A Knife in the Dark (unrelated to our mini-contest), This is REALLY for the contest... Options

[redsrock]

This story has nothing to do with the contest we just held, I simply like the name.

CHAPTER ONE


The Imperial walked right past me, unaware that I had been crouching here for two hours. I admit, I had unfortunately mixed up my times, but at least I was early and not late. Thank Talos I was not late…

As he continued to creep on a fake target, I carefully stood up from my position and quietly unsheathed by prized possession: a custom made Orcish dagger. The blade was slightly bent ¾ of the way to the top, making it easier to slice across someone’s throat. Its hilt was decoratively created by the Orcish ‘artist’ with many fancy and complicated designs. The Orcs made the best quality weapons by far in my opinion, and I was about to back that up in a matter of seconds.

The two of us were in a small room, at the home of a Cyrodilic Countess in fact. The Imperial didn’t know that I was a mere few feet behind him. What he also did not know is that the target he was trying to eliminate was not in this room. A fake body had been cleverly placed in the bed of the room to cause confusion.

“Damn, I’ve been tricked!”

He whispered this loudly, for he had finally realized it was a setup. The entire room was pitch-black, save for a thin-ray of light coming from beneath the closed door of the room. I was actually quite impressed that he had been able to walk through the room so well in this darkness in the first place, though it was likely he was using a spell to help him see. I myself was using such a spell.

I crept along the finely made carpet and inched my way closer to the Imperial. He stood there next to the bed, still mystified that he had been tricked. I quickly shoved him onto the bed face down and held his hands together with one arm, while putting the edge of my dagger to the back of his neck with the other.

“Gotcha,” I said into the Imperials ear.

“Who the hell are you?” The Imperial asked, clearly surprised by what had just taken place.

“Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing. You do realize you’re in the chambers of Lady Valga, correct?” I asked, with a sarcastic tone. I liked to do that quite often to those who I am ‘hunting’. It always pisses them off and caused them to act irrationally.

Then, showing strength I was very surprised by, he shoved me away and I went flying into the air, landing hard on my back five feet from the bed. The Imperial unsheathed a silver shortsword and came charging at me. I quickly got up from the ground and readied myself for the attack.

The Imperial lunged at me and swiped at my neck with his sword, but I easily sidestepped and stabbed the man in the right ribcage with my own blade. He stumbled a bit and a caught him, only to slam him against the wall. Even though I am short and skinny, I am a lot stronger than people give me credit for.

“Who are you and why have you been planning the Countess’s murder?” I asked, this time with no tone of sarcasm, only seriousness. Playing time was over, for this Imperial meant business.

The wound was deep into his skin, and he was in severe pain. “I ain’t telling you a damn thing!” And again he showed his strength and pushed me away despite the pain he was enduring. He swung again but I dodged the attack once more. And this time, rather than wound him, I went straight for the kill. I slashed by dagger into his throat, and then ripped across the skin to the right. The body crumpled to the ground with a thud, and his life was over. I didn’t really want to kill him without asking more questions, but I could tell I wasn’t going to get anything from him.

I walked outside the door and then brought back with me a torch. I shined the light over the Imperial to see who it was. He was an old wrinkly man with medium-length gray hair. It was very surprising to see someone of his age attempting to take away the Countess’s life. But alas the Imperial was not familiar to me, but then again I am not from Chorrol anyway so that was to be expected. After leaving the room I went to the Nord guard Captain, Bittneld Curse-Bringer, and told him the task had been accomplished.

“Very good, we should report this to Lady Valga right away.”

Bittneld ordered the guards to place the body somewhere else and then ordered for the servants and maids to clean up the mess I had left. Blood was going to be hard to clean up, but I didn’t say anything to Bittneld about it, for he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.


+++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++


”Thank you for everything you’ve done. I realize what danger you’ve put yourself in, and trust me; you actions will not go unrewarded.”

I was speaking with the Countess of Chorrol, Lady Valga, in a small cabin a couple of miles west of the city itself. You see, threats of an attempted assassination were recovered by a guard several days ago. I was sent in by my boss to take care of the situation.

“You are very welcome, madam,” I said with a polite bow.

“The gold will be sent by a courier of mine, once everything is settled. Again, I thank you for what you’ve done for the community here in Chorrol. You agency will never be forgotten here.”

“I appreciate the kind words, but the job is not yet done I’m afraid. I want to investigate a bit more to ensure there is no one else involved with this crime. Once your men look at the now-dead Imperial and know his identity and I will hopefully be given several leads. I want to stomp this threat out before it spreads. I feel it will be safe for you to return to Chorrol, but not with out protection the entire time. Also, I want at least five guards with you wherever you go, and those guards will stand outside your room while you sleep. The deed is almost done, but we cannot let our guard down just yet.”




Before we move on, I’d like to explain what has happened up to this point. My name is Agaron, a Bosmer. I am an agent of the highly skilled group, “Midnight’s Watch”. We are a group of talented ‘assassin’s/bodyguards-for-hire’. Our leader, Rindral the Dunmer, rounded all five of us up a couple of years ago. We all come from different regions of Cyrodiil, and have made quite a name for ourselves in these first two years of service.

I am but twenty-seven years of age, but my small body makes me excellent at what I do. And along with our job of assassins and bodyguards, we’ve also find ourselves in roles of ‘investigators’ as well. It’s actually quite fun solving all the puzzles of life. I like it almost more than I do ending a would-be-murder’s life.




“Of course, I wouldn’t think any other way. I’m awfully happy that I may return to my city. I don’t quite like it here in the wild, no matter how many guards I have protecting me,” she said with a happy cheer.

“Well, we don’t want to take any chances, but you should be safe for now. Once I find out what’s going on there’s a chance you will be moved again, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

So we left the hidden cabin of the forest and traveled back to Chorrol in the safety of ten guards. When we made it back the Imperial had already been placed in the catacombs under the church. That is where we went, and Lady Carvain immediately recognized the body.

“By Talos,” she whispered while putting her boney hands to her face. “It’s…it’s Valus Odiil. He has two boys living on a farm not too far from here. I don’t understand why he would do such a thing.”

She was clearly shocked at the identity and looked on the verge of crying, but I had my lead. “Bittneld, can you take me to this farm. We need to act fast before something else happens. I realize the two boys are not for sure a part of this, but we need to find out as soon as possible,” I said forcefully, wanting to get to that farm quickly.

“Yes, follow me, we will ride by horse.”

“No, I want to find them by surprise if they are in fact involved with this. Exactly how far is the farm from here?”

“Just a couple of miles, isolated from the main roads,” Bittneld answered, a little taken back by my forceful tone.

“Then we will in fact jog, horses will make too much noise. I hate to leave so soon, madam. We will speak on these matters upon my return,” I said to Lady Valga quickly.

I didn’t wait for her to reply, and immediately Bittneld and I left the catacombs and exited the city. I felt bad about not speaking with Lady Valga anymore than I did just then, but I felt there were more important things to be taken care of. There would be time to talk later.

[redsrock]

CHAPTER THREE


During the entire walk back to Chorrol, neither of us spoke a word. Bittneld of course took the lead the way since he knew the area better than I, and he never once looked back. Again, as I’ve said before, I feel absolutely terrible and foolish. Now that I actually think about it, there are a couple of my fellow associates of “Midnight’s Watch” that act this way. It will surely be more noticeable from now on, simply because I realize how bad it looks.

It was amazing how much it took to make me realize how much of a jerk I’ve been. I currently feel absolutely embarrassed because of my actions. Thinking back I’ve probably been this way my entire life. I was raised by a Breton family in Mournhold, of Morrowind.

You see, my parents were personal friends of the Breton family, and when they were both killed while exploring Dwemer ruins in Vvardenfell, my now step-father and step-mother immediately took me in. Throughout my childhood I was given the best education money could buy, and I was brought up to be a diplomat some day. But obviously that never worked and here I am now.

My rich atmosphere growing up made me an intelligent and successful individual, but it has also turned me into a rude and immature monster. But I was going to change that no matter how hard and difficult it was likely going to be. It wasn’t going to be easy by any means, but I was ready to do what was necessary to change the person I am. No more being a bossy little elf anymore. No, from now on I was going to be as polite as possible and no more smart remarks will be coming from my mouth.




When we at last finally arrived in Chorrol the Countess was sitting upon her throne speaking with some of the citizens. When she saw me and Bittneld walking towards her she politely excused herself and stood up from her seat.

“So, what happened?” she asked.

“Shall we speak of this here, or would you like to talk about it in private?” I offered, not knowing if she really wanted this to be discussed openly.

“Yes, I think my chambers will do. Please, follow me you two.”

Five guards escorted us to Lady Valga’s bedroom, and then locked the door behind us once we were inside.

“What did you find?” She asked with great anticipation.

“The two brothers were in fact part of the plot. I gave the two of them a chance to surrender, but they wouldn’t have any of it. They are now dead inside farm house. I am sorry, madam, but there was no other way.”

The Countess sat down on the edge of her bed, and then looked at the ground with a sad look about her face. She then looked at me and said, “That is just awful. Of course I don’t blame you; like you said, there was nothing that could have prevented the deaths. Did you find a motive?”

“Yes, the older brother complained about being ordered to pay taxes on their farm. He was quite annoyed about actually.”

Her face lit up in confusion and said, “That is all? Petty taxes?”

“Yes, madam, he claimed they had never paid taxes before that you were being unfair…”

She chuckled awkwardly at this and replied, “The only reason they haven’t paid their taxes is because up until about a month ago I had let them slip by. I understand that their farm isn’t the most successful one in Cyrodiil; but with a couple of important donators of church breathing down my neck about not making them pay taxes, I had to say something. It was only twenty-five gold, nothing else. This is truly a sad time for Chorrol. But hopefully we will be able to move on and forget what’s happened, and of course all the credit goes to you, Agaron.”

I looked at Bittneld, who was standing next to me with his arms crossed, still looking pissed. I couldn’t take all of the thanks for what happened.

“It wasn’t just me, madam. Bittneld saved my life, and if it weren’t for his valiant actions I would be dead right now. I owe him my life.”

Lady Valga looked to her guard Captain and said cheerfully, “It doesn’t surprise me. Bittneld is of course my very best soldier, which is he is my Captain. He’s truly a great person and would help even the rudest of people.”

The last sentence hurt me the most, and it pained me to hear the words. It felt like a dagger was being shoved through my chest. Bittneld himself didn’t look at me or respond, but I knew he was thinking. What Lady Valga said held so much irony it wasn’t even funny.

“I was just doing my job, m’lady,” Bittneld commented in a normal tone.

Lady Valga smiled widely and then looked back to me. “Again, on behalf of all of Chorrol, I thank you for your troubles. I know you are eager to report back to Rindral, so I won’t keep you any longer. As I said earlier, your compensation will come through my courier within the next few days.”

“Thank you, madam. It was a pleasure to serve you.”

She smiled widely again and said, “Captain Bittneld will escort you to the stables. Have a wonderful day!”

A took a bow and then left the room with Bittneld leading the way. When we reached the stables the two of us just stood there for a second. Then, as Bittneld was about to walk away without saying anything, I stopped him. I couldn’t just let him go without saying thank you, no matter how much he didn’t speak with me. I understood his frustration, but I had to say something.

“Listen, just please hear me out for a minute, Bittneld,” I said, and he turned around. He then stood there with his arms crossed and replied, “Fine. Go ahead.”

“I know I’ve been a jerk, and I’m not going to sit here and apologize a hundred times. I’ve said I was sorry, and it’s clear you don’t care. I just wanted you to know that I will change the way I act, for the better. After everything that’s happened I’ve realize now that life is too short to act like a jerk know-it-all. You’ve turned me into a better person. Now I know sitting here saying this won’t do me any good, but I swear to you; the next time we meet again I will be changed. You’ll see.”

I was about get on my white stallion, when Bittneld grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. He had a sort of grin on his face, and was holding out his right hand. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear that, my friend,” He said happily as I shook his hand. “That is why I told you that I didn’t want your thanks; because I only wanted to see you become a better person. Anybody can say something, but it takes a real man to actually do it.”

I was glad things seemed to be patched up between us. It was almost as if I was being tested by Bittneld, and thankfully I’ve passed.

So I nodded and after the handshaking was done I climbed onto my horse, gave Bittneld one final wave, and headed into the sunset towards the Blackwood region of Cyrodiil.