Waking up, stiff and still tired, I realise that what I just dreamt wasn't a dream at all – it was a memory! I was only seven years old when the daedra attacked Tamriel. Of course, I'm one of the few alive these days who can remember the terror and the fires, ended only when the last Septim sacrificed himself. Only other elves, those older than I, would remember any of that. The Oblivion Crisis, they called it. The beginning of the end of the Empire, in reality; when it all started to fall apart.
Stopping on the way down to the common room to wake Esbern, we set off out of the city and along the road to Riverwood. The road is silent; not even wild animals are waiting to ambush us this early in the morning. I realise I'm still carting around a whole heap of extra stuff I don't need, so I stop off at the Trader before ducking into the Sleeping Giant.
Delphine, still in her armour, is helping Orgnar out behind the bar when we enter.
"Delphine!" Cries Esbern, striding across the room. "I – it's good to see you. It's been…a long time."
"It's good to see you too, Esbern." Responds the quiet Blade. "It's been too long, old friend, too long. Well then, you made it, safe and sound. Good. Come on, I have a place we can talk." She turns to her stoic barman. "Orgnar, hold down the bar for a minute, will you?"
"Yeah, sure." He rumbles in reply.
"This way." Delphine leads the way down into the secret basement. "Now then, I assume you know about…" She trails off, as though unwilling to say my name.
"Oh, yes. Dragonborn! Indeed, yes. This changes everything, of course. There's no time to lose. We must locate… let me show you. I know I had it here somewhere…" Heading toward the table, Esbern begins searching his pockets.
"Esbern, what..?" Delphine's confused.
"Give me… just a moment… ah! Here it is. Come, let me show you." He places a book on the table and flicks it open to a map, labelled in tiny letters. "You see, right here. Sky Haven Temple." He points at one of the miniature icons. "Constructed around one of the Akaviri military camps during their conquest of Skyrim."
"Do you know what he's talking about?" Delphine impatiently asks me.
"Shh! This is where they built Alduin's Wall; to set down in stone all of their accumulated dragonlore. A hedge against the forgetfulness of centuries. A wise and foresighted policy, in the event. Despite the far reaching fame of Alduin's Wall at the time – one of the wonders of the ancient world – its location was lost."
"Esbern, what are you getting at?" Delphine's impatience is starting to grate on my temper.
"You mean… you don't mean to say you haven't heard of Alduin's Wall? Either of you?" Esbern is shocked.
"Let's pretend we haven't." Delphine says as I shake my head. "What's Alduin's Wall and what does it have to do with stopping the dragons?"
"Alduin's Wall was where the ancient Blades recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return." The archivist explains. "Part history, part prophecy; its location has been lost for centuries, but I've found it again. Not lost, you see, just forgotten. The Blades archives held so many secrets…I was only able to save a few scraps…" Esbern pauses, obviously mourning the loss of so much knowledge. I know how he feels; I also hate to see books burn.
"So you think that Alduin's Wall will tell us how to defeat Alduin?"
"Well, yes but… there's no guarantee."
"Sky Haven Temple it is, then." Delphine decides. "I knew you'd have something for us, Esbern." She turns to Lydia and I. "I know the area of the Reach that Esbern's talking about. Near what's now known as Karthspire, in the Karth River canyon. We can meet you there or all travel together, your call."
I'm not entirely sure where it is, but I can see from the map in the book it's somewhere west, and it would be safer to travel separately so the Thalmor at least have a hard time rounding us all up. "I'll meet you at Karthspire."
"Your call. Might be safer to travel separately – attract less attention that way. Don't worry; I'll get Esbern there in one piece. We'll wait for you near Karthspire. Good luck." As she heads back upstairs with Esbern, I stash the few items I didn't sell – the ones I want to keep – in the chest and follow them up just in time to catch a short conversation between Delphine and the barman.
"Orgnar, this is it. The inn is yours. I'm probably never coming back here." Delphine says.
"Well, now. That's something to think about." He responds.
"Take care of yourself, Orgnar. Goodbye."
"Yeah, sure. You too, Delphine. You be safe." Orgnar says to her retreating back. Was it just me, or was there a loving note in his voice?
A strange noise makes me pause in my tracks. When it happens again, I realise it's my stomach! I am rather hungry, though. I pull some cheese and some apples out of my bag and sit down to munch on them, giving the two Blades a head start.
About half an hour later, I'm leading Lydia along the western road out of town. We jog past the Guardian Stones, and past the turn up to Helgen. I'm not planning on going back there any time soon. If you've seen one ruined town, you've seen them all, and I have seen many a ruined town in my two hundred years. Wow, that makes me sound ancient!
Defeating the skeevers, and then the skeletons, that attack us as we travel along the stony path is easy; no more than a whack each is necessary, really. A signpost at the next crossroad tells us that Falkreath is along the left turn. I'll visit the Jarl later, though; maybe when I'm not so busy. Past Half-Moon Mill, down the slope and along the road between the towering cliffs of the mountains. Here, I find a couple of iron ore veins, which I mine a little of, and just past that is the remains of an ambushed lone Khajiit merchant. A little beyond the unfortunate cat's corpse, two boys, each not far past ten, stop me.
"Hey there! Check out what my friend and I found. I'll sell some of it to you, if you want." He shows me a small chunk of Dwemer metalwork, obviously broken off of a larger piece. Even tiny things like this one are very valuable to collectors.
"Where did you get this, boy?" Lydia demands.
"I found them near the old Dwemer bridge in the far west." Them? Where are these boys' parents? They surely shouldn't be letting them roam so far from home, what with current affairs as they are. "I'll mark it down for you on your map, for a small fee."
"Fine, you little swindler." I say with a smile. This child has potential as a great merchant, one day! "Here's a septim. Now where's this bridge?" I love exploring old ruins – when they aren't occupied by their former residents, that is!
"Thank you! I'm Sond, by the way; and this is my friend Bottar. You'll find the ruins right here. Bye!" With that, the two boys run off back into the wilderness.
Continuing down the road, lined with large mossy boulders, a couple more skeevers try their luck, and a little further on a mudcrab takes umbrage at our tripping over it. Its own fault for sitting in the middle of the road. As we reach the bridges leading to what can only be Karthspire, a roar echoes across the sky. Damn, just what we need.
The dragon swoops low, breathing fire on us as we draw our bows. Lydia just fires at it constantly, but knowing that will fail, I wait until it pauses, hovering in the air, taking a deep breath to attempt another roasting.
I loose my arrow, and Shout to speed it on its way. The dragon somehow stumbles in mid-air as the wall of air caused by my Shout hits it along with the arrow. Flapping its wings as strongly as it can, it swoops across the canyon, slows, and lands in a clear space nearby.
I shoot at it until I can get no closer, then pull out my warhammer and start slamming away at its scaly, horse-like face. I Shout again in an attempt at preventing it from taking off, and dodge the arrow that Lydia sends flying past me, so close that I can hear it whistle past my ear. Suddenly, a fireball shoots from somewhere to my right, and that finishes the dragon off. I step back and search for the source of the ball of flame as the dragon burns beside me, its soul rushing to join mine. I spot an Atronach floating a little way up the road, but it disappears – just as Esbern and Delphine appear. That explains it.
Retrieving the arrows that fell to the ground when the beast's flesh burnt away, I head towards them, and see that behind them, the base of Karthspire has become a camp for some strangely dressed people. They wear only hides, strapped to their bodies with leather cords, and occasionally a headdress of either feathers or antlers. And they do not look happy to see us. But we have to go through their camp to reach Karthspire, so we head toward it.
The nearest people draw their weapons and warn us to back off. Ignoring them, I attempt to head straight for our goal, but they have other ideas. Screaming that Skyrim belongs to the Forsworn, they attack. That is it. If they want to block our way, they can do it in Aetherius.
Soon, the camp lies devoid of all life. Or so I think. A screech and a giant icicle smashing against the boulder next to me proves me wrong. I turn to find the source of the strange noise – and encounter one of the strangest things I have ever seen. Part bird, part woman, it blasts ice at us, screeching the whole time. I've heard of beings like this – Hagravens. It's almost as tough as the dragon was, but it soon screams its last and lies in a pool of its own blood at the top of the steps up to the forge that the Forsworn had set up above their camp.
OK. That's that sorted; now to find this Sky Haven Temple. On the other side of the canyon lies a cave, through which we trot to find the interior inhabited by more Forsworn, one of them seemingly with a small pine-cone-like object in place of his heart. They don't prove to be much of a challenge though, and so we continue on through a passage at the back of the cave and into a vast cavern, lined with raised stone bridges. At the top of the ramp on the right side of the cavern, three pillars stand, reminding me of the Nordic pillars in Bleak Falls Barrow, except the images on these are carved, not embossed.
"This looks promising." Says Delphine when she sees them.
"Yes, definitely early Akaviri stonework here." Esbern agrees.
"We've got to get this bridge down. These pillars must have something to do with it." The two Blades climb the steps, Lydia and I following.
"Yes." Esbern mutters thoughtfully. "These are Akaviri symbols. Let's see…you have the symbol for 'king'… and 'warrior'… and, of course, the symbol for 'Dragonborn'. That's the one that appears to have a sort of arrow shape pointing downward at the bottom." I think I see where this is going.
I turn the left hand pillar once, until it shows the same image as the one on the right, and the brazier behind it begins glowing as the charred wood inside begins to burn of its own accord.
"Yes, that's it! The symbol on the pillar on the left." Esbern says, just before I turn the central one to show the same picture. The second brazier bursts into flame, and the first stone bridge descends in a controlled fall. I'm surprised the old mechanisms are still working so well.
"Whatever you did, it worked." Delphine fails at watching what's going on again. "Let's see what else those old Blades left in our way."
Trotting across the bridge, I brush away the thin cobweb covering the empty doorway, and through the passage beyond. It leads into a room, the floor covered with tiles in a pattern of the symbols on the pillars. Only it looks more like the tiles were set at random.
"Wait!" Cries Esbern as I prepare to step into the room. I withdraw my booted foot.
"Why are you stopping?" Delphine asks from behind us.
"We should be careful here. See these symbols on the floor?" Esbern suggests. Looking again, I think I see what I was too careless – and tired – to spot before.
Delphine sees it too. "Hmm. Esbern's right; look like pressure plates."
"Be careful." The old man warns as I look for the pattern that I thought I noticed before.
Yes, I was right. There is a pattern, of sorts – the 'Dragonborn' symbols form a twisting path across the room towards a chain spouting from the mouth of a sculpture.
I carefully step onto the plate, indicating to Lydia to stay put for now, and await anything adverse happening. Nothing. I was right – I follow the path and pull the chain. Nothing seems to happen; then I hear the rumble and grating of the other bridge falling into place.
"Looks safe now. Let's move." Delphine leads Esbern across the now-disabled floor.
"Yes, yes!" That seems to be Esbern's favourite phrase. "I think we must be close to the entrance."
I gesture to Lydia, and we follow them into an open-ceilinged room, with a great carved wall at the other end, what must be the doorway covered by a giant sculpture of a head. Just in front of it, a circular carving sits, seemingly twisted so that any image it showed was disjointed.
"Wonderful!" Exclaims Esbern. "Remarkably well preserved, too. Ah, here's the 'Blood Seal'. Another of the lost Akaviri arts. No doubt triggered by… well, blood. Your blood, Dragonborn." He continues, leaving me searching my satchel for a dagger or some way of drawing blood. "Look here, you see how the ancient Blades revered Reman Cyrodiil?" He's inspecting the great stone head now. Finally giving up, I pull out the chisel I use when picking locks and scrape the edge along my palm. Ouch! Letting the blood seeping from my wound drip onto the Blood Seal, I then straighten and heal my wound. I have to jump back as the stonework beneath my feet twists, and the Seal reforms into another giant image of the 'Dragonborn' symbol, and the great bust of Reman Cyrodiil rises up, revealing a short staircase up to the entrance to Sky Haven Temple.
Esbern hasn't even noticed yet. "This whole place appears to be a shrine to Reman." He murmurs, studying the stonework beside the now open entrance. "He ended the Akaviri Invasion under mysterious circumstances, you recall."
Delphine, however, did see what happened. "You did it – there's the entrance!" Her cry jerks her comrade back into the present, and he also spots the opening. "After you, Dragonborn." Delphine continues. "You should have the honour of being the first to set foot in Sky Haven Temple."
"There's no telling what we might find inside!" Considering the entrance has been sealed since the last occupants left all those centuries ago, there won't be anything alive at least.
As I push the door open, Delphine lights a torch and uses it to light the braziers we pass as we climb the twisting staircase revealed by the old wood.
"Fascinating." Esbern is distracted again by the carvings lining the walls. "Original Akaviri bas-reliefs… almost entirely intact!" I know now why adventurers in the stories hate travelling with scholars. He heads to another further up the stairs. "Amazing. You can see how the Akaviri craftsmen were beginning to embrace the more flowing Nordic style."
"We're here for Alduin's Wall, right, Esbern?" Delphine reminds, gazing at something in the main hall ahead.
"Yes, of course. We'll have more time to look around later, I suppose. Let's see what's up ahead." Delphine leaves the doorway, still lighting braziers as she goes, giving us room to enter the huge hall.
"Shor's bones!" Esbern cries when he spots the massive carved wall that dominates the room, even in the darkness. It truly is a beautiful sight, really – time hasn't worn the face of the work at all.
"Here it is! Alduin's Wall!" Esbern almost stumbles in his hurry to light the brazier at the beginning of the great stone work. "So well preserved… I've never seen a finer example of early Second Era Akaviri sculptural relief…"
"Esbern, we need information, not a lecture on art history." Delphine joins us, having lit the other brazier at the far end of the wall.
"Yes, yes. Let's see what we have… Look, here is Alduin! This panel goes back to the beginning of time, when Alduin and the Dragon Cult ruled over Skyrim." He begins to wander along the length of the carving, scrutinising every little detail. "Here, the humans rebel against their dragon overlords – the legendary Dragon War. Alduin's defeat is the centrepiece of the Wall." He stops in front of a carving of a great dragon falling towards three figures with their arms raised. "You see, here he is falling from the sky. The Nord Tongues – masters of the Voice – are arrayed against him."
"So does it show how they defeated him? Isn't that why we're here?" Delphine is obviously getting annoyed with having to wait for an answer. I, on the other hand, was quite enjoying listening to the story depicted on the Wall.
"Patience, my dear." Responds her fellow Blade. "The Akaviri were not a straightforward people. Everything is couched in allegory and mythic symbolism." He examines the carving more closely. "Yes, yes; this here coming from the mouths of the Nord heroes – this is the Akaviri symbol for 'shout'. But… there's no way to know what Shout is meant."
Delphine's eyebrows try to climb into her flaxen hair. "You mean they used a Shout to defeat Alduin? Are you sure?" I'm not surprised, myself. I thought it would come down to that sort of thing.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Presumably something rather specific to dragons, or even Alduin himself. Remember, this is where they recorded all that they knew of Alduin and his return." Esbern doesn't even turn from his examination of the great carved stone.
"So we're looking for a Shout, then. Damn it!" Delphine turns to me, a tiny glint of hope in her blue eyes. Have you ever heard of such a thing? A Shout that can knock a dragon out of the sky?"
"No, I've never heard of anything like that." I see the little spark of hope die.
"I was afraid you were going to say that." She sighs. "I guess there's nothing for it. We'll have to ask the Greybeards for help. I hoped to avoid involving them in this, but we have no other choice."
"What do you have against the Greybeards?" I ask, curious.
"If they had their way, you'd do nothing but sit up on their mountain with them and talk to the sky, or whatever it is they do." Delphine spits bitterly. "The Greybeards are so afraid of power that they won't use it. Think about it – have they tried to stop the civil war, or done anything about Alduin? No! And they're afraid of you, of your power. Trust me, there's no need to be afraid. Think of Tiber Septim! Do you think he'd have founded the Empire if he'd listened to the Greybeards?"
"Don't worry; I'm not afraid of my own power." I say; mainly to put a stop to her rant.
"Good. The Greybeards can teach you a lot, but don't let them turn you away from your destiny. You're Dragonborn, and you're the only one who can stop Alduin. Don't forget it."
"I'd better go see what Arngeir knows about this Shout."
"Right. Good thing they've already let you into their little cult. Not likely they'd help Esbern of me if we came calling. We'll look around Sky Haven Temple and see what else the old Blades might have left us. It's a better hideout than I could've hoped for. Talos guard you." Delphine wanders off, lighting braziers as she explored.
"Look here, in the third panel." Esbern says, catching my attention. "The prophecy which brought the Akaviri to Tamriel in the first place, in search of the Dragonborn. Here are the Akaviri – the Blades – you see their distinctive long-swords? Now they kneel, their ancient mission fulfilled, as the Last Dragonborn contends with Alduin at the End of Time. Are you paying attention, Delphine?" he says as she passes us along the walkway above the Wall. "You might learn something of our own history."
Looking at the Wall myself, I think I understand some parts of it. The giant figure in the background must be the Akulakhan, a creation of Dagoth Ur in an attempt to create a new god, and destroyed by the Nerevarine, in the year after I was born. And the Daedric 'O' surely stands for the Oblivion Gates, which opened all across Tamriel and ended the Third Era in 433. Looking at this makes me feel old again, considering it is now 4E201. I am now 208 years old – still young by elven reckoning, but ancient compared to a human's average lifespan of eighty years or so.
I'm exhausted now – sleeping in a chair doesn't mean a good night's rest – and the light falling through the cracks in the ceiling has almost faded completely. I begin searching for a bed, or something to sleep on.
In a room opposite Alduin's Wall, an enchanted katana lies on a table, and in a chest, a complete set of Akaviri armour, still in good condition, and complete with shield. It actually seems to be better than what I'm currently wearing, so I swap it around and tuck the blade into my satchel. A room at the back of the hall has beds in it – and the straw hasn't rotted away completely, meaning they're not too uncomfortable.