The Dark Brotherhood

7: The Call of the Nightingale

Aiden sat with his back to the cold, hard stone of the wall. The Ragged Flagon was nice enough, if you didn't count the bandits, rats, and other odd beings in the place. His eyes were constantly on the move, scanning the tavern for the assassin's contact.
He was ever attentive. And at last, the man who'd been sitting in the corner opposite him stirred, and moved to join the girl at the bar. They clasped arms, and embraced gently- an old friend, perhaps. They began a loud conversation, going on and on about dragons and the like. But Aiden knew this was just small talk, and that they'd talk about the more important topic in a more private place.
Suddenly, the man leaned closer to the assassin and spoke in a hushed voice. Aiden instinctively leaned forward to try and hear, but to no avail. He could scarcely make out the movement of their lips, let alone hear the quiet whispers.
What he didn't notice was that they both glanced at him twice.
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Daniah and Brynjolf stood quietly, taking care to show no indication as to what they were doing. Bryn grinned widely, once again clasping the girl's arm and speaking to her.
"It was good to see you, friend," he announced. Daniah nodded.
"You as well, Bryn. I'm glad to see the trouble was resolved."
"Yes, indeed. Sorry to have called you all the way out here for nothing," he said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it," she stated, waving him off, "It was nice to see old friends."
The two embraced, and Bryn whispered the final words stealthily in Daniah's ear.
"Come as soon as you can. Remember, the hidden entrance. Make sure you're alone."
Daniah pulled away and patted his shoulder.
"I'll come back again sometime," she said, "After all, whose going to keep the Guild in check if I don't?"
Bryn only chuckled, and the assassin turned to leave. She strode out of the Flagon, and back through the Ratway. She made sure to walk swiftly, so she'd have a better chance of leaving behind her follower, and so she could find out what was going on.
She reached the graveyard, and swiftly took a hidden turn into a secret tomb. The boy hadn't followed, and she made a point to be sure he wouldn't.
She spotted the ancient marking on the tomb, a circle between two triangles, and gently applied pressure to it with a slender finger. It triggered an opening, and the floor below the tombstone slid back to reveal a secret door, which Daniah opened and climbed into.
She emerged inside a large cave, which was full of life and old artifacts she'd found in her travels. All the guildmates spotted her and called greetings. She replied, but they noted she was in a rush, and wisely chose to not bother her further. Bryn spotted her, and beckoned her toward the desk.
"Alright, lass. Now we're all here." He seemed concerned.
"Good. Now, care to explain what's going on?" she asked.
"Right. There's been a serious disturbance in the shrine, and I fear it's more than a group of idiot bandits."
"The Shrine of Nocturnal? Then..." Daniah trailed off, "A dragon, perhaps?"
"That's what I think," Bryn said, nodding, "and we both know who is best equipped to fight those?" Daniah grinned.
"Why Brynjolf, you flatter me."
"Indeed," he chuckled, "How soon can you get there?"
"I'll leave now."
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Aiden searched frantically for the assassin. How could he have lost her? Why did he have to be such an idiot? He was beginning to lose all hope in himself, when suddenly, he caught sight of a shadow.
Sighing in relief, he realized it was her, and followed quietly.
She stopped at one point to look back, and though he hid, he could've sworn he felt her eyes on him, and he fancied she wanted him to see her.
It was unsettling, feeling like a chess piece.
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Daniah rode for a couple of days at her normal, strenuous pace. She felt remorse for the boy pursuing her, as she knew how hard a pace she was setting, but the errand was urgent. He would just have to make due.
She at last reached the Shrine of Nocturnal, and halted Shadowmere. She dismouted, not taking a moment to rest or replenish her energy.
She slinked inside the cave, noting the campfires that indicated bandits. These, she quickly disposed of, and took a bundle of lavendar to the statue of the Daedric Prince to honor it.
When she returned outdoors, she found more bandits in wait for her. Finally, a real fight.
The assassin smirked, drawing her daggers and taking up a combat stance. The first three bandits ran at her, shouting profanities and other random rabble as they went. The rest of the groud banged the blades of their swords and clubs on their shields, taunting the woman.
The first three were easily disposed of, as their sword strokes were quite clumsily placed, and the assassin quickly deflected most of them, stabbing the blades of her daggers past the protection of the shoddy leather the bandits wore. And then, she drew her longbow, and demolished the majority of the remaining bandits with a volley of black arrows. She stood after they were all dead, wiping the blood off of her blades and holding a cotton cloth to a small cut she'd recieved in the fight.
She knew the fight wasn't over. If Bryn had thought a dragon was nearby, then there was a dragon nearby. There was no doubt in her mind.
Sure enough, within half an hour, the sound of heavy wings buffeting the air filled the valley. Daniah smirked, drawing her bow and an arrow, and standing back to lie in wait for the reptilian enemy. It flew over the surrounding mountains, spotting the tiny spck of a mortal, and lighting the flames in its belly to rain down upon her. Daniah fitted the arrow to the string, pulling it back as far as she could, and released, all in one fluid motion. None of the watchers had hardly seen her move before the black missile struck the dragon, knocking it from the sky.
Immediately the assassin was upon it, jabbing the sharp points of her daggers into its thick skull. It barely had time to retaliate before she'd nearly killed it. Determined to get a hit in, the dragon swiped a massive claw at the girl, sending her flying from its back and into a tree.
Daniah let out a grunt of shock and pain, dropping to the ground and laying there for a moment while her breath returned. But she wasn't done.
Her arm was bleeding from a large gash, and her head was ringing from the impact with the tree- the latter of which also had a thin trickle of blood running down it toward her chin. Not that she noticed, in her fury. She yelled a war cry, launching herself at the dragon.
In fear, it swiped at her, hoping to hit her a last time. But she dodged the swipe, sliding under it on her knees. She shot upright, jamming her dagger into the beast's chest, and successfully killing it.
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Aiden let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. She'd almost died back there, which made the beasts all the more frightening. If a dragon could defeat this woman, the assassin of the Emperor, then who could beat them?
And so, Aiden's interest was aroused once again in this woman he'd been pursuing. Who exactly was she?
He let out a soft gasp as something began flooding out of the dragon's corpse and swirled around the girl. It was like a light, orange and blue and white, filling the forest with an odd peace that hadn't been there. The assassin began to absorb it, holding out her arms and closing her eyes.
Could she be...?
Aiden would've thought more on the subject, if not for the sudden pain in his arm. A straggling bandit had found him, and was attempting to cut him to pieces.
He let out a yelp of pain and tried to draw his sword, only to feel more pain as the pommel of the bandit's sword was brought down on his head. He yelled out this time, feeling very dizzy as his vision began to blur and he felt the tickle of warm blood running down his face.
So he would die here?
He would. There was no help for it. He had to accept it. Soon he'd see his father again.
Aiden was just closing his eyes as the final piece of his consciousness faded, when he heard the heavy thrum of a bow, and the gasp of shock as the bandit's flesh made a connection with the tip of an arrow. Then he heard a heavy thud as the body hit the ground, and was dead.
The consciousness left was slipping away when he felt someone kneel beside him. It was more of a feeling than a sound, as perhaps his brain was shutting down for a while, and the other senses were temporarily leaving him.
He felt a cool sensation on his face, gently caressing his cheek and moving to his forehead. It was a hand, checking to make sure he was alive. The coolness of the person's hand made him feel oddly peaceful, and he used the last of his strength to turn his head to the side, confirming that he was alive and still awake.
"Good." a soothing, quiet voice filled his ears, caressing his very being into peace. A young farmer's daughter must've found him, and perhaps hidden him from the assassin and killed the bandit. This person beside him was not a fighter, he was certain. She was too kind, too soft, and smelled gently of lavendar and holly. Yes, she would've come from a farm.
He managed to force his eyes open, attempting to catch sight of the beauty of this girl beside him, but all he saw was the body of the bandit to his left.
The thoughts didn't register in time, but something crucial was there.
A black arrow.
Embedded deeply in the bandit's chest. It was deep enough to go through the chest, the feathers almost hitting the flesh, suggesting that the person who fired it was near the bandit, but had the string pulled back to full draw.
Like they were desperate to protect him.