Dragonborn Ascendant (21)

A/N: Yes, you are seeing it right, two chapters in a day.

-x-X-x-

The metal pressed on my hand, and in a swift motion it cut through my skin. Blood oozed from the fresh wound, a bright red colour, hot almost like fire in the cold and damp cavern air as it coalesced in my palm to fall in droplets on the stone circle seal. The runes came to life with a magical glow, bright almost to a blinding point in the relative darkness of the chamber as evidenced by the sound of shuffling feet and the faint tinkling of chainmail and armour drowned by the groan of a mechanism, stone scraping against stone, the face of Reman sealing the entrance to Sky Haven Temple moving to reveal the stairs that led to the Akaviri ruin.

I stared for a moment longer at my hand, watching with mixed feelings the blood start to clot and the wound to start its healing process without any aid of a Restoration spell. Even the dagger which I used to cut it was under my scrutiny. It was sharp enough to easily cut through pieces of ham with little effort and yet my hand wasn’t cut with the same ease.

“Thane?” Lydia’s voice sung from behind me, her tone questioning despite no other words being uttered.

“It’s nothing,” I grunted, rising back to my feet. “Let’s keep going.” I commanded a moment later.

“Where are you bringing us, Sir Magnus?” Emmanuel inquered a moment later, eyes darting around the place with a mix of suspicion, caution and awe all at the same time. “I don’t believe this place has ever been explored in… forever…”

“This is Sky Haven Temple,” I answered his question. “It was… hmm… I’m not certain if this was one of the Blade’s headquarters at some point, or the Dragonguard that preceded them; but the place was built by the Akaviri people that settled here after Reman defeated their invading army, gaining their servitude in the process.” I said. “The head that was blocking the entrance is actually Reman’s… supposedly. A show of allegiance, I guess, and the seal on the floor can only open with the blood of a Dragonborn, and perhaps maybe with another of Akaviri descent, but the latter is just my theory.”

There was silence, muted shock filling the room and hanging over the soldiers broken only by the sounds of their walking. I couldn’t necessarily blame them either. Despite being hunted down by the Thalmor as of recent years, the Blades have accrued an incredible, borderline legendary reputation within the empire as royal protectors, with a notably isolated attitude that was shown mostly through Cloud Ruler Temple, well out of the way of most people in Cyrodiil. Being the first ones to enter one of their temples in centuries, to rediscover these Akaviri ruins… It must certainly be the discovery of a lifetime for many of these men, the one thing they’ll be telling down to their children, and their children’s children as if it was the greatest accomplishment of their family.

“Well,” Aela’s voice echoed. “If that was really Reman then the man was ugly.” Commented the redhead, nose scrunching at the startled gasps.

A chuckle escaped my lips.

“You’re not wrong,” I smiled, shaking my head. “Though it could also be that the akaviri weren’t really good at sculpting life-like statues of people. You never know.” I finished with a shrug.

“Maybe.” She grunted in response, falling quiet as we reached the door at the top of the stairs.

The place was… dilapidated. What remained was tattered and old, ancient. There was… very little left inside, and what was there was either crumbling or in a ruined state. But there was something that even then remained immaculate, a testament to its sturdiness and the masterful craftsmanship behind it. It was a wall of solid, carved dark stone, over fifteen feet tall and maybe fifty wide, a monolithic object showing intricate, masterly sculpted history and a prophecy.

“Alduin’s Wall…” I couldn’t help the impressed breath leaving my mouth, nor did I stop myself from extending a hand to meet the wall. The stone was warm at the touch, and my senses tingled with a faint sense of power emanating from it.

Red eyes stared at me as a dark form loomed, a pitch black shadow that covered the skies.

“Hi visni helt zu’u.”

I blinked, taking a startled step back from the mural.

That was…

“Magnus?”

I did not flinch with Aela’s voice behind me, her tone worried and a gentle hand holding me by my arm. No, instead my body tensed for a moment, muscles becoming taut, ready to spring into action before disarming with a sigh I did not let escape as I relaxed.

“It was nothing,” I reassured the redhead, but the frown on her face made it more than obvious that she did not believe me for a single moment. “It’s just some… Dragonborn problem.”

“Can I help you with it?” She asked. “You stood there, staring at the wall in a daze for a couple of seconds.”

My smile was kind but sad as I shook my head, refusing her offer. “Nothing that you would be able to help me with. Same goes for you too, Lydia.”

“My Thane,” the woman bristled. “It is my duty to help you, however I can. Even if it’s impossible.”

“I don’t deserve you, Lydia,” I shook my head with a mutter. “I really don’t.”

“She’s too good for you.” Aela nodded in agreement, which I gave a swat in her rear that made her yelp in return. “Bastard.” She growled, though there was no bite in her words.

“Perhaps that might be true, Thane,” my housecarl interjected a moment later, a small smile playing on her lips. “But that’s for me to decide, and I do think you are more than worthy to be my Thane, sire.”

“Thank you, Lydia.” I smiled.

Exploring Sky Haven took the better part of a day, and aside from a few pieces of armour and weapons of Akaviri crafting, there was nothing else really remarkable in the building, outside, of course, of Alduin’s Wall. The view from the open yard however was a truly privileged one, the valley of the Karth River stretching below me.

Sky Haven was only a small sidetrack I wanted to take, however, because there were still Forsworn Reachmen I had to kill. The only problem, I wasn’t confident in marching to the next camp at Red Eagle’s Redoubt, much less leaving such a privileged position like Karthspire. There were only two ways we could be attacked, one if we took down the wooden bridges connecting the isle with the ruins and the eastern shore of the river. So, in preparation for the inevitable confrontation, we started to prepare.

Barricades were placed on strategic points to halt or at least delay any enemy advance, and funnel them to where I wanted the slaughter to happen. Fortunately, most of the eastern shore was composed of cliff faces and rock, so all I had to do was place a watch on the path and have them construct signal pyres to alert us of any incoming attack. Meanwhile, I had the rest of the men gather the dead. We had no priest of Arkay within our ranks, but I hoped a prayer was enough to let the souls of the deceased rest at ease while also pleasing the Divine. I had the distinct sense the Nords didn’t much appreciate the single, giant pyre I had the bodies of my forces be cremated in, but they did not grumble or protest vocally, at least not to my face, likely understanding the threat and very real possibility of their fallen comrades being raised by a passing necromancer. The same couldn’t be told about the Forsworn, who were all piled up together faraway from the camp in a small mountain of corpses to be set ablaze, the flames burning a good two days where we fortified and consolidated.

When the third day dawned, the camp was filled with a restless energy, the men becoming anxious with the battle that was to come. Not so much the soldiers from the Legion but the mercenary city guard from Markarth. They were beginning to realise the next battle would not be as easy as the first one, where many, if not all of them were likely going to die. A few more days and I was sure men would start to desert, if they didn’t mutiny and turn on me.

Luckily, that would remain in the realm of guesses and what ifs because soon there was a dark pillar of smoke snaking to the sky.

The Forsworn were here.

-o-O-o-

Words in dovahzul:

Hi visni helt zu’u = You can’t stop me.

-x-X-x-

A/N: So there you have it.

It's... a bit of a shorter chapter just a little under 1.5k words when I usually write 2k+ words, but that's fine, because chapter 22 will be a big one, you can bet on that.