The flying beast would not land. The battle had been going on for what felt like an age now. Njada and Ria had to head back to Whiterun after being hit with flames.
This dragon was far bigger than the one Vilkas and Ariella had faced. Not as big as the one at Helgen but still big. Ariella and Aela were side-by-side launching arrows at the flying creature. The huntress had noticed the visible shake in the Breton and her wolf could smell the woman's fear.
When the beast did land Vilkas, Farkas, Skjor and Athis moved quickly and carefully. Athis played as distraction while the other three focused on the wings. Athis was considerably faster than the others and was good at keeping the beast's attention.
When it was on the ground it was easier to aim arrows at. It was also much easier to see where the arrows hit and stuck. Ariella noticed her arrows would always stick in the beast where as Aela's frequently bounced off, hardly ever sticking; the huntress had noticed this too.
Their arrows were running low. Aela knew it made no sense that Ariella' arrows did more damage. The huntress was the expert marksman, she had trained for years of her life, she had the strength to back it up, she wasn't cowering like some milk drinker at the sight of her prey.
Aela shook her wolf from her thoughts, she wasn't angry at Ariella, there was no reason to be mad at her. Pushing her pride aside she knew Ariella would do more damage with the arrows they had remaining.
"You keep shooting, I'm going down there." Ariella simply nodded and the Huntress jumped down from their perch drawing her sword. Farkas stuck with Skjor and Aela made a note to stick with Vilkas or Athis.
The Dragon it seemed was down for good, its wings torn to shreds and a good lot of arrows sticking out of its neck. Ariella knew the creature would die soon and they would all know about her soon enough.
She let her last arrow fly, she had aimed for the head but her shaking hands caused it to hit the body. She cursed and drew her sword. Just as she dropped to the ground she heard the Dragon do the same and looking over she saw the dragon was dead; her heart began to race.
Farkas had made the killing blow, his greatsword embedded in the Dragon's skull. He grinned at Aela in triumph and the huntress simply made a face and walked away without another word.
Vilkas observed the scene between his brother and the huntress with curiosity. The crackling sound of the Dragon's flesh brought him back to reality.
Farkas, Aela, Skjor and Athis all stopped in their tracks to stare at the great beast. As its skin flaked away and colourful lights began to pool. He heard the gasps as the other companions took in the beauty of the dragon's soul.
Even though he had seen if before it was still amazing.
The colours distracted him and suddenly they began streaming towards Ariella. They encircled her, making her skin glow as her soul and the dragon's soul became one.
Once the soul had been absorbed there was a stunned silence.
None of the Companions present knew what to say. Ariella had her eyes closed and she swayed on her feet, Vilkas immediately reaching out and steadying her.
The Greybeards had told her she had to fight the soul, had to get it to show her what she wanted it to. If the soul made its own decisions then soon she would be more dragon then mortal.
Just because the beast was dead didn't mean the battle was over.
With her eyes closed she swayed on her feet for a few moments before seemingly coming back to Nirn. She smiled at Vilkas and in the few moments that passed shock left the other Companions and they surrounded the Breton with a swarm of questions.
Vilkas answered most of the questions. Ariella was like a startled deer, too frightened to move. Her answers were blubbered, slow but Vilkas picked it up. He didn't want to speak for her but the companions were crowding.
"How about we head to Jorrvaskr?" Vilkas said when he realised the questions were not going to stop. The others reluctantly agreed and they all began walking back to Whiterun.
The companions walked at different paces. Aela walked away quickly, Skjor walking with Farkas at a much quicker pace than Ariella and Vilkas walked at. Ariella was making a face and Vilkas chuckled once the other companions were out of ear shot, obviously eager to get back to Jorrvaskr and gather for a story.
"You're making a face." He pointed out. She kept her face forward and walked slowly, feet practically dragging as she walked.
"I don't like this." She commented after a moment of silence.
"Why not? They all seem excited about it."
"I don't want the attention." She said as if the answer was obvious, "I'd be quite happy to go by unnoticed."
"I know you would."
"They're not going to leave me alone, are they?"
"They'll get over it eventually. It just might take some time for them to get used to the idea that a Nordic legend is living under the same roof as them." She cringed again, flinching back. "Don't like being called a Nordic legend?" He chuckled.
"Not at all." She stopped walking. "Can I just not go back to Jorrvaskr?"
"Come on, answer some questions and go hide downstairs for a while." He tugged at her hand and she followed.
"Answer some questions, go downstairs." Ariella repeated to herself, as they got closer to Whiterun. He could hear her heart beating and could sense she was nervous. Vilkas' wolf began to growl and it wanted to protect her.
As they walked up to the gates of Whiterun the guards were murmuring to each other.
"I feel like everyone is staring." Ariella said low enough so only Vilkas could hear.
"That's because they are." He replied.
"Word travel that quickly huh?"
"When you send excited Companions ahead of you it does."
She groaned "Let's get this over with."
As soon as Ariella walked through the doors of Jorrvaskr a mug of mead was pressed into her hands and she was guided to a seat. She sat down and as soon as she looked up the companions all started to ask questions at once. She looked at them, unable to understand what questions were being asked or what ones she should answer.
"Companions." Kodlak's voice rung through the mead hall and demanded silence, everyone was silent, waiting for their Harbinger to speak. "One at a time, don't overwhelm the girl."
He sat off to the side of the group on a bench with Vilkas. They of course knew whatever she was about to say already.
"Well it's just, how could you keep such a secret? Why didn't you tell us straight away?" Ria said, excited as much as she was accusatory.
Ariella glanced around the room at the circle members, she wasn't the only one keeping secrets around here.
"I just…"
"Clearly she wanted to take all the glory for herself." Farkas said, earing a chuckle from most companions. Ariella smiled at him, "Wants to kill every Dragon on her own. Well I believe we're one to one."
"Yes Farkas. I'll be sure to keep count." Ariella collected her thoughts, "Honestly? I just didn't want"–she gestured to every thing around her-"this."
"This?" Farkas questioned
"Attention." She glanced down and the other Companions chuckled.
"Well you've certainly gained the attention of all of Whiterun now." Skjor chimed in from his place at the back of the group.
"How long have you known that you're Dragonborn?" Ria asked frustrated at the turn the conversation was taking.
"Um, since my testing when Vilkas and I killed that dragon?" Ariella was confused; she thought that would have been fairly obvious.
"What's it like?" Athis asked, "Absorbing the soul."
"Uh… Kinda sickening?" Ariella made a face, clearly that wasn't the answer they had hoped for. Yet the accepted the answer anyway.
The questions were all then about dragon language, shouting, learning words and her trip to the Greybeards. It had almost gone into a tangent about her and Vilkas but Farkas quickly changed topics, much to Ariella's relief.
After a while Ariella excused herself, claiming to be worn out from the Dragon attack and retreated downstairs. She had hoped Vilkas would come down too but the mob of curious companions quickly shifted over to him for more questioning.
It didn't matter. He would be down sooner or later.
Ariella carefully got out a book she had purposefully kept at the bottom of the crate with the books about companions. She opened it to the first page.
Regrets of a Harbinger – The Final Journal Entry of Terrfyg