- 7th of Evening Star, 4E 202 -
Two days passed and two dragons killed. This is becoming a profession. And with a second horse it could be a lucrative one at that .. provided one doesn't get torn apart.
I was on my way to Ivarstead from Whiterun, having already crossed the river and was at the crest of the first large hill. I happened to look over toward the mountains on my left, where I had discovered a word wall months ago. It was still over there somewhere, holding onto its knowledge .. its power .. waiting for me to return for it. But I knew from my last trip that it was guarded by a deadly dragon priest. No .. there was no point in even thinking about it.
But I couldn't stop thinking about it. As I started down the hill my mind was consumed. How could I ignore the great power that was right there? There had to be a way to gain the power without dying at the hands of the dragon priest. Without even thinking about it I felt my hands tighten on the reigns, and then I turned my horse around. I was going to find the word wall again.
An hour or so later, as I was approaching the mountains, a dragon crested the peaks and came down at me. I had just passed a patrol of stormcloaks on the road a few minutes earlier, so I led the dragon back to them and we faced it together.
One of the stormcloaks fell before the fight was over, and for that I mourn. But we did defeat the beast, and it made for the second dragon I've killed in as many days.
I continued to the mountains and then began to climb them with my horse. My memory was a bit unclear on where exactly the word wall was, but after a short search I spotted it in the distance. With my horse secured safely out of sight I made my way quietly up the hill.
My plan was to sprint to the wall and learn the word after using my ethereal shout. This way the dragon priest wouldn't be able to harm me while I focused on capturing the knowledge of the word. Afterwards I would simply have to run and find a way back down to my horse as quickly as I could. It was a good plan, but even the best plan can be spoiled by an unknown.
As I exited the forest and got a clear view of the word wall my stomach sank.
There was a large dragon perched atop the wall. Now I was assuming that the dragon priest would also still be around, and that made things much trickier. It would be one thing to give the priest the slip, but not so easy with a dragon. There was a part of me screaming to call it off and just head back to Whiterun. The risk had just doubled, but the reward was the same.
I'd come too far, though. I had already killed one dragon just to get here. I couldn't let the presence of another scare me off.
So I snuck in close to the word wall. Careful to approach it from behind so as not to be spotted by the dragon. My eyes were darting back and forth, trying to keep an eye out for the dragon priest. Finally I was at the wall, though, and neither had the dragon moved or the priest show himself. Perhaps my plan would work after all.
I rounded the edge of the word wall and in unison the dragon raised its head and shrieked while the dragon priest arose from his cask. I quickly shouted the words to protect myself and sprinted up to the wall. I couldn't help but notice there were three words glowing, and my heart quickened. I was going to learn three words at once .. assuming I survived the next few minutes.
The priest and the dragon attacked me while I absorbed the meaning of the words. Their attacks did nothing but remind me of their presence. And the moment I had learned the words I sprinted away, jumping down the rocks almost carelessly.
My horse was relatively close, and I was on him in a heartbeat. With both the priest and the dragon shrieking behind me I rode away to safety.
