The Ebony Renegades (Skyrim)

chapter forty three

(Ebon-shi pov)

"I cannot communicate with you fully here, come to my shrine so we may speak easier." Lady Azura spoke in her usual calm yet soothing tone which put me at ease before I spoke. "Very well I'll be right there." I said as I bid her farewell for now as I quickly stood to my feet and walked over to the nearby table while everyone else was asleep I pulled out one of my ebony daggers that were strapped to my lower back horizontally before writing a note telling them where I'd be and stabbing the note into the table with my ebony dagger so they'd be able to find it. Since I didn't know how long I would be gone I put my dear Asadelf in charge as I quietly left sealing the door behind me I made my way up to the shrine of Azura which was a few minute walk I didn't bother summoning my horse and simply made a dead run for it. Once I finally made it to the shrine of Azura I quickly ran up the stairs where I saw a dunmer female at the shrine as well. She was wearing blue mage robes with a single iron dagger on her hip as she was kneeling at a shrine at the base of the statue.

" lady Azura told me you would be coming Ebon-shi, proceed lady Azura is waiting for you." The dunmer priestess said as I gave her a respectful bow of the head despite my position as the champion of the three I was not condescending to others and I treated them with the same respect that I wish for. I stepped forward as a hidden stone doorway opened up under the legs of the statue leading into the temples inner sanctum. Upon entering the dimly lit room adorned with a small pond with goldfish and a few other species I couldn't identify under the bridge as black, white, and red roses sprouted from the nearby greenery in a beautiful garden. A quick flash of elegant silvery light and I was met by lady Azura herself one of the three who had trained me. She was dressed in a gorgeous white and black robe that showed a generous amount of skin which I didn't dare stare thus she may pluck my eyes from their sockets. Her blonde hair went down to her waist as her head was adorned with a crown of beautiful red roses and her right hand was a black crecent moon and in her right hand was golden sun.

"You may raise your head my dear, although your restraint I appreciate, not many can resist the urge to stare at me your discipline is to be commended." Lady Azura spoke in her usual calm demeanor as I raised my head to meet her gaze. "You said that what you showed me was only a possible scenario, what do I have to do to ensure that it is prevented?" I asked not wasting any time as her time was very valuable and I didn't want to waste her time I'm certain she could sense that because her smile widened before she spoke. "There's a young to be thalmor and in order to ensure that that scenario does not come to pass you must kill her then instead of all five coming you will only have to deal with the guardian should you succeed in killing them then the vision you have seen will be prevented. "Lady Azura said as I nodded and then asked the next question that I needed to know. "Where is she and is there any specifics on how she needs to be killed?" I asked as lady Azura shook her head. "No my dear, there is no particular method that needs to be met you could snap the girl's neck, crush her skull, or burn her alive the method doesn't matter all that matters is if she dies, your group stays safe from a slaughter." She said as I nodded if given the choice I'd rather not make it a giant gory mess I would rather it be quick and clean without my enemy having to suffer. "If that is the case then I would like to poison her, this way it's quick painless and there's no evidence to direct who did it." I said as the lady of twilight simply smiled approvingly. "Okay where is she? And where must I go?" I asked before lady Azura answered. "Two of the thalmor you recently killed were her mother and brother if she returns to the dominon, your whole group will be eradicated. You will find the her holed up deep within a snow covered tower of the ancient falmer uncovered by a thalmor excavation south west of here make haste my champion." My lady Azura ushered as I nodded making my way to the exit feeling lady Azura's ever watching eyes watching over me. As I exited the inner sanctum I looked up to the stars to navigate my path south west from here spotting Mount Anthor I summoned my trusted steed Arvak and rode on his back towards my destination with my heart in my throat, I had become too comfortable doing missions in a group I had almost concidered going to get help but decided against it. As I continued my way forward it wasn't long before I came across the location it was hard to see by sight alone but it was the surplus amount of thalmor that gave away its position. I mentally facepalmed at the fact that these thalmor fools don't understand that sometimes less is more when it comes to security, if it had just been one or two I probably wouldn't have seen them but seventeen in one place all bunched together like a can of salmon, all those black robes and golden colored armor really stands out amongst the white snow. I roll my eyes before taking cover behind one of the snow banks sending my steed back to oblivion where he belongs but not before thinking him with an apple as I always did to show him my appreciation for his help. I pulled out my bow of shadows and quietly snuck my way forward quietly killing the three archers from a distance before one had a chance to say anything my other two arrows that I loosed already embedded themselves in the back of the heads of the other two. I quietly crept over and retrieved my ebony arrows putting them back in my quiver, I look down and noticed a loose statue in front of me as an idea formed in my head I dropped one of their helmets down causing it to make a loud cling and drew the attention of the others that were patrolling and just like I thought they would they all congregated in the same area and I pushed the statue loose causing it to fall down and crush the majority of them as I quickly jumped down and embedded my ebony dagger in their skulls one at a time making sure none of them could call for help. After I finished off the survivors I stealthily made my way inside with my ebony dagger drawn in a back-handed grip as I crept through the white and gold trimmed walls while silently following deeper into the ruin. I cleaved my way through multiple other thalmor striking them down before they even knew I was there, like a shadow in the night. I spent the next couple minutes quietly taking out the thalmor scum one by one making careful sure to hide the bodies in order to not raise alarm. I saw after a little while a single thalmor walk out of a room and walk past me without even noticing after peeking my head in to make sure there was no one nearby I quietly crept up behind him before quickly putting my hand over his mouth and stabbing my ebony dagger through his thalmor robes between his third and fourth rib angled upwards going straight into his lung making him drown in his own blood and the only sound he was able to make was muffled garbling as I dragged his corpse and stuffed him into one of the nearby barrels. I quietly went through room after room clearing out the thalmor one by one killing them in solitude and silence not even giving them the dignity of defending themselves and I would let this place become their tomb. Entering the final room where the thalmor woman I'm supposed to kill was supposed to be I looked around only finding a single crib in the corner. After sweeping the room making sure there was no one else around I quietly approach the crib and my eyes widened in realization, this young altmer girl barely old enough to walk was my target. I have killed an uncountable number of men and mer in my life but never a child, let alone a baby in general I always left them alone. I didn't want to have to kill the child but was one child's life worth that of the entire world? I heavily debated alternative methods this way I wouldn't have to murder the child who could just as easily become an asset than an enemy if given the right conditions, even lady Azura herself said that that was just one of possible scenarios that could occur. And who's to say that killing this child will not bring severe consequences out of retaliation I started considering alternate methods of getting rid of the child without having to kill it, because for all I know if this child is not raised by the dominion she may be a very powerful asset in the future, but at the same time if the dominion did manage to take her back to the summerset isles the child could become our next great adversary and possibly the assassin that killed my team in the vision lady Azura showed me. There was simply too much chaos to make a clear headed decision at the moment I needed a moment to think. "Lady Azura, this is a child, no not even a child an infant, why have you sent me here to kill a baby?" I asked in a hushed voice just in case there were other soldiers that I missed in my thorough sweep. "This is Valiena, the daughter of Aredil a high ranking thalmor general once she learns about what you did to her parents you'll have nobody left to save, if you don't kill her now that is." Lady Azura answered and I knew she wasn't concealing anything from me because that was not the type of daedra she was, I would expect it from Lady Mephala or Lady Boeithia because of their influential spheres. "Isn't there any other way? Like take the baby's clothes and give it to an orphanage and then put the child's clothes on a dead falmer child into a wolf den this way there is no body to bring back and it also eliminates the child's threat to us at the source at the dominion thinks she's dead then they won't come looking for her right?" I asked hopefully finding a loophole in the prophecy so the child could survive and live a happy life like it deserves to, I had heard stories from Asadelf from her time with the thalmor about what they did with children of they're enemies and I didn't want to become like them. "I'm afraid the prophecy demands the child's death, the decision is yours ultimately you know all the angles, all the repercussions for both decisions now the choice is yours, farewell for now I will see you back at my shrine when the deed is done." Lady Azura spoke softly in my head before I felt my mind go quiet. I sat next to the cradle for a few moments staring at the child weighing my options deeply should I kill the child and eliminate the threat at the source? Or allow the child to live and risk either the child becoming a major asset to us in the future, or our enemy. As much as I wanted to spare the child and every fiber in my being wanted this child to live a full and healthy life like all children deserve, this was not something I could afford to be sentimental about. I walked over to the child pulling out my ebony dagger after coating it with a very potent poison made from sleeping tree sap and jarrin root, once this liquid touched the child's tongue it will go to sleep and never wake up if I can't spare this child then the least I can do is make sure it doesn't suffer. I carefully picked the young girl up in my arms to give her a warm embrace for her final moments I carefully loomed my ebony daughter above the child's mouth as the little girl babbled in baby talk her hands reaching up tracing the markings of my ebony helmet as a single drop dripped from the tip of my ebony dagger into the child's mouth. After a few moments I could see the child's eyes start to flutter I could tell the poison was already working its way through her system I carefully sheathed my ebony dagger in it's usual place horizontally on my hip before gently rocking the child in my arms and humming a song I remembered my mother humming to me even as the child's head rested against the breastplate of my ebony mail I could feel it's heartbeat stop. Once the deed was done I gently laid the child in it's eternal sleep back into the crib. I then looked around and set fire to the place using one of the lit sconces and the flammable liquid of the alcohol the dominion soldiers had to set the place ablaze leaving no evidence and if anyone saw it and managed to figure out what happened all they would find was a bunch of alcohol and it would simply be attributed to an accident. As I exited the building as I could see the fire I bowed my head silently apologizing begging for forgiveness for the child before riding my way back towards the Shrine of Azura my heart shrouded with guilt and sorrow.

( disclaimer: the room described at the shrine of Azura and the fort is not canon or modded it is a creation I made specifically for this story.)