There has never been a day that I can recall that Ash has not been my shadow. From my earliest childhood, he handed me toys as he practiced weapons, clinging to his back as we galloped across the night. No matter the reason he was sent out, I was always with him, from Priory to Priory, the Priests and Knights my watchers, teachers, and friends.
I never thought twice about him handing me a wooden sword or teaching me to use a steel dagger, the small "horse bow", that progressed into a larger one. That is until I showed the beginning of magic. Then we were off again, this time to a Priory that had Knight Mages and Ash was my weapon's teacher, the Mages taught magic, but ever and always I was taught the ways of a Priestess.
Law and Morality, along with the Lore of all the Divines and Deadric Princes. Everything I did, everything everyone around me did, was a lesson, it got to the point where I rebelled just to rebel.
As I came into my woman's body, Ash tightened his watch on me to the point, that I was practicing spells of Invisibility and muffle, just to get away from him. I had to go and break my own heart and lose my virginity, I could not have stayed innocent forever, but Ash was there to hold me while I cried and threatened the young Lordling with horrible torture and death if he ever saw the young man around me again.
So when we got the order to come to Skyrim and start a Priory, Ash was with me and I was never so happy to have him. We chose the Priory near the town of Riverwood first, Whiterun Priory, named for the Hold and the river that ran through it.
The building had already been done and the Knight's in charge of that had already left when we got there. They would move on to the Next Priory, which would be near the town of Solitude. We would need some Chapter houses as well, some place for the Knights and Priests to overnight and minister to the people, though we are not a preachy lot.
Our Personal things had been brought and mine where in the only private room, Ash's on one of the beds. We talked it over and decided to get the lay of the land, wander about doing things for the locals, and get to know them and the Jarls.
We would also be making contacts with suppliers, the Priest would have a home garden, and the Knights would hunt, but there are some things that need purchasing.
Why the Headmaster had sent us here, I did not know, though I had the feeling that Ash had a good idea. Sometimes I wondered about the whole Order, as they treated me differently than any of the other Knight Priestesses.
Ash and I never stayed in one place too long, I had come to the conclusion a long time ago that trouble followed me around, why was the question.
Ash my keeper, watcher, friend, and the one man I knew I could count on at my back. He may have secrets about my past, but I knew he would have good reason for them. I did not have to like it, just live with it.
We had been in Riverwood for the better part of a week when Alvor asked us to go to Helgen, it seemed that no one had heard a word from anyone from the small fort town in a few days, but the smell of smoke and death was on the wind.
We put our armor on and geared up, potions and food because you never know what you are going to find. I tend to wear, for want of a better word, outfits that ticked Ash off. He had something of a prudish side, at least where I am concerned and the looks on his face...priceless.
But for real trouble, when I know we will find it, I wear something that the Order made up long ago for their mages. A segmented armor, lined with silk, that was light and durable. I preferred the short version, as tight as was comfortable, cause Ash.
I am a mage, and I use spells to augment my armor anyway, so if I choose to I can wear bits and pieces of armor, just enough to be modest and still have the rating of plate steel. But as Ash has pointed out, an arrow from the dark will hit before I can caste a spell. So, I make sure that I have respectable covering, I really do not want to have to ask Ash to pull an arrow out of my ass. I'm young enough, that IF I thought I could see the look on his face as he did so, I might put an arrow there myself.
More than you needed to know? I suppose, well, we got to Helgen early in the afternoon, but as we approached the fort, I felt a disturbance, like a huge shock wave. We heard a loud roar and I landed face-first in the snow, with Ash lying on top of me.
I squirmed to get out from under him, I wanted to see. Then I did, a huge black dragon, flying towards Riverwood. I felt my soul shudder in recognition of something kindred and I whimpered.
I looked at Ash, whose face had gone dead white, to match the hair on his head. He pulled me to him and laid my head on his chest. I was shaking and didn't know why, I had taken no hurt and surely I was not that afraid of a dragon?
I closed my eyes and tried to find my center and re-ground myself, I seemed to be adrift. I finally did and took a huger breath.
"Ash, who was that?" I knew it was a dragon, I'm not daft and I had read the Lore. I also knew there was something... something more. I felt him suck in a huge breath and then let it out. His chin resting on my head, arms wrapped around me so that I felt safe.
"Alduin, Akatosh's firstborn," He paused and I could feel the tension in his muscles. " One last bit of Lore has always been kept from you and that is the *why* of our Order. We are not just Priests or Knights, We are watchers for Akatosh. We watch for Alduin and we watch to see if *you* would be born."
"What do you mean, watched for *me* to be born?" I was not sure I wanted to know the answer.
" Tsurista, you've always known you were different, you are. You have the soul of a Dragon, you must, there is no other way to defeat Alduin, only one born of Dragon Blood stands a chance."
I wanted to get up and run, I felt a gut-wrenching twist in my stomach, his words finding a home in my heart.
"Akatosh sent you as the Balance to Alduin, we knew he was gone, Nord's long and long ago cast him out of Nirn with an Elder Scroll. Akatosh sent dreams to Priests to let them know, he was not gone for good, though most assumed he was."
He stood and looked down at me, his face hard to read, but then, it always was. He put out his hand and asked if I was ready to face my destiny. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself to my feet.
"Destiny Hell... We are going to go see if anyone is still alive and then I am going to get rip-roaring drunk...and stay that way for a week.. Destiny can kiss my ass for a little while."
Yeah ok, so thumbing my nose at the Fate's probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but to Oblivion with them all. I am only 20 and I want to have some fun.
You do know the Fate's have a wicked sense of humor...right?
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