Story of Soran Prelude:Flight of the shadow., my first fanfic Options

[The Metal Mallet]

Nice to see this story finally continuing. Glad to see you back, Tymestrike. You've definitely maintained your intricate and heavily detailed style. You definitely get the reader right inside the mind of your character.

[tymestrike]

well good to see that people still want the story to go on ill get right onto writing up the next part may get it done as soon as tonight if i really buckle down to it

[tymestrike]

Story of Soran Prelude: Flight of the Shadow part 7

Here is part 7 of the Story of Soran, yeah 2 updates in a day? odd for me too blasted creative spark and i cant type that fast to write it all down as I'm playing

Moving in the direction the sqeaks of the rats were coming from I saw a flickering of firelight. There must be alot of goblins in here because I'm seeing more skulls on spikes. Reaching down to my left boot I pull out a scroll I found on a dead goblin back when I found my armor. Let's see here... Ok that is the mark for illusion, and that one is for Chameleon, so this must be a scroll for a Chameleon spell can't tell how long it will last but it should be long enough to see whats ahead of me in this next room. When will these Oblivion cursed caves end? They seem to go on forever and ever. Casting the scroll I mumble out its words "Obscuro Sireneth" and instantly fade away a fair amount. Sneaking forward very carefully I spot a goblin in a fair amount of armor ahead and start to sneak forward but it detects me and charges. I barely have time to get my sword out and up into a block before it makes impact. Holding my blade up I deflect two of the goblins strikes before swinging out myself. The goblin and I trade blows in rapid exchanges till I deal a lucky strike. My blade swings in from the right and the goblin quickly raises it's shield to block but my blade skips off the top of the shield and slits it's throat in a ear to ear smile. As the goblin falls to the ground the scroll wears off and I snap back into visibility. Very useful spell- I must learn that one so I can cast it without the aid of a scroll I thought.

Stepping fully into the room I relize it is huge in comparison to all the others more along the lines of a cavern than a room. Moving forward, being careful to avoid the firelight, I spot the rats I heard earlier and a goblin pacing infront of the cage door that keeps two of them contained. Taking aim I bury a arrow into the goblin and draw my sword. Looking around I see another torch off to my right sticking to the shadows. I slink around for a better veiw with my bow drawn the entire time. Reaching the doorway I entered the cavern from, I spot a goblin in the torchlight so I draw a arrow and let it fly, drawing a second and also letting that fly without waiting to see if the first killed the goblin. The first hit and stunned the goblin, the second it dodged in a amazing feat of agility for a goblin. Drawing a third arrow as the thing closed in, I fired and saw it hit the thing in the shoulder blocking it's first swing with my bow. I flinched as I heard it make impact on the bow's leading edge. Quickly drawing my sword I do two fast swings to kill the thing before it can call for help and grin as it falls dead.

Moving forward toward the torchlight I see the light of the sun outside shining in from a hole in the ceiling. looking at it I see movement and see another goblin there. Not wanting to risk it I back up and go around the thing to kill it from behind. As I reach the halfway point I remember the rats and seeing how there is a bonfire down in the pit they are in, and a torch at the midway point I take aim and with three arrows kill all three of them, ending the threat they posed to my stealth-filled approach of the last goblin. Getting right behind the last goblin I see that it is first of all the witch of the tribe and that it is female. Good thing I chose to sneak up on this one I wouldn't fair to well against the spells they can throw. While most goblins are stupid and ruled by instinct, the witches and shamans are fairly intelligent. Pulling a vial of poison out of my pack I cause my healing spell to seal any wounds I may have and using a bear pelt I got off of a goblin I spread the poison on both sides of my blade with my spit again serving as a liquid to turn it into paste. Sliding right up behind the goblin witch I slide my blade into her right side ribs at level with her heart on her left side and keep shoving till it pokes out on the left side. Good and dead now, arent we, stupid goblin?

Examining her body I find a soul gem of a light blue color and a flawed ruby. Tucking those away in the pack on my back I spy a chest sitting in the sunlight. Hmm, whats in this? I wonder to myself poping it's lock I find some nice items and I tuck those in my bag too. Looking around I see another chest in sunlight to my right. dashing over there I can't contain my glee when I find a longsword and more lockpicks. Walking back to where the witch died, I see more torchlight so I follow it and find myself in a tunnel leading up to a door. Listening carefully, I hear nothing on the other side so I open it and slip through, glad to be able to see something other than goblin work again.

I'm back in the prison again?! I thought, astounded. so how did those goblins get down there? oh well, let's keep going and hope I find a way out before meal time in the cells. Then they will surely know that i'm not in the cell anymore and the whole prison will be flooded with guards looking to recapture me. Walking up and down the hall that I find myself in I hear voices up ahead.

"We should find a defensible spot to protect the Emperor until help arrives." one familiar voice says.

"Help? What makes you think help will arrive before more of those bastards? We have to get the Emperor out of here." Another voice says.

[i] Oh no, not them again, I thought they would be long gone by now. I thought in panic, this was not how I planned to get away from them. They should have been long gone and have cleared all the guys in funny armor before I got this far.

"I think that was all of them, let me take a look around." the second gaurd says. Now that I could see them they looked a little weary of fighting almost as if they had had to fight a huge number of enemies in the last minute or so.

"Have you seen the prisoner" Uriel asks.

"Do you think he followed us? How could he?" the gaurd that had thought it was a good idea to shove into my shoulder to spin me around back in my cell asked.

"I know he did." Uriel replied.

I drop down off the ledge the hallway had led to and draw my blade knowing they are not going to be happy to see me again.

"Damn, it's that prisoner again. Kill him! he may be working with the assassins." the first gaurd barked as he drew his blade and moved to attack me.

"Ha! Put down that blade before you hurt yourself! I'll kill you before your blade gets to contact my armor." I say in a cold voice How did I manage to say that without any sign of fear? I'm worried he would kill me if he had the chance.

The gaurd laughs "Oh really? I'm so scared the little prisoner is going to kill me! what ever will I do?" he says with a mocking tone to his voice.

"No!" Uriel commands, "He is not one of them, he can help us, he must help us."

"As you wish, sire." the guard says and walks away with his blade back in its scabbard.

I advance toward Uriel with my blade put away and my bow still on my back.

"They can not understand why I trust you. They've not seen what I've seen. How can I explain. Listen, you know the Nine, how they guide our fates with a invisible hand." Uriel says when I reach a distance he deems reasonable from him.

"The gods and me are not on the best of terms." I tell him truthfully.

"I've served the Nine all my days, and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens. The skies are marked with numberless sparks, each a fire, and every one a sign. I wonder, which sign marked your birth?" He says after a thoughtful nod.

"I was born under the sign of the Thief, and it's power has been made manifest in me already since I have come of age" I tell him. Why is he so interested in me? what does my star sign have to do with anything?

"The signs I read show the end of my path. My death will come when it will come." He says with a look of relaxation on his face.

"What about me? What will happen when you are no longer there to protect me from your own body gaurds?" I ask him.

[jack cloudy]

So you've started again? That's great! We need more people who have the guts to continue stories they haven't been able to update for months.

And I can see it is pretty good stuff. As Mallet said, you've got an eye for putting in little details, like using spit to turn the powder into a paste, warming up leather before sneaking, cutting fingers when shoveling around inside a chest. Nice.

[tymestrike]

Story of Soran Prelude: Flight of the Shadow Part 8

"Your stars are not mine. Today the Thief shall guide your steps on the road to destiny." Uriel responds.

"Are you not afraid to die?" I ask amazed that during our talk he has never shown any outward sign of fear.

"I have no trophies of my triumphs to precede me. But I have lived well, and my ghost shall rest easy. Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom but not the hour. Yet, in this I am blessed, to see the hour of my death to face my apportioned fate, and then... fall." he responds solemnly

"Can you see my fate?" I ask curiously.

"My dreams do not grant me opinions of success for they do not venture beyond the doors of death. Yet in your face, I behold the sun's companion. The dawn of Akatosh's blazing glory may banish the coming darkness. With such hope and with the promise of your aid my heart must be satisfied." he responds in a regal way.

"Ah, ok that settles that little matter then. So where is our destination?" I ask trying to change the topic.

"I head to my grave, for a tongue shriller than all music calls to me. You on the other hand, shall follow me for a while yet and then we will part," Uriel said.

"Here take this torch and stick close." the kinder of the two guards told me.

"What are you guys?" I asked.

"We are the Emperor's bodyguards and our job is to get him out of situations like this, although things are not going according to plan. My name is Baurus, and my companion up ahead is Glenroy." Baurus spoke with feeling in his voice.

Deciding to follow along, I slip the torch into my pack and follow at the back of their group. Stepping through the doorway I see a room with what looks like two floors. The upper floor is where we entered and another floor is just below it. The lower floor has open air above it where you can jump down from the top floor. The Emperor and his guards take a set of stairs to the right, but I get an odd feeling and step up to the edge where in the shadows I see more assassins.

"Assassins!" I scream and pulled my bow off of my back.

The guards heard my call and charged forward. I’m unwilling to hit the guards. I can’t get a clear shot of any assassin. So I put my bow back on my back and wait. When all the assassins are dead I drop down and follow the emperor out of the room. The next room is full of dark shadows and all I hear is the clanging of weapons as the guards fight off the assassins. Quickly ducking into the shadows I hide from combat. Finally I see three bright flashes as the assassins all die and their armor and weapons vanish. Ok this is nuts, Sheogorath must be having a field day here with the madness that seems to have overtaken tamriel. Walking forward I do a quick check of the bodies and find nothing useful.

"Hurry up! We don't have all day you know!" Glenroy said is a low tone.

"It takes you more than four hours to go fifty feet or so, and we don't have all day?!" I ask, annoyed with the constant rushing that seemed to happen after I met back up with Uriel.

Slipping forward through the door at the end of the hall, one of the few lighted places in the entire room, I see we have entered a massive room. Looking around, I see that throughout the room there seem to be ledges on the upper floor and a single stairway flanked by twin ornate pillars leading downward into a much darker room. Carefully trailing behind them, I check for extra things they may have missed. Jumping up onto one of the ledges, I feel the pulse of a spell but I cannot figure out what kind of spell it is. Odd, I thought these tunnels were long deserted. Guess not, seeing how the magicka feels freshly placed. Carefully remembering the feel of the magicka pulse I file it away into my memory for later use.

"Looks clear, come on we are almost through to the sewers." Glenroy says.

Well that’s the price I pay for lingering behind them to look over things. I missed what he was talking about. I mused annoyed.

"Damnit!" Glenroy cursed, "The gate is barred from the other side! This is a trap!" he said in a panic.

"What about that side passage back there?" Baurus asked.

"It’s worth a try! Let’s go!" Glenroy said eyes glancing around in fright.

Quickly dropping down from the ledge, I sprint over to the passage that they are heading towards and look for shadows to hide in. Finding some in the back of the room I duck down and wait, listening attentively.

"It's a dead end, what's your call sir." Baurus said with defeat in his voice.

"I don't know. I don't see any good options here." Glenroy sighed, defeat evident in his voice.

The sound of a gate sliding shut startles all of us and Glenroy is the first to respond.

"They are behind us. Quickly defend the Emperor!" Glenroy spoke suddenly in command again.

Glancing over his shoulder to look at me Baurus says "Wait here with the Emperor, guard him with your life."

"Fine, but you better keep them out of here with your own life if need be." I tell him.

Both of the Blades look at me funny and then charge back out of the room.

"I can go no further, you alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants." Uriel tells me as he suddenly spins me around to face him, this is the first time he has touched me. "Take the Amulet. Give it to Jaufre. He alone knows where to find my last son." Suddenly his face grows very grave, "Find him, and close shut the Jaws... of Oblivion." and with those words I hear a door open flicking my eyes to the right I see an assassin jump out and stab the Emperor through the heart.

"You picked a bad day to take up the cause of the Septims" the assassin says to me and advances toward me.

Quickly I strike out, going into a blind rage. He has just killed one of the few people in my life to show me something other than contempt. But he calmly knocks my blade away and stabs me in my left side. Thankfully, my armor deflected most of the blow. Quickly I step back and Baurus charges past me. He removes the fools head from his shoulders in one clean stroke. Stepping out of the room to let the man regain his composure after seeing his emperor dead, I spot the other guards’ blade. Picking it up I figure it’s the least I can do out of respect for the duty he did.

Trudging back into the room I clasp Baurus's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. You gave me a task and I failed." I tell him, true regret filling my voice and my eyes full of tears.

He turns and looks at me, "We've failed. I've failed ... The blades are sworn to protect the Emperor, and now he and all his heirs are dead." he says with distress plain on his face. Suddenly Baurus looks up in shock "The Amulet, where's the Amulet of Kings? It wasn't on the Emperor's body."

"I have it, with his last breaths he gave it to me." I tell him, still clutching the thing in my left hand.

"Strange, he saw something in you, trusted you. They say it’s the Dragon Blood, that flows through the veins of every Septim. They see more than lesser men. The Amulet of Kings is a sacred symbol of the empire. Most people think of the Red Dragon Crown, but that’s just jewelry. The Amulet has power. He must have given it to you for a reason, any idea why?" He asks.

"I am to take it to a person named 'Jauffre'." I say.

"Jauffre? He said that? Why?" Baurus asks me suspiciously.

"There is one last heir." I tell him.

"Nothing I know about, but Jauffre would know, he is the Grandmaster of my Order. He lives as a monk in Weynon Priory."

"And I go about getting there...how?" I ask.

"First things first.” That door, he points to the one used by the assassin that killed Uriel, "must lead to the sewer entrance, past the locked gate. That was where we were heading. It was a secret way out of the Imperial City. At least, it was supposed to be a secret. Here, take this key, it will open the last door to the sewers." he tells me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up a minute there. The sewers!?" I say shocked, They were going to drag the Emperor of Tamriel through the sewers?!

"There are rats and goblins down there... but from what I've seen of you. I'm guessing that you are an experienced Assassin. Am I right?" he says.

"Close I'm a Shadow." I tell him

"Hmm never heard of that before but rats and goblins won't give you any trouble." he says with a frown.

"After I get out of the sewers, what do I do next?" I ask eager to be on my way.

"Take the amulet to Jauffre at Weynon Priory immediately. Understand?" He instructs me.

"Yeah I understand you perfectly." I tell him. Understand but not agree. The amulet can wait. I need to get back to my peak of ability again. I should take a few months after I get out of this gods forsaken hole.

"Good to see the Emperor's trust was well placed." he says

"What will you be doing?" I ask.

"I will stay here and stop more assassin's from climbing up your back while you get out of here. I also will be guarding the Emperor's body," he says, "Now get moving, and may Talos guide you." he says and then stares as I retrieve the two blades from his comrades from the bottom of my pack.

"These are for you." I tell him gravely.

"Thank you, I'll see to it that they are given a place of honor in the halls of the Blades." He manages to choke out, his eyes full of emotion. Not wanting to shame him by seeing his tears, I leap into the doorway and slink down the hall it opens into.

Following the hallway I reach the door into the sewers. After slipping the key into the lock, I twist it until I hear a click and then I swing the door open flinching from the squeal of badly oiled hinges. As I begin to remove the key, it shatters inside the lock and I leave the broken thing there. I proceed to swing the door shut again. Looking forward, I see the lid that covers the shaft into the sewers. Sneaking around it, I look for some kind of hinge or something. Upon seeing nothing, I straddle it, one foot on either side of the stones that it rests upon, and I begin to lift the thing. UG damn that’s heavy....just a little higher....and swing it forward....ahhh... I manage to move the massive thing off the top of the shaft and quickly drop into it.

When I reach the sewers, the stench overwhelms me and I dry heave. I fight down the urge to vomit and I move forward, spying a tunnel that leads deeper. Working my way down the tunnel I hear the shuffle of goblins and the scratching of rats. By Oblivion will I never stop fighting goblins and rats?! I think, I’m starting to really lose my cool. Drawing my bow I slip around the end of the tunnel and see nothing, so I slink forward to the other end. Listening closely I hear the sounds stronger on my left, so I notch an arrow and swing my bow to the left as I side-step right out of the tunnel. Spotting a rat at the end of the walkway on my side I let the arrow fly killing the thing instantly. Moving forward to retrieve the arrow, I hear goblins to my right on the other side of the sewer drain. I notch an arrow and swing, keeping my bow trained on that side of the sewer. I spot the goblin but not before he spots me. I fire my arrow into him and draw my blade while rising from my crouched position. Parrying his initial strike, I strike him with enough force to kill him outright. Sheathing my blade, I pull my bow back into my hand and notch another arrow just in case. Looking down the tunnel on the other side, I see another goblin, this time one with a shield. I aim for his head and let the arrow fly, and nail it. Slipping over the bridge that spans the two sides I hear the scratching of claws to my right so I head that way. Finding yet another tunnel, I head down it determined to leave nothing alive down here.

At the end of the tunnel I see another rat, quicker than a thought I let another arrow fly and kill that one too. Not hearing anything else I stand up and walk to the stairs that are in the room the last tunnel in this section of sewer. Quickly, I ascend them. I turn to the right, after noticing that to the left is open air. There, in front of me is a gate. Through that gate I feel a slight breeze. Abandoning all form of stealth I sprint forward and slam the gate open, tripping over another rat. Drawing my sword, I kill the thing and stand up. Moving around the corner, I see my freedom up ahead. Yet another gate, but this one has the outdoors on the other side.

Opening the gate I step outside, free, again. Looking up, I see the stars and realize that now I really am free.

"Freedom." I say quietly to myself.

The amulet can wait. I need to train. I think to myself as I wander off into the wilderness.

And that is the end of part 8 to the prelude to my story. Now for some background info.

Soran was born on the border to Morrowind but still within Cyrodill itself. He was not born in any village that remains today, nor was he born in a village that you could find. He was born in his parents’ tower, his parents were rogue telvanni. Soon after he left at age 16, a telvanni found his parents and killed them in order to rise in the ranks. When he came back to their tower he found the bodies and the blast marks of magicka and that is when he decided to truly try for membership into the Dark Brotherhood. He developed his own fighting technique that he calls "Shadow". He utilizes all the skills of assassins with the minor change of Illusion magic in place of Acrobatics. Upon leaving his parents tower for the last time he took great care in covering the place with booze and burying his parents corpses under the tower, then lighting the place ablaze and walking away, forever. In the 4 years since, he has learned to never show emotion for any reason, but the events in the tunnels under the prison broke the barriers he had set around his emotions and now they are quiet unstable.

I will not be posting again for a while as I get him to where I want him for the next part. He is going to spend three months game time (without waiting for more time that would be needed) training, and he does not care to be disturbed while doing so. Please feel free to comment, for negative or positive. Now that the boring part of the beginning is done there are going to be massive spoilers ahead. In case anyone wonders mods for this game are Quest Award Leveling and Deadlier Sneaking both can be found on Planet Elder Scrolls. Anything those two mods don’t change is me playing "I don’t like that" with the game

[The Metal Mallet]

Nice finish to your prologue. It appears you have an interesting character to follow in this story. I look forward to seeing how a "Shadow" will react to the quests that'll be thrust upon him.