"How beautiful..." Mortred could only gaze in awe and wonder as his sights rested on the artistic mural now in full view with its entire depiction. The thing itself was actually seven times the height of the original upper level of the old mural and had the circumference of five times the size of the Alduin’s Wall. Now the latter had integrated itself on the middle of the pillar with the sculpted continent of Tamriel.

Fang herself slowly went towards it and touched the newly found sculpted and carved figures.

On the wall, it didn’t just showed the map of Tamriel and Summerset isles but also the Atmora on the north, Yokuda on the west and as well as Akaviri on the east. But as he walked to the sides, he realized that there’s even more to the map. More unknown continents and landmasses on the east and west as well as strange group of islands in the south.

The Lich named, Al’shakbar was touching the runic symbols of the Akaviri on the sides of the wall, floating as it read through the foreign scripts. And with its creaking voice, it narrated.

"Although this one still couldn’t decipher the written scripts, judging from the murals this isn't just a prophecy but it also displayed greatly of the map, topography, its inhabitants, culture, weather patterns, traditions and languages as well as beliefs and states of every continent known to the creators of this pillar."

Then Mortred noticed some large figures on the eastern side of the pillar that take up most of the mural, as big as the figure of Alduin itself.

A figure of a striped dragon, the 9 headed dragon and two snakes with lizard heads. With engraved names beside their figures. Which were depicted to be fighting one another.

“Do you know them master?” Al’shakbar quickly understood that Mortred probably recognized these sculpted figures.

“I don’t recognize this images but I recognize the Akavir scripts that were written under them.” He remembered the names he had written in his notes.

“To’sh Rah ka, the Empyrean.” he touched the striped dragon.

“Ryu’a and Shoh, the Celestial Serpents.” he muttered, gazing at the coiling snake like lizards.

“O’rochi the Abomination.” he walked to the nine headed serpents.

Then turned to look at the top of the three figures, which depicted a rabbit silhouette munching the figure of a moon in front of a large tree. But it was different from a normal rabbit he usually hunted in the wilds, as this one had three eyes; the two lower eyes were white with the top eye having a spiral symbol. Which he was not comfortable in seeing as this symbol was usually connected to the ravenous eating void.

“And Kaguya, the Divine Rabbit.”

So they are actually true. He thought.

“Not just that milord, there is more here on the western side.” Esbern said.

And as what Esbern mentioned there were more strange figures, not just on the western portion of the mural but also on every continent that was portrayed.

He saw a sculpted fiery phoenix flying over four islands, a white rose with a figure of a bird that was probably a swallow, four warring figures, beating the continent with their weapons and angelic and daedric looking warriors fighting each other. Mortred also realized that there were a lot more.

With these new discovery, he was struck with a mixture of excitement for knowing the unknown and exhaustion as he knew that he will be involved in these new continents in one way or the other. He decided to stop for now and take a rest in the nearest table. Esbern sat with Mortred and ordered a servant to serve them tea. Mortred thanked the latter and cooled himself with the tea, not noticing admiring eyes of the servant.

“So any other news?”

“We have found what you wanted us to find. Although I cannot call it a wall anymore.” Esbern sipped his tea. “Even if I still can’t understand the language, I know that it’s practically a pillar of thoughts and emotions of the past to save the future.”

Esbern said with admiration towards the creators of the pillar with utter gratefulness and respect.

“So it’s the same, the only barrier to know the content of the prophecy is the language.” Mortred leaned to his chair.

Esbern nodded. Then remembered something important that was sent to him by the guild.

“Oh I almost forgot. Here it is milord. Courtesy from Lady Maven.” Esbern handed him several scrolls which Mortred immediately read. They were still sealed as Esbern was not in a position to read them himself as they were addressed only to his master.

“By the way, do you have any connections as a former Blade to any existing libraries about Dragonguards?” Mortred said while reading the scrolls.

Dragonguards, an ancient order of the personal bodyguards of the Emperor. But unlike others, this Order was special as they were entirely consisted of Akaviri elite warriors who had given their oath to sacrifice their lives for the Dragonborn emperor. The Blades was actually born from such order. So Esbern was struck with a feeling of guilt and shame on how their esteemed and greatest reputation had fallen into obscurity.

“Nay,” Esbern shook his head. “All of our archives were burnt by the Thalmor after the purge of our order. None that I know of remained except ashes and dusts.”

Esbern actually scoured the land for these libraries months before the arrival of Alduin in the past. He was sad and angry on how the vast knowledge and legacy of their ancestors had disappeared in just a single event that started the war between the Empire and the Dominion. But even so, he had no power then to make a change or even defend these libraries. The empire had disowned them. The dominion hunted them. The people had forgotten them. That was the feeling of helplessness that almost took over him until a massive loud mountain voice, calling for someone's name that they all thought to have disappeared.

“I was actually hoping that your order would have a surviving classified book about your past. Nevermind, we’ll find another way.” Mortred went into thinking as he looked at the map that was spread on the table. Each part of the map was marked where every Blade hideout and former Akaviri temples located.

“Where’s lady Fang by the way milord?” Esbern asked as the consistent companion of his master was not beside him.

“I asked her to check the entire temple for any secret rooms and murals again using her strange spell. I don’t want to skip important things again.” Mortred replied.

Then suddenly in the corner of the room, the surrounding shadows slowly bent in the tearing of the veil. Several figures appeared as they burst from these rifts. Esbern who got used to the way they enter the premises only sighed. While Mortred who sensed the disturbance around him, glared at these strange figures wearing tight black leather suits with a white hand mark on their chest, insignia of the Dark Brotherhood.

Also with eyes full of bloodlust. They were the former orphaned children who accepted in the order. They only responded with a grin after receiving the piercing looks of Mortred. One of them was a grown man wearing a bright jester outfit raised his hands and cheerfully called out to Mortred.

"Big brother!"

Being called by such name from someone he dislike made him grossed out.

"I'll beat you up if you call me that again, Cicero." he scolded him.

"Don't be like that. Mother-"

"Cyrella, please shut him up." Mortred looked at the redguard woman. The latter made quick work of Cicero by encasing him inside a wall of ice.

"Done." she waved her intimidating enchanted gauntlets that glowed in the shadows. It was an eye catching feature on her body as she carried no weapon. She was among the few mages of the Dark Brotherhood.

"Why did you even bring him here? I only called you five." Mortred looked at them for an answer.

"He insisted. Mentioning about how the Mother wanted him to meet you." Bjen the Breton replied.

"Mother may have been worried about you after you disappeared without any contact for many years." Bjen replied. He had light black leather armor with a long bow on his back with a short crossbow strapped on his shoulder. He had several quivers on his body with variety of arrows and bolts.

He decided to ignore their tales about their “mother”.

"So... Why are we here?" Cyrella asked.

"Probably ain't as bodyguards. Because we hate that kind of thing!" The twin female nords in their twenties with same faces, Sinmir and Yrsarald, sat on the table on each end. Grabbing an apple respectively from the bowl. The only difference that helped recognize on who’s who, was their different hairstyles and their preferred weapons and armor. They were sitting on the table with their weapons displayed. Sinmir had a direwolf pelt on her shoulders with two one-handed axes on her hips. Yrsarald on the other hand, had a halberd held between her legs as she munched on a wheel of cheese. He also noticed several daggers on her belt.

He quickly reminisce on how they grew so fast from the two orphaned young girls that he found on the eastern coasts of Dawnstar into infamous assassins. After their parents was attacked by a group of rampaging vampires, the two hid under the bed, freezing and hungry as the winter set in. He found them almost on the brink of death.

“Where’s Thrynn?” he asked the only missing person of the five. Thrynn Titanborn, the oldest of them. He was not easy to miss among the five as he grew as a towering man that was usually seen with a bottle of mead on his hand. He was even taller than Mortred and seemed to have the heaviest set armor among the assassins. But what made him deadly in battle was the peculiar large weapon he always had on his side. A very large crossbow… and his last name. Mordred later found out when he accompanied him to search for his parents that he was one of the lost descendants of Lyris Titanborn. One of the famous Five Companions that searched the Amulet of Kings. And briefly helped in rebuilding the Blades in the past. Despite having a giant ancestry, he preferred to pick off his enemies with large bolts instead.

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“He was preoccupied in his clan’s issues right now.”

“We can’t help it then so I’ll just have to make do with you four here.”

“By the way! We are also here to give you this! We were actually waiting for a long time for your return to hand over our reports during our jobs.” Cyrella said as she pushed a stack of papers towards Mortred who was leaning on the table with a frowned look.

“Too long, too many, won’t read it yet. So tell me the most important.” Mortred grumbled.

“Last month we decided to wipe out a Thalmor embassy that was threatening the jarls we were guarding.”

"Survivors?"

"None."

"None." The twins replied.

Mortred don’t care about any high elves deaths. But the destruction of a Dominion embassy in Skyrim would provoke some actions on unwanted parties.

"So? What did you find out?" Mortred was pinching his forehead in pain, trying to find some silver lining in their revelation.

They narrated how they tortured some of the surviving high elves for information but they gained nothing as every Thalmor they caught alive were fanatic zealots that would never betray their order. But they were able to find some documents and papers that were meant to be burnt to ashes during their attack but failed to be destroyed. And they were able to restore most of these documents in perfect order. According to altmer reports, one of the embassy’s intent here in Skyrim is to retrieve and investigate some artifacts and journals that were left behind in every Blade temples.

He closed his eyes for several seconds again to ease his mind and opened the scrolls that was given to him by Esbern earlier. Then he found something that attracted his eyes.

“That is strange.” Mortred mused.

“Why are we here brother?” Bjen asked.

"One of these messages tells about the mobilization of the entire Morag Tong." Mortred looked at Sinmir. He flicked several pieces of papers that were previously rolled as scrolls, towards her which she caught and read. "One of their contract is the elimination of the jarls of Skyrim."

Sinmir opened the next scroll where it had the faces of all jarls in Skyrim, as she hurriedly scrolled through, it also bears the faces of the powerful politicians in the empire.

This was huge.

Someone was planning to start a something.

"Well, this is not new..." Sinmir grinned as she read the decoded messages.

"But it is still a joy." Yrsarald whistled.

"I want you to hunt and kill these agents. And most importantly, avoid the deaths of the jarls."

"You should've just made contract with the Night Mother instead. That way, you can mobilize all of us in response." Cyrella said.

"Because I only trust you five, . Especially on times like this. Besides, I have other contracts for the rest."

"That would mean that we four, will face the entire weight of the Morag Tong here in Skyrim." Sinmir pointed out.

"Outnumbered." Cyrella added.

"Will that be a problem?" Mortred asked them.

Their answer was just silent grins.

They were all interrupted when a brown haired woman entered. She was wearing her green monk robes.

"Fang!" Sinmir and Yrsarald quickly ran towards the woman and hugged her.

Fang was surprised to see the twins as she patted their heads. Bjen and Cyrella also greeted her.

"Hey Fang, how's your day?" Bjen raises his hand as if to say hello.

Fang nodded. Then she went to Mortred to hand out a scroll which he opened immediately and read. It took several seconds for him to comprehend the content and turned towards the four intruders.

"Okay, you’re all dismissed. Remember, a single death from a target will be considered failure." Mortred cleared.

"Seems to me that you're entirely unaffected by such potential scenario." Cyrella sneered.

"I need them. Alive." Mortred highlighted.

"For now... Right?" Cyrella added with a smile. They know that he doesn't care about the jarls. He only cares about the stability of the province which he went into great effort to end the civil war. “By the way, they aren’t ‘jarls’ anymore. So you should address them with their new positions as kings and queens.”

Mortred sighed as he keeps forgetting that thing. Still he was in a hurry so he glared at Cyrella.

"Leave." Mortred commanded.

"Geez, you're still as grumpy as ever." Cyrella pouted.

He pointed at the frozen Cicero.

"And don't forget this idiot."

"Yes, yes." Bjen, Sinmir and Yrsarald dragged the frozen prison out then they disappeared in the shadows of the corner of the room. Leaving only him, Esbern and Fang inside.

Fang only sat on the table, spread the paper she got on top and pointed at the single line of the content.

"Yeah, I know.” he nodded at Fang’s suggestion then turned to the old man he trusted. “Esbern.”

“Yes?”

“I want you to know this first and let you decide on who will know this later.”

Esbern was confused but listened.

“Actually, I resurfaced here in Skyhaven Temple.”

Well that’s a surprise for Esbern. So the end of their expedition actually sent them back to here.

“Where is it?” Esbern asked for the entrance location.

“Near the Estemund Statue there is large tree. We came from the cave hidden in its roots.” Mortred said and added. “I will have you choose your people to clean and excavate this entrance carefully.”

“Is there any risk of cave in?”

“No I don’t think so. Because I had Fang strengthen the cave before leaving. I want it to be able to handle a huge number of people entering. Make it like it can handle four carriages side by side at once. Fang will help in fortifying the hallways that will be constructed to support the cave walls.”

“Huh.” Esbern let out another confused voice. He was assuming that Mortred probably wanted another massive underground expedition. His master probably found another cave system of Dwemer.

“At the base of the Temple… houses a portal arc. Which led to Akavir.” Mortred revealed.

“What?!” Esbern exclaimed in shock.

“Its fine I got it all under control. I will need your connections and the direct cooperation of the Blades this time around.”

“Of course milord, Skyhaven and the Blades are at your service. By the way… was the portal already close?” Esbern asked.

“When we arrive it was actually already open.” Mortred revealed again.

“Then-”

“Thankfully, it was only a one way portal. As it cannot allow any entry from their side after I deciphered the magical scripts that was printed in the Archways.”

Esbern sighed. He have no idea on what kind of land Akaviri was. And it would be extremely troublesome if it was similar to an Oblivion real or worse, then would cause a start of another invasion right under their feet.

“I closed it after also learning the scripts of the passage stream.” Mortred then took out his notes. “It was very complex that it’s no wonder that no one was able to create any portal to Akaviri. Because it was written in Akaviri language. Thanks to my miniscule knowledge about the language, I was able to understand and copy some of the scripts and memorized it.”

“How can we know that this portal arc leads to the former Land of the Dragons?” Esbern asked.

“I actually sent a small familiar through the portal before closing it. Through its eyes, I saw an Akaviri structured temple.” Mortred looked at Esbern. “It’s probably due to the long distance that I lost contact with my familiar several minutes later. But in its last sights, I sensed… thousands of human presence. A human city. And I heard them talking in Akaviri language.”

With the confirmation of humans in the land that was formerly believed to be hostile and dangerous to them, Esbern excitement suddenly went overdrive.

“T-this will be a discovery of the century! Scholars and mages would drool at this information! Did the remnants of the old expedition in the past actually left survivors that later lived on the continent? No, what if they were already humans in Akavir even before the emperor’s expedition arrived? I’ve heard that the Akaviri invasion in Tamriel actually had humans in their ranks but-” Esbern was already deep in his thoughts as he was thinking of the possibilities of how there was a human presence in Akavir at this point.

“Esbern!” a loud voice interrupted his thoughts and made him realize about his shameful behavior. He immediately bowed towards Mortred.

“M-Milord, forgive me for spacing out.” Esbern beets in red as he was embarrassed by his conduct.

“It’s fine. I was also astonished on my discovery. But our scholar’s lust can wait later. We have more pressing things to be done.” Mortred was just amused and waved his hand.

“So what do you need milord?”

“I want trusted people to guard, create a perimeter and establish a consistent strict security around the place of portal.” Mortred said. “I want no interruption Esbern. Have Delphine send several scouting parties also in the caves below. We encountered several Falmer camps and cleared them but I don’t want annoying flies when I decide to begin, one day.”

“Of course. How about the dragon priests? Should I also ask for their assistance?”

“No. I already gave them their tasks long ago. They are not to be disturbed. They are researching something as important as Akavir also. If they need any resources, don’t hesitate to provide them.”

Esbern nodded then pulled out his book as he listed several names that he may contact for help this time. Including trusted mercenaries and adventurers to strengthen the defense of the city.

“And also, I want you to send this letter.” Mortred handed out an envelope that was used as a bookmark on his notes.

“For who?”

“Winterhold College. Send it to your fastest Ravens.”

“Shouldn’t it be faster if you communicated through telepathy with the Archmage? She once told me that you are actually welcome to make contact through those lines. She also added that if you are worrying about disturbing her, she assured that it was fine.”

“I see. But that would also risk any unnecessary listeners on the other end.”

True. Esbern was still cleaning up the backyard for any mages that set up their surveillance and spy network to watch over the movement on the Skyhaven Temple. Most of the caught rats were Thalmor Agents and the rest were imperial spies.

He treated them all the same.

But this would only mean that the message was also important.

So Esbern bowed and hid the letter to his robe.

Just to ease his exhaustion, Mortred opened a bottle of mead and drank. Then he felt something poking him behind. He turned and found Fang with a face of someone requesting. And he quickly knew what it was.

"No, I need you with me Fang. And I can't have a distraction for those four." He shook his head.

She pouted.

"I know, I know. You're not the only who's bored." He sighed again. "We're going to Windhelm first."

Mortred tried to think if there was anything he forgot. He started combing his facial hair with his hand, then slowly raised his long red beard to his eyes. Which then he snapped his finger in realization.

“My face.”

“Huh?” another confusion from Esbern.

“I will leave for now and leave all other details to you. I may return next week or earlier than that.” Mortred stood from his seat and was about to leave then turned. “But before that, expect to welcome a full expedition crew.”

“You’re planning to leave milord?”

“Probably next month, if the preparation will be done early.”

“To Akavir?” Esbern asked with a scholar’s excitement.

“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you already? Ah yeah, I haven’t mentioned that yet.” Mortred scratched his head.

Then he pointed his hand to Esbern.

“But first I need to find a guide or an Akaviri translator. Seeing that you have no connections to such individual, I will visit an old friend instead.” Mortred said.

“Is it possible?”

“With her? Yes.” Mortred smirked.

“And after all, she’s the only person that have the best barber in Tamriel.”