The walk down the Seven Thousand Steps was difficult, but infinitely better than walking up them. Sure, there was the issue of having to watch your footsteps and make sure you didn't miss a step lest you fall over and pick up speed, snowballing down the stairs or off a cliff. But physically it was a much easier task, all it took was time. Luckily, Ysmir and Inigo had a lot to discuss to pass the time.
"So let me get this straight," Inigo asked, "there are some really evil bad guys who are trying to end the world by destroying some big fancy Towers all over Tamriel?"
"Yes," Ysmir replied as he side-stepped his way down the mountain.
"And the Dominion are the ones who are going to be doing the dirty work?"
"I think it will specifically be the Thalmor, but yes."
"Right, so the Thalmor will destroy the world until only they are left, even killing other elves when they do so, but then they'll be destroyed too?"
"Well, they'll wither away without the rest of Tamriel, not be destroyed. But I guess the end result is the same."
"Then why are they going to do that?"
"I think they're being tricked, or manipulated into doing it. Or they might just be evil."
"And the only way to stop them is for you to become Emperor?"
"They'll be stopped by uniting Tamriel against the common foe, becoming Emperor is just a means to that end."
"Right, so all of Tamriel joins together and we defeat the bad guys. Then we get to live happily ever after?"
Ysmir sighed, "until it's time for us to save the world again."
Inigo chuckled, "it's a hard job being heroes."
In the distance the pair was able to see the village of Ivarstead, so they picked up their pace. The Greybeards were simple monks, but they generally frowned upon worldly possessions and they absolutely forbade weapons. So when Ysmir decided to stay at High Hrothgar after returning from Sovngarde, he and Inigo had to give up all their armour and weapons that had served them so well in their quests. They allowed Inigo to keep his signature ebony bow, albeit with no arrows and only as long as he kept it displayed in his room. Inigo was now carrying that bow slung across his back, but other than a bow with no arrows the pair was unarmed and unarmoured.
However, Ysmir and Inigo hadn't abandoned their old gear. Instead they had put it all in a couple of chests and buried them in a clearing just east of Ivarstead, as though they were solemnly admitting that they would eventually need it again. At the time it bothered Ysmir, but in hindsight it was the right decision.
"Do you think they're still there?" Inigo suddenly asked as the two descended the last few flights of stairs.
"No one saw us bury the chests, so I would think so," Ysmir replied. Someone would have to have gotten really lucky to find them.
"Not the chests silly," Inigo said, "we can always get new gear. I mean Artax and Queen Alfsigr!" After they buried their gear, Ysmir and Inigo, reluctantly, sold both their horses to Jofthor, the owner of Fellstar Farm in Ivarstead.
Ysmir mentally kicked himself, he was so busy thinking about his old gear he neglected to think about Allie, the horse that had carried him from Whiterun all over Skyrim. "They had better be, we paid a lot of septims to Jofthor to keep them stabled."
Ysmir and Inigo crossed the bridge into the village. Some of the villagers noticed them, and began muttering to each other in awe at what they were seeing. Ysmir was still wearing his Greybeard robes, and a Greybeard hadn't been seen outside of High Hrothgar in ages. Ysmir was no longer a Greybeard, but the villagers didn't know that.
"Over there," Inigo cried out as he pointed to a wooden structure on the edge of town, "look!"
Ysmir looked, the structure was unmistakably a stable, and inside were two beautiful horses. A large and mighty brown one and a slightly smaller but leaner grey and white one. Allie and Artax. A pair of horses for a pair of heroes.
Inigo whistled a quick, sharp tune. Artax lifted his head up and came galloping over to his master's call. "Artax!" Inigo yelled with joy as he hugged Artax around the neck, "it is so good to see you my friend! You look strong!" Artax, for his part, was stomping his feet and neighing, equally as happy to see Inigo as Inigo was to see him.
Ysmir chuckled and walked past them towards the stable. People liked to say horses mimicked the behavior of their riders. Artax's energetic and playful attitude was proof that was true. Queen Alfsigr was also proof, but in a very different way.
"Hey girl, it's been awhile," Ysmir said as he put his hand on Allie's muzzle and patted her neck. She was a stoic and loyal beast, not prone to panicking or nervousness. She was strong and brave, one time a troll came upon Ysmir and Inigo's campsite on the side of the road, and Allie kicked the troll so hard it stumbled into a ditch and fled. She was smart, she knew when to flee and when to stand her ground. Stoic, loyal, brave, strong, smart, all traits that Ysmir would attribute to himself. But there was another thing, a trait that Allie had always possessed that she didn't mimic from Ysmir: she was regal. She always held her head high and carried with her a sense of dignity. She truly earned her name.
Allie nuzzled Ysmir with her nose, she was happy to see Ysmir too, but she could control her excitement.
"Ah, it's you," a voice called out from behind Ysmir. It was Jofthor, the owner of the farm. "I was wondering what all the commotion was about," he said as he looked at Inigo saddling Artax, still loudly proclaiming how much he missed him. Ysmir hadn't even noticed him sneak by and grab the saddle from the stable. "Are you finally back for your horses then?" Jofthor asked.
"Yes," Ysmir replied, "thank you for taking care of them all this time."
Jofthor waved his hand dismissively, "It was an honour to stable the Dragonborn's horses," he said.
Artax came galloping over to the group, Inigo riding on top of him with a big, toothy smile. "Are we ready to go?" Inigo asked.
Ysmir looked up, "just need to get Allie ready."
Inigo nodded back, then whistled and tapped his heels inward into Artax. The two took off, galloping away at full speed.
Ysmir smiled and shook his head. Inigo obviously couldn't wait to go for a lap around the village. Ysmir and Jofthor exchanged a forearm handshake. "Farewell, Jofthor," he said, and he pulled Allie into the stables and to begin saddling her up. Right before he got started, he thought of something. He turned around and called out to Jofthor.
"Do you have a shovel I could borrow?"
The clearing that held their gear was a two minute horse ride away, just past Shroud Hearth Barrow. It was a break in the otherwise dense forests of the Rift, completely empty save for the one large oak tree in its center that stood apart from the surrounding birches.
"It smells undisturbed, I think we are in luck." Inigo said as he and Ysmir entered the clearing and dismounted their horses.
Both chests were buried at the base of the oak, among the thick, snaking roots of the mighty tree. It took a great effort to dig them out, but by day's end the two had their prize. Two chests, one Ysmir's, one Inigo's. Both full of the gear they had used over their journeys together.
Inigo's chest was easy to hoist up, and he did so without struggle. He opened it up and began putting on his armour: the Blackguards armour. Gifted to him during the pair's adventures on Solstheim, the dark gray, hardened-leather armour was light but sturdy, with a bandolier for holding poisons for arrows and a cutout in the trousers for Inigo's tail. The bracers and boots were of the same hardened-leather material, and well fitted. Finally, a gray cloth cloak and hood, fastened in place with a silver brooch of dual moons, one large and full and the other a small crescent.
Besides his armour and cloak, the chest also held Inigo's weapons. Two full quivers of ebony arrows, to match his ebony bow. His lucky ebony dagger, which he kept strapped to his lower back right above his tail. Unlike other ebony daggers, Inigo's was thin and double-edged, with an ornate carved wooden handle. And of course, Windshear. Inigo reached in and grabbed the curved sword, pulling it out of its leather sheath in one quick motion. Taken from a Redguard pirate lord, the Yokudan steel blade was engraved with wind and water motifs, and a skull and crossbones was stamped into the brass hilt just above the guard. Inigo deftly twirled the sword around him and slid it back into the sheath, which was adorned with several brass-buttons all stamped with an identical skull and crossbones to the one on the sword itself. Inigo strapped the sword to his side and stretched out, the leather armour stretching as well, his cloak gently blowing in the light wind that made it through the trees.
Ysmir's chest, by comparison, was as heavy as Shor's Bones themselves. He needed Inigo's help to get it out of the pit. The weight was to be expected. As a true Nord, Ysmir wore heavy armour. Plate armour in fact, not made of steel like an Imperial Legionnaire or Breton Hedge Knight, no, Ysmir's armour was made of plates of dragon bone. Dragon bones are heavy, but worth their weight in gold. Most adventurers only go through the hassle of lugging them around just to sell them. But Ysmir had another idea. Dragon bones are nigh-indestructible, and extremely heat resistant. Ysmir needed the talents and fires of Eorlund Gray-Mane and his Skyforge, plus no small amount of slain dragons, to actually build the armour, but the result spoke for itself. Heavy pieces of dragon bone, mainly from the spine, ribs, and tail, forged into a chest piece, pauldrons, gauntlets, boots, and greaves. Helped together with flexible dragon scales and decorated with ebony. His helmet, also made of ebony, was styled to look like a dragon's skull. A legendary set of armour that offered unparalleled protection, and itself an awe-inspiring symbol of the power of the Dragonborn.
At this point in his life, Ysmir was a master of the Thu'um. The dragon souls that he absorbed gave him more power than even the Greybeards. His only rivals were dragons themselves. But he believed, mostly, in the Way of the Voice. The Thu'um was a power not to be used lightly, so he still needed a sword. And Ysmir's sword was Dragonbane. An Akaviri longsword whose exact origins were unknown, but clearly had a storied history full of triumphs and glories. It was so well balanced it could be wielded with one hand, but sturdy enough to be equally deadly when wielded with two. Ysmir had found the sword in the armoury of Sky Haven Temple, and had used it ever since. The pommel and guard were decorated with small dragon wing talons, and the grip was formed from a single carved dragon claw. Nordic runes, most likely added after the blade came to Tamriel, were etched into the steel parts of the hilt, and the grip was laced in worn leather. The blade, made of quicksilver as all true Akaviri swords were, was enchanted with the power of storms, making it uniquely effective against dragons. When Dragonbane was drawn the blade crackled with arcs of dark purple lightning, and it shocked any who felt its cut.
The last thing in Ysmir's chest, wrapped in a small white cloth, was an amulet. An amulet he had to hide under his armour, but he was nonetheless proud to wear. His personal amulet of Talos.
It was a difficult task to put on heavy armour, but Ysmir had lots of experience. His expertise, paired with Inigo's help, meant it only took 20 minutes, and before long the pair were remounting their horses and preparing to leave. Allie, Ysmir happily noted, didn't even buckle under the newly added weight of carrying Ysmir in his armour.
They paused at the edge of the clearing, double checking to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. "We look good!" Inigo commented, "so, where to? I assume Sky Haven Temple is next on the agenda?"
"Well first we'll return this shovel," Ysmir said as he put Jofthor's shovel over his shoulder, "then we have one more stop before Sky Haven."
"Oh?" Inigo asked, "what stop is that?"
Ysmir pushed in with his heels, and Allie started walking. Inigo followed. "While we're still in the Rift," Ysmir said, "we'll travel first to Fort Dawnguard. We're going to need all the help we can get for the tasks ahead."
Inigo smiled from ear to ear, "hooray! We are getting the band back together!"