|
The rain was still falling outside, harder than I expected,
the clouds blocked out the sun, it was probably around two in the afternoon by
now, but it looked like midnight. There was a bright flash, followed by a
deafening boom of thunder. I could hardly see because of the darkness and rain,
but eventually found St. Olms. I walked along the side of the canton, reading
the addresses etched into the stone wall above the doors.
"N2C, I'm on the wrong side." I followed the wall
along to the east side, the storm didn't show any signs of stopping. I came to
S2C and just then realized I didn't have a plan to capture Sultan. I sat next to
the door and looked up at the black clouds and the falling rain. I heard a faint
tapping, an Ordinator was walking past a only a foot away from me, the sound of
the rain muffled his footsteps and he didn't even see me, but I wouldn't have
been able to see him if it wasn't for the torch he was carrying. "How can a
torch stay lit in this rain?" I wondered for a moment, then got an idea.
The muffled sound, not being able to see your hand in front of
your face, this rain was perfect. I got up and knocked on the door marked S2C
and took a few steps back, so whoever answered the door wouldn't be able to see
me very well. I took Magebane and got on one knee, aiming at the door, a moment
later someone opened it "Yes?" despite the rain I could still tell his
accent was that of a Dunmer. I attempted to make my voice sound like Anarens and
hoped he got the order to kill me from Sultan.
"Sir, it is done." there was a pause, I looked that
the dark outline of the man I thought was Sultan and aimed at his right leg.
"Oh, Anaren, good work. It's a bit difficult to hear you
though, come on in."
"Sultan...."
"How many times must I tell you? I have to use a
different name here so those fools from Forlorn don't find out where I am.
Remember, it's Dra-" the bowstring slipped from my fingers because of the
rain, and the arrow pierced Sultans right leg. I panicked, ran up to Sultan and
punched him right in the face. He stumbled backwards into his house and tripped
over a crate, the injury to his leg kept him from stopping before that. I walked
into his house,
"Darn, is your face made of metal? I'm not doing that
again without gauntlets on." I said to him, rubbing my right hand.
"Who the hell do you think you are?! Do you have any idea
who I am?!"
I sighed, "Another idiot with stupid questions, but I'll
be nice and humor you. I am Nem Orian, one of the "fools" from
Forlorn. And you are Sultan, member of the ASP and one of Jiub's personal
assistants."
"Ugh, this isn't happening, how could you have found
me?!"
"Anaren told me in exchange for his life, you think
people with valuable information like that would have some resistance to torture
and death threats... but enough of this, we can talk later." I looked
around, saw a sturdy wooden staff in the corner of the room and grabbed it.
"Anaren, how dare he... huh? What're you doing with
my-" I struck the side of his head with the staff, knocking him out.
I untied and unraveled the rope hammock in the corner, and
used it to detain Sultan. I left enough rope from the end so I could drag him
along, he was too heavy to carry and I didn't want to give him the chance to run
by leaving his legs untied, I also used a piece of cloth as a gag to keep him
quiet. I pulled him along toward the Silt Strider, the rain continued to fall, I
wasn't sure the storm was ever going to stop. I finally came to the bridge out
of Vivec, the rain started to get lighter. As I approached the Silt Strider's...
Siltman I suppose... I was given an odd look. I glanced back at Sultan who was
now struggling to get free from the ropes. I sighed and handed the Siltman a
couple hundred septims I made a few days ago from selling some homemade potions.
"Just take us to Suran, after that you can just forget
about us. Ok?" he stared at the gold for a moment.
"Is this...?" he began to ask
"No it's not stolen, so will you give us a lift or
not?"
"Well... all right, get in."
By the time I returned to the Guildhall it was nearly
midnight. I entered, still dragging Sultan along.
"Back at last, our little talk will have to wait until
tomorrow Sultan. Now then, where can I put you?" I searched around, the
best place seemed to be a closet near the beds. In the closet there were spare
pillows and blankets on the shelves, the floor was big enough to stuff Sultan
there for the night. I rolled Sultan into the closet and bent over. "Look,
just keep quiet and I’ll take the cloth out of your mouth, ok?"
He nodded
"Good." I removed the cloth, it was moist with
saliva. "Oh gross, Dunmer drool." I grumbled, tossing it into the
corner of the closet.
"So what are you going to do to me?" he asked
"Ask you some questions, what else?"
"Let me guess, if I refuse or lie I’ll be tortured, and
if I'm truthful and tell you all I know you'll have no more use for me and just
execute me."
"That's up to the Guildmaster, just keep in mind there
are fates worse than death." I said, closing and locking the door.
I awoke on a bed near the closet door, nothing like a good
rest before extracting information from someone. I got up, unlocked the closet
door and opened it. Sultan was still on the floor, sleeping in his rope blanket.
I grabbed the loose rope and took him to a room with a table that had a chair on
each side, a small window, and a candle. There was also a guard standing in the
corner, just in case Sultan thought about doing anything stupid.
I untied Sultan and helped him get to a chair, his body was
numb from being tied up for so long.
"Now then." I said, sitting down "Ready for our
little talk?"
"No."
"Didn't think you would be. What's the problem?"
"I haven't eaten or had a chance to, well, take care of
business, for nearly a day! What do you think is the problem!?"
"Well answer my questions quickly and I'll make sure you
get some food and a bucket." "Ugh, I hate you."
"Trust me, the feeling is mutual. So where is Jiub and
the ASP?"
"Ha, I’m not like that traitor Anaren, I’ll never
tell the likes of you where Master Jiub is." "Yes, I
expected as much. How about a weaponry stash? I know you know of one."
"Why would I tell you of that either?" I sighed and
stood up, walking over to the guard. "Simple." I
took an iron dagger from the guards belt. "I may hate violence, but I hate
the ASP more." I turned and glared at him. "If you don't give me the
location of that weapons stash, the rest of your life will be filled with pain
and suffering."
"And if I tell you you'll just kill me anyway,
right?"
"I told you, if you give up the information, it's up to
the Guildmaster. Not me."
"Then I refuse!"
"Why must you make me do this?" I walked over and
swung the dagger at his face, cutting his right cheek. He flinched and covered
the cut with his left hand, setting his right on the table. "That
enough motivation?" I asked
"Why you..." I regripped the dagger and slammed it
downward, through his right hand and into the table, he let out a yell.
"If you want to keep your hand, tell me where the weapon
stash is!"
"Argh! Ok, I will, just pull it out!"
I pulled the dagger from his hand, "Well?"
He wrapped part of his shirt around his hand, trying to stop
the bleeding. "It's west of Caldera, in a cave called Kironsni."
"How many guards?"
"Only three of them."
"Thank you." I gave the bloody iron dagger back to
the guard and left the room. I leaned against the wall, feeling a bit ill. I
rested for a moment, then went to gather my equipment. After informing the
Guildmaster that I had obtained the information and was leaving to raid the
cave, I bought a chitin dagger as a backup weapon, picked up the three Pack Guar
that were to help me and started my journey to Caldera.
|
