Dark Brotherhood: Ancient Blood

Chapter 069: Unarmed

     Riding at full pace all night, it was the shortest time Cicero had ever made traveling from Dawnstar to the Reach. He knew his horse needed to rest, but only began to slow down when the familiar Dwarven structures began scattering the mountainside along the winding river. Sage was following close behind. Cicero could occasionally hear him yelling complaints though it was difficult to hear over the rushing of the water. Once the iconic Dwemer-made bridge came into view, Cicero finally came to a stop and began scanning the cliff-side.

     Sage rode up beside him, "Is this it?" he huffed as if he was the one doing all the running.

     "Yeah," Cicero dismounted, "I'm pretty sure this is Deep Folk Crossing." He pet the horse's nose before leading her to the water's edge.

     "'Pretty sure'? I thought you knew exactly where we were going," Sage slid off his mount as well, "We don't have time to spend sightseeing."

     "This is Deep Folk Crossing," Cicero glanced back at him, "The Listener and I came through here on our way to Karthspire. This is where we found Ruby." He tied his horse to a stump near the water so she could drink and began walking up the bank of the river. Sage did the same and ran to catch up.

     "Do you remember where the entrance is?" the initiate asked, pulling the journal from his belt.

     "I do," Cicero replied, "But it might be full of traps again."

     "Traps? What kind of traps?"

     "Gods, if I know. Forsworn traps. Falmer traps. Afflicted Traps. Dwarven traps."

     "Sebastian traps."

     Cicero paused and looked back at him, "What?"

     "That's his name," Sage conjured a small mage light and flipped open the journal skimming over the pages again, "I saw some sketches in here. Maybe he wrote something about them."

     "Who would be foolish enough to write their secret plan in a journal-" Cicero paused realizing the hypocrisy of his words, "A fool. A fool would do that, wouldn't he?" He sighed. Being sane again had its downsides, like remembering the stupid and irrational things he had done when his mind was a mess.

     Sage continued to read as they walked a few more yards. Cicero squinted in the dark trying to find something along the riverbank ahead of them. The large boulders to their left opened up to a small clearing with an abandoned fire pit in the middle. The wood was decomposed but the hole was still visible by the outline of some small stones. He stopped to look down at it.
Sage collided with him. Cicero stumbled and turned quickly, shoving him off like an annoyed older brother.

     "Watch it!"

     Sage staggered almost dropping the journal. He glared up at him, "You're the one who stopped!"

     "This is the camp where the Listener and I-... Jade and I..." he lifted his gaze to the dark cliffside across the river, "There was a break in that ridge and a lot of steam was released from underground. We broke something while we were looting the place and it must have caused some sort of pressure build-up."

     "And...?"

     "And we found Ruby the next morning in the river here. If she was frozen in the ice since the first era; the steam thawed her out. That means her body was carried down river."

     "So you assume the Breton took her back here? Why?" Sage frowned looking impatient.

     "Trust me. The city ruins are south of here." Cicero took off in a jog up the bank leaving Sage and the horses behind.