The wind was picking up, hurling snow in all directions. It was hard to tell if it was actually snowing or if it was just the snow being blown around. The cold white powder was now higher than the tops of my boots making my feet cold. My tail had been numb for a long time, and I did my best to ignore it.

Archer was alternately scouting ahead and coming back to check on Shay, Kharjo was being the rear guard, and I was making sure Shay didn't fall off of Shadowmere's back.

I had a large amount of knowledge on chaurus poison. I'll take a moment to tell you as much as I can about it. Chaurus poison is one of the most deadly poisons in all of Nirn, the chances of surviving it are almost zero. The people who have survived it are almost never the same. Sometimes they are stuck with a permanent limp, or their arm doesn't work the same, have lazy eye, are half blind, crazy, wary, or pretty much anything you can think of. Some things are good such as better vision and hearing, are faster, or are better fighters. There's much more but I won't bore you, you didn't come here for an alchemy lesson.

Shay shivered a couple of times, but I couldn't tell if it was the cold or the poison causing it. I admit I was worried about him. He had absolutely no reason to save me from the arrow. I'd been terrible to him, ran from him, and yes, I tried to kill him once. There was no reason, none, that he should have saved me.

I pulled my wool cloak out of my bag and put it on, wrapping the warm fabric around me. Shay started to stir. I looked around, trying to see Archer, but he was lost in the swirling snow. Kharjo was also too far back to see. I looked back up at Shay to see that his eyes were open slightly. He looked at me and smiled. It was tight and strained, and probably hurt a lot. I met his gaze a little nervously.

"Thank you," he said weakly.

"Shut up." He's going to kill himself if he doesn't be quiet, I said silently to myself.

"I'm-"

"Stop," I looked away. "I know what you're going to say, just... don't."

He sighed and there was a sound of rustling fabric. I looked back to see that he was leaning against Shadowmere's neck with his eyes closed. The tip of his sheath poked out from underneath the blanket. He was sleeping, or almost sleeping. Right then Archer appeared through the snow, just a light shape in an even lighter world.

"How is he?" Archer circled Shadowmere, looking up at Shay.

I hesitated, not knowing if I should tell him that Shay had woken up. "Not improving," I watched the snow whisk over the edge of the mountain and mix with the rest of the falling snow. "But he's not getting worse either. If only High Hrothgar were closer."

Archer nodded and looked up the mountain. "I hope it's not all the way at the top. If it is, Shay doesn't stand a chance."

I didn't want to think about what would happen if we didn't get to High Hrothgar within the next thirty hours. I looked up the mountain again and saw a large dark shape far ahead. "Archer! Look!" I pointed to the big shape.

Archer snapped his head in the direction I was pointing. "I'll go check it out." He dashed off, snow flying up from his boots. He was quickly lost in the whiteness.

I glanced back and was glad that I could see Kharjo again with his silver longsword in hand.

Archer came back with an excited look on his face. "We're almost there! Just over ten minutes."

"If it's ten minutes away how did you get there and back so fast?" I took Shadowmere's reins in my hand. I knew she would try to bolt when she saw High Hrothgar if I wasn't holding onto her.

Archer didn't answer my question as he fell into step beside to me. After a moment Kharjo joined us, sheathing his sword as we approached the walls and giant tower of the Greybeards' monastery.

Shadowmere whinnied and shook her head, almost making Shay fall off.

"Easy Shadow," I used my free hand to stroke her mane. "Calm down, you're going to make Shay fall off."

Shadowmere turned one red eye toward me and snorted nervously. I ignored the nervousness bubbling up inside of myself and looked up. The stairs stood right in front of us. I let go of Shadowmere's reins and gently lifted Shay off of her back. Her wild eyes looked right at me. I purred quietly and Shadowmere bolted away.

"Let's go before we all die of frostbite," Kharjo growled, shoving one door open.

A gust of warm air flooded out of the open door, creating a cloud of fog in our path. I did my best to not let Shay's feet hit the edge of the door. I don't think I succeeded.

The first room we entered was huge. Two sets of stairs led up about twelve feet in front of us. The floor was carved with a large diamond surrounded by square tiles. A fire was burning cheerfully in a shallow bowl to our right.

"Welcome," an old sounding voice said. I looked up and saw a man in dark gray robes, much longer than Archer's. He smiled warmly at the three of us. "I am glad to see a dragonborn in our halls once more."

"Do you have anywhere that our friend could hopefully heal?" I asked. I know it was rude, but I was tired. Vigilant leaning against my leg wasn't helping my mood.

The man smiled. At least I'm assuming he was smiling because his beard lifted up a little bit. "Of course Rapier. Right this way."

He led the way to the left and I followed. Kharjo stayed by the fire, but Archer followed me.

"You called Shay a friend," he whispered, a small smile forming on his face. "I thought you didn't like him."

I glared at him and tried not to think about the fact that he was right.