//------------------------------//
// 20: Karthspire 
// Story: Sombra visits Skyrim 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

	Raika had been surprised when she saw Celestia pierce the black clouds and descend to the battlefield in all her glory, but nothing could prepare her for what she had discovered next. Somehow Sombra, who had been reduced to a weakened state due to his fight with his own dark side, had gathered the strength to get out of his bed and walk through the shadows until he came to Karthspire. She had no idea how he had managed to find exactly where they had been without being here in person at some point, but Raika was glad that he had come regardless. She was even glad to see Celestia wearing a smile, clearly telling her that the Equestrian Princess was happy to have her love back to his old self once again.

Her good mood, however, was ruined the moment that Delphine decided to walk up to the group with one of her irritating smiles hanging on her face.

"What would you like now Delphine?" Raika sighed, knowing that she had something in mind for all of them.

"I was just wondering how easily it would be to end the war with their power," Delphine remarked, referring to the godly powers that rested inside Celestia, Luna, and Sombra, "Imagine, we could launch a full scale war on the Thalmor and their allies without having to waste the lives of so many nords to do so. We could take Skyrim back from those who would rob Her blind and give it to those who treat Her fairly, like your Lord Ulfric does. We could deliver to him a power beyond what the Thalmor can call upon and destroy the Aldmeri Dominion once and for all. We could save everyone from their tyranny!"

"Trixie's going to stop you right there," Trixie commented, stepping between them with her staff ready to shock someone, "The Princesses promised to help the Dragonborn deal with the dragon problem, not lead an army against the Elves that rule over all of Tamriel. We have no interest in stopping this civil war, so I suggest that you quit repeating yourself before someone decides that your not worth having around anymore."

Raika, already amazed by Trixie's magical feats since she had met the young Equestrian, was amazed that she was sticking it to Delphine in the place of her leaders. No doubt that Celestia and Luna wanted to see how Trixie would react to someone wanting them to give aid to the war and it seemed like she was tired of hearing about it. Raika wished that there were one or two of them in the Stormcloak army, so they could have conjured some magical weapon that could give them aid or something.

"Why you ignorant Equestrian bi..." Delphine growled, keeping herself from cursing out the young mage while her rulers were standing close by them, "The Thalmor have everyone in Tamriel under their thumb and whatever they say becomes the law that everyone else must follow, least they end up in prison. To go against the Thalmor we need something as powerful as your precious Princesses to eradicate them, so that we can live in a world without them."

"It is not our place to fight your battles for you," Trixie countered, her voice echoing loud enough to make Delphine back up a tiny bit, "If you want the Elves that rule Tamriel gone, then get your own army and charge into battle with them. The Princesses have no interest in aiding you in your, genocide, of all the elves that live throughout Tamriel. Now, if we are done with this discussion, there's still the matter of figuring out what to do about the dragons, which is the reason we all came to Karthspire in the first place."

Trixie, taking the leadership away from the fuming Blade, marched up the hill with Raika and her fellow Equestrian's in tow, leaving the Blades behind. Not a moment later Esbern, not wanting to miss whatever they discovered inside, left Delphine and ran as fast as his old legs could carry him up the hill. Delphine, taking a minute to pretend to cool down, eventually gave up waiting and quickly joined them inside the cave, where she found them dealing with a group of four Forsworn who had ignored the battle right outside their cave. She barely had time to draw her sword before they had dealt with the Forsworn, once again proving her point that the Equestrian's could easily turn the tide of the war on their own.

The group moved deeper into the cave, quickly coming to a small hill that held three pedestals at the top, each baring a different symbol that Esbern noticed almost immediately. He quickly moved in front of the pedestals and studied the symbols, muttering that they were of an older culture that existed and exactly what each symbol he could see meant. Raika, overhearing that one symbol meant 'Dragonborn', decided to give it a try by making each pedestal bare the same symbol. The matching symbols made the stone bridge drop down to their level, allowing them to cross the gap without falling to the ground and hurting themselves.

The second trap they came to was a room littered with the same symbols that they had seen on the pedestals, though at the very back of the room Delphine noticed a lever and an idea popped into her head.

"Why don't one of you pull the lever from over here?" Delphine asked, hoping that they would take the bait and pull it so they didn't waste time with a second trap.

"Because that would be disrespectful to the Ancients that made this place," Luna replied, crossing her arms as Raika stepped forward, "Now please shut up Delphine, or I'll throw you into one of Sombra's crystal spires and be rid of you. I swear, your presence and continuing annoyance are driving me crazy."

Raika, spotting the Dragonborn symbol again, took a leap of faith and moved to the first symbol, pausing to make sure that her choice was right and that nothing was coming up to hit her. After a few seconds she breathed a sigh of relief and continued along the path that she spotted in the symbols, avoiding all the symbols that weren't the one she needed. Eventually she reached the pillar with the lever that everyone had seen and pulled it, hearing something shift in the floor before the grinding of two stone bridges lowering into place.

The group left the symbol filled chamber, crossed the two bridges, and found themselves in a rather large area with a stone circle in the center and a stone head in the wall behind it. Esbern, knowing full well what the circle was supposed to be, mentioned something about a blood seal and that the only way to open it was with Raika's blood. Before either Blade got any funny ideas Raika took out one of her spare daggers, cut open her left palm, and let her blood drop into the seal before healing her wound with a potion. The circle slowly spun around until something clicked, causing the large stone head to raise up and reveal a stone staircase that led up to a large steel door.

"Go ahead Dragonborn," Esbern said, moving out of the way, "It was you and your friends that got us this far, so it should be you who first steps into the temple for the first time in ages."

Delphine began to protest, but a look from Sombra, his eyes filled with the darker energy, silenced her immediately before a single word could escape her mouth. Raika, glad that Delphine had been silenced for once, moved up the stairway and approached the doors, slowing her breath before opening the nearly rusted doors. She started up the stairs and came to a dimly lit room, but once Celestia came up behind her she cast a lighting spell and Raika found herself in a larger chamber than what she was expecting. Raika knew that the place was old and likely held several secrets, but all she really wanted was the information to stop the dragons.

"Here is the Wall," Esbern said, moving to the large detailed wall that depicted some war between the nords and the dragons, "The ancient masters of the Voice are arrayed against Alduin, the same black dragon that's tormenting Skyrim today."

"Wait...you mean the World-Eater himself?" Raika asked, surprised that she was only now learning exactly who her enemy was.

"Yes, and the legend says that only the Dragonborn can kill him," Esbern continued, "Look here, the ancient masters are using some Shout to do battle with Alduin, but which Shout it does not say. it is possible that the ancient masters used a Shout that was tied to Alduin himself and possibly weakened him, but it was clear that they thought that they destroyed him."

"Clearly they failed," Raika sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes for a moment, "Well then, if you both are quite done with me, I need to travel back to High Hrothgar and speak with Master Arngeir. Maybe he'll tell me if the Greybeards know whatever Shout was used to defeat Alduin, or where I can find it if they don't have it."

"Then you'll come back and we can go to war with the Thalmor!" Delphine proclaimed, already pulling out sheets of paper that Raika assumed were her personal plans to raise a new army of Blades to wage her war, "First we'll destroy their embassy and then, when they come to investigate, we'll destroy their army and liberate all of Tamriel from their hold."

"Oh for the love of Talos," Raika groaned, turning to Luna and bringing her close, "Look, I'm getting irritated with her and her 'war' against the Thalmor. She's a Blade and you were Rend's right hand during the Oblivion Crisis. As far as I'm concerned she's your problem, so deal with her however you want. I am DONE with these Blades as of now."

"Leave her to me," Luna sadly said, knowing that Rend would do the same thing she was about to do as she drew her sword, "I suggest that you guys get clear of the temple, as it is likely to come crashing down after I release my rage."

Raika nodded and quickly made her way to the staircase, shortly followed by her Equestrian friends as Luna stayed behind to deal with the disgraced Blades. Delphine, engrossed with the plans she had painstakingly worked on for the last couple of years, barely noticed them leave the temple. Esbern, on the other hand, was so engrossed in the history of the temple that he had left Delphine alone on the lower level to search for some useful information for his library.

"Now that we have a hideout that the Thalmor don't know about we can begin building an army," Delphine said to herself, unaware that she was alone with Luna at the moment, "With these recruits we can impart our knowledge on them and train them to fight against the Thalmor's rule. We can rescue any true believers of our cause from the various prisons that are scattered across Skyrim, but our ultimate ally should be Ulfric Stormcloak. He'll see the sense in our flight and we'll drive the Thalmor out of Skyrim."

"Delphine," Luna said, causing the woman to look up at her in surprise, "Raika has already made her decision."

"So she's finally ready to join the war effort," Delphine smiled, pinning the map of Skyrim to the stone table with a mug she had brought with her, "All I need her to do is carry a letter to her Lord and ask that he form an alliance with us so that we can drive out the Thalmor..."

"She's not doing it," Luna interrupted, causing the woman to look up again, "She has had enough of you and your constant disobedience towards her. The Blades were meant to follow the Dragonborn, not constantly tell her that she's wrong and that she needs to listen to every lie you tell her. Power is a dangerous thing and she knows that she needs to hone her mastery of the Thu'um before she can use it to aid anyone, but all you care about is destroying your ancient enemy.

I'm sorry Delphine, but in the memory of Rend Org'resh I must put you and Esbern, the fallen members of the Blades, to rest once and for all."

"You...you...Equestrian bitch!" Delphine shouted, likely warning Esbern that something was wrong, "You've turned the Dragonborn from her true purpose of slaying every dragon that Alduin has brought back. I will take great pleasure in cutting out your tongue and burning you alive in the fires of our righteous quest."

Luna wasted no time in leaping over to where Delphine was standing, crashing into her side and tossing her right into the stone wall that Esbern had been standing in front of earlier. Luna swung her sword and missed her target by just a hair, as Delphine had ducked before the blade had hit her and resulting in damage to the wall. Luna growled and pulled the blade out of the stonework, spotting her foe as she made her way up the stairs, to which Luna bested by using her wings. Delphine, caught off guard by how fast Luna was, raised her sword in time to receive a blow that shattered her sword with ease and caused her to back up.

Before Luna could deal the final blow a fireball hit her back, causing her to look back at Esbern and the summoned creature that he had called upon to fight with him.

"I cannot allow you to kill her," Esbern said, his hands flaming as he prepared to join the battle, "We are the last two Blades in all of Tamriel. If we die, our knowledge will fade from history and the Thalmor will win."

"You wish to fight the Queen of Knights?" Luna asked, her weapon and armor becoming that of her alternate form, "I will send you both to Sovngarde or wherever you eventually end up."

Before Luna targeted Esbern himself she charged her magic and let it loose, tearing across the room before connecting with the flame atronach and exploding in a fury of flames. The wall the atronach had hit, on the other hand, suffered a massive blow that shook the very ceiling above their heads, causing a loose stone to fall to the ground. Esbern backed up as Luna's weapon missed where he was standing, though he counted his blessings that she hadn't just used her magic to strangle him completely. Delphine, using the fight as a distraction, moved to her bag and pulled out her last two weapons, an iron sword and a steel dagger. She mentally cursed herself for leaving her bow at the inn, but she couldn't help it at the moment.

Esbern, trying to run for dear life, leapt off the top of the Wall and landed near Delphine, but in the act he ended up cracking his already fragile legs just a bit. Delphine, now aware of how close her enemy was, turned around in time to see Luna gently land on the floor near Esbern, her wings folding back against her back. Delphine, debating how best to use her last weapons, gripped her dagger before she tossed it right at Luna's head, following the attack with a swing of her sword. Esbern, seeing what she had planned, raised a hand and conjured a fireball that he threw Luna's direction. Luna, on the other hand, let the fireball crash into a magical barrier that threw it at the walls behind Esbern, let the dagger pass by her without bothering to do anything to it, and parried Delphine's attack easily.

"You'll have to do better than that to land a blow on the Queen of Knights," Luna told Delphine, applying the pressure to the sword and shattering it with ease, "Just accept your defeat and I'll make this quick for you."

Delphine decided, at that moment, to spit in her face. Luna's magic ignited, building in her weapon as she approached Delphine, unaware that Esbern had one last magical charge building in his hands. Before Delphine could move she found the head of Luna's weapon in her stomach, flames dancing around the wound as they began to slowly eat away at her. Delphine's eyes leveled with Esbern and she nodded to him, alerting Luna to his presence and turning around to deal with him. Their magic connected and the resulting explosion tossed them backwards, though it was harder on Esbern due to his older and much more frail body.

The unfortunate thing about the explosion was that it had fractured many of the remaining supporting walls, the cracks spreading as chunks began to fall. Delphine's misery was cut short as a rather large chunk of stone crushed her flat, leaving a worn out Esbern and a still burning Luna.

"It did not have to be this way," Esbern coughed, staring at Luna as she approached the staircase, "We could have beaten the Thalmor another way, one without too much bloodshed. We could have made things better."

"The Blades are gone Esbern," Luna called to him, sheathing her weapon as a section of the ceiling fell, "but Raika will stop Alduin, of that you can be sure."

Esbern gave her a smile as she vanished down the staircase, leaving him to his well deserved fate. His only wish was that Delphine could have forgotten her hatred of the Thalmor long enough to see the Lord of Dragons slain by the Dragonborn, as the legends foretold.

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Sombra, who had been keeping track of how the outside of the temple moved under the pressure of Luna's magic, knew that it was only a matter of time until the entire place came crumpling down around them. Sure enough the outer walls of the temple began to cave in, falling into itself and burying anyone who was foolish enough to remain inside. He would have been worried for Luna, but he almost immediately noticed her emerging from the wreckage of the staircase with a frown on her face.

"The deed is done Raika," Luna told the Dragonborn, letting out a sigh as she continued to walk to the cave opening they had entered through.

Raika was somewhat glad that the fallen Blades were gone, as now she could focus on the task at hand and find out exactly what the Greybeards could teach her. Which meant that they needed to find a carriage to make the boring trek to Iverstead...again.