She tiptoed her way over flaming floors and slayed spider after spider. She littered draugr in her wake all for what?

Dragonborn—

I need to speak with you urgently.

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

-A Friend

At least the room behind had held more gold and jewels than she'd yet seen.

Now she was angrily trudging her way back to Riverwood. She bypassed Morthal completely. Maybe one day she would return and claim the position of Thane. She liked Ingrod afterall. But now, now she was a furious dragon, ready to slay.

As if she would ever need to rent a room in the inn. Gurdur would be insulted. But Elana stalked into the inn anyway as Elan, finding instantly the proprietress.

"Hello."

"I'd like to rent the attic room." Elana began roughly, beginning to rummage around in her pockets for ten pieces of gold.

"Attic room, eh? Well… we don't have an attic room, but you can have the one on your left. Make yourself at home."

What the hell is this, Mirmulnir? No attic room?

"Let the events unfold. We are dealing with a secretive person. Perhaps this was all a sign, and the holder of the horn lies somewhere around us within earshot."

Elana handed the gold over with a small nod and made her way over to the room. She stood around somewhat awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Just as she reached for the book atop the wardrobe, the innkeeper appeared at the door.

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this. We need to talk. Follow me."

The woman offered a curved horn. Elana took it warily, eyeing the woman. She recalled Gurdur mentioning a "Delphine" as the innkeeper. Hopefully she remembered correctly.

Delphine immediately turned around and walked away.

"Hey!"

But the woman kept walking, so Elana was forced to follow her across the inn into another room.

"Close the door." At the click of the door, Delphine opened up the cabinet to reveal a secret room. "Now we can talk," she began, heading down the stairs.

The stairs opened up into a small but well stocked room. An alchemy table and potions on one side, practice dummies on the other, as well as an enchanting table, this had to be the room of someone preparing for war.

The stance Delphine took, two hands slayed on the table as she leaned strongly forward, supported this theory.

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

"You're the one who took the horn?"

"Surprised? I guess I'm getting good at my harmless innkeeper act."

Elana managed not to snort in derision. "Here I am. What do you want?"

"I didn't go through all this trouble for a whim. I had to make sure this 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."

She smells of desperation.

"Not the word I would have used, but I agree."

"I'm listening. Go on."

The slightest relaxation showed on Delphine's face. "Like I said in my note, I heard you might be Dragonborn. I'm part of a group that has been searching 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."

Elana bristled. "Why did you take the horn from Ustengrav?" It seemed the least potentially violent of her responses.

"I knew the Greybeards would send you there if they thought you were Dragonborn. They're nothing if not predictable. When you showed up here, I knew you were the one the Greybeards sent and not some Thalmor plant."

It seemed Delphine had enough enemies without adding Elana to the list. "You said the Thalmor were after you?"

"Yes. We're very old enemies. And if my suspicions are correct, they might have something to do with the dragons returning."

It was pure willpower that kept Elana from laughing out loud. She had seen enough into Mirmulnir's memories to know no elves were behind the dragons waking from ancient slumber or being resurrected from the dead. But "the dragon soul in my head told me so" would not erase her deep suspicions.

"But that isn't important right now. What's important is that you might be Dragonborn."

Might. "Why are you looking for the Dragonborn?"

"We remember what most don't: the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer. You're the only one that can kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul."

Mirmulnir?

"We'll cover that later. Listen to her."

"Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"

"Yes. That's how I first learned I was Dragonborn."

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

Elana raised an eyebrow. She sounded familiar when she quit playing the innkeeper. Perhaps she was the woman who had sassed her when she returned the stone to Farengar. "So what's the part you're not telling me?"

"Dragons aren't just coming back; they're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off by my predecessors. Now something's happened to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it."

Note how she puts me subordinate. Not that I've got a big head or anything, but I'm not some tool.

"Dragons do tend to have an inflated sense of self-worth, but what you perceive, well, don't rule it out."

"What makes you think dragons are 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 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."

That means a soul. That means understanding FEIM. Let's go. "So where are we headed?"

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

Elana smiled thinly. "Let's go kill a dragon."