I am Laeilwyn Riverpool (A Skyrim Adventure)

Chapter Twenty One: The Summerset Shadows

-Laeilwyn's Perspective- 

We approached the cave from the bottom of the hill. We could see the smoke rising from the campsite that was made outside the cave entrance. The Summerset Shadow banners flapped in the wind. 

"I'll sneak around to the right side, on top of the cave entrance. You can walk up and direct their attention to the path, and I'll get them while their back is turned." Elle said, pulling out her bow and readying it with a glass arrow. 

"Sounds good."

I crouched down and snuck around to the right side. There were two Shadows sitting around the campfire. I readied my arrow in my quiver and waited for Brynjolf's cue. 

"Good mornin' lads!" I heard him say. 

The two Shadows pulled their daggers and turned towards Brynjolf, their backs towards me. "Are you lost, Nord?" One of them asked. 

"Now hang on a minute..." He pulled out his map and continued to walk towards them, "I was sure I'd taken the right path to get to Hewnar's Tavern Girl House. Ah, well I must be here, seeing as you two palace pansies are dressed prettily enough!" 

"That's close enoug-" Before the first Shadow could finish his sentence, he had a glass arrow poking out the front of his head, right between the eyes. He spluttered, and collapsed to the ground right in front of Brynjolf. The other one didn't even have a chance to pull out his dagger before I caught him in the back of the knee. 

"Agh! Filthy n'wah!" He cried in pain. 

"Nice meetin' you lads!" Brynjolf said, twirling his sword and stretching. "Boy it's been a long time since I've done this..." He stabbed the other one directly through the heart. "Quick and painless." 

While I dragged the bodies into their respective tents posted outside the entrance, Brynjolf ate whatever they had cooking in the pot. "Why don't you just leave them lying in their own blood?" He asked. 

"The last thing we need is to set ourselves up in an ambush in case some Shadows come back and see their co-workers dead at their posts." I grunted, throwing the last body in his tent. "Let's get in there." We opened the wooden doors and went in as silently as possible. I casted muffle on myself and readied another arrow in my bow. Brynjolf kept on the lookout for any tripwires or traps. 

"Not very good at defending their base are they?" He said, finding nothing to disarm. 

"They're holed up in a cave. They rob the dead. They murder people in the streets. How smart can they actually be?" I pointed out. Then, I heard something. "Wait. Stop, I hear something." 

"What is it? I can't hear anything..." Brynjolf said. 

"You can't hear anything because of your stupid Nord ears. Now shut up so I can pinpoint where he is." I strained my ears, listening to echoes bouncing off the cave walls. I crept forward silently, indicating for Brynjolf to wait there. As I approached, I found a Shadow posted at a fork in the road, singing to himself. I stayed crouched in the shadows, waiting. Then, I heard movement behind me. 

"What was that?" The Shadow pulled his axe. 

How much do I want to bet myself that it's Brynjolf making all that noise?

"Aha! Found you!" The Shadow said, fixated on something that certainly wasn't me. I put my arrow back in my quiver and sat, waiting for Brynjolf to finish him off. The Shadow got a few good licks in, but his steel axe was no match for the reach and sharpness of Brynjolf's dwarven sword. When they were done, I stood up and went over to Brynjolf, who was breathing heavily, searching the body. 

"Thanks for giving away our position!" I clapped him on the shoulder.

"What do... you mean?" He panted, throwing back a health potion.  

"Elves have very sensitive hearing, and you move like a mammoth through a bone yard!" 

"Normally, I don't come across elves that have the same skill sets as me during my jobs." 

I sighed in frustration. Once Brynjolf caught his breath, I began speaking. "There's a fork in the road here. You go left, I'll go right."

I snuck down the right side of the tunnel, coming across another Shadow leaned against the wall with his back to me. I silently shot an arrow in the side of his neck, pulled it out and carried on. I came to a large open area and saw two figures around the fire. I hid in a shadow, drew, and aimed straight for the first one's head. He immediately dropped dead and the next one got up to begin searching for me. As he stood, I waited until he was running towards me before I fired my arrow. He collapsed on the ground beside me. I pulled my arrow out of his forehead, blood pouring out of the third eye I had created. The wooden door at the back of the room was already open. Brynjolf must have snuck past while I was dealing with those Shadows. Damn it, I really want those arrows!

I came out of my crouch and began moving down the steps, arrow drawn, waiting for whatever was at the bottom. I didn't hear anything, and that did not bode well for me winning the bet. I found a dead Shadow sitting at the alchemy table when I reached the bottom, throat slit. A little "B" was carved into the side of the Shadow's neck. He's taunting me... I thought.

I heard battle cries down the hallway and hustled over. As I entered the room on the right, I saw Brynjolf holding who I assumed to be Linwe as a shield, dagger to throat. 

"I just wanted to make sure you saw this." He said smugly, before slicing Linwe open. He searched his pockets and pulled out Fjolti's silver locket, and a hearty amount of gold. "Perfect! This is what I'll use to buy dinner tonight!" 

I rolled my eyes. "You win this one you cheating Nord. Let's just get out of here, I hate frozen caves."

"Wait, there's one thing I want to do." Brynjolf said, taking a torch off the wall. "Let's burn all these banners on our way out, shall we?"