Dragonborn from Lord of the Rings

The assassin squatted in a shadow, his black skin and clothes were almost hidden in the night, even the night watchers with keen eyesight could not see through this shadow in the darkness.Only the blood-red eyes that were partly visible between the assassin's opening and closing can make people reflexively look at the empty corner.But when you look carefully, you can't find anything.

The assassin secretly counted, the footsteps of the guards watching the night were indeed as stated in the message, 150 steps, no more, no less.she laughed.The assassin slowly walked along the wall, using the cover of shadows and dark corners to avoid all the flames, and slipped past the guards silently like a ghost.Approaching the area where the target is located.

She stood there quietly, her sharp ears trying to catch the sound of possible alarms and approaching footsteps.

But nothing can be heard.

She couldn't help laughing at their meticulous but futile defense.

But soon, she suppressed her smile again.She leaned towards the most heavily guarded room in the fortress.There were two guards standing by the chamber with only one door.

The guards each carried a lantern, which made her task even trickier.Two beams of light shot out from the burning wick to the other side of the clearing, and all the other guards patrolling here could clearly see them from a distance.If there was anything unusual about the lights—like a lantern going out, even for a brief moment—someone would come to see what was going on.

The assassin stood motionless in the shadows less than ten paces from the entrance to the room where the target was.She was thinking about how to eliminate the two guards without alerting the entire fortress.

Finally, she lightly took out two thin needles stuck to down from her belt, and then took out a small crystal bottle from another hidden pocket.She uncorked the bottle, carefully dipping the tip of each needle into the clear liquid in the bottle.She placed one of the thin needles in her open palm, taking great care not to let it break her skin.Then she put her hand to her lips, exhaled softly, and the little poison dart flew towards the nearest guard.

She exhaled again, and the second dart hit another target with equal accuracy.The assassin waited for a few seconds, and after estimating that the effects of the medicine had taken effect, she got out of the shadow that enveloped her, and quickly rushed to the door.

She was sure no one could see her, but she stopped and listened to her surroundings.

There were no exclamations, no shouts of 'catch the thief', no one seemed to notice that a slender figure had infiltrated the fort - for this, the Assassins had to praise their employers for doing a good job of letting her have other The person blended into the fortress that was supposed to be heavily guarded very smoothly, but did not arouse any suspicion.

The assassin confidently turned his face to the two clay-carved wood-like guards beside him.From this close she could see the darts around their necks.She quickly removed the two small hidden weapons from the paralyzed guard and put them back into the belt.

The eyes of the two guards watched her every movement, but no other muscles in their bodies could move.Their half-outstretched arms still held the lanterns, their unresponsive fingers gripping the handles tightly.Soon, the toxin on the hidden weapon will penetrate into their heart and lungs, which is an improvement made by the assassins themselves on a hypnotic toxin commonly used by their family.By then, the muscles that send blood and oxygen to the rest of the body will become as stiff as the rest of the guards.

So they can only stand like this and suffocate to death, unable to call for help, and they will not even fall down after death.From previous experience, the Assassin knew that people would have to cut their fingers to remove the lantern, or else the lantern would have to be buried with their body.

Such a horrific sight made the assassin couldn't help smiling. She silently passed over the two mortal guards, drew out her dagger, and touched the door with the soft halo of torches flowing from the bottom.

The assassin approached the door to listen for the movement inside, and her keen ears heard a vague, turbid breath.The assassin gently opened the door with an unimaginable grace.

The orange light of the torch prevented the dark elf from looking straight ahead, but she still saw the target lying on the goose down cushion in the middle of the room before she turned her head.The assassin narrowed his eyes, tiptoed over and extinguished the torch.Now there is only darkness that can't be seen.

Hofdy woke up suddenly, almost out of breath.He felt that he was surrounded by darkness all around him, but the warm and soft goose down mattress under his body could not make him feel any warmth.He just wanted to get up - this is a very difficult task for him, the wars and various disturbances in the city during this period have consumed too much energy, but his already weak body He could fall down at any moment—he knew that many people were waiting for this day, but as long as he was still breathing, the empire's most southwestern territory in Skyrim would always be firmly in the hands of the Andor family.

Hofdy gasped for breath, and he found that the originally warm fire had already become completely cold, and the spare lighting torch was also extinguished.There was nothing in the room but darkness.

Some kind of uneasiness occupied the heart of the real owner of the fortress under the stone. He was having a nightmare just now, and he remembered so much. As for what was in the dream, he couldn't remember it.

"Fire." He said to himself, and it suddenly occurred to him that most of the content of the dream was a raging fire, a raging fire that devoured everything.

The old man shook his head, trying to dispel the gloomy vision in front of him and adjust his eyes to the darkness of the room.Finally, he got up and tried to call the guard at the door.

Suddenly, his body froze suddenly.

There is another person in the room.

Hofdy didn't hear any sound, and indeed there was no sound around him that he could hear.But he could just feel that someone was looking at him with interest.He could feel that burning look, and the lust in those eyes.For a moment, the faces of his son Igmund and the head of the Silver-Blood family that made him feel a little uneasy appeared in front of his eyes, as if they were hiding in the darkness with malicious intent, watching him!
"Who's there?" the old man asked in a low voice.At this moment, Hofdi suddenly felt that his turbid breath, which was originally like a bellows, calmed down.

"Don't be afraid." A deep female voice sounded beside him, "You won't feel pain."

There was an eerie silence in the room.

Suddenly, the old man who had held the power of the frontier fortress for decades smiled. "Egmund or Harald Silverblood?"

"No, not Igmund."

Maybe it was because he had realized his next fate. At this moment, the old man's increasingly dull and drowsy thinking regained the alertness of his youth. He said to himself, "He doesn't have the courage..."

The old man looked into the darkness, "It's silver blood!"

There was no fear, no resentment in the old man's words, only a weary sense of destiny.He didn't expect that he would end up like this, but he was ready to face everything that fate would bring her.

It was the turn of the voice in the darkness to be silent.

But Hofdy had an almost intuitive feeling that the opponent was getting closer.

Hofdy hesitated for a moment, his fingers silently grabbed something soft beside the pillow.It was a magic scroll, and a very powerful spell was sealed inside.But he wondered, could he really use it in front of the assassin in front of him who made him deeply uneasy?
Or, he could yell and yell.But soon, he himself vetoed the idea.Even if his voice could be heard through the thick stone walls, would they have arrived in time to save his life? The answer was no.

Thinking of this, Hofdy's desperately beating heart slowly calmed down.

Suddenly, without any warning or shouting, he yanked out the magic scroll under his pillow.

"Ah, sorry." The hoarse voice laughed, "I can't let you do that."

"You won't get any benefit from killing me." Hofdy's fingers almost touched the seal of the powerful spell scroll written by a magic master in the empire himself, "Maybe we can..."

"Stop struggling, my lord. This will only make things more difficult..." The voice seemed to be right next to his ear.Hofdy swore he could almost feel the heat from the killer's mouth against his skin.

"The Brotherhood has foreseen this!"

The old man's eyes widened.The fingers that were about to tear off the magic scroll in his hand could never exert even a trace of strength.

"And that's just the beginning."

The assassin moved closer to Hofdy, and the blade in his right hand plunged into his back, slicing open his heart.The sharp blade in his left hand mercifully cut off his trachea, so the old man's screams were only suffocated and bloody tears.

And the last thing Hofdy Andor saw was a pair of cold, blood-red eyes.

***
"My lord, the master ordered you to go to his bedroom." A servant stopped the head guard.

"Now?"

The head guard was a little surprised.He frowned and looked at the somewhat unfamiliar servant.I saw this guy wearing an old but neat servant uniform, with his hands folded in front of his body, standing respectfully and restrained to the side of the corridor.

Since the old Hofdi Andor had already given up the title of lord and earl to his son Igmund Andor, everyone in the Fortress below the stone referred to the former Lord of Markas as the Lord, and called Ig Mond is the lord.And because the old Hofdi was weak and sick, he had more servants than Igmund.Maybe it's just one of them.

The captain of the guard shook his head, "What's the matter?" The big man with a head of brown hair, who was stronger and taller than the average Nord, always carrying a huge two-handed sword and wearing a full set of steel armor asked harshly. , "I'm going to inspect the weapons room, can't I wait until I finish inspecting?"

"The master didn't say," the servant said softly. She has a typical Nord face, a plump but tall body, tight thighs, and beautiful long golden hair that her master has deftly braided into. A big braid, "He just ordered you to go immediately. Alone." The strange servant emphasized.

The head guard frowned. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say what it was.In the end, the chief guard turned his head and said to the two guards following him, "You guys wait here."

The loyal guard didn't think too much, but stood aside respectfully and got out of the way.

The corridor of the fortress under the stone was deep and quiet, except for the crackling of the flames in the brazier, there was no sound.

Looking at the beautiful but quiet servant walking in front, the head guard felt very uneasy.

The lord Igmund is not a strong monarch, and eating, drinking, and having fun are more in line with his preferences than planning wars and tricks.

Now, the war has plunged this fortress, which was always full of singing, dancing and banquets, into an atmosphere of panic and despair. Now every night, no one dares to shuttle through these corridors except the patrolling guards.

And all the young lord could do was to order the chief guard to strengthen the guard of the castle, while he hid himself in the tight basement, terrified all day long.

wrong.

The chief guard, who was oppressed by some kind of strong anxiety, finally realized something.It was so quiet around here.

But before he could say what it was, the strange servant who was supposed to be walking in front suddenly disappeared after turning the last corner, as if he had never appeared before.

The head guard widened his eyes.He thought he was dazzled, but when he saw the guard standing motionless in front of Old Hofty's room, his anxiety became reality.

"you……"

The chief guard was speechless, because he found that the guards who should have guarded the old lord had long since died, and what stood in front of him were only two stiff corpses.

He quickly drew his weapon and slammed open the door vigorously.

The room was dark.But what came out was a strong smell of blood.

The chief guard lit the candle in horror, only to find that Hofdi Andor had already died in his comfortable and warm bed.A dagger was stuck in his heart, and his throat was cut open. The blood stained the white goose down cushion and the cloak made of bearskin and mink into a harsh dark red.

"grown ups--"

The head guard tremblingly stretched out his hand to probe the breath of the former Lord of Markarth, only to hear a scream suddenly sounded from the silent fortress. The scream was so shrill, like a bull that had been pierced through its heart, It was the scream of a dying person, which directly startled countless people.

The guard withdrew his hand like a snake biting, but heard a hasty whistle, which was an alarm from the guard.

Then countless chaotic and heavy footsteps rushed straight to the bedroom of Hofdi Andor, the lord of Markarth, who was now dying desolately on his bed.

In fact, when people broke into the bedroom of the former Lord of Markarth, what they saw was the 'murderer' with blood in one hand and a sword in the other.

then.

"Stay still, my lord!"

The guards rushed up and surrounded the head of the guards, with terrified and confused expressions.

The chief guard looked at the guard, then at the old man who died tragically on the bed, and closed his eyes.

He thought of the strange maid.