It only took them a little while before they packed their things in Darkwater Crossing and said goodbye to the villagers.
Sondas was a bit upset with Bishop for stealing away Karnwyr from the sleeping healer, but it was nothing that Bishop's last haul from his hunt couldn't fix.
They set off soon, heading towards the fabled Eldergleam Sanctuary.
Neither of them mentioned that morning's happenings, returning back to their easygoing routine. Aeyrin was getting increasingly anxious on their lack of communication on the subject. She certainly enjoyed it, but what would it mean for them?
She knew he was attracted to her, as was she to him, but she still couldn't help herself but be a bit apprehensive. What about those warnings she received before? Would being intimate with her mean as little to him as it seemed to with his previous acquaintances? Though, that was hardly fair, she only ever met one woman that she knew about for certain, and his drunken state surely contributed to his attitude towards her afterwards. She only assumed about the other… but it still left an uncomfortable feeling at the back of her mind.
…
After an hour or so, they arrived to a wide plain with dry crackled ground, filled with pools of deep blue water, bubbling and steaming as far as the eye could see.
In the distance a large mammoth was slowly passing by, its long brown fur soaking at the bottom from the steam and moisture.
"Giants," Bishop grumbled as Aeyrin took in the sights.
"Where?" she looked around with confusion, aside from some sparse trees, there wasn't anything taller than the mammoth anywhere.
"Around. See those carving on the mammoth's tusk? It means it's protected by a giant."
She couldn't see anything on the tusks as the creature was so far. How could he see that? No wonder he was so good with that bow.
"I was seven when I hunted my first one," Bishop flexed his shoulders with a smug grin.
"A giant?" Aeyrin's eyes went wide. She wasn't sure if she believed him.
"No, a mammoth. Damn, princess, now you made it sound much less impressive," he smirked at her with a disapproving shake of his head.
Aeyrin chuckled patting his back lightly: "You'll have to embellish even more to impress me."
"Pfft… I don't need to embellish anything, ladyship," Bishop scoffed at her, pulling out his bow and aiming at the mammoth in the distance. Apparently he was adamant at proving his hunting skills to her.
"Didn't you say that it's protected by a giant?" Aeyrin frowned at him.
"Scared?" Bishop smirked at her, taking a knee to adjust his aim.
"You take this long to aim at a target this big, I'm surprised you ever manage to catch anything," Aeyrin smirked right back at him, teasing. She noticed being more at ease with him lately, being able to disperse of the polite and reserved face she was taught to wear – that is when he wasn't purposefully trying to fluster her. It wasn't a façade, or a pretense to be proper, but at times she felt that she missed the carefreeness she could have experienced in her childhood. Her father and Ri'zhassa made sure of that and the subsequent discipline required in the temple would have a similar effect in the end.
During her pilgrimage, she attempted to let herself experience more of this carefree side of life, drinking and singing with strangers in the taverns, travelling with no particular goal nor purpose or making fun of things but it always made her feel at least a little guilty.
She couldn't remember the last time she was comfortable enough with someone to just joke around.
Bishop raised his eyebrow at her, annoyed: "At least I can aim. I wonder if you could ever hit something without swinging your stick in all directions first."
The arrow flew, hitting the mammoth's head – it looked like it hit the beast square in the eye but Aeyrin couldn't see that well enough to be certain. A loud cry could be heard coming from the mammoth, followed by an angry rumble further in the distance.
Bishop discharged another arrow, aiming at the beast's neck and another in back in its head.
The cries got louder and more desperate as the beast toppled to the ground, creating a small quake for a second.
"I could have done that," Aeyrin rolled her eyes with a light chuckle, but still, it was impressive – only three arrows to fell such a large beast.
She wondered for a while if she could ever stand against a dragon without his help. Then again they never even killed a dragon just the two of them. If she was supposed to be the only one who… no. She didn't want to think about that again.
"Tell you what," Bishop smirked at her, "how about a little shooting contest then?"
Aeyrin nodded, smiling at him smugly, but she knew she didn't stand a chance against a seasoned hunter like him. She only held a bow a few times and she was far from good with it. She preferred crossbows, but in the end, all ranged combat felt off to her – like she wasn't in control of the battle, just constantly retreating. Besides she really wasn't much of a sneak and it was hardly an effective form of combat when everyone knew where she was.
The telltale continual quake of the ground signaled the angered giant approaching.
They watched as the beast spotted its dead mammoth, looking around in confusion and smashing its enormous club on the ground in fury.
"You know, if we kill it, the villagers could come by and take some more meat off of that mammoth," Aeyrin pondered.
"We already left them a big haul. And saved the lizard. Debt's paid tenfold as far as I'm concerned," Bishop scoffed, dragging her a bit towards him to hide her from being spotted by the giant.
"Scared?" Aeyrin giggled at him with a challenging smile.
With an annoyed growl and narrowed eyes, Bishop pulled out his bow again, aiming at the giant.
Aeyrin started to charge just as the first arrow hit the beast's chest, Karnwyr running right by her side, excited for the action. It was a long way away and Bishop managed to shoot two more arrows into it before the beast and Aeyrin met halfway, the giant smashing its club to the ground furiously again as she slid between its legs, smashing into its foot with her mace.
Karnwyr jumped on the same foot, biting into it ferally, tearing off a large chunk of sinewy flesh.
The giant roared, dropping its club with a large thud as it started to jump on its healthy foot, the ground shaking underneath. It held the wounded foot with both its hands, roaring in pain.
It was hard to stand still with the ground quake, but Aeyrin managed to smash into its other foot quickly, making the beast drop to its knees in pain.
Another arrow flew through the air with a swish, hitting the giant's eye as Aeyrin landed her final blow – right in the middle of the creature's spine.
The giant slumped forward, the moans of pain subsiding as Karnwyr started to tear at its now grounded throat to make sure it was dead.
Bishop walked over to them, putting away his bow. "So… happy? Done your good deed for the day?" he grinned at her.
She gave him a demure smile in response, not commenting further. She knew he liked the people in Darkwater Crossing, despite his posturing. He didn't even protest when she offered to find Derkeethus, not even when they found themselves in the Falmer lair. Plus he barely grumbled and complained at all when they were talking and celebrating with the villagers.
"So… the Sanctuary, then back to the…" before she could finish the thought another deep rumble shook the ground with a loud sound which seemed to surround the entire valley.
It did seem to come from southwest, from the mountains again, but they couldn't be sure.
It was the same sound they heard that time in the Rift when they camped by the Dwemer ruins.
It didn't sound like a dragon – again it reminded her of some words being shouted, but she didn't recognize them, or couldn't even identify the individual sounds with how loud it was.
Bishop narrowed his eyes at the direction of the mountains, watching them for a long while, but there was nothing.
He wondered for a while if the sound came from the Throat of the World. The jarl did say that the Greybeards would summon the Dragonborn for training. Was that it? Should he even tell her about the suspicion? She seemed to want nothing to do with being the Dragonborn. She suffered with every one of those beasts they took down, not that they took down that many. She also didn't want to use those Shouts unless there was no other way. Would those old useless fossils actually have something helpful to tell her? Or would they just spew some shit about responsibility and destiny, making the whole thing worse?
"Did that sound to you like… words?" Aeyrin asked him nervously, giving him an uncertain look.
If that was actually the Greybeards, it likely wouldn't stop. And maybe they did know something, maybe even something to lessen the pain from consuming the souls. He knew that if they started to talk about some idiotic prophecies she would feel obligated to do whatever suicidal task they would send her to. But this was no solution. She was just getting more and more agitated, thinking about the uncertainty, agonizing over the nature of this supposed 'blessing'.
He had to tell her.
"Princess… it might have come from the Throat."
She gave him a completely baffled look for a while, then replied: "Oh. The Throat of the World? What does that mean?"
He sighed: "You remember, the jarl told you that the Greybeards might summon you for something. Some training or other shit. They have some monastery up there."
Aeyrin looked at the mountain for a while, a worried crease forming between her brows. She wondered if she should just ignore it. But it already happened twice, and… if she was really the only one who could kill dragons, it was her responsibility. As much as she hated this strange 'blessing', people's lives were in danger. She couldn't just ignore that. Maybe the Greybeards could even help her, give her more understanding of what she was.
She sighed, looking down on the ground.
"I should probably visit then," she gave him a weak smile, packing up her weapon and shield in resignation.
Bishop squeezed her shoulder for a second but she didn't look at him. He gave her a reassuring smile regardless, for some reason hoping she would notice: "It might help."
They planned their journey, heading towards the Eldergleam Sanctuary.
They would spend another night at Darkwater Crossing and tell the villagers about the mammoth, then they would set out for the dreaded mountain.