"By the Nine! It's the damn Thalmor!", shouted Delphine as she drew her sword and faced off against two Thalmor who approached her from the left. The Thalmor mages shot ice spells at her as she ran at them with her sword. The Dragonborn struggled to stand up as a black-robed Thalmor Justicier held her down forcefully from above. He pressed his lips against her ear and whispered, "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you... yet. Our interrogator would like to have a few words with you..."
Suddenly he was kicked off of her, and to her surprise she saw the Thalmor Justicier on the ground while Malborn kicked him repeatedly. The Dragonborn stood up and with one fell swoop of her sword killed the Thalmor that had attacked her. Delphine finished off the other two Thalmor, and ran to the Dragonborn.
"Are you alright?" asked Delphine.
"Aside from a massive headache, I think I'll be fine," said the Dragonborn as she rubbed her head.
"And I see you have some fight in you," said Delphine to Malborn with a smile, "Good to see it."
Malborn smiled back, and then noticed all of the patrons of the tavern staring at them. A few claps started and soon the whole tavern was applauding them.
"Well now, it's not everyday that I get a standing ovation for fighting an enemy," said Delphine with a smirk.
A seedy looking woman approached them and said, "Those Thalmor were down here threatening us and asking questions for the past hour. Good to see someone had the guts to face them. Drinks are on me."
Delphine replied, "As much as we'd love to celebrate, we're trying to find someone. A friend of mine is in danger, and he's probably down here."
"Who is he?" asked a blond bearded man nearby.
"He's an old man. His real name is Esbern, but he's probably using an alias," said Delphine.
"That's the same man those Thalmor bastards were asking us about," said the blond man, "There's an old man farther down the ratway. He might be the one you're looking for."
"Thanks," said Delphine.
The trio continued walking farther into the depths of the ratway. The bar-lined walls reminded them more of a prison than a sewer. They passed several seemingly insane people, and eventually arrived at a door with four hefty locks on it. The Dragonborn knocked. All she heard back was an elderly voice shouting, "Go away."
"Esbern? Is that you? It's me Delphine," said Delphine.
"Delphine?" said the voice. He looked through a slot in the door and immediately began unlocking all of the locks. The three of them stepped into the man's hidden sanctuary. It was furnished surprisingly nice, considering it was in a sewer. There was a fur-covered bed, a small kitchen area, a desk, and many old books scattered about.
"It's good to see you again, old friend," said Delphine as she gave Esbern a hug.
"It's good to see you too," replied Esbern, "Who are the people with you?"
"The woodelf is a friend of mine named Malborn" said Delphine, "And this woman here, you're not going to believe this, but she is Dragonborn."
"Dragonborn?" said Esbern with delight, "Then there really is hope after all! For so long all I could do was watch our doom approach helplessly."
"Our doom? You mean the return of the dragons?" asked the Dragonborn.
Esbern shook his head and said, "Dragons are only a sign of the end times. They can be killed. The prophecies are clear that their return signals the end of the world."
"The literal end of the world?" said the Dragonborn, "It can't be that bad."
"Alduin has returned. The dragon from the dawn of time itself. He's the one raising the other dragons from the dead. The prophecies clearly show he'll devour all things and the world will end. It's hopeless," said Esbern.
"It's not hopeless. I'm Dragonborn. Can't I stop him? Please tell me I can stop him!" said the Dragonborn anxiously.
"You're right", said Esbern, "I've just lived without hope for so long. The prophecies are clear. Only the dragonborn can defeat Alduin. We have to get to Sky Haven Temple immediately. There's an ancient relief carved into the temple's wall, that depicts the history and prophecies of the dragons. It may tell us how to defeat Alduin before he destroys the world."
"Let's go. I know the area he's talking about," said Delphine.
"What about taking Malborn to Morrowind?" asked the Dragonborn, "We can't just take him halfway."
"We're talking about the literal END of the world happening at any moment," said Delphine, "I'm sorry Malborn. You're a good friend and I hate to do this to you, but you'll have to take the rest of the journey to Morrowind alone. The whole world is at stake here."
Before Malborn could reply, the Dragonborn quickly said, "Or he could come with us to Sky Haven Temple? The Thalmor would never bother patrolling an old ruin."
Delphine thought about it briefly and said, "Alright. It's up to you Malborn. Do you want to continue on to Morrowind yourself, or come with us to Sky Haven Temple?"
The Dragonborn looked at Malborn with a worried expression.
"I'd like to go with all of you," said Malborn, "It's probably safer than Morrowind anyway."
The Dragonborn felt her heart leap with joy. She would not have to say goodbye to Malborn after all. There was no hiding the beaming smile on her face. Malborn looked at her and smiled back.
The four of them walked back out of the dark ratway and up to the busy Riften marketplace. Sky Haven Temple was a long journey away, and they needed adequate supplies. Malborn spent his small sack of gold semptims to buy several days worth of food, warmer clothes, a blanket, a dagger, and a bow. He'd spent a few years of his youth in Valenwood learning archery. It was mainly a hobby before, but now it would finally come in useful.
Despite worrying that the world was possibly going to end, there was something else on his mind. The way that the Dragonborn smiled at him earlier. There was something about her smile. She was so obviously happy when he said he would stay with them. Did she really enjoy his company so much? Or did she just not want to live with the guilt of his probable death if he traveled to Morrowind alone? He thought about it during his time in the marketplace, and eventually shrugged it off as just a smile while he packed his supplies in a large new satchel.
As the Dragonborn walked from vendor to vendor gathing her supplies, she couldn't help noticing a small well-dressed crowd at the Temple of Mara, just outside the marketplace. It was a wedding party. The bride and groom exited the temple with wedding garb and joyous faces, to hear the many congratulations of the guests. As she watched the happy group depart from the temple, an idea grew in her mind. She walked towards the temple and up the steps. The temple of Mara, goddess of love, was filled with the golden glow of candlelight and the scent of flowers. A statue of Mara stood in the center of the back of the temple with her arms stretched out lovingly, as if she wished to hold the hand of each bride and groom that married at her altar. A robed Redguard priest approached the Dragonborn and welcomed her to the temple. Within a moment the Dragonborn was leaving with her prize. She had purchased an amulet of Mara. Not only would it bring her Mara's blessings, but it was custom in the land that if anyone wore an amulet of Mara, it meant he or she was available. It often lead to marriage proposals or at least flirtation. Perhaps the amulet would only lead to a few uncomfortable marriage proposals by strangers, but perhaps it would catch Malborn's eyes and let him know she's available. She always thought that the old custom was silly, but at the moment she couldn't think of another way. Too embarrassed to put it on right away, she slipped the beautiful amulet into her satchel, and decided to wait for the right moment.
"Oh, there you are," said Delphine, as the Dragonborn walked down the steps outside the temple, "Were you praying to the gods for our success? We can use all the help we can get at this point. Are you ready to head out?"
The Dragonborn nodded. Each of them carried a heavy satchel of supplies and exited the Riften gates.
"It'll take forever if we avoid the roads," said Delphine, "There are worse things to worry about now than a few Thalmor Justicier patrols. I think we should take a horse carriage to Rorikstead. It's the closest town to the ruin. From there we can continue on foot. It'll easily cut the journey time in half."
"I agree," said Esbern, "At my old age, I doubt I could make the entire journey on foot anyway. The four of us together could easily handle a Thalmor patrol. What's important now is finding out how to defeat Alduin. "
The Dragonborn and Malborn nodded in agreement, and they climbed into the back of a horse carriage just outside the Riften stables.
Delphine paid the small fee to the coachman and mentioned to him, "Rorikstead. And the faster we get there, the more inclined I'll be to tip you well... very well. "
She held out a large flawless amethyst and the coachman eyed it with greed. With a strong whip of the reins the carriage was off. The horses clipped along at a faster pace than he usually traveled.
"Malborn, how are you with that bow?" asked the Dragonborn, "It'd be good if you could stop any approaching hostile animals before they reach the horses."
"It's been a lot of years since I've done any target practice, but I'll do my best," said Malborn, hoping to be useful in some way.
They traveled north again, soon passing by Shor's Stone, then headed west through the old pine forest and towering boulders. The first spot of trouble they came across was a pair of large brown bears. The massive, territorial bears growled with wild ferocity and charged toward them. The horses stomped and neighed with fear, almost tipping the carriage. Malborn pulled the bow from his back and strung an arrow, but just as he released the shot, the pair of bears were already dead by Esbern's hand. The Dragonborn and Malborn stared at him in astonishment.
"Oh, I suppose you didn't know I was a mage?" said the elderly man. The bears carcasses were still engulfed in the flames of his powerful magic.
The Dragonborn smiled. It was good to have a mage on their side for a change.