Marudil swung first, aiming to sever Rikka's sword-arm. But his adversary swiftly avoided the maneuver, and struck his ribs with her elbow. The force of the blow send Marudil staggering back, but he managed to recover before Rikka could follow up on her first strike. The fierce assassin leaped in the air and aimed a round-house kick to Marudil's head, which the Bosmer promptly blocked. Rikka then threw three punches at her opponent, only managing to strike a successful blow between Marudil's eyes. The wood elf regained his composure in spite of the assault, and leaped toward his ruthless foe. Rikka ducked beneath the bosmer's trajectory, and began to spin around in retaliation -- only to be thrown over Marudil's shoulder, as he had merely leaped over her to distract the assassin for a brief moment. He struck Rikka's head twice to disorient her, then drew back his sword to finish the battle -- only for his adversary to crush Marudil's armed wrist as it sped toward her torso. She twisted his wrist and caused the wood elf to drop his weapon, then struck the side of his head to knock him away. As her enemy lay stunned before her, Rikka raised her katana over his neck and prepared to decapitate him -- but Marudil had suffered worse injuries than this, and rolled away from the deadly blade. His mind raced furiously to determine what he could do to fend off this intruder; his wrist, though not broken, was unfit for combat with such a heavy thing as a sword. Thinking fast as Rikka prepared to resume battle, Marudil drew a pair of arrows from his quiver. The sky shook with the mighty roar of thunder, and their duel was rejoined.
Meanwhile Erika lay peacefully in her room, helplessly lost in dreams of the past. The visions began with recollections of her childhood; one of her favorite things to do as a little girl was to read adventure stories, and often times she found herself reading aloud to her big sister. Sometimes she could have sworn that Rikka -- cold and heartless as she generally was -- was genuinely invested in the tales she told her. On a few occasions, she could remember, Rikka would even ask to hear one or two stories from Erika's favorite books.
"Woooow..." Erika could hear herself saying aloud, as she read of the Oblivion Crisis.
"Hm?" Rikka replied.
"Look at this! It says that Cyrodiil used to be invaded by Daedra!"
"Daedra?"
"Yes! But Akatosh and the Emperor helped to send them back to Oblivion!"
"May I see that...?"
"Sure, sister!"
Rikka began reading to herself. "Where did you find this?"
"The man at the bookstore let me have it for 10 septims."
"It's... fascinating..." Rikka said in her usual distant tone.
"Oh, you're always so quiet." Erika laughed. "C'mon, let's see if there are any Daedra still left in the Imperial City!"
This portion of the dream ended with the sisters heading excitedly out of the door to their home. What followed were flashes of their trip to Skyrim, receiving news of their parents' deaths three months later, the business that the sisters started... and the blood... the blood on the sword... her sword...
"Sister... no..."
Erika woke from her dreams all of a sudden, when a noise from the upper deck of the ship disturbed her rest. Dreading the worst, she made haste to get dressed and to see what was happening...
Rikka's blade reflected the lightning in the sky as she swung at Marudil's side. The bosmer managed to duck away from the blow, however, and the katana stuck itself into the base of one of the sails. The assassin attempted to pull the sword out of the wood, but Marudil struck her hands away from the weapon and kicked Rikka to the ground. While his enemy regained her breath, Marudil took hold of the katana and snapped the blade in two. Tossing the handle overboard, the wood elf charged toward the killer -- only to find himself blinded by a small, hollowed-out egg filled with a spicy substance. As Marudil struggled to wipe the spices from his face, his legs were swept out from beneath him and he was rendered utterly helpless. Rikka claimed his hunting sword, pinned her opponent to the ground with her boot, raised the blade over Marudil's heart...
"STOP!!" A frantic cry shot out from behind.
Rikka turned around with a piercing glare, which dropped as soon as she beheld the sight of her sister aiming a peculiar weapon at her. Erika spoke again...
"You will not hurt him again... or so help me I'll pull the trigger and send you straight to Oblivion!"
Rikka put Marudil's hunting sword on the ground and slowly raised her hands above her head. Marudil rolled away and cleaned his eyes, then finally spoke.
"Shoot her... shoot her now!" He growled, "She means to kill you!"
"Is this your guard dog, Erika?" Rikka asked coldly.
"How dare you..." Erika responded.
"Sister... he is wrong. I have not come to claim your life."
"Yet you have come armed." Marudil pointed out.
"They are watching around every corner, you fool!" Rikka snapped.
"Who?" Erika asked, "Who is watching?"
"Let me in..." Rikka said quietly, "Please... I'll explain."
---
Anora stood before the altar of Boethiah and reflected upon Rikka's dooming promise.
"Death will come..." That was what she said. "Death will come..."
Could she have meant that she would honor the Order's summons and slay the final threat against it? Or did she refer to the death of... another...? Anora shook her head as Rikka's seething glare floated through her mind.
"She couldn't mean... ... ... no..."
Her grip tightened on the handle of her sword, as she took a long look at the lair of the Order. All that they had worked to achieve... the glory that was just within their grasp... the honor it would do for both herself, her followers, and her mentor... she knew she had made a mistake sending Rikka on this mission. If she had just sent one of her other assassins... Rikka would never have had to know. Her misery could have been avoided... and if that glare meant what she thought it meant... then whatever impending doom lay beyond the horizon could have been avoided as well.
"Milady!" A scout came rushing in, interrupting Anora's train of thought.
"Yes?" She asked, "What is it?"
"Casik was found dead in Haafingar! Erika Northwing slew him!"
"What??"
"And Rikka is nowhere to be found... I think... I think she means to betray us!"
"... I should have known from the start..."
"There's no time to think about what we should have done! If Rikka means to destroy the Order before it destroys her sister, then that means they'll be coming here... we need to be ready!"
"We're still 11 strong... have our men scattered across Markarth. Tell them to kill on sight."
"And Rikka?"
Anora hesitated. "... ... Leave her to me."
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