Chapter 4: A Fire in the Night

Delphine was angry. No, she was beyond that. She was past furious, over enraged, and far more that wrathful. There was not a word in any language that adequately described the cold fire that scorched through her body. It was such a powerful emotion she felt that those flames would forever leave embers that smoldered and kept her pure, unadulterated fury at the Aldmeri Dominion going for as long as she lived, and then longer still.

Delphine was pacing in the main hall of Cloud Ruler temple as her blood boiled in her veins. The Grandmaster had called her home right before the Aldmeri Dominion began their war against the Empire. However, they had been waging a shadow war with the Blades for nearly five years before that. The Blades thought that they would be more than a match for the Thalmor and their agents, but that wasn't the case. Every encounter had been a hard-fought clash out of the public eye, and there were many encounters. Eventually though, the Thalmor got ambitious, so they sent their army out and killed every Blades agent they knew of and could get their hands on in their territory. Delphine had gotten out just in time to avoid it, but a lot of her friends hadn't.

The door that connected the main hall to the Grandmaster's quarters opened and Delphine looked as the man walked in. He was a breton of small stature and lean muscle. He was getting older and his hair was mostly the color of steel, complementing the light armor he was wearing. He had started to gather wrinkles across his face, as well as smile lines at the corners of his eyes. However, he wasn't smiling now.

"Sir." Delphine knelt before the man and bowed her head. "You asked to see me?"

The Grandmaster nodded, "I did. Now, rise and follow me. This is a conversation that requires privacy." He waited for Delphine to get up before leading her to a side room.

Delphine looked at the room. It was a big room with no windows and only one door. It had a table placed in the middle of the room with a large map of Tamriel. There were chairs placed around the table, as well as small figures placed on the map. Delphine recognized this place. It was the Blades' war room, where the Grandmaster and his trusted agents would meet and plot against the Empire's enemies. Delphine had only been in here a handful of times. She walked over to the table and looked down at the map. There were two sets of figures, one representing the Empire's Legions, and the other set represented the Aldmeri Dominion's armies. She was shocked to see just how far into Cyrodiil and Hammerfell the Dominion's forces had made it, and how few Legions there were to oppose them.

"Grandmaster, is this accurate? Rihad, Taneth, and Leyawiin have all fallen?" She asked, the fire in her growing once more as she thought of all the soldiers who had died because of the Thalmor.

The Grandmaster nodded. "I'm afraid it is. Our field agents have been sending messenger ravens with reports, and each one is darker than the last. The Empire wasn't ready for this. Just as we underestimated the Thalmor, the Empire has underestimated the Aldmeri Dominion's martial power. The Emperor needs us to lend a hand, and we need to avenge our brother's and sisters." Delphine noticed a fire, much like her own, shining in the old man's eyes as he spoke. "So, I have an assignment for you."

Delphine nodded. "Yes sir, I'll do anything you require of me."

The Grandmaster smiled. "I knew you'd say that. I need you to go south, towards Bravil. The army under Lord Naarifin's command has begun a march towards the city from Leyawiin. Your mission is to do anything in your power to sabotage that force. Kill their officers, poison their supplies, damage their equipment, whatever you can do, do it.

"I understand sir. I'll get ready to leave immediately." Delphine turned and headed towards the door. The Grandmaster called to her as she reached the door.

"Delphine, one more thing. You're one of the most capable agents we have. Only a handful of your brothers and sisters could keep up with you, and they are all already deployed to different tasks. So, you're going to have to do this alone. If I send anyone else with you, they'll slow you down. The Empire can't afford that."

Delphine smiled slyly. "Thank you Grandmaster. I prefer to work alone anyways." She left the room, and headed towards her room. It was a quiet, uneventful walk. Most of the Blades had been sent to Skyrim and High Rock to make sure that the Thalmor didn't try to blindside the Empire by striking the provinces not already directed involved in the war. Because of that, the temple was mostly empty, not that there were many Blades there at any one point anyways. In fact, most of the Blades had been involved in the fight against the Thalmor in the southern provinces. So, with one fell swoop, the Blades had actually lost the majority of their members to the Aldmeri Dominion.

Delphine arrived at her room and started packing up her few possessions. She didn't have much, only a few trinkets she'd been given as gifts from friends. So, she gathered what she owned and put them in a small satchel. Then, she put on her armor. It wasn't heavy, but she didn't wear it unless she was going into the field. However, she always kept her sword on her.

Once Delphine was ready she went to the few Blades still at Cloud Ruler and said her good-byes. She wasn't particularly close to any of them, but they were still family. They offered her various words of encouragement, and she promised each of them that she would see justice done for the family they had lost. None of them mentioned that she probably wasn't going to be coming back anytime soon, if at all. Blades were extremely talented, but they tended to die young. That was why there were so many katana's hanging throughout Cloud Ruler, and why a cart full of heads had arrived at the Imperial Palace. It was something all Blades knew about and accepted when they joined the order.

Delphine got a horse from the stable and left Cloud Ruler Temple, beginning the slow descent down from the mountain fortress. One month ago, she had rode up the mountain as her friends were slaughtered in Valenwood and the Summerset Isles. Now, she rode down the mountain as soldiers and agents of the Empire were slaughtered everywhere. She knew she had to do something about that, or that fire in her, it would consume her.

So, Delphine rode. She would ride past Bruma. She would ride down the Silver road. She would ride around the Red Ring. She would ride until she found the Aldmeri Dominion armies. Then, she would be a ghost among them. She would strike quickly and quietly. Her enemies would crumble to ash in the flame of her righteous wrath. The fire was still there. It always would be. So she'd burn her enemies with it, until there was nothing left to burn.

A/N: Sorry for how short this chapter is. I have a lot of plans for Delphine, but I had to set her up, as this is a younger more passionate Delphine than we see in Skyrim. Also, this story marks a shift that's going to become more apparent in later chapters. Instead of only recounting what was very directly stated as happening, this series is going to start involving a lot of things that very well could've happened, and might've happened for all we know. Anyways, as always please leave a review and follow if you want to keep up-to-date. I hope you enjoyed the story and I hope you have a lovely day.