Skyrim: The Faces of Death

by Blackdrag-rose

Dragon: Danger in Kynesgrove

Once the Greybeards were done greeting Za'kera, and she had access to all of High Hrothgar's services, the first thing she did was ask Arngeir if there might be any other Words of Power she could learn, as adding more Shouts to her arsenal did seem like a good idea and Amaryllis agreed with her, though, given the fact that she had mastered an entire Shout in a few days, far quicker than those who weren't the Dragonborn, Arngeir was reluctant to give her any additional Words, due to the fact that he felt that growing her power too quickly would make her arrogant, possibly send her down a dark path that she might regret at some point, as in one that would potentially bring about the end of her life, something that did cause Amaryllis to consider something.

"But wouldn't the challenge of getting to some of these words actually help her hone her skills?" Amaryllis asked, as while she did agree that growing one's skills too quickly might lead some to being arrogant, possibly power mad in some cases, part of her had the feeling that tackling the enemies and other obstacles that were near the various Word Walls might be a good way for Za'kera to learn how to wield her new powers, though it was quickly followed by Za'kera nodding her head as she listened to the idea, meaning she either hadn't considered such a thing or the idea had come to mind and Amaryllis had beaten her to the punch.

"Hm, that is true. We can tamper your growth with experience," Arngeir replied, showing that he understood the idea that she was offering to him and Za'kera, even though there was a chance that he had considered such a thing before she said anything at all, before he thought about it for a moment and then asked for Za'kera's map, which she handed over to him not a few seconds later, something he looked at as they wondered if he was going to help her out, "and there are many Words of Power scattered throughout Skyrim, carved into stone walls and written in the Dragon Tongue... even from here we can feel the Thu'um resonating from each of them, and there is one in Dead Crone Rock that should be a good test for your skills."

Amaryllis found that Arngeir pointed at the map when he said that, giving Za'kera the location of the Word in question so she could track it down and master her new skills, but the amusing thing was that she knew where to find the Word Wall he was talking about, as it had been near that hagraven who held the pommel stone, so she could guide Za'kera straight to where it rested and might be able to scout out the area for whatever plan of attack her friend might have in mind so she could get her hands on the Word of Power. Once she knew where the Word was located, and made a note of it for later on, Za'kera collected her map and returned it to her pack, though once that was done she bid the Greybeards farewell for the time being and headed outside High Hrothgar, causing her companions to turn around and follow after her once more, as it looked like they would be heading out for Kynesgrove to see if Delphine was right about the dragon that might rise out of the ground at some point in time. Amaryllis still wasn't sure about fighting a dragon, if Delphine was correct about that anyway since it looked like her evidence might be accurate, as her map indicated that the rise of dragons was coming from the southeast and seemed to be heading to the north, hence why the next one happened to be in Kynesgrove, but right now she had no idea how well a battle might go between them and a dragon, since Za'kera was the Dragonborn and had killed one before she met up with her, and that was the only reason she wasn't terrified of facing such a beast. Lydia, on the other hand, didn't seem upset by the prospect of facing a dragon in battle, rather she seemed eager to face it and take it down, no doubt impressed by her Thane's power and what she had done before becoming the Thane of Whiterun, which caused Amaryllis to sigh for a moment before deciding that there was no use arguing with what was going on and focused on the fact that they would be facing a dragon in the near future, before they headed outside and headed down the path they had used to reach High Hrothgar earlier.

"I can help you find that Word Wall, as I've been near it," Amaryllis commented, deciding to speak up while they walked, as it would help pass some of the time before they got back to Ivarstead, though since it looked like it was heading into the afternoon, and getting close to nighttime, it was likely that they would stop in the small village for the night, have a bit of dinner and then breakfast, before they headed for Kynesgrove, before she thought about something, "though I'll have to scout out the area in question and see how the Forsworn have managed since the death of their hagraven leader... got to remember to be careful if I do such a thing."

"Why's that? You seem like someone who wouldn't be bothered by the likes of the Forsworn," Za'kera asked, because due to everything she had learned so far, in the short amount of time she had known the changeling who was the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, meaning she had to be one of the greatest of her kind, regardless of the news that her Sanctuary had been put down by the late Emperor's guards, she suspected that Amaryllis could deal with whatever challenge might be thrown at her, "especially with the power to transform into the form of someone else, since that should allow you to simply walk through their camps with ease."

"They seem more attune to the elements and sounds, as they're always glancing in my direction when I fly close to one of their many camps," Amaryllis admitted, something that caused Za'kera to think about it for a moment, though it was the truth of the matter since she really didn't like dealing with the Forsworn, as she worried that if she walked through a camp they might figure out that there might be a traitor in their midst and lash out at her without must thought, among several other reasons she was sure she would discover if she actually fought them, "though we could always fight our way to the area that the Word Wall is located in, if sneaking through the area isn't something you want to do... that's if we head over to where Dead Crone Rock rests."

Za'kera nodded as she focused on heading down the path that was in front of them, as while she and Lydia had killed all of the trolls and wildlife that had been in their way during their previous visit to High Hrothgar, which had taken them a bit since there had been more enemies than what they had been thinking there might be, she didn't want one of them to slip and fall while they walked down the stone steps, though she knew that if something were to happen Amaryllis could likely revert to her true form and catch either her or Lydia before they fell off the mountain. Other than that they found that no new enemies were resting on the sides of the area and that allowed all three of them to reach Ivarstead after some time, to which they returned to the inn and Za'kera made sure to purchase a room for the night, even though it only contained a single bed and meant that she and Amaryllis would have to trade places, as Lydia seemed to prefer sleeping in a chair as she kept an eye out for potential enemies, so she was an advanced warning system in case enemies entered the inn while they were sleeping. Amaryllis thought about it for a moment and decided that her plan was sound, that they would have a bite to eat and rest from their climb to and from High Hrothgar, where when morning arrived they would head out and start traveling down the path that would eventually bring them to Kynesgrove, even though she had made her peace with the fact that they would be fighting a dragon at some point. Of course she made sure to feel the emotions that were in the inn and discovered that the innkeeper was frightened about something, the bard was also frightened about whatever her boss had to be frightened of, and the patrons didn't have a care in the world right now, which was no doubt the mead or ale talking, to which she sighed and joined her companions for a bit of dinner, since it had been some time since they had something to eat and their travels up and down the mountain took a bit of energy out of them... though once everyone was done eating Lydia took up her position in a chair that allowed her to focus on the main door as Za'kera took the bed in their room and left Amaryllis with the chair.

Eventually morning came to Ivarstead and Amaryllis discovered that everyone was ready to go, as her friends had risen an hour or two before the rest of the people who lived in this village, though Za'kera made sure to restock their provisions before they had breakfast, which was nice even though it was mostly bread, cheese, milk, and a bit of dried meat, but the moment everyone was done eating, however, the three of them headed outside and started to head towards the northern path that brought someone to this village. The reason for that, as Za'kera explained herself, was due to the fact that both she and Lydia had come up the path in question and had cleared out a few wild creatures to reach Ivarstead earlier, as in during their first visit to this place, and those creatures included a troll by the river, a pair of sabre cats, some spiders that had been on the main road, and some bandits that had been guarding a tower near Whiterun, so for part of their journey they wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by wild creatures. As she said that, and they headed down the path that would connect with the one that would take them to Kynesgrove, Amaryllis felt a wave of hostility for a moment and took a second to glance backwards, finding three robed figures stopping by the inn for a moment, wearing masks that covered their entire head for some odd reason, though it looked like they were looking for someone and she had the feeling that it had to be Za'kera, given that she was the Dragonborn of legend, but for the most part they were able to slip out of sight before the weird cultists could see them. She had the feeling that a fight would have broken out if they had been seen by the cultists, so by avoiding their gaze it allowed her and her friends to leave the area without drawing attention, though at the same time she felt that it might be best to hide somewhere unless the cultists walked by, since she was sure that some of the residents of Ivarstead might point out the path they were currently walking down, but for now it looked like one of the guards might be talking to them and it gave her, Za'kera, and Lydia time to get out of the area before they were found out by the odd cultists.

Amaryllis had the feeling that, based on the hostility she had detected, those cultists weren't here to ask for Za'kera to join them in a quest to take down a dragon, or something like that, rather it seemed like they had come to Ivarstead to kill her for some reason, either meaning they were agents of someone she ticked off in Cyrodiil, like someone deemed her to be a threat and wanted her dead, or maybe all three of them were agents of another sect of the Thalmor, sent to finish the job, or maybe there was a lunatic out there who felt Za'kera might come for them and wanted her dead before she arrived at whatever location they were hiding in, before she shook her head and figured that they would find out the truth the next time they encountered the cultists and faced them.

As they headed down the hill Amaryllis found that Za'kera had been telling the truth about the enemies she and Lydia had killed earlier, as there happened to be a dead troll along the way and she spotted one of the sabre cats as well, though for the most part it looked like they would be able to get down to the main road without much delay, despite the fact that they had to walk for an hour, maybe and hour and a half, before reaching the path in question, to which they paused for a few seconds to catch their breath before moving once more. Once they were ready to go Za'kera headed down the right path and continued moving without delay, where Amaryllis noted that she was heading for the path that she had taken in the past, when she used the carriage to travel between Windhelm and Riften, helping Aventus out before becoming part of the Dark Brotherhood, though the path in question meant they wouldn't have to walk through any of the sulfurous pools or the rocky crags that were around them, where she was sure a dragon had to be resting, given a few noises she had heard during her last visit to this part of Skyrim. Fortunately the path would also bring them to Kynesgrove, which was just outside Windhelm, by like ten to fifteen minutes based on her estimates, though they would have to climb up some raised sections of the path and descend down a few of them as well, which have them some decent exercise as they kept an eye open for any dangers that might be on the road, but during their trek Amaryllis shifted into her true form every so often and flew into the air to scout out the path in front of them, giving Za'kera any information on what might be in front of them, of which she found nothing waiting for them. Now that was in relation to potential enemies, like bandits, thieves, or whatever else attacked travelers while they were on the road, which made her statement true, though she did discover a few sabre cat corpses, a bear corpse resting to the side, and an area that a Legion patrol was moving through, as they were heading towards Riften at the moment, to which she returned to her companions and the disguise she had picked out for the time being, even though Za'kera was happy to have whatever information she had to give her, though it was clear that she was thinking about Delphine and the dragon she wanted them to kill.

There were no discussions as they walked towards Kynesgrove, allowing Amaryllis a chance to confirm that Za'kera used a pair of swords and carried a bow on her back, complete with a quiver full of steel arrows, while wearing light armor to give her the ability to move around an area with great ease, while Lydia seemed to prefer heavy weapons, the two handed type she had learned about in the past, and wore heavy armor to protect herself from harm while having her own bow, so she knew they were outfitted enough to take down any normal enemies, but a dragon was another story.

It took them about two hours to reach the outskirts of the area that Kynesgrove rested in, though it quickly became clear that something was happening, as Amaryllis found a massive dark cloud gathering above the inn in question, meaning a storm was either building or whatever Delphine was trying to stop was already happening and they had arrived too late to do anything to stop a dragon's revival, hence why they started to pick up the pace and headed over to the inn, as none of them knew where the path to the burial mound rested. That was when a lady ran away from the inn, either a patron or an owner, who stopped when she saw them and informed them that they didn't want to be here, as a dragon was attacking the mound that was apparently located behind the inn, up a hill she actually showed them to when Za'kera informed her that they were here to deal with the problem, but as all of that happened Amaryllis nearly froze as she heard a roar, as it came from the black dragon she had seen when she left Emershard Mine, the very one that burned Helgen to the ground earlier, and right now it was in the middle of attacking the mound. Once the innkeeper showed them the way, however, she fled from the area as pretty much everyone else followed her lead, as the lone guard simple stood still as if they were frightened by what was going on at the moment, to which the three of them advanced up the path that would bring them to the mound and discovered that Delphine was already hiding near a rock that was outside where the mound rested, to which she gestured for them to join her as they watched the black dragon. What Amaryllis was focused on was that there was a mass of dark energy coming from the dragon burial mound that was in front of them, meaning something had to be happening and was connected to the storm that was forming above their heads, though before she could say anything the large black dragon flew into the area and came to a stop as it glanced down at the mound it was focused on, though she was sure that it had noticed her and her companions, despite the fact that it was more interested in what it was doing at the moment, giving them a chance to see what was bringing all of the dragons back to life.

"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!" the black dragon stated, speaking in what Amaryllis had to assume was the language of the dragons, which was odd when she considered that the Greybeards had used the same language to Speak with Za'kera in High Hrothgar earlier, though it seemed like the beast was speaking to the corpse or soul of the fallen dragon who called this place home, or at least that was what Amaryllis was thinking right now since she had no idea what the beast was even doing, but that didn't stop her from gripping the handles of her daggers, "Slen tiid vo!"

In the following moment the black dragon loosed a burst of energy, a Thu'um Amaryllis discovered, that slammed into the burial mound and disappeared within a few seconds, almost like nothing had happened to it, though before anyone could do anything the earth that had been used to bury the dragon burst out of the ground and a skeletal dragon emerged from it, walking out of the mound as it glanced at the one that had revived it, whose scales, spikes, and pretty much the rest of his body reformed before their very eyes, creating a light gray scaled dragon in a matter of seconds.

"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" the light gray dragon, Sahloknir, inquired, as it sounded like he was asking the black dragon a question, something that Amaryllis wasn't sure on since she didn't speak the Dragon Tongue, as the Greybeards called the dragon language, though Delphine remained silent as they watched what was going on, while both Za'kera and Lydia removed themselves from their hiding place and readied their weapons, just in case a fight broke out between them and the dragons.

"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." the black dragon, Alduin as Sahloknir called him, replied, where Amaryllis was sure that the two dragons were male based on both of their voices, even though it sure seemed like Alduin was a lord or something based on how Sahloknir respected him, or at least it sure appeared to be that way to her, though in that moment the black beast turned his head and glanced down at them for a few seconds, studying them for a moment or two as he focused most of his attention on Za'kera for a time, "Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi."

"Listen, I have no idea what you are saying, but I'm going to make you pay for destroying Helgen," Za'kera stated, though it was in that moment that she shifted her stance and held her weapons at the ready, showing that she was willing to fight them and bring them down, while at the same time Lydia raised her battleaxe and Amaryllis did the same thing with both of her daggers, where it took a few moments for Delphine to pull out her bow so she could ready an arrow for when either dragon tried to fly off.

"You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah." Alduin replied, his tone showing that he felt Za'kera was overstepping the bounds or something, while at the same time his words had to be the sort that were designed to annoy someone, to make them angry enough to make mistakes in a fight, even though Amaryllis was sure that there was another reason behind what Alduin was doing at the moment, even if she had no idea as to what that reason might be, before he switched to Sahloknir once more, "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."

Somehow Amaryllis and her new friends understood that this statement was an order to kill them, how she had no idea and wasn't about to waste time thinking about why she considered such a thing to begin with, especially since Alduin took off and departed from this area, as in he actually flew away from Kynesgrove, while Sahloknir took to the skies and started to circle where his burial mound had been built, causing her and her companions to spread out as she sheathed both of her daggers and switched to her bow. Since it looked like Sahloknir wanted to remain in the air for a time, and not be near their melee weapons, this seemed like the best strategy in her mind, hence why she pulled out an elven arrow and readied it over the next couple of seconds, allowing her to track the dragon they were fighting for a time as he came to a stop right in the middle of the air, something that allowed him to breath fire on where Za'kera was standing. Fortunately it appeared that her new friend was able to vacate the area in question, avoiding the flames entirely, before she loosed her arrow and found that while it did strike the side of her target's head for a moment, dealing a bit of damage, or at least she hoped it did something to the massive beast, the arrow did bounce off the dragon's head and landed on the ground, meaning she could reuse it and she was fine with that as she readied another arrow. Based on what she was seeing right now it looked like Sahloknir was more focused on taking Za'kera down, meaning the dragons might sense that she happened to be the Dragonborn and wanted her dead because of her status as Skyrim's legendary hero, or for whatever reason they might have for wanting such a thing, as the beast landed near Za'kera and opened his mouth for a moment, charging what had to be a flame breath, to which her friend shifted her stance, readied both of her blades, and then rushed forward like she had been shot out of a cannon or something, allowing her to slice into the side of Sahloknir's body as she avoided the fire breath that hit where she had been standing moments ago.

Amaryllis was sure that Za'kera had used one of her Shouts to move out of the way, which one she had no idea because it was hard for her to tell how many Shouts the Khajiit had access to, though such a thing opened the way for Lydia to swing her battleaxe down on the dragon's neck and seemed to cut into some of the scales, which caused Sahloknir to pull away in an attempt to avoid taking even more damage, something that allowed Amaryllis and Delphine to loose a pair of arrows at the dragon's back, where Delphine's were steel. She quickly discovered something interesting, Sahloknir didn't seem to care about her, Delphine, or even Lydia for that matter, even though he did avoid Lydia's attacks after suffering through the first one that cut into his neck, but such a thing was good for them since it meant that it created openings for the rest of them to use to use in their attempts to cut the dragon down. When Sahloknir was on the ground, and his focus was on Za'kera while trying to avoid all of Lydia's attacks, the latter being hard to do since they were attacking from each direction, it presented Amaryllis with an opportunity to switch to her daggers, allowing her to swing the Blade of Woe and Mehrunes' Razor at Sahloknir's backside, finding that her blades were able to dig into his back, near his wings, and found that she did receive some of the dragon's life energy thanks to the blade Astrid used to carry at all times. Other than that nothing else happened with her blades, meaning Mehrunes' Razor might not work on dragons, but given that it was a Daedric artifact it did some decent damage and that was all that mattered at the moment, though once the dragon moved his wings she did the smart thing and pulled her blades out of him as she jumped off of the dragon's back, allowing him to take to the air as she switched back to her bow for a time. Amaryllis was staying away from using her magic since she really didn't know a lot of offensive spells, save for what she had discovered in her time in this world, hence why her main weapons were her blades and her bow as she offered Za'kera as much assistance as she could offer right now, though when she spotted the dragon attacking Lydia, and breaking her battleaxe, an idea formed in her head.

As such she backed away and summoned her magic, calling forth her chest once more as she raised a hand towards it and pulled out a weapon that would aid them in taking Sahloknir down, where she called out to Lydia, who had backed away from the dragon once her weapon had been broken, and hurled the ebony battleaxe at Za'kera's Housecarl, who caught it, spun it around, and brought it right down into the dragon's head, causing Sahloknir to stagger for a moment as Za'kera drove both of her blades into his eyes and likely pierced his brain in the process... something that caused the dragon, after a few seconds of staggering, to collapse, even though it was followed by his soul breaking away from his body before it just slammed into Za'kera's chest.

"Well I'll be damned... you really are Dragonborn, aren't you?" Delphine inquired, where Amaryllis had pieced together the fact that the Dragonborn was capable of stealing a dragon's soul and absorbing their knowledge, given what Za'kera had told her after she joined up with her and Lydia, and the fact that she had taken Sahloknir's soul as well, reverting the body back to what it had been before Alduin revived him to face them, though once that was done Za'kera nodded her head as all of the magic died down, "I did say that, once you proved yourself to me, that I would answer your questions... and I'll remain true to that, so go ahead, whatever you want to know... I won't hold anything back."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Za'kera stated, where she focused on her blades for a moment, after carefully pulling them out of Sahloknir's body, even though Amaryllis could see that her friend wanted to find her stolen weapons and take both of them back, before she sheathed them and turned towards Delphine for a moment, who seemed to be patiently waiting for some questions, with her usual annoyed expression on her face, "Okay, I'm ready. I want to know what you know about the dragons coming back, not to mention who you are, and why you are so interested in finding a Dragonborn... we'll start with those three and move on from there."

"To be honest, I have no idea why dragons are coming back, just that they are," Delphine replied, where she turned for a moment and stared at the fallen dragon that they had killed together, something that caused her to walk around the area for a few seconds as she collected her fallen arrows, showing that she was thinking about what was going on right now, as this had to be quite the shock, before she returned to where Za'kera was standing, "to be honest, I was just as surprised as you were to find that big black dragon here, though it seems that he's tied to the dragons coming back to life. As for who I am, well, I'm one of the last members of the Blades, an ancient order who once served the Septim emperors and, at one point in the far past, were dragonslayers who aided the Dragonborn, the ultimate dragonslayer, in slaying dragons, while also helping keep the peace. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose, as with no one to follow we were left to our own devices... now that dragons are coming back to Skyrim, well, our purpose is clear again, and we need to stop them."

"Well, part of what you said is wrong, the Blades weren't 'left to their own devices', you were destroyed by the Thalmor at one point during the Great War," Amaryllis remarked, as she had read a few books since her arrival in this world and that had been one topic that had been talked about, that the order that was supposed to defend the Emperor had tried to take down the Thalmor and, due to various reasons no one could agree on, had been smashed to pieces, while most of their order were slain by their enemies.

"Regardless of that fact, I must ask what our next move is, to take down the dragons." Za'kera stated, as while she could do without Amaryllis pissing off Delphine, which was impossible to do since she could see that the lady appeared to be stuck in a state of constant anger, towards whoever happened to annoy her, though at the same time she was hoping that they wouldn't have to deal with her for too long, otherwise she was sure that something would happen to her in due time, given who her companions were.

"The first thing we need to do is figure out who's behind the dragons," Delphine answered, though it was extremely easy for Amaryllis to feel her immense hatred for the Thalmor, as while she could understand her resentment towards the very organization that had purged her order from every corner of this world, or at least it seemed to be that way, her hatred for the force in question would have been enough to choke any novice changelings, " and the Thalmor are our best lead if we want to figure out what is going on... if they aren't involved with this, and I find that to be highly unlikely, they'll have some information or even know who is behind the dragons returning."

"Out of curiosity, what makes you think the Thalmor are the ones messing with dragons?" Amaryllis asked, where she was asking this since it seemed like Delphine might not have figured out that Alduin had been the one to revive Sahloknir, as in no one else was responsible for such a thing, which made her wonder if dragons were immortal or could live longer than all of the other species of this world, at least until someone like Za'kera killed them and took their soul, which would mean that Delphine was unobservant or something.

"Nothing solid... yet... but my gut tells me it can't be anybody else." Delphine remarked, something that caused Za'kera to raise an eyebrow for a moment as Lydia stood nearby, admiring the new battleaxe she had been given, and Amaryllis just listened to what she had to say on the matter, before she sighed as she raised a hand to her forehead, like she was tired of her or something, "Listen, the Legion had captured Ulfric, which means that the war in Skyrim would have been over, had they executed him like they planned... then a dragon attacks Helgen, Ulfric escapes in the ensuing chaos, and this stupid war is resumed like nothing even happened. And now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately, which just means that Skyrim is weakened, which weakens the Empire, since they're losing soldiers in this conflict. Who else would gain from all of this but the Thalmor?"

"Except that they aren't attacking Skyrim, as the only dragon attacks were Helgen and Whiterun's watchtower, which now includes this one," Amaryllis stated, as she was starting to think that Delphine didn't know what she was talking about, as there had only been two dragon attacks since Alduin showed up, three counting this one, and the Empire hadn't lost that many soldiers, not like Delphine was trying to suggest, before she thought of something else she had seen during her time walking on the roads of Skyrim, "plus the Legion and the Stormcloaks haven't actually killed each other yet, rather I've seen a few of their mock battles all over this province... neither faction is actually killing each other, they're fighting while waiting for something to happen... basically, things aren't as bad as you're making them out to be."

"While I agree with my companion, that doesn't change the fact that we need to discover what the Thalmor know about the return of the dragons." Za'kera added, her tone informing Amaryllis that she wanted to wrap this conversation up and move on with her quest to figure out how to save this province from the dragons, or more depending on what else might be lurking in the shadows, though that was when she turned back towards Delphine for a moment, "Now, given that you must have spent some time spying on the Thalmor, I'm assuming that you have some ideas on what we can do to get our hands on the information they have?"

"To do that we'll have to get inside the Thalmor Embassy, which is the center of their operations in Skyrim, the problem is that it's locked up tighter than a miser's purse." Delphine answered, showing that, despite Amaryllis' comments, she was still willing to answer Za'kera's questions on the matter as she thought about what she was being asked, though while they thought about what she had said, and what it meant for Za'kera's mission, "Honestly, they could teach me a few things about paranoia... anyway, I'm not entirely sure how we're going to get you into the Embassy, but like I said, I have a couple of ideas and I need some time to consider our options. Meet me back in Riverwood when you can... if I'm not back when you get there, use this key and wait for me in my hidden chamber... I shouldn't be long. Oh, and keep an eye on the sky, as things are only going to get worse."

Za'kera said nothing as she accepted the key that was handed to her and simply stood there as Delphine headed out, even though they knew the lady was going to be taking her sweet time getting back to Riverwood, to make them suffer for the annoyances she had been through since they walked into her inn, before she sighed as she considered what to do, which gave Amaryllis time to tell Lydia that she could keep the ebony battleaxe, until she got something better, and then turned towards her new friend.

"I'll meet you guys outside the inn, as I need to head back to my Family and tell them what's going on," Amaryllis said, due to the fact that she hadn't told Nazir or Babette about what she had learned since leaving the Sanctuary earlier, especially when she considered the fact that this would give her a chance to tell them that she needed to kill Elenwen and that doing this would allow her access to her target, where Za'kera considered what was going on at the moment before nodding her head to show that she was fine with this sequence of events.

With Delphine gone Amaryllis shifted into her true form once again, wearing her true armor as well, before taking off and heading towards Dawnstar, leaving Za'kera and Lydia to make their way back to Riverwood, which would take them a few hours based on where they were in relation to the inn their annoying ally wanted to meet them in, though once she was done informing her Family of what was going on she would uphold her statement and return to Riverwood as well, as she had a few ideas on how to get at Elenwen and was somewhat eager to see what Delphine had in mind to get into the well guarded Embassy.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

The bug has gotten herself entwined in the main questline now. Me feels she is going to be quite the busy assassin bug from here on out

[Night_Moon60606]

and here we see the reckless arrogance of the Blades, and the fact the Delphine is not the kind of leader that she claims, she truly is a self-centered idiot. 'oh, i hate the Thalmor, so they have to be behind this Dragon disaster because of this, that and the other rather weak evidences'.

10991363
hardly 'very' busy, but at least she has an in for her current contract now...

[Night_Moon60606]

10989697
actually, u can activate them in any order, so long as u read ALL of them, and its not that great a buff, u just dont get attacked by animals for twenty four in game hours...theres still plenty that DOESNT apply to...like Trolls...

[PrismStrike]

10991604
yeah very true

[PrismStrike]

10991606
I find it to be quite the useful boon for running through the wilderness as i dislike fast traveling