Astaria left later that afternoon, telling Ulfric that they can expect Imperial reinforcements at Whiterun, neither him nor Galmar were overly pleased with this news, but they thanked her for managing to hear that information.

She also apologised to Galmar, who simply told her not to worry about it. She had a feeling that Ulfric had had a word to him about it.

Then, she found herself alone on the road again.

It was cool afternoon, but the path to Ivarstead was all quiet, something that she was grateful for. She rested in the inn for the night, not game enough to tackle the steps at night time, not only would wildlife be more active, but it was be about ten times colder.

She had ditched her Stormcloak armour for the journey, both Ulfric and Galmar agreeing that it would be safer if people didn't quite recognise her as a Stormcloak yet, not to mention, avoid the attention of any Imperials that she could possibly meet along the way. Instead, she was now in a well fitted leather armour, and while not overly warm, which was what her heavy cloak was for, it was more than enough protection for her journey.

Astaria made an early start in the morning, eating a quick small meal at the inn before crossing the bridge to the start of the steps. She stared at them, they just seemed to go on, shaking her head and wondering how she had gotten herself into this.

One thousand passed quickly, she was making a good pace and gotten a fair way up the mountain. Two thousand, she was starting to become short of breath, both from walking and because she was getting higher. At three thousand, she encountered her first problem.

There was wolf along the path, she could never really explain it, but she always felt a certain connection with wolves, it was a deep connection and it always hurt her when she saw them being attacked or dead.

She drew her bow, if she was going to do this then she could at least make it quick for the poor thing.

At that moment it turned and looked at her and she stopped dead. It's amber eyes just stared at her, it's white coat camouflaging into the snow. They both stood, staring at each other before it calmly turned and walked away from the path.

Astaria stood there stunned, she had only ever known wolves to attack, especially with the onset of winter. She put her bow away, still not entirely believing what she had seen.

She continued slowly, she knew that wolves were cunning creatures, but after another thousand steps, she was more than sure that she was not being followed.

It was getting colder now, Astaria reckoned it to be bordering on midday. The going had been slow but it seemed much of the climbing was over, now it looked mostly like a winding path before her that occasionally dipped down into the mountain before resurfacing. She'd lost count of how many steps she had done so she just continued to follow the path, which Ulfric had assured her would lead her straight there.

After a particularly steep climb, Astaria stopped to catch her breath, which was all that saved her life. She heard a roar and looked up, up on a cliff was a frost troll. Astaria cursed silently, knowing that these were no conditions to fight a frost troll in, she had no fire for starters, but two, it was damn cold, numbing her hands and she hate to see herself trying to wield a sword like that. Her thick Nord blood protected her from any serious cold damage, but it didn't mean that her body still reacted to it.

The only way she was going to get past this was by sneaking. She drew her cloak closely around her so that it had no possibility of catching on anything and making any sort of noise and began to slowly edge forward. She moved under the cliff, knowing that she could at least avoid its line of sight for a bit and it would hopefully bring her out in front of it, so if it did see her, she could at least run.

Straining her ears, she listened as much as she could, it was hard because of the wind, but she could swear that it was still above her. Reaching the edge of under the cliff, she hesitated, not know whether or not it would see her. She had to risk it though, and creeping forward as quietly as possible, she risked a glance over her shoulder. It was facing the other way.

Letting a silent sigh of relief, she kept moving and didn't dare speed up until she was out of site. How she was going to get back past that thing, she had no idea.

Finally, she reached her destination.

High Hrothgar sat, cold and unwelcome looking. Her breath coming out in puffs of white smoke, she hoped that inside would be warmer.

The door opened silently and she stepped inside, closing the door on the cold behind her. It was warmer, but there was still a chill in the air. She walked in to find an open space as the entrance and she was almost lost for a moment in the feeling of power she could feel in the place.

She stared as a man approached her, his hood almost covering his face.

"So…a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age." He said gravely.

She blinks at him. "Err, I guess? I'm answering your summons."

"We will see if you truly have the gift. Show us, Dragonborn. Let us taste of your voice." When Astaria hesitates, he says. "Shout at us."

Still hesitant she looked at him and noticed three other men behind him. Was he seriously asking her to shout at him. He doesn't move, just stands, waiting patiently. He was serious.

Bracing herself for the worst, she felt the power rise in her chest and then she shouted straight at them.

"Fus!"

They all stagger, but do not fall, and they all straighten with impressed looks of calm.

"Dragonborn. It is you. Welcome to High Hrothgar." The man closest said, looking pleased. "I am Master Arngeir, I speak for the Greybeards."

Astaria bit her tongue, she had been about to mention that she knew that because Ulfric had told her that Arngeir was the only one to talk, but he had warned her that, for the moment, it would be best to avoid bringing up his name. Ulfric had no doubt that Arngeir was still mad at him.

"Tell me Dragonborn, why have you come here?" He asked.

"I want to know what it means to be Dragonborn."

"We can certainly guide you in that pursuit, as the Greybeards have done through time to those who have come before you. You've shown that you are Dragonborn, that you have the inborn gift, but do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen."

They were great words of confidence, she thought.

"Without training you have taken the first steps towards projecting your voice into a thu'um or shout, now let's see if you are willing and able to learn." Arngeir steps to the side and gestures her forward slightly.

A bit taken back at being thrown straight into learning, Astaria steps to where he gestures to.

"Your dragon blood gives you an inborn ability to learn words of power, all shouts consist of three words, and as you master each shout, you will become progressively stronger."

And then her training began. She was shown the second word of Unrelenting Force, which she learnt was what she already knew the first word of. This was almost two easy, she absorbed the word, before one of the other Greybeards shared his knowledge of that word with her and then, she could use that too.

She took out targets with her shout, feeling the sheer power that her voice could wield and she suddenly understood Ulfric's words of keeping it in control. It was a lot of power for one to wield.

Next, they took her outside to learn a new shout. This had been equally as easy and she found that she could now dart herself rapidly forward, both to avoid attack or too attack, it was thrilling and again, those words echoed back to her.

She could understand why the Greybeards remained at the High Hrothgar, at the Throat of the World. There was no one up here they could accidently harm.

Arngeir then informed her that before they would teach her the final word to Unrelenting Force, she must first retrieve something for them.

"Consider it a final test of your worth Dragonborn." Arngeir told her. "Retrieve the horn of Jurgen Windcaller."

Little did they tell her it was in another barrow. She stood outside gritting her teeth. She had made her way off the mountain easily, the frost troll nowhere to be seen, along with any other wildlife, and made her way to Morthal, where they had told her that the place where she could find the horn would be near. Now she stood outside, debating how much she really wanted to go in.

Sighing in defeat, she eventually enters. Inside were some mages, which she soon recognised as necromancers when they resurrected the corpse of a bandit. Luckily for her, they were too busy fighting each other to notice as she slipped through the door.

Heading deeper down she found more necromancers that had gotten into a fight with some Draugr, luckily, bar one Draugr, they had taken each other out and Astaria quickly dispatched of the last Draugr.

Heading deeper down, she began to hear, or more feel, a familiar vibration through the air. It was like the one she had felt in Bleak Falls Barrow with the wall. She followed the feeling, eventually finding it at the bottom of a cavern next to a waterfall. Several skeletons blocked her way but it was nothing that she couldn't handle.

She stared at the word and took it in, but this time she couldn't understand it. She stood their blankly for a moment before realising why. There was no one to teach her the knowledge per se. The first word she had ever learned was because she had taken the dragon's power, and the two words after that were because the Greybeards had shared their knowledge with her. Each word she wanted to learn was most likely going to have to be accompanied by the death of a dragon.

The thought of fighting so many dragons didn't please her.

The barrow felt somewhat easier than the first, mostly because there were less Draugr, something that she was very happy about. The traps were harder though, it took her almost an hour to figure out how to time three stones to three different barred doors, only remembering her Whirlwind Sprint in the last few minutes and slapping herself for her stupidity.

She should have known that this place was specifically built to test Dragonborn's.

The next trap was easier, it was simple pressure tiles, but due to her being so easy and light footed, they didn't activate when she stepped on them.

The spider gave her little trouble and she soon found herself in the final chamber, stone pillars rising from the water as she walked towards the large chest at the end.

Unfortunately, there was no horn at the end, simply a note.

Dragonborn,

I need to speak to you. Urgently.

Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you.

A friend

She read the note several times in frustration before pocketing it and leaving the barrow. The fresh air made her sigh and she had a sudden, horrible feeling, that she was going to be lead on a wild goose chase.