The Dragonborn

Part 60

Esbern followed closely after Delphine as they made their way across the stone bridge. Both of them looked more excited than Jack had ever seen them. He wanted to be excited himself, but something was holding him back. An uneasiness that he couldn't put a name too. Mark gestured for Jack to cross before him, telling him in a low voice. "Be careful". Jack smirked at Mark as he past, telling him lightly. "I've got you to watch my back. I'll be fine". Mark returned the smile and together they crossed into a narrow tunnel. Just ahead, Esbern suddenly reached out to grab Delphine's arm rashly, stating aloud in a firm voice. "WAIT"! Jack slowed to a stop behind them as Delphine pulled her arm from Esbern's hand, asking him curiously. "Why are we stopping"? 

Esbern crouched down, very lightly dusting off a square plate among others that covered the floor of the next room. Revealing the same Akaviri symbol for the dragonborn, he looked up at Delphine, informing her seriously. "We should be careful here. See these symbols on the floor"? Mark shifted closer behind Esbern to get a look at the room, while Delphine stated aloud. "Hmm... Esbern's right. These look like pressure plates". Mark bent down to pick up a good sized rock, showing it to Jack for his approval. Jack gave him a nod. He wanted to know how active they were. Before the others even knew what Mark was going to do, Mark chucked the large rock out across the plates. The first two plates the rock rolled over did nothing, but the next few after that caused the room to burst into roaring flames from all angles.

When the rock fell off the last of the plates toward the very back of the room, the room instantly cleared up. Delphine shot Mark a stern glare, but Mark's attention was on Jack, telling him casually. "Did you see that? Two didn't go off". Jack nodded, he had seen it too. The only two that hadn't gone off were the ones with the Dragonborn symbol on them. Jack squeezed between Delphine and Esbern, muttering out to himself. "The Blades follow the Dragonborn, right? So, wouldn't that be the safest path"? Mark grabbed Jack's arm before he could step down on the first plate, sternly growling out. "Jack! Are you sure"? Jack shrugged, honestly answering. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me. I'll be alright". Mark reluctantly loosened his grip to let Jack go. While Esbern told Jack confidently. "Be careful. We'll cross once it's safe".

Jack took a deep breath, very tenderly sliding his foot across the first plate. Holding his breath, he shifted his weight onto it and waited as the pressure plate sank under his feet. After a few seconds, Jack allowed himself to breathe and looked for the next Dragonborn symbol. Repeating the process, just in case the first was a flunk, he shifted to the nest plate. When nothing happened again, he felt more confident that he had been right. Moving a little faster over the maze of tiles, he crossed over until he came to a pillar with a hanging chain.  Praying this was the right thing to do, he yanked the chain down and listened to the sounds of loud 'clicking' all around him. He flinched expecting to burst into flames any second, but nothing happened. Jack was afraid to move and test the other pressure plates, just in case the chain hadn't done what he thought.

Delphine crouched to look over the tiles briefly, before telling everyone. "Looks safe now. Let's move". Delphine walked out onto a random tile and Jack flinched, raising his hands to protect himself. Delphine didn't pay him any attention though as she quickly walked across the tiles to the other side with Esbern following after her, excitedly muttering out. "Yes. Yes. I think we must be close to the entrance". Mark was the last to cross the tiles and he did it much slower than the others, stopping in the center of the room he reached for Jack's hand. Jack's hands shook a bit as he lowered them enough to accept both of Mark's hands. Mark drew him in closer, whispering close to his ear. "Jack... I'm getting a bad feeling...". Jack nestled his head into Mark's neck, whispering back uneasily. "I've been feeling it too. Mark-".

Jack was cut off by Delphine calling back through the tunnel ahead. "Hey! What's keeping you two? Keep up". Mark rubbed his hands up Jack's arms, letting him pull away. Jack wanted to tell him that he was thinking about leaving. He knew this was important... but he couldn't shake this feeling like this was too much of a good thing. Jack trudged his way through the tunnel to the next room and stood in awe of it. The stone here looked like it had never aged a day since its creation. It appeared to be a circular dead end. Just ahead of them sat a large chest barely visible in the low thick fog, but beyond that on the wall was a huge carved head. Esbern made his way around the chest, looking it over only briefly before taking in the large head carving, stating aloud in a voice full of fascination. "Wonderful! Remarkably well-preserved too".