Chapter 56 - To the Blades

Author's Note: Those of you who think I dislike Delphine are right, and Ysshaya likes her even less. Also, I had to use her proper name this time, because she sure isn't going to let current-day Blades call her Grams.


Yssha had Odaviing drop his riders off at the foot of Ancient's Ascent, outside Bonechill Passage. Since this was to be a demonstration, he would just watch, unless things went catastrophically wrong. Assuming, of course, one of the remaining feral dragons was lairing here. Even if so, they might have to wait, if it was hunting.

By the time the three neared the Word Wall, Yssha was beginning to believe they were going to be waiting, but as Raan pushed into her, she heard an angry dragon roar. "Dovahkiin! Hi dir daar sul!"

She turned, drawing Dragonbane, and Shouted, "Joor Zah Frul!"

It crashed to the ground maybe a hundred feet away. Marcurio began casting lightning at it while she ran forward. She stabbed into its throat as soon as she got close enough, then leaped onto its head when he lowered it to snap at her. That was its doom, because she could use Dragonbane to drive through its skull into its brain, and it collapsed under her.

She jumped off as it began disintegrating, murmuring a prayer for its soul as she'd done since ... what was it, the second or third one she'd killed? She wasn't sure it did any good, since the soul pushed into her as usual and she absorbed it, but it made her feel better.

She salvaged the bones, scales, and loot, then returned to the other two. Seconds later, Odahviing joined them.

"You made that look easy," Grams complimented her.

"Much easier than it was at first, before I learned the Dragonrend Shout," Yssha agreed. "Now I can use that, rather than having to rely on ranged weapon and spell attacks to bring one down. And Dragonbane was made and enchanted specifically to kill dragons, so as soon as I can get close enough, the fight ends quickly."

"It looks like an Akaviri katana."

"It is. Delphine said it was made for one of the early Dragonborns, then forgotten, along with the location of Sky Haven Temple."

"You've been there? I heard some tales about it when I was at Cloud Ruler Temple. Stories of the Akaviri carvings, and something called Alduin's Wall. I'd like to see it."

"Certainly," Yssha said. "I will take you to the entrance, but I would prefer not to go in. There are two surviving Blades there, and they want nothing to do with me since I refuse to kill Paarthurnax."

"Who's Paarthurnax? A friend of yours?"

"Friend and mentor," Yssha replied. "He is the Grandmaster of the Greybeards, a dragon who lives at the top of Throat of the World. He taught me the Fire Breath shout I showed you yesterday so I could greet him properly, and he could test my Thu'um, my dragon shout. And he enabled me to learn Dragonrend, which was essential to defeating Alduin, along with helping me with his defeat the first time we fought. Without his aid, Alduin would still be a soul-devouring menace both here and in Sovngarde.

"So I refuse to kill him, for what I consider very good reasons." Yssha cocked her head. "Nor do I consider them very good Blades, after the stories you told us. They claim to be sworn to serve and protect the Dragonborn, but even before we met, their Acting Grandmaster Delphine stole something I needed to take to the Greybeards, then refused to believe me until I killed a dragon for her.

"Nor have her attempts to manipulate me stopped, as in refusing me aid unless I kill Paarthurnax. At least Esbern believed me when I told him I was Dovahkiin."

"Oh really." Yssha winced at Grams' flat tone and laid-back ears. That meant bad trouble for someone, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't aimed at her, this time. "It looks like I need to 'port home and change into my Blades gear before we go visiting. I'll meet you back at Lakeview." She vanished.

"I think we have just been given marching orders," Odahviing said, sounding amused. "Your ancestress is a formidable woman, thuri. I think we had best obey." He extended his wing.

"Yes, she is, and we should indeed." She and Marcurio mounted.

About half an hour later, Grams arrived at Lakeview Manor, clad in polished Imperial Dragon armor. "I changed my mind," Grams said at Yssha's quizzical look. "Blades armor is all over the place, but Ocato had this made especially for me after Martin ... rejoined Akatosh. Let's go."

It wasn't long before they landed at the Karthspire, and Yssha led the other two inside, to the entrance to Sky Haven Temple. Grams turned to her. "I think you should come along, youngster, because I'm about to pull rank, and I think you'd enjoy seeing it. You lead the way, and if this Delphine gets on your case, I'll take over."

"Yes, Grams." Yssha was faintly amused at the way ingrained obedience to Grams took over from her reluctance. She led the way into the Temple and the Alduin's Wall room, where Delphine, Esbern, and two others in Blades armor were chatting at the table.

Delphine saw her and rose. "Have you come to tell us you've killed Paarthurnax?"

"No. As I told you, that is something I will never do."

"Then why in Oblivion are you here? You know you aren't welcome."

Grams stepped forward. "She's here because I asked her to come." She glared at Delphine, then at Esbern. "You refuse to serve the Dragonborn as you're sworn to? How dare you call yourselves Blades!"

"And who in Oblivion do you think you are?" Delphine snapped. "You have no right - "

Esbern interrupted. "I'm afraid she does. I don't know if you ever met her, but that is Ysshaya, Champion of Cyrodiil and Emperor Martin Septim's best friend. She's been a Blade for over two hundred years. She has seniority over both of us."

"And I'm back on active duty," Ysshaya said. She turned to Delphine. "Given how you've dishonored your oath, Acting Grandmaster, you may not know that in the absence of a formal change of command, that seniority makes me Grandmaster. Now explain yourself."

"I ... ah, well, I had to be sure she was really Dragonborn. So I found the back entrance to Ustengrav, and took the Horn. I gave it to her as soon as she showed up!"

"And then decided to make her kill a dragon as proof of her identity, when a Shout would have sufficed. Then you demanded she kill the individual who enabled her to defeat Alduin. Great good gods, woman! Just who do you think you are, trying to order the Dragonborn around?"

Delphine remained silent, to Yssha's surprise.

Ysshaya turned to her greats-granddaughter. "What do you wish me to do with these, Dragonborn? I at least remember the obligations I swore to."

Yssha was unable to respond for a few seconds. Grams deferring to her was ... unnatural, somehow. But she remembered almost regretting having killed off the Dark Brotherhood, because they would have been useful against the Thalmor. "Ah, from your stories and some things I learned from Delphine, the Blades were quite good at undercover work. But I could never be quite sure if that included assassination."

Grams winced. "It did. And you took my advice about the Dark Brotherhood, so you need new ones. All right, but not a new Dark Brotherhood. Sithis gave up on me long ago, and you sent the Night Mother to Oblivion when you burned her body, hopefully to one of the nastier realms. Akatosh will keep her from returning. The Blades will remain true to Dragonborn and Empire, but it'll take a while to train them to proper standards, not to mention rebuilding their numbers." She grinned.

"Let's see. The Penitus Oculatus guards the Emperor and provides an intelligence service, but their numbers are limited outside Cyrodiil. The Skyguard protects you and helps the Legion and others. So the new Blades will both provide supplemental intelligence and assassination services. You know, I think I'm glad I came out of retirement."

"I know I am." Yssha wanted very much to hug her, but not here, and definitely not in front of Delphine. Having been through Grams' training herself, a small part of her felt sorry for the Blades, especially the two new ones, but she'd survived, and so would they.

She turned her attention to Delphine. "One more thing. This Temple is quite isolated, so you may not have heard that a large number of dragons are sworn to me, so for all practical purposes, they are Imperial citizens. No dragon is to be attacked unless it attacks first. My lieges are part of the Skyguard, and learning to enjoy working with and helping humans."

That last part is very hard to believe," Delphine said. "But I've just been reprimanded for disbelieving and over-testing you, so I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." She was clearly unhappy, but Yssha was glad that at least she wasn't arguing.

"You might be happier to hear that His Majesty has disavowed the White-Gold Concordat, so we are at war with the Aldmeri Dominion. Thalmor, but not random Altmer, may be killed on sight, at least in Skyrim."

"Finally some good news!" Delphine exclaimed. "All right, we'll leave your dragons alone, and start taking the Thalmor on."

"That's good," Grams said. "Oh, and if we're going to restore the Blades, we really ought to restore the Order of Talos for you to retire to. Esbern, would you like to handle that part?"

The old man chuckled. "Why not? I've been living like a monk in the Ratway under Riften for a quarter century, and I'm really too old to go out on missions any more. Given the condition of Cloud Ruler Temple at the moment, I suppose I'd better start it here."

"That will work until we can get Cloud Ruler Temple and Weynon Priory rebuilt," Grams agreed. "And since you're the only one so far, I guess you're automatically Grandmaster of the Order." She turned to Delphine. "Once I'm sure of you actually serving the Dragonborn as you should, and the numbers justify the position, I'll probably name you Master of a Blades installation."

Delphine nodded. "I'll do what I can to prove myself, Grandmaster."

"And try not to get yourself killed. You obviously know about secrecy and espionage, to survive the Thalmor this long, and that's going to be our primary focus, so recruit on the basis of those skills."

"Yes, Grandmaster," Delphine said again. "Will you be staying here?"

"Not right now; I'm on a mission for the Emperor at the moment, but I'll stay for a couple of days when that's done. Afterward, it depends on what other missions he has for me. I'll expect you to do the basic training, but I'll be teaching the advanced for a while until you have it down well enough to pass along."

"Is there anything else?" Delphine asked.

"Not from me," Grams replied.

"I do have one thing," Yssha said. "I know you are dubious at best about the Skyguard, but there are only four of you, and a large camp of Forsworn below. If you require assistance, fly a red flag or spread a red cloth where it can be seen from the air, and the Skyguard will provide it. We are patrolling this entire province, and starting to extend to the rest of the Empire."

Delphine looked like she'd eaten something sour, but nodded. "All right, Dragonborn, if it's something we can't handle."

"Good," Grams said. "I think that concludes our discussion for today." She left Sky Haven Temple, with the other two following. When they were outside, she turned to Yssha. "Do you think that solved your problem?"

"I cannot know just yet, but at least she did not insist again on me killing Paarthurnax as we left. That is an improvement in itself." She sighed. "Had she not stolen the Horn, we would have gotten off to a better start, but between that, being forced to kill a dragon for her before she would tell me anything, and then wanting me to kill Paarthurnax, it is hard for me to be polite to her."

"She does better than I would," Marcurio said.

"I was about to lose control of my temper before we left the inn to prevent that, if you remember," Yssha said.

"You?" Grams said in a surprised tone. "That doesn't sound like you at all!"

"It is not, with anyone else. There is just something about her that ruffles my fur the wrong way." She changed the subject. "What would you like to do now? The day is still young."

"Get some lunch, then talk to some of the people you know, starting with Paarthurnax. He sounds very interesting. The Greybeards were, as well, but I noticed only one of them speaks."

"Master Arngeir, yes. He is the only one who has sufficient control of Voice to do so safely to outsiders other than me. The others are so used to silence except for Voice practice that they will not speak even to me, knowing they cannot hurt me. I do not know if it was audible in Cyrodiil, but in their formal recognition, all four of them were Shouting at me simultaneously. I was badly shaken, but not injured."

"If that was the one that mentioned Ysmir, yes, we heard it in Cyrodiil. But only a few scholars understood it, and they weren't sure what it meant."

"Basically they were acknowledging me as Dragonborn, and naming me Ysmir, Dragon of the North. They said they used the same words they had used to acknowledge Tiber Septim."

"Interesting. Let's go eat, then get a lift to Paarthurnax."

Paarthurnax was perched on his Word Wall when they arrived, and greeted them as soon as they dismounted. "'Drem yol lok, Dovahkiin. You and yours are welcome to my strunmah. Will you introduce me to the one I do not know?"

"Drem yol lok, Paarthurnax. Certainly - I introduce my greats-grandmother Ysshaya, Champion of Cyrodiil and many other titles. It was she, working with Emperor Martin, who ended the Oblivion Crisis."

'I am honored to meet you," Paarthurnax said. "Your greats-granddaughter follows in your footsteps as a world-saver."

"And I to meet you, her friend and mentor," Grams replied. "By the way, you don't have to worry about the Blades trying to kill you any more."

Paarthurnax looked at her curiously. "I cannot fault them for trying. I was Alduin's chief lieutenant, and did all too many evil things before Kynareth convinced me and a few others to rebel against him and help the joorre. Nor can I blame them for not trusting me. Until Dovahkiin became thur, dragons were as treacherous as Alduin himself. Unfortunately, some still are.

"But tell me, Champion of Cyrodiil, how did you accomplish that wonder?"

Grams grinned. "Simple. I'm the longest-serving Blade, so since Delphine was never properly named to the position, I pulled time-in-service and took over as Grandmaster, then reminded them of their oaths."

"I am grateful," Paarthurnax said, ducking his head. "Perhaps now I can dispel my protective mist and have an occasional joor visitor. Some of the ones Dovahkiin has told me about would be interesting to hold tinvaak with."

Yssha studied her old mentor carefully. Something about him looked different ... "You are looking better than I have ever seen you, fahdoni," she said. "I am very happy to see that."

"And I am happy to feel it," the dovah agreed. "Ever since you destroyed Alduin and I was free to leave the Tiid-Ahraan for more than a brief hunt, I have been growing stronger, with more energy - feeling more like my younger self. It is ... very pleasant. The thought of immortality in an aging and aching body has very little to recommend it, I can assure you, but I am incapable of comprehending the idea of my own death."

"I don't know whether to envy you or pity you," Grams said thoughtfully. "I've already outlived most of my loved ones, and I'm not even immortal, just very long-lived thanks to magic. That isn't exactly fun, either. But I know that sooner or later some of my descendants will bury me and I'll be welcomed somewhere in Aetherius, where I'll rejoin those who went before. Being mortal has its consolations."

She shook herself as if to dry off. "That sounded morbid, didn't it? That's not how I meant it. I've had a long and mostly happy life, and Aetherius will be even better." She turned to Yssha. "You and Marcurio have been to Shor's realm, so you know."

"Yes, we do. It is incredible there, and I have peen promised I will be able to return some day. But I have too much to do here in Mundus to leave any time soon." She smiled. "But this is not the time or place to discuss theology." She turned to Paarthurnax. "Grams is here to learn about my abilities and what I have become. If the rest of you will excuse me, I prefer not to be present at such a discussion, so that you will be comfortable speaking freely. I have been wanting to try some of the potion recipes I have either found or bought, so I will 'port home and work on that, as well as starting on dragonscale armor for Nevan and possibly Serana, if I have enough scales."

Odahviing gape-grinned. "Just tell Dovgrahaak - or I will - that you want any scales lost in combat training. You will have enough in a few days."

"I will let you do that, then, and thank you. You should be in on this discussion, as my first vahriin, so I will teleport home. You can bring Grams and Marcurio when the tinvaak is over."

"Of course, thuri."