[The Rift, Skyrim] When Men Attack II

Hunting after Ledger holders was a tedious task, but few of them could be as dangerous as a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Sifting to find one ebony dagger in a pile of daedric was something that the Vigilants took very carefully, but their strength in numbers was more than enough to handle one lone assassin.

Three times, have they done the black sacrament in the past to lure their prey. Now, after a fourth, they waited quietly in a derelict ruin. One waited in plain sight for any assassin that came. The rest hid among the shadows, or above on another floor. All of them ready for whatever came.

Kestrel steeled herself. Her family was avoiding telling their baby sister something, but that didn't mean she didn't sense something was off. There was a worry of members of the family not coming back for some reason.

At least the ledger let her know Nightshade was alive and well.

Kestrel opted to be as careful as possible this hunt. She made sure her face was covered, only her eyes being an identifier. Cautiously, she approached the client, not saying a word.

The 'client' in this case was a little bosmer wearing a simple set of robes. Above, his associates were silent, carefully listening and ready in case this was what they were looking for.

"I-I..."He stuttered, looking at the being in shrouded armour. "Y-You are part of the d-dark b-brother hood, r-right? C-came b-because o-of the..." He looked around, nervous in his act. "t-the black sacrament...r-right?"

Kestrel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. People were so nervous when summoning her family for some reason. It wasn't as if they would kill someone without a contract... especially when that someone was about to hire one of them.

Casually taking out a dagger, more for dramatic effect than anything, she spoke as she examined the flat of the blade. "The Night Mother has heard your call, and she sends me to listen..."

She took a quick glance at the sacrament to make it obvious she was answering his question.

The vigilant sighed softly, though he acted nervous when the assassin glanced over to the body. A part of him hoped she didn't recognize that particular skeleton. "Oh...Good. Um... I want you to kill Alyn Shir, a dunmer woman in Windhelm. Knife-eared bitch spurned me and mocked me in public." He let out a low growl, a sign to his brothers, who silently prepared to strike.

"I want her dead."

An elf using a slur for another elf? That was odd...

Something was nagging. Instinct made Kestrel consider everything around her. This place was isolated, logical to preform the Sacrament. The fire caused the shadows to dance...

Wait...

The shiny metal of her blade reflected something behind her. Movement? She wasn't sure. Paranoia made her tense slightly, and subtly change her grip to a defensive one.

She looked at the skeleton again...

The assassin looked on edge, perhaps recognizing the argonian corpse, but his brothers were already moving, getting ready to attack. From the shadows under the staircase, a Vigilant was preparing to attack, his bow pulled taut.

"Kill her, and I'll reward you handsomely." He stated just as spells and arrows were launched at Kestrel, making it very clear that he wasn't talking to the girl.

Just as recognition struck Kestrel, she heard the sound of an arrow flying. Reflexes taking over, Kestrel jumped to the side in an attempt to dodge, rushed towards the one enemy she could see.

She aimed to stab the bosmer in his neck.

The bosmer quickly brought his own weapon, a short sword hidden up his sleeve, up to block the attack. His brothers moved quickly, some preparing another volley of arrows while others shot flame at the girl. Three charged ahead into the open, blades and axes at the ready.

All of them aimed to quickly kill the assassin before this got too tedious.

With combat at the forefront of her mind, Kestrel only barely registered a sudden and sharp pain. Her mind moved quickly, one in front of her, three rushing out, and at least two more.

In short, Kestrel was in trouble and she knew it.

Remaining in the open would mean her death, she had to get in the shadows. Slashing at the bosmer once more in an attempt to keep him on the defensive, Kestrel broke off from the melee and darted deeper into the ruins.

Kestrel's tactic worked; The bosmer was distracted by the attack and those that were using ranged aimed at where she was, not where she was heading. Only the three charging chased after her, though an archer was preparing another strike as the girl ran off.

The ruins were not expansive; it was a small, derelict fort that had been forgotten by time. Kestrel would run across the corpses of bandits and other assassins before she would run into any escape routes.

The trouble was, with a small fort like this, there was only two ways out: the door and jumping off the high walls.

Now that she had bought herself a few more moments, Kestrel put her family first. If the Sacrament's were being used for a trap...someone had to know. And even if she didn't get out, someone would know. Taking out her ledger, she wrote a few choice words and put it back.

Taking out her bow and notching an arrow, Kestrel kept in the shadows and crept along the edge of the fort. Maybe she could take out the ones that chased her quietly and sneak out when the rest came looking...

The shadows hid both Kestrel and her hunters, but the vigilants were far more used to dealing with overt threats. One had taken a torch out, leading his group of three with a light source.

Others wandered the fort, mages using detect life and their hands aflame. They were ready if they ran into Kestrel.

The light source was a mistake, it gave Kestrel an obvious target. She let the arrow fly at him. Ideally, it would be one less to fight. As soon as the arrow was away, she quickly moved to another part of the shadows. Staying in one place would be a bad idea.

She looked for something to climb, a way to get near the top of the fort.

The vigilant was caught off guard by the arrow, and fell with the shaft sticking out of his throat. The other two turned to where the arrow originated and rushed forward with their weapons raised, one pausing to pick up their light source before following the other. It would not do them well if they were blind in this darkness.

Kestel had made it to the top of the fort. In an attempt to throw them off, she threw a rock some way's away from her. Best to keep them confused and unsure...and convinced she was on the ground.

Carefully, Kestrel swung herself over the edge. Thankfully, the ruin was old enough to have places to put her hands and feet. Slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible, she started to climb down.

Five of the Vigilants had gone outside, in case Kestrel had managed to slip through the doors, watching the fort and it surroundings, so while the ones inside were convinced, those out turned to the direction that the sound came from, and unfortunately for the young assassin, right at her.

They saw her silhouette in the moonlight. Two prepared spells while a third a bow. Fire and ice were lobbed at her as an arrow whistled through the air. The other two shouted to get attention.