Alright another update! They'll get longer as soon as I can get through with finals next week!
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After a few hours, I was disturbed from my thoughts by a
thump.
Immediately, I sat up, facing the direction in which the noise had come from: north. My trained eyes scanned the shadows, looking for any signs of movement within the heavy brush, while I instinctively reached for my blade. My hand felt nothing on my hip, where my sheathed blades were supposed to be.
“Damn… I guess my weapons are still in the cave.” Saprius hadn’t mentioned having any trouble earlier, but then again, I hadn’t asked him.
The wind picked up, and rustled the brush and the leaves of the only tree on the island. Whatever was in the shadows took this opportunity to move, probably thinking that the wind would make enough noise to mask the sound of movement. Whatever it was, it was wrong. I picked up on the movement and followed it, slowly standing.
I saw in the thick darkness, the figure of a person, moving toward the rocks of the cave. When the air became still once more, I leapt at the figure. The metallic glint of steel caught my eye as the shadow unsheathed a blade.
“Who are you?” I asked, dodging an initial horizontal swing from the blade wielder.
A feminine voice cried out in obvious frustration. “I am a daughter of Mephala! I have come to take your life, Listener!
“The Morag Tong has found us already?” I jumped to the left to avoid a stab.
If the Morag Tong had a new Grandmaster, whoever they were surely didn’t like this woman. She was horribly slow, and obviously had a death wish.
Dodging a vertical swing, I smiled.
“So do you have a new Grandmaster yet? You know, I killed the last one.”
She grunted angrily.
“Eno Hlaalu was a good man!”
“And a coward.” I said.
Practically roaring, she tried to stab me again. I moved out of the way and, taking her by surprise, I grabbed her arm, took her dagger from her, and wrapped my arm around her throat.
She coughed and wheezed, gasping for air, as I restricted her airway. I dragged her over to the fire to get a better look at her.
She was a Bosmer. I should have guessed by her height. Her hair was jet black and her golden colored eyes were full of determination. I put her own dagger to her throat and loosened my grip on her neck.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
She managed to shake her head, grunting and struggling against me.
I stabbed her in the stomach, and she cried out in pain, her muscles loosening.
“How did you get here?” I repeated.
“I…I waterwalked.” She said, her hands moving to her wound.
“Does the Morag Tong have any plans to attack the Dark Brotherhood?” I asked.
She paused.
“Don’t make me ask again.” I said, coolly.
“We were simply hired to avenge Vivec’s death…” She answered, her breathing becoming shallow.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” I said.
“I… know not of a plan…” she said.
This reinforced my idea that the Morag Tong was still quite weakened. But, it was still quite possible that there was a plan she didn’t know about.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“The Webspinner knows many things… you will find yourself trapped in her web.” She said, laughing.
I pulled the Bosmer close to the fire. She was bleeding profusely, and her face was turning pale. She still laughed with what little strength she could muster.
Kicking her legs out from under her, I held her face close to the flames.
“Mephala is not but a Lady of Oblivion. She will hurt you as much as she helps you.”
This time it was my turn to laugh.
“Don’t you know that spiders are cannibalistic?”
I shoved her face into the hungry fire.
As the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh wafted into my nostrils, I decided not to wake Saprius up. He deserved his rest, and it would take awhile for another Morag Tong agent to travel to us anyway. If one was stupid enough to follow in the Bosmer’s footsteps, so be it. I was ready for them.