Conlan's trip to Falkreath was quite a long one. After a week of tranquility, we all heard the sound of horseshoes hitting against ice, indicating that he was home.
"Papa!" The girls exclaimed. They hurried out the door from the kitchen, and I slowly follow. Then Sven smiles, "They love when he returns from trips. It means new gifts to take and new stories to hear."
"The only problem is when he returns home drugged."
I almost didn't hear that second statement.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't say you heard it from me, but Conlan's an alcoholic. It's better though, because he used to be a skooma addict," Sven shrugs, and raises his eyebrows.
Pretending that I didn't hear Sven, I make my way outside. I find the girls being twirled in the air by their father, who was more than happy to see his daughters again. Almost too happy.
Conlan then notices me. He stares at me, as if I just killed someone, and approaches me.
"We need to talk," he says in a hushed voice. I nod, knowing of what went wrong.
Conlan took my advice, and went to Darkwater Crossing. He was arrested by the Imperial Legion, and was sent to be executed at Helgen. However, an accident got him out of that messy situation.
"You really mean it? You saw a real dragon? Like, one that shoots fire and ice from it's throat?" I'm trying to sound astonished, if it wasn't obvious.
"Indeed," Conlan's voice was shaken as if he was talking about the slaughter babies. "Except this one... it shouted to the sky and a meteorite shower formed! There was fire everywhere. The dragon was this ebony black color, with fierce eyes of fire that you couldn't forget!"
Alduin the World Eater. The main antagonist of not only this game, but to this world. His destiny is to literally devour the world, claiming it's end. Now that may be silly because a dragon eating an entire planet? Yeah sure that'll happen. Not to mention he's the son of Akatosh, who is the Zeus of the Divines.
The fact that I may have to face him is something I don't want to think about just yet. Even with the crappy graphics from twenty years ago, he appeared to be very vicious (even though he wasn't very difficult to kill). If he just landed in front of me right now, without me planning on killing him, I'd probably piss my armor and forget how to hold a weapon.
"Hopefully dragons don't like the skies around the Pale," I snicker.
"I won't matter. If any flying reptiles try to come near here, they're going to be shot out of the sky," he responds with vexation. He then turns to me, having a look that was almost as sinister as the deadra.
A few hours later, I was in Dawnstar with Conlan. Once we arrived outside the city limits, he turns to me with a steel sword in its leather scabbard.
"Your weapon, ma'am," he says with a deeper voice, probably trying to imitate some blacksmith behind a Dragon Priest mask.
"Should I thank you?" I ask as I take the weapon, which I almost drop due to it's weight.
"It's only a single handed sword," he gasps. "If you can't even carry that, how are you going to hold up a shield?"
"I'll find a way," I insist, knowing that I won't.
Suddenly, the ground rumbles, and the chilly air turns bitter. The sky thunders and a shadow lurks over Dawnstar, despite how clear the skies were this morning.
Then, from behind a lone cloud, it appears. A creature with wings and a horned head, roaring the birds out of the sky and people from the streets. City guards draw their bows, and Conlan pulls out his battleaxe. I try to keep the sword up, until the beast lands in front of me. Snow flies in my face, and the sword falls to the floor.
I'm going to die.
