Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter XIII - The Vicious Wolf

A statue of a quite menacing wolf greeted them, perched atop the front gates of Kvatch.

It was a symbol of perseverance, a vicious protector against anything that would threaten the city. After the Oblivion Crisis, they rebuilt and they were ready to defend their territory to the death before any other invader.

But the wolf did not protect them from all dangers.

There were some, hiding in the shadow of the grand city, waiting to pounce and prey on the weak.

Ri'zhassa was there somewhere, waiting. It was finally time to face him after all these years.

Almost.

"Alright. I'm gonna go get our 'supplies'," Bishop gave Aeyrin a meaningful look. They had it all planned out. They just needed to acquire some special items. "You go get us a room."

Aeyrin nodded at him curtly. He was going to head to one of the local shops she had recommended to him. She had never bought stuff like this, but she knew the city and she suspected that they might have something like this. They needed to remain inconspicuous. Ri'zhassa couldn't know that they were conspiring against him. He needed to think that Bishop was tricking Aeyrin. Otherwise he might not even show. Or he might have people in the city watching them and he might be ready for it.

For the purposes of playing the roles they had established, the second she turned around, Bishop smacked her ass in parting with a teasing smirk. He was definitely enjoying this a little too much. She let out a brief yelp, followed by a weak giggle. She wasn't exactly in the mood to laugh, but she still had to act like a love-struck girl that was just following him blindly. It shouldn't have been that hard. It was kind of true, especially when it came to this chase after his family, but it was hard to just act happy and oblivious to what awaited her.

She was excited, in a way. In anticipation of the chance to get her victory at last. But she was also so anxious. Anything could go wrong. Their plan was really built on nothing but assumptions.

For one, she knew that Ri'zhassa would probably not even bother to show up if Bishop and she came in armed and armored. He may have underestimated her before, but now he had a better idea of what she could do. He knew she was the Dragonborn and he would likely be ready for that. It was very likely that he wouldn't even show his face until he knew she was subdued and he was in no danger of being Shouted at.

They needed to keep up this act until Ri'zhassa showed himself and gave them an opening.

For that, it was really unfortunate that she could not Shout. But Bishop was going to handle that with the 'supplies' he was getting. It was just all based on all that they presumed. The truth was, she hadn't seen Ri'zhassa in ages. She had no idea what he was planning, why he was trusting Bishop with delivering her at all. Maybe he really did believe that he can buy anyone.

But there was not much to be done now. The deal was made and time drew near.

Soon she would have the chance to end him. She just needed to play this right.

She couldn't let him escape again.

...

Aeyrin opened the door slowly, uncertainly, as Bishop ushered her inside.

She wasn't looking at where she was going yet. She turned her head towards Bishop and gave him a worried, questioning look as she stepped into the small wooden shack.

"I don't understand, where are we going?"

Bishop did not answer. Gods, he actually looked so grimly determined that he was quite intimidating. Or maybe it was just the situation that still made her queasy.