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<\/p>\nI\u2019m completely lost, Dardeh thought, looking around at the steam rising from green pools of mineral-rich water. I missed my turn somewhere.\u00a0 This is not Ivarstead.\u00a0 The ground was hard-packed, mostly bare, with a few evergreens struggling to keep their grip on the soil and, judging by the number of dead and dying limbs on them, losing the struggle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The roar erupted from beyond the hill where he was standing, just out of sight behind the trees.\u00a0 Dardeh groaned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, damn,\u201d he muttered. \u201cI can\u2019t just leave the thing flapping around out there, someone could get killed.\u00a0 I wonder if I can take it down by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
He drew his bow and moved slowly to the top of the rise, scanning for any kind of movement.\u00a0 Off to his left, it was, and at a fair distance, circling around the top of a hill.\u00a0 Dardeh crept toward it, trying to stay behind rocks, below the crests of dirt mounds.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t a lot of cover, truly, and it made him nervous.<\/p>\n
The closer he got, the more obvious it became that the abnormally sharp peak of the dragon\u2019s hill wasn\u2019t a peak at all; it was a curved stone wall with a prominent, carved top.\u00a0 It\u2019s just like the one in Bleak Falls Barrow, he thought.\u00a0 Another one of the dragon words?\u00a0 I wonder if I can get close enough to it to find out.\u00a0 He took another few steps toward it, and then immediately regretted it.<\/p>\n
The dragon spotted him and flew toward him, spewing gouts of frost.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d he yelped. Dardeh looked behind him and spotted a clump of three trees.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t very large trees, and there was nothing else around them to add protection, but they were the only cover anywhere within sprinting distance.\u00a0 He made for them.<\/p>\n
The dragon was faster.\u00a0 The frost hit him from behind, and he howled as he felt himself freezing, his legs fighting his commands to move. He gasped, trying to catch his breath, fumbling in his pack for the few healing potions he knew were in it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not going to make it. If it slows me down any more my heart is going to stop, too. I\u2019m going to die right here. <\/em><\/p>\n The dragon went hurtling over his head, its momentum carrying it past him; it banked left and headed back toward the word wall.\u00a0 That was what saved him; the dragon was too good at what it did best.<\/p>\n He got in as close as he could to the largest of the trees, wishing that he\u2019d been able to buy that frost resistance potion from Arcadia back in Whiterun.\u00a0 It had been right there on the shelf, too, and he\u2019d looked it over but had decided to buy more healing potions with the pitiful few coins he had. \u00a0He didn\u2019t really want to use those potions now; he really wanted to save them for an emergency.<\/p>\n Dardeh knew the most rudimentary of healing spells.\u00a0 He had only a bit of magic in him, just barely enough to cast the spell, but his mother had insisted that he learn that one spell, \u201cjust in case.\u201d\u00a0 He had used it exactly one time before when he\u2019d gotten careless in the mine and chipped out a large chunk of rock that had landed squarely on his ankle, nearly mangling it.\u00a0 He\u2019d been glad of that spell then, and he was glad of it now as it spread soothing warmth through him.\u00a0 He was still hurting by the time he ran out of energy.\u00a0 But he was alive, and that was more than he\u2019d expected just a few moments earlier.<\/p>\n The dragon was howling, shooting gouts of frost down at the ground at some target Dardeh couldn\u2019t see. Well, he thought, I might have considered getting out of here and coming back when I was better equipped, but someone is having a rough go of it over there and I can\u2019t just leave them.\u00a0 The only possible approach he could see was to work around the base of the hill and come at the dragon from the far side of it.\u00a0 He might not make it in time, but there wasn\u2019t another way; he had to try.\u00a0 He stood and dashed for the cover of the rocky back side of the hill.<\/p>\n It was fairly slow going.\u00a0 The dragon spotted the movement as he ran, and flew overhead spewing frost; but Dardeh flattened himself against a large boulder and managed to dodge the worst of it.\u00a0 Still, he had to heal himself before continuing.\u00a0 The dragon made several more passes at him.\u00a0 Once, it stopped in midair and hovered, close enough that Dardeh could hear it breathing.\u00a0 He gritted his teeth but couldn\u2019t help crying out as the frost reached around the curves of the stone and sapped his strength.\u00a0 Gods, but that hurts, he thought as he cast his spell yet again.\u00a0 Worst of all, his steel armor seemed to retain the cold, even after the damage had stopped.\u00a0 Much more of it and he was going to start shivering uncontrollably and be just as useless as if he\u2019d gotten blasted by the dragon directly.<\/p>\n The beast left him alone for a few moments after that, and he was able to run around the hill to a better vantage point.\u00a0 There was the dragon, strafing its targets:\u00a0 a giant and two enormous mammoths.\u00a0 The giant was bellowing back at the dragon, shaking its club in the air, seemingly oblivious to the damage it had to be taking.<\/p>\n The dragon landed, snarling and snapping.\u00a0 The giant ran forward with a speed Dardeh had never quite grown accustomed to; nothing that large should be able to move that fast, but giants could, and so could the mammoths they herded.\u00a0 Dardeh stood and began firing arrows as quickly as he could draw; steel arrows, this time, purchased from Adrienne Avenicci in Whiterun.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t the best arrows in the world but they did more damage than iron ones, and he could hear the dragon grunt whenever one of them buried itself between its scales.<\/p>\n The dragon snapped and thrashed its tail at the mammoths.\u00a0 It was fading, that much was clear.\u00a0 Dardeh drew his swords and rushed forward, attacking its wings.\u00a0 The beast turned its head toward him and without thinking he shouted at it \u2013 FUS erupting from deep inside him as though he\u2019d been born to use the word.\u00a0 The dragon\u2019s head snapped backwards, caught in the force, giving Dardeh just enough time to leap onto its neck.\u00a0 He slashed and beat on it, and then stood, stabbing down into its brain, just as the giant\u2019s club smashed into its shoulder.\u00a0 Dardeh vaulted down from the dragon’s neck and rolled clear as it crashed to the ground.<\/p>\n As it had happened in Whiterun, the dragon\u2019s carcass began to burn and crackle, and the light and power rushed into Dardeh.\u00a0 He shook, again, overwhelmed by the enormity of the sensation and wondering yet again why this was happening to him.\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t have time to ponder it more deeply.<\/p>\n The giant must have thought he\u2019d stolen its kill.\u00a0 It raised its club, swinging it in circles, and bellowed at him.<\/p>\n Oh damn.\u00a0 Get away.<\/em><\/p>\n Dardeh sprinted as hard as he could for the hill behind him.\u00a0 There was a clear path up it on one side; but if he went there, he knew the giant was going to follow and would overtake him.\u00a0 Instead, he bolted for the rugged terrain he\u2019d hidden in earlier, and scrambled up and between the rocks, where he crouched, gasping for air, trying to keep his panting as quiet as he could.\u00a0 He heard the giant bellowing; and then, after a few minutes, he heard the thudding of its footsteps as it lost interest and wandered back to its mammoths.<\/p>\n Dardeh stood, and worked his way to the top of the hill.<\/p>\n \u201cThere it is,\u201d he breathed, as the word wall began to glow and radiate the same blue light he\u2019d seen in Bleak Falls Barrow.\u00a0 He approached, and reached out to touch the wall, this time, feeling the grooved stone as the word flowed into him with light and sound.\u00a0 Fo.\u00a0 The word was Fo, and it meant frost.\u00a0 That dragon had been shouting Fo, and something else besides that Dardeh had been too distracted to pick out.<\/p>\n FO.<\/p>\n He practiced it once, and watched a cloud of frozen air shoot out across the stone before him.\u00a0 He grinned, and started down over the hill to find his way to Ivarstead.<\/p>\n ______<\/p>\n High Hrothgar was a long way up.<\/p>\n Dardeh had wondered, a couple of times, whether he was really going to make it all the way, between the cold and the extra weight of the supplies he was carting on behalf of a nice man named Klimmek, from Ivarstead.\u00a0 And then there\u2019d been a couple of bears and a frost troll.\u00a0 That troll had given him one of the toughest fights he\u2019d ever been a party to; it had a long reach and hit hard, and only a fortunately-timed Fus and a quick scramble up the side of the mountain had given Dardeh an opening to take it down, from above, with his bow.\u00a0 He was carrying its hefty pelt now, as well, and was more than delighted to drop Klimmek\u2019s package in the chest just outside the monastery\u2019s imposing front entrance.<\/p>\n He sighed in relief and stepped inside.\u00a0 The place was huge, and gray, with lofty ceilings and gorgeous carved stone.\u00a0 It was also silent, and seemingly empty.\u00a0 He looked around, cleared his throat, and was about to call out a hello when an elderly man with a gray beard, in dark gray robes with a dark gray hood, moved silently out from a side hallway and down the half-flight of stairs toward Dardeh.\u00a0 Three other silent figures whispered into the hall from other entrances.\u00a0 It was a bit eerie.<\/p>\n \u201cSo,\u201d said one of them. \u201cA Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh looked between the four figures, wondering what he should say. Yeah, it\u2019s me? How do I speak to these people?<\/em> And then he started speaking, and a torrent of words came rushing out.\u00a0 These men know about me, he thought. Maybe they can make sense of it all.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here because you called for the Dragonborn.\u00a0 It seems that\u2019s what I am, at least that\u2019s what the people in Whiterun seem to believe.\u00a0 I have no idea why this has happened.\u00a0 I surely didn\u2019t do it on purpose. And I\u2019ve had two dragons, now, which I\u2019ve been a part of killing and then I\u2026 absorbed their power.\u00a0 I know two of the words now.\u00a0 I\u2019ve used one of them and I\u2019ve practiced the other.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how I do it; it just\u2026 happens. Can you help me understand this?\u201d<\/p>\n The man nodded.\u00a0 \u201cFirst let us see if you truly are Dragonborn.\u00a0 Let us taste of your voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh was annoyed.\u00a0 Call me all the way up the hill and not believe me? I\u2019ll show you my voice, all right.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFUS!\u201d<\/p>\n The man who had been speaking staggered to his right and one of the others, standing directly in the line of Dardeh\u2019s voice, staggered backward and actually cried out.\u00a0 The first of them approached Dardeh.<\/p>\n \u201cDragonborn. It is you.\u00a0 Welcome to High Hrothgar.\u00a0 I am Master Arngeir. I speak for the Graybeards. Now, Dragonborn, why have you come here?\u201d<\/p>\n Because you called me? What kind of question is that? Dardeh thought.\u00a0 What he said, though, was \u201cI\u2019m hoping that you can help me learn what has happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The next minutes \u2013 how many he could not judge — were a blur of words, both in their own language and the language of dragons.\u00a0 He had the inborn ability, they said, to focus his energy into a Thu\u2019um \u2013 a Shout.\u00a0 They taught him \u201cRo,\u201d meaning \u201cbalance,\u201d and Master Einarth somehow surrounded him with light and energy of the kind he\u2019d absorbed from the dragons, the energy he needed to understand Ro.\u00a0 They made him practice combining Fus and Ro to strike targets; he was embarrassed when he not only dispelled the targets but sent baskets on the other side of the hall flying through the air.\u00a0 Unrelenting Force, they called it, and he needed another word to fully master it.\u00a0 Those two words by themselves were considerably stronger than just the one, and Dardeh was sure the Shout would be useful to him.<\/p>\n Then they took him outside, to the courtyard, where Master Borri taught him \u201cWuld,\u201d or \u201cwhirlwind,\u201d and gave him the understanding of it as Einarth had done with Ro.\u00a0 He stood beside Arngeir, waiting for Master Borri to Shout open a gate across the snowy expanse, then shouted \u201cWULD!\u201d and found himself propelled through the gate, stopping only because there was a large stone pillar blocking the steep drop down the mountainside.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe I just did that. That was the fastest I\u2019ve ever moved, in my whole life. <\/em><\/p>\n One of the drawbacks of being a bulky man was that he wasn\u2019t particularly quick on his feet, and being able to move like the wind was\u2026 It was exciting. Exhilarating.\u00a0 He turned back toward the Graybeards, grinning.<\/p>\n Master Arngeir looked properly impressed, and slightly subdued, as if he hadn\u2019t expected to have reason to be impressed.\u00a0 \u201cYour quick mastery of a new Thu\u2019um is \u2026 astonishing.\u00a0 I\u2019d heard the stories of the abilities of the Dragonborn, but to see it for myself\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh ran his hand over his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026 don\u2019t know how I do it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been able to use my energy like that, in a battle, shouting \u2013 but I don\u2019t know how. I just do it. And I never had dragon words until now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDragons have the inborn ability to use the Voice, and to absorb the power of their slain enemies.\u00a0 A few mortals are born with similar abilities.\u201d He raised one eyebrow, as though he\u2019d trodden this path many a time in the past. \u201cWhether it is a gift or a curse has been a matter of long debate.\u00a0 But there is no question that you are one of those. What you have already learned in a few days took even the most gifted of us years to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Arngeir shook his head. \u201cBut do not let your easy mastery of the Voice tempt you into the arrogance of power.\u00a0 That has been the downfall of many who came before you seeking knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n Something about that tickled Dardeh\u2019s mind.\u00a0 Who did he mean? \u201cAre there other Dragonborn, then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you are the only Dragonborn is not ours to know.\u00a0 You are the only one who has been revealed so far.\u201d<\/p>\n All right, Dardeh thought.\u00a0 I am one of a kind?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how I feel about that.\u00a0 What am I supposed to do<\/em> with all of this?<\/p>\n And then Arngeir tasked him with retrieving the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, in the ancient barrow of Ustengrav, to serve as the final test of his abilities.\u00a0 Dardeh was slightly annoyed again.\u00a0 He had<\/em> the ability to use Fus, and Ro, and Wuld; and Fo, although they\u2019d not heard him use it.\u00a0 He had<\/em> the ability to absorb a dragon\u2019s power. Why did he need to prove himself?<\/p>\n Dar. Be patient. You\u2019ll know why when the time is right.<\/em><\/p>\n Dardeh smiled to himself, and sighed. Yes, Ma. Don\u2019t be tempted into the arrogance of power, he thought.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what else is out there, or why I can suddenly do this, and I need to be open to learn.\u00a0 He suddenly remembered Ulfric Stormcloak as he\u2019d looked, sitting in the back of the wagon, his mouth gagged. This kind of power would be a terrible thing in the hands of the wrong person. He hoped that Ulfric was actually an honorable man. For all I know he could shout me off the side of the mountain, he thought. But he is not Dragonborn. I am.\u00a0 I still don’t know what it means.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Master Arngeir,\u201d he said, nodding.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n He took a moment to munch on a piece of bread and some cheese, and then started on the long trek back down to Ivarstead.<\/p>\n I\u2019m completely lost, Dardeh thought, looking around at the steam rising from green pools of mineral-rich water. I missed my turn somewhere.\u00a0 This is not Ivarstead.\u00a0 The ground was hard-packed, mostly bare, with a few evergreens struggling to keep their grip on the soil and, judging by the number of dead and dying limbs on … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2-1-8-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Dardeh<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"