Chương 27: Alduin's Wall
The dying embers of the campfire silently roared into the darkness of night, the small clearing slowly encasing itself in nights veiled embrace.
Rustling of a sheets drowned out the distant howls of swooning wolves barking at the moon. Silver hair tangled and matted as a figure tossed and turned, nose wrinkled, and closed eyes darting around in their porcelain shells.
A shadowed figure crept past a silent sleeper, and advanced towards the adjacent figure who restlessly turned away.
"And now you'll pay for meddling in the Thalmor's affairs." The shadowed figure hissed, drawing a short elven dagger that glinted in the light of the twin moons.
Silver eyes shot open and scrambled to the side, not without the figure slashing at the now awake mans cheek, causing a thin line of crimson to drip onto his palm.
"You're not a very good assassin if you speak over the intended target." Lucius drawled as he stood up. His chest exposed to the nights chill as he took on a defensive stance and looked over to the still sleeping Ciri.
'Didn't she say she was hunted?! Wake up to threats, woman!' Lucius internally cursed and put his focus back on the hooded assassin.
"This one does not care for your words." The assassin said. "Die now." She growled
Lucius side stepped the incoming slash. Backhanding the woman's face and grabbing at her armed hand, he spun her around so her back faced his front and muffled her mouth before slowly choking her to death.
Panting as he released the body, Lucius looked over to a still sleeping Ciri with shock.
"Ciri!" Lucius shouted at the top of his lungs.
The girl in question groggily opened her emerald eyes and let out a small yawn. "Time to go?" She innocently voiced.
"There was an assassin and you were sleeping away like some fairy tailed damsel!" He snarled.
"Oh? Okay, sorry." She said without a hint of remorse.
"You really need to work on that..."He drawled after a deep, calming, breath.
Lucius searched the assassin and found a written order.
'I have good reason to believe the target will be coming to Riften in the next few days. Discretion is preferred, but elimination of the target is of the highest priority. Follow them if you must. The usual restrictions on exposure are lifted -- you will be reassigned outside Skyrim if necessary, without penalty.
Do not fail me.
--E. '
'She sent an assassin for me? ... Or, for Ciri? That doesn't make much sense. Either way, not good.' He mused.
'Oh well. I can't blame her for wanting me dead.' He dismissed.
"Hey Ciri, you ready to go now? i doubt i'll go back to sleep with all that action, that someone missed..." He grumbled.
"Sure, let's pack up." She replied.
.
.
.
Ciri and Lucius appeared on a grassy hill in green flash. they looked down on a large wooden camp that was set ablaze in long lines of orange fire, corpses half eaten and flung around the place turning the river beneath the camp red.
"Dragon." Lucius muttered, the unscratchable itch returning to gnaw away at his mind.
"I hope Delphine was smart enough to run." Ciri muttered.
"Positive. We don't have to fight an angry mob of hill folk. Downside. Kill another...dragon." Lucius's voice faded, as a green serpent coiled around the towering peak in front of them. "That's a new one." He whispered.
This dragon had a snake like tail, fins and membrane similar to some fish and razor sharp talons that curled downwards into a sickle shape.
A visceral roar of fire blasted from its throat towards the duo as it took flight with its giant wings of green.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to flash down to that outcrop would you?" Lucius jumped into cover while asking Ciri.
"I could, but then we'd have an angry dragon waiting for us when we get out again..." She replied joining Lucius behind the large outcrop.
"Fine, i'll get it to land and you do your thing." He declared and left his cover.
He let loose a shout of unrelenting force as the dragon came back around for another run, setting it off balance. The dragon crashed down, sliding through mud and wood into the forsworn camp down below.
"Ciri! Your up!" Lucius announced whilst slowly descending down the hill.
As easy as breathing, Ciri flashed onto the dragons leg and sliced its ankle, before casting a huge dome of viridian green, and countless cuts appeared on the dragons mouth and snout. One cut removing its deep amber eye from existence, causing the dragon to lash out in a pained roar.
'I need to figure out how she does that shit.' Lucius thought in wonder.
He reached the bottom of the hill just as the dragon tried taking flight once more. A flap of its wings and a gush of blistering wind smashed into Lucius's flinching face.
Lucius threw himself forward with whirlwind sprint after drawing his elven blade, slashing over his head and gutting the exposed belly of the beast, just deep enough to ground it again in another resounding crash.
"Lucius let's do what you did last time, i'll blink you on its head." Ciri said, sliding next to him.
"Got it." He nodded with a grin, and twisting his ring so the gemstone was facing downwards.
Ciri focused her power onto the dragons head and held out a hand to Lucius.
Lucius took her hand and in an instant was flashed onto the behemoths head, acting quick, he began absorbing the very life of the dragon into his glowering ring that shone a dim, and aggressive, illuminating red.
He hopped off the shrivelled corpse of the dragon, just as the skin charred and burned away into the wind... The sense of power coursed through his veins once again as his eyes shines a brilliant silver. One more word rushed through his mind, like a distant echo of long forgotten memories.
'Feim!' The word pulsed.
'Fade? Why would i want to fade...?' Lucius pondered.
"Good meal?" Ciri asked, holstering her blade on her shoulder with a smile.
"Mhm~ Learnt a new word too, it's a weird one though." He replied.
"Maybe you can ask our resident dragon scribe when we find him." She chirped while scanning the area for any signs of the duo of blades.
"A sound idea. However, i doubt his help would prove much use to me in regards to their tongue." Lucius idly responded, bagging some of the surviving scales.
"He does seem a bit more...affected... Shall we say?" Ciri inquisitively drawled.
"Heh, an apt description." Lucius said with an amused smile. "Well, we might as well check inside the temple if they aren't out here." He finished packing away the scales.
"There's a cave into the mountain up that staircase, good place to start the search." Ciri said, before taking of to climb the stairs followed by an upbeat and humming Lucius.
As they reached the mouth of the cave signs of fighting became heavier with each crunching step, bodies started littering the floor until they came upon the worn out pair of Esbern and Delphine crouched by old brick steps.
"T-this. Whew... looks promising." She wheezed out, wiping her drenched brow.
"Yes. Definitely early Akaviri stonework here." Esbern croaked.
"Old age's a bitch, huh, Lucius?" Ciri cheekily spoke, just loud enough for them to hear.
"I wouldn't know, Ciri. Lil old me at the spry age of 48 can still run a border or two." He quipped back.
"Took you. Long, enough." Delphine gasped out.
"Nice job by the way. I would've thought you'd gone rusty over the year." Lucius teased. "We killed the dragon, no need to worry on your exit." He said, taking a seat.
"So~ Why are we here again? Alduin's wall, right? Save the world prophecy... Should we not hurry up." She exclaimed at the worn out veterans.
"Let's see... Akaviri symbols of a bridge leading to a prophecy wall." Lucius hummed in thought. "Big symbol on the wall, little symbol on the pillar...I wonder what the puzzle could be." He dryly concluded and input the code, and watched as the bridge fell into place.
"I can't help but worry about the intelligence of my predecessors." Delphine commented.
The group continued the mundane puzzles through to large opening with a face on the mossy wall, and a seal on the floor.
"Blood seal." Lucius muttered.
"The seal is likely for your blood, dragonborn." Esbern declared.
"Esbern's probably right. Try using your blood on the carved seal on the floor." Delphine urged.
With a loud sigh, Lucius walked to the seal and drew his sword to slit his hand. Rich blood dripped into the seal and a faint flash of white blinded his eyes.
The face swung back to reveal a long hallway hidden by cobwebs and mould.
"Would you look at that." Lucius heard Ciri whisper in fascination.
Ancient stone walls carved with intricate decals of dragons and fire crawling around the stone, as if the stories they told came alive.
A small room to the left of the huge hall drew Lucius's attention away from the group. A rotten table of unknown wood supported a glowing blade. It's sheathe made of bone and a swirling mix of steel and ebony at its tip.
Lucius drew the sword.
A bastard sword by design. its hilt glimmered with gems of white and red in the shape of a rearing dragon, and its eyes glimmered with a fierce onyx hue. The hilt, a set of spiked wings, similar to that of the shadowed dread Alduin. Each pronged spike protruding outwards was inlayed with a dragons bone, the wrap of the handle a thin scale spread for versatile comfort.
"Fuck making a blade." Lucius whispered, gently lifting the masterpiece in front of him before his attention was roused by an excited yell.
"Shor's bones! Here it is! Alduin's Wall... so well preserved... I've never seen a finer example of early second era Akaviri sculptural relief..." Esbern said in reverence.
A long sculptured wall stood against time, waves of long tendrils layered upon the story wall. A giant dragon displayed at its centre as three heroes stood against their certain doom.
"Esbern. We need information, not a lecture on art history." She set Esbern straight.
"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. Here the humans rebel against their dragon overlords -- the legendary Dragon War. Alduin's defeat is the centrepiece of the Wall. You see, here he is falling from the Sky. The Nord Tongues -- masters of the Voice -- are arrayed against him." He explained.
"So, does it show how they defeated him? Isn't that why we're here?" Delphine voiced her confusion.
"Patience, my dear. The Akaviri were not a straightforward people. Everything is couched in allegory and mythic symbolism. 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." Esbern chastised before explaining.
"You mean they used a shout to defeat Alduin? You're sure?" Ciri asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Presumably something rather specific to dragons, or even Alduin himself. Remember, this is where they recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return." Esbern replied.
"So we're looking for a Shout, then. Damn it." Delphine cursed.
"Look, here. In the third panel. 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 longswords. Now they kneel, their ancient mission fulfilled, as the Last Dragonborn contends with Alduin at the end of time. Are you paying attention, Delphine? You might learn something of our own history. I know the prophecy by heart. Once all Blades knew it." Esbern lectured before recalling the prophecy.
"When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world. When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles. When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls. When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding. The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn.' Esbern recited in a sombre tone.
'One more thing to blame on the Thalmor.' Lucius hummed as he returned to the group.
"So i'll go ask the grey beards about the shout while you two keep researching on Alduin...Sound good?" He planned.
"Sure, just don't listen to their drivel they label as wisdom." Delphine grumbled, not hiding her disdain for the monks.
"Ciri. Would you mind?" He asked with the sweetest smile he could pull.
"Fine. It's not like i was going to refuse anyway." She replied in a huff, holding out her hand.
______________________________________________________________________________
Not proof read.
No comment for today. I'm actually tired for once.
Actually no, Cate Blanchett's Galadriel can't be topped. Fuck you Amazon :)
Have a good one.
Your "patently evil" Author ;)
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