- 4E 202 -
Sovngarde .. finally.
I never thought I'd write those words .. and I thought I would never write them as well. As it turns out, the door I mentioned before led back to the outside world. So with sleepy eyes I stumbled out into the brightness. The light burned my eyes, even though it was obviously late evening. I've been days if not more in the dark foul depths of Skuldafn, but now I'm free.
But I didn't have time to savor the fresh air and the cool breeze. Two powerful draugr were already charging towards me. I stumbled backwards, trying to come up with a plan before I was overwhelmed. One of the draugr conjured a frost atronach as I struggled to get my mace and shield ready. I needed a good plan .. and fast.
We were very high up, nearly at the top of the ruins. If I could just get the two draugr to come together, with their backs to the ledge, I could potentially shout them off of the ledge and the fall would likely kill them. I braced for their assault.
With my shield up I baited them into position. As dangerous as draugr are, their immediate thought is on killing you. They tend not to think outside of that. So it was entirely difficult to lure the two undead minions together, and then with a powerful shout, send them over the ledge to Sovngarde all over again. When the frost atronach dissipated I knew they had died on impact.
Behind me the ruins rose a bit farther, and a large pillar of swirling magic rose high into the air, touching the stars themselves. This had to be Alduin's portal to Sovngarde.
In the dimly fading light I also noticed a dragon perched up high. And then I noticed another on the other side. No doubt they were guarding the portal for Alduin. Surely these were both very powerful if Alduin had put them in charge of protecting his route to Sovngarde. I had managed to kill two dragons once before, but could I do it again? Here? In this place? I wasn't feeling very confident.
I slowly made my way around the structure and up an enormous set of steps. At the top I could see the portal plainly, as well as the two dragons .. and something else. It appeared to be a staff, suspended in front of the portal on a pedestal of sorts.
I didn't know if the staff was needed to enter the portal, or activate it, or if it served no purpose. All I knew is I didn't want to fight two dragons at the same time. I didn't have the energy for it.
So I formed a plan. I would sneak as close as I could to the portal, all the way if possible, and slip inside before the dragons could attack me. If they spotted me, I would use my whirlwind sprint shout to quickly reach the portal. It was a risky plan, though. Because if I used my shout but was unable to enter the portal, and the dragons attacked, I would have to face them without the ability to shout them down. But it seemed worth the risk to at least try and avoid a confrontation.
I had only managed to make my way a few paces before things got significantly more complicated. A dragon priest appeared and moved in to collect the staff. I still didn't know if I need the staff to enter the portal, or if I had to kill the dragons or the priest to do so, but I was out of time either way.
I rose to my feet and began sprinting toward the portal, unleashing my shout at the same time. In the blink of an eye I flew like an arrow to the rising vapors of the portal. And then up .. or down .. I'm not really sure which. I floated like a feather in a windstorm, or sank like a stone in a lake. And in some amount of time I can't really gauge, I arrived in Sovngarde.
The sky bleeds with color and swirls with light. The air itself rings with the presence of my ancestors, and I feel strangely comfortable. In the distance I can make out the outline of a large lodge, and all around me are giant statues that look down on me knowingly.
Words alone cannot describe this place.
