Chapter Fifteen:
Returning the Horn
We left for High Hrothgar first, taking a shortcut around the southern part of the Throat of the World into Ivarstead. We decided to return the horn first, and then meet Delphine at Kynesgrove. Milos had seemed surprised when I told him about Delphine and her desire to see me kill a Dragon. He could tell I wasn't very thrilled.
Hiemdall and Aldren got to see the ruins of Helgen as we passed them. There were bandits inside, but I didn't want to go clear it out. The further I was from that place, the better. The two had taken it in, but said nothing. I didn't really think words could be said about it, anyway.
Once we got to Ivarstead, we realized that we had made good time. Once we'd climb up to High Hrothgar, we'd have enough time to make it to Kynesgrove before the sun went down. I lamented sadly about how my spared life was being wasted running errands for monks with grey beards and a woman who thought Dragons were being brought back to life.
Climbing to the monastery proved to be much easier the second time around, even though we were tired from all the steps. There were no frost trolls, only wolves, and those were easy enough to kill. It wasn't long until we reached High Hrothgar, at high noon, to present the Greybeards with the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller and, hopefully, be done with them. I was pretty excited at the thought. Well, then I'd most likely have to help Delphine. I doubted that she just wanted to see me kill a Dragon, give me a pat on the head and send me on my way.
We found Arngeir kneeling in front of a shrine to our immediate left once we'd entered the monastery. I sighed in relief and dug in my pack to get the horn.
"Ah! You've retrieved the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller," Arngeir said as he stood, and then carefully took it from my hands. "Well done. You have now passed all the trials." Arngeir turned away from me. "Come with me. It is time for us to recognize you formally as Dragonborn."
Arngeir moved around the wall blocking the shrine from the main area, where the sun was shining into the monastery, and stood there. Soon, Wulfgar, Einarth and Borri joined us, forming a diamond shape.
"You are ready to learn the final word of Unrelenting Force, 'Dah', which means 'Push'," Arngeir explained.
Master Wulfgar looked at the ground in front of him. "Dah," he uttered silently.
The word appeared on the ground, glowing as the three I'd learned in High Hrothgar had before.
"With all three words together, this Shout is much more powerful," Arngeir said. "Use it wisely."
I approached the word and studied it closely. Like before, its meaning popped into my head. It was so close to being over…
"Master Wulfgar will now gift you with his knowledge of 'Dah'."
Without warning, that warm feeling came inside me again, glowing orange, but I could see blue in it too. Now more than ever it reminded me of a fire.
"You have completed your training, Dragonborn. We would Speak to you." Arngeir glanced at my companions. "Perhaps you would wait outside? Only the Dragonborn would be capable of withstanding us."
Milos looked at me. It was obvious that he didn't want to leave, but I nodded. Better not to piss off the Greybeards when I was so close to never coming here again, despite my desire to see Skyrim from the tip of the Throat of the World. Milos nodded back to me and led Hiemdall and Aldren out. I hoped I wouldn't be long.
When we heard the door close, Arngeir sighed, but continued with whatever he and the other Greybeards were about to do. I found myself hoping that I was Dragonborn, and this wasn't just a huge misunderstanding, so I wouldn't be blown to bits by whatever they were about to do.
"Stand between us, and prepare yourself," Arngeir instructed. "Few can withstand the unbridled Voice of the Greybeards. But you are ready."
I steadied myself, and just as I thought I was ready, I wasn't. The Greybeards spoke as one, their Voices mercilessly shaking the very foundations of High Hrothgar. My vision was blurring to white as they spoke, but I found my balance and tried my best to persever. After everything I'd been through, from when I'd lived in Cyrodiil to my fight with Mirmulnir
"Lingrah krosis saraan Strundu'ul, voth nid balaan klav praan nau," they recited in unison. "Naal Thu'umu, mu ofan nii nu, Dovahkiin, naal suleyk da Kaan, naal suleyk da Shor, ahrk naal suleyk do Atmorasewuth. Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahsebrom. Dahmaan daar rok." They fell silent, but their Voices still resounded painfully in my head. "Long has the Storm Crown Languished with no worthy brow to sit upon. By our breath we bestow it now to you in the name of Kyne, in the name of Shor, and in the name of Atmora of old. You are Ysmir now, the Dragon of the North. Harken to it."
When their pounding Voices left my head, I was glad to see that I was still standing. I lowered my hands from my head. I couldn't even remember bringing them up…
"Dragonborn." For the second time, I heard Arngeir's voice full of awe. I didn't like it very much. It made me uncomfortable. "You have tasted the Voice of the Greybeards, and passed through unscathed. High Hrothgar is open to you." He nodded to me, and then went back to the shrine. The other three Greybeards left as well. And just like that, it was over.
I left High Hrothgar, giving a "thank-you" to Arngeir as I opened the door, which he regarded by nodding as solemnly as all the monks I'd ever known in my lifetime.
"What happened?" Milos asked. He was leaning against the wall just outside the door, while Aldren was in the snow at the base of High Hrothgar and Hiemdall was sitting on the steps. "That was… well, loud."
"They congratulated me on not being blown to bits, called me Ysmir, and gave me a headache." I rubbed my head for good measure. "But it's over with. Maybe I should send them a basket full of food as thanks… and flowers. They need to make that place look less depressing."
Milos smirked. "I'd like to see that. When're you gonna skip through the fields in a dress picking flowers? I need to mark that day on my calendar so I can watch."
"Haha, Milos. My sides are splitting."
"I aim to please."
Hiemdall and Aldren fell-in with us while we started down the stairs. I suddenly got curious about what Aldren had done in the snow, and expected to see a body drawn into it or something. I was half-right. I couldn't hide the shock on my face when I saw the snow-angel, but I did my best not to look at Aldren, just-in-case he'd seen me looking at it.
So down the mountain we went. The trip was faster the second time around, since we had started to get used to the path. By the time we had arrived once more in Ivarstead, it was only a few hours past noon, and Kynsegrove was easily several miles away. Perhaps we'd be there a while after the sun had set, depending on the path we took.
Hiemdall looked over my shoulder examined the map. "Let's head south again," he suggested, "and then north to cross the Treva River. We'll avoid Riften, head north-east for a time, and be in Kynesgrove about an hour after sunset."
"You really travel lots around Skyrim, huh?" I inquired. "I don't think I've met anyone with such good timing and knowledge of travel."
"I go all around Skyrim to fulfill contracts that the Companions recieve. I need to know its geography, just-in-case." He tapped his chin. "Yeah, I think we'll make it in good time."
"Perhaps we should invest in some horses soon..."
Aldren appeared in front of me, startling me enough to make me jump. Damn his sneakiness... "Horses cost a thousand septims apiece. We'll need some serious coin if we want to get one for each of us."
"I suppose... But I have no idea what we could do to get the gold," I admitted. "And I don't want to ask you or Hiemdall for money. It's yours, and you earned it."
"And what about the gold we've found on our little adventure?" Hiemdall asked.
"It's shared. Whatever you've picked-up is yours, and the same goes for us. Milos and I, I mean."
Hiemdall shrugged. "Well, maybe the Dragon in Kynesgrove will have a stash."
"It's likely," Milos said. "I've read that Dragons used to hoard treasure like no tomorrow. If we kill a few of these things at their lairs, we could get some serious coin."
I sighed. "Honestly, I'm not even looking forward to this Dragon. The first one we fought was terrifying enough."
"It's gotta be pretty terrifying if Taryn's scared of 'em," Hiemdall said with a smirk.
"You should've seen me when I met my first draugr." I grinned and folded up the map. "Honestly, I was surprised I could still sleep afterwards."
It was odd. For some reason, Hiemdall, Aldren, and Milos reminded me of being back in Anvil, in the orphanage. All the younger kids would follow me around, and my companions had reminded me of the kids. I think I was like a big sister to them, but when I turned eighteen, I was considered an adult and was forced to leave the orphanage. The kids who used to follow me when I was younger were grown up and begged the Madame to let me stay, just like the much younger, much newer kids to the orphanage did. But that devil-woman heard none of it, and then I ended up staying in Anvil just so I could help the kids as much as I could and wait for Milos.
No, I thought, my smile fading. That's not right. Not all of the kids wanted me to stay. Not all...
"Let's get moving," Milos said, striding ahead of me. "We don't want to keep that woman waiting. And Taryn has to beat her senseless yet for sending us on a wild goose chase."
And so we followed the road again. Nothing especially eventful happened, only a particularly snobby woman who was late for a wedding. Aldren was chuckling after we passed by.
"She'll be surprised just how late she is," he remarked.
It was obviously an inside joke.
Just like Hiemdall had predicted, we arrived just after sundown. Kynesgrove's inn, the Braidwood Inn, definitely wasn't hard to find, since it was the only building in the entire village (if it could even be called that). Within minutes of our arrival, I could hear the roars of a Dragon not far away. A woman sprinted out of the inn in a panic towards us.
"No, you don't want to go up there!" she gasped as she wildly pointed at the sky. "A Dragon... it's attacking!"
We were already on edge from the roars. This woman's news didn't do us any good. "Where's this Dragon?" I asked.
"It flew over the town and landed on the old Dragon burial mound," she explained. "I don't know what it's doing up there, but I'm not waiting around to find out!"
She sprinted away towards Windhelm, sometimes slipping on the icy stones of the road. I looked at my companions.
"I guess Delphine won't be waiting at the inn if a Dragon's up there," I said. "Let's go."
We hurried up the path behind the mine and the inn, occasionally slipping ourselves. Above us, I could make out a black shape, darker than the night. For me, it seemed to blot out the stars. I could feel myself shivering just looking at it.
"Milos!" I hissed as we got closer to the flying shape. "It's the Dragon from Helgen!"
"How do you—? Never mind, I'm sure you're right." Milos ducked as it flew above us, and we all followed his example. He pointed to a large rock ahead of us. "Look! There's Delphine!"
It was, indeed, Delphine, but she was dressed in leather armour rather than her blue innkeeper's dress, and one of the curved swords I'd seen hanging on a weapon's rack in her secret room was strapped to her hip.
Delphine put a finger to her lips and beckoned us quickly. Once we'd gotten close enough, she hoarsely whispered, "Stay under cover. This is what we came for. We need to see what happens."
The black Dragon beat its wings and lowered itself closer to the ground, though it didn't touch and it was still quite far off. Its red eyes bored into the ground, which had a ring of blue glowing energy around it.
"Sahloknir! Ziil gro dovah ulse!" the Dragon boomed. "Sahloknir! I bind your Dragon spirit for eternity!"
"What's it saying?" Milos whispered.
"It said that he's binding his soul..." I hushed him and listened again.
"Slen tiid vo!" The Dragon Shouted at the burial mound. "Flesh unrot!"
"This is worse than I thought..." Delphine muttered.
Suddenly, the ground where the black Dragon had Shouted exploded upward. I felt my blood run cold as a bony wing rose up and grasped the side of the mound, pulling the rest of its shining skeletal body out of its grave. It looked just like Mirmulnir's bones had looked, so I had no doubt that this was a Dragon. Once it had climbed out of its resting place it was surrounded by an aura that resembled fire, just like the one that had appeared when Mirmulnir was slain. Veins appeared and wrapped around its bones, and then muscle and sinew coated the once-dead Dragon. Finally, silver skin and scales covered the Dragon, and its grey eyes gazed up at the black Dragon.
"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" the Dragon, Sahloknir, asked intently. "Alduin, overlord! The ancient undead rise again?"
"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." Alduin, for some reason, seemed like his voice had softened when he spoke to Sahloknir. Perhaps it was just my imagination. "Yes, Sahloknir, my trusted ally."
"Sahloknir just asked if they're all coming back to life," I told Milos. "The other Dragon said 'Yes'."
"Well, at least they're to the point," Hiemdall quipped.
Alduin's massive head turned to us, its crimson eyes boring into mine. The fear I'd felt earlier didn't leave, only intensified. I thought I'd heard Alduin's name before, but I couldn't remember from where, or if it was even good.
"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi." Alduin's tone was sharp and angry, making me feel ever smaller in his presence. "So, is this the Dragonborn? Your voice shines not from Dragonkind, but yourself."
"I think it's talking to you," Milos said, putting a hand on the greatsword on his back.
"You do not even know our tongue, do you?" the Dragon pressed, this time in common so everyone could hear and understand. "Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah." Alduin glared at me a moment longer before he looked to the other Dragon. "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre. Sahloknir, kill the mortals."
"That's not good!" I yelled.
In a second, everyone had their respective weapons out. Alduin beat his wings and flew off, leaving Sahloknir with us. The Dragon lumbered over, snapping his massive jaws.
"My lord Alduin requires your death!" he roared. "I am glad to oblige him! I am Sahloknir! Hear my Voice and despair!"