"I should not be seeing this."

Who are you going to tell, me?

"Hush, little one. Old habits die hard. I swear I can sometimes still feel my wings. They feel quite cramped now."

And this is one of the more spacious halls.

The temple opened up to a large, spacious room with various levels and hallways leading out to presumably other rooms and spaces. Here, each stone seemed giftedly and lovingly carved as it was placed into position. Elana wondered how many personalized etchings she would find next to the tables and chairs, which looked surprisingly well kept for so long without care. But the center of focus of the room was the massive mural etched into the wall.

It began with three dragons in the air, raining fire and destruction down on mankind as they ran, hoping to find shelter even as they fell and died. Then a figure rose to face the Dragon Priest and its master, the massive dragon in the center, as gigantic as a mountain and as terrifying as death itself. He seemed too large, too powerful, for Sithis himself to take. His wings unfurled formed the upper border of the mural, his maw open wide in a wicked smile as he screamed at the air.

"Alduin," Elana murmured breathlessly.

But the dragon fell to the hero and man could live, could grow. There was history etched on the wall beyond Elana's knowing. She knew most of this had been the future for the carvers, the artists. She saw glimpses of stories she had heard in her travels, history that had been twisted into legend. One mark, an Oblivion Gate, was familiar to her. Every child of Cyrodiil knows of the Oblivion Crisis. Every child there knows the name of Martin Septim, the previous Dragonborn and the last Emperor of the Septim bloodline. His heroic death was the key to defeat, and it had been a huge blow to the Empire. And there, was that the stirrings of Skyrim's Civil War etched into the wall? Could even that have been seen? After all, that was supposed to be the sign of Alduin's return.

And there, on the far right, was the Last Dragonborn standing alone against the fires of the returned Alduin. He seemed just as cruel, yet smaller, as if his first defeat had weakened him. Good. The end of the world would not happen under her watch.

But the etching of the Dragonborn, Elana couldn't tell if it was accurate. It seemed neither distinctly man nor distinctly woman which was how she dressed herself anyway. The helmet obscured most facial features as well. Elana was tempted to reach up and trace what looked like a scar Elana did not have. But the wall was too high, so she ceded the art to Esbern, who could actually read and understand the wall fully.

It was a Shout, those were the lines around those rising up against Alduin. And it wasn't a Dragon Priest, but those who followed the Way of the Voice.

"You ever heard of that, Dragonborn" Delphine broke in. "A Shout that can knock a dragon from the sky?"

"The Greybeards might know."

"You're probably right. I was hoping to avoid involving them in this but it seems we have no choice."

"What do you have against the Greybeards?"

Delphine snarled. "If they had their way, you'd do nothing but sit up on their mountain with them and do nothing but talk to the sky or whatever. The Greybeards are so afraid of power that they won't use it. Think about it. Have they tried to stop the civil war? No. And they're afraid of you, of your power. Trust me, there's no reason to be afraid."

"Don't worry; I'm not afraid of my own power."

"Good. The Greybeards can teach you a lot, but don't let them turn you away from your destiny. You're Dragonborn, and you're the only one who can stop Alduin."

As Elana turned to head for High Hrothgar, she replied, "I think I prefer the term Dovahkiin."

"I need to learn the Shout used to defeat Alduin."

The brief shock quickly passed over the seated Argenir's face and turned to anger. "Where did you learn of that? Who have you been talking to?"

"It was recorded on Alduin's Wall."

"The Blades! Of course, they specialize in meddling in affairs they barely understand. Their reckless arrogance knows no bounds. They have always sought to turn the Dragonborn from the path of wisdom. Have you learned nothing from us? Would you simply be a tool in the hands of the Blades, used for their own purposes?"

Elana straightened up, dropping her shoulders and raising her chin. "The Blades are helping me. The Dovahkiin is no one's puppet."

"No, no, of course not! Forgive me, Dovahkiin; I have been intemperate with you. But heed my warning – The Blades may say the serve the dovahkiin, but they do not. They never have."

Elana inclined her head in understanding and allowed the tension to disperse. "Can you teach me the Shout?"

"I cannot, for I do not know it. It is called 'Dragonrend' but its Words of Power are unknown to us. We do not regret this lost. Dragonrend has no place in the Way of the Voice." His voice was full of regret.

"I thought you knew all Words of Power?"

"But not Dragonrend. The knowledge of that Shout was lost in the time before history began. Perhaps only its creators knew it. But I am not the one to speak of it to you."

"So if the Shout is lost, how can I defeat Alduin?"

Argenir sighed heavily. "Only Paarthurnax, the master of our order, can answer that question, if he so chooses."

Elana straightened again. "I need to speak to Paarthurnax, then."

"You weren't ready. You still aren't ready. But thanks to the Blades, you know have questions only Paarthurnax can answer. He lives alone at the summit of the mountain. He speaks to us rarely, and never to outsiders. Being allowed to see him is a great privilege."

"How do I get up the mountain to see him?"

"Only those whose Voice is strong enough can find the path. Come. We will teach you the Shout to clear the way to Paarthurnax."

"Drem Yol Lok. Greetings, wunduniik. I am Paarthurnax. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah…my mountain?"

The mighty, spiked dragon made no move to assault her and Elana froze in confusion as she tried to tune out the frantic and fanatic mutterings of Mirmulir. "I wasn't expecting you to be a dragon. But you're the Master of the Greybeards?"

"They see me as master. Wuth. Onik. Old and wise. It is true I am old… Tell me. Why do you come here, volaan? Why do you intrude upon my meditation?"

"I had heard Paarthurnax had disappeared. I didn't know that mean he had not died."

Elana shook away the other dragon's words. "I need to learn the Dragonrend Shout. Can you teach me?"

"Drem. Patience. There are formalities that must be observed, at the first meeting of two of the dov." The dragon settled himself a few inches back. "By long tradition, the elder speaks first. Hear my Thu'um! Feel it in your bones. Match it, if you are Dovahkiin!"

Of course he guessed I was dovahkiin. Elana remarked to herself as the fearsome dragon twisted his long neck and Shouted a plume of fire at the Wall opposite.

"Why do you intrude here, in not for tinvaak?"

"Go learn the Word!"

"A gift, Dovahkiin. Yol. Understand fire as the dov do." And as the Word SHUL rocketed about her mind, the understanding flowed from the old dragon to the young dovahkiin. "Now show me what you can do. Greet me not as mortal, but as dovah!"

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

The dragon seemed to smile as the flames washed over him.

"So. You have made your way here, to me. No easy task for a joor…mortal. Even for one of Dovah Sos. Dragonblood. What would you ask of me?"

"Can you teach me the Dragonren Shout?"

A deep expression passed over his face, one of sorrow and resignation. "Ah. I have expected you. Prodah. You would not come all this way for tinvaak with an old dovah. No. You seek your weapon against Alduin."

"How-"

"Alduin komeyt tiid. What else could you seek? Alduin and Dovahkiin return together. But, I do not know the Thu'um you seek. Krosis. I cannot be known to me. Your kind – joorre – created it as a weapon against the dov. Our hadrimme…our minds cannot even…comprehend its concepts."

Is this possible?

"I fear to know. There is little that can escape the dov. Except... much like mortals cannot truly understand immortality, the dov cannot understand morality. The idea of passing from time, of not having a future, having to plan to die, no. I cannot understand this. We are the hearthfire that never goes out. You are a candle that flickers bright but is gone too soon."

So what does that mean for Dragonrend?

"As I said, I fear to know."

Elana lifted her head to Paarthurnax. "How, then, can I learn Dragonrend?"

"Drem. All in good time. First, a question for you: Why do you want to learn this Thu'um?"

"Alduin is the World-Eater, correct? I am supposed to stop him, and even want to. I like this world. I don't want it to end."

"Pruzah. As good a reason as any. There are many who feel as you do, though not all. Some would say things all must end, so that the next can come to pass. Perhaps this world is simple the Egg of the next kalpa? Lein volkiin? Would you stop the next world from being born?"

Elana shrugged. "The next world will have to take care of itself. They usually do."

"Paaz. A fair answer. Ro fus… perhaps only you can balance the forces that seek to quicken the end of this world. Even we who ride the currents of Time cannot see past Time's End. Wuldstiid los tahrodiis. Those who try to hasten the end, may delay it. Those who work to delay the end, may bring it closer. But you have induldged my weakness for speech long enough. Krosis. Now I will answer your question. Do you know why I live here at the peak of the Monahven – what you call the Throat of the World? Few now remember that this was the very spot where Alduin was defeated by the ancient tongues. Vahrukt unslaad…perhaps none but me now remember how he was defeated."

"Using the Dragonrend Shout, right?"

The dragon nodded slightly. "Yes and no. Viik nuz ni kron. Alduin was not truly defeated, either. If he was, you would not be here today, seeking to defeat him. The Nords of those days used the Dragonrend shout to cripple Alduin. But this was not enough. Ok mulaag unslaad. It was the Kel – an Elder Scroll. They used it to…cast him adrift on the winds of Time."

"Are you saying the ancient Nords sent Alduin forward in time?"

"Not intentionally. Some hoped he would be gone forever, forever lost. Meyye. I knew better. Tiid bo amativ. Time flows ever onward. One day he would surface. Which is why I have lived here. For thousands of mortal years I have waited. I knew where he would emerge but not when."

"How does this help?"

Paarthurnax smiled as only a dragon could. "Tiid krent. Time was…shattered here because of what the ancient Nords did to Alduin. If you brought that Kel, that Elder Scroll, back here, to the Tiil-Ahraan, the Time-Wound… With the Elder Scroll that was used to break Time, you may be able to…cast yourself back to the other end of the break. You could learn Dragonrend from those who created it."