Author's Note: Translations found in corresponding deviation on my DeviantART page
Eriah ducked behind a wall as a burst of fire shot past. "Curse it!" she snarled. "You okay!?" came a shout. She nodded to Ralof, a close friend and fellow Stormcloak. The two had been heading for the Falkreath camp when they found themselves at the burned out remains of Helgen. The memories of that fateful day were still fresh in the Drgonborn's mind and she insisted on getting in. They had killed some bandits that had taken over the ruins, something that angered the woman on behalf of the people who died. Now she and Ralof were pinned down by none other than the dragon who started it all. Alduin. The Bane of Kings. The World-Eater. The Nordic god of destruction. Self-proclaimed Firstborn of Akatosh, with some people going so far as to claim he and Akatosh were one and the same. He was many things to many people. He was everything people said he was and yet wasn't any of them at the same time. He was truly beyond comprehension. His body was black as the deepest pit in Tamriel, his eyes red as blood, and his head was crowned with a pair of lordly horns. She had come across Alduin only once between now and Helgen. She and Delphine of the Blades had caught up to him in Kynesgrove as he resurrected Sahloknir before their very eyes. That battle had proven to Delphine that Eriah was indeed Dragonborn. Alduin had belittled her, sounding affronted that she took the name Dovahkiin when she didn't know the dragon's tongue. She had had no way of countering that. Dragonborn was a title that was thrust on her. It wasn't one she chose for herself. "Face me, nikriin (1)!" the dragon roared. Eriah held her Elvish warhammer to her chest as she tried to think about how to get out of this mess.
Alduin returning to the scene of his first appearance on Nirn in an age wasn't something Eriah had forseen when she convinced Ralof she needed to step inside Helgen. She didn't know what she had hoped to accomplish by coming back. Part of her wanted to make amends for surviving to the people who didn't, hoping that by accepting her destiny, she'd be able to come to terms with everything that had happened. Her thoughts were interrupted by a hard landing, telling her Alduin was grounded. "I can smell you, joor (2). Hin faas, hin groso, hin nismaar wah dren. (3) You cannot hide from me. Come and face me or your companion dies." he taunted, his rich baritone voice belying his immeasurable cruelty, malice, and arrogance. Eriah looked over at Ralof who was farther away and tried to plan what she could do get them both out of this. Her decision was made for her when Alduin suddenly tail-whipped the section of fort near where the Stormcloak was hiding and Eriah's face went pale when she heard him yell in agony. "Ralof!" she screamed before she dashed out from her hiding place and raced at the black dragon who was bearing down on him. "FUS RO DAH!" she shouted, catching his attention. Alduin roared, Ralof forgotten, as he swung his head to face his foe. "Your Thu'um is weak, Dovahkiin." he snarled. He swung his tail, catching Eriah in the middle and sending her flying into a wall. She hit the wall with a yell and fell to the ground. Her warhammer clattered down a few feet between her and the World-Eater and she scrambled to get it, despite her body protesting the movement.
"Agh!" she yelled when she felt something heavy fall on her back, pushing her to the cobblestones. A quick look revealed that Alduin had her pinned down between his thumb and the first bone of his wing. She tried to wriggle out but the World-Eater merely pushed down harder and the telltale sound of cracking metal made her stop. "Go on! Kill me!" she shouted. "Kill you? Ni nunon tul, Dovahkiin (4). I want to take a good look at you." he said. With a dexterity no person would've have guessed a dragon had, Alduin managed to flip Eriah onto her back while keeping her pinned and she stared up at his blood red eyes. Well, she stared off to the side where his head was. Dragon anatomy was similar to a bat's, with longer necks and the wings being designed to carry their weight on the ground. They weren't able to pull their wings very far ahead when they walked. Alduin couldn't look down on her the way he would've liked because his design didn't allow it. So he settled for studying her out of one eye with the same disinterest one would show an ant. He didn't find her threatening and only barely worth his notice. "I remember you. When I finally broke free of the time stream, where I had been cast adrift eons ago, I came to this place and there you were. Ready for the ax and yet so courageous. I knew what you were the second I laid eyes on you. How insulting that one of my own kind takes the form of a mortal to live among these insects." Alduin sneered.
He had also confirmed one of her suspicions from that day. He had known what she was before she even knew herself. She was of Akatosh's blood, a dragon in the body of a Nordic woman. Eriah glowered, her anger somehow overtaking her fear. She was at the mercy of a god, just as she had thought that day when Helgen fell around her and yet, her soul reviled being held in such lowly regard. Against all reason, her soul wanted to be acknowledged as the powerful beast it was. Eriah had so many experiences that proved to her she was more than just a Nord. Now was one of those times. She tried to get out from under his wing but the first bone of his finger was snugly against her shoulder while the juncture between it and his thumb rested across her chest, while the thumb itself rested under her opposite arm. "If I'm such an insult to you, why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance? We've met twice before now. What's stopping you?" she growled. "You amuse me. I've raised more dov than you've put down and your struggle to keep up with me shows how weak you are. You're a plaything of the gods and you truly believe you can stop me. I haven't killed you yet because I want you to struggle more for me. I want to see the despair fill your heart as you fail to stand against me. When the time comes, Keizaal (5) will be bathed in fire and I will kill you last. Hin sil los dii wah du (6)." he replied.
Eriah just glared at him. It seemed Alduin wasn't fully aware of the prophecy that bound him to her. The Akaviri had foretold that his final downfall would come when Skyrim was torn asunder by war. Everything chiseled into Alduin's Wall had already come to pass. All that remained was the final battle that would put the black dragon down forever. But prophecy wasn't binding. Alduin could end her anytime, anywhere and without a Drgonborn, all of Tamriel would fall. Eriah had no reason to believe that the World-Eater would be satisfied with just Skyrim. He would make the entire continent pay for what the Tongues did. She did have to ponder whether or not Alduin was unknowingly being guided by the prophecy into not killing her each time they met. If that were true, he was as much of a plaything of the gods as she was. She hadn't asked for her destiny but as she learned more about it, the more she grew to accept that she had been chosen for this heavy burden despite some lingering doubts.
Far from cursing Akatosh for choosing her, Eriah felt honored she walked the same path as Tiber Septim, even if their two destinies differed in both function and destination. Tiber Septim, the Nords' beloved god Talos, was Dragonborn to hold the forces of Oblivion at bay, a destiny fulfilled 200 years ago by Martin Septim in the Oblivion Crisis. Eriah Quintence knew she was chosen to be Dragonborn to defeat the dragon currently pinning her down. With her destiny staring her in the face, she fully accepted and embraced it. Everything in recorded history and beyond had been leading up to this final battle between her and Alduin. Even Martin Septim himself never would've dreamed that his sacrifice was the final sign that the return of Alduin was close at hand...and Eriah had been chosen by Akatosh to carry on the proud name of Dragonborn, just as Talos did long ago.
Alduin sensed a shift in the mortal under his thumb. "What's this? Acceptance of your fate to be my final sacrifice?" he asked. Eriah just gave him a knowingly smirk. "Prophecy isn't binding, Alduin. Either I fall to you or you fall to me. We'll see who the gods favor when our final battle comes." she said. Her surety angered the World-Eater but he didn't move to snap her up. "We shall see, joor. Enjoy what time you have left. We shall not meet again like this. The next time we do, it will be in battle and I, the Firstborn of Akatosh, will put the Dovahkiin in her place and show all of Taazokaan (7) whose will is stronger." he boasted. With a final shove that knocked the wind out of her, Alduin finally relinquished his hold and turned his back. He walked away for several steps before spreading his wings and taking flight. He hovered in place, blood red eyes on Eriah, before roaring and flying off. Eriah slowly sat up, her fear finally catching up to her. Taking a few deep breaths, she remembered Ralof and looked around. She raced to his side when she saw he had pulled himself out of some fallen rubble. "Hold still." she said, pooling some magicka into her hands. Ralof looked at her as she tried to heal his injuries, which were thankfully not serious. "I heard everything, lass, and I must say that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever met, standing up to the World-Eater like that. You are truly the pinnacle to which all Nords should aspire to." he said, with a chuckle in his voice.
Eriah's face went red as she scowled at him. "Not the time for jokes. Alduin almost killed you." she scolded, heaving a little as her limited magicka ran out. "I'm not joking, Eriah. The way you handled yourself out there was enough to make me jealous. I will definitely be singing your praises when we get to camp." Ralof replied. The Dragonborn smacked him on the shoulder as he sat up. "You'll do no such thing. This is between me and the World-Eater. I don't want my friends and comrades getting involved if I don't have to." she said. Ralof smiled as he set his hand on her shoulder. "You should always get friends involved. That's why we're here." he said. The Dragonborn sighed. She and Ralof had cultivated quite a friendship since Helgen and he was positively starstruck right now. After a few impressive battles in the war, he often joked that he could kiss her out of sheer admiration for her heart, strength, and will to ensure the Stormcloaks succeeded. Eriah knew he had no feelings for her beyond friendship but he was embarrassing sometimes. Still, he and the other friends she had both in the army and out, made her feel like a normal woman instead of the mythic figure Skyrim had waited 200 years for.
She dug into her pack for a roll of bandages. Her healing ability was horrendously outclassed by her battle prowess. Her magicka wasn't enough to heal all of Ralof's wounds and he was sporting a rather nasty gash on his leg. She poured a potion over it and wrapped it tightly. It would do until they got to camp and someone with a talent for healing was able to see him. Ralof just watched her work and when she sat back to inspect her work, he smiled again. "Hey, don't let that worm get to you. He talked big, yes, and I don't deny he's got the clout to back it up but you're the Dragonborn. Your destiny is to defeat him. You can do it." he said, tilting her head up with a couple fingers under her chin. Eriah blinked, wondering how he knew she was starting to wrestle with herself again. She had meant every word she had told Alduin and had fully embraced her destiny. She figured that now that things had slowed down, the full impact of her encounter managed to catch up. "How did you know?" she asked. Her friend smiled before pulling her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I consider you my best friend, Eriah. Without knowing it, you've helped me come to terms with the fact that the friendship I had with Hadvar wasn't strong enough to overcome our very different views on the Empire's place here. We may not have truly gotten to know one other until you joined us, but I consider this place..." he said, gesturing around at the ruins of Helgen, "to be the beginning of our friendship. You changed my life, Eriah, and I'm forever in your debt." he finished.
The Dragonborn smiled and got to her feet. "Thanks, Ralof. Come on. Let's get out of here. Alduin may be gone but I don't want to stick around here much longer. The camp isn't far now." she said. She knelt down to wrap one of his arms around her neck and working together, they got Ralof on his feet and they limped out of Helgen. As they walked, Eriah felt that things could only move forward from here on out. She knew what she had to do to defeat Alduin. She just needed to find the Elder Scroll that was used on him by the Tongues and discover how they managed to use it on him. It was pretty obvious that whatever they did, it hadn't killed him. All it did was shunt him forward to her time. For the moment, while she searched for the Elder Scroll, she also had to do her part in freeing Skyrim from the Empire, weak as it was under Thalmor influence. So far, the system she had worked out with Ulfric Stormcloak had served both quests well. Whenever Eriah hit a wall in her search for the Elder Scroll, she'd go into battle for the Stormcloaks and vice versa. She loved this land and wanted to save it from its biggest threats. For her friends, she would fight. For her homeland, she would bleed. For her Jarl, she would die. "Hey, Ralof?" she spoke up. "Yes, lass?" he replied. "Thank you for being my friend. You were the first person who spoke to me when I woke up in that wagon. You kept me focused because I didn't know what was going on or where I was. I was alone and confused. If anything, you're not in my debt. I'm in yours." she said.
The Stormcloak gave her neck a slight squeeze with the arm around it. "Think nothing of it, lass. We were on our way to die and you were an innocent woman. I did what I could to make sure you didn't feel alone without a friend. I overheard Jarl Ulfric tell Galmar that he feels needs to make amends to you for getting caught up with us back then. He feels as though he's wronged you because of it." Ralof admitted. Eriah looked up at him as they slowed to a pause. "He feels...that way? But why?" she asked. The man just shrugged. "Only the gods know for sure. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say it's because he feels responsible for Darkwater Crossing. Jarl Ulfric is a good man. He rarely leaves Windhelm to join us troops on the battle field and the last time he did, you and that horse thief got tangled up with us." he explained. Eriah's memories of that night were vague. She couldn't recall many details because things had happened so fast. She had just crossed the border after the sun had set and reached Darkwater Crossing when things went wrong. She didn't know if she had ever seen Ulfric prior to waking up on the way to Helgen. "I wish I could remember." she said, almost forlornly. "Don't worry about it, Eriah. The only thing that matters is that you're a true daughter of Skyrim and are fighting with us to free her from the Imperials." Ralof said, encouragingly. It was then they reached the camp. Ralof was taken off Eriah's hands and she went to report the delay to Galmar. She could only hope he didn't make a huge deal out of it. She also made a note to ask Ulfric about what Ralof said about making amends to her.