Chapter 36: Paarthurnax

Word soon began to spread about the dragonborn who'd surfaced recently; that he was an imperial from the south, and that he alone could take the power of a dragon when it was killed. As time passed, he was rumored to be delving into dungeons and discovering dragon pillars; finding and mastering new powers as he did so, which could be used through his Voice. His name was rarely mentioned, but his work was well-recognized. Whenever a town, threatened by a dragon attack, suddenly found that nothing but its bones were left on a nearby hillside, they knew that the Dohvakiin had been near.

However, even as he slew dragons, save people and recovered dragon shouts, Gergio Loran found himself wondering... Why were so many dragons showing up at all? Where were they all coming from, and why all at once? It was a puzzle that lurked in the back of his head, always reminding him that it still hadn't been solved, whenever he began to think that his task really was as simple as it looked. Being able to draw power by slaying dragons made the experience a bit rewarding, but he knew that it couldn't last. One day, the dragons would either overwhelm or outlive him, unless he could discover where they were coming from, and find some way to stop them.

In fact, one thing that surprised Gergio was that in spite of the fact that he seemed to have discovered his true mission, and in spite of the importance of that mission, and how vital it was to stop the dragons for good somehow, he still hadn't heard anything from Eron. He kept expecting to hear from Eron any day, and yet, there wasn't any word at all. It was almost as though the veteran was still playing with him, although Gergio knew that wasn't true. Eron hadn't been lying when he'd said that he wanted another student. So what, Gergio wondered, was the holdup? After all that time, was he still too weak to even learn from the man?

The greybeards, at least, had been providing him with the approximate locations of new dragon shout inscriptions, from which he could learn new shouts. It had given him a lot to do, and it hadn't been an easy job finding them, or quick, but it had really opened up his options, in terms of what he could do with his voice. Some of the things that he could do were very simple, and others were incredibly complex and powerful, but each one gave him new powers that he hadn't had before, and, he thought, they might be drawing him closer to contact with Eron again.

After all the enemies he'd defeated, and all the power he'd gathered, making contact with Eron seemed more important than ever, because Gergio was starting to realize that he didn't really know what to do next, or indeed, if there was any purpose to his powers, apart from killing dragons. Life is often difficult, but without some goal to achieve, it can be maddening, and the longer he went on, the more Gergio got the impression that he did have a purpose, but had somehow failed to fulfill it.

However, at last, he returned to High Hrothgar, having slain five dragons since breakfast, and was beginning to wonder whether there was any real point to it all. Soon, the greybeards rose to greet him once again, although he only just had the heart to ask them his usual question.

"Have you found any other words for me?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Arngeir replied, however. It was the first time that he'd given that answer since Gergio had first met him, and in a way, it made him feel hopeful.

"Your progress has been truly astonishing, dragonborn." Arngeir noted, "So much so, in fact, that the head of our order wishes to speak with you."

For a moment, Gergio wasn't sure he'd heard that right, but he was too tired to take much offense as he asked "You mean there's another greybeard I haven't met, and you never mentioned him?"

"My apologies, Dragonborn." Arngeir replied with an penitent bow, "However, it didn't seem relevant at the time. The discovery that you were dragonborn, and your training and preparation made discussion of our leader a less important subject at the time. He almost never meets with anyone, so this is a rare occasion, but he's spoken while you were gone, and said that the time had come for you to meet him face to face. What he wishes to discuss with you, I don't know, but it must be very important."

Gergio wasn't sure what to think of that observation. It seemed odd to him that the head of the greybeards had known that there was a dragonborn all that time, and still hadn't bothered to show himself. Still, after all he'd been through, and how badly he'd wanted some new task, he was ready to withhold judgment until all the evidence was in, so he just nodded, and followed Arngeir, who'd soon lead him through the back doors and out to the back of the building.

It had been a while since Gergio had seen that section of the hermitage, but it was the place where he'd first learned to use the whirlwind sprint, so it was familiar to him. However, there was something there that he'd barely even noticed the first time he'd been there, but which, on that day, drew his attention quite a bit. Off to the right, there was a pair of medium-sized towers, connected in the middle into a sort of archway, far enough away from the door that it could go unnoticed, but close enough that it could be seen pretty clearly if one was looking directly at it, and Arngeir was headed straight towards that archway.

As they approached the arch, however, Gergio noticed something that hadn't been obvious from a distance. There was a sharp, strong wind, whipping across the far side of the arch. It was even visible; driving the snow so quickly, that Gergio knew, just by looking at it, that if he dared to step inside, he'd be torn to pieces.

Soon, Arngeir had gotten to within a few yards of the arch, and Gergio followed only a few feet behind. Finally, the greybeard turned and spoke again, looking very serious.

"This is the wind wall, and beyond this point is the path to the head of our order. No person can cross the wind wall unless they've mastered the shout which can make the skies clear. If you can learn this shout, you'll be able to enter. Are you ready?"

It wouldn't have been in any way shameful if Gergio had said "no." After all, his day had been especially busy, and he was exhausted, but having been called "weak" by Eron had made him feel pretty self-conscious about taking it too easy, and he didn't want any of his own weakness to be his fault. Besides, if he could face the greybeard leader in that exhausted state, what would he be able to do at his best? Could he really still be seen as weak then?

"Alright." he said, "Teach me the words."

In a moment, Arngeir had nodded his head, and soon, with what felt almost like a whisper, Gergio found three new words revealing themselves to his mind. Before he had time to regret his choice, he stepped towards the wind wall and spoke in the commanding tone to which he'd become accustomed recently.

"Lok Vah Koor!"

A week before, the wind would never have responded to Gergio in the slightest, but with all the work, and all the practice that he'd put into mastering the power of the Voice, there was no longer any question whether he could use the words well enough. In only a moment, the wind wall began to slow, until at last, the winds had ceased entirely, revealing a path further up the mountain.

"The path is open!" Arngeir exclaimed, looking as amazed as he was pleased, in spite of all that Gergio had accomplished already, "Go! Speak with our leader; Paarthurnax, and don't fear his appearance. He is wise and good, and he will help you find what you need. Hurry, before it closes again."

With nothing more than a nod, Gergio took off after that, dashing up the mountain path, towards his new goal; Paarthurnax.

As Gergio went on, he found that the path up was actually harder to follow than the path to High Hrothgar had been. One reason was that although there'd been scattered snowfall in the lower parts of the mountain, the snow past the arch only seemed to let up when he used his new shout to clear the skies for a brief period. In fact, he was beginning to find that his newly-discovered shout only really created calm weather for a few dozen yards in a column around himself when it was used, and that the effect only lasted for about a minute, before the oppressive, snowy atmosphere began to descend on him again, and he had to use the shout again to keep from being covered in the falling snow.

Still, he pressed on, in spite of his exhaustion, in spite of the weather, in spite of the emptiness that he was continuing to feel more and more, as he went on being the dragonborn. It was some fun, he was starting to realize, being able to save people from enemies as dangerous as the dragons, but what was the point, really? Still, in spite of those questions, he pressed on, because above all else, he was determined not to be weak, and at last, the snow gave way to either side, and Gergio found himself almost stumbling forward, onto the very top of the mountain, with only a few large rocks occupying a higher place on the mountaintop than himself.

At least, that was how it seemed at the time.

However, as the clear weather shrank around him, and the clouds condensed once again, Gergio leaned over, trying to catch his breath, and it was just then that some lightning flashed in the distance, and for a moment, the dragonborn caught sight of a massive silhouette, no more than a few dozen paces ahead, and a yard or two up. It was very large, and perched on the boulders ahead, and in that one flash, Gergio had started to trace the contours of the thing with his eyes. He could see its spiked hide, its horned head, its long snout, and the long, serpentine neck on which its head was perched, and worse yet, he thought, that flash must have illuminated him even more, and he was too tired and worn out to fight another dragon; especially not while his vision was being impared by all that snow. Still, he drew his sword, determined to make a brave stand.

Trying his best to keep sight of the beast's contours, Gergio paced left, keeping his eye on the creature and his sword trained on it, but even so, the snow in that location was so heavily-pressed and ice-like, that it was hard for him to keep his footing, and he found himself moving slowly, and unable to react a moment later, when the dragon spoke.

"Zun Haal Viik!"

It was a shout that Gergio had never heard a dragon use before, but he knew what it meant. Though he managed to keep from being knocked over by the force of the dragon's Voice, the sword flew from his hand. Then, just as he was opening his mouth to speak, the dragon's overpowering voice said one more word.

"Su!"

In a flash, the dragon's front claw had seized the dragonborn around his midsection, pinning him to the stone wall behind him, while another claw clamped down over his mouth, the hard dragon scales grating against his teeth. For a moment, Gergio felt horrible, mortal terror fill his heart, but as moment after moment passed, and the dragon remained in that position, with one claw restraining his body, and the other his Voice, but no claw poised to strike, he began to realize the truth and calm down.

As soon as the panicked look vanished from Gergio's face, the dragon spoke again; not in the dragon tongue, but in the common speech, which offered no special powers, except the ability to make oneself understood.

"I see in your eyes that you know I will not do you harm. In the fact that you reached this place, I see that you are dragonborn. That is well. You know, then, that while I will not harm you, I will not permit you to harm me, because I am the one you have been seeking. I am Paarthurnax; the founder of tongues, of the Voice and of the greybeards. You may speak."

At that point, Parthurnax removed his claw from over Gergio's mouth, and all that the dragonborn could do was stare up at the big dragon for a few moments, looking absolutely stunned. It was only the second time in the recent past that someone had decisively beaten him in battle, but it was quite different from Eron. When he'd been fighting Eron, there was always a sense that the veteran was simply better than him at everything, and barely needed to try, in order to crush him. Parthurnax was different. His shouts were of the same types as the ones that Gergio himself had been learning, but unlike Gergio, who used his shouts mainly at the moment when he needed them, and reacted to whatever he was faced with, Parthurnax had used multiple shouts in order, as part of a carefully-executed plan. His use of the disarming shout had been very well done, of course, but combining it with the shout that increased the speed of his own arms, and using only the first word of that shout, in order to execute his maneuver without delay... The whole thing showed good planning and cunning of the sharpest sort.

It was very strange, Gergio thought, that a massive creature like Paarthurnax should seem less powerful than the veteran Eron, and yet, in his own way, wiser.

"Have you nothing to say? Have you truly no questions to ask?" Paarthurnax asked, after several seconds had passed in silent, and snow had begun to gather on both of their heads. However, Gergio quickly shook himself a little, and replied as best he could.

"Forgive me." Gergio said at last, feeling more and more humbled, as he looked into the dragon's ancient eyes, "I was distracted. You're not what I was expecting."

"I know." Parthurnax said, "Still, you've had many questions weighing on you recently, or I'm no judge of character. Ask some of them. The answers may be simple to give."

It was strange. Before ascending the mountain, Gergio had seemed to have all sorts of problems, and indeed, they'd been all he could think about. Yet, being face to face with such a being as Paarthurnax; a creature of both power and skill, he was having a hard time thinking of any of them. It was only after struggling to think of something for almost fifteen seconds that he remembered the problem that had seemed like such a cause of concern that morning.

"Paarthurnax..." Gergio began, "I've been fighting dragons all across Skyrim for what feels like months, but there's just so many of them, and they keep popping up in the same places. Is there any way to stop them from reproducing, so I won't have to fight them anymore?"

At once, however, Paarthurnax's eyes closed, and he breathed out forcefully before opening them again, staring directly into Gergio's eyes in concern when he spoke again.

"It's well that you should seek to understand this. However, I fear that the answer is not so simple. To begin with, the dohva are not reproducing. They are returning to life, after years upon years of death."

"Coming back from the dead?!" Gergio gasped, as the dragon finally released him from its loose, but restricting grip, "Is that even possible?"

"More things are possible than we often realize." the dragon replied, though it kept its head low to the ground as it spoke to its imperial guest, "The Voice makes some things possible, which would otherwise be the domain of magicians and sorcerors, or of daedra or the gods."

"Are you saying that someone is using the Voice to bring the dragons back to life?" Gergio asked, his worry growing over the thought.

"Yes." Paarthurnax replied, "Still, the worst damage has already been done, and I fear it will be very difficult to undo it. Alduin is awake once again."

"Alduin?" Gergio asked. He'd never heard the name before, and needless to say, he was very curious.

"Yes. It does not surprise me that you don't recognize his name." Paarthurnax said just a moment later, "Still, if you had heard of him, that would not surprise me either. Alduin's name is not unknown in the world of mortal men, but it is not common either. Many, I fear, have sought to forget him."

"Alduin, you see, is a dohva like myself, and like myself, he has mastered the Voice to a great degree. However, when Akatosh brought forth the first of the dohva, Alduin was the first and mightiest. He is larger and more powerful than the others, and seeks to rule over man and dohva alike. Indeed, he was made to rule, but he seeks also to usurp the rightful place of Akatosh. Still, even when his ambitions were not so lofty, I still opposed him, for his reign was cruel and unwise, and his jaws threatened all living things."

"You see," Paarthurnax continued, "Alduin can consume food as you or I do, but he can also consume other things. Anything, in fact, around which his mouth can reach, and if he wishes, he has the power to send the things he consumes out of existence. With enough time, he may even destroy this entire world."

"I'll stop him." Gergio replied firmly, but Paarthurnax didn't look convinced.

"Will you? Will you truly? Alduin's strength is greater than my own, and you could not defeat me in battle."

"I'll get better." Gergio replied, but the dragon seemed less skeptical of that claim.

"I have no question about that." he said, "However, you will need something greater than the powers that you have if you are to fight Alduin. You see, even the dragonborn cannot draw on his powers fully, and so he will continue to return to life, in spite of your best efforts, unless he can somehow be weakened. You see, it is through Alduin's power that the other dohva are returning to life. It was he who was restored to life by some poor fool; probably now long dead, and it is he who roams the land, restoring other dohva to life whenever he finds their remains. This is why you have needed to fight so many. They are being brought to life again, after being slain."

"So in other words, if I can defeat Alduin for good, the others will stop reappearinng." Gergio concluded.

"That would seem to be the case," Paarthurnax agreed, "However, it would happen only gradually, and would take some time. You would still have much work to do."

"Still, it's a place to start." Gergio concluded, "You said I'd need some way to weaken him. Do you know of any weak points he has?"

"There is a way to weaken Alduin, though I cannot make use of it myself." the dragon replied, "However, first, you must show your power to me. Begin by standing in place against the force of my Thu'um, as you have, no doubt, done against the Thu'um of the greybeards."

Gergio knew at once what that meant, so soon, he'd braced himself as best he could on the slippery mountaintop and in seconds, the power of the dragon's Voice was washing over him. It felt as though it was pushing through his body with a force he'd never felt before, but once again, he could soon feel his body pushing back, and after about a minute, he barely even felt the push anymore from outside, and was feeling stronger than ever, as the dragon finally stopped its shouting.

"Now, listen to the word which I speak next," the dragon continued, "Then, bathe me in your Voice, and we will see what happens."

Gergio listened hard as a new word began revealing itself to him, and at last, he spoke it in a strong tone of voice.

"Yol!"

The moment that the word had passed the dragonborn's lips, a jet of fire shot forth from a short distance in front of his mouth, and its flames rose up around Paarthurnax, whipping around his neck and wings, and surrounding his head. At first, the sight worried Gergio just a little, as the fire stopped coming out of his mouth, and he realized what he'd just done, but Paarthurnax seemed completely unharmed by the blaze, and at last, with three mighty flaps of his wings, the fire went out, and there he stood, just as before. There weren't even any black marks on his scales.

"Your Voice is quite strong, dohvakiin!" the dragon cheered, with what was probably meant to be a smile, though it was hard to recognize a smile on the face of a dragon, "You have truly the dragon blood in your veins. I greet you as I would a fellow dohva. Now, we may speak of the weakness that you seek. Alduin's power was once unconquerable, even once mortal man learned to make use of the Voice. In the far distant past, men had formed an army, dedicated to making use of the Voice, to overthrow Alduin. They overcame dohva by the dozens, as you have done, and mastered all the words of the shouts that we had crafted. However, against Alduin, it proved to be all for nothing. His powers were greater than any had suspected. He had mastered shouts that no other could weild, and he was impervious to all permanent harm. There was no force or technique among the dohva to defeat him, so man, in desperation, crafted one."

"His skill in the voice had soon grown so great, that he began to experiment with the words; to learn our language more fully and combine our words in ways that we had never dared attempt. Indeed, in ways that we could not, for to do so would mean our own destruction. From this method, man mastered the shout called 'dragonrend.'"

"So, dragonrend could defeat Alduin?" Gergio asked, trying to make certain that he understood what Paarthurnax was telling him.

"It certainly could." Paarthurnax replied, "It has done so before."

"But you can't use it, or else it would destroy you." Gergio continued, receiving a nod from the dragon in response.

"Do you at least know the words to it?" the dragonborn finally asked, but Paarthurnax shook his head sadly.

"To master words so destructive to myself would only endanger me, and I could not bring myself to do that." Paarthurnax replied, "Worse yet, I know of no man still alive who can use the dragonrend."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Gergio asked, though as he spent time with that dragon, he found that he was having an easier time controlling his temper, and the words were spoken in desperation, but not in anger.

"One of your skill might learn such a shout in many ways, without being taught it." the dragon continued, "Perhaps through a visionary dream. Have you ever had such? Oh. Not with regard to the dragonrend, I see. Well, perhaps it could be learned through scrying. Have you any friends among the mages who know how to... You've never heard of scrying? Alas! It was a powerful magic art once, though I fear that like many such arts, it may have been lost to your people in recent years. Perhaps, if you heard or witnessed its use by another... However, there are no others who can use this shout now. Surely, it was never carved into stone, and yet, there must be some way... Hmmm..."

The dragon sat and pondered for about three minutes, his nostrils giving off smoke, which rose in a stream over the mountain, to be swept aside by the winds as it did so. Still, the air was beginning to look thicker, when the dragon shook his head and spoke again.

"I fear that there are few paths offering even a chance of victory, dohvakiin. Even those that do are but faint hopes. I would not presume to say that any offers a strong chance for success, but there may still be a way. If you can locate a kel, it may allow you to see into the past, for just long enough to learn what you need."

"A kel?" Gergio asked, feeling puzzled, "What's a kel?"

"True. True." the dragon replied, "You still know only little of the dohva tongue. It is an item that bestows great knowledge and power. It acts as a fragment of the earlier reality. In your eyes, it might appear as though it were in the shape of a parchment scroll."

"Parchment scroll?" Gergio thought for a moment, puzzling over it in his mind, but at last, it dawned on him what the dragon must have meant, and the very thought worried him.

"You're not talking about an elder scroll, are you?"

"Hmmm... Yes! Yes, I believe I have heard them called such, though of course, they are more than they appear."

However, Gergio was already shaking his head in amazement at the very thought.

"The elder scrolls contain some of the most powerful magic in all of Tamriel. You don't just find them lying in a dungeon somewhere. Generally, they're in the clutches of the rich and powerful, and guarded ferociously."

"As I said, it is a faint hope." the dragon admitted with a nod, "Still, if you could find and acquire one, it might be used to do what you need; to see into the past and learn the dragonrend."

"I'll bet you don't know where to find one." Gergio just said a moment later. For him, the phrasing was uncommonly polite, and as it turned out, his guess was right.

"It has been long ages since I have descended into the world of men, and even in those ancient days, I fear that I never saw a kel with my own eyes." Paarthurnax admitted sadly, "Still, there are surely others who might possess such knowledge; if not of where to find one, then at the very least, of where not to find it. Surely, you may walk among mortal men and converse with them in a way that would be impossible for myself, or even for the other greybeards."

However, it was only then that Gergio realized just how many doors he'd been closing for himself in dealing with the people of Skyrim up to that point, and just how hard his new task would be.

"This land isn't my home." the dragonborn noted aloud, "This whole time, I've sort of been expecting to finish my business here, and just go back to Cyrodiil and never look back. I'm afraid I've been treating this land's people with less respect than they might like."

That, however, was when Paarthurnax asked something that made Gergio bristle just a little.

"Why did you first come to Skyrim, Dohvakiin?"

However, in response, Gergio just shook his head.

"Never mind." he said, "If the only way to beat this dragon king is to find an elder scroll, I guess I'd better start looking for one. Don't worry. I'll be back."

Then, Gergio started down the path back towards High Hrothgar, not once looking back at the mighty dragon, and the wise teacher, who he was leaving behind.

Beyond the mods addendum; Things you can't do in-game

1. Again, Arngeir is a lot more open with his explanations in this story than in Skyrim.

2. Paarthurnax doesn't disarm or restrain you, or prevent you from attacking him in the game, though he's marked "essential" until his part of the main quest is over. Also, like everyone, he's far more open with his explanations, and his dialogue is more thorough.

3. Many of the topics that Paarthurnax discusses with Gergio are discovered by other means in the game, which sometimes make less sense.