THE FARAWAY LANDS OF OZ - Book One

Part Four, Chapter Twenty-Two: Alduin - Eater of Worlds

Based on the Elder's Scrolls© game-series by Bethesda Inc.©

EVANORA

As the Greybeards had predicted, both Tullius and Ulfric had been willing to meet at High Hrothgar once the old men were mentioned. That was why Almar, and I were now preparing a room for the meeting, discussing the situation and getting to know each other a little more privately.
"So, you're telling me that the only reason you're here is because you and your sisters had the same nightmare and you decided to awaken the most dangerous witch of your history who then killed your father?" He threw me a reassuring glance and I nodded upon the question, "You married then and were taken away by some fairy who brought you into a city full of Vampires which were thought to be bad but then ended up good? Transported into the 'old west' – whatever that is – where some maniac killed your son and you hunted him down but were frozen in some egg?"
I had to chuckle a little from the thought but I reassured him nonetheless. "Then, you were saved by a stranger and reunited with your family only to kill said maniac twelve-hundred years in the future? Damn, lady, your past years have been more exciting than my entire life!"
Now that I was hearing it out loud, these few years – if you count our stay in Cattle Valley – have in fact been totally crazy. My only desire now was to return home, hug my sisters and mom and have a proper farewell ceremony for Noa.
I had spent the last half an hour telling Almar how I had come here since he wouldn't stop asking. I was almost four-hundred years old and I had never had any adventures like this before. Except the 1913 crisis but that was a story for another time.
"I'd rather live a peaceful life though, Almar. So much tragedy has come from all these adventures and only because I was dumb enough to believe in the good of the vilest witch in history. It's all my fault... This was the event that pushed the rock over the hill."
He moved closer to me and placed an arm around me. The weight of his firm muscles was more than comforting but still too sudden and unexpected for me to appreciate; it was supposed to give me a sense of protection, but I rather felt uneasy.
"Don't blame yourself for things that you have no power over. Else, we would have to blame ourselves for every single tragedy that happens in our lives. Don't forget about the past but don't let it consume you. Embrace it and let it guide you through your future."
Almar was so... understanding? I had no better words to describe his wisdom and the sense of comfort that he was radiating. I pushed him off me though, crossing the room and pretending to be otherwise busy. I thanked him with a pretended smile.
But he was right – despite me not believing in those wise words right now – and that was what father used to say too. The past is the past and it is beyond our power to change. It's the future that we have to work on.
"This means a lot," I decided to melt away the awkwardness, "But enough about me. What is your story? I have the feeling that you are quite battle-hardened, yeah?"
He showed his teeth as well in some way that was supposed to look like a smile before he moved back to finish preparing the last couple of chairs for the meeting himself. "I am. I was a soldier of Black Marsh before I decided to travel the world. I arrived here, being immediately confronted by the Dawnguard and asked for help. They wanted to look into an old crypt where I found a young Vampire girl that I saved from their and her family's clutches. I returned her home, resolved a family drama of centuries and used her Elder's Scroll to get them to safety."
He had an Elder's Scroll? Now, my chances to get one for myself decreased immensely. There are only two left in this entire realm and by the Virtues, who knows where they are. But I decided to keep quiet at first.
"Tough to get such a pleasant welcoming then," I only replied and thought about how they had captured him just like that. The Empire should feel embarrassed about themselves; I most certainly did. But I was not sure whether to put my allegiance to the Empire anymore. Almar laughed.
"Certainly! But we were trained in case something like that happens. Fifteen years of service come with their benefits. Almost as long as my grandfather had been in the army. It was him to motivate me to become a soldier myself; to step into his large footsteps." Almar's voice was beginning to tremble a little and it was I who had to pat his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him now.
"He must mean a lot to you?"
As his head rocked back and forward in agreement, his sorrow filled the silence that now lay between us. "He did... And ever since he died, I feel more obliged to fulfil my destiny."
And now his destiny was to become the conqueror of Alduin and live up to the role of Dragonborn. We have now finally prepared the room for the meeting to take place. It was dark and grey just like the rest of the castle. Only a couple of torches tinted the grey room in orange light.
A donut-shaped table occupied most of the room and a heavy stone chair for Tullius, Elenwen and me, Ulfric and Almar and for the Greybeards in addition to the Blades who have vowed to protect the Dragonborn and would keep his company.
Arngeir entered the room and announced that the members had begun arriving. Almar and I left for the entrance to greet our guest and both to pay our respect to each side. The moment I saw Ulfric and Tullius walk the stairs up together, I was immediately able to see the tension between the two leaders.
If looks could kill, the two of them would be able to commit genocide. Elenwen strolled behind them, visually elated because of her colleagues' behavior.
"Glad you could make it general. Ulfric." Almar and I bowed to the leaders who only dismissed us with a scoff and hurried inside where they could warm their frozen bones. No matter their differences, Tullius and Ulfric were more similar than both of them would admit. Both were determined to fight what they thought was right and both of them were as stubborn as the other.
"I hope you had safe travels, Elenwen. This meeting means so much to us; you cannot imagine how glad I am to receive you here. This gives me hope of saving the continent."
We bowed towards each other again, only this time with a big smile on our faces.
"Without any complications, thanks to a little something called magic. I realized the imminence of the threat immediately and warned Tullius not to dare disagree. And- Say, don't we know each other mister Argonian?"
Elenwen's kind eyes tightened to snake-like slits that up-and-downed Almar with a venomous expression. "You are the one who broke into the embassy, aren't you? Stole our records? If this wasn't a protected meeting, you would pay for-"
"He was there on my orders, Elenwen," A strong female voice from behind us thundered through the snow-covered mountain. The echo enforced her aging but loud voice, making it appear more intimidating than it might have been in the valley.
Elenwen darted around, as I gave Almar a quick look before focusing my attention on our two other remaining guests. "Delphine and Esbern, I should have known... Thought that the Thalmor were behind the dragons? You were never one to trust easily. That's how you got my brother killed. You can be glad that the Greybeards' protection forbids me to harm you..."
It might have been the fact that Elenwen's brother had died by her hand or just first impressions, but I disliked Delphine, the second I laid eyes upon her. A samurai-like armor was covering a dark-blue and white tunic beneath.
Her skin looked sick and grey with her ash-blonde hair and bright blue eyes that could have been glowing from outside her deep eye-sockets. She may have been pretty someday but now, she looked worn-out and ill.
The same things made Esbern appear like a walking corpse. He was much older than her with flaps of skin hanging from his face, almost as white as the snow. His grey hair was growing from about the middle of his head, the scalp being entirely bald. Heavy tear sacks made his pale grey eyes droopy and his eye-sockets deeper than they may have been.
"You must be the Blade protectors of the Dragonborn? Glad to have you here!"
Delphine was eyeing me in a similar way to Elenwen eyeing Almar. As if she recognized me. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
The people here were quite straightforward, I noticed. Not even a proper greeting; they moved straight to business. "I wouldn't know, it's my first time here."
She lost her serious expression and shrugged with her shoulders, "I'm probably mixing someone up; I'm very bad with faces."
I offered her one of my polite smiles to shake her off faster. The sooner we were done with the truce talk, the sooner we could take care of our dragon problem.
"Probably. Would you come in, now? It is still quite cold, and you look frostbit."
They all agreed and passed me into the warmth of the castle. As we closed the door, I leaned forward to be as close towards Almar's ear as possible.
"Quite the adventures you are having," I whispered, "And such pleasant companions."
He snickered quietly in reply and I followed him into the meeting room without another word, where everyone had and was taking their designated seat. Ulfric, Almar and the Blades on one, Tullius, Elenwen and me on the other side. The Greybeards were seated between us; the neutral side. It was them who were leading the meeting.
After a couple more minutes of chaotic voices and Smalltalk, merely the presence of the Greybeards caused silence. "Thank you for gathering here today for the important matter to discuss," All of them began talking simultaneously again, appearing very mysterious and powerful. I could see that everyone had a lot of respect for them. Either it was Nord culture or they were secretly extremely powerful but didn't show.
"Yet before we continue, we have to hear an agreement to a temporary truce – only until Alduin is dealt with – between Empire and Stormcloaks from every member present. Only then will we commence this meeting."
The conditions were met with another round of murmur but this time, I kept my mouth shut. I looked over at Almar who was doing the same. Another couple of minutes passed before the room went silent once more. Tullius began talking, "I agree to a truce."
Elenwen continued, "I agree too."
Ulfric, "I agree to a truce as well."
The Greybeards nodded and bowed shortly, "Then, we shall continue with the meeting: A dragon is wreaking havoc in the province; probably thinking about expanding its field of operation. The Dragonborn and Imperial Consultant have decided that it is time to work against the threat and defeat the dragon once and for all."
And yet another phase of murmuring that, over time, grew louder and transformed into accusation towards mine and Almar's mental sanity from the other side. People stood up and began shouting and cursing at each other. I tried to get between them but was soon cursed at personally.
Involuntarily, I joined the heated discussion. With peripheral view I could only see Almar stand up and move to a corner, from where he observed all of us. The Greybeards didn't even lift a finger in doing anything against the chaos that was slowly breaking out.