The Dragonborn

Part 33

Jack walked Argo up the steps with Mark right beside him guiding Tim up.  The steps quickly turned from stone to snow covered stone within just a few steps.  As they continued up the mountain path, they stayed quiet.  Listening to every rustling branch and whistling of the soft wind.  Soon a second shrine tablet came into view and Jack strayed away from Mark to read it aloud curiously.  "Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus. The Dragons presided over the crawling masses. Men were weak then, and had no voice".  Jack continued to stare at the tablet, telling Mark in a fragile voice.  "Men were weak? How can they say that. I was told that Dragons were the reason man became wise. Dragons can have centuries of knowledge. Knowledge that they shared with man. We weren't enemies then". 

From behind him, Mark answered simply.  "I don't know. A lot of nord history and culture is dying thanks to the encroaching Empire. The more diverse Skyrim gets... The more traditions we loose. It's getting hard to separate fact from myth anymore".  Jack lifted his head toward the sky as a vision swam across his vision.  It was of a small village of people all gathered around a large white dragon as he drew something in the dirt.  The people couldn't seem to speak... at least not in a language the dragon understood.  So it was communicating through drawings that it drew with its claws.  Jack felt another image bleed into the other.  This one was of a bigger village giving livestock to a large green dragon and in return... the dragon protected them from harm.  When Jack's vision returned, he turned to rejoin Mark, telling him.  "I'm starting to feel conflicted... These visions I've been seeing... Mark...". 

Jack drifted off and Mark took his hand, sweetly comforting him.  "Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe they are trying to tell you something".  Jack could only shrug as they continued up the steps.  Letting Mark add in sincerely.  "Look. I have been reading that Dragonborn book and what you're feeling... Well, it has occurred to me. Maybe the Dragonborn isn't suppose to be a dragon killer like the legends say".  Jack stopped mid-step to look at him.  Mark returned a confident look, stating.  "Think about it. Why would Akatosh, 'a god to both man & dragon', make a dragonborn to kill his children"?  Jack turned his eyes to the snow deep in thought, when he replied.  "A god to both man & dragon. Do you think I'm the bridge between the two"?  Mark shrugged, honestly saying.  "I don't really know for sure, but that is my guess. Don't you remember that white dragon statue in Cyrodiil? The one they say is Martin Septim's petrified body"? 

Jack nodded, letting Mark continue on uninterrupted.  "Well, he was a dragonborn, wasn't he? He protected Tamriel from the Oblivion Crisis. What if you are meant to protect Skyrim from something"?  Jack shook his head, reluctantly telling him.  "Except Skyrim's biggest problem right now is dragons".  Mark squeezed Jack's hand lovingly as he told him innocently.  "What I'm saying is that you are who YOU choose to be. Follow your instincts".  Mark suddenly released his hand to point toward the third shrine tablet a few feet away.  Jack took a deep breath and walked over to it, reading aloud.  "The fledgling spirits of men were strong in old times. Unafraid to war with dragons and their voices. But the dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts". 

Jack gasped as a vision sharply tore across his eyes in bits and pieces.  A black dragon addressing a white one.  Growling out a strong desire to be worshiped like a god. To be feared and respected. The white dragon refused, but a green one agreed. When dragons refused to turn on their siblings and friends to defend their villages... Man rose to fight and failed by the thousands. Becoming slaves under the reign of dragons.  Jack fell to his knees in the snow.  The harsh icy wind starting to tug at his cloak.  His dream... The one with a town that had people with no voices and dragons fighting in the sky... That is what it meant. The black dragon had started a war and won.  Jack's vison returned again and he found Mark's hand on his shoulder.  Jack placed a hand over Mark's, telling him softly.  "I'm alright. Just light-headed. These memories are filled with so much emotion. They're getting painful".