The Valiant Bosmer Options

[redsrock]

CHAPTER ONE: An Unknown Source

1

The strong and violent winds blew through the night, swaying the trees back and forth, even the giant oaks that had been rooted into the ground by their planters more than a hundred years ago. A storm was swiftly approaching the outskirts of Chorrol from the southwestern waters of the Abecean Sea, and then of course would likely enter the city itself. But perhaps, being that the city limits were rather thin compared to that of the other cities in Cyrodiil, the storm would miss and continue on its way to the north.

Thelus Moreign hoped for the latter, that the storm would indeed miss. He was having enough trouble seeing as it was because the dense fog was thicker than it had ever been before, or at least to his knowledge. Where is the honoured user? I thought the attack was supposed to have come tonight... Thelus thought to himself while the wind passed through his un-kept and messy dirty-blonde hair, his legs growing more and more tired as the minutes passed. Sitting atop a rock wasn't the most comfortable of positions, and more than anything he feared soon he would fall asleep and tumble off of the small cliff he was perched upon.

The Countess of Chorrol, Arriana Valga, had been tipped off by an unknown source that an attempt would be made on her life, the assassin coming from the forests to the southwest. Thelus, along with several others dispatched around the area, was waiting for this assassin, and would apprehend the criminal before he or she had a chance to accomplish their mission.

Thelus was a scout for the Chorrol army; a young Bosmer in his early thirties, born and raised in the city by his parents, who themselves had grown up in the Imperial City and had only moved in order escape the crowdedness of the capitol and retreat to the secluded peacefulness of Chorrol. Thelus, though he couldn't recall his time living in the Imperial City since he was but an infant, was more than happy that his parents had made the decision to move. He had traveled to the Imperial City on several occasions through his years of military service and he could see why his mother and father thought it best to migrate to the Colovian Highlands.

Ten more minutes and I'm leaving. All this is probably a hoax anyhow. I can't believe the Countess thinks- And then, just as he was about to shift positions to help sooth his aching back, he saw a glimmer of something from the ground level, close to a long line of shrubbery outlining the sides of the outer part of the road leading into the city limits. He looked closer and saw a teal hood as well, but because it was night it was impossible to see the face. Thelus was surprised he could even see the hood to begin with, let alone the glimmer under an only half-lit moon.

At last... Thelus readied his steel bow and quickly grabbed an arrow from its quiver. He dipped the tip of the arrow into a small bowl containing a lime-green liquid. The substance was a poison created to paralyze the victim for several minutes. By using this method Thelus would be able to tie up the perpetrator without the hassle of a struggle. The tip of the arrow was much blunter than normal ones, simply for the fact that the plan was not to kill, only to apprehend. The arrow would merely penetrate several inches of the body and the poison would do its wonders from there. Thelus himself doubted he would miss the target, which was either an arm or a leg. The poison had proved over the years to be more effective if connecting to those mentioned places.

The gleaming of whatever Thelus was seeing grew brighter so he waited for the body to appear from the shrubbery before he took his shot. The gleam was likely that of jewelry or perhaps a wielded blade. Come on, show yourself... he whispered quietly. But this never happened and Thelus was becoming impatient. The body kept moving along the line of bushes, never faltering but never showing any sings of showing itself either. Finally Thelus was fed up with the waiting and fired his arrow into the bushes. He strained his ears and he soon heard a faint grunt, and then toppling out from the bushes was the body, the arrow sticking out of the victim's right hip. It didn't hit either of the limbs Thelus had hoped for, but at least it had done the job.

Thelus clamped the lid onto the clay pot of poison and carefully placed it into his leather sack. Then he scurried down the small hill and rushed over to the body. Ah, a Breton he thought out loud as he reached for the body's hood that was covering his face. Thelus noted the body of an Imperial, but the ears of a Mer.

He lifted the hood of the would-be-assassin and was shocked into disbelief. It was the face of Eugal Doran, a former personal advisor to the Countess herself.

[redsrock]

2

"No, I will not have my men get themselves killed looking for something that's not even there!"

Thelus was now sitting in an expensively made wooden chair, just outside the Countess' chambers, a few hours after shooting the Breton in the forest. He had brought the body to Chorrol on horseback where it was no resting in the medical wing of the castle, and now Arriana and Bittneld the Curse-Bringer, Chorrol's Guard Captain, were arguing back and forth, but Thelus couldn't really tell what they were saying because the thick walls muffled most of everything.

I wonder what they're yelling about... Thelus thought, just seconds before the door swung open with Bittneld standing in the doorway. "Come in, soldier," he commanded to Thelus, who in return stood up quickly and entered the room. To Thelus, Bittneld was a bit of a brute at times, though he took great care for his men. Thelus liked that a lot.

Once the two were inside the room Bittneld slammed the door shut and ordered Thelus to sit down. There was but one empty chair in the room, located in front of the Countess' large and lavish desk, so he simply sat down without muttering a word.

The Countess herself was sitting behind that mentioned desk, her hands in her lap. Judging by the redness in her face Thelus could tell she was very angry. Of course, that was obvious given the fact that someone who had been her former personal advisor had just tried to kill her.

"You shot the wrong person," she said bluntly, here icy blue eyes glaring into Thelus' own pair of his eyes, though his were of a darkish shade of brown.

"What...I-"

"Actually, let me rephrase myself," She interrupted. "You shot someone who had previously been involved with enemy, but not the specific person who was to carry out my murder. It so happens that Eugal had abandoned the ones wanting my life earlier today out of guilt, and was in fact coming to warn me. So, needless to say, I am both happy and unhappy with what has taken place tonight."

Thelus said nothing and only sat in his chair, feeling miserably that he had shot the wrong person. At least I didn't kill anyone... Suddenly Bittneld took the stage.

"According to Eugal, who himself woke up about an hour or so ago, there is a cave to the southwest. In that cave there are several people planning the death of the Countess for reasons we do not know. Apparently whoever was supposed to have been the murderer saw Eugal get shot, and likely ran back to the cave. They will of course make another plan, but I have a bit of work for you and a few others, and hopefully it will silence the conspirators."

"Yes, sir?"

"I will send you, Findle and Graius out into the forest. I want you three to investigate the area and find the cave. Enter it and try and see if you can determine how many rebels there are. Eugal won't say a damn thing unfortunately. So if there aren't many, I'd like you three to go ahead and eliminate them. I have full trust in your abilities, which is why I am sending you with my most trained and veteran soldiers."

"Yes, sir. Do we leave tonight?"

"Yes, right now actually. Findle and Graius should be waiting in the lobby right now. Hurry, before the sun comes up. And be careful, we don't know if there will be any patrols or traps."

Thelus was about to leave the room when Countess suddenly spoke up from behind him. "Wait." Thelus stopped and turned back around to meet her eyes. "Did you happen to find a blue parchment of paper lying around Eugal's body?"

"No, my lady, I did not," he responded, wondering what in the world she was talking about.

"Very well, you may leave."

**************************************

Thelus left the room and hurried down the hall, not wanting to waste any time or anger Findle or Gaius for making them wait so long. The two were the toughest of the soldiers in Chorrol, and Gaius himself was likely on the brink of being promoted to an officer. Both were experts with a blade, which is why Thelus was happy to have heard from the Captain that they were going with him on the mission. Thelus didn't mind using a dagger or shortblade when the time called for it, but having Findle and Gaius with him relaxed his nerves.

"Sorry it took so long."

The two Imperials just looked at Thelus, not saying much. Neither of them cared for the Bosmer too much, but they would admit that he was an excellent archer and skillful with a shortsword, and that was the only reason they didn't argue with Bittneld about the mission. The truth was, even if they wouldn't admit it publicly, was that they'd rather have Thelus for the job than anyone else, even if he was a Bosmer.

"Don't worry, we haven't been here long," Gaius said with no emotion. "Let's just get out there before dawn hits us."

The three walked out of the castle and out of the city, slowly and carefully making their way through the forest, towards the supposed location of the enemy's cave.

[redsrock]

I don't know why I put a "chapter one" in the beginning, because I never planned for this to be long. In fact, the last part will be posted shortly. I just thought I'd let you all know.

[redsrock]

3

As Thelus and the other two Chorrol soldiers were walking through the forest, roughly one hour from the city itself, Gaius suddenly motioned for them to stop. They had been moving quickly but quietly through the bushes, Thelus praying that neither of them would fall victim to an archer.

"Look, up ahead..." Gaius whispered while pointing in front of him. Up ahead, roughly fifteen yards away, was an entrance to some type of cavern. "I'd say that must be the cave we're looking for. Let's move up-"

"Wait!" Thelus whispered loudly, and both Gaius and Findle stopped dead in their tracks. "There's a man in chain-mail armor crouching in a bush by the entrance. The metal is shining from the moonlight. Do you see it?"

The two soldiers narrowed their eyes and Gaius responded, "You're right, there is someone there. Take him out with your bow."

Thelus looked into Gaius' eyes and said, "But what if he's not one of the bad guys? What if this isn't even the cave we're looking for?" In truth, Thelus was still shaken from shooting the wrong person earlier. He really didn't want to take that chance again.

"Who in their right mind would be hiding in a bush at three o'clock in the morning?" Gaius asked, starting to sound impatient.

"You have a point...but you know I'll have to shoot for the head, right? He's wearing chain-mail and there's not a one-hundred percent chance an arrow would strike through the tiny metal rings. I think-"

"Just do it!" Gaius whispered, a little too loud for Thelus' taste.

"Fine, fine," the Bosmer said quickly while grabbing his bow from its leather carrier on his back. He plucked an arrow from its quiver and took at at the target in the bush. Judging by the position of the metal shine, Thelus estimated where the head would be and fired the arrow into the dark night. A sound echoed through the air and the shining glimmer disappeared.

"Go check it out, Thelus. Swing around so you don't have to walk in the open," Gaius whispered.
"Yes, sir." Thelus snuck away from the group and began to make his way around the area, behind the fallen target in the bush. He unsheathed his steel dagger, just in case the target was in fact wounded rather than killed, and entered the shrubbery. What he saw shocked him to the core. It was a thick wooden plank with chain-mail wrapped around it and an iron helmet nailed to the top.

Son-of-a-" Before he could make even the slightest move something hard hit him in the back of the head, and the Bosmer lost conscience just a milli-second before hitting the soft dirt ground.

***************************

"He's waking up. Hand me the cross bow...hurry!"

Thelus' eyes began to open, but yet all he saw was darkness. This led him to believe that he had been blindfolded, and when he tried to reach out he realized his hands had been cuffed as well with iron-rings, and as he moved his legs it was learned that they were in a similar condition. After squirming around a bit but going nowhere Thelus also realized that he had been tied to a chair.

A feeling of warmth was hitting the front side of his body fiercely, when suddenly the blindfolded was swiped from his face, and he noted the makeshift fireplace just a few feet in front of him. Thelus was in some kind of cave, and he figured it to be the one he, Findle and Gaius had been looking for.

Suddenly a hand clasped his left shoulder behind and swung him around, the legs of the chair creaking as if they were on the cusp of breaking in two. What Thelus saw next shocked him even more than that wooden dummy had done outside. Standing in front of him was Gaius, and behind him was Findle and a few others Thelus recognized as soldiers from Chorrol...his own comrades.

"What's going on?" Thelus demanded.

Gaius simply smiled and moved closer to the Bosmer, a wooden crossbow in both of his thick muscular hands. "Have you not guess, Thelus? Why else would you be tied up, and all of his standing in front of you?"

Thelus was growing angrier by the second, but that did him no good tied up to a chair. "So you're part of the scheme to kill the Countess..."

"Yes...yes we are. Actually the entire Chorrol military is in on this, but that's a story you unfortunately will not live to hear."

Gaius then took the crossbow and shot a bolt straight into Thelus' head, right square in the forehead, ending his short-lived life.