- 10th of Evening Star, 4E 202 -
I left Ivarstead at dawn and took to the steps and the dangers ahead. Around mid-day I reached High Hrothgar. Neither bears nor trolls had slowed my pace. And neither did the grey beards or ice wraiths slow my pace either. Within an hour or so I saw him.
Not Alduin. Paarthurnax. Just ahead of me .. waiting for me. The time had come. The elder scroll felt heavy in my hand, like I was carrying the whole world in my fingers. My boots were heavy too, with the weight of apprehension. But the time had come to put an end to this dragon madness. Whatever lie ahead was my destiny .. and I was to make my heritage and family name proud .. and embrace it.
I stiffened my back, raised my head proud, and marched up to meet the old dragon. He was ready for what was to come, even if I wasn't. And on his direction I approached the rip in time and opened the scroll. I immediately saw into the past, as a vision, and saw Alduin's fate in that time.
And in time the scroll was finished and the sky turned red with a storm such that I can't even describe it. Flame and rock hurtled down from the clouds as if the gods themselves were stoning me for toying with time. And then Alduin appeared.
He swooped overhead as fire and rock exploded around me. Taunting me .. insulting me .. threatening me. But I eventually found my voice and uttered words that hadn't ever passed my lips before. Dragonrend. A shout to bind a dragon and take away their freedom. Their ability to fly.
And soon enough Alduin was on the ground in front of me. His eyes were filled with fury and hatred. And I swung my mace against his scaly flesh with all my effort .. over and over .. frantic swings .. desperate swings. And I knocked away his attempts to bite me in half with my shield .. but I caught the spear-tip points of his teeth on more than one occasion.
And then he was in the air again, and with fire and rock still raining down on me I shouted the evil dragon to the ground again. And this went on for hours and hours, until the sun itself tired of our fighting and left us to our fates. So we continued the fight in a darkness broken only by the flame from Alduin's mouth.
Paartharnux himself joined in the fight, and we did battle as only legends and legends of legends could.
And eventually, after many hours had passed and each had felt the sting of the other's power, Alduin declared his immortality in that place and flew away. I was left standing in the dark, weak from the fighting, and in shock for how it had ended.
Paarthurnax consoled me and explained that Alduin could not be defeated by standard means. He was not any mere dragon just as I was not any mere nord. We would need to trap him, and it was suggested that I use Whiterun to do it.
So after spending the night in High Hrothgar I made haste to Ivarstead the next morning, stopping only for some food before continuing with great determination to Whiterun. Here I spoke to the jarl and persuaded him to let us use Whiterun to trap Alduin. He was not keen on the idea but he was smart enough to know to listen to me.
Now I just needed to learn a shout to call Alduin to Whiterun. And for that I needed to travel back to Sky Temple. I was headed out of the palace with this in mind when I ran into Lydia. For my previous efforts for the jarl I had been awarded her as housecarl, and while I had never called on her services before .. I did so now. Time was running short and the situation was dire. I would need all the help I could get to pull off trapping a dragon .. especially one as cunning and powerful as Alduin.
So we head out now to ride to Rorikstead. If I can make it we may ride through the night to reach Sky Temple. There is no time to waste.
