Elsa brushed the falling snowflakes from her long brown hair as she trudged along the small winding path behind Delphine. The walk was arduous and her last little adventure left her feeling empty inside. So much loss of life. So little gained by it. She longed to know the reason why the dragons had come back after thousands of years. She longed to know why she, of all people, was "Dragonborn". Why she was the ultimate dragon slayer, able to absorb a dragon's very soul.
Delphine seemed to know a lot about the dragons. A week ago she seemed certain that the Thalmor were behind the return of the dragons. She had even come up with a scheme for the Dragonborn to infiltrate the Thalmor embassy during a dinner party and steal information about the dragons. It was supposed to have been easy. In and out of there, without harming anyone. But things went wrong.
The Dragonborn thought back to that cold evening, seven days ago. She had met with Delphine's woodelf friend Malborn at an inn. He was a servant at the Thalmor embassy, but he secretly hated the Thalmor for killing his family many years ago. The Dragonborn gave him a small orcish sword to smuggle into the kitchen of the embassy, in case it became necessary for her to defend herself.
The beginning of the scheme went well. The Dragonborn, dressed in fancy party attire, had successfully introduced herself to the Thalmor ambassador, and convinced a drunken party guest to cause a rather funny distraction. During the distraction, Malborn quickly unlocked the kitchen door and led her to her sword. From there she snuck past guards with ease, making her way to the Ambassador's chambers. It was then that things went wrong. She was spotted and suddenly surrounded by Thalmor guards. They attacked and she defended herself. Before she knew it, she had left a trail of several dead Thalmor behind her. She quickly entered the Ambassador's office and sifted through a wooden chest to gather all the documents she could find. A quick glance at the documents told her the Thalmor were in fact NOT responsible for the return of the dragons. She gained nothing by infiltrating the Embassy. Delphine was wrong.
To make matters worse, suddenly two armed guards came in dragging defenseless Malborn by his arms, ready to execute him for letting a spy in. The Dragonborn swiflty killed the guards with her sword and saved Malborn. She still remembered his words at that moment, "Now the Thalmor will be chasing after me for the rest of my life. I hope it was worth it."
The Dragonborn freed a tortured prisoner from a Thalmor holding cell and the three of them snuck out of the embassy by a tunnel in the back, only to be met by three more hostile Thalmor Justiciers on the road. The last she saw of Malborn he was running through the icy cold mountain forest as a Thalmor wizard chased after him, flinging destruction spells. The Dragonborn struggled with the other two Thalmor, but by the time she had finished them off, she could no longer see Malborn or the other Thalmor Justiciar. The raging snowfall covered their tracks. After an hour of searching in the bitter cold, she gave him up as dead. His light tunic and vest could never protect him from such a storm.
The memories of that day stung in her heart as she trudged onward. Malborn had risked everything to help her, and because of her mistake he was dead. She tried to push the painful thought from her mind as the great city of Windhelm came into the distant view. Right now she needed to focus on the task at hand.
"The dragon burial site should be this way," said Delphine as she looked at a map and pointed east. They were on their way to investigate the burial site of a dragon. Since the dragons were raising from the dead, the best way to study how they came back was to watch it happen. They had seen it happen at a dragon grave once before, but perhaps a second look at it might yield more answers.
"Maybe we should take a rest first and get something to eat," replied the Dragonborn, "We've been walking all day, and Windhelm may have a nice inn."
Delphine didn't need much convincing, as she too felt worn out from the long walk. They entered stone city through the large city gates. The combination of the bitter snow and gray stone blocks gave the city a dreary look. Delphine and the Dragonborn headed east into the gray quarter of the city. There was a small cozy-looking tavern in the back corner of the gray quarter. Outside it hung a sign that read "New Gnisis Cornerclub". Delphine pushed open the heavy door and they stepped inside.
The candlelit tavern was dark due to a lack of windows. There was a small round table near the entrance and a long bar at the back with stools. The wood paneling along the walls looked old and termite damaged. The wood plank floor was dirty and littered with trash, and the mild scent of mildew hung in the air. Elves seemed to be the only patrons in the worn-down old tavern. Delphine walked up to the bar and ordered some food and drink, while the Dragonborn rested at the corner table. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice from behind her.
"Oh it's you. I didn't expect to see you again," said the voice in an angry annoyed tone.
She turned in her chair and looked into Malborn's stricken face.
"You're alive! Thank the gods," said the Dragonborn. The weight of painful guilt was finally lifted off of her chest.
"Malborn? I'm glad to see you made it out of there in one piece," said Delphine as she walked over to the table with two glasses of Alto wine.
"What are you doing here?" asked the Dragonborn with a smile.
"I'm trying to stay ahead of the Thalmor assassins. I'm not a hero like you. I don't stand a chance", said Malborn in a worried tone, "Time's running out. I think the Thalmor know where I am. Maybe you can help me? By way of making amends for getting me into this mess?"
"You helped me. I'll do what I can to help you," said the Dragonborn, just grateful to see Malborn alive.
"You will? Really? Alright, here's the situation," said Malborn. He sat down at the table and spoke in a hushed voice, "I'm trying to get to Morrowind. The Dunmer there don't care much for the Thalmor. I figured I'd be safe there. As safe as anywhere I suppose. But there's a Khajiit by the main city gate. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. I'm sure he's Thalmor, just waiting for me to leave so he can follow me and kill me in a lonely place."
Malborn took a large sip of wine. His hand trembled as he held the glass.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of that assassin for you," said the Dragonborn. Delphine rolled her eyes back in annoyance at what she considered a waste of time.
Malborn's grayish lips turned into a smile and he said, "You'd be saving my life. Again. I know I probably seem ungrateful, but I've just been so scared, expecting a knife at my throat any minute."
The Dragonborn stood up and said firmly, "I won't allow that to happen to you."
She drank her dark wine in one long chug and exited the cornerclub, reluctantly followed by Delphine.
"You know we need to get to the next dragon grave to investigate it, before it leaves the grave," said Delphine, "We don't have time for this. He's probably just being paranoid."
"We've ruined his life," said the Dragonborn, "He helped us! You would turn your back on him and leave him to this fate?"
Delphine looked at the ground. She knew the Dragonborn was right. Helping Malborn was the right thing to do. But they had better do it quickly, she thought to herself.
Outside the city gates, near the guard barracks was indeed a Khajiit. Or to be exact, four of them. The Dragonborn approached one and straight-out asked if he was an assassin for the Thalmor. Delphine held back a laugh at the strategy. The cat-like Khajiit pointed to another Khajiit about 20 feet away in a field. He was not with their trading caravan. He had to be the assassin.
The Dragonborn approached the shady looking Khajiit, and said, "I have a message for you, from Malborn."
The Khajiit immediately pounced at her like an enraged animal. A shiny dagger slashed back and forth just barely missing her face. With a swift plunge of her sword the Khajiit fell dying, as blood dripped from his wounded chest. He looked to the nearby city guards and made a desperate choking cry for help. The guards smirked and looked the other way. No one in Windhelm cared for the Thalmor. No one. Within a few seconds he was dead.
"He really was a Thalmor assassin. I guess Malborn wasn't paranoid afterall," said Delphine.
"I never thought he was paranoid," said the Dragonborn, "The Thalmor don't let people mess with them, and live to tell about it."
They walked back to the city, leaving the Khajiit's body in the field by the road where he had fallen. They turned right and walked down the stone alleyway through the gray quarter back to the old tavern.
"Is he... Is he gone?" asked Malborn nervously at the door.
"The assassin is dead," said the Dragonborn.
"Then I should leave right now. Thank you! I know it's not much, but I've stolen many things from the Thalmor over the years. I want you to have this," said Malborn. He handed the Dragonborn a small sack of gold septims. The Dragonborn gently pushed the sack back to him.
"You'll need it more than I do... to start your new life in Morrowind," she replied.
"Thank you," said Malborn, "I'll never forget it."
Malborn pushed open the door and walked out into the city. As he walked away, he turned and smiled at the Dragonborn.
"We should be going too. That dragon is not going to wait forever," said Delphine, "You look like you're lost in thought."
"I'm just worried. What if he runs into Thalmor Justicier patrols? It's a long walk to Morrowind. It's easily a two day walk," said the Dragonborn.
"We can't babysit him forever. He got this far. I'm sure he can take care of himself," said Delphine, "Now let's go."
The Dragonborn sighed and followed Delphine. Just as they exited the city they heard a cry for help. In the distance far down the road, a patrol of three Thalmor Justiciers had Malborn by the wrists. They were dragging him south, to likely be tortured at one of their forts. The Thalmor had a penchant for torturing people. Hardly anyone ever survived it.
"I'll distract them, and you take him to safety," said the Dragonborn to Delphine, and she ran toward the Thalmor.
"There's that other spy!" said a Thalmor Justicier pointing at the Dragonborn, "Our orders are to either capture her alive or kill her if she resists."
They shoved Malborn face-first to the snow-covered ground and ran toward the Dragonborn with their swords drawn. The Dragonborn ran in the other direction, leading them toward the city. Meanwhile, Delphine grabbed Malborn by the arm and led him behind a stable. When they stopped, Malborn's reddish amber eyes looked at Delphine with relief. He was breathing heavily. He sat down on a bale of hay and rested his face in his hands.
"I'm a dead man," he said, as he nervously ran his hands through his wavy brown hair.
The Thalmor chased the Dragonborn along the stone road leading to the city gate. At the gate, several Windhelm guards stepped forward with their weapons drawn.
"Thalmor are not welcome here," a guard said in a thick Nordish accent, "You have to leave now."
"We are conducting official Thalmor business. That woman is a criminal and must be brought to our fort for justice," said a Thalmor Justicier.
"Any criminal to the Thalmor is a friend to the true Nords," replied the guard, "Now leave before I run my sword through your gut, dirty elf."
Several more guards approached the scene. The three Thalmor were greatly out-numbered and backed away down the road. They had lost, and they had no idea where Malborn had run off to. Swallowing their pride, they headed out of the area.
Malborn and Delphine waited until the Thalmor were far out of sight before they walked back into the safety of the city. The Dragonborn was waiting for them at the city gate.
"Malborn can't go to Morrowind alone. The Thalmor are everywhere in this province, and all of them recognize him because of his many years working at the embassy," said the Dragonborn, "We have to escort him to Morrowind safely. It's the only way."
Delphine rolled her eyes back again in annoyance. It would take two days to walk him to Morrowind, and another two days to come back. This would essentially ruin any hope of studying another dragon grave site and trying to solve the mystery of the dragon's return. But she knew there would be no changing the Dragonborn's mind.
"Well, we'd better get going," Delphine said, "I'd like reach Riften by tomorrow afternoon."