The crashing sound of Balder's boots hitting the hard ice and snow beneath him, from unmounting his steed, was the only thing that was heard. The snowfall had stopped, and the temperature was surprising increasing. Balder's Dwarvish armor was beginning to take it's toll, being a little too uncomfortable for him, but if he couldn't bear intense heat, why attack a dragon? Questions like this he had no answer to, he just thought they were not worth his time.
Balder exited the country of Tamriel last night, not stopping to sleep or rest unless Namaste needed a drink. He was getting closer to the battle that awaited him, and the purple dragon, who he thought started it all. He looked up into Namaste's eyes and patted him on the side.
"My dear friend. You have been with me through many hardships, but, I am sorry to say, you are of no use now. This land is dangerous is far too dangerous." Namaste whinnied and nuzzled Balder, almost knocking him over.
"Haha, I will be ok. Now return to Skyrim, my friend. Go." he said as he directed Namaste back towards the border of Tamriel. With heavy hesitation, the horse walked off. Balder sighed and walked in the opposite direction towards his destination. The air was moist, unlike the land of Skyrim where the air was dry and frigid, this air was humid, and it made it even more unbearable to walk in Balder's heavy, metal armor. He removed his helmet, wiped sweat from his brow, and continued on. He soon came across something peculiar. A forest. The forest itself had no attention from Balder, as he's seen them in Skyrim as well, but unlike Skyrim, this forest had little to no snow beneath it. He knew he was heading farther south, but he wasn't quite close enough. Where he was going, there was said to be no snow at all. All of a sudden, Balder tensed up, and placed a hand at his sword attached to his hip. He replaced his helmet and drew the sword. A faint roar was heard from the sky, high above the clouds.
Could they know I'm here? Already? Balder thought to himself. The roars got louder and Balder searched the sky frantically for the direction of the noise. A large figure came barreling through the clouds and plummeted into the ground, encasing itself in dust and snow. Balder retreated behind a rock and got ready for an attack.
"Dovahkiin. Show yourself." Balder recognised the voice. It was very familiar, which caused him to sheath his sword and come out from hiding. In front of him was his old companion Odahviing. He took a few steps closer to him and removed his helmet again.
"It's nice to see you Odahviing. But tell me… why have you come?" Balder said with confusment.
"I came to make sure you return in one piece. Or at least with your skin color intact." Even after befriending one another, Odahviing was always toying with him, antagonizing him.
"I can safely say that I am well suited for anything they could throw at me. I can handle myself."
"Oh can you?! These aren't regular dragons, these are elemental dragons. They can breath much more than fire. They breath ice, earth, lightning, and sometimes even darkness."
"Ha! Now who would say such a ludicrous statement. You make the dragons as if they were gods. And as far as I know, gods don't have wings, and they most certainly don't breathe on people." Odahviing laughed at him for being so naive. Balder rolled his eyes and turned around to walk away.
"Oh, come on. Have a bit of sport will ya? Listen I came to help you, and the one thing a dragon is afraid of more than a human, is another dragon." Odahviing said, pushing his head underneath Balder so he slides on his back.
" Fine." Balder said readjusting himself. " But don't get us both killed." Odahviing laughed again and jumped to the sky, and with a mighty burst of energy, they were flying.
"Dragons have been flying longer than the birds have Dovahkiin. Don't worry. But, I've been thinking… do you actually know why you're doing this?"
"They are raiding us left and right and something needs to be done about that. Listen, if you only came here to test my loyalty to this cause, you succeed in only testing my patience."
"But what if you're wrong? What if the dragon you're looking for isn't the one you're going after? What if this is all for naught?"
"I know what I'm…"
"What if?!" "Odahviing interrupted.
"Then… I will make things right. But the Greybeards would never send me on a quest if they didn't know the whole story… right?"
"That's what I'm asking you. Maybe they're just so anxious to end this that they resorted to sending you here." The Greybeards would never do that. They respected Balder as much as he respected them. Maybe even more. Odahviing sighed,
"Listen, Dovahkiin, I am saying this as your friend. Please make the right decision. If the time comes that you must either kill the dragon or whatever… just make the right choice."
"Don't worry, Odahviing. You're turning into a big softy aren't you?" Balder mocked.
"I'll show you softy." He then bumped Balder off his back and caught his legs so he's staring up into Odahviing's eyes.
"Oh come on! Put me back on." Odahviing chuckled and put Balder back on his back.
"I swear sometimes you are so immature." Balder scoffed.
"That's the beauty of us don't need to be mentally mature to get through life." Balder laughed and grabbed onto Odahviing's neck as they descended and dove around various obstacles on their way to destiny.