PART THREE – J'SHANA

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE – THE STORM BREAKS

The impact was a sensation similar to what Sha imagined being kicked by a horse must be like. For a few moments she was certain that her stomach had relocated to somewhere around her windpipe, while her tongue appeared to have either slithered down her throat and sunk into her chest or disappeared entirely. She felt her body slam backwards and for a single second all rational thought vanished in a blaze of fear as every instinct told her she was going to fall thousands of feet to be shredded into carrion on the rocks below -

Then she hit something hard and the world – and her anatomy - jerked itself back into place. She flailed at the air for a moment, trying to grasp some handhold, a grip, anything that could be used to right her. Then a hand came down on her back and gently but firmly pushed her forwards. She let it move her, and gratitude and relief flashed through her as she felt her hands find Kaaldunir's scales again.

'Hold on tight,' Amar's voice shouted from behind her. 'It's going to be something of a bumpy ride.'

That was more than an understatement. Now that Sha's senses seemed to be working properly, she could tell that Kaaldunir was writhing like a trapped snake beneath her. For a few moments she could only grip her Wingsister's neck with one hand while clinging so tightly onto Dragonbane with the other that her fingers were hurting. Then she dragged her head upwards.

A brown-scaled dragon was hovering in front of them, but hovering was not a word that could properly describe the situation. Hovering sounded stationary, and the dragon was anything but. His wings were working so furiously that Sha's fur was flattened by wind, and his head was lunging in and out towards them like a particularly persistent bolt of lightning. His teeth were snapping shut in the air hardly a whisker's length again and again. It took Sha some time to realise that Kaaldunir was doing exactly the same thing. Her wings were beating, if possible, even faster than their enemy's, and her jaws were slashing at the air in front of him. As of yet, she didn't seem to have hit him, but neither had he landed a blow on her. Amar's daggers were drawn and readied, and he was watching the brown dragon intently. She knew that the moment it was in reach, it would find those blades slashing across its nose.

And I should be making sure the same thing happens with me, she said silently, and pulled herself upright.

It was nothing like fighting Keinvulnax on the ground, or even battling the bandits in the Falkreath forest. Those fights had been stable. Rooted. She had been in control of everything that happened with her body. This fight was nothing like it. With every single move that Kaaldunir made, she was thrown in a different direction; every flap of the wings brought her either up or down, every flick of a tail to the left or right. Everything was jerky, wild – Kaaldunir was flying upright and so Sha's back was to the ground – and their opponent had a whole sphere of different directions to move in to avoid their attacks. It was chaos, it was a thunderstorm, it was a flying earthquake, it was Oblivion in the sky.

And it was wonderful.

Because suddenly, up here, Skyrim lying miles below her, fire scorching the sky and burning the breeze, she was where she was meant to be. This was not like fighting the bandits, because there, trapped on the ground, none of them had been dragons, not even Kaaldunir, because she had yet to become Kaaldunir. It was not like fighting Keinvulnax, because there, he had been the only dragon. But here? Here, they were all dragons, and Sha and A'jira most of all.

She was not a Khajiit any more, not a sixteen-year-old girl, not even a mortal. She was a dragon. She could almost feel the dovah blood coursing through her veins, scorching her skin, making her heart race and her terror fall away. A dragon feels no fear in the heat of battle. Because they were made for battle. And Sha was the Dragonborn's daughter.

She saw fire. It was all around her now, searing orange and crimson lines across the sky in every direction. And frost, silver and white, and here and there, lightning the colour of amethyst. And the sight was enough to make her raise Dragonbane above her head and swing.

The blade no longer felt like a weapon; more like an extension of her arm. It seemed longer than it had ever done before, more powerful and deadly. It scored across the scales of the dragon's neck, shedding no blood, but slicing a thin line through them.

Once this blade is sharpened and properly restored, Sha thought, it's going to be incredible.

It might not have been a wound, but it made the dragon redouble and draw back. And that was when Amar sent a dagger flying at him, sinking into his wing joint. He screeched and, his flight suddenly laboured and off-kilter, retreated a few wingbeats. Kaaldunir left him no time to recover. She shot towards him and slammed her jaws down on his neck. Having seen the dragons in training, and occasionally in battle from a distance, Sha knew that her Wingsister's position and method wasn't perfect – she needed more power and better grip – but it was enough to send blood spattering down the pale tan scales. And when Kaaldunir adjusted her grip, one fang pierced through the gash that Sha's blow had opened up, and sank deep down into the flesh below. The scream he made was enough to make Sha's fur stand on end.

With a vicious twist, he pulled free from Kaaldunir's grip and whipped his tail up towards them. Kaaldunir reeled backwards as his tail-tip slapped her full in the face. Sha responded by ripping a gash in the brown dragon's wing membrane. She heard a rush of air behind her and sensed rather than saw Amar make a sharp movement. She glanced around to see Vithmulsah wrenching free of the grip of a bronze-scaled elder dragon, who now had one of Amar's blades buried in her upper jaw.

'Don't throw away too many of those,' Sha shouted breathlessly. 'You'll run out.'

Amar grinned and, for the first time, threw his cloak wide open, revealing blades sheathed in every available and practical space. 'Not any time soon.'

Kaaldunir was panting hard now, but her eyes were flashing with exhilaration. 'Bo ruz!' she roared at the brown dragon. 'Face us! We are ready!'

Their enemy spat like an incensed Khajiit and breathed in deeply. Sha could hear the beginnings of a Shout forming in his throat, but before he could release it, a voice rose above the battle – a voice that sounded somehow familiar, and yet which she knew belonged to a stranger.

'Stop! Helt! Stop this now!'

For a moment, nothing changed – fire burned, teeth flashed, blades glinted. Then the combatants began to falter, glancing around in search of whoever had shouted. And then a new voice joined him; deep and bellowing. No, three voices, speaking as one.

'Helt! Be still. Stop.'

Sha let out a shaking breath and desperately looked around to see where the voices were coming from. It was hard to make anything out, because everyone was still moving; dragons were disentangling themselves from each other's claws with misgiving clear on their faces, and the mortals were anxiously shifting in their seats as if waiting for the double-cross, the command to attack now that they had dropped their guard.

Amar went rigid suddenly. 'That's him,' he snarled. 'Him. There. The elf. That's the one.'

Sha didn't need to ask who he meant. Because now she could see him too.

A dragon was rising above the rest of the frozen battle, a dragon with wings twice the size of Kaaldunir's and talons twice as long. His wings were mottled with black, and his scales were dark red-bronze up to his shoulders. There, three necks split outwards like branches from the trunk of a tree – one a Frost Dragon's grey-tinted white, one the blue-grey of a Storm Dragon, and the last one the same colour as the rest of the body, with an Ancient Dragon's jet black horns and jagged teeth.

'Qoyoliiz,' Sha breathed.

She had never seen any creature so powerful, so terrifying. Small wonder he had called all these dragons to follow him. They must have been more than willing. She understood now why this one dragon had caused so much chaos, so much suffering. She understood why Duroth was dead, why Kaaldunir had been orphaned. She understood why Odahviing had sent her for Dragonbane.

Dragonbane. Her hand tightened around the hilt. If Kaaldunir were fast enough, if she was accurate enough, she might be able to make it. She could cross that distance before Qoyoliiz's followers could react. She could hit him. She could end this, here and now.

A murmur came from nearby. 'Don't, Sha.'

Sha glanced to the side and saw Zaran looking meaningfully at her. And Sha, knowing how alike she and her father sometimes were in thought, realised that he knew exactly what she'd been thinking.

'They've stopped fighting,' Zaran told her quietly, 'and it would be worse than sinking to their level to attack now. That goes for you too, Amar. They may not have honour, but we are Dragonhearts, and we do still. And besides, I think Lorn wants to speak to his brother.'

Because another dragon was lifting itself above the others to hover on a level with Qoyoliiz, and this one Sha knew. It was Vulqostrun. And Lorn was sitting upright on his neck, a look of mingled hope and horror on his face.

In her awe over Qoyoliiz, Sha had almost overlooked the elf sitting behind his central head. Now she examined him properly, and any doubts she'd had about his kinship with Lorn vanished. This was Veldarion; it had to be. To be sure, his hair was shoulder-length while Lorn's was cut short, his robes were black while Lorn's were blue, and his left cheek was bisected by a vicious scar, but in almost everything else, they were identical. Same pale, creamy-gold skin. Same straight, fair hair. Same yellow eyes. Same face shape, same height, same build, same everything. Even same expressions.

Now everything was as silent as it could be when a score of dragons were clustering in the same patch of air, their wings pumping furiously to keep them from falling.

'Ilornias,' Veldarion said softly.

Lorn was trembling.

'Veldarion,' he replied.

'You know this joor?' growled a savage-looking Legendary Dragon who could only be Kahjuniisk. The one who killed Duroth. Sha's jaw clenched.

Veldarion did not reply.

'Brother,' Lorn choked out.

Veldarion gave a small shake of his head.

'You died,' he said. 'You died. Twenty years ago.'

Lorn risked a smile. 'I thought you died. But you didn't.'

'Clearly,' Veldarion said.

Sha gritted her teeth; that would not be what she would have wanted to hear from her long-lost sibling, if she had one.

'How did you do it?' Veldarion demanded.

Incredibly, Lorn laughed. 'What, not die?'

Something that was almost a smile, or perhaps could have been persuaded into becoming one, flittered across Veldarion's face.

'I was knocked unconscious. I woke up. I found nobody around. I thought everyone was dead. So I ran.' Lorn gave a small shrug. 'Looking back, I can see it would have been rather more sensible to wait around.'

'Highly likely, because if you had, I would have found you when I came back looking for you,' Veldarion answered.

'Back from where?'

'From running away. No point in getting myself killed.'

Lorn's gaze hardened a little.

'Veldarion,' he said. 'What are you doing here?'

'Me?' The elf spat out the word. 'What about you? Sitting on that traitor of a beast, wearing that armour – following her!'

He slammed an arm out to point at A'jira. Lorn drew in a long breath.

'Vel,' he said, but his brother cut across him.

'Have you forgotten who you are? What we did together? I spent years mourning you, because you were the only person who ever came close to thinking like me. We made such plans. We spent two centuries talking about how we were going to come to power. And now you appear out of nowhere, following the one who stands between us and the power that we deserve!'

'We?' Lorn asked.

'Yes, we! Us! The Bloodcallers!'

Lorn's jaw clenched. 'What about we as in you and me?'

'You deserve power as much as – '

'That's not what I meant, and you know it. What I mean is the fact that I've learned that my brother is alive after years of thinking he was dead is more important than what he's done since. To me, right now, that's more important than anything. Isn't it to you, too?'

Kahjuniisk hissed suddenly, cutting off Veldarion's reply. 'I always knew you were a coward, fahliil. Not only a weakling, but a friend of followers of the Dovahkiin – '

Veldarion whirled around, rage flaring in his eyes. A roar left his mouth. 'For once in your life, hold your accursed tongue!'

The words slammed through the air with such ferocity that Sha flinched. Kahjuniisk gaped at the elf for a moment, then slowly closed his jaw.

'More important than anything?' Veldarion said, turning back to Lorn. 'Is that what you're saying? That your brother takes priority over everything else?'

Lorn nodded desperately. 'Of course that's what I mean. You were always more important to me than anything else. You're my brother. We grew up together, we travelled Tamriel together. We shared the same womb. How can anything else ever come close to that?'

Veldarion nodded slowly. 'Then come and join me. Here and now.' His gaze softened. 'I understand, Lorn, I truly do. You lost everything, just as I did. And because you were lost, you decided to follow someone powerful. That's not wrong. But you don't have be lost any more. You belong with me. You're a Bloodcaller. Leave these weaklings and stand by me again.'

Every eye was fixed upon the two Altmer now. Even Qoyoliiz had turned his two outer heads inwards to get a better view. No one, not even he, would have dared to interrupt. Sha caught sight of Andelm's fingers stirring restlessly on his sword-hilt, and she knew that he was waiting for Lorn to nod and smile and agree to join his brother.

But he wouldn't. He couldn't. That wasn't Lorn.

But then, hadn't Lorn proven to all of them that he wasn't who they thought he was? And hadn't he just said that nothing was more important than his brother?

Lorn had closed his eyes as Veldarion finished speaking. Now he opened them again and met his twin's gaze calmly. 'That's the one thing I can't do for you.'

Veldarion's face twisted, but before he could speak, Lorn continued. 'I wasn't lying. You are more important to me than anyone and anything else on Nirn. Which is why I can't join you. Because if you continue on this path, Vel, you're going to be killed. Do you really think that you and a small band of dragons can conquer all of Tamriel?'

'We won't be small for much longer,' Veldarion snapped. 'Not once the Dragonborn is dead and the dragons don't have anything to fear. These few were the ones who weren't afraid. You were never a coward, Ilornias. Now prove that you've not become one. Join us.'

'No, Veldarion. You join us.' Lorn was pleading now. 'Look at what you've done. Think about the people you've killed. There was one of us, a Dragonheart – just a boy, seventeen years old, his whole life ahead of him – and he died because you wanted power. Can't you think – just for one moment, think – about how wrong that is?'

'Nothing that grants us power can be wrong!' Veldarion snarled. 'You've let her change you, Lorn!' He turned, his face lined with anger – and were those tears? – towards A'jira. 'You! This is your fault! You've been lying to him, making him forget who he is – '

Vulqostrun let out a sharp growl, and Lorn shouted over Veldarion's words. 'No! I chose this, Veldarion! Because it's right. I learned something that night, brother, when the others died, when I thought that you had died. I sat there among the bodies and I realised that I had killed everyone I cared about for the sake of my own ambition. I thought you'd been killed for it. And I knew that it simply was not right! Nothing justified losing them – Reyleth, Seeta-Na, Ushad – they were our friends! Didn't you care about them at all? Didn't you regret it?'

'Of course I regretted it! But what was the use? They were dead. You were dead, or so I thought. What would it gain me if I gave up everything they fought for? You're the one who's disrespecting their memory. They died bringing back Alduin, so that we could take Skyrim for the Bloodcallers – '

His words were drowned out in a chorus of yelps, bellows and shouts of, 'Fos?' from the dragons massed behind Qoyoliiz. Some were staring blankly, others glaring, others looking utterly disbelieving. And Veldarion suddenly looked uneasy.

'You didn't tell them?' Lorn exclaimed.

Veldarion stole an uneasy glance over his shoulder. 'I didn't think they needed to know.'

'Needed to know?' The growl came from a massive, battle-scarred Ancient Dragon – Vulgrahskein, it had to be. 'Did you think we did not need to know the truth? You lied to us!'

'He was our in!' snarled the female Elder Dragon. 'Our master! And you returned him to Tamriel? You led him to his death?'

'How was I to know that this cat would come along?' Veldarion jabbed a finger at A'jira again. 'You speak as if I meant to kill him! Yes, I brought back Alduin, as did my brother. We never meant for him to be destroyed. And that is why I am here, now, trying to make amends. I am giving you a second chance to take this world for your own!'

'No, you're not!' There was anger in Lorn's voice now too. 'You're doing this for yourself, Veldarion, just as you always did everything for yourself. You don't care about bringing power to the dragons. This is about you!'

Qoyoliiz spoke for the first time since the brothers had begun talking, his voice dripping with cold amusement. 'If that is so, your zeymah is mistaken. He forgets that he has no power over me.'

Vulgrahskein roared in agreement. 'You may have created Qoyoliiz, but he is our thur, not you, mortal! It is he who shall rule this land once we have reclaimed it!'

The other Bloodcallers howled their assent. Lorn's face was grim, but still somewhat hopeful. 'You see, Vel? They are not loyal to you. They are using you as you intended to use them. This is not how you will gain power. You will never gain power while there is any good in this world, and there is so much good, my brother, so much good.'

Veldarion no longer looked like the icy, unreachable leader he had seemed to be when Sha had first set eyes upon him. He looked more like a frightened child; lost and afraid and not knowing where to go.

'Please, Vel. Turn your back on all of this.' Lorn must have gestured to Vulqostrun, because the Storm Dragon flew a little closer to Qoyoliiz, so that some of the distance between the brothers closed. 'I'll leave the Dragonhearts, if it will make you leave the Bloodcallers. Don't fight with these dragons who want nothing more than to manipulate you and force you to serve them.'

Veldarion lifted his head. 'And if I do, brother, will we begin again?'

'If by begin again you mean set all of this behind us and start new lives in which we hurt no one and cause no suffering, then yes. I want that more than anything.' Lorn swallowed. 'But if you mean gather a new band of followers and find some other way to take power, then no. Because I will not willingly cause pain to another innocent again. And I will not let you do the same.'

'Then you lied,' Veldarion spat. 'You said I was more important to you than anything else. Are these people, these fools with no ambition or talent – ' he waved his hand around him, indicating the Dragonhearts – 'more important to you than your own brother? Do you rate the lives of strangers above mine? Is your loyalty to these innocents you harp on about before me?'

'It's because I care about you that I'm trying to make you stop all this,' Lorn shouted back. 'If you tried, just tried, to change yourself and see the world the way I've learned to see it, you'd find so much more in life that you never had before. And I won't have to see you die for a pointless, selfish cause. I thought you had been killed, but you weren't – you were given a second chance. For the Gods' sakes, Vel, take it! These dragons will not give you power. Just stop this. You're going to be killed trying to take the world for yourself, and I don't want to lose you again. That's why I'm telling you to change. I'm trying to save you!'

Veldarion's face knotted with rage. 'You're the one who needs saving. If you've lost faith in everything we ever fought for…' He shook his head. 'Do you truly think I am so weak as to allow myself to die? Like our mother? Like our father? Like that beggar with the knife in the backalleys?'

'And do you think that Tamriel is simply going to meekly back down and let you rule? In case it had escaped your notice, brother, the people of this world do not want to be enslaved!'

'What does it matter what they want?'

'It matters because they will fight against you, Vel! Because that is what people will always do – they will fight to preserve their freedom, their lives, the lives of those they love, their beliefs. And try as you might, you will never be able to gather enough followers to overthrow all those who will fight for basic right of mortals to be free.'

'It makes no difference,' Qoyoliiz interrupted. 'It is not your brother's will, but mine, that decides whether or not the Sosforiikke will fight.'

'Oh, I know that the Bloodcallers will fight us,' Lorn snapped. 'What makes a difference to me is what side Veldarion fights on.'

Qoyoliiz let out a cruel laugh. 'I am sure that my wahliik has not forgotten our arrangement. I would be most displeased if he had. I might have to kill him.'

Sha swapped glances with Kaaldunir and Amar. It seemed that Veldarion was not as in command of the Bloodcallers as they had believed.

Surely, Sha thought, he'll see now that he has nothing to gain from standing by them. Surely he'll listen to Lorn. Surely he'll change.

'He won't listen,' Amar muttered.

'How do you know?'

'If he cared for his brother, he'd have looked happier to see him alive. And if there were any goodness in him, I'd still have a family.'

'He has Lorn's blood,' Sha hissed back. Veldarion was still staring at Lorn as if he were looking at a ghost. 'And Lorn changed.'

Sha caught sight of Laaskriiah rising a little higher in the sky. 'Veldarion,' A'jira called. 'Lorn's right. You know he is. We won't ask you to fight with us But stop this. Listen to your bother.'

Veldarion turned his acid-yellow gaze upon her.

'My brother died twenty years ago,' he said, his voice brittle as ice. 'My brother would never have given in to this kind of… weakness. My brother had ambition and he cared about me. This elf does not.'

'Vel – ' Lorn burst out.

'Only my brother called me that,' Veldarion snarled. 'You are not my brother.'

Sha closed her eyes, so that she wouldn't have to look at the expression on Lorn's face any more.

'If that is so,' Qoyoliiz growled, 'I assume, joor, that you will have no reservations in following the terms of our agreement.'

Veldarion's jaw clenched, but he shook his head.

'And if this fahliil is not your brother, you should have no difficulty in killing him?'

The scarred Altmer lifted his hands and summoned a lightning bolt into each one.

'None at all,' he said.

He extended his palms and let the spells fly. Sha noticed that he screwed his eyes shut as he did so, but that did not alter the course of the jagged purple and white lines that cut through the air, heading straight for Lorn's heart, and Lorn, still looking in horror at his twin, didn't react in time –

But Vulqostrun did. The Storm Dragon's wingbeats halted as if he had been frozen, and he dropped like a wounded bird, directly towards the ground. The lightning spells sailed harmlessly over Lorn's head. But it had been as if a signal fire had been lit, because with a cacophony of roars and screeches, the Bloodcallers hurled themselves into battle.

The brown dragon shot towards Kaaldunir again, but the Vahlok-Dovah was expecting the attack and brought up her feet so that when he hit her, it was to collide with her outstretched talons. Sha swung Dragonbane towards his head, and though he twisted aside, the movement unbalanced him so that Kaaldunir was able to sink her teeth into his already wounded shoulder. Sha was preparing herself for another hit when she saw Qoyoliiz drawing to a halt in mid-air, and Veldarion raising a fireball above his head. He was aiming at Lorn, who was facing the opposite direction while he and Vulqostrun grappled with Kahjuniisk, and there was no way Veldarion could miss from that range –

'Don't try it, you bastard!'

Sha was now too occupied with fending off the brown dragon's attacks to look around, but out of the corner of her eye she made out she sinuous grey shape of Vithmulsah darting out of nowhere, and Echo – reserved, sensible, well-balanced Echo – swooping in the way of Veldarion's spells, conjuring a ward that deflected them an instant before they struck Lorn, her face contorted with fury, and hurling fireball after fireball at the Bloodcaller.

A rush of air altered Sha to the fact that another dragon, also brown, was hurtling towards them, and she wheeled around, along with Amar, to face it. But she could still hear Echo's yells continuing from nearby.

'You festering son of a wamasu! You're an insult to the air you breathe! Seems like a good idea to you, does it, to break the heart of the brother who's been mourning you for twenty years? Well, even if you don't think he's your brother, he's mine, you hear me? So why don't you just crawl back into the hole in Oblivion that the Divines have reserved for you, because you're no good to anyone in this world! Why don't you take some of that – and that – '

Two lightning bolts seared across the edge of Sha's vision in quick succession. Confident that Lorn was not in danger, Sha focused all her attention on combatting the newcomer. It was no easy task, since Kaaldunir was buckling wildly as she slashed and snapped at their first attacker, but Sha still felt as if nothing could make her falter. She met the dragon's first lunge with a sweep of her sword that opened a long gash down the side of its face, and Amar followed it up with a vicious stab to its upper mouth as it parted its teeth to either bite or Shout. It reeled back, screeching, blood pouring from the soft pink flesh that Amar had slashed open. It shook its head as if trying to dislodge the pain, sending red droplets flying. Then, without warning, it lunged in and closed its teeth around Sha's arm.

Sha had only a moment to brace herself for what she knew would come – the agony of torn flesh, the spewing of blood, a lost limb – but she felt only a dimly painful, crushing pressure. Then she heard a scraping sound, and realised that he had clashed his teeth down on her dragonscale-plated gauntlet. But if he adjusted his grip, his fangs would sink into her flesh. Already she could feel one tooth slipping off the protective plating, breaking her skin – and worse, the dragon was tugging at her, trying to unseat her, to drag her off Kaaldunir's back and send her flying to her death.

Amar grasped her other arm, dragging her back an instant before she toppled over Kaaldunir's spines. But the dragon was still pulling, and he was the stronger, and Sha's arms both felt as if they were about to be tugged out of their sockets –

'Yol TOOR SHUL!' she roared.

A gout of flame struck the dragon full in the face. It managed to close its eyes in time to stop them from being burned to blindness, but it didn't stop the fire from scorching a black trail across its snout. It released Sha with a furious howl and drew back its neck to strike again – but before it could, another mouth closed around his throat and dragged it backwards. With a powerful twist, the new attacker hurled the brown dragon a whole horse-length through the air, where he collided with Vulgrahskein, forcing the scarred Ancient to release the grip he'd fastened on Ahlokkrin's shoulder.

Sha tentatively placed a hand on her arm and was relieved to find only a small smear of blood on her fur. One of her father's spells, or Firlaen's potions, could easily fix the wound. It wasn't too deep, and the battle-blood was too strong within her now for her to truly feel it.

She glanced up to have a proper look at the dragon who had helped. 'Kogaan, Fodiiniiz!'

The Frost Dragon shot her a smile, and Ilien, riding him, gave her a swift salute with his sword. 'Glad to see my training paid off!'

Sha laughed. 'I'll put it to good use,' she promised, and spun around to face their first opponent.

He and Kaaldunir were attacking each other so fiercely now that Sha could barely see their flashing claws, but to her horror, Kaaldunir seemed to be faring worse. Of course, she's so young compared to all these others, she's never fought like this before.

The brown dragon struck suddenly, Shouting a torrent of frost into Kaaldunir's mouth, making her choke. With a yell of rage, Sha struck at his head. He ducked, but not far enough. Sha's eyes widened as Dragonbane neatly sliced off the tip of his horn.

This is quite some weapon, she thought in awe.

The dragon bared its teeth and gave a vengeful hiss, but before it could strike, a shout rose about the clamour of the battle, roared in unison by three voices. 'Lif daar meyye! Iidah faal strunmah!'

Sha's stomach lurched as she translated the words. Leave these fools. Attack the mountain.

Without hesitation, the brown dragon flicked its body around and shot away in the direction of High Hrothgar. And already the others were following, abandoning their fights with the Dragonhearts and streaking after Qoyoliiz, who was already leading the way. Sha's mouth felt suddenly dry, and the pain in her arm grew sharply stronger. They would never be able to stop the Bloodcallers reaching the mountain in time. Not without killing every last one of them.

But already one dragon was following hard on the Bloodcallers' heels. At first Sha thought it was Laaskriiah, but then she recognised the black patches on the wings. Ahlokkrin. And Sviri was holding her sword above her head, and shouting furiously.

'Don't you dare touch my daughter, you cowards!'

Qoyoliiz's flight slowed, and he turned around in mid-air.

'Kaaldunir, we have to help,' Sha gasped, but there was no need. Her Wingsister was already moving, and the other Dragonhearts clearly didn't plan on letting Sviri and Ahlokkrin face the Bloodcallers alone, or letting their enemies escape. Andelm and Riikluhrax were only a little way behind them, and A'jira and Laaskriiah were hurtling after them.

The three-headed dragon growled something, and two of his followers – Kahjuniisk and a pale coloured Wind Dragon – flew up on either side of him, while Vulgrahskein led the rest on towards the Throat of the World. Kaaldunir was gathering speed, but they were far behind the group that was flying forwards to meet Qoyoliiz, and she saw them collide in a sudden explosion of tails and spiny necks.

Sha breathlessly scoured the conflict for a sign of her mother, but A'jira's voice suddenly cut through the air. 'Zaran! Lead them on – don't let them get to the mountain!'

A split second later, Kestmaarnah shot past Sha's head, and Zaran was calling to the others. 'You heard her! Stop them before they get to High Hrothgar!'

Leaving her mother battling Qoyoliiz felt like a betrayal of everything Sha had ever believed in, but if she were to prove herself a true Dragonheart, she had a duty to do exactly what A'jira told her to do. And so she nodded to Kaaldunir, who turned away from the three-headed dragon and towards the group heading towards her home.

Wind rushed past on every side, flattening Sha's fur against her face. She twisted her head around and saw Amar nod to her, his face tense and grim with readiness. The others were moving up to join them – Kestmaarnah and Zaran in the lead, Lorn and Vulqostrun on her right, Echo and Vithmulsah beside them, Ilien and Fodiiniiz swooping down to fly on their left. The older, faster dragons were overtaking Kaaldunir, but they did not draw too far ahead. And when Sha's eyes met those of the others, she saw no doubt in them. No trace of fear, nor any promise of protection. Somehow, without any words needing to be spoken or any oaths being taken, Sha and Kaaldunir had become Dragonhearts. Full Dragonhearts, Wingsisters, bound to each other. And respected as full soldiers and able warriors. She was no longer the child who everyone saw fit to protect. Even if only her parents and their Wingsiblings knew why she had left the mountain and embarked on her quest, she had earned the admiration of them all.

And now it was time to prove to them that she was worthy of it.

But we can't fight this many, her instincts screamed at her over the fog of dragon-spirit whirling inside her mind. We'll be slaughtered.

'Kaaldunir!' Sha had to yell to be heard over the wind and the pounding of wings. 'We have to go back! We have to get to Qoyoliiz and take him out while we've got the chance.'

'Your monah gave us an order, briinah,' Kaaldunir shouted back.

'I know she did! But she told me to stay on High Hrothgar, too, and I didn't, I did what was right. If we keep fighting, we could all be killed. But if I kill Qoyoliiz now, with Dragonbane – '

Amar was nodding. 'She's right, Kaaldunir.'

Sha had a suspicion that Amar was only agreeing so that he had a chance to get at Veldarion, but all the same, she was grateful for his support.

Kaaldunir's wingbeats slowed and she stalled in mid-air. Then she gave a half-worried, half-eager growl and turned around to face the party of grappling dragons around Qoyoliiz.

And so Sha was in time to see it as it happened, all in one moment. She saw Kestmaarah and Zaran struggling free of the Wind Dragon in a desperate attempt to stop it, and she heard A'jira letting out a desperate cry as she let her readied arrow drop, and she heard Andelm scream, in a way she'd never thought a grown man could. But most of all she saw Ahlokkrin flying at Qoyoliiz, saw Sviri's sword sweep, the Nord woman's face filled with rage of a kind that only comes to a mother battling to protect her daughter. She saw, and heard, the translucent blue wind blast out from all three of Qoyoliiz's mouths. She saw Sviri ripped from Ahlokkrin's back, caught by one of those three vicious jaws, tossed to another, pierced through the heart by the third.

And she knew, even as Qoyoliiz tossed Sviri aside, that she had been killed. She knew from the limpness of the body and the way she didn't respond to Andelm's cries. But most of all she knew because death was surely the only thing that could ever stop Sviri from fighting when Arnor's life was in danger.

Ahlokkrin howled – a twisted, horror-struck sound – and dived down, catching Sviri's body in her claws. Sha could dimly hear her shouting to her Wingsister, along with Andelm and all the others, but Sviri was not responding. And, gently, Ahlokkrin circled around to hover above Riikluhrax, and dropped Sviri down into Andelm's arms. And Andelm clutched his dead wife to him, making sounds that were even more broken and heart-wrenching than those Juskahrath had made when they brought Duroth back to the mountain what felt like a million years ago.

Kaaldunir was still flying forwards, but Sha had frozen. The only thought she could hold in her mind was that Arnor was still on High Hrothgar, that her best friend had just lost her mother and she didn't even know. And she would know soon, if they survived to reach the mountain, and it would tear her apart. But there was another alternative, even worse, that they didn't stop the Bloodcallers, and their enemies reached the Throat of the World and killed all they found there, and Sviri's death would be for nothing.

Through the sudden net of grief dragging her thoughts down into despair, Sha felt a sudden, simmering conviction. I won't let that happen.

'Come on,' she growled, and Kaaldunir quickened her speed.

But they had not even halved the distance between themselves and Qoyoliiz when she saw something else happen, something that made her hesitate. Another dragon swept past her in a blur – clearly under the effects of the Wuld Nah Kest shout – and drew to a stop midway between Kaaldunir and the group around Qoyoliiz. And with a sharp intake of breath, Sha realised that it was Vulqostrun.

She was close enough to hear the words that passed between the Storm Dragon and his Altmer Wingbrother.

'Shall we, zeymah?'

'I don't know if I'm strong enough. But I can try.'

'Your brother names himself a Bloodcaller. Let us show him that there is something far stronger for which we can call.'

Lorn gave a short nod, and sat up straight on Vulqostrun's back.

'No more of this!' he roared, and Vulqostrun emphasised the words with a thunderous screech that made Sha gasp and cover her ears. Their voices carried across to the others, to Qoyoliiz and Veldarion and the two who were with them, to A'jira and the other Dragonhearts who fought them, and to the other two groups who were still heading towards High Hrothgar.

'You will not touch our brothers and sisters on the mountain!' Lorn shouted, and Vulqostrun repeated the words in Draconic, ten times louder. 'This! Ends! Now!'

Qoyoliiz gave a snarl, shook himself free from Laaskriiah's grip, and shot towards him. But before he could reach them, Vulqostrun tipped back his head to face the sky, hurtled suddenly upwards, and lifted his wings and tail. Lorn gripped his Wingbrother's horns tightly. And their voices sounded together.

'STRUN BAH QO!'

Sha let out a wordless cry of amazement.

She saw Lorn crumple suddenly, falling limply down onto Vulqostrun's back, but the Storm Dragon's tail swept up and carefully pushed him into place. Sha knew that no Shout drained the energy of its user like this one. Small wonder that the strength seemed to have been wiped from Lorn's body. She hadn't even known that he could use that Shout. But Vuqostrun was a Storm Dragon, and it had taken no strength from him.

The clouds were moving, twisting into unnatural shapes above them and gathering into a thick dark clot, as if invisible hands were dragging them from every part of Tamriel, every last wisp, and merging them into one bulging mass that hovered right here, right above them. The blue of the sky was obscured within seconds, vanishing behind the grey. And among the blot of charcoal-coloured cloud, Sha saw flashes of light, flares of white and yellow.

'What is it?' Amar tugged at Sha's shoulder. 'What did they do?'

Sha shook her head numbly. 'It's… it's called Storm Call.'

'What does it do?'

Sha could only nod at the sky. 'You'll see.'

The Bloodcallers were scattering. Kahjuniisk had gone into a vertical dive and was streaking towards the crags and trees below, and most of the others were following suit. Vulgrahskein was calling to Qoyoliiz, and Sha could hear the three-headed dragon's reply – 'Get them to safety! Do not try to fight or flee!'

'You fool!' Veldarion appeared to be pounding on the side of Qoyoliiz's neck with his fist. 'You can use that Shout too! Just use it against them – '

'Know your place, and do not question me!' Qoyoliiz snarled. 'It is more important that we survive! Find shelter!'

Without another word, he soared away from A'jira and the others, following his fellows down towards the forest. And as he did so, the first drops of rain began to fall, pinging off Sha's armour and gathering in speed and volume, drenching Amar's cloak within seconds. Vulqostrun was still hovering in place, and the flashes in the sky were growing more frequent. And suddenly the Storm Dragon let out a sound like a volcanic eruption and whipped his wings upwards.

And then there was lightning. It lanced from the sky in blinding spears of white. Vulqostrun roared again, and suddenly the strikes were centring around him. Energy was crackling between the claws on his wings, and his copper-coloured horns, and around the end of his tail. He didn't look like a dragon any more. More like some ethereal east formed from lightning itself.

Sha had heard that in the days of old, the Storm Dragons had been Alduin's terror-wagers, the ones who destroyed towns and levelled cities to the ground. She could well believe it, seeing this. She had no doubt about what was coming.

And now it came. Vulqostrun let out another sky-shaking bellow and, in an explosion of limbs, he shook the lightning free of his body and towards the fleeing Bloodcallers.

The brown-scaled dragon who had attacked them first died instantly. He was at the back of the fleeing group, and the lightning that Vulqostrun hurled towards them struck him with enough force to gut a tree. An ordinary fire dragon had no defence against it. He fell as quickly and as limply as if his wings had been torn off. And even if that was not enough to tell Sha that he was dead, as he fell, she saw his soul peeling from his body, the fiery embers of light floating upwards, leaving an empty skeleton to tumble downwards.

As the soul rose up to sink into A'jira, Sha saw, through the rain, a second dragon fall, a Blood Dragon whose small wings could not allow him to outrun the lightning in time. As he joined the other dragon in falling, Sha saw Laaskriiah forcing her way through the rain towards her.

'Sha!' A'jira shouted. 'Vulqostrun! We need to get back to the mountain. Now!'

'I'm not going back!' Sha knew that tears, as well as rain, were streaming down Andelm' face. He was still holding Sviri. 'Not until they're dead, every one of them. We have to attack them now, before – '

'Do not be a fool, zeymah,' Riikluhrax growled. 'We cannot fight in this rain. We must take advantage of this storm to return to our strunmah before our enemies. This is the only chance we will have.'

'They killed Sviri!' Andelm's voice was hoarse. 'They killed my wife. I'll kill them – I'll kill them all – '

A'jira's eyes narrowed – Sha saw that her mother, too, was crying, though silently. 'Andelm, for the God's sakes! If we don't stop them, they'll kill Arnor too! Is that what you want? What Sviri would want?'

For a moment Sha thought that Andelm was about to strike her mother, so enraged was the look he gave her. Then the Nord man closed his eyes and nodded, looking too broken to argue any more.

A'jira reached across the empty air in between the two dragons and briefly placed her hand on Andelm's shoulder. Then she murmured something to Laaskriiah, who cried out to the other dragons. 'Wah faal strunmah!'

Sha nodded to Kaaldunir. 'Come on. It's time for you to see High Hrothgar.'

Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she didn't try to stop it. She hadn't loved Sviri, or known her so well, as she had Duroth, or as she did some of the others – Ilien, or Odahviing – but she had been Arnor's mother. She had been gentle and kind and brave. And now…

How many more were to die before this was over? Sha thought of Duroth, and Amar's family, and Jarl Brandor, and the people of Whiterun and Alldirstead, and Kaaldunir's parents, and the enemy dragons who had fallen. So many deaths for the sake of Veldarion's ambition, and Qoyoliiz's cruelty.

And she knew that this was far from over. That more would die before Qoyoliiz could be stopped. Her parents, her friends, her comrades – they were all in danger. All of them could be dead within days.

Which was why she had to get to Qoyoliiz soon. She had to kill him. Before he could kill anyone else. But could she do it? After all this death, could she cause another? Killing those bandits had been hard enough, but a creature as strong and noble as a dragon?

Except Qoyoliiz was not strong and noble. He was a murderer. And he wasn't even a natural dragon.

Amar nudged her suddenly. She turned, and saw that he was pointing over her shoulder, towards the distant mountains.

'Is that it?' he asked.

Sha made an attempt at a smile.

'Yes,' she said. 'That's the Throat of the World. That's home.'

But the words stirred no happiness within her. Because she knew that after everything she had done and learned since she walked out through the gates only a few days ago, she would never be able to see it in the same way as she had before.

She had never imagined it would hurt so much to see her home again.

So, I doubt people were expecting me to end this fight before it could properly start. Well, bear in mind we've only just started Part Three...

I know you didn't really know Sviri well enough to really mourn her (the downside of having a lot of characters, most of whom don't have much chance to get in the spotlight) so I apologise for killing yet another character you may not really care about.

This chapter is dedicated to the awesome ShoutFinder; as you may remember, Vulqostrun is her character, who she allowed me to borrow for this story. If you've not read her stories on FFN, do so immediately. And you should all go and check out her DeviantArt page, because her fantastic picture of Vulqostrun inspired the ending of this chapter.

And that's about it from me. As always, I'll write as fast as I can to get the next chapter up soon. Thanks for reading!