A thief's blade

Frosty air howled in Karliah's ear and whipped across her cheeks as she spurned her horse onward.

A chill sat in her neck. The Dunmer shivered involuntarily, despite her being used to the cold climate of Skyrim. She had been born on Solstheim, but for as long as she could remember, she had lived in Skyrim. The country was her home, no matter how harshly it treated her kin.

But the chill she felt was not due to the temperature.

Karliah was a member of Skyrim's Thieves Guild, based in the city of Riften. Just two days ago, she had returned from a lenghty robbery tour to find a letter on her bed. It was from Gallus Desiderius, an Imperial, and guild master of the Thieves Guild. In it, he had written that he and Mercer had left for Snow Veil Sanctum on the day before.

The Snow Veil Sanctum was an ancient, abandoned tomb of the Nord, the people inhabiting Skyrim. Gallus had had his eyes on it for a while; there were indications that there was still loot left for the taking.

Karliah wondered if Mercer's men had found a way deeper into the gravesite, to deal with the draugr known to roam the ancient tombs of Skyrim. On the other hand, she couldn't forget the suspicions Gallus had shared with only her. It made her feel highly conflicted. For one, she felt uneasy about Gallus being all alone with Mercer. However…

,Certainly Mercer wouldn't do what Gallus suspects', she tried to convince herself. ,Right? He is a Nightingale, just like Gallus and me. He swore a holy oath. Oh Nocturnal… please, let the suspicions and this bad feeling of mine be unfounded.'

Now she was gallopping through Eastmarsh Hold. A while ago, she had passed a crossing not far from Windhelm. There, she had had to turn west, even though the Snow Veil Sanctuary lied north and slightly east of Windhelm. The cliffs to the east of the city, which dropped into the Spirit Ocean, made it impossible to pass there.

Karliah guided her horse through the mountaineous area around Windhelm. The sky was filled with white and grey clouds, weighing down on her already low mood. Karliah hoped that it wouldn't rain until she had found shelter. Rain was the last thing she needed right now.

At a certain point, Karliah tugged lightly at the reigns. The horse left the cobbled road and gallopped along a smaller path that wound its way through the grass. Up a hill it went, and a faint scent of salt entred Karliah's nose. True enough, when she reached the crest of a slope, she could see the ocean about a mile or so away. In the distance, she could even spot the towers of Winterhold's Mages College.

But, as much as she enjoyed them, Karliah wasn't here for the views. Already she could spot the round pit that marked the entrance to Snow Veil Sanctuary.

There were no horses far and wide.

The Dunmer woman frowned. The uneasy feeling she had grew. No horses meant that Mercer and Gallus weren't here. But if they had been on the way back to Riften, Karliah should have met them. It was the straightest way back. If they had planned some detour before returning to Riften, Gallus would have written that in his letter. And while there was the possibility that they had taken a different route, it was rather unlikely. Gallus wouldn't have left the guild's affairs untended longer than necessary, so he would have taken the fastest route back.

Karliah jumped out of the saddle, slung the reigns of her horse around a thin tree, then walked down the wooden steps and pushed open the metal door of the ancient tomb. A scent of age and decay wafted out.

„Gallus?! Mercer?!", she called tentatively.

After the echoes of her voice vanished in the dark hallways, icy silence answered her.

„Damn it", the Dunmer murmured and stepped inside. She was no coward, but Skyrim's ancient burial sites just were so spooky. And the Draugr were a real threat, to which many a careless explorer had fallen. All reasons why Karliah avoided tombs as much as possible.

Now, however, she had no choice. After lighting a torch she had brought in wise foresight, she walked down the stairs. A faint stench of decay hit her, and something else; a scent characteristic of long abandoned, underground places.

„Gallus?! Mercer?!"

Still no answer. Around a corner, Karliah went and a few more steps until she reached a room.

It was there that she found him.

At first, she didn't see him in the gloom. But then the light of her torch fell on something that caught her attention. Leather… a boot…

The boot of a thief's armor.

Her heart suddenly pounding like crazy, Karliah hurried to whoever was lying there. Then the light of her torch reached the person's face – and she recoiled, a faint scream escaping her lips.

It was Gallus.

At first glance, he seemed fine. Until she saw the pool of red around him. Too much red.

„Gallus!"

Before Karliah realised she had moved, she was already on her knees next to the Imperial. The leather above his chest was colored with a dark stain the likes of which Karliah did not like at all.

With flying fingers, she opened the buckles of his armor and pulled the fabric aside. Ice cold despair rippled through her. There were several stab wounds strewn across his chest. And by the looks of them, all help was already too late.

A moan caught the Dunmer's attention. When she looked up, she saw Gallus' eyelids flutter.

Somehow, amazingly, he was still alive.

„Kar… liah…?"

It pained her to hear his voice so weak and frail. Usually, it was clear and rich, the voice of a leader.

„Don't talk!", she told him while pulling a clean rag from her pocked and pressed it onto his chest in an attempt to stop his bleeding. The cloth turned red frighteningly fast, however.

„Don't talk", Karlia repeated. „There might still be a chance if you survived these wounds until now."

She had no idea how, but somehow, Gallus managed to close a hand around hers.

„Leave it… be… Karliah… You know… that my wounds… are fatal…"

„No! I won't accept that!" To her own shock, the Dunmer woman felt tears starting to burn in her eyes. „Who in Nocturnal's name has done this to you?"

Gallus coughed. Red droplets flew from his mouth. „I haven't got… much time left… so listen closely… it was… it was Mercer… he did what I suspected… he's been robbing our treasury… for years…"

Another cough shook his body. Karliah, however, wasn't able to react in any way. The Imperial's words had shaken her to the core.

Mercer? Mercer had attacked Gallus? But… but why? When the guild master had told her of his suspicions that Mercer was stealing from the Guild's treasures, Karliah had believed him. Yet, she still had hoped that in the end, it would turn out to be wrong. By Azura, Mercer had after all sworn oath to Nocturnal. He was a fellow Nightingale.

Now he had even surpassed her worst fears and mortally wounded Gallus.

„K-Karliah…"

The Imperial lifted a trembling hand. He obviously had wanted to cup her cheek. But his strenght was failing him. Only the tips of his fingers streaked across her cheek, leaving a bloody trail, before his arm fell to the ground.

He was gone.

Karliah kept kneeling beside him, still holding his other hand. Her mind was in shock. Refused to accept what had happened. She even felt a tear running down her cheek.

Yes, they were thieves. But Gallus had still been a man with principles. And when Karliah had joined the guild, alone and confused and scared, he had been like a father to her.

The more time had passed, the more Karliah had come to admire him. For a thief, Gallus had had a noble mindset.

One line he never allowed to be crossed was to kill someone. If push came to shove, he had ordered his people to rather abandon their loot instead of fighting and possibly get caught. The knives and swords which the thieves carried were not primarily meant to kill.

And now, Mercer of all people had crossed that line. Killing a fellow Nightingale.

Whiping away the tears in her eyes, Karliah stood. She wished she could bring him to a proper resting place, but Gallus was too bulky, too heavy for her to carry anywhere. Besides, there was no time. All she could do was closing his eyes and folding his hands, placing them on his chest. After it was done, she took a few more moments to gaze down at her fallen friend.

„May Nocturnal and Kynareth bless your soul, Gallus. Rest in peace. And know that I will avenge you. Mercer will pay."

With great effort, she turned and ran up the stairs that led out of Snow Veil Sanctuary. With flying fingers, she unbound the horse's reigns and jumped onto its back, dug her heels into its flanks. The animal gave a neigh that almost sounded almost like a scream. Karliah hated being so rough with it, but she needed to get back to Riften as fast as possible.

The horse carried her off with flying hooves.

Again the cold wind blew around Karliah. But this time, she didn't feel the cold. It was chased away by the burning rage inside her.

Two days later, after riding four horses almost to death, Karliah reached Riften. The Dunmer woman had barely rested herself, only resting and sleeping for short amounts of time now and then. After leaving the horse in capable hands at the stables, she joined the driple of people entering and leaving the city.

Even though she was boiling inside, Karliah forced herself to walk calmly, both to detect anyone who might be following her and to avoid unnecessary attention from the guards. The Dunmer carefully made her way through the city until she stood in Riften's cemetery, in front of the stone sarcofagus that hid the secret entrance to the Thieves Guild hideout.

She gave one last glance around. Nobody, absolutely nobody must find this secret passage, or the Thieves Guild would be done for. Then Karliah pressed the hidden button.

With a soft rumbling sound, the sarcofagus slid backwards into the wall, revealing the stairs leading downwards. At their foot, a wooden trap door was set in the stone floor. As the stone sarcofagus slid back into its original position, Karliah opened it and climbed down the ladder into the guild's headquarters.

It was as dimly lit as always, and seemed almost completely abandoned. Apparently, many of the thieves were out, stealing.

Then the Dunmer saw three figures, standing to a side of the round central chamber.

„Brynjolf! Delvin! Rune! I'm so glad to see you! Gallus… he's dead! Mercer…"

Brynjolf cut her off with words so sharp, that to Karliah it felt like a slap in her face. „We already know that."

„What…?" The Dunmer was so dumfounded that it took her a few moments to regain her composure. „You… you know? So where's Mercer? We must apprehend him and bring him to justice."

Somehow, she did not like at all the look her three fellow thieves threw each other. Then Brynjolf gritted his teeth.

„At a safe place. He told us that you're going blame him for your deeds." The Nord clenched a fist. „Why, Karliah?! Why did you kill Gallus?! He trusted you so much! More than anyone else!"

If his words before had been a slap in the face, these were a punch to the stomach, a knife to her heart.

„Wha- what are you talking about, Brynjolf?"

Delvin took a step forward. „Mercer arrived half a day ago and told us what you did. And also that you'd have the nerve to blame him. Not only that, you also violated Gallus' order to never kill, to never use a blade unless in self-defense. You're despicable, Karliah!" He all but spat that last sentence.

In a rush of disbelief and cold dread, Karliah realised what had happened. Mercer, that vily bastard, had used every trick up his sleeve to frame her convincingly. Of course, as Gallus' right hand, they were bound to believe him over her.

Her hatred towards him reached the intensity of an inferno.

Despite her better knowledge, in an act of desperation, the Dunmer woman mounted a last effort to convince her companions of the truth.

„He's lying! It was Mercer who killed Gallus! When I arrived at Snow Veil Sanctum, he was already almost dead! Besides, Mercer has been betraying us for who knows how long. Gallus has been on the verge of uncovering his deeds. That's why Mercer killed him!"

When the three men remained silent, Karliah felt a tiny spark of hope. If even just one of them believed her…

„Do you have any proof of that?"

Rune's words extinguished the spark of hope in a single instant. Resignation trickled down Karliah's spine.

It was over.

„No", she said in a low voice. „I don't have proof."

A metallic „katching" echoed through the cave as three blades were drawn out of their sheaths.

„I commend you for this elaborate story you came up with", Brynjolf said tonelessly. „Now we'll bring you to justice."

Karliah did not think about fighting them for even the fraction of a second. For one, they were all big, bulky men; she didn't know if she, a more fragily built elf, stood a chance against all three of them at the same time. And also… they were still her comrades. Men who had treated her almost as a sister since she joined the guild. She did not want to harm them in any way. She might yet get the chance to prove the truth to them.

Brynjolf hadn't yet finished the last word, when Karliah spun around and dashed towards the ladder. Before either of the three men could react, the Dunmer thief was already almost at the trap door.

They might have strenght. But Karliah had speed.

„After her!", Delvin bellowed. „Don't let her get away! Alert any of our men you see!"

Karliah almost didn't catch the last part anymore. She was already outside and slammed shut the trap door, buying herself a few more seconds. One moment later, she pulled at the chain which opened the secret passage.

The sarcofagus seemed to move slower than ever before.

As soon as the gap the stairs and out into the open. Not too late either; Brynjolf had just slammed open the trap door.

„Karliah!", she heard him bellow. „We'll get you for what you did! You can't run forever!"

,No', she he thought with a pang of sadness. ,But long enough.'

She didn't hold a grudge against them. Mercer was deceiving them. And she knew what their anger was because they all had liked and respected Gallus. As a leader, as a thief, as a man.

,Mercer, you damned bastard… You'll pay for this all. You'll pay dearly. So swear I, Karliah, in the name of Nocturnal and by my honor as a Nightingale.'

She needed to get to the Twilight Sepulchre and talk with Nocturnal. If anyone might be able to help her, it was her Daedric patron.

The streets of Riften flew past her as she ran for her life.