Dark Waters

-vitrin’s pov-

Minutes passed by like hours, days like weeks, and nearly a month like a year. I felt as if I’d been out in the open forever. I’d gotten a rather disorderly ambush by Imperials not two weeks after I left the Guild, right before I got to Windhelm.

It was actually kind of amazing. Because when I got to Windhelm, not only were there Stormcloaks roaming the city, but Imperials too. I even saw a couple Thalmor. They were banding together because they knew how dangerous I was. They knew I would tear them all down and so they worked together. Under any other circumstances, it would be a miracle. But nothing would stop me.

I went through that whole city and killed every last one of them, one by one. When I got to the last couple I made sure to make a little noise. There was one way in and out of this city and I already at the Palace of the Kings. I wanted Ulfric scared when I got to him. When I got inside, the guards were already swarming towards the door, but I mowed them down like they were nothing. I had deadly intentions, and when I walked through the bodies in the corridor, made my way up the stairs, and to the bedroom where I was sure Ulfric would’ve been hiding, I only found Galmar.

Within seconds I had his own iron battleaxe in my hands and against his throat, his back against a wall. His breathing was irregular, his hands quivering on my arms, fear in his eyes. I didn’t have to say a word, nor did I mean to waste my breath on him as he already knew what I wanted.

“Elenwen and Rulindil showed up, days ago, told him about you killing all the Thalmor at the Embassy, and they rode off that night. Vitrin, I swear I had no part of any of this. I’m very sorry for what’s happening with you and what they’ve done- what-what we’ve all done, but please don’t kill me, we’ve been thr-” I didn’t let him continue as I slammed the blade into the wall, severing his head with a shunk.

After I left Windhelm that night, that one swift movement that ended Galmar’s life haunted me. This man that I’d had drinks with and called a friend, who’d had my back in some of my toughest times with the Stormcloaks, who begged for his life which I was holding my hands… I’d just chopped his head off his shoulders without a second thought.

He deserved better. He wasn’t a villain.

But I was. I must’ve killed hundreds of guards and soldiers in that month. I went from Whiterun to Windhelm, to Winterhold, Dawnstar, Morthal, and then I made my way to Solitude. I was sure Elenwen had made her way back to Solitude by now, especially being it’s home to the Thalmor Headquarters.

I was tired, I was weakened, and I was growing frail, but I had anger that drove me. It brought me into the city late one night, and just as I slipped through a crack in the back wall, an arrow was shot right beside where I was, and I quickly moved, running over behind a house, into the shadows.

“She’s here!” Someone sounded the alarm to the others with a yell, and I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I grabbed my bow off my back, pulling an ebony arrow from the quiver, and pulled it back, staying in the shadows as I turned towards the Imperial on the wall, letting the arrow rip through the air and through his chest as he fell back and off, out of my sight.

“Where is she?!” Another guard roared, and I slid against the wall behind another wooden home, the boards to my back as I drew another arrow. I could hear a guard running around the corner, and I didn’t even peek around, blindly shooting an arrow, hoping to catch them off guard at best, but I was nearly shocked when I heard a gurgled cry and a thud. I took another arrow, as footsteps approached, and a guard ran around just got me to push him back against the wall, the bow under his chin, the arrow poking at his jaw, but only for a split second before it ripped through skin and bone, and I let him fall. I heard more running towards where I was, and I put my bow away, taking a deep breath as I made a fist, bringing a little spark to the match as I drew my sword as well, the electricity in my left hand tingling.

A yell from behind me made me turn, and I grabbed the guard’s throat, and at the touch his whole body was convulsing, and just as he started to smoke I let him go, hearing another behind me I drew my sword and swung around, slashing a guard’s gut before taking another swing at his throat. His body barely hit the ground before I was confronted once more from behind and I took my sword into my other hand, letting the electric current take it over as I jabbed it into an Imperial’s chest, hearing his ribs crack. Another came around, but I heard one behind me as well. I slashed one’s leg before turning and taking a swipe at another stomach, but he jumped back, avoiding the attack.

Suddenly I felt a knife at my back, and I quickly grabbed the man in front of me, swinging him around with my sword at his throat. I backed up away from the guard with him, a silent threat as I realized I’d backed into the light.

A sharp blade poked at my back. I was cornered as a man came from around the one in front of me, an arrow poised with a bow.

“I don’t need him anyways.” A gruff voice from behind me was the instigator to the blade that sliced through the stomach of the guard I held hostage, and he dropped down in front of me, and the smaller blade of a dagger was pressed against my throat. I let my hand lace around the dagger at my waist, but I had to make my actions count. “Come unarm her, now!” The voice from behind me demanded, and I knew this was my chance. The guard in front of me with his sword still out approached me, the archer behind him letting his bow down. As the guard approached I tightened my hold on the dagger, and just as he got close enough, I drew it quickly, slashing at his gut, and making a sizeable gash, but froze as I felt a blade cut the skin of my throat as I leaned forward, but just as fast the blade was removed.

“Give me something to stop the bleeding, now, hurry!” As I dropped down to my knees the man behind me rushed around, lying me back on the ground, his hands going over my throat. Why was he trying to save me? This was what this was, was it not? Were my vocal cords severed? How badly was I cut? I whimpered as I kept my dagger clenched in my hand, and took a swipe at the fool, ignoring the stinging of the gash. “Calm down, calm down, we need you alive!” He yelled at me quickly, and the archer slid to his knees beside the man, handing him a sizeable piece of red fabric, which he quickly covered my throat with.

“I heard screaming, what’s- Captain, is this her?” Another guard ran up and the man holding the cloth to my throat nodded quickly as I tried to take another swipe, dark spots in my vision when I blinked not helping me.

“Yes, and take that damn dagger away from her!” Captain ordered, and the new Imperial took the dagger from my hand, and the black spots were getting larger and darker, but I struggled again, though I could tell he could see there wasn’t as much energy in me as a few seconds ago. “She’s losing blood; I need to get her inside the barracks before…” I struggled with my eyelids, fighting, and whimpering, trying to show signs of life to keep myself from going under. I couldn’t here. Not with enemies hanging around me.

I barely registered being lifted off the ground, my vision going in and out, my hearing so watered down I couldn’t make out sounds, much less words.

I didn’t make it to the barracks.
______

I had nightmares of the deaths of all my friends whenever I was unconscious. They weren’t like normal nightmares though. See, these I couldn’t just wake up from, I had to endure them until sleep wore off my tired mind. I hated them, but I let them turn into a fuel for the flames inside of me.

When I was forced to pile those night terrors on top of what had happened to me, I wasn’t very stable when I woke in a cell, tied down to a bed.

I attempted to pull at my wrists first, having gotten out of bound situations before, but I felt I could hardly hold my head up. I was in Solitude. I knew that much. My throat had been slit by…by…

“So this is the girl? Vitrin? The one who’s been killing all-”

“Yes, yes, that’s her.” I recognized the voice. It was the Captain.

“What happened to her throat?”

“She cut it against the blade I was holding against her throat as she killed another guard. It wasn’t too deep, and it’s already healing up by itself.”

“I guess she got lucky then, didn’t she?”

“She would’ve been dead if he hadn’t of brought her in here!” Another guard yelled, sounding partially angry.

“You saved her, why? Just because Elenwen wants her alive doesn’t mean she can’t have a little accident and get killed, Captain Aldis.” The other guard was talking once more, and there was a heavy sigh.

“She’s still human, she-”

“Human?” The guard objected. “How many guards, both Stormcloaks and Imperials has she offed? Not to mention the grisly slaughtering that happened at the Thalmor Embassy!”

“And how many have you killed?!” Aldis yelled, and silence fell quickly. “I’m sure Elenwen wants her alive for a reason; this is none of your interest anyhow, now go about your duties!” A set of footsteps left the room quietly.

“I just don’t see why you saved her, Captain. She’s more of an animal than anything I’ve ever met.” The guard who’d objected to Aldis before continued, and then more footsteps trailed out of the room. I finally turned my head over to the direction from which the voices came, and saw Captain Aldis standing on the other side of the bars, watching me. He turned then, and walked off. I went to look down at my wrists, but a cloth around my neck made it difficult, a noise slipping past my lips as I felt the wound tug at my neck. I let my head lie back, and stopped tugging at my wrists, my body tired, and lungs heavy.

After my head rested back, and silence seeped into my head, I’d drifted off again, to wake up as a loud noise sounded through the concrete cell, and I jolted awake.

“Wake up, you’ve been out for a day and I have questions.” I groggily looked over to the man whose voice had brought me even further out of my deep sleep, and say he was sitting in my cell in a chair, and sheathed his sword, with which I assumed he had caused the loud racket that had woken me. “What does Elenwen want you? She doesn’t go after hardly anyone directly, and especially not anyone as dangerous as you, so what makes you so special?”

I kept silent, not about to tell this man anything, Captain or not. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then stopped, and closed his mouth, looking down before looking back at me.

“You’ve killed hundreds of men, Vitrin. You’ve murdered them all in cold blood. Stormcloaks, Imperials, Thalmor…” Aldis seemed rather puzzled as he looked right at me, his eyes boring into mine. “I might be rather upset about the slaughter of my guards last night, but something’s not right with you. Not mentally, but with all of this. You don’t seem the type to go on a murdering spree for no reason, and you don’t seem the born-a-killer kind.” It fell silent as if he expected me to speak. “Someone’s done something to you. Either Ulfric or Elenwen, and if you could tell me…perhaps I could help you.” His voice was quiet, but I knew he was bluffing. He just wanted to know why because he wanted to know how such a thing like me was so dangerous.

“Captain Aldis, there’s a letter for you up front, it’s from Elenwen.” A guard appeared behind him with the voice, and Aldis turned to him quickly.

“I’ll be there shortly.” He answered, and the guard nodded before turning and walking out. Aldis stood up, walking over to me and leaning down over the bed, a hand on the stone wall to my left. “You’re not the type. I know the type, trust me and…if you will just bring yourself to tell me what they’ve done to you -why they want you maybe…maybe I can help.” He stood up straight, and turned, but as he walked off I caught a whisper from him. “I hate that broad and that bastard more than you could know.” He grabbed the chair, unlocked the cell, and walked out, locking it back as he sat the chair out of my view and walked out.

I laid there for a few minutes, thinking over what he’d said. Something about not what he said, but the way he’d said it… It gave me a weird feeling that I tried too hard to drown. I had to get out. I tugged at my wrists again, more fiercely now, and finally stopped, taking a deep breath before I let my hands heat up with flames, but I couldn’t set the ropes on fire, my hands not able to bend around and reach them. I extinguished the flame before the straw caught fire, and sighed, squeezing my eyes shut as I took a deep breath and attempted to sit up, gritting my teeth as I tugged one more time hard at the bindings of my wrists. The bed frame shook but didn’t fall, and the ropes maintained their grasp. This was proving more difficult than it should have been, but my mind was fogged with drowsiness and my body was tired and weak.

I must’ve lied there for hours, thinking of ways to get loose, but each time I tried, I failed. I even attempted freezing the bed so maybe it would be more fragile and I could break the wood more easily and slip the ropes off since they were tying me down to the frame, but that was easier in my head than in actuality. After hours passed, I assumed it was dark out, and suddenly, unexpectedly, my cell door opened again, Captain Aldis stepping through.

“Elenwen’s on her way here. She’ll be here by morning.” Something about him made me want to trust him, but then again, it made me want to leave him in a pool of his own blood. “The guards are out on patrol, so I thought I’d come in here to talk to you about Elenwen and Ulfric.” He leaned back on the bars, and I just watched him intently. “You’ve killed a lot of people. You might be a murderer, but you haven’t done all of this because you want to, you’ve done it because you’ve had to.” His tone was too understanding of the current situation for me to feel comfortable around him, but something about him drew me to him. “I know this doesn’t happen when you go to jail. Your jailer doesn’t act all kind and understanding towards you, but I feel like you shouldn’t be in here. I feel you have a very good reason for what you’re doing, and that frightens me.” Aldis fell quiet for a moment, looking down at the floor as he crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head. “I’ve never felt like that towards anyone before. Like they were wrongfully in here. That is one thing I’ve never been burdened with. Though I suppose that’s why I’m in here again.” He was telling the truth. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he was telling the truth. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He stood there another minute before he turned and walked out, and in truth, I was slightly disappointed he’d left. It only took me a few minutes alone in my head for me to come to a conclusion. I would trust him. But I didn’t have to be that way for long, because he returned. With my belonging in his arms. He opened the cell and stepped in again.

“I’m going to get my head on the chopping block for this.” He muttered, seemingly to himself as he put my stuff at the end of the bed, and then took one of my daggers, quickly cutting through the ropes around my wrists. “But it feels like the right thing.” After his last mutter the last rope around my other wrist was cut and I jolted up, quickly grabbing Aldis and pushing him back against the wall, bringing fire to my fingertips, my hand poised at his throat, but it was like a force was holding me back from burning the life out of this man. “Easy there,” He calmed quietly, and I slowly let out a breath, and backed away from him. “I didn’t do this, understand?” He questioned, and I simply nodded, and I swear as he turned his back to me, just as he did, a hint of a smile crossed his face. Was it because I’d finally seemed to acknowledge fully something he said?

I didn’t have time to wonder as I quickly got the ragged clothes off and pulled on my armor, and as I did I noticed how I became winded easily, my head spinning slightly. I felt feeble. I felt like all the energy had been drained out of me as I slipped out of my cell, keeping one hand cold as ice with a frost spell as I made my way out the door and into the heart of the dungeon. There wasn’t a guard in sight, so I crept my way over to the hallway that was just a few feet away from my cell. I made my way quickly down the hall and made a right, heading up one set of stairs and just as I got to the top I was faced with another small set of stairs that led into a circle of a room that surrounded the dungeon from above. I made my way around quietly, hearing guards talking quietly down below now, and I knew they’d find me missing within seconds, but it took even less.

“She’s gone!” I half expected to hear Aldis’ voice, but a guards met my ears. I broke into a run, heading up two more small sets of stairs and then out the door and into the castle, finding myself in the middle of four imperial guards, but I darted for the door, ignoring them as I ran out into a warmish Skyrim night. I hardly paid them any attention, but it did phase me slightly as I came out into the courtyard to face five more guards. I didn’t have any time to run as they all ran at me at once, and the door opened behind me. I drew my sword.

An imperial with a battleaxe charged directly at me from my right and a growl erupted from my throat as I brought my sword up quickly, and severed one of his arms. The other hung at the elbow and he cried out, falling to his knees just soon enough to catch the other swing as another soldier ran at me and I slashed his knees, and split the armless man’s head clean off. I turned quickly at the sound of feet running at me, and I soon found I was outnumbered. I backed up even more towards the stairs as twenty or more guards stormed out of the castle.

I ran.

There was no way in my condition could I take on all twenty, and as I ran I felt arrows flying past me, one clipping my side, but doing no damage other than making me gasp. I should have went through with my path to the right but that path was well blocked now. I took the stairs two at a time, running up one set, then another, then making a left and running down an open corridor. Guards came at me but I stabbed and slashed my way through. The walls looped around back to the stairs, but as I hid in a small corridor, I could hear a guard yelling out.

“She’s disappeared! Cover the town and the walls, don’t let her out of here!” I attempted to regain my breath as I stood in the small walkway, hoping for the guards to scatter so I could get back to the stairs. Finally, I hadn’t known how long I’d been standing in the small hideaway, but I came out, running back around towards the stairs, only running into one guard, who I took down quickly. But as I got to the stairs, I wasn’t expecting a guard to be waiting, and I was pushed, falling a good six feet to the ground, and a battleaxe was waiting to come down on my head. I rolled out of the way, grabbing my sword from where it had fallen as I stabbed it into the side of the axe-wielder. As I turned I realized all the guards were back.

It was a trap.

I braced myself, taking a deep breath as they charged at me, and I at them once more. I slashed one’s gut, another’s neck, one’s leg, another’s arm, I didn’t let up, hacking off limbs and freezing some before smashing them to pieces, but I hadn’t gone through many. Hardly half. I could feel my arms weakening as I had to keep on my toes at all angles. But finally I couldn’t fight anymore. I couldn’t keep holding them off so I made a run for it, running directly towards the center of the town, but before I could even get to the arch and out of the courtyard I felt a sword slash the back of my calve, and I fell, my sword flying form my hand as I turned over, one guard stepping on my left arm, the other on my right. An Imperial stood above me, a sick grin on his face. I could hear screams off in the background of the scene.

But they were screams of…of my name.

“We’ve got you now,” A guard snarled, and I looked to the direction in which I heard my name, and as I did I saw Captain Aldis. He was swinging his own sword at his own men, killing his way through to me. “You bi-” Before the guard above me could finish his words, a roar erupted from behind him, and a blade was shoved through his abdomen, coming through to the other side. His sword fell as my savior’s sword was drawn from him, and he fell lifelessly to the ground.

The two guards standing on my wrists backed off to draw their own swords, giving me the opportunity to draw both of my daggers, and I stabbed each of them into a leg of both men, sitting up as I pushed them forward, making the two fall backwards. I swiftly pulled my daggers out of their flesh and turned around to bring them up and slam them down into the twos’ chests. I was quick to re-sheathe each dagger afterwards, grabbing my sword as Captain Aldis grabbed my hand. And with a few words he pulled me off down the hill and towards the two big doors leading out of Solitude.

He was pulling me from my death that awaited me.

He was saving me from a fate that I was sure I’d never escape.

He was telling me I could trust him.

He was telling me he understood.

He was saying so much with that one action. Killing his own men and pulling me away from death.

But I felt he was doing so much more.