MEETING THE GREYBEARDS

"Faendal! Look at this!" I exclaimed shaking the wood elf awake. He curled up under the covers and tried to pull me into his arms. I chuckled as I shook him again. This was the first time I could think of that I was awake before him. But I was very excited. There was no redness or swelling in my arm. I could move my wrist which meant I could use magic. A ball of light glew in my hand. I sent the glowing ball to Faendal's head. It floated above his head illuminating the area in bright light. Faendal threw the cover over his head but the ball of light went under the cover with him. I laughed so hard I fell out of the bed. I hit the cold stone hard but it didn't stop me from laughing.

"You really think it's that funny waking me up like this?" He asked sitting up. He squinted from the light that hung above his head.

"I think it's hilarious!" I replied pulling myself back into the bed. "That potion did wonders! My magic is back!" I started sending balls of light to every corner of the room. There were balls of light hovering over the chairs, tables, and the bed. Soon it was so bright in the room it was as if we were staring at the sun.

Faendal grabbed my arm gently and forced it to the bed. "I'm glad but if you don't stop I will use my calming spell to make you stop. It's too bright."

"Which calming spell?" I asked suggestively leaning in towards him.

He leaned in to me so close our lips almost touched but whenever I tried to connect he would pull back just slightly. He kissed me on the nose and laughed at my shock. "The one you don't like." He finished.

There was a light rap at the door. "Hey guys?" Lydia's voice said through the door. I pulled the cover around my body as the door opened. She poked her head into the room but jerked back out. "By Ysmir! What is with the light?!" Faendal and I burst into laughter.

"Sorry, Lydia. We'll be out in a minute." I called out to her. Once we had dressed and Faendal had wrapped a fresh bandage around my healing wound we left the room.

Lydia started laughing at the ball of light that hung above Faendal's head. "Really! What's with the light?"

"I can use my magic again!" I explained as I sent another ball of light to Lydia's head. She glanced up at the light and back down at me.

"Really?" She asked with a smirk. "Was that necessary?"

I laughed. "No! But it's fun!"

The innkeeper glanced into our room that was glowing from all the light. "Um, will this magic go away?" He asked unsure of what he was looking at. I assured him the light would disappear after a few minutes.

After a quick breakfast we left the tavern and followed the dirt road to a bridge. I looked up at the mountain. The clouds hung low on the sheer and jagged cliffs. I couldn't even see where we were supposed to go. There was a wood elf and a nord at the bridge talking about climbing the steps. The nord talked about needing to make a supply run to High Hrothgar but being unable to do it. "Maybe we could help," I pipped in,

"We're going to High Hrothgar today,"

"You'd do that? It would be much appreciated." The nord said

Faendal sighed. "When you mean "we" you really mean me." I smiled at him innocently, "Ok, hand me the supplies." The nord handed Faendal the bag of supplies. Faendal repositioned his bow, quiver, and the bag onto his back.

"Thank you! You're such a great man," I said. Faendal stared at me. "Mer? Merman? I - I don't know what to call you." I admitted.

"You can call me Faendal." He chortled. The other Bosmer laughed as well. More Bosmer humor? I wondered. I glanced at Lydia but she only shrugged.

"Thank you again." The nord said as we started across the bridge. "Find me once you're back down here."

We started up the mountain. The steps were uneven and some were completely gone all together. It was a hard climb zig zagging up the mountain. The higher we climbed the colder it became. Snow fell in small flurries but was soon so thick we could hardly see in front of our faces. I tried to close my cloak as much as possible to get away from the heavy snow fall.

Faendal stopped us suddenly. He hushed us when we asked what was wrong. "Don't you hear it?" He hissed. I could only hear the wind blowing the snow around our heads. I strained for noises besides the wind and heard what he was referring to. The distinct cries of a troll.

"We need to sneak up on it and take it by surprise." He whispered.

As if defying him Lydia unsheathed her sword and charged towards the sound of the troll. "What are you doing!?" Faendal yelled after her. We chased after her and soon saw the silhouettes of Lydia and the troll fighting. She blocked the trolls swings with her shield while catching the troll's body with her sword when there were openings. "That housecarl of your's is mad." Faendal stated as he took out his bow and notched an arrow. I conjured a frost atronach to help Lydia. It ran at the troll and bashed the troll in the stomach. Faendal let an arrow loose hitting the troll in it's arm. He was having difficulty aiming for the troll since Lydia would move suddenly and get in his aim. "Dammit!" He cursed. His arm wavered as he held back the arrow waiting for an opening. The ice atronach slammed into the troll giving Faendal the opening he needed. The arrow flew through the blizzard and hit the troll in the eye. It fell to the ground dead.

"Great shot!" Lydia exclaimed as she walked back to us.

"I once shot a bear from three hundred yards in a blizzard." Faendal bragged as he placed his bow on his back. He was acting like his shot was nothing special. He's mood suddenly changed to anger. "And what are you doing running into a fight with a troll like that!"

"I'm a Nord. Sneaking is for the elves." She exclaimed arrogantly.

"And we are elves!" He stressed. I hadn't seen Faendal this angry since Soldin told him about giving Camilla the fake letter.

I gently touched his arm. He was tense. "Faendal, calm down. We're safe and no one is injured." I told him softly.

"Fine," He pulled his arm from my hand and went ahead of us continuing up the uneven steps. "But next time listen to the hunter when it comes to beasts." he called back at us. We followed behind him up the mountain. Soon we were above the clouds and the blizzard. The sky was clear. The air crisp. The journey up the steps became much more enjoyable. Faendal slowly made his way back to us as we climbed up the mountain.

Some areas of the steps descended only to ascend in other places. I wasn't looking forward to going back down as ascending the steps were safer than descending. The ice on the steps were almost impossible to avoid. We climbed in silence. The three of us were out of breath from the climb to be able to talk more than was necessary. A snow mound ahead of us glistened in the sun. It seemed to move the closer we got to it. Was the snow slithering? "Ice wraith?" I asked Faendal. He nodded and stepped ahead in an attempt to protect me from it. But I wanted revenge. This ice wraith was mine.

The ice wraith slithered from the snow and hissed. I glared at the icy serpent and pushed past Faendal sprinting at the ice wraith while throwing balls of fire at it. "Rhew! What are you doing?" Faendal called after me.

The ice wraith was fast and tried to slither around to catch me off balance but I was always a step ahead of it. "Gods damn you! DIe you slithering ice!" I yelled as fireballs blasted into the icy serpent. It disintegrated into a pile of ice crystals. I picked up the teeth and handed them to Faendal. He took the teeth unsure what had just happened. Lydia and Faendal both looked at me as if I was a stranger. "Right. Let's continue. We still have quite the climb ahead." I said continuing to climb the stairs not wanting to wait for them to speak.

We were all out of breath but we made it. High Hrothgar was in sight. The large building atop the mountain seemed so peaceful compared to the journey we just made. Faendal placed the bag of supplies inside a chest that stood in front of the stairs that led to the building. There were offerings of food, weapons, armor, and flowers left at the base of the chest. We made our way up the stairs and into the sanctuary. Is it a sanctuary? I wondered. It wasn't much warmer inside but it was nice getting away from the bitter winds. As we walked into the main room an old man in a long grey cloak came to us. I could see why they were called "Greybeards". "Ah, so after so many centuries a Dragonborn appears before us at this day and age." He said, "I am Arngeir. Why do you come here, Dragonborn?" He asked.

"Well, you summoned me, didn't you?" I replied uncertain.

Arngeir thought for a moment. "Ah, yes. But that was months ago. Why appear now?" I glanced to the floor uncomfortable. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now. Let us taste your voice, Dragonborn."

"You….. you want me to shout at you?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, ok." I licked my lips and drew in a breath. "Fus!" Arngeir and a second Greybeard stumbled for a moment.

"So you really are Dragonborn! We welcome you, Dovahkiin." Arngeir said after he regained his balance. "Let's see how well you can learn another part of the shout." Arngeir explained to me that each shout has three words. Each word makes the shout stronger. This reminded me of being in Helgen and the Imperial turning to flames when I said the words the dragon had. Did I already know these shouts before I lost my memories? Three other Greybeards appeared in the room as Arngeir explained the shouts to me.

One of the Greybeards shouted at the floor before my feet. "Ro." It almost sounded like a whisper. The floor cracked and claw like markings appeared. Dragon language. I stared at the word. It was Ro. But… but I already knew this word and I didn't know why. Fus….. Fus Ro…. Fus Ro…..Dah. That was it! I looked around the room for an area that didn't have a person standing and shouted. "Fus Ro Dah!" A sonic force flew across the room. Random items were blown across the room from the shout. Once the shout dissipated he room was silent.

I looked around at everyone and saw dropped jaws. From the Greybeards because I shouted a word I shouldn't know. From Lydia because this was the first time she had actually seen me shout. Faendal was the only one who didn't look shocked. He looked proud. "Well, you really are Dragonborn." Arngeir said once he gathered his composure. "Let's see if we can teach you a shout you don't know. Follow us to the courtyard."

Faendal, Lydia and I followed the Greybeards through HIgh Hrothgar and out the back to a large courtyard. To the right of us was a large gate where an ice storm was constantly blowing. I looked up above the sanctuary and saw the mountain still went quite a ways more. I wonder what is up there. We stopped at the foot of the steps. "Let's see if you know this shout, Dragonborn." Arngeir said. "We will teach you the first word to whirlwind sprint, Wuld." Another Greybeard whispered his shout at the snowy ground. Like before the ground cracked and the claw marked word appeared. I studied this word and realized I didn't know it but I could feel it entering my being. The Greybeard had me face him and I felt the knowledge of the word rush from him into me. I gasped from the feeling. It was like jumping from a great height. Thrilling. "We'll test you on the word. Watch how master Bolli gets through the gate before it closes."

The Greybeard shouted a word and the gate opened. Bolli shouted. He flew across the ground so fast he looked like a blur and was through the gate before the other Greybeard could finish his shout. "Wow." I gasped in amazement. They set up the gate for me to try. The Greybeard shouted. The gate swung open. "Wuld!" I flew across the snowy bank through the gate. I had to wait for the rush to reside. I started laughing from the excitement. That was fun. I walked back to everyone but I felt a little disoriented. Lydia and Faendal laughed at my disoriented walk.

"It does take a few tries to get used to." Arngeir explained to me. "Well then, you're ready for your test."

"Test?" I asked once I could see straight.

"Yes, to prove once and for all you are Dragonborn." I looked at him skeptically. "Retrieve the horn of Jurgen Windcaller from his tomb. Bring it back here once you have retrieved it."

"Who?"

"He is the one who built High Hrothgar and began the Way of the Voice which we Greybeards follow."

"He was around during High-king Harald's reign. You might know who he is." Lydia mentioned. I shook my head. His name did not bring up any memories for me.

We headed back into the building to get out of the bitter cold. Inside Faendal unfurled the map and Arngeir marked where the tomb was. It was between Morthal and Solitude. "All the way out there!" I cried out. "And then we have to climb all the way back up here?"

"Tests are not meant to be easy, Dragonborn." Arngeir said simply. I sighed. He was right. Faendal started laughing.

"What's so funny to you?" I asked with slight.

"Traveling with you is the exact opposite of what my life used to be, Rhew." He claimed happily. "At this rate we'll end up exploring every inch of Skyrim." I couldn't help but smile. Faendal always seemed to look at the positive side of situations. It was nice.

I nodded. "Ok, we should out so we can get to the bottom of the mountain before night fall." I wasn't looking forward to leaving so soon after the long climb but we had a long travel ahead.

"Sky above, voice within." Arngeir told us as we left. I repeated it back which seemed to make him happy.

Making our way back down the mountain seemed to take longer than it did to climb. The slick stairs covered in ice made the descend a crawl. I slipped on one step and fell. Faendal managed to catch my arm saving me from possible flying down and over the mountain. Lydia started laughing. "Aren't you a snow elf? Shouldn't this be easy for you?"

I laughed sarcastically back at her. "Yes, because having the word "snow" in my name means I can dance all the way down the mountain with no problem." We all laughed at the image of us dancing our way down the massive mountain. If only it was that easy to descend.

It was dusk by the time we made it back to Ivarstead. I was relieved we made it before the sun had completely disappeared. The Nord from the morning was in the tavern drinking a mead with the Bosmer. "You're back! Quite a climb wasn't it?" He remarked.

"Yes, and we delivered your supplies." I told him. Faendal nudged me. "Ok, ok. He did." I restated motioning at Faendal.

"Thanks, friends! You really helped me out. I'm glad you found me. I wanted to give you this for the help." He handed me a large fat purse of coins. I stared at the purse. It was so large. "That's 1000 septims."

"1000!" Faendal and I cried out. "I can't accept that much!" I protested trying to shove the purse back into the Nord's hands.

He only pushed the purse back to me. "No. Really, take it. I want you to have it. I know how hard that climb can be. You really did me a great favor by taking the supplies for me."

"Well, let us buy you a mead at least." Faendal offered. He politely denied the offer. We were uncomfortable at the kindness we were seeing. From the small time I had escaped Helgen I realized kindness was a rare thing in Skyrim.