Answer to the riddle is a candle.

"Wah?!" Onmund all but screamed as he was shaken awake by the carriage hitting a particularly large rock - almost throwing him from his seat. He looked around, sleep muddled brain not quite remembered what was going on and where he was.

As he rubbed his eyes he saw a snickering Jana and an Argonian who seemingly hadn't moved an inch since Onmund fell asleep. The Argonian, Thorak he remembered, only gave him a sideward glance before turning his attention back on the road.

Jana closed the book with a thud, drawing Onmunds attention back to her. She carefully placed it back in her satchel as she spoke. "Was about to wake you myself, were almost there" she said giving a pointed nod towards something behind him, he groggily turned around in his seat and saw a massive wall.

He blinked a few times trying to clear his vision. They were literally right beside the city, well almost, there were still a mill and a few fields between them and the walls but it looked impressive nonetheless. Thick stone walls that he was sure had seen better days circled the entire city. Sturdy wooden guard towers with burning torches were spread out along the top of the wall with A massive wooden structure visible as it reached far above the wall, even from the centre of the city. Tall and made with Impressive looking detail and architecture, no doubt the fabled Dragonsreach, the building housing the jarl and his family.

Other than he spotted a few houses spread around the city, mostly farms of one sort or the other. They looked to be in better condition than the city walls, with clean if slightly robust construction. Onmund knew from first-hand experience that growing crops in the cold hard earth of Skyrim was no easy feat first-hand experience Ploughing the fields was all but impossible most of the time since the temperature was near freezing, and only select few plants could even survive the in harsh weather and poor soil. In that aspect he had the deepest respect for the farmers, they were as stubborn and hardy as the plants they worked with.

Between the farms, rocks and rivers were the great grass plains of Whiterun. Covered in scattered rocks, trees and sandy grass it seemingly continued all the way to the mountains in the distance.

They crossed a river on an old stone bridge before passing a great wooden building with a sign reading 'Honningbrew meadery'. Probably some of the local stuff, he made a mental note to try some when they reached the inn. He was by no means a heavy drinker, but he did enjoy the taste, and when you had an opportunity to try out something new and exotic? It would almost be a shame not to.

He'd been dozing on and off for most of the trip since they left the Nightingale inn, the place had been a bit bleak, with only one other customer who were seemingly only there to drink. The innkeeper, Hadring had talked about his grandfather and the history of the inn for so long, that Onmund had actually felt a bit awkward just standing there and nodding. Luckily Jana had made some excuse and dragged him off to a table. Thorak had been mostly silent, seemingly content with just listening to their idle chatter and looking at the wilderness as they slowly drove along.

Onmund had tried to talk with him several times but the Argonian only answered with short sentences or yes and no, promptly stopping the conversation before it even began. To make things worse was Jana, who had seemingly brought an endless supply of books to read, and so, without anyone to talk to Onmund had found nothing else to do than get a few hours of sleep.

He blinked a few times as he looked at the sun, judging it to be around noon. They would still have some time in Whiterun then, would've been a shame to arrive during the late evening.

As they continued on the road they passed several more farms and mills each with people busing around before finally coming to a stop at a stable near the gates of Whiterun.

A few bypasses gave Thorak a look and whispered a few indistinguishable words, before moving on.

Onmund gave him a quick look, but the Argonian either hadn't noticed or simply didn't care to react. Onmund only shook his head, wondering if this behaviour had always been here, and that he had just been ignorant of it; or if it was a new thing. He had never really noticed anything of the sort before they arrived at Windhelm a few days ago. But there it seemed to go from none existent to everywhere, a shift he personally wasn't ready for. For the moment he blamed it on the civil war brewing, everyone were tense, everyone were afraid. Environments like that always seemed to bring out the worst in people. Pushing the thought from his mind he followed Jana and Thorak as they moved along the road.

Passing through the first gate they followed the winding cobblestone path across a small stream of water., before being met by a second gate. A raised plateau on the left overlooked the road with several guard towers. Onmund could only do his best to smile as he looked at the city guards, armed with bows and steel tipped arrows.

The city was well protected, tree gates and numerous choke points where potential invaders could get pelted with arrows. Even a small moat- well waterway really, but the gate could be raised making it all but impossible break down. Onmund was quite impressed. In comparison to Winterhold who didn't even have a city gate, and barely enough soldiers to stop any significant brawl at the inn.

As they approached the last and biggest gate, the group couldn't help but wonder why it was closed and blocked, guarded by two city guards.

"Hold!" The guard shouted as they got closer. The one beside him had his hand on the hilt of his sword. They were tense and aware, more so than Onmund would have expected on a random day with no significant events that he was aware off. However those seemed to the the key words as the guards next words froze him and Jana on the spot.

"The city is closed with the dragons about"

The...what? How'd they know? Had something happened? Onmund wouldn't think that news could have spread that quickly, or that anyone from the college would've talked openly of the events for that matter. Savos had made it clear this was a serious matter, and even if he hadn't it was clear as day. Onmund couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if the world knew that a dragon had returned, or that dragons were real creatures for that matter. But... he reminded himself as he stood there before the guards, it seemed he didn't have to imagine it, somehow, someway they knew.

But before any of them could ask a question, the gate was opened from the inside. The soldiers standing guard seemed as surprised as they were, quickly moving aside to make way for whoever was coming.

They heard the heavy footsteps and rustling chainmail before the group came into sight. It was a group of soldiers, 18 in total lead by a dark elf in sturdy leather armour. Some of the soldiers had a sword and shield, while others wielded bows or spears.

"What's going on?" Jana asked as she dragged one of the guards aside before they could run off with the rest.

The guard barely seemed to care as she gripped him, easily shaking her arm off, before answering the question. "A dragon is attacking the watchtower, were going to kill the monster!" The guard finished confidently, before running off.

Onmunds heart dropped and Jana gave him a troubled look that seemed to mirror his own.

Oh no.

Flying was the best thing he'd ever experienced.

He was once again left in awe at how gracefully Midwahgein moved through the air, a few strong beads of her mighty wings and they had been airborne, a few more and they were sent forward faster than any horse could ever dream off moving.

His weariness of 'riding' her had disappeared almost as soon as they got airborne, though the feeling of wrongness still lingered.

She asked you to do it remember?

And she had, but it still felt wrong.

She had taken it somewhat slowly at first, though his experience in flying was none-existent before now, so what he deemed slow could've have been crawling for her.

The comfortable speed had continued as they ascended high enough to nearly touch the clouds. Something Koraaviik had only have done in his dreams, he wondered what they felt like, the strange grey shapes that always floated and moved with a seemingly effortless ease. It seemed weird to even consider them, to even be within reach. They glided for a moment, high in the sky, where anyone who saw them would have dismissed it as a bird. At least he hoped so, but the feeling of moving through the air silenced any worries he might have had in the moment.

He felt free.

And she knew, she must have. Because as she felt the excitement bleed through the bond she had stepped it up. With a few mighty beats she had Increased her speed and altitude, adding a few simple acrobatics, some spins and short dives. Each of which left him speechless.

The speed as they soared through the sky, the feeling of the wind in his face. It was exhilarating.

The temperatures were freezing though, the cold winds biting his skin as the wind roared around them. Is this how to feels to fly?" He asked disbelievingly, barely able to get the words out through an almost all encompassing feeling he'd never quite been able to satisfy.

And then he spoke the first question that popped to mind.

"Why don't you do it all the time?"

She gave let out a small chuckle, and he could feel the mirth in her voice as well as the bond as she spoke. "Because, while the sky has many things, there are things it doesn't."

He tilted his head in confusion, not fully knowing what she was referring to.

"Like what?"

She turned her head slightly, a familiar glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Food."

She then abruptly turned to the left, going for a near vertical dive down through the clouds. Heart pounding in his ears, as he held on for dear life. He almost had to squeeze his eyes shut to see anything as the winds roared past them.

And as quickly as the dive had started she broke through the clouds - spread her wings and slowed to an easy glide. He relaxed his ironlike grip on her horns, his legs feeling both stiff and sore from how hard he had been pushing them to stay on her neck. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, slowly filling his lungs with the crisp air.

He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, recovering enough from the experience to really appreciate the view. It was probably around midday, the weather was clear and the sun high in the sky.

The trees below were little more than green specs, blending together to form a carpet that was then split by rivers, mountains and lakes. The view was truly breath-taking, and he sat like that in silence, just observing how the land stretched out forever, how the sky and clouds worked in unison to create forms and patterns he had never seen before.

How the world beneath them seemed so... distant, like the skies where another realm, another world unaffected and unburdened by whatever happened on the land so far below.

As he slowly looked around he spotted a mountain range in the distance, one that took him an extra few seconds to recognize due the never having seen it from the sky before.

The scattered mountains had no name that he was aware of, but he knew Bromjunaar was nestled in between them, the once great capital shouldn't be too hard to find. Even if they had burned and torn the buildings to ground, there would still be remnants. There had to be something if only a massive empty area were the city one stood.

And indeed there was.

He had tried to prepare himself for the sight, telling himself it would be gone with little to no remains, but what he saw still made him grimace.

Bromjunaar had been the capital of Skyrim. An ancient city as hard and sturdy as the land it was built on. Towering walls and great buildings, temples and plazas, a bustling centre of trade, politics and magic.

As he looked upon the remains he briefly wondered how long the siege must've taken. Koraaviik saw no visible breaches in the walls as they glided slowly over the city, which means they must have broken down the gate.

However the location made it impossible to bring any siege equipment, the only way in being up a steep set of stairs. No siege equipment was out of the question, they must have starved them or attacked with an overwhelming force, but even then Bromjunaar would not have gone down without a fight.

The granaries were massive and Koraaviik knew there were additional storehouses with dried food as well as a small river running through the mountains. Bromjunaar was bastion, filled with the most dedicated and well trained people available at the time. He wouldn't be surprised it they had held the invaders back for months.

Though he supposed he would never know, unless they found someone who survived to tell the tale, and while they still did not know how long they had been gone - he did not think that was going to happen.

Midwahgein elegantly swooped down landed in the middle of the ruined city, mighty wings blowing snow into the air and further ruffling his already messed up hair.

He carefully slid down from where he had been sitting on her neck almost stumbling as his feet hit the ground. He rolled his shoulders a bit, attempting to get some of the stiffness out of them, he'd been using every single muscle he had to stay in place in the air. Despite how amazing it had been, it was still a bit difficult to relax when above the clouds.

Midwahgein had landed on a relatively small platform, the surrounding area covered with a thin layer of snow. The wind was gentle enough that he didn't need to use any magic to stay warm, instead sticking to the cover provided by the buildings and walls. As he took in the state of the place he felt the buildings were...more intact than he expected. The place looked deserted and the structures had clearly suffered from long exposure to the elements and a lack of maintenance - but still. The place looked abandoned sure, abandoned but not destroyed.

That confused him a bit, why would they not have raced the place when they broke the defences?

It would've sent a strong message to the remaining survivors, but perhaps that's what they had intended with this as too? Leaving it a ruin would have it stay like that, a broken city to remind everyone for years to come, to never again let the dragon rise to power?

He walked down the small staircase, letting his hand slide across the familiar stones. It was strange seeing the place like this, it only felt like a few weeks ago since he'd been here.

Maybe by sparing the city they wanted to show the mercy that the dragons had so sorely lacked. Their rule had been long and bloody. By not wiping the city from the map they could show that they were willing to forgive, to do the hard work that would no doubt follow in the footsteps of a war like that. To build instead of destroy. Yeah, that made sense. Though it was of course a wild guess. It could just have been the case that the city was abandoned and left to rot due to the history and countless atrocities that had happened there.

He wouldn't blame them if that was what they'd settled on.

Guess we'll never know.

But then again, what did it really matter? Either way the place was little more than an abandoned ruin - well, some of it anyway. He caught sight of something moving out of a small burrow on his left, not a burrow he realised, it was the sanctuary. And the movement was identified as a hulking white fur ball of an ice troll.

He waved his hand and a 8 foot long ice spear manifested, impaling the creature to the wall with a loud crack. Koraaviik watched as it breathed a last few ragged breaths before going limp, a pool of blood quickly forming at its feet.

"An ice troll," he said sadly. "The place really is deserted then."

He wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting, but he had hoped for something, anything really. He knew hoping for another dragon priest to just come out and say hello was ridiculous, but perhaps there were some sign of what had happened, were they'd gone, assuming they hadn't all been killed like he and Midwahgein. Perhaps some of them had fled, perhaps they had left something behind, a sign or a message, perhaps… some of them even found their own way to survive?

By Akatosh he really should stop hoping for the impossible, they were long gone and that was it. If the ancient stone walls were falling apart he could only imagine what state the books and bodies would be in. No, they were alone and would have to make do with what they had.

The thought left a stone in his chest, but there was also a sort of peace that came with it. To at least know that it was over, that the empire, the people and the knowledge he remembered so clearly was lost.

A sort of closure.

That didn't mean that he shouldn't have a look around though, if only to satisfy his minds every present curiosity.

He left behind the dead troll and walked across the snow covered ground, several of the buildings had collapsed, and most of those who still stood had big cracks in them from were the stone had simply given up and fallen apart. He found a small building, a wall was missing but the rest was still standing.

The inside was covered in snow and contained nothing but a few broken pots and some stones from the collapsed wall. There was no sign of the door, probably rotten away by know he thought sadly. There were several other spots were he knew buildings once stood, but not even rubble remained to hint at the past. Some of the scattered stones might once have been a chimney but who knew. After a bit of mindless walking, he found himself in front of the main gates to the underground part of the city. The great circular archway above his head and the closed gates in front of him gave him a strange sense of trepidation. He didn't really feel at home in Bromjunaar, never had. There had always been too much... politics. Too many rules and expectations, many of which he'd broken merely by existing. But despite the residents, the great city was the closest thing he'd ever gotten to belonging somewhere.

He silently observed the massive steel doors, they didn't look like they'd been used in a long time, no marks in the snow showing it had been opened. The only sign of life was the now dead ice troll. He heard lumbering footsteps approaching from behind.

"Do you think there's anything left inside?" he said, without looking as he placed a hand on the cold metal door.

"Probably, but I doubt the inside fared better than the rest" She responded a bit dismissively.

He turned around to look at her questioningly. He had not expected that one, he had not seen the temple after they had woken up like she had. But remnants of the city still remained and he figured there were a decent chance that other magical relics remained inside. He understood the logic of cause, but still saw no reason for her to dismiss it like that... Unless.

He blinked once, a small smile crossing his libs.

"You don't want me to go?" he stated, as much a question as it was a statement. She would not be able to follow in the narrow corridors-

"..."

Both their heads snapped in the direction of the sound, each wondering if what they heard had indeed been real.

It was a barely audible echo, but the sound was unmistakable

"Was that…?"

Midwahgein answered without taking her eyes of the horizon, her voice tense. "That was the roar of a dragon…get up." There were no trace of the previous conversation, and no room for argument.

He hesitated only briefly before launching himself onto her neck, grabbing a tight hold of her horns to stay on for what he knew would be a rough trip.

They raced down from the maintain range and across the seemingly endless grassy plains they had crossed on their journey to Bromjunaar. Only this time neither of them cared about avoiding detection. Neither Midwahgein nor Koraaviik cared, just as they were both starting to accept the fact that they were alone they had heard another dragon.

Neither of them recognized the voice, well more like a roar, which was another reason for why they were now racing across the land. The sound had been a battle roar, a challenge. They didn't know who the dragon was fighting, and the roar itself didn't give much indication. It could have been anything from a human to another dragon. But Koraaviik still felt a certain... apprehension at what they would find. They had seen what had become of their empire, of the centre of power from where they had ruled the land. It was gone, an abandoned, decaying ruin. The dragons, and all who served them had been meticulously hunted and killed by the rebels from the beginning of the rebellion. They had to at least consider the possibility that the hatred and vengeance had not fully burned out yet. But this was the first sign of a dragon they'd seen in the days since their resurrection.

Bringing a dragon back to life had never happened before to his knowledge, besides Midwahgein of cause. But the relic had been made in desperation and while it did bring Midwahgein and himself back, it had been a gamble. Chances were that this dragon had been around since the war, somehow surviving the rebellion and whatever followed.

Koraaviik took a deep breath, trying to settle his beating heart. Finding this dragon may provide them answers to some of their many questions. Help fill in the gabs, to explain... anything, would be a relief.

Constantly being on edge was nothing new for him, but he usually had some idea of what he was looking out for. Here it was anything and everything. The common people could be friendly, a bloodthirsty mob or anything in between. And that was something he could not deal with. Not knowing what to look for. Thankfully it wasn't long before they caught sight of smoke in the distance. Which as they got closer was revealed to be coming from an old guard tower. The wall, if one could call it that seem to have been neglected for a long time. The disrepair was strangely similar to the ruined structures in Bromjunaar, worn down stone and collapsed sections of wall.

The state of the tower caused a moment of hesitation in Koraaviik. Suddenly he had to consider if this place was simply not that populated, maybe an old abandoned outpost? He pushed the thought aside for the moment.

What had been done by a dragon was clear. There were streaks of blackened grass, from where the plains were scorched by flames. Midwahgein slowly circled a few times, both of them taking in the scene. He could see the outline of several bodies in the smoke, human bodies, some in better condition than others.

But Midwahgein faced the same conclusion as him.

No dragon anywhere to be seen.

Strange.

Midwahgein descended and landed in the middle of the area, looking around in the sky for clues about where it might have gone - because it had been here, and not too long ago as well.

Koraaviik could see the silhouette of a city in the distance but saw no smoke rising from it, nor did he see anything flying around in the sky. Dismissing the city for now he turned his attention to the watchtower. It was a simple and old construction, that despite the clear signs of disrepair, seemed to still see use.

He calmly made his way over to one of the more intact bodies. They were lying face down on the grass, no weapon or shield in the area . He turned the body around, taking note of the bloody chest and torn armour in the area, probably got hit with the tail. A well placed strike would crush their chest with ease, chances were he died instantly.

Koraaviik tilted his head as he continued the silent inspection. He was wearing thick boots, leather scale armour with a chainmail underneath. The head was covered with a sturdy looking helmet, but had no gloves or bracers to protect his hands and arms. All around the man seemed well equipped, not that any of those things would help him against a dragon, as he no doubt discovered. The metal bore little sign from the smiting process, and the fabric was decent quality. Aside from the obvious battle damage the gear seemed to be high quality and couldn't have been cheap.

The colours matched on the corpses in the area, so perhaps they were some kind of mercenary group or perhaps even guards from the nearby city? Maybe a guild of some sort, he couldn't really think of any other group who would be willing to pay for uniform colours like that.

He took another look around, Midwahgein were still watching the sky through the smoke, so he decided to give the tower a look. If nothing else then he might learn something of these people. He walked around, avoiding a few scorched rocks before reaching the halfway crumbled path that lead to the door - which on further notice wasn't there.

It was just a doorway, open for all to enter. As he looked it over his attention was drawn to lone flag that calmly fluttered in the wind. A black flag with a red dragon on it.

How, very interesting.

First another dragon and now this? Perhaps they weren't as alone as they had originally thought? He allowed a bit of hope to build.

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

With that thought close he made his way up the path, taking a few slow steps inside - and immediately stopped as he heard a rustling sound to his right.

There, right by the stairs was a man, clothing identical to the rest except he lacked a helmet. Koraaviik tilted his head slightly, taking in the man's appearance.

Around 5 foot 5, short brown hair and wide panicked eyes.

He was pressing himself up against the wall, seemingly stuck between running up the stair and jumping the small window behind him. The soldiers breathing was quick and he was shakily pointing a sword at him. Koraaviik briefly considered defending himself but even though the guard had a sword in his hands it was shaking badly and his knuckles were bone white from his tight grip.

Koraaviik suddenly remembered the last person he'd met, well stumbled into really.

That drunk guy on the street who had had a similar reaction, although this one was a bit more contained. At first he chucked it up to training and lack of alcohol, but then his mind clicked in realization.

My eyes

Of course, the man just fought a dragon, probably witnessed it killing most of his comrades. And then here I am with identical eyes, wearing scale armour and a dragon mask. And then to top it all of was Midwahgein outside. The soldier had probably seen her coming and feared another attack. Dragons naturedly commanded fear and awe, being on the receiving end of attack it was no wonder that he was frightened.

Koraaviik would need to calm him down first... somehow. Then he could try and get Midwahgein to talk to him. She seemed strangely proficient with the language, despite how different it was from the dragon voice.

The man shouted something, swinging the sword haphazardly around. Despite the severity of the situation, it was only by sheer force of will that Koraaviik didn't burst out laughing at the display. The soldier might as well have been unarmed, the sword would do him little good in A fight. Beyond that it was hard to feel threatened by a nervous soldier, only armed with a sword. When you had seen a rampaging dragon, tear apart a village, a little soldier was nothing.

Despite being right on the edge the man had, to his credit not panicked yet. Koraaviik raised his hands while taking a step backwards, trying his best to seem nonaggressive.

The soldier stayed his sword, but his eyes seemed a bit more focused. Good, if Koraaviik could make him realise he wasn't about to get killed, that would make communication significantly easier. Just as he was about to make his next move another roar echoed from outside, and it wasn't Midwahgein.

Koraaviik left the guard without a second look and stormed out the tower, his eyes scanned the sky for a brief moment before he saw it. The dark shape of a dragon passed over the mountains flying straight towards them.

Rewrite notes: Not too many changes to this one, mostly just fixing minor stuff and adding details where it was needed. The next few chapters are also in the works but they require a bit more work sadly.

You will find him in the mountains, and you'll find him in the creek. He has no mouth - Yet he speaks in every tongue.

He has no ears - And yet will answer every cry. Always having the final word. You heard me before, you hear me again, then I die, 'Til you call me again.