Chapter 589: Jonrad's Story (10): The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood

Eid Mubarak, everybody. I guess I haven't revealed the News here yet on Dragonborn Saga but I got engaged a while ago and it is a thrill to tell you guys about it since most of my readers and my supporters are here.

Also, I know I promised some that Jonrad Story (10) will be the last part of the filler arc but now it got stretched to (11) sadly. Either way, I am pulling off more Extra Chapters on Patre0n lately and it is a blast what Jon is going so consider coming over to read the premium stuff. Link here:-

https://linktr.ee/donovel

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"So, Glymet found the traitor out and clipped him?" (Jon)

"I hope I can say it was that simple but it wasn't. You see, Glymet had that thing he was always running from and it practically tormented him day and night." (Jonrad)

"And that is?" (Alina)

"Just like how Hilda and I received the so-called prophecy of our child's birth. He had something similar happening to him." (Jonrad)

"Goodness! People should really stop believing foretellers." (Jon)

"What was he foretold anyway?" (Isha)

"… one time in the past after the Great War, a priestess told Glymet that he will have a fate worse than death. That he will wish to find peace but he won't find where his end will take him." (Jonrad)

"And how is that connected to the Dark… wait…" Jon made a grim face, "… but it shouldn't, should it?"

"It seems you got the point." (Jonrad)

"What are you two talking about?" (Jullanar)

"When Glymet received that Blade from the Listener willingly, he had officially damned his Fate by his own hands. A Fate worse than death." (Jonrad)

"The very thing he spent his entire life running from?" (Alina)

"He became sworn to Sithis." (Jon)

"That's it." Jonrad nodded, "But that's a totally different detail which he will discover later on. Right now, the blade and the task he was given took priority."

"But even if he acquired a Blade of Woe, he wasn't actually sworn to Sithis, he didn't believe in the creed of the Dark Brotherhood." Jon still insisted.

"Well, he had a stronger emotion enough to damn him the same Fate." Jonrad said and with a regretful face, "Glymet fell in love."

***

Blood, blood everywhere. There was no need to imagine what happened. Glymet came in, kept a certain member of the brotherhood in his aim, and in the right moment, he attacked leaving no chance of retaliation.

While the traitor, Varlyn the Dark Elf, had an opening and almost attempted to shoot a few arrows at Glymet, the latter was profoundly efficient in his job using all the tricks in the book to close in on Varlyn and strike the blade deep into his chest.

Just like that, the traitor was dead on the ground. After the commotion caused by the fight, all the Assassins gathered with a particularly angry look on Astrid's face who looked at Glymet as if she wanted to rip him apart.

Nothing good will come out of staying silent. Glymet immediately offered Varlyn's blood to Listener Alisanne. She took some of the blood off the blade by the tip of her finger, raised it up to her eye level then without hesitation, put the finger in her mouth to taste the blood.

The solid expressions which Alisanne always carried around finally broke into a smile. Not a gentle loving smile but more of a vicious grin.

"Hail Sithis." She spoke in joy, "Excellent work. The traitor is dead, and our sanctuary remains strong."

As if a big rock was removed off their chests, the Assassins finally managed to breathe once again. Their traitor is dead, they can now enjoy a little bit of peace before the usual drama stirs itself up again.

Everyone here knew how the brotherhood does business and if the Traitor has proved elusive, the Lister has no qualms to liquidate the entire Falkreath Sanctuary. Just one angry swoop of murders to kill the traitor whoever they might be.

In a way, Glymet saved them.

After a short while, Alisanne approached Glymet when he was distancing himself off the group and spoke to him.

"The kill was efficient and clean. What's your background, Assassin, if you don't mind me asking?"

Glymet was the mercenary hired by Uther Nere to murder her, that's his background. But he still can't kill her now. He must kill her along with the Night Mother.

"I used to serve Titus Mede II during the Great War before I start moving around as a mercenary." He said.

"Former servant of the Emperor?" Alisanne was taken aback by the answer which filled her with wonder and a smile formed on her face, unlike that vicious grin, this smile was just thin and a bit corrupted yet still conveyed how pleased she felt.

"Will the former servant of the Emperor keep serving me a little bit more?" She asked.

"Of course, Listener." Glymet stood off the chair he was sitting on and displayed respect.

Against him, Alisanne stood up as well.

"I could use an assassin like you by my side; come, join me in Bravil."

***

"So, in every way, he looks as if he is succeeding his mission." (Jon)

"Indeed." (Jonrad)

"Where were you by the time he moved down to Bravil?" (Jon)

"Right at their tail… with the tip of my arrow aimed at the girl's heart." Jonrad replied in regret.

"And you didn't take the shot?" (Jon)

"No. It was risky. I felt like my friend changed a little and I was going to save him if something was wrong but… this would ruin the mission we have been working on for more than a year… it would anger him if I deliberately sabotaged the mission. All I needed, or thought I would need, was just ten minutes with him alone. We just had to discuss things together but he was looking at that Listener girl like he never looked at anyone before." (Jonrad)

***

After the arrival to Bravil, the notorious crime city proved itself to Glymet as a den of anarchy and chaos from day one. However, under Alisanne's guidance, the city was as hospitable to Assassins as it was to all sorts of the scum of the world.

However, turmoil started soon after. The city was plunged in blood as soon as the two largest Skooma gangs in the city started their own war.

Due to the intense fighting, the Statue of the Lucky Old Lady was destroyed. This was a critical piece of news to the Dark Brotherhood since beneath the very same statue lies the crypt of the Night Mother where one of the deities of the cult of assassins rests.

This required the Listener to take the necessary action of relocating the Night Mother to the Bravil Sanctuary. Still, Alisanne felt disturbed that Bravil no longer became a safe place for the Assassins. At that time, Alisanne requested help from the other standing Brotherhood Sanctuaries and the closest to Bravil was the one in Cheydinhal. Those who came as reinforcement were two assassins known as Garnag and Andronica.

Still, even after the trouble kept erupting. One day, Glymet was summoned by Alisanne for an urgent problem.

As he arrived, she informed him that Garnag and Andronica have gone missing. Previously, she sent Andronica to assassinate the heads of the two warring gangs in order to stop the mayhem around the sanctuary while Garnag was sent on and neither of them returned thus he is now tasked with investigating and rescuing the Assassins.

But that was not the end of it. As Glymet returned to his residence in the city to prepare for the mission, a message was found on his table directly under an open window. It was a dangerous thing to see his residence broken into especially in these times but the content of the message served as a reality check for Glymet.

It was a message from the man who hired him to destroy the Dark Brotherhood, Uther Nere.

It read: "Agent. Your last message was unclear. Why are you in Bravil? Have you found the Listener? I have a business manager in town. Meet him at the Silverhome Inn."

The Listener and the Night Mother, both are the targets of Glymet since the start of this job, both are present on an arm's reach from him. He can just go back and…

And the fire ate the message. Glymet walked out of his residence as he collected his gear and got ready to see things through.

There's still time.

Once he stepped out, he was already heading towards where Andronica should be. The Skooma Den of Bravil.

The Claws gang was a gang with a powerful Khajiiti presence since the borders with Elsweyr are not too far south. That gang controls a big chunk of the city and since the moment Glymet walked into their streets, many pairs of eyes kept following him around every corner.

There was no sneaking around on this job. If he acts suspiciously, he will get chased out by a horde of blood-thirsty cat-folk. Well, at least that would be the case if he acted up too early, he just needs to take the usual route all the way to the place where normal people are allowed to buy Skooma from the claws. In other words, the local distribution center.

Of course once he arrived, he circled the place and headed towards the building where the Claws were holed up. Naturally, a Khajiit henchman stopped him on the way in, putting its hand against Glymet.

"This Den is Claws' territory. Get lost!" The Claws Henchman said.

"Oh, yeah?" Glymet looked at him and with an annoyed face before holding the Khajiits hand, twisting it, and kicking him in, "Tell your Boss to prepare his neck."

And he took his blades out as he walked into the building.

Tens of Khajiits and their customers were coming, going, and sitting in the place which looked like a pub for Skooma. They all noticed the Khajiit that fell in and all looked at the man who did that.

"Let's get this over with." He said an awful Aura came off him filling the place with something akin to poison.

The intoxicated customers started to sweat from panic and those with weak constitutions were on the ground puking their guts out. The Claws gangsters saw that and realized that a predator had infiltrated their Den.

At least they are on their ground.

The Claws were a fearless gang with years upon years of reputation and strong ties to the big Moonsugar Brewers in Elsweyr. They feared neither the Count of Bravil nor the Emperor. If someone is in their Den, their claws shall get to him.

And a flurry of razor-sharp attacks flew towards Glymet. Where he was standing turned to rubble as he jumped across the place reaching the other walk before reversing his momentum to jump to the upper flower waving his swords at anything that comes near him. Many spellcasters existed among the Claws and some of them were already targeting him with simple spells but he reached the upper ground and started kicking everyone on his way down making piles and piles of bodies as the fight raged on.

There was no one to match his skills, a skill even the Dark Brotherhood wasn't aware of, and he kept cutting down all the enemies and looking through each room with no trace of Andronica.

"Enough!"

That was until some dangerous-looking Khajiit walked into the building and shouted as loud as he could.

"Let us parley, assassin." The Khajiit said.

Glymet surely stopped his rampage and looked down at the Khajiit recognizing him.

"You're the Kingpin?" He asked.

"Yes, this one is the Kingpin." The Claws Kingpin replied indicating that he was the leader of the infamous gang.

Most Khajiit look like cats and tigers but this particular guy looked like a Leopard. He was a gigantic Cathay-Raht and had a vicious face.

"You seek the assassin woman? She tried to kill this one." The Kingpin approached as he looked up, "I assume you came all this way to get her."

Glymet found it annoying and stayed in his place replying only with a nod.

"Perfect! If you want her back, you must do something for the Claws." The Kingpin said with a grin.

Glymet didn't reply but waited for the Kingpin to keep going, making the latter feel awkward.

"I want you to Assassinate the head of our rivals, the Eclipse. When it is done, meet me at the bridge south of town." The Kingpin said.

There was not much Glymet could do but he nodded and simply went into one of the rooms to escape through the window.

This was bad.

Glymet felt more depressed on this bad day. An assassin is taken hostage and the city is in chaos.

But there was good news amidst the confusion. Once Glymet reached the treasury where the other assassin, Garnag, had gone, he received the news that an assassin had murdered the Head of the Treasury.

So where did he go afterwards?

This was in itself good and bad. Somehow, even Glymet became lost in confusion but there was one chance. If all the odds are against you, it means one must reshuffle the cards and play on new odds.

It was time to make a deal.

***

There were two ways Glymet would be able to do this but looking at the sky, the night was still young and he needed more time for a better opportunity.

Before going for the deal, he stopped by the Silverhome Inn and went ahead to meet the messenger of Uther Nere.

"Have you found the listener?" The man in a neat merchant dress asked.

"What I know is that there is a sanctuary here in Cyrodiil and people who can get in touch with the Listener. As for the real thing, I think she hides her identity very well. However, I am close."

In a way, Glymet didn't reveal Alisanne's identity just yet and went around the question of a lie that can't really be called a lie.

"Very well… just so you know, Master Uther will arrive in Bravil shortly." The messenger said before exiting the room and the inn entirely.

This was another piece of depressing news. Uther Nere is even more persistent now. This can't be good.

Glymet thought for a while as he can no longer hide it anymore.

His feelings towards Alisanne, this strange energy pulling him towards her, the feeling that he can just forget his burdens around her even though she is the villainest of villains. His nightmares even stop haunting him around her.

It is a sickness he had since the day he was trapped in that cage with Tyr 10 years ago. The fate which will be his downfall.

Alisanne once said that life is only worth living once and that death is not a problem. She said that she welcomes death every night and day. She said that not fearing death is the only way to liberate oneself from agony.

But Glymet still fears Fate… and he loves Alisanne because he sees her freedom and longs for something similar.

He had his own suffering and was time to pursue it.

Where next? Now that Glymet knew that Uther Nere shall arrive, he needed to act hastily and reach the other Skooma gang but as he walked out of the inn's room, he heard some noises coming from a nearby door with a hint of familiarity.

Just as he approached, he gazed through the keyhole and what he saw made him feel like in a crisis right away. Immediately, he kicked the door and walked in sword in hand and mask on face.

Inside the room were three individuals. The first was Uther's messenger from a while ago, the second was a mean-looking ugly guy with a bloodied knife, and the third was an Orc tied to a chair and suffering intense wounds, that Orc was Garnag, the missing Assassin.

It went without saying that Glymet beheaded the messenger with one sword strike and attacked the torturer right away in fast-paced combat which Glymet easily won, beheading the other man as well.

Once that was that, he immediately freed Garnag and escorted him outside the empty inn.

"It is nice to see you brother." Garnag said with a tired smile as he leaned against an alley wall.

"You too. You can walk?" Glymet asked.

"I can… by Sithis… this was intense."

"What happened to you?" Glymet asked.

"They kept asking about the Listener... Sithis forgive me, I told them she was here, in Bravil. They didn't tell me who they were, but I heard them mention a name... Uther." The Orc replied.

Glymet's face darkened, there will be no hiding this from the brotherhood anymore.

This was a close call, the messenger knew he was lying and thankfully he killed him before Uther could be alerted to his betrayal.

"You get back to the sanctuary, I will go on and try to get to Andronica." Glymet said but he turned to Garnag, "I know you are a strong fighter but… who could have bested you this badly?"

"I don't know…" Garnag seemed depressed about the matter, "A Nord, very large, red hair, shoots fire from his hand and wields the sword like a serpent demon."

One name had those qualities gathered, the one Glymet feared more than even Uther Nere, the other Mercenary who is also after the bounty on Alisanne and the Night Mother. It is Jonrad Firemane.

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