Blood of the Kyn, Volume I Options

[Dantrag]

Well, after some unfinished stories and a long hiatus, I'm back in this territory of the forums. Not that anyone should care. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my latest creation.

Prologue

It was a dark night, and the rain fell in sheets over the town of Cheydinhal. Unbeknownst to the gate guards, a cloaked, shadowy figure climbed the stone wall on the other side. He sat perched on the wall for several seconds before jumping to the ground below, using the loud pitter-patter of the rain to cover the sound. Swiftly and silently he ran, clutching a package tightly wrapped in a gray cloth. He reached his destination in a matter of seconds, and after lifting the grate up, he descended into the darkness of a well.

He was welcomed at arrow point.

"I need to speak with Vicente," he said in an otherwordly voice from the shadows of his cowl. He turned his side to the woman in front of him, shielding his cargo should she decide to fire.

The archer, who was a Bosmer woman dressed in the typical black leather armor and hood of the Dark Brotherhood, fumbled for a response. Before she could give one, a hand from behind rested on her shoulder. Taleandril looked to see that it was Vicente Valtieri himself, the oldest member of their specific chapter of the Dark Brotherhood, due to his vampiric nature.

"Don't worry, Taleandril, I'm expecting company," Vicente said reassuringly. Taleandril gave the visitor one last glare before going about her business.

"Let us go somewhere more private," the vampire suggested, leading the way through the dark, damp corridors until they reached Vicente's quarters. There was no door or any other typical way of creating privacy, but the other assassins seemed to respect the vampire's space and gave him a wide berth. There was not a soul near enough to overhear anything that might be said.

"Kyzra, old friend! What brings you from Oblivion?"

"Trouble," Kyzra replied, removing his soaking wet cloak, revealing his black and red skin, horns, and armor that marked him as a powerful Dremora. He sat down at the small table across from the vampire assassin.

Vicente gave him a questioning glare. Anything Kyzra believed to be trouble must be dangerous indeed. The two of them had been through much together, though most of it had been a hundred years or more ago, and Vicente could not remember a time when the Kynmarcher had feared anything.

"I have disgraced the clan and insulted Lord Dagon himself. I will not live long, I assure you. Even my own armies have abandoned me, and my most trusted Kynreeve has taken my rank and title."

The vampire stood angrily, "You would bring an entire Dremora fiefdom here? Endanger me and my brothers and sisters?"

"You owe me!" Kyzra shouted, his booming Dremora voice echoing througout the halls. Just then, the bundle he carried made a sound. It cried loudly. Vicente's rage was put to a halt as he wrapped his mind around this new development.

"It is my son," Kyzra explained, "Half Dremora, half dunmer. I want you to take him; I cannot bear for him to die for my mistakes."

"That was your disgrace, then? A dunmer woman?" Vicente asked, sitting back down.

"She was only the half of it," Kyzra replied cryptically, "Will you take him?"

Vicente nodded, taking the infant from the Dremora Lord, "I will warn you, I am no parent."

"As long as he lives, Vampire, I do not care how you raise him. Just promise me one thing."

"If it is within my power."

"Never tell him my name, never speak of me."

Vicente nodded in silent understanding. Kyzra stood and began to exit.

"What is his name?" Vicente called after him.

Kyzra paused for a short moment, as if he had never thought of the answer to that question. "Azyrek," he finally said, "Azyrek."

He left the hideout without another word. Azyrek cried all night long.

[Dantrag]

its been awhile, but here's an update.

Chapter 2 - Exodus (continued)

The woman calmed slightly, but her eyes darted back and forth constantly as she spoke, and she was nervously tapping her foot. Despite this, her words came out confidently.

"My partner disappeared a few days ago, and I found that he was murdered. Now the ones that did it are after me. I thought I'd lost them this morning, but I was wrong. I think I hit one of them a few minutes ago, so they can't be far behind."

Azyrek stamped out the fire while she spoke; no need to give away their position, "How many?"

"Four, maybe three if my arrow hit."

"Coming from the west?"

She nodded.

Azyrek poked his head outside of the cave and looked at his surroundings. Just above the cave was an outcropping about twenty feet up. Perfect. Looking to the west, back the way he came, he looked for another position.

"Alright, if you're any good with that thing, get out and get in position above this cave," he said, pointing up to the stone ceiling, "I'll be on the ground doing what I can. Just don't let me die."

He didn't know why he was helping this woman, but then he didn't know why he wouldn't either. Dagger in hand, the assassin crawled out of the cave and found his own place behind a particularly large boulder on the opposite side of the road. He watched while the woman climbed to her position and hid.

The sky had a morning glow, but the sun had not yet risen. There was still enough darkness to make Azyrek feel comfortable in his work. Azyrek and his new partner didn't wait for more than a half hour before a lone figure appeared on the main road. He looked up to the dunmer woman; she had seen him too, and was smart enough to hold fire. The halfblood continued to scan the mountainside, and spotted another nosing around in the woods for clues. The tracker was talented; Azyrek had almost not seen him.

At least three. he reminded himself. He heard a bird call then, and his eyes went up to the outcropping. He saw a hand point quickly at the boulder and disappear again. Thinking quickly, he knew where the third was. He and his opponent were on opposite sides of the rock, each unaware of each other. He was especially glad for his ally just then.

How did I not hear it? he asked himself as he crept along the side. He took a deep breath before swinging around. Azyrek used one hand to cover the mer's mouth and the other to stab him in the gut. His target's eyes barely had time to widen before his body collapsed.

At that same moment, Azyrek saw the figure on the road fall backwards, an arrow sticking from his neck. He glanced back into the wood, but the other one had disappeared. He looked back up towards his partner, who was standing now, giving a thumbs up.

Azyrek was scared now; all of their cover was gone. What was she doing?

"Where's the other one?" he shouted. It didn't matter at this point anyway.

Even from this distance, and in the relative darkness, he could tell that she was smiling as she called back, "He tried to come up behind me. He regretted it."

Azyrek walked out onto the road then, and the woman began descending the rock face.

"Takes care of that," she said cheerfully, all traces of her earlier anxiety gone.

"Mm." Azyrek grunted while he went back into the cave to gather his things. The last thing he wanted was to be caught camping around three dead bodies. With his heritage it could only cause problems.

"Thanks for helping me out...uh...what was your name? I'm Rinori," she said, following him inside.

"Azyrek," he answered.

She crinkled her nose, "Where in Oblivion that name come from?" she didn't wait for an answer, just kept talking, "So where are you headed?"

Azyrek couldn't help but snicker at her choice of words, but still answered shortly, "Morrowind."

"Me too!" she said, "I think we could help each other out. Especially since I've been this way before and we need to avoid roads now."

"No," he answered bluntly.

"Why? You some sort of criminal or something?" she demanded.

"Maybe,"

"Well I don't care. And what's with the hood? Show me your face."

Azyrek didn't really have time to answer, since Rinori had already come behind him and pulled his cowl off his head. He turned around, "Happy now?"

The woman was obviously shocked for a moment, but did well to recover, "I've befriended a dremora!"

Azyrek didn't know how to gauge her reaction, "Half. And no you haven't."

"Then why did you help me? You could have just avoided all this if you'd let me walk away..."

He didn't answer, he just shouldered his pack and crawled out of the cave. He couldn't have a tag-a-long while trying to work for the Brotherhood. Too many potential problems. At the same time, though, this was the first person outside of the sanctuary that wasn't bothered by his appearance.

"Hey! Don't just walk away from me!" she exclaimed, following him yet again. When he didn't slow down, she ran to catch up. "Well if I can't travel with you, I'll just follow you, okay?"

Azyrek sighed heavily, "Fine."

He was already moving during the day, which wasn't ideal, and now he had an annoying companion. At least she would make things look more normal should they encounter anyone.