Blade in the Shadows

The job that goes wrong

A/N: Welcome Readers, to the world of Skyrim. The pictures used here are my own; from myself playing the game and taking the screenshots. "====" these things indicate a skip in time.

"Lora, come here!" Astrid shouted to me from the head table. I got up from crouching beside Lis and gave our resident frost spider one last pat before walking over to Astrid.

"What do you need of me, Mother?" I asked. I stood opposite her as she scanned a map of Thedas in front of her.

"I have a job for you," she said without looking up. "A client wants a man named Gunjir dead. He is the guard captain at the Western Watchtower near Whiterun. It's a simple mission, I know, but it's been a while since you've been out." The corners of my lips tugged into a slight smirk. Finally, I'm given a job.

"How should I send his soul to Sithis?" I asked, moving to the shelves on the opposite wall and looking through the assortment of daggers, arrows, bows and poisonous concoctions, arranged from smallest to biggest and from causing painless to excruciating death. Mother finally lifted her gaze from the map. She smirked and tilted her head to one side.

"You won't need a dagger for the actual target. You'll need to kill one of the other guards, take his uniform as a disguise and poison the target's mead. Sound fun enough for you, Black Crow?" Her statement caused me to smirk. I ran my finger along the blade of a steel dagger with a strong leather grip and a ruby in its hilt.

"Let's hope the Void is starting to prepare a welcome feast" I said, picking up the dagger and a poison to cause a silent death.

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"Sorry, but you won't need these anymore. Nothing personal," I said as I donned the now-dead guard's uniform. I then dragged her body behind some mead barrels. Sure, someone would find her but I'd have finished the job by then. I made sure my helmet covered my shoulder-length blonde hair and the still-wet blood on the neckline of the armour. I sheathed the guard's sword and swung her shield over my back. I hid my knife in my boot, making sure that it would not accidently nick my leg and allow the poison to enter my bloodstream. Finally ready, I strolled around the barrels and made my way to the larder. I took what I needed and filled a tankard of mead. I made sure no one was looking before quickly pulling off the stopper and emptying the contents of the poison in the tankard. I slipped the empty potion bottle in the little bag on my lower back. I briskly walked up the spiral staircase along the wall of the guard tower. I hoped no one had already given the guard captain his lunch yet.

I pushed the door to his office open slightly and peaked through. I breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't eaten yet. I balanced the tankard on the plate and gave the door a solid knock.

"Come in. Ah finally, I'm thirsty...and starving," he said when I came in holding the plate and tankard. I smirked beneath my borrowed helmet. His mouth watered as I set the plate full of meat and the mead in front of him. I stepped back and watched him grab the tankard. I waited in anticipation as he lifted it to his lips. He was just about to tilt it back when...BOOM!

The wall to our left exploded inwards. White-hot fire blazed between large stones. I was blasted off my feet and thrown towards the opposite wall. One of the stone blocks flew passed me and crashed through the wall. I followed its path down to the grassy cobbled yard outside the tower. I twisted my body just in time to land on my feet instead of my neck. I looked around to see what had happened. All the guards were scrambling into the armoury. They came out wielding weapons and wearing protective armour. I could not see any sign of the guard captain.

Something swooped overhead. A thundering roar echoed throughout the fort. I clamped my hands over my ears. My eyes widened as I saw its shadow. Nothing in Thedas is that huge! Its lizard-like neck and tail reached longer than two wagons and it had a very broad wingspan. It swooped around the tower again and revealed itself. Its scales reflected a dull grey glow around it. A long row of spikes ran from its neck down to the tip of its tail. Its wings overshadowed the tower. The head was the most terrifyingly beautiful part about the creature. Two large horns adorned its head with smaller horns running underneath its throat and chin. Razor sharp teeth, the size of short swords, lined its jaws. Its magma-coloured eyes radiated with destruction.

"What in Oblivion is that!" one of the guards yelled. He ran passed me to get a better angle on the creature. I didn't know how much closer he could get without getting blown away, burnt or trampled on if it decided to land.

"D...D...Dragon!" an archer screamed shrilly from the nearby lookout. That couldn't be right. Dragons had been extinct for millennia. I didn't have time to think about the impossibility of them still existing. The 'supposed' dragon landed heavily on the ground nearby, causing the earth to shudder and shake. It did not help keep my balance as I tried to stand up. My head had cleared up a bit so I did not fall back down. I swung the borrowed sword and shield off my back and flung them aside. I picked up an abandoned long bow and a steel arrow. The dragon was spewing fire into the main tower. I could hear screams from inside. I did not waste any more time. I nocked an arrow and pulled the string back to my jaw. I focused on my target and let the arrow fly. My aim was impeccable. The dragon roared in pain and swiped at the arrow embedded in its eye. It thrashed around in circles, spewing streams of fire, knocking down objects and crushing guards beneath its claws.

I dropped the bow and drew my dual swords. I raced towards the swirling mass of fire and scales. I didn't know how I dodged my way passed the flying objects, flaming splinters, shrapnel and bodies but I suddenly found myself clinging on to one of the spikes along the dragon's tail. I returned one of my swords to its sheath, then placed the other one between my teeth and climbed up the body to the back of the head.

I managed to reach the dragon's shoulder. It swung its head around to look at me with its good eye. Before I could react, it blasted fire toward me. I hunkered down as best I could behind its ridge, but the damage had already been done. I screamed in agony as the dragon fire blistered my skin. I clung to the ridge of bone with all my strength. Had I let go, I would have been crushed. The sword tumbled from my mouth. I couldn't open my eyes. They felt like they were broiling in a stew pot. I yanked my other sword from its sheath and searched for any kind of gap between the dragon's scales with my fingers. I found one near its wing. I plunged the sword into the flesh and twisted. This time the dragon screamed. Keeping my eyes closed, I inched up its neck. It thrashed even more wildly than before. I struggled to find another chink in its scaled armour. I quickly gave up and tried to loosen one of the scales with my blade.

Eventually the scale was loose enough for me to squeeze my sword into the gap. I mustered whatever strength I had left and jammed it into the dragon's skull. The dragon let out one final anguished roar before collapsing in a heap. I lost my grip and crashed beside the dragon. Suddenly a huge wave of energy crashed into me and I lost all consciousness.

A/N: And that's chapter 1. I really hope you enjoyed it and tell me what you think in the comments.