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The Forsworn Retribution	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 60892 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
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Chapter List
- 8
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The Spoils

The Forsworn Retribution
Part IV - "Mercenaries"
By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson
Original Date Written: May 11, 2014

Sabrina dragged Maximus into waist-high water, chuckling noisily to herself as she jogged in. Maximus let her pull him along with a wary look on his face, not bothering to even try and pretend that he didn’t know he was being watched. As Svetlana began throwing ingredients into her tiny black pot, she managed to refrain from glancing into the nearby hills, although the fear that an arrow could hit her neck at any second made her face a little pale. Meanwhile, the Dunmer hastily wrung as much water from her clothes as she could, keeping her back turned to the others.

As soon as she felt like her clothes were dry enough, she pulled on her undershirt and leggings, then sat herself by the fire to dry up a little further. Running her fingers through her hair to work out any potential knots, she stared at Maximus and Sabrina through the corners of her eyes. Her brow furrowed as Sabrina put her hands on his shoulders, standing uncomfortably close to Maximus in the water. Her jaw slowly tightened at the sight of them. What in Boethia’s name was Maximus doing, letting her get so close? Not only is she a vampire, but she’s a hungry vampire with a cock! Maximus should’ve been kicking her away and saluting her trip downstream!

Sabrina laughed a few times, pretending that Maximus was whispering things to her. Maximus just cocked an eyebrow, a smirk slowly growing on his face. Sabrina, a big, fake grin on her face, barely moved her lips as she muttered out “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible actor?” Maximus’ answer was instant, scathing. “I could say the same for you. For all I know, this is all a story to get me in the water, with you. Trying to sneak another fuck, right in front of the others?” Sabrina took in a deep breath, her cheeks getting a few pink blossoms. “You honestly think I’d make up this kind of thing, just to...? You’re sick, Maximus. You are literally insane.”

Sabrina developed a glare, staring daggers up into his eyes. Coldly, she added “...And, besides, you didn’t use any lotion. Again. You said you would, you know. Do you have any idea how quickly spit dries up? My ass hurts like I summoned an amorous Daedroth...” Maximus held back a laugh. His smirk intensifying, he furrowed his brow at her. Teasingly, he muttered out “You know, for someone who really doesn’t like being an Anal Queen and complains up and down about how much they hate it, you’re sure fixated on allowing yourself to be bent over. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not exactly complaining, heh heh.”

Bunny’s brow sharply sank. A rustling in the shrubbery behind her caught her attention, causing her eyes to drift off to the side. Casually, she made her way towards her bow.

Sabrina futilely swallowed some excess saliva. She averted her eyes from Maximus, falling silent for several seconds. Her entire pale face was beginning to take on a mild pink tint. Stammering, she whispered “W-Well, of course I hate it. I hate it with a passion. I only do it because you make me...I can’t really stop you. You made me desperate, before.” Maximus chuckled darkly, giving her an askew look. “There she goes, again. She hates it, then she loves it, then she hates it...You really mean to tell me that I, a perfectly normal guy, can make you, a vampire, do what I say, just because? When are you going to learn to be honest, with me?”

Sabrina pressed her lips tight together. Her eyes took on a submissive shine, and she meekly dropped her chin. Maximus grinned, narrowing his eyes at her. She looked off to the side, only meeting his gaze again after a few moments. Sadistically, Maximus muttered “I’m waiting.” Sabrina’s bottom lip barely pouted. Her voice faintly warbling, she softly said “...Stop trying to humiliate me, already. Just use lotion, next time...Alright?” Maximus and Sabrina both jumped in surprise when Svetlana suddenly screamed, causing them both to look over. Maximus bolted away from Sabrina, running through the water as fast as he could, rushing back up the muddy bank of the stream.

Svetlana had collapsed from the shock of the attack, grabbing at an arrow embedded deep in her left arm, near her shoulder. Bunny had already notched an arrow on her drawstring, but in the dark of night, deciphering where the enemies were was next to impossible. The Dunmer hadn’t had time to pull on her armour, and until the enemies were closer, she couldn’t risk running off into the shadows. She grabbed Svetlana under her arms, hastily dragging her away from the fire pit, pulling the wounded priestess into the cover of darkness.

The instant another rustling sounded out, Bunny fired her arrow, trying her best to locate the archer. When no grunt of agony rewarded her, she hastily pulled another arrow from her quiver, quickly panicking at the prospect of being out in the open during an archery duel. Sabrina immediately saw a way to help everyone in the group. She raised an arm towards the riverbank, her expression going hard as a dark purple light flashed in her palm. Everyone looked over in surprise as a swelling sphere of purple-black energy appeared in the campsite, rapidly expanding for a moment before abruptly fading.

Maximus nearly ran right into the Atronach, hurriedly skidding to a stop. The scorching heat coming from the creature’s body instantly dried out his eyes, blasting a veritable wave of sweltering air over the front of his body. He raised a hand in front of his eyes, the light from her body straining his vision. To Maximus, the Atronach looked like a woman made out of pure fire, with a svelte figure giving off enough heat to act as a walking campfire. Strangely enough, bits of the Atronach’s “body” appeared to be ebony metal, creating the vaguely sexual appearance of a corset, elbow gloves, and stockings.

Her “hair” flaming up above her head, her petite feet serving only to let her hover an inch or two off of the ground, the creature from Oblivion had a permanent smug smile chiselled on her half-face, something she flashed at Maximus for only a moment before turning her attention to the hostiles in the hills. The Atronach fearlessly began to glide into the fray, a thin trail of flames burning the ground in her wake, turning the land black. The mysterious attackers in the hills focused on the Atronach, treating it as the greatest and most immediate threat.

That turned out to be a logical, but poor, decision. While the Atronach took the bowmen’s undivided attention, Svetlana healed herself, then shot balls of Magelight into the area. Combined with the Atronach’s fiery glow, a rather large swath of the area surrounding the campsite was illuminated, robbing the assailants of their biggest advantage. Without the cover of darkness to impede them, Maximus and his comrades could confidently enter combat. Maximus ran into the hills, grabbing his sword as he passed by the campfire, giving it a twirl to toss away any dirt that was clinging to the metal.

The Dunmer took a long way around, not taking the direct route towards their opponents like Maximus and the Atronach had done. Skirting the edge of the darkness, she quietly dashed towards the sound of twanging drawstrings, ready to flank the archers in a surprise attack. Bunny fired arrows up the hills as quickly as she could, and her fairly accurate shots prevented the enemy bowmen from raining arrows into the camp, giving her close-range allies an easier, safer time closing the distance. Sabrina, meanwhile, swished a hand over her head, a loud clang filling the air as a light blue glow coated her body, the Ebonyflesh spell making her skin glint metallically.

Maximus’ feet pounded into the earth as he raced up the hill, trying to reach the attackers as swiftly as possible. As the Atronach threw fireballs into the fray, igniting clumps of grass and shrubbery, the enemies were quickly exposed: Forsworn. There were at least six of them, trying to hide behind small boulders and earthy mounds as they attacked, often moving around in a clear attempt to make their numbers seem larger than they really were. Once they were fully exposed, however, they stopped attempting the futile tactic.

Maximus furiously bared his teeth as he closed in on a Forsworn man, the archer only then thinking to focus on Maximus rather than the Atronach. Maximus unleashed a quick flurry of strikes before the archer could loose his arrow. The first struck the man’s bow, almost cutting through it as Maximus knocked it aside. The second swipe hit the archer’s face, cleanly cutting through his right cheek before getting caught on his tongue, making the man gasp in shock. The third hit went right through the man’s heart when Maximus flipped the sword back, plunged it forwards, and ran the man through in a single lunge.

In one final volley, the archers overcame the Atronach. Multiple arrows stuck from the creature’s torso, the shafts and flights alike were ignited by the Atronach’s flaming body. The smug smile on her face persisting, the Atronach collapsed backwards, vanishing into thin air before her back hit the ground. With the Atronach out of the way, Bunny had a clear line of sight on a female archer, firing an arrow with as much strength as she could muster. She landed a lucky hit, with the archer’s entire body giving a jerk as the arrow stabbed into her right eye, a sickeningly meaty sound popping on the air as the archer went limp.

Sabrina fearlessly ran up to one of the archers, thrusting an arm in his direction. A blackish sphere of light briefly flashed in her palm, followed by nearly imperceptible tendrils of Magicka thrusting from her fingers, encircling her targeted archer. The tendrils quickly disappeared entirely, and in their wake, the Forsworn archer was left with an ominous purple glow around his body. The man fired arrows at her as hastily as he could, but any missile that came into contact with Sabrina’s body simply shattered in on itself, breaking apart as if fired directly at solid stone.

The man tried backing away from her, but Sabrina grabbed him by the shoulder, her undead strength allowing her to dig her long nails into his skin for grip, like talons. Baring her teeth, she pulled back an arm, readying an open-hand slap. As she swung her arm down, a thick layer of frost appeared over her palm, tiny needle-like icicles sticking out from her skin like thorns. The smack she gave the man was brutal enough, as it was. The frost blowing from her skin numbed him, making him only vaguely aware of the lacerations the spikes had maimed into his face. The second smack, over his throat, tore open a fatal gash.

The purple glow over the man’s body suddenly intensified, turning to a bright white. A loud crashing noise, like a thunderclap, filled the area, and bright white tendrils of light shot out of the Breton’s body, zooming into the waistband of Sabrina’s skirt. Svetlana abruptly came rushing into combat, wild-eyed as she let loose a bloodcurdling Nordic war cry, swinging Maximus’ trophy Forsworn axe. The remaining three archers were clearly caught off-guard by the war cry, giving the Dunmer a perfect opportunity to strike.

Dashing up behind the one that seemed the most startled, the Dunmer jammed her twin daggers into his lower back, rupturing vital organs. The man tried fighting her off, nearly startling her, in turn. Before he could get away and make a nuisance of himself, the Dunmer twisted her blades and yanked them to the sides, nearly splitting the man’s stomach open in the process. She gave him a hard kick to the back, sending him sprawling face-down into the dirt. She watched as Maximus and Svetlana ganged up on one of the two remaining archers, making short, vicious work of him.

The Dunmer’s eyes lightly widened when she saw the last Forsworn race for Maximus’ exposed back, a crude, homemade dagger clutched in her fist. Bunny spotted the same thing in the chaos, firing an arrow at the woman, the tip burying between two of the woman’s ribs. Still, the archer was undeterred, eyes alight with rage. The Dunmer shouted Maximus’ name in warning, wildly throwing one of her daggers at the archer before racing over towards the three of them. Miraculously, the dagger actually connected with the archer, but with the blunt side rather than the blade.

The handle cracking into the side of the archer’s head ruined her aim at precisely the right moment. Instead of plunging her dagger into Maximus’ spine, she stabbed into his shoulder blade, fracturing the bone as she barely managed to pierce through. The left side of Maximus’ body recoiled forwards, his eyes widening in a sudden blaze of rage. Svetlana looked over her shoulder, drawing in a light gasp. The synchronized attack was beautiful in it’s flawlessness. First, Svetlana spun around, cleaving her axe down into the archer’s right shoulder. Blood droplets struck her face from the sheer viciousness of the attack, staining her fair skin.

A fraction of a second later, the Dunmer had slid to a stop beside Maximus, nearly ramming right into the Breton woman behind him. Mercilessly, she stabbed her remaining Elven dagger into the archer’s throat, instantly sending a waterfall of crimson down her chest. Weak spurts of blood splashed out every other second, mirroring the woman’s weakening heartbeat. Finally, Maximus, in a boiling fury, pulled his sword up, aimed it down towards himself, and plunged it back beside his hip.

The archer went rigid when the sword cut through her abdomen, leaving her impaled. A moment later, all three of them had withdrawn their weapons, leaving the archer to collapse. Maximus let out a slow, heavy breath, his left arm sagging weakly from his broken shoulder blade. The Dunmer looked at Maximus, but before she could say anything, Svetlana took charge of the situation. Taking him by his strong arm, she calmly said “Maximus, you’re gonna be fine, I can heal it...Just come with me, you should take a seat by the fire, for now.” Maximus grunted his assent, letting Svetlana direct him back down the hill.

Bunny and Sabrina both watched Maximus with varying degrees of concern. While Bunny seemed fairly dismayed at seeing Maximus injured, Sabrina only watched for a few seconds before something more pressing earned her attention. The Dunmer glanced over, catching Sabrina dropping to her knees by the archer she had killed. Rather messily pushing her face into his torn throat, she sloppily clamped her mouth down on his leaking wound, her whole body giving a quiver as she started drinking her fill of blood. The Dunmer curled her lip up in disgust, averting her eyes.

As the Dunmer walked back down the hill, Maximus gave Bunny a nod, giving her a curt command. “Bunny, start throwing the bodies in the river, we can’t have them lying around. They’ll just attract wolves, or worse. I’ll help out as soon as I’m healed up.” Immediately, Svetlana authoritatively said “That’s right, you’re not lifting a finger until this is fixed. Move it, and you’ll just make it worse. Don’t want it healing wrong, now, do we?” Svetlana helped support Maximus as he sat down, the young Imperial giving her a slightly peeved look all the while. A callous healer was useless, to be sure, but one who came across as overbearing in her ministrations could be just as bad.

Bunny obediently set about disposing of the corpses, not bothering to check them for any valuables. The Dunmer walked around the fire pit, taking the long way around, intentionally walking in front of the fire across from Maximus. He watched her as Svetlana knelt behind him, gently resting a hand over the injured side of his back. Immediately, a golden, twinkling Magicka radiated from her hand, the Restoration spell slowly but surely mending Maximus’ damaged body. The Dunmer, meanwhile, bent over and stuck her hand in the group’s supply pack, fishing around.

After a couple seconds, she pulled out what she had wanted. Maximus watched her approach, a cool, neutral expression on her face. She tossed something at him, and he barely caught it before it landed in his lap. With a rather indifferent tone of voice, she said “Guess buying those things wasn’t a waste, after all. Drink up.” Maximus glanced down into his hand, spotting the tiny red bottle of a healing potion. The pickpocket didn’t say anything else, nor did she stick around for the slim chance that Maximus might’ve given her some weak thanks. Walking around him, she headed off to help Bunny, assisting her in clearing the campsite of corpses.

Svetlana huffed when she noticed the potion in Maximus’ hands. A little bitterly, she muttered out “I’m doing a perfectly good job, thanks. Nice to see people have confidence in me, around here.” Maximus smiled in amusement, popping off the little cork stopping up the potion. Jokingly, he said “Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as, I’m making your job less stressful!” Svetlana gave a slow laugh, sarcastically commenting “Oh, har har har, Maximus. That makes it so much better.” Maximus chuckled darkly to himself, tossing back the potion in one long quaff.

By the time Maximus had been healed, Bunny and the Dunmer had cleared away the Forsworn corpses, and Sabrina had finished draining her meal. Everyone gathered around the fire pit, talking about what had just happened as they waited for Svetlana to finish cooking up her meal. Bunny, glancing into the hills one last time, said “They must’ve figured out that we were responsible for those kills, by Karthwasten...I had a funny feeling they wouldn’t just brush it off as accidents, Maximus.” Svetlana, giving her thick stew a hard stirring, commented “But, how could they? There wasn’t anybody else around, we killed every Forsworn that showed up...”

The Dunmer, dressed in her custom leather armour once more, stared into the fire. Thoughtfully, she said “Maybe they intercepted the letter from Ainethach?...” “That’s assuming he ever sent one.” Maximus lazily replied, arching an eyebrow. Svetlana shrugged, a carefree tone filling her voice. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t. If that’s the case, though, did the Forsworn just knock out the courier and read the letter, or...Do you think one of them would try to take the courier’s place? You know, deliver the letter, themselves?” Sabrina, who looked much better now that she had tasted blood, shook her head.

“With those face tattoos, blending in isn’t exactly easy. No, I’d bet they knocked the courier out so they could read the letter. After that, the archers more than likely headed for Markarth, and waited for any sign of a group that would fit our description.” Svetlana nodded in agreement. Grabbing the first wooden bowl from the group’s supply pack, she filled the tiny container with stew, pouring in big chunks of potatoes, beef, leeks, and carrots. Sticking a little wooden fork in the bowl, she handed it to Maximus, then said “Yeah...That sounds about right. Say what you will about those savages, they’re nothing if not resourceful.”

Bunny sighed, deeply. Softly, she said “The biggest mistake the people of Markarth could make is underestimating the Forsworn people. I don’t think there’s any one people out there that hates Nords more, not even the elves. At least the elves have their own kingdoms and territories...The Reach is our territory, but we have the added hatred of feeling victimized. You know why we call ourselves “the Forsworn”? Because we’re strangers in our own kingdom, pariahs in our own land, and we won’t stop until we reclaim what’s our’s. They taught me that all my life.”

There was a moment of silence. Eventually, Maximus calmly asked “Do you believe that?” Bunny shrugged, lightly. “I’m smart enough to know that there’s two sides to every story. My family, though...They just buy into the stories we pass around without doing any thinking for themselves. And, really, even with what I know, it’s hard for me to say that my people have it completely wrong. I’d bet the stories we tell ourselves have gotten pretty slanted over time, but it doesn’t change the fact that we were probably here first, and the Nords probably tried kicking us out.”

As Svetlana handed Bunny her portion of stew, she lightly said “That’s reasonable, but you can’t blame all of us for things my people did centuries ago. The Forsworn have killed a lot of innocent people.” Bunny nodded, weakly. “I know. You have to understand, though...” Bunny trailed off, going quiet for a moment. She eventually gave a little shake with her head. “This is a really complicated topic, guys...I don’t really want to talk about it, any more.” Everyone fell quiet, after that. Maximus eventually told Sabrina to head off and find shelter for the next day, mentioning that she should stay close to Markarth, since the group would likely spend the day enjoying their coin. After that, the group settled in for some sleep, leaving their fire lit for warmth...

The next day, the Dunmer was standing in Markarth’s front square, lingering in front of a jewellery stand. The Redguard woman tending the stand gave her little spiel about her jewellery, and the Dunmer skilfully nodded at all the right moments. The sheen of avarice steadily spreading across her eyes, she struck a conniving pose, the schemes filling her head threatening to rupture her at the seams. With one hip cocked out, an arm crossed over her stomach, and a hand raised to her bottom lip, it couldn’t have been any more obvious that the dark elf was having less than lawful thoughts.

The Redguard must’ve just thought that the pickpocket was a particularly intrigued customer, because she enthusiastically answered every procrastinating question the Dunmer asked. The Dunmer’s greedy little smile disappeared when someone suddenly leaned in close behind her, muttering into her ear. “Don’t even think about it.” Her eyes lightly widened before she felt his arm slide around her waist, pulling her hip to his. She gave Maximus a dirty look, immediately pushing his arm away. Ice-cold, she muttered out “I wasn’t doing anything. Didn’t you say you were going up to Understone Keep?”

Maximus gave her a smirk, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah, and I did. I’m done, now. They don’t have any jobs ready, just yet. I even told them about the little archery party we had, last night. Turns out we had the right idea, after all. A courier from Karthwasten was attacked on the road, but nothing he had was stolen. You know what that means.” The Dunmer sighed. She excused herself from the stall, putting a mildly disappointed look on the Redguard woman’s face. As Maximus and the Dunmer walked away from the stall together, he continued.

“They might have another job for us before tomorrow, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m guessing they’ll send word for us if they do. In the meantime, I think it’s about time we got better gear. Even if my armour wasn’t torn up, I’ll need something better than leather against Forsworn.” The Dunmer furrowed her brow, giving him a sharp look before hastily glancing around. Under her breath, she hissed “Don’t say that out loud, you idiot! Don’t you know how paranoid people are? You want the guards coming down on us?” Maximus grinned at her, a sadistic glint crossing his eyes.

“Call me an idiot, again, and I’ll pull you into an alleyway you won’t be leaving until you’re limping. Understand?” The Dunmer looked away, not answering him, right away. She lightly cleared her throat, then said “...A-Anyway, my armour’s just fine. I suppose I could drop it off for mending, but I don’t need anything new. I’m not going to waste my coin on stuff I don’t need.” “Or stuff you could just steal, I’d wager.” Maximus idly commented, briefly raising his eyebrows. The Dunmer shot him another dirty look, but failed to outright refute him.

Changing the subject, she asked “Where are the others, anyway? I haven’t seen Svetlana since we walked into the city.” Maximus raised his eyebrows. “Well, Svetlana headed up to Bothela’s for some proper alchemy tools and supplies. Bunny wanted ‘em to pass the time, I guess. I’m not sure what she’s going to do, after that. Sabrina is probably still sleeping the blessed sleep of the dead, and I am on my way to the blacksmith. You are coming with me. Your armour’s banged up, we’re getting it fixed. Last thing I need is some Forsworn running you through because you were too cheap to get your own damn armour fixed.”

The Dunmer immediately tried to stop, but his hand was at her elbow before she could move away. Staring daggers at him, she contentiously spat out “I’ll get it fixed later, I’m in the middle of something.” Maximus responded with a harsh stare of his own, his infuriatingly smug smile continuing to taunt her. “You’ll get it fixed now. I’ll probably be at the blacksmith’s for most of the day, so I’ll be able to watch your armour while you go off and do...Whatever precious little things you wanna do.” She didn’t respond, but the bitter look in her eyes intensified as he gave her arm a pull, making her walk beside him once more.

A few hours later, Maximus was walking around Markarth, looking around for his pet elf. Gone were his iron sword and leather armour. Now, he was dressed in an expensive suit of scale armour, with a scalemail vest matching thick steel bracers, tall fur boots reinforced with steel plates on his feet. Each piece of armour was decorated with curved Nordic patterns, including the reinforced loin cloth hanging from the front and back of the vest, covering both sides of his pelvis. Sheathed at his left hip was an exquisitely sharpened steel sword, a testament to the skill of the Orc blacksmith.

Carried in a bundle under his left arm was miss dagger-ears’ leather armour, all fixed up and ready for combat. Before he could find the moody little dark elf, however, he ran into Svetlana. Just as he was climbing the stone stairway by the blacksmith’s, he saw her coming down another one higher up. Had she visited the Temple of Dibella? Seemed a bit odd, but there were few other noteworthy locations, that high up. She noticed him down below, giving him a wave with a wide smile. She hurried down the flights of stairs separating them, meeting him on the first landing above the blacksmith’s.

Maximus almost stumbled when Svetlana jumped into his arms, grinning and giggling like a little girl all the while. Maximus raised an eyebrow at the display, unable to help smiling, a little, at her bubbly behaviour. Svetlana, squeezing him tight around the neck, was practically squealing as she said “I think they’ll let me back in the temple! I’ll be a real priestess, again!” Maximus smiled a little more, casually saying “Alright, that’s good news, I guess. C’mon, let go of me, settle down.” Svetlana eased up on her intense hug, but made up for it by pressing her lips to his, giving him a deep, passionate kiss.

Maximus could easily see how excited she was. Her eyes big and bright, her grin stretching from ear to ear, she babbled about how she had gone to see the head priestess, explained how she had been helping Maximus get rid of Forsworn, and had begged for a chance to rejoin the temple. To her joy, the head priestess had said she’d think about it, and then sent Svetlana on her way. Maximus felt rather tempted to point out that “I’ll think about it” was an extremely vague answer, but if deflating her meant quelling her touchy-feely mood, he’d rather let her figure things out on her own.

Her arms still around his shoulders, he looked up into the slightly taller woman’s eyes, jokingly asking “If you get back into the temple, does that mean you’ll leave the group?” Svetlana made a bit of a rueful face, saying “I might have to, but I don’t really want to...I think we’re doing some good, getting rid of Forsworn. We’re helping to make Markarth, and the Reach in general, a safer place. Besides, I wanna help you get your revenge, Maximus...It’s not fair what happened to you.” Maximus’ eyes went half-closed, and he briefly glanced downwards.

His smile intact, he calmly said “Well...Thanks. We need a healer, potions won’t last forever. Besides...” He started to grin. His free arm went around her waist, pressing into her robe over her curvy little rump. Getting a good grope of her juiciness, he teased “...You’ve got your uses, besides healing. You still haven’t shown me what those other priestesses taught you, you know.” Svetlana’s grin turned into a naughty little smile. Seductively, she breathed out “Well, you still haven’t brought me Sabrina. I’m just waiting for the opportunity, Max. I wanna make her really squirm, heh heh.”

Maximus chuckled. Oh, Sabrina squirmed, all right. Maximus already had that covered. “You really want to wait for her? C’mon, why make it more complicated than it has to be? You and me. Tonight. We’ll slip away from the others.” Svetlana’s face slowly started to go a little pink. Her smile strengthening, she hummed for a moment, making a modest show of indecision. “Mm...Alright! You’ve convinced me. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a thing or two I’ve wanted to show you. In the meantime, I’m going to go stock up on mead. I figured you’d want some, tonight?”

Maximus gave her an affirmatory pat over the backside, feeling her thick cheeks lightly bounce from the impact. Svetlana grinned, slowly slipping away from him. Knowingly, she said “Maybe I’ll pick up a dozen, or two. You owe me a contest, you know.” Maximus skeptically raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. As Svetlana headed off, he gave a scanning around the area, trying once more to spot the dark elf. When he still didn’t catch any sight of her, he headed for his previous destination, using the high walkways to cut into the other half of the city.

Meanwhile, the Dunmer walked into a narrow alleyway, passing through a corridor tunnelling directly through the mountainous wall dividing Markarth. As she neared the Dwemer doors leading to the city’s now-defunct shrine of Talos, she spotted a figure step into the alleyway, across from her. With the shade of the passageway to his front and the sun to his back, the figure was all but a black shadow. Even so, the Dunmer would recognize a guard’s silhouette, anywhere. She quickly looked over her shoulder, seeing another guard block off the way she had come, crossing his arms over his chest.

She lightly raised her eyebrows, nervously swallowing some excess saliva. Her head spun back around as the guard across from her slowly walked into the alleyway, approaching her lackadaisically. With a menacing calm, the burly man said “Well, well, well...What do we have here? The little thief girl, back in Markarth. You know, I’d laugh, if you weren’t such a pain in the ass. You should’ve stayed gone, elf.” The Dunmer took a step back, but the guard behind her simply started walking into the alley, in response.

Hastily, the Dunmer exclaimed “I haven’t done anything wrong, I swear! I didn’t do anything!” The guard behind her chuckled. “Yeah, sure. That’s what they all say.” The Dunmer’s eyes widened in growing panic. What were these two going to do to her? If they were planning on tossing her into Cidhna Mine, they wouldn’t be acting quite so furtive. Maybe if she had her armour, she could consider fighting her way out. Maybe. Unarmoured, outnumbered, both exits blocked, opponents acting sketchy, all meant that her chances weren’t great. Before she knew it, the guard behind her had grabbed her by the arm, twisting her around to slam her back against a nearby wall.

The wind was torn from her lungs, thanks to the impact. Stunned, she was only dimly aware of the two guards getting in front of her, pinning her in place. Careful not to shout so as to avoid attention, one of the guards angrily muttered out “We’ve seen you walking ‘round, eyeing things up. Stalls, fat pockets, anything and everything that isn’t nailed down. Once a thief, always a thief.” The second one suddenly grabbed the Dunmer by the throat, savagely squeezing. Raising his voice, he demanded “Where are you keeping the stuff?! Where’s your stash?” A loud noise suddenly filled the alleyway, prompting the guards to look over in shock.

Maximus stood at the end of the alleyway, clearing his throat one more time, letting the guards know that their less-than-acceptable behaviour was being observed. The guard grabbing the Dunmer’s throat relinquished his hold on her, and before either of them could do anything, the Dunmer had hastily wriggled her way away from them, slipping free. The Dunmer ran down the alleyway, grabbing Maximus by the arm for leverage, spinning herself around to get behind him. Breathing a little hard, she peered past his side at the two guards, hands already going for her leather armour.

Maximus kept his eyes on the guards, letting the dark elf pull her armour out from under his arm. He could hear her scramble into the chest piece, pulling on the long-sleeved cuirass. Firmly, Maximus said “Would the steward be happy to hear about two of his guards shaking down an innocent dark elf in some back alley? I kind of doubt it. No bribes today, gentlemen.” One of the guards clenched his fists, taking a confrontational step towards Maximus. “Why, you little son of a-” Maximus smiled coldly, his brow sinking as he boldly cut the guard off.

“Besides, I paid off this elf’s bounty days ago, so even if I hadn’t been keeping a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get up to any mischief, you have no grounds to arrest her. Or do you really want to bother your captain about contesting a fine for suspicious behaviour? Walk along, gentlemen. Your bit here is done.” The Dunmer looked at Maximus in mild shock, then quickly became uneasy. It wasn’t wise to taunt city guards, especially not the ones in Markarth. Guards in Markarth tended to be able to get away with more than most, she had long ago discovered.

It was impossible to read the guards’ faces, thanks to their helmets. Still, with the way their fists had gone white and their arms had started shaking, it was clear that they were positively livid with rage. Dangerously, one of the guards muttered out “You just watch your step around here, boy. There are plenty of high places, in Markarth...” The two guards promptly turned and stormed off, their uniforms practically catching fire from the wrath burning beneath their skin. The Dunmer slowly let out a sigh of relief. Pulling on her leather vambraces, she softly said “Wow, uh...You’ve got good timing. I don’t know if those two wanted to arrest me, or...”

Maximus turned around, looking hard into her eyes. When she saw the anger simmering in his eyes, her body tensed up, locking like a frightened animal. She wasn’t sure if she had ever heard such frostiness in his voice, before. “Do you have some kind of learning problem, or something? Do you get off on having guards harass you? If I had known that you wanted to get tossed into the mines, I would’ve saved myself the coin and trouble days ago and just let them toss you in!” Her whole body gave a little tremble, finally unlocking itself. She stammered for a moment, trying to deny what he was implying.

He didn’t let her get a word out. His eyes widening in rage, he started raising his voice. “What did you steal? Don’t try to play me for a fool, what did you steal?” The Dunmer took a small step back, giving a weak shake with her head. “I-I didn’t-” “Don’t. You did something.” She fell silent. She lightly raised her eyebrows. She drew her arms in and dropped her chin, the growing shame making her feel small. She didn’t do anything for several seconds, avoiding his eyes. Eventually, one of her hands slipped behind her, reaching into her shirt. When she brought it back out, she uncurled her fingers. A tiny ruby sat in the palm of her hand, glinting weakly.

She heard Maximus let out a little exhale through his nose. Her face started to burn. “By Shor. A ruby. A single gemstone. You risked getting yourself thrown into the mines, for a...Get out of my sight.” The Dunmer looked up in surprise, a look of hurt confusion filling her eyes. Maximus grabbed the ruby from her hand, whipping his arm behind himself, callously pitching the ruby down the alleyway. Staring into her eyes, he muttered “I said, get out of my sight. Go wait outside the city with Bunny. I can’t trust you to be alone, and I certainly don’t want to lay eyes on you.”

Part of her told her to get angry. Part of her wanted to just insult him and run after the gemstone. But, she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t bring herself to feel anything but shame, and...Some ugly, twisted little emotion. She felt bad, awful...Was this guilt? Why did his words eat at her? How was this situation any different from all the others? Her ears started to burn. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she shuffled away, trying not to hang her head down. Without even understanding why, she did as he commanded, accepting her banishment. His punishment would be easier to handle than what the guards would’ve done to her, but then again, being tossed into the mines wouldn’t have made her stomach feel so cold and empty.

Maximus shook his head one more time as she walked away, sighing lightly through his nose. He went off to see Svetlana, finding her waiting around by the inn. She could easily tell that something was bothering him, yet despite her concern, he refused to elaborate. She understood his unwillingness to talk, and instead offered to buy him a few extra bottles of mead, right then and there. Maximus welcomed the offer, but reminded Svetlana that he still wasn’t having a drinking contest, with her. Svetlana just waved off his concerns, eagerly pulling him into the inn.

Maximus appreciated Svetlana’s lack of nosiness. Even when he started getting obviously drunk, she didn’t test to see if his tongue had loosened. She did, however, check to see if his groin was bulging, especially once she started whispering into his ear about things she wanted to do with him. It put a grin on Maximus’ face, seeing the others in the inn eyeing them enviously. The women clearly wished they could take Svetlana’s place, and the men, well...What man wouldn’t want a horny Dibellan priestess fondling him, left and right? By the time the two of them had left the inn to move the party somewhere a little more private, it was a little past sunset.

They couldn’t get far, however. Three steps out the door, and two figures were already approaching them: a thin man in casual clothes, likely a courier, and Sabrina, who was probably pleased to have not had to wear her stifling cloak just to see Maximus. Considering her physical symptoms of vampirism were quite tame, she was probably fresh from a feeding, allowing her to blend in with ordinary people without much suspicion. The courier rushed up to Maximus, holding up a piece of parchment in one hand, neatly folded over. A little urgently, he asked “Are you Maximus? You fit the description I was given, although I was told you’d be wearing leather...Anyway, I have a letter for you. Comes from the Jarl’s steward.”

Sabrina casually walked over, hips swinging with every step, the woman clearly in no particular rush. Maximus glanced at her, then nodded at the courier, taking the letter. “Yeah, that’s me...Hrm.” Maximus turned the letter over, noticing that it had been sealed with red wax, with some kind of insignia pressed into it for an emblem. Maximus shrugged tiredly with his eyebrows, dismissing the letter for some other time. “Alright, thanks. I’ll read it later, I guess.” The courier was about to say something when he gave a start, noticing Sabrina come to a stop beside him. The young man’s eyes were instantly drawn to her protruding bosom, unwillingly doing a quick scan across the swell of her shockingly large blessings.

His jaw practically dropped. He stumbled over a word or two before his eyes jumped to her face. Trying not to embarrass himself, he presented a weak cover for his ogling, stammering out “U-Um, miss? Are you feeling okay? You look a little, ah...Pale.” Sabrina subtly narrowed an eye. She answered with a terse “I’m feeling a little under the weather, that’s all.” Her cold response quickly made the courier look away. He was quiet, for a moment, as he tried overcoming his growing humiliation. His eyes shifting back to Maximus, he started to smile, unloading what was likely an often-rehearsed guilt tripping.

“How ‘bout a tip, sir? I’ve been looking for you for about two hours, now. My feet are killing me, these shoes are awful, you know. I can’t really afford anything better, though. I was told you’d be in Markarth, but nobody said you’d be drinking...” Maximus raised an eyebrow. He was smirking and fighting back laughter before he even dropped his quip. “You want a tip? Sure. Don’t eat yellow snow, kid. How’s that?” The courier’s face instantly went sour. Sabrina started grinning, but was quick to catch herself before anyone could spot her fangs. Svetlana smiled a little, but the glance she gave Maximus suggested she felt sorry, for the courier.

Without another word, the courier just walked off, quickly disappearing. Maximus, still snickering, slipped the letter into his scalemail vest. Sabrina quickly spoke up, casually saying “Max, I have something for you. It’s important.” Maximus openly sighed. Svetlana quietly chuckled, touching Maximus’ shoulder. He looked at her, feeling her drift her hand down his arm. She made for the gates to the city, giving him a sultry smile from over her shoulder. She briefly held up her sack of provisions, bulging with bottles of mead. Maximus raised an eyebrow at her, saying “Wait with the others, for now. I won’t be long.” Svetlana winked, cooing out “I sure hope not.”

Sabrina quietly cleared her throat, looking up at Maximus. He looked over, giving her a bored look. His disappointment in being separated from his hot and bothered priestess was palpable, making his tone fatigued. “What is it, Sabrina? I’m not really in the mood for any hassles, right now. I just want a few drinks so I can unwind.” Sabrina was clearly trying not to let his demeanor discourage or insult her, but she still ended up stumbling over a word or two. “I, er, made you something. I put it together last night...And, I want you to have it.” Maximus gave her a cockeyed look in curiosity. She had made him something? What in Arkay’s name could someone like her give to someone like him, besides a sore neck?

Sabrina seemed unsure, for a moment, before she sighed out some jitters. Bringing up her left hand, she uncurled her fingers, revealing a gold ring. Judging by the circular mark faintly pressed into her skin, she had been protectively clutching the ring for quite some time. Maximus eyed the ring with confusion, his eyes narrowing to slits. Sabrina’s brow furrowed at his reaction. “Don’t get any weird ideas, Max...It’s not what you probably think it is. It’s just an enchanted ring. I made it, myself. I wanted you to have it.” Maximus’ eyes went up to her’s. With just the faintest hint of skepticism, he slowly said “You...Made a gift...For me?” Sabrina sighed, her eyes going half-closed.

He certainly wasn’t making this easy for her, was he? Why couldn’t he just take the ring and stop making her feel like a fool? She glanced left and right, making sure nobody was close enough to pick up her words. Her voice dropped to a whisper, for a few seconds. “Yes, damn it. I Soul Trapped one of the archers, last night. I used the soul to make a ring. It has a really strong lightning resistance enchantment, okay?” Maximus carelessly spoke at a normal volume, foolishly failing to realize that capturing a humanoid’s soul was considered horrendous among wizards. It was a dire taboo even among most ordinary individuals, considering the implications it had towards a person’s possible afterlife.

“What in the name of Ysmir is a “Soul Trap”?” One or two nearby people looked over in curiosity, but thankfully, none of them were guards. Sabrina rolled her jaw around in annoyance, then spoke under her breath. “Max, I know you’ve had a bit to drink, but try to keep your voice down. Are you going to take the ring, or not?” Maximus glanced upwards. Raising a hand, he carelessly snatched the ring, giving it a look-over as he said “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but honestly, what good will resistance to lightning be? Bunny says that Forsworn who use Magicka prefer ice spells. A ring for ice resistance would’ve been better...”

Sabrina sighed heavily, bringing a hand to her face, raising her spectacles to rub the bridge of her nose unhindered. Matter-of-factly, she said “I know for certain that a lot of Briarhearts, the most dangerous warriors in their ranks, use lightning spells. What you might not know about lightning spells is that they don’t just hurt your body. They drain your mana, too. If I took any blasts, I’d probably lose my ability to cast spells, for a while. If that happens, I might not be able to protect you. That ring would help you make up the difference, in the event I was rendered helpless.”

Maximus’ face was slowly split by a big, predatory smile. His eyes narrowing, he slowly said “Let me get this straight...You went though the trouble of making this ring for me, which is probably worth as much as a small house, because you were worried about not being there for me? Hm.” Sabrina’s brow sank. She crossed her arms beneath her hefty bosom, shifting her weight to one foot. Her tone was as deadpan as it could get. “I’m worried about the team, in general. If I’m going to be a part of a team, I may as well act like a teammate. I’m just making use of my talents to look out for everyone’s best interests.”

Maximus chuckled under his breath. As he walked past her, he raised a hand, giving her a light patting over her belly. Leaning in for a moment, he teasingly said “Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.” Sabrina’s expression softened. Maximus smiled, heading for the city gates. Was it just his imagination, or had she given a little quiver at his patting? Maybe she just hadn’t been expecting the touch. Maybe he had filled her tummy with butterflies. Whatever the case, Maximus was looking forward to tipping back some bottles of sweet, delicious mead, and maybe get Svetlana’s cushiony ass in his lap, while he was at it. It was sure to be a fun night...
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The Forsworn Retribution