Following the road north the next day, I haven't gone far before a wolf tries to have me for breakfast. Taking out my warhammer, I swing it just in time to smash the wolf's face in. Ouch.
As I reach the crossroad down the hill, I am ambushed by four bandits. Two of them hang back, shooting at me with bows (and missing most of the time) while the other two rush screaming at me, war axes drawn. Those two are dealt with easily, but as I finish off the first archer, a dragon crashes onto the road and blasts ice at the other, sending his frozen body tumbling down the hill.
"Joor Zah Frul!" I Shout to prevent the dragon taking off again, and I swap my warhammer with Dragonbane, running as fast as I can to close the distance between me and the great beast. Ducking under it as it lunges at me, trying to bite my head off, I swing upwards and open a gash in its throat. Unluckily, it's not deep enough to do any real damage, and the dragon rears back to cover me with ice. Shouting again causes it to flinch, interrupting its Shout, and I lash out again, leaping onto its head to stab it repeatedly in the face until it slams to the ground dead.
As I absorb the dragon's soul, I ponder where to go first to look for this Sorine Jurard. Letting my intuition lead me, I head off down the westward road. A little way down, the road cuts through a cliff, past a fort built into the rock – which has been occupied by the Forsworn, the wild folk of the Reach I'd heard about somewhere. I can't be asked to clear out the fort now, so I kill the woman who attacked me as I passed the fort and head down a track heading northwards and away from the fort.
The track doesn't go far however; a short way away from the road it peters out into the hardy mountain grass. I'm running in a random direction now, in a north-western direction. Mining an iron vein I come across, I let my mind wander. Once I finish cutting out the visible iron from the stone, I wade across the river and walk along the bank until I find a track leading through the hills.
I haven't travelled that far along the track when I encounter a hagraven attacking a spriggan, so I help the forest guardian defeat the creature, cutting it down and plucking a couple of feathers. Something hits me, and I look up to find the spriggan is now attacking me, the ungrateful thing! I use my Fire Breath Shout on it, and it bursts into flames; when it dies I take a small sample of what remains and head on along the track.
The track ends when it reaches another branch of the river, so I wade across that, pass a satchel lying next to the rushing water – wonder why it's there? – and find the person I'm looking for. I can't think of anyone else who would be hanging around a small Dwemer ruin in the middle of nowhere.
"You haven't seen a sack of Dwarven gyros, have you?" She asks when I approach. "I'd swear I left it right here. Do you think mudcrabs might've taken it? I saw one the other day… wouldn't be surprised if it followed me here. Just look around will you?"
"Isran asked me to find you." I say instead.
"Isran? Wants me? No, you must be mistaken. He made it exceedingly clear the last time we spoke that he had no interest in my help." What is it with Isran and rejecting help he then needs later on? "I find it hard to believe he's changed his mind. He said some very hurtful things to me before I left. Anyway, I'm quite happy in my current pursuits, so if you'll excuse me…" She starts turning away.
"Vampires threaten all of Skyrim. We need your help."
Sorine pauses, then turns back to me. "Vampires? Really? Oh, and I suppose now he remembers that I proposed no less than three scenarios that involved vampires overrunning the population. Well; what are they up to?"
"They have an Elder Scroll."
"I… well, that's actually something I never would've anticipated. Interesting… I'm not sure what they would do with one, but in this case Isran is probably correct in thinking it isn't good. All right, if nothing else, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn more about what's going on so I can better defend myself. But I'm not just going to abandon what I've been working on here; it's too useful. I need at least one intact Dwarven gyro, so either I need to find the satchel the mudcrabs stole, or I need another gyro from someplace. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?"
"I don't have any gyros on me." I say, thinking about the bag near the water.
"Well, then I'm very sorry, but I just walk away from this project yet."
I return to the river and rummage through the satchel, retrieving seven gyros. If she only needs one, why did she have so many? I return to the speculating woman.
"Just one gyro." She murmurs. "One, and I can get back to work. Where are they?"
"Isran and I still need your help." I remind her, in case she's already forgotten.
"I understand that." She sighs, returning her attention to me. "But I really can't leave here without one useable piece of Dwarven equipment. A single gyro would be enough, I think. Believe me, this is useful stuff."
"Here. I've got a Dwarven gyro. Take it." I hand her one of the gyros. If she only needs one, I can sell the rest.
"Thank you! It's not much, but this will help a great deal with some things I've been researching. Now where is it Isran expects me to go?"
"We're meeting at Fort Dawnguard."
"Ah – been working more on his secret hideout, has he? It'll be interesting to see how much progress he's made. I'll finish up here and head in that direction as soon as I can. See you there."
Leaving Sorine with her gyro, I head east and am soon attacked by another ice breathing dragon. Using Dragonrend sends it over to a large area of ground a short distance ahead. Sprinting to catch up, I draw Dragonbane and reach the monster just as Dragonrend wears off. I use it again, stopping it from taking off or Shouting at me, I attack, slashing and hacking as fast as I can, dodging its own attacks as best I can. This one is tougher than the last one – I have to cast a healing spell several times during the fight. I emerge the victor, with barely any energy left to even step back when the body burns.
Absorbing the soul gives me enough time to recover my energy, and the soul also helps, and so I am soon heading eastwards again, crossing the river near an abandoned camp and following the road south. After turning a sabre cat into a rustic living-room decoration, I dash through the abandoned bandit camp near the bridge, using my Fire Breath on the lone bandit who had moved in.
Passing through Rorikstead, I nod to the guards patrolling the road and, soon after leaving the village, am attacked by a wolf. I barely have time to draw my sword when a pair of Vigilants, now of course homeless, step in and deal with the unfortunate canine for me.
"Stendarr have mercy upon you, for the Vigilants have none to spare." One of them says, and I do a double take – both of the Vigilants look exactly the same! Twins, or some strange coincidence?
Further down the road, I pass another pair of Alik'r warriors harassing a Redguard woman. Ignoring them, I pass the crossroad fort, and reaching Whiterun, I take the road up into the city and visit Belethor to sell my loot.
Leaving the city, I pass a Khajiit caravan as they set up outside the city walls, and have a quiet journey across the bridges and along the goat track to Ivarstead. The Throat of the World already blocks out the sun, casting the little logging town into darkness, and I am rather tired now, so I rent a room at the inn and am soon fast asleep.