Paarthurnax wasn't often caught off guard. He wasn't often wary of objects the size of cabbages. He wasn't often faced with something older than him. He decided then, as the dragonborn, an ancient vampire and the lost egg of Eidolon found their way into his cave that today just wasn't his day.

"Drem yol lok, dovahkiin... Friend of dovahkiin." He greeted as he unfurled himself from his sleeping position.

Serana gaped. "A dragon? You're going to ask a dragon? I thought you had a bit of a record with dragons?"

Lyra scowled. "Stop with the Paarthurnax bashing. He's a nice dragon."

Paarthurnax watched impassively. Serana gave Lyra a murderous look that told her quite simply that if this got her killed she'd be coming back as Lyra's very own personal poltergeist. Lyra accepted the threat to her life and chose a rock to sit on. She motioned for Serana to do the same which she did, if only not to be left standing alone in front of the dragon.

Lyra turned to Paarthurnax. "Paarthurnax, this is Serana. Serana, this is Paarthurnax." She said, gesturing to each one in turn.

Paarthurnax pushed himself forward, his size meaning he didn't need to do much to cover the small distance between them. He brought his face up to Serana's and stared at her for a few seconds. He suddenly drew back, curling himself into a more comfortable position and chuckling slightly. It was a sound like huge boulders grating over each other and not one Lyra could say she was familiar with from him.

"Could it be?" He said, his eyes still locked onto Serana. "Mal Serana. Little Serana. After all these years. Vahdin ul. Maiden eternal."

Serana looked confused. "How do you know me?"

Paarthurnax shuffled his wings. "Your monah, mother, was once a friend. She brought you to me as a babe. A dovah, a dragon, never forgets- no matter how much time passes. "

Serana glanced at Lyra who was equally surprised. "You know my mother?"

The dragon made a rumbling noise. "She came to me in the night. Kril. Brave. She asked of my kogaan to you. My blessing. In return, she offered her laas. Her life."

Serana's expression was unreadable. "Why?"

"She knew your fate. She sought to protect you with a dragon's kogaan that you might survive his bah, his wrath."

"What happened?" said Serana meekly. Lyra wasn't sure if the dragon referred to her father or to Molag Baal.

Paarthurnax looked up as her remembered. "I bestowed my kogaan. My blessing. And allowed your mother to take her leave with you. She had ahkrin. Courage. The dov honor courage. To have killed her would have been to dukaan myself. To dishonor myself."

Serana looked at the ground. "She never told me... Just locked me unconscious in a tomb for four thousand years."

Paarthurnax "You have changed much. But I can sense the blessing still strong within you. Dez, fate, now brings you back to me." he turned to Lyra. "Speak, young dovahkiin."

Lyra moved a little closer to Serana, who was still staring subdued at the floor. Now wasn't the time to ask if she was alright so she just stayed close.

"I need you to take a look at something." She said, pulling the egg carefully out of its bag and setting it down in her lap. Paarthurnax reared his head and reeled back like a spooked horse, making much the same noise. "You play a dangerous game, dovahkiin." He warned, not taking his eyes off the egg.

Lyra looked pleading. "Tell me what to do with it. It's started talking." She was vaguely aware of how ridiculous that sounded.

Paarthurnax gestured with his tail. "My advice. Take it outside. Throw it from monahven, the throat of the world. Never look back."

Lyra looked at the egg. "Why?"

"Forged in darkness was the lost egg of Eidolon. To release the dragon would not be easy. To tame such a sivaas, a beast, harder still. To fail, fatal. To succeed... Sahrot. Mighty."

Lyra thought for a long time. "How would I realese it? Tame it?"

The chuckle sounded from the dragon again. "To release it, a shout. To teach it, another dragon. To tame it... It has to choose you."

Lyra frowned. "Choose me?"

"It has to recognize you as the ultimate power as Odahviing once did. It is not impossible. If it does, it will be a konahrik, a war lord, like no other. If it does not, it shall destroy you."

Lyra took it all in. If things got nasty between her and the dawnguard such a dragon could be extremely useful.

"So I need to be able to shout, a dragon and an ego?" The dovahkiin said, finally. Serana spoke for the first time in a while. "Well, you've got two. Question is, where are you going to get an willing dragon?"

Lyra scowled. "I don't have an ego."

Serana gave her a look.

"Dovahkiin. I will hatch your sivaas."

Both girls turned to look at Paarthurnax in unison. "You... Will?" Said Lyra, slowly.

The dragon crawled forwards and nudged the egg with with his nose. "Maybe then Akatosh could forgive."

Serana looked kind of confused. "Akatosh?"

"The father of the dov. I was not always the being I am now. I have been munax, cruel. I have done unspeakable acts. Maybe rearing new life, I can make up for my own."

Lyra could understand that. "Then... I'll leave it with you?"

"You will have to shout, dovahkiin. Do not give the sivaas reason to distrust even at this stage."

Lyra nodded. "I don't know the shout." She said, hoping that Paarthurnax did.

Paarthurnax considered for a moment. "I do not advise your company stands so close. The thu'um you have learned to withstand could very well kill her."

Serana held her hands up. "Alright, alright, I'm not part of the club, I get it." She stood from her place next to Lyra and left the cave. For a moment, Lyra considered shouting for her to be careful- the wind was strong out there- but decided it more than likely wouldn't be appreciated. Lyra couldn't help feel that Serana was still fragile from what Paarthurnax had told her and she didn't want to push the older woman. When she was out of sight, Paarthurnax drew in a deep breath, the thu'um escaping from him with force enough to fracture the stone beneath them. Slowly, the words of power appeared on the floor, splintering their way through the rock. Lyra had stumbled slightly, but for the most part stood her ground. The sound had left her ears ringing.

"Bloody hell!" Serana exclaimed from outside when the noise relented. "What are you doing in there?!"

Lyra couldn't help but smile. She turned to the caves entrance to see Serana peeking from around the worn opening. Upon not being told to leave again, she made her way back to Lyra's side. She raised her eyebrows at the floor where the word of power slowly drew Lyra in.

Serana continued in her incredulity. "Did you shout that into the ground?"

Lyra pointed accusingly at the dragon. "Not me."

Like a moth to an open flame, Lyra slowly moved to kneel by the words. They whispered and seethed below her as she got nearer, a molten glow radiating out like captured sun rays. With little hesitation, the words took over, the light becoming blinding to the point of pain, then receding back into the stone leaving Lyra's head spinning slightly.

Vul, zoor, vodahmin

Dark, legend, forgotten

Lyra blinked a few times, standing back up. Serana looked from Lyra to the ground and then back to Lyra. "That was amazing. Do it again."

Lyra rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "I can't just do it again." She looked up at Paarthurnax. "Shall I?" she said, feeling slightly uncertain.

"It's your life." The dragon said, rather unhelpfully Lyra thought. "Or death." He added.

"Yeah, cheers." She muttered. "Serana, you might wanna, you know.."

Serana pouted. "I want to watch."

Lyra sighed. "Well, stand outside and watch."

Serana huffed, but did as she was told.

"A warning, dovahkiin. This shout will... drain you."

Lyra looked at Paarthurnax suspiciously. "Drain?"

The old dragon dipped his head. "To create life, you must first give some. You will need your sleep."

Lyra didn't like the sound of that. "When you say sleep, are we talking Serana style?"

The dragon grunted in amusement. "Not quite. I do not mean you shall pass out, dohavkiin, merely that your next sleep she be... prolonged."

Thats not so bad. Lyra thought. "Okay then, if you're sure."

She looked at the egg for a long moment. It stared on back.

Ah, what the hell?

"VUL ZOR VODAHMIN!"

The shout cascaded around the egg, changing from deep golden to a cool shade of blue as it encased the object, crawling over the smooth surface like a sea mist. There was silence. Serana, who had been watching from a safe distance appeared back by Lyra's side where Lyra tended to like her. The blue of the shout slowly sunk into the rock, as if inhaled by a deep breath from within. For a moment, nothing happened. Just as Lyra was about to step towards it, It suddenly screamed and exploded into a thick black cloud of dust. All but Paarthurnax jumped. Lyra found herself instinctively placing herself in between the dust and Serana. The dust began to clear and all three peered into it. In the half light, a figure appeared. A tiny scrap of black no bigger than a small pumpkin. Lyra watched in wonder as the ball of black unfurled, tottering to it's feet. It opened its eyes almost immediately, giant orbs of tanzanite blue which were totally too big for its little head and sneezed amongst the rubble. It spat out glob of glowing molten liquid followed by a tiny puff of smoke, before falling back down onto it's side. The glob cooled quickly, solidifying into hard black rock. It lacked the scales of a normal dragon, instead it had a smooth black skin. It's tail was forked into two at the end, each pointed with a tiny though sharp looking little claw. From it's head, two straight inch-long horns stuck out, laid back like they'd been stroked down. Next to the little horns, two long, feeler-like tendrils flickered and waved like additional tails but Lyra had no idea what purpose they served. Small white claws poked out from under the dark skin of its feet, and Lyra noticed it actually had four legs, rather than the traditional two. It's leathery black wings were still held firmly against its body and it's chest heaved as it got used to the air, making tiny mewling noises.

"That. Is so cute."

Lyra peeled her eyes away from the new born dragon to look at Paarthurnax. "Serana has a point. How is that meant to murder us all?"

Paarthurnax didn't answer just sniffed at the new life that was scrabbling around in what essentially, was his living room.

"That is a she." He said, after a while. "And she will grow faster than you'll believe possible. Even Alduin was a baby once. You have maybe two months before she will be bigger than any horse. Four before she is bigger than me. Six before she becomes the biggest living creature Skyrim has seen since her parents. You have until then to make this dragon trust you unconditionally. If you do not, she will sail without a captain and even my ancient bones shudder to imagine the chaos."

The tiny dragon in front of them spat out another molten glob to join the first, and attempted to stand again. Lyra knelt gingerly down in front of the dragon. Carefully she outstretched her arms and waited as the dragon looked at her curiously with it's gigantic eyes. Slowly, it tottered towards her. She waited with held breath as it reached out with the tip of its muzzle and touched her hand. It was warm. Lyra stayed perfectly still and after a few moments, the baby waddled happily into her arms. She scooped it up against her chest and tried really hard not to scream at how utterly cute it was. Serana stared at it in awe. "She's beautiful."

Lyra watched as the dragon made a quiet croaking sound and closed its eyes, sighing contentedly.

Paarthurnax looked at Lyra. "Take her home. She will be easy enough to cope with for now but it will not remain that way. When she starts to grow, bring her back here. Then, I will foster her."

Lyra nodded. "Thank you." she said gratefully. She turned to Serana. "Pass me that bag will you?" She said, an Idea forming. Serana did as she was bid, holding out the bag the egg had been in. Lyra carefully lowered the fragile feeling dragon into the bag. It poked it's head out and looked around as Lyra pulled the back onto her back. "Perfect." She said. "Shall we?"

Serana took her arm as the two left the cave, saying their goodbyes to Paarthurnax. She wondered what she had just signed herself up to.