Into Skyrim

Chapter 8: The 7,000 Steps of Hell

"KK, wake up. I can see High Hrothgar," Elizabeth says, waking me up from my nap. I open one green eye and hum a response before closing it again.
I can feel Elizabeth slow Belle to a trot as we near the monastery.
When we reach the staircase to the old rundown fortress, we both dismount Belle. Elizabeth ties the steed up to a nearby tree before we both head inside.

When we entered the ancient monastery the place was dead silent; you could drop a piece of thread and hear it hit the ground.
"Hello? Anyone home?" I call out, letting my voice echo throughout the dark stone halls.

Soon, Elizabeth and I heard multiple sets of feet approaching us. The Greybeards stood before us in silence, waiting for their speaker to do his job and speak for them. An older man stepped forward and addressed us.
"So," He begins, "a Dragonborn appears at this moment in the turning of the age."

"Two Dragonborns actually," I correct him. "I'm Kayleighn and this is Elizabeth. We are answering your summons," I say with a bow of my head, elbowing Elizabeth to do the same.

"I am Master Arngeir, speaker for the Greybeards," He introduced himself. "We will see if you truly have the gift. Show us, Dragonborns, let us taste the power of your voices."

I looked at Elizabeth out of the corner of my eye. I was the only one who has absorbed a dragon's soul, so I'm not sure how this will turn out. Time to come up with a clever lie.
"I will show you my voice, master, but Elizabeth here has a sore throat and cannot demonstrate her Thu'um at this moment," I lie with a strained smile, hoping to high heavens that Elizabeth would play along. I don't wanna find out what the penalty is for lying to monks.

"I understand your situation," Arngeir says to Elizabeth, "But when you next return, I wish to see the power of your Thu'um as well."
I resist the urge to sigh in relief and half smile instead. "Now, Kayleighn, please demonstrate," Arngeir requests.

"With pleasure," I say stepping a few feet back from Arngeir before shouting at him, "FUS!" I shout.

The force of my Thu'um was strong enough to knock over a few decorative pots, and make Arngeir stumble back a few feet.
"Dragonborn, it is you," Arngeir said after he regained his composer. "Welcome to High Hrothgar. Now tell me, Dragonborns, why have you come here?"

"Well, like I said before, we're answering your summons," I answer. At this point, Elizabeth decided to act her part and stay quiet for a bit and sat on the stairs while I did the talking.

"We are honored to welcome two Dragonborns to High Hrothgar. We will do our best to teach you both how to use your gifts in fulfillment of your destiny."

"What's our destiny?" I ask the old man.

"That is for you both to discover. We can show you the way, but not the destination," He answers.

"Alright, well I'm ready to learn!" I say getting pumped up.

"You have shown that you are Dragonborn, you have the inborn gift. But do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen. Without training, you have already taken the first steps towards projecting your voice into a Thu'um; a Shout. Now let's see if you are willing and able to learn," Arngeir explains, walking to one side of the room. "When you shout, you speak in the language of dragons. Thus your dragon blood gives you an inborn ability to learn words of power. All shouts are made up of three words of power. As you master each word, your shout will become progressively stronger. Master Einarth will now teach you 'Ro,' the second word of power in Unrelenting Force."