A/N: Just for reference, I have no idea how much longer this current spell of inspiration for this story will last me, two updates in a week is highly unusual. The song in this is a modified version of Gabrielle Aplin's 'home', changes have been made to reflect the fact that there are no phoenixes in Tamriel Lore. Other changes have been made, based mainly on what I thought the words were when I first heard the song. I take no credit for the song, all credit to Gabrielle Aplin and Nicholas Atkinson.
When not under attack from Nords, Forsworn camps are usually filled with the sounds of Forsworn warriors enjoying themselves on what may well turn out to be their last night on Nirn. Druadach Redoubt was no exception, Odvan had produced a lute from somewhere, and was showing off his somewhat rusty skills as a musician, prompting one of the younger Forsworn to snatch the instrument off him and proceed to demonstrate musical skills that caused the older man to slink off amid jeers and boos. Add in the large quantities of alcohol that the Forsworn seemed to have procured from somewhere, and it didn't take long before most of the camp was dancing around the fire in the centre, the exceptions being the designated guards, Madanach, and Eithne. The guards, because they needed to be on alert for any oncoming Nords, Madanach because he was busy worrying about his daughter, and Eithne because she was just staring into space, ignoring anything that anyone said to her.
Kaie was happily dancing with some young male Forsworn that she would probably end up in bed with. Madanach had never seen Kaie with said male Forsworn, and probably never would again, that's how the Forsworn treated love, as long as Kaie didn't do something stupid like getting herself pregnant, Madanach was completely fine about who she shared her bed with, as long as it didn't get serious, then he would have to test the suitor's capability, and miraculously, none of Kaie's previous suitors had ever passed Madanach's tests, a few of them hadn't even survived.
Madanach knew he didn't have to worry about Kaie, she was a formidable witch-warrior of the Forsworn, respected or feared across the majority of the Reach. Eithne on the other hand…
After his daughter had gone to sleep earlier that day, and kicked them out of the tent, Madanach and Kaie had held a worried conversation about her.
"Da, are you sure about this?"
"About what daughter?" Truth be told, Madanach was sure about very little at this point.
"Leaving her alone in there? I mean, what if she tries to cut herself again?"
"It's alright, I made sure to take anything sharp that she could use to cut herself out of the tent."
Kaie snorted derisively, "And the fact that she's apparently a decent conjuror, with the ability to summon bound blades means nothing to you."
Madanach had sworn and immediately disappeared inside the tent, terrified of what he might find. When he had found Eithne curled up on her bed, fast asleep, he had been immensely relieved. He left the tent to find Kaie giving orders to two Forsworn guards.
"If either of you hear anything being summoned in that tent, you are to immediately go in there and subdue my sister, understood?"
The guards nodded their understanding as Kaie continued, "One of you is then to come and find either me or Madanach. If she wakes up, one of you is stay with her at all times, the other is to come and find me or Madanach, understood?"
Again the guards nodded. Seemingly satisfied, Kaie turned to her father.
"Da, there's nothing more we can do. I'm sure that Kieran and Fion are more than capable of watching over Eithne for us."
The two guards did indeed look capable, but Madanach was loath to leave his daughter alone for even a moment. It had ended with Kaie forcibly dragging him off to the centre of the camp, and practically forcing alcohol down his throat.
His fears had been unnecessary of course, Eithne had woken up a few hours later and had been accompanied quite peacefully by her guards to the centre of the camp, where she was now sitting, just staring into nothingness.
Madanach's attention was drawn away from his daughter, when Odvan, now thoroughly drunk, had returned from his shame-imposed exile, and was now attempting to reclaim the lute off the younger Forsworn who had replaced him, and getting beaten around the head for his troubles. Madanach joined in the laughter as the two men, the lute quite forgotten, began to chase each other around the campfire, yelling strings of expletives as they did so. The other Forsworn were happily cheering them on, so much so that no one noticed the abandoned lute being picked up until they heard the first notes being played.
Eithne played slower and more softly than the Forsworn were used to, the tune was not something that you could dance to; rather, it was something to listen to, to think about.
She was still sitting on the floor, still staring off into space, but at least she was doing something. Madanach idly wondered if his daughter could sing, he knew that Kaie had a voice like a drunken horker, or possibly just a regular horker, seeing as how she only sang when she was drunk. His daughter just kept strumming the lute, seemingly unaware of the attention she was garnering from the other members of the camp. Then she began to sing.
"I'm an eagle in the water,
A fish that's learnt to fly.
It seems that I've always been a daughter,
But these wings are made for the sky."
Her voice was beautiful, rising and falling softly with the music, she was fully into the song, nothing else mattered it seemed, just the music and the words.
"So I'm wishing, wishing further,
For the excitement to arrive,
It's just that I'd rather be causing some chaos,
Than laying at the sharp end of my knife.
With every small disaster
I'll let these waters steal, and take me away to some place real."
Eithne was pouring her heart into the song, it was something beyond the words. It spoke of her hopes and fears. It made Madanach want to step over to her, wrap his arms around his beautiful, damaged, daughter and to protect her from the world and everything in it. This, he mused, this was truly why he fought, not to destroy the Nords, but to create a Reach where his daughter could live and be herself without fear of harm or persecution.
"So when I'm ready to be bolder,
And my cuts have healed with time."
Madanach was fairly sure that he'd missed some of the words, but he found that he really didn't care, that he was happy to be swept up in the song. As he looked around him, he realised that he wasn't the only one, everywhere he looked, he saw veteran Forsworn with tears in their eyes.
"Comfort will rest on my shoulder
And I'll bury my future behind.
I'll always keep you with me
You'll always be on my mind
But the future is hidden in shadows
I'll never know unless I try."
Eihne's voice trailed off as she reached the end of her song, her lute playing following shortly after. In the silence that followed, Madanach was fairly sure that he could hear Forsworn trying to pretend that they weren't crying. Then, someone at the back started clapping, inciting the rest to join in. Soon, the whole camp was clapping for his daughter. Eithne herself seeming to only notice the rest of the camp for the first time.
When the clapping stopped, Madanach stood face to face with his daughter.
"Hi da."
"Daughter."
Whatever else Madanach or Eithne were about to say was interrupted by a ear-splitting roar that echoed off the steep sides of the Druadach mountains.
"What the fuck was that?"
Kaie's expletive-filled exclamation accurately summed up the entire camps' mindset. Whatever had made the noise was clearly of the opinion that the camp needed to be scared even more, and emitted an immense blast of fire, scorching across the night sky of the Reach, searing an image of fire and death into the minds of those that saw it. Vast wings that blotted out the stars, talons that could crush a man's head without thinking, and far more teeth than was even remotely appropriate.
The momentary panic that had frozen the camp was quickly dispelled when the monster swooped down low, raining fire down on the camp, the screams of those caught up in the storm galvanising those who evaded it into action.
Bone axes and swords were grabbed from the floor, spells of flame, frost and shock were called to hands, various atronachs and familiars were summoned, and the warcries of the Forsworn echoed across the valleys, almost as loud as the monster's roars.
"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"
"Come and face the Forsworn!"
"First you, then all the Reach!"
"I'll send you to the void!"
"Eithne!"
"What? Not appropriate?"
Eithne had dropped the lute in favour of a vicious-looking daedric blade, her flame atronach danced behind her, a potent-looking flames spell crackling in her spare hand.
"No, but that's not the point, get inside the cave, get under cover."
Eithne rolled to the side, dodging a blast of fire from the beast, before responding with one of her own.
"I'm not a child da, I can fight! Probably a damn sight better than you!"
Madanach growled, the impudence of the girl. He ducked under a rocky overhang to avoid being burned to a crisp, before retaliating with a quick dual-cast thunderbolt into the inky darkness. He saw the best dive down upon the camp, snatching a Forsworn up in its well-toothed maw, dropping him from a great height, breaking his body upon the rocks below. Madanach recognised him as man who had argued with Odvan over the lute. He glanced around for his daughters, he found Kaie, armed with a bow and shooting arrow after arrow at the monster's wings. He panicked when he realised that he couldn't find Eithne.
"Eithne!" He screamed, "Eithne, where are you?"
A thump from behind him sent him sprawling, as a shockwave from the beast's impact upon the ground practically levelled the camp. The beast swung its head past shelter, and as it passed him, its huge golden eye stared straight into Madanach's silver, and in that moment, Madanach knew that they were facing something that quite frankly, didn't give a shit, to this beast, they, Forsworn, Nords, Imperials alike, were scum to be trodden underfoot.
A figure suddenly sprinted past Madanach and jumped onto the beast's head, grabbing hold of one of the multitude of spikes jutting from its head, forcing shut the jaws as it prepared to unleash yet another torrent of fire. As the figure adjusted itself, the monster threw its head from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the irritation. The figure began slashing away at the monster's face. Madanach realised that he recognised the figure.
"Eithne! What are you doing?"
"I!"
A slash to the beast's cheek.
"Have!"
One to the insides of its mouth.
"No!"
Another to the side of the face, tearing across the monster's eye, resulting in a howl of pain, and was it Madanach's imagination, or was the beast's thrashing getting weaker?
"Idea!"
Reversing her grip on her sword, Eithne plunged the serrated blade straight through the monster's forehead.
The beast howled at the sky, before collapsing to the ground, throwing Eithne clear. The beast shuddered once more before falling still, its great, golden eyes rolling back into its head as they closed. The surviving Forsworn cheered as they realised that the beast was dead, but Madanach only had eyes for his daughter. He ran across to where Eithne had fallen.
"Eithne! Eithne! Speak to me!" He was terrified, far more so than when the beast had appeared. He began praying to the gods, the old ones, the eight divines, even to Sithis, Eithne had sworn by him, he might like out for her, right?
"Please don't be dead, please, please don't be dead!" He shouted, he didn't care who heard him, he didn't want to lose his daughter.
Eithne coughed, "Hey da, didn't know you cared."
Madanach flung his arms around his daughter, grateful that she was alive, before proceeding to give her a telling off.
"What in Oblivion did you think you were doing? Jumping on its head like that? You could have died!"
Eithne patted her body, looking down at herself concernedly, "Am I not?" She turned around, attempting to look herself all over. "Apparently not." She grinned at her father.
"Don't you give me that look young lady."
Whatever Madanach was about to say was drowned out by Odvan's shouting.
"Boss! It's doing something!"
Madanach turned to look at the corpse, just as it began flickering and smoking, scales and hide falling away to reveal the bones beneath, light rising up from the ruined body into the night sky. As the assembled Forsworn watched, the lights turned in mid-air, and dove towards Eithne, enveloping her body in an otherworldly aura. As the lights died down, Eithne stood up, shakily, staring at her hands which were still glowing slightly. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, another tremor shook the ground, and a voice called out to the skies.
"DOV-AH-KIIN!"
Once again, Kaie summed it up nicely.
"What the fuck was that?"
A/N: Enter the dragonborn. This was my first attempt at writing a dragon fight, so please let me know what you thought of it. Also, please ask any questions you may have about anything to do with this story line as I'm quite happy to answer those.
Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter, telling me what you think about the characters, anything really. Thank you.
