Arlen dismounted, and Odahviing took flight. Ahead, two dragons circled like vultures. Arlen, having re-donned his Dark Brotherhood armor, strolled forward spinning his sword. One of the dragons turned to glide toward him, and two heavily armed and heavily armored draugr ran at him from either side. He stabbed one draugr, kicked the other, and looked at the dragon.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!"

The dragon flapped its wings desperately, but slammed into the ground. Arlen jumped onto its head, waited for it to buck once, and came back down with his scimitar at the base of the dragon's skull. It went still, and started to burn up, and Arlen felt the familiar sense of power as he absorbed its soul. Arlen dropped from the carcass and resumed his casual walk toward the now-visible stairs to the right. Two more Draugr appeared, charging down the stairs toward Arlen. They swung, but Arlen rolled under both swords and turned around.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The draugr flew from the raised stone platform and flew into a natural valley. Arlen turned back around and took the stairs three at a time. As he reached the top, the second dragon landed. He charged at it, slashing and stabbing wildly. The dragon bit at him, but each one missed. Arlen rolled under the dragon's head and another bite, and stabbed his sword all the way through its head. Once again, the dragon started to burn up and Arlen absorbed its soul. As he jumped off the dragon, three draugr appeared. He beheaded one, stabbed the second, and slashed at the third four times. When Arlen recognized no more immediate threats, he cut left into a ruined tower.
A strange barking growl sounded from a draugr. As soon as one appeared in the doorway, Arlen used the two new words he'd learned.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

The draugr's eyes lost their glow, and it blackened and flew backward. Arlen jogged from the tower, turned left, and charged up another staircase. He rolled his eyes as two more draugr appeared. He was getting very annoyed with these bone-walkers. He cut them down with ease, and opened the heavy iron door before him. Once inside the temple, Arlen saw a large stone block with lit braziers on either side. To the right was an altar with ancient embalming tools on top. Arlen passed the right side of the large stone block, and saw a dark shape in the dusty air ahead. He cut the draugr aside and started a fight with a second. This one had the first swing, and it grazed Arlen's shoulder. Luckily, the blade glanced off one of the studs on Arlen's armor. He swung back at the draugr, but the blade was deflected. Arlen was by far the superior swordsman, though, and spun to behead the draugr.

Arlen looked around, and walked up the next staircase. At the top he saw three puzzle pillars and a lever, surrounded by several draugr. The first one saw him, turned, and fired a bow. Arlen dove aside... right into the arrow's path. It would have missed had Arlen not tried to dodge. As it was, he ended up with the arrow all the way through his thigh. He scrambled to his feet and charged forward. The other four draugr joined the fight. Two more arrows flew past Arlen, and three swords were deflected away from Arlen. The first warrior was cut in half, the second run through. One of the archers accidentally killed the third swords-draugr, leaving Arlen free to kill the archers in one wide slice. Next, Arlen sheathed his sword and turned his attention to the pillars. On each was a snake, a fish, and a bird. On the left wall, right next to the far left pillar, was a fish. On the right, a snake. Arlen turned the respective pillars so that the snakes were facing each other and the fish were facing each other. He then looked around. There were two gates ahead. One had a bird above, the other a snake. He turned and spun the middle pillar so it was a bird, and pulled the lever. The bird gate opened, and Arlen found a dead end. He turned the middle one so it was a snake instead, then pulled the lever again.

The snake gate opened, and Arlen walked through it. Before him was a staircase. He walked up it and turned left, killed two more draugr, and dropped into a chamber. Three more draugr kicked open their caskets and charged. They were cut down, and Arlen looked around. One of the caskets had no back, but led into a tunnel. Arlen's way was partly blocked by cobwebs from a frostbite spider, so he cut them away. As Arlen continued through the tunnel, he saw several of the giant arachnids waiting for him. They were caught unawares, and were killed before they could get their bearings. To the right was a web-covered doorway with another giant spider behind it. Arlen cut the webs aside, then the spider. To the left were some stairs, then a right turn and two more spiders, these ones larger than the others. Arlen took several strikes each to kill the spiders, then opened an ironbound door beyond.

Directly ahead was a large raised stone platform with a pillar in it. To the right were some wooden stairs, and Arlen heard more draugr. He killed them, and looked around. At the top of the stairs to the right was another pillar, and across the raised platform was a third. Above the one to the right was a bird, and Arlen spun the pillar so the bird faced outward. The one on the other side was a fish, and Arlen put the fish outward. He then dropped from the platform, and looked around some more. On the side of the platform opposite the pillar was a snake. Arlen jogged around the stone block and spun the last pillar. He then proceeded to pull the lever on top of the stone platform and waited for a wooden bridge to fall into place. Beyond that was another ironbound door. With one last look around, Arlen opened it.

After a few more draugr, Arlen made it to the part he'd been dreading: the Hall of Stories. If he didn't have a dragon claw to open the puzzle door, he'd have to turn back. Apparently, that wasn't an option. A draugr, dual-wielding an ebony mace and sword, charged at him. He dodged several swings, ducked, and tackled the draugr with his blade out. His sword got stuck in the draugr's chest armor, but it wouldn't matter. The ebony sword, as old as it was, was much better quality than his own. He took it and a dragon claw he found on the draugr's belt, and approached the puzzle door. He looked at the claw, twisted the rings, and walked into the room. At the end of a short corridor was a Word Wall, which would teach him a new Word. As he got closer, he heard a slow, disembodied chanting of the Shout he was about to learn. Strun bah qo, strun bah qo, strun bah qo. He read the glowing words, learned strun, and circled the Word Wall. Behind it was a door with cold emanating from it. That would lead outside.
Instantly, Arlen was charged by two more draugr. He waited for them to be directly in front of him, then breathed in.

"FUS RO DAH!" The now-familiar ring of energy flew from Arlen's mouth, and hurled the draugr off the stone platform they were on. Arlen walked to the edge and looked down. Far below, to the west, was Skyrim. Just below and to the left of Arlen was Riften, but he was high enough he couldn't see its massive expanse. More than two hundred feet below was the door he'd used to get into the temple, and the courtyard nestled into the mountains. To the left was a staircase. Arlen took the stairs two at a time, then skidded to a stop.

Dragon Priest.

Arlen had only come across one other Dragon Priest, and he'd nearly died. He hadn't even killed the thing before he'd had to run. He'd then had to drain his supply of healing potions. Now, he didn't have as many healing potions. He slipped forward silently, hoping for a stealthy approach. The Dragon Priest floated up some more stairs to a receptacle, and took a staff from it. He turned half around, but Arlen was already right next to him. Before the Priest could turn, his head was severed. The Priest burned from within, leaving a pile of ashes, a staff on the steps, and a very powerful mask flying through the air. Arlen caught it, letting the brown leather hood fall away from it, and fitted it over his face. He felt his magical energy soar, even though he never cast spells. Thusly equipped, he picked up the staff and looked down from the receptacle platform. Below was what looked like a shattered circle of stone. The shards, though, were floating and spinning in rings well below. A pillar of light shot from the seal. When Arlen stuck the staff back into its receptacle, the shards stopped spinning and formed a staircase. Arlen dropped to the top step, and started downward. Just before he reached the bottom of the stairs, he seemed to fall into nothingness.

/\

When Arlen finally decided to open his eyes, he found himself on solid ground. He was on a stone platform with stairs leading down. From there, it just looked like a normal road in the middle of Skyrim. The only real differences were the fog, the sky, and the statues. The fog was thick, impossibly thick. The sky was a swirling pink-and-purple vortex with a central white light. The statues looked like Graybeards, except ten times as large as the real thing and much less lifelike. Every one of them seemed as though they were looking straight at Arlen. He looked to his feet and ran down the stairs, then started to jog along the path. The mist parted before him, but redoubled its thickness behind. After only a few minutes, he heard a familiar roar: Alduin's. He stopped and drew his sword, looking around in the sky. He didn't see Alduin, but he saw something much more unsettling. Every Graybeard statue had turned silently, and were still looking at him.

"Turn back!"

Arlen's heart leapt into his throat, and he swung his sword. It ended up shearing the front of the soul of a Stormcloak soldier. Just before he died, Alduin swooped down and snatched him up. The tortured scream from the soldier made Arlen's blood go cold. He continued through the mist, his sword ready and his heart beating five times as fast as it should. After a minute or two, he saw Legate Rikke sitting on a fallen tree. She looked up at him, stood as though ready to fight, and was picked up by Alduin. Just a bit further, Arlen saw a touching scene. He recognized Thammu, the great Redguard who'd helped with the Skyrim civil war. He was standing back-to-back with an older man, both with their swords drawn. As Arlen neared, he recognized someone he'd only ever seen in paintings: Kodlak White-Mane of the Companions. Thammu and he were talking.

"...yes, I sacrificed the Blood of the Wolf. I wished to spend eternity with you, sir." Thammu was saying.
Kodlak smiled half-heartedly. "I am touched, though I am not so sure our eternity will not be at the mercy of Alduin. Who have you chosen to become Harbinger of the Companions?"

Now it was Thammu's turn to smile, though his was wistful. "Well, sir, I wished to appoint a soldier I met during the Civil War for Skyrim. He fought with ferocity unmet by any except myself and you. I learned later that he was the Dragonborn of legend. He alone subdued a dragon and forced it into submission. With the Companions at his back, he'd be unstoppable. I think..." Thammu's voice trailed off as he saw Arlen.

"You!" He said. Then he smiled and rushed forward. Arlen smiled as well while Thammu grasped him by the shoulders. He looked back to Kodlak, then, and laughed heartily.

"This is the one. He would be my replacement."

Kodlak nodded. "I trust your judgement-" He was swept up by Alduin. Arlen couldn't let that happen.

"FUS RO DAH!" The ring of energy slammed into Alduin, and he spiraled to the ground. Kodlak tumbled from his grasp, and Thammu sprinted forward. He dove underneath the falling man, and acted as a cushion. Kodlak stood and looked to Arlen.

"You... Dragonborn. You saved my life. You have chosen well, Thammu."

"With your consent, I shall proceed. Dragonborn, Arlen. I hereby appoint you the Harbinger of the Companions of Whiterun!"

"Thank you, Thammu. Allow me to escort you to the Hall of Shor." Arlen led them back to the path, and started along the road toward the large fortress in the distance. Finally, they reached a clearing in the mist, and saw a man, at least eight feet tall, standing outside wearing only leg armor. Kodlak and Thammu passed by him without incident. As Arlen approached, though, he was stopped.

"What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to honored dead?" He asked.

"Who are you?" Arlen asked.

"I am Tsun, Shield-Thane to Shor. The Whalebone Bridge he bade me guard and winnow all those souls whose heroic end sent them here, to Shor's lofty hall where welcome, well-earned, awaits those I judge fit to join that fellowship of honor. But I am not on trial. You are. Why do you tread here, in this misty heaven for all?" The Whalebone Bridge was aptly named. It looked as though it was made of the backbone of a whale, and would be treacherous to cross. At least a a thousand feet below the bridge was an endless ocean. Across was the Hall of Valor, of Shor. It was lofty and exactly as Arlen imagined it. Black steel with red windows and doors. Although, that was quite obviously the effect of the Hall of Valor. It is seen as each hero wants to see it.

"I seek entrance to the Hall of Valor."

"No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right to you request entry?"

Arlen straightened, ready to state his right as the Listener for the Night Mother, when Kodlak appeared behind Tsun.

"By right of glory. He leads the Companions of Jorrvaskr."

"Ah," Tsun said. "I welcome the chance to challenge the blade of Ysgramor's heir, shield-brother to Kodlak. But none may pass this perilous bride until I judge them worthy by the warrior's test."

"Then let's go." Arlen drew his sword, and breath for a Shout.

Tsun beat him to it. "FUS RO DAH!" But Tsun was not Dragonborn. His Voice was not as strong as Arlen's. He staggered, sure, but came back swinging. Tsun blocked the first two hits with his battle-ax, but the third, fourth, and fifth landed. Tsun swung once, but Arlen ducked and Shouted.

"FUS RO DAH!" Tsun staggered as well, and Arlen stabbed him in the chest. His sword flew back out, and Tsun's wounds healed themselves.

"You have fought well, Harbinger. I deem you worthy."

Arlen nodded and stepped onto the first of the whale ribs. He was surprised none of them broke as he walked. When he reached the other side of the bridge, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding. The red glass doors loomed in front of him. He opened the door, walked inside, and let it slam behind him. Inside, he was greeted by the legendary Ysgramor, first harbinger of the Companions.

"Welcome, Dragonborn. Our door has stood empty since Alduin set his soul snare here, Kodlak and Thammu were the first in eternity. Three heroes stand ready to assist you in the bringing of World-Eater's downfall. Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Wise."
Arlen nodded and approached three warriors with weapons drawn. They looked to him for some sort of speech or call to arms. Instead, Arlen stared at them for an uncomfortable amount of time, then said, "Well? Alduin's not going to kill himself!" and strolled from the Hall of Valor without looking back. Luckily, as Arlen positioned himself at the edge of the mist, he found the three heroes arrayed next to him.

"Clear Ski-" Gormlaith started to shout.

Arlen interrupted her with another arrogant and sarcastic comment. "Let's get rid of the mist, shall we? LOK VAH KOOR!"

The other heroes followed his example and managed to clear away a large portion of Alduin's mist. Suddenly, though, Alduin's voice echoed through Sovngarde. VEN MUL RIIK! The mist reappeared. The four heroes drew breath again.

"LOK VAH KOOR!" This time, four Voices combined, they cleared away a larger portion of the mist.

VEN MUL RIIK!

Hakon slumped. "Does his strength have no end? Are our struggles in vain?"

"Hold fast!" Arlen said, once again stealing Gormlaith's thunder. "I feel his strength ebbing! Even as this eternal mist appears, it is thinning. Once more and he will be forced to face us in the clear!"

Once again, "LOK VAH KOOR!"

This time, Alduin's strength failed. As they cleared away their piece of the mist, the great dragon failed to maintain it. Sovngarde suddenly cleared of all fog, mist, or murk of any kind, and Alduin's roar sounded in the distance. After only a moment, his black shape appeared. Gormlaith immediately drew breath.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" Alduin spiraled toward the ground, and Arlen stretched his sword upward to intercept him. The blade scraped across Alduin's chest scales as he fell. Before Alduin could even regain his feet, the four heroes were upon him. He was barraged from all sides, and Arlen ripped Windshear from where it had stuck during the battle on the Throat of the World. It left a sizable gap in Alduin's scales. The heroes tried for the gap, and Arlen landed it. Alduin reared, but not before catching Gormlaith's hair with his teeth. She was hurled toward the Whalebone Bridge, and Arlen sprinted after her. Just before she managed to slip off, he caught her wrist and hooked his foot under one of the ribs. Gormlaith swung, and landed back up on the bridge. Arlen saw Alduin was weak, so he drew his bow and fired. Alduin's eye was pierced, so he reared again, bucked, and exploded.

/\

After Alduin was killed, Sovngarde was a blur. Tsun taught Arlen a new Shout, to call a hero from the Hall of Valor, and tossed him back to Nirn. Once there, Arlen was witness to some kind of dragon ceremony on the Throat of the World, vaguely aware of someone next to him, and went to Paarthurnax.

"The Blades want me to kill you."

Paarthurnax didn't seem surprised. "And I would in their place. I have only overcome my inborn cruelty through study of the Voice and meditation. I would ask the Blades, and you, what is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"

Arlen thought about this for nearly half an hour, kneeling in the snow in front of Paarthurnax.

Finally, he decided. "It is better, always better, to overcome that which you do not approve of."

"So you see. The Blades-"

"The Blades are the ones who should die." Arlen said. They would kill and ancient and great one such as Paarthurnax, simply because he was a dragon? They never overcame any evil nature. They let it sit and stir in themselves until they were driven only to kill dragons. Not all dragons were bad.

"I do not agree, though you are the one who will decide whether to kill them."

"That is why I have decided. You do not deserve to die. If they think so, they are in the wrong."

/Delphine\

Arlen swarmed into Sky Haven Temple swords flashing. One was more curved than the other, and emitted the sound of breeze. It knocked Esbern aside as though he were paper. Now that he was dead, he might as well be. Delphine drew her sword, but didn't have time to raise it before she found an obsidian one in her chest.

/Adrianne Avenicci\

Adrianne charged forward, raising her hammer. The pale man dodged it, and it was revealed that he was a vampire. He raised his sword, swinging back at Adrianne, but was run through from the back. The one wielding the sword was no other than the black-eyed man from so many weeks ago. Behind him was an orc.

/Arlen\

Arlen turned to face the orc.

"The Dawnguard could use someone like you. Come to our fort near Riften."

"I may do just that."

Adrianne Avenicci cut in. "You saved my life. Thank you."

A courier appeared. "There's a museum opening up in Dawnstar."

Guards approached, giving praise. The orc continued. Adrianne tried to sell something to Arlen. More guards showed up. Arlen tried to take it all in, then tried to ignore it. He tried to listen to some, but it was too much. His frustration grew. Finally, he screamed and drew his sword. The guards did the same, but all of them fell beneath his blade. Arlen had lost his savior badge and regained his killer one.

/\

Arlen set the pieces on the altar. He had just recovered them: the shards of Mehrunes' Razor. The man who ran the museum had been killed the moment Arlen didn't need him anymore. Now, he stood alone at Mehrunes Dagon's altar. There were no words. Dagon sent Arlen a feeling of satisfaction through some sort of mental bond. The Razor repaired itself, and two Dremora appeared. These were minor Daedra, demons. Arlen threw his sword at one like a knife, and it was killed. He then drew Mehrunes' Razor and stepped forward casually. The second Dremora charged eagerly, but Arlen spun, weaved, and stabbed the demon in the base of the skull. It fell, and Arlen sheathed the Razor.
Time to join the Thieves' Guild.

/\/\
The next part of Arlen's journey will be continued in my next story: Skyrim's Most Wanted. It explores Arlen's journey through the Thieves' Guild and Dawnguard quest lines and therefore his becoming Skyrim's most wanted thief, assassin, and mercenary, as well as Skyrim's most dangerous vampire.