Chapter 25 – A Man of His Word
Astrid's embrace was warm so warm it felt like it wrapped around the very center of Alex's chest. Her arms were tight at first, trembling with leftover emotion, but slowly… slowly they loosened.
Her breathing softened against him, turning into small, uneven exhales.
Her body, so tense from everything she had been holding back, finally relaxed as if she had surrendered all her fear into his arms.
When Alex looked down, his heart ached.
Her eyes now closed were rimmed red, her eyelashes still damp.
Tear tracks glimmered faintly on her cheeks in the dim lantern light.
She looked exhausted… painfully exhausted.
Delphine saw it too.
"Hey," she said quietly, jutting her chin toward Astrid. "She's done for. Take her to my room."
She crossed her arms and snorted, pretending not to care but the slight softness in her voice gave her away.
"Honestly… she worries about you more than you think."
Alex exhaled slowly, his chest warming at the words.
He gave Delphine a small, grateful smile.
"Yeah. Thank you… for staying with her."
Then he looked at Astrid again really looked.
The vulnerable way she slept.
The way her brows were still faintly furrowed, even in rest, as if her heart hadn't fully calmed.
"And… for protecting her," he added softly.
Delphine's face twitched into something awkward half embarrassed, half amused.
She waved her hand at him like she wanted him gone before she accidentally showed more emotion.
"Just go already."
Alex chuckled under his breath.
He slipped one arm under Astrid's legs, the other around her back, lifting her as gently as if she might break. Her head naturally rested against his chest, golden hair brushing his chin. She murmured something unintelligible, gripping the fabric of his shirt weakly before her hand went slack again.
He carried her through the dim underground corridor.
The stone walls were cool, the air faintly smelling of old books and dust. Lanterns flickered softly, casting warm shadows that danced along the floor.
Inside Delphine's room, Alex lowered Astrid onto the bed with painstaking care. The mattress dipped under her weight, and she instinctively curled slightly toward the warmth he left behind.
He removed the outer parts of her armor pauldrons, gauntlets, belts moving slowly so he wouldn't disturb her. When he brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his fingers lingered for a moment longer than necessary.
She looked peaceful now.
Soft.
Human.
Not the fierce warrior who could terrify bandits with a single glare.
He swallowed gently, emotion tightening his chest.
Leaning closer, he whispered with a voice barely above a breath:
"I'm really happy… that you worry about me this much."
His words were meant only for her something she'd never hear, yet something he needed to say.
He stayed there for another long second, watching the rise and fall of her breathing, letting the quiet comfort settle into him.
Finally, with a soft sigh, he stepped back.
He closed the door slowly pressing it shut with the heel of his hand so the latch wouldn't make even the smallest click. The quiet felt almost sacred, like any noise might disturb Astrid's fragile peace.
Outside, the hallway stretched dimly before him. The lanterns hanging on the stone walls flickered gently, their warm orange glow mixing with shadows that danced across the floor. The old wood beneath his boots creaked softly with each shift of his weight.
He exhaled.
"Phew… she's completely wiped out," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as the heaviness of the moment finally settled.
But when he turned, he nearly jumped.
An old man stood a few steps away silent, stiff, and staring at him as if he were some suspicious creature that had crawled out from under the floorboards. His white beard hung down his chest, and deep lines carved into his face suggested decades of worry, paranoia, and battles fought long ago.
His gaze was sharp too sharp.
Judgmental, piercing, and unmistakably hostile.
"So," the old man asked, voice gravelly and demanding, "what exactly are you to the Dragonborn?"
Alex straightened instinctively. Despite how rude the question was, the man was clearly older maybe far older so Alex tried to respect him. He offered his hand politely.
"I'm Alex, sir. A comrade someone who fights alongside the Dragonborn."
The old man didn't even glance at Alex's hand.
He snorted, the sound echoing in the narrow hallway like a miniature thunderclap.
"Hah! A comrade? Don't you dare try anything funny with the Dragonborn!"
His eyes sharpened even further, narrowing with suspicion.
It was the exact look an overprotective father gives a boy standing too close to his daughter.
Alex blinked, taken aback by the intensity.
He forced a patient smile, though a vein on his temple twitched slightly. Then he glanced sideways at Delphine, silently asking with his eyes:
Who is this old man, and why is he glaring at me like I stole his life savings?
Delphine cleared her throat loudly.
"Ahem sorry, Alex. This is Esbern."
She gave the old man a look that said calm down, you fossil.
"He's like me one of the Blades."
Her tone lowered to a more serious whisper, eyes subtly sweeping their surroundings.
"But let's continue this somewhere else. Somewhere safer. Somewhere hidden."
Alex nodded, but before they could move
Esbern huffed aggressively, pointing a wrinkled finger at him.
"Hey! Delphine, do you even trust this boy?!"
Delphine had been leaning against the wall nearby, arms crossed, still looking a bit tired but alert. At Esbern's accusation, her brows knitted sharply, and the air around her shifted cold, irritated, and dangerous.
"Hey, old man," she snapped, voice like a pulled bowstring, "this is someone I respect. If your life was in danger and his life was in danger, Astrid probably save him first."
Esbern froze completely.
His eyes widened.
His jaw slackened slightly.
A silent WHAT?! radiated off him.
Delphine let out a half-yell, half-gasp.
"W–what? Are you serious right now?!"
There was a weird mixture of amusement, disbelief, and a little bit of chaos in her expression.
Then she smirked. A wicked, entertained smirk.
"Well… isn't it obvious? Between an old man who's practically buried already and a young man with a long life ahead? Easy choice, really."
Esbern's face instantly crumpled into offense.
He stomped one foot and jabbed the air angrily.
"You insolent brat! Do you even know who I used to be?! Show some respect!"
Alex watched the scene unfold, rubbing his chin slowly.
So this is Esbern…?
In the game, he was calm wise almost monk-like.
But here?
Here he acted like a stubborn grandfather and a paranoid guard dog rolled into one.
Alex was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear Delphine the first time.
"Hey, Alex!"
He blinked.
"Huh?"
"Stop spacing out," she said, waving him forward impatiently. "Let's go to my hidden room already!"
"Oh right."
He straightened and followed them, still trying to process the chaotic introduction he just experienced.
Once we reached Delphine's hidden sanctuary, the torches along the stone walls flickered softly, casting long shadows across shelves, dusty books, and old Blades relics. The air smelled faintly of oil and parchment like a place frozen in time.
Esbern finally stepped forward, back hunched yet eyes sharp with wisdom.
"My name… is Esbern," he said, voice raspy from years of hiding. "Like Delphine, I am one of the last members of the Blades. Honestly…" He exhaled slowly, almost trembling. "I thought our order was extinct after the Thalmor purge. But seeing Delphine alive… perhaps others survived. Hidden. Waiting."
I nodded politely.
"I'm Alex. Astrid and I survived the dragon attack at Helgen Alduin. And whether it's fate or something else… we've been traveling together ever since. Facing everything side by side."
Esbern raised a brow, beard twitching.
"If you're traveling together, why did you separate? Hm?"
Delphine snapped her fingers as she remembered something.
"Oh, right! That story of yours. You claimed you were carrying some legendary armor. Not that I want to see it unless you were lying?" she said with the most annoying smirk.
I sighed and pretended to open a random chest. In reality, I tapped my system inventory.
"Here it is," I said. "The Daedric Armor."
Clang.
The moment the armor touched the floor, the entire room seemed to darken. Crimson veins pulsed faintly across the ebony plates, and a chilling aura spread out like the armor itself was alive.
Both of them froze.
Delphine's mouth opened so wide she nearly swallowed a fly.
Esbern stumbled back a step, his pupils shrinking.
"I–is… is that… real?" he whispered.
Delphine's eyes bulged.
"You… you actually did it…"
Esbern approached the armor like he was approaching a sleeping dragon. His trembling fingers brushed the cold obsidian plates the rough ridges, the unnatural glow, the aura of dread.
"This is real… too real," he muttered in awe. "I saw armor like this only once when I was young. Worn by those who forged pacts with Dremora. Deals that shattered the sanity of mortals."
He suddenly turned to me, eyes sharp as blades.
"Boy. Did you make a pact with a Dremora? Tell me the truth."
His stare pierced straight into my soul.
I rubbed my head awkwardly.
"Well… not exactly a pact. Or anything that would make me insane. Quite the opposite, actually. Haha…"
Esbern's voice exploded, echoing through the stone room.
"Boy. Don't toy with me. DID YOU MAKE A PACT OR NOT?!"
Delphine flinched; she had never seen the old man lose his composure.
I straightened up and answered firmly.
"No. I didn't make a pact. I gained it by… making the Dremora obey me."
Silence.
Not peaceful silence shocking, suffocating silence.
Esbern blinked.
"Obey…?" he breathed.
"Yeah." I shrugged. "By killing him. Over and over. Until he submitted."
Delphine's face went pale.
"You… killed a Dremora? Repeatedly? Alex, that's " Her voice cracked. "That's impossible. It takes 3 Elite Blades squads to kill one but it still left them with bruises."
I pointed at the armor in Esbern's hands.
"Isn't that proof enough?"
Esbern's hand shook visibly as he held the chestplate, feeling the lingering Dremora essence.
"This armor… was forged in Oblivion. And now it belongs to a mortal…" he murmured. "Unbelievable…"
Then he looked at me again.
"But armor this powerful… who is it for?"
My eyes drifted toward the wooden door leading to Astrid's room.
"For the Dragonborn," I said softly. "She'll face a dangerous destiny. She needs armor worthy of it armor that can keep her alive."
Esbern's expression shifted. The hard lines of suspicion softened… then melted into a warm, almost proud smile.
Suddenly BAM!
His hand slapped my shoulder hard enough to rattle my bones.
"OW ! Sir!! You're going to dislocate something!"
"Hahaha!" Esbern burst into loud laughter, the kind that fills an entire room. "My apologies, young man! After everything you've said… after seeing what you've done… I believe you!"
I forced a smile, shoulder still stinging.
"Hehe… glad to hear that."
Delphine crossed her arms and flashed a smug grin.
"Welcome to the gang, Alex. And… you really are a man of your word. Killing a Dremora again and again until it kneels?" She whistled. "Even I'm not crazy enough to attempt something like that."
I glared at her slightly.
"So you didn't trust me earlier?"
Delphine twirled her finger dismissively and walked upstairs.
"Hey!! I'm talking to you!" I shouted.
She ignored me completely.
I sighed dramatically.
"Well… at least I earned their trust now."
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