Children of the Void, The sequel to The Story of the Listener Options

[Kayla]

Alright. I just finished writing and refining this to my satisfaction. I hope you all will enjoy this. This story takes place right after the last one ended. However, for awhile, it might be a few days between updates. I'm still trying to get some school things straightened out and I'm quite busy, but once things settle down at school, I'm sure I'll have more time to write. Enjoy what I have so far!

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My boots crunched softly in the snow as I weaved through the trees in the forested Jerall Mountains north of Bruma. The moonless night was cold and shadowy; just the way I liked it. The Night Mother’s words echoed in my head as I pulled my black robe tighter over my lightly armored body to fend off the biting cold.

“I know the Speakers usually go out to meet our clients, but this one is special. I want you to handle it personally, dear Listener.”

For the past six months, the Dark Brotherhood had been busy. Not only had we added on to the sanctuary, we had received a fair amount of new members. Though I enjoyed them, none of the newer members really shone through as Speaker material. Coventia, the only Speaker we had at the moment, and probably my oldest friend that was still alive in the sanctuary agreed with me. Therefore, it wasn’t unusual for the both of us to be very busy meeting clients. There was no shortage of people who wanted others dead. To add on to the situation, politics in Tamriel had become very rocky. And when politics became competitive, we were usually quite busy. I had also heard whispers in the underground of plots to assassinate the emperor…

I caught a glimpse of light through the veil of tree branches ahead. I was to meet an old Breton woman who lived in a small cabin in the forest. As I got closer to the light, I could make out the shape of a small cabin in a distant clearing. Warm light was shining through the windows. I stepped out of the forest and into the clearing, the surveyed the small structure.

“This must be the place.” I mumbled to myself.

I pulled my hood up over my head to hide my face, then moved to the front door and knocked quietly. I waited a few seconds and received no response. I knocked again, this time, louder. Still, there was no answer. I couldn’t even hear any noises from within the cabin. Cursing under my breath, I grabbed the doorknob with a gloved hand and pushed the door open, stepping inside the warmth of the cabin.

The place was empty. The fireplace on the opposite wall was lit, as were some candles that adorned tables in the room. Suddenly, I sensed a presence behind me. Turning around, I drew my shortsword and was greeted by a blinding flash of blue light. I felt an impact in my chest that knocked me to the wooden floor, and a sharp pain that was both burning and freezing.

“You won’t kill me, you psychopath!” a panicked female voice screamed.

I quickly sat up, pulling my hood off to reveal my face. I saw an aging Breton woman with her back against a wall, frantically edging toward the door of the cabin. As our eyes met, I watched her expression soften.

“Oh my…” she breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re not a murderer.”
“Technically, I am.” I replied, standing. She walked forward quickly and cast a healing spell on me, which made the pain my chest subside. “I’m from the Dark Brotherhood. Did you just hit me with a frost spell?” I asked. In my opinion, frost spells were much worse than fire spells. They had a different sort of pain that you could only feel on the business end of a magickal burst of ice.

The woman’s blue eyes looked me over nervously. “I’m terribly sorry…” she said.
“It’s alright.” I murmured, stepping toward the fireplace to warm myself. “Who is it that you want dead?” I asked.

The woman hesitated. I looked over my shoulder at her, waiting for a response. She shifted nervously, ran her hands through her short, graying hair, and finally, she spoke in an anxious tone. “There’s a murderer out here. He’s killed all my neighbors… I think I’m next…”

I turned my head and watched as the flames in the fireplace danced.

“Why did the Night Mother want me to take care of this?” I thought to myself.

Keeping my gaze fixated on the fire, I spoke. “Lady, we’re the Dark Brotherhood, not the Fighters Guild. Nor are we mercenaries-“ Before I could say another word, there was a loud crash. Shards of glass scattered across the floor and a black figure practically flew into the cabin through the broken window.

The figure stopped a few feet away from me, standing up straight. It was much taller than I was. It spoke in a deep, gruff, and obviously male voice.

“You’re in the Dark Brotherhood?” he half stated, half asked.
“Yes.” I answered, staring at him.

The tall, shadowy man was unlike anything I’d ever seen. He looked like a Dunmer, except his skin was much darker, almost black, and his long, black straight hair went down past his broad shoulders. When our eyes met, I was absolutely mesmerized. His eyes were a deep red, very similar to the color of blood. The more I looked, the more I was convinced that any moment, he would begin crying tears of thick, sanguine blood. Looking past the color of his eyes, it was easy to see that he was a murderer. The eyes are the windows to the soul and his soul was as black as the void.

“The assassin and the murderer… this should be quite fun.” He said, stepping forward and brandishing an ebony shortsword.

As I drew my Elven shortsword, I found myself wondering how I had gotten into this situation in the first place. The old Breton woman dashed away from us as he charged at me.

He grunted with each swift swing of his sword. He was fast, but I was faster, dodging and parrying his blade, trying to get in a hit of my own. Though I had this man beat in a contest of speed, I was not about to challenge his strength.

After a few more minutes of dodging, and getting no hits of my own in, my back hit a wall. He smirked as he saw his opportunity. Quickly, he brought his sword down in a vertical slash. I managed to block it at the last second by holding up my sword. The ebony and Elven metal of the blades collided with a loud clash. He clenched his jaw as he used his strength to try and bring his sword down and break my defense. I was struggling just to keep his sword away from my body. I looked up at his face to see deep wrinkles and for a moment, I found myself wondering just how old he was.

In a sudden movement that surprised me, and pulled me from my thoughts, he drew a silver dagger from a sheath on his left leg. He brought the dagger up to stab me, but I thrust out my left hand and grabbed his arm. Now I was doing all I could to keep him from bringing two blades down on me.

Knowing I would surely die if my back stayed against the wall for too long, I used the last bit of my strength to push him away. Then, I grabbed his left hand and moved smoothly to the left, pulling his arm behind his back and simultaneously took his dagger from him. Wasting no time, I jabbed his own dagger into his neck. Oddly, he remained perfectly still, not even making a noise.

For a few moments, we stood there, frozen in absolute silence until I heard a dripping noise. I looked down to see a puddle of blood forming near my right foot… and a Daedric dagger lodged in my ribs.

“It’s over for you…” he said quietly.

I pulled the silver dagger out of his neck, scarlet blood flowing rapidly from the gash, and then I stepped back. Surprisingly, my wound wasn’t very painful. However, I knew that if the Daedric dagger were to be removed, it could be very serious. He turned to face me, laughing and clutching his wound, blood seeping through his fingers.

“What the hell is so funny?” I asked.
“That’s a bound dagger.” He replied.

For a moment I was quiet, then I looked up into his eyes.

“What is your name?” I asked him.
He seemed surprised by my question. “I am a monster. I have no name.” he replied.
“You are a man. You have a name. What is it?” I asked.

I felt the dagger in my ribs disappear. Warm blood was now flowing out of the wound at an alarming rate. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes widen in a look of concern, but his gaze quickly intensified.

“My name is Verano, and you are going to die soon…” he said.
“How would you like to join the Dark Brotherhood, Verano?” I asked.
He grunted.
“You could prove to be quite useful.” I added.
“You’re going to bleed to death…” he said.
“So are you.” I said, meeting his gaze. I knew that the wound I’d inflicted on him was just as bad as the wound he’d inflicted on me.
We stood in silence for a moment.
“I’ll join…” he finally answered.
“Good.” I said, pulling two healing potions from my pocket. I began to drink one and tossed the other to him. My pain faded almost immediately.
I began to walk to the door. “Come, I’ll show you the sanctuary.” Apprehensively, he followed.

The Breton woman ran forward and grabbed my arm. “He’s a psychopathic killer! A monster! You’re going to let him join with you?!”
I looked at her. “Deep down inside, we’re all monsters.”
“You will receive no payment from me!” she shrieked.
“Whether or not you want to, you will pay my Lord. Sithis demands blood.” I said, slitting her throat before she even knew what was happening.

I looked into Verano’s blood red eyes. “My name is Sarelle. I am the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. Welcome to our family.”

[Kayla]

Well, it's been awhile. I hope none of you have missed me too much! I'm proud to post my next update! Hope you like it!
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Shadowmere galloped on the road, her hooves thudding at a fast pace and kicking up dust behind us. The wind blew in my face with a slight stinging sensation.

“Why would the Night Mother send me to Kvatch at a time like this?” I asked myself. “Why is killing this member of the Imperial Legion so important? Things are really going to get hectic now that the Emperor is dead…”

As I neared the city of Kvatch, I noticed the weather picked up, becoming oddly ominous again. I could hear the low rumble of distant thunder, and the atmosphere became moist. It was probably going to rain soon.

Kvatch was a nice city, though I rarely went there. The city itself was located on top of a splendid hill. The towering temple of Akatosh there served as the center of the city and could be seen for miles.

“I wonder who really killed the Emperor… but, I guess it doesn’t have anything to do with me…” I thought.

I followed the winding road as I kept my eye on the temple of Akatosh. The leaves on the trees were beginning to change colors, painting a beautiful picture of the outer Gold Coast region. The orange, red, yellow, and even a rare bit of green mixed together as the wind blew the leaves and grasses. I reasoned that I should visit this part of Cyrodiil more often.

The sun was setting when I finally arrived in Kvatch. I left Shadowmere at the stable and walked through the gates into the city. Of course, the guards posted near the gates were talking about the assassination of the Emperor. They were so absorbed in their conversation, they paid little attention to my arrival.

The people of the city were busily heading back to their homes before the ensuing night. I watched the guards patrol the area, wondering where their captain would be. I wanted to finish this contract as soon as possible so I could return to Cheydinhal. I stopped momentarily, staring up at the temple of Akatosh, thinking over the events of the past few days. I wondered why Lucien had stopped contacting me, then after all this time, he was trying to reach out to me again. I thought of the mysterious man I’d encountered at the Arcane University. Who was he? Maybe he was no one… maybe he was just someone who was in a hurry and happened to bump into me. I thought over the contract I had been assigned, wondering why it was so important at such an urgent time.

I sighed and began looking for the Watch Building. I was sure that I could find out the guard captain’s name and quite possibly his current location there. As my boots crunched in the grass, people hurried past me, and the wind picked up. I heard a rumbling sound and was quick to dismiss it as thunder. I kept walking, almost certain that I had spotted the Watch Building ahead of me… when the ground started to shake. At first, so slightly I thought that I was just imagining things, then it quickly became violent. I stopped, and looked around, struggling to keep my balance.

“What the hell is happening?” someone near me screamed.

I watched as the quaint brick and wood houses, and eventually the more reinforced stone buildings around me began to fall apart. I cursed out loud as I dodged pieces of falling brick, stone, and wood. Though the ground was still shaking, I ran, looking for an exit to the town. Screams and cries for help filled the night air. The city guard was shakily assembling, though I had no idea what they thought they could do at this time. I half ran, half stumbled over the shaking ground, dodging pieces of stone that seemed to rain from the sky. The city was now in complete chaos.

Just as I thought nothing worse could happen, a wall of fire shot up from the ground right in front of me. If I had taken just a few more steps forward, the wall probably would have incinerated me. My eyes watered from the immense heat it was giving off, as I cautiously backed up.

“What the…?”

Suddenly, a huge clawed hand emerged from the wall of fire, and began to thrash around, the long, sharp claws whistling through the air. I backed up more, quickly brandishing my shortsword. No sooner had I pulled the blade from the sheath, the huge clawed hand revealed itself as belonging to a Daedroth. The monstrous creature leapt from the wall of flames, gnashing its hungry jaws at me. I dodged its initial attack, ducking under its huge frame and slashing a large wound in its scaly back. I jumped over it as it turned to face me, then I quickly decapitated it.

I turned my gaze back to the wall of fire. Daedra were now flooding out of it, running into the city to wreak havoc. I quickly dispatched of what Daedra I could, knowing that there was no way I could kill all of them at the rate they were coming out.

Over the sounds of armor clanging together, swords connecting with bone, and the roars of the Daedra, I heard a loud, commanding voice.
“Retreat! Everyone get outside the city walls!”

Shoving my sword through the face of a scamp, I broke into a run toward the city gate. There was a lot of debris blocking my path, such as huge pieces of the chapel tower, but I was sure I could scale it.

I jumped on top of a stone chunk to see a group of guards and citizens fleeing the doomed city. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone casting a spell. I turned completely and saw that there was a mage fighting a Dremora. Not a lot of people really stood a chance against such a powerful Daedroth, but this mage was doing pretty well. Due to the deep green cloak they were wearing, I could not tell if it was a man or a woman, but I could see that they were a powerful spellcaster.

The majority of mages I’d seen throughout my life had trouble using magic in fast paced combat. This was because magic was very different from a sword. Having a sword, a bit of strength, and some common combat knowledge could help you succeed in a fight, but in order to effectively use magic in combat, you had to be good at pacing yourself, and have the ability to anticipate the moves of you opponent. The way mages practiced spells at the guild was far different from using them to actually hurt or hinder an enemy. The only way to be good at magic in combat was to have true combat experience.

I ran across the chunk of stone until I was near the Dremora, then I jumped off, and buried my sword in its neck. Both the Dremora and the person fighting it seemed surprised by my sudden attack. I looked more closely at the person. The hood on the cloak cast a shadow over their face, making it impossible to see. I shoved my sword through the back of the Dremora’s head, then kicked it squarely in the back. It fell limply to the ground.

“Many thanks, Breton.” A female voice said, through the shadow of her hood.
“It would be wise to leave now.” I said.

I helped her climb the debris to escape the city.

“It’s unfortunate… getting caught up with a Dremora.” I said, as I ensured she didn’t lose her balance.
“Ah. You know a bit about Daedra, do you?” She asked.

Besides the fact that I was a proficient conjurer, I found reading about the Daedra to be quite entertaining. They were quite the interesting beings.

“Yeah. You could say that.” I said, climbing down the debris pile, then offering to help her. It was then that I noticed quite a bit of the city had caught on fire. When I helped her down, we ran through a horde of Daedra, finally bursting through the city gates. As I pushed them closed before the Daedra could escape, it began to rain. A swift breeze blew the woman’s hood down, allowing me a view of her face.

Her dark eyes were a contrast to her light skin showed kindness and compassion, and her wavy dark brown hair blew softly in the wind.

“Thank you very much for your help.” She said, smiling. Her voice was deep and comforting. “Unfortunately, this is a time of crisis and there is someone out there who is very precious to me… someone that I must protect. I’m sure they are quite scared right now without me by their side… I must take my leave of you now… Though I would very much like to stay here and help the people of the city…” her eyes showed a bit of sadness and remorse.

I nodded, understandingly. I knew how she felt.

“Thank you once again for your help.” She said, offering another smile.

Then the woman pulled her hood back up, and walked away, leaving the chaos of Kvatch behind her.

This post has been edited by Kayla: Oct 29 2006, 09:08 PM