Chapter Nine
Once they emerged from Shroud Heart Barrow, Lerna began heading back toward the Ivarstead inn but Lydia's voice stopped her.
"My thane, it's a beautiful night, could we camp out here instead of going back to the inn?" Lydia asked hopefully
"You've never had to sleep on the ground before have you?" Lerna asked
"No, I've never been outside of Whiterun before" Lydia replied
"Well, I think before our journey is over you'll get sick of it, but we can camp here if you want. I don't care either way." Lerna responded
"I would like that." Lydia said
"Very well, you go gather some firewood; I'll stay here and get our camp set up." Lerna instructed
Lydia nodded and walked off.
By the time she got back Lerna had done everything except start the campfire. Working quickly the two ladies sorted the wood into two piles, one to be burned right away and the other to be added later if needed. Then Lydia knelt down and starting twirling two sticks together to try and start a fire.
"Lydia, there's an easier way." Lerna said grabbing her arm
Lydia looked at her
"Observe" Lerna instructed she then cast a flame spell on the pile of wood that was going to be their campfire. The wood caught fire and it began burning merrily.
"See, magic has it uses" Lerna said
"I suppose" Lydia conceded formally, she still preferred her sword as a way of dealing with her enemies.
Lydia began cooking dinner "Do you want any?" she asked Lerna once she'd finished. Lerna shook her head
"You sure?" Lydia pressed
"I'm sure." Lerna replied
"Ok, more for me" Lydia said as she began eating her salmon. After a couple of bites Lydia stopped eating for a moment and said "Lerna, you said that you were new to Skyrim, so where are you from originally, I mean?"
"Well, I was born and raised in Cyrodiil" Lerna answered
"Were both of your parents Bretons?" Lydia asked
"No, my mother's family were, they had immigrated from High Rock a couple of generations before my mother was born but my father's family were Redguards from Hammerfell. When my father was a young man, he joined the imperial legion and he wound up getting stationed in Cyrodiil, which is how he met my mother. After a few years he retired from the legion and married my mom. I was born about a year or two after that." Lerna explained
"Were you their only child?" Lydia interjected
"Yes, they tried for more but no luck. I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of the Imperial City. It was hard, there were only three of us and a lot of work that needed done. In our spare time, my father taught me to hunt and later he taught me how to use a sword too." Lerna continued
"Did he?" Lydia said
"Yes, he always said that he didn't some whiny little milksop for a daughter, he wanted a strong woman able to take care of herself."
"Well, I'd say he certainly got that." Lydia said
Lerna smiled but it was a bit sad "I was happy there, on the farm, then one day it all fell apart."
"What happened?" Lydia asked
"I don't know exactly. One evening, I was outside playing, mom and dad were in the house, and…I don't know how it happened but the house caught fire with my parents trapped inside…" her voice trailed off
"You don't mean…you watched your own parents die!" Lydia exclaimed, horrified that anyone should have to endure something like that.
Lerna nodded "I grabbed a bucket and ran to the lake and filled it with water. The bucket was heavy, I was just a kid, I couldn't carry it I had to drag it and…it didn't do any good, the flames just kept burning…I've never felt so helpless, not even when Emperor Uriel was killed."
"Wait, you actually saw that happen?" Lydia asked
Lerna nodded again "Yes, he and I were in a small chamber within the tunnels under the Imperial city. He gave me the Amulet of Kings and told me to take to Jauffre, Grandmaster of the Blades-"
Again Lydia interrupted her "that makes it sound like he knew he was going to be killed"
"Yes, he did" Lerna said
Lydia stared at her wide-eyed
"He had prophetic dreams and those dreams were the reason why he did not let his guards kill me when they found me in a cell that was not supposed to be filled. He called me "the son's companion or something like that and said that I would be vital to saving Tamriel from a horrible fate. I admit I thought he'd inhaled a few too many potion fumes or something but of course, he turned out to have been right." Lerna added
"So…what did you do after your parents, died?" Lydia asked hesitantly
"Well, I didn't really have anyone to turn to. My mother's family had all died off and my father's family was back in Hammerfell, I'd never even met any of them and I had no way to get there in any case. So I resorted to stealing in order to survive."
Lydia frowned slightly she didn't like thieves, but she also understood that Lerna hadn't really had much choice.
"Is that how you ended up in prison?" she asked
"No, actually" Lerna answered "I ended up in prison because a drunk guy hitting on me, wouldn't take no for an answer. Eventually, I grew so frustrated that I broke his nose and the little whiner went sobbing to his daddy, a city watch captain, who threw me in jail for assaulting his 'completely innocent' son."
"He didn't believe that his son had been harassing you?" Lydia questioned
"No, not even with the bartender backing me up…but in the long run I guess it's a good thing he didn't believe me. Otherwise Dagon might well have succeeded in conquering Tamriel." Lerna said
Lydia could not contain her yawn. Seeing this Lerna continued "Lydia, you're obviously exhausted, why don't you go to sleep? We're going to be traveling together for a while; we can talk more some other time."
Lydia opened her mouth to protest but what came out instead was another yawn. "I suppose you're right" she admitted "Good night, my thane" then she climbed into one of the bed rolls and fell asleep.
Lerna sat by the campfire simply thinking. She didn't know how long it was before a figure materialized on the other side of the campfire.
"Hi, Lerna" Talos greeted
"Tiber, good to see you, Akatosh wasn't too hard on you was he?" Lerna responded
"Nah" Tiber said "he just gave me another one of his boring lectures. You'd think he'd have realized by now that I don't listen to them. I also went ahead and spoke with the leader of the Graybeards."
"Wait, what happened to not interfering in the lives of mortals?" Lerna questioned
"Who said the Graybeards' leader was a mortal?" Talos asked her
"You mean he's not…then what is he?" Lerna responded
Talos shook his head "Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, but I told him that you're a Dragonborn daedra. It's a first, in all of history there has never been a Dragonborn daedra, so I thought it would make things easier on everyone, if I went ahead and explained things."
"So I take it Daedra aren't usually welcome in High Hrothgar" Lerna commented
"No, the Graybeards are pretty devout. They probably wouldn't have attacked you, since they are also pacifists-"
"Really?" Lerna interjected. She was having a hard time imagining a Nord who refused to fight.
"Yes, they believe that the Voice should be used solely to worship the Gods and not for any martial purpose." Talos said in voice that carried just a hint of disapproval, apparently he didn't think the Graybeards had the right idea about that. "They may well have refused to teach you however and then you'd be stuck."
"Wait, they are going to train me…right?" Lerna asked. She really did not want to climb 7,000 steps for nothing.
"I persuaded them" Talos said "no need to thank me"
"What would I do without you, Tiber?" Lerna asked with a smile
"Flounder" Talos answered with an amused grin then he got serious "actually, you'd probably find another way, you're very resourceful."
Lerna smiled accepting the compliment "I'm glad I have you though…you're the best friend I've ever had, Tiber, thank you."
Tiber turned his face away. He didn't want to be just her best friend, but he didn't know how to tell her that. He had never been in love and he didn't know how to handle it. His marriage in life had been for political reasons and he knew his wife had not been faithful to him; she was discrete about it, so it hadn't really bothered him.
Unbeknownst to Tiber, Lerna's thoughts were running on a similar track. She knew that she loved Tiber but she didn't know if she loved him for him or because he was like Martin and she would never dream of saying anything until she figured that out. She also didn't think Tiber liked her that way…then another thought occurred to her, even if they did like each other, would their brethren allow them to be together or would they try to break them up…she had no idea.
Neither of them noticed that Lydia had woken up and witnessed the whole exchange. It was painfully obvious to her that they both loved each other, even though everything she knew told her that an Aedra could never love a Daedra or vice versa. She wished there was something she could do to make them see that they were making this a lot more complicated than it needed to be. Just then she sneezed, startling both of the immortals. Talos quickly disappeared, not wanting to be seen while Lerna looked at Lydia, who pretended to be asleep. Lerna suspected Lydia was faking slumber but decided that it was better for everybody if she acted like she believed Lydia really was asleep.
Early the next morning, Lydia woke shortly after dawn.
"Morning, sleepy head." Lerna said brightly
"Easy for you to say, miss I don't need sleep because I'm an immortal daedra." Lydia snapped she really hated mornings.
"Well, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bedroll" Lerna responded "I was even nice enough to start cooking breakfast to."
Lydia sighed "Sorry, I'm just…irritable first thing in the morning."
"Apparently" Lerna replied
"What's cooking?" Lydia asked
"Deer meat" Lerna answered
"For breakfast?" Lydia questioned
"Why not? I hunted it down just this morning; it's the freshest food we've got." Lerna replied
Lydia shrugged "Works for me"
Once they'd eaten Lerna asked "You ready to climb a mountain?"
"Yes, my thane" Lydia responded and they women headed off
'Why do these holy sanctuaries always have to be out in the middle of nowhere?' Lerna thought as they climbed 'just once I'd like to see a sanctuary in a nice easy assessable valley just on the outskirts of town instead of always having to make a long, tedious climb up a snowy cold mountain.' Lerna did stop to read the plaques that were dotted along the path, they were rather interesting but not worth the climb. She also stopped to talk to the other people on the path, they called themselves pilgrims but to Lerna they were a couple of poor souls who desperately needed to get some lives.
Finally they made it to High Hrothgar
"Say Lerna" Lydia began
Lerna raised an eyebrow
"You're a daedra prince; couldn't you have just teleported us here?" Lydia whined well, that's what Lerna called it anyway
"You think of this now?" Lerna asked sarcastically
Lydia shrugged sheepishly
"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. I can't teleport to places I haven't before because I don't know where I'm going, if I had tried that we could have easily gotten stuck in a wall or something." Lerna answered
"But haven't Daedra Princes teleported things to Mundus before." Lydia questioned not wanting to give up on the idea
"Yes, the problem is Akatosh's Barrier" Lerna said
Lydia looked at her questioningly
"Unlike my brethren I can pass through it and enter Mundus directly but my powers are MUCH weaker here because of it." Lerna explained "On the plus side though, now that I've been here I can teleport us back again if we ever need to come back."
"Well, at least that's something" Lydia muttered
Lerna put the Klimmek's supplies into the large chest out front and then said to Lydia "Enough whining let's go in."
"I wasn't whining" Lydia protested but Lerna ignored her, climbed up the stair and entered through the large door.
The first thing that struck her was how dark it was in there despite the fires burning everywhere. She was tempted to cast a daylight spell or something but then she noticed a figure coming down the steps.
She approached him but he spoke before she did
"So…a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age" Arngeir said
"I'm answering your summons" Lerna responded formally although quite frankly she didn't like the whole idea of being summoned but she needed their help so she figured it was best to be polite to them.
"We will see if you truly have the gift" Arngeir replied. Lerna suspected that wannabe Dragonborns had shown up at the temple more than once so she didn't entirely blame for being skeptical, however, based on her meeting with Ulfric shouldn't they be able to sense her power like he had…assuming that he actually had felt something and she hadn't been just imaging things.
"Show us Dragonborn. Let us taste of your Voice." Arngeir continued
"Okay" Lerna said "but remember, you asked for it."
"FUS" she shouted. Both Arngeir and the graybeard next him were knocked back several paces. The unnamed Graybeard hit a wall while Arngeir himself fell on top of the staircase he'd been descending when Lerna walked in.
Internally, Lerna winced, maybe she should have tried to lower the amount of power she put into her shout, but neither man seemed to have been hurt so maybe it was all right.
"Dragonborn it is you, Welcome to High Hrothgar." Arngeir said once he got back on his feet.
"Thank you" Lerna replied
Arngeir acknowledged her thanks with a nod of his head "I am Master Arngeir I speak for the Graybeards. Now tell me Dragonborn, why have you come here?"
"You called me, remember?" Lerna replied
"Indeed" Arngeir admitted with a slight smile "We are honored to welcome the Dragonborn to High Hrothgar. We will do our best to teach you how to use your gift in the fulfillment of your destiny." That had the sound of ritual to Lerna's ears but she wasn't interested in ritual so she said.
"What is my destiny?" Lerna asked, she did not want to become a mere pawn also she didn't believe in destiny. She knew for a fact that events were not all planned out beforehand by the gods, there were two factors (three if you counted Daedric interaction with the mortal realm) that made that pretty much impossible, one was freewill, every mortal had it and no Aedra would take it away. The other was chance, pure random chance, could and did throw a wrench (or something else) into things as well.
Tiber had once told her that Akatosh, as the god of time, could see every possible future but even he did not know which future would unfold until after the fact.
"That is for you to discover, we can show you the way but not your destination." Arngeir said "Now, that we've finished our ritual greeting, there is something I want to talk you about before we begin your training."
"Let me guess, it's my Daedric nature isn't it." Lerna said
"Yes, when Paarthurnax told us that the Dragonborn was a Daedra, I admit I was wondering if he had lost his mind but now that you're here I can feel that you're definitely more than mortal even though you look human. If you don't mind me asking what daedra are you?" Arngeir replied
"I don't mind, I'm Sheogorath, prince of Madness. That's not going to be a problem is it?" Lerna responded
"No, it's completely unprecedented but not a problem, particularly since Paarthurnax says that Lord Talos made it very clear that he wants us to aid you as much as we possibly can and we Graybeards will not defy him."
"I take it Paarthurnax is your leader?" Lerna asked
"Yes, you may meet him eventually but, Daedra Prince or not, you are not ready to meet him yet."
Lerna bristled internally but outwardly she simply said "You guys still worship Talos, even though the empire outlawed it?"
"Indeed, we have always revered all the divines as they deserve and we will continue to do so." Arngeir stated
"So what does it mean to be a Dragonborn anyway?" Lerna asked
"We are here to guide you in the path just as the Graybeards have sought to guide all those of the Dragon Blood that came before you." Arngeir responded
"Talos trained here didn't he?" Lerna remembered
"Indeed, back when he was still Tiber Septim, you are not the first; there have been many Dragonborn since Akatosh first bestowed that gift upon mortal kind. Whether you are the only Dragonborn of this age…that is not ours to know. You are the only one that has been revealed thus far. That is all I can say" Arngeir said
"Fair enough" Lerna replied "I'm ready to learn" she added
"You have shown that you are Dragonborn." Arngeir began and once again to Lerna it sounded like an old, boring ritual "You have the inborn gift, but do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen." He then turned to Lydia
"You might want to go make yourself comfortable, we have books and such lying around that you are welcome to read if you wish."
Lydia glanced questioningly at Lerna who nodded that it was all right and then she turned back to Arngeir and said "Very well" and then she went down the hall
Ophidias- I do have a brief we walked to blah, blah to indicate traveling. I admit I find it boring which is why I keep it brief but it is there as for a means of indicating it. I don't know if the problem is FF or my computer but it seems not matter what I try it disappears when I upload it so I've just about given up at this point. Although, later on (which I don't know if you'll get to since I don't know if you like the story or not) she teleports whenever she can and that frankly does take about as much effort as it would take to the walk to the next room. So just like in the actual game once you're far enough long, you can fast travel just about anywhere...although she can teleport indoor as well as outdoors.
DW3321- Thanks I'm glad you like my story and I agree with you the main characters of the Elder Scrolls games do seem to have a lot of similarities but that's ok. As for the scribe thing IDK, I always took it to be more metaphorical, saying that her actions would have a major role in shaping the future of Tamriel so I'll have to give that some thought
Dream Break- Well, since that battle takes place in Sovngarde and not Mundus then she probably will be able to. Unfortunately, Akatosh's barrier prevents the summoning of large numbers of daedra so that isn't really an option, sorry, I hope that won't stop you from enjoying the story.
Twisteddeal- Maybe I'm just being overly harsh on myself, they say we're our own harshest critics.
She might be able to recruit some dragons but that won't happen for a while. She has to prove her strength first particularly against Alduin. The dragons that actively resisted Alduin (except for Paarthurnax) are dead at this point and Alduin isn't going to revive them. So the dragons that don't like him are keeping it secret (because they are scared of him), they won't openly side with Lerna, against Alduin, unless she proves that she is capable of standing up to and defeating him (no one wants to hitch their cart to a losing horse) but they're not going to actually fight her if they can avoid it either.
You're not alone, I can't spell either, thank goodness for spell check, even thought it doesn't catch everything, it's still much better than nothing.
Guest- Maybe, I'll think about it
xUndeadKittenx- I thought you would like it, as for the pacing thing, I see your point so I went back and rewrote it a little, I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to put in there.
Ronin Kenshin- It seems you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, that's good.