Fighting Fate

8-Information

"What do you say, Irileth? You're being awfully quiet." A guard with soot on his armor asked Irileth.

"Come on, Irileth, tell us, do you believe in this Dragonborn business?"

Irileth crossed her arms and pouted out her lip. "Hmph. Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums on matters you don't know anything about. Here's a dead dragon, and that's something I definitely understand. Now we know we can kill them. But I don't need some mythical Dragonborn. Someone who can put down a dragon is more than enough for me."

"You wouldn't understand, Housecarl. You ain't a Nord." One guy with his helmet off says.

Irileth looks at them like they're stupid. "I've been all across Tamriel. I've seen plenty of things just as outlandish as this. I'd advise you all to trust in the strength of your sword arm over tales and legends."

She then turns to me, looking at me strangely. "That was the hairiest fight I've ever been in, and I've been in more than a few. I don't know about this Dragonborn business, but I'm sure glad you're with us. You better get back to Whiterun right away. Jarl Balgruuf will want to know what happened here. I'm taking command here for the moment. You head back to Whiterun and let the Jarl know what happened."

I nod and start heading back to Whiterun on my own. If I could find Adrianne in all of this mess, that would clear up a lot of things for me. Maybe she heard of my family. Maybe they're with her.

"Dovahkiin!" I hear a shout in the distance. Where did that come from? I continue my way to Whiterun and by the time I'm in the Cloud District, I am out of breath. I end up walking back to Dragonsreach where the steward for the Jarl and the Jarl himself are waiting.

The steward looks at me. "Good. You're finally here. The Jarl's been waiting for you."

Jarl Balgruuf looked at him. "You heard the summons. What else could it mean? The Greybeards..."

A Nord warrior says, "We were just talking about you. My brother needs a word with you."

"So what happened at the watchtower? Was the dragon there?" The Jarl asked me.

"He was. We managed to kill it." I spoke.

"I knew I could trust Irileth to get it done. Say, did anything strange happen when the dragon died?"

"When the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it." I look at him.

"So it's true. The Greybeards really were summoning you." He puts his hand to his chin.

"The Greybeards?" I raise my brow. I feel like I've heard of them before.

"Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World." The Jarl explains patiently.

"What do these Greybeards want with me?" I asked, feeling conflicted. I didn't sign up to be the legendary Dragonborn. I just wanted to find my family.

"The Dragonborn is uniquely gifted in the Voice - the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu'um, or Shout. If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use your gift." The Jarl responded. Irileth returned to his side.

"Didn't you hear the thundering sound as you returned to Whiterun? That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar! This hasn't happened in ... centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora!" The warrior seemed panicked.

Proventus then looked at the warrior. "Hrongar, calm yourself. What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our friend here? Capable as she may be, I don't see any signs of her being this, what, "Dragonborn.""

Hrongar's chest puffed up and his face turned as red as a tomato: "Nord nonsense?! Why you puffed-up ignorant... these are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!"

Oh, yeah. The Empire and the people from it that you can't stand.

Balgruuf sighed, looking annoyed. "Hrongar. Don't be so hard on Avenicci."

"Avenicci?" I ask Proventus. He faces me.

"Why yes, have you heard of us?" He asked me.

"I'm Severine, Cassian Livinicus's daughter. My family and I got separated when some Imperials tried to attack my mother and grandfather." I step forward.

"Oh my word. That is terrible, Severine. Is this how you ended up in Helgen?" He must have paid attention to me the first time.

I nodded. "I haven't heard anything about Delia and the boys or Cassian but I will send any information to you as soon as I do. I will let Adrianne and her husband know as well." He spoke. 

Thank the Divines. Finally someone who would help.