"There's no sign of a dragon but it sure looks like he's been there," said Irileth.

We were a few miles out of Whiterun, overlooking the western watch tower which observed the road which ran from Markarth. That tower had several holes in it, and not a few fires around it.

"Spread out and look for survivors," continued Irileth. She was a Dunmer, a dark elf, with stern features and an almost fanatic determination to protect Jarl Balgruuf from any possible threat. Our introduction slightly over a week before had been with her holding a drawn sword directed at my heart and while we were on speaking terms, she left no doubt that she would hack my head off if she thought it necessary.

Of course, the Jarl of Whiterun was not here. It was just me, Sofia, Irileth, and four guards from Whiterun who had greeted the opportunity to engage in a dragon fight with the phrase "We are so dead."

That's what I like about the Nords, they are so upbeat when they are sober.

I stole a glance at Sofia. She had, as per her usual custom, gotten drunk the night before in the Bannered Mare and had managed to lose her clothing in various spots around the inn. I spent a few hours tracking the articles down since I didn't have the time to make her new stuff because I had planned on getting on this very road I was standing on, earlier this morning so I might take the right turn and follow it through Rorikstead, through Dragon Bridge, and on to Solitude and the Bard's College. But just as Farengar had talked about how the work of the mind was to begin and show the dragon stone to a woman in leather armor and leather hood who looked rather familiar, though I could not place the face, Irileth had walked in and called us up to the Jarl's upper chamber where I was addressed as his friend and sent off to face this new dragon because . . . get this . . . I had experience fighting dragons.

Now where he got that idea from I need to explain. Sofia had been more than adept at insisting that the big black spiny I had been busy running from in Helgen had in fact been running from me. This was of course last night when she had been in her underwear chatting with six or twenty guardsmen. I really wasn't counting and there were a lot of them and I couldn't just stop my lute playing and walk over and extract her from her fan club. I was contracted for three hours, and for that me and Sofia would get the only room in the inn, and Sofia had managed to undress in the first sixty minutes of the gig.

Apparently word of my exploits had gotten back to the Jarl. He knew I had been in Helgen, and he knew I had been on the block when the dragon had arrived. But he had not known that I had 'driven the dragon off' before I had left for Riverwood. While I had not been entirely honest with him by admitting that I had been chiefly concerned in looking for places to hide when the that winged horror had flown in. I had likewise not been dishonest by suggesting that I had actually fought the dragon. On that topic I had remained a respectful 'humble' silence. Not that the Jarl had pressed the matter, he was too busy arguing with Proventius over whether or not to send a detachment to Riverwood. But all that was before we had returned with the dragon stone and 'destroyed that massively dangerous drauger' at least according to Sofia. From my perspective, I would have been dead without her assistance since she had, as per usual, faced the creature directly while I incinerated it from the side.

I wasn't sure what Sofia was planning in regards to the possible arrival of a dragon. She had, once she had found out we were being sent out to fight a dragon, asked me if I was actually crazy enough to be considering it. I supposed I could have reminded her that if she had not been telling the guards a pack of lies while sitting there in the smallest pair of underclothes I had ever seen a woman in . . . Well I'll be frank, before Sofia I had never seen a woman in any underclothes save my mother and that was before I turned four and the memory is more than a little hazy.

So here I was, standing near the tower, walking rather cautiously towards it with these four guards giving me the 'only you can save us' looks which I found rather disconcerting, not to mention embarrassing should that dragon come up and attack. Now I had a Hunter's Bow and iron tipped arrows. I had no magical means to fire bolts at something like a dragon, but conversely, I didn't want to be in the dragon's line of sight either should he come around. And the more I looked about, the more it looked like he had already come around and what was there to stop him from coming back? Especially when I was looking at a charred humanoid figure which had, I suspected, been a walking living loving happy Nord just a few hours prior. My plan was simple. Find a spot that the dragon was not looking at, and shoot arrows at him until either the dragon had left, or died by someone else's hand.

Cowardice you say? No Cowardice is when you run away entirely. I was in no shape to kill a dragon and I knew I was in no shape to kill a dragon so I was going to be on the side rather than in that dragon's flame breath. What's the point of dying to prove you are brave?

I paused and looked at Sofia. She was simply scanning around. There was a frown on her forehead, no doubt the result of that hangover she had gotten upon waking up earlier this morning, nearly naked, on the bed, while I was sitting in a chair next to her, clearly capable of seeing every bit of her feminine qualities. She had not been appreciative and I had smiled and replied if she was going to toss her garments while intoxicated in seven or eight different spots in the inn and make a spectacle of herself for the rest of the town's male population, I saw no reason why to not exclude myself of the view. She had, of course, no answer for that other than her usual accusations that I was a pervert where upon I pointed out that I had first, not gotten into bed with her; second, retrieved her clothing for her donning; third, remained fully dressed the entire time; and fourth, she made no secret of the fact that she liked being admired by guys and I was only trying to make her happy. She pondered that while she was pulling her skirt up and boots on. She rightly suspected there was sarcasm hidden in that reply somewhere. Which does much to explain why there was no expression of gratitude forthcoming. Not that I found this surprising.

"No, get back!" shouted a guard looking out of the tower. He was not one of the one's who had come with us. "It's still here somewhere! Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it."

"Guardsman! What happened here? Where's the dragon? Quickly now!" asked Irileth and I began to look about.

As luck would have it, I was looking south when the creature came out of the clouds.

"Kynareth save us, here he comes again . . ." was what the guard said.

Talos that creature was huge. Seriously huge. It's head was as big as my entire body.

"Find cover!" shouted Irileth. "And make every arrow count."

It's nice when the military command approves of your planned tactics.

The dragon landed on the south side of the tower and proceeded to work on incinerating the guardsmen there. I dashed around the tower on my right to reach the side and took aim.

And the dragon was air-born before my arrow got halfway there. I had a sneaking suspicion it was going to be one of those days.

"So you're going to face me?" shouted Sofia to the dragon who was honing in on her. "At least you'll die with a great view! I am of course referring to my face and possibly other feminine attributes. The last guy who faced me was stiff before he was cold, or at least part of him was."

The dragon was entirely focused on Sofia now and I was running as fast as I could to get a shot in. And I did. I actually got a shot off. And it even hit. And there it was, stuck on a back spine, three inches of the back. Hurting the dragon not a little bit. In fact not hurting the dragon at all.

And then it engulfed Sofia in flames and I was shooting and loading as fast as I could. Sofia however leapt up and putting her foot on the nose of the dragon, vaulted onto the top of his head. And then jumped off to the side while two of the guardsmen with Irileth charged forward.

I was in range. Holding the bow in my right hand I let the fire burst from my left hand and painted the dragon's left front leg with it. I was amazed at how little damage seemed to be produced. I felt terribly disempowered.

"Fall to me Dragon!" shouted one of the guards.

"You still trying to fight a woman? You know you're going to die. We never fight by the rules!" shouted Sofia.

This wasn't just braggadocio on Sofia's part. Though a case could be made that she was trying to make it so. The simple fact is that women who win on the battle field do so because they fight like women and not like men. If the girl thinks she has to don the heavy armor and the heavy shield and swing the heavy sword, she'll be dead the moment she faces a guy who has the same number of training hours she has. Simply put, a woman's strength is in her legs and hips not her arms and shoulders. A woman who moves, strikes, moves, and spends her strength keeping mobile and ducking will prove more than a match for a tank who is used to simply chopping down anything in front of him. Sofia understood that. She might be facing you for a second, but that was only to put the fire into your face before she stepped to the side and planted the dagger.

And that was my problem too you see. Because I was a mage, because I was on the flank. I too had to fight 'like a woman' and of course I wasn't half as graceful as Sofia was. She was poetry in motion. My strength was in my fire, and that dragon was acting like I was merely keeping him warm on a cold Skyrim morning. Not that I begrudged the fact that he regarded me as 'not a threat'. Well okay I did begrudge him that. It was in a very real sense humiliating. But I was not so stupid as to face him directly knowing that one bite would have neatly severed me into two equal parts.

"I am Mirmulnir!" shouted the dragon. "And I had forgotten what sport you mortals are!"

"I'll Kill You!" shouted Irileth.

Mirmulnir dove, knocked Irileth to the side and swung his tail at Sofia. She ducked and the tail grazed her while I dashed in 'to the rescue'. Silly of me I know. Like I was going to really impact that beast?

"Oh! I think I broke a nail!" cried Sofia.

Yeah, I was really feeling adequate right about them.

"Nerevar guide me!" cried Irileth.

Mirmulnir once again landed, rather clumsily I noted. His body was covered in blood and half penetrated arrows. It suddenly dawned on me that while not one single arrow had done much damage, he had been hit by dozens of them and all those wounds were bleeding him out. I was tired of feeling like I didn't matter. I dove in and let loose with the flames while the five remaining guards, Irileth, and Sofia closed in firing their bows.

For one second Mirmulnir faced me. And then he cried "Dovahkiin? No!"

And then he died.

OH COME ON!

Seriously now. Everyone else had done far more to kill that dragon than me. But because he had looked at me and said no, everyone was looking at me like I had killed the beast and they had merely helped by being the distraction.

"Let's make sure that overgrown lizard is really dead," suggested Irileth from behind me on my left.

I had never seen a dragon before, and this was my chance to get up close to the beast and make out the details. But . . . But the dragon was spontaneously combusting.

"Get back!" cried Irileth.

But I couldn't. The dragon was entirely engulfed in flame now and something in that dragon was trying to get away, I could feel it's struggles while at the same time there was a blowing wind and white power swirling around me and this horrible feeling of loss and despair and . . . power.

And that word from that great stone wall came back to my head and it seemed that I needed to say it.

"FUS!"

It was like it just came out. The fire which was covering the dragon yielded to it and the smoke scattered before it and the bones just flew and there I was. Standing before a skeleton and everyone was looking at me like mighty Talos himself had just come down and asked for my autograph.

"I can't believe it!" cried one of the guards. "You're . . . Dragonborn!"

"Dragonborn?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"In the very oldest days, back when there were still dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborns would slay dragons and steal their power. And that's what you did isn't it? Absorbed that dragon's power?"

"I don't know what happened to me," I observed. And that was quite true.

"Well, you can shout now. You couldn't before, right? That can only mean one thing. You must be Dragonborn."

"Dragonborn?" queried another guard. "What are you talking about?"

Yeah, what he said. What ARE you talking about?

"That's right," observed another guard. "My grandfather used to tell stories of the Dragonborn.

I stole a peek at Sofia. She was looking at me with a mixture of awe, amazement, and "Well of course I picked him to pal around with" expression. I couldn't help but suspect that within a moment or two she would have convinced herself that the reason why this was happening to me was because she had decided to join me. Just the same, I was feeling like I really had a chance at romance with this girl now.

"Those born with the Dragon Blood in 'em, like old Tiber Septim himself."

Tiber Septim? I was suddenly hit sideways with a gold brick wrapped around an iron crowbar nailed to a chunk of granite. Metaphorically speaking of course.

"I never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons," replied another guard.

"There weren't any dragons then, idiot. They're just coming back now for the first time in . . . forever!"

I wasn't entirely aware of the conversation that was swirling about me. I was still punch drunk over the fact that the Septim line had Dragonborn in it. My ancient ancestry was coming back to give me a big boon in the middle of my reconciling myself to the fact that I would be no one of importance in my life. And I wasn't at all okay with this sudden derailment of my life's plans. After all that effort to reconcile myself to the fact that I would remain inconspicuous and obscure for the rest of what ever lifespan was to be given to me, to be suddenly thrust into greatness was not a little irritating. It's like you spent the entire spring planing apple seeds in order to feed the world only to discover that the world was allergic to apple sauce.

"But the old tales tell of the Dragonborn who could kill dragons and steal their power. You must be one!"

"What do you say Irileth? You're being awfully quiet," was another guard's comment.

"Come on Irileth," added another guard. "Tell us. Do you believe in this Dragonborn business?"

Irileth snorted. "Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums over something you don't know anything about." She gestured to the skeletal remains of Mirmulnir. "Here's a dead dragon," she continued. "And that's something I definitely understand. Now we know we can kill them. But I don't need some mythical Dragonborn. Someone who can put down a dragon is more than enough for me."

"You wouldn't understand, House Carl," replied the first guardsman. The one who 'believed in me'. "You ain't a Nord."

"I've been all across Tamriel," retorted Irileth. "I've seen plenty of things just as outlandish as this. I'd advise all of you to trust in the strength of your sword arm over tales and legends."

Irileth turned to me and looked at me for a moment.

"I'm taking command here for the moment," she said. "You head back to Whiterun and let the Jarl know what happened."

I nodded and headed back towards the city. Sofia fell in beside me. I stole a peek at her and she glanced back at me and smiled just a little.

"You're going to fall flat on your face again," she observed.

"And you'll laugh," I replied looking forward.

"Of course," she replied.

"Sofia?" I started "Admit it girl, you like me."

"You're fun to adventure with," she replied.

"That isn't what I meant," I retorted. I worked up my nerve and then turned to face her. I started to stammer but I pushed forward. "What I mean is . . . It's like . . . You and me . . . We could be . . .You know what I mean. . . . I hear it from your lips all the time . . . You just won't . . ."

And there was a crack of thunder, the earth seemed to shake beneath my feet and this cry came out of the sky to the south and east, seeming to come from the mountain they called The Throat of the World and there were words in that crack of thunder. There were voices in the shaking earth.

"Doh . . . Vah . . . Kiin!"

And there was another crack of thunder.

Sofia looked towards the mountain. Part of me was cursing that sudden interruption and the other part of me was pointedly observing that I was making a jackass of myself trying to suggest that we could fall in love now.

"You know," she observed looking back at me. "If you're Dragonborn, we're going to be rich. We had nothing when we started together, just a single pair of clothes. Not that it's how much money you have you know. It's always been how much of it you spent on me."

Okay, that really put a complete damper on the mood if you know what I mean. I looked back at her. And for a moment gazed upon that deep black thick hair which rested upon her shoulders in that long curly pony tail. I looked at those big soulful eyes and that cute little button nose with that sprinkling of freckles. If only she had been missing that mouth of hers.

"It's a joke? But . . . a piece of jewelry, you know? Like a necklace? Wouldn't be bad," she suggested.

"And you know I'll get it for you," I sighed.

"Yes," she said with more than a little certitude. "I do."

I walked on in silence.

"I have to look the part you know," she insisted. "We're going to be legends now."

And then she sang out "The Legendary Duo."

I paused and looked at her. It had only been three words, but it was one of those deep, rich, and full alto voices which only come naturally to a handful of women.

"Sofia!" I said, partially as an accusation. "I didn't know you could sing."

"You didn't ask," she replied.

"I've only been playing at the Bannered Mare and the Sleeping Giant how many nights since you joined me?" I shot back.

"I've been busy relaxing!" she insisted.

"Getting drunk, flirting with everyone except me, and losing your clothes," I replied with a slight increase in volume.

"I don't lose my clothes!" she argued back.

"So why do you keep waking up naked with me in the room?"

"And then I put them back on so I haven't lost them!"

"It's because I collected them first!"

"Which means I didn't lose them does it?"

"You shouldn't be taking them off in the first place!"

"It's not like I do it every single time I party!" she argued.

"No, only every second Sundas!" I snapped. "But it shouldn't be AT ALL!"

"Then why do you sit there in the room watching me sleep when I'm naked?"

"Because we can only afford one room! That's why you get to sleep under the covers and I sleep on top of them! And given every other male in the town of Whiterun or Riverwood is aware of what you look like naked and that doesn't bother you, why would it bother you that I know too?"

"Don't you dare be rational with me while I'm yelling at you!"

"I'll be rational when ever I like!"

She was leaning forward, her fists clenched and at her sides, and her feet stomping on the cobblestones of the road. I simply walked along beside her, somewhat smug since I had won that argument. But of course she didn't look pretty when she was angry, and in the middle of this I became afraid I would lose her. She would walk off and hop into someone else's bed . . . Not that she had been in my bed in the sense of being in bed. I wasn't even aware if she had made love to another guy. I mean you would think she had, given how frequently she got drunk and flirted with guys in order to persuade them to buy her drinks. When a girl's drinking is coupled with a mathematically set of definable odds that she'll lose her clothes at some point in the process, you can't help but suspect that there's been a certain loss of sexual innocence, and what's more, self-respect. And then I began to wonder if after one of those little games she had played, she had woken up naked in a bed with no memory of how she had gotten there. And realizing there was a bit of soreness and goop between her legs, she knew she had been taken and left like an old discarded rag doll. And that was the reason why she was being distant with me.

Seriously now. She had tracked me down. She had followed me for some period of time before I had even known she existed. I had never seen her but she had seen me and pegged me for her companion. And she had vehemently denied it persistently since. What else could be the reason for that "I want to be with you forever but only as friends where I'm in compete control at all times and you depend on me and not the other way around" attitude she was projecting? What was she afraid of?

How to say your sorry when you're not but you want to make up . . .

"Sofia?"

"What!"

"I really depend on you. You know that don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Tomorrow, after we get up. After we've talked with the Jarl and caught him up on things. We'll go to Solitude. You and me. We'll join the Bard's college. We'll study music together. We'll then tour all of Tamriel and sing duets. We'll be famous. We'll sing for the Emperor Titus. Would you like that?"

"Maybe?"

I leaned over and gave her a one armed hug. Her muscles tensed, but she leaned in. Her arms remained at her side, but her head leaned against my shoulder for a second. Then I let go and she fell back into step.

"I wish you were my wife," I sighed. "Then I would not have to worry you would move on at some point."

I tried to catch a peak out of the corner of my eye to see what she was doing. She was trying not to look at me with a wistful expression on her face.

It was going to take time. That much was for certain. I suspected that once upon a time, she had been hurt real bad.

And for the first time since I had entered Skyrim, I wasn't being a naive fool.