A dragon. A dragon in Whiterun. She could not believe it. It was like those damn creatures were following her. First Helgen, now this.
Aurora had recovered from the night before, but her muscles were still aching after the retrieval of the fragment. Even so, Irileth had insisted that Aurora would help her and the town with slaying the dragon that dared to fly over the Jarl's land. Being a true warrior, Aurora could not refuse.
The Jarl's housecarl ran with Aurora and some guards towards the watchtower. Pieces of the stone structure was falling apart, and the area around it was on fire, but a dragon was nowhere to be seen.
Irileth turned to Aurora and the men: "No sign of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here. I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened. And if the dragon is still skulking around somewhere. Spread out and look for survivors. We need to know what we're dealing with." The Dunmer looked concerned to say the least. She was tough, though.
Aurora looked at the tower. There was something there... A figure, standing on the stairs leading to the watchtower. She bent her knees and ran, looking up on the sky to have time to prepare, would a dragon appear.
"No. Get back!" A petrified guard yelled and signalled with his arms. "It's still here somewhere! Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!"
Just as the guard finished his sentence, a terrifying noise was heard. A dragon came flying from behind the hills south of Whiterun. It was huge. An elegant, greenish dragon flew around the tower. Aurora immediately threw herself to the ground as the dragon spat fire at them.
Lying on the stairs, Aurora looked at the man next to her. Dirt covered his frightened face. His armour would not protect him from the dragon's lethal fire breath. On the other hand, neither would hers. At least she was wearing her leather armour – steel would not make it a sauna, would the dragon have a go at her.
As the dragon passed, Aurora got up and prepared her bow. The dragon had landed some twenty yards away from her. The first arrow hit its back, but seemed to make no harm. Irileth was struggling, casting magic on it from the side.
It did not take long before the dragon understood the situation and went for the sky. With it circling around in the air, Aurora could not do much. She was not a particularly good archer and missed most of the time. No, she would boldly attack it with her sword.
Placing the bow on her back, Aurora took her sword and shield and waited for the dragon to land.
It was weaker now than before. As Irileth protected herself with some form of magic shield, Aurora went for the side of the dragon. Neatly, she sneaked up to its wings and ran under it, cutting it on the run.
The beast reacted by turning its head towards its torturer and breathing fire on her, but Aurora raised her shield. It took fire, but had protected her. Throwing the burning wood to the ground, Aurora once again ran towards the dragon. It was very weak by now. The woman raised the sword over her head and held it with both hands. Now, a single slash would do.
Just as Aurora was about to hit the dragon with a final blow, she heard it yell: "Dovahkiin! No!"
It was over. The dragon collapsed at her feet. Aurora hurried to take a few steps back to avoid getting the dragon's neck on her. Suddenly, she felt a warmth surrounding her. Strings of light came from the dragon to her, creating some sort of wall around the woman and the beast. As suddenly as it began, it disappeared.
Aurora turned around to the guards, who were steering at her in shock.
"I can't believe it! You're... Dragonborn," one of them said.
"Dragonborn? What do you mean?" Aurora could not understand their shock.
"In the very oldest tales, back from when there still were dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power. That's what you did, isn't it? Absorbed the dragon's power?"
"I don't know what happened to me," the woman answered.
"There's only one way to find out. Try to Shout... According to the old legends, only the Dragonborn can Shout without training, the way the dragons do."
Shout? Everyone could shout, could they not?
"Dragonborn? What are you talking about?" she asked instead.
Another guard came closer. "That's right! My grandfather used to tell stories about the Dragonborn. Those born with dragonblood in 'em. Like old Tiber Septim himself."
"I've never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons," another one said. He seemed more renunciative than the other.
"There weren't any dragons then, idiot. They're just coming back now for the first time in... forever. But the old tales tell of a Dragonborn who could kill dragons and steal their power. You must be one!"
A third one turned to the housecarl, who until now had stood there, quietly observing Aurora. "Come on, Irileth; tell us, do you believe in this Dragonborn business?"
"That was the hastiest fight I've ever been in, and I've been in more than a few. I don't know about this Dragonborn business, but I'm sure glad you're with us," she said to Aurora.
The Imperial was still thinking about what the guards had said. A Shout? For some reason, the woman saw a three-letter word. FUS...
"FUS!" she yelled, sending out a wall of raw force. The look on the guards' faces told that something was wrong.
"That was Shouting, what you just did! Must be. You really are Dragonborn, then..."
Aurora could not think for the entire trip back to Whiterun. As she passed people on the streets, they were all staring at her, whispering something to one another. When the Dragonborn walked up the stairs to the Wind District, the ground started to shake and some sort of call was heard. She did not understand it, but assumed it had something to do with her. She should better get to the Jarl as soon as possible.
"Good. You are finally here. The Jarl's been waiting for you," a man said.
Aurora saw a blond man on a throne. He was nervously anticipating an answer from the woman.
"So what happened at the watchtower? Was there a dragon there?"
"The watchtower was destroyed, but we killed the dragon," Aurora said.
"I knew I could count on Irileth. But there must be more to it than that."
Aurora took a few seconds to ponder his words. Then she said:
"As it turns out, I may be something called 'Dragonborn'"
"Dragonborn?" The Jarl raised himself a few inches. "What do you know about the Dragonborn?"
"When the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it."
The Jarl looked at her with pure shock in his eyes. "So it's true. The greybeards really were summoning you."
"The Greybeards?"
"Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World."
"What do these Greybeards want with me?"
"The Dragonborn is said to be uniquely gifted in the Voice – the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu'um, or a Shout. If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use your gift."
This was a rather short chapter, but I had to get Dragonborn into the picture somehow. The next part will focus on the Dragonborn/Brynjolf/Vipir and some tension with Vilkas. I would like to thank everyone that reads this story as it means a lot to me. I'm very excited about this and determined to finish it.
