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<\/p>\nThey rose the next morning and ate in silence, Dardeh trying very hard not to look too closely at Lydia\u2019s worried face.\u00a0 He gave her a quick hug, and slipped into Lucia\u2019s room to plant a gentle peck on her cheek before he and Roggi left to make their way to Dragonsreach.\u00a0 The priest, Heimskr, was quietly sweeping the area around the shrine of Talos, preparing for another day\u2019s work exhorting the masses to reject their elven overlords and return to worship of their true Nord god.\u00a0 Dardeh nodded to him, then knelt quietly before the huge statue and thought hard.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Talos. I don\u2019t know whether the stories about you are true, how much of them are made up out of jealousy, or added on by people who wanted to use your name for their own gain, but I\u2019ve always trusted in your protection.\u00a0 I need it again, now.\u00a0 Please help my Shouts aim true, and strong, and my swords reach their marks.\u00a0 I want this world that you tried to unite to last another thousand years, or more, and I\u2019m all we\u2019ve got to work with right now.\u00a0 Help me trap the first dragon so that I might slay the other.<\/em><\/p>\n He rose, nodded to Heimskr, and began climbing the steps to Dragonsreach.<\/p>\n \u201cThere aren\u2019t seven thousand of them, but sometimes it feels that way, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d he said to Roggi.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least it\u2019s not as cold,\u201d Roggi said with a grin.\u00a0 \u201cAnd no trolls.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf, Proventus, and Irileth were in their accustomed places in the great hall. Balgruuf greeted them with an expression that was something between admiration and dread, or so it seemed to Dardeh.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, my Jarl,\u201d Dardeh said, \u201cwhat do you say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs I promised,\u201d he said, rising from his throne, \u201cmy men stand ready.\u00a0 The great chains are oiled.\u00a0 We wait on your word.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh looked at Roggi.\u00a0 Roggi smiled at him and nodded.\u00a0 Dardeh took a deep breath and rotated his shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right then, Balgruuf.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go catch a dragon.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf grinned.\u00a0 He was concerned for his people, but Dardeh knew how much he had to be secretly looking forward to the excitement ahead.\u00a0 He may be an elder statesman, but at heart he\u2019s still a young man looking for adventure. \u00a0<\/em>\u201cMy men know what to do,\u201d he told Dardeh. \u00a0\u201cMake sure you do your part.\u00a0 I\u2019m putting my city in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know you are.\u00a0 It\u2019s my city, too.\u00a0 My family is here, now.\u201d<\/p>\n The Great Porch of Dragonsreach was an amazing piece of architecture, longer than several homes set next to each other and fully three or four stories tall at the height of its arch, with balconies running along the upper levels.\u00a0 The stonework was beautiful and immaculate, unlike the more weather-beaten, exposed parts of Whiterun\u2019s ancient walls.\u00a0 Great pulley wheels on either side, nearly as tall as Dardeh, held the freshly-oiled chains connected to the enormous yoke suspended far above; Dardeh could see soldiers stationed at the control levers on the upper levels, waiting for their signal to drop the trap.<\/p>\n Dardeh walked all the way to the far end of the porch, trying not to be overwhelmed by the majestic view of the mountains.\u00a0 On this sunny day, a person could see as far as it was physically possible to see. Balgruuf had instructed his people to remove the dining tables and benches that usually were here, making the vista completely unobstructed and utterly breathtaking. He just stood and breathed, taking it in, and felt the warm presence of Roggi as he walked to the very edge of the platform and looked out over the plains.<\/p>\n It\u2019s amazing.\u00a0 I have to save this.\u00a0 I just have to. We can\u2019t let Alduin take it away from us.<\/em><\/p>\n Balgruuf cleared his throat.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2026 do have a plan for luring a dragon here, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned to look at him and laughed. Impatient, prideful and stubborn as he was, Balgruuf was a man who Dardeh truly liked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. I certainly do. Why don\u2019t I show you?\u201d<\/p>\n He turned back to the open skies, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and Shouted.<\/p>\n \u201cO – DAH VIING!\u201d<\/p>\n Snowy-Winged Hunter. Come to me. I challenge you.<\/em><\/p>\n The sound echoed across the plains, bouncing off the nearest of the hills and returning to them, over and over.<\/p>\n They all stood, breathless, for what felt like an eternity.\u00a0 Then, from the east, Dardeh heard the familiar hollow echo of a dragon\u2019s roar.\u00a0 A small shape became larger, took form, and at last they could see that it was an enormous red dragon, the right hand of Alduin.\u00a0 It flew past the landing of Dragonsreach, spewing flames, roaring its anger.<\/p>\n \u201cSteady! Steady now!\u201d Balgruuf shouted.\u00a0 \u201cKeep under cover until it\u2019s down!\u201d\u00a0 Balgruuf had his sword drawn, but Dardeh shook his head at Irileth and she hustled him back behind one of the great stone arches.<\/p>\n \u201cGet back, everyone! Get ready! I\u2019m going to bring him in! Don\u2019t attack him unless it\u2019s necessary!\u201d\u00a0 Dardeh yelled. He<\/span>\u00a0 pulled his swords, just in case, but not intending to use them.<\/span><\/p>\n Dardeh waited until Odahviing was passing directly in front of the porch once more and Shouted again.<\/p>\n \u201cJOOR \u2013 ZAH FRUHL!\u201d<\/p>\n The force of his Shout hit Odahviing, knocking him back slightly and surrounding him in its familiar blue glow.<\/p>\n Got you, you bastard.\u00a0 Now land in here. Come get me. You know you want to.<\/em><\/p>\n Because in spite of the vast plains surrounding Whiterun, the leagues upon leagues of spaces in which he could come to ground, Odahviing had only one real potential landing place.\u00a0 He was a dragon. He\u2019d had his supremacy questioned.\u00a0 He would, without a shadow of a doubt, land on the Great Porch and try to confront Dardeh.<\/p>\n I would do so, if our roles were reversed.\u00a0 I understand that now.\u00a0 I understand why Miraak was that way.\u00a0 We all have it in us, those of us with even an echo of the dragon blood – that great power, and that great arrogance, and we need to prove our supremacy. That\u2019s what the legends say about Talos.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jine tried to tell me.\u00a0 That\u2019s why my father is still twisted, beyond death, trying to exert his power over Ulfric, even though he was not Dragonborn himself.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n And that\u2019s why I\u2019m going to trap Odahviing, and beat Alduin with a sword I crafted by my own hand.\u00a0 Because I\u2019m the second-strongest Dragonborn who has ever lived. And that is better than anyone else who is alive.<\/em><\/p>\n Odahviing swooped into the Porch\u2019s opening and landed with a thunderous boom, roaring his rage at Dardeh, his eyes fixed on his target.\u00a0 Dardeh was faintly aware of soldiers scattering and shouting and running to either side, but he locked his stare with that of the great red beast and walked slowly backwards, laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on. Come and get me.\u201d<\/p>\n Odahviing was faster than he had anticipated, even grounded by Dragonrend. \u00a0Dardeh heard Roggi yell \u201cDar! Run!\u00a0 Now!\u201d from somewhere behind him, as the gigantic jaws snapped together close enough for him to hear the individual teeth scraping against each other.\u00a0 He turned and bolted to the back of the porch, up the stairs, and to the soldier near the lever on this side.<\/p>\n \u201cNow! Drop the trap!\u201d<\/p>\n The soldier hesitated.<\/p>\n Dardeh pushed him aside and threw the lever himself.\u00a0 Chains shrieked, the gargantuan yoke dropped from Dragonsreach\u2019s heights and the metal collar clamped shut around Odahviing\u2019s neck, trapping him.\u00a0 He howled his rage while Dardeh trotted back down to the main level and approached him.<\/p>\n Dardeh heard Balgruuf yelling \u201cGot him!\u201d and was aware of Roggi just slightly behind him, but all he could focus on were the pitch black, unfathomable eyes of the great red dragon before him.\u00a0 Odahviing could easily roast him alive where he stood, but somehow he was sure that wouldn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n \u201cNid!\u201d the beast bellowed.\u00a0 \u201cHorvutah med kodaav.\u00a0 Caught like a bear in a trap!\u201d His eyes flashed, and he lowered his voice.\u00a0 \u201cMy\u2026 eagerness to meet you in battle was my \u2026 undoing, Dovahkiin.\u00a0 I salute your low cunning in devising such a grahmindol \u2013 stratagem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d Dardeh replied. \u201cNow then, I think you know why you\u2019re here.\u00a0 Where is Alduin hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n Odahviing paused for just a moment and then made a sound that might possibly have been the dragon equivalent of a chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cRinik vazah. An apt phrase. Alduin bovul.\u00a0 One reason I came to your call was to test your Thu\u2019um myself; many of us have begun to question Alduin\u2019s lordship, whether his Thu\u2019um was truly the strongest.\u201d\u00a0 He paused, and Dardeh thought he saw a small flicker of something in the beast\u2019s eyes. \u201cAmong ourselves, of course. Mu ni meyye.\u00a0 None were yet ready to openly defy him.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh crossed his arms and tapped his feet.\u00a0 \u201cAnd yet, my friend and I nearly managed to kill him ourselves, and us just a couple of humans.\u00a0 That\u2019s sad, Odahviing.\u00a0 I ask again, where is he hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnslaad krosis. Innumerable pardons.\u00a0 I digress.\u00a0 He has travelled to Sovngarde to regain his strength, devouring the sillesejour \u2013 the souls of the mortal dead, a privilege he jealously guards.\u00a0 His door to Sovngarde is at Skuldafn, one of his ancient fanes high in the eastern mountains. Mindoraan, pah ok middovahhe lahvraan til. I surely do not need to warn you that all his remaining strength is marshaled there.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh felt as if he\u2019d been pierced by an assassin\u2019s blade yet again.<\/p>\n Gods.\u00a0 Esbern was right.\u00a0 So even if I go there and kill Alduin I can do nothing for all the souls of the fallen soldiers that have died since Helgen. I failed. And I waited, and I indulged my own needs for revenge and for love and even more souls have been lost because of it.<\/em><\/p>\n He turned to look at Roggi.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi\u2026 all those men and women\u2026 What have I done?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi shook his head. \u00a0He knew, Dardeh could tell; Roggi knew exactly what he was thinking and why and even though he hurt, too, he wasn\u2019t going to let Dardeh falter because of it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t know, Dar. \u00a0Nobody knew. \u00a0Esbern, maybe, but he never told us, not in those terms, not until High Hrothgar. There\u2019s nothing you can do about it now.\u00a0 We have to get Alduin so that we don\u2019t lose even more.\u201d<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want it to be like this.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do this.<\/em><\/p>\n He turned to look at the dragon again.<\/p>\n I have to do this. Because if I don\u2019t, I\u2019ll be no better than my father. I\u2019ll just be a man who used his great power to kill and accomplished nothing by it.<\/em><\/p>\n Odahviing spoke up.<\/p>\n \u201cZu\u2019u lost ofan hin laan.\u00a0 Now that I have answered your question, will you allow me to go free?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.\u00a0 \u201cReally?\u00a0 You told me where he is, but not how to reach him.\u00a0 Do you really think I would just let you go? No. Not unless you agree to serve me.\u201d<\/p>\n It was Odahviing\u2019s turn to laugh.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Ni tiid.\u00a0 If and when you defeat Alduin, I will reconsider.\u00a0 There is one detail about Skuldafn I neglected to mention.\u00a0 You may have the Thu\u2019um of a dovah, but without the wings of one you will never set foot there.\u00a0 Of course, I could fly you there, but not while imprisoned like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Damn.\u00a0 He\u2019s right.<\/em><\/p>\n While Dardeh pondered the impasse they had reached, Farengar approached from behind him, making obsequious advances on Odahviing and asking whether he might take just one or two samples of scales and so forth, for experiments, all while moving toward the dragon\u2019s back end.\u00a0 Odahviing looked around nervously, said\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing back there?\u201d and then yelped in pain and shot a brief plume of fire into the air.\u00a0 Dardeh was grateful that they were beneath the stone archway and not one of the wooden sections of Dragonsreach.<\/p>\n Dardeh turned to Roggi.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi reached out and laid his hands on Dardeh\u2019s shoulders, his blue eyes as steady as Dardeh had ever seen them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to let him take you, Dar. It\u2019s the only choice there is.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to let you go, but you\u2019re the only hope we have. Go to Skuldafn, Dar. I will be with you, if only in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh felt his eyes welling up.\u00a0 By the gods, Roggi, I\u2019ve only just found you. I don\u2019t want to leave you now. <\/em>Then he glanced around the Great Porch and saw Balgruuf.\u00a0 He has three children and they need him. And Irileth \u2013 I don\u2019t know much about her but she needs me to do this, too.\u00a0 And Hrongar. And even Farengar.\u00a0 None of them can do this. I\u2019m the only one who can.<\/em><\/p>\n He turned back to Odahviing.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 You take me to Skuldafn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnikaan koraav gein miraad.\u00a0 It is wise to recognize when you only have one choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned and yelled to the soldiers.\u00a0 \u201cRaise the trap!\u00a0 We\u2019re letting him go!\u201d<\/p>\n They stood there, their mouths open.\u00a0 \u201cBut\u2026\u201d\u00a0 I know, I know. We just caught him.<\/em><\/p>\n Balgruuf shook his head and said \u201cCarry on, soldier.\u00a0 This is all part of the Dragonborn\u2019s plan.\u201d\u00a0 Then he turned to Dardeh and shot him a look that said \u201cI hope so, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n The great chains pulled the yoke back to its resting place in the heights of Dragonsreach.\u00a0 Odahviing turned and shuffled to the edge of the porch.\u00a0 For the briefest of moments Dardeh held his breath, hoping that Odahviing was not going to simply leave on his own; but the dragon merely waited for him, looking around at the frankly awestruck Balgruuf and Irileth standing near him.<\/p>\n Dardeh turned to Roggi again and pulled him close, then kissed him, right there in front of everyone.\u00a0 \u201cI love you, Roggi,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cNo matter what happens, always remember that.\u00a0 Be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi smiled and kissed him on the cheek.<\/p>\n \u201cI will Dar.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be happy when you come home.\u00a0 Because I know that you\u2019ll come back to me. I wish I could go with you, but I can\u2019t.\u00a0 Now go get that bastard for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh climbed up onto Odahviing\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you ready to see the world as only a dovah can?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh laughed.\u00a0 \u201cAgain.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Once again, as he had in Apocrypha, he marveled at the rippling of a dragon\u2019s massive muscles as Odahviing launched himself from the deck of Dragonsreach.\u00a0 He heard Balgruuf call out \u201cMay Kynareth guard you while you pass through her realm!\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh hunkered down behind the dragon\u2019s head and smiled.\u00a0 Thank you, Balgruuf.<\/em><\/p>\n And they left Whiterun Hold, flying east, to the border of Skyrim and Morrowind, and up into the Velothi Mountains to Skuldafn.<\/p>\n They rose the next morning and ate in silence, Dardeh trying very hard not to look too closely at Lydia\u2019s worried face.\u00a0 He gave her a quick hug, and slipped into Lucia\u2019s room to plant a gentle peck on her cheek before he and Roggi left to make their way to Dragonsreach.\u00a0 The priest, Heimskr, … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/2-2-14-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart II: Duality<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"