Song of the Dragon and the Bear

Chapter 60

 The iridescent sky above Vara seemed to shimmer blue and purple, dotted with bright points of light. The sight took her breath away, and for a few moments, she forgot why she was there at all. Sovngarde was more beautiful than any story had ever been able to capture. Then in the distance, a loud roar sounded, snapping Vara out of her dazed state and causing her to summon her magic once more. Alduin was here somewhere, and she couldn't afford to let her guard down.

Vara descended the stone slabs that made up the steps of the portal and stepped onto the path below. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would be better to walk the path and risk Alduin finding her or leave it and risk getting lost in the thick mists that seemed to cover the landscape. Eventually, she decided to follow the path in front of her. She only made it a little way before she heard a voice calling out from the mists.

"Help! Is someone there?" The voice seemed close, and Vara pressed through the fog, her eyes straining to find the source of the sound. "Please, I can't see!"

There! Through the mist, Vara spotted the figure of a man, and as she got closer, she realized it was the ghost of a Stormcloak soldier.

"Soldier!" she called, drawing the man's attention. "What is going on?"

The man looked at her with wild eyes. "It's the World Eater! Alduin has come and is devouring the souls of the dead. Please, I must reach Shor's hall!"

Vara laid a reassuring hand on the ghost's shoulder, a chilling cold running up her arm as her gauntlet made contact. "I can clear the mist, soldier," she said. "Stay close to me." The man nodded, and Vara turned towards the swirling mist in front of her and Shouted, "Lok vah koor!" The fog dissipated immediately, and Vara strode forward, her magic at the ready. Hopefully, the Shout hadn't attracted Alduin's attention.

Together, Vara and the fallen soldier pressed on, Vara Shouting every now and then to clear the fog from the path. The landscape around them was revealed a little more every time she Shouted, and the sights were awe-inspiring. Mountains rose at the edge of her vision, and a river ran beside the path for a while before diverging, and Vara could hear the crashing sound of a waterfall somewhere in the distance. Again, Vara couldn't help but think how wrong the great poets and writers had been when they had described Sovngarde. The place far exceeded any descriptions of beauty that a mortal could attempt to use.

After several minutes, Vara saw a bridge in the distance crafted from enormous bones, larger even than the ones that the dragons she slew left behind. Much larger. At the front of the bridge stood a giant of a man, like one of the statues of the ancient kings, his ax held in front of him as if in warning.

Vara knelt in front of the man and bowed her head. The soldier beside her copied her movements, dropping to his knees. "Tsun," Vara said, her voice quiet in her awe.

"What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to honored dead?" the god rumbled, gesturing for Vara to rise.

"I seek entrance to Shor's Halls to learn from the wisdom of the ones who have come before," she declared, looking up at the man who towered over her by at least two or three heads.

Tsun nodded slowly. "No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?"

Vara blinked, caught off guard for a moment. Then, with a surge of confidence, she declared, "By right of birth. I am the Dovahkiin."

"Ah!" Tsun exclaimed. "It's been too long since last I faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood."

Vara knew what came next. According to the ancient tales, nine could enter Shor's Hall until they first proved themselves worthy in a trial by combat against the guardian of the bridge. Sure enough, Tsun readied his ax and said,

"Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test." Vara nodded grimly, her magic crackling in her palms, and then the man charged her, a primal smile on his face.

Jumping to the side, Vara barely avoided the blade of Tsun's ax. The mountain of a man had a much longer reach than she did, and that ax had to be at least three times the size of a normal one. She ducked as it sliced the air over her head. Thankfully, the two-handed weapon meant that when Tsun swung, his chest was left exposed, and she fired two short blasts of electricity.

The man stumbled, chuckling as he did so, before quickly regaining his footing and swinging at Vara once again. She rolled under the swing and shot a ball of lightning into his torso as she came up to her feet. This time, it took Tsun a few more seconds to find his balance, a few seconds that Vara utilized. Before the god could get his feet under him, Vara had shot him with no less than five bursts of electricity. She was readying another when Tsun lowered his ax and gave a deep laugh.

"Ah! I have not had a fight with a mage like that for years!" he stated. "I judge you worthy to enter Shor's Halls, Dragonborn." Vara bowed deeply and stepped past the god onto the Whalebone Bridge. Behind her, he could hear Tsun challenging the Stormcloak soldier to a duel, and their axes clashed, causing the air to ring, but to Vara, it was a distant sound. In front of her loomed Shor's Halls, and the sight made her forget all else.

She approached the doors in a trance-like state. She was here, actually here. All at once, the realization of where she was crashed down on her. She was in Sovngarde, home of the honored dead. A small smile crossed her face. Her half-blooded state hadn't stopped her from entering Shor's realm. That was a great comfort to her. All her life, Vara had wished to rest in Sovngarde among the heroes of old when she died, and now she knew that she would.

Vara stared at the grand doors for a moment longer before vigorously shaking her head and pushing them open. Immediately, golden light seemed to flood her, and she had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. When they did, Vara couldn't help the gasp that escaped her throat. The Halls were beautiful.

All around her, heroes of old feasted and laughed and drank and sang. From her place by the entrance, Vara could see a grand feast laid out and warriors and mages alike surrounding it. Then, off to the sides, she could see long halls where people dueled and danced in equal measure.

Before Vara could examine her surroundings anymore, a deep voice called to her. "Welcome, Dragonborn!" Vara turned to face the speaker and was greeted with a warrior dressed in ancient armor. She wouldn't have been able to tell the man apart from the other spirits, except for the ax on his back. Wuuthrad, the ax of Ysgramor himself. Vara's eyes widened behind her mask as the hero continued to speak.

"Our door has stood empty since Alduin first set his soul-snare here. By Shor's command, we sheathed our blades and ventured not the vale's dark mist. But three await your word to loose their fury upon the perilous foe. Gormlaith the Fearless, glad-hearted in battle; Hakon the Valiant, heavy-handed warrior; Felldir the Old, far-seeing and grim." Ysgramor turned and pointed to a group of three spirits, and Vara recognized them from the vision she had seen on the Throat of the World. The ancient Tongues. Vara bowed to Ysgramor and thanked him before striding across the hall to the Tongues, who were deep in conversation when she arrived.

"At long last! Alduin's doom is now ours to seal!" the woman of the group, Gormlaith, exclaimed, turning to Vara as she approached. "Just speak the word and with high hearts, we'll hasten forth to smite the worm wherever he lurks."

The mage shook his head. "Hold, comrades - let us counsel take before battle is blindly joined. Alduin's mist is more than a snare - its shadowy gloom is his shield and cloak." Vara nodded, understanding coming to her. That explained why Alduin had laid the mist down in the first place. It was more than just a way to disorient the souls he fed upon, it was actually a form of protection as well. "But with four voices joined, our valor combined, we can blast the mist and bring him to battle."

Hakon nodded. "Felldir speaks wisdom - the World-Eater, coward, fears you, Dragonborn. We must drive away his mist, Shouting together, and then unsheathe our blades in desperate battle with our black-winged foe."

Gormlaith grinned, battle-lust evident in her face. "To battle, my friends! The fields will echo with the clamor of war, our wills undaunted," she declared, and raised her weapon to the air. Her companions mirrored her movements, and Vara joined them, her hand crackling with magic. Together, they ran to the doors of the Hall, throwing them open and charging across the bridge. Tsun stood aside, and Vara knew that the god would not be joining their battle.