DJAtomika — Roleplayer Guild

"Heimdal?"

Jaza reached out to her companion of many moons, a tall, well built Nord with a battle axe. He shushed her and motioned to lay low, which she did. Just ahead, on the road, a guard turned around, his pike up but his eyes weary and tired, unable to notice the two hunters hiding behind a bush. 

The two bounty hunters had stalked through the cold, Skyrim night, tailing a target on his journey to Whiterun. The caravan was strung out, tired, and the guards were getting careless. Following them was easy. Their mark was in the furthest carriage, hauled by a lone horse and its rider. The terms of the contract were to nab him and bring him back to Makarth. Alive. All for a hefty pay in septims. 

An easy hunt. 

Or so she'd thought. At first. 

The memory was stuck in her head, but tonight she was reliving it in a dream. As she writhed gently on her bed, the events of the night played on in her head. 

The caravan reached a fork in the road and stopped for the horses to catch their breath and for everyone to take stock. The pair stopped behind some brush and a fallen tree as the guards changed around; a fresh man with a crossbow took the place of the previous, while their mark emerged from his carriage. The robed man yawned and stretched, before exiting and walking over to where they were.

Heimdal raised his head a fraction and signaled her. She drew her bow and nocked an arrow, whilst he crept round the fallen trunk to ambush their mark.

She didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately, she heard a muffled yelp followed by a small commotion. Jaza stood, watching her companion strong arm the man down as she took aim at the back guard. Without warning, she let fly, and the arrow buried itself in his neck. A faint gurgle issued forth from his mouth as he sank to his knees, grasping at his throat while blood spilled onto the dirt. 

She had to grin. Another job well done.

Except not really.

The pair had, unwittingly, failed to conduct research on their mark before the hit. As a result, they missed the fatal information that their mark practised Destruction magic. 

Heimdal suddenly screamed as the mage set him alight with his hands. The furs he wore were set ablaze by the torrents of fire that issued from the mage, along with the trees and grass nearby. When the Nord let go, the mage ran free and, upon spotting his second would-be kidnapper, gathered a fireball into his hands and shot it at her. 

Jaza turned tail to run as the guards shouted themselves awake and chased after her. The forest around her was set ablaze, fire spreading and eating every single branch and leaf it touched. Soon she was encircled by the flames. 

But this time the memory was different. For from within the flames, Heimdal emerged. His flesh burned down to the charred bone beneath. As he raised his axe to chop her down, he rasped at her. 

"You left me to die, Jaza. You betrayed me. You betrayed my trust."

She tried to run but found herself unable to. In a panic, her hands raised. 

"P-please, Heimdal, you were dying, and-"

"You had a waterskin. You could've saved me but you didn't. You valued your own scales over a friend."

"There wasn't enough water, I-"

"It is too late. Now die."

The axe chopped straight down.

Jaza squeezed her eyes shut. She felt something hard jam itself into her chest and cried out in pain, but when her eyes opened she saw not the blade of an axe, but the head of a hammer, glowing gold. It's wielder, indistinct and faceless, said something she couldn't hear, then raised its hammer again and swung another blow straight at her chest.

The Argonian started out of her sleep, covered in a cold sweat. She turned and found her blanket on the floor, and a throbbing, aching pain in her chest. Jaza winced as she slowly took off her tunic shirt, and in the reflection of her water basin, she saw it. 

A circular mark. Plastered over her cleavage and bosom. Throbbing in pain. A stark black against the green of her scales. 

"What in the world...?"

She leaned closer to examine it, trying to will the water to be still, when she heard a pounding on her door. 

"Jaza?! What's the racket?!"

"None of your business, Tariq! Go back to the tavern!"

The Khajiit grumbled and left as Jaza pulled her shirt back on and got to work putting on the rest of her armour. A few minutes later and she was downstairs, nursing a bowl of warm oats and a flagon of cider.

The inn wasn't the best, considering it was Makarth, but at least she had a place to stay and get work. The Rusty Flagon was something of a den for bounty hunters, swords for hire and their potential employs. Only recently had it been built too, and business was slow but regular. Many old regulars were already here, of course. In the corner sat the Bethel brothers, a trio of mercenaries who were always doing some dirty muscle work when not drowning in ale and women. At the counter was Tariq, the Khajiit thief who'd thumped at her door and was her current partner in crime. Many other hunters and the like littered the chairs, mostly eating breakfast, discussing jobs and making small talk.

As she ate, Tariq pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"Familiar, Jaza?"

Jaza peered at the parchment. It was a bounty poster, a little worn, but easy to read. A man by the name of Turis, wanted for assorted crimes against the Jarl of Whiterun. Attempted assassination, for one. The charge that piqued her interest was the theft of some of the Jarl's treasures. Meant that their potential employer was rich and obviously working for the Jarl.

"Don't know him, but the job looks good."

"Let's take it then. Word is this guy's hiding out in some forgotten crypt east of Helgen. If we leave now we can probably get there by the morning tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan, Tariq. You have everything we need?"

"Of course. Our horses are outside, and I swear this time I didn't swindle them from a stablehand."

Jaza rolled her eyes. Her partner was hopeless. She mostly relied on him for his smarts at getting jobs and securing...essentials. A lightfingered thief was perfect at pilfering things she couldn't get on her own.

"Right then. Let's go."
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