Chapter 5: Journey of Ten Thousand Steps
The howling of the wind through the mountainous valleys of Tamriel's oldest region drowned out the sounds of galloping hooves as a fair and sturdy Nord Mare trotted along the main road leading from Whiterun to Ivarstead.
"You know, I don't have any memory of climbing up mountains generally speaking." Lydia commented as the two rode.
"Trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds." Drago told her.
"Then I do hope you have a way to get to the Throat of the World that won't leave us on the verge of death and half frozen." The housecarl sighed.
"If you're so opposed to it, we could go back to Whiterun, perhaps you'd prefer being around the Jarl's children, or Naseem or the Battle-Borns or Greymanes." The argonian mused, causing the woman to go rigid.
"No, absolutely not!" She huffed, causing Drago to chuckle.
"Well, let's keep going then." The Argonian grinned as they continued on the path.
As they went, they had to kill some wolves that thought they were hot shit and tried to take them on. The duo figured they were runts, since they were alone and all.
This pattern continued until they reached Ivarstead. The settlement was like a cross between Riverwood and Whiterun. Not as big or grand as the latter but not as small as the former. It was decently urbanized and it had a small but busy population.
Drago decided to continue on foot once they reached the bridge leading to the ten thousand steps.
"Heard that the Greybeards summoned a Dragonborn not long ago. Could such a thing be possible? Only the divines know." A guard said to a female guard next to him as the Thane and Housecarl passed by.
"If they only knew." Drago whispered to Lydia, who snorted in amusement as they started walking up the old stairs of the mountain.
This continued for several hours at the most, with the duo taking brief breaks to eat or take a drink in between bursts up the steps.
One such break saw Drago lighting a fire and roasting a couple pheasants he managed to shoot with his bow over a fire–which he seasoned with a bit of Stormcloak Seasoning (dill, grains of paradise, fennel and mustard powder), and basting them in spiced butter.
Additionally he had some cabbage biscuits he'd baked previously on hand, some rustic mustard, and they each had a bottle of Nord Mead.
"Well, despite us being on the road, this is quite the satisfying meal." The housecarl smiled, her tastebuds singing in joy as they ate.
"I spent many a day learning and gathering ingredients and cooking methods from Imperial, Stormcloak, and various other people I've met. It has helped me quite a bit." Drago nodded, taking a bite of the meat from his bird.
"I'd say you learned well." Lydia commented as they kept eating.
When they were done, they kept on going, and the long trip up the mountain was starting to wear on them when they were three quarters of the way up. Drago looked like he could keep going, but Lydia looked ready to fall over.
"I… fucking… hate… this… mountain…!" She groaned tiredly.
Taking pity on his exhausted Housecarl, the Argonian giant hoisted the woman up and put him on Freya's back, letting her ride.
"O-Oh! Thank you, my Thane." The woman gasped in surprise, her aching legs sighing in relief as their walk continued.
Drago couldn't help but chuckle at this as they kept walking. The two continued the rest of the way without much incident, and managed to finally reach the Greybeard's citadel.
Lydia just wanted to lay down in a bed upon arrival and sleep well into the next day.
"Go get some rest, Lydia. I'll go have a chat with the Greybeards." Drago told her, unknowingly fulfilling his housecarl's desire.
However, as he continued up the mountain to where High Hrothgar was, he soon found that he had to make a detour due to a previous avalanche blocking the main pathway.
Luckily there were landmarks to help him find his way, but the Dragon armor clad lizard man soon found that his destination wasn't going to be that easy to get to–when an Ice Troll dropped down in front of him from a nearby cliff.
"Oh, lovely." The lizard man sighed as he drew Dragon's Bane, the great sword's enchanted fire edge glowing a hot orange against the white out of High Hrothgar's blizzardy heights.
The troll roared as it charged at the Wanderer with an ape-like gate, which Drago met head on with a straight spinning strike/slash to the beast's stomach.
The beast roared in mixed pain and anger as it staggered back before charging at Drago, who dodged the attack.
"Fus!" The man shouted, knocking the creature off its balance, before he slammed his tail into the Troll's chest, knocking him on its back, and attempting to stab it through the chest–only for it to grab the blade, getting burned in the process.
Drago growled as he fought to force the blade through his target, but was being met with equal force. He pushed, the Ice Troll pushed. The two seemed evenly matched, but one of them had to give out.
Deciding to put his full body weight into it, Drago leaned forward, causing his blade to cut the troll's hands and go straight through its chest, killing it as it gurgled blood.
"Damned trolls!" Drago grunted as he yanked his greatsword out of the carcass, the fire burning away the blood.
Sighing, the Argonian continued on his way, unimpeded by any creatures of the mountain until he reached the front gates of High Hrothgar. Entering, he made his way inside.
(Later)
As the lizard man made entry into the sanctuary of the Greybeards, he soon came across a sort of main hall–where an elderly and long bearded man in a Grey cloak came walking towards him.
"It is rare for us to receive visitors. May I ask who you are?" The man questioned, his voice filled with wisdom.
"I'm the Dragonborn that came in response to your summons." Drago replied.
"Ah, so the Dragonborn has come. This is the turn of the age." The monk nodded. "We will see if you truly have the gift." He continued. "I am Master Arngeir, deputy leader of the Greybeards. What, may I ask, is your name?" He questioned.
"Drago Fimbulwinter." The Argonian replied. "If it doesn't sound like an Argonian name, that's normal. I've long since forgotten my original name." He added.
"It is not my place to judge, but welcome." Arngeir nodded as more monks entered the room and formed a circle around the Wanderer. "Come, Dragonborn. Let us taste of your voice." He instructed.
Dragon nodded as he took a deep breath and focused on the Shout. Then…
"FUS!" He shouted, the shockwave causing the gathered Greybeards to stagger back from the force.
"You truly do have the Voice." Arngeir uttered in amazement. "Tell us, why have you come here?" He questioned.
"I want to know what it truly means to wield this power, this… Shout, as you call it." Drago explained.
"We are here to help you in that pursuit. As we have with all of those of the Dragon Blood who have come before you." The Greybeard explained.
"You mean I am not the only one?" The giant Argonian questioned.
"You are not the first Dragonborn. That dubious honor belongs to the treacherous Myrrak, though whether you are the only one of this age is unclear to us." Arngeir elaborated.
"Interesting." Drago hummed. "Is there anything I need to do?" He asked.
"Follow me." The monk told him as he led him to the center of the room. "When you shout, you speak in the tongue of the dragons. Each Shout is made of three words." He continued. "You already know Fus, force. Now we shall teach you Ro, balance." He added.
Another Greybeard used his power to carve the word of power onto the floor, and upon looking at it, Drago felt his mind commit it to memory.
"Now, use your Shout on the targets as they appear." The deputy leader instructed as another of the monks used their shout to make a projection of a target.
"Fus Ro!" The lizard man shouted, destroying the target and knocking two of the monks backwards, the monastery walls shaking from the show of unrestrained power.
This was repeated two more times, and after the second display, Lydia had joined the trials and was simply watching silently.
"You have the inborn gift, but do you have the patience and temperament to follow the Way of the Voice? That remains to be seen." Arngeir hummed as he stepped forward. "So far without training you've managed to learn two new shouts. That is a true marvel indeed, to be sure." He added.
"I'm sensing another trial." The Argonian commented.
"And you would be correct." The Greybeard nodded in reply. "Follow Master Borri to the courtyard. We will have the next trial there." He instructed as he led Drago to the courtyard, Lydia following suit.
(Later)
As the group reached the courtyard, Arngeir had Drago stop as Borri stood before him.
"Now we will see how you handle learning a completely new shout." The man explained, gesturing to his fellow Brother in the Voice. "Master Borri will teach Wuld, Whirlwind." He continued.
"What's this one supposed to do?" The Argonian Thane wondered.
"Allow a demonstration to be done." The Greybeard replied before hitting a switch to open a test gate.
"Wuld!" Borri exclaimed before he blasted forward at near Mach five speeds, his stride kicking up wind and snow as he did. It even caused the cold wind of the snow storm in the courtyard to completely change directions!
"What the?!" Lydia yelped, not expecting such speeds to be possible.
'And I'll be learning to move that fast?!' Drago thought with wide eyes.
"Now, Dragonborn, we will see how well you master this shout once Master Borri shares his knowledge of it with you." The lead monk explained.
Drago looked to Borri, who used his power to carve the word of power onto the ground. Like with Ro, Drago felt his mind commit the word to memory. Turning to the gate, he nodded at the Greybeard, who opened the test gate.
"Wuld!" The Argonian exclaimed before he sprinted, and just barely managed to stop himself from running off the cliff.
The blowback from his run had a similar effect as Borri's, but far stronger, even nearly managing to tear the gates off their hinges and even blow a few of the Greybeards and Lydia back towards the walls separating the courtyards–causing them to grunt from the impact.
"... I think I could use more training with that one!" The Cryomancer gulped as he looked at the death-guaranteed drop. He then went back to the Greybeards, where an astounded Arngeir was getting back up, dusting the snow off his robes.
"Your quick mastery of a new Shout is… Astonishing, to say the least." The man said in awe. "I'd heard the stories of the abilities of the Dragonborn, but to see it for myself? It is truly a sight to behold." He added.
"It feels like I still have a ways to go, if I'm being honest." The Argonian replied modestly.
"You blew some of us back! What do you think?!" Lydia snapped, a little indignant about being blasted back.
"That will come to you in time. For now, you will endeavor on your last trial." The leader of the monks explained. "For this you must now find the horn of our founder Jurgen Windcaller. It lies in his tomb at Ustengrav Catacombs, not far from Solitude." He continued.
"We'll be back when we get it." Drago nodded as he motioned for Lydia to follow him.
"Strength without, voice within, Dragonborn." Arngeir nodded, bowing. "Good luck." He added as he and the other monks took their leave.
Lydia sighed as she walked up to her Thane. "Well, I'm still not certain that you actually slayed those two dragons, but I am quite certain now that you could if you wanted." She stated, stretching a bit.
"True enough." Drago shrugged. "But now comes the annoying part: Walking back down the mountain…" He added with a dismayed groan.
"Divines kill me now…" Lydia groaned in equal dismay, already hearing her legs begging her not to take the trip down the stairs.
(Later)
"... Gods, must they have the temple up in the cold?" The Housecarl shivered as they left the temple. Her armor rattled from how much she shook.
Drago, completely unbothered by the cold, looked at his shaking companion and took pity on her again, taking off his cloak and draping it around her, its warming enchantment causing her to feel much warmer.
"Oh, that feels amazing…" The woman sighed in content and relief. "But, my Thane, what about…?" She began to ask.
"No, please take it, I'm fine." The Argonian told her, his demeanor unmoved by the cold as he then picked her up and started carrying her to Freya, setting her on the horse's back. "And please, address me as Drago. I have no need for a submissive servant." He continued as they walked. "Rather, I'd prefer to have a partner. An equal." He added.
"As you wish… Drago." The Housecarl sighed, letting his words sink in as they made their way back down the mountain.
The housecarl wouldn't readily admit it to the Thane of Whiterun, but… She was actually beginning to like the scaly giant. Though only time would tell if these feelings would be anything more than just that.
Dragon Emperor0: And there we go. Now we move on to the retrieval of the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, then Drago is fully accepted by the Greybeards. And then after that, we do A Blade in the Dark. Reason why we're doing it in that order is because after that mission (which is usually where Lydia apologizes in the mod) we'll then start the original Lydia quest. For anyone who's done it via mod, you know exactly what it entails.
ThermalsniperN7: The fact that we have to refer to mods is kinda telling about how underdone Skyrim is, especially since Bethesda basically let the modders in the community do their job for them. Talk about lazy effort.
Dragon Emperor0: I've heard it be said that Bethesda wanted the game to be like a blank canvas for players to do whatever they wanted, modders included. So I wouldn't call it lazy so much as it is leaving the tools out for people to go ham. Also, if anyone's wondering–I use the Master Chief voice mod in my playthrough for this story. So whenever Drago speaks, just imagine that he has Chief's voice.
ThermalsniperN7: Is that on your PC? If it is, then remember that us console users don't have the luxury of mod usage. If we did, I'd be making full use of a Yautja mod I heard about several years back. Anyway, see you guys next time.