Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CXVIII - Dragons and Darkness

Morthal was as dreary and drab as ever, and it was only accentuated by their purpose there.

Aeyrin and Bishop headed out towards the town the very next morning. They couldn't linger any longer. If the Brotherhood decided to strike before they reached Morthal, their reassuring backup in the form of Penitus Oculatus agents might never be able to arrive in time. Although the soldiers probably hadn't reached the town yet either. Commander Maro mentioned that he wasn't going to send an entire contingent marching down the road. He would send his men one or two at a time, each taking a slightly different route – all as to never attract too much attention.

The consideration and preparedness on the man's part was quite comforting. He reminded Bishop of Karliah in some ways. No matter what happened later, she was always prepared for anything and her missions were meticulous. Maro seemed to know what he was doing just as well. The only problem was – so did the Brotherhood. How many times had they already caught Bishop in their trap? He was only ever saved by either Aeyrin and Karnwyr, or by sheer coincidence.

And in some ways, it was making things a bit scarier to think about all these plans and gimmicks that Maro had. The Brotherhood could just as well have those same tricks up their sleeve. The clairvoyance spell was the most disturbing. When Maro had several of his trusted men, including Aeyrin, mark Bishop so that they could find him later, it was pretty hard to miss that happening. Bishop got enveloped by a bright light every time someone used the spell on him. It was a bit comforting to know that he wouldn't be able to miss something like this happening. Until he remembered the Imperial Courier Service. The man delivering them their letters mentioned marking them as well, but neither of them had noticed. How? Was there a way to hide that? And what would stop the Brotherhood from doing the same? Maybe they already had. Maybe that was how they often found him somewhere, regardless of rumors of his presence reaching them. Come to think of it, even if they couldn't hide the magical effect, the first time he got taken by them, he was knocked unconscious. It could have happened anytime during that.

Maybe they could already follow him anywhere.

He kept telling himself that the fucking Dark Brotherhood of all things had to have better things to do. They were just taking opportunities, weren't they? Who would ever bother with running around Skyrim, following him everywhere? And it wasn't as if they couldn't find him even without the spell. They had before. Quite easily.

It was all pointless to obsess over. He was basically at their mercy already, just waiting to be ambushed again. This was the first time he could take matters into his own hands and fight back, in more ways than just by running away.

This had to work.

The Penitus agents would arrive into the city gradually, all dressed as Imperial rank and file. Bishop and Aeyrin had no idea whether Maro had told the plan to Jarl Ravencrone or whether some soldiers were expected to arrive regardless and he just replaced them with his own after notifying the Legion. That part didn't matter. Maro surely knew who was the safest to approach about this. Their only concern was playing their part.

It couldn't look like they were waiting to be ambushed. It had to look like any other stay in a city for them. Not only that, it had to look like they were being careful after Dawnstar. It was unfortunate that it would make it more challenging for the Brotherhood to lure away Bishop, but it was necessary not to make them suspicious of the plan.

So they agreed. They would stay in the city during the evenings while they would roam the wilderness around during the day – adventuring. There weren't many places they hadn't picked clean before in this area, but surely they could still find something. During the nights, they would separate strategically at times. Never for too long – Aeyrin couldn't give the Brotherhood a head start, letting Bishop disappear without her knowing where he was for hours. So they had an agreement. Once he would be gone for longer than an hour, she would cast the spell from the scroll she had received from Maro, notify the agents and follow Bishop, wherever they would take him. In the meantime, to make themselves appear careful, they both agreed never to walk off somewhere alone at a complete stranger's urging, and to always trap the door to their rented room while they slept – that was one way that the Brotherhood could get a head start, by taking Bishop when Aeyrin was asleep.