This is the Remake of the First Legend Of Kotera story, Most of the entire story will be different for example This start takes place in Cyrodiil and does not leave it.

The mod creators: Ozzydarkfmw and JKalenad own the mods that brought this story into existence in the first place, If not for the Temple Of Time and Relics Of Hyrule mods this story wouldn't come to be and I can not praise these two creators enough for such amazing work and Double to Jkalenad for Relics of Hyrule's very dark story that fueled my play throughout the mod, I wanted to find it all and read it all no matter how enraged I felt that something so beloved to me was destroyed in another universe.

A long story short the first version is Discontinued though I keep the file around as a reminder of where I went wrong with How I wanted to tell this story. I BS rushed a lot of it and I regret that decision but those decisions later helped me develop as a writer, that's my goal with these fan stories is to grow as a writer, It may not be THE BEST WORK. It's an experiment of what I can do and improve upon that I'm always looking for.

I don't own the rights to the Elder Scrolls games or Legend of Zelda, I'm just a man who has his own story to tell within the universes and I hope these can be enjoyed as they were meant to.

Lately dreams had been repeating themselves. The same thing would happen each night, I would be wandering in a vast open field of an unfamiliar warmer land and all of a sudden a large winged silhouette would pass over and the sky would grow dark before I turned back around to see a large town and castle set ablaze in fire. I would see the symbol of three triangles stacked together before I would hear a voice clear as day in my head "Find us!" It would shout, and suddenly I would wake up sweating and my body shaking violently.

I peeked from the window of my home to see it was barely dawn; it must have been five-o-clock. I lived in a farm just a few minutes away from Bruma, my mother enjoyed the people from chapel even if my father wasn't much for any of it; he accompanied my mother and I every time they were in service because he didn't feel comfortable with her and I traveling alone. As of late imperial soldiers would travel between the city capitol and up into the region of Skyrim several miles from our farm, there had been a civil war going on between Skyrim and the Imperial Empire, My father just managed to escape being brought on as a soldier because no one else was able to remain home to care for my mother and I.

I stretched from my drowsy state and got up off my bed to quietly walk over to my fireplace and get a fire going to warm the room. There was something so oddly calming staring at a fire in the fireplace, I always felt at peace watching the fire dance around on the wood, the orange glow the room would get from the light of the fire. I sat and stared at the fire for probably another hour before I heard a knock on my door; I got up from my chair and unlatched the lock letting my father into the room. My father allowed me to put an iron latch on my door to lock it because I felt much safer knowing there was really only one way into my room without me noticing since the windows were almost impossible to open quietly.

My father looked around the room briefly at the fire I had started in the fireplace. "Well you're up quite early this morning, what's the matter?" father asked me he had a worried look on his face that even his blonde bangs couldn't hide. "Well, I keep having the same dream lately so it's just been harder to sleep all night, at least this time I didn't wake up until close to dawn." I had explained pushing my hair long and blonde out of my face still feeling the clamminess of the sweat having dried on my skin. "I wish there were some way to fix that for you my daughter but I don't really have any advice, I'm not a healer. Perhaps the chapel can help you understand these dreams?" Father questioned as he took hold of my shoulders leaning down a little.

I could see the worry even more on his face, he knew something but wasn't sure how to approach it. I shrugged and smiled to him weakly, "I'll try later today, and I'll take one of the swords you made to travel to town with me." I insisted as I walked over to my chair again and sitting by the fire. My father quickly followed out of habit and stammered after I mentioned going alone. "Nonsense, we'll all go to town, your mother and I need to buy food supplies anyhow we can take you down and you can go straight there, no need to carry a sword." He quickly interjected.

It always bothered me that I couldn't just travel alone, Father taught me everything I know about fighting with a sword and shield, I wished he'd have faith in my ability sometimes. "Well…alright. But would you mind if we trained a little down in the work room?" I asked hoping he would humor me at least so I could let out at least a little steam for not being allowed to venture on my own. "Sure, best we close the door too. We don't want to wake your mother now." Father whispered as he turned to look out down the hallway. My mother didn't like it when we were training, she thinks he's too rough with me when teaching me to keep proper footing, when in reality I've knocked him on his back more times than I can count.

We quietly skulked down into the basement where my father kept his forge and a room set aside completely empty aside from a few weapon racks and hay dummies. I picked up one of the blunted training swords from the rack in my left hand, even though I preferred swinging my sword with my right hand I worked tirelessly and trained both of my hands to be accustomed to using a sword and decided to go left handed this time. I looked to my reflection in the blade and readied myself for the first move.

My father had taken a sword in his right hand and decided to pick up a shield as well while I only chose to use a sword for the moment. I lowered the sword down that the tip faced towards the floor and stood so it was my side facing him to make myself a harder target for stabs. "An interesting approach, if you remember what I taught you about fighting someone with a shield this should be no problem for you." Father said as he spun the sword in his hand and braced his shield close to his body putting the face of the blade to the shield and quickly running towards me aiming to quickly knock me off my feet with the shield and strike at center mass.

I waited for him to get close enough and switched the sword to reverse grip and grinded the blade against his as I spun away from the shield, the sparks flying as the iron clashed. As the metal of my blade reached the center of his I gave a hefty shove causing him to spin and stumble in his charge. His shocked expression told me that he was still processing how I had moved, and he quickly regained his footing pushing off and swinging his sword horizontal to my right. I switched the sword around again and brought it up to defend against his strike, it was awkward blocking an attack from my right while my sword was in my left hand, I suspected he meant to catch me where I had trouble reaching since I was previously holding the sword reversed grip.

I had switched in just enough time to accurately parry his strike and lift my blade high knocking his sword from his hand where I took that precious two seconds to try and strike his side with the pommel of my sword only to feel the sting of his shield knock me in the chest and send me back. "Do not go for a strike if your opponent is still holding a shield, you may have disarmed them but a quick enough man can bash you with a shield before you can bring your sword back down for a strike." Father lectured as I regained my footing rubbing just above my breast where the side of his shield had dug to shove me back.

Father picked his blade back up and tightly held the grip of the handle before quickly stepping towards me, something in me spoke in my mind that said 'Twins Strike True' and instinctively I held the blade in both hands and stood firm as my father went to strike from overhead I slammed my blade against his with a furious determination with a battle cry once again knocking the blade clean from his hand but this time I didn't hesitate to bring the face down against his shoulder and roughly shove him to the floor by jamming the handle against his chest before he could bring the shield back up.

As he lay on the floor trying to get his bearings again I pointed the tip to his throat and he held his hand up in defeat as I felt the instinctive rage leave, my shoulders relaxing as I flicked the blade away from him that the face reflected him. "That…was incredible Kotera, you moved so quickly in that moment I barely had time to react." Father said looking to his sword that had lodged itself between the stonework of the clay floor. I reached down to help him up still catching my breath from the fight as I tried to relax myself. "Yeah…well that time you left yourself wide open trying to bring the blade down on me." I had lied; his shield was still close to his body and fully up ready to block again before I slammed the iron of my blade to his.

My father chuckled taking both of the swords and placed them up on the table, neither of us wanted to acknowledge that his blade had bent a little and was rocking when he laid it up on the table. "Well, that was a very good executed strike. I know over the years I've been teaching you to fight with a sword since you were thirteen you've learned quite a lot and dare I say you're a better swordsman than me." Father said as he dusted himself off and we walked out to the forge room, his back was to me when I saw him reach down into a chest to pick something up.

He turned to me with a proud expression as he held something long covered in cloth out to me. "Kotera, I watched you turn into a fine fighter. As your father I'm proud of you beyond your imagination and I want to present this to you." He sighed as he held it out, I took hold of it and felt the weight of the handle immediately I knew it was a sword but something had to be special with it. I un-wrapped the sword and drew a shimmering steel blade from its sheath, an orange topaz gemstone sat in both sides of the swords guard, the handle was colored green with brown leather wrapped around it where the pommel came out like an orb on the end.

I looked to my father as I held such a finely made blade. "It took me two years to afford all of the material needed from the Imperial city, I promised myself I would give this to you when you were ready." He explained as I felt the defined edge of the blade, the blood groove neatly indented in the center. The blade looked like it was completely level with itself, the balance felt right when I held it by the handle I switched it between my left and right hand a few times to get a feel for the weight. It was a blade made perfect and it felt like I was meant to hold it, the guard looked like wings and they spread out far enough that my hand would be covered if someone tried to cut at my fingers.

My father held out the sheath of the blade and I carefully slipped the blade into its housing, I heard the satisfying click as the gemstones fit into the grooves made in the sheath. "I want you to understand this Kotera; the most important thing about using a sword is tempering yourself. Never let your emotions control your swing, you swing with your heart but you must temper your heart with your mind in order to strike true. Old wise words once said to me were 'A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has Courage', it was something your great grandfather said when he was teaching my father, and my father taught me the same thing." My father said to me putting his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes, I could feel the sincerity in his voice; it was seldom he had to do so, but when he did I knew he meant every word.

I walked over to the forge looking into the fire to see the coals were still a little hot. "So when are you going to keep teaching me to forge things other than knives and practice swords?" I had jokingly asked him getting an exhausted chuckle out of him before he walked over to me. "Well, we have a few hours yet, I can show you an easy way to forge a quick sword and then we can bring one of the dull practice swords over and sharpen it, I can just make another sparring sword when we need one." Father said sitting down at the grind stone stool, he grabbed one of the old roughed up chipped practice swords we hadn't used for a while and started hitting the pedal on the grinding wheel causing it to start spinning quickly.

He turned to me before he did anything else. "Now Kotera, when you want to sharpen a blade all you're really doing is just grinding the bad material away like so." He began as he slowly started pressing the chipped blade to the stone, I watched as the material was carved away by the stone as it spun, the distinct way my father moved the blade across it and kept the edge of the blade fine before pulling it away from the stone and showing the new edge. "It's quite easy after a bit of practice. We'll take a month of lessons for you to get forging down." Father said, I nodded and we headed back upstairs to my mother who was dressed for travel. My father looked a little confused as she quickly walked up to us grabbing at my face and arms to see if I was hurt anywhere. "You two are always too rough down there, I'm sure all of Nirn could hear the two of you sparring." My mother said in a frustrated tone, I think she was more worried if I had been hurt more than if I had hurt my father.

My father just sighed and walked over gently taking hold of her wrist. "My dear Kalyia, you need not worry about the well being of our child, she is a fierce young woman who could give an orc a run for his money." He assured her softly; she rolled her eyes at him and relaxed her shoulders. My mother was a wood elf from Valenwood she was shockingly shorter than I was, I apparently took after my father's side more than hers. I shared my father's blonde hair and sapphire eye color while my mother was brown haired with a more hazel eye color.

I walked back to my room and pulled my wardrobe open to mull over what I would wear to travel into town with my parents. Most of my dresses I would use for travel were at length just above my knees; my mother made them that way in order to be able to quickly run if things turned sour. I pulled one of the green travel dresses from the wardrobe and walked over to the chest at the end of my bed; I rummaged through a few parchments before I lifted a leather armored cuirass from the chest and slowly pushed it up under the dress.

Every time we traveled I did this in order to protect myself, the leather would protect against a few slices from a knife. I got dressed, doused my fireplace and went out to see my father and mother waiting for me. "Are you ready to go Kotera?" Father asked me strapping his sword to his hip before he held out my sword to me. "Yes, let's go before the town gets too busy." I had said taking the sword and strapping the belt around my waist, the belt was a little big to the point I had to loop the belt to the last hole but it still fit. "She finally gets to have it huh?" Mother asked looking to father crossing her arms. "Aye, she's earned the right to carry it, I thought it was time." Father explained as we started walking, mother put her arm around mine and pulled me close as father walked ahead of us. "So what all did he say?" She asked curiously.

I shrugged brushing off the topic. "Pretty much just gave me words of wisdom that was passed down by his family every time one of them was old enough to carry a sword." I had explained what was said to me. My mother looked a little disappointed and looked to father who kept his hand on his own short sword as we traveled keeping an eye out for bandits. "You know, that sword isn't just steel, it was also made from metals from his homeland but he never told me where it was from, the material is durable and when sharpened it's really fine so be careful please." Mother lectured holding onto my arm tighter. "I understand Mother, thank you for telling me, it makes me proud knowing I was given such a gift." I had said smiling to her, "Everything is quiet today, I wonder what the special occasion is…" Father said falling back towards us. I looked out at the snowy hills out to our left, there really wasn't anything out at all, even the wildlife seemed to be in hiding. "I'm not sure, but a nice quiet walk is good for us." I had mentioned and we quickly arrived at town waving to the gate watchmen and walking in.

Bruma was a large city and in the center was the chapel I made my way past the statue of the champion of old as my parents headed toward the market and I met the priest outside as he tended to the outside. "Father Ander, it's good to see you again." I had said happily, the balding man turned towards me lifting his head from the plants. "Ah good Sundas morning to you Kotera, and what brings you by today?" Ander asked me as he brushed his hands off, he was starting to get old but he loved to be active. "I had a few questions about some reoccurring dreams, could we go inside to speak?" I asked him as I looked around, I was concerned if any Thalmor skulking around, I didn't like them and talks like this usually drew their attention and I wasn't too keen on being whisked away to be interrogated. "Ah yes of course, come inside out of the cold my dear." Ander motioned me inside; when we walked in I was greeted to the massive prayer hall.

We sat down in one of the rows of pews and I described my dream to Father Ander and he for the most part looked interested. "That's very strange child, can you come with me? The parchment is down in the archives room I'd like you to draw the symbol you saw." Ander asked, I obeyed and we both walked down to the lower floor of the chapel. A long hallway lit only by candles was before me, the priest took out a ring of keys and unlocked one of the doors walking in and lighting a few of the candles. Ander cleared the desk and pulled up a blank piece of parchment and an inkwell pen. "Please child." He motioned, I walked to the desk and sat down as I dipped the pen I drew the same thing I had seen in the dream. Three triangles, one sitting atop the peaks of two others and I drew the bird like symbol under it before moving my hand. "It looked like this, except they were as bright a gold as our septims. That was the sight just before the voice called out my dream never goes farther than that before I've woken up." I explained much to his surprise he studied the symbol for a long time.

"It's quite remarkable; never in Cyrodiil's history have any of us seen symbols like this. Would you mind if I sent this to the imperial city? I'm sure someone there might know something related to this symbol." Ander asked looking to me for a reply."Sure go ahead, how long would it take to get a reply?" I asked curiously, I worried I wouldn't get my answer any time soon. "Well it depends, the couriers are pretty fast to get from here to the city but an answer alone might be a week, check back next week and possibly we can get your reply." Ander said as he led me back upstairs to the prayer hall. Father Ander led me out of the chapel telling me that if need be he would personally bring the news himself should anything be found out. I trusted him and made my way over to the market to find my parents at the greenery stands; my father was already carrying a full basket while my mother looked through the other vegetables and fruits. I walked up to them and patted my father on the shoulder. "Ah, did you find out what the dreams were about?" Father asked me, he seemed more concerned than before. "No, there wasn't any record as far as Father Ander knew but he will send a letter out to the imperial city to see if their archives have anything." I explained feeling defeated.

I was sure I would get something that time, anything at all that would lead me to an answer as to why these dreams tend to appear to me. Not to mention the strange symbols themselves for a priest of the eight divines couldn't get anything out of it. "That's too bad, well hopefully they will find something and we'll hear from them soon." Father said dismissively. We finished shopping and headed back out of the gate. Spring was beginning and I could feel it as the air felt a little warmer as noon was approaching. First Seed brought with it the time to plant and nurture as new life would soon spread. "It'll be a great year for harvest, lately the last few springs started to get warmer, perhaps it is a sign of good omen that we can have healthy crops." Father said looking to the sky with glee. In no time we were back at the house, I stayed a little behind and let them get inside. "Hey I'm going down to the pond for a little." I had shouted, my father looked out and nodded before retreating back into the house.

The pond was a short walk from the house but just far enough to be out of sight. When I got to the pond I undid the belt for my sword and laid the sword and sheath across my lap as I sat with my legs crossed. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the dream again if there was anything I missed, for whatever reason being near the pond gave me a clear head and sometimes I could recollect memories. Nothing came to my sight though as much as I tried to focus it was just blank. "Divines…What do these dreams mean?" I asked to the eight hoping I would just magically get an answer but as always I felt like my voice fell on deaf ears.

I kept my eyes closed for a little while longer before suddenly I felt something, or rather I felt someone moving in closer. I moved my hand down to the handle of my sword as I focused on the feeling. Just a little bit closer I thought to myself I could hear the leather armor moving quietly in the brush behind me. Could it be a bandit? They'd be brave coming up this far. Perhaps it was another traveler wandering the land. The light footsteps confirmed my first notion as the stick a few feet behind me cracked as it was stepped on I quickly drew the sword spinning to my feet looking a Khajiit in his feline eyes. "D-Don't make any sudden moves, hand over your coin and you won't get hurt." The cat carrying a dagger ordered. I gripped my sword tighter and stepped forward. "You're outmatched here, you've only got a knife and I've got a nice sharp sword, think about this and leave now and I won't hurt you and drag you down to Bruma to be locked away." I snapped back keeping a safe distance and a tight grip on my sword and sheath.

The Khajiit scoffed "Hah, I've taken down plenty of men with swords in my time girl, you think I'm outmatched? I could get in under that blade and slice your throat, maybe lay you out for your parents to find floating in the water." He hissed in retort but I wasn't buying it, his earlier hesitation told me he hasn't done this often. "If you leave now, I won't speak a word of seeing you and you can go about your life and not be labeled a wanted man." I tried to plead to him to make him see this confrontation wasn't going to go his way all the more shifting my feet closer, this novice wasn't even paying attention that I was closing in. "It's a shame then, I'm sure they'll put something nice on your tombstone!" The Khajiit snarled as he lunged towards me and in that second it was over. I backed away from the swipe he was taking with his knife as he jumped forward trying to slice at my throat, by only dropping my sheath and grabbing his wrist before twisting it making him rear back in pain before I clocked him in the temple with the pommel of my sword making the cat fall limp to the ground.

Luckily I could still see him breathing; I didn't want to be branded a murderer for his mistake. But I didn't want to just leave him alone there he might come to and sprint off and come back with friends. I walked over and searched him finding some rope and I bound his hands and legs before I picked up his dagger and my sheath and strapped the sword back around my hips. I dragged the unconscious Khajiit down the path until I reached the gate to Bruma where the guards came running quickly. "What is the meaning of this!?" The guards yelled drawing their swords before I let go of the ropes and held my hands up. "This man tried to rob me I'm sure he's new at the whole thing but I couldn't just leave him go, so I brought him here." I had justified my actions in self defense. The guards looked to each other before laughing "A Khajiit bandit bested by a girl, that's rich." One of them said before he reached down and grabbed the ropes. "We'll take it from here citizen, please go to the palace and speak with the steward if you would about this occurrence he'll want to hear of this." The other guard said, I nodded and walked into the city behind them before climbing the steps to the palace.

I turned to admire the sight as I could look out over all of Bruma from the top of the steps just before the door. One of the servants opened the door. "Ma'am may I help you?" The timid woman asked me. "Oh, sorry I'm here to speak to the steward, one of the guards asked me to report something." I had explained and the woman listened and nodded "Right this way Milady." The woman said as she led me to the throne hall, the steward was talking to the man on the throne at the center before they turned to look at me. "Ah, Kotera it's been quite a many years since we've seen you come into the palace, and alone what is the occasion?" The steward asked as he stepped forward, the lord made no comment as he sat forward and watched on. "I-I came to report that I had assisted in the capture of a bandit today, the guard asked me to come report this." I had begun the steward smiled as he walked over to me. "That's wonderful, glad you are alright here is a reward for such a deed!" The steward said joyfully handing me a hundred gold septims to my confusion. "Wait…so you're saying if I turn in bandits I get paid for it?" I had asked, the steward laughed loudly. "Yes my dear, all bounties are paid if citizens help bring bandits or wanted men into custody. I thought you knew this already?" The steward explained, I shook my head and just walked out.

I headed back out of the city and quickly made my way back to the pond, I didn't want father to know I had traveled the whole way down to Bruma after knocking a thief into next season or worse the fact I was on my own the entire time mother would have a heart attack. I made it back to the pond without being spotted and I decided that was it for the day so I headed back up to the house keeping the gold I received as a reward under my sword belt. Luckily they were both busy at the fireplace in the main room of our house looking over the pot, I was able to slip into my room without conversation and I stashed the gold away in my chest before I latched my door and pulled my dress free and got dressed in gear made for working out in the fields. I didn't like to always wear a dress it felt like it would always get in the way. The rest of the leather armor would work fine so I stuck to getting that gear on and I walked out nearly bumping into father on the way out. "Hey now, what's the hurry?" He asked me laughing as we almost knocked heads. "Oh…Sorry I was going to the basement to practice." I had explained, I wanted to work on my swings a little and learn to control this new sword of mine, I always practiced swinging with the blade to learn how to control them in my favor.

"Well then when you're done with that come meet me outside in the field." Father said before he himself walked on leaving the house. I nodded and went down to the basement's backroom drawing my sword again and taking a shield getting myself in a stance. I stepped forward with my left foot and thrust the blade forward then stepped back while I swung the blade horizontally in more of a defensive swing before stepping forward with my right foot and swinging the blade down to the left and vice versa. I swung the sword around for a good half an hour before I put the shield back and went to leave. Part of the wall in the backroom pulled my attention for some reason it looked different than how the stones were set from the rest of the house. I walked to the wall and instinctively pushed on it but it didn't budge but it definitely felt like something was there. I shook my head and sheathed my sword making my way back upstairs, as much as I wanted to know what was behind the wall I put it to the back of my mind since I couldn't make it budge.

I walked outside and went towards the back field; from there I could look out east and see the old blades temple sitting atop one of the other hills. Since the disbandment of the blades the temple fell to ruin as it had been abandoned. I always wondered what it would be like to wander its halls or even take over and use it like my own personal castle but under the order of the Emperor it was to remain vacant. When I turned to my father he was holding a hunting bow in his hand and smiling at me from ear to ear. "I thought I was already trained well enough in archery?" I had questioned as I walked over taking the bow walking over to the quiver hung on a rack. "Yes but it's always good to keep practicing so you don't get rusty at it." Father explained I shrugged and knocked an arrow before taking a deep breath and drawing back on the bow. The second the head of the arrow lined up with the target I let the arrow loose and the arrow stuck in the hay bale with a loud thud. Archery was probably one of my best skills that had come to me naturally. I looked over to my father whom his jaw was still hanging open. "A...Alright then I stand corrected, you're a better shot than I am, maybe I should send you out hunting once in a while." Father joked as he walked over trying to pull the lodged arrow free from the hay bale.

I looked out towards the temple again. "You know…It's such a shame they're letting that temple rot away, think of how useful it would be." I had pointed out; Father sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Aye it is a shame, the blades were some good people back in the day but they lost their way and here we are now, the Thalmor stripped the lands of Talos and the blades are disbanded. It's no wonder Skyrim has been in open rebellion, they adored Talos." Father mentioned what had occurred in the last five years, I sympathized a little with Skyrim, their freedom was taken from them in one way and they have a clear enemy, but I didn't agree with going to war with the empire over it. "I'm going over there myself…I want to see if I can get any books out of it." I had begun, my father quickly looked at me with eyes wider that wagon wheels. "Kotera that's crazy talk, do you know what kind of trouble you would get for going inside let alone taking anything?" Father tried to talk me out of the idea. "No one goes up there, not even the guards, I can be in and out before anything comes poking around." I had said already making up my mind putting the bow on my back along with the quiver.

My sword was already on my hip as I started for the blades temple. I was interested to know what kind of knowledge was left behind, and I'm sure the guards of Bruma wouldn't kick up a stir over it seeing as how none of them ever left Bruma. If I was caught I can just say I was lost. "Well alright then, but don't expect me to bail you out if you get tossed in a cell for a few days!" Father hollered to me, I knew he was bluffing though. Father would die before letting me sit in the cells at Bruma it was just the kind of man he was.

The walk to the temple wasn't very far but when I got there I saw massive wooden and metal doors strewn about the ground, the large gate that sealed the entrance had fallen off. It was just like I thought, no one even got near even patrols stayed away from the temple. I quietly crept to the entrance just in case it was still being watched somewhere inside. I saw a sack leaned against the wall and I quickly emptied it of the useless junk tools before slinging the bag over my shoulder. I climbed down to the lower door of the temple and pushed my way in over the cabinet that had been barricading the doorway. Cobwebs were all over the place on the inside, as I walked the halls of the temple the tatami creaked and bent under my feet.

This place hasn't been traveled through in a long time. After a few minutes I finally reached my goal, a massive library with shelves to the ten feet high ceiling. I looked around and found a candle it didn't take long for the flint I had and an arrow head to light it. I looked through the books taking whatever history book I could find and stuffing it away in the sack. As the sack was getting full I looked around grabbing two more setting the first one down before I began filling the bag again. "I'll come back for the rest later once the third bag is full." I whispered to myself quietly as I kept scanning titles for more. And there it was, like a smack in the face with a wet cloth, the same symbol I had seen in my dream. I quickly snatched the book and put it in the sack quickly looking around for more; I only found three books with the same symbol on the bindings. I packed the books away then continued my search.

When I finally filled the third bag I tied rope to the tops of each and slug one on each shoulder before I carried the third bag. I was absolutely excited to read my findings I blew out the candle and headed back out quietly. Before leaving I peeked out of the area to check for guards. Still there was no one on the grounds, I hopped from the door and climbed back up quickly leaving the temple and making a B-line for home as fast as I could with two large bags over my shoulder and one in my arms. As the sun began to set I crossed the threshold of our property and I quickly got inside before carefully putting the sacks down. "Shor's bones girl what did you take from that place!?" Father asked seeing me breathing heavily from carrying the heavy sacks. "Books, Lots of books, I'll be going back tomorrow for more!" I had said excitedly singly carrying each sack to my room and setting them on my bed. "Where are you going to put them all?" Mother asked, she looked excited herself, that was the one passion my mother and I shared, our enjoyment of books. "Not important right now I can just pile them up to the wall I can build shelves for them later." I had said eager to get to the bottom of what my dreams were trying to tell me.

My father shrugged and went back to the basement. I piled all the history books against my wall looking at every title and putting them in the stack in order according to the titles. Once I came across the books with the symbol I put them back on my bed to keep them together and away from the rest. Once that was done I set the sacks across my storage chest and hopped in bed and opened the first book. It was written in two different languages, our own and some strange language I've never seen before. The book told of a strange race called Hylians who like the Dwemer of old vanished without a trace leaving only their technology and ancient constructs behind. The writer mentioned that there were many structures littering Skyrim that wouldn't open for anyone beyond an entry chamber almost as if the structures were lying in wait.

The Akaviri that wrote this book mentioned how they got most of their weapon ideas and even the idea to form their order from the mysterious Sheikah tribe who guarded a royal family back in their time. The book stopped just after the mention of a great hero that saved the land restoring what was called the Triforce to its rightful state. I put the book down and reached for one of the others. This book detailed the symbol I had seen, it was the crest of the royal family who worshiped the Triforce and a Goddess named Hylia. Two entities that provided balance and prosperity to their land but it was always a struggle for power between the descendants of the royal family, a great evil, and a nameless hero. The cycle went on for generations before one day it was all gone.

The last book was just details about the structures, where to find them but the everlasting question of how would it be possible to enter? I put the books away in my storage chest and laid in bed staring at the ceiling, today was so odd and I'm left with more questions than I have answers. Was it really all that complicated? Or is there some monumental answer sitting in front of my face that I'm not paying attention to? I didn't know but eventually with another visit to cloud ruler temple I would find out. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes what only felt like a moment. But when I opened my eyes again, I was elsewhere. I looked around at a white void that stretched on seemingly endless.

Below me was water and I walked along the reflected surface. "Where am I?" I asked and my voice echoed across the void. Every step felt like no matter how far I walked I wasn't making progress the void of this place felt so strange. And just then as I looked behind me, I saw a tree and a skeletal knight staring right into my eyes. The knight was standing only feet away from me, his armor old and decrepit and only one of his eyes were lit up red inside the other was empty and lifeless. Had this knight lost his eye in battle? I questioned myself before it tried to open its bony maw to speak but no words came forth as its mouth opened and closed several times. I quickly stepped back as it reached out and I felt this feeling of confusion from it. "I…I'm sorry I can't hear anything if you're trying to speak." I had said, the skeleton tilted its head as if it wasn't able to understand me either before it sat down on a log in front of the tree.

Its bony hand went to its chin rubbing at the jawbone as if it was trying to formulate a solution. In that instant I snapped awake and sat up in my bed, the sharp pain right above my breast reminded me of the large bruise left behind when father knocked me back while training yesterday. I removed my shirt and took a look at the bruise; it was a large black and blue spot that stung at every touch. I knew it would fade eventually so I shrugged it off and just decided I'd grin and bear through the pain. As I stood up from my bed I wobbled a little falling back onto the bed. My legs ached when I stepped to the floor. I took a deep breath and hefted myself to my feet and bent forward to stretch. With all the excitement and adrenaline from yesterday I didn't realize just how much I had pushed myself over my limits. None of that mattered now as I got my shirt back on and walked out to see my mother serving up a few eggs.

She and my father both looked over to me shocked that I wasn't the first one awake. "Well, look who finally got to sleep in for once in her life." Father joked before getting up and patting me on the shoulder, I winced from the pain of my bruise shooting him a glare before he realized what was going on. "Ah, still sore I take it. Well breakfast is here on the table, and then we're going to the temple just you and me." Father said which caught me off guard before I was even fully seated at the table. "You mean it? You're gonna come along?" I had asked, normally he wanted to stay out of things that would make him end up thrown in a cell in a dungeon somewhere. "Aye, you'll need help with those books and anything else we could possibly use. It's not like we're going to the old blades temple to scheme a plot we're going to retrieve useful things for ourselves. And I reckon it's got quite a nice place to train in." Father smiled deviously, I felt my own lips curl up at the words he spoke. "Who are you and what have you done with my paranoid father?" I laughed jumping in my seat a little, I happily ate the cooked up eggs as I thought about this trip to the temple again. Once we were finished I hurried back to my room grabbing the empty sacks from yesterday and getting my leather gear on again.

The both of us quickly snuck over to cloud ruler temple once again. Still there were no guards around the area, almost like they assumed the place would remain abandoned. "It's so strangely quiet here, but I'm sure if we cleaned this place up a little from time to time we could have some decent training grounds like the blades once did." Father pointed out as he enjoyed the beauty of the old temple. "Yeah but you know the Emperor's ruling on the temple it was to remain abandoned." I pointed out before I hopped in through the old barricaded door again before I grabbed the edges of the cabinet blocking the door and heaving it out of the way of the doorway. "Here we go; this is the entrance I used to get to the library it's just down this hall to the left." I pointed and whispered; we crept across the old tatami mat and found the place was once again empty. "Well good to know our town guards are lazy, guess they really don't have to worry about this place though." Father said as he looked around, we walked into the library lighting a few of the candles and setting them on the table. "Well, we're the only ones stupid enough to even come up here and I'm glad I did yesterday, I found journals with the same symbol I've been seeing in my dreams and actually learned about an ancient race of elves that vanished like the Dwemer did." I pointed out and my father's face went serious. "So you've finally learned the answer huh?" He asked me in such a quiet serious tone. "Y…Yeah, but it didn't really explain why I was having the dreams." I had said trying to understand why his mood suddenly changed.

Father walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "I think it's time I finally told you about our family history, this was initially the reason I proposed this idea of just the both of us coming out to this temple." Father explained, he was looking me in the eyes, his blue eyes reflecting my shocked expression. "I despised that I had to keep this a secret from you but I suppose fate has a different idea in mind about your role to play in the world I chose to leave behind." Father expressed sadly as he walked over to one of the bookshelves pushing on the center. Suddenly golden light surrounded the two shelves and they opened like doors to an inner chamber in the walls. I walked in slack jawed seeing rows of murals depicting the time of Hyrule. "Our family helped the blades form generations ago. Even my great grandfather was obsessed with trying to sustain our once proud culture. Our worlds run parallel to each other, Hyrule isn't on Nirn but for some reason a catastrophe occurred and the two worlds merged but because of this merging, Hyrule fell to ruin in a short few months and your forefather endlessly tried to find the solutions to this and put everything back the way it should have been." Father began explaining as I had walked up to a wall of names. These were the original founders of the ancient order of the blades, the Akaviri were Sheikah who had fled the destruction of their home and came to Nirn. They taught the first blades to fight with their unique swords and one of the names stuck out to me.

The name on the wall shared mine Ilgrad Kilyerd and under his name read "A strong warrior with an immoveable heart." His was the only name that matched ours; I looked to father who nodded "We are the descendants of the royal Hylian guard, when Hyrule was lost most of them woke up in Nirn having been forced out of Hyrule with no true way to return in sight they chose the second option and stumbled upon the empire and since then this temple was built and it honors the Hylians in secret. Though with the blades disbanded the temple fell to us in a way but I told the Emperor that I was trying to put the long past behind us since there was no way to journey to our broken land since the black dread that caused the catastrophe arrived in Hyrule and laid it to waste. There was no rift to travel back through to Hyrule I saw no point in trying and dying an obsessed man wasting my life trying to find what others could not." Father said somberly, he regretted that decision and I could hear it in his voice. "Then what makes me different? Why tell me this now?" I had questioned, I begun to feel an anger bubbling up to the surface, my heritage was kept secret from me my whole life. "I hoped to spare you the pain. But since you began having visions something tells me that you are the key to the invisible lock so to speak." Father said trying to hold back his own emotions.

I clenched my fists and I felt this urge to throw my fists and scream. "So you knew exactly what my dreams meant all along? But you still kept it all a secret from me feigning ignorance?" I had yelled as I felt energy beginning to flow to my feet. "Yes, I had hoped the dreams would stop and hoped that they had meant nothing. You are the first in our generation of Hylians to have this clairvoyance. There hasn't been a Hylian that could have visions since the Princess but the royal family died with Hyrule a long time ago. You my daughter have been chosen…But I tried to keep this from you because I'm afraid I would lose you forever to the same meaningless mission your predecessors died trying to solve." Father explained, he was trying to justify his actions and I couldn't blame him I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, I always had trouble keeping my emotions in check. I turned away before I spoke taking in a deep breath "Father, If I am given a mission…then I shouldn't hide and pretend the monsters aren't there, I'm not a child, you know I can take care of myself just fine but you kept it all from me….Well no longer, I'm going to find whatever it is that lies in my destiny and make things right." I had said before turning back to face him holding my head high and the room lit up around us. "Child Of Fire…Your words are touching. Your destiny does not lay here in this land." A voice had said, father and I looked around everywhere for the voice but couldn't see anything just the light illuminating the murals. "We have been watching over you from the time you were born. You are the birth of the new cycle that has been cast upon Hyrule for centuries." Another voice had spoken, I felt a presence of many in the room but there was nothing to be seen.

The room was illuminated gold. "We come to you now to awaken your purpose young child. Stand tall and take sword in hand. The black dread lives and he alone holds our cursed land in his claws. The soul eater hasn't yet realized his fate is tethered to that of a mortal child." A third voice rang out. "What am I supposed to do?" I had asked the voices, they were silent for a moment. "You already know the answer to that child, Hyrule lies in an eternal prison of its own unmaking. You are the only one that may yet put things right. Lay to rest now that which cannot sleep in peace." The voices said before the room went dark again. I stood in the center of the room shaking; this occurrence frightened me to the bone. I didn't know how to react to this. Suddenly a gold energy began to flow from the murals like a river of treasure as it surrounded me and markings began to appear on my skin, the same lettering in the first Hylian book I read as they etched against my skin painlessly I could understand the letters.

Knowledge filled my mind I felt so overwhelmed by it before the gold vanished and my skin was back to normal. "I…I'm a Hylian, all this time. My skills with a sword and bow…are because I'm an incarnation?" I had asked looking to my father who was still wide eyed. "Never before have I heard the ancient spirits communicate I read about it in my father's journals that his father would hear divine voices. But never would I have imagined this is what they were." He spoke to himself. "I have an idea…There's a part of the wall in our house I'd like to take a look at, you said we inherited our house from your family right?" I had asked, father nodded and we from there left the temple making sure the secret chamber was closed up and hidden before we quickly headed home. The world suddenly felt different, I could feel energy flowing beneath my feet and in the air but I couldn't figure out what it was or what this feeling meant.

I felt different, I felt a responsibility on my shoulders and I felt everything needed to be made right. Not just in Nirn but I needed to lay to rest old Hyrule and make way for the future. I am the last of a very proud race that goes above silly politics of this fragile empire. I needed to journey to Skyrim, only then would I find the answers to the questions flooding my mind. As soon as I was through the door I pushed passed down into the basement to the section of the wall that I had spotted yesterday. I didn't know what I was going to achieve but there was something here that would answer my curiosity.

My father soon followed behind, out of breath he tried to keep up with me as I had stormed down here looking at the mismatched section of the wall. "This is the wall; it feels different somehow compared to the rest of the house." I explained to him before I went to reach out to it again he grabbed my wrist. "Wait…Only do this if you are sure that your path is clear from here on out…I won't pretend like it won't bother me for you to leave but I can't ignore that I've kept you in the dark about how ready you were to be out on your own." Father said, he seemed sad, but he was still afraid of losing me as his hand held my wrist tight. "Father…I've made my decision, as much as I want to stay with you and mother I feel this is my duty. You heard those spirits; they called upon me to complete something no one else could. If I am to face my destiny I must press on and meet it with a full heart." I had said resting my hand on fathers, he took a deep breath and let go and I pressed my hand to the wall again.

The same golden energy illuminated from my body and quickly shot through the wall. The wall lit up gold before it faded away leading to another chamber with a treasure chest at the end of a long hallway. The torches flickered to life as we walked towards the chest engraved with the Hylian crest but no lock or seam could be seen on the chest. The chest face itself was as reflective white as diamond and the trim was golden, gold wings had adorned the chest as if ceremoniously presenting itself with all the glory it could muster. I pressed on the head of the chest and tried to push it open. My skin began to glow in the markings again as I felt energy being pulled from my body to create the seam. As I opened the chest I felt the energy then return to me as if the chest was greeting me warmly. I reached in and pulled out gauntlets with the Hylian symbol adorning the palms and a silver brace plate. The brace plate on the back of the hand revealed the Triforce but only the bottom left was filled in; the others were empty but prominent. There was also a map of Skyrim and several books inside. The books were thick and I didn't feel like sifting through them now so I put them back into the chest and closed it.

Just then energy began to cover the chest as it snapped closed and vanished leaving only a little orb before it had flown into the center of the Triforce of the gauntlet. Father and I looked at each other confused and shrugged before we slowly backed out of the room. I now had the map I needed and I knew where to go from here. I went back upstairs and to my room before packing a travel bag while I'm sure father was talking to mother about what was going to happen. That was the only thing I dreaded about this journey was leaving my mother behind. But my mother isn't involved; she is just in the middle of a strange circumstance. I had to stop every time I packed something in my bag to let this all sink in that for the first time in my life leaving home means going out on a journey I may never return from. For all I know I could die in some cave with a sword in my gut and an arrow in my back, but the thought of the adventure was exciting, the thrill of wandering out in the wild and the excitement of a good fight I had to admit I was also a little giddy at the idea.

I finished packing what I would need for travel and stood up turning to see the worried brown haired face of my mother. "Tell me it's not true…Right this instant!" she demanded, tears were running down her face. I had to hold back everything to not break down and start crying too, I could only nod my head. "You can't….You have to promise me you're not going, it's dangerous and you could get hurt!" She protested angrily, there was no way in Oblivion would she allow me to go out on my own like this, but in this regard I had no choice. "I can't stay here and do nothing…Mother you know that I'd love to have never learned about this, I love you and father. But this is something I need to do and I can't ignore it either it's not right." I had said hugging her tight and for those few moments she wouldn't let go of me, keeping gripped onto my leather gear to try and get me to stay.

After we had broken off each other I took a deep breath and walked to the door where my father was standing with his arms crossed. "Kotera Kilyerd, you have been given a task that your mother and I cannot accompany you on. You will face trials and horrors that which you have never seen before. But as your father I support your decision whole heartedly no matter how worried for your safety that I am. You are the master of your own destiny and it is not our place to stop you from making your choices under one condition. You must promise to uphold what is right, never do things just for yourself. I want you to make this final decision and think to yourself what the right thing to do in this situation is?" Father exclaimed standing tall in front of me but he looked proud. "I promise. I have chosen to take this task on because it is the right thing to do, this isn't because I want to but it's because I have to and no one else can do this. Only a Hylian can make this right and that's what I intend to do whether I live and achieve this goal or die fighting just trying." I stood tall and proclaimed, the smile climbed across my father's face and he pulled me into a tight hug but it wasn't of sadness, I felt how proud he was in that moment. "Take care my sweet girl. You are always welcome to come home, never will I turn you away from where you belong." Father whispered to me squeezing my shoulders before he let go.

I walked out the door putting my bag over my shoulder and my hand on the pommel of my sword. My journey to the land of the Nords would only be a day. But my journey to lay Hyrule to rest will press on for quite some time I felt, and this is only the beginning stepping out of my parents house to step onto the path of my destiny.