Chapter 4: The Dragon
A/N: Just answering a review. Carry on, if you are disinterested.
Accursius: I see what you mean, but there are two things I disagree with.
I disagree that Baalgruf guessed that they are from outside Nirn. Baalgruf probably knew of at least some of the different worlds that are connected to Tamriel, but, as far as I am aware, none of them have any creature that exactly resemble humans.
The other point I disagree on is the Godly Supernatural thing. I was actually considering that Talan might believe that the Abrahamic God is sort of like the God-Supreme with lesser Pagan Gods as his followers, which I am now most-likely going to write in. But I won't change the situation itself in the Godly/Supernatural dream because it opens up a plot point I will revisit later on, and I was imagining this as a central point to the whole story.
However, I do agree that Farengar could probably have gone down and have a talk with Talan vis-a-vis the whole Magic situation, and possibly Irileth could tag along saying that Talan is dangerous for drawing his sword in the Hall.
Cheers for sharing your thoughts, because it helped a lot with the development of the plot line and gave me a few more ideas to drop in the story.
They covered ground quickly, the road surrounding countryside moving past at a quick pace. Talan was in the lead, closely followed by the Sword Brethren. Till and his archers brought up the rear. Tough training and several years of borderland skirmishing along the Neman river with the Duchy of Lithuania had led the Teutonic soldiers to be tough and light on their feet. Talan watched half-amused as the Whiterun guards tried to keep pace with them, but were evidently struggling. Even Irileth and the young mercenary were finding it hard going, though not as much as the guards.
Beneath his helmet, Talan grinned. The world may have gone mad, but the Order would always maintain it's undefeatable reputation.
As they crested a small rise, the Western Watch tower came into view. Here the ground was scorched. The scent of burned human flesh was rank in the air and even now, bushes and the grassy shrubland burned. The tower itself had been heavily hit. Pieces of masonry had been smashed off the tower, littering the ground with rubble. Talan noticed a human arm sticking out from under a particularly large pile of rubble and guessed an unfortunate guard had been crushed to death. Till muttered his favourite catchphrase.
"Bloody hell."
Irileth looked around.
"Where's the Dragon?" she growled, holding her sword ready.
They were signalled by a guard standing just in the door of the tower.
"Get over here, quick." he yelled. "The Dragon will be back!". The group, as one, looked around and hastily moved into the lee of the tower to make themselves less of a target.
A distant roar echoed over the nearby mountains.
"Oh Gods, here it comes again!" the soldier moaned, before disappearing from view.
Talan looked up.
The Dragon sped towards them on silent wings. It looked beautiful, in a deadly way, with its equine head and piercing eyes.
"Sir!"
Talan blinked.
"Everyone, loose formation! Archers, find cover! Till, take some men to the top of the tower! Force it to land by any means necessary!"
"Aye, sir!" Till growled in anticipation and nodded to a group of bowmen, who followed him into the tower. Talan turned towards the remaining swordsmen.
"Sword Brethren, spread out! Attack if that Dragon lands! But do not, I repeat, do not leave the cover of the tower!"
With that, Talan drew his sword and turned to see Irileth's men move into place on her orders. The young mercenary stood on a nearby rock, and calmly knocked his bow, taking careful aim. Talan suspected he wouldn't take orders from anyone.
He turned again and held his shield in front of him, dropping into a defensive crouch. The Dragon was fast approaching. The Sword Brethren followed Talan's example and copied his defensive stance. On the tower, Till and his men let fly a volley of arrows.
Then the Dragon was upon them.
Fire poured over the ground, forcing the Order back. Talan reeled away from the flames as they seared across his vision. even in cold, thick metal, the heat was incredible! The Dragon halted just above Talan and drew it's head, back opening it's mouth wide. Talan could only watch as an orange glow built in the back of its throat.
Out of nowhere, an arrow seemed to sprout in it's mouth, causing the dragon to screech in rage and shake it's head wildly, trying to dislodge the arrow. It turned it's gaze to the archers on the tower, who wisely dived down the steps into the tower just in time as the Dragon shot a gout of flame at them. Having driven the archers away, and the top of the tower burning even though it was made of stone, the Dragon turned it's attention to the men beneath the tower. It dropped with incredible speed and precision, it's jaws clamping down on one of the Sword Brethren before he could move. His scream was muffled and the Dragon wrenched it's head violently, tearing the man's body in half.
"Jesus Christ!" Talan yelled, shocked and outrage by the sudden attack. He waved his sword in the classic attack motion.
"Let's get it, lads!" Talan roared and, as one, the Sword brethren and knight leaped forward, hell bent on revenge, Irileth's men close behind.
A small volley of arrows clattered off the Dragon's scales. Glancing up, Talan saw that the archers had boldly re-taken their position on the tower and were firing down on the Dragon.
"Aim for the wings! Do not let it get airborne!" Talan heard till yell.
The Dragon roared in fury and lashed out at the approaching soldiers. Realising it was going to be trapped, the Dragon spread it's wings and the archers, waiting for this moment, fired another volley. The Dragon srceamed in rage and pain as it's wings were shredded, but it wasn't finished. It's tail whipped round, throwing Talan and his men backwards. The Whiterun Guards ducked under the arc of its tail and closed in, raining blows at the Dragon's tough hide. Seeing this, Talan's men, winded though they were, scrambled to their feet and charged the Dragon again.
The Dragon, cornered, let loose a screech of rage, and lashed out again with deadly speed, whipping it's head round and closing it's jaws around one of the Sword Brethren, before tossing him away screaming, trailing blood, to smash into the tower and fall with a sickening thud.
Talan roared in anger at this, and leapt forward, straight at the Dragons head, and began raining blows as fast and hard as he could.
The Dragons head jerked sideways and it staggered ungainly away from him, only to be attacked from the other side by Irileth and the Guards. With a bellow, the Dragon swept its tail round, bowling them all over, before bringing its head round in an arc and smashing Talan in the chest so hard, that he felt several ribs crack. Talan was thrown backwards, his sword flying up and out of his grip. The Sword Brethren backed up quick, just as Till and the other archers appeared at the bottom of the tower, swords drawn.
The Dragon loomed suddenly over Talan, and he could just hear Till shouting. The rows of teeth were inches from his face. He could sense the sharp, nauseating smell of blood.
So this is how it ends . . .
The fangs closed in.
The hell with that!
With a sudden surge of strength, Talan jammed his shield, which was still strapped to his arm, in the Dragons mouth. It blanched.
"I'm not going down to a bloody flying alligator!" Talan screamed with mad rage, and drove his gauntleted fist straight into the Dragons right eye.
It screamed, hot droplets of blood spattering on the ground as the jagged knuckles of the gauntlets met soft eyeball. It reared up, dragging Talan with it. It shook its head violently, throwing Talan from side to side, but he clung on desperately, his ribs screaming in white-hot pain. The dragon brought its head down and smashed Talan into the ground, breaking Talan's legs and causing him to wrench his shield free and break off several of the Dragons teeth. Cheering at the mad bravery, Talan's men and the Guards closed in, as the Dragon screamed in pain from losing its fangs. Its remaining eye focused on Talan. It shot forward, its maw gaping open, intent on swallowing him whole. A lone arrow suddenly protruded from its mouth, punching through the soft tissue at the roof and burying its way into the Dragons skull.
With a forlorn scream, that deafened everyone nearby, and was heard as far away as Dragonsreach, the Dragon reared up again, thrashing its head from side to side, before it keeled over, its head smashing into the ground right next to Talan. Its eyes became still and unmoving, which was somehow worse than when it was alive.
Talan, shakily, turned his head. The young mercenary was holding his bow up in a firing position. He nodded briefly at Talan and slung it back across his back. Talan slumped and groaned as the pain slowly faded past the borders of his Adrenalin rush.
And then, before his eyes, the dragon seemed to light up, glowing orange. Talan stared, and all around him, the soldiers watched too, fascinated. Irileth's guards looked in awe. The dragon seemed to dissolve, the scales and muscles becoming immaterial in the air, as if the Dragon was burning away, but there was no sensation of heat. Suddenly, the wind seemed to pick up and glowing tendrils snaked out of the corpse, flowing like water through the air, and coiled themselves around the young mercenary, who was standing stock still, a look of white-faced shock on his face.
And then the tendrils faded, and all that was left of the Dragon were some scales and the skeleton.
There was a heavy silence, everyone being too surprised to speak. Eventually Till broke the silence.
"What the hell was that?"
A/N: Short chapter there. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, as my workload increased drastically. Thankfully, I have developed Talan's story a good bit, and i am considering a rather surprising series. Opinions? Anyway, thanks for the support