"I feel like… like we're being watched."
Aeyrin twirled in place while she looked around the area with narrowed eyes. It wasn't very effective. Anywhere the eye could see, there was only wilderness – the rocky plains, the loud running river and the sparse trees.
She's had this uncomfortable feeling ever since they've left the inn and started heading towards the small village of Karthwasten. But every time when she was certain that she knew where the stares were coming from, there was no one and nothing there in sight.
"I… don't think so. If nothing else, Karnwyr would have noticed," Bishop looked around the area carefully too, but he couldn't locate anything suspicious. The wolf was running only a short distance away from them as well and he didn't seem uneasy at all. One of them would have surely noticed someone following them by now.
"You're just… rattled from all that shit from last night, sweetness. I wouldn't worry about it. Who'd be watching us here anyway?" he scoffed a bit, but his own rhetorical question made him uncomfortable. It was not like they didn't have scores of potential enemies already.
Aeyrin still tried to imagine the answer to that question, even though he didn't really expect one. Maybe there were Thalmor around. Maybe they knew about the secret temple, waiting for any Blades to appear. Maybe the one at the College followed them all the way here.
It was ridiculous. Either paranoia came with getting involved with the Blades or…
Or she was just trying to distract herself in any way that she could.
After everything that was revealed last night, she knew exactly what was coming. She could see it from miles away. The wall would tell a story of how armies of the north and, Gods-knew-who-else at that time, allied to bring the eternal beasts down. How they had hundreds of mages working on some ancient powerful ritual or how the Dwemer tonal architects defeated Alduin with their lost art.
And then she'd know for certain that she was doomed. Alone. Powerless.
All alone against the beast that was believed to bring the end of the world.
Maybe she'd prefer to remain oblivious to this inevitability. Was unending uncertainty somehow preferable to the hopelessness of the truth? She wasn't quite sure. Both of those options sounded horrifying.
But, for better or worse, there wasn't much time left for her to dwell in her nerve-racking ignorance.
Soon, they would find that temple and that wall. Soon they would find out how the ancient Nords defeated Alduin.
Soon they would all know for certain that the world was doomed.
…
It only took a little over an hour before Bishop and Aeyrin reached the small village above the Karth River, but the sight of it surprised them. It definitely wasn't something that they had expected at this time of day.
It was completely empty, completely silent.
Karthwasten was a mining village, so it was natural to assume that the majority of its population was working at the mine, but it was unusual to see literally no one around. Where were the miners' families and children? Where were the guards? The place would have appeared long abandoned altogether if it wasn't for the recently discarded pickaxes and wheelbarrows full of ore scattered all around the mine entrance.
It was obvious that something frightened the miners into hiding.
"Psst! Over here!" suddenly, a ridiculously loud whisper echoed through the village, right by one of the houses. Delphine was crouching there by the building's wall in her leather armor, as if she was scared of anyone seeing her there, even miners and their families. Hopefully the old temple they were heading to would be secure and somewhat livable. That woman obviously sorely needed a place to relax without having to hide inside closets constantly.
"Come! Quick!" Instead of approaching, Delphine crept away again and Aeyrin and Bishop followed after her, but only after they'd shared an exasperated look.
They followed her some distance away from the village before she finally stopped creeping and looking back over her shoulder. At last she turned her head towards the two of them and, this time, she spoke to them at a regular volume: "There's a Forsworn tribe camped by the entrance to the temple. And we've seen a dragon fly by in the distance. It's probably the reason for the villagers hiding out, but that only served in our favor. Anyway, we should get rid of both those threats before we proceed. We don't know what the temple's like at all. It may be accessible from the skies or from the mountains and it would be better not to get attacked or followed while we're exploring it."
"Can't we just… talk to the Forsworn?" Aeyrin scowled at her. So what if they were camped by the temple? They likely had no interest in anything inside, let alone some wall. What would the Forsworn want with ancient Akaviri tales about dragons?
Delphine gave Aeyrin a disturbed and confused look while Bishop only chuckled lightly at her. It was obvious that they didn't think it a viable option at all, but she'd show them! Not everything needed to be solved with violence.
They didn't discuss the situation further after the wordless response though and all three of them continued further along the river until they reached an edge of the rocky hill that they've been scaling. The noise had alerted them to what was happening a long time ago, as well as the occasional silhouette of the beast in the skies in the distance did, but now they finally got a chance to stare down at the scene below the cliff properly.
There was a Forsworn camp set up upon some wooden platforms, suspended upon the wide river. The dragon in the area had apparently wasted no time and it decided to attack the encampment below – a myriad of fur tents were already burning steadily and so were some parts of the wooden planks above the Karth River which were keeping the camp conveniently above the water. It could all come crashing down into the strong stream at any moment. The Bretons below, who were all dressed rather sparsely in furs and pelts, kept running around, aiming their bows at the beast in panic or leaping upwards with their strange swords in their hands. They were almost twirling in the air, trying to hit the bottom of the dragon's tail at least. They were all so fast and agile. And so… wild. They really looked fearsomely impressive in battle.
Esbern was crouching behind one of the stone outcroppings just below them, watching the scene without interfering in any way. Bishop and Delphine made no move to get down from their vantage point either and Aeyrin understood that they all intended to just wait things out. They would have an easier battle on their hands after the dragon and the Forsworn killed each other off, or at least after they tired each other out, but… those were still people down there, no matter how 'barbaric' everyone claimed they were.
They needed help.
"FEIM!"
Her Shout echoed throughout the canyon and she jumped down from their vantage point, landing safely right next to Esbern. She could have sworn that she heard Bishop's groan of annoyance from above as she did.
Esbern's eyes went wide when he noticed her form next to him. He peered at her shimmering translucent form for a long time while he seemed to be studying her both reverently and scholarly, like she was some ancient artifact that he had just uncovered. Well… to him, she probably was.
She left him no more time to examine her though and she jumped even further down from the small plateau that Esbern had been hiding on. It was only a short fall now and the whole cliff was pretty scalable, but why waste the time? The dragon could demolish the suspended encampment at any second.
When she finally reached the Forsworn camp, the dragon spotted her instantly, setting its sights solely on her as she rushed across the half-burned platform. Her body was still blue and translucent, but it was dissipating steadily. Some of the Forsworn around stopped in their vicious assault on the beast and, instead, they began staring at her in shock. But others didn't relent and they continued attacking the dragon in any way they could.
Aeyrin noticed an arrow shoot from the vantage point where Bishop remained and, a short while later, there was a noise behind her. Some of the Forsworn started shouting, forcing her to look back and in her rush, she briefly spotted what the commotion was about. There was a large storm atronach trying to make its way towards her. Did Esbern do that? Or did one of the Forsworn?
No matter. She had a bigger enemy to contend herself with. The Forsworn certainly didn't seem to be protesting about her charging across their platform, so it was probably safe to assume that they weren't concerned with her as much as they were concerned with the large beast.
She turned her attention back to the dragon quickly as she rushed onwards. Her ethereal form was gone already and the creature's eyes were still fastened on her, despite the Forsworn assaults on its hovering form. It heaved before it opened its jaw, revealing the slight fiery light at the back of its throat.
"WULD!"
Aeyrin disappeared from the platform in an instant and she found herself on the other bank of the wild river. The dragon caught on, however, and the steady stream of fire that was already escaping its maw began moving across the platform as it turned towards her, scorching the ground below right where she stood. Fortunately, she jumped out of the way at the last second and she managed to quickly hide behind her shield from the small gust of flames that still reached out for her at the edge of the dragon's attack radius.
A loud noise echoed through the gorge as part of the wooden platform cracked suddenly and dislodged from the rest of the structure. The wide planks practically disappeared in the torrents of the river and all that could have been found on that part of the structure began escaping down the fast stream along with one large tent and one poor screaming Forsworn. The planks shattered across the rocks in the river, but the noises from the entire event, along with the Forsworn warrior's screams, got quickly drowned out by the roar of the dragon.
The battle was a complete chaos. Arrows were flying everywhere while the lightning from the atronach struck the hovering beast periodically. Aeyrin could have sworn that she saw Delphine running towards her across the platform with her sword drawn, but she quickly had to pay attention to the dragon again. It was under constant assault of arrows and, at times, there was a flash of faint-green light where the arrows from Bishop's enchanted bow stuck into its flesh. Sadly, the paralysis still had no effect on the large creature.
The dragon descended down to the ground at last, right next to Aeyrin. It was still facing her, despite the attacks from all fronts and its look was malicious and hateful in between the occasional roars of pain from the arrows. Aeyrin was the one doing the least damage to it currently yet it still ignored its assailants. It must have really wanted her dead.
But she met it head on, rushing forward with her mace drawn. Before the dragon could react again, she smashed it against its jaw with a powerful swing, making its skull vibrate intensely. Some of the Forsworn warriors managed to get to the dragon as well in the meantime and they instantly began stabbing at the beast in a mesmerizing flurry of swift swords. They were all soon enough joined by Delphine with her own lithe blade.
The dragon was only seconds away from death.
Their combined efforts were overwhelming and it slumped to the ground helplessly soon enough. The Forsworn stopped their attacks while the atronach disappeared and everyone was now just standing by the dragon motionlessly, staring at the corpse with anticipation.
Everyone except for Aeyrin.
She instantly looked around to see where Bishop was. The other bank was pretty far and she wasn't sure if he would make it in time. She wasn't even sure where he ended up by the end of the battle. It was likely too late, the beast was already lighting up with flames and the overly-familiar light.
She kneeled down right after she clasped her mace back to her belt. There was not much else she could do but close her eyes and brace herself for the inevitable. She had to withstand it alone. She'd have to do that sooner or later in any case – battle or other circumstances could have split her and Bishop apart at any time, it was ridiculous not to feel ready for this, wasn't it?
Behind her closed eyelids she could see the brightness of the light shooting at her. She could have sworn that she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, but it retracted instantly, torn away from her as the sensations overwhelmed her senses again.
There was something stuck to the soles of her feet, pressing in and burning intensely, as if she was standing on hot coals. A shiver ran down her spine at the sensation and a slight heat spread across her back when it was gone. It was almost oddly soothing, at first, but a second later, the heat got worse. And then it got worse again, scorching her skin, stinging all over her back and spreading into her very core. It lasted so long. She felt like her bones were drying, getting burned and charred, turning brittle and void of all the marrow. If she moved, she was so sure that each one of them would break under the strain.
She fell backwards. Hard. All the way down to the ground. There was something on her body, but she couldn't concentrate well enough while the heat still tormented her mercilessly.
Slowly it dissipated, but now she was all too aware of something… someone straddling her lap with heavy weight. Only a second later, there was a sharp pressure on three parts of her neck, as if three pointy spikes pressed into it painfully.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
Her eyes snapped open in panic and she could finally see what was going on. Her sights settled instantly on a Forsworn warrior's sneer above her. It took her quite some time to realize that his hands were pressing a crude barbed sword into her throat, intent on piercing her flesh with those spikes and… probably saw her head off right after.
What?! Why was he trying to kill her?! They helped them against the dragon!
She barely even managed to gather her bearings when the pressure on her neck suddenly stopped and she saw the man upon her widen his eyes in shock. He instantly began sputtering blood from his mouth and shaking uncontrollably. The light left his eyes within a second.
His body almost slumped down on Aeyrin before she noticed the familiar black glove grasp the dead Forsworn's shoulder and yank him off her. The body rolled off her lap rather easily and by the time it dropped down limply onto the ground next to her, Bishop was already outstretching his arm to her to help her up. His face was decorated by a shallow gash and his sword was clutched in his other hand, covered in blood and crackling with little lightnings.
Aeyrin took his helping hand eagerly and he hoisted her up to his chest. She was still a little confused about what was happening. She barely got a chance to rile herself up while Bishop squeezed her body to his very briefly before he let go of her again, focusing back on the battle.
Then she finally managed to get a look at her surroundings.
The atronach was back, right in the middle of the platform, fighting off ten Forsworn warriors at once. Esbern was still behind the outcropping on the other bank, but, this time, he peeked out every now and then in order to shoot a thick spike of ice into one of the Bretons, impaling them brutally with it. Delphine was on Aeyrin's side of the bank, along with Bishop, and both of them were fighting off several men with their swords. It looked like they were keeping them away from Aeyrin while she was on the ground, going through the harrowing absorption.
Why were the Forsworn attacking? What happened while she wasn't conscious of her surroundings?
And why was she still staring at the scene instead of helping?
She gripped her mace again to unfasten it from her hip and she quickly lunged at a Forsworn woman who had been relentlessly harassing Bishop with a flurry of stabs that he barely managed to parry. Aeyrin bashed her over the head instantly, sending her crumbling to the ground as blood sprayed over both her and Bishop from the impact against the Forsworn's skull. Bishop gave Aeyrin a brief pleased smirk before another attacker caught his attention by smashing a crude club against his flank.
Before she could help Bishop repel the attack, an arrow swished through the air right by Aeyrin's head. She had almost forgotten about the numbers upon the platform. Some of those warriors were struggling with the atronach and Esbern's spells, but many were still shooting at them from various places.
Bishop and Delphine were still holding the attackers on the bank at bay. This was Aeyrin's perfect chance. It would definitely make the battle a lot easier for all of them.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The Shout, aimed right at the suspended encampment, didn't reach many of the Forsworn archers, but it did have the intended effect. The platform cracked and creaked dangerously and within a matter of seconds, it split apart in several places. Some of the smaller alcoves with tents snapped away from the bulk of the structure first, plummeting down the river rapidly, before the entire thing tore from the ropes, planks and fastenings which had been holding it securely in place, up until now.
A unified feral scream echoed across the canyon as all the Forsworn upon the platform disappeared into the wild rapids. The ear-wrenching sounds got literally drowned so quickly though – all of those people must have gotten drowned, crushed by the torrents or smashed by the broken planks in an instant.
The atronach still floated above the water for a while before it began shooting a veritable storm of spells at the warriors who were still attacking Bishop and Delphine. Esbern didn't waver either. His ice lances were much thinner and smaller with the distance they had to fly, all across the river, but he still managed to kill some of the Forsworn with them.
The battle didn't take long after that – the few remaining warriors were dispatched easily by their joint assault.
When all of the Forsworn were finally dead and they were all sure of their safety from the barbarians, Bishop approached Aeyrin quickly. Without a moment's hesitation, he squeezed her by the shoulder and pressed her towards him with a somewhat apologetic look in his eyes.
"Are you alright, sweetness? Sorry I wasn't with you. The second the dragon was dead… uh… the battle began. I needed to keep them off of you." He planted a brief kiss on the top of her head, but his eyes fastened on Delphine, narrowed dangerously. He had already earned an annoyed eye-roll from her at his display of affection, which didn't escape Aeyrin's notice either.
What was with her?! Did she really have to be so morose all the time?
"Great job, really! If you two are done, how exactly are we getting across the river? The temple's back there!" Delphine crossed her arms over her chest angrily, inclining her head back towards the other bank where Esbern stood by the cliffside.
"Gods, Delphine! There's a bridge by Karthwasten. It's not even a half-hour walk!" Aeyrin shook her head at her. Why was she being so obnoxious?
It was as if Delphine had sensed what Aeyrin was thinking. She looked angry, for a while, and it seemed like she'd snap at Aeyrin with another snide retort, but her face softened after a spell. A deep sigh escaped her lips and there was palpable effort in her voice to remain somewhat composed.
"You're right. It's… we're so close to seeing… I'm just on edge. If it turns out that the wall depicts something… inaccessible to us…" Delphine pinched the bridge of her nose and she shook her head with a hint of despair.
Aeyrin knew exactly what she meant. It has been on her mind constantly too.
"It's fine. We're all on edge… just… try to remember that," Aeyrin sighed. She really hoped that Delphine would get the message and think a little before being abrasive or sniping at Bishop for no reason again. "Let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can… deal with what we find."
…
Esbern led them right through the small crevice between the tall cliffs near the bank of the river.
It was no wonder this was a secret location. No one in their right mind would ever look for an Akaviri temple here. The Forsworn may have found it at some point, but they probably couldn't get inside the temple proper since Esbern had mentioned that it was only opened to the Dragonborn. That boded well for their party.
"So… the worst were these smaller ones," Aeyrin explained while they were traipsing through the crevice further into the mountain. "They were all colorful and they shot this… spell or… energy. I've never seen it. It was like… death. It killed a man instantly and I felt it… kill me… every part of me. That's the one I passed out after. We met a similar one later, but we didn't manage to kill it. That same spell hit Bishop's arm and it killed all the nerves there! We had to hurry to the temple or I don't know if it would have been reversible," she recounted their experience with the various dragons to Esbern eagerly, hopeful to get more information out of the lore-master.
"Well… I wouldn't exactly consider the dragons as coming in various 'types'," Esbern pondered on her words. "From what you're telling me, and from what I've learned by studying the Blades annals, I think that some dragons are more powerful, more experienced. They gain knowledge just like men and mer do. And they learn their speech and their Shouts much like you would. The thing is – you study the knowledge of the dragon priests, those that collected the lore of their dragon overlords and put it all together. The dragons cannot read the Walls, the symbols are not their invention. Some may have learned, but it still doesn't change the fact that not many of these Walls are up on the surface. They cannot explore the dungeons where the dragon priests resided. Take the smaller colorful ones, for instance. Imagine an area that they had inhabited a long time ago, retaining a similar appearance due to either an instant adaptation to their environment, or a gradual one. It all depends on how dragons came to be, of course, but that is… very unclear," Esbern shook his head wryly before he continued.
"More importantly, just like snow trolls reside in snowy regions, these colorful dragons could have come from one region. Now there are two options. Either there were Walls from which all these dragons in the region could have learned, or… they learned from each other. Whether in cooperation under Alduin's rule, or in combat is irrelevant."
Aeyrin nodded thoughtfully while Esbern explained. It made sense. But it did make her feel odd. He made the dragons feel so… human.
"In any case, dragons Shout in combat, just like you do. The fiery and icy breath seem to be widely known powers among them. Perhaps it is innate. Or perhaps Alduin made sure to teach all his brothers, at the very least, some basic powers. After all, not all of them would be able to learn more. Again, it is the same with you. That instinct that you get when you learn a new Word of Power, the instant knowledge on what to do, how to let it out, that comes from the dragon soul. The more powerful your soul gets, the easier it is. It is why Thu'um is so hard to master for anyone with a human soul. There are records of Dragonborn unable to learn more than one single Word of Power, in fact. And this is closely tied to their… battle prowess, if you will. Those who could not learn more were recorded as bed-ridden, wounded in battles and unable to… slay dragons. Unable to absorb their souls, as I suspect."
"So, I can learn the Words easily, because I absorb the souls? It… strengthens my own?" she asked him curiously. It certainly didn't feel like she was getting stronger, but… when she thought about it, controlling the Shouts has been getting a bit easier. Their use was practically second nature to her now.
"That is my theory from what I've gathered in the annals. In any case, the dragons likely use the most powerful Shouts that they know. I would bet that the colorful dragon could hurl fire or frost at you all the same. It simply chose not to. You mentioned the… 'aftertaste' of the Shouts, the feeling in your throat that you get after Shouting. I would be inclined to agree that this is actually why the absorptions of the souls make you feel these… different sensations, depending on the dragon's last Shout. That is, of course, only a guess. I couldn't venture to provide more insight on this as I have never… there are no records on the Dragonborn struggling with the absorption process. There are some hints at something like that, but nothing specific."
That explained a lot, actually. After all, she's never read anywhere about dragons being of certain elemental types or some such – this was at least something that she could imagine a little better. Although there was still a lot that wasn't very clear. She couldn't help but wonder briefly if a dragon would suffer like that after it absorbed her soul. Or was it only the aftertaste in her case because her soul was still too weak? Would she get these horrible feelings after every Shout eventually if she strengthened her soul more? That was hardly encouraging.
But the most disappointing part of Esbern's explanation was the lack of sources that actually talked about the absorptions altogether.
"So… there's no helping with that?" she sighed dejectedly. She didn't really expect Esbern to help her with the pain, but she still hoped, at least a little. It was pointless. And there was no one who could tell her from experience either. Maybe she was the only one who had ever suffered so much from all of this.
"Perhaps the temple holds more records," Esbern smiled at her encouragingly, but it didn't help much.
At least she had learned something. She remembered that the dragon near High Hrothgar sent icy gusts at them as well as what seemed like her invisible force Shout. Esbern's explanation was very likely. And he held much more knowledge than she had originally expected. It appeared that the ancient Dragonborn kept some records, at least, even if they didn't mention the absorptions. How helpful of them.
Their small group of five, with the wolf on their heel, continued through the crevice steadily until they finally left the cavernous walls and emerged at the bottom of a narrow gorge. There was a stone stairwell and what looked like a… stone slab or a… drawbridge or something.
They all continued up the stairs before they reached three stone pillars, all depicting some unknown symbols.
"These are Akaviri symbols. This one is the symbol for 'king' and this one is the symbol for 'warrior'. And this one, this is the symbol for the 'Dragonborn'," Esbern pointed to a symbol which looked like two almost serpent-like dragons with an arrow pointing downwards in between them. "Let us try to turn the pillars so that all of them depict that symbol. The way should, after all, only be accessible to the Dragonborn."
Aeyrin and Bishop each rotated one of the pillars until all three of them showed the symbol. The stone slab made a noise suddenly and, a second later, it fell flat right over the chasm by the stairs with a loud crack, revealing a way forward.
"How fucking subtle and secure…" Bishop scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Do you think I had learned about the Dragonborn's exclusive access to the temple and the meaning of the runes easily? It took months of sifting through records and theses," Esbern smirked at him a little proudly in response.
Their party continued across the chasm only a short distance until they reached the next chamber. It was large and a big part of the ground was covered with tiles with the same three Akaviri symbols on them. It looked like pressure plates.
"I would wager that the same principles apply here – only the tiles with the Dragonborn symbol are probably safe to step on. I suspect that the rest is trapped," Esbern pondered as he studied the ground thoughtfully.
"That… are you certain?" Aeyrin cringed at him a little. It sounded somewhat like a wild guess, but Esbern seemed knowledgeable about this stuff. And it really seemed like once a person learned about these symbols, it would be all too easy to get inside, wouldn't it? This was hardly a test for the Dragonborn alone and no other.
She took a deep breath and she decided not to wait anymore. She just wanted to find the wall already and to finally get rid of this unnerving uncertainly. She stepped on one of the stones with the correct symbol, hopeful that in the worst case, her instinct would take over and she'd turn ethereal.
Nothing happened. The tile retracted into the ground and she was unharmed.
She could hear a heavy breath of relief escape her companions' lips in unison before they all followed the trail of the symbols carefully in order to get across the chamber.
…
"Remarkable!" Esbern exclaimed in excitement.
After a while of weaving through the caverns, they finally reached another enormous chamber. The sky was visible above them as the cavern ceiling opened up and a large blank face was carved into the wall at the back of the cavernous area.
"This… this must be the door controlled by the blood seal that I have read about!" Esbern rushed through the chamber towards the enormous head and he instantly began studying it with interest.
"Did you just say 'blood seal'?" Aeyrin cringed again. It did not sound good.
"Do not fear! It only requires a small amount of the blood of the Dragonborn. Just a… cut to your hand would suffice, I believe," the old man gave her another encouraging smile as he gestured towards the spiral plate on the ground in front of the door. It looked like there was some sort of a drain in the middle of it – probably where the blood was supposed to go.
"Why?" Bishop groaned. A blood sacrifice did sound excessive, no matter the amount. And it rarely meant anything good. At least that was what he thought. He's never heard of anyone needing blood to open shit.
"For security, of course. Someone like me could have gotten in without trouble, after all, with enough research, but now… This is the true test against any invaders," Esbern nodded knowingly and he promptly unsheathed a dagger from his belt before he passed it along to Aeyrin expectantly.
She sighed. It was only a small cut. It was probably just her upbringing that made her squeamish about this. Whenever she thought of someone cutting themselves at strange altars, images of the books warning against some Daedra or worse beings came to her mind instantly.
Still, she removed the glove part of her underchain, revealing her bare hand, before she looked it over briefly. She made a small shallow cut with Esbern's dagger and an involuntary squeak escaped her lips as she did. It wasn't exactly painful – she had endured so much worse just a few moments ago, but it was still strange to feel the sting deliberately.
She quickly clenched her fist above the spiral, letting a few drops of blood fall down upon it and into the small drain. It only took a few seconds before a sudden beam of white light enveloped the seal, covering it completely.
At the same time, the large stone face moved, retracting backwards and revealing another entrance.
This was it.
Finally!
Esbern and Delphine rushed forward while Aeyrin pressed her other hand to the injured one in order to heal it before she put the glove back on. Bishop waited for her to be done instead of rushing after the Blades and when she was ready, he squeezed her upper arm below the pauldron a little before they headed forth, as if he wanted to reassure her about whatever answers would lie ahead.
But she could still see how nervous and on edge he was too.
…
"Welcome to the Sky Haven Temple!" Esbern smiled in excitement again.
He was so spritely in his giddiness, it was somewhat surprising. And somewhat uplifting too. He provided a nice reprieve from everyone else's somber mood.
The rest of them followed the light of his torch up a set of stairs until the temple was finally revealed to their sights.
A huge structure set inside of the cavern greeted them, all covered in grey stone and large cobwebs. There was a long table with numerous stone chairs in the middle of the big chamber, able to sit at least fifty people. This place must have been bustling in its glory days.
Everyone's attention was caught by the large mural behind the table in a matter of seconds.
Alduin's wall.
Their party approached it tentatively as they were all now both eager and uncertain to learn the truth.
When the glow of Esbern's torch started to reveal it, they could see that the wall was full of tiny engravings. Thousands of them. Engravings of dragons, of men, of large battles and people in chains. It was as if a long epic was recounted on it up to every little detail.
And they couldn't make sense of it for the life of them.
"Uuuhh…" Delphine let a disgruntled uncertain noise escape her lips while her eyes darted over the wall, uncertain where to settle and study.
"Well… it… it appears that this will take some time. I… do not understand many of these images. It… it will be necessary to cross-reference this with historical records and Blades annals and perhaps Akaviri writings. This… it looks like… months-worth of work to decipher the entire thing," Esbern sighed, although he couldn't hide the hint of excitement from his voice. He was likely looking forward to doing all that research.
But Aeyrin couldn't stand this state of uncertainty! She couldn't stand waiting months only to find out that they were doomed. She instantly threw Esbern a look of palpable despair.
"Let's see. I'll go over what I can quickly. You all explore the temple, while I, at the very least, attempt to… find some hint or… reassurance about our predicament," the old Blade did seem concerned when he saw Aeyrin's expression, but after he looked back at the wall again, he didn't even spare any of them a single glance any longer. He was completely absorbed in those engravings.
But there was not much else for them to do but to explore the place anyway.
…
The garden was serene as it perched atop the tall cliff plateau, overlooking the entire western part of the Reach. It was full of trees with pink blossoms, blooming even in the midst of winter, as the gentle pink petals flowed through the air around them.
Bishop and Aeyrin had explored the entire temple already. It was large enough to house a small army, with rooms for sleeping, bathing and relaxation. There were a number of dusty and almost crumbling books, along with lots of Akaviri weapons and armors, which were not even a little rusty after all the years. It was possible that this place was used by the Blades even only a few centuries before now, back when the order was still active throughout the Empire.
The two of them had already disposed of their armor, after their exploration, and they reclined together in the garden while Karnwyr ran around the plateau, chasing birds and bugs. Bishop was sitting in the dewy grass with Aeyrin comfortably nestled in his embrace. His hands stroked her arms gently and his head was resting on hers while he occasionally planted a tender kiss in her hair. It was as if they were trying to comfort each other, but the uncomfortable uncertainty still lingered in the air.
"Hey…" Delphine's voice echoed from the entrance to the temple, making them both look back towards her. She didn't go exploring with the two of them before in an unspoken gesture, after the previous tension between them. She may have been looking around the temple's facilities on her own, but they have never crossed paths.
She approached them tentatively when they turned their attention to her and she looked uncharacteristically nervous as she stopped by their side, folding her arms across her chest. She almost looked judgmental in that stance, but the look on her face said otherwise. "I just… I wanted to… talk to you about something."
Both Bishop and Aeyrin gave her an expectant look instead of answering and she had to take a deep breath before she spoke again. She still didn't ease the tense stance though.
"I… first, I wanted to apologize for… being perhaps a bit harsh. I just… I need to know that… that all of this isn't in vain. I haven't been able to think of anything else," she sighed. She looked really uncomfortable with apologizing.
"It's fine, Delphine. I… get it," Aeyrin nodded. She felt the same way, but, then again, she didn't feel the need to take it out on anyone else. Not like Delphine obviously did.
"Whatever," Bishop just scoffed. It was perhaps the least aggressive acknowledgement that the woman could have hoped for from him.
"Yes… well… I've been thinking," she continued. "With all this, with the temple and… knowing what awaits us, the Blades are needed now more than ever. I wanted to… rebuild the order. Properly. To stand against the dragons and to withstand the Thalmor. We need people on our side. We need people willing to battle the dragons, people willing to do what it takes." Her arms fell from her tense stance to her sides, along her body, and it looked like she attempted to stand proudly and with determination.
Aeyrin nodded at her thoughtfully. It was a good idea. There were scores of dragons out there, after all, and many of them were, without a doubt, guarding their leader. They couldn't do this on their own. And perhaps with more scholars, even if the way that the ancient Dragonborn defeated Alduin was no longer viable, they could find another way.
It made her oddly hopeful.
"I would have this place furnished and restored to its former glory. I would have recruits flock to us, eager to save the world we live in, to protect people from the dragons," Delphine continued, now more and more purposeful with every word uttered.
"I hope you're not planning on having us haul furniture here," Bishop smirked at her with a brief shake of his head. It was a lofty goal. He certainly wouldn't complain about more people helping out against the dragons, but he couldn't imagine how someone who barely got the guts to get out of her dismal hideouts could accomplish this.
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you forget that I have contacts on the outside? There are many who will help and, hopefully, you'd be able to find even more. While I rally my contacts, you could send here those that you meet on your travels. People willing to help, willing to fight. I know that this would take a long time but… it looks like we're in this for… a long time," she scoffed with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"We can do that, Delphine. We need all the help that we can get," Aeyrin gave her a somewhat weak smile. It was the best course of action, no matter what Esbern found on the wall in the end.
…
"There you are!"
Esbern's voice echoed across the garden which was now enveloped in the fiery beauty of the setting sun.
Was it just their imagination, or did he sound… chipper?
Delphine rushed towards them across the garden from the edge of the cliff, where she had been looking off into the distance in quiet contemplation until now. Her restlessness was so obvious the entire time they've spent together in the garden, but they rarely interacted. Bishop and Aeyrin stayed together on the ground in an idle embrace while she was just walking around nervously. They occasionally exchanged some small talk, but none of them actually wanted to hold a conversation for long. They were all stewing in their own concerns endlessly instead.
But now it seemed like there was an end to the uncertainty.
"What did you find, Esbern?" Delphine asked instantly with an overeager look in her eyes.
"I think I have good news," he smiled proudly. Aeyrin disentangled herself from Bishop's embrace quickly and she sat up, clasping her hands in impatient trepidation.
"Now, bear in mind, I have not understood the vast majority of the wall yet, but there was a particular section depicting Alduin's defeat, which I'm… somewhat confident in deciphering. It looked like a man, Shouting. Then there was an image of Alduin beside the man, chained and… I may be projecting, but he looked in pain. The images that followed some distance further along included celebrations and feasts. There were other parts, but… for now, it seems that what we need, is indeed a specific Shout."
They were all silent for a while, pondering. It sounded… so easy.
"Just… a Shout? Are you sure?" Aeyrin looked at him pleadingly. She wanted him to be right. She desperately wanted that.
"I am certain of the Shout part. The depiction of Shouting was on the wall numerous times, and all correlated with my hypothesis. We need to determine which Shout in particular is needed and we need to know where to have you learn it and I cannot refute the fact that other things may be necessary to do, apart from this, but… yes. We need a Shout. No lost rituals unable to be performed by men, no ancient forgotten arts and magics. At least that is my hope, for now. Even if the Shout would not be recorded anywhere… well… there are ways to learn from the past. But, let us not get into that now. I will need to study it more for further details."
A collective sigh of uncertain relief escaped all their lips.
This sounded so promising, so… doable. It was iffy and vague and very uncertain, but it was something that they could all cling to mindlessly, for now, in desperate hopes of a simple solution before them.
"Wait, what about after? The absorbing of the soul? We need to make sure that she survives," Bishop scowled at Esbern. The hopeful ignorance didn't last very long for him. Maybe it was just not in him to stay in that state, not when Aeyrin was the one at stake. There was no way in Oblivion that he would allow her to die after all this! If Esbern didn't come up with a way to overcome this, Bishop would just drag her kicking and screaming as far from Skyrim as possible. Whatever it took.
"I don't have enough information about the absorption of the souls, but I assure you, I will find a way. As we have already discussed, it is imperative that she survives the absorption and wins over Alduin's soul. We could never be certain of his defeat otherwise," Esbern gave Bishop a comforting smile.
Well… that was something, at least.
"It will take time to decipher the wall and to gather all the information, but… we will do everything to ensure our success," the old man continued to reassure them kindly. "Perhaps… perhaps when your travels permit, you two could go back to the Greybeards and… pry a bit. Maybe they have more information about all of this. Or perhaps the mages at the College could provide more historical context," he pondered further while he looked lost in his thoughts again. It kind of looked like he needed this. Being cooped up in the warrens, waiting for the end must have been… horrible. Now he had hope, just like the rest of them.
"We can do that. I doubt that any of them have more to tell us, but… we'll try to see if we can learn something," Aeyrin smiled. After yesterday's despair, this all sounded so… promising. She knew that all this would still be a horrible ordeal, but… there really was hope.
"Good. I don't think that we'll be moving from here anytime soon, right, Delphine?" Esbern gave her a wry smile. He was likely already eager to get back to his studies and examinations.
"Yes. I've already spoken to them about it. I'll… fill you in later, old man. But you two can stop by here any time you have some information for us. Just… make sure you're not followed," she frowned slightly.
Good old Delphine…
"We'll stay the night, I think." Aeyrin gave Bishop a questioning look after that statement. A lot of stress has fallen from her so suddenly and now she just felt… drained.
Bishop instantly responded with an eager nod and a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
She could only roll her eyes at that. That was not what she meant! Certainly not with Delphine and Esbern around, especially after Delphine's complaints about exactly that at the Old Hroldan Inn.
But rest sounded heavenly just then.