Max Aaronson
I opened my eyes slowly, to see a group of people surrounding me, I can feel the cold stone press against my bare skin. "He's awake, he's awake!" yelled a female. I slowly rose up, struggling to keep my balance. "Where am I and who are you?" I asked. "You are in Sky Haven Temple, home of the Blades, Dragonborn." said a man with balding grey hair. I've heard of the Blades, they helped the Dragonborn Daxos slay Alduin the Mighty. "I am Esbern and this is Delphine, we are the leaders of the Blades." said the man with the balding grey hair, he pointed to Delphine. She nodded.
I picked myself up off the floor and found a chair to sit on. "So where did you find me?" I asked, rubbing my sore shoulder. "We found you knocked out and bruised up near Windhelm, you were laying in the middle of a circle of dead bandits." Esbern said, he handed me a tankard full of Nord Mead. "You must have used your Shout for the first time." Delphine said taking a sip of mead. "Say, we never got your name kid." said Esbern. "My name is Atticus ." I said, taking a swig of the mead. "Come, we have your weapons and armor in the armory." Delphine said. "You're quite the swordsman, I see, you carry an ebony greatsword, that's quite a heavy weapon to wield." Esbern chuckled. "You also wear Ancient Falmer Armor." said Delphine. "My father was an adventurer, when he came home from expeditions, he would always come home with rare weapons and armors." I said with a hearty smile on my face. I remember when my father came home from his expeditions; he would come back from Dwemer Ruins with solid gold, weapons, and antiques. Suddenly, a mighty roar came from outside the temple. "No,not this dragon again" Esbern said, rushing at full speed outside. "What happened?" I asked "This dragon has been attacking the temple for weeks now, and it has killed tons of our men. Atticus, let's go get your weapons, you're going to kill a dragon." Delphine said running to the armory. I followed her to the armory. I walked into the room lined with weapons and armor galore. I was in awe. "This is our armory, but I'll give you a tour after you kill that dragon, but here is your gear." Delphine said with a smile on her face, but a great fear her voice. I put on my cuirass, gauntlets, and greaves. I can feel the enchantments running through my body. I swung my greatsword once. I can feel the dark magic running through the sword. "Let's do this." I said running outside.
I ran through up the stairs leading to the door that leads to the training yard and the source of the noise. I ran out the door and the doors swung open. I saw it…. It was a dragon. The dragon was grotesque looking, with tentacles coming from its face; it's probably one of the scariest beasts I've come across in my travels. Some of the Blades swung at it, but it was no use, their blades didn't even leave a scratch on it. "Stand back and watch how the Dragon Born does it." I said walking up to the Dragon. I signaled everyone to stand back. I inhaled and shouted "YOL TOOR SHUL!" Fire came streaming from my mouth. The dragon used its ice breath to counter my attack but it was too weak for my Th'um. The dragon stumbled back and roared. He swiped at me with his claws, but I rolled and swung my greatsword. The attack landed on his claw and it came off. It roared some more. "Want a piece of me huh?" I laughed and went for its other claw. I could feel the fear running through the dragon, it was dying.
I went for the final attack. I lifted my sword to the air and struck it with all of my might. The dragon went still and it fell to the ground. The energy from the dragon went flying towards me, I absorbed its soul. I can feel the dragon's very soul being imbibed into my life essence. All that was left of the dragon was its leathery greenish-brown hide and its bones. "You did it, you killed that dragon!" Esbern said cheering me on. "That dragon has been plaguing us for a few weeks now." Delphine said. I walked up to the body of the now-dead dragon and took its hide and its bones. "Do you have a forge and an enchanter?" I asked. "We have do have a forge, it's in the armory." Delphine said. "But we do not have an enchanter sadly." said Esbern with a frown on his face. "Come; let's go give you that tour of the armory." Delphine said, resheathing her sword. I followed her back into the temple and into the armory. When I entered the room, my jaw dropped. I felt like a child in a general store. They had all types of weapons. Swords, Greatswords, Axes. They had almost every kind of armor hanging up.
As I was walking down the armory with Delphine; I saw a set of armor and a hood on a mannequin. It appeared to be the daedric artifact The Ebony Mail and a hood of a Nightingale and ebony gauntlets and greaves. Next to the mannequin, was a sword in a case, it looked like The Ebony Blade. I walked up to the mannequin and ran my fingers over the armor. The armor was cold to the touch. I saw Delphine walk up next to me. "Beautiful isn't it? Daxos gave this to us; he wanted us to give it to a Dragonborn who was worthy enough to wield it." Delphine said, she put her hand on my shoulder. "But, you just met me, how do you know I'm worthy?" I asked. Why would they choose me? I don't understand. "Today, you showed that you have the prowess and courage of a true Dragonborn." Delphine said, unlocking the case that held the blade. "Here, take a swing." She said handing me the sword. I felt a jolt of energy run from the sword into my body. I can feel the power. I took the set of armor off the mannequin and put it on, it felt so right, almost as if I was destined to wear this armor.
One of the soldiers came running into the armory. "He's back, he's back!" said one of the men. He spoke so fast, I couldn't understand a word he said. Delphine looked at me. "Slow down, who's back?" Delphine asked. "Daxos, he's back." The soldier said. Delphine's face lit up and bolted out of the room. I sheathed my new sword and lowered my hood and ran after her. She ran into the main hall and there he was my predecessor Daxos. "Atticus, come meet Daxos." Delphine yelled to me. I walked up to Daxos and held my hand out. "I'm Atticu…." I said before Daxos cut me off. "I know who you are Atticus, you're actually the reason why I'm here." He said, shaking my hand. "I'm the reason?" I asked. "How would you like to join me and travel all across Tamriel." Daxos said with a big smile on his face. "I would love to." I said. The minute he asked me, my face lit up. I have always dreamed of traveling across Tamriel and exploring the many mysteries it contains.
"Go gather your things Atticus, and pack lightly, we bear a tough road ahead." Daxos said. I ran back into the armory and put my old armor on the mannequin. I managed to find a few soul gems and 3 ebony ingots. I also found an ebony dagger and a few healing potions. I slung my sword's sheath over my shoulder and I was ready to go.
I met up with Daxos in the main hall. "You ready to go kid?" he asked. "I've been born ready Daxos." I said. "Let our adventure begin, my friend." Daxos said. I heard a bunch of chattering from the Blades as Daxos and I exited the temple.