Escape into Exile (Pt1|Ch1)
It would be a lie to say that I was well versed in the art of prayer. As that much was true, I was unsure if I should take some sort of posture or not. Pondering this for a moment, I realized that I was wasting time.
Ah, to Oblivion with formalities, I reasoned.
“Dread father...” I began, hands relaxed at my sides. I paused in thought for a moment before continuing, “...if it is your will that tonight of all nights I am brought to the void, then so be it. However, I ask of you your blessing so that I may make the best of this night. Help my blades find their way through the flesh of my enemies, help my arrows find the hearts of my enemies, and help my movement become unheard by my enemies so that I may represent you and our family this night, dread father.
“Help me so that I may send many a soul to the void in your name, for I am your blade, your arrow, your tool. I am your instrument of death, I have been since the day of my initiation and that will never change no matter how many worlds I must cross. Know that no matter where I am, be it Skyrim or Equestria, I represent you in all that I do. Until my dying day, and beyond, I live solely to serve.
“So help me serve, dread father. Grant me your dark blessing so that I may kill in your name, as your instrument of destruction, as your blade and as your arrow. I live to serve, so help me serve!
“In your name, hail Sithis!” I finished.
Silence echoed around the room. If I was expecting something spectacular then I didn’t get it. I stood in the silence a while, unsure if Sithis had granted me his blessing or not, could he even hear my prayer?
As I stood amongst the crowd of silence, my mind wandered back to how this had started. How a simple dark brother had broken a sacred rule and been banished to some world of friendship and magic, and how even in this new world, said dark brother continued to serve his dread father, Sithis...
0 . o . 0 . o . 0
0 . o . 0 . o . 0
Part I: Recuperation and Acceptance
Chapter One: Escape into Exile
Tenet five... my mind began to quote.
My hand latched onto a low-laying tree branch, grabbing on tight and helping to bring myself to a gasping halt. Panting for air and sweating like a pig despite the cool night air, I reached into the pack on my back, digging around for another stamina potion.
...Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis, my mind finished.
Tenets be damned! I mentally spat back, The bastard deserved it, he deserved to die!
Really? Well who died and made you dictator of right and wrong?
My fingers found the flask that I was looking for, cutting off any other mental combat. I brought the potion to my mouth, biting off the cork and downing the cool, flavorless green liquid.
The effect was near-instantaneous, the fire in my legs eased into nothingness and my racing heart slowed back to a more natural speed. Without further ado, I sped off into the forest again, knowing that my pursuers could not be far behind. The trees grabbed at me with their scratching leaves, as if trying to aid my family and Sithis in my capture.
Former family, my mind corrected me.
Under normal circumstances, it was easy to lose pursuers. A quick slip into the shadows or a dive into a dark alleyway was usually enough to throw off the everyday guard or bandit. However, these weren’t normal circumstances. I was running from the very people who had taught me almost everything that I knew about stealth; slipping into the shadows now would be like slipping one of my own knives into my back, poison and all.
So without anything better to do, I ran.
And what do you plan on doing once you run out of stamina potions? My mind inquired, You can’t run forever, you know.
I can die trying! I retorted, pushing a piney branch out of my face.
The forest suddenly lifted up to a set of rolling plains. I didn’t for a second consider stopping as the short grasses were silently tread into the ground beneath my boots. Back in the forest, the trees would help stop my former family from gaining line of sight, but here in the open I had no such luxury. I was certain that the darkness wouldn’t help much either, all it took was a simple detect life spell and I’d be lit up like a torch.
From there, all it took was a single well placed arrow and I would be a dead argonian. But so long as I kept moving, the chance of getting shot was reduced.
It’s not all that hard to hit a running target when you shoot from behind, My mind commented, You should know, having done it plenty of times.
They have to stop and catch their breath if they want to get a clear shot off, I retorted, by then I’ll be out of range.
However, that was not necessarily the case.
Something heavy hit me in the right shoulder, almost sending me sprawling to the ground. The burning sensation of pain told me that the head of the arrow had penetrated my armor and was jabbing into my flesh.
“Fornication,” I spat, sending a silent plea to whatever deities were listening that my enchantments had stopped any poison. From the fact that I didn’t drop dead, the gods had heard my prayers and were smiling upon me.
Two more arrows chased after me, but both went wide and buried themselves in the dirt a few paces in front of me.
Either they’re getting frantic or you’re out of range, my mind observed.
Quiet, I growled back, no more distractions!
Ahead, blackness flew into infinity. There was no horizon as far as I could see, nothing. The land before me was as featureless as the void that I might soon be joining.
And as if on cue, a feature appeared. A hole opened up in the clouds above and moonlight from one of Nirn’s two moons shone onto a single spot in the darkness. The plot of land that it revealed was smooth and reflected the moonlight off of it.
That’s no plot of land, that’s a lake! I realized.
Seeing salvation in sight, I put on an extra burst of energy and made a beeline for the lake. If I could get to it, and the water was deep enough, I may just be able to lose my pursuers. Seeing that I was the only argonian in the Dark Brotherhood, none of my former family would be able to follow me if I decided to escape into the water.
It was apparent that my family also became aware of the lake as arrows started to rain down again. It was no matter that they were out of range, they simply filled the air with arrows and hoped to hit me. Yet they had no such luck.
Arrows fell around me, off to the side, in front of me, behind me, everywhere besides in me as I made the final set of steps and dove into the lake. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to simply dive in blind, but hitting some rocks was the least of my concern at that moment.
To say that the water was cold would be an understatement, to say that it was near the freezing point would be accurate. No matter the case, it bit into my scaled body with the intensity of a thousand needles and a blast of adrenaline racked my body as I pulled toward the bottom.
Perhaps diving into a freezing lake was not the best idea, Aram. You seem to have only swapped one fate for another, My mind observed.
I was already too cold to reply.
An arrow sank past my cheek, as if racing me to the bottom. I paid it no mind, I was too deep for any arrow to have an effect on me.
So what’s the plan, Aram? My mind asked, You don’t expect to simply lay down and freeze to death, do you?
My fingers, toes, and the tip of my tail were already numb and the rest of me was quickly following. Down here I was dead unless there was some cave below the water with a pocket of air where I could dry off within. Even then, it wasn’t a sure thing.
The moonlight streaming into the water gave very little illumination, barely touching the muck-covered bottom of the lake. Yet I knew that my eyes did not deceive me when a black splotch against a black background came into sight.
Is that...I wondered.
It was. Clawing my way through the frigid water, I made my way to the small cave. Perhaps if I could find a pocket of air with a dry alcove, I might be able to escape both my former family and my own demise!
I pushed onwards and into the cave.
0 . o . 0 . o . 0
Meanwhile, on the surface...
Positioned around the lake, most of the members of the Dark Brotherhood stood silently waiting. Their utter silence and serene postures betrayed the feeling of the calm before a storm. The group watched the ghostly life source of their former brother in the cold water below. After a few moments, the life source faded. A few of the assassins threw glances towards a dark sister questioningly.
The dark sister, eyes closed tight in concentration, frowned as the life force faded. She opened her eyes and recast the life detection spell, but it showed nothing of her former brother, Aram Falíe.
Thrice more, she cast the spell and thrice more she detected nothing.
“Is he..?” One of the dark brothers next to her asked.
The dark sister nodded, “He is dead.”
And with that, the opening in the clouds snapped shut, plunging the land of Skyrim into darkness once more.
0 . o . 0 . o . 0
Back underwater...
The cold had sapped all feeling from most of my limbs and tail, as well as the tip of my nose. My stomach had taken on a sickened feeling and hunger was starting to gnaw at my belly.
You’re feeling the onset of hypothermia, my mind stated.
So what? I replied apathetically, still clawing my way through the water.
Don’t you find it odd that, despite everything, Sithis has allowed you to escape? Knowing the dread father, he would have wanted you dead by a poisoned arrow or a dagger in the back, not a relatively painless death from freezing.
I, frankly, didn’t care.
Oh, well if you don’t care all that much, then what do you think about the fact that you’re moving faster than you can swim? Something is pulling you deeper into this cave, Aram.
A puzzled expression crossed my face and I stopped swimming for a moment. Despite the fact that I had stopped pulling myself through the water, I continued moving forwards. Something was dragging me deeper into the cave!
This is Sithis’ doing! I realized with trepidation.
I began to swim towards one of the cave walls, hoping to find something and hold on. Death by cold was better than whatever Sithis was guiding me towards.
I swam frantically towards the wall above me, hoping that I could find some purchase on it and stop myself from being pulled to my doom. After a few strokes, I was sure that I was about to reach the cave wall, except there wasn’t one.
My head burst up out of the water of a river. I blinked away the water in my eyes with sheer confusion. Two riverbanks flanked the river, barely discernable trees lined them in the darkness of the night.
What...in...oblivion..? I wondered, my mind drawing a blank. I had just been underwater in a cave, yet now I was being carried swiftly down a river? It didn’t compute.
Perhaps, had my mind not been so confused by the hypothermia and fact of where I now was, I might have heard the steadily growing roar and felt the steadily increasing speed of the water. As it was, I realized all too late that I was headed towards what was probably an untimely doom in the form of a waterfall.
As I was carried over the falls, I knew that this had to be Sithis’ doing. He had lured me into the cave and sent me down a stream. Now I was falling down a waterfall with Divines knew what laying at the bottom. Perhaps there was no bottom and I would be doomed to fall forever into a never-ending pit.
This idea was blasted away as my body was thrown against the rocks hiding at the bottom of the falls, shielded by white froth. The numbness was profound enough to suck away the pain in my limbs, but as my breath was knocked out from the impact I felt something snap in my chest.
I was a rag doll for the falls to play with for a few moments longer before being discarded. The water felt warmer here, but I was uncertain as to whether or not that meant that I was only colder or that the water was, in fact, warmer. Either way it didn’t matter.
The river slowed down a notch now that the waterfall was past.
What next, Sithis? I wondered, hoping that he could hear me, A bottomless pit after another set of falls? Spikes at the end of the falls? A cottage atop a short hill...My steadily fading vision cleared as a small cottage further up the river came into view.
I watched the cottage for a time before I realized that I was no longer moving. The river had become too shallow to continue carrying me and had deposited me like a gift a ways away from the cottage.
It’s do or die, Aram. Get up! My mind growled, Move, you fool!
I placed my numbed hands on the riverbed and pushed up. I made it a foot off the ground before collapsing again.
Get up, damn you! You’re going to die here, get up!
I tried again, this time rocking back to a kneeling position that quickly turned into a seated position as I fell back. Even in the darkness I could see that my right leg was at an odd angle, yet there was no pain due to the numbing chill of the water.
To oblivion with you! Get up!
Ever so slowly, I made my way to my feet and began taking stumbling steps towards the cottage. My feet splashed noisily through the water and I collapsed again, energy fading from my limbs.
My mind was fuzzy now and I heard nothing of my thoughts, only desires. The desires for warmth, for escape, for life. I placed a hand against my chest, which was still sensitive enough to feel the pain there.
Pushing up with my legs, I got up once again, finding strength where there shouldn’t have been any. Step after step, I made my way out of the shallow water and up the hill. The cold night air bit into my sopping armor, no doubt trying to hamper my escape to the cottage.
Before I knew it, the cottage was before me. I raised a hand to knock, but instead opted to simply collapse against the door as darkness swallowed me up.
0 . o . 0 . o . 0
Unknown amount of time later...
“Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating, do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Grelod,” We all replied with voices as downcast as our looks, not meeting her Hagraven-like gaze.
“And one more thing!” Grelod continued, “I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you riff-raff is getting adopted. Ever! Nobody needs you, nobody wants you,” The sound of footsteps stopped in the doorway to the room, I paid whoever it was no mind, my boots were more interesting, “That, my darlings, is why you’re here. Why you will always be here, until the day you come of age and get thrown into that wide, horrible world,” From my upper peripherals, I saw Grelod fold her arms, “Now, what do you all say?”
“We love you, Grelod. Thank you for your kindness,” We all chorused in our sad little voices. I knew better than to keep quiet, Grelod might have been ancient, but she had eyes and ears like a hawk. I had learned that lesson the hard way.
“That’s better. Now scurry off, my little guttersnipes,” The lot of us made way as Grelod walked up to the doorway and past the person standing in it. I finally had a chance to look at the backside of the person as they turned to Grelod, “What do you want?” She asked, “You have no business being here!”
Not saying a word, whoever it was drew a wicked looking knife and drove it into Grelod’s chest. She gasped as the knife was pulled from her chest and she collapsed into a pool of her own blood, dead.
All of our eyes widened in shock. We all knew that Aventus had plans, but we never thought that said plans would come to fruition.
Near the back of the room, Constance, Grelod’s assistant, stifled a gasp of shock.
The assassin’s head snapped around, his eyes narrowing as they locked onto her.
“I cannot best you!” Constance cried, trying to pull farther into the corner, away from the assassin.
On the flipside, us children had crowded around the assassin, our savior, and Grelod’s corpse. Our smiles were complemented with our exclamations of glee. Grelod the kind was finally dead! No more would we be treated poorly by her hand!
I lifted my gaze to the face of the assassin, a smile crossing my reptilian features.
Yet when I met the assassin’s gaze, I was met with a skeletal head with two black pits that bored into my soul. My heart froze in my chest as the creature slipped out two words from its bony face.
“Aram...” It hissed, “...Falíe...”
0 . o . 0
I sat up quickly with a gasp, eyes wide and searching. They only found purchase, however, on what appeared to be the interior of a bedroom.
In a second, pain in my chest caught up with my sharp movement and I clenched my teeth in pain, falling back into the bed.
“Fornication,” I muttered as the pain slowly but surely subsided.
Once the pain was down to a dull throbbing, I tried sitting up again, this time more slowly. I supported myself with my hands as I took in my surroundings. The room had the general look of a bedroom, with wardrobes and a small fireplace and chimney.
Odd, I commented mentally. I had expected to awaken inside of a jail cell. Dark Brotherhood armor wasn’t easily mistaken for anything else, so the fact that I was not imprisoned was odd.
This cottage did seem rather secluded, perhaps whoever lives here doesn’t know about the Dark Brotherhood. Bah, what does it matter? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
I still wasn’t so sure, was this another ploy by Sithis?
What does it matter? My mind asked, You’re warm, dry, and very much alive. If Sithis wanted you dead, you’d be dead.
This thought brought a sudden dread to my stomach, what could Sithis want if not my life? Endless torture perhaps? Perhaps doomed to never join the void..?
Perhaps you should stop worrying and find a way to escape this cottage, scaring yourself with thoughts of the dread father are only going to make things worse.
I let out a sigh, knowing that my mind was right, escape first and find out Sithis’ plans later. My eyes scoured over the room again before I set them on myself to see how I was faring. A set of bandages wrapped around the right side of my chest, a gentle poke to that area, which incited pain, told me that I had at least one or two broken ribs.
My right shoulder supported a single large bandage. The bandage was white and clean, meaning that someone had changed it at some point during my unconsciousness. My right shoulder was stiff and a bit painful to move, but still very much usable.
Pulling away the sheets over my lower body revealed two annoying facts. One, that there was a large white cocoon-like sheath around my right leg, betraying the fact that it was likely broken. And two, that I was wearing only the bandages and the cast.
Done with my self-examination, I looked over the room again, trying to find any useful detail that I may have missed.
My pack! I noticed happily, spotting my pack at the foot of the bed, laying over a trunk.
Leaning forwards and taking care not to injure myself, I got closer to my pack. I frowned when I noticed a small, parchment-thin square resting atop it. Reaching out, I picked it up and looked it over. The...thing, for lack of a better word, was a light shade of pink with a trio of ovals with little tails coming down. Two of said ovals were blue while a third was yellow.
I set it aside for later and opened up my pack, examining the contents. The main pocket, where I kept my different alchemy agents and potions, was a mess of broken glass and gooey substances. I didn’t dare reach my hand in, knowing that just touching some of the poisons I had in there was enough to do some damage.
Fishing around in the other pockets, I found what I did and didn’t have. There was no sign of my weapons or Dark Brotherhood armor, however I did find a set of clean undergarments and got them on; my map was wet, but salvageable; my compass had been smashed and was no longer of any use; what food I had was ruined, though I did find a single bottle of unopened and undamaged nord mead, which made me very happy; my coin purse was still there, and it felt like nothing had been taken from it; and, finally, the few books that I had were all wet and destroyed beyond repair.
“Fornication,” I cursed again as I slipped the ruined books back into my ruined pack.
My eyes were drawn to the pinkish thing and I picked it up again. As I turned the thing over in my hands, trying to understand what it was, it unfolded slightly. I flipped it around and opened it up, perhaps it was a letter of some sort?
As it opened up, something popped from nowhere, causing me to drop the letter as I startled.
The letter landed on the bedsheets in front of me, some sort of pastry sitting atop it.
How in Oblivion..? I wondered, How did that...pastry fit in the letter?
What does the letter say would be a better question, My mind stated.
I picked up the pastry, which had a pink frosting with small multi-colored shavings atop, and set it aside before looking at the letter’s contents.
Get well soon!
Your newest, bestest friend,
Pinkie Pie
P.S. Enjoy the cupcake!
My frown deepened, furthering the proof that I was utterly confused.
“What?” I wondered aloud.
Before any other single thought could form in my head, the sound of steps came from behind the door opposite my side of the room. From the sound of it, they were wearing some sort of metallic boots.
Guards! My mind hissed, Hide!
I flung back the covers and twisted my legs over the side of the bed. Hopping to my feet caused my head to sway violently. I took a step forwards, bringing my injured right leg forwards. Unfortunately for me, however, I wasn’t used to either the weight of the cocoon splint nor the inability to bend my right leg.
This led to me falling flat on my face and sending tearing pain through my entire body.
“Fornication,” I spat out through teeth gritted in pain.
It was at this time that the door opened. I expected to see some guards rush in, weapons drawn and ready, but instead got something else.
Through the door, with a roll of bandages balanced on her head and a bowl of steaming broth on her back, came a pegasus. A pegasus with a yellow coat and a pink mane.
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Yes.yes this pleases me.
1309272 & 1309276 Glad that some people like this
. And don't worry, more is on the way, much more.
nice story please make more
Pegasus... Not pegasis.
Other than that, great story so far. :3
"Fornication"
1309410 Thanks. Don't worry, more is on the way.
1309781 Actually, I think that either works. At least my spellchecker says so. I'm glad you enjoy the story.
Hmm, this has some potential. I've always been fond of the Dark Brotherhood, and having a member of the guild in Equestria sounds very interesting indeed. I look forward to more.
MOAR! I want to BUCK YOU for cutting it off!1
1309862 Thanks! Dark Brotherhood FTW!!!
1310355 Don't worry, take a chill pill. The next chapter is already ITW.
I like this so far being a tid bit insane myself, and being a huge fan of just about anything Elder Scroll. But I am a little bit put off simply because of the wall of text.
Maybe space it out a bit more...
1315419 Wall of text? This isn't a wall of text, it's the formatting that is seen in the vast majority of books.
1317083 Perhaps I am mearly to used to the 'typical' formatting... No offense intended.
1317210 None taken.
I like the story but have to nick pick because argonians are my favorite race in elder scrolls. 1. They can breath under water through gills behind their ears 2. they have a natural immunity to poisons and diseases. (although in skyrim the they only have 50% resistance to diseases, but by lore they have immunity to both poison and diseases. ((Nickpicking, HO!)) Still it's a great fic and hope to see more!
1343775 Thanks, I never knew that it was gills behind the ears. I'll be sure to fix that when I can.
1344356
Happy to help!
Please
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw6260_small.png with this fine piece of work sir!
1309272 No you mean MOAR !
This. Is. Fucking. Awesome.
i know nothing about skyrim, but this i like.
I don't know fornication about skyrim but I absolutely
this story!!!
See what I did there? Fornication is a curse for this dude so
. . . ha . . . things aren't funny when you explain them . . . 
damn wish my brain was this responsive id be a millionaire with two of me, ONWARD HOOO!!!
A little late for me to say this but... meh
Swear words are meant to be short and gruff. "Fornication" sounds really wrong as a replacement. Like it's way too forced and not on-the-spot like a four letter swear.
6569886
You'd be surprised at what can be used as a swear. I think it's kinda funny Sean's preferred swear is fornication.
Another person who understands that the only way to play skyrim is as an argonian.
Question. Which ES# are you running? V(Oblivion)?
7937426 Skyrim. As you'll find out in the next chapter, the story takes place roughly fifteen years after the events of that game.
Though personally I've put massive hours into both Oblivion and Skyrim.
I don't see any point to having the main character hear a voice in their head. It doesn't seem to be about internal conflict, nor does it serve as another identity. The only possible purpose there is, from what I can tell, is to allow for an internal monologue. Internal monologues are, by and large, terrible because they're incredibly boring to read. The author should show what's happening, and the reader should be able to get a glimpse into a character's head through their actions. In this story, the reader is forced to read a constant train of pointless dialogue instead of getting to anything interesting.
8411050
How far have you actually read?
I love you.