Previously on the Legend of Varion…

Varion and his allies actually made some progress towards stopping Alduin, learning of a shout that could potentially turn the tide against the black dragon. Varion now travels to the greybeards to see if they can help…

And now, back to the story…


The climb to High Hrothgar grew shorter every time and Varion shoved the doors open with plenty of energy left, a stark contrast to his first climb up the 7,000 steps. He was alone, having left his companions to return to their homes seeing as business between him and the greybeards would be better left between those two parties. "Master Arngeir!" he called out as he entered the monastery, seeing the familiar face walking down the steps to greet him.

"Ah, Varion. What a pleasant surprise!" he greeted, bowing his head as he spoke. Varion returned the gesture.

"I only wish I came here on better terms" Varion admitted, feeling the mood drop. Arngeir raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "I need to learn the shout used to defeat Alduin". At this, the old masters expression instantly turned thunderous.

"Where did you learn of that? Who have you been talking to?" he asked sharply. Varion flinched, a little taken aback at the suspicion in the old man's voice. Quickly considering his options, he realised that lying wouldn't do him any good in this instance. He also had half an idea that Arngeir's question was rhetorical.

"I learnt of it through Alduin's wall, with the help of the blades" he said, and Arngeir seemed to get even angrier.

"The blades! Of course they're involved in this! Fools, meddling with things they don't understand! Their arrogance knows no bounds!" he hissed and Varion took an involuntary step back. Usually people getting worked up didn't scare him, but when a man could kill you with a whisper of his voice, it was cause for concern.

"Woah woah, calm down!" Varion said quickly, holding up his hands to placate the old man.

"With the blades involved, I see little reason to! Bloodthirsty barbarians! They have always sought to turn the dragonborn away from the path of wisdom!" Arngeir continued. Varion frowned at this.

"I-" Arngeir cut him off.

"I had thought you would've known better Varion! Will you simply be a tool in the hands of the blades? A weapon at their beck and call?" At this, Varion stepped forward.

"Listen old man! I am many things, but a pawn is not one of them! I followed the blades this far because I wanted answers, they cannot, and will not, control me!" he replied angrily, matching Arngeir's tone. "All I care about is stopping Alduin and the end of the world! After that, I don't care what happens for now!" He forced himself to breathe deeply, calming down. "I'm sorry for my outburst Arngeir, but I wish to make myself clear" he apologised and the anger in Arngeir's expression lessened. He sighed deeply.

"I apologise Dragonborn, I have judged you unfairly. Forgive me". Varion's nod was enough of a response for him to visibly relax.

"Master, if I may ask, what is your problem with the blades?" Varion asked curiously, regaining the respectful tone in his voice now that their argument had been resolved. Arngeir scoffed.

"They are liars. They claim to serve the dragonborn, but they do not, they never have. They only seek their own goals" he explained and Varion groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah, Delphine never seemed like the serving type" he noted. Then he frowned. "If the blades are going to claim to serve me, they'll make good on that promise. That'll tell me their true nature. If they don't take my orders, I'll know that she lied" he reasoned and Arngeir regarded him with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose that is a viable way to find out" he admitted and Varion's frown lessened. "But remember my warning Dragonborn, the Blades are ruthless. They would seek to use your power as a weapon against the dragons and any other enemy they saw fit to destroy. It is the complete enemy to the way of the voice, the true way to use this gift" he added and Varion pondered his words.

"I don't think I can follow your teachings to the letter master, it's just not who I am. Violence is entwined with my soul" he started, noticing Arngeir's saddened expression. "But I will not allow my power to be used as anyone else's weapon. The only one who tells me how to use it is me, though I will regard your teachings" he finished. He was speaking truthfully, he understood the point of the way of the voice, but his soul and mind were so deeply intertwined with violence that he wouldn't be able to put all that aside.

"A fair viewpoint" Arngeir said, accepting that this was likely the best result he'd get.

"Now, getting back to topic," Varion continued, not wanting to get distracted. "I need to know the shout. Can you teach it to me?" he asked.

"No" Arngeir said simply. At Varions perplexed expression, he continued. "I cannot teach you this shout because I do not know it, none of the greybeards do". Varion raised an eyebrow.

"Do you at least know stuff about it?" he asked, surprised at the revelation that Arngeir didn't know a shout.

"It is called Dragonrend, and it is a shout of immense power" Arngeir began. "But it holds no place in the way of the voice. The greybeards have no interest in learning this shout".

"Why? What's so bad about it?" Varion inquired.

"The shout was made by those who lived under the unimaginable cruelty of Alduin's dragon cult. They poured all their hatred and drive for revenge into the shout when they created it, and it still carries that same hatred. Remember, when you learn a shout, you take it into your very being. You will be taking this evil into yourself to learn this shout" Arngeir explained, warning in his tone. Varion considered his words, a frown forming on his face. Clenching his fist tightly, he thought back to his inner conflict. His dragon nature was already enough of a worry as it was, now this shout could turn him evil? He shook his head, disregarding these concerns.

"I made a promise to myself to destroy Alduin, and I will, regardless of the risks" he decided and he met Arngeir's eyes. "Regardless of the dangers, I need to destroy Alduin. This shout is my best chance against him, I'll take those risks" he announced bravely, more confidence in his voice than in his heart at that moment. The greybeard sighed.

"Very well. We will assist you on your path, but remember my warnings Varion" he said, almost a pleading tone in his voice. At the Dragonborns nod, Arngeir continued. "While we cannot assist you, perhaps our leader can. Paarthurnax, master of the greybeards". At this, Varion raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "He lives in seclusion at the peak of the throat of the world. Being allowed to see him is a great privilege, even for a Dragonborn" he added.

"So can I meet him?" Varion asked, eager to cut short all the 'great and powerful' talk.

"You aren't ready" Arngeir stated dejectedly. "But thanks to the Blades, it seems we have little choice" he added with frustration.

"So how do I get to him?" Varion asked, internally cheering that finally he was making some progress towards his objective.

"Tomorrow, meet us in the courtyard Varion. We will teach you the shout to open the way to Paarthurnax" Arngeir replied. The two men bowed to each other, Arngeir walking away after he finished. Varion breathed a sigh of relief, he honestly wasn't expecting to be getting their help now. He'd asked a lot of them, even mentioning the Blades was a risky move, but it had all paid off.

"Or at least, I hope it will" he thought with annoyance, regarding how badly his previous adventures had gone wrong.

X-X-X-X-X

The next morning, Varion was on his way up the mountain, steadily approaching it's peak. The greybeards had all assembled outside at dawn when he'd entered the courtyard and he learned a new shout directly from them. The shout was "Clear Skies", "Lok Vah Koor". Arngeir had warned Varion that this would be the last gift that the greybeards would give to him, and while it had been annoying, the Dragonborn couldn't really argue much. It was a full 3-word shout for free. He'd been instructed to use it to blast away the magical winds that prevented people from ascending to the higher parts of the mountain and the shout had worked well. He'd had to use it over and over to counter the harsh winds of the mountain, but so far it was making the trek a hell of a lot easier. Trudging through the snow along a perilous path was not a fun time, but Varions strength allowed him to manage it. At this moment, he was grateful that he hadn't given up his werewolf blessing, he wasn't sure how well he'd be doing without it. After a long battle, he reached the peak of the mountain and he gazed out over Skyrim. It was beautiful, he'd never seen a sight quite like it. He was so high up he could see for miles, Whiterun was a tiny speck in the distance. He could see the other capital cities from here, Riften, Solitude, several he'd never been to. "I'll be coming back here" Varion decided. "I can't die having only seen this once". He looked around the peak and saw a word wall. "Of course, mountains always have these at their peaks" he groaned internally and walked towards it, having a sinking feeling about it. The roar only confirmed his suspicions. "And they always have one of these too…" he moaned as he unsheathed his weapon and twirled. Sure enough, a dragon was flying into view. It looked old, different to the other dragons Varion had fought. What else was surprising is that it didn't seem keen on attacking. It flew right by him without launching a single attack, turned, and landed right in front of him. The words out of his mouth would shock Varion so much that his mouth would hang open for a solid 5 seconds.

"Drem Yol Lok, greetings Wunduniik. I am Paarthurnax" the dragon stated. Que the shocked expression on Varion.

"You're the master of the greybeards?" he managed to ask once his shock had worn off. "With a name like Paarthurnax, what did I expect?" he thought, mentally slapping himself.

"Indeed, I am. So, who are you? Why have you come to my mountain?" he asked curiously, regarding Varion cautiously.

"I'm here because I need to learn the dragonrend shout" he replied honestly. Paarthurnax blinked, then spoke again.

"Drem, patience. There are formalities that must be observed upon the first meeting of two of the Dov" he explained before he turned to the word wall on the mountain. He shouted at it, letting loose a torrent of fire from his mouth. When the stream ceased, a word now burned there. Varion walked over and read it, hearing it within him.

"Toor Shul" he spoke aloud, feeling the fire within him again, only far warmer. It was the second and third words of the Fire Breath shout he'd already learnt. As he turned back to Paarthurnax, he felt the old master grant him the understanding of the words.

"My thanks, but what's this for?" he asked curiously.

"As I said, formalities. By long tradition, the elder speaks first. By knowing this Thu'um, you may match me" he explained. "Now, speak. Greet me not as a nord, but as Dovah!" he commanded. Varion was happy to oblige and breathed deeply.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!" he roared and a torrent of fire shot forth, hitting Paarthurnax. The immense power of his shout compared to the singular word he'd used earlier was remarkable, it was like when he'd used the full strength of Unrelenting Force for the first time after only using two words for ages. Despite this, the dragon remained unscathed, just like Alduin had barely been affected by Varion's force shout. While he was impressed, a part of him was worried. "Just how much stronger will I have to be to kill Alduin?" he thought with worry.

"Ah, it is good to engage in Tinvaak with one who is of my kind! Truly, the dragonblood runs strong in you!" Paarthurnax said with what sounded like happiness.

"Thanks, you're impressive as well" Varion replied, not sure what to make of the old dragons praise. "So, about why I'm here…" he started, wanting to shift conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Ah, yes. You seek your weapon against Alduin. What other reason would you have to make your way here?" he asked. Varion shrugged.

"The view was impressive" he noted absentmindedly. This earned a snort from Paarthurnax.

"Returning to the topic, I have disappointing news for you. I cannot teach you the shout you seek. Krosis" Paarthurnax stated apologetically. Varion growled in annoyance.

"Oh give me a break" he muttered. "Why not?"

"I do not know it. This shout cannot be known to me" the old dragon explained. "Nor can it be known to any dragon. Our hadrimme, our minds, cannot comprehend it's concepts, for it was made by Joore, mortals, as a weapon against our kind" he added.

"I suppose that makes sense" Varion admitted begrudgingly. "So how can I learn it?"

"First, a question, if I may" Paarthurnax replied. At Varions nod, he continued. "Why do you want to learn this Thu'um?" This actually caused him to stop and think.

"Well, it's the only plan we have to stop Alduin, and I will stop him" Varion replied. Paarthurnax seemed to think deeply about his answer.

"Yes, Alduin. Teyzmah, the elder brother. Grasping and gifted, yet troublesome, as is often the case of the first born" he spoke slowly, seeming to think carefully about his word choice. "But why do you wish to stop Alduin?"

"Isn't it obvious? He wants to destroy the world. I'll be damned if I let that happen, there's too much in this world to lose" Varion answered simply. Paarthurnax snorted.

"As good a reason as any, Dovahkiin, but yours is not a view shared by all. Some would say this world must end for the next to begin, the next Kalpa. Would you stop this?"

"I don't care about the next world. I don't live there. I live here and I've got too much to lose" he replied bluntly. Paarthurnax nodded, but said nothing about his answer. "Do you know how I can learn Dragonrend?" he asked.

"Your shout may not be known to me, but perhaps there are others you can learn it from" he replied. Varion tilted his head, encouraging Paarthurnax to continue. "Do you know why I choose to make my home here, atop this Monavahn?" The Dragonborn paused to think for a moment.

"Well, half the mountains in Skyrim have dragons living on them, I figured your kind just had an affinity for them" he shrugged. Another snort came from the old Dov.

"That is true, but not the full reason. I live here because this was the very spot that Alduin was defeated by the ancient tongues" he explained.

"Using Dragonrend".

"Yes and no. Dragonrend allowed them to do battle, but it did not grant them victory. Alduin was not truly defeated. If he was, you would not be here seeking to defeat him" Paarthurnax replied.

"I guess that makes sense, but that doesn't bode well for me" Varion thought with irritation.

"They used an Elder Scroll to cast Alduin adrift along the currents of time" the old dragon finished.

"An Elder Scroll?" Varion wondered aloud. His father had told him briefly about those, and by that, he'd told him that they existed and were very mysterious. "So what you're saying is that they sent Alduin forward in time, to now?"

"Not intentionally. They had hoped he would be gone forever. I knew better. Time flows ever forward, he would've emerged someday. For thousands of years I waited at this spot, knowing where, but not when, he would return" Paarthurnax answered.

"All very interesting, but how does this help me?"

"Tiid Krent… Time was shattered here, thanks to what the Nords did to Alduin. If you brought the Kel, the Elder Scroll back to this point, you could perhaps look back through the time break to the past, and learn Dragonrend from it's creators" the dragon theorised and Varion took a moment to ponder this.

"It makes sense, or as much sense as this could make given we're talking about a magic scroll. It's my only way to get Dragonrend. All I have to do is find an Elder Scroll and…" Varion trailed off in thought as grim realisation set upon his face. Paarthurnax looked at him curiously, wondering why he had the sudden expression change. "Of course my destiny would send me on another fetch quest..."


A/N:Another chapter done! This one was a little more fun, I like working with Paarthurnax and the greybeards!

So, main quest progression, and more details about the world revealed! I can't wait to get further into the story, but I'll be breezing through it more quickly if I can, just so I can get past the boring parts. Rest assured, I'll still have every bit of Varion-y goodness I can cram in! Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!