Chapter 73

The Dragon Scholar

They didn't stay in Whiterun for too long. It was still early in the day and they wanted to get moving again. Riverwood was only an hour's ride away and Serlas was also eager to speak with Delphine and see what she knew about the man the Thalmor were desperately searching for.

The three of them said their farewells to the sisters four and the Companions. Nelkir gave Rona and Bishop big hugs and said, "When am I going to see you again?"

Rona sighed knitting her brows together, "I don't really know. We're getting that much closer to finding the Elder Scroll so I can finish my journey and we can't stop now."

"Promise you'll come see me first before you fight Alduin?" He pleaded.

Rona squeezed him a little tighter and said, "Absolutely! I promise not to go run off and battle the World Eater before I come see you again."

"I can help you know," he said.

She smiled at him, running a hand through his short hair, "I know. Take care of yourself Nelkir." She gave him a kiss on the head.

Bishop pat him on the shoulder and said, "Watch Vilkas' back while you're out there kid." Nelkir grinned at him and they parted. They rode very quickly to Riverwood, hardly speaking at all and focusing their attention on the task at hand. They would talk once they were in the safety of the walls of the Sleeping Giant.

Upon arrival they were greeted by a very thrilled wolf. Bishop leapt off of Misty and ran over to his old friend letting Karnwyr pounce on him and knock him over to lick at his face. He just grinned and stroked the wolf's fur, rubbing his ears and said, "You won't believe it boy, met up with Freya and the others again. Gonna have to take you to see them sometime."

Rona and Serlas both dismounted their own steeds and Karnwyr leapt off of Bishop to greet her nearly knocking her over too, as he threw his paws over her shoulders. She gave the old wolf plenty of head scratches in his favorite spots right behind his ear and on part of his neck. "Missed you too Karnwyr," she crooned at him.

He fell off of her and got so excited he started running around in circles chasing his tail but then he saw the local dog and ran over, barking, to play with him instead.

Bishop scoffed, "Pft, so easily distracted."

"Always," Rona agreed with a laugh. They walked into the Sleeping Giant and found Orgnar in his usual place behind the bar, fixing a drink for the drunk Embry. He lowered his eyelids partway at the sight of them all.

"Afternoon Orgnar," Bishop grinned, greeting him.

Orgnar motioned his head to Delphine's room and said, "She's been gettin' antsy waiting around for you all. Better hurry on in before she comes up here and tells me to sweep the entryway again."

Bishop looked down at the entryway, which was covered in dirt and leaves and cocked a brow at the bartender, "Did you actually sweep it?"

Orgnar grunted, "Nope."

Rona laughed a little and hurried along into Delphine's room with Bishop and Serlas hot on her heels. They found Delphine with her back to them, stooped over a map of Skyrim and a bunch of papers and a few books. She was leaning with her forehead in hand and rapping the table impatiently with her fingers. She heard them come down but mindlessly said, "Not gonna tell you again Orgnar. Finish sweeping the entry and make sure you send that order slip off with a courier, we're almost out of ale again. Damned Embry drinking the place dry...don't know where he's getting the gold to pay for it all."

Bishop said, "Probably my fault, I paid him a little too much for watching our horses last time."

Delphine jumped and spun around, clutching a hand to her sword hilt, "Gods! Don't scare me like that!"

"Why? You gonna gut us?"

She took a breath and said, "Well with Serlas standing there I was about to."

Serlas chuckled, "Ah yes. I am afraid I bear too much of a resemblance to those who wish to see you mortally wounded. The Stormcloaks didn't much care for me either," he pulled the pile of dossiers out of a pocket in his robes and set them down on the table, "There you are Delphine! Nearly lost my life collecting those, I hope they serve us well."

She looked at him wide-eyed, "They caught you?"

Bishop pursed his lips and turned his head away, "Uh... yeah."

Delphine scowled at him, "Whatever happened to being the best bandit in the Rift?"

"So I'm a little rusty!" He said defensively.

"It really didn't help that we were attacked by a dragon too," Rona added.

Delphine gaped at them but Bishop waved her off, "No time to tell you. It's a long story."

She nodded and looked over at the dossiers, shuffling through them. She held up Serlas' papers and said, "Wow, that's quite the file."

"Ah yes," he agreed, "All two hundred and sixty-four years of my life summed up in a mere fifty pages of paperwork. I was a rather disappointed they didn't at least embellish the more interesting parts."

"You read through them all?"

"That I did," Serlas said, clasping his hands together.

"Mind giving me the cliff notes?"

"Well to start, the Thalmor view myself, Rona dear, Bishop and even Ulfric Stormcloak as 'uncooperative assets'. They mean to keep us alive for the time being, at least until we fulfill our roles in their conspiracy to conquer Skyrim. You however are considered a high priority of 'catch or kill', so I admit you have been right to be so paranoid. Now, as for this Esbern fellow -"

Delphine's eyes nearly bulged out of her head then and she shouted, "Esbern!? He's alive!?"

Serlas blinked and said, "Well, yes. According to these documents he is. He is listed as their highest priority and they wish to capture him alive, no doubt to see what sort of information he has on the dragon menace and quite possibly the Elder Scrolls. They're seeking out a place called Cloud Ruler Temple which may have more information within. It seems Esbern might know where it is located."

Delphine put a hand to her chin, thinking. She nodded saying, "Yes, Esbern would definitely know," she looked back up a Serlas,"He was one of the Blades archivists, back before the Thalmor smashed us in the Great War. He knew everything about the ancient dragon lore of the Blades. Obsessed with it, really. Nobody paid much attention back then. I guess he wasn't as crazy as we all thought."

"And I thought you were crazy about dragons," Bishop remarked.

Delphine smirked at him, "I honestly never bothered with it until she showed up that fateful day," she nodded to Rona, "charred to bits after the attack at Helgen. That's when I realized Esbern had always been right about the dragons returning. I had to learn everything I could." Then she asked, "So the Thalmor didn't know anything about the dragons?"

"Only as much as we did," Rona said, "They know about the Elder Scroll too though. I'm worried that we'll be in a race against them to find it now. If they get their hands on it they'll try to use it as leverage to control me, to make me take sides in the war."

"Damn," Delphine grit her teeth then said more seriously, "We've got to find Esbern before they do. He'll have more information that can help us. Do they know where he is?"

Bishop said, "We met a Ratway thief inside the Embassy. They were holding him prisoner and he mentioned that the Thalmor were looking for him in Riften. Seems he might be hiding out in the sewers there."

"You should all go to Riften then, as quickly as you can," she said with urgency.

Bishop scowled at her, "Why don't you come with us? It'd be nice to see you risk your own hide and hair for once, instead of just ours."

"You heard him," she said seriously, "They intend to capture or even kill me. But you all have a reason to be kept alive, so at the very least they'll just try to maim you." She smirked and Bishop rolled his eyes.

"Ata," Rona said, "You should stay here with Delphine."

He raised his brows, "Oh no, velvyn. I will not let you do this alone."

She smiled, "I'm not alone, I've got Bishop and Karnwyr, besides, the Ratway... it's really cramped, not good for magic users. And we'll be a lot faster with just the two of us."

"Rona dear," he furrowed his brows looking worried.

"We'll be fine Ata, I promise. Besides, you should get Delphine up to speed on everything and share what you've both learned. We'll be back soon, with Esbern."

She hugged her father and he returned the embrace and sighed, "Please take care of yourself velvyn... A tandile tye."

"A tandile tye, Ata," she pulled away from him and moved to head up the stairs.

Delphine called to her back, "Hey, when you find Esbern, well, if you think I'm paranoid," she laughed, "you may have some trouble getting him to trust you. Just ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall. He'll know what it means."

Rona said, "Thanks, will do," and went up the stairs. Serlas clapped Bishop on the shoulder and the ranger gave him a reassuring nod.

The two of them hurried back outside and mounted their steeds. Bishop whistled for Karnwyr who came running away from a young boy and the dog he'd been playing with earlier.

Bishop looked over at her, "What do you think? Cut around Helgen?"

"Yeah," she said, "We don't have time to take the long way. Besides, last time we went around there wasn't anyone there."

"That we could see," he said warily, "Still, stay on your guard, Lightfoot."

They passed around Helgen with no trouble at all. There were no bandits in sight and they moved far too quickly for it to make much of a difference anyhow. They rounded the path, weaving their way up into the mountains and slowed down a bit to give their steeds a break from the fast pace they'd held them at for the last two hours. Rona withdrew her cloak from her saddle bag and wrapped it around herself to stifle her shivering.

Bishop looked over at her and smiled, "Can't believe how long you've had that for."

"I love it," she said drawing it closer around herself.

"Yeah, but it's getting a bit worn out," he noted, pointing at a few of the scorch marks, holes and the frayed ends, "I'll make you a new one when I get the time. I'll be sure to make it even warmer too. Pad an extra layer of fur in it for you."

"That's very sweet of you," she said giving him a warm smile.

"Only for you Ladyship," he said returning it.

"Not true!" She argued, "You've been very sweet to plenty of other people. Nelkir, Dagny, Freya and all her sisters."

"Well I'm just dripping with honey now, aren't I?" He laughed.

She blushed a little as she said, "You're really good with kids."

He glanced at her cocking a brow, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I see how you interact with them. You treat Nelkir like your own little brother, which really means a lot to me. And I saw how you were with Bast when she was little," she started blushing more, "in that dream."

"Yeah," he said reminiscing, "It's probably because I was surrounded by kids my whole life. You know I was the second oldest in the bunch."

"What were their names?" She asked him.

"You mean all my brothers and sisters?"

"Yeah, I'm just curious."

He took a breath and held up a hand, listing them off on his fingers, "Well let's see, it was Jack, then me, then my sister Kari, then Ost - fucking hated him, he didn't look much like Torban, but he sure acted like him. Jack, Kari and I were all Torban's and Rina's kids. Ost had a different mother. He was definitely Torban's spawn though. Nasty bastard he was," he continued, "Then after him was Jules, he was three years younger than me. Then it goes Morgen, Rina's dunmer boy. Duful, Torban's redguard son, then more of Rina's kids from other men. Liesel, she was half bosmer, then the youngest Galric, some breton's kid. Rina was already pregnant with another when I left. Never met the kid."

"Wow," Rona said, "So ten of you total, nine brothers and sisters."

"Well, I say nine if you count me," he laughed, "Guess it would be nine now if I stuck around, maybe even more at this point."

"You didn't get along with any of them but Jules?"

"Nope," he said, "I mean, Jack and I got along alright. But he got tired of it all fast and was always looking for a way out. Kari was okay until Torban convinced her to start selling herself." Rona looked at him aghast and he shrugged, "You asked Ladyship. She was a real freak. Thought of herself as a priestess of Mara, while at the same time sold her body for money. Gave all her earnings to Torban too, always wanting to please him. It was pretty sad."

"You said you and Jules left after you killed your father... what do you think happened to them?"

"I don't know," he said, "Never really thought about it. I just, sort of wrote them off. It happened out in Cyrodiil. I couldn't even tell you exactly where either, just out in a field somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I still remember the look on my mother's face when I killed him too. She didn't even care that I just saved her from the man who'd been abusing and beating her for years. She just said, 'How am I going to pay for you now?'" He gave a half-smirk and shook his head, "What a mother."

"I'm sorry," she'd done it again. Asking about his past and drawing up awful memories.

He just smiled at her though, "Don't be, Rona. I don't mind telling you these things. It doesn't even hurt anymore to talk about. It's like old scars, faded with time. They look pretty bad, but they don't hurt."

She returned his smile and grasped his hand as their steeds trot along the path, heading out of the snow and into the Rift's forests. He gripped her small hand reassuringly into his. They glanced over at Autumnwatch Tower off in the distance, two old towers standing tall and nearby was the path leading up to Arcwind Point. So many bad memories were made up there with the loss of friends and loved ones.

"Hey," he said suddenly, "In that dream, at the end of it, you were riding horseback out this way... Did that actually happen?"

Rona went pink the cheeks and she said, "Uh... yeah, it did."

He looked at her stunned, "Wait. You were really here all those years ago?"

"Yeah. I came back here about six years ago, remember, to visit with my mother? Well, she went off and disappeared on me again, like always, so I left. I was heading back to Bruma then. I honestly forgot all about it, but you really did almost get kicked by my horse."

He groaned putting a hand to his face, "Are you serious? So the first thing I ever said to you was, "Out of my way?" He started laughing.

And she met his laughter with her own giggles and replied, "Well, it's only slightly better than what you said to me when we first met in Riverwood."

"Ugh... you're right. Wow. I sure know how to make an ass of myself."

She was still smiling when she let it slip, "It'll be a funny one to tell our kids someday." The second she realized she let the words slip her face turned so scarlet-red she could actually feel her cheeks burning. She quickly turned her face away from him and tried to hide her bright red ears under her hair.

She could hear Bishop's broad grin as he said, "Our kids, huh?"

Her heart was fluttering at the very mention of the idea, she slowly turned back and said, "Oh wow... sorry, that... that was embarrassing."

He was still smiling and his eyes were full of affection as he grasped her hand again and said, "Don't be embarrassed. I've thought about it too."

Of course that only served to make her heart leap about in her chest, while the butterflies in her stomach fluttered madly and she felt like she might pass out from the absolute joy bursting inside her. Bishop had actually thought about having a family - with her.

He chuckled, "Wow Ladyship, I think this might be the reddest I've ever seen you. You going to be okay with all the blood rushing to your face like that?"

She took a breath, trying to calm herself and mumbled, "It just... it makes me happy."

He made to pull her closer to him then, to kiss her when they heard voices ahead. They were very near the gates of Riften, at the backside of the city. They spotted two Thalmor Justiciars and four Aldmeri soldiers standing by two very dead Riften guards.

Bishop and Rona quickly swept off the path with their horses, while Karnwyr followed them. They stopped their steeds in a thicket and both leapt off and crept closer to the city where they could hear one of the Justiciars speaking with his fellow in Aldmeri, "(She said he's in the Ratway then?)"

"(The thief they captured seemed to think so. That nord idiot, what was his name? Gissur? He's down their now speaking with the Thieves Guild. Seeing if he can confirm the whereabouts of the Blade.)"

"(We should head in. I don't trust that filthy snow-back. Might try and capture the man himself then hold him for ransom or do some other idiotic thing.)"

The other laughed haughtily, "(Hah! I'd love to see him try. Might make it easier on us if he did capture him. He's a real pushover that one.)"

They all cast invisibility over themselves and headed on into the city. Bishop and Rona watched the gates open and close with seemingly no one there.

He looked over at her and asked, "What'd they say?"

"One of their informants is already down in the Ratway talking to the Thieves Guild," she explained, "trying to get more information it seems. They went in to try and capture Esbern themselves."

Bishop grit his teeth, "We better hurry."

They moved along quickly into the slowly darkening city and swept down the stairs near the dirty river. Rona stared down at the murky water, full of debris and held her nose, gagging a little.

Bishop chuckled, "Just get used to it Ladyship, it's going to be a thousand times worse inside."

She groaned and he led her into the disgusting tunnels. A thick layer of shiny slime coated all of the walls and even the floor. She took a breath and retched, "Oh gods. How do they – Ech! Why?"

Bishop smirked at her, "Because no one wants to go looking for anyone down here, it's just that nasty. Come on, I know the fastest route through. We're going to have a talk with my old friend Delvin Mallory."

He didn't sound too keen on that notion and she asked, still covering her nose and mouth with a hand, "When was the last time you spoke with him?"

"Last time I ever talked to him was the day Thorn decided to brutally execute four of the six Thieves that crossed him," he glanced at her woefully.

So Bishop hadn't seen or spoken to Delvin since that terrible incident and then his brother got wrapped up in the Guild and he went and killed his brother. Rona wondered if the Guild knew about what happened. Elise had been a member too, there was a chance she'd told them all before leaving for Cyrodiil.

"Just be ready to fight back," he said, "No matter who it is, Thalmor or Guild members."

They wove around the path, stepping over two dead brutes that the Thalmor had already taken care of and came up to a section in the road with an upraised bridge.

"Damn," Bishop grit his teeth, "Would be faster if we could lower the bridge."

"Give me a boost," she said.

"What, like toss you?"

"Yeah," she said.

They stood at the edge of the walkway and Bishop crouched, pressing his hands together. Karnwyr padded up to him and started sniffing his hands for food, Bishop shoved him off and said, "Karnwyr, no. Sit." The wolf immediately sat down and waited, tongue lolling from his mouth. Rona looked at him and said, "I think he likes the way it smells in here."

"I've seen him eat vomit, Ladyship. He loves the way it smells in here." He positioned himself again and Rona stepped into his hands, grasping his shoulders to stay steady and he said, "Ready? One – two – three!" He threw her up into the air and she kicked off the wall for one more boost before landing softly on the other side of the bridge.

"Nice one!" he called, "There should be a lever over there."

She looked around and found the lever in question but it was disgusting, all slimy and dirty like everything else in that place. She reluctantly grasped it muttering, "Ew, ew, ew, eeww!" And pulled on it sending the bridge shuddering down.

Bishop crossed right over and smirked at her, "Get used to it, Princess." She quickly wiped her hands on the back of his cuirass and he shouted, "Hey!"

She laughed and ran ahead of him, scrunching her nose at him, "Get used to it!" But then she looked forward and dodged right to the side as an axe came swinging for her, "YEEK!" Her shrill voice echoed through the tunnels and the vagrant coming after her quickly spun on toe, grunting and swinging at her. She deftly dodged each attack and Karnwyr quickly ran in snarling and buried his jaws into the man's leg. He roared in pain and was immediately silenced when Bishop buried his sword into the man's back.

"Shit, Lightfoot, you alright?" He asked, pulling his blade from the man's bloody back.

She held a hand to her chest catching her breath, "Um… I'm okay. I was really trying not to shout, but I have a feeling everyone in here heard that."

"Probably," he said laughing a little, "Never heard you squeak like that before. Was kind of cute."

She looked at him with half-lidded eyes, "Ha, ha. Very funny." Then she turned and realized they were at the entrance to the Ragged Flagon. Although she'd never been there in person, she remembered it very vividly from Bishop's dream.

He put a hand to her shoulder and said, "Just stay close to me, alright?"

She nodded and followed him in, with Karnwyr at their heels. The inside of the place looked nearly the same as in the dream, but she could actually smell it this time. Rona coughed a little at the taste it was leaving inside her mouth. They slowly walked around the scummy cistern and up the wooden planks towards the bar.

Just like before, the same man from eight years ago stood in their path, arms crossed, looking quite intimidating. He looked Bishop up and down and muttered, "Well I'll be damned. Never thought you'd grow a big enough pair to show your face here again."

"Just looking to have a chat with Mallory," Bishop said.

Rona leaned around the two of them and looked over into the tavern. Inside was the familiar woman with white-blonde hair, Vex, she recalled her name. She was leaning up against a wall looking rather bored. The bar tender was serving drinks to two other Thieves Guild members and one other woman a redguard sat by sorting through a pile of miscellaneous trinkets and piles of gold.

Delvin Mallory was seated at the exact same table in the exact same place he had been eight years prior. It seemed that hardly anything had changed there and it was being run the same way it always had. The only difference was that Delvin wasn't poring over a pile of papers this time, instead he was enjoying a tankard of ale when he looked over and spotted Rona staring at him.

He grinned at her, showing off a small gap in his teeth where he was missing a tooth. She blushed and leaned back, but then Karnwyr loped over, around them all and went right up to Delvin and started sniffing at his boots.

"Karnwyr, no!" Rona hurried after him, totally ignoring the two men right in front of her, staring each other down. She grasped the wolf by the scruff of his neck and said to Delvin, "Sorry. He just gets really curious sometimes." Then she remembered, Delvin knew Karnwyr…

"Hm, shouldn't get mixed up with his type miss. You look too sweet to be getting all tangled up with a bandit."

Bishop scowled over at him, "Not a bandit anymore Mallory."

"So I've heard. What are yah now? Some kind of ranger? Still a murderer as far as I'm concerned," Delvin gave him a look of disdain then glanced back at Rona and said, "If you're wonderin' miss, yeah, you heard right. He's a murderer."

She just averted her eyes, tugging Karnwyr back with her. He looked at her curiously and Bishop said, "So says former Dark Brotherhood over here. Can we talk? Got some important business to discuss."

"You tryna bring me business or you looking to buy?"

"Guess I'm buying," Bishop said, annoyed.

Delvin grinned and said, "Have a seat. Both a yah."

Rona pulled up a chair, which was a bit greasy, she tried to hold back the disgusted face she was making as she quickly wiped her hands on the sides of her dress.

Karnwyr laid down at her side and Bishop pulled up a chair and asked, "Looking for a man named Esbern."

"Never heard of him," Delvin said with a wry smirk.

Bishop rolled his eyes and pulled out a coin purse, dropping it on the table, "How about now?"

Delvin took it and sifted through the gold counting it, "Wow, Bish. You must stay busy working in the ranging business. Or is this all yours miss?" He asked looking right at Rona.

"Does it matter?" Bishop said, "Now tell us where to find this guy."

Delvin took the entire coin purse and stuffed it into one of his many pockets and took a swig from his tankard, "Got a lot of people looking for this fella. He's paid good money for nobody to know he's down here."

Then Delvin stopped talking and Bishop stared at him and said, "Aaand?"

"Well that's jus' it. He paid us a lot more than you have to keep it a secret," Delvin said sneering at him. Rona could tell he was enjoying ruffling Bishop's feathers. Bishop started going red in the face and getting really angry.

She quickly said, "Please, that's all the gold we had with us. We really need to find him. His life is in danger." She pleaded with her eyes and Delvin looked her over.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Damn… if I'm not a sucker for a pretty lady." She gave him a kind smile and he said, "Alright, you say you're here to help him?"

"That's right," she said sincerely.

"Well he's holed up in the Ratway Warrens. Hardly ever leaves the place - has someone bring him food and such. Crazy old loon, from what I've heard. For that to stand out down here, he must really be off his nut."

"Did anyone else come asking about him?" Rona asked.

"Some ugly brute did a bit earlier. Didn't want to pay up though so I told him to piss off and he kicked bricks out of here," he took another swig from his tankard and added, "Just so you know, I'd watch yourself out there, seems the Thalmor are looking for this Esbern fella too."

She stood up then and said, "We know. Thank you for your help," Bishop got up too and she asked him, "Do you know where the warrens are?"

"Sure do," he said. They turned away, Karnwyr loping behind them when they noticed one of the Justiciars and a Thalmor soldier come in suddenly from the entryway. Bishop quickly grabbed Rona and pulled her down behind some crates.

Gissur was with them and he was stammering to them, "I saw her - the Dragonborn! She just came in here! She has to be somewhere around here!"

Rona looked apprehensively back at Delvin, who had a brow raised as he was studying her more closely now. She used her magic to cloak herself and Bishop and they held in their spot, quietly waiting.

One of the Justiciars stalked over and up the board planks and demanded snidely, "Where is the Dragonborn?" Nobody in the bar said a word. They just threw bored looks at the Thalmor agent. Although Dirge stood quite firm in front of him.

The Justiciar's eyebrows curved more sharply over his eyes and he lit a flame in his hand and said, "I will not ask again, tell me where she is fetchers and I might allow you to keep your lives."

Karnwyr started growling at the Justiciar, baring his fangs and Delvin cocked his head and simply said, "You want information you pay. Threats don't get you far round here."

"Oh really?" The Justiciar said holding his fiery hand out to Delvin, ready to blast him away when a knife went swiftly flying through the air and shunted hard into the side of Justiciar's skull. He let out a garbled, "URK!" and toppled over.

The Thalmor guard across the way shouted and drew their weapon, ready to fight while Gissur looked incredibly terrified. Vex slowly stalked over and knelt down, stepping a foot to the Justiciar's head while she pulled her knife from him with a nasty crunching noise. She looked over at Delvin and said, "They might pay for the Dragonborn you know."

Delvin smirked at her, "Nah, I doubt it. They'd promise, but they'd never cough it up, buncha cheapskates."

Vex shrugged and went back over to the bar, nonchalantly sheathing her blade and leaned back against her usual spot, arms crossed. "Hey Vekel, mix me up a Bloody Mary will you? I'm feeling a little thirsty."

"Comin' right up," the bar tender started mixing her drink and everyone acted so blasé about the situation. Even the Thalmor soldier seemed thrown by their behavior as he stammered, "We - We'll remember this! We'll be back!" He quickly ran back out the door and Gissur scurried along after him as well.

Bishop and Rona stood up then, their invisibility dispelling. Bishop looked over at Delvin and said, "Thanks for not ratting us out."

Delvin shrugged, "Well, if they'd just paid up I'd have gladly given the information they wanted." Rona gaped at him appalled and he flashed her his toothy grin, "Nothin' personal sweetheart, it's just business... Dragonborn though, eh?" His eyes wandered over to Bishop then, "My, my, you have been keeping busy, Bish."

Bishop said, "You have no idea Mallory," he grasped Rona's hand and pulled her along, out of that place. She took one last glance back at the strange thieves, most of whom seemed to be ignoring her. It was incredibly odd to her. There were very few places she could go and be invisible, just another face in the crowd, because the minute people found out she was Dragonborn people just couldn't stop bothering her. But these people, they didn't give two shits about her. She kind of liked it.

They carefully wove their way through the tunnels and deeper into the Ratway, evading the Thalmor along the way and eventually finding themselves in the depths of the warrens. There were plenty of tunnels with dead ends in them and plenty more strange people who were all very touched in the head.

At one point they entered a cavern with a staircase. Inside they heard a woman muttering a bunch of nonsense.

"Inkpot, stone, bucket, book, knife, stone, no, no no! Go away. Go away! Knife. Yes. Book. Yes. Bucket. Yes. Inkpot? No. No..."

Bishop exhaled and muttered under his breath, "Fucking crazy."

She whispered, "I really hope Esbern is sane."

"Guess we'll find out."

They went up the stairs and saw an elderly, deranged looking man sitting on a chair behind a cell door. He was wearing a dirtied and yellowed chef's uniform and scraping a pair of large butcher knives together and twitching a lot.

Rona leaned into Bishop and said, "Do you think that's him?"

The man heard her and looked right at her with a devilish gaze in his eyes. He immediately stood up and shouted, "I am going to eat well tonight, my darling!" He rushed at the cell door and both Bishop and Rona quickly backed away while Karnwyr raised hackle, growling at him.

Luckily for them, it appeared that the cell door had been locked. The madman ran one of his blades back and forth across the metal bars, making them scrape and clang loudly and then he started heavily drooling. His saliva dripped down his face and actually hit the floor. His eyes were locked on Rona as he uttered hungrily, "I've been waiting for you, my sweet one. Come closer. I won't bite. Promise." He started gnashing his teeth together and Rona stepped behind Bishop, while a shudder crawled up her spine.

"Yeah, fuck that," Bishop snarled drawing his bow. He nocked an arrow and took aim then let it loose straight into the lunatic's head. It pierced right through his chef's hat and he toppled over, dead.

"I really want to get out of here," Rona groaned.

"You and me both." They turned back on the upper landing and saw a very large and sturdy looking door with a window hatch across the way.

She pointed at it and said, "You think that's?"

"Definitely," Bishop said almost laughing.

They went over to the door and knocked on it. There was no answer though. Bishop pound on it even harder then and the window flung open, a disheveled old man peered at them through the opening and shouted, "Go away!" Then the window snapped shut again.

Rona laughed and said, "Esbern? Are you Esbern?"

The window opened once more and he firmly said, "What?! No, that's not me. I'm not Esbern. I don't know what you're talking about."

The window snapped shut again.

Bishop sighed, crossing his arms and said, "Yeah, it's definitely him," then he shouted, "Hey old man! Open up already. Delphine sent us."

"Delphine? How do you?" He spoke through the door and then the window opened again and his eyes scanned over the both of them. They rested firmly on Rona however, looking up and down at her pointed ears and he shouted, "Aha! I see! So you've finally found her and she led you to me. And here I am, caught like a rat in a trap!"

The window snapped shut.

Bishop exhaled audibly and exasperated while Rona started to giggle under her breath.

She stifled her laughter and said, "Esbern, please listen to us. The Thalmor have found you and we're here to rescue you."

How shouted through the door again, "Oh, how reassuring! I can see that the Thalmor have found me! Since you are a Thalmor and this is just a trick to get me to open the door!"

Bishop threw his hands out and said, "That's it! I'm going to fucking beat the damn door down if I have to!"

Rona put a hand to his arm and he grumbled crossing them again. She said, "Esbern, I assure you I'm not a Thalmor."

The window opened slightly, just enough so they could see his eyes glaring at her and he muttered, "That's exactly what a Thalmor would say."

The window snapped shut again.

Bishop cocked his head at her and said, "Well he's got you there Lightfoot. That is definitely something a Thalmor would say."

She rolled her eyes, still giggling and thought for a minute, "What did Delphine say we should tell him?"

Bishop tilted his head back slightly, "Oh yeah... shit I forgot. Something about Frostfall?"

"The 30th of Frostfall!" Rona shouted, "Esbern, Delphine said to remember the 30th of Frostfall!"

The window opened again and he looked curiously at her, "Ah. Indeed, indeed. I do remember... So Delphine really is alive, then?"

"YES!" They both said in unison.

"Well... You'd better come in then and tell me how you found me and what you want."

"Finally!" Bishop grumbled.

They heard the sound of chains and locks being undone behind the door. Bishop started impatiently tapping his foot as Esbern grunted, struggling with the locks it seemed, "This'll just take a moment... This one always sticks... there we go. Only a couple more," the sounds of more locks clicking came from behind the door and Bishop and Rona both slowly looked at each other, making the same bewildered face.

Suddenly the door swung open and Esbern said, "There we are! Come in, come in! Make yourselves at home! That's better. Now we can talk."

The both stepped inside the dreary room. There was a dining table, and a bed and plenty of bookshelves. A writing desk sat in one of the corners and was covered in papers and books. In fact there were papers and books all over the place, with plenty of gibberish scrawled all over them. Bishop picked one of the pages up and muttered to her, "Sorry to say Ladyship, but it looks like he isn't sane."

She looked over the words and snatched the page from him. "This is dragon tongue." She looked over at Esbern who was busy collecting some personal belongings and stuffing them into a travel pack.

She asked him, "You speak dragon tongue?"

He glanced up at her, "Oh, well, not very well. I've been studying it for years. I can read and write it just fine, though I could hardly guess as to the pronunciation of some of the words."

"Well lucky you," Bishop said, "Because she's fluent."

Esbern looked her up and down, "Truly? Are you also a scholar of dragon lore?" He continued stuffing papers into his pack and ran over and started rifling through a trunk by his bed, tossing all kinds of trinkets out.

Rona said, "No, I'm definitely not a scholar."

Bishop got a wry smirk on his face and said, "Should we tell him? I really want to tell him. See if he actually shits a brick."

"Tell me what?" He asked puzzled as he looked up at them from the chest he was rifling through.

"I'm Dragonborn," she said.

His eyes looked like they might actually pop out of his head then and he abruptly stood up, holding a very large and old tome. "Dragonborn," he whispered, "You're...can it really be true? Dragonborn? Then...there is hope! The gods have not abandoned us! We must...we must... We must go, quickly now," he started moving much faster then, still holding the large tome in hand and pacing back and forth as though he were trying to figure out what to do with it since his travel pack was clearly, very full. He ran over and shoved the book into Bishop's arms and said, "Hold that for me - don't lose it!"

He scurried around the room collecting several other artifacts and items which he obviously couldn't live without rambling all the while, "But, give me... just a moment... I must gather a few things... I'll need this... No, no, useless trash...where'd I put my annotated Anuad? One moment, I know, time is of the essence, but mustn't leave secrets behind for the Thalmor...there's one more thing I must bring..."

Bishop looked at the large book in his arms. It was incredibly worn, the protective leather cover had tears and holes in places and there were hundreds of bits of papers sticking out of it. Bishop cracked it open and Rona leaned over to look inside it.

The entire book was written entirely in dragon's tongue and all the notes were translations of parts of the text. In every margin and available open area were translated words scrawled around. Bishop furrowed his brows and said, "The hell is this?"

He closed the book again and looked at the cover. There was flakey gold lettering etched into the front of it but all of the words were written entirely in the scratchy symbols of dragon tongue and would not be readable by anyone who didn't know the language.

"What's it say?" Bishop asked Rona.

She said, "Fin vahdiin do dovah yolos," she looked right at him, "It says, The Maiden of Dragon Flame."

Finally Esbern seemed ready to go and quickly said, "Please! Let's hurry! Take me to Delphine. We have much to discuss," he grabbed the book from Bishop, placing it securely under his arm and hurried along out of the warrens.

The two of them followed after and Rona said, "Maybe we should take the lead."

"Hm? Oh yes, good idea."

They made it out of the Ratway with only a little trouble, managing to kill the other Thalmor Justiciar and soldiers as they went. Bishop even picked off Gissur who was making a run for it after all the Thalmor had been killed.

They stepped outside the Ratway and Rona took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was still a bit scummy smelling, near the river, but it was so much better than being inside that awful place.

It was the dead of night, around midnight or after Rona guessed from the position of the moon. The three of them took the back way through Riften and found their horses still off in the brush. Karnwyr padded over to them and touched noses with Misty, the one he was more familiar with. Though he gave a friendly bark and tail wag to Ember as well.

Bishop climbed up on his horse and asked Esbern, "You know how to ride horseback, right?"

"Of course I do," Esbern said, almost puzzled by his question.

"Good. Go ahead and take Rona's horse. Ride with me Ladyship," she grasped his hand and let him pull her up onto the mare. Esbern clambered up onto Ember and pulled on the stallion's reins guiding him down the path back to Riverwood.

They rode slowly and quietly through the night and Esbern looked over and said, "I don't believe we were properly introduced in all the excitement."

"I'm Bishop."

"Rona," she said.

"Good to meet you both. Thank you for coming to my rescue as well. I doubt the Thalmor had good plans for me."

Rona looked over at Esbern. She had a million questions for him, but first and foremost she had to know, "Do you know the whereabouts of the Elder Scroll?"

He raised a brow at her and said, "Not at all. Why do you ask?"

She was extremely disheartened by his answer and said, "Because we need it to defeat Alduin."

"Really? And how will the scroll help you kill the World Eater?"

"I can use it to learn the shout Dragonrend."

Esbern scratched the thin patch of hair on the side of his head thoughtfully. "You said you are fluent in dragon's tongue?"

She nodded. He took the huge tome from under his arm and passed it over to her. She grasped the heavy book and he said, "You should read that. I believe it may have the answers you seek."

"Have you already read it?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I have tried, oh believe me, have I tried. I've spent years doing the best I could to translate that beast of a book. The history of the Maiden of Dragon Flame, starting with the first, Eira of White Fire, the second Kitaere of the Sun, then Aleile Auryne, Fralevi the Strong, Taanil Storm-Ire, Shexa the Sharp, Ja'anna Sihir and so on and so on all the way up to the last Maiden of Dragon Flame, Jillian of Heart Frost," he paused looking her up and down and then said, "And well, now I suppose there is you. Tell me, have you been given a name?"

Bishop scoffed, "She just told you her name, it's Rona. Rona Lightfoot, or Thoraminh."

Esbern smiled, "No, no. Not her birth name, I mean have the women or the dragons granted you a name?"

Rona said, "Eira called me Rona of Dragon Fangs," she reached over her hip and drew one of her blades and said, "Probably because my swords are made of dragon bone."

He looked very interested in them and asked, "May I?"

She passed him the sword and he looked it over, "Incredible. I've never seen anything like it. This is made of dragon bone?"

"Yes, both of them are."

He touched the flat edge of the sword and looked at it as it shimmered, pearlescent in the moonlight. Then he handed it back to her and said, "You truly are the Dragonborn, aren't you?"

Bishop sighed, "They're always skeptical."

She smiled feebly and said, "Yeah I am."

Esbern studied her expression and said, "Hm, yes you definitely are. You despise it as much as the others too, I can see that."

"The others? You mean the other Dragonborn?"

"Yes," Esbern nodded, stroking at his beard, "It's all right there in that book, written entirely in dragon's tongue."

"Where did this book come from?" Rona asked, "Is there someone out there that knows all about their history and wrote about it? And why in dragon tongue?"

"The Akaviri throughout the ages compiled their knowledge of the female Dragonborn and put it all in that book. Why they wrote it in dragon's tongue I will never know for sure. To keep it a guarded secret perhaps? Because it was the language of the time? I couldn't say. What I do know is that it has been very difficult to translate. But if you can easily read it, then perhaps you can translate for me."

Bishop frowned, "I thought you said you could read it and write the language."

"Oh I can, the problem is that this compiled textbook has multiple and varying versions of the language. Over the years the writing, the spelling of the letters has changed ever so slightly. It has made it difficult to read, so when two similar words slowly start to change and resemble one another it can be very tricky. It's also good to understand the context to know the right word to pick, however... well, I won't bore you with the details. Needless to say it's been a frustrating endeavor to say the least."

Rona smiled kindly at him, "I'll see what I can do to help you translate it." And she would. She was most interested in Jillian's story, the woman who came before her, who must have known Dragonrend. Who sent Alduin adrift in time and whose lover was crushed and killed by the beast.

Esbern spoke suddenly, saying, "For so long, all I could do was watch our doom approach, helplessly. You have no idea how overjoyed I am to be meeting you Dragonborn. There is hope after all."

"So Alduin really will destroy the world without me?" She asked.

Esbern nodded fervently, "With dragons returning, they are the final portent of the End of Days."

"You're talking about," Bishop hesitated, "the literal end of the world?"

Esbern almost sounded too excited about it when he started ranting and raving, "Oh, yes! The prophecies made clear the signs that will precede the end times. One by one, I have seen them fulfilled. Alduin has returned, just like the prophecy said! The Dragon from the dawn of time, who devours the souls of the dead. No one can escape his hunger, here or in the afterlife. Alduin will devour all things and the world will end. Nothing can stop him! I tried to tell them. They wouldn't listen. Fools. It's all come true...all I could do was watch our doom approach..."

Rona's nerves were getting very on edge listening to him go on about the end of the world. But when he said, "And only the Dragonborn can stop him! It can be no one else. You are the one who will save us all! You will face Alduin and finally kill him," she started to feel very queasy. She leaned into Bishop's back, clutching his waist a bit tighter, trying to resist the urge to puke.

Bishop looked over his shoulder at her, "You alright Ladyship? Need to stop?"

She nodded quickly and he drew Misty aside off the path. Rona hopped off and ran away from them and started retching right into a bush.

"Was it something I said?" Esbern muttered.

Bishop looked after her, extremely concerned and said, "We should probably rest for the night."

"Oh no! No, no, no! We cannot wait - we must get to Delphine immediately!"

Bishop scowled at him and said, "Well you go off if you want to, but she's sick, it's late and we're stopping."

"But I... well," Esbern looked back and forth at the road and sighed, "Alright then."

Bishop went over to her. Rona was on her knees holding her stomach and feeling lightheaded. He put a hand to her back and said softly, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I can't," she mumbled taking slow steadying breaths, "It's too much. All of this. End of the world, oh gods," her stomach did another flop at the thought.

Bishop sympathetically rubbed her back and pulled her hair from her face, "It's going to be alright Ladyship. Tonight you don't have to save the world or any of it. You can just sleep, okay?"

She looked into his eyes, her brows knit tightly together. She reached for him, clutching at his back as she buried her face in his chest. She mumbled, "It's real Bishop. The prophecy... it's all real."

"I know," he muttered quietly back, "We're almost there Rona. We'll make it."

He pulled away from her and told her to take a minute while he started unpacking their camping supplies and walked fairly far off the road to set up their campsite on the off chance more Thalmor came along. Esbern remained quiet the rest of the time, looking almost apologetically at Rona the few times their eyes did meet.

She eventually pulled herself together and joined them at the camp. She sat close to the fire with Karnwyr at her side, gently petting him and trying to relax.

Bishop was extremely worried for her. It had been a long time since she panicked so much about the dragons and her fate. It hadn't been that bad since they met with Sanguine, but now with Esbern confirming that the prophecy was true, she was losing it again.

Rona was a strong woman, definitely. She didn't need anyone to protect her, but at the same time she was still human, dragon soul or not, and carrying these burdens on her shoulders, he could see how much it was crushing her. How she tried so hard to hide it, to remain strong and fulfill the damned destiny the gods gave her. Why did it have to be her?

She just wanted to live peacefully, freely... even, have a family, with him. She'd thought about it too and it warmed his heart when she'd said it before so naturally, embarrassed as she was about it. But would they ever have that together? It seemed so far away in light of everything else. He loved her dearly and he wanted to save her, hell he would fight the World Eater in her place if he could have. But he knew that all he could do was stand by her side and let her lean on him whenever she had to.

He watched as she reached a hand out and touched the campfire, igniting it with her own, beautiful golden fire. The entire thing was engulfed and started burning that beautiful, shimmering gold color. Bishop could tell Esbern was bursting with questions for her, but was grateful that the man kept his mouth shut. Then a strange song drifted around them and Bishop watched as Eira burned into being, seated at the fire by Rona.

She started playing her lute and Rona completely ignored her. Eira was there because of her feelings, her internal conflict and emotions. When she couldn't find the words or sing herself the others would appear and do it for her. They would come forth and try to ease her heart.

(The Song is Misty Mountains by Malukah)

"Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To find our long-forgotten gold"

Jillian appeared then and more of the women. They shimmered into being around Rona and sang her feelings as she sat there, staring into the fire, with her knees drawn up to her chest, looking miserable.

"The pines were roaring on the height
The winds were moaning in the night
The fire was red, it flaming spread
The trees like torches blazed with light"

Fire. She wasn't afraid of it anymore, but if the dragons grew stronger they would cover the world in it, setting everything aflame. She was afraid, that's what this song told him.

Bishop got up and stepped around the Dragonborn women, he could feel their eyes on him. Jillian's gaze was always the most piercing. She stared at him like she was watching her lover Ronin die. It always made him uncomfortable, but he ignored it and sat down behind his beloved, throwing his legs out on either side of her. He pressed his face into her hair and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly, trying to give her some comfort.

The Maidens of Dragon Flame all vanished, in their own colorful pillars of flame and Rona leaned back into him. He said the only thing he could think of. "I love you, Rona."