The Ebony Renegades (Skyrim)

chapter nineteen

The two groups met up at the front gate of Falkreath Ebon-shi waving to Tully as the two splinter groups reconvened "How did those new necromancy spells work for you?" Ebon-shi asked as Tully gave a fanged smirk. " They are truly incredible, I'm proud to report that they will be of great help to us in our future endeavors." Tully said as the familiar sound of strained growling as Gila heaved the one-wheeled wagon of elk bodies with a few bears on there as well which added at least another few hundred pounds to the load as the dirty, sweating, and panting wood elf looked at her group with an exhausted look clearly when she got back to the keep they were based at she was gonna curl up in her bedroll and take a week-long nap. As Gila hauled the undeniably heavy load towards the inn and knocked on the door, soon the owner answered as Gila handed over the bounty paper and then took a side step to the side the inn owner's jaw nearly hit the floor at the large elk that they put the hunt request for with interest along with a few bears. " Oh my, w-we just needed a few of them, these will have us set up for weeks. Thank you so much." the inn chef said as he handed over a large coin purse Gila smiled took the coin purse and went to the group leaving the one-wheeled wagon for the inn workers to deal with. She walked over to the group who entered the jarls loghouse and approached jarl Siddgar. " Ah, there's my dear cousin and her friends, By the nine Gila you look exhausted, and by the nine what is that smell?" Siddgar said as his steward approached as Ebon-shi and Tully handed over the bounty papers and the steward handed over the corresponding bounty reward gold. " Any more bounties you need help with?" Ebon-shi asks as the steward who shook his head. "No, not right now at least, sorry to disappoint." Severin chuckled a bit and spoke in an eerie soft voice that sent chills down the jarl's, and the steward's spines. "It's no problem, there'll always be a bounty to claim because as long as there are two individuals left in the world, someone gonna want someone dead." Severin said with a malicious grin as the steward visibly paled at the terrifying grin the argonian assassin had on his face. As a local drunk started flirting with lianya much to Salazar and her irritation as the drunk redguard was about to put his hand on Lianya's wrist Salazar bolted forward crossing his falmer war axes over the redguard's throat and shouting in the ancient falmer tongue which basically translated to 'keep your drunken hands off of my sister, before I sever your limbs from your body and feed them to you.' Salazar was put at ease by the gentle hand of his sister on his hand as she smiled softly he backed off as the two moved closer to the group to deter any more unwanted interactions. Soon they walked out of the jarl's loghouse and nodded as they began their walk back to cracked tusk keep exiting the gate of Falkreath and walking down the woodland road not lowering their guard and staying fully aware of their surroundings in case of another ambush. Salazar used the detect life spell to scan for any hostile enemies lurking in the brush as they neared the keep they split into a back-to-back formation. Yamma and Suvvan met them at the gate as the sounds of approaching hooves were heard as Shadow-step rode in and dismounted his horse waving to them as it was visible that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. " Ooh, the kitty cat is back!" Suvvan chimed as he walked over and they went inside for the night save for Gentu and Yamma who continued they're smithing work for Myra to sell tomorrow. Asadelf already had the armor, weapons, and jewelry enchanted with a variety of enchantments that would cause them to sell even better. Sabrina started brewing potions for everyone's unique needs, ranging from health. stamina, and magicka restoration. to fortify one-hand, two-hand, block, and archery potions. splitting the work with Lianya who did the elemental enchantments on the loot. Soon when everyone was done with their respective work they dug into a large venison roast Gila prepared while Severin, Salazar, Gentu, Yamma, and Suvvan were out in the courtyard. As they sat around the inside of the keep and dined together while they discussed travel plans for daybreak. " How about Markarth? I can meet up with my fellow dwemer researcher Calcelmo and he can assist with finishing deciphering the schematic." Gentu suggested as Myra growled a bit. "Those filthy, greedy, and corrupt Silver-bloods, I'll stain the streets red with their blood if I catch any of them~" Myra cooed in a sadistic tone as Tully rubbed her shoulder to calm her down knowing how much she hated the Silver-blood family and for good reason. Shadow-step put the map on the table and used a stick to highlight the road from their current location to Markarth. " It'll take us about two days to reach Markarth, so we should scout out a layover at mid-way there." Shadow-step said as he looked at the area between Falkreath and Markarth. " It's gotta be somewhere secure, yet easy to fortify, we don't want any unwanted surprises." Ebon-shi mused as Yamma pointed at a section of the map showing a mine on a hillside. " This is an orichalcum mine, it is fenced in by oak logs like orc stronghold walls. except for minimal occupants and easy to fortify with minimal effort, plus there's an orc stronghold about an hour from there." Yamma said as the group nodded unanimously agreeing on the plan. " Alright if we follow the road northwest we will reach Fort Sunder within eight hours on horseback, then we ride west for another seven hours and then assuming we don't run into any forsworn, bandits, or bloody thalmor swine- uh no offense Asadelf." Shadow-step said to the former thalmor agent. " None taken Shadow-step, I'm ashamed of myself for even associating with the petty, weak, and racist supremacists." Asadelf said with a slight grin as the Nightengale kahjiit continues. " Assuming we have no enemy encounters we could be set up by nightfall." Shadow-step finished as he used the stick to trace the trail that would limit them from being in the open and in the cover of trees. Ebon-shi nods as the group sets up their bedrolls, taking shifts throughout the night as per usual. Tully, Myra, and Shadow-step stayed awake inside while Severin and Salazar perched on the roof watching till it was time to switch shifts. Inside Shadow-step passed a dark blue hood across the table over to Tully who took it with a confused look. " Your helmet was damaged and no longer usable, but on my way back I found a dead necromancer who had that hood and it looked like something you'd like so I picked it up for you." Shadow-step explained as Tully looked at the masked necromancer hood as the Kahjiit went to bed.