The Traveler

Chapter 20

"Let me see it again. Show me your Yol, your fire." Paarthurnax ordered.
Every attempt at spewing a plume of flame had proven useless against the powerful winds and endless snowfall.
No sooner than she could get even a spark to leap from her mouth it was doused.
"Fod nii los fin ven daar krif hi, if it is the wind that stops you, kreh nii wah hin fen, bend it to your will."
Bend it to my will. Maxine repeated in her head.
She reached out to the energies surrounding her, the ones that Paarthurnax had told her floated all through Skyrim, and breathed them in, allowing them to gather inside her.
Then she pushed them all out. "Lok Vah Koor!"
At her bark, the wind ceased and settled upon the ground, bowing at her feet. The flurries of snow spun themselves out and the clouds from hence they came parted to allow the sun to shine upon the mountain and upon her.
"Yes." He hissed, "very good. Now... your fire."
This time was different.
She parted her lips and shouted, "Yol!"
A ring of fire burst from her lips and sailed across the mountaintop, crashing into the word wall and melting the snow which lay all around its base.
Paarthurnax raised his head to the sky and blew his own pillar of fire.
"Sossedov los mul!" He cried, rocking the whole mountain with his voice. "The dragon blood is strong in you."
His head swung back down to her and he beamed with pride. "You are Dovahkiin."
The feeling quickly left him, however.
His lips drew tight against his teeth as his jaw tightened. The light in his eyes faded as they narrowed.
He dismounted the word wall and traipsed through the snow, each footfall creating loud booms and leaving large divots in their wake.
"But you do not come all this way to be taught fire from an old dovah, an old dragon." He muttered to himself.
"Paarthurnax?"
His horns flashed in the sunlight as he turned back around to address her.
"No. You come to learn how to defeat Alduin."
"Alduin?"
Her confusion was troubling to him.
"So, you do not yet know your Dez, your fate. As Dragonborn you must protect Skyrim from the dovah. That includes their leader Alduin. It is at his Uth, his command that the dilon dovahs, the dead dragons, rise."
"Wait Alduin is resurrecting dragons?"
"Indeed. He searches for the burial sights of our fallen kin and bel niin fah praan and summons them from their rest. He is the reason the dragons have returned."
So, what Maxine read was true.
The dragons had been slain in a war many years ago and now returned to Skyrim.
What kind of mess had she just walked into.
"Fod hi hind wah viik Alduin, if you wish to defeat Alduin, hi fen siiv fin kel, you need to find the Elder Scroll."
"Elder Scroll?"
"Yes. It is an artifact of great power. One that archives both what has happened and what is to happen. You will need the knowledge of an Elder Scroll to defeat Alduin."
"I don't understand. Why can't I slay him like any other dragon?"
"Because, rok los ni naan dovah, he is not just any other dragon. He is the first born of Akatosh, the father of time and the most acclaimed of his creations. It is under his name that the dragons ruled in the Merethic Era and enslaved the races of men. Now he seeks to restore his kingdom."
Maxine figured Crystal wouldn't be too happy if she returned to this world and found it destroyed and ruled by dragons.
Besides, if this was what the Dragonborn was meant to do, and what Crystal was meant to do, then she couldn't abandon the people of Skyrim.
"So where can I find this Elder Scroll?"
"Zu'u dreh ni mindok. I am uncertain. I know little of what has passed below in the long years I have lived up here. You should consult the wisdom of the Blades. Their order lives to serve the Dragonborn and one among them, an elderly scholar, can help you. You must travel to Sky Haven Temple which rests on a mountainside near the city of Markarth."
Markarth.
She would have to ask Brynjolf where that town was.
"There is nothing more I can give you." He said, exhaling a big puff of smoke.
"Thank you Paarthurnax." Maxine said and bowed.
As she was walking away from him however, he called after her.
"Traveler."
She stopped, shaken by the word, and looked back at him.
"Do not give up hope on returning to your Hofkiin, your home. Nii fen bo voth tiid. It will come with time."

***

The tantalizing smell of mead and meat drifted through the woods, flowing between every one of the thick, large pine trees.
The general heard the quiet clinking of armor behind him over the faint hoots of owls and chirping of crickets. His troops were almost in place.
A light skinned elf with long, pointed ears approached him on his left side, his long blonde hair sparking in the dull moonlight. "My mages are in place. As are my warriors. Yours?"
The general was glad he was wearing a helmet that not only covered his short black hair and brown eyes but also some of his face as well. It hid the look of distaste which accompanied the elf's arrival.
He hated working with the high elves of the Thalmor.
They were slippery, cruel, and ambitious and the one who stood beside him was no different.
"Yes, we are ready." He said, through gritted teeth.
The elf grimaced at his clearly shown bitterness but chose not to lash out. He'd get what he deserved soon. They all would.
Raising his hand, the general signaled for his men to slowly begin approaching.
His 'friend' did likewise, and they began to move in, swords flashing in the moonlight and faces bearing bloodthirsty expressions.