Chapter 19: Desperation

I had a big day planned, and rose early. My main goal was to learn more about the Dark Brotherhood, since last night's attack had made it apparent that they were not going to give up their attempts to kill me just yet. The Hlaalu guards that had removed the body of the first assassin had told me that I should look for a man named Apelles Matius in Ebonheart: that he would probably know more about them. According to my map, Ebonheart was at Vvardenfell island's southernmost point, just south of the holy city of Vivec. Ranis told me that the fastest way to reach Ebonheart from Balmora would be to ask the guild guide, Masalinie, to teleport me to the Vivec Mages Guild. Once there I should cast 'Divine Intervention', which would teleport me to the nearest Imperial Cult shrine; in this case the Mission in Ebonheart. Upon learning that I didn't know the 'Divine Intervention' spell, she huffed impatiently and said:

"Then teleport to Vivec and walk, swim or take a boat to Ebonheart. Or fly - if you know the spell." She said pointedly. "Then go to the Cult Mission and LEARN Divine Intervention! Believe me, whatever you may do from this day forth, you will need that spell." I was about to tell her that I did at least know a levitation spell, but reconsidered and held my silence, reasoning that she would be less than impressed to hear that although I knew 'Levitate', I could not actually cast it reliably.

In any case, I wanted to see Vivec: by all accounts the city was spectacular. There were also a few things I wanted to do in Vivec, so it would make more sense to explore the city on foot and then find my way to Ebonheart. The next propylon index that Folms Mirel had sent me after was in the St. Olms Temple in Vivec, and three of the 'Seven Graces' pilgrimages were close to the big Tribunal Temple at the south end of the city.

The St. Olms Temple, the Vivec Temple and its nearby shrines, and then finally the Imperial Cult Mission. It would be a big day of visiting religious sites. The 'Pilgrim's Path' had indicated that the offerings traditionally given at the 'Seven Graces shrines' in Vivec were (respectively): one hundred coins, a potion of Rising Force (levitation), and a silver longsword. I conveniently had in my possession an extra silver longsword - from one of the Balmora noble's manors - and Ajira had a few Rising Force potions in stock, so in very short order I was ready to depart.

Masalinie gave me a knowing smile as I hoisted the sack of Dark Brotherhood armour over my shoulder and asked her to send me to Caldera - instead of Vivec. She knew that with a new set of the high quality black chain, I would be going straight to Creeper to sell it.

I arrived in Caldera during the dawn hour, but it was a lot darker outside than I had expected. Squinting into the dim sky I could see heavy rainclouds knitting together above my head. I hurried to the run-down manor where Creeper lived, not anxious to have my already heavy load burdened any further by getting my equipment soaked through. When I reached the manor I decided to try using my new 'Tinur's Hoptoad' spell to reach the second-floor balcony. It was an Alteration spell, and simply caused the caster to be able to jump much higher than he or she normally could. It did not provide any means of softening a fall, however, so caution was advised in its use.

Upon casting the spell a faint purple glow ran from my hands down to my legs, then vanished, leaving me feeling no different than usual. Until, that is, I tensed my legs for the jump: suddenly I felt much lighter than usual; though not light enough, as it turned out. In retrospect I should have suspected that in my physical condition, wearing a full suit of bonemold armour, carrying three long swords, my usual supplies, and the Dark Brotherhood armour in a sack may have been too much weight to allow me jump onto a second-floor balcony, magic spell notwithstanding. I scrabbled at the wooden rungs on the balcony but lost my grip and my footing, and came crashing down to the stone street in a heap, the black chain armour breaking the sack and spilling out everywhere.

I jumped to my feet with a curse and looked up the street, embarrassed, to see if anyone had seen my abortive attempt at acrobatics. I almost bit my tongue in fright when an arrow skimmed off my shoulder-guard with a crack. I span around to face the other way, spotting in the gloom a lone figure with a bow down the street: it looked like a khajiit. He and I were alone: not a guard to be seen. Weighted down as I was I couldn't run from my attacker, and I was not about to cast a teleportation spell and abandon the valuable Dark Brotherhood armour. Leaving the black chain where it had spilled onto the stones, I dashed to the left to get a building between myself and the bowman. I had my helmet tied to the top of my pack, within easy reach. Once behind cover I reached back and flipped it onto my head, before unslinging the tower shield from my back and drawing my katana.

The khajiit with the bow had run up the street to expose my cover, but with the huge bonemold towershield held in front of me I was able to charge him without taking injury. As I approached I could see that the khajiit was bare-chested, dirty, and quite gaunt, and that there was something wrong with his eyes: they glowed with a pale, unnatural light. Once within striking distance I knocked his bow aside with my katana, slicing it in two. My swing also cut across my assailant's bare chest, opening a long bloody furrow in his fur. I felt a momentary surge of confidence, which was immediately quelled as the wound quickly closed of its own accord. The khajiit snarled, revealing a set of very long fangs, and with a sinking feeling I began to suspect that what I was fighting was not mortal: it was a vampire.

The thing launched itself at me, claws extended, and with its legs wrapped around my waist, began violently tearing and pulling at the joints of my armour, trying to pry them open. Its claws found my skin through the joints, and tore into my flesh. Before it - or he - could bring its fangs too close to my throat, I headbutted the vampire khajiit in its sensitive nose. The hard bonemold of my helmet did the trick, and the thing released me, stumbling back and clutching at its face. I let my katana fall to the ground, and drew one of the silver longswords I had brought with me. While not as sharp, strong, or well-balanced as my steel katana, I had been taught that silver was deadly to supernatural creatures that might otherwise shrug off weapons of iron and steel.

I thrust the sword at the vampire's heart, and the thing actually tried to catch the blade with its hands! It quickly let go of the blade and cried out, holding up hands dirtied with wounds that were definitely not instantly healing over. Still, it had deflected my sword, which buried itself in the bony khajiit's stomach instead of its heart. In one fluid motion the infernal cat pushed me away (my sword coming with me), gave me a stunning kick to the head, then span around, whipping the filthy tip of its tail across the eye-slit in my helmet. My vision blurred from the dust and dirt in my eyes, I did not see the attack that threw me backwards to the ground. Even with my helmet, my head was struck a jarring blow. Blinking as rapidly as I could to clear my eyes, I swung out from my prone position at the blurry figure as it moved to pounce on me, the blade catching it in the side. The thing growled and spat in pain and frustration, stumbling back.

My vision was clear enough to stab the vampire a couple of times as he tried to dart in and latch onto me while I rose to my feet. The khajiit howled, and through its dead white eyes I thought I could see a mounting desperation. It kept glancing at the lightening sky, and thus distracted I was able to open a few deep gashes in its chest. The gaunt vampire could now hardly stand, its matted fur becoming soaked with its own blood. Dropping the cumbersome tower shield, I gripped my silver sword in both hands and swung as hard as I could at the vampire's neck, taking his head off.

The body wobbled for a moment, still on its feet. Then - I blinked - and the next thing I knew the body had the appearance of a crumbling, black statue. The gathering clouds broke, and rain started to patter down onto the stone street. A few drops hit the dead vampire, and it crumbled under its own weight, collecting in a pile of drifting ashes on the ground. I picked up my tower shield and placed it over the ashes to protect them from the rain and wind while I looked for something to collect them in. The ashes of a vampire - 'Vampire Dust' as it is commonly called - are quite valuable to alchemists. Shortly I found a chipped bottle and a cork in an alleyway, and scraped as much of the dust as I could into the makeshift container.

As I did so it dawned on me: I had fought a vampire, one of the more deeply feared creatures of the night. More than that, I had defeated it! Still, the wretched thing had looked malnourished, weak and filthy. And what force could have made a vampire hunt a person in the middle of a (supposedly) guarded town - at dawn? It must have been starving - truly desperate.

Somehow I felt little sense of triumph at my victory over the creature.

Chapter 18: When to hold a sword

After selling my 'loot' from the night before to Creeper, I used the proceeds to pay for some instruction in the fine art of holding a longsword by the proper end. The Redguard woman Rithleen was my instructor: one of the Blades trainers recommended by Caius. Her sessions usually last two hours, but I paid her enough to spend the entire day training me: I knew I was hopeless with a sword. We talked a little during the sparring sessions, my questions and comments usually spat out between ragged breaths; Rithleen would not let me use my 'Rest of St Merris' spell to keep myself from running out of breath, saying I had to learn to fight properly first. I was mostly curious about Caius, but she didn't have much to say about him, other than to assure me that he was genuine.

I felt more confident with my long bladed weapons by the end of the day, but I knew I would have to return for more instruction as soon as I had the money and the opportunity.

After dinner at the Mages Guild, I again packed my armour into the cabinet and donned my Pilgrim's Robe. It was dusk as I made my way over to Nalcarya's Apothecary. Habasi Sugar-Lips - who had turned out to be the head of the Thieves Guild in Balmora - had asked me to steal a diamond for her. 'Nalcarya of White Haven' as she was known, apparently had some.

My plan was to do just a few jobs for the Thieves Guild: enough to gain me the right (in their eyes) to do my own thing in their territory. I also wanted to do enough for them to grant me access to the services Habasi had spoken of. Should someone ever see me steal something, being rid of the bounty on my head that could result from such a thing - without involving the guards - would be very useful.

The theft of the diamonds was easy. At dusk, the gathering darkness granted me cover as I entered through the upstairs door; and since it was not yet late, Nalcarya was still downstairs in her store. Luck had a particularly dazzling smile for me that evening: in a small box on a high shelf I found three diamonds. Before visiting Habasi I sold two of the diamonds to Ajira. She actually gave me a good price for them: as it turned out, with my help she had won her bet with Galbedir and beaten the bosmer to the rank of Journeyman.

I was somewhat disappointed in my payment for delivering Habasi's diamond: an invisibility potion. While spells and potions of invisibility may sound good, they sputter out the instant you touch something: making them less than useful for thievery. The khajiit assured me that her next job for me would only take a small time to complete, and would pay much better than the first.

In short, she wanted the upstairs door key to Nerano manor: her suggestion being to get it from a servant who worked at the manor but spent his free hours at the Council Club: Sovor Trandel. Again, the job was easy. Sovor Trandel was deep in his cups when I walked into the Club, and even deeper in them after I paid him two hundred drakes for the key. I was glad to be out of the Council Club quickly: I had heard bad things about the place, and I certainly felt unwelcome there.

After the weak payment Habasi had given for my first job, I decided to have a look around the Nerano manor myself before handing the key over. I found a number of pieces of fine clothing in the manor bedrooms: some of it was more exquisite than anything I had ever even touched before. Clothes were all I came away with in the end. Back at the Mages Guild I sold most to Galbedir: enchanters made good use of fine clothes, as they could hold better enchantments than a simple peasant smock.

The most beautiful set of clothes I kept for myself: a robe, belt, pants and a shirt. I hid the robe away in the cabinet across from my bunk. There was no way I could wear something like that without raising suspicion: I would have to wait until I could justify owning something that expensive. The other items though I would wear under my armour or a common robe. The fine pants and shirt especially were so well-made, soft and durable that they would serve well as comfortable padding under my armour. Perhaps one day I could even get them enchanted.

Habasi paid me five hundred septims for the key: somewhat more in line with what I had been expecting. The next task she set for me would take more than an hour or two: a khajiit named Ra'Zhid had been expelled for stealing Dwemer artifacts from the guild. He was hiding out at 'Fatleg's Drop Off' in the Bitter Coast village of Hla Oad. Habasi wanted me to retrieve the dwarven goblet, bowl and tube he had stolen.

Everyone knew about the Dwemer: their huge, metallic ruins dotted the landscape over the entire Empire. No-one, however, knew what had happened to the dwemer race: the way history told it they somehow vanished all at once, thousands of years ago. There was a huge demand by collectors for the items found in the dwemer (or 'dwarven') ruins, and this was down to three things: (relative) rarity, craftsmanship and durability, and the danger involved in retrieving them from the ruins. The creaking metal monstrosities were apparently still patrolled by automated thinking machines. The Empire had laid claim to the trade of dwemer artifacts, prohibiting their sale by anyone else. This of course only increased their value on the black market. I was not overly keen to become involved in the smuggling of such bulky, distinctive items. I would leave it unless I found myself somewhere near Hla Oad.

By the time I went to bed I was exhausted, but as fate would have it I was in for another night of disturbed sleep. I'm not sure what it was that woke me: at first I thought I was dreaming of the Dark Brotherhood assassin again - that his eyepieces were there, glinting in the half-light of the guild at night. He rose from the shadows beside the cabinet, drawing his wakizashi blades. As that metallic ring reached my ears my heart lurched painfully and I realised that I was certainly not dreaming.

With a strangled shout I rolled out of bed, aiming for his legs, trying to trip him with my body. The assassin simply hopped over me and twisted to strike at my prone form. It was not luck that I had slept in my armour this time: I had left it on for just such an occasion as this. I managed to catch his blades on my bonemold bracers and push them away before scrambling to my feet. I didn't have my weapons - they were under my bunk, and the assassin must have seen them: he was keeping me away. I continued to block his attacks with my bracers as best I could, but it took the biting pain from a couple of deep cuts to wake me up enough to use my Righteousness spell.

From then on, with every swing he made, arcs of light jumped from his hands to mine, healing my wounds. He couldn't attack me without coming in range of the spell, and soon he was coughing and shaking, blood collecting at his feet. I was still without my weapons however, and just before I managed to land the spell that killed him, the assassin thrust one of his blades deep into my side; leaving it there as he crumpled to the floor.

The Dark Brotherhood assassin dead in an expanding pool of blood behind me, I staggered across to lean on a table, trying to hold myself up. The rest of the guild was awake by now of course, and most of them were trying to persuade Sharn gra-Muzgob to get up again and come over to heal me. I wasn't about to let myself bleed to death while I waited for a stubborn Orc, so with a howl of pain I yanked the blade out and pressed both hands on the wound, focusing my healing spell into them.

A moment later I collapsed into a chair, shaken but fully healed. I didn't know what I would do if it wasn't for the College of Restoration. A moment after that I rose again and angrily kicked the offending wakizashi blade into a skittering path across the floor, causing a couple of the guild members to take a couple of steps back.

"I'm going to Ebonheart. I must see what's to be done about this Dark Brotherhood."

Chapter 17: Underhanded

I was not happy with Ajira. It felt like she was wasting my time. Since Ranis - as the Mages Guild Steward - had ordered me to report to Ajira for assignments, I had to do as the khajiit said if I wanted to advance in guild; even though I was an Apprentice, just like Ajira. Upon delivering the wildflower samples I had collected for her, she was at an obvious loss for what to do with me. After a moment of silence in which she placed each flower sample in a line on her desk, one after the other, Ajira scooped up the pieces of a mixing bowl which had somehow broken in half, and dropped it in my hands.

"Ajira needs a new ceramic mixing bowl. Can the naked breton go and buy one for us?" As my hands were full, she slipped a few coins into my pocket. I must have pulled a face, because the khajiit's ears twitched irritably and she drew me close to hiss in my ear: "Frost is an ungrateful one! He should be happy Ajira gives him such easy tasks! Ahh - but he doesn't understand..." She relaxed, apparently realising that I was in the dark about something. She went on to explain that in the guild it was the number of tasks performed, not their complexity, that lead to official promotions. The difference as a person advanced in the guild was that members of higher rank had to be given more difficult tasks for them to count towards promotion. No-one really cared what Associates, Apprentices and even Journeymen did.

It seemed that she did actually have my best interests in mind. I apologised to Ajira, and left the guild for the general store across the street, disposing of the broken bowl along the way. Upon return with the new bowl, it became apparent that something had happened to greatly upset Ajira. She was padding back and forth near her desk, looking under and behind things, her tail flicking dangerously about. She thanked me briefly for the bowl, dropping it roughly on the desk, and took me by the arm into the main hall. Her claws were well and truly hooked into the tough, fibrous bonemold armour.

"It's that BOSMER!" the khajiit spat. "She's stolen Ajira's reports! All our careful words on mushrooms and flowers... Help us find them, Frosty, and we'll send you back to Ranis for jobs." Her claws were scoring small curls of bonemold from my armour. "Frosty wants that, yes? To have less easy jobs? They're in here somewhere - Galbedir hasn't left all day long." She gave me a push and went back to rummage through her desk. I began my search, glad I had been wearing my armour. Irritated khajiit were careless with their claws.

The search didn't take long (I did grow up a thief, after all), and the reports were soon back in the hands of the grateful cat. True to her word she told me she didn't have any more tasks for me, and directed me back to Ranis. Or, she said, I could ask Edwinna at the Mages Guild in Ald'ruhn for jobs.

"Edwinna's nicer than Ranis. She's breton like you! Not so naked though." She gave me a toothy grin.

I had not been happy with Ajira - that was true; but Ranis was a good deal more unsettling to be around, especially with the first task she set for me. She did, at least, promote me.

"I'm surprised you didn't pull her whiskers out." The dunmer looked mildly disappointed. "Even if it was just for that, I think you deserve to be a Journeyman now. I do have a couple of jobs ready for a young Journeyman mage, too: conveniently. There is a guild member named Manwe doing research in Punabi caves who hasn't payed her guild dues in months. She must owe nearly... hmm - two thousand septims now, I would say. I need you to go to Punabi and persuade her to give them up. If she refuses, you'll have to resort to ... stricter measures."

I blinked. Surely she wasn't asking me to -

"Near Punabi, in a place called Sulipund, is a Telvanni wizard: Tharer Rotheloth. You must convince him to join the Mages Guild. If he won't, I have to ask you to kill him. I must assume that located where he is, he is actually hostile towards us. Joining would be a gesture of goodwill." She wouldn't go into any more detail than that, other than to say the Punabi and Sulipund were located near the north shore of Lake Nabia, in the Ashlands east of Balmora.

I was shocked. Playing debt collector and hitman was far from how I had imagined my duties at the guild to be. As with my earlier frustration at Ajira, it must have shown on my face. Ranis was not impressed:

"Edward, those magicka threads that I gave you are very powerful. If you keep that in mind and take some time to prepare beforehand, I'm sure that you'll find some way to complete these tasks that will make both of us happy." I couldn't shake the feeling that Ranis was holding her admittedly generous gift over me to ensure I did her dirty work.

In a way it was a lot like working for Ajira.

In any case, I would leave it until I felt better prepared, as Ranis had suggested. With that in mind I prepared to head out into town for the evening. I had spent most of my money paying people to teach me spells; and now that I had a couple of teleportation spells that enabled me to escape virtually any trouble I might find myself in, I felt ready to return to my old survival methods. The dark streets were calling to me, and with my new unlocking spells I expected it to be easy to replenish my funds. I wasn't dressed for stealthy work, though. I removed the bulky bonemold armour and stored it in the cabinet across from my bunk, along with my silver sword. I only kept my katana and a few restorative potions, just in case.

I spent the rest of the afternoon searching through the stores of Balmora. It was dark by the time I had found what I was looking for: a pair of soft shoes and what some called a 'Pilgrim's Robe': a generous robe with a multitude of hidden pockets. I imagine the design had been intended to help travelling pilgrims conceal items of value in case they were stopped on the road by highwaymen, but it worked just as well for thieves. Of course, thieves were concerned over hiding things from town guards, but the principle was the same.

Once dressed in my Pilgrim's Robe and soft shoes I was ready. I spent a number of hours going from house to house in the noble's district, mostly slinking into the shadows of upstairs entryways, opening any locks I encountered with a jolt of alteration magic. Most people were out for the evening, and those that were not did not see me before I made a hasty exit.

Having spent a goodly time in an Imperial prison for theft, getting back into the habit was not as smooth as I had anticipated. I got away all right - I even came away with a decent haul - but knowledge of what I could expect if I was caught was making me too nervous: I wasn't as good as I had been. I decided to end the night with a late drink at the South Wall cornerclub to soothe my raw nerves. The club was nearly empty at that point, but absorbed with my drink I failed to notice the khajiit until she was lightly running a hand down my side.

"Does the lumpy one have a buyer for these things?" I started and looked up. It was the khajiit I had noticed watching me the other night. She had obviously spotted the ill-gotten items I had secreted in my pockets. I turned to face her, trying to see if she was armed.

"Yes." I said evenly. I was in fact intending to sell the things I had stolen to Creeper. Wherever the items he tossed into his mysterious screaming crate went, I felt fairly certain that they would not resurface anywhere that would serve to link them to me. I was not about to tell this to a strange khajiit in a club after midnight, of course, so I left my answer at that and waited for her to explain herself.

"Habasi is our name - though others in the Thieves Guild call us Sugar-Lips. What is yours?" With her talk of 'buyers' I was not surprised to hear her admit to being a thief - but still, the cat seemed oddly direct about revealing a guild of thieves. She took a seat next to me at the bar. I sighed. She probably knew who I was anyway: people had been talking about how I had killed a Dark Brotherhood assassin right there in town.

"I'm Edward Frost. Listen, I didn't mean any offence if this is your territory: I didn't know -" Habasi nodded and smiled at my name, but then as if I hadn't said anything more, she extended a claw and began to trace the outline of a silver sword I had found in one of the Balmora manors and shoved under my robes, into my belt.

"Mister Frost has a lot of things here. You're lucky no-one saw you take them, or you'd have quite the bounty on your head. We can help you with things like that, of course. Mister Phane Rielle here does that." She indicated the old man cleaning glasses behind the bar - he smiled and made a bow. "He can make those nasty bounties go away - for less than paying off a guard, too. You must join the guild for quality services like these, though." Habasi grinned, showing her sharp teeth. There was no doubt: she wanted me to join the Thieves Guild.

I sensed that there would likely be trouble if I refused; I probably had infringed on their territory. The khajiit went on a little longer, saying among other things how they knew where the valuable things were, and the best ways to get them. I eventually accepted her invitation.

I just hoped it would not lead to more trouble than it was worth.