~O~

A Blade in the Dark

Anja remained in Whiterun to recuperate from her journey.

She occasionally wrote letters to Serana and her mother, and performed menial tasks for Ulfric as needed. But there had been more she needed to do if she had any hope of defeating Alduin. The dragons appeared frequently and in greater numbers. There was much more she had to learn.

A courier was directed to Anja and he approached, holding out a letter. She frowned curiously and took it in hand, studying the writing.

Dragonborn-

I need to speak to you. Urgently.

Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you.

-A friend

Anja pondered this. A friend? Who else did she know in Riverwood who needed to speak with her? She folded the letter up and tucked it into her armor.

"So what now, Princess?" Sanguine's voice was still there.

"I'm going to Riverwood." Anja replied, making her way out of the inn.

"You sure?" Sanguine asked, "It could be a trap."

"It could be. But I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to try."

Sanguine followed her, whistling casually.

"This is delightful, isn't it?" he said, "The two of us bonding on the road again!" He passed a crowd of Dunmer and took the form of Serana. "I can play the role of attractive vampire!"

Anja rolled her eyes. "Stop it."

Sanguine wasn't seen by the mortals around him, but it still concerned Anja that they eventually would. Daedra were fickle creatures.

She wandered out of the city on horseback and a little ways down the road, spotted a broken wagon off to the side. A man dressed in colorful clothes was nearby, his high-pitched voice high with frustration.

A jester? Here?

"Agh! Bother and befuddle! Stuck here! Stuck! My mother, my poor mother." he griped. "Unmoving. At rest, but too still!"

Anja dismounted her horse and approached, uncertain. "Excuse me?" she said.

The man turned to her with an impatient groan. "Poor Cicero is stuck. Can't you see?" he insisted, "I was transporting my dear, sweet mother."

He grinned a little, his eyes widened with humor. "Well, not her. Her corpse! She's quite dead. I'm taking mother to a new home. A new crypt. But... aggh! Wagon wheel! Damnedest wagon wheel! It broke! Don't you see?"

Anja noticed the wagon wheel in pieces along the road.

"Oh, that is a problem." she said. "Well...maybe I can help?"

Cicero grinned happily and danced, clapping his hands. "Oh. Oh yes! Yes, the kindly stranger can certainly help! Go to the farm - the Loreius Farm." He pointed to a farm nearby in question. "Just over there, off the road. Talk to Loreius. He has tools! He can help me! But he won't! He refuses! Convince Loreius to fix my wheel!"

Anja grimaced. "I see."

"Do that, and poor Cicero will reward you. With coin! Gleamy, shiny coin!" The jester shook a purse filled with gold in her face.

Anja nodded, despite her uncertainty. Cicero was quite a bit off his rocker.

She found a man at the farm, sitting in a chair. Loreius.

He groaned and threw his hands in the air. "Oh for Mara's sake, what now?" he snapped, rising when he spotted Anja approaching.

"Let me guess, this is about Cicero?" he said, before Anja could reply. "Crazy fool's asked me to fix his broken wagon wheel five times. He won't take no for an answer. Why can't he just leave us alone?"

Anja frowned. "I admit, he's a bit strange, but he will pay you for your time."

The farmer scowled. "Pay me? You think this is about money? Have you seen the man? He's completely out of his head." he snapped. "A jester? Here, in Skyrim? Ain't been a merryman in these parts for a hundred years. And he's transporting some giant box. Says it's a coffin, and he's going to bury his mother. Mother my eye. He could have anything in there. War contraband. Weapons. Skooma. Ain't no way I'm getting involved in any of that."

For some reason, the thought of "madness" made Anja tense. It just served to remind her of her sister...

"Regardless, he just needs help." she said, with an edge. "I'm sure he'll leave once you do."

Loreius squinted at her angrily. "What? And just who in Mara's name are you, anyway? Hmm? Come here, telling me my business." he spat. "And for what? To help a... a... a fool!"

"Fool or not. He's just in need of helping. Would the grace of Lady Mara allow you to turn a blind eye to someone in need?"

Loreius withered a little. "Look, I... I..." he began. He let out a defeated sigh. "You're right. You're right. Feller might be nutters, might not. But fact is, he needs help. I turn him away, what kind of man am I, hmm?"

"Why don't you just give me the tools and I'll take care of it?" Anja suggested, taking the bucket of tools sitting nearby. "I would not inconvenience you any further."

Loreius wavered and started to argue, but Anja was already making her way down the road to Cicero.

The jester brightened when he saw her approach with the tools.

"Sorry. Loreius was busy. So I offered to help." she told him.

Cicero clapped happily. "Oh stranger! You have made Cicero so happy! So jubilant and ecstatic!" he cried, gleeful. "But more! Even more! My mother thanks you!"

Anja nodded, making a face. She wanted nothing more than to be done with this.

"It's fine. I've worked on my father's farm fixing these things," she told him. "Shouldn't be long. Do you have a spare wheel?"

"I do! I do!"

She had him lift one end of the wagon, just enough for her to hammer the new wheel in. As she worked, she could barely make out the sound of an aged voice.

"Poor sweet Cicero. He will never hear my voice..."

Anja paused and looked around, wondering where the voice came from. She frowned thoughtfully and shrugged before resuming her work.

Once all was said and done, Cicero handed her a purse of gold coins. Anja was a bit impressed with how much he offered.

"For your troubles! Shiny, clinky gold!" Cicero said, happy, "A few coins for a kind deed! And thank you! Thank you again."

"This is more than a few coins, Cicero."

"It's no trouble! No amount of gold is too much for mother's happiness!"

Anja nodded. "Well...all right then. I'll be off. Stay safe."

"Thank you! I will!"

Anja climbed onto her horse and watch Cicero depart with a happy whistle. What a peculiar little man he was, but he seemed harmless enough.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Princess."

O

Anja arrived at Riverwood late in the evening.

She entered the Sleeping Giant Inn and met up with Delphine as the note instructed.

"Hello," she said, "I'm here to rent the attic room?"

Delphine reacted a little with surprise. "Attic room, eh? Well... we don't have an attic room, but you can have the one on the left. Make yourself at home."

Anja looked in the direction she indicated; another room to her left. She walked into the room and Delphine followed her. Anja frowned when she shut the door and turned to her.

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this." she said. She offered the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, to which Anja took.

"Who are you?" Anja asked, suspiciously.

Delphine gestured toward the door. "We need to talk. Follow me."

Anja was still suspicious, keeping her hand on her sword hilt as she followed Delphine to her room. Once the door was closed, she watched Delphine open her wardrobe and revealed a false back panel. Anja looked intrigued as Delphine walked into a secret basement.

Once they were below, Anja marveled the weapon racks, table with a map of dragon burials and shelves filled with books. Delphine turned to her as she leaned against the table.

"The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right." she said.

Anja was still suspicious. "Yes. I am."

"I hope so. But you'll forgive me if I don't assume that something's true just because the Greybeards say so." Delphine said, with a bite to it, "I just handed you the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Does that make me Dragonborn, too?"

Anja glared at her. "I don't need this."

She turned to go, but Delphine's voice halted her. "I didn't go to all this trouble on a whim. I needed to make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap. I'm not your enemy. I already gave you the horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out."

"I have other matters to attend to," Anja told her. "Good luck with...whatever you're doing."

Now it was Delphine's turn to be angry. "I shouldn't let you walk out of here, knowing what you know. But I guess even my paranoia has its limits." she said. "You know where to find me when you change your mind. Because you will. You have to."

She then explained further when Anja hesitated to leave. "I'm part of a group that's been looking for you... well, someone like you, for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn, that is. Before I tell you any more, I need to make sure I can trust you."

Anja snorted. "How do I know I can trust YOU?"

Delphine made an amused sound. "If you don't trust me, you were a fool to walk in here in the first place."

"She's right, you know."

Anja fumed internally at Sanguine's joke. But, she decided to give Delphine the benefit of the doubt.

"Alright then, so why would the Thalmor be looking for you?" she asked.

Delphine sighed, nodding her head. "Yes. We're very old enemies. And if my suspicions are correct, they might have something to do with the dragons returning." she said. "But that isn't important right now. What is important is that you might be Dragonborn."

"So why me?"

"We remember what most don't - that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer." Delphine continued. "You're the only one that can kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul." She looked curious now. "Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"

Anja nodded. "Yes, that's how I first learned I was Dragonborn."

"Good. And you'll have a chance to prove it to me soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life." Delphine went on to explain; she gestured to the map beneath her hands, "They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it."

Anja furrowed her brow. "How do you know they're coming back to life?"

"I know they are. I've visited their ancient burial mounds and found them empty. And I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. If we succeed, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Anja assumed that was fair. "Very well."

"The dragonstone was a map of ancient dragon burial sites. I've looked at which ones are now empty. The pattern is pretty clear. It seems to be spreading from the southeast, down in the Jeralls near Riften." Delphine told her. "The one at Kynesgrove is next if the pattern holds."

Anja leaned over her, looking at the map. There were a few sites circled and crossed out.

"So where next?" she asked.

"Kynesgrove. There's an ancient dragon burial near there. If we can get there before it happens, maybe we'll learn how to stop it."

Anja could not resist her curiosity should the assumption of dragons coming back from the dead be correct. So she nodded her approval.

"Let's go kill a dragon."

O

Anja and Delphine arrived at Kynesgrove, toward Braidwood Inn. Immediately, there was an odd change in the air that made both women freeze where they stood. Anja looked toward a hillside over the inn. She furrowed her brow, concerned.

Delphine looked at her. "Wait. Something's wrong."

The innkeeper suddenly rushed up to them, panicking. "No, you don't want to go up there! A dragon... it's attacking!" she shrieked.

Delphine looked at Anja. "Come on. Hurry. We might be too late."

Anja followed her up the hill. Then, she caught sight of the familiar beast she had seen in Helgen; the jagged, onyx dragon with eyes of Oblivion.

Alduin.

Delphine's eyes widened in shock. "Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard!" she cried. She looked at Anja and they took cover behind the trees. "Keep your head down, let's see what it does."

They drew their weapons and watched Alduin fly overhead; stopping before the dragon burial ground. A beam of light shot up from the earth.

Delphine and Anja watched, stunned to silence.

Alduin hovered in the air, watching as a skeletal form began to emerge from the ground. Claws first, then an entire body crawled from the burial mound. It roared loudly, bones creaking and dust falling from its form.

"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!" Alduin shouted. "Slen tiid vo! (Let your flesh be restored)!"

Sahloknir's bones shuddered and muscle began to appear, along with internal organs and finally, flesh. Reddish, tinted flesh speckled with blue spots.

"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik (Alduin, my overlord! An age past, did you not destroy the power of the ancient kings)?" Sahloknir bellowed, his deep voice resonating in the air.

Alduin responded in kind. "Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir (Yes, Sahloknir, my trusted ally)."

Delphine and Anja approached slowly and the red-eyed dragon noticed them. Immediately, he inhaled, addressing Anja.

"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi (So, my false Dragonborn? I do not recognize you as dragon)." he rumbled.

Anja clutched her sword tighter. She was fortunate that Delphine could not understand dragon language. Oh, what a horrid conversation that would be for a dragon-killer.

Alduin chuckled deeply, his chest swelling with each rumble. "You do not even know our tongue, do you?" he sneered. "Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah. Sahloknir, krii daar joorre. (Sahloknir, kill these mortals)."

Sahloknir turned to them with a show of his teeth.

Anja squared herself with a scowl.

She watched Alduin disappear into the clouds with a fierce Shout that would summon Durnehviir. Delphine could only watch in disbelief as the undead dragon appeared and took to the skies at Anja's command. The dragon pursued Alduin and they turned attention to Sahloknir.

"I'll explain later," Anja told her, "Let's kill this dragon!"