Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CXXXVII - Roam Free

It didn't matter how late in the night it was, or how early in the morning.

Even though they only woke up with grumbling reluctance, once the rest of the new Blade recruits found out what all the fuss was about, they forgot all about their annoyance.

There were nine Blades there now in total. Aside from Delphine, Esbern and Erik, and the informants scattered around Skyrim, there was the mage, Marcurio, who was quite enigmatic about his past, an Orcish warrior who wanted to break away from her clan, Borgakh, two Nord warriors who had apparently been Delphine's informants before they decided to join the fight against the dragons, Stenvar and Vorstag, a former East Empire Company representative, Adelaisa, who had joined after Erik and Marcurio helped her deal with some problem, and a miner, Annekke, that Bishop and Aeyrin had actually seen a few times before – she was from Darkwater Crossing, eager to learn how to protect her mining community from the numerous beasts circling the Eastmarch tundra.

The mead and conversation flowed through the night. Bishop and Aeyrin were properly introduced to all the recruits and to how they got there. Most of them were recruited by Delphine. For a careful, paranoid woman, she had a lot of connections and a lot of information about who would be willing to help. But soon enough, the introductions were cut short. Everyone wanted to hear about the Scroll.

This time, Bishop and Aeyrin could actually tell them all of it – everything that happened in Blackreach. Everything they'd been through down there. But of course, they didn't tell them everything – just the adventuring parts. They could tell them about the strange device that the Scroll was hidden in – unlike with Calcelmo. It was a bit disappointing back then. He would have surely loved to hear all about it, but they didn't want to risk anyone knowing that they actually had an Elder Scroll. That might raise questions. Especially if they were unwilling to sell it.

Despite the late hour, nobody was falling asleep at their recounting. The Blades all listened with rapt attention – about the Falmer hordes lurking beneath their feet, about the enormous complex filled with glowing mushrooms, beautiful crystals, which Aeyrin promptly showed off, and about the roads that the Dwemer had built there Eras ago. The two of them were sure to tell them all about the struggles, about the close calls, about the constant exhaustions and injuries. Especially the precarious fight up on the platforms near the glowing 'sun'. As much as neither of them wanted to relive that too much, at least the dangerous part, seeing them all listen with such wonder was kind of satisfying. Even Delphine looked impressed.

"I can't believe you dangled there like that for so long," Marcurio shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't think it was long. It just felt like it," Aeyrin gave him a wry smile. It could have been a span of a minute or two, but everything seemed to take forever in that predicament.

"Still," the mage snorted. "I'm just glad we only have dragons to deal with." It was a little unnerving that a dragon-slayer in training thought they were the ones exposed to insane dangers. But it was true. The dragons had nothing on Blackreach.

"It's a shame you don't know Shouts that could have helped you out of that mess," Esbern nodded at Aeyrin in sympathy. "The records speak of one that would turn the Dragonborn's body incorporeal. Prevent any damage whatsoever."

Delphine suddenly looked at her with a strange expression. Aeyrin wasn't sure whether she had used her ethereal Shout before in front of Delphine, but she must have to garner that look. This was getting uncomfortable. Through all their tales, they never even once thought of the fact that the lack of her use of Shouts might be suspicious.

Aeyrin didn't want to talk about this. She didn't want to admit to them what was going on, not until she absolutely had to. She didn't want Delphine disparaging her for her stupidity and naivety or Esbern lamenting the imminent end of the world. She had gone through these thoughts on her own plenty of times already.