Walk by the Shadows

XXII. The Pursuit

They got back to Riften and headed straight for the hidden entrance to the Cistern through the graveyard. Once the false crypt pulled back and they headed down the stone steps and pulled the chain to re-cover them, Brynjolf approached the grate set into the ground. He knocked on it.

"Who is it?" a grave voice asked—it sounded like Thrynn.

"Brynjolf, Macayla, and Karliah."

Within seconds, the grate was unlocked and the three of them descended the wooden ladder. Thrynn and the Wood Elf, Niruin, were at the bottom of the ladder.

"What happened to you, Bryn? Get in a fight with a mammoth and lose?" Thrynn asked.

Brynjolf scoffed as he moved past them. "You know he would win," Macayla stated, causing them to chuckle but bringing a grin to his lips and swelling his chest with pride. She was confident in his battle prowess.

But Delvin and Vex approaching them snapped him to attention.

"Get the journal translated?" Vex asked.

"Yes, and we got a souvenir for you, Delvin," Macayla answered.

His eyebrows lifted. "Really? What pretty this time?"

The white-haired Nord waved dismissively. "Not now. What did it say?"

"Something troubling. It said Mercer was stealing out of the Vault for years," Brynjolf said.

"What?"

"That can't be. 'ow can you open a door that needs two keys?"

"It's impossible. Those locks are the best money can buy. There's no way."

Vex and Delvin ran over each other, denying that claim.

Brynjolf moved toward the Vault. "We're here to check, anyway." All five of them stopped at the imposing doors, sealed shut with meticulously interlocking bars and chains. "Delvin, try your key."

He walked up to it and inserted it. None of the locks or chains came undone, but he tried pushing open the doors for extra measure; they wouldn't budge.

He turned back to them. "No good; it's still tighter than a drum. Try yours."

Brynjolf headed to it. He inserted his key, and the locks, bars, and chains withdrew; he held his breath as he pushed open the vault doors—he desperately hoped Gallus had been wrong, but his twisting gut said it was pointless to hope.

"By the Eight..." It took just a few steps for him to realize that Gallus hadn't been wrong: every chest, every table covered with planned heists, every hanging map or painting was gone. There wasn't a single dropped septim left.

"It's all gone," he whispered in disbelief. "Everyone, get in here now!"

Everyone rushed in behind him and stared around with gaping mouths.

"Everythin' we've done to bring us back... gone," Delvin said.

Ringing metal echoed as Vex unsheathed her dagger. "I'll kill that son of a bitch!"

"Put it away, Vex," Brynjolf ordered. "We can't afford to lose our heads right now." She didn't.

Delvin backed him up. "Come on, Vex, Bryn's right: we gotta remain calm."

"Fine," she said as she sheathed it. "If you just came back to piss us off even more, you've done it. What are you going to do about it?"

"That's for us to figure out," Brynjolf said. "Continue to be on the lookout for Mercer. I highly doubt he'll return now, but you never know."