The Legend of Zelda: Skyrim - Chapter 6 - Retrieval of the Claw
To make things more interesting, Link will be in his Wolf form for parts of this chapter. Of course, this means you'll see an entirely new and different side of him. Enjoy!
The first thing he realized was that he was once again a wolf. The second was that he was still in the tree. The third was a sudden jolt of pain on his nose, then the wolf dimly realized that he was falling, then he hit the ground, and rolled over a few times before he came to rest on his side.
Link lay there for a while, getting his breath back, before he moved to a sitting position and gazed up at the dawning sky. '
'This is an inconvenience. How long will I stay like this? And does the rest of Riverwood know that I can become a wolf, or just Hod and Ralof?' Link shook his head, got up, padded over to the river, drank from it - at the same time soothing his stung nose - then spotted Ralof and Hadvar on the stone bridge and trotted over to meet them.
"Well? Where is he? He should have been here an hour ago." Ralof knew he wouldn't get an answer from Hadvar, but yet he asked his friend anyway.
The two men were on their horses, on the stone bridge, and they had been waiting for Link to show up.
Hadvar noticed a black and white wolf trotting up to them, and he drew his sword and got down from his horse, then swung the blade at the beast. "Back! For all I know, you'll call for your pack and we'll both die!"
The wolf yelped with shock and leapt backwards, but didn't run away. Instead, the beast merely gazed up at Hadvar as if he were cheese brained and shook his furry head.
Hadvar took a step towards the wolf and raised his sword again, then brought it down, only for his blade to hit Ralof's iron war axe.
Hadvar's arms went numb from the force of the hit and he raised his gaze to his friend, who merely gazed back at him
"Hadvar." Ralof's voice was soft for once, "The wolf before you is Link, if you do not believe me, look at his left front paw."
And true to Ralof's word, there was a mark there. Hadvar narrowed his eyes, trying to place ! Yes, he had seen it before, back in Helgen, before the Dragon...
Ralof seemed to be waiting for him to answer and the Imperial lowered his sword."Link?"
The wolf visibly reacted; his black ears perked up and he raised his head a bit towards Hadvar."So it is you." The man felt a smile form on his face and he put away his sword, then knelt down and held out a hand.
The young wolf hesitated, then he padded up to Hadvar and lowered his head to rest in the man's head for a few moments, then lifted it and trotted away towards the other side of the stone bridge.
Hadvar watched the wolf for a moment, then gazed at Ralof. "He got stung by something, did you see that? I don't think he's going to have an easy time breathing through his nose for a while."
"He'll be fine."
Link stopped, then half turned towards the two men, his cerulean eyes bright with excitement.
"I think he wants to race us, Ralof. What do you say?"
Ralof shook his head. "He'd win. He's young, and a wolf."
"Still wouldn't hurt to try." Hadvar kicked at his horse and took off after Link, who had already started down the left path of the fork. Ralof sighed, shook his head, then grinned as he too headed after the black and white wolf.
The three of them reached the tower that was near Bleak Falls around an hour later. Two bandits were outside, and as soon as they saw the three appearoch, they got up from where they had been sitting and ran inside the tower.
Link didn't need anyone to tell him to start fighting, for the wolf raced after the two bandits and caught the second one as he cleared the threshold, sinking his sharp fangs into the man's leg. The man screamed and kicked at Link with his free leg but the beast held on, glaring up at the man as he was swung from side to side.
Then Ralof and Hadvar joined the fray and it quickly became a one sided battle.
Hadvar struck a woman in the chest with his sword, Ralof killed two with his axe, and Link killed the remaining three, which included the one he had bit on the leg. The entire fight lasted no more than five minutes, and when it was over, Ralof and Hadvar looked around for supplies while Link ate whatever could find, as he had not had breakfast that morning and was starving.
After five minutes of searching, the three left the tower and continued to walk towards Bleak Falls.
As the three neared the top of the snowy mountains, the snow increased in density. After minutes of walking the whole ground was covered in snow with nothing green in sight.
Ralof watched as the wolf's demeanor changed immediately. Fur visibly started to rise on the back of his neck, he was staring at something him and Hadvar couldn't see yet, his fangs were bared, he was growling, and he was frozen in place.
"What is it?"
In response, Link lowered himself to the snow, waited a moment, then pounced. Blood sprayed in the air as a scouting bandit was bitten in the throat and thrown to the ground. Bleak Falls was just visible through the snow fall, and it's black obsidian arches towered over the two men and wolf.
Hadvar knelt down next to the dead bandit and studied him. "He must be a scout. If Bleak Falls Barrow is occupied with bandits, then we must be close." He looked up. "Yes, we are close, see those arches up there? We can't be more than five minutes away."
The three continued walking until they had reached the foot of the steps.
"Now, we need to be careful not to be seen, if we're quiet enough, I think we can sneak past whatever is up here with us."
Ralof froze as five bandits appeared, each of them wearing furred armor and wielding weapons. The Nord swore, then glanced at Hadvar. "Do you remember when we were mere boys? The two of us would have target practice…"
Hadvar nodded, eyeing the five bandits. "Yes. We would practice for hours."
"Would you like to see if all those hours paid off?"
"You know I would."
The two men drew their bows as one, notched an iron arrow to each one, then fired. Two of the bandits went down, while the other three scattered.
Link sprung up from where he had been hiding and bit one in the leg, sending the man down onto the snow, where the wolf killed him with a throat bite.
He then darted after another one, but Ralof shot the woman first and killed her instantly. While Hadvar shot the other one, the wolf spotted a lone figure dart from the shadows and run up the steps. The black and white wolf darted after the man, gained speed, then launched himself at the man's chest. He connected, caused the man to fall, and the two rolled for a bit until they landed on the stone floor before the giant twin black doors. The wolf continued to roll a bit, the bandit watched curiously as the beast turned a solid black and then froze as he found himself looking at an elf of some sort.
Link and the lone bandit gazed at each other for a full five seconds, then the bandit got up and ran for the door with the strange symbol on it.
Link got up from where he had fallen and reached for his sword, then decided against it. 'I need a bow.' He took a step backwards, felt something against his right boot, blindly kicked it over his head and he caught it in his left hand.
It was in fact a bow, furthermore, it had a single arrow already notched. Link raised the bow to his right shoulder, made sure the arrow was firmly notched, then pulled back on the arrow with his left hand, the Triforce of Courage suddenly blazing with golden light. It was nearly silent for a few seconds, save for the sounds of muted fighting and his own breathing, then the Hylian let go of the arrow.
It sailed through the air, whistling as it did so, and it struck the lone bandit in the neck. The man grabbed at his throat, then collapsed, never to rise again.
But Link had no time to dwell on what he had just done, because four bandits appeared, keeping him trapped against the barrow's outer wall.
"What the matter, kid? Scared?" One bandit drew two blood stained daggers and twirled them around in his hands.
"I can fight all of you." Link tossed away the bow and drew his sword, then kicked a shield over his head and he caught it with his right hand. The iron shield was off balance a bit, but it would do for now.
No one moved for a second, then the four bandits charged.
Link ducked under one, then struck one bandit in the head with the shield, sending the man down to his knees. He kicked the man's weapons away and turned his attention to the one that had the twin daggers. The man flipped them in his hands again, then darted towards Link, who kicked one of the daggers from his right hand, then used his sword to knock the other one to the ground, then pointed the sword towards the man's throat. "I'll let you live if you leave now."
The man eyed him for a second, then looked past him at something. Link half turned, only to be struck on the head by an axe pommel.
Gaden eyed the young elf as he swayed for a moment, dropped his sword and shield, then fell to a kneeling position. He raised a hand to stop Makla from attacking again, picked up his daggers, then knelt down in front of the boy. "I'm not going to kill you."
The elf eyed him nervously, his blue eyes slightly gazed over. "You're not? You have every right to do so."
Gaden shook his head. "No. You fought bravely, I commend that. Besides, you're just a boy, what are you doing out here?"
"We were...Looking for the Golden Claw?"
Gaden frowned. "...If you mean that thing in Riverwood, we didn't take it."
"What?"
"We. Did. Not. Take. It. This is all that thief's fault, Arvel the Swift, curse him. If you really want to get that Claw back, he ran inside. His lackeys are in there, too, my force was just out here, as a guard."
Makla appeared, right behind the boy, and before Gaden could stop her, she drew her sword and ran it through his left shoulder.
The elf grew pale, then his blue eyes rolled backwards into his head and he pitched forwards to land on the stone, out cold. A pool of blood slowly began to appear around the stabbed shoulder.
Makla pulled the bloodied sword from the boy's left shoulder. "That won't kill him either."
Gaden glared at the woman. "I was merely talking to him, you had no right to do that!"
Makla wiped off the blood onto a fallen bandit's clothing and smirked. "I bet the boy hasn't been in any real battles before this. It was a good wake up call, don't you think?"
Gaden bared his teeth and threw a dagger at Makla, who dodged it, then pressed her sword against the back of the boy's neck, drawing blood. "Don't you dare!"
The woman smiled before easing up on her sword. "And you feel so close to this elf, why?"
Gaden set his jaw. "Because he's around the same age as my son!"
"And that's all?" Makla shook her head. "Gaden, this boy killed our men, he deserves to die!"
"No. No he doesn't. I know this was his first battle, and he fought bravely. Step away from him, Makla, or you shall be the one who dies."
The woman eyed Gaden for a bit, then stepped forwards, sword raised to kill the boy - a dagger appeared in the middle of her chest, and then she looked up towards Gaden, who had his arm outstretched. "I did warn you."
Makla screamed, pulled the dagger from her chest, threw it down, then threw her sword towards Gaden. The weapon pierced his chest and the two bandits fell at the same time, one dead, one barely still alive.
Gaden watched as two men approached him, weapons drawn, and he held up a hand.
"What is it? Did you do this?"
"To the boy? No, I saved his life. The woman tried to kill him. What is his name? His first will do."
The brown haired Nord spoke, while another Nord fed the boy a healing potion. Gaden was glad to see his wounds begin to heal. "Link."
Gaden nodded. "A fitting name. I want Link to have my daggers, they saved my life too many times for me to count, I hope they save his." The man reached into his coat and took out a small ring, thought about giving it to Ralof, then decided it wouldn't be right. He sensed that Link was now awake, and so he tossed the ring through the air and hoped it landed near the boy.
"Tell him...My name was Gaden." He smiled with a fierce pride and joy. He may have been dying, but he had saved Link's life, and for this, he would be welcome in Sovngarde.
He raised his gaze to the two younger men. "I hope to see you walking there someday."
After a moment, he added, mostly for Link, "My son's name is Fernas, he lives in Rorikstead."
The blonde Nord laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm certain he would be very proud of you."
Gaden nodded, then his eyesight faded and everything was gone.
Further down the steps, the prone form finally moved a bit, but Ralof and Hadvar paid no mind, as they were building a carin for the redeemed bandit.
Link's vision finally cleared and it centered on the small ring lying in the palm of his left hand. Silver wolf heads were inlaid on a sapphire band with two golden bands around each side of the ring, and several Nordic runes were carved into the inside.
'I'll get this ring to your son, Gaden.' Link raised his gaze to the stone pile, Ralof and Hadvar were walking towards him now, and his gaze moved from the stone pile to the two blood soaked daggers that lay in the bloodied snow next to him. 'I promise.'
Link was bored out of his mind. Sure, they had managed to sneak past two bandits in the entrance hall, raid chests for various items, avoid being killed by the arrow trap, figured out the combination to open the door through trial and error - it was Snake Snake Whale - but the next room at least was interesting.
There was some sort of book on a table. Link approached the book, which was named Thief, and, thinking about it, he picked up the book and decided to take it with him for further reading later.
Link left Ralof and Hadvar in the one room and ventured down the stairs. Three rodent like creatures - Skeevers - screamed and launched themselves in his direction. Link simply kicked them away and kept on walking down the small corridor to a table.
Some sort of potion and a rolled up scroll rested on the table, and Link picked up the potion first and examined it.
'Paralysis potion? Now this is useful.'
He set the potion down and picked up the scroll, there was a red seal on it that read Fireball, Link knew it was some sort of magic and wondered if he could even use it. Still, it could be useful in the future.
He took the two items with him, dodged the three Skeevers, and ended back in the spell tome room a few moments later.
Then, the three of them heard a voice. It was faint, but it was there.
"Is... is someone coming? Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling? I know I ran ahead with the claw, but I need help!"
Ralof ran over to a door, only to find it being blocked by spider webs. "Help me cut these down, won't you?"
Link drew his sword, nodded to Ralof, then started cutting webs.
"What do you think, Hadvar, you think that's our thief?"
Hadvar nodded to Ralof. "Yes. Let's find him and get this over with, I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary!"
"That voice is closer."
"You think he'd stop or something, he's been talking non stop for at least ten minutes."
Link ignored the two Nords as he continued to cut spider webs. It really hadn't been ten minutes, had it? It felt like it, at least.
Finally, then were in an open room, it appeared to be empty for a moment, then they heard someone yelling to their left.
Hadvar gestured to a man that was hanging upside down in a spider web, behind a locked barred door. "That's him."
The man yelled something, something about "it's coming", whatever that meant.
Link took a step forward, gazing at the man trapped behind the spider web with confusion. "What do you mean? 'It's coming'?"
The man didn't get to answer, because Link felt as if something was behind him, and he half turned, only to feel a searing pain in his right shoulder. Cursing, he dropped to one knee, and the iron sword clattered to the dirt beside him as he grabbed his injured shoulder. His vision seemed to double a second later, and then he saw it.
A massive spider, fangs bared, some legs raised, something dripping from its fangs…
'...Poison!'
Something was wrong, the poison was quickly taking its toll, and, judging by the other displaced skeletons around the room, whoever hadn't healed themselves had died horrible deaths. But yet…
He had something none of the others had.
A wolf appeared where Link had been a moment later, which then fell to the ground and started thrashing around due to the poison. Yet, the thrashing slowed, as if the beast's neurotoxins were somehow flushing out the poison.
Still trying to get his legs and paws underneath him, the wolf growled, then it rose to a snarl.
No. He would not die here. Not today, not against a giant Faring spiderof all things! Summoning some kind of hidden strength, Link leapt to his paws and raced across the stone room, bent down, then launched himself towards the giant spider, who turned to face him, her eyes beady eyes locked onto him."Why do you fight? My venom pulses through your veins, sapping your life force."
She was mocking him!
Link didn't reply, because then his claws were digging into the beast's back, his bloodied fangs trying to find purchase on the arachnid's throat."The only one who shall die today is you!" he snarled as he bit down harder. The spider started screaming and started to thrash around.
His plan was working! Hadvar and Ralof rushed in, hacking at the giant spider until the thing pitched forwards, Link jumping off at the last second, and the three watched the arachnid's death throes.
Then, it was silent.
Hadvar and Ralof walked over to the man and the two tried to figure out how to free him when the two heard a particular sound. The two men half turned, only to see the wolf marking the spider's corpse, his cerulean gaze locked with Ralof's brown, as if he was daring him to do something.
Ralof smiled a bit. "You just couldn't wait, could you?"
The beast's gaze became uncertain for a moment, before it settled into a smug look and Ralof grinned, shook his head, then motioned to Hadvar to help him destroy the spider web.
Of course, none of them expected the man to simply run away from them afterwards, but they found him dead, pinned to the right wall by a massive spike trap. Somehow, the Golden Claw was unharmed and Link picked it up with his fangs. There were three raised symbols on the claw - a bear, moth, and an owl, in that order. Link determined it could be useful later.
Then all of the torches in the room went out.
Link set down the Golden Claw and padded forwards, all of his senses on edge. He didn't near anything besides the three of them breathing, then he heard something shuffling towards him. Thanks to his night vision, he saw the thing a second later.
An undead person was stumbling towards him, wearing armor.
'Is this Skyrim's version of a ReDead?'
Link was proven wrong by Ralof yelling "Draugr!" and the wolf dashed to the side as the monster drew a long sword and swung it at him.
'Need to be careful...Attack from the side'…
Link darted forwards, and swiped a paw at the creature's right side, but it didn't do anything except make it grab him and toss him further down the hallway.
When Link finally rolled to a stop, three more Draugr rose from coffins and started to stumble towards him, and he rose to his - feet.
He was back to normal.
The Hylian reached for his sword but it was gone, along with the iron shield he had briefly had in his possession. However, he remembered the twin daggers, and drew them both, flipped them around so they were facing the right way, and then finally saw what they looked like.
The fire dagger had various runes carved into the flat blade, which was around six inches long and ended in a sharp point. The runes were also on the curved crossguard, and the entire dagger seemed to be on fire, but yet the heat didn't hurt - it felt almost welcoming.
Then he remembered the draugr and lowered the fire dagger, but the creatures hadn't attacked him. No, they were merely hovering there, as if they were waiting.
'What are they waiting for?'
Since they seemed to not be attacking him, Link inspected the other dagger. This one was made of ice, and, again, the ice didn't hurt him.
'Interesting. I wonder what happens when I do this.'
Link slammed the two daggers together and the two weapons shot out a mixed shockwave of fire and ice that caused the three Draugr to become ash piles. "...That was entertaining."
The daggers had faded to a subdued glow.
'Is that normal? I'll have to speak to Ralof and Hadvar about this, maybe they will know something.'
Ralof walked up holding some sort of book. "Looks like our 'friend' left a journal. Says something about a hidden power here somewhere. It also says that the Golden Claw was from here, and that it involves some sort of door."
Then Hadvar walked up. "You fight well. I think we should still press forward. Don't worry about the trap, it's been disarmed."
"You want me to run through that."
The three were looking at some sort of blade trap that blocked their path.
Ralof nodded. "Yes. You're swifter than the two of us, you'll be fine."
Link noted that there was an opening between the blades, and took a step forward, ran past the first one, then stopped.
'I can wait here until the next one passes. This isn't that difficult.'Link dodged the second and third blades, stepped out into the next room, then noticed a chain on the wall. He pulled on it, and the blades stopped moving.
The two Nords joined him a few seconds later and they pressed on.
The three soon found themselves fighting the Draugr in a very inclosed space. That wasn't the only problem - the floor was slick with oil. The daggers weren't working for whatever reason, but they could still be used as normal weapons. Link darted forwards, stabbed one of the Draugr in the chest, then fell due to how slick the floor was. The fire dagger fell from his grasp and landed a few feet away, then rolled up to a Draugr, who merely looked down at it before the oil caught fire. There seemed to be an explosion of fire, and the second Draugr died instantly, while the third one walked into the fire and turned into an ash pile. After the fire died down, Link got up, picked up the fire dagger, Ralof and Hadvar joined him, and the three continued walking.
A minute later, the room opened up into a natural cavern. Sunlight cast light through a massive hole in the ceiling and a waterfall was on their left.
A lone Draugr appeared from a coffin and Hadvar killed it. "Well, what do we do now?"
Ralof received his answer when he caught movement before the waterfall. "There's something down there, what is it?"
Link was standing close to the edge of the waterfall, the thing down there was covered in fur, it had three eyes, and it looked as if it could put up a fight.
'It looks like it could be a Hinox.'
"To answer your question, that is a frost troll."
Ralof paused. "Hadvar, I bet we can kill it up here with arrows."
Hadvar nodded and drew his bow, Ralof drew his, then Hadvar turned to Link. "If you have a bow, you can stay here with us, or go down there and help us finish the thing off that way."
"Never mind, I found an extra one, here." Ralof handed a spare bow to Link, and soon, a barrage of arrows were hitting the frost troll.
The troll picked up a rock and threw it up at the three archers, but they dodged the attack.
Link hesitated, stopped firing his bow, drew the fire dagger, then threw it. It struck the troll in the third eye, which was centered on its forehead. The thing roared, threw another rock, which the three also dodged, and then started shooting arrows again. The frost troll fell over two minutes later, finally dead.
The two Nords and Link found a way to get down to the frost troll.
Hadvar knelt by the troll. "I heard from some alchemist in the army that trollfat is a useful potion ingredient and trolls are hunted for that."
The Nord drew a dagger and extracted a bowl of the troll fat so it wouldn't waste. Link retrieved the fire dagger from where he had thrown it, then the three walked into the next room, where a long Draugr was waiting.
After the lone Draugr finally fell, Ralof, Hadvar, and Link reached the Sanctum.
There was another blade trap, which they skirted around with ease.
After a few minutes of walking, they entered a well lit room, as soon as they did so, the lid of a coffin on their left flew off its hinges and a Draugr climbed out and started walking towards them. Ralof killed it, but that got the attention of three other Draugr.
Link didn't say anything to Hadvar and Ralof about the daggers returning to their supposedly natural glow, he had a feeling that the shockwave would work now, so he tried it. It sent them back a few feet but didn't kill them. Link looked up and saw the lit oil lamps up there, he quickly tossed the fire dagger at one of them, which fell, igniting the oil slick the Draugr were standing in, and they dissolved into ash piles.
After walking for around two minutes, the three happened upon a locked door.
Ralof grinned. "I've heard about these. They're called Claw doors. The locking mechanism is controlled by three concentric circles: each is marked with animal symbols and can be rotated. Maybe that Golden Claw fits this door."
Hadvar stepped back as Ralof handed Link the Golden Claw, the Hylian then stepped up to the door, inspected the claw, then reached up and turned the highest circle until he had the symbol of a bear. There was a subtle click, as if something had unlocked. Link turned the other two circles to moth and owl, respectively, there were two more clicks, then dust started to fall as the door started to rise into the wall.
The three of them walked into a large, well lit cavern, then, something caught Link's attention.
Steps were at the end of the room, on a raised stone platform was a chest, a coffin, and then he saw the thing behind it.
It was a massive stone wall tha towered over him, with some sort of language carved into it. Above the words was a giant stone dragon head. One of these carved words was glowing, and Link could have sworn he heard voices whispering as he drew closer to the glowing word. Then, white tendrils of sheer energy swirled around him for a few seconds, and then the glow on the wall faded. Yet there was something new, some sort of knowledge.
Fus.
Link had no idea what this word meant, but it was as if he knew this word already. And for some reason, he wanted more of these words. They felt right.
The Hero of Twilight stepped closer to the stone wall, staring at the carved words. He felt as if he somehow knew what they said - Here lies The Guardian, keeper of the Dragonstone, and a force of eternal rage and darkness.
'Guardian? What...Guardian? And what is this Dragonstone?'
Link gazed at the words for a few more seconds before he half turned, noticed Hadvar and Ralof waiting for him at the start of a long corridor, and started to run over to them, wanting to tell the two Nords what he had discovered.
However, the cavern had not been empty after all. For no sooner had Link ran for the corridor, had something shot up from the stone coffin in front of the stone wall. Ralof yelled "a Draugr Overlord!" when the thing turned towards him, and as the two men drew their weapons and started to attack the creature, Link looked for an opening and soon joined the fight. However, he was distracted by Hadvar and the Draugr caught Link with the flat of his axe blade and sent him flying into the stone wall, where he fell and didn't rise. Something flew from the creature and landed near Link - a strange carved stone.
His vision was darkening, and the sounds of Hadvar and Ralof fighting the Draugr Overlord started to fade. Just how hard he hit the wall? No, he needed to focus on the carved stone in front of him, it was important. Somehow. With his remaining strength, Link reached out with a shaking hand and pulled the stone object close to him, he heard Ralof yell his name from far away, then everything was gone.
But only for a few moments - as his vision returned. Ralof was kneeling beside him with an empty potion bottle and as soon as he saw Link, he grinned. "Healing Potion. You may not remember, but I gave you one outside after you fought those bandits. Can you stand, we need your help to kill the Overlord."
Link eyed him for a moment, then nodded. Ralof helped him up, then ran off to aid Hadvar. The strange stone lay at his feet, but he could examine it later.
Link reached to his sides and drew the twin daggers, then stepped forwards.
The monster spun to face him, its glowing eyes seemed to be entirely focused on the daggers.
Then, it spoke. "Fin Fron Zahkriiie Se Sul Ahrk Vulon." (The twin daggers of Dawn and Dusk)
Link had no idea what the creature had said, but it sounded important. And the way it was looking at the daggers…The Hylian raised the fire dagger a bit and the Overlord stepped back, fear somehow showing itself in its glowing eyes.
'It's afraid of the daggers!'
Link waited a moment, then darted forwards, slashing upwards at the Overlords helmet. The thing cracked in two, the cut turned molten, and the helmet fell to the stone floor, cut in half. Not that the Overlord cared. The Draugr then did something, no, it said something.
"FUS RO DAH"
Link was thrown backwards a bit but not very far. As he got his balance back, he looked up to see an enchanted axe bearing down on him. He brought up the twin daggers and blocked the axe, only to notice how cold the axe felt when it was near him.
'Another magical weapon? Interesting.'
Then it felt as if his arms were on fire - they were frozen, encased in ice, however, he could still move them.
The Overlord gazed at Link with a very obvious confusion before the thing raised its axe again. Link feigned left, then somehow brought up both daggers and sliced at the creature's chest before backflipping backwards - he thought he heard Ralof say something but he didn't catch what he said - and came to rest a few feet away, gazing at the Draugr Overlord as it looked down at the molten, frostbitten remains of its decayed chest.
The Draugr's eyes seemed to be on fire, and the thing raised its axe and waved it.
Distant thuds, then, around a minute later, five other Draugr stumbled into view. Link twirled the twin daggers in his hands while he tried to come up with an idea. Before he could come up with one, Ralof and Hadvar started to fight the Draugr.
'At least I don't have to worry about them now.'
Link half turned to see the Overlock walking towards him, and the Hylian slammed the twin daggers again, creating a shockwave of fire and ice that slammed into the Draugr and sent the thing stumbling back. But yet it didn't die. Instead, the Overlord raised the axe and brought it down. Link dove to the right and came back up as the sxe slammed into the ground where he had been a moment before. The Draugr pulled up the axe, and swung it, Link blocked the attack by crossing the twin daggers in front of him, then the fire in his arms grew stronger and he lowered the daggers a bit, watching the creature to see what it would do. The creature had stumbled backwards from the block, but it rushed forwards, axe raised high above its head. Link watched as the axe swung downwards, then he reached out, grabbed the axe, pulled it out of the Overlord's grasp, tossed it away, then swung the ice dagger at the Overlord's head.
The Draugr's glowing blue eyes slowly went dark as its now frozen head was separated from its body, and the thing collapsed to the ground, dead. Its head landed next to the body and shattered into ice shards. Hadvar kicked the body with a boot and then nodded. "Well done Link! I don't know what you did with those daggers, but it worked!"
Link nodded and noticed Ralof standing by the stone he had looked at earlier.
Hadvar followed him as he walked over to the Nord. "So, any idea what this is? I can't seem to lift it."
"Let me try."
Ralof gave him a curious look, but said nothing.
Link bent down, picked up the stone with ease, then rose to his full height.
"How were you able to do that?"
"I don't know, it just happened."
Then Link, along with Hadvar and Ralof, studied the carved stone.
Fear. That was what he felt when he looked at the stone dragon head at the bottom of the stone, but why?
Above the dragon head, the stone looked like a landscape with X'es/four point stars on random spots.
"That looks like the location of Kynesgrove." Ralof pointed to a mark on the west side of the stone. "There's an old dragon mound there...Say, you don't think these are the locations of dragon mounds, do you?"
"What are dragon mounds?"
"Burial sites of dragons that were formed a very long time ago."
Link took that as a good answer and then turned the stone over. On the back were carved words.
'...It's the same language as the stone wall…'
That meant something, but what? Then he remembered the words on the wall, something about a Dragonstone…
That's what the stone was. This...Dragonstone was important. Link knew that, but he didn't know why.
It was time to leave Bleak Falls and search for answers.