Suprise! I am still alive.
What's it been, nearly two months? Time truly flies.
I've had some issues with writing as one can almost imagine, I've always had a general idea of were i want the story to be but recently I stumbled into the problem of how to get it there. In short, I have a lot of ideas but no clue on how to tie them together. I still haven't found a solution to that but i did nevertheless manage to squeeze out some pages, mostly filler but it's something.
Also been watching some different shows/movies recently which made me consider starting other stories, nothing solid, just a bunch of ideas that doesn't seem to won't to leave my head.
Anyway, enough rambling.
The answer to the riddle is leaves.
Chapter 10: The fire within
Midwahgein have had better days.
Being brought back to life much later than planned was not too bad, but it certainly complicated things. The current human population seemed ignorant of the dragons' existence which, considering how their last empire had ended, might actually end up working in their favor. A fresh start of sorts. Then they unexpectedly met another dragon, Mirmulnir, mad with grief and consumed by hatred. The battle had been difficult and she had been more outmatched than she liked to admit. He had proved much faster than a dragon of his size should have been, not to mention that he always seemed to know what she was going to do before she did it, which made it difficult to get any hits in. To her luck his anger had made him overreach and commit to attacks that would otherwise have been suicide. He was a battle scarred ancient and she had underestimated him. A mistake that had almost proved lethal. The line of slightly discolored scales on her neck would be a permanent reminder of that.
Koraaviik had saved her. She always knew he was different, stronger than the others. She had felt it deep in her bones when she first stumbled upon him. He risked his life to save her, and while she knew that he only did his duty it still felt special, stupid, but special. She had thought that he had died when Mirmulnir let the shout flow, the mad dragon put so much hatred behind it and while feelings didn't feed a shout with strength per say they could certainly motivate one to put more strength behind it, the fact that his shield could withstand it, if only for a time only served to confirm what she already knew.
Then, when Mirmulnirs head was cracked on the rocks and they both lay sprawled out on the blackened grass, some unknown voice had split the skies with a single word that still rang clear in her head.
Dovahkiin.
It was...well, she didn't really know. The only dragonborn she knew about was Miraak, and she had only heard him mentioned by name a few times and never actually met him in person. If she had to be honest with herself she wasn't really convinced he was one at all. She had heard stories about him absorbing the souls of a few dragons when he tried to take over that island but when he was taken down by another dragon priest it became quite clear that the dragons involved probably weren't that much of a challenge anyway. Stories easily escalate and devolve into absurdity when it's carried from person to person enough times.
She did not know If he named himself dovahkiin or if the title was placed upon him by someone else, either way she had thought it silly.
Dovahkiin meant dragonborn something that in itself didn't make a whole lot of sense. Dragons did not give birth, they just were. And while he may or may not have been able to absorb souls she failed to see how it was relevant at all.
Koraaviik however…
When he had absorbed the soul he had fallen to his knees and become irresponsible. She had in a fit of panic wrapped her tail around his leg and as gently as she could, forced her way down the bond and into his head
She saw glimpses of the memories of Mirmulnir, she felt the scorching heat from the soul reverberating through his body, she felt Mirmulnirs hatred and despair, even if only for a moment before it seemed to seep in and disappear along with the rest. .
But the thing that really shook her foundations was how similar Koraaviik felt to a dragon at that moment. It was difficult to explain since she didn't really have anything to base it on or compare it to. She had never 'felt' another dragon through a bond like the one she shared with Koraaviik, but there was just something...familiar, about him that she had never really noticed before. She knew that he was different. She just never knew how or why. Now, it was like she was starting to gather some of the pieces, she was just unsure of how to place them together and what exactly they meant.
And how would he react? She knew he did not fully understand the word, that much was made clear by the oh so obviously puzzled expression he got when the name was called out. But she knew him, it would not take him long to figure it out, if he didn't just outright ask her. And what then, how would she explain something to him that she herself did not fully understand? The strange voice was just another question to the pile, who called out that he was dovahkiin? How did they know? Did they know who he was? Did they know where they were? Were they friend or foe?
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, so many questions.
The pain wasn't helping.
Focus, need to stay focused.
Easier said than done, she could barely walk and they were surrounded by possible enemies who seemed to know more about her Koraaviik than she did. At Least when it came to the whole dragonborn thing.
She was confused, frustrated and tired. But now was not the time for weakness.
Koraaviik had managed to heal the bite marks on her chest with the help of a mana potion from one of the mages, and that's all she needed. She would deal with the humans.
Speaking of humans.
The two from the college were returning with a third person, also a mage if she had to guess, one whose hands were filled with papers and scrolls.
Once they arrived, they nearly collapsed hands on their knees, windblown and out of breath.
The two from the college immediately went over to the dark elf while the newcomer seemed more inclined to take his time.
He looked around and almost seemed to stumble and drop the scrolls when he saw her.
She regarded him curiously. He didn't look like much, but she decided that he must have some importance since they had to keep her waiting in order to get him.
The man just stood there for a moment, eyes wide and mouth open.
His eyes then jumped to the bones of Mirmulnir and back to her and then to Koraaviik and back again. It would have been quite comical if it wasn't for the fact that he was wasting their time.
The dark elf seemed to share her opinion as she called out his name.
"Farengar"
"Hmm? What? Oh yes sorry!"
"Hold these" he said handing her a stack of scrolls and paper which she promptly handed over to one of the guards with a frustrated sneer on her face.
"So-" The newcomer, Farengar started and then stopped as one of the guards interrupted him.
"Is it true, that you are dragonborn?"
He got a death glare from the dark elf and a 'how rude' look from Farengar.
Midwahgein tilted her head, at least know she didn't need to consider how to ask about it without sounding stupid or drawing unnecessary attention to the subject. The question was clearly meant for Koraaviik, unbeknownst to them he didn't understand any of it, and so it would stay until she knew what was going on. But the question revealed something important, there must've been more dragonborns since the war. She refused to believe that Miraak's little failed rebellion would have earned him a place in the history books, if anything he only managed to piss off both sides of the war. No, there must have been others, someone important. But first she needed to know some more about how the whole thing worked.
"What makes you think that?" Come on little soldier, give me all you have.
"I…" The soldier seemed hesitant, like he just realized he was speaking to her instead of Koraaviik, good. He looked at her bonded and then at her, seeming to gather whatever courage he had before answering.
"The Greybeards called out his name, h-he absorbed the dragons soul…" he trailed off. Not as much as she had hoped for but her interest was piqued.
"And who are these Greybeards?"
"I...don't know much about them, besides that they are masters of the voice and live in seclusion in High Hrothgar on the throat of the world."
So there were still humans who knew how to use the Thu'um, but they were few and lived alone on a mountain peak. And judging by the almost mythical reverence in the soldiers voice there were not many who still had the ability.
Midwahgein had to close her eyes and take a deep breath for a moment.
The humans had learned how to use the thu'um, the strongest magic in the world that, in the right claws literally made one able to move mountains and burn entire cities with but a few words. The very magic that allowed them to combat her and her kin on equal footing. They mastered the Thu'um and used it to win the war.
And then they somehow managed to forget the entire thing.
The never ending stupidity of humans never ceased to amaze her.
It was almost like they wanted the dragons to come back and take over the world.
She held back a sigh. They would certainly have to give these graybeard a visit, she needed to know what they knew, and maybe kill them to remove the humans ability to use the thu'um for good. But that was a decision for another time.
They had asked a question and she had gotten no less than three answers while they had none. Now it was her turn.
But where to start?
Aaah yes, they needed to know the date, something simple like that should be manageable for them.
"I am sure that the two mages mentioned that they resurrected us not so long ago."
"We have not yet been able to catch up with the current date…"
The newcomer turned his head to look at the two mages, before rapidly switching between her and them.
"I...you...resurrected? Like you mean literally resurrected from the dead?" He shook his head lightly.
"That's impossible." he said, seemingly unsure if he was asking a question or declaring a statement. She rolled her eyes. She was not here to argue resurrection spells and the less they knew the better.
"Clearly, now answer my question"
He looked at her for while dumbfounded and unsure if she was joking or not. However he decided not to pursue the subject any further. Perhaps he was smarter than he looked? Instead he took a breath before finally answering her question.
"It is currently the 7th of Frostfall, Fourth Era, year 201. However, I'm not entirely sure how long you might've been gone for..."
"Give me something"
He turned halfway like he was about to grab and rummage through the pile of scrolls he brought with him but stopped. "I don't have any solid dates on the Merethic Era, very few do. But if I had to make a guess I'd say you've been gone for around...what three and a half, maybe four thousand years?"
Midwahgein was not entirely sure how much that was, she had never really been able to grasp the whole time thing like Koraaviik seemed to. Though judging from how everyone seemed to have their breath hitch in their throat it was a quite significant number.
Midwahgein reluctantly shared the newfound information with Koraaviik.
A Moment of silence
"...Four thousand years?"
"No wonder I can't understand what they are saying"
She felt a bit sorry for him, while she didn't suffer under the same problems she could clearly see it was bothering him. She was about to consider what she might say to console him when the newcomer interrupted her thoughts by speaking again.
"What happened between you and eh. That one?" Farengar said, halfway pointing to the bones of Mirmulnir.
She huffed, What do you think happened? We ate deer and shared hunting stories of course! Stupid mage.
"His name was Mirmulnir, we heard the sounds of battle and decided to investigate. He attacked and we defended ourselves"
"Should we expect more dragons to attack our city?" The dark elf followed up, seemingly not caring that it wasn't her turn to ask questions. Regardless, it was a difficult one, she could tell the truth and say yes. Alduin is alive and is apparently reviving dragons who mindlessly attack anything they might deem a good dinner or simply to relieve themselves of boredom or old grudges. And she wanted to, if only to watch them shiver in fear and watch the panic in their eyes when they realized she wasn't joking. But then she stopped, If she told them the truth she knew Koraaviik would never let it go as it would probably significantly complicate their pretty much non-existent relationship with the locals...unless it wouldn't. It could make the city dependent on them since they didn't know anything about dragons and how to kill them, essentially giving them a head start and pushing them into a position of power...But Alduin complicated things.
If Alduin decided to go pay them a visit the results would not be questionable. It would be a trial like every other time, Alduin was the strongest, Midwahgein held no illusions that she would fall against him in a battle, had Koraaviik not been there she wouldn't even have been able to defeat Mirmulnir and he was nowhere near Alduin when it came to strength and battle prowess. A battle was out of the question. She did not know how the humans had managed to defeat him nor how he had managed to get back to life even though she was sure he had had plans in place in the unlikely chance that he would lose a battle. Perhaps the humans had kept some sort of record of the battle where he was slain? They were very keen on writing things down so they might be lucky.
Alduin had been the leader for the last time, his rule had ended in a brutal civil war against an opponent they greatly underestimated. Alduin had led them to defeat, once before and Midwahgein highly doubted that he had changed his mind on how to manage and rule a population of humans and dragons without the whole thing burning to the ground…again. Dragons had paid the price for his stupidity once before, the question was how to avoid it happening again.
If he decided to attack the humans there was little they could do besides watching and while she didn't understand humans that well she knew enough to know that such an event would make their long term plans...difficult.
She would need to discuss it with Koraaviik, perhaps he could use that wonderful mind of his to think up some solutions to the problem that was Alduin. Yes, that seemed like the next step, they had gotten enough information for now and needed to think things through. She would just dismiss the humans and give a more definitive answer to whatever questions they had some other time.
She could ask about the ruling power of the land, the infrastructure and populations. The so called college the mages came from and perhaps get a view of how advanced their magic had gotten in those four thousand years the newcomer claimed had passed. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to ask, not because she didn't want to know, but because it somehow didn't feel as relevant as figuring out what to do about Alduin and visiting these so called grey beards to figure out what the whole dragonborn thing was about. The last one seemed more pressing than the first when she thought about it. Unfortunately, she was in no shape to fly to the top of a mountain at the moment, which left the question of Alduin.
She turned her attention back to the humans who were all staring expectantly at her.
Oh that's right, they're probably expecting an answer.
How did she say yes without making the dragons seem like a bunch of primitives fighting over little strips of land? She really wasn't in the mood for this.
"It is certainly possible, dragons used to rule this land. There's a good chance that they will want it back. However, it should not be impossible to strike a deal with them."
She wasn't about to guarantee anything, she knew too well how easily some dragons were to befall anger, greed and stupid.
None of them seemed to like the answer, each turning to look at the other. Tense whispering between the soldiers and the mages.
"I am sure you have much to talk about, perhaps it is best if we continue this tomorrow?"
Farengar and the dark elf quickly started to protest
"Why can't we-"
"I still have que-"
She silenced them both with a snarl.
Farengar visibly gulped while several of the soldiers retreated a few steps.
He was just about to speak when the dark elf gave him an elbow to the ribs.
"Of course" she said, giving a slight bow with her head.
They quickly started to move, the two mages and Farengar seemed hesitant but she paid them no mind. Once they had passed the rock they had been hiding during the battle Koraaviik spoke up.
"When you spoke. I didn't exactly understand the words...but I understood their meaning if that makes sense?"
She stared at him curiously.
How, very interesting. Midwahgein had not consciously done anything that should've translated her words, not that she minded. But then did that mean it was the bond somehow carrying over the meaning to Koraaviik?
She knew his lack of knowledge about the language was a problem, one they would have to find a solution for sooner rather than later, she had considered to teach him herself, she had never thought anyone a new language and she wasn't actually aware that she knew it before they started talking. And while she didn't really know where to start she was pretty sure she would figure something out.
Finding time for it was the difficult part, they hadn't exactly found anything that could count as a safe space yet, the outcropping on the mountains had been a start but the nearby village was a bit too close for comfort, especially considering how they had no idea as to their allegiances having a possible enemy lurking outside of your nest was never a good idea. They would have to prioritize it, achieving their goals in this place seemed near impossible when he couldn't communicate with anyone but her.
But now that he said he understood the meaning but not the words...that should make things easier.
"I think it is time we started training again, first class is about the native language and it begins now"
It cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life kills laughter
