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<\/p>\nIt was a long trip back up the mountain, but Dardeh didn\u2019t mind it as much as he\u2019d expected.\u00a0 He had company.<\/p>\n
Roggi tried hard to hide it, but it was clear as they worked their way up from Ivarstead that he was more than a bit in awe \u2013 both of being on his way to High Hrothgar and of being the Dragonborn\u2019s companion.\u00a0 Dardeh tried hard to distract him from these facts but it was no use, so he decided to show off, instead. A snow bear came barreling out of the trees and Dardeh Shouted it down the side of the mountain, snickering as it rolled away.\u00a0 Roggi just shook his head and breathed the word \u201cDragonborn.\u201d\u00a0 Dardeh grinned at him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They stopped for a breather by one of the wayshrines, and Roggi sat before it, meditating, for some time.<\/p>\n
He looks like a man in search of something, to me. <\/em><\/p>\n Roggi was even more in awe when they passed quietly through High Hrothgar, stopping only a few moments to warm themselves before the last leg of the journey. \u00a0Master Borri looked at Dardeh, nodded, and said \u201cDovahkiin,\u201d and the building shuddered at his voice.\u00a0 Roggi gulped.\u00a0 Dardeh smiled at Roggi and whispered, \u201cYou should have heard it when all of them spoke at once.\u00a0 It was really something.\u201d<\/p>\n When they left the monastery and Dardeh began the series of Clear Skies Shouts they needed to reach the summit, it was too much for Roggi to take.\u00a0 He sighed and shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cDar,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cI can\u2019t believe this.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh grinned at him as they trudged up the path in the bitter wind. \u201cWhy not?\u00a0 You\u2019ve known I was Dragonborn since you met me. You and a couple of guards were about the only people who recognized it back then. Even Irileth \u2013 and she saw me kill my first dragon — even she didn\u2019t believe it, but you did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut,\u201d Roggi said, smiling at him, \u201cI\u2019m the one who got to travel with you through High Hrothgar. It\u2019s like being in\u2026 some kind of story.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes were shining.<\/p>\n Dardeh shielded his eyes and looked up toward the mist made blindingly bright by the sun.\u00a0 \u201cYes. I know what you mean. I\u2019ve felt that way ever since Helgen. The problem, though, is that I don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to face up at the top.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to face Roggi.\u00a0 \u201cI may not come out of this alive, Roggi, and I don\u2019t know how you get back down the mountain if I don\u2019t. You can turn back now, and I will understand. Completely. I can\u2019t ask you to risk your life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll be fine if I have anything to say about it,\u201d Roggi responded, frowning briefly. Then he grinned. \u201cAnd turn back? Miss the excitement? Not a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou may not have a choice. I don\u2019t know what will happen when I read this scroll.\u00a0 But\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He trailed off.\u00a0 Do I really want to say this? <\/em>\u00a0Then he looked at Roggi\u2019s face and knew he had to.\u00a0 It may be the only chance I ever have. I can\u2019t tell him what I really feel but I can say this.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so glad you\u2019re with me. I don\u2019t know how I could do this by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi laughed.\u00a0 \u201cOf course you could.\u00a0 I\u2019m just along for the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the tour ends at the top, where you will meet Paarthurnax.\u00a0 Oh, and by the way. He\u2019s a dragon.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed as he watched Roggi\u2019s mouth fall open.<\/p>\n \u201cA\u2026dragon?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. \u00a0Don\u2019t be alarmed by him; he knows me. And we\u2019d better move. The mist is rolling back in.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to face up the trail.<\/p>\n \u201cLOK \u2013 VAH KOOR!\u201d<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n The experience Dardeh had when he read the Elder Scroll at the Time Wound was something he was sure he would struggle to describe no matter how much time he had left.\u00a0 It was as though he was watching a scene unfold before him, but in which he couldn\u2019t take part.\u00a0 He saw Alduin. He saw the ancient Nord heroes banish Alduin.\u00a0 And when he came back to himself he felt, deep inside, another Shout:\u00a0 JOOR ZAH FRUL.\u00a0 Dragonrend.\u00a0 That was what was written on Alduin\u2019s Wall, in pictures.<\/p>\n He had an opportunity to use it immediately. Everything around him erupted into noise and chaos. Flaming boulders began raining down onto them.<\/p>\n \u201cDragon!\u201d he heard Roggi shout, in a tone just short of terror.\u00a0 He looked up and saw the huge, black, looming form of Alduin.<\/p>\n I knew it was you. I\u2019ve seen these rocks before. They didn\u2019t kill me then and they won\u2019t kill me now.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUse the Dragonrend Shout, Dragonborn! You cannot defeat him on the wing!\u201d\u00a0 Paarthurnax\u2019s cavernous voice came from somewhere above them, as he circled the area, snapping at his brother Alduin.<\/p>\n \u201cStay back, Roggi!\u201d Dardeh yelled.\u00a0 But Roggi couldn\u2019t hear him; he heard Roggi roar \u201cYou\u2019ll die this day, dragon!\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned to the black form circling overhead and Shouted, and the beast was forced to land.\u00a0 They attacked with swords, both of them, Dardeh trying to shield Roggi from the flames and Shouting Alduin\u2019s snapping teeth back from him with Unrelenting Force.<\/p>\n It seemed to go on forever.\u00a0 Alduin would rise back to the skies and Dardeh would Shout him down again, all the while dodging flaming boulders and straining to hear any sound from Roggi amidst their crashing, the deafening roar of Paarthurnax and Alduin fighting each other, and the horrible keening wail of Alduin\u2019s fire breath seeking him out. Once or twice he felt the fire rise up from within him and burst out into a Fire Breath shout of his own but he was no match for either Alduin or Paarthurnax; all he could do was allow his body to do what it must, and hold on until the next moment.\u00a0 The sword he\u2019d found in Sky Haven Temple had more effect on Alduin than his scimitars did, but he could only use it during those brief moments Alduin was grounded.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to lose.\u00a0 He\u2019s too strong, and I\u2019m a fool for imagining I might ever fight him on equal terms.<\/em><\/p>\n Just as he thought it was hopeless and he was sure to die, Alduin landed and stopped attacking.\u00a0 He turned his enormous head toward them and spoke, his voice making the ground shudder.<\/p>\n \u201cMeyz mul, Dovahkiin.\u00a0 You have become strong.\u00a0 But I am Alduin, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else.\u00a0 You cannot prevail against me.\u00a0 I will outlast you\u2026 mortal!\u201d<\/p>\n He rose again to the skies and disappeared over the crest of the mountain, and Dardeh stood in shock, his mouth open.<\/p>\n And it seemed that they would have to try another day, in another way, to stop Alduin the World-Eater.\u00a0 Paarthurnax could only think of one possibility.\u00a0 Dragonsreach had once been a trap, a cage, for a dragon.\u00a0 Perhaps it could be so used again, and perhaps in that way Dardeh could reach Alduin.<\/p>\n He had to speak to Balgruuf.<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d he sighed, glancing at Roggi\u2019s dismayed face, \u201cthere\u2019s one good thing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d Roggi grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cA good thing? What\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh smiled.\u00a0 \u201cBalgruuf likes me.\u201d<\/p>\n He clapped Roggi on the back.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go. It\u2019s a long way home.\u201d And he began telling Roggi about Balgruuf\u2019s part in the excellent trick they\u2019d played on the Thalmor, at the Embassy.\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s laughter echoed off the rocks as they climbed down the mountainside.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n They were just beginning the ascent through the narrow pass to Helgen when it happened.<\/p>\n One moment Dardeh was joking with Roggi, not really paying attention, just looking at him and grinning, and the next a fireball caught him full in the chest and threw him onto his back in the snow, writhing in pain.\u00a0 He was fighting to catch his breath, grab a potion to help resist the fire and heal his burns, when he heard Roggi bellow \u201cOh no you don\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n He struggled upright and saw them, three of them.\u00a0 Another group of Miraak cultists, and this time they were trying to kill Roggi right alongside him.\u00a0 He ran toward them and Shouted the first, the one casting fireballs, backwards out of the way.\u00a0 The man struck his\u00a0 head on a rock when he landed, and was still.\u00a0 The second attacked Dardeh with daggers, which might not have been a problem save for the fact that the man was deadly good with them.\u00a0 It took Dardeh more than a comfortable amount of time to dispatch him.<\/p>\n Just as he made a ferocious backhanded swipe that sliced the Cultist open and dropped him to the ground, he heard Roggi cry out.\u00a0 He looked up the hill.\u00a0 Roggi had been in a furious duel with the third Cultist, and was holding his own; but the greatsword was heavy and he was tiring.\u00a0 Dardeh started for them just as the Cultist thrust with his sword and pierced Roggi through the shoulder, the point of it emerging from just under the heavy leather bandolier.<\/p>\n \u201cNO!\u201d Dardeh roared, and ran for the Cultist.<\/p>\n A few moments later he stood and stared down at the tattered remnants of the man lying in the snow, with no recollection of what had happened.\u00a0 Dardeh was gasping for breath, disoriented.\u00a0 He looked around and saw Roggi trying to rise, but falling back.<\/p>\n \u201cBy Ysmir,\u201d Dardeh growled, running to him.\u00a0 There was a pool of red spreading out from under Roggi and he was nearly as pale as the snow around them.\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s gaze met his and Dardeh saw fear; all Roggi could do was try to breathe.<\/p>\n For the next few minutes Dardeh frantically tried to stop Roggi from bleeding to death.\u00a0 He forced every healing potion he could find down Roggi\u2019s throat, pressed on the wound, and prayed silently to Talos please, please spare this man and I will never ask for anything ever, ever again<\/em>.\u00a0 And he cursed himself for never having learned the healing hands spell his mother had learned in spite of her Nord reluctance to use magic, because she knew she would be called upon to use it.<\/p>\n Finally Roggi opened the eyes that had fluttered shut and he coughed.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess I\u2019m not going to Sovngarde today after all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course you\u2019re not,\u201d Dardeh replied; but he could see that Roggi still had a fight on his hands and might yet die if they didn\u2019t get to Whiterun, and the healers, right away. If nothing else, he might freeze to death if he couldn\u2019t walk; it was snowing and bitter cold and even a Nord couldn\u2019t survive, injured, in those conditions for long. And it was a long trek yet ahead of them.\u00a0 He tried to damp down the panic that rose in his chest, but he couldn\u2019t see how to proceed.\u00a0 He would carry Roggi on his back if he had to, but Roggi was a big man and even someone as strong as Dardeh wouldn\u2019t be able to make much headway with that much weight on his back.<\/p>\n Then he looked up the trail ahead of them.\u00a0 There were always hunters wandering along this pass, picking off the few animals foolish enough to wander near the road, on the exposed rocks.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be right back,\u201d he told Roggi, then jogged up the path.<\/p>\n There was, in fact, a hunter somewhere ahead of them.\u00a0 But he had left his horse not far from where Roggi and Dardeh had battled the Cultists, and Dardeh hesitated not a moment before leaping onto its back and riding back to where Roggi sat leaning against a stone.\u00a0 He slid off and helped Roggi mount the horse, then jumped up behind him and smacked the horse\u2019s rump to get it going.<\/p>\n \u201cYou stole a horse,\u201d Roggi murmured.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, sure did,\u201d Dardeh rumbled, urging the horse into a gallop and thinking of the man he\u2019d been with in the cart to Helgen.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n They passed the hunter on the way through the pass.\u00a0 Dardeh ignored his shouts, and was grateful for his heavy armor as an arrow bounced off his shoulder.<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 and now you know why I wanted to come with you, Dardeh,\u201d Lydia scolded him, standing at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed, wearing a dress and a disgusted expression.\u00a0 \u201cBoth of you might have been killed.\u00a0 You have never seen me in battle but I assure you that I could protect your back as well as any man you know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShhh, Lydia. I know. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh had been trying to calm her down ever since the two of them had stumbled in through the door of Breezehome and he\u2019d shouted for her to help get Roggi up the stairs and into bed.\u00a0 He\u2019d sent Lucia dashing for one of the priestesses.\u00a0 \u201cTell them the Thane needs them and will make a large donation to the Temple if that will help them make a house call.\u00a0 I\u2019ll introduce you to my friend when he\u2019s feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n And she had, and the priestess had come and laid hands on Roggi.\u00a0 Dardeh could tell when the danger had passed, as the big blonde\u2019s face had relaxed and he\u2019d fallen asleep.\u00a0 It was then that Lydia had lit into him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou may be sorry, but do you know how hard it has been for Lucia and me to sit here, month after month, wondering if you were alive?\u00a0 And who is this man?\u201d<\/p>\n Ahhh. Now we get down to it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLydia, he\u2019s\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Dardeh trailed off.\u00a0 My face must say it all, he thought as Lydia\u2019s expression changed from anger to surprise. \u201cHis name is Roggi. \u00a0From Kynesgrove. He knows my sister.\u00a0 Rather well, actually.\u00a0 He\u2019s the reason I was able to walk through the door; if he hadn\u2019t been with me those Cultists would have killed me.\u00a0 And I\u2026 can\u2019t let him die. I just can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Lydia searched his face for several long moments.\u00a0 \u201cOh. I see.\u00a0 At least I think I do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI think you do,\u201d he said, reaching out to touch her arm, then letting his hand drop.\u00a0 \u201cHe has no idea, and I would like to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI can do that.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled.\u00a0 \u201cSo are you sleeping with him?\u201d Then her eyes went wide and she blushed furiously.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, tonight.\u00a0 I mean where are you\u2026 oh that didn\u2019t come out well at all, did it?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh couldn\u2019t help it; he broke down into giggles.\u00a0 \u201cUm, no, and I hadn\u2019t considered that far ahead.\u201d\u00a0 He tried to stop laughing but every glance at Lydia\u2019s horrified face made him laugh more.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s ok, Lydia.\u00a0 Truly, it is.\u00a0 Well,\u201d he said, glancing into his bedroom.\u00a0 Roggi was splayed out across most of the double bed and was hard at work snoring.\u00a0 \u201cI could try to squeeze out a bit of room on the bed, but I don\u2019t want to bother him. He lost a whole lot of blood and it\u2019s going to take him some time and rest to get it back.\u00a0 I guess I can go stay at the Bannered Mare.\u00a0 I\u2019d put my bedroll down out here but I really need a real bed.\u00a0 Can you\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Lydia smiled and sighed. \u201cCan I watch out for him and<\/em> Lucia?\u00a0 Of course I can.\u201d<\/p>\n Then she surprised him.\u00a0 She slipped both arms around his chest and leaned into him, her head against his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cI am sworn to carry your burdens, Dardeh.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you\u2019re safe.\u201d\u00a0 She kissed him on the cheek and then wandered away.<\/p>\n Dardeh looked after her with his mouth open for a moment.\u00a0 He reached up and touched the spot on his cheek where her lips had met his skin.\u00a0 Then he shook his head and made his way down the stairs.\u00a0 He needed to check in with the Temple, thank them yet again for their help, and leave them a fat coin purse.<\/p>\n What a remarkable woman she is, he thought. I know Balgruuf ordered her into this job but I can\u2019t imagine why she hasn\u2019t left anyway.<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t go to sleep for the longest time.\u00a0 He tossed and turned.\u00a0 The tavern noise below, which normally wouldn\u2019t have bothered him in the slightest, kept distracting him. \u00a0\u00a0The more he thought about the Cultists, the angrier he got. I don\u2019t know who Miraak is. I don\u2019t care.\u00a0 I have important things to do.\u00a0<\/em> But he keeps sending these thugs after me and someone is going to die if I don\u2019t do something about it.\u00a0 I have to do something about it but I can\u2019t. I have to go speak to Balgruuf and we have to catch a dragon\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n He found himself, somehow, he didn\u2019t know how, sitting at his favorite table in the back corner of the Bannered Mare, with a tankard of mead in his hand.\u00a0 Across from him was someone he didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 A Redguard man, wearing a tunic typical of men of the Alik\u2019r desert but topped with heavy, padded leather plates.\u00a0 There was something familiar about him, and Dardeh peered at him, his mind seeming to move slowly as if wading through deep snow.\u00a0 His hair is what mine would look like if I let these braids out, he thought idly.\u00a0 Where have I seen this man?<\/p>\n \u201cSo why are you still here?\u201d the man asked matter-of-factly.\u00a0 He had a voice much like Dardeh\u2019s, deep and penetrating, but without the same overtone of power.\u00a0 \u201cShouldn\u2019t you be on your way to Solstheim?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2026 are you?\u201d Dardeh tried to say.\u00a0 The words came out, but his mouth didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n I\u2019m dreaming again, aren\u2019t I?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t recognize me?\u00a0 You\u2019ve seen me before. Reachwind.\u201d\u00a0 The man leaned forward, examining him closely.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a fine boy, aren\u2019t you.\u00a0 A fine son. She did well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh laughed. \u201cBoy? I\u2019m nearly thirty winters.\u00a0 No boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou still don\u2019t know who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo I do not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps it would help if you saw me as I was when we came to the Reach.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh blinked.\u00a0 There he was, the man before him, but without his armor.\u00a0 Well-creased brow, scars down the left side of his face.\u00a0 Dark red war paint.\u00a0 Green eyes. Reachwind, the tower near Markarth where he had seen the dark-skinned man in barbarian clothing.<\/p>\n Green eyes.<\/p>\n A fine son.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you \u2026 my father?\u201d<\/p>\n The man smiled, a grim smile that had no warmth in it.\u00a0 \u201cDadarh at-Jine.\u00a0 From a long line with power such as yours.\u00a0 And when men stand in our way\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s head swam. \u00a0Dadarh at-Jine. \u00a0Dadarh was his father\u2019s name. Descendant of Jine, the man he had met before, in a dream. \u201c\u2026we kill them all.\u00a0 That is our way,\u201d he murmured, finishing the sentence with the words Jine had said to him.\u00a0 He looked at the man again and saw that yes, he had this man\u2019s face.\u00a0 If not for the weathering and his own lighter hair and skin they could be the same man.\u00a0 \u201cYou are my father, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGo to Solstheim,\u201d Dadarh said.\u00a0 \u201cKill Miraak.\u201d He smiled again.\u00a0 \u201cUse my swords.\u201d<\/p>\n And then he was gone.<\/p>\n Dardeh bolted upright on his bed, yet again.\u00a0 He had left the swords at Breezehome.<\/p>\n But he knew where they were.<\/p>\n It was a long trip back up the mountain, but Dardeh didn\u2019t mind it as much as he\u2019d expected.\u00a0 He had company. Roggi tried hard to hide it, but it was clear as they worked their way up from Ivarstead that he was more than a bit in awe \u2013 both of being on his … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2-1-21-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Dardeh<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"