The Legend of Zelda; Skyrim: Chapter 17: Dawnbreaker
This is it. You know it, you love it, it's Dawnbreaker time.
It was around midnight by the time Link reached the general vicinity of Mount Kilkreath. He was used to traveling around at night and therefore could navigate Epona in the near darkness with ease.
He took time to reflect on things, such as his new destiny and purpose. 'Why did this Akatosh choose me and not someone else? Someone native to this land, someone who was more mature and responsible? I guess I'll never know.'
A flock of birds passed by overhead and he watched them fly off into the distance. 'I like it here. Everyone I've met so far is nice… It's not Hyrule, though.'
Link stopped Epona at the base of Mount Kilkreath and looked up at its slopes before he got down off of his horse, and after a few minutes, found a set of worn stone steps carved into the mountain. He started to climb them and around halfway up he heard something. Something familiar.
Chanting.
It was faint, coming from the top of the mountain nearby, but there was no mistaking it.
The Hylian saw what appeared to be the head of a statue just off to the right as he stepped off the stone steps and took an ancient path further up the mountain. He eventually reached a clearing that was off the path to the right. Link entered the clearing and saw that there was a structure directly to his right, some sort of temple, and just to the left was the word wall.
Link raised a hand to block out the increasing light as he approached the carved stone wall, his vision blurring as the chanting grew louder for a few moments and tendrils of light surrounded him. Then as the chanting and tendrils of light vanished, as his vision slowly returned to normal. The word wall became silent as the carved glowing light faded away.
A new word formed itself in his head.
'Su.'
Due to the recently absorbed soul of Sahloknir, he felt the familiarity of the newly gained word and the Hylian sat down on the overturned dirt and grass with his back resting against the word wall to think things over.
Once again he began to feel familiarized with Su as he had with Fus after absorbing Mirmulnir's soul. Eventually it was if the meaning of the word had been fully unlocked in his mind - Su was part of a Shout by the name of Elemental Fury, and its effect was that of making his weapon strikes faster.
To test this, Link got up, stepped forward away from the word wall a bit, reached behind him and held the iron war axe at his side, then waited a few seconds before he Shouted.
"Su!"
The now familiar crack accompanied the Shout and he tentatively swung the iron war axe in both hands. It cut effortlessly through the cold Skyrim air and if he looked closely, he thought he could see tiny ice particles. He swung the axe twice in a row, to the same effect.
'This is incredibly useful.' Link soon felt the effects of the Shout fade and he looked up to the stone steps of the nearby temple, only to find himself looking at some sort of statue. 'I think that's where I need to go.' He set off towards the statue, which from where he was looked like a person with wings.
The statue was massive, towering over him with twin wings of ancient carved stone as he slowly approached. The figure was that of a woman, taking an eternal step forward as her hands were held above her hooded head as if she was expecting to either hold or catch something. Before the statue was a container of some sort, depicted as two people wearing hooded robes holding hands.
As he approached the statue, he heard a voice.
"Look at my temple, lying in ruins. So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them? Restore to me my beacon, that I might guide you toward your destiny."
The Hylian took out the object from his knapsack and looked down at it, then stepped forward and carefully set it down on the container.
Once Link had placed the Beacon on the shrine, a ray of light shot up into the sky and his vision went white.
When it returned, he was standing in the air, high above where he had been, gazing at a blinding ball of light.
"It is time for my splendor to return to Skyrim. But the token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane darkness skittering within." The voice sounded both angry and sad.
'Profane darkness… I don't like the sound of that.'
"The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of this war to do his bidding. Worse still, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds." The same emotions were there, except the anger had turned to rage.
'A Necromancer… sounds annoying to deal with.'
"I have brought you here, mortal, to be my champion. You will enter my temple, retrieve my artifact, and destroy the defiler. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler." The voice sounded commanding now, and possibly a bit insane, considering the woman had repeated herself. Maybe it was just nerves.
'Artifact?'
Link found that he couldn't move or look away from the light, but he could speak.
"Tell me more about this artifact."
"Mortals call it Dawnbreaker, for it was forged in a holy light that breaks upon my foes, burning away corruption and false life. You will enter my shrine, destroy Malkoran, and retrieve this mighty blade."
'A powerful sword….' "It doesn't really sound like I have a choice in the matter."
"But a single candle can banish the darkness of the entire Void. If not you, then someone else. My beacon is sure to attract a worthy soul. But if you are wise, you will heed my bidding."
*It is a holy sword… Obviously it will be useful…' "I'll do it."
"Of course you will. I have commanded it!" The ball of light flashed for a second, then died down to its usual brightness.
"Malkoran has forced the doors shut. But this is my temple, and it responds to my decree. I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and its doors will open."
With this, Link's vision went white again as he felt himself begin to fall back towards the ground far below.
And then he was standing before the statue, a ray of light before him. He watched as it shot over his head and hit some sort of pedestal, then went out of sight down the steps.
After a few seconds, Link turned around and walked away from the statue, down the steps, and followed several pedestals with this light shining through them over to a door with a carved dragon head on it. The door was easy to push open, and he stepped into the ruins.
The entrance opened up into a wide passage with stairs to the south. What was visible was covered by a profane darkness, one of thick blackened fog. Link walked down the worn steps to find some fallen masonry. Behind it was a patch of Namira's Rot. Link picked it up and kept walking.
The passage was staggered to the left by a statue and three burial urns. Further along the passage was a locked door. Link had acquired 20 lockpicks while traveling, and so he took one out and knelt before the locked door, intending to open it.
The first one was so rusted it broke upon turning it once. The Hylian shook the rust off his hands before he took out another lockpick and tried again. This time he managed to find the sweet spot before he overshot turning it and it shattered.
The third one got further, but then jammed in the lock, breaking it in half. It took a minute to clear the lock of the broken pick, but then the fourth one opened the door, which revealed a short passage with a lever at the end.
Before entering the short passage, Link looked to his right and saw a metal gate blocking the way forward. Common sense told him that the lever before him unlocked the gate, so he entered the short passage and threw the lever to the left, as it had been right before. He heard the sound of the gate rising in the ceiling and left the short passage to see that the way forward was now clear.
The Hylian walked under the gate and found another short passage to his left that led to a chest with an ancient Nord sword up against it. He took the sword to resell later and checked the chest, which had a sapphire necklace. He decided he could sell it as well and left the short passage.
The main hallway turned to the east and then split. From where he was standing, Link could tell that both paths led to the same room. When he entered the room, it opened up into a large chamber with stone arches and large pillars supporting the ceiling high above.
In the center was a refracting gem on top of a pedestal with light streaming into it through a hole in the roof. To the right of the pedestal, next to a statue that had been knocked over by falling masonry, was an iron shield. There were large double doors at the far end.
Link picked up the shield to sell for later, then turned to the pedestal with the light. He walked to it and examined it, then reached out towards the pedestal. As his hand neared the light, it shot up towards another pedestal high above him.
The double doors opened as the light hit the higher pedestal and Link walked through them, then walked down a long flight of stairs to another set of double doors. There was a White Fungus mushroom and Link took it with him to make potions later.
Then the Hylian noticed two dark figures beyond the door, which appeared to be smokey outlines with various armor. They appeared to be hostile.
'Must be the shades that light warned me about. ….Darkness hates light…' He took out the lantern and lit it, noting that the two shades drew back a bit, as well as the fog around him lifting slightly.
Link then set the lantern down and took out the Fire Rod, then primed it as he walked towards the shades, who drew weapons as he approached. He flicked a switch and a wave of fire left the weapon and rolled across the floor towards the dark creatures. The two shades turned and ran away a bit, then were caught in a cone of fire from the magical weapon. They soon burnt away to ash piles, leaving behind weapons and something akin to the Ice Wraith Essence, save for it was dark in color.
He took the iron sword and dagger to resell later, took the strange essence with him and picked up the lit lantern before he entered the next room.
Through the doors was a large room with rows of stone benches facing towards another pedestal with a refracted gem on top on the first of three rising levels. There was a door down a short passage to the south. As mentioned, the pedestal was on the first level. On the second level was a set of shelves holding a candlestick and many ruined books and a sideboard with an empty soul gem on top. The final level had large urns at either end and double doors in the middle.
Link walked forward and activated the pedestal, sending the light through a set of double doors that had been opened by the pedestal activating. The Hylian found a short set of stairs that led to the second level, where he took the empty soul gem from the sideboard and continued on his way. There was a set of stairs leading up to the third level, where he checked the urns to find they were all empty before noting a nearby ledge. His previous dungeoneering adventures told him something was on the ledge, so he looked around for a way to get to said ledge.
He found it via a bookshelf, which he jumped on top of, then jumped to the ledge. It was in front of a barricaded room containing several burned books, a leveled invisibility potion and damage health poison, which were out of reach.
He noticed a strange looking book on the bookshelf he had been standing on. He jumped back to the bookshelf, then knelt down and grabbed the book's spine, then pulled it out and examined it. It was a spell tome for Telekinesis. As he read the tome, it dissolved in his hands and he felt the knowledge of the spell enter his mind.
Telekinesis was a spell that let you pick things up with your mind and move them in all directions. You could even use weapons with the spell if you were skilled enough.
Link turned to the ledge, jumped back over, then looked at the barricaded room and held out a hand, then focused on the invisibility potion, then imagined it floating across the room into his hand. He watched as it ever so slowly rose up into the air and began to move towards him. Eventually, he felt the dust coated potion hit his hand and he caught it before it fell and broke.
The Hylian placed the potion in his knapsack before he suddenly felt drained. He turned around and leaned against the wall as he closed his eyes and waited for his strength to return. 'It seems this new spell I learned is really taxing. I'll have to be careful… Wonder if there's a way to increase my magical prowess here.'
After a few minutes, Link opened his eyes and turned back to look at the damage health poison. 'Do I really need it?' He gazed at the filled bottle for a while before he shrugged and used Telekinesis again.
The poison landed on the ledge and just as it did, Link's vision blurred and he felt himself pitch forwards.
His senses returned an unknown amount of time later. The first thing he focused on was the poison bottle, sitting on the ledge.
'How long… It doesn't matter, I needed the rest…' Link closed his eyes for a few minutes and mentally checked himself for injuries. He found none and opened his eyes again.
'Note to self… Do not use Telekinesis until I find a way to increase my magical prowess.' He picked up the poison and put it in his knapsack, then got up and jumped the short distance from the ledge to the bookshelf, then to the stone floor of the third level. Link then walked towards the double doors and passed underneath them, only to discover that there had been a cave-in, with a small gap that the beam of light was shining through.
Link then remembered the door to the south and backtracked to the first level of the room, then walked through the door that he had noticed earlier.
Two more corrupted shades greeted him, and he used Fireball on them since they were so close. The two shadow figures caught on fire due to being so near each other, but they kept approaching with weapons raised.
Link drew Dawn with his free hand and swung the fire dagger at the closest shade, who turned to ash.
The second one seemed to be more intelligent as it dodged the dagger, then attempted to run Link through with its sword. He ducked under the blade, then used the Fire Rod. Due to how close the remaining shade was, it didn't have time to dodge and it turned to ash.
Link took the iron dagger and sword to sell for later and then looked around after gathering the shade essence.
Besides the two corrupted shades, the room contained several large urns, several windows on the left into the room behind the cave-in and a set of shelves on the left. There was also a wooden door at the end of the room.
Link checked the urns to find they held nothing and then entered the next room after opening the wooden door.
The door opened to a passage that took a couple of turns and descended a flight of stairs before there was another door to another room that contained a sideboard holding a minor potion of healing and an unlocked chest, which held nothing. Link took the potion and continued onward.
There was a passage heading east into another large room with balconies on three sides and wooden stairs leading up to the south and east. There were two corrupted shades in this room, one on the lower level and an archer on the balcony to the north.
The two corpses hadn't noticed him yet, so Link took out his bow and sniped them both with well aimed arrows. He then walked to the lower level to get the essence before returning to the balconies.
The balcony to the east linked with the one to the north. There was also a bridge linking the northern balcony to a central platform with a refracted gem on a pedestal in the middle and a second span to the southern balcony that had collapsed, although, from looking at it, the gap could be jumped.
Link made his way to the pedestal and touched it, watched the light move onward, then noticed a door past the second balcony. He decided to check the north balcony first, getting the shade essence on his way.
He found an arcane enchanter with a petty soul gem resting on it. A gate and locked door were to his right.
Link broke two lockpicks opening the door. Upon it opening, he saw a lever. He stepped forward and threw the lever to the right, as it had been left before. He heard the gate rise up and he left the alcove to see that a chest had been behind the door. Link opened the chest to find it held 50 Septims, which he took.
He then returned to the enchanter and placed the sapphire necklace on it, then set his hands on the table and leaned over it. 'Hmmm… I still don't understand how these things work.' He thought back to Ustengrav and what had happened there. 'So… Do I just think of the enchantment I want to use?' He tried it.
The Resist Frost runes appeared above the necklace and vanished. The necklace started to glow a light blue a few seconds later and the object was cold to the touch. Link picked up the necklace and examined it before he stepped back from the table and put the necklace on. 'Okay… so… Let's see… I have… the ring, locket, and now this necklace. I guess ice magic won't be that much of a problem anymore.'
The Hero of Twilight looked back at the arcane enchanter before he walked over to the broken bridge, then jumped the small gap to the southern balcony. He then noted that the door before him was now open and the pedestal light was going through a hole in the nearby wall. There was a short passage that Link followed until he reached an iron door and opened it to reveal the morning light.
Before him was an outdoor balcony, the light bouncing off of six statues overhead. Fallen snow was crushed underfoot as the Hylian stepped onto the ancient weathered stone.
From where he was, he could see some sort of river winding its way until it vanished behind trees. There was a mountain to the southeast that gave him a strange feeling when he looked directly at it, as well as a possible settlement towards the southwest.
Link followed the stone path and came across a locked chest. He knelt down and took out a lockpick, then inserted the pick into the lock. Somehow, something told him to turn the lock a certain way and he opened the lock on his first lockpick. Link threw open the chest and stared.
Laying inside the chest was his bow. He recognized the elden wood and goat emblem, the hand made leather wrapping for the hand rest…
The Hylian lifted the bow from the chest and stood, running a hand over the carved wood before he notched an arrow to the still strong bow string, and aimed the bow towards a nearby tree. He let the arrow fly and it suck into the tree's trunk.
Link lowered the bow and grinned before the cold started to get to him, and he crossed the remainder of the walkway and entered the ruins again.
Through the iron door on the balcony was a passage heading north. A flight of stairs upward with a couple of turns opened into a large room guarded by three corrupted shades on the ground level, and a fourth on a caged walkway above that wielded a greatsword.
The shades hadn't noticed Link yet, so he crouched in the doorway, eying their movements before the Hylian took out three arrows and shot the three, one at the time. This caused the fourth one to notice him and it vanished from view, no doubt having a way to get to him. Link made his way to the ground level of the room and waited.
The remaining shade didn't show up and Link decided it was safe to keep going. There was a locked iron door in the middle of the south wall. In the southwestern corner was a table with a desecrated corpse on top. A broken stone table beside it had three loose septims, a gold emerald ring, and a burial urn. When checked, the urn was empty. Link took the three Septims and the ring and then noticed wooden stairs leading up to a balcony, and he climbed the stairs after getting the essence of the three shades.
There were two sideboards flanking another locked iron door. One of these held a Major Potion of Magicka and a Potion of Resist Magic. There was also a short walkway out onto a platform with a refracted gem on a pedestal. Link took the potions, then walked out to the platform and activated the pedestal. Activating it opened the door on the balcony.
The passage behind the balcony door led to a room guarded by one corrupted shade. It was dispatched by a single arrow.
To the east was a trap connected to a wooden door that triggered a spear trap from the floor, with a desecrated corpse leaning against the door. This door opened into a smaller room containing an unlocked chest, a set of shelves holding a candlestick, a pair of iron boots, Draught of the Knight and a Major Potion of Healing. Opposite this was a sideboard with an unlocked, empty strongbox on top. Link took the two potions for himself and the boots to sell later.
Link continued his journey via a passage to the north, with an unlocked chest to the left that held nothing. The passage turned to the west, where a tripwire had triggered a swinging blades trap in the passage beyond. A small pile of ash was in the middle of the trap, no doubt the remains of the fourth corrupted shade.
At the far end was a lever. Link carefully dodged the spinning blades and made it to the lever safely; when thrown to the left, as it had been right, the trap was deactivated. The Hylian backtracked to get the shade essence before leaving the trap corridor.
From here, the passage led out onto the caged walkway, passing over and around two platforms to a third platform that wasn't caged, where the fourth corrupted shade was originally.
A narrow walkway crossed to the north and a small area, with a broken span to the west, and a locked door ahead.
Link jumped to a separate platform on the left, then touched the pedestal. Doing so opened the locked door. Link jumped the gap again.
In the northwestern corner was a stone table with a desecrated corpse on top, and a novice-locked chest between two sets of shelves holding an iron helmet, gauntlets, two minor potions of stamina, a minor potion of healing, and a copy of a book titled Battle of Red Mountain. The chest, when unlocked, held nothing.
Link took the potions to use later, and the iron gauntlets and helmet to eventually sell or trade. When he skimmed the book's pages, he saw that its contents were about shield blocking techniques. The Hylian took the book with him to read at a later date to improve his blocking skills.
Through the now unlocked door, the passage led to another large room guarded by two more corrupted shades. Link watched them for a while, then got an idea and lit the lantern again before he held an arrow to the flames and set the arrowhead on fire, then noticed the arrow to his bow and fired it at one of the shades. It was killed instantly by the flaming arrow and the flames jumped to the other corrupted shade and killed it as well. Link took the two shade essences, then made his way to ground level after picking up the lantern.
There were four desecrated corpses on the ground level. Two flights of wooden stairs led up to two of four raised sections around the room. The other two areas were blocked by wooden walls. The stairs on the west wall, when accessed, led up to a small area with a potion of strength on a plinth with a weight sensitive plate. Link eyed the plate before he picked up a rock and carefully set it on the plate, then ducked before the plinth and removed the potion of strength. Nothing happened. The Hylian got up and left the small area.
At the top of the stairs against the east wall, Link jumped to a wooden ledge on the north wall where there was another desecrated corpse. To the east was a doorway to a wide passage, turning after a few paces, before it led back out onto a platform high above the large room with the caged walkway. On the platform was another refracted gem on a pedestal and another desecrated corpse. When Link activated the pedestal, the door on the ground level far below him opened. He could either backtrack or jump from a few visible platforms.
Link decided to jump to the top of the cage. He stayed there to get his bearings before he then jumped to a platform, then the ground. He then entered the door and walked down a short flight of stairs, which led to another iron door. He opened it and stepped inside the room.
Through the door was a wide passage that descended a flight of stairs, and after a couple of turns, led into a large room. There were three desecrated corpses, one of which was leaning against the raised section in the middle of the room with an iron dagger and three loose septims beside it. In both the northeastern and southeastern corners, on small raised sections, were two potions of magicka. In the southeast corner, there was also an unlocked chest that held nothing when checked.
Activating a final refracting gem on top of a pedestal opened a set of double doors to the east that led to a large room. Link took the dagger, the three Septims and the two potions before moving towards the unlocked doors.
When Link stepped inside the room, it was quiet. Too quiet. Various corpses lined the walls of the large room. On Link's immediate left was a Potion of Healing. Link followed a wall to the right, where he found a Paralysis Poison on a broken table. He then found a Potion of Stamina on a stone table to the northwest. Link had taken all three filled bottles when he had found them, and was putting the stamina potion in his knapsack when he heard footsteps, and turned back to find himself looking at a man in robes, surrounded by seven corrupted shades.
"Are you Malkoran?" Link's words sounded hallow to his ears as the man didn't respond, but instead took out a staff of some sort and shot ice in his direction.
- It didn't do much. Sure, the ice felt cold and it hurt just a bit, but it didn't do anything else. Malkoran blinked, then motioned to the seven shades to attack Link, who took out the Fire Rod, primed it, then sent fire towards the creatures.
While they were burning to death, the Hylian drew Dawn and ran towards the Necromancer, who sent another wave of ice in Link's direction. Link charged through and swung Dawn at Malkoran, who attempted to block the attack with his staff. The dagger sliced the staff in two and cut into the man's robes.
Malkoran looked surprised as he retreated a bit, then cast a frost spell and sent it towards Link. The Hylian was sent back a bit and hit the floor, rolling a few times as his vision became unfocused from cold.
He stopped rolling and got back up, then downed a minor health potion, taking the cold with it as it healed any potential injuries. Link then ran forwards and stabbed Malkoran in the heart.
After a few seconds, the Hero of Twilight pushed the man away and watched as his body hit the ground. "That should be it, right?" Link looked around as he put away his weapons, noticed the ray of light was hitting a raised statue of some sort, and began to walk towards it. He then heard some sort of noise and looked back to see the Necromancer's body… reforming?
No, it was… something else?
The thing before him was a floating, wraith-like skeleton surrounded by a dark mist. The wraith gazed at Link before it hissed and tried to set him on fire.
The Hylian rolled out of the way of the flames and came back up, eying… was this thing still Malkoran? Then again, it looked like the corrupted shades…. maybe this thing was Malkoran's Shade? Whatever the creature before him was, it was angry.
Link fired an arrow at the shade and the thing shrieked as the arrow hit it. It then moved its hands and put up some sort of ward, protecting itself.
The Hero of Twilight circled the shade, putting away his bow and getting out Dawn and the Fire Rod.
The shade then shocked Link with some sort of lighting spell, then lunged towards him and sent him flying into a nearby wall. His vision went dark for a second or two and when it returned, he was half lying on the ground, half up against the wall, his weapons beside him, watching as the shade drew closer and closer with a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of ice in the other.
Link tried to focus his vision as he reached for the Fire Rod, primed it, then aimed it in the shade's direction and flicked the switch.
A wave of fire hit Malkoran's Shade and it flew back, away from Link, to the other side of the room, alight with flames. Link downed three minor health potions before standing, then used Heal on himself for extra measure before he eyed the shade.
The thing was still alive and it started to screech at him in rage, still on fire. Link blasted it again with the Fire Rod, and again, and a third time. He started to alternate between Fireball, the Rod, and occasionally, his trusty flame dagger.
Eventually - Link wasn't sure how long he attacked the shade for - the thing began to turn to ash and dust. The Hylian turned away from the dying creature and began to walk away when he felt a great force strike him in the back and he went flying into the pedestal that the light was shining on.
He eventually heard a voice.
"It is done. The defiler is defeated. Take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal."
It took him a while to recognize who the voice had been. Meridia. He had somehow won.
But yet… Had he? He was still alive… right?
Yes. That much was certain. The last thing Link remembered was hitting something, and now…
He was… lying before the pedestal where the light had been. The Hylian saw something that hadn't been there previously, up on the pedestal. Whatever it was, it was glowing.
Link closed his eyes and mentally thought 'Heal'. He was too out of it to even think of using potions or to say the healing spell. He felt the pain retreat a bit and his headache fade tremendously, but it was still there. After a while, Link dared to open his eyes and he slowly searched his nearby knapsack until he found a major healing potion and downed it. He felt his injuries fade and his vision became clear.
The Hylian didn't move from where he was for a few minutes, but gathered himself and got up, collecting his dagger and Fire Rod from where they had been thrown a bit away from him before he turned to the pedestal.
A brilliant glowing sword was positioned blade first, resting inside the pedestal before him. Link stepped to it, gazing in awe at the weapon, before he slowly reached out and gripped its hilt before he drew it with ease from its resting place. Before he could complicate what he had done, he felt like he was floating and then his vision went white.
Link found himself standing in the air again, high above Skyrim. The ball of light was bouncing around in the air. "Malkoran is vanquished. Skyrim's dead shall remain at rest. This is as it should be. This is because of you. A new day is dawning. And you shall be its herald. Take the mighty Dawnbreaker and with it, purge corruption from the dark corners of the world. Wield it in my name, that my influence may grow."
I'll keep the sword. But find someone else to spread your religion." 'Sure, I'm sure she's a good god… whatever they call them here, but I'm not going to just run around doing things in her name.'
"It matters not. The plant cares nothing for the rays that bring it the warmth of the sun. As you carry Dawnbreaker, so will my light touch the world."
But then, Link began to realize the benefits of potentially having a being of power like this on his side. "On second thought, I'll wield this mighty blade in your name."
Meridia seemed pleased with his answer. "May the light of certitude guide your efforts."
With that, Link felt himself begin to be lowered to the ground and his vision went white again.
When it returned, he was standing before the statue, holding the sword he had retrieved from the ruins. He looked down at it, noting its gold color and how the gem at the center of the crossguard radiated a holy light. He swung the sword once in front of him, feeling the blessed energy coursing through the blade as the gem seemed to grow brighter for a moment.
Link looked up at the statue. "Thank you." He then turned and made his way down the steps and the long winding path down the mountain until he reached Kilkreath's base, where he found Epona waiting for him. The Hylian checked his knapsack and found the egg was still intact… it was warmer. Perhaps it would hatch soon.
Link decided to not worry about it and he vaulted onto Epona's back, then checked what he had gotten from the ruins and counted his new Septims. He came up with a total of the current Septims he had on his person - 6816. The Hylian looked down at the sword in his hand before he took the empty scabbard at his side and slid Dawnbreaker into the scabbard. It wasn't a perfect fit, nor was it the right sword for the scabbard, but it would do for now. Link then turned Epona in the general direction of Solitude and the two set off for the distant city, surrounded by morning birdsong.