Chapter 15

Lydia looked bothered as we climbed the pathways of Markarth, heading for the alchemy shop. She continued to look upset after I purchased some supplies from Bothela, and agreed to deliver a potion to the steward. It was only after we left the Understone Keep and were walking back to the stables that she finally broke her silence.

“Martina, my love, what happened? In the Warrens, I mean.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you saw and heard, so I can explain if possible.”

“We went into the Warrens. You threatened three men standing by the door if they didn’t let you pass, which they did. Then you walked further into the shadows and started speaking. But there was no one there. You shushed me, and carried on a conversation with no one. I thought ... I don’t know what I thought. This rain that is falling matches my mood, though.”

“Ah. I forgot my warrior shield-maiden is new to affairs of the heart. I apologize for hurting your feelings by my actions. I assure you that I have not lost my mind. Nor have my feelings for you changed in any way. I take it you couldn’t see the man I was talking to, then?”

“Neither see nor hear anyone but you, my Thane.”

“Basically ... I was talking to a very highly trained mage that had some information I needed. We talked about some things that may or may not come to pass. I don’t want to be too mysterious – well, no more so that usual, anyway – but when you start getting prophecy involved, it can get messy if you talk about it, because that can actually affect what happens.”

Her eyes glazed a bit at the implications of what I was talking about. “You know, this makes my head hurt a bit just thinking about it. I love you dearly, but you confuse me.”

“Rest your head and thoughts. We need to catch a carriage to the Solitude area. That’s near the Shrine of Meridia.”

The carriage ride wasn’t too bad. The stable owner allowed us to sleep in our bedrolls at the stables just outside of town. We then headed out early the next morning.

“I thought you told Meridia that you would do whatever it was when you could.”

“I did. This is when we can. By now Delphine has had enough time to get whatever it is she needs done in order. And if you consider most Daedric Lords, Mother included, as simply petulant children if they don’t get their own way when they want it, you realize that it’s not necessarily a good thing to keep them waiting. It’s better to do what we can for Meridia now than, honestly, who knows when.”

“Do you think that this delay to help her will hurt whatever happens with Alduin?”

“Probably not. Again, prophecy and destiny are involved, and I’ve found that those tend to be complicated things, resolving themselves when they’re supposed to. In any event, the Temple for Meridia is not that far up the road now. See that light shining into the sky? That’s where we’re going.”

We climbed the hill and the voice of Meridia seemed to shout from the woods around us. “Look at my temple, lying in ruins. So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts, and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them?” I could feel something else as we approached the steps leading up to her temple.

“Look, my Thane. One of those Dragon walls.”

I nodded, and walked towards it. I translated the language for Lydia, as the inscription was amusing. “Here lies Fjomod Foul-Air who stank as much on earth as his body does now in the ground.” I felt the Word of Power, ‘SU’, imbue itself into me.

An obvious spot to put the beacon we’d found waited for us, so I put it there. I felt myself rising into the air, up above the statue, to about the height of the Throat of the World. A blinding ball of light came towards me – Meridia.

“It is time for my splendor to return to Skyrim. The token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane darkness within. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine, trapping lost souls in the wake of this war to do his bidding. I have brought you here to be my champion. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler.”

“Mother told me to be careful of entanglements with other Daedric Lords. But I find your need worthwhile, as I, too, have no love for necromancy. I will do your deed.”

“Malkoran has forced the doors shut. But this is my temple, and it responds to my decree. I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and the doors will open.”

With that, I descended from the sky.

Lydia looked at me briefly. “Somehow, seeing you fly through the sky while a Daedric Lord shouts from her statue at you doesn’t seem to be that strange to me anymore.”

“Good. I think that means you’re beginning to adapt. Anyway, we need to go this way.”

The entry to the temple led us into a hallway going down. Several corpses lay along our path. Some of them had their chests ripped open and their innards taken out, others had their sex organs removed, all had been desecrated or defiled in one way or another. We entered a large chamber. A beam of light was streaming through the ceiling, hitting a pedestal in the middle of the room. I could hear the tones of magic that held this shaft together. Going to the pedestal, I quickly figured out the mechanism, raising a gem that sent the beam heading towards another gem. A door along that wall swung open.

A stairway led down. In the room ahead, I saw several shadowy figures moving. “Well, I hope that these things will die from mortal weapons,” I whispered to Lydia. I took aim and fired an arrow. It hit, and the being fell from a smoky figure into a puddle on the ground. The other two in the room met the same fate.

“Good, they have to be on our plane to interact here, so they can be destroyed here. Let’s get this pedestal set and see where the path goes.”

It didn’t go far. The ceiling ahead had partially collapsed, forcing us to go out a side door. More of those shades were patrolling the hallway we found through the door, but they didn’t survive my arrows. We followed the light, killing more of these shades and finding another pedestal. A door led to outside. The outside balcony was on the cliff, overlooking the roadway, and far enough up that we had an impressive view of the river valley to the south.

A short staircase led us back into another portion of the temple. The path opened into a large room with a raised, second story height, caged walkway in it. Several shades were in the room, but they were still incredibly easy to destroy with arrows. We took a ramp upstairs and found the pedestal to continue the magic light beam on it’s path. Our route then led us into a room with another shade as well as a locked and trapped door.

I tried to disarm it, but finally after failing multiple times, in frustration simply told Lydia to stand back while I opened the door from the side. Several spears shot up from the floor that would have skewered someone not as observant. Inside the room protected by the spear traps, I found quite a bit of treasure. Our main pathway then led us down another hallway where my thieves training pointed out the tripwire to me. I again told Lydia to wait, then I simply jumped the tripwire and proceeded down the hallway to disarm the swinging blade trap. The caged path led along to another pedestal and we quickly finished getting the guiding light set such that another doorway opened.

The door opened into yet another hallway that led downward. Another pedestal lay in wait at the bottom. Upon activating this one, another previously sealed door opened.

As we started down these stairs, Lydia said, “I don’t think I like where this is going.”

That was a prophetic choice of words, because I could see the necromancer on the far side of a large room along with six more of his shade companions. Figuring that, as with most conjured undead if the conjurer was killed his creations would die as well, I took careful aim and shot Malkoran. He was considerably tougher than I thought and though I staggered him, my arrow didn’t kill him. His creations began swarming towards us. Lydia and I fired arrows into the room from the doorway, killing one of them and injuring others, but they were almost upon us.

“FUS RO DAH!” They were lined up perfectly to be shouted across the room. That gave us some breathing room for more arrow shots. We killed two more of the shades, then Lydia drew her sword and stationed herself in the door.

“Take them out with arrows, my Thane! I’ll guard the door.”

I was able to shoot over her head into the room beyond as the doorway jammed them up so that they could only get to her one at a time. Malkoran fired an ice spike towards me that missed. My arrow back didn’t, and this time he fell to the floor, dead. Or so I expected, as suddenly a shade arose from his corpse. “No fair, once you’re dead you should stay that way, damn you!”

His shade moved back into the room and continued casting spells our way, both frost and fire. Lydia and I used the open doorway as cover, taking turns dodging back in to shoot an arrow his way, then ducking back out while fire or flame shot through. We continued this process for half a dozen shots when suddenly I heard the voice of Meridia resonating through the crypt, “It is done. The defiler is defeated. Take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal.”

I looked back into the room. Our last dodging attack had done the trick, all right. We cleared the room of treasure and finally I pulled the sword from the pedestal as Meridia had indicated. The room began to glow with light and I found myself instantly transported back into the sky, once again high above the temple.

“Malkoran is vanquished. Skyrim’s dead shall remain at rest. This is as it should be. This is because of you. A new day is dawning, and you shall be its herald. Take mighty Dawnbreaker and with it purge corruption from the dark corners of the world. Wield it in my name, that my influence may grow.”

“I’ll keep the sword. But you’ll have to find someone else to spread your religion, I do have prior commitments, you realize.”

“It matters not. The plant cares not for the rays that bring it the warmth of the sun. As you carry Dawnbreaker, so will my light touch the world.”

She lowered me to the ground, where Lydia was waiting for me. “So you’ve a new sword then, my Thane?”

“Looks like it. I suspect that it’ll be quite useful against undead and maybe vampires, since Meridia hates them. In any event, it’s getting late. There’s supposed to be a small town just a little way up the road, let’s see if they have an inn where we can spend the night before heading back to Whiterun and then to Riverwood.”

As we got back to the main road, I saw something coming up the road that I couldn’t allow. “Hold, Thalmor, and release your prisoner.”

“You are interfering with official Thalmor business.”

“Tough shit. Men should be able to worship Talos. Deal with it. Oh, and prepare to die!”

I still had Dawnbreaker at the ready as well as a staff of fireballs that I’d found on Malkoran. Taking careful aim to miss the prisoner, I shot a fireball at the two trailing Thalmor. While my words had antagonized them such that they were readying weapons to attack, the magic took them by surprise. Lydia attacked the leader while I took care of the two in the rear. The leader ran backwards to cast a lightning bolt at Lydia, which did shock her considerably.

The two guards died quickly and I ran to aid my shield-maiden. I heard her yell in pain as another lightning bolt hit her and I saw her grab a healing potion. I shot a fireball from the staff that hit the Thalmor mage. He turned towards me and saw his own death. He turned to run but he was too late. Dawnbreaker cleaved his skull in half. I turned towards the prisoner they had been escorting. “Go, get out of here. You didn’t see anything.”

He ran off into the growing dusk. I turned towards Lydia, who came limping up to me. “We Nords are quite accustomed to the cold. Lightning on the other hand ... my legs are all tingly.” One of the spells I’d learned at the college was how to heal others without potions, and I cast it on her, to aid her. I realized that the elves had scored some hits on me as well that I hadn’t felt in the heat of combat, and cast healing on myself as well.

I began helping her as the road proceeded downhill. I could see the tops of buildings in the distance. “There’s shelter ahead, my dear. Can you make it?”

I could hear the strain in her voice. “I am your sword and your shield, my Thane. And you are my love. I can make it.”

We soon entered the town of Dragon Bridge. The Four Shields Tavern was on our left. “Welcome, travelers. I’m Faida, I have food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, and rooms for the weary traveler.”

I quickly secured food for us and a room for the evening. I helped Lydia take off her armor, rubbing her back, arm, and leg muscles to help get the last of the lightning shock from them. “My Thane...”

“Hush, little one. Just get some rest. If you’re not better in the morning, we can stay as long as need be until you are.”

She quickly dozed off at my ministrations. I gave her a gentle kiss on the head and readied myself for bed as well.

The next morning I woke to Lydia washing my face with a warm, damp cloth. “You had some dirt and blood on you. Your armor is cleaned and ready.”

“Are you feeling okay, though?”

“I will be by the time we get back to Whiterun, presuming that’s where you wish for us to go next. There’s a carriage that can take us.”

We readied ourselves and left for Whiterun. The trip was uneventful, with it being early afternoon when we arrived. Lydia hopped down from the wagon to show me that she was fully recovered. “Smart ass.”

“Hopefully a cute one as well.”

“Funny, but also true. Come on, we’ve some preparations for the morning. Not much this time, mostly getting our gear arranged, swords sharpened, and full preparations to go do whatever insane thing that Delphine has devised.”

We got our gear ready as quickly as possible and then simply made slow, sweet love to each other as an affirmation of living and life. The next morning we got dressed and headed for Riverwood. Delphine was waiting for us as we entered her tavern.

“I don’t think you were followed. Come on, I have a plan.” She led the way down to her secret lair beneath the inn. “I think I’ve figured out a way to get you into the Thalmor Embassy.”

“You’re not coming?”

“That would be a bad idea. I’d be too likely to attract the wrong kind of attention. They don’t know you at all.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“The Thalmor ambassador, Elenwen, regularly throws parties where the rich and connected can cozy up to the Thalmor. I can get you into one of those parties. Once you’re inside the Embassy, you can get away and get into her secret files. I have a contact inside the Embassy. He’s not up to this kind of high risk mission, but he can help you. His name is Malborn. Wood-elf. Plenty of reason to hate the Thalmor. You can trust him.”

She continued. “I’ll get word to him to meet you in Solitude at the Winking Skeever. While you’re doing that, I’ll work on getting you an invitation to the Embassy party. Meet me at the Solitude stables after you’ve arranged everything with Malborn. Any questions?”

“Once I’m inside, then what?”

“That’s when the fun starts. Once you inside, you’ll have to slip away from the party, find Elenwen’s office, and search her files. Malborn should be able to point you in the right direction.”

“All right, we’ll meet you outside Solitude.”

It was early evening by the time we arrived outside Solitude. As we walked up to the gate, we were greeted by a dragon swooping in to attack. The city guards with Lydia and I assisting quickly killed the beast. As the body decayed while I absorbed it’s soul, I wondered what Alduin was thinking, sending dragons to attack me while I’m near guards and cities. Perhaps it was to spread the rumor that the Dragonborn was back, to give life to the legend – and to the tale that upon the return of the Dragonborn, the world-eater would consume all of Nirn.

We went into the city proper. I found myself stopped by the sight of a headsman getting ready to practice his art. In spite of myself and the revulsion I felt, I had to stop to watch, as it wasn’t that long ago I had been in a similar position. Several members of the crowd were jeering the condemned. From on the block area, the guard in charge spoke.