CHAPTER FIVE
I could have sworn I saw a few tears form in his eyes, but he didn’t give me a lot of time to get a closer look, because as soon as he was done speaking he bent down and started to help me pick things up from the floor. He was silent for the first minute or so, and then I decided to the time was right to make my apology. It was rather hard, that much was for sure, but I did it, and it came from the heart. I couldn’t remember apologizing for anything in my life, but of course if I was to do that I’d be doing it everyday, if you know what I mean.
“Hey, umm…Martin, I…I’m sorry for what happened downstairs. I just let things loose when I shouldn’t have.”
“The past is not the present, Rayden. Any thief should no that,” he said while looking up with a friendly smile on his face. “Sometimes people say things they don’t really mean, even if it’s actually true, like in my case. But I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. That is if you are as well.”
I looked straight into his eyes to get his expression. He was really telling the truth, and that’s when I knew I could trust Martin. It’s not as if had not before, but seeing his face and hearing his words I was now one hundred percent he was one of the “good guys”, so-to-speak.
I shook his hand and we went back to work cleaning up the room, but at the same time we started our discussion about what to do with the amulet.
“I was thinking about the amulet on the way here, and I’ll be honest with you Rayden, I really am not sure what we should do with it. Obviously we cannot destroy, that would be utterly foolish.”
I cut him off to ask him a question before he could continue talking. “Jauffre said the same thing. Why is that such a bad idea? If we destroy it, won’t it make Mankar and his cultists leave?”
“As easy as it sounds, no, it wouldn’t work. I believe Mankar has other things in store for Cyrodiil, though I don’t know what. I also think the original plan was to get the amulet, but that’s only the first step. And who knows, maybe they want it just so they can destroy it. If that’s the case then we are doing the right thing already, but that’s the tricky part of all this, we don’t know any specifics. That’s why I have a plan, and you’re the right person for the job.”
“And just what might that be?” I asked.
“It’s no news to anyone that the Imperial City is the Mythic Dawn’s stronghold. Some citizens got out while fighting was still running rampant through the city, but because of the surprise attack, and the Dawn’s swift victory, many people are still being held there against their will, including any surviving soldiers. Of course they could all be dead by now. Mankar might have questioned them, and when he didn’t learn anything it’s definitely possible that he might have done away with them permanently.”
“What are you getting at, Martin?”
“You have to infiltrate the Imperial City and find out what their plans really are. There has to be some kind of documents, or secret letters, something. I know it sounds dangerous, but if there are still survivors in the city they can aid you I’m sure. What do you think?”
What was I to say? I was just asked to infiltrate a city where there were literally hundreds, maybe even near the thousands, of cultists walking around looking for anything suspicious. Now I’m not questioning my abilities by any means, but I’ve never been in a situation like the one Martin wants to put me in. I wasn’t so sure this was a very safe plan, but then again no plan was likely safe.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m happy about this, because I certainly am not. In fact this is very dangerous and it’s likely that I’ll be caught. But, given our circumstances, this plan will also likely get us where we need to be. I’ll do it.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Now, take these invisibility potions and these chameleon ones as well, and…”
“Umm…Martin…I can’t use those,” I said bluntly.
“Of course you can! Other than any survivors you might happen to run into, these are the only aid you will get during your mission. Why wouldn’t you want to use them?”
“I never said I didn’t want to use them, Martin, it’s just a matter of me not being able to use them. I don’t really have an explanation, but I can’t drink potions. For some reason my body can’t handle whatever is in them. Every time I try and drink one I gag terribly, and one time I almost passed out because I wasn’t able to breath. Plus, even when I could breath the potion still didn’t work.”
Martin gave an extremely puzzled look. “Well, I’ve never heard of that before. How do you go about your “business”?”
“Don’t worry about me, I don’t need any potions. And I don’t say that because I’m cocky, but rather I am confident.”
“You must be pretty talented.”
“I like to think so.”
We spent a little more time cleaning the house until the upstairs was totally spotless, or at least as spotless as we could get it. We placed the bodies in the garden behind the house. If we had any time later on then we’d bury them, but we probably wouldn’t have any free time.
Martin decided that we’d clean the downstairs part of the house later on, and we slept the rest of the evening and on into the night. Sleep was something I hadn’t had for a while, and I also needed to be rested up for my mission.
I woke up the next morning at around noon. Martin had already awoken and had picked some berries from outside. After eating a small portion of the fruit I got dressed and Martin and I set out for the Imperial City. I needed not directions for the place, for I had been their countless times. The city was full of expensive houses with rich owners who never seemed to lock their doors properly.
I could pick the locks they used in my sleep, and I just might be serious about that. They certainly weren’t too concerned about their belongings, and I made sure that they paid for that mistake. But I was smart with my burglaries. I took enough to insure that I was getting profit, but less enough to keep the owners unaware of my actions. They were so wrapped up in their very expensive items that they were to ignorant to notice smaller things. I say smaller things, but yet they still gave me a good amount of money. I couldn’t complain at all.
“Alright, let’s figure out the plans exactly,” said Martin. “Do you know where the Palace is, Rayden?”
“Yes, it’s the big shiny building in the middle of the city,” I said back semi-sarcastically. I didn’t know if Martin minded my sarcasm or not.
“Ha, that’s right! Now, if I was forced to give you an answer as to where any information was being held, I’d bet my life that it’d be in the palace somewhere. Mankar has most likely set up base in there and you need to sneak in somehow and find something useful. Look for notes, documents, and letters, anything that looks interesting. Also, even though it’s very dangerous, it wouldn’t hurt to eavesdrop whenever you can.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t done before. It won’t be a problem.”
“Rayden, these are Mythic Dawn cultists, not snobby ignorant civilians. Make sure you are taking this seriously.”
“I am, don’t worry about that. I know what has to be done.”
“I hope so, because if you are captured…”
“You can stop right there, I’ve NEVER been caught, and I don’t plan on getting caught any time soon.”
We rode the rest of the way and in no time we were just a couple hundred yards west of the Imperial City. I didn’t know of any secret ways inside the city, so I’d somehow have to sneak into the place undetected. When we reached the city gates I realized how difficult of a task it was going to be. A group of three cultists were standing in front of the gates, no doubt guarding the inside from any intruders such as myself.
“I have an idea,” Martin whispered as we both looked at the cultists from a far, behind a bush besides the stables.
All of the horses must have either been killed or taken away, because the place was empty and the windows to the house had been shattered. Most likely they were being used by the cultists themselves.
“And what is it?”
“We need to get one of those guards over here somehow and get them to walk behind this house, where none of the other guards can see him. Then, we he rounds the corner, you can sneak up and kill him. Then take his clothes and put them on as a disguise.”
It sounded like a good plan, but there were definitely some flaws as well. “And what if more than one of them come over here? What if they all come over here?”
“Then we stay in the shadows and think of another plan,” he said simply.
“Don’t you think that’s kind of dangerous?”
“Do you have any other plans in mind? Any way, I thought you told me that you killed two cultists at an inn?”
“I did, but that was probably all luck. I’m sure Mankar wouldn’t let a bunch of imprudent men guard his base.”
“If you ask me I think you need more confident in your abilities other than thieving. Obviously you have skill in combat as well because it was not luck that you were able to kill those two. It was wise and quick thinking. Just believe in yourself, Rayden. These are some scary times, I know, but these things have to be done.”
“I’m not scared!”
“I didn’t say you were. But I would say you’re at least a bit nervous, which is normal.”
I suppose I admit that he was probably right. I was anxious, but like he said, that was normal. But then again, I couldn’t even remember the last time I was anxious about anything, although this definitely was different situation.
“Fine, what now then?”
Martin told me to hide in the shadows under the shielding of a tree on the opposite side of the house. He walked around to where I was, picked up a rock, and threw it at a pale sitting on top a wooden fence inside the stables. The rock hit the metal pale and made a loud noise, alerting the guards. Martin quietly ran to poke his head around the corner, and then came over to tell me that two cultists were coming our way. He ran to where I was, and I readied my bow and arrows.
Soon the red-robed men came around to investigate the noise.
“I don’t see anything, do you?” said one of them to the other.
They continued to walk around and look for anything, but of course they found nothing. Then, as they were walking away with their backs to me, I fired my bow at the one in the back. The arrow hit him square in the back and he fell to the ground. As soon as I had fired the arrow I began running towards the other man. Just as I had imagined, the noise caused by the impact of the arrow made the other man in front turn around. He saw his fallen comrade on the floor, but it was too late to defend him self. I was simply too fast for him and I quickly unsheathed my short blade and lunged at the last robed man. I don’t know how I did this successfully, but I tacked the man to the ground, and as I did I shoved my blade through his stomach. I landed on top of him, and I dug blade deeper into his skin to make sure he was dead. When I realized he was I was totally silent, listening for any running feet. Through all of this I had luckily managed to not alert the other cultist.
Martin gave me the thumbs up and I took off the robe of one of the cultists. And what do you, know it was a Bosmer. This would obviously help a lot. Hopefully the other wouldn’t notice anything strange.
When I was fully dressed I laid gave my bow, arrows, and sword to Martin. I took the small dagger from the dead body and brought it with me as I slowly walked towards the remaining robed cultist.
“Judo, where is Falonius?” A Tall Altmer asked me.
Rather than talk, I instead pointed behind the Altmer. I don’t why I didn’t, because didn’t think he would look, but he did! I couldn’t believe how stupid he was. I was almost so stunned I forgot to take the elf out. When I was done slitting his throat I dragged his body behind a rock. When I got to the gates Martin was waiting for me.
“Be quick, Rayden, you won’t have a lot of time. When they realize what happened they’ll lock the whole place down.”
I nodded and walked to the gates, but before I could enter I heard Martin call my name.
“And be careful….
On to the next chapter
I could have sworn I saw a few tears form in his eyes, but he didn’t give me a lot of time to get a closer look, because as soon as he was done speaking he bent down and started to help me pick things up from the floor. He was silent for the first minute or so, and then I decided to the time was right to make my apology. It was rather hard, that much was for sure, but I did it, and it came from the heart. I couldn’t remember apologizing for anything in my life, but of course if I was to do that I’d be doing it everyday, if you know what I mean.
“Hey, umm…Martin, I…I’m sorry for what happened downstairs. I just let things loose when I shouldn’t have.”
“The past is not the present, Rayden. Any thief should no that,” he said while looking up with a friendly smile on his face. “Sometimes people say things they don’t really mean, even if it’s actually true, like in my case. But I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. That is if you are as well.”
I looked straight into his eyes to get his expression. He was really telling the truth, and that’s when I knew I could trust Martin. It’s not as if had not before, but seeing his face and hearing his words I was now one hundred percent he was one of the “good guys”, so-to-speak.
I shook his hand and we went back to work cleaning up the room, but at the same time we started our discussion about what to do with the amulet.
“I was thinking about the amulet on the way here, and I’ll be honest with you Rayden, I really am not sure what we should do with it. Obviously we cannot destroy, that would be utterly foolish.”
I cut him off to ask him a question before he could continue talking. “Jauffre said the same thing. Why is that such a bad idea? If we destroy it, won’t it make Mankar and his cultists leave?”
“As easy as it sounds, no, it wouldn’t work. I believe Mankar has other things in store for Cyrodiil, though I don’t know what. I also think the original plan was to get the amulet, but that’s only the first step. And who knows, maybe they want it just so they can destroy it. If that’s the case then we are doing the right thing already, but that’s the tricky part of all this, we don’t know any specifics. That’s why I have a plan, and you’re the right person for the job.”
“And just what might that be?” I asked.
“It’s no news to anyone that the Imperial City is the Mythic Dawn’s stronghold. Some citizens got out while fighting was still running rampant through the city, but because of the surprise attack, and the Dawn’s swift victory, many people are still being held there against their will, including any surviving soldiers. Of course they could all be dead by now. Mankar might have questioned them, and when he didn’t learn anything it’s definitely possible that he might have done away with them permanently.”
“What are you getting at, Martin?”
“You have to infiltrate the Imperial City and find out what their plans really are. There has to be some kind of documents, or secret letters, something. I know it sounds dangerous, but if there are still survivors in the city they can aid you I’m sure. What do you think?”
What was I to say? I was just asked to infiltrate a city where there were literally hundreds, maybe even near the thousands, of cultists walking around looking for anything suspicious. Now I’m not questioning my abilities by any means, but I’ve never been in a situation like the one Martin wants to put me in. I wasn’t so sure this was a very safe plan, but then again no plan was likely safe.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m happy about this, because I certainly am not. In fact this is very dangerous and it’s likely that I’ll be caught. But, given our circumstances, this plan will also likely get us where we need to be. I’ll do it.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Now, take these invisibility potions and these chameleon ones as well, and…”
“Umm…Martin…I can’t use those,” I said bluntly.
“Of course you can! Other than any survivors you might happen to run into, these are the only aid you will get during your mission. Why wouldn’t you want to use them?”
“I never said I didn’t want to use them, Martin, it’s just a matter of me not being able to use them. I don’t really have an explanation, but I can’t drink potions. For some reason my body can’t handle whatever is in them. Every time I try and drink one I gag terribly, and one time I almost passed out because I wasn’t able to breath. Plus, even when I could breath the potion still didn’t work.”
Martin gave an extremely puzzled look. “Well, I’ve never heard of that before. How do you go about your “business”?”
“Don’t worry about me, I don’t need any potions. And I don’t say that because I’m cocky, but rather I am confident.”
“You must be pretty talented.”
“I like to think so.”
We spent a little more time cleaning the house until the upstairs was totally spotless, or at least as spotless as we could get it. We placed the bodies in the garden behind the house. If we had any time later on then we’d bury them, but we probably wouldn’t have any free time.
Martin decided that we’d clean the downstairs part of the house later on, and we slept the rest of the evening and on into the night. Sleep was something I hadn’t had for a while, and I also needed to be rested up for my mission.
I woke up the next morning at around noon. Martin had already awoken and had picked some berries from outside. After eating a small portion of the fruit I got dressed and Martin and I set out for the Imperial City. I needed not directions for the place, for I had been their countless times. The city was full of expensive houses with rich owners who never seemed to lock their doors properly.
I could pick the locks they used in my sleep, and I just might be serious about that. They certainly weren’t too concerned about their belongings, and I made sure that they paid for that mistake. But I was smart with my burglaries. I took enough to insure that I was getting profit, but less enough to keep the owners unaware of my actions. They were so wrapped up in their very expensive items that they were to ignorant to notice smaller things. I say smaller things, but yet they still gave me a good amount of money. I couldn’t complain at all.
“Alright, let’s figure out the plans exactly,” said Martin. “Do you know where the Palace is, Rayden?”
“Yes, it’s the big shiny building in the middle of the city,” I said back semi-sarcastically. I didn’t know if Martin minded my sarcasm or not.
“Ha, that’s right! Now, if I was forced to give you an answer as to where any information was being held, I’d bet my life that it’d be in the palace somewhere. Mankar has most likely set up base in there and you need to sneak in somehow and find something useful. Look for notes, documents, and letters, anything that looks interesting. Also, even though it’s very dangerous, it wouldn’t hurt to eavesdrop whenever you can.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t done before. It won’t be a problem.”
“Rayden, these are Mythic Dawn cultists, not snobby ignorant civilians. Make sure you are taking this seriously.”
“I am, don’t worry about that. I know what has to be done.”
“I hope so, because if you are captured…”
“You can stop right there, I’ve NEVER been caught, and I don’t plan on getting caught any time soon.”
We rode the rest of the way and in no time we were just a couple hundred yards west of the Imperial City. I didn’t know of any secret ways inside the city, so I’d somehow have to sneak into the place undetected. When we reached the city gates I realized how difficult of a task it was going to be. A group of three cultists were standing in front of the gates, no doubt guarding the inside from any intruders such as myself.
“I have an idea,” Martin whispered as we both looked at the cultists from a far, behind a bush besides the stables.
All of the horses must have either been killed or taken away, because the place was empty and the windows to the house had been shattered. Most likely they were being used by the cultists themselves.
“And what is it?”
“We need to get one of those guards over here somehow and get them to walk behind this house, where none of the other guards can see him. Then, we he rounds the corner, you can sneak up and kill him. Then take his clothes and put them on as a disguise.”
It sounded like a good plan, but there were definitely some flaws as well. “And what if more than one of them come over here? What if they all come over here?”
“Then we stay in the shadows and think of another plan,” he said simply.
“Don’t you think that’s kind of dangerous?”
“Do you have any other plans in mind? Any way, I thought you told me that you killed two cultists at an inn?”
“I did, but that was probably all luck. I’m sure Mankar wouldn’t let a bunch of imprudent men guard his base.”
“If you ask me I think you need more confident in your abilities other than thieving. Obviously you have skill in combat as well because it was not luck that you were able to kill those two. It was wise and quick thinking. Just believe in yourself, Rayden. These are some scary times, I know, but these things have to be done.”
“I’m not scared!”
“I didn’t say you were. But I would say you’re at least a bit nervous, which is normal.”
I suppose I admit that he was probably right. I was anxious, but like he said, that was normal. But then again, I couldn’t even remember the last time I was anxious about anything, although this definitely was different situation.
“Fine, what now then?”
Martin told me to hide in the shadows under the shielding of a tree on the opposite side of the house. He walked around to where I was, picked up a rock, and threw it at a pale sitting on top a wooden fence inside the stables. The rock hit the metal pale and made a loud noise, alerting the guards. Martin quietly ran to poke his head around the corner, and then came over to tell me that two cultists were coming our way. He ran to where I was, and I readied my bow and arrows.
Soon the red-robed men came around to investigate the noise.
“I don’t see anything, do you?” said one of them to the other.
They continued to walk around and look for anything, but of course they found nothing. Then, as they were walking away with their backs to me, I fired my bow at the one in the back. The arrow hit him square in the back and he fell to the ground. As soon as I had fired the arrow I began running towards the other man. Just as I had imagined, the noise caused by the impact of the arrow made the other man in front turn around. He saw his fallen comrade on the floor, but it was too late to defend him self. I was simply too fast for him and I quickly unsheathed my short blade and lunged at the last robed man. I don’t know how I did this successfully, but I tacked the man to the ground, and as I did I shoved my blade through his stomach. I landed on top of him, and I dug blade deeper into his skin to make sure he was dead. When I realized he was I was totally silent, listening for any running feet. Through all of this I had luckily managed to not alert the other cultist.
Martin gave me the thumbs up and I took off the robe of one of the cultists. And what do you, know it was a Bosmer. This would obviously help a lot. Hopefully the other wouldn’t notice anything strange.
When I was fully dressed I laid gave my bow, arrows, and sword to Martin. I took the small dagger from the dead body and brought it with me as I slowly walked towards the remaining robed cultist.
“Judo, where is Falonius?” A Tall Altmer asked me.
Rather than talk, I instead pointed behind the Altmer. I don’t why I didn’t, because didn’t think he would look, but he did! I couldn’t believe how stupid he was. I was almost so stunned I forgot to take the elf out. When I was done slitting his throat I dragged his body behind a rock. When I got to the gates Martin was waiting for me.
“Be quick, Rayden, you won’t have a lot of time. When they realize what happened they’ll lock the whole place down.”
I nodded and walked to the gates, but before I could enter I heard Martin call my name.
“And be careful….
On to the next chapter