Day Forty-three

I hoped against hope but when I awoke my shoulder was the same. The pain was nearly gone, but my range of motion was still limited. It looked like it was sword and shield for me from now on. I would have to keep my eyes open for better swords. The elven one I found was nice, but I still would like to do more damage and I did not have the skills to improve elven materials.

We had a hearty breakfast at the Bannered Mare consisting of cooked beef, cheese, and sweet rolls. We washed it down with some Honingbrew Mead then headed over to the Temple of Arkay for a blessing. The day started off sunny and warm so we started walking to Iverstead. I had waited too long already to return to the Throat of the World with the Elder Scroll.

Just past the Ritual Stone near White River Watch, we turned to the right and took the quiet mountain pass to Iverstead. I debated going the long way just to practice some more but my patience had reached its limit. I was eager to get to Paarthurnax and see if he could show me how to defeat Alduin.

At the end of the pass we walked over the small rise to the river and another troll had taken up residence where we had killed the other one. This time, however, I was ready for the troll's regeneration trait as well as his powerful arms. I stayed clear and fired arrows as he charged towards us. Lydia summoned Kynval and I used his distraction to run in with my sword and shield. Kynval's sword set the troll on fire. I bashed the beast with my shield whenever he tried to run away to recover. In no time it died and I pushed his smelly body into the river where it got stuck on a fallen tree.

We rested for a moment before heading across the bridge to the seven thousand steps. Before we got across, another troll came barreling at us, grunting and hopping.

"Didn't we just kill this guy?" Lydia asked.

"Maybe this is his brother? Or sister? Kind of hard to tell from this far."

"Why would you even want to be able to tell?"

"Well, if this is his sister, she was probably off washing dishes or something."

"Seriously?" Lydia asked, getting her axe ready as the troll neared. "Are you just trying to piss me off?"

"Maybe," I smiled, "Is it working?"

"Just when I think you've gotten better..." She left the rest unsaid and met the troll's attack head on.

Lydia's attack was furious so I guess my tactic worked. I could not use it every time, though. It would lose its effectiveness. I joined Lydia in attacking the troll and before long the beast was leaning over the side of the bridge like a late night reveler after too many sour ales.

"Two trolls?" I said, "Let's hope that's the end of it. My sword arm's already getting tired and that frost troll might still be waiting up ahead."

"Maybe he'll be off doing dishes?" Lydia said, cleaning a wound on her arm from the fight.

"She'll be off doing dishes," I corrected her. "He'll be waiting for dinner."

"Pig." She started climbing the steps.

My thoughts of a quiet walk up the steps were dashed quickly. While innocently chasing a goat, I nearly ran face first into an all white bear. I never even heard him growl until he was almost on top of me. My shout of surprise turned into an actual Shout and my Unrelenting Force lifted the bear off the ground and into the side of the mountain where he flopped around, stunned and wounded. That gave me enough time to backtrack to let Lydia catch up and together we fought the mountain creature. We eventually put him down but not before his claws ripped holes in our armor and loosened rivets that should have lasted another year. I doubted the Greybeards had a forge I could use to repair them either. We moved on.

I noticed we did not see any of the hunters or pilgrims this time. It was cold and windy but at least it was not snowing for the time being. Halfway up the steps we heard the hissing of an ice wraith and Lydia produced her staff of flames. I had forgotten she even had that, she had been using the Sanguine Rose so much. The wraith must have been susceptible to fire because between the staff and my weak attempts at using magic flames as a weapon, it died quicker than usual.

Before we could even heal from the ice wraith fight, a snow cat bounded down the steps at us. Were the Greybeards hosting a traveling zoo or something? There were not so many creatures last time. Alduin, maybe? I thought he only controlled the dragons. Anyway, the cat proved even tougher than the wraith, mainly because it will not stay in one spot. I missed with my fire breath shout. It kept moving and dodging then racing in for an attack. My shield was holding up but I was still taking damage when its claws continued down into my thighs and feet. My sword's edge was still keen but it was not doing nearly enough damage. If I had been alone, I would have been in serious trouble. As it was, I could jump in while Lydia assailed it with her battleaxe and vice versa. The cat at last succumbed to its injuries and slid down the smooth edge of the steps and over the side of the mountain.

I sat for a while to heal the scratches and gashes on my legs. Luckily, I had made sure my codpiece was reinforced when I improved the armor. Some things just demanded extra attention.

"There has to be a better sword out there for me to use," I said, "an Orcish blade maybe, or even one of those ebony swords I've heard about."

"You're doing well," Lydia said, "I'm sure Adrienne could make you something special if you ask her nicely. Or, on second thought, I'll ask for you when we get back."

"What? Are you trying to say I don't know how to be polite?"

"You can be polite, at times. It's all the other crap that flows out afterwards that you need to work on."

"Crap, huh? Fine. From now on I'll be so polite even someone like you won't be able to stand it."

"You're off to a great start. Ready when you are."

I was surprised yet relieved to discover no frost troll waiting for us where the last one had been. Perhaps the one I shouted off the mountain had been a lone recluse. I wondered if Lydia really knew how close to falling to her death she had been. She seemed to have forgotten it, but I still got chills seeing her careening out of control, grasping for a handhold. I shook off the feeling and focused on High Hrothgar now looming in the distance.

The temple seemed quieter than usual as if they were tense with anticipation. Arngeir was deep in meditation so I did not even bother with informing him I had returned. Let one of the other Greybeards do it. I was no one's charge to be kept track of anyway. I led Lydia to the rear courtyard and towards the arch leading to Paarthurnax.

"I hate walking through that mess," Lydia said, "Even after you clear it with your shout I can still feel the ice in the air stinging my face."

I reached into my pack and handed her one of the linen cloths I was using for the jewelry. "Here, wrap this around your face like a scarf."

She took it, a bit dubiously and did her best, leaving only her eyes exposed. "How's that?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"You've never looked lovlier," I said. "Ready?"

"I asked for that one. You lead, I'll follow."

Using my shouts, we headed back to the Greybeards' master along the narrow mountainside path. This time only one creature impeded our progress, a frost troll. Hopefully no one was standing around in Iverstead when the troll finally landed after I force shouted him clear of our road. I made doubly sure Lydia was nowhere near me when I did it. The rest of the way was filled with goats and moonlight.

Paarthurnax was perched on his dragonwall when we arrived. We approached and I had planned an elaborate unveiling of the artifact but the dragon beat me to it.

"You have it, the Kel, the Elder Scroll. I can sense it near. Time shudders at its touch."

"Well, you've ruined the surprise," I said, "But... here it is!" I pulled the scroll out from the top of my pack. "Maybe next time you can fly me to it, huh? That was a lot of damn walking."

"A human riding a dragon? Ridiculous. You should have grown bigger wings instead of a bigger mouth, Dovahkiin, and you could have flown."

"These aren't wings, they're arms," I said, "And I wouldn't talk about having a big mouth. I'm not the one that can bite down on a whole bear and fling him around like a sack of cabbage. In fact I think you've got an antler between your teeth. Right there... no... the other side... there, you got it."

"Thank you," Paarthurnax said, "Anyway, you are Doom-driven, the very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go, fulfill your destiny. Take the Elder Scroll to the time wound. Be warned, Alduin will know what you are up to. Be prepared."

I looked around for something that looked like wounded time but came up empty. "Uh, Paarthy. A little help? Where was time wounded?"

The dragon rolled his huge eyes, settling on Lydia. She shrugged. "You see what I put up with every day?" she said, "Every. Day."

"Perhaps you should have been a priestess of Kynareth, with all your patience and stamina," Paarthurnax lifted his head and spit fire at a certain spot, melting the snow. "There, Dovahkiin, is the time wound."

"See, that wasn't that so hard?"

"That's what she said," Paarthurnax jested.

"Who said that?"

"Nevermind, Dovah. Go."

Senility must be settling in the dragon's mind. I stood in the burnt circle and unfurled the scroll.

The scroll came alive with glowing runes until it became a window hovering free in front of me. The runes swirled, becoming a bright center that expanded until my entire field of vision was blinded by a white light. When the light faded, the scenery had changed to show the mountaintop lit by fires and crackling lightning. It was a battle scene and a dragon was in the middle of it but it was not Alduin. He commended then chastised two warriors, telling them their fighting was futile. They claimed their right to seek freedom from Alduin's reign and backed it up with their weapons. The female warrior eventually leapt onto the dragon's head and stabbed it through the eye, killing it. I would have to remember that move.

The warrior's walked over to a third figure, a mage. It figured he would stay out of any fighting. The warrior's bragged about their number of kills while the mage, Felldir, reminded them also of their loses. The male warrior, Hakon, justified their deaths with the fact that with all the dragon losses, Alduin must come to them to fight. Then they would have him. The mage produced a scroll from behind his back, the Elder Scroll. He said he brought it despite their wishes in case Alduin proved as invulnerable as his legend proclaimed. They had no more time for debate as the female, Gormlaith, cried out that Alduin had arrived.

Alduin landed on a dragonwall. He cursed them in Dovahspeak then lifted into the air. Suddenly the three Nords in unison shouted what could only be Dragonrend at him. A blue flame burst upon Alduin and forced him to the ground like a comet pushing on his back. Once grounded, an astonished Alduin mocked their attempt to stop him and vowed vengeance on their conspirator, Paarthurnax. "My teeth in your neck," he growled.

The Nord warriors attacked with all their fury. But Alduin barely seemed to notice them. In moments he lunged forward and seized Gormlaith in his sharp teeth. He shook her back and forth, eviscerating her and snapping her spine. He tosses her aside like a straw doll into the snow.

"He is too strong," Hakon admitted to Felldir, "Our weapons do nothing. Use the scroll."

Felldir nodded then began to chant to evoke the power of the Elder Scroll. Alduin tried to stop him but could not move and Hakon did his best to harry him until it took affect. A light appears within Alduin and grew steadily larger until it enveloped him completely then suddenly it shrank to nothing, taking him with it. The mountaintop was left in silence.

"We did it," Hakon shouted, "Alduin is gone. Skyrim is safe."

"Yes, but for how long? May the Gods have mercy on our souls if he returns."

The scene ended and the Elder Scroll returned to a piece of parchment with runes of ink. I started to roll it back up into the cylinder but froze as I noticed a shadow settling over me. Alduin was hovering in the air.

"Trust me, human," Alduin said, "That was more painful than it looked. I plan to show you just how painful it was."

I switched the Elder Scroll for my sword and shield. "It's about time you stopped running from me, coward. Your minions were not up to the task of killing me. It's high time you found out why."

Alduin laughed, "My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Let the feasting begin."

The Ancient Dragon stopped hovering and flew higher to gain momentum for a diving strike.

"Use the Dragonrend shout if you know it," Paarthurnax said then took flight to meet Alduin in the air.

I searched my memory for the words of the shout. They were there but they burned differently in my mind. The others were a cool blue or a wispy white. These were glowing red. It must be my shared dragon blood that made me hesitant to use them. Alduin finally got close enough to breath his fire down on us and I had no choice but to use the shout. While in the air, he had the upper hand and could simply whittle us down until we could not recover. I aimed at him as soon as he stopped to hover then shouted. A blue, vaporous ball of energy cut through the mountain air and collided with his exposed underbelly. He reared back in pain or shock and flew off. He did not get far, however. He flew one short circle then was forced to land. The energy from the shout held him down.

"Attack him now," I yelled, "While he is vulnerable!"

Lydia summoned Kynval then switched to her battleaxe. Alduin had landed close to me but between me and Lydia. He focused his breath and jaws on Lydia and Kynval, leaving me an opportunity to strike at his side uncontested. The elven blade did little against the dragon's hide but after repeated strike, I started to see an opening in the scales. So he was not as invulnerable as everyone thought. Suddenly the energy dissipated from around Alduin and he took flight.

"Oh no you don't, Aldi," I yelled, "Get back here and fight." I shouted the words for Dragonrend again and the energy burst upon him.

Alduin roared in frustration as he was forced back down. The fight resumed but this time I got pummeled by his strong wings not once but twice and I was forced to retreat to heal. It was then I saw Paarthurnax land and breathe his fire at Alduin. Lydia resummoned Kynval. This time I stayed back and loosed some Orcish arrows from my bow. When Alduin tried to fly away, I hit him again with the shout. He fell back to the ground. This time, however, it seemed he had had enough of our tactics and used a shout of his own. The entire mountain quaked and fiery rocks began to rain from the sky. All of us took damage but we kept up the attack. I ditched my bow and grabbed my sword again. As I swiped at Alduin's side, I used my injured arm to cast my healing spell, keeping the damage from the meteors even.

We did this dance of death a few more times, each time seeming worse than the last for us. Alduin may be vulnerable, but he was far from a normal foe. I even had to hastily down a few healing potions as well as some blue magicka potions I had forgotten I had to help with my healing spell. Finally Alduin ceased his storm shout and stopped attacking. We let up for the moment as well.

"This is pointless, Dovahkiin," Alduin said. "We will finish this battle another time. Enjoy your brief stay of execution."

Alduin reared back and bowled me and Lydia over with a tremendous gust of wind from his wings. He flew off before I could shout him back to earth.

I finally managed to stand. I had to remove my helmet because it had filled with snow. I tossed it aside and ran after Alduin.

"Come back and finish this you damn dirty snake!" I yelled from the edge of the mountain. I gave him one final Dragonrend shout which just dissipated into the night.

I returned to Lydia who handed me my helmet sans snow. "I can't believe we beat back the World-eater," she said. "I thought for sure we were doomed."

"We are," I said, "Doomed to walk around this damn country waiting for him to return to us. This is bull..."

"This was a great victory," interrupted Paarthurnax.

I looked at the old dragon. He was perched on his dragonwall, glowing with a healing spell to fix his burned scales and wings. "What victory? He flew off and now he knows we have a weapon against him. He'll avoid me until he's destroyed so much of Tamriel it won't be worth ruling over."

"You must view this in the larger context, Dovahkiin. You have bloodied his snout and the other dragons will take notice. I will make sure they know of it. They will see he is not invincible and question his leadership. You have sown the seeds of dissension and that will reap benefits in the long run."

"I don't care about the long run," I said, "I want results now. I'm tired of waiting. By the time I return home to seek revenge I'll first have to remind everyone who I am. Where did he fly off to? I'm taking the fight to him, on his own land."

"His exact location is unknown to me, since I have been labeled a traitor. One of the other dragons may know, however, but he will not tell you without proper motivation."

"Motivation? Like what, a bribe?"

"I'm afraid you have nothing to offer a dragon that he could not simply take. No, but if you were to give him the choice between freedom and death, he may be willing to cooperate."

"That's the choice I'm giving to all the damn stupid dragons... uh, except you, Paarthurnax. You've been a great help. You know what I mean, the other stupid dragons."

Lydia put a hand over my mouth, "It'll be easier to get your foot out of your mouth if stop talking first. So Paarthurnax, how do we get a dragon to accept that solution?"

"Trap one. The castle in Whiterun, Dragonsreach, was built to do just that. It has an open chamber that a dragon can land in. Once inside, the trap can be set."

Lydia laughed, "Jarl Balgruuf will never allow a dragon to simply fly into the castle. He'd just as soon let Avenicci ride on his shoulders and pretend to be a dragon."

"I'd pay a few septims to see that," I said.

"The details I leave to you, Dovahkiin. Now please, I must rest from my battle. It has been a long time since I fought so fiercely."

I thanked the old dragon and we packed up our pride and returned to Iverstead