The next morning, I awaken feeling very refreshed. I was so tired I didn't even dream, which was a blessing, considering what I've been dreaming of lately. Pausing only to purchase some food from the innkeeper to eat on the way up the Steps, I step out into the fresh morning air. It looks like it's shaping up to be a beautiful day. Shame I'll be spending most of it on top of a frosty mountain.
The climb up the Seven Thousand Steps is even quieter than usual. It's too early for even the birds to sing, and we have passed too high to hear them properly when they do start. Soon we reach the great bronze doors to High Hrothgar.
Passing through, I nod to the Greybeard sat meditating in front of one of the great braziers and prepare myself for the trip up to the peak. I don't really like having to Shout all the way up the track – it is really rather draining, but I suppose it's purpose is more to serve as a warning to Paarthurnax than an actual test; in the same way one knocks on the door when visiting a friend before entering the house.
Finally we reach the top of the Throat of the World. Paarthurnax awaits our return atop a great spire of rock near the path.
"You have it – the Kel – the Elder Scroll!" He says as we draw near. "Tiid kreh… qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question… you are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then – fulfil your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound; do not delay – Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."
Ahead of me, near the broken Word Wall, I can see a spot where the air shimmers and sparkles; objects seen through it seem fragmented. I ask Lydia to stay back – I don't want her to get half-caught in whatever is going to happen. Who knows what sort of effect that might have?
I step into the middle of the shimmer and unfurl the Scroll. With a blinding flash, I hear a whooshing noise, and when I can see again… everything has changed. I am still at the summit, but everything is tinted red; the Word Wall is intact and there are dragons everywhere.
"Gormlaith!" Comes a cry from my right. I turn and spot a young warrior running up the snowy slope. "We're running out of time! The battle –" He is cut off when a great brown dragon crashes to the ground behind him.
"Daar sul thur se Alduin vokrii." It growls. "Today, Alduin's lordship will be restored. But I honour your courage. Krif voth ahkrin. Die now; in vain."
"For Skyrim!" The warrior yells in response, attacking the dragon with his battle-axe. Just as he is about to land the killing blow, a deft blonde woman runs into the fray, leaping onto the dragon's scaly head.
"Know that Gormlaith sent you down to death!" She cries, her sword plunging between the monster's eyes. Leaping off as the great beast roared its last breath, she sheathes her bloody blade and grins at the warrior as they both start walking toward the Word Wall.
"Hakon! A glorious day, is it not?" She says.
"Have you no thought beyond the blooding of your blade?" Hakon asks, yet a smile creeps across his face upon sight of her ecstatic features.
"Ha! What else is there?"
"The battle below goes ill." Hakon says, shielding his eyes against the fierce wind blown up by the massive beasts flying overhead. He peers across Skyrim, as if anyone would be visible from this height. "If Alduin does not rise to our challenge, I fear all may be lost."
"You worry too much, brother." Gormlaith says as a robed, older man joins the pair. "Victory will be ours!"
"Why does Alduin hang back?" The dark haired warrior addresses the old man. "We've staked everything on this plan of yours, old man."
"He will come." The elder is confident. "He cannot ignore our defiance. And why should he fear us, even now?"
"We've bloodied him well – four of his kin have fallen to my blade alone this day." Gormlaith was a very proud fighter, it seems.
"But none have yet stood against Alduin himself." Points out the elder. His robes are very much like those worn by the Greybeards. "Galthor, Sorri, Birkir…"
"They did not have Dragonrend. Once we bring him down, I promise I will have his head."
"You do not understand. Alduin cannot be slain like a lesser dragon. He is beyond our strength. Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll." The old man pulls out the mentioned item from the bag almost hidden beneath his robes.
"Felldir!" Hakon cries upon sight of the object. "We agreed not to use it!"
"I never agreed!" replies Felldir. "And if you are right, I will not need it."
"No. We will deal with Alduin ourselves; here and now."
"We shall see soon enough." Interrupts Gormlaith, eyes on the skies. "Alduin approaches!"
"So be it." Says Hakon quietly, as the great black dragon lands to perch on top of the Word Wall.
"Meyye!" He cries. "Tahrodiis aanne! Him hinde pah liiv! Zu'u hin daan!"
"Let those that watch from Sovngarde envy us this day!" Yells Gormlaith above the flapping of Alduin's wings as he heaves himself back into the air. Then the trio draw a deep breath and…
"Joor Zah Frul!" The Dragonrend Shout blasts through the air and slams into the World-Eater, knocking him off-balance somehow in mid-air, forcing him to land in the great snowy space before the warriors. A the same time, I feel the warmth associated with learning a new Word, but threefold – most likely because I learnt three Words in one go. And, because they were man-made, I don't need to worry about unlocking them through the use of a dragon soul – that must be what happens when I learn a word after killing a dragon.
"Nivahriin joorre!" Curses Alduin. "What have you done? What twisted Words have you created? Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck! But first… dir ko maar. You will die in terror, knowing your final fate – to feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde!"
"If I die today, it will not be in terror!" Gormlaith cries, the first into the fray against the great beast. "You feel fear for the first time, worm. I see it in your eyes!" She yells between swings of her blade. Hakon and Felldir are both hacking away with their great weapons, Felldir first stepping back and using a Shout that douses the dragon in ice.
"Skyrim will be free!" Continues Gormlaith, shouting what turn out to be her last words as the great monster picks her up in his massive jaws, shakes her a couple of times and throws her away; much like a dog with a rat.
"NO!" Screams Hakon as her body comes to rest at the foot of the Word Wall. "Damn you! It's no use; use the Scroll, Felldir – now!" He continues whacking at the World-Eater as the old man unfurls the Scroll, much like I did earlier.
"Hold, Alduin on the wing! Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard! Begone, World-Eater! By words with older bones than your own, we break your perch on this age and send you out! You are banished! Alduin, we shout you out from all our endings unto the last!"
"Faal Kel..? Nikriinne…" Alduin says as he vanishes in a blast of greenish light.
"You are banished!" Felldir finishes reading the Scroll, rolls it back up and puts it away. Hakon approaches the now-breathless old man.
"It worked! You did it…" He says in wonderment.
"Yes, the World-Eater is gone. May the spirits have mercy on our souls…"
Anything else the pair say is drowned out by another whooshing noise, and after another blinding flash, I find myself back in my own time; everything is as I left it except for one thing… the great black dragon hovering near the Word Wall.
"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor." Growls Alduin. "My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now, and await your fate in Sovngarde!" He starts flapping higher into the air.
"Lost funt – you are too late, Alduin! Dovahkiin – use Dragonrend, if you know it!" Paarthurnax replies, also taking to the skies.
Alright – here goes. Better have a go before he flies too much further…
"Joor Zah Frul!" For the first time since the previous fight on this mountain, a dragon has the concept of mortality slammed into its mind, forcing it to land from the sheer horror of it. I don't exactly understand how I know that – understanding must have come with the learning; much like when I learn a Word from a Wall.
Alduin is saying something about power waxing and waning, but I'm not listening – using the sword I picked up in Sky Haven Temple, I'm hacking away, using Dragonrend as often as I can to prevent it from wearing off too soon and the World-Eater escaping. Lydia is helping, shooting arrows into the thick scaly hide in front of me, while Paarthurnax roasts him with Fire Breath. Just as I'm about to attempt the kill-strike, Alduin shoves me with his snout, casting me back several feet through the snow.
"Meyz mul, Dovahkiin." He says. "You have become strong. But I am Al Du In! First-born of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else. You cannot prevail against me; I will outlast you, mortal!" Gathering the last of his strength, and before I can fully return to my feet, the World-Eater takes to the skies and flies off eastwards.
Damn! I almost had the bastard, and he escaped! I'm going to have to find out where he went; I will not let this lie!
"Lot krongrah." Says Paarthurnax, landing on the Word Wall. "You truly have the Voice of a dovah. Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory."
"I need to find out where Alduin went."
"Yes… one of his allies could tell us." The ancient beast responds. "Motmahus… but it will not be so easy to… convince one of them to betray him. Perhaps the hofkahsejun… the palace in Whiterun… Dragonsreach. It was originally built to house a captive dovah. A fine place to trap one of Alduin's allies, hmm?"
"The Jarl of Whiterun might not think so." I counter.
"Hmm, yes… But your su'um is strong. I do not doubt that you can convince him of the need."
Finishing our conversation, Lydia and I head back down the mountain, through High Hrothgar and take the quiet trip to Whiterun. Nothing happens that endangers us, so we soon pass through the city gates. The sky is darkening though, so instead of heading straight up to Dragonsreach, I rent the room at the Bannered Mare and strip down to sleep. The beds in the cities are far more comfortable than those in the small town inns!