The flight was frustrating. I knew that what I'm doing now is for the good of Skyrim and very possibly any world, but with how Bishop left me, all I could be was angry. Angry with him, with myself. I was very tempted to turn Odahviing around and have him eat Bishop or pick him up and force him to come with me. However, the more time I waste, the more time Alduin gets stronger and ends everything. I know what I have to do, but I feel... empty.

I no longer have someone I trust to watch my back. Someone I care about to where I almost feel lost without them. All that could keep me from jumping off the dragon in midair or forcing him to land early and not even try to save the world was a silent prayer. Not to the Maker, not to the eight or nine divines, and not to the elven gods. No, my prayer was to my mother, wherever she is. I prayed that she'd give me the strength she once had when she left her home village, when she fought to survive in Kirkwall, when she faced my grandmother's killer, when she fought to free the city from the Qunari, when she fought against the odds to help the mages, and when she left home to face an even bigger threat that she had no idea if she would ever come back from. I don't know if she could ever hear me, but once I finished my prayer, I felt warmth on my right shoulder like a hand was placed there telling me that everything will be alright. Might just be my mind playing tricks on me, but I'll take what I can get.

Odahviing dropped me off in front of the ruin Skuldafn only to be attacked by more dragons and an army of angry draugr both inside and outside the ruin. The gate to Sovngarde was guarded by a draugr dragon priest of some kind and to top it off, the staff in the creature's hand was the only key to the portal. Just my luck, or is it the luck that has been handed down to me from my Amell blood? Who knows? Point is, I barely survived killing the draugr and getting the staff.

Now I'm using the Clear Skies shout to get through some strange mist in the Nordic afterlife, Sovngarde. The mist burns to the touch and Clear Skies is the only thing that can help me find a path through. From the tales I've heard, this place should be a lot more peaceful, not spooky. Could it be because I'm alive here instead of dead? I think Uncle Varric mentioned how the Fade looked differently when he passed through physically verses mentally. Could it be like that?

I hear a roar in the distance and barely get a glimpse of Alduin in the distance when a man comes rushing up to me out of nowhere. "Turn back, traveler! Terror awaits within this mist. Many have braved the shadowed vale but vain is all courage against the peril that guards the way."

Startled, I ask. "Who are you?"

"Near Giants' Gap, in the gloom before dawn, we marched, unsuspecting into the Imperials' trap. Then we stood and fought, our shield-wall defending until by dawn's light the Legion's ranks wavered. But I never knew if nights-end brought victory- a swift-flying arrow to Sovngarde carried me." He looks like a Stormcloak; he must have died fighting the Imperials.

"What's this mist?" It doesn't feel natural for a mist in a realm of afterlife.

"I do not know - but none have passed through. Alduin, his hunger insatiable, hunts the lost souls snared within this shadowed valley. Can you lead the way to where Shor's hall waits, beckoning us on to welcome long sought?" He looks frightened, I guess even the dead have the fear of dying or in this case being consumed by a dragon.

"Shor's hall? What's that?" I think I've heard of it before, but I could be wrong. Besides, getting the poor dead Nord to talk about something else may calm him down.

"Don't you know? What drew you here? Surely your dreams showed you the way?" The way he just said that reminds me of all the times my Uncle Anders would tell me of the Fade while Varric would tell me that it's a bad idea. Sorry Varric, but I'm in the Nord version of the Fade, I guess. "The Hall of Valor, where heroes wait to follow Shor to the final battle. I saw it fair when first I trod this long-sought path. The pain and fear vanished, dreamlike, and a vision beckoned. Shor's hall, shimmering across the clouded vale. But quenched was hope by the shrouding mist- my mind is darkened. I've lost the way and wander blindly. Hurry! Before Alduin your life devours bring word to Shor's hall of our hard fate!"

Getting him to calm down didn't work, but maybe there will be warriors who can help me in Shor's Hall. "Follow me. I'll lead you through this mist."

"I'll try to hold to your hopeful purpose. Quickly, before this encompassing fog once more snares me in the World-Eater's net." He's thankful, but still terrified.

"Don't worry, I'm here to kill Alduin." I assure him as well as myself.

"Beware! The World-Eater waits within the mist!" Without another word, he vanishes into the mist again.

Alduin truly is a monster. It's bad enough that he wants to kill and enslave all life, but consuming the souls of the dead who only wish to rest in peace as well as deserve it is just... I can't even stomach it. If Bishop were here-!

I thought about him again without even meaning to. I shake my head and shout. "Lok, VAH, KOOR!" Heartbreak or no, I have a job to do or else everything, even the dead, dies.

I continues to shout Clear Skies when I can, passing by more lost souls in the mist. If this mist is truly Alduin's, then I hope there is a version of Hell or Oblivion for a soulless monster like him. I hope that if I do have to absorb his soul to kill him, he'll stay dead. Don't want the future generations having this over their heads.

I start to see something. A bridge of bones leading to a building free from the mist. Is this Shor's Hall? Perhaps the man at the front of the bridge can help.

"What brings you here, wayfarer grim, to wonder here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to the honored dead?" he asks me as his hand inches to his weapon.

Wonder what's his story. "Who are you?"

"I am Tsun, shield-thane to Shor. The Whalebone Bridge he bade me guard and winnow all the souls whose heroic end sent them here, to Shor's lofty hall where welcomed, well-earned, awaits those I judge fit to join that fellowship of honor." So a gatekeeper.

"I pursue Alduin, the World-Eater." That sounded a little bit more formal than I intended, but whatever works, right.

"A fateful errand. No few have chafed to face the Worm since first he set his soul-snare here at Sovngarde's threshold. But Shor's restrained our wrathful onslaught- perhaps, deep-counselled, your doom he foresaw." Thanks for the confidence, pal.

"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 do you request entry?" He sounds a little angry.

Let's hope that telling him the truth will help. "By the right of birth. I am Dragonborn."

"Ah! It's been too long since last I faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood." Thank you?

"Can I enter the Hall of Valor?" Please say yes.

Tsun doesn't look like he's going to say yes. "Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'til I judge them worthy by the warrior's test."

Say what? He unsheathes his weapon, swinging it at my head. He is seriously trying to kill me? I'm trying to save the world and this plain of reality! I turn to him, steel sword in my hand blocking his next attack. One thing that can always be used in a battle against any man, dead or alive, is a nice swift kick. Tsun drops in pain and I punch him in the face. With him lying on the ground, I lift my blade to lightly touch his neck, showing him that he has lost.

"You fought well. I find you worthy. It is long since one of the living has entered here. May Shor's favor follow you and your errand." Yeah, you better let me in, today is not a day to mess with me.

I cross the bridge and walk through the doors of Shor's Hall. I think this is what the legends were really about. Warriors of old feasting and singing songs of their adventures. Getting the peace they deserved.

A man with somewhat familiar armor is the first to greet me. "Welcome, Dragonborn! Our door has stood empty since Alduin first set his soul-snare here. By Shor's command we sheathed our blades and ventured not the vale's dark mist. But three await your word to loose their fury upon the perilous foe. Gormlaith the fearless, glad-hearted in battle; Hakon the valiant, heavy-handed warrior; Felldir the Old, far-seeing and grim." The three that banished Alduin in time to begin with!

I run around to try to find them. They're bound to help since it's clear no one else will.

Gormlaith is the first of the three to see me coming. "At long last! Alduin's doom is now ours to seal- just speak the word and with high hearts we'll hasten forth to smite the worm wherever he lurks." Eager as the day she died I see.

"Hold, comrades- let us counsel take before battle is blindly joined. Alduin's mist is more than a snare- its shadowy gloom is his shield and cloak. But with four Voices joined, our valor combined, we can blast the mist and bring him to battle." Felldir advises.

Hakon agrees with him, and it sounds like it's the first time he's done so. "Felldir speaks wisdom- the World-Eater, coward, fears you, Dragonborn. We must drive away his mist, Shouting together, and then unsheathe our blades in desperate battle with our black-winged foe."

"To battle, my friends! The fields will echo with the clamor of war, our wills undaunted." Gormlaith charges out ahead of us before I even get a word out.

The other two shake their heads before we go after her through the doors to the end of the whale bone bridge.

"The eyes of Shor are upon you this day. Defeat Alduin, and destroy his soul-snare." I guess that was Tsun's way of wishing us luck.

Felldir speaks loudly. "We cannot fight the foe in this mist!"

Gormlaith then instructs us. "Clear Skies - combine our Shouts!"

"Lok, VAH, KOOR!" I am the first to shout, the others follow suit.

"Ven, MUL, RIIK!" Must be Alduin's shout to create the mist.

"Again!" Gormlaith yells.

We shout as one, but Alduin's shout makes the mist return. This is becoming annoying.

Hakon looks just as frustrated as me. "Does his strength have no end? Is our struggle in vain?"

Gormlaith still has hope. "Stand fast! His strength is failing! Once more, and his might will be broken!"

Felldir agrees "One more time, and the World-Eater must face us!"

I hope third time will be the charm. We shout, the mist disappears for good, and Alduin flies in to face us. I'm thankful to have backup. He looks pissed. Alduin shouts as I notch an arrow and flaming rocks fall from the sky. It's bad enough that we have to keep him on the ground taking every opening we can find, but dodging flaming rocks from the sky that can hit us at any time, that is making this nearly impossible.

Alduin thankfully looks like he's weakening, but I'm not letting up. I'm about ready to shoot him in the eye when I notice that Gormlaith is about to get hit by a rock. I knock her over and get the both of us out of the way, but Alduin takes the opportunity to strike me from behind. His tail felt like a war axe against my back. I can't get up. The pain is great enough to where I can't feel anything but the slash from my back and I can only hear Alduin above everything else.

"You are persistent, Dovahkiin. Pruzeh Ol Aar. A fine slave you would have made."

Something in me snaps and my marking glow like the day I was sent to Skyrim. More powerful even. They help give me the strength to stand and unsheathe my sword. My markings are even empowering the steel. Alduin rears his head in surprise.

"Did you forget what I told you back in Kynesgrove?" I ask him, ready to strike as my markings heal my wound to where there is nothing but a scar. "I am not your slave!"

Together, the three heroes of old and I finish a final blow. Alduin roars in terror as his flesh explodes off, and his vile soul evaporates, finally ending his tyrannical reign for good.

Tsun approaches us with many old heroes behind him. "This was a mighty deed! The doom of Alduin encompassed at last, and cleansed is Sovngarde of his evil snare. They will sing of this battle in Shor's hall forever. But your fate lies elsewhere. When you have completed your count of days, I may welcome you again, with glad friendship and bid you join the blessed feasting. "

"All hail the Dragonborn! Hail her with great praise!" Everyone around me cheers.

Tsun is right, I can't stay here. "I'm ready to return to Tamriel."

"Return now to Nirn, with this rich boon from Shor, my lord: a Shout to bring a hero from Sovngarde in your hour of need. Nahl, DAAL, VUS!" Tsun shouts me back to the throat of the world.

I look up to find that many of the dragons have gathered, Paarthurnax among them. Together, they say their peace and start circling the summit, almost like last rites. Guess this means that they accept Alduin's fall and won't eat me this time.

Paarthurnax lands close to me. "So, it is done. Alduin Dilon. The Eldest is no more, he who came before all others, and has always been."

"I was just fulfilling my destiny as Dragonborn." I sigh, feeling a bad taste in my mouth

Paarthurnax agrees. "Indeed, you saw more clearly than I- certainly more clearly than Alduin. Rok Funta Koraav. Perhaps you now have some insight into the forces that shape the Vennesetiid... the currents of Time. Perhaps you begin to see the world as a Dovah." He looks proud, almost like a father to his child. "But I forget myself. Krosis. So Los Mid Ahdon. Melancholy is an easy trap for a dovah to fall into. You have won a mighty victory. Sahrot Krongrah- one that will echo through all the ages of this world for those who have eyes to see. Savor your triumph, Dovahkiin. This is not the last of what you will write upon the currents of Time. Goraan! I feel younger than I have in many an age." He goes to fly with his kin. " Many of the Dovah are now scattered across Keizaal. Without Alduin's lordship, they may yet bow to the Vahzen... rightness of my Thu'um. But willing or no, they will hear it! Fare thee well, Dovahkiin!" I can only assume that he'll be in charge now and any dragon I face will be against him.

Odahviing lands near me as Paarthurnax leaves. "Pruzah Wundunne Wah Wuth Gein. I wish the old one luck in his... quest. But I doubt many will wish to exchange Alduin's lordship for the tyranny of Paarthurnax's "Way of the Voice". As for myself, you've proven your mastery twice over. Thuri, Dovahkiin. I gladly acknowledge the power of your Thu'um. Zu'u Odahviing. Call me when you have need, and I will come if I can."

I nod to him and he flies off, leaving me alone to my thoughts on the top of the mountain. This is where it all began. Alduin's banishment, me being sent here, and now his defeat. What is next? What is beyond the next horizon I wonder? I think all this and more as I walk down the mountain to my room in High Hrothgar. I toss my bag, feeling tired beyond belief. I hear something flutter out of my bag, interrupting my thoughts of the future and my family.

Tarkas's letter to me. I forgot that it was even in my bag. I open it thinking, "Just saved the world. Might as well see what he wrote me now that I have nothing to do." I only need a glimpse to know what really happened. I now know my next move. Destination, Windhelm.