Kiir had forgotten that High Hrothgar, for obvious reasons, did not have a stable for the horses and to leave them outside in the cold was not an option. She led Sid as close to the doors as she could before she leapt off. "Shit."
"That's definitely not what I wanted to hear once we got here," Tukara said.
"I completely forgot," Kiir said, drawing her brows low. "Last time, the Greybeards only allowed me entry. They turned Aela and Nie'mar away."
Tukara straightened. "What? How do you forget that?"
"Do you know how long it's been since I've been here?"
"Long enough, it seems."
"I'm sorry! There's not a lot I can do about it now."
"No, I guess-" Tukara's voice was cut short as the large, double doors squealed open behind her.
Kiir looked up, surprised to see Arngeir looking down at them. She waved, through the sullen look on his face made her uneasy.
"Dovahkiin. It has been some time." He beckoned to all of them. "Come inside, quickly."
"What of the horses?" Driem asked.
Arngeir paused. He turned his head inside the door and spoke some words.
Another elderly man, one Kiir regrettably did not remember the name of, walked outside and made a motion to grab the reins.
"Master Wulfgar will have them moved to the back. We have a small shed they can stay in. They will be safe. Now, please." Arngeir gestured again for them to follow.
Kiir was the first up the stairs. The inside of High Hrothgar felt homier than she thought it would. The grey walls and dim lighting no longer felt drab but familiar. Like a home away from home. She turned to see Tukara and Driem being let in behind her. Kiir was surprised, but she didn't say anything.
Arngeir pushed close the front door and moved to walk beside Kiir, leading her towards the back of the building. He looked at her, brows low. "I take it you lost the Horn."
Kiir flinched. "Ah, yeah. Someone-"
"Miraak," Arngeir answered for her.
"You knew?" Now Kiir's own brow fell low over her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything? That could have saved me so much trouble!"
Arngeir shook his head. "We only knew of the First Dragonborn, not that he had somehow found his way back. By all accounts, he should be dead."
"If Orthjolf was telling the truth about being his brother, that would make him centuries old," Tukara said.
"A brother?" Arngeir looked surprised, turning back to meet Tukara's eyes. "I never considered that he might have family. Certainly not some that were still alive."
Kiir pressed her thumb into her palm, loathe to ask her next question. "So, about the Horn."
Arngeir waved his hand dismissively. "I might be more upset if there weren't larger things at play here. Had you simply misplaced it, or lost it, yes, there would be problems. But, unfortunately, it was taken from you by someone who would see this world under his thumb. That is where my concern lies."
"Do we need it, though?" Kiir continued.
"We only needed it in the way of keeping out of other's hands. Specifically, Miraak's."
Kiir tapped her fingers on her leg. This topic made her uncomfortable. "So, how did you find out he had come back?"
"Paarthurnax. Though, it was somewhat a stroke of luck. It was only after Miraak first contacted you that Paarthurnax was even able to recognize him."
"Recognize him?"
"I'll let him explain himself."
Kiir followed Arngeir out to their back area, where she had first learned her Wuld shout. It was surprisingly calm out behind the building. She could hear the wind swirl around the area and Kiir wondered if it was geography or magic. Or perhaps both. "He wouldn't happen to know anything about a Dragonrend shout, would he?"
Arngeir turned. "It is possible, though it is a touch ironic that you should be asking him about such a shout."
"Ironic?"
"Mmm, it is a shout made by men. One of only two ever created."
Kiir frowned. "Made by men?"
Arngeir nodded, but did not elaborate. He instead nodded his head towards a small trail that wound further up the mountain. "Our teacher sits at the peak, the Throat of the World. Continue onwards and speak to him. He's eager to meet you."
Kiir took two steps forward before she stopped and turned. "Why not have me meet him when I was here before?"
"You'll understand once you reach the peak." Arngeir offered a small smile and slipped behind Tukara and Driem to begin walking back to High Hrothgar.
"So," Driem started, "are we coming up too, or...?"
Kiir shrugged, trudging up the path. "Arngeir didn't say anything against it. I think you both are fine." She paused. "I wonder what changed, though. What made him okay with people being here."
"What was the problem before?" Tukara asked, falling into step.
"If I remember right, Arngeir said the other Greybeards fear speaking to others should they harm them with their Thu'um. Though, if you know shouts, the ability doesn't seem as potent? That's how I understood it, at least." Kiir hummed. "And you know a shout, Driem. What about you, Tukara?"
"I do."
Kiir chuckled. "Arngeir made it sound like learning shouts was an incredibly arduous process and yet I somehow stumble upon the two other people who know how?"
"Perhaps it was destined," Driem chuckled. "And, for what it's worth, I learned my shout from Hermaeus. It was a direct transfer of knowledge. I didn't spend years meditating on it, or whatever."
Tukara nodded. "It was close to the same for me. Not the Daedric Lord part. I was given the knowledge directly."
"So maybe shouts aren't really that difficult to learn?"
"Oh no, they're near impossible," Driem replied. She laughed. "I tried to teach myself some on my own. Suffice to say, it didn't work."
Kiir turned her gaze back up the path. There was a slight thumping coming from the top of the mountain. It was a deep sound, like there were hundreds of war drums being played. She could hear it even over the wind swirling about them.
The path thinned and Kiir realized they were getting close to the top. She could feel her heartbeat start to quicken as the sky opened up and she reached the top of the path. Her eyes started to taken in the view from atop the mountain, but her gaze was drawn immediately to the massive beast watching her from the other side of the peak.
A dragon.
It was a towering figure, colored a pale, dull gold. Many of its scales were chipped and broken, the spines coming out from its jaw resembling a beard. Its wings were tattered and torn, like old fabric left to rot. Though, despite the aging appearance of the beast, it still commanded a presence. It turned its pale purple eyes down to Kiir and breathed deeply, the warm breath racing out over the snowy ground.
Kiir's eyes grew wide but she found herself more surprised than afraid. She turned back to Tukara and Driem. They each gave her an ambivalent shrug.
"Dremyolluk, Dovahkiin." The dragon's voice boomed outwards. He lowered his head so that his and Kiir's were level. "You've travelled quite a ways to finally stand here."
"You're the head of the Greybeards?"
"So they call me." Paarthurnax paused, drawing in breath. "One of the fahliil to hold the soul of the dovah. Pardon my surprise, dovahkiin, but that is not a common occurrence."
"It's worked in my favor," Kiir replied. "I'm Kiir'Dun. I'm assuming you're Paarthurnax?"
"Kiir'Dun," Paarthurnax repeated. "Child of Grace. An interesting choice. I am going to assume your parents did not name you in dovah-zul themselves?"
Kir nodded. She should have expected that he would recognize her name for what it was, but it still caught her off guard. Kiir walked closer. "No, they didn't."
"And I see you brought guests." Paarthurnax moved his head so that he could see Driem and Tukara. "They harness the thu'ums of their own? You have chosen your grah-zeymahzin well. Tu'u hind."
Kiir cleared her throat. "I was... hoping I might have your help. If you would give it."
Paarthurnax laughed. "That is why I have placed myself here, Kiir'Dun. Dii heyv."
"I am, ah, looking for a shout. I was hoping that the Greybeards would be able to help me, but they sent me up here."
Paarthurnax hummed. It was a deep sound Kiir could hear in her chest. "And what thu'um might that be?"
"Dragonrend."
"Thu'umdomuz. A shout of men. A shout I do not know."
Kiir deflated. "You don't?"
"It is a thu'um I could not begin to understand. The muz'zul, voice of men, is not something the dov could comprehend even if they wished. Von mindoraan."
"Shit." Kiir paused. "Would the Greybeards know?"
"Niid. They study the Way of the Voice to understand it, mindohk ahrk mindoraan, not to fight." Paarthurnax shifted. Every movement of his sent thrums through the ground. "What might you need this shout for?"
Kiir startled. She had assumed the head of the Greybeards, a dragon himself, would know about Alduin and what she had come here for. She narrowed her eyes. "I need it to be able to fight Alduin. I would've thought you would know that."
Paarthurnax hummed again. "Yes, I do. Lot zeymah, my great brother."
"Brother?" Kiir had assumed Alduin was a dragon, seeing that he had been felled by a shout like Dragonrend. But she hadn't considered Paarthurnax would know him so closely.
"Yes, brother. What do you know of Alduin? Of your heyv, duty?"
Kiir shrugged. Esbern had died before she had gotten much about Alduin out of him. "I know he's a threat. And I know that he's someone I have to defeat."
"Mal-fun. Would you so easily make a hokoron of one you do not know?"
"Honestly," Kiir replied, "I was hoping you might be able to tell me more."
Paarthurnax drew close to Kiir, his heaving breaths blowing up tufts of snow. "Alduin and Dragonborn are closely tied by the haaldez, the hand of fate. The one arrives with the other. Dragonrend is not the shout that killed him, as he is not dead. No, it was the kel - the Elder Scroll - that ultimately threw him into the folds of tiid, time."
"An Elder Scroll," Kiir repeated. She had heard the term before, somewhere, but couldn't place it enough to know exactly what he was talking about. "So I'm going to need this scroll, too?"
"It is through this scroll that you will learn your shout, dovahkiin. For it is by those who created it you will understand."
"But they must have used it ages ago," Kiir said. "Surely those who created it are long dead by now."
"Which is why you need the scroll. To glimpse bis tiid, the past."
Kiir watched Paarthurnax raised his head back up and watch the skies out behind her. She was tempted to turn. "Do you know where it might be? The scroll?"
"I have been here a long time and know little of the workings of the joor below. Your guess would likely fare better than any of mine."
"Right." Kiir paused a moment more. "What about Miraak?"
Paarthurnax's eyes grew wide at the mention of that name. He put his head close to Kiir's again. "What prompts that question, Kiir'Dun?"
Kiir took a step back, the dragon's face was so close should couldn't see Paarthurnax's eyes from where she was. "He... spoke to me. Drew the dragon souls from my body. He wants something from me but I don't know what."
"He took the dragon souls from your being?" Paarthurnax's eyes grew dark. "Zofaas suleyk. That is worrisome. He has become more powerful in the time he's been gone."
"Who is he?" Kiir pressed. "Is he with Alduin or-"
"No, something different entirely. He certainly chose the perfect time." Paarthurnax rose his head so he was looking down at Kiir again. "You would do well to keep an eye on him, dovahkiin. I cannot know the minds of joor, but I can presume Miraak means no good for you or your world. Vokul vith. Do not-"
Suddenly from below there came a cacophonous boom. A fiery plume of smoke rose up into the sky and the sounds of distant shouting carried their way up to where Kiir stood. The occasional hum from a resounding Thu'um followed.
Paarthurnax grumbled, scampering over the rocks with more speed than Kiir thought possible for him to stare down at High Hrothgar. "Your enemies are boziik, quite bold to attack this place."
"My-"
"Take your horses and find your scroll. Vey tiid. Time is short. Go." With that last word, Paarthurnax pushed off from the rocks and swooped downward and out of sight.
Kiir turned quickly back to Tukara and Driem. She'd nearly forgotten they were there on account of how quiet they'd been. "We need to get to the College," she said, beginning to run back down the path.
"The library," Tukara said. "Good idea."
Kiir landed at the base of the stairs and made a bee-line for the shed where she'd seen Wulfgar put the horses. Debris lay scattered in the snow and Kiir's eyes were drawn over to the entrance to High Hrothgar. Her heart leapt into her throat. Those are the things I saw with Miraak!
The hideously tentacled monstrosities floated with an uncanny gracefulness.
Kiir saw Driem notice them, too. Tukara, however, yanked open the shed door and pulled Kiir inside.
Both Cheshire and Sid looked nervous, stomping and pulling against their leads.
Kiir undid the knot and leapt onto Sid's back. She had to duck to get under the shed's door.
The battle had seemingly moved out into the courtyard, as more of those creatures had taken residence there. The Greybeards, like Paarthurnax, were far quicker and capable than their age made them appear. A number of those monsters lay dead at their hand.
Kiir kept Sid to the outside, planning to go around High Hrothgar towards the stairs. Hopefully all of the invading force had already made it inside and they would be clear. She heard Paarthurnax overhead, shouting down with a plume of flame.
Sid whinnied.
Then, as Kiir rounded the outer edge of the courtyard and started back towards the front of High Hrothgar, she saw a small figure dash towards one of the Greybeards. They wore grey armor, a style that Kiir recognized the minute she saw it. The tuft of blonde hair the flew out from the woman's face only solidified it.
Delphine drew a blade and had been about to plunge it into a Greybeard's back when she was flung backwards by a fus shout.
Arngeir was in pursuit, but he turned just a moment to give Kiir a small nod.
Delphine? Here? Kiir could not fathom why Delphine, or Miraak for that matter, would attack the Greybeards. It didn't make any sense. What threat were they to her?
"Kiir! Come on!"
Kiir whipped her head around, seeing that Tukara and Driem had pulled ahead of her. She kicked Sid into a trot and slipped into the trees, loathe to leave the Greybeards behind. Kiir found herself angry, her knuckles white around Sid's reins. High Hrothgar had always seemed a fortress, a safe place away from the chaos down below. And yet somehow, it had found its way here. Kiir prayed the Greybeard's would be alright.
Delphine had done enough.
