Hello, Suilebhan here. This is my second chapter of Ahzidvahdin (obviously). Please read and enjoy. Feel free to leave a review.
Dovahkiin!
The words echoed through the air of Skyrim, sent down from High Hrothgar by the Greybeards. In the streets of Whiterun, people looked up, shock plastered on their faces. It had sounded like thunder, exploding down from the heavens. There was a silence in the air for several moments, as the citizens of Whiterun slowly realized what had happened.
Ellin stood atop the slain body of Mirmulnir, gasping for air. She pulled the ancient Nordic sword from the Dragon's neck, and stumbled backward, landing on her back with a thud. She slowly stood up, leaning on the sword a bit for support, as strange mist began to expel itself from the dead dragon and surround Ellin's body. She looked around in confusion, backing away slightly.
"I can't believe it..." She heard one of the soldiers from Whiterun say, "you... you're Dragonborn!"
"What are you talking about?" Another replied to the first.
"You know! Dragonborn! My father used to tell me stories about them. Ancient warriors that could absorb the soul of Dragons! Like old Tiber Septim himself, back when he was still Talos of Atmora."
"I never heard of Talos slaying any Dragons." A third stated, entering the conversation.
"That's because there weren't no Dragons back then, stupid. Dragons haven't been seen in Skyrim in... Forever."
Ellin rubbed her temples, her head aching severely, tuning out the useless conversation going on between the guards. As the guards debated, Irileth sent Ellin back to Whiterun, to inform the Jarl of their success. Grabbing her bag, she began the walk back to Whiterun from the now destroyed watchtower.
Seven thousand steps. Ellin thought to herself, gasping for air as she finally arrived in front of the ancient monastery. I can't believe I had to walk seven thousand steps to get here. Slowly trekking up the last steps before the door, the half-elf let out a sigh of relief. "At least I'm here now..." She muttered, pushing on the door to get inside. She stood for a moment as the door slid shut behind her, taking a deep breath. It wasn't too much warmer in the temple then out of it, but at least the walls could shield from the wind. She slowly approached the group of elderly men in the entry hall, who she assumed were the Greybeards she had come all this way to see.
One of the men stood and looked toward her. "So, a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of an age." The elderly man addressed Ellin.
"You call me Dragonborn. What does that mean?" Ellin asked, surprised by the silence of the other men.
"First, let us see if you truly have the gift. Show us, Dragonborn, let us taste of your voice." The man commanded, yet not in a harsh or demanding way. More the way that an instructor speaks, when teaching a novice. Ellin hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath.
"FUS!" The air rushed forward, causing the elderly man to stagger back somewhat. Straightening himself out, the man smiled slightly.
"So it is true, Dragonborn. Come, we have much to teach you." Arngeir said, bowing slightly.
For six days, they sat in High Hrothgar, training the young Dragonborn in the Way of the Voice, yet, for all their training, the teen's spirit seemed to be still at strife. Arngeir could not understand what was hindering their training so greatly, and felt himself troubled. Standing up, Arngeir walked outside of the main building, and sat down before the gate marking the path to the peak. "Master, I know not what to do. Our young pupil is excellent at learning, so much so that one might think she has already spoken much of the Thu'um out before... Yet... Her mind is clouded by nightmares, her soul is filled with strife." Arngeir spoke into the wind, his face shadowed with worry. He turned and saw Ellin standing behind him, as if she was preparing to say something, but instead tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"Master... Why am I like this? Why do I have to be so plagued by these visions." The half-elf asked, sitting beside the elder. "Each night, they corrupt my sleep... I see a man, who I appear to look up to as a father... Yet, he sees me only as a pupil, and a slave... He never removes his mask, with its tendrils seeming to both shift and stay motionless..." Ellin explained, wiping some of the tears from her eyes.
"Arngeir," a great voice boomed down from the mountain top, echoing down from the peak above. "Zu'u Krosis. I am sorry, I am of no help at this time, my disciple. Many apologies." The voice said as it echoed down the mountain. It was a wise, ancient sort of voice, powerful and great in its own right.
Arngeir stood and bowed toward the gate. "You need not apologize, master! We should not have troubled you in your meditation. We apologize to you!" He said, his voice booming.
Turning to Ellin, the Greybeard places his hand on her shoulder. "Do not grieve, child. I am sure that you are given these dreams for a reason. These are likely the work of Akatosh, not of something evil. These will guide you, and aid you in your journey." The elder said, smiling at the girl. "Come, the others and myself have been in discussion, and we have decided on your final test." He told her, leading her back inside.
Ustengrav. The tomb of Jurgen Windcaller — first of the Greybeards. At first, Ellin had hoped it was just infested with the necromancers who seemed to have set up at the entrance, but her hopes were soon crushed as she entered deeper within the ruins, and it became patrolled by Draugr and skeletons. Ellin entered a large cavernous chamber that seemed to have been naturally formed, although there were some ruined structures. Ellin followed the way to the bottom, slaying a few skeletons and Draugr in her path, but was disappointed as she only found another of the "Word Walls" (as master Arngeir called them). She placed her hand against it was the etchings seemed to be grafted into her memory. Removing her hand, she started her way up to the middle of the cavern, where there was a thin rock bridge connecting both sides. Carefully stepping across as lightly as she could, Ellin tip-toed across the fragile structure, letting out at sigh of relief as she got to the other side.
Her brief respite was cut short, however by the sound of an arrow whizzing past her ear, passing through the renegade strands of hair that hadn't agreed to stay straight. The fledgling Dragonborn dived forward as another few arrows flew by, and then jumped up, releasing a brilliant blast of light from her hands that destroyed the skeleton. "What was that?" She wondered aloud as she continued through the path. Her pace quickly slowed as she became aware of the large webs that were now decorating the wall.
"FEIM!" The words echoed through the damaged hallway as Ellin became ethereal just before the spider behind her lunged forward. The creature fell through the no longer corporeal girl, and landed on the floor, which exploded with flames. "Thank Auriel..." The half-elf muttered as she continued, entering a large chamber. She spotted two more large spiders, and a gapping hole in the ceiling that no doubt held another. She launched two large balls of flame from her palms, and ducked to the side as a now flaming spider's body flew by, still caught in the momentum of its lunge. The body landed behind the girl, who was far too focused on the other spider which had managed to shrug off the first explosion of flame. The creature began skittering toward her furiously, enraged at the death of its sibling, but its life was cut short by the traps on the floor as well.
Then it came. Ellin shuddered a little as she saw the first legs creep down from the ceiling, followed by more, and then a large head, it's disturbed eyes looking at her venomously. As the monstrous arachnid launched itself from the ceiling, Ellin reflexively cringed a little, expecting its fangs to bite into her arm at any second. Out of desperation, she shouted the first words that came to her mind.
"RII VAAZ ZOL!" An explosion of purple flames exploded out from Ellin's mouth, consuming the gigantic spider. Ellin fell back, launching her arm back to catch herself as she approached the ground. She panted for air, her eyes wide with confusion. Blue spirals of mist circled the dead spider, and it slowly rose from the ground, a slight blue hue around the arachnid's body.
Ellin squealed a little, backing away, but the spider did not attack, it simply followed. Suddenly, Ellin remembered something someone had told her before: "Your Thu'um cuts through flesh and shatters soul, commanding the will of the fallen." The words seemed to resonate in Ellin's memory for a moment, and she stood up, her breath slowing to a calmer pace. She placed her hand on the head of the Giant Frostbite Spider, which stood obediently, waiting for command.
Ellin just stood still for a moment, watching as the force controlling the spider's body dispersed, and the corpse dissolved into ash. Ellin continued on, confused at the words she had spoken, slashing away the thick barrier of web blocking the doorway leading out of the room, taking out her frustration as the sword in her hand tore through the thread.
Opening the last door, she entered the final chamber. She followed a stone path in the center of the room, watching stone dragon statues rise from the depths of the water surrounding the bridge. She approached the elaborate coffin hoping to grab the horn and leave, but instead found a note. Reading it, Ellin's face became distorted with anger. She screamed in frustration as an explosion of flame launched out around her. Crumbling the note and shoving it into a pocket of her robe, Ellin followed the passage out of the ruins.
It felt strange to be back in Riverwood, after she first visited almost three weeks prior. She entered the in slowly, approaching the Breton woman who appeared to own the inn, and asked for the attic room. "Attic room, eh?" The Breton asked, a smirk seeming to form in her face. "Well, we don't have an Attic room, but you can take the one on the left." The woman told her as she bagged the few coins of gold a room cost.
Ellin had a rather annoyed look on her face as she entered the room, and threw herself on the bed. She let out a sigh and shut her eyes, exhausted. Unfortunately, her rest was not to pass, as moments after she entered the room, another opened the door: the Breton woman. "So," the woman said as Ellin sat up, "you're this Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about..."
She started reaching inside her sleeve, and pulled out an old carved horn. "I think you're looking for this?" The Breton asked, presenting the horn to Ellin. "We need to talk. Follow me." The woman said, motioning for Ellin to follow. Soon, they were in an underground hidden chamber, and the Breton stood over a map of Skyrim with several areas marked out on the map. A specific spot was circled, and the word Kynesgrove was written down.
"The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right." The Breton said, looking at Ellin intently, to the point that the half-elf almost felt a little uncomfortable.
"So... You're the one that took the horn?" Ellin asked nervously, confused as to why this woman had gone to such great lengths to meet her. Was being the Dragonborn truly that important?
"Surprised?" The innkeeper asked with a smirk. "I guess I'm getting pretty good at the whole harmless innkeeper act." The woman said, before pointing down at the map. "Look, we don't have much time to talk right now, but I promise I'll explain everything. Right now, we need to go to Kynesgrove, before what ever is bringing these Dragons back to life can occur again."
"Wait... did you say bringing back to life? Do you know how crazy this sounds?" Ellin blurted out, a slight hint of frustration in her tone. She had just wanted to go to the Greybeards and finish her initiation.
"Ha. A few years ago, I said almost the same thing to a colleague of mine. Well, it turned out he was right and I was wrong." Delphine said in a somewhat regretful tone, as if she had done something she would rather take back now. "Listen, I know this is crazy, but I've visited their ancient burial mounds. They're empty. And I've figured out the pattern, that's why we need to get going to Kynesgrove. Now." The Breton commanded. Ellin nodded, and went outside the inn as she waited for the woman to get her equipment.
Outside, Ellin was spotted by Ralof, who approached her. "Hello, milk drinker!" He said in a happy voice. "I hear that they slew a Dragon out near Whiterun! Can you believe it? After what happened to Helgen, it's hard to believe mere men could do such a thing! Ah, of course, it wasn't a mere man! You surely heard the call as well, right? 'Dovahkiin!' I wonder what the Dragonborn is like! He must be a giant of a man, able to wield a battleaxe and a shield! Haha!" Ralof seemed happy enough, although that was likely due to the fact that he had yet to return to the battlefield of the civil war.
"Come on," Ellin heard Delphine say behind her, now dressed in leather armor, a beautiful curved blade by her hip. "We've got a long way to go to Kynesgrove. And we can't afford any delays."
Ellin and Delphine slowly scaled the hill, keeping to the shadows as the great shadow of a large black dragon flew overhead. "Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard! Keep your head down, let's see what it does." Delphine ordered, and Ellin wasn't one to disagree in this situation.
Ellin stopped walking, just starring for a moment at the large Dragon before them. "Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse! Slen Tiid Vo!" The voice of the bane of kings echoed out through the air, before he let out another roar. The burial mound that stood before exploded open, the skeleton of the Dragon within climbing its way out.
"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" The Skeletal Dragon asked as what appeared to be flesh formed around its bones.
"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." The black dragon replied, before circling around once. "Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi." The Dragon said, looking down at Ellin, who looked up at it with confusion and horror in her eyes. "You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah. Sahloknir, krii daar joorre." Alduin commanded before flying off into the distance.
Suddenly, the newly restored Dragon lifted off into the air. "I am Sahloknir! Here my voice and despair!" The green Dragon commanded, before releasing a large column of flame from his mouth. Ellin ducked out of the way, before launching a few spikes of ice toward the beast, although none of them hit their mark. This continued for several minutes, before Sahloknir decided to land and have more sport with his prey.
It was then that Ellin struck. Launching herself forward, Ellin took her sword and stabbed it into Sahloknir's wing as he was beginning to lift off again. Clenching her teeth, the half-elf pulled the sword out, gripping onto one of the spines coming from the Dragon's back. Ellin stabbed Sahloknir several times in succession, before piercing the blade through the Dragon's neck.
Sahloknir let out a deafening cry of pain as he slammed to the ground, launching Ellin off in the process. He attempted to ignite Delphine and the now wounded girl, but as he tried to launch flame from his mouth, he found only silence. His eyes slowly became still, and his scales began to glow a brilliant orange and dissolve into the air. Delphine grabbed the unconscious Dragonborn, and slung the girl over her shoulder.
When Ellin awoke, she was in an inn, although it was most definitely not the Sleeping Giant. She found Delphine leaning over her, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank Talos you're okay, Dragonborn. You had me worried for a moment." The woman admitted, laughing a little. She grabbed a jug of water and handed it to Ellin as she sat up in the bed. "Here, you're probably thirsty."
"H-how long was I asleep?" Ellin asked nervously, taking a sip of the water. "I feel horrible..."
"Well, you were knocked unconscious when you were thrown from that Dragon... that must have been almost a day ago." Delphine said, leaning back in her chair. "Now then... I suppose I owe you some answers, don't I? Go ahead, whatever you want to know. Nothing held back.
Well, that's the second chapter~ I hope you liked it! Hmm... I should really start making titles for these chapters, shouldn't I.