This story has nothing to do with the contest we just held, I simply like the name.

CHAPTER ONE


The Imperial walked right past me, unaware that I had been crouching here for two hours. I admit, I had unfortunately mixed up my times, but at least I was early and not late. Thank Talos I was not late…

As he continued to creep on a fake target, I carefully stood up from my position and quietly unsheathed by prized possession: a custom made Orcish dagger. The blade was slightly bent ¾ of the way to the top, making it easier to slice across someone’s throat. Its hilt was decoratively created by the Orcish ‘artist’ with many fancy and complicated designs. The Orcs made the best quality weapons by far in my opinion, and I was about to back that up in a matter of seconds.

The two of us were in a small room, at the home of a Cyrodilic Countess in fact. The Imperial didn’t know that I was a mere few feet behind him. What he also did not know is that the target he was trying to eliminate was not in this room. A fake body had been cleverly placed in the bed of the room to cause confusion.

“Damn, I’ve been tricked!”

He whispered this loudly, for he had finally realized it was a setup. The entire room was pitch-black, save for a thin-ray of light coming from beneath the closed door of the room. I was actually quite impressed that he had been able to walk through the room so well in this darkness in the first place, though it was likely he was using a spell to help him see. I myself was using such a spell.

I crept along the finely made carpet and inched my way closer to the Imperial. He stood there next to the bed, still mystified that he had been tricked. I quickly shoved him onto the bed face down and held his hands together with one arm, while putting the edge of my dagger to the back of his neck with the other.

“Gotcha,” I said into the Imperials ear.

“Who the hell are you?” The Imperial asked, clearly surprised by what had just taken place.

“Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing. You do realize you’re in the chambers of Lady Valga, correct?” I asked, with a sarcastic tone. I liked to do that quite often to those who I am ‘hunting’. It always pisses them off and caused them to act irrationally.

Then, showing strength I was very surprised by, he shoved me away and I went flying into the air, landing hard on my back five feet from the bed. The Imperial unsheathed a silver shortsword and came charging at me. I quickly got up from the ground and readied myself for the attack.

The Imperial lunged at me and swiped at my neck with his sword, but I easily sidestepped and stabbed the man in the right ribcage with my own blade. He stumbled a bit and a caught him, only to slam him against the wall. Even though I am short and skinny, I am a lot stronger than people give me credit for.

“Who are you and why have you been planning the Countess’s murder?” I asked, this time with no tone of sarcasm, only seriousness. Playing time was over, for this Imperial meant business.

The wound was deep into his skin, and he was in severe pain. “I ain’t telling you a damn thing!” And again he showed his strength and pushed me away despite the pain he was enduring. He swung again but I dodged the attack once more. And this time, rather than wound him, I went straight for the kill. I slashed by dagger into his throat, and then ripped across the skin to the right. The body crumpled to the ground with a thud, and his life was over. I didn’t really want to kill him without asking more questions, but I could tell I wasn’t going to get anything from him.

I walked outside the door and then brought back with me a torch. I shined the light over the Imperial to see who it was. He was an old wrinkly man with medium-length gray hair. It was very surprising to see someone of his age attempting to take away the Countess’s life. But alas the Imperial was not familiar to me, but then again I am not from Chorrol anyway so that was to be expected. After leaving the room I went to the Nord guard Captain, Bittneld Curse-Bringer, and told him the task had been accomplished.

“Very good, we should report this to Lady Valga right away.”

Bittneld ordered the guards to place the body somewhere else and then ordered for the servants and maids to clean up the mess I had left. Blood was going to be hard to clean up, but I didn’t say anything to Bittneld about it, for he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.


+++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++


”Thank you for everything you’ve done. I realize what danger you’ve put yourself in, and trust me; you actions will not go unrewarded.”

I was speaking with the Countess of Chorrol, Lady Valga, in a small cabin a couple of miles west of the city itself. You see, threats of an attempted assassination were recovered by a guard several days ago. I was sent in by my boss to take care of the situation.

“You are very welcome, madam,” I said with a polite bow.

“The gold will be sent by a courier of mine, once everything is settled. Again, I thank you for what you’ve done for the community here in Chorrol. You agency will never be forgotten here.”

“I appreciate the kind words, but the job is not yet done I’m afraid. I want to investigate a bit more to ensure there is no one else involved with this crime. Once your men look at the now-dead Imperial and know his identity and I will hopefully be given several leads. I want to stomp this threat out before it spreads. I feel it will be safe for you to return to Chorrol, but not with out protection the entire time. Also, I want at least five guards with you wherever you go, and those guards will stand outside your room while you sleep. The deed is almost done, but we cannot let our guard down just yet.”




Before we move on, I’d like to explain what has happened up to this point. My name is Agaron, a Bosmer. I am an agent of the highly skilled group, “Midnight’s Watch”. We are a group of talented ‘assassin’s/bodyguards-for-hire’. Our leader, Rindral the Dunmer, rounded all five of us up a couple of years ago. We all come from different regions of Cyrodiil, and have made quite a name for ourselves in these first two years of service.

I am but twenty-seven years of age, but my small body makes me excellent at what I do. And along with our job of assassins and bodyguards, we’ve also find ourselves in roles of ‘investigators’ as well. It’s actually quite fun solving all the puzzles of life. I like it almost more than I do ending a would-be-murder’s life.




“Of course, I wouldn’t think any other way. I’m awfully happy that I may return to my city. I don’t quite like it here in the wild, no matter how many guards I have protecting me,” she said with a happy cheer.

“Well, we don’t want to take any chances, but you should be safe for now. Once I find out what’s going on there’s a chance you will be moved again, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

So we left the hidden cabin of the forest and traveled back to Chorrol in the safety of ten guards. When we made it back the Imperial had already been placed in the catacombs under the church. That is where we went, and Lady Carvain immediately recognized the body.

“By Talos,” she whispered while putting her boney hands to her face. “It’s…it’s Valus Odiil. He has two boys living on a farm not too far from here. I don’t understand why he would do such a thing.”

She was clearly shocked at the identity and looked on the verge of crying, but I had my lead. “Bittneld, can you take me to this farm. We need to act fast before something else happens. I realize the two boys are not for sure a part of this, but we need to find out as soon as possible,” I said forcefully, wanting to get to that farm quickly.

“Yes, follow me, we will ride by horse.”

“No, I want to find them by surprise if they are in fact involved with this. Exactly how far is the farm from here?”

“Just a couple of miles, isolated from the main roads,” Bittneld answered, a little taken back by my forceful tone.

“Then we will in fact jog, horses will make too much noise. I hate to leave so soon, madam. We will speak on these matters upon my return,” I said to Lady Valga quickly.

I didn’t wait for her to reply, and immediately Bittneld and I left the catacombs and exited the city. I felt bad about not speaking with Lady Valga anymore than I did just then, but I felt there were more important things to be taken care of. There would be time to talk later.

Hmm, a group of wandering assassins/bodyguards for hire? Somehow, I wonder how the Dark Brotherhood would see them. So far so good. I liked Marquardt better, but this is only the first bit so I can't give a real opinion on the character. All I can say is that he seems a bit cocky. He likes to make his 'prey' mad and irational before killing them.

Anyway, there is one slight flaw I noticed. Two times I believe, you 'by prized possession' instead of my prized possession' and later you used 'by knife' instead of 'my knife'. Now the 'b' and the 'm' are quite close to each other, so it was just a typo.

Ah, thanks, Jack.

CHAPTER TWO


“Alright, give me a description of the two sons. What do they look like, how do they act? All that stuff. Hurry, though, we don’t have a lot of time.”

We had just passed the stables area and were making our way along the dirt road. The sky was bright blue and there wasn’t cloud in sight. It was truly a beautiful day, and the birds were singing to add to the soothing atmosphere.

But one person who was not feeling that vibe happened to be Bittneld. As I was talking he kept giving me a look of disgust. Finally, after I was done talking, he stopped and grabbed my shoulder. His brown goatee made him look even madder than he already was for some reason, and right then and there he let it be known how he felt about me.

“That’s it, I’ve had enough. I’ve kept my mouth shut this entire time, but I can’t do it anymore. Agaron, I appreciate what you’re doing for us; I really do, but the way you’re going about your business is infuriating to say the least. You waddle around like you know [censored]-ing. I realize you’ve been brought in here to lead us through this time, but to be honest, you’re being an [censored]-hole about it.”

I really didn’t know what to say, so I simply stood there for a few seconds as I let everything sink in. I was having a hard time understandin this babyish tirade. Doesn’t Bittneld know I’m a paid professional who knows far more than he could ever imagine? Besides, I was sent in to take care of business, not make friends.

“Alright,” I said, staring him hard in the eyes, to make sure he knew I was serious. “I wasn’t sent in here to make friends, Bittneld. I apologize if I have sounded harsh with my commands and orders, but it has only been to ensure the safety of your Lady Carvain. I don’t know what to tell you, I mean I don’t really see what the problem is. I’m risking my own [censored] to protect your city, and here you are whining about me being rude? As far as I’m concerned you can leave for all I care. When we get to the farm you may go home, because to be honest I don’t need your help anyway. Now, can we move on?”

Bittneld stared into my eyes with pure disgust and hatred. I could easily tell he want to run his sword into me where we stood. He didn’t like my attitude, but I didn’t care. I was tired of people always whining and complaining about my ‘rudeness’. I think they are simply jealous of what I bring to the table, and to me Bittneld is no different from the rest.

The angry Nordic Captain said not a word and simply walked passed me, bumping hard into my shoulder in the process. Now on any other given day I would have surely reacted, but now was not the time for such nonsense. I would be sure to inform Lady Valga of her Captain’s behavior.

In about thirty minutes or so we arrived at the farm, and this was after ten minutes of wavering from the main road. The place looked to be desolate of any life, or at least from what I could gather from afar. I didn’t see any workers plowing the fields or anything. Something was definitely up.

“Alright, I can take it from here. Thanks for the help, but you could have done it without that little outburst you had back there. I’ll be sure to tell Lady Valga…..” I was going to continue but he cut me off before I could finish.

“Go to hell, honoured user,” he said to my face, just mere inches away. Then he turned and walked away, like the coward he was. Oh, I could not wait to get his [censored] into trouble. I was not going to be treated like that and let him get away with it, ever. But again I let him walk away. I would have my sweet revenge later on. For now I had more important things to take care of.

So I crept up to the front of the main house and pressed my ears against the wood-carved door. I could not hear any movement or voices from within. A knot had formed in my stomach and I knew knocking would do me no good. The two sons were waiting for me, I could feel it.

And because of that I decided not to go through the front door. That would have been severely stupid. Instead I walked around until I found a back door, but even then I wasn’t sure if that was a smart idea either. If the two were the least bit intelligent they would have both entrances secured. But I didn’t see any other way of getting inside, so through the back door I went.

Entering the house was easy enough, and I carefully opened the door without making any sounds. There weren’t any traps set up and once I was inside I realized I was in the kitchen area. Again, no sounds of anything could be heard within the house. They were obviously hiding somewhere, waiting for me to make the wrong move.

Suddenly, as I neared a corridor seemingly leading to the living quarters, from out of the hallway appeared a middle-aged Imperial with slicked-back black hair. He wasn’t smiling, nor was he frowning. He also didn’t seem surprised to see me come to think of it. And at his side was a shiny silver longsword.

“And just who the hell are you?” he asked me in a calm tone.

“An attempt on Lady Valga’s life was made earlier this morning. Valus Odiil is the culprit. I was hired by the Countess to defuse the situation, and I wish to ask you some questions.”

I knew these two were up to something, but I was trying to act normal for the time being. There’s no need to rush things. Just then the door closed from behind and from outside came another Imperial, this one younger and with blonde hair. He also had a silver longsword as well.

“Is the door locked, Antus?” The black-haired Imperial asked.

“Yes, Rallus. Also, the horses are geared and ready to go. All of us important belongings are inside the stable,” the blonde-haired Imperial replied.

“Very good, brother. This shouldn’t take too long, and after we’re done we’ll find another location and make new plans of the assassination. Unfortunately our father wasn’t skilled enough to do the job. I told him I should be the one to do it but he wouldn’t listen. No matter, all will be well in time…..”

Obviously the two were part of this mess. But how in the world did they automatically know I was coming? I mean, apparently they had set this whole thing up. “How did you know I was coming?” I asked forcefully. The older one simply rolled his eyes and laughed at my question.

“My brother saw you and that fool of a guard Bittneld walking from the forest. When we saw his uniform we knew hiding was no use any longer.”

“Very well. Then why have you been plotting the Countess’s murder in the first place?” I asked.

“So you say you were hired by the Countess herself, eh?” The older brother asked.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I replied quickly.

“Oh yeah? Well how about this for you; I don’t give a damn! Lady Valga wants to take away our farm because we haven’t been paying our taxes. That is rubbish; for we’ve never paid taxes, we don’t even live in the damn city! When my father went to her the other day he complained that it wasn’t fair, and that we didn’t have the money. She turned him away and gave him one month before the farm would be taken away from us.”

He paused and looked to his brother. I quickly moved out of the way for fear that the younger one was about to strike. Rallus laughed at that and said, “Getting a little skittish, are you? Stand still, I want to tell you the entire story before we kill you. You see, our family hasn’t exactly endured the best of luck over the years. Our mother died when we were infants, and our farm has never brought in a lot of profit. Yet we’ve never complained, and we even attended church and made donations to the Countess as well. But none of this seems to matter and we’ve been shunned away. Well that was the last straw and our father came up with the idea. Antus or I should have attempted the assassination, and I feel foolish for not doing so. But we will not let our father’s death go in vain. Eventually our blade will find Valga’s neck.”

So, what I had originally thought was correct. I’m not really too surprised, I’m usually right in most cases. The two brothers and their father have endured a painful life and finally snapped. They schemed up a plan that would have worked if I wouldn’t have been there to stop it. I didn’t want to end their lives, but if that’s what it took then I suppose I would have no choice.

“Come on now, do you really want to go through with this? I will give the two of you one final chance to lay down our weapons and come with me to Chorrol for your punishment. Do not let your selfishness get the best of you. Let’s try and think rationally here.”

My statements were of no use, but I had expected as much. The two had clearly lost their minds and there was no going back. A fight was going to be inevitable no matter what.

“You certainly are an ignorant little elf, aren’t you? There’s no possible way you think we’re just going to walk out of here and surrender. Oh know, we’ve come this far and after dealing with you it will only be a matter of time until the mission is complete,” he said with an evil grin.

Suddenly I heard Antus running at me and I immediately ducked. The Imperial flew over me and rolled to the ground. Rallus let out a yell and charged towards me with his sword in hand. He swung the blade and it missed my neck by mere inches. I quickly unsheathed my own blade and swiped at his face but missed. From the ground Antus stabbed at my stomach but I side-stepped to the right, and then at the same time dodged another blow from Rallus by leaping to my right and rolling across the kitchen table.

Rallus went on one side of the table and Antus the other, and now I was corned. They both ran towards me and slashed at me with their swords. I did a sort of pirouette through the air, and in the process I slashed at Antus, connecting wit his left shoulder. He looked at the blood trickling down his arm but paid it no attention.

He charged without waiting for his brother and tried to jab his sword into my stomach again, but I spun around, and as he flew passed me I put my arm around his neck with one arm. And with the other hand I sliced across his neck with my dagger. He immediately fell to the ground grasping his neck. He attempted to gasp something through his last breaths, but all that came out was a sickening gargle, and within seconds he was dead.

“YOU honoured user!”

Rallus ran at me as fast as he could and took me by surprise. He tackled me into the wall and I hit my head hard. My dagger fell to the ground and bounced a few feet away. Still dazed I could just barely react in to move as Rallus continued his onslaught. He kept swiping at me and I couldn’t do anything but barely dodge the attacks with my quick agility. Rallus was now blocking any path to my dagger, and then he dug a knee into my stomach. I fell to the ground again from the pain, and then had to dodge another slash from his sword. Again he kneed me, this time in the nose. I could feel the blood rush from my nostrils, and even taste the irony-flavor of the crimson liquid.

“Not so tough now are you, tree-climber?”

I laid on the ground, still dazed by the blow. I looked up Rallus has brought his blade high into the air, but just before he brought it down onto my head something happened. The tip of another blade came through Rallus stomach from the back, making a sickening rip sound as it tore through the flesh. Rallus immediately dropped his sword and fell to the ground, with blood pouring from his mouth. He was dead.

Standing above the dead body was none other than Bittneld. His blood sword was dangling at his side, and he had the same look on his face as he did the last time I saw him.
“Bittneld, thank you so much for saving me. I would have….” And again, as he did earlier, Bittneld harshly cut me off.

“Save the apologies for someone else, Agaron. I didn’t save you because I wanted to, but because it was the right thing to do. Even though you are a self-centered [censored] I couldn’t just leave you here to die. I only came because I didn’t want the two boys to escape if in fact they were a part of the assassination plot, and then attempt the murder all over again. And it appears they were sadly,” he said while taking a look at the two dead bodies.

“I hope that maybe what has just happened will knock you in the head and force you realize you are not invincible. But I guess time will only tell,” and at that he offered me a hand and helped me from the ground.

Next he grabbed my dagger from the wood floor, handed it to me, and walked out through the front door. “Come, we need to inform the Countess of our results and send someone down here to take care of the bodies,” he said, tossing me a towel from the kitchen table. “I guess just use this to help the bleeding stop. I’ll take you to a healer once everything is settled with the Countess.”

I just couldn’t believe it. It’s funny in a way, you know? All this time I’ve gone around think I am always going to come on top in every battle; that I am in fact invincible. But now I finally understand that is definitely no the case. I should be dead by now, but because of Bittneld I am still alive. And come to think of it, he’s being a lot friendlier than I would if someone would have spoken to me like I did him. Perhaps he was being nice because he knew he had proved me wrong, and made me look like a fool. It didn’t matter either way, it was still a heroic deed, and I had to give him my thanks. That was the least I could do.

“Bittneld, I…I am…”

“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t want your thanks, or anything for that matter. Just come one and forget about, alright?”

His tone was much colder this time, and I knew the damage I had done earlier was irreplaceable. He was going to hate my guts for the rest of the eternity, and I couldn’t see a way past that. For the first time in my life I actually feel bad about myself, and I’ll admit it…it’s a hell of a weird feeling.

Bitneld is weird. On the one hand, I don't quite get what he is so worked up about. (Agaron didn't sound so rude to me, just pure business.) On the other hand, the save was quite a bit of a surprise as well. This guy could become quite interesting.

I was trying to portray Agaron as a little cocky, you know? Thanks for reading, Jack. I appreciate it.

CHAPTER THREE


During the entire walk back to Chorrol, neither of us spoke a word. Bittneld of course took the lead the way since he knew the area better than I, and he never once looked back. Again, as I’ve said before, I feel absolutely terrible and foolish. Now that I actually think about it, there are a couple of my fellow associates of “Midnight’s Watch” that act this way. It will surely be more noticeable from now on, simply because I realize how bad it looks.

It was amazing how much it took to make me realize how much of a jerk I’ve been. I currently feel absolutely embarrassed because of my actions. Thinking back I’ve probably been this way my entire life. I was raised by a Breton family in Mournhold, of Morrowind.

You see, my parents were personal friends of the Breton family, and when they were both killed while exploring Dwemer ruins in Vvardenfell, my now step-father and step-mother immediately took me in. Throughout my childhood I was given the best education money could buy, and I was brought up to be a diplomat some day. But obviously that never worked and here I am now.

My rich atmosphere growing up made me an intelligent and successful individual, but it has also turned me into a rude and immature monster. But I was going to change that no matter how hard and difficult it was likely going to be. It wasn’t going to be easy by any means, but I was ready to do what was necessary to change the person I am. No more being a bossy little elf anymore. No, from now on I was going to be as polite as possible and no more smart remarks will be coming from my mouth.




When we at last finally arrived in Chorrol the Countess was sitting upon her throne speaking with some of the citizens. When she saw me and Bittneld walking towards her she politely excused herself and stood up from her seat.

“So, what happened?” she asked.

“Shall we speak of this here, or would you like to talk about it in private?” I offered, not knowing if she really wanted this to be discussed openly.

“Yes, I think my chambers will do. Please, follow me you two.”

Five guards escorted us to Lady Valga’s bedroom, and then locked the door behind us once we were inside.

“What did you find?” She asked with great anticipation.

“The two brothers were in fact part of the plot. I gave the two of them a chance to surrender, but they wouldn’t have any of it. They are now dead inside farm house. I am sorry, madam, but there was no other way.”

The Countess sat down on the edge of her bed, and then looked at the ground with a sad look about her face. She then looked at me and said, “That is just awful. Of course I don’t blame you; like you said, there was nothing that could have prevented the deaths. Did you find a motive?”

“Yes, the older brother complained about being ordered to pay taxes on their farm. He was quite annoyed about actually.”

Her face lit up in confusion and said, “That is all? Petty taxes?”

“Yes, madam, he claimed they had never paid taxes before that you were being unfair…”

She chuckled awkwardly at this and replied, “The only reason they haven’t paid their taxes is because up until about a month ago I had let them slip by. I understand that their farm isn’t the most successful one in Cyrodiil; but with a couple of important donators of church breathing down my neck about not making them pay taxes, I had to say something. It was only twenty-five gold, nothing else. This is truly a sad time for Chorrol. But hopefully we will be able to move on and forget what’s happened, and of course all the credit goes to you, Agaron.”

I looked at Bittneld, who was standing next to me with his arms crossed, still looking pissed. I couldn’t take all of the thanks for what happened.

“It wasn’t just me, madam. Bittneld saved my life, and if it weren’t for his valiant actions I would be dead right now. I owe him my life.”

Lady Valga looked to her guard Captain and said cheerfully, “It doesn’t surprise me. Bittneld is of course my very best soldier, which is he is my Captain. He’s truly a great person and would help even the rudest of people.”

The last sentence hurt me the most, and it pained me to hear the words. It felt like a dagger was being shoved through my chest. Bittneld himself didn’t look at me or respond, but I knew he was thinking. What Lady Valga said held so much irony it wasn’t even funny.

“I was just doing my job, m’lady,” Bittneld commented in a normal tone.

Lady Valga smiled widely and then looked back to me. “Again, on behalf of all of Chorrol, I thank you for your troubles. I know you are eager to report back to Rindral, so I won’t keep you any longer. As I said earlier, your compensation will come through my courier within the next few days.”

“Thank you, madam. It was a pleasure to serve you.”

She smiled widely again and said, “Captain Bittneld will escort you to the stables. Have a wonderful day!”

A took a bow and then left the room with Bittneld leading the way. When we reached the stables the two of us just stood there for a second. Then, as Bittneld was about to walk away without saying anything, I stopped him. I couldn’t just let him go without saying thank you, no matter how much he didn’t speak with me. I understood his frustration, but I had to say something.

“Listen, just please hear me out for a minute, Bittneld,” I said, and he turned around. He then stood there with his arms crossed and replied, “Fine. Go ahead.”

“I know I’ve been a jerk, and I’m not going to sit here and apologize a hundred times. I’ve said I was sorry, and it’s clear you don’t care. I just wanted you to know that I will change the way I act, for the better. After everything that’s happened I’ve realize now that life is too short to act like a jerk know-it-all. You’ve turned me into a better person. Now I know sitting here saying this won’t do me any good, but I swear to you; the next time we meet again I will be changed. You’ll see.”

I was about get on my white stallion, when Bittneld grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. He had a sort of grin on his face, and was holding out his right hand. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear that, my friend,” He said happily as I shook his hand. “That is why I told you that I didn’t want your thanks; because I only wanted to see you become a better person. Anybody can say something, but it takes a real man to actually do it.”

I was glad things seemed to be patched up between us. It was almost as if I was being tested by Bittneld, and thankfully I’ve passed.

So I nodded and after the handshaking was done I climbed onto my horse, gave Bittneld one final wave, and headed into the sunset towards the Blackwood region of Cyrodiil.

Ok, you guys are going to hate me. Once again I am quitting a story. Yes I know this is the second time within seven days, but I just can't get something I like. I apologize for this, and I hope you don't judge me a bad writer.

And I think I know what the problem is. It's because I'm trying to write fast enough for the Chorrol Contest. So, I've decided to drop out of the Competition all together, or at least for the first 2 categories.

I already submitted TAoR for the 20,000+ category. I figure there's no reason to rush and get things done and not have fun. Besides, having fun is the point of writing, correct?

Now, back to The Ice Warrior.....

You do know that the name was also used for a chapter in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring don't you? Even a track on the movie soundtrack (which I quite like) is titled this way.

Nope, didn't know.