The Dragonborn

Part 61

The inside of Sky Haven Temple was rather dark and dusty. It was made entirely of stone with all kinds of carved designs up along the high pillars and walls. Sky Haven was more than big enough to house a dragon or two. It was truly a sight to see. However, as Delphine lit the two braziers at the top of the steps with her torch, Jack's eyes were drawn to the center of this great hall. He had seen this wall before in a dream. He was sure of it. Crossing over the threshold, Jack stepped around the long abandoned dining table to admire the wall. Delphine moved around the large hall lighting up any braziers that she could find to help light up the dark room. From somewhere behind him, Esbern muttered out in complete emotional awe. "Shor's bones! Here is is! Alduin's wall... So well preserved... I've never seen a finer example of early second era Akaviri sculpture relief...". 

Jack stepped back from the wall a step or two as Esbern approached with his torch held high. Jack shot a glance at Mark who was running his hand over the interesting dragonhead like sculpture at the head of the dining table. Delphine lit the last brazier in the room, starting to walk up the steps toward them as she stated out rather bored. "Esbern. We need information, not a lecture on art history". Esbern's eyes were already scanning over the wall, giving her a dismissive wave of his hand in her general direction as he distractedly stated softly. "Yes, yes. Let's see what we have...". Mark leaned against the heavy stone sculpture that was built not just at the head of the table, but stretched out into the steps leading up to the wall. Mark shrugged at him, asking curiously. "These Akaviri... What exactly happened to them"?

Delphine scoffed at Mark, telling him boldly. "They became Blades. Bodyguards to the Emperor. Don't you know anything"? Esbern was still busily over looking the wall, when he added in slightly distracted. "Actually, Delphine... What happened to them is a complete mystery. There have been two theories though. One was that the Akaviri were eaten by the Tsaesci race. However, a few of my old colleagues from back in the day, actually believed them to be Tsaesci. Which seemed more likely anyway. The second, is that they founded the Blades and served only the dragonborn emperor's until their deaths. Passing on their legacy to the Blades they trained to continue their work". Esbern finally glanced away from the wall to look over his shoulder to tell Jack honestly. "I find that to be the truth of it. After all, the red dragon was the crest the Akaviri wore and who do we know now that uses that as their symbol"?

Jack nodded, answering with a small smirk. "The Emperor. The red dragon has been the symbol of the Emperor since the start of the Septim Empire". Mark shot Delphine a semi-smug look and Delphine rolled her eyes. Jack was about to say something to Mark, when Esbern piped up excitedly. "Look, here is Alduin! This first panel goes back to the beginning of time, when Alduin and the Dragon Cult ruled over Skyrim". Jack turned his attention to the wall, moving closer to get a better look. The first panel had a large dragon with the look of Alduin, hovering over a city that was being engulfed in flames. At the bottom of the panel, he saw humans fleeing in terror, while in the background above he noticed smaller dragons burning towns. Bits of his dream were flooding back to him... or were they memories? He could recall seeing a town burning in the pouring rain, while above them in the clouded skies, dragons fought each other.

Esbern side stepped to the center panel, holding his torch as high as he could to clearly show the larger craving. In a proud voice Esbern told him. "Here, the humans rebel against their dragon overlords. The legendary Dragon War. Alduin's defeat is the centerpiece of the wall". Jack bit his lip trying to hold back his swirling thoughts. The top portion showed Alduin appearing to fall from the sky. The bottom half showed two figures. A mage warrior with his hand held out to the dragon with a ghostly dragon form bursting out of his body toward Alduin. The second form looked like a old mage casting a powerful spell that helped bring down Alduin. Esbern placed his hand on the center wall, speaking aloud for everyone to hear. "You see, here he is falling from the sky. The Nord Tongues, Masters of the Voice, are arrayed against him".