\n So it was true, then.\u00a0 It was Skeever-Face all along.\u00a0 Her sense of unease around him had been entirely justified. She was as good at sizing up her mark as Brynjolf; maybe better, since Brynjolf had trusted Mercer implicitly and had been completely fooled. She\u2019d only been fooled briefly, and it was because he seemed so earnest when he talked about\u2026<\/p>\n Oh just wait until I tell you about this, Red.\u00a0 I am going to rub this in so hard and have a great laugh.\u00a0 If I can just move<\/em>.<\/p>\n Mercer loomed over her and sneered.<\/p>\n “How interesting. It appears Gallus’s history has repeated itself. Karliah has provided me with the means to be rid of you, and this ancient tomb becomes your final resting place.\u201d<\/p>\n Dagnell felt truly afraid for the first time.\u00a0 He\u2019s admitted it, he killed Gallus. And he really intends to kill me.\u00a0 Of course he does, idiot; he can\u2019t very well let you go, knowing what you know, can he?<\/em>\u00a0 No, he can\u2019t. Nobody will ever take Karliah\u2019s word over his, she thought, not after twenty-five years of a false story, unless I\u2019m there to back her up, and maybe not even then. \u00a0Some of the thieves had literally spent their entire lives hearing that story. I\u2019m going to die, she thought. I\u2019m going to die right now and it makes me so damnably mad that I can\u2019t at least put an arrow into his damnable skeever face before I go.<\/p>\n Mercer sneered. \u201cBut do you know what intrigues me the most? The fact that this was all possible because of you. Farewell.\u201d He paused for just the slightest of moments, then added: \u201cI’ll be certain to give Brynjolf your regards.”<\/p>\n The world stopped.<\/p>\n Her chest constricted with a stab of indescribable, searing emotion as she realized what he had just said. Brynjolf? He was going to tell Brynjolf what? That she was dead? That Karliah had killed her? That she had just up and left? That look across the Cistern, that confused, distressing, silent exchange, that<\/em> ugly moment was going to be the last time she ever saw him? \u00a0No, no, no! \u00a0Brynjolf was insufferable, he was unscrupulous, people might even consider him evil for the way he made his living, but he was her friend<\/em>, he mattered<\/em>, she cared<\/em> about him and he didn\u2019t deserve to be told another set of ugly lies by this monstrous man. She couldn\u2019t bear it.\u00a0 She felt tears of pure anger streaming down her face, with no way to control them or any other part of herself.<\/p>\n Mercer stood, leering at her, for just a moment, drawing out the pain of the moment, before driving the life-draining dwarven sword through her chest.\u00a0 She wanted to scream at the agony but had no way to form the sounds; and then everything went black.<\/p>\n ______________<\/p>\n Dagnell\u2019s eyes opened, a bit at a time.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t focus, yet; it was incredibly bright.\u00a0 Outside.\u00a0 She was outside, and she could feel air on her face and\u2026 she could move.<\/p>\n She could move.<\/p>\n She was alive.<\/p>\n She scrambled up to a sitting position, then stood, then clutched at her knees for support as dizziness threatened to topple her.<\/p>\n \u201cTake it easy,\u201d she heard.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t stand up so quickly. I\u2019ve cured you but it was a bit touch and go.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag blinked until her vision came back into focus.\u00a0 It was Karliah. They were next to the fire at the campsite she\u2019d set up on the way in.<\/p>\n \u201cYou shot me!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I saved your life.\u00a0 I shot you with a unique paralytic poison that slowed your heart and kept you from bleeding out. If I had intended to kill you we wouldn\u2019t be having this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n It might be true, Dag thought.\u00a0 After all, she\u2019d been stabbed by a massive, enchanted, life-draining dwarven sword and should, by rights, have died right then and there.\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should I believe you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe antidote I administered kept you alive.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t leave you defenseless in the ruin.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag pondered.\u00a0 That was true, too.\u00a0 But her head hurt, and she felt queasy, and it was hard to process her thoughts at the moment.\u00a0 She looked more closely at Karliah.\u00a0 She was as pretty a Dunmer woman as Dag had ever seen.\u00a0 Lovely, in fact.\u00a0 She seemed quite young, but Dunmer lived so long that \u201cyoung\u201d could mean anything at all.\u00a0 More importantly, she didn\u2019t look threatening, or seem to be hiding anything.\u00a0 Not at all.<\/p>\n \u201cBut why didn\u2019t you shoot Mercer?\u00a0 He was right there!\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah frowned.\u00a0 \u201cBelieve me, the thought crossed my mind.\u00a0 My original intention was to use it on Mercer but I never had a clear shot and I only had enough poison for one dose. I made a split-second decision to get you out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy all the gods,\u201d Dag growled. \u201c\u2019You\u2019re leading, and I\u2019m following.\u2019 That\u2019s what he told me.\u00a0 He was using me as a shield! He said he knew your methods better than anyone and he did, and he knew you would be prepared with a poison arrow.\u201d\u00a0 She stomped her foot.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to kill him.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know when or where or how but I am going to kill him, and I am going to enjoy every single second of the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah just looked at her, seemingly emotionless.\u00a0 Or perhaps it was that she knew the emotion altogether too well, already.<\/p>\n Dag suddenly felt near-panic rising up in her chest. It was Mercer all along, but nobody else knew that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to get back, Karliah.\u00a0 We have to tell them. We have to get back to Riften before he does.\u201d\u00a0 She turned, as though to leave, but felt her legs going out from under her and sank to the bedroll in Karliah\u2019s tent. \u00a0Well damn.<\/p>\n Karliah squatted down beside her.\u00a0 \u201cRest a moment.\u00a0 This will pass.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag took a deep breath and blew it out, trying to calm herself. She looked at Karliah.\u00a0 She needed to know something, anything, which would lend some sense to the whole sorry affair. \u201cTell me about Gallus. Please. I need to know what the truth is.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah sat beside her on the bedroll, cross-legged, and began to speak. Slowly the story unfolded.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t all that different than the story Mercer had shared, as far as his had gone.\u00a0 Gallus, she said, was a brilliant scholar, a natural born leader, and a thief like no other.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were\u2026 very close.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh that tone of voice, Dag thought.\u00a0 I would talk about Roggi just like that. \u201cYou were lovers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Karliah nodded. It was a mistake, she said. It clouded her judgment, and his. He let his guard down around her, said he felt comfortable with her. Neither one of them saw what Mercer was up to until it was too late, and she couldn\u2019t help but think that it was all her fault. Her eyes were far away, lonely, desperately sad, and Dag\u2019s heart was breaking looking at them.\u00a0 It can\u2019t have been your fault, Karliah, she thought.\u00a0 There\u2019s no fault to be assigned for being in love.\u00a0 It just\u2026is.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t your fault that Mercer decided to do this terrible thing.<\/p>\n Karliah wanted revenge though, she told Dag, and she wanted her name cleared with the Guild. They deserved the truth. Dag heard deep pain and regret in Karliah\u2019s quiet voice, and a confirmation all of the positive things people had related about Gallus.<\/p>\n \u201cSo let me ask you this, Karliah.\u00a0 You had this special poison that wouldn\u2019t kill, but would paralyze.\u00a0 You weren\u2019t intending it for me; you didn\u2019t know about me. It was meant for Mercer.\u00a0 Why would you have wanted to keep him alive?\u201d<\/p>\n She looked Dag in the eye.\u00a0 There it was, there was the hatred.<\/p>\n \u201cI want him to feel the cold sting of fate as his life crumbles, as he is hunted by the Guild.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true, Dag thought. I heard it from Mercer\u2019s own lips. The Guild takes care of its own, in one way or another. They would hunt him down, and if necessary they would recruit the Dark Brotherhood to help them.\u00a0 She was sure of it.<\/p>\n \u201cHow are we going to convince the Guild about this, Karliah? If we go back now, without any proof, they\u2019ll kill you, and they\u2019ll kill me just for being with you. Even if Mercer hasn\u2019t gotten to them yet.\u201d<\/p>\n And that was a horrid prospect to consider, Dag thought.\u00a0 I might never get into my home safely again if Mercer is already there.\u00a0 He\u2019ll have people waiting for me if he finds out I\u2019m not dead.\u00a0 This is going to be the only thing we have going for us for some time; he knows Karliah is still alive, but he thinks he\u2019s killed me.<\/p>\n Karliah nodded. \u201cI didn\u2019t just pick Snow Veil Sanctum for the sake of irony. Before you two arrived, I located Gallus\u2019 journal on his remains.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s perfect! What does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I knew.\u00a0 It\u2019s in a language I don\u2019t recognize and can\u2019t read.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t it be translated?\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah\u2019s eyes brightened. \u201cOf course!\u00a0 Maybe Enthir can do it!\u201d<\/p>\n Enthir, she said, was an accomplished mage at the College in Winterhold, and one of Gallus\u2019 closest friends. Enthir was the only person outside the Guild that Gallus trusted with his identity as a Nightingale.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is this Nightingale thing? I\u2019ve heard it several times and I have no idea what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cWe were an anonymous splinter group of the Thieves Guild in Riften: me, Gallus, and Mercer. Perhaps I will tell you about it someday but right now what is most important is that we get this journal translated. Get to Winterhold right away but speak only with Enthir.\u00a0 I\u2019ll join you after I\u2019ve laid Gallus\u2019 remains to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag stood.\u00a0 Good, her legs felt much steadier now.\u00a0 She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be off then.\u00a0 I\u2019ll catch a carriage from Windhelm. I\u2019m not sure I can handle a long trek in the cold quite yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah nodded, and smiled. \u201cEyes open, and walk with the shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n Dagnell couldn\u2019t move.\u00a0 She could still breathe, very shallowly, but she couldn\u2019t move any of her limbs or her head, nor could she roll.\u00a0 She was wholly, horribly paralyzed. She could still see, though, and what she saw was Mercer, moving forward into the great cavernous room.\u00a0 There was a slight woman on the top … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-2-9-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart II: Shadows<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"