Tavern Tales: Come on in and Have a Drink! Part II

[WhoGuru]

With the smell of William's sulfurous outburst finally overpowering the cheese, Red rises and nods her head at Rider and swallows the last of her mead. "Another song you asked for as now seems to be a good time." She grins. "This one writ just today in honor of the man by who's sacrifice we sit here to enjoy this fine drink tonight.

A simple man once lost and sad

the gods he did forsake

A pact with daedra for powers' gain

he blindly sought to make.

With others, dipped in costly blood

They raised the forces dark

when came the answer from beyond

the light of truth was stark.

His friends lie dead and he in tears

the gods, cried out his shame.

forgiveness now sought he to live

a life well free of blame.

For Akatosh he donned a robe

and peace he found within,

til Dagon ope'd Oblivion's maw

and daedra he poured in.

With city gone and all hope lost

a stranger came and fought.

With courage lent and will unknown

the priest found truths long sought.

A kingly father cruelly slain

a child sent in the night.

His royal blood fate had a need.

imbalance to set right.

So went he to the white gold tower

with amulet of kings.

and fought a god in temple's heart

transformed with golden wings.

Where once a man stood wreathed in light

now stands a lonely king.

His avatar in stone, wings spread,

reminds us why we sing.

Ren wipes a surprised tear from her cheek and gladly takes the fresh mug offered by the barkeep. �"Well, even a thief can be touched you know." She says with a laugh and a smirk and re-takes her seat by the fire.

[DarkRider]

The Rider listens captivated as she finishes, she quickly swiped away the single tear that touched him as much as the song, "You have a soft heart for a thief my lady," he said with a wink.

As he moves to pass her, he stops only inches from driving her blade into his own belly, "Be careful sir," she warned in sweet tones, "or you'll find my blade is not as soft."

The Rider caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye, a fleck as Sir William moved his hand to the hilt of a concealed blade. He shook his head slightly to the dark assassin and smiled charmingly at the lady. Her green eyes flashed, reflected in his blue,

"I think you'll find a warm honey mead more tasteful than spilling my blood at this particular moment," he offered. The barkeep moved quickly to pour the mead to spare his master's life. The theif smiled sweetly and sheathed her blade a deftly as it had been drawn.

"Agreed," she said, her mood returned to the jovial, "Let's drink some together then, perhaps someone else has a song?"

Rider laughed steadily, "I'd be wary of a song from one of this lot, perhaps a sonnet then?"

[_echo]

Recovering from the shock, echo reaches for his knife once again to continue cutting his cheese. Upon gazing at the table where his massive cheese that he has been cutting oh so greatly, his eyes widened with horror once again. Sitting atop the table was no cheese. Instead, all that remained due to the torrid fireball Willie had conjured, was a mushed heap of melted yellow mess. Echo's eyes began to water.

[WillieSea]

William, hearing a wimper from Echo, looked closer to see what was amis. The cheese he had been cutting all night lay in a melted heap in front of him. Echo had a look of shock on his face as he just stared at his cooked cheese. With nothing to do now, he poked the knife into the melted mass and picked out a gooey glob. Unconsciencly, he put it to his mouth and tasted it.

Suddenly, realizing what he was doing, he quickly pulled it out of his mouth, stopped short with a strange look on his face, then quickly ate the gooey cheese. Then he quickly started eating more of the flame broiled mass.

The awful smell of the cheese was gone, to be replaced with the sweet smell of cooked cheese. Intrigued, everyone in the room tried a piece of the wonderous food, wondering at how such an awful smelling cheese could taste so glorious when cooked upon an open flame.

Somehow, what first appeared to be a disaster, turned into a blessing. Echo eyed William, wondering at the luck of the master assassin...

[DarkRider]

Rider tastes the cheese curiously, "Hmm...smokey with just a hint of nuttiness," he cuffs William on the shoulder, "A tasty solution to a stinking, rat festering mess, my lord. We all thank you!"

He returns to his chair in the corner, "Barkeep, fetch up some crackers!"

[WhoGuru]

Red slides into the tavern, mostly quiet and empty this early in the day. The barkeep is bent over Echo's table with a blade, hopelessly trying to scrape the remnants of melted cheese off the table. Red shakes her head and laughs.

"Drink for ye, Red?" He asks upon hearing her behind him.

"Don't worry about it, I know where it is. You mind?"

"Not at all." He smiles. "Leave your coin on the counter and I will be checkin' it's made of gold and not putty later."

Red laughs again and draws a root beer. "Aye, Barkeep. I wouldn't cheat you. Never bilk the honest man. It's a rule." She makes her way to far corner table and settles with her back to the wall. "I'm expecting someone in a bit. Shady sort of character. Just bring him a beer and stay out of his way, right?"

Barkeep squints at her. "Dangerous sort?"

"Can be. Not today though. Today he just has some information I want." She winks at him, "Friendly conversation only , I promise." Barkeep nods at her and goes back to scraping burnt cheese. She settles in, props her boots on the tables' edge and waits. This could be an interesting day...and lucrative if her contact comes through. It's not every day you find a secret entry into a castle. With that thought she laughs aloud, waving her hand at the barkeep to allay questions. Interesting indeed and, a sobering thought, perhaps a little too convenient when the watch has cordoned off the whole of the valley.

[WillieSea]

William slid in through the front door of the tavern like a summer breeze, stopping the door just before its squeak started. He saw Red sitting in the corner with her back against the wall. At noticing a new presense in the room, Red looked up, startled momentarily. She quickly recovered, and nodded a greeting. It was quite obvious to William that she was waiting for somebody, so he headed for the bar.

He said, "Greetings M'Lady" as he passed Red's table, tipping his hat. A loud thunk followed the comment as a throwing dagger implanted itself into the wood post near Williams head. Stopping in his tracks when he heard the steel slidding on leather, William had waited for the daggers arrival. Its usually not wise to threaten an assassin, but William knew it was not intentional, more of a reflex action from living a rough life on the streets.

Red, knowing she may have overstepper her bounds, rasped out, "I'll ask ye to not call me that again."

William smoothly snatched the dagger out of the wood in one swift motion and presented it back to Red, hilt first. "I am truely sorry, uhm, Red. You may have need of this dagger later?".

Seeing the pro-offered blade, handed back hilt first, Red knew there would be no repercussions from her rash actions. William showed a slight grin as she accepted the dagger back.

"If you need any assistance, you can call on your friends.", William stated as he nodded at Red and proceeded to the bar. He nodded to the barkeep as he poured himself a drink. He then went to the other side of the tavern to wait and see what would happen this evening. A pad of paper contained notes for his scripting class and would keep him busy while he waited...

[Vereta]

Vereta lifts his head from the pool of drool that had leaked from his mouth in his sleep. It seemed that he had fallen asleep in the midst of his planning. He groggily looks around the tavern before placing his hand behind his head and leading out a small groan. He waves a hand at the bartender.

"Coffee, just coffee..." He said slowly before laying his head on the table.

[WillieSea]

A courier walks into the tavern, locates the keeper, and hands him a package. The barkeep signs for it and looks over the package.

William, quickly dislodges himself from his corner seat and quickly strides over the the keep. The name on the package simply has the tavern address, and the name Sir William.

He takes the package zips back to his table, opening the wrappings. Inside is a brand new Western Digital 750GB SATA hard drive he had ordered last week. A wide grin envelops his face as he thinks about the wonderous drive. With double the cache of normal hard drives, and a dual processor on it, its rated faster than the much toted 10 thousand RPM Raptor drives, at a fraction of the cost.

William rushes for his room and may be cloistered away for a while... His old hard drive may fail soon and needs replacing...

[Vereta]

Vereta would have been jealous if he hadn't such a headache. The barkeep strode over and propped the coffee on the table. Vereta handed him a few septims and took a sip of the coffee. He sighed in content.

[WhoGuru]

Red carefully replaced her dagger, slightly ashamed of over-reacting once again.She mentally slapped herself and settled back to wait some more and snorted as an obviously hung-over Vereta begged for coffee.

If her contact didn't show up soon, she'd go looking for him and that was a prospect he should be worried about. She smiles, sipping her mead again as the tavern door once again opens. This time, the man who steps in is furtive, casting his glance around the dim tavern. She watches his eyes rest briefly in William and a crease of worry fly across his brow.

Good, she thinks, he's not a complete fool. Finally his gaze comes to rest upon her and, with a slight smile, he makes his way over and sits across from her.

"You're late." Red says mildly, and smiles broadly to put him at ease.

"I'm sorry." He says softly, jumping slightly when the barkeep sets a mug of beer in front of him.

"More for you, Red?" The barkeep asks with raised brows. She shakes her head. Something about her informants suddenly twitchy nature has put her off her ease. As a thief, it is never good to ignore one's instincts. Something here smells.

"So, tell me of this miraculously long hidden passage and how you came to find it." As she spoke, his eyes once again ranged the room, following the barkeep on his route, skipping across William and Vereta and even turning his head to glance briefly at the door. With a sudden insight, Red unsheathes her blade once again, beneath the table, balancing it along her knee. "Expecting someone I should know about?" She asks. His eyes widen and he tugs nervously at his collar, before attempting a smile, failing and shaking his head.

"No. Of course not. I'm just not... accustomed to dealing with... well, thieves." Again his eyes search the room. Red looks up over his shoulder, trying to catch William's eyes. If anyone here has a radar for trouble it would be him. Here is where she would find out if they truly were friends. As she watches, a courier arrives with a package, quickly seized by William and he heads quickly to the stairs. To her dismay, she suddenly hears a soft scraping sound through the tavern wall behind her.

[DarkRider]

Red listens intently. Her informant's twitching grows more pronounced and he quickly jumps to his feet to flee. In moments her senses fill with information. The scraping sound is replaced by a crashing sound against the wall outside and a gutteral whinny of a stallion steed. Her eyes catch her informant heading out the door; with a flick of her wrist she deftly hurls a small blade at him. The man groans as the dagger meets it's target between the shoulder blades. Not quite finished he takes another step and disappears outside. Tense moments pass, the thief wonders if the assassin upstairs has heard the commotion.

The tavern door swings back open and the Rider enters cooly. in his hand is clutched the small dagger from the informant's back. Just behind him another dark figure appears. It's Sir William. He had heard the commotion afterall and must have leapt from his window to help the Rider in the fray outside.

"Evening all," the Rider greets warmly as though no skirmish had just taken place. Wordlessly, William climbs the stairs in search of his package, satisfied that the dramatics have ended for the time. Rider heads over to where Vereta dozes with his face on the table. He roughs the younger man's hair kindly, "You look like shite mate, no offense."

Finally meeting the green eyes of the lady theif, the rider hands the dagger back to her, "This one looks like an heirloom, a trusted friend? I thought you'd like to have it back." He drops into the chair beside her. "Lucky I rode up when I did. Barkeep, a pint please mate"

Red nods her agreement. Lucky indeed. Where has he been all day? The assassin, the thief, and the Rider...but where does he ride? And whom does he serve?

[WillieSea]

After the short fray outside, William noticed something odd about the street. Something was out of place, but he could not place what it was. Oh well, there was a new hard drive to install.

William quckly installed the new drive. He then partitioned and initialized the new hardware and issued instructions to copy all the files from the old drive to the new one. It only took a few minutes to set up and It would be several hours until it was finished, so he headed back down the stairs.

Being a Professional Assassin, a weapon was already in his hand and a spell on his lips when all hell broke loose down below. William now knew what had troubled him so much earlier...

Several Daedra could be seen through the windows of the tavern heading for the door. The red glow of an Oblivion gate illuminated the street and several Daedra.

A massive lightning bolt issues from Williams outstreched hand, of a power unseen by those present. The bolt hit the group of Daedra as they entered the tavern and passed from one to the next, leaving blackened remains where they had stood.

William jumped over a freshly dead scamp that Red skillfully killed with one quick slash of her favorite blade. He then ran out of the tavern, driving his long dagger deep into the breast of a spider daedra and cutting its head off with another long dagger. He looked back to ensure the remaining daedra were being dispatched by the seasoned vetrans in the tavern, and jumped into the Oblivion gate. It had to be closed before more daedra poured out and destroyed the tavern (and his new hard drive) or hurt his new found friends....

[Vereta]

After grumbling something unpleasant after DarkRider had ruffled his hair, Vereta sits up. He picked up his black rimmed glasses from his table, courtesy of Dwemer blueprints he had found while traversing through an old Dwemer ruin in Morrowind. He put them on and adjusted them before standing up silently.

He had always had a knack for technology, magic, and magic infusion. He was quite the engineer. He stared outside the window at the fiery Oblivion of the gate. His eyes widened in surprise. He picked up a pack from the ground and began to rummaging through many old, musty scrolls, books, inkpots, and the like. He took out a book, "On Oblivion", and flipped through the pages. He found what he wanted.

"Did anyone go through the gate?" He asked the patrons.

" That guy 'Sea leaped into that thing." A scraggly man with a bandanna rapped around his head answered his eyes never leaving the gate.

Vereta grounds his teeth and runs outside. He shut his eyes and jumps into the portal.

[WhoGuru]

Red, about to return to her interrupted brew, is once again disturbed when the ground begins to rumble beneath her feet. Outside, through the door, she can see the sky darken and turn red, lightning flashes and from somewhere nearby, the sound of something terrible ripping its way into their world.

Rider leaps ahead of her and to the door and with a cry is soon lost outside. Seconds later a Scamp barrels inside, it's eyes latch onto the befuddled Barkeep and Red leaps atop her table, using it to launch across the tavern and take the Scamp in the neck with a deft swipe of her dagger. Turning, she sees a massive bolt of lightning plunge into a group of Daedra who'd been about to take her from behind.

William stands on the stairs surveying the damage only a moment and then is gone. Red, sure of his destination, pats the trembling barkeep on the back. "Hide." and takes after him. No way is he taking on an oblivion gate himself.

She emerges from the tavern just in time to see William disappear into a massive, fiery portal. Checking her gear and spells, she makes her way through a field of dead daedra toward the gate. Down the street, she can see the Rider mowing them down with ease. With a nod, she steps to the gate and within. The transition from one realm to the next is never pleasant and she arrives with a screaming headache. Ignoring it, she quickly follows the trail of bodies left by William and finds him in a pitched battle with several Dremora at the base of a great tower.

The only thing faster than his blade are the spells leaping from his lips and scorching everything around him. Red scales a boulder above the fray and leaps to the back of a Dremora, stopping it from skewering her friend in the back. With a grunt, she all but severs its head as William dispatches the last of the attackers.

"Red." He gasps, then gaining control and sheathing his blade. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you I should think." She smiles and, spying blood dripping from his arm, grabs his hand and works one of her personal healing spells on the wound. "Not letting you have all the fun of course!" The wound he hadn't felt quickly closes. William flexes his arm, about to thank her, when a Daedroth looms up suddenly behind Red. He sees, knowing he'll never get to his weapon in time to stop it. Reading the exp​ression on his face, Red whirls, blade suddenly drawn, ready to face her fate and just as quickly is shocked into a surprised laugh.

The Rider steps out from behind the Daedroth and pats it on the shoulder before waving his hand, causing it to vanish."Thought you two could use a bit of help as the village is temporarily safe."

"Well then." William too smiles a rare smile and turns to look at the tower."This is going to be an adventure."

"Race you to the stone." Red says with a wicked grin and, with a wave, leaps off to the door and disappears inside.

Rider chuckles. "Bit enthusiastic isn't she?"

William shrugs his shoulders. "Certainly is lively with her around." He looks at Rider and back at the Tower. "We really going to stand here and let her beat us?"

"I think not." Rider draws his blade and conjures his Daedroth again. "Shall we?"

"Don't forget me." Vereta steps out suddenly, tucking a musty tome into his pack. "Always come prepared. Now, the Sigillum Sanguis is where we need to go." With a jaunty wave at his companions, he too enters the portal.

[Vereta]

Vereta stared at what lied ahead of them in wonder. Strange rugged landscapes, blood colored grass that seeped a sickly recognizable liquid, and beasts of all sorts. A howl rung out in the distance. It was deranged and inhuman, it didn't sound like anything he had ever heard before. He shivered slightly. This place was a horrible place to be.

Vereta snaps out of his daze when he hears Rider stride past him, his cape flowing. His other two companions followed soon after. It was a grim silence. He rolled his shoulders and strode after them, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

[WillieSea]

Rider, Vereta and William enter the tower.

In the glow of the Oblivion light, on a ledge up above, William spots a scamp about to slash Red from behind. Taking his bow and enchanted ruby arrows, William lets fly a shaft of death that splits the head of the suprised creature. Red swirls around to see the scamp fall to the ground with an arrowhead protruding from its eye. Noticing the ruby head, she snaps it off and pockets it. With a salute to the three below, she heads off in search of a passage to the sigil stone.

William yells at Red to wait up, but is unheard in the noise from the shaft of electric light running to the top of the tower. They would have to hurry and try to catch up. Its a difficult thing to survive an oblivion tower by yourself.

Vereta points to a hidden passage, his dwemer glasses giving him special vision. This might be a shortcut they needed to catch up to Red. Rider cracks open the obviously unused passage and the three friends enter the darkness of the tunnel...

[Vereta]

Vereta treads slowly through the dark corridor. What William suspected was vision from the glasses was nothing of the sort. It was an excerpt from 'On Oblivion' that showed him a drawn map of Sigil Keep Tower. It was by an old adventurer who died many years ago. The author of 'On Oblivion' was sure to credit him, but Vereta couldn't put his tongue on his name.

Vereta noticed that as soon as they entered the stone corridor everything seemed to have a grim feel to it (picture) . He felt troubled and something was nipping at his sanity he could feel it. Suddenly, Rider let out a horrifying war cry and unsheathed his sword, slashing wildly a Willie Sea who dodged the flurry. Willie Sea brought his blade up and Rider's sword crashed into it. They stood there trying to push one another off each others blades.

What was this place?

[WillieSea]

Williams senses were tingling, sending the hair on the back of his neck on edge! There was something wrong here...

Putting the bow back, William held both long daggers out, ready to strike. Suddenly, Rider attacked, not an enemy but William. Easily deflecting the powerful blows from Rider, William held his ground and wondered at the tingling sensation in his brain. Something was trying to confuse his mind, to gain entry.

Something had to be done quckly. Soon Rider would get a hit in on William and he did not want to hurt his friend who seemed to be under distress at the moment.

Vereta stealthily came up behind Rider and whacked him in the back of the head with the heavy 'On Oblivion' tome. It was enought to knock the sense back into Rider and bring him back from where he had gone.

Rider, realizing what he was doing, pulled back quickly. "Ye gods!" he exclaimed. "We must hurry through this accursed tunnel..."

[Vereta]

(PICTURELOL)

I thought it was humorous of my character to bash Rider's on the head with a book so I drew a picture. Rider isn't there because I have no idea what he looks like. If you'd like your character drawn I can totally do it if you hand me a detailed description of him/her.

Character MUG Shots:

Vereta

Red (WhoGuru)

[WhoGuru]

Not far away, Red skulks in the shadow of a doorway. Beyond, a Flame Atronach patrols the very chamber she needs to cut through. As she listens, her ears attuned for the slightest sound, she hears the hissing of Scamps who must be nearby. She quickly realises that allies are needed to clear this room and sets off in retreat to find them.

Silently, she retraces her steps through the tower, at each turn expecting to find her comrades and instead reaching the entry hall again to find no sign of them. Confused, she once again strains her ears for even the slightest sound that might betray their location. Suddenly, she hears the muted cry of Rider. She quickly follows the sound to it's source and, with clever fingers, finds a ridge in the wall she had not noticed before.

Chagrined that her highly trained skills should have missed something so obvious, she looks for the release mechanism. Finding it, she notices faded, indistinct markings ringing the entry. Her understanding of Daedric shaky at best, she nonetheless understands the markings for madness. Filled with a sudden dread for her friends, she opens the portal and slips inside, hoping to find them in one piece.

[Vereta]

Vereta pants heavily and sits down. The corridor seemed to get longer and smaller. Was he losing his mind? His companions, equally drained, coxed him on. He refused to move though, he had only wanted a moment to rest.

He flipped through 'On Oblivion' to the map of the Sigil Keep Tower. He noted with a gasp that he had made a grave error. This corridor was used to torture any poor soul who had the misfortune of being captured by daedra. It drove them into madness. When they finally reached the end, which lead to the Corridor of Dark Salvation, they were already reduced to a mumbling, blithering mess.

Vereta's head ached. He couldn't think anymore. He didn't even think to tell his companions this new found fact. His mind was slowly disappearing.

[WhoGuru]

While Vereta slumps against the wall in despair, William stands over Rider's unconscious form in confusion, unable to make sense of what is happening. He knows there is something wrong, something he should be doing but can not force his mind to comprehend. As if from a distance, he feels a sting on his cheek, and again. Snapping to, he realizes he is holding Red's wrist. She's been slapping him.

"Snap out of it! Now!" She growls and deftly twists her hand free of his grip. William shakes his head, trying to shake the cobwebs and stares at her. "Grab Rider." Red orders, pointing as she lifts beneath Vereta's limp shoulders. "Pick him up and follow me. We're going back. Now!"

"Rider?" William mumbles, the fog is still pushing at his mind. Just as he begins to wander again, a well placed kick from Red brings him back. "Right. Rider. I can do this."

"Well...hurry up." Red gasps, dragging Vereta's unresponsive form is rough on her small frame. "I feel it now too. No time to go forward, back is shorter. Move!"

Together, they manage to haul their burdens back to the entry hall and stumble out into the heat from the power well. William sets Rider on the floor and rests against the wall. "You hit me."

"You needed it." Red shrugs and smirks. "I promise I didn't enjoy it at all."

"You came back?" Vereta stirs and blinks muzzily at Red. "You came back for us?"

"Well, I needed your help up above, figured you'd be down here kicking some daedra ass. Instead I find you all taking a break. Typical." Rising, she goes to Rider and starts slapping his cheek sharply, as she had William in the tunnel.

"Humph." He watches Rider come to under the not so tender ministrations and sympathizes as he rubs his cheek and grumbles about not remembering a thing. "Now what?" William asks, figuring he knows the answer.

"We go up the old fashioned way and you use that powerful magicka of yours on a Flame Atronach upstairs." Red grins, helping Vereta to his feet. "Ready?"

[DarkRider]

A sticky cobweb clouded his mind, where was he, what happened? Rider shook his head fiercly to shake off the last threads as his mind started to clear. He realized he was sitting on the floor, to his left he saw Red reaching to help Vereta to his feet. The Rider reached behind himself to find the wall and used it to push himself up off the floor.

Sir William was standing just ahead of him, his exp​ression a mixture of frustration, determination, and something else he couldn't quite make out, "What the hell happened..." he managed, his hand instinctively moving to his belt to check if he was still armed. He was relieved as his fingers swept over the hilt of his blade.

Red made a strange half grunt half laughter noise as she pulled Vereta to his feet and tried to steady him, "You three decided to take the long way round," she chided, "We're heading up the sigil tower."

The Rider let his eyes fall on the glowing tunnel of fire just behind his friends; it roared toward the ceiling. It wasn't the first time he had trekked through an Oblivion plane, but certainly the closest he'd come to staying there.

A voice broke into his thoughts, "Are you with us?" Sir William's voice was steady and lighting was already sparking from his williing hands.

Rider nodded once surely, "Yes, I'm with you now," he answered realizing a sting in his jaw whenever he spoke, "Who hit me?"

Red moved toward the tower's inner halls, "We should get moving," she said.

Rider cocked an eyebrow as she passed him, "Red...did you hit me?" She didn't answer and he looked to William questioningly.

"Wasn't me," the assassin answered coolly, following after the woman.

"Red..." Rider called to her back to no avail.

Vereta groaned to his left. The younger man was still a bit shaky on his feet and leaning against the wall for stability, "You alright to go on, Mate?'

Vereta grunted painfully, "I'm peachy, let's go." Despite his willingness to proceed, he didn't move. Rider eyed him for a moment, then looked to where the others were opening the tower door, "You two go ahead. We'll catch up."

The Assassin and the thief looked back at him. It was as if they would argue, but then they noticed Vereta was still struggling. The Rider seemed fit enough to defend them if need be, so the two rogues nodded their assent and headed on without them.

Alone in the tower basin with Vereta, Rider looked around for signs of trouble. Everything was quiet save for the persistant roar of the flaming core. It was an eerie sort of calm...

[WillieSea]

Red and William entered the passageway without their friends. They should be okay down here, as all of the Daedra have been taken care of. The one or two that might show up should be easy for the Red to take care of by himself if Vereta is still unable to fight. William senses a mysterious power in Vereta that is yet untapped. His body may not be as strong as theirs, but there is strength of some unknown power in him.

Red retraced her steps back up the tower and William followed. There were several carcasses of Daedra on the floor where Red had previously cleared a path through to the chamber above.

Red pointed out the Flame Atronach in the next chamber to William. The sound of hissing could be heard as well, obviously Scamps. Red was about to sneak into the chamber when William motioned her to wait a moment. There was another noise that did not go with the Atronach or the scamps. As any assassin knows, its best to know all of your enemies before making your appearance.

It sounded like the clink of heavy armor, but it was hard to tell as it was heard so infrequently. William spotted the source of the noise and pointed to the ramp on the other side of the room to Red. Standing quite still was a Dremora in heavy armor and a great long sword on its back. Red inhaled sharply at seeing the heavy fighter. He would have made short work of Red had she attacked without backup. The reach of his sword would have outdistanced her attack, and the heavy armor protect him from the daggers.

William explained the plan of attack with Red. He simply stated that he had been through situations like this many times. Red looked closer at Williams aged face and deep green eyes. There was more to this experienced assassin then even she had guessed...

Red slid around the back wall of the chamber to get within attacking distance of the Scamps. They were not the stunted Scamps they saw before. These were much bigger, and obviously nastier. It would be her job to attack the Daedra while William attacked the Dremora. He would then aid in the attack on the Daedra.

Red watched the Scamps and the Dremora. Soon, she heard a soft twang from where William had moved near one of the columns in the chamber. A thunk, a grunt, and heavy armor hitting the floor was her signal to attack. Another twang and the Atronach went flying through the air and smashed against the walls of the chamber. Then, William was running towards the Dremora to ensure it was dead.

In the meantime, Red jumped and sank her dagger to the hilt into the back of the closest Scamp. She tried to pull the dagger out but the falling creature pulled it and her to the floor as it fell. The other Scamp, recovering from watching the attack on the Atronach, spun around and made a lunge for Red, who deftly avoided the attack, but lost her weapon in the process. The Scamp closed in on her.

William raced past the fading Flame Atronach and reached the Dremora as it was getting back on its feet. It pulled the arrow out of a slot in the armor and sprayed blood on the floor. The arrow had entered the Dremora between the connetion of two plates. The great sword was already in its hands, but was too late to be used as William spun under the weapons slash and sank his dagger deep into the throat of his opponent. The other dagger entered the side of the creature. The daggers were quickly pulled out with blood spraying the walls as the creature fell to the ground.

William turned to Red, who was backing up against a wall to escape the claws of an enraged Scamp. A green fog shot from Williams hand and hit the back of the Scamp, rooting it in place. Red, momentarily startled by the green glow on the Scamp, quickly realized it was paralyzed ran past it for her dagger. Quckly pulling the blade out of the dead Scamp, she hurled it into the back of the other Scamp just as the spell holding it in place wore off. It fell to the floor, dead...