The guards dragged the prisoner up the stairs of the tower and they approached the very top. The Prisoner's body was limp, the beatings and torture received taking a toll on his body as blood trailed behind him like a river. At the end of their climbing he was thrown into the floor of a small, dark, stone room. There were stairs on one side going up to a small door, and he could hear the birds and see giant beams of light coming through.
The taller of the guards laughed as they watched the prisoner limp on the floor.
"The Warden is up there waiting for you," he said. "I think he's plannin' something special for ya."
"Is the Warden gonna be mad about how much he was roughed up?" He whispers to the taller guard. "He had always mentioned that he should never be-"
"What the fuck would he care?" The taller guard snaps back. "He tried to escape, obviously this will discourage that going forward."
The smaller guard looks nervous but nods. He looks down at the Prisoner who remains limp on the floor. His eyes are half open, and staring forward, looking as though all the fight has left his body.
"What? Nothing to say?" The taller guard laughs as he reels back and delivers a kick to the Prisoner's stomach. "Nothing smart, huh?"
The small door to the roof opens up and a cloaked Dragonborn starts stepping down the stairs. He looks at the three of them before snapping at the guards. The Prisoner looks up at the Dragonborn and squints confusedly.
"What did you do?" The Dragonborn yells. "The Prisoner was meant to be brought here unharmed."
"Well, I just figured I-" the taller guard stammers.
"Be gone with you," the Dragonborn waves his arms. "You will be receiving punishments later."
The guards look at each other nervously before leaving the room, closing the door behind them. The Dragonborn stares at the Prisoner before walking over and getting him up on his feet.
"You alright, son?" The Dragonborn says. "Sorry, we're a little tight lipped so everybody isn't fully aware of the goings on. But good news is you're being released."
"Released? How do you mean?" The Prisoner says, before rethinking his question. "I mean... Why? Why am I being released?"
"The order came from the highest level," the Dragonborn says with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. "I've heard by the way that some of your memory has returned from before you were imprisoned? I would love to know more about that... You see I'm a bit of a scholar and things like this really interest me."
"Not much I'm afraid," the Prisoner says, trying to clear his mind of any thoughts and memories that he has. He looks away at the walls of the room, focusing on the mural designed on it. "I'm sorry if you thought otherwise."
The Dragonborn studies the prisoner for a moment silently.
"The Warden tells me you have a thing for rivers?" The Dragonborn says thoughtfully, continuing once the Prisoner nods. "I've been pondering something lately, and wonder if your fascination will help mine... I was writing down my thoughts and I kept being drawn to images and metaphors of water.... so tell me... What do you know about time?"
The Prisoner stares back at him, unsure of how to answer. The Dragonborn continues when he senses his confusion.
"Well, I have theorized that time is like a river, we are but a passenger on a boat traveling on it, and we are only able to see the shore through a small window" he says as he walks along the walls of the room. "But what would happen if you removed the walls and could see everything? What was coming and what has been?"
The Prisoner processes this before responding back.
"A river can be traveled in both directions with enough force and by a commoner if they knew what they were doing," he says to the Dragonborn. "And a River will change course over time, it's speed causing areas you've been to change... But that's not really how time works. Time is more like a waterfall, a force you can't swim against."
"A waterfall...." The Dragonborn thinks. "Yes, maybe that is more accurate."
Footsteps are heard by the stairs again and a figure takes two steps down, firelight flickering and lighting up the dark room. There's some scurrying and the sounds of other people on the top floor.
"Aye, the Warden is ready, so you might as well bring him up, Professor," the male figure says before walking back up the stairs, leaving them in the dark once more.
The Dragonborn turns back to the Prisoner with a smile.
"Let's see if we can figure out this Waterfall, hm?" He says with a wink.