Day Six

I woke to find Lydia finishing getting dressed. The room was still dark since there was no window, but my eyes were better adjusted than last night. She heard me stir, said good morning, and lit the candle. I was surprised that I did not feel as drained as I usually did in the morning, which was good since I remembered I was out of skooma.

"You are awake early," I said.

"Yes, well, I thought it best if I got up when I did. You must have quite the randy imagination when you dream."

I was perplexed at first, wondering how she would know what I had been dreaming, then remembered how close she had been while we slept. "Some things are beyond control." I said, smiling.

"Obviously," she said, one eyebrow raised.

I quickly adjusted the blanket.

"I'll go buy our breakfast while you get dressed and... relaxed."

A breakfast of chicken breast and applesauce awaited when I left the room. I thanked Wilhelm for the information about Reyda and we walked down to the river, stopping by the bridge. We did not find anything along the shore but my eye kept catching the glint of something underwater. I striped down to my smallclothes and waded in. The river was swift but not deep and my foot bumped against something sticking up out of the bottom. I reach down and grab hold. I pull out a leg bone from the water. I looked at Lydia but she had nothing to say. I could make out the whole skeleton now that I knew what to look for. It was partially covered in the muddy silt of the river bottom. The glint I saw was a shiny letter 'R' on a satchel. I grabbed the bag and went back to shore.

I looked inside and found a collection of ingredients, a few coins, and a necklace.

"This must be her's," I said, "Narfi's going to be crushed."

"At least he will know what happened," Lydia said. "It's strange how nothing is left but bones already. She has not been gone that long."

"Mage work," I spat. "Probably that Wyndelius. Who knows what he did in there? Let's go see Narfi and get out of here."

I found the young man already up and feeding a rabbit bits of bread. The rabbit scampered away when we approached.

"Narfi," I said, "I found Reyda."

Narfi's eyes lit up. "You saw Reyda? Did you tell her Narfi cries? Where is she?"

"I'm sorry, Narfi," I said, "Reyda is dead. We do not know how. It was probably an accident by the river. Here is her satchel and necklace, though."

"No, no, no. I never got to say good-bye to Reyda. Now Narfi's all alone. At least Narfi has her necklace, thanks to you."

In appreciation, Narfi gave me some of the ingredients she had been collecting. I took them and promised to see him again. We left him to his grief.

I was hoping there was a trader of some sort in Iverstead but no such luck. I would have liked to sell some of the extra stuff we had collected but I guessed it would have to wait. We headed to the other bridge then stopped to talk to two men standing there.

One of the men, Klimmek, said he regularly made the trip up the seven thousand steps, but lately his legs had been bothering him.

"Wait," I said, "Seven thousand steps? No one said anything about seven thousand steps."

"Do you want to go or not?" Lydia asked.

"You are making the journey?" Klimmek asked me.

"Yes, I suppose I am," I said grudgingly.

"Could I impose a favor, then, my friend. They are waiting for some supplies but I'm not sure I could make it."

"Sorry to hear that," I said, still a little upset over Narfi, I supposed. "Are you ready, Lydia?"

"Give me the supplies," she told the weary man. "I am a pack person, after all."

He handed her the supplies and she began walking quickly across the bridge without me.

I sighed. "Do women ever forget anything you say to them?"

The two men laughed uproariously, for whatever reason, and walked away. Confused, I shook my head and jogged after my housecarl.

Not far from the bridge I talked with a man named Barknar reading a plaque set in a small alter. He warned of wolves ahead. Wolves I did not mind, as long as there were no more of those trolls. Lydia suggested I read the plaques, there were ten of them as we went, to learn more of the legend of the Dragonborn. They were short, so I did not balk at the idea. The climb was tedious so we took it slow but it is not without its perils. A large wolf, white as the snow it hid in, attacked us on a narrow section of the path. After a vicious bite to my arm, I dove behind a boulder for cover to drink a potion. I did not realize the mountain ended where the boulder did and I nearly fell to my death. After we dispatched the wolf, I met another hunter named Karita. She was too hot to be in so cold a climate. I was hoping she might join us. Three could be quite nice company in the cold. She did not even care to talk but she did warn us of wolves. Just after we left her, however, I wished it had been wolves that we met. Through a narrow crevasse, a troll, larger than the one by the river, and also white as snow, attacked us. I tried my best but my skills with the sword were not enough to best the beast. My sword seemed dull against its tough hide. Even with Lydia's hammer swinging expertly, I was forced to conclude it best we made a run for it. Lydia managed to sweep its legs as I Shouted and the ugly monster fell backwards, still alive and growing angrier. We managed to outrun it and after another hour or so, we finally spotted the Greybeard's keep, High Rothgar. We rested as I read the last tablet. After the final word, a strange sense of peace settled over the area. Even my growing hunger for skooma seemed to ease. Lydia deposited the supplies in the offer chest at the bottom of the keep's stairs and we hastened to get out of the cold.

The inside of High Rothgar was dark with little in the way of decoration. I suppose it's what I should have expected with the townspeople often referring to them as monks. But the air inside was warm and the wind was no longer howling in my ears so I did not complain. We were barely through the doors when I noticed a tall man in a dark grey robe walking towards us. I imagined they had an excellent view from their towers of everything that moved on the mountain.

The old man introduced himself as Arngeir and asked why I had come.

"My name is Ralos Ravenclaw," I announced. "I heard your summons and Jarl Balgruuf told me you Greybeards are masters of these Shouts."

"Thu'um. If you are to be the Dragonborn, you should know the language."

"I know the language just fine, though I don't know how I know. Why do you call me that? I'm obviously not a dragon and I was not spawned of a dragon, though my sister does look a bit like one. So how am I a Dragonborn."

Arngeir went on to tell me how the Dragonborn came to be and that I must share the same bloodline as Akatosh. He said I have the blood and soul of a dragon but I was trapped in human form. The Shouts were my way of battling Dov, or other dragons. Personally I've found they work fine against other beings as well, though I have not had the chance to try my Shout on a dragon. As he spoke, three other of the Greybeards appeared and stood in a circle in the middle of the room.

"I was hoping not to battle dragons so much as bring them to yield before me," I said to Arngeir. "Their presence on the battlefield will ensure my dominance over all of Tamriel. Would you know who their leader is? Do they even have one, or are they just running wild and loose like trolls?"

Arngeir was speechless for a moment. "You wish them to yield? To you? Lofty goals for someone who was forced to run from an ice troll?"

"You saw that, huh? He got the jump on us. Mostly I ran from his troll-stench before it seeped into my clothes. I've already killed a dragon, you know."

The Greybeard was shocked. "By yourself?"

"Well, no, I may have had some help. But I did deliver the final blow that released his soul and brought me here to you."

Arngeir smiled and nodded, "Be that as it may, if you wish to control the dragons, as much as possible anyway, you will need to defeat Alduin, the world eater. Your only chance to do that is to master your Thu'um and learn all that you can. Until then, your plans for domination will have to wait."

"Fine, old man, let's get started then."

Arngeir looked around the room at his fellow monks then leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "Listen well, whelp. My name is Arngeir. Call me old man again and the only shouting you'll be doing will be as you plummet to your death from the Throat of the World. Understand, Dovahkiin?"

Normally I would have unleashed the fury of my blade upon being spoken to so, but there was an underlying roar in his voice, more felt than heard that is difficult to relate in a story. It made my bowels clench more than I care to admit. I let the indiscretion pass to begin my training.

Lydia grew bored waiting and decided to rest on one of the stone benches. Those supplies had obviously been heavier than she would admit.

Another of the Greybeards, Einarth, showed me another word that if I said it along with Fus, would increase the Shout's power. There were three words for every Shout, each more powerful than the last. I learned the word as he burned the dragon script into the stone floor then granted me his knowledge of the power. I tested it out and could barely contain my joy. I looked over at Lydia who was sitting up looking irritated.

"What's the problem?" I asked her. "This Shout is going to great in battle."

"How am I supposed to rest with all this shouting going on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll wait to learn my dragon powers until after your beauty nap. I see how necessary it is."

Arngeir stepped forward, perhaps using some special power to sense the imminent blow up about to happen. "Perhaps we should take the moment to teach you a completely new shout. Master Borri will show you the Shout for Wold, or Whirlwind, outside in the courtyard."

"Fine," I said, "I guess my pack person doesn't need bags under her eyes as well."

Arngeir quickly spun me around towards another set of doors. I thought I saw Lydia get up to follow but instead she sat back down. Why she was gripping her hammer, I had no idea.

Out in the courtyard, the wind was not as bad, though it was still cold. Borri displayed the word for the new Shout on the snow. I learned it before it melted away. I was then instructed to demonstrate how I was able to apply what I had just learned, after it was shown to me once. The Greybeard sped forward through a gate at an incredible speed. I immediately began wondering how many of these wonderful shouts there were? I tried it myself. I shouted, "Wold" and it was hard to tell if I ran faster or if time actually slowed down because I did not feel the rush of the air as I passed. I was just suddenly where I wanted to be.

Arngeir was justifiably astounded at my skill. I told him I thought it was this easy for everyone since I barely broke a sweat. He admitted it was not and that I truly had a gift from the gods.

I said, "I came here to learn something I didn't know."

Arngeir's wrinkled face twitched but he got it under control then said he had one more task for me to complete my training.

"You must go to Ustengrav near Morthal and retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Return it to us and you will prove you are indeed the Dragonborn. Until then, we are done here."

The Greybeard marked it for me on my map. He and the others left me and returned to their solitary business. I was excited about the new Shouts but annoyed that I was being sent on this time consuming task. I wondered if I could just buy a horn in Whiterun and tell them it was the one? Since I did not know what it looked like, I dropped the idea. I went to fetch Lydia so we could leave.

Lydia had had time for a short nap so she was in better spirits when we left. I dreaded going back down all those steps, especially going past the troll again, but there was only one way down. Surprisingly, the calm I felt when we arrived was still with me and it must have been contagious because nothing else bothered us all the way down, not even the troll. I had not realized how boring the walk was until I had nothing to do but walk.

We reached Iverstead near dinner time and as luck would have it we ran into Klimmek right outside the inn. He paid Lydia five hundred septims for her troubles. When he left she actually gave me half.

"You earned it, I suppose, between the wolves and the troll," she said. "But this time I'm paying for the room and you're sleeping on the floor."

I was about to argue but thought better of it. She did not have to give me any of the money.

"And," she added as we headed for the inn to eat, "if you can keep from making a pig of yourself through dinner, perhaps you can help me with my armor."

She went inside, leaving me there dumbfounded. Women. "How much of a pig?" I asked as I followed her in.