Chapter 12.
A Horn for a Blade
"You?", I asked incredulously. The woman who stood before me nodded, a gray horn in her outstretched hand. Delphine. I had been traveling for several days to get to Riverwood. Morthal had no carriages, and I didn't have enough Septims to purchase a horse for Lydia and me. So, it had taken four days to walk to Riverwood- with several bandits halting our progress along the way. Now, I stood inside the Sleeping Giant Inn, having paid for the "attic room" that the mysterious stranger had told me to do in their note. I paid a minimal amount of gold and was sent into a side room since there was no "attic room" at all. I was about to go to sleep for the night when I heard a knock on the door. Lydia was up faster than I was, a dagger clasped in her hand- standing alert as the door opened. To both of our surprise, a woman stepped through.
The woman stood taller than me, wearing a stained dress with several cleaning rags hanging off her belt. He had graying blonde hair, as well as gray eyes. Her face was narrow and stern. She looked like she had seen several decades- but wasn't out of her prime just yet. It took me a moment to remember her name, having only talked to her in passing once before.
"You're Delphine, right? Did you need something?" Delphine ignored my words, looking behind her as she closed the door. Lydia frowned, stepping forward between us.
"Tell us the meaning of this, Innkeeper," she growled. Delphine raised her hands placatingly, showing that she was unarmed. She still looked unremarkable to me, but a gleam in her eyes showed something different about her, something dangerous.
"Calm down, I was just making sure nobody could see us. I've been looking for you, Dragonborn." Delphine stated. She reached towards a bag on her side, making Lydia's hand twitch.
"No funny business, Innkeeper," Lydia warned. Nodding, Delphine's hand went even slower into her bag, pulling out a curved horn. The horn looked like a goat horn, with its ridged surface curving slightly. Its gray surface looked old and weathered, and its end had a metal cap. It matched the description the Graybeards had given me perfectly. The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller.
"You?", I asked incredulously. The woman who stood before me nodded, a gray horn in her outstretched hand. Delphine. I looked over Delphine again, this time taking note of every detail. Her face had several scars on it, all long healed and faded. Her hands, though small, were rough and callused. Her dress, well-used and faded, had several bumps where there should have been none. Hidden weapons?
"Who is this woman", I asked myself. I hesitantly reached out, grabbing the horn from her hand. It felt old and smooth, the years having worn it down.
"Let me take us somewhere more secure. Follow me." Delphine stated. Her eyes shifted to the window behind me, filled with more than a little paranoia. She calmly walked back to the door, opening it then strolling out into the inn's common area. Lydia and I shared a look, but we followed without any complaints. Delphine crossed over into another room, opening a closet. After fumbling with something for a moment, a door opened inside of it, with stairs leading down.
Once Lydia, Delphine, and I were all alone in the secret basement, Delphine visibly relaxed, her shoulders falling in relief as she stood on the other side of a table. Barrels, boxes, and shelves lined the walls, filled with food and alchemical components. The room smelled of warm wine and dust- the former becoming clear as I saw a small pot heating over a fire. Racks on the right wall were filled with weapons of every type and description. Chairs were pulled up, and Delphine poured mugs of mulled wine for each of us, though Lydia and I didn't drink at first. After the initial introductions, Delphine began to talk. She was a member of the Blades, a secret agency that worked for the Dragonborn. And since there were no other living Dragonborn, that meant that she worked for me. After that, Delphine began talking bout the dragons that, according to her research, were being revived in ancient "Dragon Mounds".
"And so," Delphine finished, "that is why I need your help". I blinked, hard. My brain was working in overdrive to store all of the information while slightly inebriated from the wine.
"Let me get this straight, you want me to investigate a dragon burial site in Rorikstead to investigate and possibly slay another dragon after it gets reanimated? And all this information you managed to gather from the Dragonstone that I retrieved?" Delphine shrugged, her gray eyes as icy as the snow-capped mountains of Skyrim.
"Yes. If my investigations are correct, and let me assure you they always are, then I'll give you more information."
I didn't like Delphine, or trust her too much. I looked to Lydia, hoping for support or suggestions. She merely looked back, raising an eyebrow as if to say "It's your call.". The choice was mine, and mine alone. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled, nodding my head in agreement. Delphine's mouth twitched slightly upward in an attempt to smile.
"Good. Now Dragonborn, I have a wagon waiting just outside of Riverwood for the both of us." As I sat on the wooden seat of the wagon, I knew it was going to be a long, uncomfortable ride.
Sorry for the shorter chapter, I'm not great with writing long portions of dialogue, which is essentially 90% of this part of the questline. I'll write a lot more next chapter, promise. Also, I wanted to say something as this fic's popularity has grown. I know that it's not a lot compared to other fanfiction with hundreds or thousands of followers, but this fanfic has 21 favorites, and 26 followers as of right now! It really moves me that so many have decided to follow my work, but I also wanted to just send another reminder about his fanfic, as well as the others that I've been writing. I'm doing these as a passion project. Sometimes that passion comes in crashing waves, other times it seems to drag or disappear completely. I won't "stop" a fanfic unless I have a very good reason, and if that does happen I'll let you guys know. Anyway, I really hope that ya'll are enjoying what I've written so far, and I promise to do my best for each chapter!