Day Twenty-four

I woke to a fright. Esbern's face was hovering over me trying to get me moving. I shooed him away and thought my morning was already ruined until I bumped into someone laying next to me. I smiled, remembering how it was not too late for Haela after all. It just goes to show the locals always know the best places to go for a good time.

I met Esbern and Lydia downstairs for breakfast. Lydia, as usual, had a huge plate of food that was vanishing fast. I met Esbern at the bar to order some food myself.

"These late night adventures can really work up an appetite, ay Esbern?"

Haela happened to walk by just then, smiling and adjusting her overflowing blouse.

Esbern looked from her to me to Lydia, then shook his head. "I'll never understand this new generation. Right in front of his woman. Still, I can see the advantages..."

"Lay low, old man," I said, "We don't want any more trouble before we can leave."

"You mean like leaving floating Argonian corpses where everyone can see them? I'll try my best."

Esbern went to sit with Lydia, turning his chair to not face me. Whatever.
I did not trust Esbern to be able to keep up with us on the long trek back to Whiterun then to Riverwood, so I hired the carriage from the stables to take us. It meant having to listen to the driver regale us with his tedious tales, but at least we would get there before the actual end of the world. On the way, I mentioned to Lydia and Esbern the note I found on Shavari. Right away Lydia said the 'E' probably stood for Elewen. Why I did not think of that, I could not say but I reluctantly agreed with her that it was pretty obvious. That stuck in my craw the whole trip, especially as Lydia made a game out of it. "What's that big thing with all the leaves? Starts with a 'T'." Yeah, that got old quick.

It was midnight by the time we reached Whiterun. Even Esbern was too tired to go any further and Delphine was probably asleep or out doing her nighttime activities, whatever they were. I settled us down in Breezehome after a small dinner and rested until morning.

Day Twenty-five

Esbern was the first to come downstairs. He stretched and breathed deep before exhaling heartily. "Best night's sleep I've had in years. Why, Dragonborn, you look terrible. Are you ill?"

I glanced over at him from the table as I chewed on a strip of cooked beef. "I'm fine, old man. Find something to eat and do it quietly."

Lydia appeared right behind Esbern.

"Our Dragonborn is just grumpy from sleeping all night on a pile of hay and using a sack of potatoes for a pillow," she said.

"I was being nice," I growled, "I thought Esbern should have the bed."

Lydia laughed, "The thought never occurred to you. You just wanted to keep an eye on your little stash of shiny things, especially with a stranger in the house."

A sharp pain shot through my neck as I moved to object. "That's absurd. Now eat something so we can go. I've already been up for an hour waiting for you two."

"Have some wine and relax," Lydia said, "Nature calls, first."

"Can't you do that when we get there?" I asked, but she was already headed out the door. I grabbed a bottle of ale in front of me and take a long swig from it.

"Are you sure you two aren't married?" Esbern asked.

"Perhaps you'd like it back in your hidey-hole, old man?"

Esbern surrendered and went back to eating by the fire.

A short time later we walked it to Riverwood. Esbern kept up better than I expected even in the rain that was coming down. Delphine was waiting right inside the door of the inn and their greetings are genuinely touching, like father and daughter. Delphine led us back to the cellar so we could discuss things in private.

Once we were all down there, Delphine started with a revelation about herself. She said she was the last of the Blades and now her purpose was clear - she must stop the dragons even if it meant killing them down to the last one.

"I don't know if I care for that idea," I said, "I had plans of my own for the beasts, and remember I am the Dragonborn. What happened to all the other Blades anyway?"

"The Thalmor hunted us down long ago when they caught us spying on them and reporting to the Emperor of their plans of conquest. We fought but their numbers were disguised and they eventually overwhelmed us."

"The Thalmor may yet be involved," said Lydia. "They've been tracking the movements of Ralos since they let us leave the Embassy."

"What do you mean, 'let us leave'?" I asked.

"Please, they let us go. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."

"Easy? You call that easy?"

"They're tracking us."

"Tracking? Not this Dragonborn, sister."

Delphine stopped us by stepping between, "I only hope Esbern here knows of a weakness in Alduin's defenses."

"I may know of a way to find one," Esbern said, taking a thick book from his pack and putting it on the table. "We must go to Skyhaven Temple. According to my collected notes here, the Blades of old constructed Alduin's Wall which depicts the history of the Blades as well as the prophecy I mentioned of Alduin and the rebirth of the dragons."

"Where is this temple?" I asked.

"In the crags of the Reach. It is a difficult climb but not impossible."

"Wait," Delphine said, "A temple in the mountains of the Reach? You must mean Karthspire. I've been in the area before, I know where you're talking about."

Delphine marked it on my map. "We have a better chance of getting there all in one piece if we go together but, it's your call, Dragonborn."

"It's taken us this long to get us all together, we might as well stay like this. There's no sense in some of us getting there and waiting while others are still walking or dead."

Delphine agreed and we decided there was no time like the present to start on our way. Upstairs, Delphine said goodbye to Orgnar and that the inn is all his since she might not be coming back.

"Well, isn't that something?" Orgnar said.

Him and his honeyed words. I grabbed a few more necessary provisions for the trip, trying to keep the clinking to a minimum. Delphine also let us load up food and other incidentals. It was still mid-morning when we left Riverwood.

We skirted Whiterun and the Western Watchtower and followed the road, keeping a distance from a fort rife with bandits. I would go back for them later. Beyond that I saw a dragon flying in the distance. I could not tell for sure but it may have been Alduin, judging by the shape of the wings. I alerted the others and sprinted towards the beast, much to their dismay. He escaped from me last time and I was not going to be so charitable now.

By the time I reached him he was already fighting with something on the ground. I crested a hill and saw two giants running about waving their clubs at him. Now that I was closer, I saw the dragon is not Alduin. But I was hungry for a dragon soul to learn more of the shouts with so I ran to the fight.

The dragon landed, which was its fatal mistake. It obviously did not know the strength of the giants. By the time I reached it to strike with my sword it was already bleeding heavily and half dead. The giants seemed not to notice the dragon's fiery breath and kept beating it with their stone and bone clubs. Before my companions could even arrive to help, the dragon perished. I savored its soul as the giants shouldered their weapons and walked away.

Esbern stood next to me as I picked a ruby out of the remains of the dragon's skeleton. "Even seeing it for myself, it is hard to believe," the old man said, "The dragon's are truly being brought back from the dead."

"Was there ever any doubt?" I asked.

"It was hard to believe. But this dragon, his name was Voljotnaak. The hands of prophecy are at work. I had my doubts but this was the last dragon I helped put down before being forced into hiding. It is no coincidence it is the first I see and the first soul I witness you consuming. I am fully committed to your cause, Dragonborn. Where you lead, I will follow."

I looked around. Lydia was standing with Delphine at the other end of the dragon picking up some souvenir bones from its tail. I leaned in towards Esbern. "Now that's what I like to hear, someone with some sense. I would appreciate it if you could try and inspire some of that devotion out of my housecarl over there. She's a bit lacking in the respect part and a bit over-zealous in the bullying part."

"Really? That often happens with lovers..."

"We're not lovers," I hissed quietly. "One time she even stabbed my with her dagger."

Esbern gasped, "She stabbed the Dragonborn?"

"Well, it was more of a poke, but it still hurt."

"Were you arguing or fighting? Did she refuse to do as she was told?"

"That goes without saying. I may have accidentally touched her backside while we were forced to share a bed."

Esbern's face went from outraged to skeptical in a matter of moments.

"Accidentally? It does look like it would be hard not to touch in such close quarters."

"Exactly. I mean, you've seen it. It's so big."

"What's so big?" Lydia asked, sneaking up behind me.

Esbern said, "Your bu..."

"Your beautiful smile," I interjected, "Why, it's as big as all outdoors. Big and beautiful. Isn't that right, Esbern?"

"It is indeed a sight everyone should enjoy." He winked at me. I nodded back.

"Shall we move on?" I suggested.

Lydia stopped me as I headed back towards the road. "Do you really like my smile?"

"I can't get enough of it. In fact," I said, then waved her gallantly forward, "After you."

She smiled then went first and I followed a few steps behind her. Now it was my turn to smile.

We continued West until we come to a fork in the road. I chose the left way because that seemed more in the direction we needed to go. Right away I saw a black and white horse dead just off the road. It obviously was not a wild horse so my first thought was bandits. They were more numerous that mountain flowers in this land. Not far from the horse was an upturned cart and a dead Argonian. His tail was still moving so I wondered if it was a fresh attack. I had no idea how long the tails kept moving. Kind of creepy, really. The smell of blood was on the breeze that blew past me. My guess is the bandits were not far.

"Look sharp," I told everyone, "This road is an ambush waiting to happen."

I sifted through the objects strewn about the cart and found a book titled, 'Dance in Fire Ch.7'. The entire text was nothing but pick-up lines for desperate men frequenting taverns on a nightly basis. I saw a couple I thought I had actually used before. I did not remember if they worked or not but I could not wait to try a few of the others out. I put the book in my pack for later.

We came to another road branching off to the left and I heard a woman calling for help. Before I could even look up, some ruffian dressed like a maniac ran at me dual-wielding axes. Despite his ridiculous outfit, he fought well with the two hand-made weapons. I was forced to shout him across the road, catching one of his fellow bandits as well.

Lydia ran up to me, "Forsworn."

"What? I swore nothing except to give up skooma, and I haven't touched the stuff, thought of it, maybe..."

"Not you, fool. Those bandits. They're part of a cult called the Forsworn. They're nothing but a plague on Tamriel."

With that, Lydia ran at them, brandishing her axe with wide, deadly sweeps. From out of nowhere a horse appeared and ran at the bandits, followed by a woman holding a dagger. That must have been who I heard cry for help. This was turning into quite the fray. The horse was doing a number on the crazy cultists, especially with Lydia harrying them also. I ran up just as a third Forsworn arrived. I took this new one on myself, starting with a shout of frost to slow him down. He had an odd looking sword, definitely hand-made and with feathers attached to it of all things. He would have been better off trying to use those feathers to fly for all the good it did him. Well, his head went flying anyway.

Esbern and Delphine finally showed up but by then the party was over. I knew that old man would slow us down. The female peddler walked off with her horse without so much as a thank you. Even the law abiding citizens had little use of manners. I checked the Forsworn but they must swear off extraneous property, as well as baths, because I found nothing worth taking. Of course, I would not mind seeing Lydia try on one of their outfits. I wondered if as Thane I could institute a dress code, at least for Breezehome?

The road further on held no more Forsworn, only wolves. Lots of wolves. By the time I saw the next inn, I had enough pelts to cover its roof. The inn was called Old Hroldan. Maybe back when it was New Hroldan it was busy but a man sitting on the front step had a pile of shavings from whitling so big I thought he was starting a bonfire.

Inside, I did not get two steps in before some little brat pointed his stubby finger at me and said, "Drink too much and get out. No drunks allowed."

"You remind me of my nephew," I said then draw my sword, "I hated my nephew."

The kid ran off and I laughed until I coughed.

"Was that nice?" Lydia asked, swatting me in the head.

"I was only joking. He ran like a bat out of Hells, though, didn't he?"

I stepped up to the counter. The innkeeper was comely for such a deserted place.

"Don't mind Skuli," she said, "He means well and is a good worker. I'm Eydis. Will you be wanting Septim Tiber's room?"

Lydia perked up, "Septim Tiber stayed here?"

"Indeed, right after the big war. Made this place his headquarters."

"We'll take it," Lydia said.

"Have a good rest, then," Eydis said, "It's the big room with the double bed."

I perked up, "Really?"

"Oh, that'll be perfect, won't it, Ralos," Lydia said.

"It will?"

"Don't act like you weren't thinking the same thing."

"I was thinking it all right," I said, grinning.

"Poor old Esbern won't have to sleep on the floor after all. You're so kind to think of him."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course I am."

Lydia rapped me on the head again, "Of course you are. Pig."

Eydis led us to the room. I rubbed my head and followed.

"Hey, Lydia," I said, "What do you think of dress codes?"