A Blade in the Dark

Lydia stirred in her bedroll, and I put down my book at once to take her hand in mine. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"My Thane?" she whispered. "What happened? Where are we?"

She gazed around the back of the rattling wagon we rode in.

"We're on the road to Whiterun," I explained. "How do you feel?"

"I am well." Lydia tried to sit up, but she hissed and screwed up her eyes.

"Yeah, right," I snorted and pushed her back down on her multiple cushions. "Here, the healer said you need to take this twice a day to fight off infection."

I handed her a milky white medicine and Lydia swallowed it with trepidation. It had been a tense few days. Jarl Idgrod, to her credit, had jumped into action at once when I asked for her help. She dispatched half a dozen guards and her court wizard to help me carry the feverish Lydia back by stretcher to Morthal. Falion, despite specialising in Conjuration, had done far more for Lydia than I ever could have dared.

He had removed both arrowheads and closed the wounds, but an infection had already taken root. For three days Lydia lay unconscious whilst I paced restlessly around the town, cursing my own stupidity. At last the fever had broken and Falion had deemed it safe to put Lydia on a wagon bound for Whiterun where the priests of Kynareth could help her make a full long-term recovery. This wasn't the first time she'd woken, but she was fully coherent this time.

"Lydia, I want to tell you how sorry I am," I said once she had finished her medicine. "This is all my fault."

"It is not, my Thane. To take a wound in defence of you and this land is an honour," Lydia rebuffed and I ran my fingers through my hair.

"But it is my fault! If I hadn't been so stupid – so cocky – I should have checked for traps instead of rushing in like that."

"What's done is done," said Lydia resolutely. "It does no good to dwell of past mistakes. We retrieved the horn as we were instructed, that's what's important."

"But that's the point, we didn't! It was all for nothing!" I groaned. Lydia cocked her head and frowned as I pulled out the now ragged and bloodstained piece of parchment I'd found in place of the horn. "Some bastard beat us to it."

I showed her the message and her frowned deepened.

"I'm going to find whoever wrote this and kick their arse!" I grumped. "A friend, how cryptic is that?! I let you get hurt for nothing!"

Lydia continued to protest but it did little to assuage my guilt. It gnawed at me for the rest of the trip, which was longer than when we'd been travelling alone. We trundled through the swamps of Hjaalmarch and then the rolling plains of Whiterun at draft-horse pace. Three other wagons made up the caravan, including a colourful Khajiit one. I got to know their leader, Ri'Saad, rather well as he invited me and Lydia to join their campfire in the evenings. He told interesting tales of his travels and when he spoke of Elsewhere he got a far-off look in his eyes.

At long last we arrived in Whiterun. Lydia refused to be carried into the city on a stretcher so instead she hobbled on her a crutch. Danica Purespring took one look at her leg and declared she needed at least six weeks of bedrest and constant Restoration magic to bring it back to full health. Lydia wasn't happy, but she bowed to the wisdom of the priestess.

"I'm sorry to have slowed you down," she apologised when I expressed my intention to carry on to Riverwood alone.

"Don't be stupid, this is my fault in the first place," I said, waving aside her protests. "Besides, I don't mind making this idiot wait for me for a bit."

I waved the crumpled and travel-worn parchment from Ustengrav. Lydia eyed it wearily.

"My Thane, I don't think it's wise for you to speak to this person alone. It could be a trap."

"A trap set by who, though? I don't have any enemies that I'm aware of."

Lydia hesitated.

"Well, you were slated to be executed," she reminded me.

"Oh, yeah there was that." I frowned in thought. "Ok well if the empire is out to get me for a crime I don't remember committing, I don't think all this cloak and dagger is their style. They'd just send a few soldiers to arrest me."

In truth I thought the empire had forgotten all about me. My execution had felt more like a wrong place wrong time situation. Even if any of them remembered the ragged, nameless prisoner, they would assume I burned in Helgen alongside a dozen other unfortunates.

So, after bidding Lydia farewell and promising I'd be back in a few days, I set off on the lane to Riverwood. It was a pleasant, uneventful walk and I made good time, arriving in the village as the sun was setting. I'd been to the inn before with Ralof for a few quiet drinks and when I stepped inside I saw a few familiar faces sat around the fireplace. I nodded in greeting to Camila and Sven before shrugging off my backpack and heading to the bar. The landlady whom I knew vaguely by sight but whom I had never spoken to, glanced up from cleaning a tankard.

"What can I get you?"

"Actually, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. I was told to rent the attic room."

The landlady paused then looked at me properly.

"Attic room, eh?" she repeated, looking me up and down. I got the distinct impression she was sizing me up. "Well we don't have an attic room, but you can have this one here. I'll show you."

Perplexed, I followed her to an ordinary looking room with a bed, table and wardrobe. I dropped my pack onto the bed then turned quickly when the landlady closed the door behind us both.

"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked wearily.

"Were you followed?" the woman asked, ignoring my question. "Did you tell anyone you were coming?"

I frowned.

"My housecarl, Lydia."

The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I suppose it can't be helped now."

"I'm sorry, are you the person I'm supposed to be meeting?" I asked. The woman held up a finger to silence me the crossed to the wardrobe. She rummaged around inside and then with a click, the back panel slid open to reveal a set of stairs leading down.

"Best we speak down here," she muttered.

Now quite bewildered I followed her down the stairs to a dark basement. I heard the woman striking stones together then a candle flared into life.

"What's going on?" I asked, making sure to keep myself between the door and the woman.

After she'd lit the other candles in sconces on the walls, she took something from a shelf and laid it on the table between us. It was a large, curved horn, banded in iron decorated with Nordic etchings.

"The horn of Jurgen Windcaller, you're the one who took it?" I asked in astonishment and the woman smiled wryly.

"Surprised? I guess I'm getting pretty good at my simple innkeeper routine."

I squinted at her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Delphine. Apologies for the convoluted way of getting you here, I had to be sure you were the real thing and not some Thalmor trap."

This confused me even more and my expression must have said as much because Delphine sighed.

"Look, I am not your enemy! I already gave you the horn."

"The horn you stole. My friend got hurt badly trying to get this thing, all for nothing! Why didn't you just send me a letter or come and find me in Whiterun?"

"Like I said, the Thalmor. They've been after me for years and creating a fake Dragonborn to lure me out of hiding is right up their alley. I knew if you were legitimate, the Greybeards would summon you and send you after that horn. They're nothing if not predictable."

My brow furrowed at her dismissive tone and I finally picked up the horn, it was heavier than I expected.

"Well, I don't know anything about the Thalmor except that they're bad news. I don't want to get mixed up with them."

"Wise. But if you had your doubts about me then you were a fool to step into this room," said Delphine grimly. I gripped the horn tighter and took a breath.

"Alright, enough of this. Tell me who you are and why you wanted to meet me."

Delphine crossed her arms and leant against the stone wall.

"I was a member of the Blades before the Great War. The emperor's elite bodyguards and intelligence officers. The Thalmor all but wiped us out and the White Gold Concordat finished the job. I've had multiple attempts on my life since then so you'll forgive me for being a bit over cautious."

"Right, um, I'm sorry to hear that. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Before we served the empire, the Blades came from Akavir where their original purpose was to slay dragons. We remember what most don't, that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragon killer. Only they can absorb a dragon's soul as it dies, preventing it from ever returning."

She fixed me with a steely gaze.

"So, can you do it? Can you steal a dragon's soul?"

"I – I don't like phrasing it like that," I said, flustered. "But, yes. It's how I found out I was Dragonborn in the first place."

I didn't like the glint in Delphine's eye or the slow nod.

"Excellent, then you're exactly what this country needs. The situation is more dire than the empire or the Stomcloaks realise."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Delphine pulled a scroll of parchment out of a drawer and spread it out on the table. It showed a detailed map of Skyrim with spiky black exes all over it.

"This is a map of dragon burial sites, properly verified thanks to your trip to Bleak Falls Barrow."

"Hey how did you..."

"Please, who do you think pointed Farengar to the tomb in the first place? I've been keeping an eye on you ever since he hired you as his assistant."

Thoroughly creeped out, I studied the map.

"Dragons weren't just in hiding all these centuries, they were dead. They're being resurrected now."

"By who?" I asked.

"I don't know," Delphine grimaced. "No necromancy known to humans could do it, though maybe the elves have greater Conjuration power than we realised."

"You think the Thalmor are doing it? Why?"

Delphine shrugged.

"Just one theory I'm working on. But it's definitely happening. I've visited a handful of burial sites already and they were empty, freshly dug up. And it's spreading from the south."

She pointed to the area around Helgen.

"If the pattern holds, the next incident will happen here, at Kynesgrove."

Her finger moved to a small settlement in Eastmarch just south of Windhelm.

"Deep in Stormcloak territory, great," I groaned. "So you want to go an check it out?"

"Exactly, and I want you to come with me. If there is a dragon there, you're the best person for the job."

"Uh, debatable. Look," I tried a reasonable tone. "I really don't go looking for dragon fights. I've had two so far and they were not fun. I think it's great you want to get to the bottom of this but there are better warriors out there who can help."

"None of them can consume a dragon's soul," said Delphine coldly. "What's the point of killing them if someone can just come along and resurrect them?"

She made a good point and I searched for some other angle. I couldn't say why, but every instinct in my body was screaming at me not to trust this person. It felt something like the call of a Word Wall only instead of drawing me in, it was warning me off.

"I have my own quest I'm on you know. I have to get this horn back to the Greybeards and finish my training with them. And then I want to go north to Winterhold –"

"To learn all you can about Illusion magic so you can restore your lost memories," Delphine interrupted. I stared at her.

"How...?"

"I told you, I've been keeping an eye on you. Listen, has it occurred to you that your lost memories are connected to the dragons returning?"

I pulled a face.

"How do you figure that?"

"Think about it, the first thing you remember, is Helgen. The first time anyone saw a dragon in four eras, was at Helgen. The Thalmor showed up to interfere in Ulfric's execution, at Helgen."

"That's...a bit of a stretch, but maybe?" I said slowly. Delphine let me think it over. Maybe she was right, it did seem to be too big a coincidence that dragons should return from the dead and for me to discover I was Dragonborn. If Arngeir were here, he'd say it had the touch of the Divines.

"Oh alright," I sighed. "I suppose it can't hurt to go and check."

"Good, it's a two-week journey to Kynesgrove. I think we should cut through Helgen to avoid detection, at least we won't have the Thalmor on our tail once we get into Eastmarch," said Delphine in a business like tone.

"Oh wait hang on, can we go via Whiterun instead? I need to let Lydia know where I'm going."

I was taken aback by the glare Delphine fixed me with.

"And why do you need to do that?"

"Because she's my friend and she'll worry if I don't check in?" I said slowly.

"Friendship is a luxury people like us can't afford. It's too risky."

Anger stabbed through me.

"Luckily, I'm not like you," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to Whiterun, it'll take half an hour out of the journey. If you don't like that, then I guess you'll have to find some other Dragonborn."

We glared at each other. After a while Delphine snapped,

"Fine. I'll meet you at Chillfurrow farm in two days. Best I don't go into any major cities. Thalmor spies are everywhere."

"Good, glad we straightened that out. I'll take that room tonight by the way, and some dinner."

Delphine's eyelid twitched and she stalked up the stairs, dress skirts swishing.

Delphine was gone by the time I woke and breakfasted the next morning. I took my time eating my porridge then strolled back the way I came to Whiterun. Lydia was not happy when I broke the news to her.

"The Blades were all killed after the Great War," she said as we discussed it over an ale in the barracks. "Those who didn't fall in battle were hunted down by the Thalmor afterwards, one of those atrocities no one ever hears about."

"Do you think she's legit?" I asked and Lydia pursed her lips thought.

"If she is, she's a formidable woman. I don't understand her interest in dragons though. The Blades did come from Akavir, but that was thousands of years ago. They have nothing to do with the dragons of Nordic legend."

"I don't know what her game is," I said, shaking my head over my tankard. "There's something about her...I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Lydia glanced resentful at her crutch leaning against the wall nearby.

"I feel useless here," she grumbled. "I should be out there, fighting alongside you."

"You will, but right now you need to heal," I said firmly. "And if Delphine is tough enough to escape the Thalmor, then I think she can watch my back."

So long as she doesn't stick a knife in it, I thought privately.

I met Delphine again right where we agreed early the next morning.

"Dragonborn, did you have trouble getting out of the city unseen?" she asked.

"No trouble at all," I said breezing, thinking of all the goodbyes I'd said at the gate and the pastry I'd bought in the market.

Delphine was now dressed for travel in simple but sturdy leather armour, a grey cloak with a bow slung across her back and a short sword on her hip. Once we set off it didn't take long for us to come across something interesting. A little man in a red costume looked very distressed as he tried to pull his cart out of rut.

"Wagon-wheel, damn wagon-wheel!" he cried in despair. Then he spotted us and waved. "Oh! Fellow travellers! Please, do a kindness for poor Cicero."

I stepped forward, intending to help the man push his wagon out of the ditch but Delphine grabbed my arm and kept walking.

"Sorry, we're in a hurry," she said waspishly as we swept past the traveller, whose face fell.

"But he needs help, it'll only take a few minutes," I protested.

"He'll have to help himself, like everyone else. The fewer people we interact with, the better," Delphine muttered.

This unpleasant interaction set the tone for the rest of the trip. For the first few days we followed the river through a deepening gorge until we left Whiterun hold and came upon the hot springs of Eastmarch. I'd been this way before when I helped Danica Purespring restore the Gildergleam, but when I told Delphine this she just grunted. She wasn't interested in striking up a conversation and became downright nasty when I tried to ask about the Blades or her time serving the emperor.

As we travelled we met plenty of people in need of help but every time, Delphine steered us clear and refused to get involved. Sometimes I ignored her which earned me a thorough scolding. I couldn't wait until this trip was over.

The weather took a turn as we approached Windhelm, strong winds brought freezing cold rain and thick clouds that made midday as dark as evening.

"Absolutely not," Delphine snorted when I dreamed allowed of a bed and a roaring fire at the inn. "Windhelm is a city thousands strong. We'd bound to be recognised."

"Oh come on!" I cried. "This is deepest darkest Stormcloak territory, there are no Thalmor here!"

Delphine gave me a scathing look.

"It adorable that you think that."

So we veered away from the impressive city of stone and its warm beds, and instead camped out in the sparse woods, shivering in the gale and chewing on rabbit. The next day we took a small road south towards Kynesgrove. There were rare alchemical ingredients to collect along the way which sparked another argument with Delphine about wasting time. Whatever, Jazbay grapes were too expensive to just walk past. Delphine tapped her foot impatiently as I knelt and gently teased the fruits off the vines so as not to damage them. As I put them in my ingredients pouch we heard a roar up ahead. Delphine and I glanced at each other then set off at a brisk trot towards the village. We heard screaming as we approached then a woman ran down the hill with a small child in her arms.

"No! Don't go up there, it's a dragon, it's attacking!" she cried upon seeing us. Delphine drew her bow.

"Where is it?" she asked sharply. The woman pointed back the way she had come.

"It's up there, circling the old burial mound above the village. I don't know what it's doing but I'm not hanging around to find out!"

With that she sprinted past us with her child pressed against her breast. Delphine charged up the hill and I puffed after her. As we climbed past the cottages and a large inn, more villagers fled in the opposite direction, some also calling out warnings to us. The path led past the inn, up a steep incline, then levelled out to reveal a clearing with a simple burial mound at the centre. I spotted the dragon at once and my heart stopped. I grabbed Delphine's arm.

"It's the big black one from Helgen!" I hissed. Delphine eyed the monster wearily.

"Let's hide down here and see what it does," she decided. She pulled me towards a moss-covered boulder and together we crouched on the damp earth.

The dragon hovered in mid-air above the barrow let out what I now recognised as a Shout.

"Slen Tiid Vo!"

"What's it doing?!" Delphine muttered.

I watched in horrified fascination as the earthen mound cracked open with a noise like thunder. A skeletal claw burst from the gap as a burning corpse of a dragon dragged itself into the light. It was like watching a dragon's death in reverse. The glowing embers knit flesh and sinew back together rather than burning it away. The reborn dragon took a shuddering breath then looked up at the other, still hovering above.

"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik." it said. I obviously didn't understand a word but the huge black dragon inclined it's head.

"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir," it answered. Then I my blood ran cold as it turned it's head and looked directly at us. "Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi."

"I think it's speaking to us," Delphine whispered. I didn't reply, my jaw seemed locked in place as it quivered from head to toe. Then the black dragon sneered at us in Common,

"You do not even speak our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."

It looked back at the dragon it had resurrected and snarled,

"Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."

Then with a mighty downward sweep of its wings, the black dragon soared away over the treetops and disappeared further up the mountain. We didn't have time to worry about where it had gone as the second dragon shot a jet of fire at us and we were forced to dodge.

"What did that thing say to you?" Delphine demanded even as she drew back her bow and shot an arrow at the angry dragon.

"How should I bloody know?! I don't speak dragon!" I shouted back. "And I think we've got bigger problems right now!"

I tried to prepare a frost spell but the dragon whipped around and its tail knocked all the wind out of me. It lifted me clean off my feet and threw me down the slope. I lay there, stunned, listening to Delphine fire arrow after arrow. The ground shuddered as the dragon took the air and as its shadow passed over me I struggled back to my feet.

"Damn," I wheezed, placing a hand on my stomach to heal the bruises and ease some of the pain.

I jogged to take cover and not a moment too soon as the dragon breathed fire again. It seemed like dragons all had a fairly predictable strategy, they would fly around and around in circles and rain flames or frost down on their opponents until they were too injured to continue, then they would land and the fight would turn against them. Except the black dragon of course, I had seen it use many Shouts at Helgen which others of its kind didn't seem to have.

"Are you going to help?" Delphine shouted from across the ruined burial mound.

Her arrows whistled past the monster as it banked out of the way. I ignored her and narrowed my eyes at the dragon, waiting for the right moment. As it passed directly overhead, I thrust my palm up and shot sparks at its soft underbelly. The dragon howled in pain, wobbled in its flight, and hit a tree. Unable to right itself, it tumbled to the ground in a hail of pine needles.

It shook its scaly head then glared at me with furious red eyes. For a second I though it would attack me directly, but then it launched itself back into the air and flew away down the hill.

"Huh, haven't seen a dragon run away from a fight before," I said, frowning. Delphine leapt on top of the boulder to watch where the dragon went.

"It isn't running away," she muttered. Then I heard the roar and crackle of fire-breath and realised what the monster was doing.

"Oh no," I gasped, sprinting down the slope with Delphine at my heels.

When we burst through the treeline we were met with a scene of devastation. The dragon had set every cottage in the village ablaze and I let out a horrified scream as it swooped down and snatched up a whizzed old man too frail to run.

"Let him go!" I cried. The dragon landed on the roof of the inn.

"As you wish, Dovahkiin," it drawled and threw the man onto a nearby burning roof. His screams of agony rang in my ears.

"You bastard!" I snarled.

The dragon laughed cruelly and took flight again, fanning the flames even hotter. I struggled to breathe in the smoke-choked air and my eyes smarted. I blinked and tried to gauge the distance I needed to Whirlwind Spring to the man on the roof, but Delphine grabbed me.

"Leave him, he's already dead."

I shook her off with an angry snarl and set off as a sprint.

"Wuld!"

I landed on the burning roof and gritted my teeth against the searing heat. I rolled the man off the thatch, lost my own footing, and fell about ten feet onto solid ground. I forced myself back up and beat at the flames licking the man's clothes. Once they were somewhat quenched I shook his shoulders.

"Can you hear me? Sir? You have to wake up!"

I placed a healing spell on his chest with one hand and took his pulse with the other, but I knew it was too late. My shoulders slumped.

"I'm so sorry," I mumbled.

Then I screamed as a huge claw closed around me and hoisted me into the air.

"Did I make you cry, Dovahkiin?" the dragon sneered, lifting me to eye level. I squirmed and swore but its grip tightened, squeezing my breathe from my lungs.

"I expected more of a fight from the chosen of Akatosh. My Lord Alduin probably hoped you'd escape for him to defeat himself another day, but you couldn't even manage that."

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water but with my chest compressed I couldn't get enough air to Shout. I felt and heard a rib crack under the pressure and little black dots danced in my eyes as I began to run out of air.

The dragon seemed content to watch me suffocate to death but then a hand-axe came spinning out of the smoke and hit it in the snout. It roared and dropped me.

This time my leg twisted beneath me and I knew in an instant my ankle was broken. I screamed in pain and all I could do was roll out of the way as the dragon reached down to retrieve me. I heard the twang of Delphine's bow which distracted it again as I struggled into a half- upright position.

Mustering up the last of my strength, I sat up and clenched my fist to cast an ice-spike. It was more powerful than the frost spell I usually used and always exhausted me, but I was running short on options. The dragon bent its scaly neck, emerging out of the smoke like a nightmare from Oblivion, and I let the spike fly. It found its mark and embedded deep in the dragon's neck. Boiling blood spurted from the wound and drenched me. The dragon came crashing down and I tried to crawl out of the way.

"Wuld!" I rasped.

I shot out from under the falling monster just in time, reappearing a few feet hence. The last thing I saw before passing out was the beast burning up and its soul whirling around me like a tornado.

When I next opened my eyes I found Delphine kneeling beside me.

"Here, drink this," she ordered, shoving a round potion bottle into my hand.

I whimpered as white hot pain oozed from my ankle. Every other inch of my body hurt too, from burns and bruises. I sniffed the potion and, recognising the smell of blisterwort, I quaffed it down.

"Your ankle isn't broken, just a bad sprain," Delphine noted and I glanced down to see she had removed my boot. My whole foot had swollen and turned a nasty shade of purple.

"Shor's balls," I muttered, struggling to lean forward and touch my ankle. Even this small movement made me yelp and tears sprang to my eyes. I now realised we were no longer in the village, but surrounded by tall pines. I looked around and thought I saw an orange glow in the distance.

"The – the other people?" I panted as I cast a healing spell. "Did anyone make it? There might have been someone trapped in the houses."

"There was no time to look, and I think we should get out of here as soon as you can move. There's still that other dragon lurking around and there will be Stormcloaks swarming all over the village within the hour. Too many eyes and mouths for my liking."

I shot a resentful look at Delphine.

"We can't just swan off without trying to help people!" I snapped but Delphine sniffed.

"We have helped them, we killed a dragon for them."

"It might not have attacked the village at all if we hadn't come looking for a fight!"

Delphine ignored me. She walked away with an arrow nocked in her bow and her eyes peeled for anyone approaching. With a frustrated grunt, I propped myself against a tree and willed my healing magic to work faster. Some of the bruises did fade and the potion numbed the pain to a dull ache. Gingerly, I pushed myself to a standing position, wincing when I put weight on my left foot.

"No, not going to happen," I gasped, sliding down the trunk. Delphine looked me over then, with a sigh, sat on a fallen log and propped her bow within easy reach.

"I guess you're not going anywhere on the leg. We should be fine for now, I carried you a good distance from the village. But no campfire, it'll attract attention."

At this rate I'd be burning with fever so a lack of campfire didn't perturb me.

"So, it is true, you really are Dragonborn," Delphine said as she handed the waterskin to me. I took a long gulp.

"You still had doubts?" I asked and Delphine shrugged.

"You said yourself, you're no warrior. I just found it hard to picture you going toe to toe with a dragon. But I guess I was wrong."

I snorted then winced as I tried to ease my leg into a less painful position. Every breath I took sent a stabbing pain through my chest.

"I think my rib is broken," I wheezed, placing a hand on my torso. I tried a healing spell but the light was weak and flickered out in seconds.

"I'm concerned that we don't know much more now than we did before," Delphine mused, disregarding my words. "I was hoping to learn more about who is bringing these dragons back."

"What are you talking about? We saw that big black dragon use a Shout to raise the other one from the dead," I countered, still breathing as shallowly as possible. Delphine inclined her head.

"I suppose you're right, but who's behind it?"

"The dragon we killed called the black one Alduin, I'm sure of it," I said. Now that I thought about it, I realised I'd heard that name before, the dragon who'd attacked us on the road in Falkreath had said the same thing. And I seemed to have a vague recollection in the back of my mind of someone else mentioning Alduin too, but I was too muddled to think clearly.

"Alduin – the name sounds familiar..." Delphine frowned in thought then hit the tree trunk with her fist in frustration. "Damn it, we're stumbling around in the dark here! We need more information. I think it's time we investigated the Thalmor properly."

I looked sharply over and regretted it immediately as a fresh wave of pain pierced my chest.

"Why are you so convinced they had something to do with this? I've never seen any hint that they're interested in dragons."

"The Thalmor have their fingers in every pie in Tamriel. I'd bet my life they're behind this. Think about Helgen – the empire had captured Ulfric, the civil war was basically over, then the dragon appeared and Ulfric escaped. Who benefits from the war more than the Thalmor?"

I wanted to argue back but I was feeling fainter by the second.

"Pass me another potion," I groaned. "We can discuss this again in the morning."

I had a restless night as the ache in my ankle and chest grew worse and worse. I managed the snatch a few hours of sleep but I woke before the sun had even risen, when the sky was the dull grey that preceded the dawn. I peered over at Delphine, asleep with her back resting against a tree and her hand still gripping her dagger. I had thought hard about her conspiracy theory in the long stretches between sleep and had come to a decision.

After sitting up I inched up the leg of my britches and winced at the sickly yellow bruising around my ankle. I took a few deep breaths then flooded it with healing magic. I did the same for my chest, a hand pressed tight against the most painful spot. It wouldn't be enough to heal a broken rib, but I hoped it would hurry the process along. The sound of me packing up my few belongings jerked Delphine awake.

"Ah, good you're already awake," she said, stretching and getting to her feet. "We should eat quickly then get a move on. I know a place nearby we can lay low and plan our next move against the Thalmor."

"No."

Delphine paused a fixed me with a steely stare.

"What do you mean, no?" she asked. I hefted my backpack on and secured my sword belt.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to travel together anymore," I said, my jaw set. "I think we should part ways."

Delphine's eyebrows knit together and I tried not to flinch under her glare.

"Lyra, you are the Dragonborn, you can't just walk away from that. The Blades have served those of your blood for centuries, it is my duty to stand by your side."

"I don't want you by my side," I retorted. "Look, like I said before, I am sorry for what happened to you and the Blades, but that was decades ago and not my problem. I don't believe the Thalmor have anything to do with the dragons returning, and I think your obsession with them will get you killed."

I took a step backwards.

"I am going back to Kynesgrove to help the survivors, like I should have done yesterday. Then I am taking the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller to High Hrothgar."

"And then what?" Delphine snarled, her face twisting in anger. "You'll hide away on a mountain with a bunch of weak old men? You are running away from your destiny!"

"I don't believe in destiny!" I shouted. "And even if I did, who are you to tell me what it is?"

We glared at each other and the air seemed to crackle with the heat of the argument. Delphine's mouth was set in a bitter grimace.

"You're making a mistake, mage," she growled. "Sooner or later the Thalmor will hunt you down for what you are, and when they do, you'll beg them to kill you, anything is better than the alternative."

"I'll bare that it mind," I said frostily. Delphine didn't move to stop me as I started walking away. I glanced over my shoulder but she stood still, watching me go with a face like thunder.

I continued as fast as my swollen ankle would allow and only stopped to rest it when I was sure Delphine was far behind me.