Legends of Skyrim: The Sapphire Smuggler (BOOK THREE)

X - Blindsighted

Irkngthand was in a secluded area of Skyrim. After spending the night in the nearby Nightgale Inn, the trio headed down a dirt path south. The pass soon diverged, with a branch to Tumble Arch Pass to the south west. The courtyard, surrounded by a huge stone wall, was soaked with blood and bodies of bandits. Karliah knelt beside one of the bodies. "Mercer's doing," she surmised, "We have to catch up to him before its too late."
As they approached the door into the ruins, Brynjolf heard a soft click before pulling his fellow Nightingales back. A swinging mace narrowly avoided Ji'ssa's face, before it went taunt swinging back. Past the door, there were two broken Dawrven Spiders lying on the floor, and a stone table to the right. In the next room, as the three moved to the grates, Karliah quickly announced in a hushed voice, "It's Mercer! Look... down there!"
All three watched as, from seemingly out of nowhere, Mercer crept behind an unsuspecting Falmer, and slowly dragged his sword across his throat. It was a slow, light cut, designed to cause more suffering rather than a quick death. "Barbarian." Brynjolf spat through the grates.
As the Falmer's body fell, Mercer looked towards the grates. The shadows obscured their bodies, but Mercer knew they were there. With a cruel smile, he turned and disappeared down another corridor. "He's toying with us," Karliah realised, "He wants us to follow."
"Let's not disappoint him, then." Ji'ssa lead the approach.
Through the corridor that spiralled down, the three froze as they saw an open room. The high path they could take started to the left, with a short ramp up. However, a Falmer slowly stumbled from the rubble behind the fallen Dwemer structure ahead and crouched down, its legs dangling over the fall below. The lower path to the right would take them under a bridge patrolled by another Falmer. 

Putting a finger to her lips, Ji'ssa beckoned Brynjolf and Karliah to follow her through the lower path. Their armour was light and silent, and the Falmer were thankfully blind. For a moment, the one above them on the bridge froze and looked down, aiming his bow. He took another step, and kicked some stones down off the bridge. It made a sighing noise, before resuming its patrol. The path soon widened again past some fallen stonework, a ramp still intact leading up. Following it, they once again froze as they saw a third Falmer, looking out over the ramp from a window in a tower. They knew they would never be able to pass it without it turning, so Karliah drew her bow back and let the arrow fly. It whistled through the air before catching the Falmer in the mouth. It made no noise as it died, only keeled forward and crashed against the stone below. The others made alarmed gargling noises before rushing over to its body, feeling around the floor desperately. One looked up towards the tower. Above the hissing and whining, it heard the light patter of footsteps crossing the walkway. However, before it could cry out, the entire cave began to shake. Rushing across the walkway, the Nightingales pushed into the next room, slamming the doors behind them as a huge rock from the roof of the chamber fell, destroying the bridge. "No getting out that way." Brynjolf sighed, kneeling as he caught his breath.
"Whoever said this would be easy?" Ji'ssa joked.
Karliah said nothing, only pressing on into the next room. It was the one they had seen Mercer in, but they hadn't realised the full extent of his carnage. More bodies of Falmer lay strewn about the place, Mercer's bloody footprints leading up to the other end of the room. "Poor creatures..." Karliah whispered.
"'Poor'?" Brynjolf raised an eyebrow.
"Their history is tragic," she knelt beside one that had its chest cut open as it was dying, "... They did not deserve this torture."

Following the footsteps, the three entered Irkngthand Sanctuary, to behold a sight they would never have dreamed in all their days. A blood-soaked Mercer Frey was standing on the neck of an impressive gold statue of a Snow Elf, using his sword to pry off two magnificent pink gems from its eye sockets. A set of stairs looped around the back of the statue, but lead nowhere. "Climb down the ledge," Karliah instructed Ji'ssa with a hushed whisper, "And see if you can..."
Before she could finish, Mercer just chuckled. "Karliah, when will you learn you can't get the drop on me?" he grinned as he turned around.
Suddenly, the platform they were standing on broke, and Ji'ssa was sent tumbling to the ground below. Brynjolf and Karliah backed up against the door, barely standing on their toes to avoid the fall themselves. Brynjolf pushed against the door desperately, but the shake of the ruins again had caused something to fall from the other side, blocking them in. As Ji'ssa tried to stand, her knees ached and her foot felt like it was broken. "When Brynjolf brought you before me, I could feel a sudden shift in the wind," Mercer slowly approached the wounded Khajiit, murder intent in his eyes, "And at that moment, I knew it would end with one of us at the end of a blade."
Her leg almost gave out, but Ji'ssa still stood. "Give me the Key, Mercer!" she demanded.
"What's Karliah been filling your head with?" he asked, pointing his sword up towards her, "Tales of Thieves with honour? Oaths rife with falsehoods and broken promises? Nocturnal doesn't care about you, the Key, or anything having to do with the Guild."
Ji'ssa shivered a little as she felt water on her feet. Looking down, she saw the water level rising slowly. Following a waterfall behind her, she saw a hole in the ceiling had been broken, and water was pouring down towards them all.

Looking back with a glare, she tore off her mask and hood. "This isn't about Nocturnal!" she declared, Karliah's eyes widening, "This, Mercer Frey, is personal!"
"Look at you," he rolled his eyes, "Our actions have always been one in the same; both of us lie, cheat, and steal to further our own end, cat. Wasn't it you, after all, who sold out two past groups, simply to further your own Skooma empire?"
Ji'ssa's eyes went wide with panic as Mercer turned to Brynjolf. "What makes you think, Brynjolf, that she won't do the same to you when the time suits her?" Mercer grinned, "Betrayal is in her blood."
In a rage, Ji'ssa leaped forward and swiped at Mercer with her claws. His laughter echoed as he vanished. Ji'ssa looked around desperately; brazens were burning brightly, illuminating the entire room. How could he vanish like this? Her leg was kicked from behind, and she fell into the water. Spinning, she narrowly avoided another stab from Mercer, who reappeared. She caught his arm and pulled him down. The water was at knee-height now. "The die is cast!" Mercer announced, "And once again, my blade will taste Nightingale blood!"
Swiping forward, Ji'ssa stepped back, but her foot gave way again and she fell. Mercer took the opportunity to stab her in the gut again, opening her stitched wound. Ji'ssa cried out as her head fell under the water. Mercer knelt and wrapped his hands tightly around his throat. "I'll use your skin for a rug!" he gritted his teeth as his nails cut the skin on her neck.
Ji'ssa weakly bat his arms, but his grip never loosened. He was content to watch the life fade from her blue eyes as her flailing began to cease. Suddenly, Mercer cried out in pain as an arrow shot into his back. Releasing Ji'ssa, she coughed and spluttered as she surfaced, looking behind Mercer.

He turned slowly, Karliah behind him, another bow drawn. He chuckled, blood trickling from his mouth. He took a step forward, and she shot him again in the chest. He fell to his knees as Ji'ssa walked up behind him. Brynjolf slowly approached, the water now at hip-height, and dug his dagger into Mercer's stomach. "Shadows..." Mercer choked, venom in his voice, "... Take me..."
Ji'ssa quickly dragged one of her claws across his throat, opening it, before Karliah kicked him onto his back, the arrow moving through and poking through his chest. The three looked down at their fallen adversary, all feeling different emotions. Ji'ssa looked upon Mercer with disgust, mortified over the first life she had ever taken. Karliah looked upon his body with a pitied relief, just glad that Mercer had been served the justice he deserved. Brynjolf looked upon his old friend in a disbelieving anger. As his body began to float as the water grew higher, Karliah turned out his pockets and took the Skeleton Key. Brynjolf took the two eyes; they were small but felt heavy in his hands. Before Ji'ssa could do anything, she keeled forward back into the water, passing out from the throbbing pain in her legs. Karliah rushed to her side and scooped her up, reaching for her mask that bobbed nearby. "We need to get out of here before this place floods!" she looked around desperately.
Brynjolf and Karliah collectively gasped as they felt the water trail above their chins. It was rising faster now, as more holes had broken their way into the ceiling. "There's no way out!" Brynjolf spluttered as he began treading the water to stay afloat, "We're trapped."
Karliah struggled to keep herself and Ji'ssa above the water. She shook her limp body desperately. "Wake up, Ji'ssa!" she cried out desperately, "Please, please wake up!"
Ji'ssa didn't respond, and in her frustration, Karliah accidentally released her to sink to the bottom of the chamber, at the foot of the Snow Elf statue.

Mercer Frey, betrayer of the Thieves Guild, and Gallus' murderer, is finally dead.
- Ji'ssa Janmin, 9th of Sun's Dusk