I was ready to fight.

On only one knee, I was still poised and ready to jump when needed. My hand itching to thrust forward the blade when the dragon dared attack, yet the dragon remained calm. Despite the fearsome curved horns upon its head, and seemingly aggressive face, it did not appear as if it was going to attack.

"Here, away from the prying eyes of tahrodiis sonaak, the traitor," it finally spoke, the powerful neck turned to look over the mountain.

I watched its every move carefully, still unsure of the beast's motive. "Why have you brought me here, dovah?"

"Hi hind wah krif, Dovahkiin. Zu'u koraav nii ko miin. Him paar fah grah." The dragon turned its neck to look at me with bright, piercing eyes. "Nuz mu fen ni tinvaak ol hokoron hu, Bron."

"I cannot understand you, dragon."

"Hmm," a deep sort of grumble eliminated from its throat, "you claim to have the soul of a dovah, yet you cannot even tinvaak, converse as one."

"You mock me. But I know you refer to me as your enemy, beast."

It raised itself up higher, no longer eye level with me. It stood upon its hind legs, towering over me as if in a display of power.

"Should I not, Dovahkiin? You kriivah, slaughter us, and take our souls to create your own, twisted words. You cripple the viing of my zeymah, you tear us from the sky," its voice grew harsher, louder, booming from the peak of the mountain. "Zu'u laan wah ag hi kolos hi kriiist!"

This sudden change of demeanor put my nerves on edge. I found myself standing up, instinctively taking a step back, before returning in equal harshness. "Then why haven't you killed me yet, dovah?"

It stopped. In a moment of silence, it lowered itself down again before me, its gaze falling from my own. "Zu'u gruth dii zeymah ko trovit do nahkriin. Do you not understand?"

I shook my head, bewildered from anything the dragon had said in its tongue, or what it had meant by not attacking. I awaited answers, every action on this island bringing only more questions. I was lost, and to think now I was seeking answers from a dragon. It was almost amusing to think, to remember the past once again. Traveling for hours through harsh climates and terrain, finally to speak with the dragon atop the Throat of the World. There was a sudden tinge of guilt inside me, remembering the days Paarthurnax helped me learn the Words of a shout that he scorned. The very same shout I used to tear this dragon from the sky, this dragon that had only just saved my life. What would Paarthurnax think to see me now?

"You know of the tahrodiis sonaak, you know of Miraak."

The harsh name snapped me out of my thoughts, that name which haunted me ever since I stepped foot on Solstheim. The name that had no face, only a disembodied voice that followed me in the back of my mind.

"He is…" I hesitated for a moment, unsure if what Frea had last said was true. "He is like me?"

A growl, a grunt, it was hard to tell. The dragon shifted its head in a look of defiance. "To compare yourself to him… No, Dovahkiin. to him, you are nothing."

Perhaps this statement should have filled me with fear, a reminder of the dread that seemed to grow ever closer. But instead, I felt only anger. A deep frustration that built up inside, the frustration of not knowing what I was truly fighting.

"Nothing? He's Dragonborn, is he not? Which one of us was strong enough to travel to Skuldafn, to face the World Eater's armies alone, to destroy Alduin in the Immortal Plane?"

"You amuse me, Dovahkiin. I do not deny your power. The power of your Thu'um is why I bring you here, why I now tinvaak with you, why I did not kriivah, but rescue you in your broken state. You are correct, Miraak is Dovahkiin as you are."

I found myself shuddering. Perhaps it was just the cold from the wind, but I felt a chill run through my body, almost filling the air around us. So Frea had spoken truthfully, I was not alone in this era. I wasn't the only one with the "gifts" of the dragonborn, there was another out there like me, still alive, still waiting… I shook my head. What was I thinking? My mind was a frantic mess, I did not stop to think of what this could mean. I did not understand the other Dragonborn's power, what he was capable of.

"But you must learn, this Dovahkiin is not the same as you. Powerful, corrupt, ancient, his rotmulaag, his power has grown beyond yours."

I shifted my gaze out to the dark clouds beyond the mountains, not wanting to meet the dragon's eyes. "How is such a thing even possible? What more is there to learn?"

"I do not know, but I have seen it," it turned its head to join me in watching the skyline. "From the days of old, when the dovah still ruled over the mortals, there was a sonaak, a powerful priest in our order."

The dragon paused slightly, remembering an era long forgotten to the world.

"The sonaak had a voice as strong as the dovah. 'Sonaak do lot onikaan, aar do faal Diiv, ahrk hokoron do jul.' He was called the Servant of Wyrm."

"He was Dragonborn?" I asked, to which the dragon continued.

"Indeed. He used his power against us, against his dovah masters. Rotmulaag we had never learned, Words we would never dare speak. Your Words tear us from the skies, his Words command our actions. A strategem, a trick of the Deyra, Miraak had been taught how to bend our very wills to his wishes."

"That was Miraak? But when dragons ruled…" I turned towards the dragon to look for confirmation, "that was thousands of years ago!"

"So it was. And his power has only grown, even now-"

The dragon stopped mid sentence. Its head was tilted slightly, gaze still fixed to the sky.

"I fear we have little time, Dovahkiin."

I did not bother to ask why, I could feel it. Something was growing near.

"Then tell me why you've brought me here, why you're telling me any of this. I still don't understand, dovah."

The dragon looked back to me once more, its piercing yellow eyes I imagined to be burrowing into my thoughts.

"My name is Krifaarkah. Zu'u bo ko trovit do nahkriin, I search for vengeance."

Krifaarkah, the name seemed to resonate within me. I could feel the meaning of the name, I could feel the struggles of this dovah, yet there was still so much I could not piece together. The answers he had given only brought more questions. How could a Dragonborn that existed thousands of years ago be influencing the people of this island now? I remembered the Cultist saying something of Miraak's soul being trapped, yet nothing seemed to fit. There was a darkness growing from the back of my mind. Something terrible was going to happen on this island, something terrible was happening, and all of it surrounded the Dragonborn, his temple, his mysterious power…

I felt my gut twist in a moment of confusion, suddenly becoming aware of a more imminent danger approaching. Both our heads turned to look beyond the mountain where three pairs of eyes watched, nearing us quickly. Their Voices thundering from across the sky.

"Tahrodiis Krifaarkah!"

"Un Thur saraan!"

"Rok bel fin Dovahkiin!"

I found myself instinctively readying my sword. Though we were outnumbered, I could not help but act on the familiarity I felt from the days I thought were over. I would face the impossible, I would not fall without a sword in my hands.

"Kriist tum, Dovahkiin, we have a task, we will not fight today." Krifaarkah pushed himself forward, now between me and the approaching dragons.

"A task? What do you-" I didn't finish my question. The dragons were getting closer, I knew we were out of time.

"Geh, climb on my back. Quickly, we will fly."

I was taken aback by this. Indeed once before I had flown upon a dragon, I certainly did not expect to do so again. Without much room for hesitation, I grabbed hold of the bones that lined the dragon's spine, and hoisted myself atop his neck. His wings spread, and with a single, powerful beat, we were in the air. My body jerked back against the initial force of wind, if it weren't for my fingers desperately digging into to the jutting bumps along his spine, I would have surely met my end at the bottom of the rocky cliff below.

Krifaarkah's neck was stretched straight ahead, he paid little attention to the small figure clinging for dear life on top of him, only instead to dive down below the clouds as the sounds of roars grew closer from behind. I dared to glance back, and in the brief moments I turned my head, flames licked dangerously close to Krifaarkah's spaded tail, a blast of heat reaching my face. I jerked myself forward, ducking my head down besides his scales for some semblance of protection.

"Grah!" I could hardly hear Krifaarkah's roar as the wind filled my ears, but his message was clear enough as his neck seemed to grow tense under his scales, and his body squirmed in the air. He could only keep ahead of the attacking dragons for so long, and fighting back may have been the only answer.

"Level yourself!" I said in return, in an attempt to match his volume. Krifaarkah stretched out his wings, his body yanked upwards as if pulled by a sudden updraft. When I was no longer fighting against the wind, I was able to turn around once more and respond with a shout of my own.

"IIZ SLEN NUS!" The cold spewed from my words, colder than the freezing snow that stung my skin. It surrounded the nearest dragon, the words taking form as the blue ice that grew along the base of the dragon's wings. Its wings stiffened, its mouth gnashing open as if in an attempt to fight the ice, but its body only wobbled precariously. One wing dipped too low, pulled against the wind that dragged the whole beast beneath the clouds out of sight. That dragon was soon replaced however, by another who flew over his fallen brother without a second thought. Its grey eyes were trained only upon myself and Krifaarkah, unaffected by the cold of the shout.

"FO KRAH DIIN!" It responded in kind.

"Dive!"

I called to Krifaarkah nearly too late. As the blast of cold passed over me, small icicles formed along the exposed skin of my arms. I grit my teeth as I could feel myself go numb, forcing myself to hang on while I pressed my face against the scales of Krifaarkah's neck.

"I need to use Dragonrend," I lifted my face from the scales, "we have to face them."

"Motmahus, we will be exposed."

"I can't hang on much longer, it's the only way!"

Krifaarkah's wings beat down in a quick, yet powerful movement, pulling himself upwards into the sky. He tilted his wings in a diagonal motion, allowing himself to turn in an almost graceful movement. My eyes were dried against the sting of the wind, but I kept them forward despite it as both the two remaining dragons came into view. The wind slowed around me, the sting softening. The dragons drew close. Cold, seemingly lifeless eyes bearing in my direction. This was my one chance.

"Dreh!"

I tightened my grip, opening my mouth with the words at the edge of my tongue, ready to be released. If only I hadn't hesitated in that moment. Across the expanse of the snow and sky, a subtle glimmer atop the grey dragon was enough to draw my gaze away from my target. Whether they were eyes, or a trick of my mind, I couldn't tell, but it bore into me with an powerful intensity. The glimmer grew brighter, glowing like gold in firelight, it was all I could see, all I could focus on.

"Dovahkiin!" It was distant as an echo in a cave. Krifaarkah was no longer beneath me, it was only the sky, the fire, and at the center of it all, a golden mask unlike any I had ever seen. But yet, I could not shake the feeling that there was something familiar about it, like a bad dream I didn't want to remember. It was a trick, it had to have been, it faded in and out of Nirn as some ethereal figure, unnatural in the light of Magnus.

"Who are you?" I dared to ask, but it did not answer. Its metal appendages, spiraling outward, remained still. The slits in the eye sockets hid nothing more than a black abyss.

It spoke.

"GOL HAH DOV!"

Author's note:

My apologies, this has taken me way too long to finish. I'd like to thank you all so much for reading and for your reviews! I'll do my best to make sure the next chapter doesn't take quite as long to publish as this one did.