Corvus slowly makes his way out of the murky cave and finds himself in the woods in the dark. From the entrance of the cave, he sees the main road and proceeds to walk towards it. As he is walking, he hears rustling noises in the woods. He turns his head a little at the noise but continues to walk until he steps onto the main road. He grips his hand onto his dagger’s sheathe as he sees several figures emerges from behind the trees, with their weapons drawn. Words get around fast about Corvus’ newly implemented bounty.
(Music Soundtrack: Marie Douceur, Marie Colère (youtube.com))
Six men walk towards Corvus to surround him, but Corvus quickly rushes at one of them and effortlessly grabs one of their short sword and slashes one in the abdomen and another in the neck. As he turns to the other four, a small cart suddenly appears behind them and runs over two of the assassins to run over the master assassin. Corvus narrowly dodges the cart and manages to grab onto it as he gets dragged by the driver. He slowly climbs onto the back of the cart as he pulls out his Blade of Woe and stabs the driver effortlessly in the jugular. He grabs the reins to pull the horse to a full stop. His moment of reprieve was quickly interrupted as he saw three more freelance assassins rushing towards him. He dashes to them and swiftly slices one in the neck. Corvus then swiftly kills the last two in a brutal fashion before he returns to the cart. He tosses the dead driver’s corpse off the cart before taking it. As he sits on the seat, his feet touch something and look down below and sees a glass bow with a quiver full of glass arrows. He grabs the quiver and straps it on his back and drives towards the Crystal Tower Ruins.
The Lord of the Dawning Eagle paces around at the Thalmor headquarters and the other Thalmor mages are examining a large map of Summerset Isles. A bright blue dot is slowly moving on the bottom left of the map towards the city of Shimmerene.
“My lord, Corvus is heading towards Shimmerene,” a mage said as the Dawning Eagle stared at the moving dot intensely.
“Good, the wolf shall be cornered, and the hunters will finish their prey,” he smiled wickedly.
(Music Soundtrack: Arc De Triomphe)
Corvus drives the cart furiously, not sparing the horse an chance to rest. The crystal tower is barely visible to him in the dark of night as he drives towards Shimmerene, which is within sight. In the near distance, he sees another cart in the distance, decorated with elven shields. Corvus sees an altmer in a suit of grey colored daedric armor charging towards him and not slowing down. The two carriages quickly close in on each other, but in a split-second decision, both Corvus and the altmer rear their cart to the side of the road, causing them to briefly lose control of the horse and go off the road. Corvus manages to quickly pull in the reins on the horse to a full stop and looks back at the altmer, who also swerved off the road. The altmer looks back at Corvus’ direction and slams his fist on the cart in anger. Corvus whips the horse, causing it to take them back on the road quickly. As Corvus resumes to quickly ride towards Shimmerene, four more carts with Thalmor soldiers and battlemages surround Corvus on both sides. The assassin quickly grabs the glass bow under the carriage and straps the quivers on his back and begins firing rapidly at the Thalmors. Corvus ducks left and right as waves of arrows and magics targeting him. He quickly pulls back an arrow and loose it onto one of the drivers on the left, causing the cart to swerve off road and crash. Corvus unleashes another arrow at one of the battlemages in the arm riding in one of the carts, causing his fireball to hit the cart he’s in and incinerating himself and the driver. Corvus then pulls back three arrows and shoots at the third cart’s driver and battlemage in a single stroke, causing the cart to crash off road and then pulls back another three arrows onto the fourth driver, causing the last cart to crash offroad. Corvus turns his head back to the front of the road as he gets closer to the gate of Shimmerene. But then he turns around as he quickly feels intense heat behind him and barely sees an orange orb of fire exploding near the cart, causing him to be knocked off onto the ground. He slowly recovers as he gets up from the explosion, with his Blade of Woe drawn.
(Music soundtrack: John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) Arc de Triomphe Scene Fight Music)
As he stands up, he sees a group of thalmor assassins in elven and glass armors quickly closing in on him and quickly hides behind the rubble of the burnt cart. As one thalmor assassin approaches the burnt cart, Corvus swiftly emerges from the corner and stabs him in the right arm and in the throat. Three more thalmor assassins rushes towards him, but they are no match to the master assassin as Corvus quickly dispatches them with ease and throws a spell of absorb health to the last assassin, killing him instantly. Just as Corvus is finished with the assailants, a thunderbolt strikes him in the chest, knocking him close to the entrance towards Shimmerene. He gets up and sees the altmer in daedric armor earlier. Kelermend, the right-hand man of the Dawning Eagle, jumps off from the cart and begins rushing at Corvus. The master assassin swiftly picks himself up and runs towards the gate of Shimmerene and into the bustling street. Corvus swiftly goes around the many bypassers on the streets while avoiding many passing carts and carriages. Despite his heavy daedric armor, Kelermend runs through the streets effortlessly not slowing down and gaining up to Corvus. Corvus eventually runs into the city square where there are more carriages, carts, and horseback riders passing by. He stops in his tracks and turns around to slash his dagger at Kelermend, but the battlemage grabs him in the arm and slams him at a nearby market stall. Corvus gets up and tries to swing at Kelurmend, but the battlemage disarms Corvus and unleashes a flurry of punches at his abdomen. Kerlurmend grabs Corvus and swings him to the back before kicking him down to the floor. The battlemage approaches Corvus while he’s still down on the floor, but quickly stops as a cart passes between them, giving Corvus enough time to recover as another cart passes between them. The altmer rushes at Corvus and grabs him, but the master assassin counters his grabs and throws the battlemage onto a passing carriage, causing him to be ran over and the carriage and the driver to tumble. Corvus picks up his Blade of Woe before he gets ambushed by several freelance human assassins in rugged iron armors. who begin firing arrows and spells at Corvus. Corvus runs and takes cover behind another market stall as arrows hit land around the corner. Corvus proceeds to run deeper into the city as the pursing assassins gives chase. Three of the human assassins quickly close in on Corvus, but one of them gets trampled by a carriage while Corvus swiftly slashes the second pursuer in the shin before jamming his blade into the head. He then swiftly stabs the third pursuer in the spine and brutally slides his blade down before pulling it out. After the pursuer drops dead, Corvus runs down into city streets, but then quickly turns around as he hears something behind him and rolls to the side as the fireball barely misses him and blows up the side of a building. He gets up and sees Kerlumend 10 feet away with his right hand raised as heating coming out of his gauntlet.
Amidst the chaos of the panicking civilians and relentless assassins, the Hunter drives into the city on his cart with his trusty canine by his side. He drives towards where the civilians are running away from and stops at the city square as he sees several assassins running down towards a street. He stops the cart and pulls out the same device he received from the Dawning Eagle earlier and the engravings begin to glow in yellow again.
“Who is this?” the Dawning Eagle’s voice echoed from the device.
“No, the real question you should ask, is how much?” the hunter retorted as he gets off the cart and begins loading his dwarven crossbow.
“I assure you; we have the situation under control.”
“Is that so? Because the way I see it, is that if our friend Corvy makes it to the tower on time, this may be your last night of being the lord of the Dominion.” The hunter then puts the device into his pocket. “Go sic on them girl,” the hunter commanded as he points to the commotion down the streets. The dog quickly jumps off the cart and quickly runs towards the streets where the chaos is happening as she jumps over broken market stalls and dodges the carriages on the street.
Corvus continues to fend off waves of pursuers as he is fighting off a group of bosmer mercenaries wielding knives and bows. Corvus kills two of the bosmers swiftly with his Blade of Woe, but a third one tackles him towards a wall. The bosmer pulls out his knife and is about to slash Corvus when he stops dead in his track as a dwarven bolt lands onto his head and drops dead. Corvus turns his head to the left and sees the hunter wielding his dwarven crossbow in the distance around a corner. He was quickly interrupted when an arrow lands near his head as it bounces off the wall and sees another assassin with a bow a few feet away from him. Corvus rushes at the archer and stabs him in the jugular before tossing him through a window. Corvus then turns around and sees Kelurmend a few feet away with lightning crackling in his hand about to unleash his thunderbolt. The battlemage’s concentration is quickly interrupted when the dog jumped bit his gauntlet with the spell. Kelurmend struggles against the dog, still biting on his arm, and tosses the dog through a nearby window. Corvus quickly makes his way to down the street and finds a brown horse and steals it. He rides the horse through the street without interruptions and out of the city gate and continues up north.
(Music Soundtrack: Sumo Showdown (From "John Wick 2") (Official Audio))
After 10 minutes of breakneck speed, Corvus stops the horse and sees the Crystal Tower in sight. As he rides towards the tower, a group of riders’ charges at him from the direction of the Crystal Tower. Corvus looks around and sees a large ancient elven building to the right and rides off the road towards it. He arrives at the ruins and jumps off his horse and runs into the building. He stops as he finds himself in a large hall with different directions, two stairwells, a hallway, and many rooms on both left and right. He runs straight down the hall and turns a room on the right containing a stairwell. He runs upstairs and finds sees another hallway but immediately makes a turn on the left leading to a darker and narrower hallway. He sees a small room on the left side and hides in the corner. As he hides, he hears faint footsteps from the hallways getting louder and louder. He stayed at the corner until one of the pursuers slowly walked by with his sword drawn. The pursuer looks around and glances at the room to the left, seeing nothing and kept walking. Corvus emerges from the shadow and swiftly slits the assassin’s throat, but then he narrowly dodges an arrow near his head as another pursuer runs towards him with a bow and drawn arrow. Corvus retreats into the dark room and the second pursuer rushes in and Corvus quickly pins him against the wall and repeatedly stabs him in in the chest. Corvus exits the room and runs back into the hallway and immediately runs into two more assassins, who quickly turn around and charges at him. Corvus dodges the assassin’s horizontal swing his war axe and brutally slices him in the shin, causing him to fall to the floor. The second assassin comes at Corvus with an ebony short sword, but Corvus grabs him in the arm and plunges his dagger into the assassin’s skull before taking the short sword. Corvus then returns to the first assassin on the floor and stabs him with the short sword. Corvus sheathes his blade of woe and wields the short sword in his right hand.
The Hunter slowly enters the elven ruins with his dwarven crossbow drawn and his dog by his side. He walks slowly as he sees the other assassins in the distance rushing towards the second floor. As he enters the main hall, he feels the device vibrating in his pocket and takes it out. The engravings once again begin emitting in yellow cover and he goes into cover and raises it near his right ear.
“Yes?”
“Very well. You have a deal,” the Dawning Eagle’s voice echoed from the device.”
“Alright, ninety thousand gold it is.”
“Do not presume to negotiate. That was not part of the deal.”
“Well, that is the only deal on the table,” the Hunter responded as he sees more assassins in front of him running down in the hallway. He quickly puts the device back into his pocket and rushes towards the commotion. The Hunter shoots his crossbow at one of the assassins in the back, instantly killing him, and swiftly loads his crossbow with a new bolt. He sees another assassin who turns to see the hunter but is quickly met with a bolt in the face. A third assassin turns to the hunter and casts a burst of frost spell at his direction. The hunter quickly spins around to his back as the spell hits his backpack, causing it to emit a violet glow. The backpack creates a brief violet ward reflecting the frost spell back at the assassin, causing him to be immobilized by the freezing spell. The hunter pulls out Boneshaver and swiftly slashes at the frozen assassin three times and kicks him to the ground. He is quickly met by an orc assassin wielding a battleaxe and blocks his attack with his saber. The orc drags his battleaxe to the right and effectively disarming the hunter and pulls his axe backward for an executing attack. The hunter quickly unsheathed two retractable dwarven arm blades from his dwarven gauntlets and plunges them into the orc’s chest before pulling them out and the orc falls dead. The hunter then rolls to the side as two arrows’ lands near him from an assassin standing on a nearby stairwell.
“Sic him!” the hunter shouted as his dog rushes at the archer and sinks her teeth into his arm, dragging down the stair. The hunter picks up Boneshaver and approaches the downed archer and plunges the saber into his throat. Right as he is going to recover, he feels the device begin vibrating again and raises it near his ear.
“What?” he asked impatiently.
“You listen you insolent…” the Dawning Eagle’s voice boomed, although this time more distorted.
“Hundred thousand. You pay for the service,” the hunter demanded.
“Fine. Mages, raise the bounty to hundred thousand,” the Dawning the Eagle’s faint and distorted voice echoed from the device. The hunter then pulls out his crossbow and loads another bolt in, this time with full resolve to claim the head of Sithis Incarnate.
(Music soundtrack: Dragon's Breath Medley - [Le Castle Vania])
Multiple portals open as several daedric cultist assassins emerges from the portal with their daedric bows drawn.
“Brothers.” a dunmer cultist stopped as he pulls out the bounty poster. “They just changed the bounty. Hundred thousand gold. We are going to be rich!” the dunmer exclaimed before they rush into the ruins. One of the cultist assassins finds Corvus and fires at him with his bow. Corvus dodges it to the side as the arrow hits the wall, creating a small explosion of daedric fire. Corvus rushes at the cultist with his short sword, but the cultists disarm him with his bow. Corvus quickly grabs the bow from the cultist and throws him to the ground. He swiftly grabs the quiver and puts it on his back. He quickly pulls the arrow from the bow and unleashes an arrow at two rushing assassins, immediately incinerating them and leaving them as burning skeletons. Corvus notches another arrow and fires at the cultist on the ground, incinerating him as well. He goes upstairs to the third floor of the ruin and is quickly met with three more cultist assassins. He swiftly pulls out his Blade of Woe and fights the assassins, quickly incapacitating them before sheathing his blade and fires an arrow on all three of them while they are downed. He turns around and sees another cultist with the daedric bow and fires at his direction as he takes cover, causing the floor near him to ignite with fire. Corvus retaliates with his arrow and effectively burns the archer. Corvus goes to another room, a large room and sees more cultist assassins coming at him and he fires two more arrows at them just as he retreats out of the room. He moves down the hallway as he hears more assassins moving in the interconnected room on the opposite side of the wall and finds another doorway which he soon runs into and unleashes another barrage of arrows at them. Corvus picks up more enchanted daedric arrows from their corpse and moves into the interconnected rooms. Corvus rolls behind a ruined table as three more assassins fire their arrows at him, engulfing the room in fire around them. Corvus pulls three arrows from the bow and releases them with inhuman precision as each arrow meets its target, engulfing them all in daedric fire. Corvus moves into another room as he sees multiple assassins in the room waiting for him. Two rushes at him with blades drawn, but Corvus swiftly pulls his arrows and fires in their direction. He dodges two daedric arrows and dispatches the archers with ease. He approaches the archers’ skeletal corpse and picks up more daedric arrows and puts them into his quiver. He slowly enters a large room filled with statues and columns and quickly takes cover as another arrow flies by him. He fires two arrows at two assassins near him and throws a third assassin to the ground and fire another arrow to him. Corvus reaches for his arrows on his back but does not feel them at his fingers before another cultist assassin rushes at him with a mace. Corvus quickly pulls out his Blade of Woe and slashes him in the chest and kicks him to the ground. He goes back to one of the burnt corpses and picks up more daedric arrows and puts them into his quiver. Just as he turns to the downed assassin, he quickly ducks as the dog jumps onto a nearby table and pounces onto the downed assassin. Corvus runs into a room with multiple doorways and fires at two more assassins with his arrows. Just then, the hunter emerges from one of the doorways and Corvus fires at him. The hunter dodges the arrow as small flames engulf near him and takes cover between the doorways. Corvus looks to his right but quickly retreats as a dwarven bolt flies by him. He unleashes another but misses and causes a nearby wall to go in flame. The hunter fires another bolt at Corvus just as he fires another daedric arrow in his direction. Corvus reaches for his quiver and quickly realizes he’s out of arrows and drops his bow and quiver onto the floor. He dashes towards the next room on his right and the hunter gives chase as he fires another bolt from his crossbow. Corvus dodges the barrage of bolts the hunter fires at him as they run from the other side of the room. As the hunter reloads his crossbow, Corvus runs at him and tackles him into a hole in the floor, causing them both to fall through and land onto the second floor.
(Music Soundtrack: Dog Lover)
The hunter gets back up and unleashes his dwarven arm blades at Corvus. Corvus managed to dodge the hunter’s blade but was quickly pinned to the floor. The hunter attempts to stab him with both of his arm blades, but Corvus quickly moves his head and breaks the blade off from his right gauntlet. Corvus breaks free and quickly gets back up and the hunter swings his left arm blade at him. Corvus dodges multiple times until the hunter struck the blade onto the wall causing it to get stuck. Corvus knocks the hunter in the arm, breaking his left arm blade off from the gauntlet and continues to trade blows at the hunter. Corvus uses his superior martial arts skill to grab the hunter with his body and tosses him onto the floor with his legs wrapped around his body and his arms at his throat. He successfully immobilizes him with his skill and proceeds to choke the hunter as he helplessly grabs Corvus’ right arm in a vain attempt to break free. As he is choking the hunter, Corvus sees Kelurmend emerges from a nearby stairwell and sees the two men on the floor. The battlemage readies another spell in his hands as fires emits from his daedric gauntlets, but his concentration is quickly interrupted as the hunter’s dog runs at him and pounces on him. In the ensuring struggle, Corvus lets go of the hunter and grabs the dwarven crossbow on the floor and aims at the hunter. But then he sees Kelurmend breaking free from the dog begin to channel his fire spell, this time aiming at the dog. Corvus sees the battlemage is ready to incinerate the dog with his spell. The hunter turns to look at Kelurmend, ready to unleash his fire at his canine companion. Suddenly, Corvus turns his crossbow at the battlemage and shoots him, causing Kelurmend to stumble and fall off the stairwell. Corvus then looks at the hunter, confused and dazed as Sithis Incarnate committed an act that was deemed against his usual nature. Their moment of confusion was quickly interrupted as they heard more footsteps coming from the nearby stairwell. Corvus drops the crossbow and runs down the hallway, away from the pursuers. He continues to run until he sees an opening at the end of the hallway, leading to outside. Without hesitation, he jumps out of the opening and falls. But by some sheer luck, as if Nocturnal snapped her finger, he lands onto a large carriage right below the opening and falls off. He groans from pain he recklessly inflicted on himself and slowly gets back up. He turns and sees the Crystal Tower not too far and slowly runs towards it.
(Music Soundtrack: Stairs Arrival)
Corvus finally arrives at the bottom of the Crystal Tower…only it’s a series of large stairwells leading up to the tower. He looks up to the sky, still dark, but knows that he only has a few more minutes before the sun rises. He begins slowly walking up the stairwell, with the dueling location up on top at the bottom of the tower. As he is walking, a redguard in Alikr garb with a scimitar sheathed by his waist walks down the stairs. Along with him, several more assassins are coming down from the stairs. An imperial in leather armor, a Breton mage in dark robe, a bosmer archer in elven armors, and countless other assassins of different races with different gears surround the stairwell. He stares at the alikr warrior, waiting for the others to draw their weapons first. The latter reaches for his scimitar, but Sithis Incarnate is effortlessly dashed at the redguard with a quick slice from his Blade of Woe to the throat. Corvus quickly turns to the other assassins as they rush at him with drawn weapons. The Breton mage brandishes his bound sword and swings at Corvus, but the latter counter grabs the swing and twists his arm. Corvus turns the Breton at the bosmer and uses him as a shield as the archer fires two arrows at them. Corvus drops the mage and swiftly rushes at the bosmer and stabs him in the jugular. Corvus continues to climb the stairs and fends off more incoming assassins rushing at him. He counters an attacker with his dagger and counters throw the attacker off the stairwell. Another three assassins charge Corvus, but he manages to disarm a steel dagger from one of the attackers and uses it to take out two of them. The third one comes at him with a warhammer, but Corvus throws the dagger at the crotch, causing the attacker to fall and roll off the stairwell. After looking around his surroundings, Corvus continues onward, but is visibly starting to slow down from his constant fighting and fatigue. He finally reaches the top of the stairs and sees the tower is a few more minutes of walk. His relief is quickly short lived when he sees Kelurmend and Thalmor soldiers waiting for him. Corvus reacts but is too slow as the battlemage unleashes a shock blast at him. Corvus is pushed back by the blast and rolls down from the stairs, feeling every impact on his body as it hits the stone stairs. His agonizing roll finally stops at the bottom of the stairs, with his progress to the tower pushed back. Corvus groans from the pain as he slowly turns back at the stairs, seeing the same long pathway he just rolled down from.
(Music Soundtrack: John Wick Rises)
“Corvus?” a voice called out to him, along with some tapping sound. He does not react, still focuses on the pain from his body. Suddenly, he is met with a tap from a stick on his torso. He looks and sees Varyn, holding his “cane” still touching Corvus. “Corvus?”
“Varyn,” he said weakly.
“What time is sunrise?” the dunmer asked nonchalantly.
“Probably… in three minutes.”
“I need you to get to the top of the stairs, Corvus.”
“Yeah…” Corvus responded. He then sees Varyn extend his right arm at him and he grabs him as Varyn pulls him up.
“Ready?” the Blind Spider asked.
“Yeah.” The two master assassins then begin to walk up the stairs. Corvus pulls out his Blade of Woe as Varyn pulls out his ebony dagger with his other hand.
“Straight or left?” Corvus asked.
“Left!” the dunmer declared as they begin rushing at the approaching attackers, with Corvus rushing forward and Varyn attacking one from his left. Corvus barely dispatches two attackers while Varyn kills another one with ease using his ebony dagger. Corvus strikes a nord attacker with his blade and grabs him in the arm, allowing Varyn to walk up to them with his zatoichi blade unsheathed and effortlessly slits the nord in the throat. Varyn casually penetrates another rushing assassin with his sword and then Corvus grabs the attacker and throws him down the stairs.
“More behind you,” Corvus
“Thanks,” Varyn respond as he turns 180 degree and uses his sword to tap the stairs as they continue to push up. The duo meets Thalmor assassins led by Kelurmend, who all charge the two master assassins. Corvus uses his Blade of Woe to brutalize one of the soldiers with sadistic stabbings around the body and plunges his dagger into a second soldier rushing at him with a sword. Corvus is then confronted by Kelurmend and the two quickly engage in hand-to-hand fight, only for the latter to effortlessly counter the former’s attack with his blocks and throws Corvus to the ground. Kelurmend slowly walks up Corvus as he slowly tries to crawl away. The battlemage raises his right hand, as it begins to glow with a small red vortex-like shape.
“This is goodbye, human,” he taunted as his spell is fully charged, ready deliver his killing blow. But just as he is about release, a dwarven bolt lands at his chest, penetrating his daedric armor. He stumbles from the attack and falls to the ground. Corvus looks behind him to see who shot the battlemage but quickly turns back as he sees Kelurmend gets back up. Before the altmer tries his execution again, Varyn quickly rushes at them and points his ebony dagger at the Kelurmend’s throat.
“You can’t kill me,” the battlemage gloated, charging his red spell again and aims at the dunmer.
“You’re right…” Varyn sighed, as he lowers his dagger.
“But I can kill him.” Kerlumend said as he turns his hand back at Corvus, only to be interrupted by Varyn when he strikes him with his zatoichi. The battlemage counter grabs Varyn and attempts to choke him, but the Blind Spider quickly reaches in his pocket and jabs at Kelurmend in the right eye with a small metal spoon and uses his sword to knock Kelurmend’s arm away from his throat and slashes him in the leg. He proceeds to punch him to the ground.
“But I can hit you…pathetic s’wit!” as the dunmer spits at him. “Let’s go, Corvus,” he said as the duo continues to walk upstairs without further hinderance. Kelurmend barely pulls the spoon out, with his right eye completely blinded and bloody. He slowly crawls up the stairs and attempts to stand up but stops dead on the track when he hears a growl behind him. He slowly turns around and sees the dog looking at Kelurmend with furious growl. The hunter approaches him with his dwarven crossbow drawn, coldly looking at him. The battlemage weakly tried to reach for a nearby dagger dropped from one of the dead Thalmor soldiers.
“Nuts,” the hunter said nonchalantly, setting his hound to bite at Kelurmend’s crotch. The dog relentlessly bites and pulls Kelurmend as he screams in pain. “You hurt my puppy,” the hunter angrily said. He raises his dwarven crossbow and puts a bolt between Kelurmend’s eyes. The hunter and his canine companion leaves, going to the tower.
(Music Soundtrack: Pistol Procession)
“You owe me,” Varyn said, as they get closer to the tower.
“Yeah.” Corvus responded. The dunmer flicks his zatoichi at Corvus in the right hand, penetrating it. Corvus grunts from the pain as he examines his wound in his hand. Varyn pulls out a cloth from his pocket and offers it to him.
“Nothing personal, Corvus,” Varyn said.
“We’re even now,” Sithis Incarnate responded as he grabs the cloth from Varyn and wraps it around his right hand. The two arrive at the base of the tower and see several figures on the left courtyard. They walk up to the courtyard and see the Thalmor Harbinger standing overlooking the center behind a table, with Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagle sitting at either side, along with several altmers standing behind them, spread throughout the courtyard. Corvus and Varyn walk up and stand before them as the sun rises from the distance, barely shining at them.
“Everyone is here. And so it begins,” the harbinger declared. Corvus notices the hunter and his dog taking a seat at a stone bench right by the side of the courtyard before looking back at the harbinger. Corvus and Varyn approach the harbinger as Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagle turn and face him as well. The harbinger pulls out wine and pours them into five cups. A servant approaches and places the four cups onto a platter and serves it to the four men.
“We gather here, to honor the law of Ardorin, champion of Queen Aryenn Arana Aldmeri. We seek the truth and will endure the consequences,” said the elderly altmer. He raises the glass, followed by the four men.
“Consequences,” the four said in unison and drinks from the cup. At the side, the hunter pulls out his own ale and drinks from it. Two altmers approach Corvus and Varyn as they takes off their chest piece armor and they take it from them. The harbinger then opens a box in front of them, revealing two small handed finely crafted elven crossbows with eight elven crossbow bolts. Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagles reach for the box and take out the crossbows and gives them to their respective champions. Corvus takes the crossbow with his left hand while Varyn takes his with his right hand. “Positions,” the harbinger said. Corvus and Varyn walk to the center of the courtyard and then turn back-to-back.
“See you in the next life…or in the Void, brother” Varyn said to Corvus.
“Thirty paces,” said the harbinger. The duelists began walking away from each, taking slow big steps as they felt the wide lines of obsidian floor conjured throughout the courtyard. Corvus and Varyn stop as their feet touches the third obsidian line. They turn around to face each other as Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagle approach their champion with an elven bolt in hand. In the far end, Varyn takes the elven bolt from the Dawning Eagle and puts it on his crossbow and pulls the string back.
“Remember your daughter,” Lord Sauril callously reminded Varyn.
“Piss off!” the dunmer snapped back before the altmer returns to the center. At the other far end of the courtyard, Brynjolf brings the bolt to Corvus.
“A truly beautiful sunrise,” the old thief remarked, looking at the sunrise in the distance. Corvus turns to look at the sun in the distance as well before Brynjolf hands him the bolt. Corvus loads the bolt onto the crossbow and pulls the string back.
“Any last words, Brynjolf?” Corvus asked.
“Just have fun, lad.” Brynjolf walks back to the side of the harbinger. Corvus stands with his crossbow in hand as he looks at Varyn in the distance, with his crossbow ready as well.
“Are you ready, Varyn Drals?” the harbinger asked, looking at Varyn. The Blind Spider gives a small nod. “And you, Corvus Rem?” as he turns to Corvus, who gives him a nod as well. All the spectators watch with dreading suspense and anticipation, knowing that this duel will be recorded in the annals of Tamriel’s history, if not shaping its fate. “I commend your souls to the gods. We begin as we end. From our first breath, to our last,” the harbinger recited. After a short pause, the harbinger finally utters the word everyone was bracing for.
“Fire!” he bellowed. Corvus and Varyn raise their crossbows and shoots at each other. The two master assassins stagger from their wounds they inflicted on each other. Corvus looks at his right arm, with a large cut as the bolt grazes it. He looks back at Varyn, who receives a similar wound on his left arm.
(Music Soundtrack: Twenty Paces)
“Twenty paces,” the harbinger declared, and the duelists takes steps forward to their second obsidian lines. Brynjolf and Lord Sauril each grab another bolt from the box and approach their champions. Corvus and Varyn promptly load the bolt into their crossbow and stand at the ready again as Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagle stands at the harbinger’s side.
“Fire!” the harbinger said again. The two men fires their crossbow once again, this time each receiving the other’s bolt as they stagger backward. Corvus looks to his left shoulder as he sees the bolt stuck there before pulling it out. Varyn grimaces from his pain as he pulls the bolt out from his lower right abdomen.
“Good shot...” the Blind Spider remarked as he regains his composure.
(Music soundtrack: Ten Paces)
“Ten paces,” the Harbinger declared. Corvus slowly walks to his side of the inner obsidian lines in the courtyard while Varyn struggles to walk to his line. Brynjolf and the Dawning Eagle deliver a bolt once again to their respective champion. Corvus slowly takes the bolt from Brynjolf’s hand and looks at the old thief.
“Just kill him,” Brynjolf said vaguely before he steps back. Corvus loads his crossbow again and pulls the string back. He looks back at Varyn, who has his crossbow loaded, and they both stand at the ready. Both men knows that neither will miss at this range.
“Those who cling to death, live…” Corvus said slowly, looking at his old friend.
“Those who cling to life…die…” Varyn responded slowly to Corvus as he tilts his head. Upon hearing their phrase, Brynjolf looks at the two duelists with intrigue as if there is something behind those words while the Dawning Eagle looks at them with confusion and bated breath. At the side of the courtyard, the hunter sits up as he hears their phrases as well. There is a long pause of suspense uncertainty for everyone as Corvus and Varyn stands at the ready, to finish this duel.
“…Fire!” the harbinger bellowed once again. They raise their crossbow, but this time, Corvus drew slower and Varyn fires first, aiming at Corvus’ lower left abdomen. The bolt penetrates Corvus’ skin and exits to the other side. He stumbles back and falls to the floor as his shirt is drenched in crimson. He tries to get up, only to fail and keeps falling back to the floor. Varyn lowers his crossbow with heavy breath, as he processes the fact, he just potentially mortally wounded Sithis Incarnate. Brynjolf looks at Corvus with a quiet somber, ready to accept his champion and oldest friend is going to die in front of him. The hunter becomes saddened as the legendary Sithis Incarnate, also the protector of his trusty canine companion, lies defeated.
“Hold!” Lord Sauril yelled as he looked at both duelists. “By the right as your sponsor, I claim the right for the final execution,” he proudly declared as he picks up another elven bolt from the box and walks up to Varyn. “Your weapon, hand it over.”
“My daughter. Is she free?” Varyn asked, still holding the crossbow.
“Yes. You and your daughter. You are released from your service,” the Dawning Eagle said without hesitation. Varyn promptly hands over the crossbow. Corvus slowly sits up as Lord Sauril loads the crossbow with the bolt and pulls the string back. The altmer walks up to Corvus and aims the crossbow at him.
“Rules,” the Dawning Eagle smugly said as he prepares to finally claim his victory against Sithis Incarnate.”
“Ha,” Brynjolf laughed, causing the Dawning Eagle to turn to him with confusion. “You blind and arrogant troll’s arse. He didn’t shoot.” Upon hearing those words, fear overtakes Lord Sauril as he looks back at Corvus, noticing his crossbow is still loaded and aiming directly at him.
“Consequences,” Sithis Incarnate retorted as presses the trigger, launching the bolt right into Lord Sauril’s forehead. The bolt completely penetrates his skull and exits the other side, scattering pieces of his brain and blood across the courtyard. The Dawning Eagle’s body knocks back from the impact and collapses onto the floor. Corvus lowers the crossbow in relief, finally defeating his latest adversary and freeing himself from the Thalmor’s wrath. At the sideline, the hunter begins to laugh as he sees Lord Sauril’s lifeless body in the courtyard.
“I’ll be damned. Arrogant bastard got outsmarted,” as he laughs as he takes another swig from his bottle. Brynjolf smiles as he sees the dead body and Corvus still breathing and alive…for now. The harbinger approaches the Dawning Eagle’s body and pensively examines it. The older altmer looks at the body emotionlessly and turns to Corvus.
(Music Soundtrack: Helen A Handbasket)
“By the rule of Ardorin’s Law, you are the rightful victor. As for your transgressions against the Aldmeri Dominion, they are to be erased. And your bounty is lifted immediately,” the harbinger declared. He then turns to Varyn, “You are free as well, you and your daughter. As for you…” he said as he turns to Brynjolf. “You will receive proper compensation for your establishment in Skyrim. The Dominion will pay for its reconstruction. Our business here has been concluded. May the gods watch over you.” The harbinger proceeds to leave as one servant casts a spell, removing the obsidian lines in the courtyard and another gathers the proper setups. One servant approaches Varyn and returns his zatoichi to him just as another two altmer servants conjure a large portal near the tower and they enter before the portal closes behind them. Varyn uses his sword to walk up to Corvus, who is sitting up and still holding his wound at his lower left abdomen. Varyn bends down beside his friend.
“My brother…” as he sniffles a little.
“You owe me,” Corvus responded.
“I know,” Varyn responded somberly. He slowly stands up and walks away. Corvus slowly gets back up and Brynjolf slowly approaches him.
“Brynjolf,” he said softly.
“Corvus.”
“Will you take me home?” Corvus asked. Brynjolf slowly glances at his wound and bloody shirt.
“Of course, lad,” he responded softly without hesitation. Corvus slowly turns around and walks towards the stairwell he came up from. As he walks down the steps, he takes off his gauntlets and drops them near him. He then proceeds to take off his bandana from wrapped around his head and his face mask. He drops them as well before slowly sitting down. He breathes heavily as he struggles to sit down and gazes at the horizon of the sunrise.
“Haki…” he said softly before slowly closing his eyes and slowly slumps over onto the stairwell as he draws his final breath.
Brynjolf and the King of Begger stand in the middle of the cemetery in the city of Solitude in the middle of a sunny afternoon with Corvus’ Breton Terrier. Brynjolf dresses in formally fine dark clothing while the King of Beggars is dressed in more rugged dark clothing. The two stands before two gravestones, with the right side a newly added addition to the cemetery. The first one on the left, “Haki Rem. Loving Wife” and the gravestone on the right, “Corvus Rem. Loving Husband”.
“I never thought the day would come,” the orc remarked. “Where do you think he is, Aetherius or the Void?”
“Who knows?” Brynjolf responded as he looked at Corvus’ dog. The King of Beggers chuckles at the response before turning around with the dog and leaving the cemetery. The master thief approaches Corvus’ gravestone and places his hand on it. “Farewell, old friend,” Brynjolf said solemnly. He turns around and leaves the cemetery.
The End
(Music Soundtrack: Eye For an Eye/In This Moment - I Would Die For You - John Wick: Chapter 4)
(Music Soundtrack: Cry Mia River)
Varyn enters the city of Shimmerene with a flower in his left hand. He is no longer is dressed in his shadowed netch leather, dressed in his typical dunmeri ashen clothing. He has forgone his zatoichi, now using a regular walking stick. He walks into the city square and smells the flower and smiles. As he arrives at the center, he hears a beautiful melody coming out from a lute. There is no mistake that it’s his daughter Dalsi, safe and sound, playing her lute in front of a small crowd. Knowing that he no longer must worry about the Thalmor, he walks towards the music without hesitation, eager to finally be reunited with his daughter Dalsi. As he draws closer upon the music, Varyn’s smile slowly fades as he senses another presence. A looming slowly begins to overtake his joy as he hasn’t felt this presence since…in Vivec. And in this presence, he detects a certain…rage. And vengeance. The presence slowly becomes stronger as he continues to walk towards Dalsi’s lute and hears light footsteps getting closer and louder. Suddenly, he hears a small blade unsheathing from the scabbard…
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