Heartless

Chapter 58 - Part 76

Hey guys, we have under 10 Chapters left until we end Night Terrors. Feel free to ask myself or my characters any questions. Also, Rune's eye colour won't be accurate to the game, but I'm going to say he has deep blue eyes because I don't know his actual eye colour.

Mercer was tearing through his pitch surroundings, trees pressing in on all sides as he sprinted, all sounds except the steady thrumming of rain, the roaring beat of his heart in his ears and the steady thump of his feet hitting the pine needle floor. Another figure was racing through the trees in front of him, swifter than he no matter what he Guildmaster did.

The chase continued as Mercer finally exited the trees that he'd been running through for the past half hour, weak rays of moonlight illuminating his prey as it hared away through much thinner foliage towards the familiar glow of a city. He could see the cold glint of an engagement ring upon her delicate finger.

In an instant he was dodging guards and avoiding beggars as Mercer perused his prey with even more determination now that she was so close to spoiling his plan. Closer and closer Mercer got until-

The Cistern was quiet and almost empty, the silence only broken by soft snoring from various Guild members. Candles burned low as the lonesome thief lifted his head from the guild logbook he was flicking through, weak candlelight reflecting in his mournful eyes. The most detailed part of the book was written in beautiful slanted handwriting, carefully documenting each transaction with subtle sophistication. Not many people were present or awake during the hours that this particular thief would sit and flick to this particular section of the logbook and soak in the scent of the author that wafted from the pages.

Reaching into his pocket, the thief soon held a smooth stone carved with Runes, rubbing his thumb over the reflective surface and breathing in the lingering scent of rainfall, leather and a faint trace of gold. The wooden door to the Cistern creaked open, allowing another much older thief to enter the room. Soft footsteps approached the Guildmaster's desk, the owner pulling up a chair and sitting beside the only other awake thief in the room.

'You miss 'er, don't you?'

'I suppose I do. She was my only lead on my parents as well.'

'Aye. Best tracker I've ever 'ad the pleasure of working with in a long time.' The older thief gave a half smile at the memory. 'She was 'ere much earlier than you, left and came back not knowing us all. Nobody but me remembered 'er.'

The younger thief nodded.

'Since coming back from Goldenglow unscathed, Mercer 'ad 'er trackin' Karliah. Found that sneaky Dark Elf too.' The older thief heaved a sigh. 'Too bad Karliah got to 'er. Corrupted one of our finest thieves she did. Course' Mercer caught her and now she's with Thalmor.'

'Delvin, was Shadow in love with Brynjolf?' The younger thief questioned.

Delvin clapped the man on his back.

'It's time you got to bed, Rune. I suggest you don't mention this to anyone.'

Rune nodded.

'Night Delvin.'

'Good Night Rune.'

Delvin sat back, his boots propped up upon Mercer's desk and the logbook open on a page with two distinct styles of handwriting. It was an hour or so later when he was joined by a tall, green eyed thief accompanied by a shorter blue eyed male whom Delvin had told to go to bed. Both the taller and shorter Thieves sat down, the former sliding a silver ring onto the polished tabletop alongside a smaller gold ring.

'She's dead.' Came the taller thief's hoarse whisper. 'The Lass got herself killed while she defended her friends.'

'You're sure, Brynjolf?' Asked Delvin, inspecting the gold ring set with a very very rare stone.

'What're the rings for?' Asked Rune, sitting beside Brynjolf.

'The first one is made of pure gold and set with a rare gem called Alexandrite. It was a ring Shadow always wore on her engagement finger even before Mercer proposed.' Explained Brynjolf.

'The second is a ring made from solid silver and carved in the likeness of a wolf. I've never seen Shadow without it, she doesn't remove it even to sleep. The man who gave it to me told me that she'd asked him to find me if she hadn't returned within a day, and give me this ring. She's dead.'

All three men looked down at the logbook in Delvin's lap, gazing at the elegant cursive handwriting that once belonged to the greatest tracker in the Guild.