- 16th of Evening Star, 4E 202 -
It is finished.
I found my way through a thick mist to the Hall of Valor in Sovngarde. I was greeted by a heroic nord named Tsun, who is the shield-thane of Shor, and who guards the bridge to the Hall of Valor. As I was not yet dead and hadn't proven myself in life, I was not allowed to pass unless I could defeat Tsun.
He was formidable, and before I knew it he had bested me ... killed me. But I was alive in Sovngarde, and the workings of this are entirely unpredictable and beyond my meager comprehension. So instead of remaining dead and finding a permanent home in Sovngarde, I simply .. well .. reappeared in living form.
So I had a second chance to prove myself, and this time I made use of a powerful paralyze potion I had been hanging onto. The poisoned end of my mace sent Tsun to the ground and I beat upon him like a drum, and as the poison wore off he conceded the battle to me. And I was allowed to pass and enter the Hall of Valor.
The first face I met inside was none other than Ysgramor. Ysgramor .. right before my eyes. I couldn't speak. Luckily he did, and directed me to a trio of heroes that were waiting for me. We were to confront Alduin together, right there in Sovngarde. And thus no sooner had I laid eyes on the Hall of Valor than I had left it. I wanted to stay and take it all in, but someone such as myself doesn't belong in that place yet. So out of respect, I left .. and headed to the task at hand. Alduin.
After crossing the bridge we confronted Alduin's mist. Our voices drove it away, and Alduin's drove it back. So we drove it away again, but again the ancient dragon created his evil mist. The third time we drove it away for good, and without the mist to hide in Alduin made his appearance above us.
I wasted no time in attacking. This was sure to be a trying battle, and there was no sense in posturing and drawing it out. My voice assaulted the dragon with the powerful dragonrend shout, and thus forced him to the ground where we could better handle him.
Over and again this was the case. I would use my voice to bind the dragon to the ground, and the others would attack him with me once he was at our feet. The battle raged for a time I can't fathom. It could have been an hour or a week. Time was irrelevant. Fate was on the line, and that was all that mattered.
We struck at Alduin with the force of a legion, and he struck back the same. But in time he weakened, and in time we defeated him. His body burst forth with his power and exploded with light and sound, blinding and deafening me for a time. And then he was gone, and it was over.
And now I sit on a bed in Ivarstead, having just come down the steps from the Throat of the World. My mind cannot comprehend that Alduin is gone. I'm realizing now that there was a part of me, perhaps most of me, that thought this day would never come. That Alduin would prevail and Tamriel itself would fall to a knee in front of him. After all, my father was a shopkeeper and I was trained in the arts of fishing and sweeping floors. How could this have been my destiny all along? It is numbing to comprehend it.
But is it really over? On the way down to Ivarstead an elder dragon appeared, and attacked. I called on Odahviing for help, and together we defeated it. But it served as a reminder that not all of the dragons will live in peace with us. Alduin may be dead, but there are others who seek to take his place.
What is next for me I don't know. Other than a warm meal and a bed. After that, we shall see.