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Of Two Heroes	By : Haunter_Rayne Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 6579 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Elder Scrolls or any of its settings, items or content. This is a parody fanfiction for entertain purposes, not for profit.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
**Author's Note** Hello to all my readers. I'm back again with another chapter. Even if it takes me awhile I am still continuing this story. So here we get a good bit of both Rayne and Valyne. The crescendo of the Dark Brotherhood arc is going to wrap up here. Also Valyne will catch up to Kematu. Both characters will then enact the justice that they see fit. Then we'll see where fate leads them from there.

Of Two Heroes
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 5 - Questionable Justice

Stunned faces littered the cavern of the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. Rayne stood as the Listener now before them all and had announced the punishment for their transgressions. “I would prepare yourselves if I were you.” Rayne offered as if granting then some mercy.

“The Wrath of Sithis? You must be joking.” Astrid said doubtfully.

“NOOOOO!!!” Gabrielle screamed and threw herself to her knees before him. “Please! I can repent!”

“Yes, you shall.” Rayne said but otherwise ignored her for now as she did not seem to understand the fate in store for them all.

Suddenly there was the ring of a Scimitar being drawn from its holster. “What's this? Does he think he is going to kill us all by himself? Well I won't go down without a fight!”

Again Babette was quick to correct him as she yelled out, “No, that's not it! He isn't here to kill us.” Both Nazir and Gabrielle looked to the child vampire with confusion. “The Wrath of Sithis, it isn't some punishment bestowed by members of the Black Hand themselves. It's supposed to be a physical spirit of Sithis himself.”

“It's a Wraith.” Festus added. “I've seen it before, back when I was a younger man. There was a newcomer to the Brotherhood, just a boy really. He hadn't been with the Sanctuary for more than a week before he got the notion to get sticky fingers with some of the other member's gold. Sure enough, later that night a Wraith showed up with that poor bastard's name on it. It floated right passed us like it didn't even know we were there. It had only come for him. The fool thought he could defend himself against it with an iron dagger. The kid never stood a chance.”

Arnbjorn spat on the ground and said, “So what? Who hasn't killed a crypt ghost or two in their time?” Meanwhile Rayne noticed several flickers of movement upstairs from his Detect Life enchantment.

“You idiot!” Babette cried out. “Saying that a Wraith is like a Ghost would be like saying Vampires are like Draugr.” Next Nazir and Festus joined into the bickering while Rayne just snickered watching the life forces proceed their way down the staircase toward them.

Looking down he stroked Gabrielle's hair and said, “Do you wish to earn your atonement? Then show me… and fight.”

She looked up to him wide eyed before Veezara whispered out, “It's a test?” His words broke the squabbling between the others. Now that their noisy squabbling had ended they all looked to the stairwell hearing an eerie howling approaching nearer.

“Ho, ho! Right you are! A test, a trial, and perhaps an execution he he!” Cicero cheered in jubilation. “It's not… impossible to overcome the Wrath of Sithis. But you must fight to overcome the weight of your crimes.”

Suddenly Babette screamed out. Not just one but four large specters floated into the cavernous room. “What is the meaning of this?!” Astrid yelled after drawing her weapon to protect herself.

The four specters seemed to hesitate at the doorway in front of the group. Rayne grinned while announcing the situation to the group. “Seven of you have trespassed against Sithis, as such, seven Wraths will be sent to exact justice.”

It was Arnbjorn who next asked, “So you're saying there's going to be one for each of us?” He said excitedly while wielding his battle axe at the ready.

“That is right… but you need to wait your turn.” Rayne whispered sinisterly.

“WHAT?!” The werewolf yelled angrily but he was ignored by all in the room.

Rayne's voice slithered across the room as he called, “Festus… Veezara… Babette… Gabrielle…”

The four looked nervous hearing their names called. There was no further instruction that was given to them which made the situation all the more foreboding. The destruction mage was the first to try moving and instantly one of the four Wraiths charged into his direction. “You'll never take me alive!” The old mage shouted as fire leapt from his hands.

Once the fighting had started Veezara and Babette both split up in different directions as two more Wraiths separated after each of them. It was then that Gabrielle stood and looked to Rayne confidently. “I will not fail my Listener.” After that she summon her own Dunmer Guardian Spirit before launching a fireball off at the remaining Specter.

After that Cicero stepped closer to Rayne as they watched the struggle of the mild transgressors. “Oh this is so exciting! Surely none of them shall question your greatness now, dear Listener.”

“Or more importantly the will of Sithis, my friend.” Rayne corrected him.

He was not surprised to see Festus’ use of fire magic cause the first Wraith to fall long before the others. “Ha! As always, magic wins out over brawn!” It wasn't much later that Gabrielle and Babette vanquished their specters and stood their ground proudly. Festus stepped over pointing to the fallen ectoplasm before asking, “Are you girls going to use that?” After which Babette quickly scolded him for time and place.

“Veezara! Stop blocking! You can't defend against a Wraith’s attacks! Try to dodge instead!” Astrid called out.

Cicero smirked saying, “Tsk, tsk my dear Keeper. No helping, this is his fight.”

Instantly she snapped back at the jester enraged. “Believe me, if I were helping that Wraith would be dust! But you can't stop me from fulfilling my duties as Keeper and supporting one of my Brothers!”

Cicero looked a little torn from the discrepancy but Rayne waved a hand stating, “As long as she raises neither weapon nor spell against the Wraith then she may do as she pleases.” Cicero looked put out, having been looking forward to a death to occur.

Babette was never to try and assist her comrade. “Stop swinging your sword around! Wraiths are immune to normal weapons!”

The now semi bloodied Argonian hissed out as he jumped aside another frost spell from the entity. “I know that! But I poisoned the blade in case that might help.”

Gabrielle yelled out, “Specters are immune to poison damage as well!”

“What?! He shouted in shock. That brief distraction was enough to make him miss the Wraith's next attack. A cloud of cold blasted him to his knees and sent him scrambling through his inventory for a health potion.

“Veezara!” Nazir called out with worry.

That was until Rayne spoke up in regards to the sound of more Wraiths headed down the stairwell. “Save some concern for yourself Nazir. You and Arnbjorn are up next.”

“Finally!” Arnbjorn shouted as he rushed out into the middle of the room. Nazir stood beside him and waited as two large Specters filled the archway one after another. “Uh, hey wait a minute. These ones seem bigger than what Veezara is fighting over there.”

“That is because they are!” Nazir shouted, dodging an ice cloud as these Specters didn't hesitate on their approach.

Cicero snickered again now before saying, “The bigger the transgression, the bigger the punishment. And you two have been very disrespectful.”

Nazir gave a dirty look towards the jester but then enchanted his scimitar with fire. “No sense complaining about it now!” He yelled before throwing a fireball forward and charging.

Arnbjorn was right beside him as he swung his iron battle axe. “Hnnggrraaahhh!” He roared as he swung at the specter with a wave of frost emanating from his weapon.

“Kinda makes it obvious who the weak links are in the group, doesn't it?” Festus said as he crossed his arms. It wasn't long before it was only Veezara and Arnbjorn who were still fighting. The Argonian was witling his ghost away with the occasional Flare spell while the Nord was still swinging away with his frost axe having his life force sucked out of him. “Your attacks are useless, dog brain! You need to use magic to defeat them!” Festus was trying to be helpful but couldn't resist still making it sound insulting.

Wiping a trail of blood away from his lip he screamed, “I AM using magic old man! This axe is a-”

“Specters are immune to ice magic!” Astrid yelled out, interrupting her husband.

“What?! How many things are these stupid ghosts immune to?! Can't use weapons, can't use poison, can't use my freakin’ ice axe… why the hell are these things so strong?!” He yelled, still swinging away wildly just for the sake of fighting.

Suddenly there was a billowy howl as Veezara's Wraith finally fell to the basic fire magic that had been cast at it. The lizard man collapsed onto his backside choking on blood but he was still breathing. Babette rushed to his side to check on him but while doing so she scolded Arnbjorn saying, “That is why these Wraiths make subtle punishment.”

Again the Nord growled in anger but now he dropped his weapon to the ground and stood before the Wrath of Sithis barehanded. “Fine, then I know one thing this ghost won't be immune to.” Suddenly he yelled as if in pain before lurching forward. His spine seemed to snap repeatedly followed by his arms and legs cracking. Arnbjorn began to grow in size as dark fur sprouted across his body. His face stretched into a muzzle filled with fangs while his hands and feet stretched outward with sharp claws. “You never should have come here! I will rend your wet ghost flesh!” His voice was dark and rumbled for deep within his chest. Then with a howl he leapt forward while slashing at the Spectral figure. Now his attacks cut large swaths out of the ghost as it continued to pelt him with ice magic. In the end it was Arnbjorn who emerged victorious but everyone could tell that it had been a very close fight. “Now what?” He breathed out weakly after changing back to his human form.

Astrid first checked on her husband to make sure his wounds were not life threatening. However after doing so she stepped into the center of the room and drew her Blade of Woe. “Now it's my turn.” She said, more than a little nervously.

“Indeed it is.” Rayne hissed out sinisterly as dark void seemed to open in the empty space of the room. Through it a gigantic Wraith nearly twice the size of a man came through and looked at Astrid menacingly. Nearly everyone in the room was shocked by the size of the spirit and Festus almost fell backwards in disbelief. Rayne spoke aloud now for them all to hear as he announced, “This is the real Wrath of Sithis specter. Look upon it and know the Dread Lord's power. Know that any who break the Sacred Tenets three times will have to face this for their third offense. Although, having one of Sithis's Wraiths called again you leaves a permanent mark on your soul.”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Babette asked as she looked upon the sight of an undead, the likes of which she had never seen before.

“Even if you were to face this specter and survive, those who have transgressed against Sithis or the Night Mother three times will never have the Black Door open to them again.” Babette nodded and the others had heard but were too distracted to look away from the monstrosity before them.

Tightening her grip on the Blade of Woe Astrid grit her teeth and yelled, “None of that is important at the moment. For now there is only one thing for me to worry about!” Then she charged forward and sliced several times at the ghost. The signature Dark Brotherhood dagger held up to it's worth as it successfully damaged the being. However. that was only until a thread of red light illuminated from Astrid's chest and moved to the spirit. “Aaahhh! That bastard!” Several cuts opened up on her body as her health was sapped away while the injuries to the spirit seemed to heal.”

“Ahh, such power!” Festus gasped.

“Hey, that's not even fair!” Nazir called out.

Next a wave of cold burst forth toward the blonde woman. She tried to dodge but unlike the other Wraiths this blast of cold was much larger and froze the ground along its path. “EEYYAAAHHH!” Astrid screamed as her movements became slowed and frost greq across her skin. Just then a bottle of Ultimate Healing slid across the ground from where Arnbjorn stood. “Thank you.” She said, chugging it down quickly and this time successfully dodging the next attack.

“Hey now!” Cicero cried out in frustration. “No interfering! Cicero wants to see the blasphemous cow die!”

Ignoring that remark and the jester entirely, Arnbjorn looked to the dark robed Argonian saying, “You said we could do whatever we want and it doesn't count as interfering as long as we don't attack the thing, right?!”

Rayne's voice came simply, “That is correct.” After that, Rayne raised a hand to steady Cicero. Nazir helped to enchant Astrid's dagger while Babette went to fetch another healing potion from upstairs. Even with their meddling it was a long and grueling fight before the spectrum finally crumbled to ectoplasm on the floor. There after, Astrid sank to her knees and almost fell upon her own dagger from exhaustion. “Rejoice…” Rayne called out to everyone, “... for your sins have been atoned for.”

One by one each member of the Dark Brotherhood looked to one another feeling unsure of what was now expected from them. Astrid seemed unresponsive as she attempted to collect herself so Nazir approached Rayne as he had been second in command. There was a brief silence between them until Nazir bent his knee saying, “Your orders, oh great and powerful Listener?” After that each of the others followed suit, either bowing or kneeling from where they stood. Even Astrid gave a defeated sigh and bowed her head to Rayne's direction.

- Far North, Outside the Swindler's Den -

Deep in the western reaches of Winterhold, Valyne approached a cave mouth that rose from the ground. “Hmm… marauders.” She said silently to herself as she spotted a lone guard leaning against the mouth of the cave. She approached in stealth as she crept closer from around the side. But as a single arrow dispatched the guard she then stood and snickered to herself, “Weak marauders… and, mine!” She called out happily after pilfering the man of his gold.

After descending down into the depths of the cave Valyne came to the first large chamber which again only had a single marauder patrolling around. However more importantly to her, she saw that there were several crates loaded into this room with various objects scattered around. “And another marauder dead and… mine!” After again looting the gold from her kill she quickly began sifting through what seemed like it had supposed to have been a treasure stash. “Come on, your supposed to be fucking bandits and you don't have anything?” She knocked a tankard off an empty table after searching two more crates filled with only junk.” Come on, give me something... anything... other than crappy beer. And crappy weapons.” Turning her back to this room she now proceeded deeper through the cave tunnel to where she heard voices ahead.

Creeping along where the path led down a sloping ledge she saw two ragged men talking in hushed voices. “I’m not sure I like these Alik’r warriors hiding out here. They seem like trouble.”

“Keep it to yourself.” His compatriot urged. “They're not paying us to talk. They'll be gone as soon as they find whoever they're looking for. And we'll have all more coin.” Just then as their conversation ended an arrow flew through the darkness instantly killing the first man who had been complaining. “Huh? Someone there?!” The second marauder called out in surprise.

Valyne grit her teeth in annoyance asking herself, “No, your friend just suddenly fell down dead from an arrow in his skull because he felt like it. Moron.” Then she released another arrow which sent the remaining foe flying back into the cave wall.

As she proceeded to the next, soon she came across a large cavern with a second ledge above her right hand side. In the middle of the room's center was a large dining table where two men were eating and she could hear others patrolling around. “Hmm, I can hear that someone is up there but I can't see them.” Pulling her bow back she caught one of the bandits right in the back as he fell forward into his food.

“What was that?!” Another nearby voice said. As she drew her next arrow Valyne saw a large Nord wielding an axe come into view from the left. Ignoring the smaller bandit who had just risen from the table she let her arrow fly. “Uurrrrhhh!” The nord cried in pain but looked right in her direction as he wasn't killed by that single blow.

“Shit!” She cried out loud as she then saw three marauders group together and begin running at her with weapons drawn. “Shit, fuck!” She screamed as she leapt to her feet and started running back down the passage. She quickly started sneaking again once she got back a room and noticed that only the large Nord had followed her that far. Turning she shot an arrow back at him but it seemed to do little damage. He rose his axe and brought it down right over her which cleaved nearly half her health from the blow. “Dammit!” She cried as two more arrows launched from her bow but both missed only hitting the cave wall behind the man attacking her. Another slash from his ice and Valyne was left with only a sliver of health left. “Oh fuck, oh fuck!” She whimpered as she stumbled backwards while pulling a potion of plentiful healing from her inventory.

“Rawww!” The Nord screamed as he swung at her twice but the young Dunmer managed to sprint out of the way as she swallowed the contents of the bottle.

Three more arrows, all hitting their mark this time, finally managed to put the large combatant down. “Phew. Wow, this guy didn't even have any treasure on him for how strong he was. Now I just need to hurry and pick the other ones off.” As Valyne scurried back down the passage she managed to catch the bandits separated from one another as they were walking back from having chased halfway after her. This made their lives and their gold easy pickings for her. “Mine! And, mine!” Now she had some breathing room as she ventured into the large dining cavern. Hiding in the shadows she aimed her bow up to the second ledge and waited as she watch someone above walking around. “Will you stop moving?!” She growled in agitation.

“Huh?” Asked the man who she was aiming at. But just as he paused she shot her arrow right into his face which sent him flying back where she couldn't see from below the ledge.

“Hmm, I can hear someone else walking around up there but I can't see them. Oh well, it looks like this area is clear at least for now.” She browsed about the dining table and the dead bandits not having much interest in their food or their tableware. Although in the corner she found a small table lit by a candle which held several jewels and a couple gold pieces. “Finally! Now this is what I'm talking about.” But after scavenging her findings she again felt disappointed. “Aww only sixteen gold? These are some broke ass bandits.” Proceeding onward she made her way through a small passageway but stopped as she noticed a little inlet in the tunnel. To her side there was an old haystack with a skeleton laying motionless in it. What caught her eye the most was that the arm of the skeleton was stretched out towards an old bottle of ale which was only inches away. Valyne shivered feeling a little creeped out by the scene but without saying anything she did nudge the bottle forward to where it would have been within the dead man's grip.

Once she had made her way forward she saw that the tunnel now led up to the second ledge she had seen earlier. And sure enough there was one final marauder walking around. “There you are!” She whispered as she lined up the shot. She let her arrow fly which pierced his heart but then Valyne started to call out when the body fell to the side. “No wait! Don't fall over! Don't, you, fa-” She sighed as she watched the body slide off the ledge and back down to the dining room below. “Ugh, I'll just collect your shit later.” She grumbled and proceeded to explore what looked like their sleeping area. “Man… not a lot up here of any value either. Wait… LADLE!” Valyne screamed loudly and dove over a beartrap set in the ground to retrieve the wooden kitchen tool. She hugged the ladle before placing it in her inventory with several others that she had found in her travels.

After pilfering through the rest of the encampment she proceeded through the only remaining path which led into a shallow waterway. Sneaking down into the ankle deep water Valyne saw that there was a waterfall ahead which completely obstructed her view of what was beyond. “Well, this is going to be tough to sneak through. Let's just take this nice and slow and,” all of a sudden Valyne heard the unmistakable sound of several swords being draw, “shit!”

“Alik'r, hold!” A voice called from beyond the water. As Valyne came wading through the water she saw about half a dozen Redguard all dress in their traditional attire. One of the men who seemed a bit taller and stronger than the rest spoke to her. “You've proven your strength warrior. Let's avoid any more bloodshed. I think you and I have some things to talk about.”

Stepping out into the open from the waterfall Valyne looked up but still had her bow in hand. “Are you Kematu?” She asked simply.

The Redguard shouted, “Stay your hand warrior. It's no secret why you're here and you have proven your skill in combat. Let us talk a moment and no one else needs to die. I think we can all profit from the situation in which we find ourselves. My men will not attack you, if you will lower your weapons.”

As if to mock him she changed the position of the bow from pointing forward to pointing downward. “I've been sent here to kill you.” She called out, even though she was really hoping that this man would answer more of her questions than the one who sent her here had.

"Of course, sent by... what is it that she's calling herself these days? Shazra? Saadia? One of those, correct? Did she appeal to your sense of honor? Your greed? A more... base need, perhaps?”

Feeling absolutely no desire to take this man seriously she smirked to herself before saying, “A base need? You mean like food? Shelter? Or do you mean like ‘base’ as in my feet? Health? Or do you possibly mean sex? Doesn't really matter what you mean though, none of those would be right. Especially the last one. I don't swing that way if you know what I mean. Saadia is pretty, but she isn't really my taste.”

Struggling to remain diplomatic Kematu continued, “It doesn't matter. No doubt she's convinced you that she's the victim. But, do you know why we pursue her?"

“Saadia told me - you're assassins.”

"Assassins? No, nothing so crass. "Saadia," as you know her, is wanted by the noble houses of Taneth for treason. We were hired to see her returned to Hammerfell for her crimes. You can help us with that, and make sure no one else gets hurt."

Valyne paused as she thought to herself for a moment. “This man is an idiot… and his cohorts don't seem to be much smarter. Well at least I have him talking for now.” She cleared her throat before asking, “What was her crime?”

"She sold the city out to the Aldmeri Dominion. Were it not for her betrayal, Taneth could have held its ground in the war. The other noble houses discovered her betrayal and she fled. They want her brought back alive. The resistance against the Dominion is alive and well in Hammerfell, and they want justice."

Even though their leader was happy to carry in their conversation she could tell that the others were getting antsy. “So, what do you want me to do?”

"She trusts you, at least to some extent. She sent you after us, and has no reason to think that you'd do anything other than that. Convince her that we'll be coming for her, and she needs to leave. Lead her to the stables outside Whiterun. We'll be waiting to take her into custody. I'll gladly share a portion of the bounty in return for your efforts in seeing proper justice done."

Now Valyne took her time to evaluate her situation. It was clear that all the men stood waiting for her answer as she thought it over to herself. “Should I side with assassins sent to kill her because she's some form of royalty? Or side with royalty that betrayed her country and is sought for execution? Hmm, a lonely woman or an overwhelming group of men sent to kill one woman. Ehhhh, that's just way to crazy to me to send this many people after just one individual.” Looking up to the Redguard leader she finished deciding how she wanted to handle the situation and then said, “Alright, I'll do it.”

A smile spread across Kematu's face and he gestured with his hand causing the others to put their weapons away. "Good. We'll be waiting for you at the stables. It will be good to finally be able to return home." As soon as their weapons were sheathed Valyne had retreated to back behind the waterfall before Kematu had even finished speaking. She hid in the darkness next to the cave wall to catch her breath from being surrounded by so many armed opponents at one time.

As soon as the Dark Elf woman had left Kematu turned to his comrades and smiled. They began to gather together from how they had been spread out but everyone froze as one of them suddenly fell down dead without explanation. “What happened?” One of them called as they all rushed to inspect the body. Then to their surprise a second of them also dropped. With two of them dead Kematu looked around just in time to see an arrow fly out from the waterfall and land right in his shoulder. Being the leader though he was much tougher than his followers and wasn't slain so easily. “Argh! It's that archer woman, she's betrayed us! Get her!”

"Fuck, bye bye!” Valyne screamed as she took off down the tunnel laughing. “Damn, I should have taken out more of the others before shooting at the- Holy shit!” Valyne screamed in pain as there was a metalic clamping sound before she fell to the ground. “I forgot about the bear trap!" She laughed at herself before prying it open and throwing herself down the ledge to the room below.

Hiding now against the stone wall she could hear the warriors yelling above her. “Where did she go?! Quick, check down the tunnel!” Smirking as they played right into her hands, Valyne placed an arrow into her bow and aimed for right where the tunnel led from above her to the lower floor. “Ugh!” Screamed the first Alik'r to emerge as he fell dead from an arrow to the chest. Then the second Redguard suffered the same fate before all went quiet. Quickly making her way up the tunnel so as not to be seen, Valyne found one final Alik'r warrior walking back to the waterfall with Kematu ahead of him. Not making the same mistake she did last time she finished the remaining warrior quickly before firing another arrow into the leader.

About five minutes later Valyne was drinking a healing potion as she went to loot the bodies of the Alik'r. “That certainly was a scuffle. I wasn't expecting Kematu to just take so many of my arrows like that.” After a chuckle to herself she started searching through robes one after the other. “Wait, what?” She ransacked through the robes in disbelief. “You don't have anything?!” After another body to two her tempter grew worse. “None of you have anything?! Just your cheap swords and your robes? This is crap! Crap, crap! The marauders had as least pocket change! What about Kematu, surely he'll have something worth… two hundred fifty gold? If I didn't kill these men than the marauders would have done it. Cheap bastards.” After making sure to loot that last Marauder who had slid off the ledge she went back up to Kematu's hideaway for one last search for treasure. “Hmm, let's see. There's a chest with some gold and… more crap. Oh, there's an iron ore vein. That pick axe I got from the Scald is proving useful. And what's this? Wait, IS THAT A FLAGON? FLAGON, MINE!” She shouted before leaping after the empty tankard on the ground.

- A Few Hours Later -

It was raining by the time that Valyne had made her way to the gates of Whiterun. “Ah, this feels wonderful.” She sighed, tilting her head back to let the water run through her hair. “I had better hurry along though. It's not quite night yet but these clouds sure are making it dark. I hope the stores don't close early.” That had been her only thought before entering the town and noticing a small gathering huddled around a body on the floor. “What happened?!” She shouted as she came running over.

A city guard turned to her saying, “Oh, hello Thane. Ah, it's nothing to worry about. There was a lone vampire attack. But the guard managed to take care of it before anyone in the town got hurt. They've become pretty brazen lately but it's nothing that we haven't been able to handle.” After that he started to shoo the onlookers away.

Satisfied that none of the townspeople had been hurt Valyne went on her way straight to the Bannered Mare. Inside people were chatting away as usual and the bard was singing an uplifting tone. Ignoring the rest Valyne made her way through the kitchen and up the stairs to Saadia's private room. As soon as she entered the room the Redguard woman looked up and said, “Any news of the Alik'r?”

“The Alik'r wont bother you anymore.”

“At last. I can rest safely. You have done me a great service, warrior. I cannot thank you enough. Take this reward. I managed to sneak some wealth out of Hammerfell when I left. It's the least I can do. For now, I will maintain my ruse here. You are always welcome in the Bannered Mare. Until next time.”

After making her way back into the common area of the Bannered Mare, Valyne decided to sit down on a stool before the proprietor. “Hello again Hulda, nice to see you again.” She was a middle aged Nord woman but time had withered her a bit beyond her years. Despite this her expression lighted up at seeing the familiar Dark Elf appear before her.

“Well hello Valyne, it's nice to see my favorite Dunmer customer. It also doesn't hurt that you're also my best paying customer. How are things? I thought you headed out of town earlier today.”

The dark elf twirled with her hair a bit, giving a disinterested expression. “Oh I did. Just a short venture, didn't take me far. Didn't pay well either. How are things here in the tavern?”

Hulda placed her hands on the countertop and leaned forward on her shoulders. She gave a sigh before saying, "I enjoy this work well enough, but I'm ready to retire. I've been thinking of selling the inn to Ysolda. Anyway, what do you need?"

“Just want to sell an item or two. Also get your local gossip of course.” The two women shared a soft chuckle before they talked over bartering for a few items Valyne had in stock.

"I assume you saw the Gildergreen? Big tree, all burnt up, in the middle of the Wind District. It's part of the Temple of Kynareth. People want Danica to do something about it, but I don't know what they expect."

As gold was exchanged Valyne looked up surprised. “Wait; the temple owns the tree? I thought it was just, you know, decor for the town. Anything else?”

"Been hearing some strange tales of the Jarl's children. Say the one's turning wicked, and the others have an ill-favored look to them. Best to keep clear." Hulda paused as she looked over a potion that was now being bartered. “You realize that you're offering me more than what I have the gold to give you for… again.”

Valyne scoffed and gave a sly smile. “It's fine, really. You just pay me what you can and take the difference for yourself.”

**Author's Ending Note** I hope you all liked the Questionable Justice chapter. Both Rayne and Valyne had to enact some judgement one way or another and there was no real perfect direction for either of them to take. As for Saadia's guilt, Valyne didn't really feel like one party was right over another, it just seemed like too much overkill to assassinate that one person. In the next chapter Rayne will finally leave the Dark Brotherhood chambers but the story is now going to follow Valyne around for awhile.
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Of Two Heroes