Layla tossed the bag of coin in her hand up and down as she and Blake walked down the beaten path towards Whiterun. Both moons hung in the air over them as they walked. They had returned to Riverwood trader just as it was closing for the night. Luncan had kept the place open just a bit longer for them since they had been able to bring back his Golden Claw. He gave them six hundred gold coins for their troubles and allowed them to sell the gear that they found in the ruins for pretty good prices. Well, Layla did anyway. Blake had been trying to avoid the kisses that Camilla was trying to plant on Blake's cheek. She had been able to get on his cheek while he was paying attention to Lucan. Layla had to fight the urge to shoot Camilla in the head as Diane's words played in her head over and over again.
They got around fourteen hundred gold pieces for the equipment they sold to Lucan plus what he had given them for the claw they retrieved. They kept the precious stones with them for emergencies and split the profits so that each had a thousand gold pieces. She hummed happily as she walked, Blake watching her from the corner of his eye. She noticed that he had been doing that a lot recently. They reached the gates of Whiterun only to be stopped by one of the guards by the gate.
"Halt. The city is closed on account of the dragon attack. I'm afraid you're going to have to turn back and go back to wherever you came from." The guard said.
Layla heard Blake snort in amusement. "Funny. We just came from Helgen and that is where the dragon attacked." Blake said and crossed his arms over his chest.
The guard looked between them frantically. "I-I-I had no idea there were survivors. We just saw the plumes of smoke coming from Helgen and then the dragon that went flying over the mountains. The Jarl will want to speak to you but it'll have to wait till morning. He hates being woken up. The Bannered Mare will have rooms for you to rent. I'll have one of the guards inform the Jarl in the morning." The guard said as he unlocked the gate for Blake and Layla.
They were both ushered through and walked down the quiet streets of Whiterun. They reached the steps leading up to the tower when the door burst opened and a woman with brown hair stormed out of the tavern followed by a young bard chasing after her. "Come now Carlotta! You can't deny the love we have for each other forever!" He cried as she stormed away.
"I keep telling you to leave me alone, Mikael!" The woman known as Carlotta yelled causing Mikael to grow angry.
"You have denied be long enough!" He yelled and attempted to grab her shoulder when a hand gripped his wrist. Blake stood there with a calm expression but his eyes showed that he was annoyed. "What do you want? Can't you see this is a private matter?" Mikael attempted to pull his arm out of Blake's grip but failed. "A real man needs to tame a beast and the beast I'm trying to tame is this woman here." Mikael growled.
By now, everyone in the tavern was looking out the door and watching the argument go on. Blake finally lost his nerve when he attempted to push Layla out of the way, who was standing in front of the woman. Blake effortlessly snapped the bard's arm causing him to scream out in pain before Blake threw him into the wall of the Bannered Mare.
Mikael sat against the wall cradling his broken arm as tears spilled down his face. Blake kneeled down in front of the man with a scowl. He grabbed the front of the bard's shirt and brought his face close to his, "A woman is not some beast you 'conquer'. A woman is a person who deserves respect, deserves love, and deserves the attention that she is supposed to have. You leave this woman alone or I will make that broken arm of yours a joke compared to what I do next." Blake said as let go of the man's shirt as a guard walked up with his hand on his sword.
"Is there trouble here?" The guard asked nervously as he gazed into the red eyes of Blake.
"No everything is fine. He actually kept the bard that was harassing me from doing anything else." Carlotta said as she stepped towards the guard.
The guard looked at her for a few seconds before looking back at Blake who was glaring at the whimpering Mikael. "Alright fine. I'll let this go just once but I will be keeping my eye on you." He said as he looked at Blake. Before returning to his patrols.
Layla stepped up to Blake with a neutral expression before reeling back and punching Blake in the face with all her might not that it did much to affect him. "YOU IDIOT!" She screamed as Carlotta went back inside and Mikael slinked off somewhere to lick his wounds. "What possessed you to break his arm?!"
"You heard what he said. Skyrim has enough assholes already. I did this place a favor by teaching one a lesson." Blake shrugged nonchalantly before walking inside.
Layla stood out there thinking about what Blake had said. 'He sounded so… Gentleman like despite the violence he showed. Did he really mean what he said?' She walked into the tavern and immediately ducked as a chair smashed into the wall behind her. She saw a woman dressed in steel plated armor fighting a man much bigger than her, wearing an iron helmet and iron armor. Layla spotted Blake talking to a woman at the counter. She looked slightly aged and tired but otherwise in good health.
"Sorry. I've only got one room left and it's only a single bed. Not much else I can do." The woman said causing Blake to sigh.
"Fine. I'll take it." He said as he passed some gold to the woman and turned around to see Layla standing there with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"We have to share a room?" Layla asked causing Blake to sigh.
"If it makes you feel more comfortable, I'll sleep outside the room door." Blake said causing Layla to frown.
"No." Layla simply said as she grabbed Blake's hand and dragged him up the stairs towards their room. "I'm not letting you sleep somewhere uncomfortable." Layla blushed slightly as she realized what she was doing. 'Too late to change my mind. I'll just have to deal with it.'
Blake was confused about why his companion was acting so strange. 'Is she sick? Was there something in those ruins that affected her?' He thought as he tried to analyze the situation.
Layla dragged Blake into the room and they both stood in the center, an awkwardness hanging between them. It lingered like that for a few moments until Blake turned his back causing Layla to frown and become confused. "What are you doing?" She asked uncertain.
"Uh… Letting you get ready? I'm not going to stare at you and watch you change like some kind of pervert." Blake replied as he kept his back to Layla. "Now hurry up. I'm tired and I want to get some sleep."
Layla quickly got changed into a pair of black long pants and a loose shirt. She then tossed her somewhat torn leather gear to the side. "Ok you can turn around now." She said as she noted that at some point while she had been changing, Blake had taken off his vest and tossed it to the side. She gasped at the countless scars that seemed to cover his body.
As Blake was about to turn around, he felt a slender pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind and a forehead pressed to his back. "Layla?" He asked but the only answer he received were the tears running down Layla's cheeks and rolling onto his back. "Layla…" He turned around and wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back.
"I don't know why… But I hate seeing all those scars across your body. It pains me to think of all the times you were hurt." She sobbed causing Blake to hug her tighter.
"Don't worry about the scars. They helped me to find who I am and what I was meant to do." He said with a smile. "Now come on. Let's get some sleep. We have a meeting with the Jarl in the morning." They both lay in the bed as the awkwardness was once again gone. During the night, Layla had wrapped her arms around Blake's waist and rested her head on his chest. Blake's arm had snaked its way around Layla's slender waist.
Scene Break
Layla and Blake stood inside Dragonsreach, the place where the Jarl of Whiterun resided, at the entrance awaiting their meeting with the Jarl. They had awoken to find themselves holding onto each other. Layla blamed him of trying to seduce her with his large muscles around her. Blake had denied this and claimed that she was the one who was clinging to him in the first place. In the end, they both decided not to mention this to anyone ever.
Blake was leaning against one of the pillars yawning into his hand as he waited for someone to come and get them. He just wanted to get this done and over with so he could get a drink and relax. Maybe go to the forge he saw earlier and see if he would be allowed to use it. He glanced over at Layla who was staring at her reflection in the Dwarven Dagger he had given her, trying to fix her hair for a meeting with the Jarl. Blake sighed. 'She needs to calm down. She getting too stressed for something like this.' Blake closed his eyes for a few moments, only opening them when an old woman approached them.
"Jarl Balgruuf will meet with you now." The old woman said before leaving them to attend to her other duties. Blake and Layla made their way up the stairs towards the throne where a man with blonde hair wearing nobles clothing, was sitting there thinking.
"My lord. The two people who wished to meet with you are here." A balding man to the Jarl's right said causing the Jarl to look up at the two approaching people.
"Ah. Thank you Proventus." Balgruuf said as he turned his gaze to Blake and Layla. "My guard has already told me why you're here. You're survivors from Helgen. My guards spotted the smoke and the dragon from their vantage points. I was unsure if anybody had actually escaped the destruction but now I know at least some people were able to survive."
Blake stepped forward and bowed to the Jarl. "Jarl Balgruuf, Riverwood is in need of soldiers in case that dragon decides to come back and turn Riverwood into ash." Blake said as he stood up straight.
Balgruuf consider this for a minute before looking at his housecarl, a dark elf named Irileth, "Send a detachment to Riverwood. They are to defend the town and evacuate the inhabitants if need be." Balgruuf said as Irileth left to get some guards ready to move out. "I thank you both but I know neither of your names."
Blake nudged Layla forward causing her to glare at Blake which made him smirk. She turned back to the Jarl. "I am Layla Embers. It is a pleasure to meet you Jarl Balgruuf." She said as she did a quick bow.
"Now there's no need for all this formal stuff. I may be Jarl but I do not care as much for such things like the other Jarls do." He said with a chuckle and then looked at Blake. "And your name?"
"Blake Darkstride." Blake said, giving the Jarl a wave. "Pleasure to meet you."
"A Darkstride? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I had heard they were wiped out." He watched as Blake flinched and looked at the ground making him feel sorry for the man. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. My condolences to your fallen family. May the divines grant them a peaceful afterlife." Balgruuf said with a sincerity in his voice.
"Thank you." Blake said with a nod. Balgruuf then looked to Layla who had a look of sadness on her face as she gazed at Blake.
"I would like you two to assist my court wizard. He's been looking into this dragon sighting with someone and he needs something retrieved." Balgruuf said as he stood up and led them to a room with a hooded Nord leaning over a bunch of documents. "This is Farengar. My court wizard."
Farengar looked up at Blake and Layla. "Are these people here to help me with my research?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "They look a cut above the normal mercenaries you send me my Jarl." Farengar said as he looked at Balgruuf.
"They survived Helgen. They have more experience with dragons than either of us." Balgruuf said as he waved his hand at the two. "I'll leave you three to discuss the details. I have some matters that require my attention." Balgruuf said as he walked back to the main hall to meet with more citizens.
Farengar turned to the two in front of him. "I need to to go to Bleak Falls Barrow to retrieve…" Farengar started but stopped when the stone tablet that Blake had picked up was thrown onto the table. He looked up at Blake who was trying so hard not to smirk.
"We were there yesterday to retrieve something for owner of Riverwood trader. We decided to keep going through the ruins to see what was down there." Layla explained making Farengar pick up the tablet and examine it.
"I see… Well thank you. I'll be able to continue my research into the dragons coming back." Farengar stated as he started examining the tablet.
"Farengar!" Irileth came running into the mage's workroom out of breath. "A dragon has been sighted at the western watchtower! Come quick!" Irileth turned to Blake and Layla. "You two come as well. We need every fighter we can get to bring the dragon down." She said before she left with Farengar in tow.
They both looked at each other. "It's going to be that kinda day isn't it?" Blake said with a deadpan expression.
Layla giggled and bolted out of the room leaving behind an annoyed Blake who ran after her. They came to a guard explaining the situation. "It was just circling around the tower. I ran back here as fast as I could to get word here. I don't know if the dragon is still there or not but…" He trailed off as Balgruuf put a hand on the man's shoulder.
"You did good son. Go get some rest. We'll take care of this problem." The soldier nodded and walked off. Balgruuf turned to the four people in front of him. "Take this dragon out before it comes here to Whiterun. We must kill it before it harms anybody."
"I want to come too. It would be great to…" He was cut off when Irileth shot him a glare.
"No. You stay here. You will just end up getting in the way." Irileth said as she turned to Blake and Layla. "I need you two with me. You know what a dragon is capable of. Now let's go!" She commanded.
Layla looked to Blake and noticed his facial expression was the exact same as when he was trying to distract the dragon at Helgen. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a light squeeze. "We can do it Blake. Don't worry." She said with a smile and followed Irileth who was commanding a few guards to follow her. Blake trailed behind them as he adjusted his armor straps. Layla stopped at the forge and picked up some more steel arrows for the fight. If she was going up against a dragon, she would need as many as she could get. Blake purchase eight steel daggers and strap four of them to his right leg and four to his left leg. "What are you planning to do with those?" Layla asked as she readied her arrows.
"You'll see." Blake said as they headed out with Irileth and five whiterun guards who all looked nervous. They ran along the path as quickly as they could. They saw a massive green dragon breathing fire at the tower. "Layla grab his attention!" Blake yelled.
Layla fired an arrow at the dragon and it hit the dragon's side. The dragon noticed the large group and focused its attention on them. "MOVE!" Layla yelled and pushed Irileth out of the way as the dragon let out a stream of fire which everybody was able to clear except for a guard who was too slow and burned in the fire.
Blake ran up to the tower and started climbing its spiral staircase to the top. Layla appeared behind him as they both watched the dragon circle around them, getting ready to attack again. "Got any ideas on how to bring it down?" Layla asked.
Blake's response was to pull out one of his steel daggers which confused Layla. She watched as a dark energy seemed to surround the dagger which covered the entire dagger as the seconds passed. Blake kept his eyes on the dragon and soon enough the dagger in his hand was no longer visible. He threw the dagger at the dragon's predicted path and the black energy that surrounded the dagger started to expand and take form until a spear of darkness took the place of the dagger. The strange magic pierced the dragon's wing causing the dragon to fall to the ground. The dragon crashed into the dirt, leaving behind a large trench in the ground. The spear of darkness dissipated and the dagger fell to the ground. "That is what I was doing." Blake said with a smirk as he jumped off the tower as the dragon struggled to get up.
Layla stood there shocked for a few seconds before she shook her head and started firing arrows at the dragon like the guards and Irileth were doing. Blake, however, had jumped onto the massive lizard's back and was stabbing his sword where vital organs may have been while also taking the daggers strapped to his legs and turning them into spears of dark energy
"Nid! Zu'u vis ni kos viik!" The dragon roared before slumping onto the ground, with blood pooling from its mouth and the various arrows and stab wounds in its back. Everybody gathered around the dead dragon to stare at the fact that they actually killed it. The spears of darkness remained in the dragon.
Layla approached the dead dragon and something in her just… Compelled her to touch the dragon. So Layla made her way past everybody gathered around the dragon and placed her hands on the dragon's snout. The Layla's body started glowing bright orange as the skin, scales, and organs began to burn away. Layla tilted her head back as blue, orange, and white lights began to surround her. Her hair was flowing from the power that was surrounding her.
"Everybody get back! Something's happening to the girl!" Irileth cried as all the soldiers began to fall back except for Blake who stood there mesmerized by Layla. To him she looked like a goddess in the light.
"Vopraan Dovahkiin. Nii los nu hin heyv wah sav daar lein." Words echoed inside of Layla's head as her body absorbed whatever was coming off the dragon. The lights faded away as the dragon's body became clear of everything except for the bones underneath. Layla felt herself grow weak and began falling back only for a pair of strong arms to catch her and lay her gently on the ground.
Layla looked up to see a pair of crimson eyes filled with worry staring at her. She opened her mouth to say she was fine but instead of the intended words, she said something else. "Fus." She said weakly. A blue wall of energy slammed into Blake and sent him flying back slightly. Blake landed on his back
All the Whiterun guards and Irileth looked between Blake and Layla, all with a look of either shock or awe.
Blake sat up dazed and confused on what had just happened as he stared at Layla who was staring just as confused. "What… The… Fuck?" Blake asked to no one. Blake fully got up and went over to help Layla sit up so he could check her for any injuries.
Meanwhile, one of the Whiterun guards ran over to both of them. "You're Dragonborn!" The guard shouted with excitement in his voice. "You did what the stories of the Dragonborn could do! You absorbed the dragon's soul and used a shout!" Layla stared blankly at the man as he kept on questioning her.
"Enough!" Irileth snapped at the guard who instantly stopped talking. "We killed a dragon. That's enough for me." She looked at the two sitting on the ground. "We can talk about what you both did later on. For now you need to tell Balgruuf what happened here." Irileth walked off shouting out orders to her men to get the place fixed up.
Blake looked at Layla who was looking at her hands. "Layla? You ok?"
"Mirmulnir…"Layla muttered as she clenched her fingers. "His name was Mirmulnir…"She said as she looked up at Blake with a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"How do you…"
Layla silenced him with a bone crushing hug. "A-Am I really the Dragonborn like they say?"
"I know someone who can help us out… She'll know if you are or aren't." He said as he helped her stand up.
"Who could possibly know if I'm the Dragonborn or not?" Layla narrowed her eyes at Blake as they began walking back to Whiterun.
"My mother who raised me since I was six years old." Blake said as he stared at the road ahead. "And she will not be happy with me when we get there."
Scene Break
After getting back to Whiterun and feeling the entire town rumble as the Greybeards, that was who Jarl Balgruuf said caused the rumbling, were calling for the 'Dragonborn' to come to High Hrothgar, a temple located at the Throat of the World. After that had been explained, Jarl Balgruuf had named Layla Thane of Whiterun. He had offered Blake the same title but Blake declined saying that being the last Darkstride meant that he had other duties. Afterwhich they met Lydia, who was Layla's housecarl like Irileth was to Balgruuf. Lydia would be accompanying them in their travels.
They were currently walking along the road that led to Riverwood. Lydia and Layla were chatting away happily while Blake led the way. Lydia wore steel armor with a steel sword attached to her hip and a steel shield strapped to her back. Layla wore a new set of leather armor that was enchanted with fire and frost resistance. The fire enchantment was in case dragons decided to attack them. The frost was for where they were going. They had to travel Southeast of Helgen to reach the Darkstride land where Blake's mother lived. Blake had opted for a dark grey cloak to wear over his shoulders.
On the outside, Blake was calm and had a bored look on his face. On the inside, he was freaking out. 'I'm going to die. No… She's going to bring me close to death, let me heal, beat me within an inch of my life, and the process will go on and on.' Blake thought to himself. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Layla waved her hand in front of his face. "Huh? What?"
"I asked about what you did with the dragon. I'm talking about when you threw those daggers and they became spears of darkness. That's not a spell I've ever heard of." Layla said as she walked next to him.
Lydia walked next to Layla. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't interested as well. She heard a couple of guards talking about Blake's ability to throw darkness at a dragon.
"Remember how I told you about the deal my ancestor made with Clavicus Vile?" Blake asked Layla who thought for a second before nodding. "I only mentioned this briefly before. I said how he was able to manipulate and control darkness. What I didn't tell you is that we can use darkness for a lot but it takes magic reserves just like a normal spell would. Only these spells take much more magicka than normal spells and it's a lot harder for us to learn or use spells without years of practice." Blake explained as darkness danced over his fingers to demonstrate his control. "See?"
"That's impressive. I had heard the tales of the Darkstrides having some sort of magic unique to them but I never believed it." Lydia said as she watched the darkness settle in the palm of Blake's hand. "Maybe that means you're more useful than a meatshield." Lydia said with a smirk causing Blake to scowl and glare at Lydia.
"Oh I'm a meatshield?! At least I don't walk around wearing armor heavier than I am!" Blake shot back.
The bickering between the two went on for awhile as they walked. Layla was laughing the whole way. At one point they had to stop because Layla was laughing so hard she was on her knees clutching her stomach as tears poured down her face. The trio continued on their journey with Layla now adding to the friendly insults as they traveled. They passed through Riverwood and found that Haming had wanted to stay with Gerdur and Hod seeing as how they treated him better than his parents had before. Blake and Layla had been glad that he found a new family to be around and they went on their way. But not before Camilla had tried to get Blake to stay with her that night.
After their stop in Riverwood, they had managed to make it to the ruins of Helgen and kill off the bandits that now inhabited the place. They stayed the night in the barracks, taking shifts on watch to make sure no bandits came back to attack them. They took what gold and valuable loot they could in the morning. They traveled a good part of the morning until they came to a path carved into the rocks with an image of a sword giving off some kind of power carved into the rocks.
"Here we are." Blake said as they stood at the entrance. "The path that leads to my home."He tightened the cloak around around himself before looking back to see Layla tracing her fingers into the carving on the rock and Lydia trying to warm her arms up. "Awwwww… Is the big Horker getting cold?" Blake smirked.
Lydia was about to retort when Blake's extra cloak fell over her head and the cloak Blake had been wearing was draped over Layla's shoulders. "Huh?" Both women said at the same time as they watched Blake head through the opening.
"It's going to get colder once we get there. You two are used to the cold like I am so it's better that you two have those." Blake continued walking down the path as both women put on the cloaks before running after him.
After another hour of walking, they came to an expanse of land large enough to hold two separate armies or become a place where dragons could live peacefully without the fear of being attacked. "By the divines…" Lydia got out as they stared at the land. The land was boxed in from all sides by mountains as tall as the Throat of the world but there were ice storms that constantly blew across the peaks, making it impossible for the mountains to be climbed over.
"This place is like a natural fortress…" Layla said as she noticed the expanse of trees that seemed to be teeming with life.
"C'mon… We still have a ways to go before we get to where we're going." Blake said as he let the other two through the forest and down a winding path. Soon enough, they came to a deserted village. The buildings looked to be decaying but some of the damage done to the buildings looked like some kind of beast had torn through the village but the damage didn't look like werewolves or any kind of best that was known to Tamriel.
They reached the center of the town but stopped when a loud roar sounded around them. Layla readied her bow while Lydia unsheathed her sword and shield. Blake looked to be calm despite the unknown beast that was roaring around them. The roars got closer and a massive white dragon three times the size of Mirmulnir, but not as big as the dragon that attacked Helgen, flew overhead. Layla got ready to fire her bow when the dragon landed in front of them. Lydia and Layla prepared to attack when Blake placed his hands on their weapons and stepped forward.
The dragon had white scales and slitted orange eyes. Despite being immensely bigger than Mirmulnir had been, this dragon had a sleeker appearance to it and didn't seem to have any kind of spikes protruding from its body. The membrane of the wings was was jet black instead of white. The dragon stared at Blake for the longest time before speaking. "Hi lost kung do daal het!" The dragon spoke in a female voice, surprising Lydia and Layla as they stared at the dragon.
Blake didn't flinch from the dragon's gaze"And a fine hello to you too… Mother."
Translations
"Nid! Zu'u vis ni kos viik!" : "No! I can not be defeated!"
"Vopraan Dovahkiin. Nii los nu hin heyv wah sav daar lein." : "Awaken Dragonborn. It is now your duty to save this world."
"Hi lost kung do daal het!" : "You have a lot of guts returning here!"