The trail's steps were wide thankfully, but encrusted as they were with ice, we still needed to be careful with our footing. Belethor was honest about his staves, no matter how expensive he priced them, they were keeping us warm as we climbed. There were a few wolves, but so far no trolls.
Another plinth appeared around the bend. I still didn't know how these were connected to my mysterious previous life, but I felt compelled to read each one. I crunched my way through the snow, and read it aloud.
"Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pitied mortalkind
Together they taught mortals to use the Voice
Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue"
'Kyne again...' I thought. I felt a strange sort of pride at seeing this "Paarthurnax" mentioned, as though of how I felt about a close friend, but even closer in bond than I felt about Lydia. 'So, he kept his word...'
I didn't even question why I would have a thought like that, I obviously had 'other' memories, of another life. What frustrated me now, was that I couldn't seem to bring them more closer to my conscious understanding. So much that I did not know about myself. Who I was, what I did before, but if my dreams, and these new revelations about my being dragonborn were part of those answers the Hist told me to seek, then I was a dragon. Even now, I still AM a dragon, but only wearing the shape of an argonian woman.
We seemed to have gone only a quarter of the way up the mountain, but the sun was already at its own peak in the sky. I wondered for another uncounted time, just how tall this mountain actually was, and continued crunching our way through the snow. My housecarl and I began to see a spot where the rock was broken down the middle, and the trail led through the cleft.
Although Lydia had assured me that no bandit would really be able to set up any ambush here, because all the Jarls would be enraged at the gall of someone violating the sanctity of their culture's Greybeards, and thus hunt down such a fool until they were either dead or to have escaped Skyrim never to return. But the rocky cleft still felt like a perfect spot to ambush someone in the cold. Whatever might be there, If not a bandit, would be a wild predator.
I told Lydia to be quiet, as I wanted to see if I could use my argonian breathing exercise as effectively in the cold as it was the swamps of Blackmarsh. If it worked, then I could track it down without alerting the animal, and then we could ambush it instead. The wind was blowing towards us out of the cleft, and so our scents weren't being carried to it. I took off my daedric helmet, and breathed the air deeply.
I could taste the pine, the stone, of a recently passed deer... and... blood. Something else foul too...
Troll.
I motioned with my hand, and Lydia walked over slowly.
"I smelled a troll." I whispered to her. "It's probably waiting just behind or above the rocks. One of us needs to keep it's attention focused on the trail, so that while its distracted, the other can let loose a volley of arrows towards the creature's side. I'm already wearing my powerful ebony armor with my daedric helmet, so I could distract it, but how are you with the bow?"
"Oh thank you my Th- er, Scarlet." She pulled out her hunting bow, it looked like a simple weapon made of yew and strung with... cured horse-gut maybe? "As a guardswoman, I was constantly practicing with my archery every day for a hour while off duty. I'm certain I could hit the beast, but trolls have thick hides, I don't think my steel arrows will be enough."
"Yes." I agreed, and pulled out a vial of one of my poisons. "Trolls are immune to most poisons, but this one, I rendered from troll fat that was purposely left in a glass jar and its openings covered over with canvas. I had left a whole slaughterfish in it too, so that the toxins from it mingled with the troll fat. Admittedly, I don't know how it works when other poisons like nightshade fail, but it does for trolls. Dip the tips in the holes of the vial, and then take a position to a side. I'll walk in, while you keep your arrows ready."
"Yes my Scarlet."
Proud as I was of Lydia, I concentrated on listening for what side he'd flank us, walking in. The rocky ledges were large enough on both sides to hide the troll behind either, but the one on the right had a big enough overhang that the troll could be up there without being seen. I started focusing on that side, and then just as I saw it, it saw me.
The animal roared and jumped down, I backed up. The beast charged, but as it left from the wall, an arrow flicked into it's arm. This prompted a howl of pain, and it turned to face her, but its movements already seemed slower. Lydia sent another flying into its head, the troll roared defiantly, but it was coughing on its own blood now. We both backed up, while the predator struggled against the effects of the poison.
As it collapsed, Lydia walked over.
"Are we going to collect anything from it? The Jarls will pay bounties for hides, and the Alchemists are always happy to buy their fat, eyes, or teeth."
"If not for the urgency I feel in seeking the Greybeards, I would. Maybe we can when we go back down. Come, let us resume our climb."