-See, I told you I'd have the next chapter up soon. :3
-Cryptika
It took quite a while for Farkas to finally let go of his mate in order for her to be on her way. She and Riisahviing would be departing from the balcony, soaring off into the gathering dusk.
The huntress strode out of her chamber doors with Farkas following forlornly behind her, still partially sulking because of her refusal to let him join her on her mission. The sky was just beginning to turn orange with setting sun, although it held no trace of the great black and silver dragon. Azkari'a scanned the horizon for a moment, then tilted her head back and released a mighty Shout of her dragon's name to the heavens.
Farkas shook his head, his ears ringing with her Voice. "Warn me next time you do that," he requested quietly. Az threw him an apologetic glance.
A roar echoed over the surrounding mountains, bouncing off the rocks so that the noise reverberated all around them. Moments later, its source followed, soaring over the craggy peaks on wings made of snow and midnight.
The Nord man shifted uncomfortably. Despite his feelings for Azkari'a, he was still very wary of the dragon and part of him still leaned towards the instincts that told him to attack it. Az stood calmly by his side, not paying attention to his subtle fidgeting, her eyes focused instead on the dark silhouette of the beast circling above, coming in for a landing.
At least, she hadn't seemed to have been paying attention. But Farkas was proven wrong when she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "He is my only chance to get this done and come back alive, Farkas. This is one task I could not do singlehandedly. Trust him, like you trust me." Her voice was confident and strong.
She turned her eyes back to the dragon, who completed his final circle and landed gracefully on the balcony.
"Greetings, briinah," he said to Az in his deep rumbling voice. Then he turned his silver gaze towards Farkas. "Greetings, mun-grohiik. I am surprised that you have finally agreed to see me."
"Greetings, uh…" Farkas's slim knowledge of the dragon language suddenly escaped him completely. He settled, instead, for: "Greetings, Riisahviing."
The dragon nodded his head just slightly, seemingly satisfied with Farkas's pleasantries. He turned back to Azkari'a and the two began reciting their plans.
While his mate and her dragon immersed themselves in conversation, Farkas's attention turned to the beast himself. He had never seen a four-legged dragon in Skyrim before. Perhaps they existed in other lands, far away on the other side of Nirn. Then again, Azkari'a had called him a new breed; perhaps he was the first of his kind.
He certainly looked much more agile than the other dragons of Skyrim. Farkas imagined that he could move on land much like a horse or dog would, but with the added bulk of his massive wings. The common dragons had to rely on their own wings to walk around on land, which made them look uncoordinated and bulky. Riisahviing's wings were tucked against his sides neatly as he stood elegantly in front of Azkari'a.
With his structure he would be far taller than the common dragons too, Farkas mused. They would need to stand completely upright on their hind legs to even see eye-to-eye with him.
"Farkas!" His mate's voice pulled him out of his musing. He shook himself mentally and muttered an apology.
Az softened. "We are about to depart," she said, her eyes fighting to maintain her strong, confident air. "We will be heading for the Eastmarch camps first, and then towards the ones lying in the Reach and Falkreath. I do not know when we will be returning."
Farkas gazed at her with a knot in his throat. "Promise me you will return," he asked quietly, reaching out for her and gathering her into his arms one last time. "I will be waiting for you to come home, no matter how long it takes."
Az tilted her head up to him, silently requesting a parting kiss. He obliged willingly, his lips meeting hers with all the fire of his wishes for her safe return.
After an excruciatingly short moment, she broke away, her silver eyes meeting his storm grey ones with a silent goodbye. In the next moment those eyes were concealed from him, cloaked in the shadow of her helm.
The snow on the mountain peaks glistened in the rays of the sun, sparkling like piles of tiny diamonds as dragon and rider soared over them. By the time they reached their destination, night would have taken over the colorful hues of the twilight sky.
Riisahviing carefully plotted his flight path away from well-traveled areas, wary of being spotted from the ground by a travelling caravan or guard patrol. Azkari'a stayed low on his back, her dark armor blending in with the obsidian-colored scales along his spine.
Far in the distance, nestled against the scrub brush and hills of Whiterun plains, Rorikstead glowed with torchlight in the dusk. Despite her secluded lifestyle, Azkari'a had always felt like the lights of a twilight-shrouded town were quite homey and welcoming, especially after trekking across Skyrim's dangerous wilderness for a day. She had spent many nights by the fires of inns and taverns, immersing herself in tankards of mead and ale and the soft melodies of the bards.
Such nights were much softer than the chill she was flying into. The coming night would see no warm fires or pints of drink-only blood and the endlessness of the midnight sky.
The pair flew on, skirting the city of Whiterun out of the way of prying eyes, veering closer to Morthal than to the trading hub. Whiterun was far more active than the tiny town nestled in the swamps, even after the sun went down. Even dragons seemed to pay no mind to Morthal, sticking instead to the mountains that separated it from Whiterun.
"We are on a strait path to Eastmarch, Riisahviing," Azkari'a said, her voice somehow unobstructed by the wind. "Stay far away from Windhelm and head for the Imperial camp. It is situated right at the base of the bordering mountains-we can easily find a spot to land."
"Yes, Dovahkiin. I will circle around the camp when we come to it," the dragon replied, coasting easily on the wind currents.
Their planning was interrupted suddenly by a thunderous roar, echoing in the distance. The pair immediately fell silent, listening intently for the direction of the noise.
"Briinah, it seems that we have crossed into the territory of another dragon," Riisahviing rumbled lowly. Another roar broke the air. "And it knows we are here."
Azkari'a swore. "Is there any way out?"
Riisahviing rumbled again. "To do so would take us far out of our way and the dovah would likely follow us. We do not like others in our territory, no matter how long they have been there for."
Az swore again, louder this time. "Then we must fight it?" she asked in frustration. A fight with a dragon would expend energy that they needed to bring down the soldiers. Not to mention the risk of injury.
"It would appear so, briinah."
The she-wolf growled. Her dragon remained on his course, heading towards the inevitable fight. The enemy dragon's roars became increasingly louder-and angrier. It had to be circling around its lair, waiting for them.
"I believe it is a young male dovah sos-what you call a Blood dragon. He would be even less likely to back down from a battle," Riisahviing stated. "Young ones are eager to prove themselves."
Despite the seriousness of the moment, Az chuckled. "You are not exactly an elder yourself, zeymah."
Suddenly the cloud layer below them broke open, releasing an angry forest-green dragon. Frost crackled in its maw, opened in a furious, challenging roar. Az shouted at her dragon and he rolled to the side, just in time to avoid being hit by a chilling torrent of ice and snow.
Azkari'a narrowed her eyes, calculating the movement of the other young dragon. Riisahviing released a roar of his own and followed it with a blast of white-hot fire in the direction of the enemy dragon, answering its challenge with one of his own. The dragons circled each other, sizing each other up as Riisahviing visibly switched into an offensive stance.
Magicka flared to life in Az's gauntlet-sheathed hands, taking form as a ball of flames in her palm. The Blood dragon seemed to be relying on frost, so she would combat it with flames. Her other hand held loosely to the bony black spike in front of her, trusting Riisahviing to be in control of his maneuvers.
The rival dragon shot first, releasing a second burst of frost from its throat. Riisahviing easily passed under it and headed for its source, shouting flames as he passed and catching the other dragon on the tail. It hissed in pain and dove downwards, out of Riisahviing's immediate reach.
Azkari'a followed it with three quick bursts of flames, but only one of her spells reached its mark. A small explosion shrouded the dragon in smoke and embers, before it shook off the minor hit and came roaring towards them again.
Riisahviing charged towards the oncoming enemy head-on, fire bubbling up in his maw as he readied his Thu'um. The other dragon's teeth sparkled with frost as it prepared to release another blast of ice. The attack left its throat at the split second Riisahviing changed course, wheeling sideways so that the jet of frost just barely passed under his left wing.
Azkari'a's dragon turned a sharp right, his wings working hard to propel him after the blood dragon. Flames shot from his mouth to incase the other beast's tail end, closely followed by a volley of fireballs from Az's hand. The rival dragon roared in pain and outrage, its tail blackened and burnt even beneath the tough scales. It attempted to make a turn to face its attacker, but Riisahviing was too close behind it and its bulk did not allow it to turn very quickly. It shot a quick blast of frost in agitation, at no target in particular, before tucking in its wings and diving downward into the lone cloud that shrouded the mountain peak.
Riisahviing nearly followed, but a sharp command from his rider pulled him up short. "The clouds are low on the mountains, zeymah," she noted, watching the disturbed condensation swirl as the blood dragon disappeared within them. "Our rival could easily use the low visibility to take us by surprise."
The snow and midnight colored dragon beat his wings, hovering above where his rival had disappeared. "You are right, dovah-briinah. We will wait up here where we can see him coming."
He released another challenging roar, calling the other dragon back for combat, before lifting himself higher into the sky to circle around the cloud-shrouded mountain.
"This battle may take us all night," Az grumbled, keeping a close eye on the lone cloud below. "It is so much simpler fighting in hand-to-hand combat."
Riisahviing rumbled, his circular flight path never wavering. "Aerial combat between two dovah is both simple and complex," he said, his silvery eyes scanning the landscape for signs of his opponent. "Our battles consist of circling one another to attack as well as defend. Our Thu'um is not as easy to control as the blades and bows that you use."
Az chuckled hollowly. "I know," she said dryly, "I have used the Thu'um as well, zeymah. Bring us closer to the cloud cover. This battle needs to end."
Riisahviing rumbled but didn't object, dipping his wings to glide closer to the cloudy mountain peak. Leaning over on his back, Az studied the simmering mist for a moment.
"LOK VAH KOOR!"
A tangible burst of energy exploded from her mouth as she released the Shout, piercing the clouds that shrouded the blood dragon from view. Within moments the clouds began to clear, revealing the ragged mountain peak and the dragon's barrow that lay within a hidden alcove in the rock. It was there that the slightly charred blood dragon rested, attempting to regain its energy.
Riisahviing caught on to its location immediately. As he came out of his downward circle, Az felt his body heat up again with another fiery Shout. The blood dragon saw him coming, startled by the absence of its misty cover, fanning out its sage-green wings in an aggressive warning display. Riisahviing paid no heed to the show of bravado, charging strait for his rival with embers licking their way out of his parted maw.
Just as it seemed like he would crash into his opponent, he threw open his wings and blasted a searing torrent of fire onto his rival. The blood dragon roared in pain and rage, bathed in Riisahviing's flame as it writhed to break away. It stumbled out of the path of fire, nearly falling off the mountain cliff before shakily climbing into the air on tattered, charred wings.
Riisahviing halted in his barrage of flame, hovering in the air as he and his rider watched the other dragon flee.
"That is strange," Az commented, watching the dot of green and black disappear over the mountain range, "I thought dragons always fought to the death."
Riisahviing's body thrummed as he spoke. "Some of us look into the face of defeat and choose to live another day," he said. "Not all of us are willing to greet dinok with open wings, especially the young ones."
Azkari'a fell silent for a moment in understanding, then looked onwards toward their destination. "Out of one fight and into another," she murmured. "Carry on, Riisahviing."