Back To Home

Damn Blindfolds

The intruders were silent. It was not until Viola felt damp air hanging near to her skin that she awoke. The fire was out. No embers glowed to provide any light for her to see by. Her eyes adjusted to the moonlight, and all she could see was a figure above her. Inches away. Her heart skipped a beat, but she did not make any movement yet. She could see it was a woman, but could tell no other features. Each of her hands was placed on either side of her head.

"This one is healthy. Her heart beats strong, I can feel it." Hissed the woman. There was more than one.

"The other two are the same. They are, so young. Strong too. They may make good additions to the pack." A louder voice adds, still whispering. This time male. The woman looked up at the man near her. Viola did not have much mobility in her bedroll, and the three were nearly shoulder to shoulder. Viola had to act. However she did not know how many there were, or how dangerous they are.

"Be quieter. We don't want to wake them up before we decide." She hissed back. Instantly Viola saw her chance. She quickly moved her hands out of the roll, and pinned one of the woman's arms to the ground. It landed on top of Lydia's hair. Viola shoved the free arm side over by the shoulder, and the woman flipped. She used the momentum to swing herself, in the bed roll, on top of her. They both seemed to be crushing Lydia but Viola did not have time to care. She took her forearm and put it on top of the woman's neck, and with all the force she could muster, pressed down with a jab. She died instantly.

This happened in a second. In another both Erik and Lydia were awake. Viola looked around near their camp. There were many, many more people than she expected. She had a dagger under her pillow, and launched herself at the first man she could get too. Lydia and Erik were out of bed. Viola had caused enough of a distraction that they could grab their weapons and go attack another member of the group. Only Viola's eyes had adjusted to the light, and the other two were slashing like mad.

The man she was attacking used magic. Strange, electricity magic that made Viola drowsy. She got him to the ground with the knife under his chin despite her exhaustion.

"Who in oblivion are you." She said pressing it closer.

"That doesn't matter, does it?" Said the nord, very sarcastically. His voice was... Strange for a reason Viola could not name. She laid it down on his skin. "Oh, I wouldn't do it. We don't take kindly to being killed." He nodded his head slightly over to where she had killed the first woman. She followed his eyes.

The woman was beginning to float up. A purple aura was surrounding her. Viola let go of the man's collar and her eyes darted across the camp. By the light the woman gave off, she could see arrows trained on her, and her companions. She dropped the knife.

"STOP" She yelled in Erik and Lydia's direction. They were losing badly. Whatever magic they had was working on the other two as well. Their motions slowed. "Put down your arms! Now!" She heard a sword and shield hit the ground. Erik, who was only a few yards away from her, stopped swinging, and was looking around at the situation. He had not laid down the axe yet. "Erik, we can't win this." She pleaded. He looked at her gravely and threw it to the ground.

The man who Viola had pinned to the ground got up and dusted himself off. "Oh, go on, come out of the shadows. Let our new friends see who they have joined." Out stepped ten or so men and women, of many different races. Viola glared at him directly. "Now, I'm just glad one of you has logic. Would have been a waste to have to kill three perfectly capable servants."

"Oh, servants are we? Great. Out of all the things I've done for you Viola." Lydia says from behind her. The leader goes over to her.

"Fiery. I like this one." He winked at her, and she spit on the ground just inches from her foot. "Charming. All right, let's tie them up, we've seen what they can do. Take the weapons." He directed his group. "Whatever they've got in the camp belongs to us now. First come, first serve." Viola refused to speak or show any emotion, but inside she was very afraid. They were cornered, without weapons, and all of the money she had saved up would be lost. Their plan for Riften looked grim.

The cult tied the three of them up, and put blindfolds on their eyes. There was noise around the campsite, and then they were being led over a short distance. Viola could see a small bit out of her blindfold, just her feet, and it was still very dark. She could hear Lydia spitting insults at whoever would listen. Erik remained silent. Soon the air grew cooler, and they were in a cave. The walls were lined with torches, and there was a constant dripping of water from an unknown source. As they walked, Viola memorized the turns. Straight 10 paces, sharp left. 35 steps, steady incline over wooden ramp, sharp right. Quick decline, bump into fork in road, right path. She focused on this and counted over and over again.

"Alright, you two, throw them in one of the cages over there. Leave them tied up but you can remove the blindfolds. And make sure someone watches them. We'll ask the master what to do with them when she returns." They heard a large group leave, and they were shoved onto the ground. Someone landed on Viola's left leg and she cried out, the first sound she had made all night.

"Oops, sorry. Are you ok?" Erik's voice came from next to her.

"Yes, I'm fine." There were laughs coming from the men who were supposed to be uniting them. "Thank you, yes, it's funny. Now take off our damn blindfolds so I can figure out what the hell is going on." She had already broken the quiet, and was getting tired of doing nothing. Two large hands roughly took the back of the cloth and ripped it off, taking some hair with it. She grimaced, but said nothing. Her eyes burned at what little light there was. Both Lydia and Erik had gotten theirs taken off too, and were squinting around trying to regain their sight. When their eyes adjusted, and the men had left, locking the cage door behind them, Viola stood up.

"Alright, let's get out of here."