Corrupted heart. Options

[jack cloudy]

Alas, I couldn't wait for Agent to finish before I began my next story. Oh, curse me, all of you whose blood shall be spilled before this story comes to an end.

Ahem, I don't expect my loyal readers to complain though. Heh, I hope I managed to portray the first of my main characters nicely. And one last thing that might be interesting to know. This story takes place before the birth of Luper. So yes, that means at least 23 years before any of my other stories. Now, without further stalling I present:


Corrupted heart.

Chapter 1: Among the cold dirt, the fallen lie.

Consciousness flickered, remaining just out of reach. His senses delivered their messages to his clouded mind, broken fragments of a greater whole. The sound of heavy boots hammering cold rock, the smell of dust in his nose, the feeling of being carried in a boneshattering grip. A taste, plaguing the tip of his tongue. Blood, his blood.

The feeling of movement stopped. Words now echoed in his ears, words he did not comprehend.
,,This looks good enough. Open the door.” The shriek of rusted metal being moved ripped through the haze clouding his mind. Now consciousness returned fully and with it, a chance. For a moment, he continued to feign unconsciousness. Long enough to hear more words, words not meant for him.
,,You, don’t move unless you want even greater problems.” The hands holding him pushed him along. His tail brushed against iron bars. Now was the time.

With the frightening grace of a natural killer, his muscles sprang back to full readiness. He used the body of his captor to swing around, somersaulting into the air and landing on the unfortunate man’s back. With a quick swipe, claws ripped out the man’s throat and crushed his neck. Even before the man began to lose his signs of life, the killer had leapt away. The next guard found himself smashed against the iron bars of the cell. Claws leaving a trail of blood in the air where the last thing the man saw before his eyes were removed. He too died soon afterwards. The whole event had taken less than a second from start to finish.

Breathing heavily from both his exertion and the rough treatment he’d received earlier, the killer stared down at his latest victims. In a slow symbolic movement, he raised his claws and licked them clean of blood, savouring the taste. His ears began to pick up the sound of distant boots coming steadily closer. A standard patrol. His hand snatched the nearby torch from the wall and he slammed the piece of wood into a dusty pool of water. There was a large cloud of smoke and then, darkness.

Even though there was practically no light left, his eyes still saw as good as if he was standing outside on a clear day. He quickly scanned the nearby cells. The one which had been destined for him was already occupied by the short stature of a Bosmer. The one directly on the opposite side of the tunnel was occupied by a muscular Dunmer who looked around warily, not seeing a thing. The killer took a double take on the two beings. While the Dunmer displayed all the expected signs of fear, the Bosmer surprisingly acted as if she hadn’t noticed the massacre at all. She just looked at the ground in front of her bare feet with a blank stare.
,,Must have lost its mind so deep underground.” The Killer concluded. He knew from experience that many Bosmer were extremely claustrophobic and hated being in a room without any windows or underground. A natural result from living in the treetops of Valenwood.

The boots had now gotten close. Soon, the owner of these boots would see the darkness ahead and know that something was wrong. By then though, it would be too late. The Killer crouched at the edge of the darkness, confident in the natural camouflage he had. Now the guard ventured into view and the killer’s heart skipped a beat. This was no guard. The fingers of fear reached out for him, embracing him with their cold touch. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since childhood. The darkness in the tunnel was vanquished by a bright burst of light. With that same burst, the light in his eyes faded and he slipped into unconsciousness once more.

An armoured boot stomped on the ground beside his head.
,,You’ve missed your chance. Enjoy the blood you’ve claimed. They were your last kill.” A gruff voice said as the killer was picked up and taken to his cell.

[jack cloudy]

Marsh shook his head when he saw the Bosmer girl strike up a conversation with a few young nobles.
,,Silly girl. Do you really believe that is going to work? They’ve been told from birth to watch out for such tricks.” He thought and quickened his pace for a moment. He decided however that while it wouldn’t help their task at all, the only damage in the end would be her pride. Under normal circumstances, the young men might actually do her physical harm but only a drunk fool would mess with a bow-wielding Bosmer. So she was quite safe as long as she didn’t go too far. Reassured, he fell back again.

Aran looked at the scene up ahead and moved as close as he could without drawing attention to himself.
,,She’s acting like a fool. Not all men fall easily to a woman’s charmes. This is even more true when said woman does not know how to use her charms. It looks like fulfilling my debt will be a hard task. She just seems to run headfirst into trouble at the first opportunity.”

Rajn followed the group calmly. For the first two streets, the men did their best to act as if they hadn’t seen her. Only when they were about to pass through a gate did the one in the rear acknowledge her presence.
,,Can I help you?” He asked in a friendly yet slightly impatient tone. Rajn came to a full stop and now found the whole group fixing their stares at her. She blushed under all the attention.
,,Drat! I hadn’t thought of what to say! I need something, quick!” She thought in a slight panic.
,,Umm, where can I find the palace?” She asked and gave the group what she thought was her cutest smile.

The man who’d spoken to her, a Breton somewhere in his early twenties, returned her smile.
,,Oh, that’s simple. The palace is the big tower right in the middle of the city. You can’t miss it. To get inside though, you need an invitation.” He explained. Now that she’d something to work with, Rajn had a much easier time finding her words. She faked an extremely disappointing look, including widened eyes.
,,Aww, but I travelled all the way from Fallinesti to see it. I wanted to see the throne room, the old men in their fancy robes, the library, the Emperor’s bedroom, the kitchen. Now what am I going to do?” She pouted. The whole group turned away in disgust but the Breton didn’t move.

,,Come on, Lucius, don’t waste your time with that low-class elf.” One of them told. Lucius held up a hand.
,,No, it’s alright. You can go on ahead without me. I’ll come over later.” He replied and watched them walk away. Once they were out of earshot, he laughed.
,,Quite the tourist, aren’t we? I would’ve expected the treasury to be in your list though. Aren’t Bosmer known as thieves?” He said in jest.
,,Yup, and we sure are proud of our reputation. Robbing the treasury would be great fun, but how would I ever walk away with all that heavy stuff?” Rajn shot back, laughing as well.

The Breton scratched his chin for a moment, his mind elsewhere.
,,Do you know how to use that bow?” He asked with an absent voice.
,,Hey, I am a Bosmer. Of course I’m good, better than anyone else in the province.” Rajn said, beaming with pride.
,,Bosmer, stupid I asked. Well I would hate to see your journey turn out to be useless. Though I heard that the Emperor is holding an archery competition. If you decide to take part, you will actually get to see the inside of the palace. You and whoever you hire to look after the occasion, that is.” He offered after some more thinking.
,,Great! Where do I sign up?” Rajn shouted, falling completely out of her role for the moment. It didn’t matter, for a display of boundless enthusiasm was just what she needed.
,,In the palace of course, follow me.”

The two continued their walk towards the palace, chattering away. Aran still followed within the crowd. He shook his head a few times.
,,Unbelievable, just unbelievable.”

Lucius waved at the guards who held the doors to the palace.
,,Hi!” He greeted and gestured to the Bosmer that she should be quiet.
The guards nodded.
,,Good morning, young sir Stoneleaf. Who is that behind you?” They greeted in return, going straight to the point.
,,Ah, that’s Rajn Treesap. A friend of the family. She’s quite accomplished as a hunter so I thought that she might enter the archery competition?” While the Breton was talking with the guards, Rajn slipped around whenever they weren’t looking till she could reach one of the guards. When the three were fully focussed on their conversation, she put a hand on the guard’s belt and retrieved a surprisingly small set of keys which she quickly put into her pocket without any rinkling. The doors were opened by the other guard and she was allowed inside.
,,Wow, I actually did it.” She thought to herself, surprised at her own success.

Aran shook his head again as he saw the doors close.
,,Unbelievable, truly unbelievable.” He repeated to himself. She was now out of his reach and the best he could do was pray for her safety. He felt a scaly hand on his shoulder and turned to see who’d touched him.
,,Excuse me, dark-skin. You are blocking the road.” Marsh hissed loudly with a hateful voice.
,,I’m a noble and they’ll let me in. I’ll keep an eye on her. Wait at the nearest tavern.” He whispered, without any trace of the hate he’d just displayed. He then left the Ashlander behind and walked confidently up to the stairs.

,,Ah, Marsh-Speaker. My, what happened to you?” The guards asked him. The Argonian looked at his dirty robe and growled.
,,Bandits. It’s impossible to even travel the roads in safety these days. I’m going to file a formal complaint.” He answered. The guards shrugged and opened the gate.
,,Hey, I can’t find my keys. I must have left them at the barracks. Anyway, try to keep it calm, Marsh. We don’t want a repeat of your last complaint which had us buy a new table. The Emperor was not pleased.” The one who’d been robbed by Rajn warned.