All Roads Lead To You (A Skyrim Romance Mod fanfic)

Chapter Forty-Four

Aruna opened her mouth to use her thu'um, but Ondolemar grabbed the dagger's protruding hilt and twisted. The pain was blinding and she couldn't even get enough breath to cry out.

"Hey, Ladyship," Bishop called from the cells, completely unaware of what had just transpired. "I could use a hand getting this guy on his feet."

"Ah, is that the ranger?" Ondolemar's eyes glinted dangerously. "I owe him a visit, as well." He started to move past her.

Aruna grabbed the dagger and her vision darkened at the edges as she pulled it out of her body. In one motion, she turned and plunged it toward Ondolemar. His hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist before she could make contact and he squeezed until her hand opened and she dropped the dagger.

"Don't make this harder on yourself," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Soon you'll be surrounded, and you won't get far with that wound. So why don't you just lay down and accept your defeat?"

"Why don't you just stop talking?" Aruna drove the blade of the throwing knife she'd been concealing in her other hand in between Ondolemar's ribs. He gasped and let her go. Aruna stumbled backward.

"Ladyship?" Bishop called.

"Bishop, stay back!" Aruna cried.

Ondolemar lurched toward her with her own sword.

"Fus ro dah!"

Nearly as soon as the shout left Aruna's lips, darkness overcame her vision. She opened her eyes to find herself on her knees. She looked up blearily to see Ondolemar sprawled unconscious on the other side of the room, presumably after slamming into the stone wall. And then Bishop was kneeling in front of her.

"What happened?" he demanded as he reached for her. "Where the hell did he come from?"

"Never mind that," Aruna said, pressing a hand to her wound. She leaned forward, trying to hide it from Bishop. "Is the prisoner all right? Can he walk?"

"I can." The Thalmor's prisoner, now free from his bonds, appeared behind Bishop. He looked shaken and was badly bruised and bleeding from several shallow cuts on his face and chest, as well as from his nose, but he seemed steady enough on his feet. "My name is Etienne Rarnis, and I owe you both my life."

"Yeah, well, we're not out of here, yet," Bishop said. He peered at Aruna suspiciously. "Why are you so pale? What did that bastard do to you?"

"He hit me, that's all. I'll be fine. Do you see that trap door to the sewers anywhere? We should go; the soldiers will be searching this place soon."

Bishop frowned at her but got up and went to look for the entrance to the sewers. On his way, he picked up Aruna's fallen sword.

Etienne reached out a hand to Aruna. She grasped it and let him haul her to her feet as she bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out as pain seared through her belly.

"Will you make it?" Etienne asked, his voice low and knowing.

"If we move quickly," she murmured. "What about you?"

"I just want to get out of this place," Etienne said.

"Hey, over here," Bishop called. He pulled open a wooden door in the floor of the dungeon and flinched at the smell that wafted out.

"Wait," Etienne said. He pointed to an alcove near his former cell, where there was a table, two wooden chairs, and a splintered wooden chest. "In the chest; there are some papers I think you're going to want."