"How do you expect to kill a dragon if you cannot even keep up with me?" Vilkas hollered back to Aurora how was trailing behind him by a few yards on their trek up to Eldersblood Peak. Her short legs were jogging up the path to catch up to him. He chuckled to himself as she slowed next to him, panting short breaths, the cold air accentuating her large breaths in the puffs of steam coming from her mouth. He turned and continued hiking up the mountain, hearing her exasperated sigh as he motioned for her to continue with him.
"If you didn't take such long strides up this damnable path, it would not be an issue. I am short, give me some time to make up for that." The corner of his mouth tilted a bit. He looked back at her again, taking two steps for only one of his. He slowed his pace slightly, but still walked much quicker than her.
"The dragon will not care that you are short and neither do I. This will help build up your endurance. The longer you can last against the beast, the better chances you have." He replied over his shoulder.
"I will have no endurance left by the time we get to the top of this mountain." She heaved a huge breath before she sprinted up next to him. "Why did you have to choose a dragon at the top of one of the higher points in Skyrim? And so far up north? I know you Nords like it that way, but I am only half of one of you crazy bastards. I can feel the cold seeping into my bones." She complained, bundling her clothes up around her, trying to stay warm.
"Believe me, you will warm up in a matter of moments the minute that dragon notices us." Vilkas stated, already feeling a slight sweat from the excitement of fighting another dragon. He remembered their first encounter at Whiterun's watch tower and how many of them were needed to take the beast down. Though at the time, they didn't know they had the Dragonborn among them. He truly believed it would be much easier this time around.
"I do hope you don't mean what I think you do…" Aurora said to him, but he truly felt curious and raised an eyebrow at her in response. She rolled her eyes and continued. "Dragons breathe fire. I prefer to keep my skin attached to my bones thank you very much, regardless of how cold I am currently feeling." He actually laughed out loud at her statement, and she seemed slightly in shock from the boisterous laugh. "That is not funny! I have had one too many close calls with Dragons breathing fire my way. You won't be laughing when your hair is singed right off your head."
"Your skin has remained attached Aurora, I do not believe this will be the dragons that undoes that." He said to her, still smiling.
"You are rather confident about all this." She said in an unsure voice.
"Well…" He thought on his words for a moment before speaking again. "I am confident in the two of us but that is not why I believe fire breath will not be a problem with this dragon. The bounty states the Dragon has been seen using frost breath instead."
"They can do that? My current knowledge of dragons seems to grow the more I encounter them. All the dragons I have previously seen have all used fire breath. Why would this one be different?" She asked, the curiosity seeping into her voice.
"I do not know. Maybe its current place of habitance has something to do with it."
"Possibly. I have yet to encounter a Dragon this far north. It was snowing in Kynesgrove, but we were not very elevated. The snow had seemed to follow Alduin though, maybe they have shouts that change the weather. When I was at Helgen, he used a shout that caused hail fire to fall from the skies. I remember how beautiful of a day it was, barely a cloud in the sky. The minute he landed they changed to purple whirling storms and chaos. It was surreal, like his return called for something more drastic. Dragons are nothing if not arrogant and self-absorbed. I had read in one of your lore books they once tried to enslave man, believing themselves Gods among us. I guess it would make sense seeing that Alduin translates to destroyer, devour, master or in our case, World Eater." Vilkas looked at her with an almost confused look but it seems he was more intrigued by her brief rambling about the dragons.
"It seems you've done your research." He said.
"I took your advice on that. It would appear the more I know about the dragons, the better I can understand them and my purpose here. They were created by the Gods, the same as I. This must mean something, I still have yet to figure it out."
"How did you know the translation for Alduin? He has been referred to the world eater before but I never read a literal translation like that." He asked, never having read that anywhere himself.
"I have had dreams. Many of them have him in them. It is odd, how the dragons speak to me. They use their own language and the more I read it in the word walls, the more I encounter them, the more I have these dreams, the easier it is for me to understand. Maybe it is because of who I am but the words make sense to me. It is like I have known this language my entire life but it was forgotten, only to resurface now. He spoke to me at Kynesgrove and it was not until later the words found meaning. The dragon he spoke to had a name as well, and that is when I realized something about them."
"What is that?"
"The dragons, their names have meaning. They are shouts in a way. The Greybeards explained how each shout is made up of three words of power. There is only one I completely know, that was the first I learned from the dragon at Whiterun. He had a name as well, I had felt it when I absorbed his soul."
"You can feel them?" Vilkas found this information very disconcerting.
"In a way, yes. They are very different from us though. I mean, it feels more like knowledge than emotion. Because of him, I was able to find the meaning of that first word of power. Think of it as a way of enlightenment. I gain strength through the sharing of knowledge. That is how the Greybeards teach me. That is why I need the dragons, for their knowledge. It is not the power from the soul but the meaning behind it. I currently have a word, itching on the inside of my head, desperate to cling to a dragon soul. I have no knowledge of that word, just that it exists. Once I kill this dragon, the word will mean something to me. That is where the power comes from, knowing truly what I am capable of through these words of power. It sounds so much more complicated when I speak about it, but it feels… right."
"I can imagine the difficulty of putting the meaning of being Dragonborn into words. I feel you did well in explaining yourself. I just worry for your sanity. The heroes of Tamriel have all but gone crazy in their lifetimes and I do not wish that upon you." He didn't look at her when he spoke the words, afraid of her reaction.
"Well I would hope the minute I start going crazy that the Companions will be there to pull me from it. The training helps. It keeps my mind off things. Hunting as well, I have always kept a clear mind while tracking. That is what I love about archery, it is… soothing."
"You seem like the kind of person who finds an activity most have difficulty with calming."
"Archery has always been natural for me."
"That is because of your Bosmer blood." Vilkas stated matter of factly.
"I suppose that would have much to do with it wouldn't it? It is rather odd to see a Bosmer struggle with the use of a bow. My mother taught me, but she was not as skilled as the average Bosmer. I taught myself even more after she was gone. I practiced a lot. Rabbits and squirrels were fast enough to use for target practice. I told myself I was not good enough until I could hit them square between the eyes."
"I have never seen you miss your target." Vilkas said, and she thought she heard something similar to pride in his voice.
"I will not say I do not miss at times, but it is rare. I find my bow the most useful instrument I can choose. It works well for me." She smiled at herself but the smile quickly faded as a roar erupted through the air of the mountain.
"We are about to see how useful it truly is. I believe our presence is known." Vilkas said, and they both picked up the pace. They ran towards the top of the mountain. She looked up as a shadow flew over them and saw the skies were clear at the top of the mountain. Vilkas slowed behind her and she continued sprinting forward. Another roar rang through the mountains and she stopped when a shadow hovered over her. She turned her head towards the dragon flying above her. Immediately she nocked an arrow and aimed at the underbelly of the frost dragon as it heave din a deep breath. Her arrow hit as the frost breath came billowing out of the dragons mouth. She crouched down, bracing for the icy cold to hit her body, but nothing came.
She looked up slightly to see Vilkas crouched in front of her with his shield blocking the ice breath attack. The dragon took flight again towards the peak of the mountain. Vilkas grabbed her arm, lifting her to her feet as they both started running up the path again.
The path lead up under stone arches with disarrayed stone steps underneath, showing how close they were to the dragon's lair atop of the mountain. Aurora ran faster, leaving Vilkas behind. When they ran through the final arch, a grand set of stairs stood in front of them and she climbed them eagerly. There were a number of similar sets of stone stairs in the area and she continued her ascent with Vilkas trailing behind, keeping watch for the dragon that now encircled the area of the mountain below them. The peak came into view, and Aurora gasped at the sight of another Word Wall.
"Vilkas! There's a Word Wall up here!" She yelled as the familiar chanting began in her head at a low volume but still distracting volume.
"You will have to wait; the dragon is making its way back up the mountain!" His words were drowned out by the ever ominous roar echoing from the beast's throat. She turned to see the dragon soaring above them, preparing to land. Her eyes did not leave its dark form as she readied her bow and shot another arrow into its underbelly. "Aurora! This is what you have been waiting for. You can do this." Vilkas' reassuring words spurred her on and she shot another arrow at the wing, causing another roar to erupt from the dragon's throat along with its frosty breath directed toward the two of them. Aurora ducked and rolled out of the way, only catching an icy wind chill from the icy breath. Steadying herself on just one knee as she rolled to a stop, she nocked another arrow and sent it flying.
As the dragon encircled the mountain top, she continued sending a barrage of arrows into the underside of the dragon's body. When the dragon came around a second time it landed in front of her. The ground shook under the weight of the dragon's presence. Aurora readied her arrow and shot into the dragons snout as its ice breath came billowing towards her. She braced for the ice cold shards that came towards her but instead she felt a powerful force to the entire left side of her body as Vilkas ran into her, pushing them both out of the way.
"You need to focus. Do not let your guard down. Trust your reflexes. Don't stop moving." Vilkas continued his reassuring tips as she got back to her feet. The dragon was taking flight again and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. He stared at her with his silver eyes and she found her courage within them. She nodded to him and then turned her attention back to the Dragon flying above her. She took aim with her bow once again and before shooting she breathed deeply and followed his movements. Waiting until the right moment, she sent the arrow flying into its neck and the Dragon shook its head to rid itself of the arrow lodged in its scales. It swooped down and hovered above them.
"Do not forget who you are! You are Dragonborn! Embrace it!" Vilkas spouted again. She did not see him, but she could tell he was farther away from her than before. She stared at the dragon, readying to hit them with another burst of frost breath. She planted her feet on the ground to steady herself as she took a deep breath with the dragon. Just as the breath crawled up its throat she released her shout.
"FUS RO DAH!" The thunder clapped through the mountain as the shout left her lips and the force sent the dragon reeling backwards and into the ground. She smiled to herself at the sight and the thundering ground from the dragon's impact. As the dragon gained its balance, Aurora withdrew the two one handed blades Vilkas had been training her with. She took another deep breath and shouted once again.
"WULD" She was at the dragon's throat in a second at the command of her shout. Using both swords she began slashing away at the scales underneath the dragon's neck and belly. The dragon began whirling around trying to keep up with her and she laughed as the ice breath rippled from the dragon's mouth, hastily but unsuccessfully trying to catch her with it.
She rolled underneath the middle of the Dragon's torso. Not wanting a repeat of the last time she faced a dragon, she stabbed one blade in the underbelly and dragged the sword before yanking it out while its blood dripped onto her hand. The dragon stood on its hind legs above her and as it loomed over she used the same sword and threw it towards the dragon's face. However the blood covering her hand caused the blade to slip, and it never reached its destination. She thought she heard a chuckle come from the Dragon and she sneered at it.
The dragon continued to mock her as it took flight once more but it turned its attention away from her. As the dragon sped over to where she saw Vilkas watching the fight from a distance. She had not noticed that before he was letting her have the fight. He had only contributed when she needed him but now the Dragon was targeting him. She ran towards him, but he was just as aware as she was. He withdrew his great sword as the dragon landed in front of him. The dragon heaved before spurting out his ice breath again but Vilkas had already made his way to the Dragon's flank, stabbing his great sword into the space in front of its left wing.
The dragon swung around, knocking Vilkas off his feet and rolling to the side in front of the word wall. The dragon, with the great sword still imbedded in its side turned to face him. Preparing its breath again Vilkas sat up on his elbows only to see the Dragon's snout mere feet away from him. He saw the ice creeping up the dragons throat into its open mouth and he closed his eyes and held his hand up ready for the icy blast.
Instead he heard a different shout erupt into the air.
"YOL!" He opened his eyes to see the large gust of flame pour from Aurora's mouth. Standing in front of him, facing the Dragon head on, he was in shock with what he saw unfold before him. The flame engulfed the frost breath that crept out of the Dragon's mouth. The flame doused the frost then continued to flow over the Dragon's face. The Dragon roared and reared back again, attempting to shake off the flame. Aurora walked steadily towards the dragon as it continued to back away. Aurora, still holding one of her swords ran at the Dragon that was slashing around on the ground. She leaped, her feet finding Vilkas' great sword buried near the Dragon's wing. Using it as a stepping stone she flew onto the beasts back and held tightly to the scales protruding from its spine. She straddled the part of the wing attached to the torso, keeping a strong hold on the dragon with her thighs. She began hacking at the screaming dragon's arm. After numerous amounts of slashes, the wing held onto the dragon's body by a thread. With one final swing, she connected, sending the wing flying from the dragon's body.
The dragon collapsed and Aurora went rolling with it. The dragon attempted to regain some semblance of balance, but knew it was done for. A dragon was no Dovah if he could not fly. Aurora ended up lying face down when she came to a stop. She sat up on her elbows and turned to see the dragon slashing around on the ground. When it finally stopped she stood up and walked over to the beast. It was still except for the heavy breaths causing its chest to rise up and down slowly as it took its final breaths. She walked over to where the dragon's skull lay. The dragon looked up at her and she thought she saw a glimpse of fear in its eyes. She was drawn to it in a way and she placed her hand on its snout as the dragon desperately tried to stay alive.
"Nii los bek. Hin sil fen reyzan zeim zey." Aurora spoke to the dragon in a soothing tone, the words flowing through her as if she were compelled to say them. She knew their meaning, but she felt it was just now that the meaning came to her. "Siiv drem." With her final words, she saw the beast take its last breath and the light faded from its eyes. She stared at the dragon's body as the scales began to burn away as they usually did and the orange and purple light flowed around her. The wind from the light rushing through her ears was deafening and she closed her eyes to let herself become overwhelmed with the feeling of absorbing the dragon's soul. As the light faded and the wind stopped, she felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow before she felt the enlightenment of a word finding meaning.
"Air" She whispered to herself as the meaning of "SU" cleared in her mind. She felt a sudden almost aching relief as her mind was cleared of the word. She sighed of relief and took a deep breath and moment to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she was pulled from her moment of peace.
"Aurora?" Vilkas' tone was worrying and she turned to see it etched in his features. She gave him a small smile to reassure him. The smile faded from her lips when she looked past him to see the word wall. She wanted to cry and she knew Vilkas could see it within her. She shook her head and looked to the ground.
"I find peace for only a moment before I have to go through it all again." He turned his attention to the wall behind him. He looked to her and held both her shoulders in his hands.
"This is what you are meant for. There are more dragons." He said, trying to find something more reassuring to say but he was at a loss for words. He settled with giving her the courage he could. "You were incredible today. You caused the final blow. You killed a dragon, nearly by yourself today. You were meant for this, you are strong." He placed his fingers lightly on her chin and tilted her face up to meet him. "I believe in you." He said the words while his eyes bored into hers. They stood like that for a few moments before her eyes shifted to the word wall again. She heaved a deep breath and began walking towards the wall.
She slowly walked up the steps and the chanting in her head grew louder and louder. She was pulled to the wall like a magnet and finally she fell to her knees as the blue light surrounded her and the chanting drowned out everything around her. Before she knew it, the feeling passed and a new word bounced around in her head.
"Zun" She whispered the word, desperately trying to find some meaning within it. She took notice of Vilkas hovering behind her. "I do not understand. I spoke the language today as if I have known it my whole life. There are words I understand as if I could hold an entire conversation with a dragon but when I absorb these words… there is no clarity what so ever."
"I can only imagine that being Dragonborn is just like any skill. It needs to be trained and used before it is completely put to good use. These words are like any book you read, you do not know the meaning until you finish the whole book and can attach something to it."
"I only hope there are enough dragons to go around for these word walls. Maybe we will find one on our way back home?" She said in a slightly hopeful voice.
"Maybe." Vilkas said with a chuckle. She smiled back at him, but he could still see through the smile. "Let us head back to the inn. We will leave for Whiterun tomorrow." She nodded and stood, pushing herself away from the wall and they both descended the mountain in silence.
A/N: Okay so first of all sorry for the long wait. I've been working a lot lately and just honestly been too tired to do anything but lay around and sleep. So thanks for staying with me.
Secondly, because of my new work hours, I feel I do not have as much time to write and edit as I used to soooo with that being said. I am looking for a BETA reader. I know my writing and grammar is by far from perfect and it would help to have someone give me a hand there before I upload anything. So if you are interested, PM me.
Also this chapter has a soundtrack! I haven't done one of these since Chapter 5. This chapter's inspiration is brought to you by Henry Jackman's song from X-men First Class - the song is literally called First Class. I thought it was an interesting choice because in the movie Prof. X kind of guides everyone to use their abilities to the best of what they're truly capable of. I kind of envisioned Vilkas doing the same for Aurora here.
And Finally, next chapter will be much more interested... trust me. We're still in the developing stages of this budding relationship between Aurora and Vilkas but next chapter will be a huge mile marker. I hope you guys will enjoy it.
Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to Review and Fave!