"FUS!" The small rust colored Dovah was pushed back from the force of the elder dragon's shout. Its wings lost their stabilization and the childish Dovah that had dared to attack an elder flipped upon its back in mid-air and plummeted to the earth. The sound of solid rock being quickly ground into dust by eight tons of screaming and writhing scaled flesh was nearly deafening.

"I SURRENDER OLD ONE" Came a cry from the newly made crater, the draconic syllables slithering through the air. The elder Dovah landed gracefully on the edge of the crater, years of experience showing through the precision of the landing. The young one was groveling beneath, in the base of the crater, its head bowed in a submissive position. "YOU HAVE BESTED ME"

The elder said nothing, and simply examined the impulsive Dovah. The young one had simply fallen out of the sky, aiming for an instant kill, or at least to maim. Unfortunately, the Dovah had issued a war cry as it fell; giving away its presence long before it ever reached the old general. However, it had found with experience and skill. Too much experience to have been so easily submitted….

Paarthurnax roared a scream as a second dragon tore through the membrane of his right wing.

Galleia fumed as she stormed out of the monastery. She didn't know who this sorry excuse for a man was, but nothing good could affect her like that. That smell still wafted in the air about her, the smell of blood and pain. The mere thought made her head spin. That delicious…

No, she couldn't think like that. That was the kind of thinking that would destroy her careful control over her desires. She really needed to kill something. She growled as she made her way up the mountain. If she couldn't kill the man himself, she would at least have to convince the Greybeards to get rid of him.

These thoughts continued until she ran into Lydia. The other woman had obviously been running. "Gall… Dragons… attacked…" The woman was trying to huff out what she had to say.

"Lydia, calm down, catch your breath. You're no use if you can't talk straight." She took a second to catch her breath, before repeating what she had attempted to say before.

"Galleia, a couple dragons attacked Paarthurnax. He's hurt." She looked like she was going to say more, but Galleia had already taken off up the mountain. She ran as fast as she could. Now that she wasn't so self-absorbed into her thoughts, she could hear the distant sounds of fighting.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She wanted to use her shouts to move even faster, but she needed to conserve herself. She had no doubt that the second she reached the top of the mountain, the assailants would take off, and she would need to ground them.

As she reached the peak, all she could make out was a pile of writhing dragons. Every now and then she could make of flashes of Paarthurnax's golden scales among the black and rusty orange scales of the two attacking dragons. She drew her dual war-axes, and the pile separated. Paarthurnax was left on the ground. He was bleeding from several gashes over his body. However, she didn't have time to examine him completely, because the others were already moving. The black one took into the sky, while the orange one went directly for her.

The battle with the orange one was fierce, but short. He had been grounded, so she was easily able to dodge most of his attacks. Once he was dead, she looked up to the sky to search for the other, but she couldn't find him amongst the clouds. She would have to assume he was gone for now.

She ran over to Paarthurnax, who still hadn't moved from the small crater the fighting dragons had created. Once she reached him, she had to force herself to continue walking. One of his wings had nearly reduced to bone. He might never fly again.

After spending so much time with the old Dovah, she had learned that one of his greatest joys was flying. When he flew, he felt like he wasn't confined to this mountain, if only for a moment. Even if the confinement was self inflicted, it still grated against him. Almost as much as confinement grated against her.

She wanted to do something to help him, but if there was one area she knew nothing about, it was dragon medicine. She didn't know any shouts that would heal. She tried using the single basic healing spell she had picked up in her days as Arch-mage, but it didn't seem to do much good. She used every potion she had on his wounds, hoping that they would at least stop the bleeding. Thankfully, they did just that.

Eventually there was nothing else she could do, and she just sat on the edge of the crater. Not too long after Lydia joined her and told her that she had informed the Greybeards of what was happening. Bori came up not long after to assess Paarthurnax's condition, then returned to his brothers. The black dragon never returned.

Galleia spent the entire night on the side of that crater. She couldn't sleep. She wouldn't sleep. Not until he woke up. At one point in the night she went inside and grabbed the little wooden staff off of her bedroom wall. Once she returned to her post, she let that staff torment her. There was one thing she could do for the dragon she loved, but she wouldn't. Not without his permission.

Damn her humanity.

Kit: Hey there boys and girls. This is a two part chapter, split in half for convenience. I'm doing this chapter without consultation, so sorry if it sucks, but my co-author is stuck somewhere else. Sorry. Also, I'm going to punch him in the face on Wednesday.

Tin: Okay, she technically did it without consultation. I fixed a few spelling mistakes and awkward sentences, but I left the story itself alone. Enjoy! We'll probably work on the next chapter tonight and finish it up on Wednesday. Speaking of which, Wednesday will be the first time we'll have written when we're actually together, as we usually write over Skype.