Not Alone (A Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

     I wandered through the corridors of Shadow Cave, or so we now called our retreat. 

     The first time I had entered these ruins, draugr and skeevers had infested the hallways.  Now we had killed all the threats, at least those on this side of the puzzle door.  Whatever was on the other size probably couldn't get through if we couldn't, so we had left it alone.

     It had taken a few weeks to make the cave habitable.  Burning all the rotting bodies and even clearing out the smell of draugr had taken quite a while.  Now, though, bright torches graced every hall, tapestries and carpets gave the place a homey feel, and new rooms had been outfitted for sleeping, eating, planning, and practicing. 

     New thieves came in each day to join our ranks, and our guild was once more on the rise.  No more did we rob only the dead, and our symbol was starting to be known in Skyrim.

     I had helped us achieve this.  I had borne the Summerset Shadows along on my shoulders, sharing the burden only with the two thieves whom the Thieves' Guild had missed.  Everything was falling into place, everything was happening precisely according to plan.

     So why wasn't I happier?

     The moment I had spent months and months planning had been executed perfectly and without a hitch, and we now had the means to take our revenge on the murderers who had nearly killed us off.

     I should be happy right now.  No, I should be thrilled and empowered with the taste of victory.  But mostly I was just tired and sick of this whole affair. 

     For a long time, anger had been the fuel to the fire inside me that wanted to consume the Thieves' Guild.  Now that anger had cooled down and the more logical side of me had taken over. 

     What the Guild had done had really been exactly what Kisvar said, business.  When I had confronted him in the snow, I had wanted- I had wanted him to say that he had enjoyed destroying the Summerset Shadows.  That he had enjoyed storming our cave, taking our possessions, and slaughtering every single one of our members.  Instead he had calmly presented a perfectly rational argument in the face of my vengeful anger.

     Before I had met Kisvar, I had pretty much considered him a common bandit.  I had imagined... well, a confrontational, overconfident male jerk who would do or say anything for what he wanted, pretty much.  In reality, Kisvar wasn't like that at all.  He cared just as much for his guild and friends as I cared for mine, and that I could understand even if I didn't agree with his actions. 

     It had taken me a while to worm Kisvar's whole story out of him, but once I had....  By the Divines, he hadn't had it easy.  Kisvar had killed Alduin the World Eater, a task which must have taken no little preparation and difficulty, and now this Miraak was threatening the world once again. 

     And this presented me with another dilemma.  I had no reason to believe that Kisvar was lying when he told me about Miraak, and the old dragon we had found in the Howling Cave had pretty much confirmed everything to me.  If, if, all this was true, then we were about to torture and kill the only person who might be able to save the world from a threat bigger than any it had faced before. 

     A few months ago I wouldn't have cared about all this even if Kisvar had been the Emperor of Tamriel.  But now that I had actually met the man and knew what he had done for Skyrim- and even what he had done for me, by letting me into the Thieves' Guild- things were different.

     I kicked a small rock violently, sending it bouncing back into the shadows like a mudcrab scuttling into a stream. 

     I hadn't told Areldil that Kisvar was Dragonborn, and nor was I planning to.  Why?  Why wouldn't I tell Areldil that Kisvar had powers that could potentially break him out of his cell?  After all, he had killed my friends, my family!  Denying him any possible avenue of escape should be my first priority.