The Story of the Listener, My first fanfic. Options

[Kayla]

Ok. This is my first fanfic. I'm a tad nervous about it, but I'd like to see what everyone thinks.
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I sat quietly on a bench beside the pawnshop on the docks of Anvil, staring out over the dark Abecean Sea. Through the clouds in the sky, I could see that the sun was setting. A chilly wind blew my black robes and hood as though they were weightless, but the persistent breeze was unsuccessful in penetrating the black light armor I wore underneath my robes. I listened to the fragmented conversations of the dock workers, and watched as people hastily walked by, fearing that it would soon begin to storm.

Before I knew it, the sun had set completely. The Nord who owned the shop I was sitting in front of walked outside. He locked up his shop and began to make his way down the stone street toward the resident area of Anvil. He hadn’t even noticed that I’d been sitting just feet away from him. I heard the Nord loudly greet someone before he walked completely out of earshot. Soon after, an Orc walked by. I studied the Orc carefully as he passed. He walked with a slight limp and had a large scar on his left arm, and just as I expected, he opened the door to the dockside warehouse and went inside.

It was completely dark now. Neither sun nor moon shone through the twisting clouds in the sky. The wind picked up, carrying moisture in it.

I stood and made my way to the back door of the warehouse. I picked the lock and the door swung open. Quickly I slipped into the thick darkness inside. The warehouse was fairly big but, a few candles on a large table in the middle of the room revealed the Orc’s position. He was busily unpacking things from crates and setting them on shelves. He was completely unaware of my presence, and I preferred it that way. I slipped through the shadows toward him. In the darkness I felt strong, invincible, and incapable of fear. I observed his movements, the way his body flowed with each contraction and relaxation of each muscle. I watched every joint in his body, paying close attention to his spinal cord. The Orc was old, and moved as though he’d been doing hard labor his entire life. Almost every movement looked as though it pained him.

As soon as I was sure of his reactions, I silently unsheathed my ebony blade, a gift from a dear friend, and I closed in on the Orc. He was still unaware of my being there, even though I was soon right behind him, almost breathing down his neck. In one quick motion, I lunged out of the shadows, grabbed the Orc with my right arm, wrapping it around the front of his neck and shoulders, then I brought my left hand up and stabbed him right in the jugular vein. The poor old Orc didn’t even have a chance to yell. I let go of the body letting it fall limply onto the wooden floor of the warehouse. I waited for his gurgled breathing to stop, then I snuffed the candles out and exited the warehouse the same way I’d come in.

(Expect updates!)

[Kayla]

Ok, folks! Glad to see I surprised you all. I've been working on this update for quite awhile, and I'm currently working on the next one.
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Saprius and I returned to the sanctuary. I could tell as we walked that this contract was weighing heavily on his mind. We decided to go to the training room to discuss our plans.
“Have you ever been to Vvardenfell?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Never.”
“I used to live in Vivec.” I said.
“Good. Then, you should know your way around a little more than I would.” He said, smiling.
His eyes grew serious quickly. “Do you know if there is any way we could sneak up on the target?” he asked.
“No. I don’t think there’s any way whatsoever. There is one entrance to his temple, and one exit.” I replied.
The thought of not being able to use stealth to my advantage made me uncomfortable.
“Then, we’re just going to have to walk in and kill him?” he asked.
“Yeah. That’s what it looks like.” I said.
“Considering that he’s a god and everything… do you think he’ll know that we’re coming to kill him?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” I answered. “I hope not.”
“Alright then. I think we should sleep and leave tomorrow morning.” Saprius said.
I nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”
We entered the main hall, went our separate ways to our beds, and went to sleep.

When I awoke, Lucien was standing beside my bed.
“Morning, Lucien.” I said, sleepily.
He smiled. “Good morning, Sarelle.”
“Today, I set off to kill a god.” I said.
“I know.” He said.
“Why does that Romari man want Vivec dead anyway?” I asked, getting up out of bed.
“Eno Romari is the leader of the End of Times cult. They believe that the end of the Tribunal will signal the end of the world. He wants your help in opening the eyes of the public.” Lucien answered.
“Why do we have to kill just one member of the Tribunal? Why not all three of them?” I asked.
Lucien looked at me strangely. “Amalexia and Sotha Sil are both dead. Vivec is the only remaining member of the Tribunal. I suppose that’s not common knowledge yet.”
“Ah. I see.” I said.
Saprius walked in, wearing his Black Hand robe. He had a large silver claymore sheathed on his back, and several types of daggers on his side.
“Are you ready Sarelle?” he asked.
Lucien kissed me on the cheek and disappeared.
“Yes.” I answered, sheathing my elven shortsword at my side.
“Alright then. Let’s get started.” He said.

I followed Saprius out into the main hall of the sanctuary. From there, we exited using the ladder in the well, and then we went out to the Cheydinhal stables. Saprius owned a beautiful white horse. Together, him on his white horse, and I on Shadowmere, we rode toward Mournhold.
“Hopefully, when you see the city of Vivec, you’ll start to get some ideas on how we could pull this off.” I said to Saprius.
I went through the city in my head, over and over again. Vivec’s temple was located behind the Temple canton. A lot of ordinators were posted at the Temple Canton, both inside the Office of the Watch, the Hall of Justice, and the Hall of Wisdom. I was willing to bet we couldn’t kill Vivec silently.
“How big is the city?” Saprius asked.
“Huge.” I answered. “Biggest city in Vvardenfell. Quite confusing to navigate as well.”
The fact that we were going to be right in the middle of Morag Tong territory didn’t do much to comfort me either.
“Hmm… this is going to be tough.” Saprius said.
I laughed. “This is going to be more than tough. This is borderline suicidal.”

Finally, we arrived in Mournhold. As we walked through the large, busy city, Saprius marveled at the architecture and all the colorful plants.
“Never been to Mournhold either?” I asked him, as we filed through the seemingly endless crowds of men and mer.
“No…” he said, his eyes widening at the sight of the statues of Mehrunes Dagon and Amalexia.

I led him into the castle and we got transport to Ebonheart from the Argonian mage.

I found my feet in the governor’s hall in Ebonheart. I took a moment to steady myself. When I looked over at Saprius, his face was pale, and his eyes glazed.
“Wow… I’ve never been on a trip like that…” he muttered.
I laughed. “Teleportation is hard on everyone. Especially the first time.”

I led Saprius out the door and into the city of Ebonheart. The clouds in the sky were a very dark grey. They seemed to be an ominous sign of the things to come.

Saprius looked around.
“Wow… this place is different from Cyrodiil.” He said.
“Yeah. That’s part of its charm.” I said, leading him down to the square, and then on the dirt road toward Vivec.

As we made our way to the city, I asked him a few questions.
“How do you feel about the Tribunal Temple?” I asked him.
“Well, I never really knew much about it. I was born and raised in Cyrodiil. Being an Imperial, I was brought up to devote my life to the service of the Nine Divines. But, of course, it never turned out that way. I felt forsaken by the gods and then turned to Sithis. If you ask me, Sithis is much more personal.” He said.
Then, he turned my question around on me. “What about you? You said you lived in Vivec. Were you brought up to worship the Tribunal?”
“My parents were devout believers in the Tribunal, though they never pushed their religion onto me. I read all 36 Lessons of Vivec. I found them quite interesting, but I never thought that the Tribunal were worthy of worship. I tended to agree with the Ashlanders about the Tribunal. They believed the same way I did. They believe that the Tribunal were deceitful. I was lucky enough to hear of the Nerevarine prophecies when I was a child. Daedra worship seemed to work for me. Though now I am a servant of Sithis, I am still quite fond of the Lords and Ladies of Oblivion.” I answered.

By the time we had explained our views on religion, the large city on the water lay in front of us. I walked Saprius around to the Foreign Quarter. As we were crossing the bridge to get onto the large stone canton, lightning flashed in the sky, while thunder growled.
“You know the city better than I do. Show me where Vivec is located.” Saprius said.

I led him through the large city. We crossed canton after canton, occasionally dodging someone trying to get home before the storm hit. When finally, we came to the St. Delyn canton.
“This is where I used to live.” I said, pointing to a door, labeled St. Delyn South Two.
I opened the door and stepped inside the small quarters. It was completely abandoned.
“Hmm… what luck.” I said. “My old home is abandoned, and it has a great view of the Temple canton. We can stay here temporarily while we get some idea of the ordinators’ rounds.”
Saprius smiled. “That’s a great plan.”
“Now,” I said, “I’ve yet to show you the Temple canton.”

The Temple canton was now in clear sight. We walked across a bridge connecting the St. Delyn and Temple cantons. We surveyed the outside, counting ordinators that were currently on duty. Then, we looked at Vivec’s temple. It was a tall canton, with stairs going all the way to the top, stopping at a door. No ordinators patrolled it, making our job a bit easier.

Just as the sun was setting, Saprius and I went back to St. Delyn South Two. We sat down across a table from each other.
“When do you think we should strike?” Saprius asked.
“Definitely at night time.” I answered. “If we decide to get rid of the ordinators, we could easily kill some of them in their sleep in the barracks. Plus, it will provide us the cover of darkness.”
“We have to dispose of the ordinators.” He said. “It’s the only way we’ll have any chance of doing this.”
“Agreed.” I replied.
“How many should we take out?” he asked.
“All the ones on the canton.” I said.
“Damn. That’s a lot.” He said. “And I don’t think they guard a god for no reason. They have to be strong.”
“They are.” I said, remembering the many times I’d seen them stop a public skirmish, or chase down a thief.
“How are we going to do this?” he asked, looking a bit frustrated, as he lay his head down on the table.
“We have stealth on our side. We observe their rounds, see when they switch shifts, then, using that information, we decide when the best and easiest time to kill them is.” I answered.
“I’m sure there are many priests willing to give their lives for their god.” Saprius said.
“That is very true…” I said.
This posed a problem. The priests would surely give us trouble if they knew of our intentions. But, we already had many ordinators to kill. I wasn’t above killing any of the priests, but did we have the time and energy to take them all out as well? I stayed silent for a few moments thinking things over.
“We’re definitely going to have to kill the priests too.” I said. “I know it won’t be easy… but, they could be just as much of a problem as the ordinators.”
Saprius nodded. “I understand what you’re saying.”
I stood. “Well, it's close to night time. We should probably observe the ordinators on their rounds right now.”
“Good idea.” Saprius said, standing as well.

We exited and walked toward the Temple canton. Saprius and I had a long night ahead of us.