Act I: Chapter 6

Hello everyone,

We are back with another chapter. I feel better about the story and where it's going now. I have figured out that my plans were just taking too long to come to fruition, so this change in pace is a good thing.

But we get to return to this one for a day! And for that, I am excited. So without further ado, let's get on with it!

Authors note at the bottom.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"Are you just going to lay there?"

I recognized the condescending voice immediately. Calcelmo.

"Hello, Calcelmo." I replied.

I normally didn't face the people or guards that visited me everyday. But this was a rare occasion, so I opened my eyes and stood up off of the cot. My meditation pulsed through the room and into the hallway.

"Your reserves have grown." Calcelmo said as he sensed my casual use of magic.

"Five days, with nothing to do but practice." I told him with a smile that didn't meet my eyes.

He stood there, staring at me for a moment. "Then why haven't you escaped?" Calcelmo asked with a raised eyebrow. "It would be easy for us."

'Us as in magicians.' I corrected him in my mind. "And then what? Live my life as a bandit always on the run?"

Calcelmo didn't miss a beat. "There are those who would be sympathetic to you, in the north."

"The Stormcloaks." I answered, knowing where he was going with the conversation.

"There are reports of a change in Ulfric Stormcloak. Skyrim won't be peaceful for long." Calcelmo's words cut in deeper than they should have.

'Was there a change in Ulfric in the games? Or did he always have delusions of High King?' I thought as I pondered the words.

"I refuse to give my life to a cause I don't believe in." I asserted my position on the subject.

"Is this a cause you believe in?" Calcelmo countered quickly while pointing to the cell around me. "If not, you better do something quickly because they will come for your life soon."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked him, getting angry. "Cut my way out of here? Cut through the same men I helped train. The same men that looked to me as a leader?"

"The same men who are guarding your cell." Calcelmo countered.

I hated how his words made so much sense. My eyes looked around and found the form of Bjorn, walking around the cells, checking the prisoners. Finn normally brought me my food. Other familiar faces appeared every now and then around the prison. The captain had obviously thought it would be a fun form of torture for the men that I trained to guard my cell and work in the prison.

He obviously lied about being sent to the mines two days ago. It's been five and nothing's happened.

"What will you do? Accept your fate?" Calcelmo asked when I didn't respond.

"No." I answered. I knew I probably shouldn't have told him anything, but I already had a plan laid out for myself. Several, actually. Five days was a long time to just lay there.

Calcelmo smiled at me, and then he just disappeared as if he was never there.

Astral Projection. I realized just as he left me with a parting word.

"Good."

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"Bjorn."

The man stiffened, before slowly turning to my cell.

"Traitor." Bjorn hissed out. The words meant nothing to me.

"You think I would just go on a killing spree? I was framed." I told him quickly before he could interrupt.

"Enough. I won't hear your lies, traitor." Bjorn said, before he walked off.

'Ok, so turning Bjorn and the men to my side doesn't seem possible. So plan b.'

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Snores sounded out in the prison, coming from all around me. I decided that it had been long enough, and it was time to move. My legs kicked off of the cot and landed on the ground of my cell.

I summoned my magic and reached out to the lock of my cell. I had figured out how to pick it with telekinesis the first day I had been there, but I had been unwilling to act upon the information. At least, until Calcelmo gave me the final push.

There was a faint 'click' and the door creaked slightly as I opened it and stepped out into the prison. There were no guards coming my way, and wouldn't for a while, considering he was currently asleep via illusion magic.

'I love illusion magic.' I thought as I passed his sleeping form. He was curled up in a ball in a chair, showing that he liked to cuddle with stuff.

I walked right past him and opened a door that would lead to where they kept my armor and sword. I didn't encounter any else, knowing that they were making rounds elsewhere in the city. The prison was a skeleton crew at this hour. It was dumb really, it made escaping so much easier.

Another three doors and I was in the right place. I half expected my sword to be on someone else's waist, but apparently no one could see the value in the sword.

'Idiots.' I thought as I got dressed in my full gear and belted the sword.

I walked out of the prison without encountering anyone. There wasn't even anyone guarding the front door, I just walked straight out into the night.

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My path brought me to a set of stairs designed in the old nordic architectural style. At the top were a set of pillars that lead down to a huge opening in the side of the mountain. On one of the pillars, the name of the place I was approaching was written.

'Cidhna Mine.'

I climbed the steps toward my destination. It was odd heading to a place considered to be the real prison of Markarth. The place had another function besides just being a prison and a mine. It was the base of operations for the King of the Forsworn. The King in Rags, Madanach.

I reached the top and immediately saw two hired mercenaries standing at the entrance.

'The fucking mine is better protected than the real prison.' I observed incredulously.

The mercenaries had already seen me. One drew his sword, the other had a mace in his hands. I wondered how hard it must be to wield the heavy thing one-handed, before focusing on the task at hand.

"That's far enough, friend." The mercenary called out to me. "State your business. It better be good for you to come this late."

I ignored him and decided to start my own line of dialogue. "Do you work for Thonar? Or Madanach?" I asked simply.

The carefree look on their faces dropped and became very very serious. They didn't even bother answering, instead they went into kill mode and started coming towards me.

'I guess that means that Madanach has infiltrated his own guards.' I deduced. 'Has he escaped already? Is my plan already thwarted?'

I drew the sword on my waist and primed my magic. The two men looked like they had been fighting together for a long time. It's too bad they would be dead in a few seconds.

I raised my left hand and molded my magic in the newest spell in my arsenal. First I summoned a small flame before folding my magic top of itself and drawing in more heat. A small ball of white fire formed then. Their eyes widened just as I let the ball of fire loose. It shot through the air and impacted the mercenary with the sword center mass.

The fire exploded outwards upon impact, and caught the man on fire.

His friend spared a small glance at him and then decided that he needed to kill me to stop the fire. It was a good deduction, and would have worked had I been an ordinary mage.

He got close and swung his mace overhead. It was laughably easy to send it off course with telekinesis and run him through with my sword. His heart was cut and cauterised in the same moment because of the enchantments on the sword. When he fell to the ground, he was dead.

The swordsman's screams rang my ears as he finally felt the fire. I walked over to him and pierced his brain for a mercy kill. Burning to death was a hard way to die. I walked past the two corpses to the entrance to the mine. I buried the guilt in my mind for the brutal murders I had just committed.

The huge opening in the middle of the mountain led into a beautifully carved cavern. It would have extended all the way to the actual mines had there not been a wood and metal wall that sealed it off, except for a door. I picked the lock on the door with a small burst of magic and pushed it open without hesitation.

I thanked whoever was responsible for having lit torches on the walls for light. I didn't want to have to walk around with a magelight in front of me and give away my position. Not to mention my need to conserve my magicka.

The door closed behind my and I immediately noticed the lack of care on this side of the wall. The floors were the only relatively even surface in the mine. The walls barely looked like they were carved at all because of the jaggedness of the rock.

I moved further down into the mine, taking care not to make too much noise. There was no telling how many Forsworn were in the cave.

I didn't encounter any for a while. I must have made it about a quarter of a mile into the mine when I realized it would be much bigger than I had originally thought. It made sense considering Markarth was also so much bigger than in the games. This was the premier silver mine for all of Skyrim, they must have mined deep.

The first person I encountered was asleep in a tent on a raised platform in the mine. It was surprisingly smooth. I didn't see them, but I heard their snoring.

I continued, and found more little carved out sections in the stone that weren't occupied. It made me feel better and worse at the same time. Better because I expected to run into a lot of people in the mines, worse because they could all still be here just huddled together in one spot, and that would be bad.

I was here for the head of Madanach, nothing else. I suspected that more heads would roll before it was all said and done though.

At one point, the mine had many shafts that I could travel down. I always took the more worn path.

I wasn't sure how long I walked through the mine, but it had to be miles long. 'Just how far into the mountain does it go?'

Then I heard the voices. I pressed on towards them slowly and in the shadows.

"Thonar doesn't want peace Madanach. He wants war."

"There is no sense in that. No, he wants me here in the mines so that he can control us. I have spread misinformation to his spies. He does not know."

It was obviously Madanach who had answered the man. His voice was deep, rumbling like the mountain he lived under. It bounced off of the walls and carried far without him raising his voice at all.

"He does, my King. He knows!"

"If he does, it will be too late. By morning, we will all have escaped to Druadach."

"As you will it."

I peaked my head around the corner to see two white-headed Forsworn. One was walking away from another through a small tunnel that looked like it had just been carved.

'They really have escaped the mine.' I thought as I watched them.

That means that had I been any later I would have missed almost everyone but the man at the beginning of the mine. This was why it was so easy to get all the way down without actually having to fight my way down.

Had I been any earlier, I really would have had to fight a lot of people if the city of stone huts that were laid out in front of me was any indication. It went a ridiculously far distance in the cavern that I was in.

The corner that I had peaked around expanded into what I could only describe as a small town. The cavern reached at least thirty feet into the air, with pillars of gold framing it.

'This is a part of the old Dwemer city.' I realized as I noticed the gold architecture.

"You should already be gone, my King."

"I will be the last to leave this mine, as I am the reason our people were here." Madanach replied. He gained a small amount of respect from me after he said that.

'He seems like as good of a king the Forsworn can have.' I told myself as I saw the duo disappear into the small, new tunnel.

I stuck to the shadows like before, and made sure not to tip them off with the sound of my footfalls or armor clinking.

They turned another corner and I snuck around it also. That was when I saw the procession in front of me. I was right when I thought an entire city lived in the mines. It turns out that the new tunnel that was just carved actually only led to another huge cavern that would otherwise be inaccessible from the previous. Dwemer ruins always wound through mountains afterall.

That was when I saw the true exit. About two hundred people milled about below us, putting things into carts attached to horses and taking it out of an exit tunnel. I deduced that it would lead to the Druadach place mentioned earlier.

'They're still moving out.' I realized as I looked below.

The other man had already pulled ahead of Madanach, to join below. Madanach opted to stand at our elevated position and watch over his people.

'This is my chance.' My mind supplied.

I slowly slipped behind him, and when I judged the distance close enough, I attacked. My right arm locked around his neck just as my left clamped over his mouth. I flexed my arm and pulled back trying to cut circulation off to his brain, the best way to knock someone out quickly.

Madanach's arms flailed and he weakly moaned into my hand. He managed to grab a portion of my hair with his right arm and was about to pull on it when the lights cut out for him. He went slack in my arms and I wasted no time in hosting the man's body onto my shoulder before turning and booking it back the way I came.

I pulsed my magic against the man in my arms to make sure that he stayed asleep on the way back up through the mine. He was on my left shoulder, and I drew my sword with my right hand as I moved back through the mine. I knew there wasn't anyone there but the first man, but I wasn't taking any chances.

I don't care what anyone says, carrying a full grown nordic man on your shoulder was not easy work. I wouldn't have been able to do it, had I not used restoration magic to aid me along the way. Anytime a pain would appear in my shoulder or gut, I would heal it and it would last for a little bit longer before having to do it again.

Not once did I hear anyone behind me or in front of me until I reached the entrance to the mine again. Then I heard a lot of people behind me, along with shouting. It almost distracted me from the one person that I knew was still in front of me.

He stood in the shaft with a torch in his hand. "Halt." He said with his sword drawn.

'There's no time.' I realized as the shouting behind me grew louder. 'Forgive me.'

I ran towards the man, as fast as I could without dropping the body on my shoulder and brought my sword up. I wasn't willing to risk the rest of my already diminished magicka. He brought his forsworn sword up to block my swing. He succeeded, and then was bowled over as I rammed my shoulder into his chest.

A quick swipe with my sword caused his throat to open and spill his blood onto the floor. He dropped his sword and his hands went to his neck to try to stem the bleeding, he wouldn't succeed.

I kept running and the shouting increased when I assumed my pursuers found the dead body of the man I just killed. They were getting unbearably close when I finally reached the gate at the entrance of the mine. I opened it up with a little telekinesis and ran through quickly. I shut it and locked it behind me. Ten seconds later, twenty men ran down the entrance shaft behind me.

I turned and started down the steps, hoping that the men from earlier hadn't been found and I wasn't going to walk into the legions arms again. My breath turned ragged as I reached their now cool bodies.

'No one has found them.' I thought as I let out a sigh of gratefulness.

I slipped down the steps and into the city as a clang rang out behind me at the gate to the mines.

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I thanked whatever god responsible for making the mine entrance close to the palace entrance. I knew it wasn't a god, but rather the Dwemer who had designed it that way.

I started pulsing my magic in a very obvious way, like a beacon to anyone who would be able to feel it. I needed Calcelmo.

"State your business." The palace guard, who obviously didn't recognize me, said.

"This." I said lifting my shoulder and showing the man on top of it. "Is Madanach. King of the Forsworn."

I thought that would be all that I had to tell the man, but apparently he didn't get it. "...And?"

I looked at him like he was the dumbest thing on the planet. "I need an audience with the Jarl you fucking idiot, move."

"I can't le.."

I didn't let him finish. I was tired of dealing with stupid people. My right fist shattered his ugly fucking nose and he went down like a puppet with his strings cut. I moved past him and into the palace proper, only to be immediately accosted by two more guards who had apparently been watching.

"Stop, drop the body."

"This is the King of the Forsworn, Madanch. I need to talk to the Jarl!" I snarled at the two men.

"The Jarl is asleep, and doesn't like to be woken."

"I don't give a fuck what he likes. This man is responsible for the Forsworn Uprising!" I couldn't express how unhappy I was to explain it twice. "So go wake him up."

"That's enough!"

I turned and thanked my lucky stars that Calcelmo had felt the pulses of magick that I had sent through the castle.

"Calcelmo. Thank you!" I greeted him.

"Who is that Hadvar?" Calcelmo said pointing at the body on my shoulder.

"Madanach, King of the Forsworn." I answered quickly. .

'Didn't he hear that already.' I wondered.

"Go get the Jarl!" Calcelmo commanded. One of the guards immediately went to do his bidding. "What are you doing here?!"

I was a bit taken aback by his tone, but I didn't back down. "Clearing my name, isn't that what you wanted me to do?"

"What? No! I wanted you to run to Ariella, or Ulfric. Anywhere but back here you fool!" Calcelmo raged.

"I have a plan." I assured him trying to get him to calm down.

"You better!" Calcelmo whispered just as the sounds of boots hitting the floor hit my ears.

The Jarl walked into the room with nothing but a bear skin on his shoulders and boots on his feet….nothing else. And he was pissed.

"There better be a good fucking reason to wake me up at this hour."

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A/N: Cut!

All will be explained in the next chapter, go easy. Does anybody know why Hadvar wouldn't just walk out of the city and head north? Why go through this elaborate plan?

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