Shadows Preserve Us

The City of Stone

The pale moonlight falling upon the tile panes of the rooftops gave the city a faint illumination. The only sound was the almost imperceptible echoing of footsteps as the guards lazily patrolled the city—there was no need to act otherwise; everyone in Riften knew the Thieves Guild had died long ago. Now, aside from a few coins or silverware disappearing here and there, there was almost no need to even lock the doors. The Guild as a shadow of a memory now; Riften was too preoccupied with outside threats: dragons, vampires, bandits, assassins, to care about anything as harmless as missing baubles. And then, of course, there was Maven Blackbriar. The Daughter of Deceit, The Lady of Larceny, the Matron of Misdirection. Any and all available resources were pitted against her… not that it would do any good. As the guards of Riften said, "Maven Blackbriar has the Jarl in her pocket."

In these times, it was almost impossible to pickpocket a beggar, let alone pull off a major heist. The profession of a thief was no longer a profitable one, and, to most, this was the extent of the allure. However, to some, a very rare few, being a thief was about more than just the gold; it was a lifestyle, it coursed through their veins. Being a thief was all they had ever known, and it was all they would ever know. And they would do anything, ANYTHING, to hearken to the call of thievery…

The usual hubbub of the Silver-Blood Inn had died down. Instead of the clamor and racket of hearty Nords boasting about their day, guards complaining about their hours, and Imperial nobles babbling on about their latest purchase of land that Karliah was so accustomed to, the only patrons of the night were a female Dunmer garbed in robes from the College of Winterhold, a Breton, his eyes already laden with drunkenness, and a silent Argonian—middle-class attire covering his black scales—sipping a bottle of Black Briar Reserve; his piercing blue eyes seeming to mirror her own actions. He is sizing up the occupants as well… no matter… Karliah sighed, her nervous fingers combing through her long, black hair.

"Well, it looks like it will be a slow night after all…" Ravenna muttered under her breath, "Unless I'm up for seducing a lizard…" Despite his casual appearance, Ravenna could tell that he was the jewel of the group; students from the College of Winterhold never had any money, and, as the Breton downed his fifth bottle of cheap mead, Ravenna knew he was drowning away his problems with every last septim he had. Besides, Black Briar Reserve wasn't cheap… the stuff cost hundreds of septims, and that was with the right connections. That left her one option, an ultimatum. Seduce the Argonian and rob him of every last septim he had, or begrudgingly accept her payment from the inn as tonight's spoils.

"Beggars can't be choosers…" Ravenna painfully reminded herself. Ravenna was something of a rarity in the land of Skyrim. Unlike most of the Dark Elves, Ravenna had a beauty, a true beauty, which beguiled even the most patriotic of Nords. Her skin, a pale azure which vaguely resembled the eyes of Azura, contrasted sharply with her hair, which was as black as the heart of Sithis. Her eyes were discs of violet radiance, and her lithe figure had entranced many a weary traveler into bed… and promptly into poverty thereafter.

In her skimpy tavern outfit, Karliah, with the grace of a snake stalking its prey, slithered over to where the Argonian sat, his gaze focused into the void in some reverence.

"And what might your name be?" Karliah cooed as she sat down beside him. "Did you need anything?"

"Silence, if you please." The Argonian responded politely. Karliah stared at the Argonian for a moment, his sharp cheekbones and jawline…she couldn't help but get lost in those eyes. You know… he is quite attractive… for a lizard—forget it! You are on the job; love is for the weak and delusional.

"May I at least know your name?" Karliah smiled.

"Swims-In-Shadow." The Argonian said bluntly.

"I see…" Great… so he wants to make me work for it… well, nothing I can't handle.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Karliah said, knowing that she was pushing her luck.

"Silence. All I want is silence. I need to think." Swims-In-Shadow replied.

"I can show you to my room? It is extremely quiet in there. You should have all the privacy you need." Karliah was laying it on thick, and she knew it, but, if it took the forward approach to seduce her mark, so be it.

Swims-In-Shadow heaved a sigh. "Well… I suppose I could… rest for a while…" He said, closing his eyes. "If it is no trouble." He added quickly.

"No, no, no…" Karliah insisted, "No trouble at all…" As long as you don't mind waking up without a septim in your pocket and your "lover" miles away.

"I thank you." Swims-In-Shadow sighed. With elegance that even the High Queen, assuming Jarl Elisif would manage triumph over her enemies during the Moot to get the position, would be envious of, Karliah deftly and swiftly guided Swims-In-Shadow to her room. She felt the eyes of the other patrons in the bar on her. The Nord's gaze held some form of jealousy while the young Dark Elf woman's eyes shown with both awe and hatred. Karliah was acutely aware of the effect she had on people, and she pushed it as far as she could.

Swims-In-Shadow sat down on the foot of her bed, his black tail coiling around one of the ornate silver posts of the framing, and Karliah, in the subtlest way possible for such a bold move, sat down beside him placing a hand on his thigh. He isn't just a citizen. The muscles in his legs belong to someone who does quite a lot of intensive physical activity. Just who is this guy…?

With the grace of a raven alighting on a slender branch, Karliah pressed herself harder against the Argonian, her heart fluttering as her arm brushed his scaly skin, cold as ice.

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" Karliah whispered into his ear.

"You know… I must admit, you have it pretty well out here." Swims-In-Shadow chuckled suddenly. Karliah sat there dumbstruck as he placed a scaled arm on her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Karliah said, her blood chilling to ice in the span of a heartbeat. "Whatever do you mean?" He can't know… there is no way…

"People talk, believe it or not," Swims-In-Shadow smiled, his grip on her shoulder tightening, "And, despite the happiest of illusions your mind may conjure, even a pretty little thing like you is subject to reality."

"I… have to get back to work, terribly sorry," Karliah began, standing up, but Swims-In-Shadow, his clawed hand digging into her flesh, forced her back down.

"You won't get away… not that easily. You see, there has been talk of a Dark Elf, a beautiful visage of Azura that, after seducing men into bed and robbing them of everything they own, takes flight to the Temple of Dibella. Once inside, the Dark Elf is untouchable by all men, for, as everyone knows, the penalty for a man infiltrating the Temple is death. Your plan is actually quite ingenious. You just never counted on anyone reversing it on you."

"What do you mean…?" Karliah began, but her words choked off as Swims-In-Shadow drew an ebony dagger from his belt.

"I figured I could come to the Silver-Blood Inn, flaunt a little wealth, and you would be all over me. You can't just expect every theft to go perfectly, now can you? This is a daring game we play, and, sometimes, you will be bested by your better. So tell me, Karliah, Phantom Thief of Markarth, how will you get out of this one?

Karliah's body froze into permafrost at the vocalization of her unofficial title… Impossible… Karliah's mind raced through multiple scenarios, her eyes flickering around her room. There wasn't much to work with, and, aside from her bow, which was on a plaque and much too far to reach—though Karliah doubted she would have time to string an arrow anyway—there was nothing for her to utilize.

"Don't tell me you aren't even going to put up some form of resistance?" Swims-In-Shadow laughed, casually spinning his dagger through his fingers. "I didn't travel all the way from Riften just for the Phantom Thief of Markarth to turn out to be another useless Dunmer. Oh well, life is full of disappointments."

Karliah backed away from Swims-In-Shadow's advance, her eyes frantically searching for something, anything that would enable her to disable the Argonian just long enough for her to escape.

"You wouldn't be so confident without that dagger in your hand." Karliah taunted, vying for some form of suspension.

"And you wouldn't be able to take me on without it," the Argonian chuckled. "Either way, I can easily overwhelm you." He casually swung the dagger through the air for emphasiss, mocking her with the leisure of his swing, but Karliah wouldn't dare test his patience while she was unarmed.

"Why are you doing this…" Karliah began; her mind racing through stratagems.

"You have something I want… and I intend to take it." Swims-In-Shadow advanced toward her.

Her hand reflexively went to her hip, where her dagger was normally sheathed, and, to her surprise, her hand closed around a vial.

This vial… OH! I had completely forgotten. This is the paralytic poison I made earlier on my visit the The Hag's Cure. But, I have no weapon… unless…

Quickly unstopping the vial, Karliah poured the violet poison onto her hands. Turning to Swims-In-Shadow, her hands drenched with poison, Karliah raised her hands into claws.

"This is your last chance, Argonian. Let me go."

"Or what?" Swims-In-Shadow said in disbelief. "You will touch me with poison? I'm no alchemist, but I am almost positive poisons have to be administered into the bloodstream through a weapon. Only the rarest of toxins permeate through the skin."

"Who said I needed a weapon," Karliah hissed. Lunging forward, she wrapped her arms around the Argonian, pressing her lips to his face… Urghh… try not to think about it… he is the enemy… the dagger clattered to the floor, and Swims-In-Shadow's azure eyes widened in surprise as she plunged her fingernails into the Argonian's ribcage. The wound was not deep, but the effect was immediate.

"Very… resourceful…" Swims-In-Shadow choked out before collapsing to the ground as the paralytic poison, which had thoroughly clotted under her relatively long fingernails, infused itself into the Argonian's bloodstream.

Argonians' are somewhat resistant to poison… I have maybe… ten seconds at best. I need to get out of here… Karliah grabbed her treasured bow from the plaque, and, slipping on a quiver of dwarven arrows—a gift from Calcemo in exchange for her ridding the dig-site of Nimhe—Karliah quickly fled the Silver-Blood Inn; she didn't bother to stop and explain to the innkeeper where she was headed.

As the dwarven-metal wrought doors of the Silver-Blood Inn closed behind her, Karliah took off into the night, quickly scaling the walls of a building to avoid the guard conversing with a Vigilant of Stendarr. He has been here for a few days now… I wonder if he has anything of value on him… it shouldn't be too hard… he looks like the type that would give in to temptation. After all, not even the holy are immune to the wicked…

Karliah wasn't talented at fighting—in fact, other than her bow and alchemical skill, she was completely defenseless—but, what Karliah lacked in combat skill, she made up for with pure stealth prowess.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the faint voice of a man, the accent heavily Nord, muttering to himself on the other side of a wall. It is imperative that I am not seen by anyone… this is unacceptable. Her fingers scrabbling for purchase on the smooth stone walls of the city, Karliah scaled the building as quickly as she could, flashing a quick glance over her shoulder to see the owner of the voice.

A man, clad in full steel plate armor and a great claymore strapped to his back, paced quietly down the dimly lit street. Judging from his apparel… he is likely a mercenary… nothing of value… and I don't have time. Karliah quickly leapt to the rooftop of another building, landing on one foot with the grace of a Khajiit, her pace never slowing.

Karliah was known as the Phantom Thief of Markarth for a reason; no one had ever seen her commit a crime. Some—in fact many—suspected her, but there was never any physical evidence. However the Argonian had learned of her scheme's machinations, she was sure it was not from her victims; there was no way they would have known so much. He may have known that she robbed them in the Inn, but there was no way he could have known that she hid herself away in the Temple of Dibella after a successful heist. It wasn't like Karliah wasn't careful; after every heist, she holed herself away in the Temple of Dibella until the sisters were sure that her victim had left the city.

"Hamal won't be happy if the Argonian comes to the Temple…" Karliah muttered to herself as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, "I will have to give her some excuse… I…" Suddenly, in the vaguest peripherals of her vision, she saw a blur of motion, an almost imperceptible hiss emitted from the projectile. Karliah stopped suddenly and quickly back flipped off the roof, catching herself on the railing of a lower level balcony as an arrow whistled by. Hissing under her breath, Karliah turned toward the direction it was fired from.

"You are most elusive… I wouldn't have expected someone in this city to have come into possession of the Boots of Springheel Jack… I thought those were destroyed in the Gray Fox's fabled theft of the Elder Scroll during the Oblivion Crisis…"

Karliah gaped at Swims-In-Shadow, her mouth open wide; Karliah was now completely aware that this was not a normal Argonian… or normal anything for that matter.

"How could you—"

"I am a relative of Amusei, an associate of the Gray Fox during the Oblivion Crisis. What I can't understand is you, Karliah. Those boots are ancient, an artifact of tremendous power… how did you get them?"

"If you want them, then I'm sorry, you are out of luck." Karliah said stone-faced, "These were given to me by… never mind… the name isn't important anymore… Just know I would die before relinquishing them to you."

"I won't kill you…" Swims-In-Shadow sighed, "That is not my way, or the Guild's way… even though I am not part of the Guild… Not that I want to be a part of it."

"The… Guild?" Karliah said quizzically.

"The Thieves Guild," Swims-In-Shadow sighed, "I believe they are stationed out in Riften—"

"There is a Thieves Guild… in Skyrim?" Karliah said in disbelief. "I was considering going to the Imperial Csity… but, if there is a guild here…"

"Don't bother," Swims-In-Shadow laughed, "The Thieves Guild has all but lost its influence in Skyrim. The only person with any credibility is Maven Black-Briar, and she isn't even a formal member. Vex is actually quite talented… despite the fact that she has the personality of a Frost Troll and is about as friendly as a Dragon.

"What do you mean 'lost its influence?'"

"The Thieves Guild is dying. The coin has stopped flowing, the jobs are fewer and fewer; I mean, the guards don't even bother patrolling the streets half the time. It makes for easy theft; besides, if anyone ever catches me, a quick jump into the canals and I'm gone."

"I see… I find this all very—" Karliah stopped as, in a blur of motion, Swims-In-Shadow was beside her.

"You won't catch me…" Karliah laughed darkly, "Your downfall is only a scream away. Do you really want to rot in prison? Let's face it… a pretty girl and a shady Argonain… you might as well sign your own warrant."

"I just want to talk, I swear." Swims-In-Shadow assured. "Besides, I have a dagger with poison on it; if I wanted you, I would have you." Karliah turned and met Swims-In-Shadow's gaze; her piercing violet eyes locked with his crystalline azure eyes.

"Fair enough…" Karliah acquiesced, breaking his gaze. "What is it you want to talk about?"

"A heist." Swims-In-Shadow said simply.

"A… heist?" Karliah questioned. "That's it?"

"Not just any heist. This will take some planning out. But, before we even consider it, you have to tell me you are willing to commit."

"Before I say agree to anything, why didn't you just tell me this from the start? Why did you try to attack me?"

"I had to be sure," Swims-In-Shadow said, "I've heard rumors of how good you were. So I did my research. I watched you the last time you pulled your little trick. It was impressive, but you didn't do anything astounding… nothing like what I just saw on the rooftops."

"There was never any need…" Karliah whispered silently. "I get by on only what I need; I try to refrain from excess. I have no form of protection other than the sisters at the Temple of Dibella… but even they cannot stop guards… But, anyway, what is this plan of yours?"

Swims-In-Shadow leaned in close, his scaly lips brushing Karliah's ear, his ice-blue eyes gazing into hers, and, his hot breath breezing through her hair, Karliah heard him whisper.

"We are going to steal the Skeleton Key…"

A/N: Okay, I've practically been non-existent for a while... please don't be angry with me :( I promise I will work on the Fame Monster... soon... I just needed to get this out of the way xD. If you have anything to say to me, please PM me... I am trying to get motivated to write again .-. It isn't easy. Anyway, R&R *heart*

SoleixDeidara

"Shadows Take You" Karliah.