Chapter 8
The Weavers
5 Years Earlier - Mournhold
"We're leaving," Tolan said, doing a bad job of hiding his anger.
Ri'shai had been woken up in the middle of the night. It had been a few weeks since Faradin had broken the chair in the common room. Ri'shai hadn't seen Tolan or Faradin speak since. Now here they were, both looking at her for answers.
"Ri'shai understands. Where, and when?" Ri'shai said the words, trying to hide her fear.
"We need to talk about your future here Ri'shai... You don't have to leave with Faradin and myself. Honestly, it may be better if you stay."
"Stay!?" Ri'shai shouted, feeling her world crack around the edges. "Here? By myself?"
Ri'shai saw the pained look on Faradin's face at her words. She must of looked hurt as well. She could feel the sudden rush of wetness brush across her cheeks.
"Well you wouldn't be able to stay here, this place won't be safe after we leave. We have arranged for you to live with Sings-With-Lightning and continue your studies."
"That old cancer! I would die before then. He isn't my family," Ri'shai said. Implicating who she considered her family.
"Where we go, you cannot follow." Faradin said.
"We only want to spare you our fate." Tolan said.
Ri'shai felt explosive anger boiling up inside of her. They think Ri'shai is weak. They think that this one will slow them down.
"You only want to be rid of me." Ri'shai said, quiet steel on her tongue.
Faradin looked as if he had taken a blow to the face. Tolan looked as if her statement rung of some truth.
"Ri'shai..." Tolan looked her in the eye, guilt behind his eyes. "The Dar'kir have enemies, Faradin and myself are about to make more. We cannot shield you from the wrath of our actions."
Faradin looked toward the ground. Ri'shai thought about losing him. It took everything she had to keep back the tide of tears.
She thought about her life. Every comfort stripped from her. A friendless existence. A reoccurring nightmare in her sleepless life. These two brothers, they had saved her from that torment.
They had fed her, cared for her, seen to her education. They had taken her from the darkness, hand in hand, and stepped into something else. It was not the light, but maybe Ri'shai didn't belong in the light.
"Ri'shai is going with you both." Ri'shai stared Tolan hard in the eyes.
Eventually Tolan faltered, lowering his gaze. "Ri'shai," Tolan said through gritted teeth. "We cannot put you so deliberately in harm's way."
"You know... Ri'shai knows how to magically track you both. If you leave - this one will just follow."
It was a lie of course. Well a half-lie, she thought she may be able to place a tracker spell, but she had never attempted it. However the two didn't know that.
Faradin spat, spittle hitting the old violet carpet. It seemed to Ri'shai that the carelessness was a testament to their acquisition. No one would be living in these corridors anymore. Why care about desecrating the place.
Faradin and Tolan shared a look, whatever imperceptible distortions flowed over their faces seemed a mystery to Ri'shai. After a moment they shifted their gaze back to Ri'shai.
"Fine, but you will do exactly as we say, no yes?" Tolan said. Teeth still gritted. His tone more commanding.
Ri'shai nodded, "So, you will tell Ri'shai what's going on?" She asked the question, expecting to hear more obscure lies from the two.
Tolan noded, "This is all Tolan's fault Ri'shai."
Faradin scoffed in agreement. Nodding his head. Ri'shai blinked, Are they really going to tell this one the truth?
"It didn't start like this Ri'shai, Tolan never expected such vileness to come of his actions." Tolan's face was torn between anger and regret. Maybe they were one in the same.
"Ten cycles ago, This one was desperately trying to curry favor with the Thalmor. Tolan had thought that fortune finally smiled upon him. The chance to make some real coin."
Tolan glanced toward Faradin, "How many imperials were slain that night Faradin?"
"The chambers ran red, but it was not our hands that had caused such destruction." Faradin Said. "It was not Mafala's will."
"We were sent to find an Altmer. He went by the name "Mc'Swine". The Thalmor must of been looking for him because they had information on his whereabouts." Tolan continued, "I think now it may of been a setup. The elves had no idea how strong we were," Tolan said.
Ri'shai had heard rumors about the Thalmor. High elf supremacists all. Each of them trying to determine the fate of the world from their home on the Aldmeri isles.
"We received information stating he was staying up in Capstone Cave, a remote location in northern Cyrodil," Faradin said.
Tolan was gripping the hilt of his dagger, turning it over and over, wearing on the fine leather. "Vampires... lots of them. More than we'd ever seen in one place." Tolan said, closing his eyes, cringing from some gruesome memory.
"We reached the cave, nothing but a vague description guiding us. There were bloody gravestones outside the entrance. This one remembers scoffing at the warning," Faradin Said.
"When we got inside... First we smelled the blood. The first of the creatures we ran into screamed like the evernight itself. It tried to sink it's teeth into Tolan's neck. A shadow blade through the chest sent the creature to it's overdue grave." Tolan said, forming a punch blade of shadow in his hand to emphasize.
Tolan let the blade go, it dissipated into wispy blackness. "We made our way into the cave. Finding corpses strewn about, blood old and blood new. We went deeper, finding a chamber with unconscious men, men kept alive to drain of blood again and again. It was sickness." Tolan said.
Ri'shai could see the obvious pain of the memory for Faradin and Tolan. Their faces were contorted. These two had marched into the den of nightmares, never flinching.
"We had a guide with us." Tolan said, "I can barely remember his face now. We only heard his scream as he disappeared from our sides. Snatched away in the darkness of the cave."
Tolan sighed, "That's when it got bad. What seemed an army of vampires assailed us. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but we found the main chamber of the cave, leaving a trail of blood sucking dead men behind us."
"On a throne, made of human bones, sat an Altmer. Eyes of red, hair of white, pointed ears. It was Mc'Swine. He considered us a moment. Amused. He was not afraid of two kha'jiit. Tolan may not remember the face or name of our guide, but this one remembers the look of shock on Mc'swines face when we subdued him."
Faradin chuckled, "The mission was to bring the blighted mer back to the Thalmor. Things worked out differently."
"The elf was a mer on the edge. In his defeat he awoke from his stupor. He had been in that place for so long. Living off the flesh of imperials. Always using his thralls to seduce new blood to his web." Tolan said.
"He told Tolan he could help us. This one was not foolish enough to believe, but he offered us something else. He offered the Dar'kir a connection to Mournehold. He spoke of the Great House Hlaalu, and his ties to them," Tolan said.
"While originally disgusted by the creature, we began to see the mer he once was. Half-way to the aldmeri isles, he had won us over. We of course didn't tell him our plans. On the day we were supposed to bring him to the Thalmor we tied him up instead. We lied to the elves. Stating that the vampire named Mc'swine was dead. They reluctantly believed Tolan."
"Even then Tolan had a price to pay. The Altmer scum wouldn't let this one go. They demanded to know where Tolan was going. So Tolan told them. Mournhold."
"When we returned to Mc'Swine, we agreed to set him free. At a price. He would lead us to his contacts in Mournhold, and so we ended up here."
Only later did the Thalmor find Tolan. Our father under their thumb. Since then this one has been spying on the Hlaalu for the Aldmeri."
Tolan gritted his teeth. A guttural growl escaping from his lips. "But that all ends now!" Tolan shouted, slamming his dagger point-first into the sujamma table.
Ri'shai flinched at the quick feral motion. She blinked a few times, gathering her thoughts. "Why now, how long have they had your father?" Ri'shai asked.
"A cycle," Tolan said. "They asked for something last time, something Tolan should not of given them." He began to shake, looking as if he needed another blade to plunge into the table.
"He gave them a list of contracts Ri'shai. Murders ordered by the Hlaalu. Murders conducted by the Morag Tong. Very sensitive information. It will spell our doom." Faradin Said, his voice cold steel.
Ri'shai tried to absorb all the information. Tolan is a spy? Where does that leave Faradin?
"Ri'shai assumes Faradin is a spy as well?" Ri'shai asked.
"No." Faradin said. "But this one looks out for his pack."
"I see," Ri'shai said. Watching the remorseful frown spread across Tolan's face. Quite the opposite of his normal expression. "What must we do?"
"The Dar'kir will kill them all," Faradin said. "We will weave a web so broad that none shall escape. First we save our father. Then we fix our mistakes."
"Ri'shai is with you both." Ri'shai said.
"That's what this one was afraid of." Tolan said. He planted his face in his hands. As if trying to hide his eyes from the coming slaughter.
