Mortal (Book 3)

Chapter 8

~

As we're eating dinner that night, a guard announces that we have guests. Lydia steps through the great doors of the Palace, each of my daughters under her arms. Sofie dashes out of her arms, jumping into Ulfric's lap. While the two of them are laughing with delight, Lucia quickly walks to me and clings to my legs, glaring at Ulfric. I gently stroke her hair, unsure of how to explain in a way she'll understand. Sofie pulls Ulfric toward Lucia and I, her tiny hand wrapped around his large thumb.
"Lucia, this is Papa." She says simply, grinning brightly. Ulfric's eyes go wide at the word "papa." While Sofie smiles at Lucia expectantly, she only frowns and shakes her head. I brace myself for Sofie to get frustrated, but she doesn't break her smile. "Don't worry, you'll understand. She'll understand Papa." She assures everyone. I feel a swell of pride in my chest for both of my daughters. I'm mostly proud of the trust they've built in each other in such a short amount of time.
I kneel, pulling both of them in front of me and holding each of their hands in my own.
"Listen now, both of you. These people around you— Ulfric, Galmar, Jorlief, —they're just as much your family as I am. They will take care of you, and they only want what's best for you, as I do. Lydia and I are going away for a while. You'll stay here with—" Lucia shouts, cutting me off. She hugs my neck tightly, shaking her head furiously.
"But I don't want you to. I just got here." She says. I glance up at Lydia, who looks just as surprised as I am. Last I saw her, she still needed quite a bit more space than this.
"They'll take care of you, and Sofie can help you when you don't understand. I promise." I pull Sofie into the hug as well, stroking their hair and their faces and trying to hold back my tears. I can't let even a hint slip that I might not be coming back, or I won't be leaving without Ulfric.
"Mama, when will you be back this time?" Sofie asks.
"I'm not sure dear. But I love you both very much." I tell her as I pull away from the hug and stand. I force myself to look at Ulfric, remember his features. His broad jaw and deep set eyes that look like lightning storms. His scar that looks like a river trickling down a mountainside. His crooked smile as he wraps an arm around my waist.
"Now, what are you staring at?" He asks playfully. I return the smile, masking my own sadness at leaving him for perhaps the last time.
"You've got something in your teeth." I tell him as I lean to kiss him, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck. I freeze there, his soft breaths against my cheek and his protective arm over my waist. 'I'm doing this because I can't lose you.' I tell him, wondering if he can hear even a whisper of my thoughts.
"Alright, alright you two. The whole castle got enough of your nonsense last night, not in front of the children too." Galmar complains, covering Sofie's and Lucia's eyes. Lucia shoves his hand away.
"You stink." She mumbles. Everyone laughs, and I meet Galmar's eyes. He laughs along, but gives me a knowing look. If I keep acting like this, Ulfric will suspect what's going on. Poor Galmar, always keeping my secrets for me.
"I love you," I tell Ulfric. I think he knew, but this time I'll be sure to tell him anyway. "Take care of the girls, and yourself."

~

After two days, Lydia and I reach the Throat of the World at last. Paarthurnax waits, perched on top of the word wall in the same place he always is. Though he never quite seems relaxed, today he's almost fidgety, if a dragon can really be such a thing.
"You have it. The Kel - the Elder Scroll. Tiid kreh... qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then; fulfill your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs." Paarthurnax urges. He seems on edge, but I suppose I would be too if I had been waiting for Alduin to be slain as long as he has.
Lydia holds my dirty knapsack while I pull the scroll out; not exactly the most glamorous way to transport an all-powerful document. Even just holding it in my hands has a dizzying effect. I see it in my hands, but I can't feel it; I still feel the cold wind blistering against my palms where the gold encasement of the scroll should be shielding them. I was skeptical of the scroll's power before I was in its presence, but now it's the only thing in the world that truly intimidates me.
Lydia takes quite a few steps back, shielding herself behind a rock. I've asked her not to try to help, even if she thinks I'll die. She's promised to keep herself and the scroll safe at all cost. I step toward the Time-Wound, holding the scroll in both hands. It took me some time to actually see it, and really you only can if you watch closely enough. The snow in this particular spot never quite falls, even when there is no blizzard. I step into it, then carefully hold the scroll up in front of me. I've seen and read about the effects they can have on people they don't want to read them; I just pray I'm one of the lucky few that the scroll chooses. In one swift motion, I pull the scroll open in front of my eyes. Printed into the paper are hundreds of diagrams and markings, words I can't even begin to understand. The inscriptions glow brightly, singeing themselves into my eyes until I'm blinded.
I'm blind, but at the same time I see everything. The three heroes, Gormlaith, Hakon, and Felldir. Gormlaith and Hakon are confident they can slay Alduin with Dragonrend, but it's to no avail. Gormlaith is slaughtered, and in desperation, Felldir uses the Elder Scroll to throw Alduin into the currents of time, all the way to the day of my execution at Helgen.
As quickly as I was pulled into the vision, I'm ripped out of it. I'm back to the present, and I can hear Alduin's roar and his leathery wings beating against the wind. I would know the sound anywhere.
As my vision returns, I draw Wuuthrad, an appropriate weapon for the occasion.
"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!" Alduin groans as he flies overhead. He's bluffing, but much less cocky than he was the last time we spoke in Kynesgrove.
"Even now, Alduin, I hear your voice shake." I tell him accusingly.
"Lost funt. You are too late, Alduin! Dovahkiin! Use Dragonrend, if you know it!" Paarthurnax urges me.

"Joor, Zah, Frul."

With these simple words, my mortal soul strikes at Alduin's own immortal one. I feel him falter, feel him know what it's like to die. He groans in pain and crash lands into the snow.
"My teeth to your neck, Dovahkiin!" He growls before unleashing a hail of flaming boulders and lightning. Dodging them and making blows at his thick, black scales is no easy task. The blizzard almost seems to intensify around us, as if bending to his will. When the first Dragonrend shout wears off, I search for Lydia. She's collapsed in the snow for whatever reason, but there's no time to help her.

~

"Papa, why does Mama go away so much? I thought the war was over now. I thought we could maybe all be together." The girl asked as she kicked a stone. Ulfric winced, gripping her hand tighter as they walked along the streets of Windhelm on a rare day without snow. Sofie always had a way of asking all the questions that hurt the most, but needed to be said.
"Well... I don't know if anyone's ever told you Sofie, but Nova is a very special person..." He began awkwardly.
"Of course I know that. That's why we love her." Sofie replied, sounding a hundred years old.
"Yes, that's true, but not just special to us. Special to the whole world. Important to the whole world. You won't understand for a long time, but I will tell you this; Nova has special powers that make her... like a dragon, I suppose. As far as we know, she's the only person like this." He explained, feeling childish.
"Really?" Sofie exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. He laughed at her slack jaw and wide eyes as he remembered when he had the same reaction.
"Yes dear. She's called the—" suddenly the ground shook, and the piercing screech of a dragon echoed through the high stone walls of Windhelm. People and guards cowered and covered their ears, Sofie latched to his leg. He heard it echo off the mountains, and he knew that all of Skyrim, if not all of Tamriel, must have heard it. He looked up to the Throat of the World, watching huge dark clouds swirl around it.
"Sh e's called the Dragonborn." He mumbled, more to himself than to Sofie.

~

The battle lasts hours, and I think at many points Alduin and I are too evenly matched. My arms and knees shake, and I can feel a burn rising on the entire side of my neck and my cheek; the pain isn't easy to ignore. But then I see droplets of blood trickle into the snow like rain as Alduin flies past, and I know he won't last too much longer.
I force him to land again and tear a deep hole in his wing. He cries out in pain and snaps at me with his jaws, but I jump onto his back, then swing around his horn and stand on the end of his snout, holding it closed. Before he can throw me off, I suddenly dig Wuuthrad into his forehead. His red eyes go wide; I'll admit, I've even surprised myself a little bit, so much that I pull it back out and jump away from him. His blood trickles out of the wound and he fights to stay standing; he suddenly stumbles backward off the cliff of the mountain, not even roaring as he falls. The storm suddenly clears, the dark clouds speeding away from the mountain top. It's all ended so quietly.
I take only one step toward the cliffside, and without warning he speeds upward right in front of me, barely missing my nose.
"Meyz mul, Dovahkiin. You have become strong. But I am Al-du-in, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else! You cannot prevail against me. I will outlast you... mortal!" He groans as he flies away weakly. I shout Dragonrend at him, but he's already too far away.
"No..." I groan, fighting to catch my breath. "That can't be it... This isn't over..."
"You're right, Dovahkiin. There is another way." Paarthurnax says, staring at the horizon as Alduin disappears.

Fan art: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Paarthurnax-vs-Alduin-370454028