- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 466
“Our hero, our hero, the brave without fear.
I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, the Golden Dragonborn is here.
His mighty shout shakes the heavens and earth,
Destroys the evil dragon, saving all of mankind.
The handsome and gallant Golden Dragonborn,
With divine power, he repairs the shattered land and homes,
He is the great Dragonborn.
I believe, I believe, the Dragonborn has come!”
Soon, this song about the Golden Dragonborn would spread from the inn in Riverwood across all of Skyrim.
At that moment, Leo pushed open the door and entered the Sleeping Giant Inn.
Due to the recent commotion, most of the guests were still outside, with only the innkeeper and his wife having just returned after standing at the door to watch the events unfold.
“Honored Thane, what can I get for you?”
The innkeeper’s wife, Delphine, greeted Leo warmly as he stepped into the inn.
Leo gave her a knowing glance and said, “I need to rent the attic room.”
Since the arranged meeting place was the Sleeping Giant Inn, he couldn’t help but suspect that the innkeeper’s wife had a special identity.
As expected, Delphine didn’t seem surprised and merely smiled, replying, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have an attic room. However, why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you to a better room.”
“Sure.”
Raising an eyebrow, Leo followed the innkeeper’s wife, who led him to the farthest room in the inn—her own.
“Please, close the door,” Delphine instructed as she stood beside a wardrobe.
Leo, half-joking, said, “You know, a request like this could be easily misunderstood. What if your husband barges in thinking the worst?”
Delphine chuckled as she responded, “Don’t worry, without my permission, he wouldn’t dare step into my room.”
As she spoke, she turned an oil lamp next to the wardrobe two and a half times.
*Click, click, click.*
Suddenly, the wardrobe split in the middle, revealing a hidden passage just large enough for one person to enter.
Clearly, the room was equipped with secret mechanisms, and it seemed that Delphine wasn’t calling him here for any personal reasons.
“If you want Jurgen Windcaller’s horn, follow me,” Delphine said, her demeanor shifting from the friendly innkeeper’s wife to a cold, commanding presence, like that of a military leader. She strode confidently into the hidden passageway.
Leo shrugged and followed her closely.
After passing through a narrow, descending corridor, they arrived at a basement filled with various weapons, armor, potions, and other strategic supplies.
Delphine handed Leo a horn made from a dragon’s horn that had been resting on a map on the table.
“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Delphine, a member of the Blades. I didn’t take the horn to make an enemy of you, but rather to confirm your identity and to talk with you. If you are truly the Dragonborn, then we are your best allies.”
“The Blades?”
Leo recalled reading about the Blades in the High Hrothgar library.
The Blades, originally known as the Dragonguard, were a group dedicated to assisting the Dragonborn in slaying dragons, revering the Dragonborn as their leader, and being known for their formidable strength.
Later, they were renamed the Blades and became the personal bodyguards of the Emperors of the Empire. Leo thought of them as similar to a group like the imperial secret police.
In previous times, all the emperors of the Empire had been from the Septim bloodline, and they had signed a pact with the Dragon God, meaning they carried the blood of the Dragonborn, which made them, in a sense, Dragonborn as well.
However, in the Third Era, after the last Dragonborn Emperor, Martin Septim, sacrificed himself to banish the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon and save Tamriel, the bloodline of the Dragonborn was severed.
The current Emperor, Titus Mede II, had risen to power after a period of civil war and had finally unified the Empire.
The Blades, meanwhile, continued to serve as the Emperor’s elite guard. During the conflict with the Thalmor, they had caused significant damage to the Aldmeri Dominion.
It was for this reason that, during the signing of the White-Gold Concordat, the Thalmor demanded the Empire exterminate all members of the Blades.
In order to finalize the treaty, Titus Mede II agreed to this humiliating demand.
As a result, the once-powerful Blades became fugitives, hunted by both the Empire and the Thalmor, and faded into obscurity.
In the records kept by the Greybeards, they didn’t think highly of the Blades.
The Greybeards believed that not all dragons were evil. After all, the humans had defeated Alduin with the help of dragons who had betrayed him.
However, the Blades believed that all dragons were inherently evil and that every dragon should be slain.
“So, it was you who told Farengar to ask me for the Dragonstone?”
Leo recalled how, after meeting Delphine in Dragonsreach, Farengar had asked him to retrieve the Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow.
It seemed that, despite being hunted by the Empire and the Thalmor, the Blades still had considerable resources at their disposal.
“Yes. After you left Bleak Falls Barrow, I went there myself and discovered that the Dragonstone was already gone. So I sought out Farengar, a court wizard who’s particularly interested in dragon research, and I nudged him into asking you for the Dragonstone. That stone contains the locations of all the dragon burial sites. Now that the dragons are being resurrected, we need that map to track them down and kill them again.”
Delphine nodded, confirming his suspicion.
Leo’s eyes gleamed with a sudden realization.
“Of course I’m the Dragonborn. You saw me use the Thu’um just now. As a member of the Blades, aren’t you supposed to swear allegiance to me and help me slay dragons?”
He realized that if the Blades were as dedicated as the old texts suggested, having them help track down dragons could be extremely useful.
This way, he would gain another source of information about the whereabouts of the dragons.
“Just because you can use the Thu’um doesn’t prove you’re the Dragonborn. The Greybeards can use the Thu’um, and so can Balgruuf and Ulfric. While the Greybeards may have confirmed you as the Dragonborn, the Blades need further proof before we recognize you. If you truly are the Dragonborn, we’ll help you slay dragons.”
Delphine’s tone was calm and composed as she addressed him.
Leo narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing something unusual.
“And how exactly do you want me to prove it?”
He realized that Delphine didn’t seem to revere the Dragonborn as much as the Blades were said to in the records. Her attitude was more one of pragmatic use, as though she viewed him as a tool.
Throughout the conversation, she had only mentioned helping the Dragonborn slay dragons but had never once mentioned swearing fealty.
It seemed that after the Empire’s betrayal, the Blades, while still committed to their mission of dragon-slaying, had lost much of their reverence for the Dragonborn.
And after so many years had passed, with the Dragonborn reduced to little more than legend, the Blades had shifted their focus to espionage and assassination rather than their original purpose of dragon-slaying.
**(End of Chapter)**