Skyrim: Faal Thur

Charging straight for her, keeping his sword at the ready, Brom took Erin by surprise. Closing in over half the distance before she was able to react. Nocking an arrow she fired and Brom batted it away with his sword. Panic showed itself both on her face and with her movements as she saw just how fast Brom was.

With the distance closed, Brom started attacking with basic strikes. An overhead cut that was dodged by Erin with a spin. Mid-spin she was shot an arrow which Brom rolled last second to dodge. He turned and swung his sword up, deflecting the other arrow that followed the first. Now Brom zig-zagged, swerving left and right never sticking to the same pattern, trying to close the distance to strike again.

Arrow after arrow barely missed or was deflected by Brom. Now in range once again, he swung a sideways slash, then last second, using all his strength, he completely changed direction now cutting upwards at her. Jumping back, Erin managed to avoid being sliced in half and fired another arrow.

Swaying to the side, the arrow flew past his face by inches, then charging ahead Brom unleashed a flurry of fast attacks. Each one was being deflected by Erin's bow, or simply cleaved the air where she once was standing. As they became more and more in-tune with the other's movements, their actions started to blur.

A crowd gathered around the ring; many were amazed at the speed of these two fighters. But, to the spectators, it was obvious who was the superior fighter. Erin was merely reacting to every action Brom took. While Brom was the one controlling the fight, letting his swings tell her where to move and when.

Counting in his head, Brom guessed it was getting close to 4min. It was now time to remind her that he is the superior fighter. His fighting changed immediately, form wild basic swings, to controlled intricate patterns Brom changed the tide of the fight. The tip of his sword moved like it was writing calligraphy, landing small blows to her arms and knees. She got off one more shot, but it was wild and missed terribly. Then twisting his sword under her guard, Brom flicked his wrist and sent her bow flying out her grip. Lunging forward he grabbed her as she tried jumping back and slammed her into the ground pinning her; his sword sitting lazily on her throat.

"I win," Brom whispered into her ear.

"No, I do"

A smile crept across her face, she pointed at the hourglass. Looking over, Brom laughed. One of her arrows had hit it, and all the sand had left the top when it shattered.

"A technicality, but I'll accept it."

Getting up, he reached down and pulled Erin to her feet.

"You fought well considering you were at every disadvantage. But, more importantly, you fought smart. Shooting the hourglass changed the conditions of winning to what you wanted, rather than trying to meet someone else's conditions. That is an important lesson in battle, never play the enemies game."

Blushing Erin nodded her head.

"You even turn losing into a lesson." She sighed.

"Ha, I told you. I always win, one way or another."

The duo turned and looked at the crowd that had gathered.

"Get back to work! It is not Sundas yet" Brom ordered.

The crowd quickly dispersed. They may have seen a softer side of their Thur today, but they knew his mean side better. Looking back to Erin, Brom said.

"Now, let us go wash up and change. It is time we went and collected our new equipment."

"Finally, I've been waiting for my new armor!"

Erin ran off into The Mine to grab her clothes and wash up using Brom's makeshift shower. Shaking his head, Brom smiled. 'Sometimes, she is just a little girl.' He thought to himself.

By the time the pair reached Whiterun and entered the city, it was nearly dark. Deciding that he could wait one more day, Brom took Erin to the Bannered Mare and rented a room. The night passed without incident and the two both woke up excited for the day. They were finally going to get to see their armor completely done and maybe even try them out.

Keeping a brisk pace Brom and Erin reached the Sky Forge before Eorlund. Seeing this they headed to the mead hall to see if the companions had returned with the fragments. Walking in Jorvaskr, Brom noticed that was everyone was passed out. Curious as to if this was the effect of a celebration for the return of the fragments, he went up to the old mantle on the wall that held them.

"No…" He muttered.

Cursing, he spun around and reached for the nearest mug. Using detection magic, he found that the mead had been drugged. Brom quickly searched through the bodies and only saw the people of the outer circle. All of the core members were missing. Whoever stole the pieces, kidnapped or killed the inner circle of the companions.

Hearing the sounds of metal striking steel, Brom decided on a course of action.

"Erin, look around and see what clues you can dig up. Find out where the companions were taken, and the fragments."

"I'm on it,"

She started casting different spells and searching the place. Brom went outside and jogged to the Sky Forge where Eorlund was working.

"Eorlund, did those fragments ever get returned?" Brom had to yell to get his attention over the sounds of the forge.

"Oh, hey Brom. Yeah, they came in last night! There was a huge celebration. You delivered on your part, now it is my turn. Here."

Brom kept of his façade of ignorance of what he saw in the mead hall. He wanted to make sure he got his and Erin's equipment first.

"Thanks, Eorlund, don't work too hard," Brom said with a laugh

Carrying the bag with all of the equipment, he headed down in front of Jorvaskr where Erin was waiting. As he reached her, he motioned for silence and casually walked away. He waited until they were back in The Mine, in their personal chambers, before he debriefed Erin on what had happened on his end. She then told him what she found.

According to Erin, there were two possible enemies at play. The most obvious were the Silver Hand, but the poison was not their style. The next choice would have to be the Dark Brotherhood, but they had no motive. At least, none that either Brom or Erin could think of. Putting aside the matter for now, Brom took out their armor and weapons and examined them.

He was now equipped with a tri-weave ebony mesh with Sky-Forged steel plating. It still had the gold accents from before. It now also had a red cape, with some type of fur around the collar. This gave him a more dignified look, while still carrying the aura of danger it had. Lastly, Brom noticed a leather belt with a few pouches around the waist, the purpose of this was obvious.

His sword was matching his armor, simple and effective. The balance and shape were similar to his old longsword. This one was crafted out of the ebony-sky forged steel alloy though. It was lighter and tougher, also holding a better edge for longer. The cross-guards were simple and angled towards the blade to held capture any attackers blade. The hilt was leather with the ebony tri-weave string wrapped around it for grip.

Erin's armor was very different from Brom's. She had the same ebony tri-weave mesh and only had the steel plating on her c.h.e.s.t and shoulder, albeit much thinner. She also had dark leather pants reinforced with a thin layer of the mesh and a cape and hood made completely out of the mesh. This gave her much more mobility while still giving decent protection.

Her bow was designed like the Nightingale bow from the thieves' guild quests in the game. It was made out of a slightly different mix between the ebony and Sky-Forged steel, giving it durability and saving some of the flexibility bows need. It was much stronger than her old bow and required more strength to pull. It had a string made of the same mesh used for her cape. It was just flexible enough to bend but strong enough to not snap under the force of the bow.

They both were eager to try their new equipment out, but Brom put it all up for tomorrow. They needed to focus on finding the fragments of Wuthrad. So they brainstormed for a couple of hours, but they kept coming to the same conclusion; they needed more information. So Brom decided they would have to visit Arcadia's Cauldron in Whiterun to identify the poison and how it was made. Maybe they could track the thieves from there.

With a firm plan of action now in mind, Brom and Erin went to sleep.