Thorum and I had departed early in the morning, he wasn't as intoxicated as he appeared last night. Thorum could have quite the slight of hand when he wanted, now that I think about it, he did point me towards someone in the thieves guild when we first met.
Curious past is curious.
I had done a round through the market, most were setting up about that time and they were happy enough to sell some goods early to me. Of course, what I could buy in mass was somewhat limited, the Jarl had been keeping a firm hand on goods coming and going with such a danger hanging over their heads. Who knew how many potions or food rations they would need in the coming days?
There was the brief thought to pop back over to Winterhold real quick and visit my Tailor, my clothes had taken quite the beating recently and some quick Alteration could only do so much. My clothes were quite literally wearing a bit thin here.
So much to do, so little time.
Proper presentation, my Achilles heel.
I should be fine for now, though I did find a nice cloak I could wear up in the mountains. Gods know that's going to be freezing.
My body started to feel better too, I was still aching and sore with countless bruises all over my body, but I don't think any bones were broken, perhaps a fracture here or there but they were mending with a noticeable pace. Perhaps my heart had an increase effect on that as well?
My devil heritage popping back up no doubt was playing a part in it, my wings were back to normal as well. My strength too, I 'felt' stronger than I had previously, I think my eyesight was a bit clearer and my senses overall were somewhat sharper.
"How far did you say you wanted to get out from the city?" Thorum spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts.
I tapped my chin, pondering for a moment. "I think this is far enough." I had told him I had a way to get us up the mountain quickly, but I didn't want to show it off. Lets see..I'm basically eyeballing this, but some quick calculations…..I withdrew Mirage and sliced it into the air, allowing the multitude of colors to burst forth into a portal. "After you." I gestured.
"Amazing." He praised, looking it over before walking through.
I couldn't help but smile, seeing how much he trusted me to not even test to make sure it wasn't dangerous. I walked through, only to not feel the ground under me, and I fell a couple of feet into a large pile of snow.
"That could have been worse." I snorted, sitting up.
"Well, I'm fully awake now." Thorum shared a smile as we both laughed.
"That should be it?" I looked just a little bit ahead and there was a structure built into the top of the mountain.
"Aye…I'm surprised I'm standing here. I heard the stories since I was a lad, but truly be here." He stood up, staring at the entrance.
"You deserve it." Put my hand on his shoulders. "You are a good man, Thorum, and if there was anyone who became this 'Dragonborn' I'm glad it's you."
"Thank you, Will." He gave me that big goofy smile he was known for.
"Well, stop being a big baby." I gave him a 'kick on the rear'.
He just laughed as we walked forward. He took a deep breath as he pushed the large doors open. What greeted us were several monks, standing all, almost as if they were waiting for us.
"We've been expecting you, Dragonborn." The one infront spoke up, practically answering my thoughts. "….though we thought you would take longer to climb the mountain." He seemed a bit bemused.
"Greybeards." Thorum actually bowed. "I am honored to be here, I also brought my friend who wished to see me safe passage, this is – "
"Yes, we know who he is." They looked…not angry but more cautions of me as all eyes on the room landed on my figure. "There have been words spoken on the winds, words that made many tremble and powers given pause. Many dragons who had been resurrected have decided to wait and watch, beings who had done nothing but rampage and destroy in the past had decided to cower."
Uh oh.
"Resurrected? More dragons?" Thorum questioned.
"Alduin, the world eater has returned. He was the first, the reason Riften had burned and he has been set on course to bring back his siblings to life." The Greybeard answered, seemingly in resignation. "Do you think it chance that a Dragonborn appear, now, when dragons once more returned to the world?"
I could see several emotions flash across Thorum's face. It seems those words were preoccupying him for the moment, so I spoke up. "What do you mean by 'words spoken on the wind'?"
"You should know better than I, they originated from you." He said, sounding like he was accusing me of something. "Alduin is the oldest and strongest of Akatosh's spawn, he has been the Lord and Master of the dragon race since their inception, never had his status been challenged before. These words held true until a few days ago."
Well.....shit.
Akatosh was one of the….divines or gods here. The books I read said that he was one of the ones responsible for the creation of the world, basically the pantheon leader, he is the Dragon-God of time. Basically, all the dragons are pieces of his essence, souls born from his own.
There was silence as no one else spoke. I think Thorum realized what the old man meant and sent me a questioning look.
"Y Ddraig Goch." I let the words roll out of my mouth.
The Greybeard sucked in a cold breath of air. "Yes. That name has been echoing throughout, in hushed whispers and dark corners.
I think I understand. Ddraig called out his most famous title 'Red Dragon Emperor' when he revealed himself. He is a dragon, even if his existence differed from the dragons here, a dragon is a dragon. He told all those who could hear, that he was at the top of the pecking order.
This 'Alduin' apparently heard, as did the other dragons around Skyrim and combined with the burst of power with Ddraig's own presence backing it up…..yeah, everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"It is an unprecedented time, the Dragonborn of legend appears, one who is destined to battle Alduin for the fate of the world, now another dragon also appears, one who's name has never been heard before, yet makes the others cower before it." The Greybeard just shook his head. "I do not know what the future lies in store for you both, but I presume you're here to learn the way of the Thu'um?"
"Yes, Masters, I wish to learn the way of the voice." Thorum answered them back, still as politely as before.
The old man nodded with a bit of appreciation in his eyes. "Then we will teach you, Dragonborn." He then turned to me. "And what of you, Red Dragon Emperor?"
What?
[Nice, even they know who you are now.]
I held back a sigh at Ddraig words, It wasn't entirely incorrect. Ddraig's users did inherit his title each time they popped up, I'm just suprised they opted for calling me that. "I'll stick around and see for a bit." May as well own up to it.
[YES! Let everyone here know my name!]
****
There wasn't much fanfare to be had, no tests for 'worthiness'. According to Arngeir, the Greybeard who had spoken to us, they usually proposed a test to newcomers, but the direness of the situation they forewent such formalities at this time.
"Legends speak that when a Dragonborn takes the souls of another dragon, they also consume their 'history', their memories. You should have some knowledge of their Thu'um, do you not?" Arngeir asked as the other monks took spots around the courtyard he led us to.
"I do, I wasn't quite sure what to make of them." He scratched his head. "It also left me a bit dizzy and acting unlike myself."
Oh yeah, he was acting like his was extremely drunk for a while. "Foreign memories getting shoved into your head, it would make you somewhat erratic for a while before they settle down and you acclimate to them." I had firsthand experience with that. I wouldn't say I had the best attention span, but for the first couple days for me, I could barely concentrate on a single thing, new ideas and inspiration kept dragging me every which way.
"I do feel better now." Thorum looked thoughtful. "Should I try to use those 'shouts' now or is it best to leave them for later?"
"Physically you should be fine." I shrugged, I don't know exactly how this Thu'um operates I would need to see it.
"As he says, let us test one of the more basic shouts, The Unrelenting Force." Arngeir stated, turning around at a practice dummy in the corner. "FUS RO DAH" He shouted and an invisible force ripped across the space between them, uprooting the dummy and the surrounding foliage, expelling it.
I've experienced that one before, first the Draugr from that Necromancer….but it wasn't nearly as powerful. "I had a Draugr use that shout and it was much weaker than yours, does that just come down to experience?"
Arngeir looked at me, thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Experience does come into play, but if you fought one of those undead, then they are merely an echo of the true Thu'um, their real souls are what powered the 'voice' without that, they are but a hollow copy."
Hmm, that makes sense, I'll make a mental note to check that later. It was more likely that the Necromancer just stuck any ol' soul into the body and it could only pull on the bodies' past 'memories' so to speak and use the shout.
"The dragon also blew away the watchtower with that shout." Thorum said quietly, clearly remembering that fight.
Yeah, that was extraordinarily more powerful that what was just shown.
"Indeed, the power can be adjusted, I held back as much as possible as to not cause an Avalanche." Arngeir smirked, just ever so slightly. They were monks who did not use the voice to fight, but that didn't mean they couldn't take pride in their own hard-earned skills. "Now, Dragonborn, why don't you give it a try." He gestured to another dummy.
Thorum scratched his head. "I'll try." He said without much confidence. "FUS RO DAH" He shouted as nothing happened, mostly.
I think Arngeir picked it up, and I did slightly as well. The snow around him had dispersed for a moment, so he was on the right track.
"The shout can be divided into three parts, three words. FUS, meaning Force. Ro, meaning Balance. Dah, meaning Push." He lined himself up with the practice dummy again. "FUS" He shouted, another invisible force rippled out, pushing away all the snow, but the dummy still stood, a clear force washing over it but causing no lasting damage. "The 'power' is greatly lessened as opposed to combining the three words. But it is also an easier starting point."
My initial hypothesis was correct, this Thu'um is the same as Divine Words and Primordial Runes. I took a step forward, Arngeir just raising an eyebrow but stepping out of the way, and Thorum looked at me expectantly.
[I think I understand, trying tugging on me slightly and then shouting]
Yeah I was thinking something similiar. Using Ddraig's 'concept of a dragon' and then focusing on the application.
It was a bit more than that though, I thought about the 'concept' behind the word Force. To actualize my intent without casting a spell, but forcing my will upon reality. Ddraig's nature should allow me to overcome many hurdles that someone without any 'dragon aspect' would have. "FUS" I shouted, and a small vibration shot out and smacked into the dummy, no damage was caused but a clear indication of something happening made me smile.
[Did you feel that?]
I did, it was a weird synchronizing between us as the 'spell' was actualized upon the world. I was the conduit you were the source, it was almost like using the boosted gear. This would require more testing before using haphazardly, I learned my lesson from before.
"Well done!" Thorum shouted with excitement
"Indeed." Arngeir looked at me with uncertainty in his eyes.
I smiled and walked up to Thorum. Before he could ask me what I was doing, I pushed him into the snow on the ground. That may have been a bit too hard, still not used to my new 'base strength'. Luckily I had him chugging Health Potions all night so he was almost back to 100%.
He made a surprised noise as he fell down, only to look up at me in confusion. "Will…?"
I held out my hand to help him up. "Force." I said, pulling him up. "You need a clear mental image of the 'concept'. Remember how I just pushed you down, use that 'feeling' and try again." It was a bit simple on the surface, but image would do him all the world of good right now, something very specific to focus on.
It said something about the trust he had in me that he didn't get mad nor question my actions only accepting my words once again and trying.
"FUS" He shouted, a more visible phenomenon occurred, even slightly better than mine as it rippled out and smacked into the dummy. "I DID IT!" He shouted, pumping his hands in the air. "Thank you, will!" He wrapped me up in a hug before I even realized it.
Dragonborn, a mortal with the soul of a dragon. He should be able to pick this up much easier than I can.
I couldn't help but smile sheepishly, as I pat him on the back. Thorum was definitely someone who learned best by 'experience'. "That should give you some idea of how the other shouts go, while not the same 'concepts' behind their meaning and inception, it's a good bridging point." I stated as he let go.
"Well done, Dragonborn." Arngeir looked pleased.
"Thank you, elder." He bowed ever so politely.
He would be in good hands, and if Arngeir was as intelligent as he looked, he should have picked up on the trick to teaching Thorum. "I believe it's time I head out."
"Are you not going to stick around and learn more shouts?" Thorum looked…reluctant.
"I have a feeling that this shout will take me awhile to learn by itself. Besides, I have so much on my plate right now, I need to…..settle everything else first before adding more." It didn't actually want to leave, but at the same time I was a bit anxious to get going.
"My friend, then I shall master the Thu'um and when we meet next, I'll be the one giving you instructions!" He clasped my hand with resolve in his eyes.
"I'll look forward to it then. Let's see how much you can master in a month." I could only smile at his passion. I looked over to Arngeir and my smile returned to a neutral expression as I stared at him intently. "Take care of my friend."
I think the Elder understood me as he nodded sincerely. "I do not know what your presence means for this world, Red Dragon Emperor, but I shall make sure the Dragonborn does not lag behind."
I just nodded, I wasn't one for teary goodbyes I would rather leave it at a mutual desire to get stronger when we next meet. I waved one last time and ripped open a portal before jumping through.
***
I popped out near Winterhold, seeing the town and Mages Guild in the distance. I had two more stops before I headed back home. I figured I would get the College out of the way first.
A month, that's when I said I'll return, truthfully I may be gone longer than a month, actually it was very likely. The thing is I could come back at to this world-line before a month passed. A little thing people don't know is that 'True Magic' overlaps with the others in some capacity. My Kaleidoscope allows me some manner of 'Time Travel' that should exist under the domain of the 5th, or 'The Blue'.
It isn't 'real' time travel, I merely leave and reenter a world-line at an earlier point. While still not 'traveling' through the time axis, it is still something that should not be used lightly, hell, my other self was even put off on using it.
Dangerous wasn't even a powerful enough word to describe it.
If I entered an 'Earth' at the year, 2000, then reentered somewhere before that point of time, things become extremely complicated, because the past then became my future. I wouldn't be doing quite that, I would just be coming back not long after I left, my 'future' would still be my 'future' even if it wasn't the same length of time that everyone here experienced.
It kept the flow of the world stable.
All things remaining the same, even if I was away for 'years' I could probably renter this world-line and have only about a month passed.
For now, though, I just wanted to clear up any loose ends at the College before going to see Meridia.