Waking the Dragon

Floating. That was current sensation Aila was feeling. Floating in a vast emptiness. Her mind was wandering, shifting from thought to thought, never focusing on any one thing. At one point she found herself wondering how Gerdur was doing back in Riverwood, and if she'd managed to keep her business going even with two of her three workers gone. It wasn't until she thought, 'Where am I?' when her mind began to focus. Slowly, she opened her eyes, expecting to see herself floating in a lake or something similar, but no. All she saw was white.

This feels familiar, she thought to herself. She lifted herself up, or at least tried to. Her body bent, but she couldn't feel anything beyond that. If she hadn't had the memory of it, she wouldn't have known she moved at all.

Her murky thoughts were disturbed by a voice.

"You seem to have a knack for disrupting my plans."

Aila spun around to a man entering her line of sight. This is so familiar. She took in his image and struggled through her muddled mind to identify him.

He drew closer. He didn't walk, or move at all, he just seemed to hover over to her. He gently grabbed her chin and brought her face up to meet his. She couldn't help but stare into his charcoal eyes.

"You're confused. Maybe this will help." He released her head and placed his palm on her forehead and mumbled something she couldn't hear.

Suddenly her thoughts seemed to snap into place and her eyes widened as recognized the man.

"You!" she exclaimed. Instinctively, she jumped back and reached for her bow. Despite there being no ground beneath her, she still moved away from him, however she soon realized that there was no bow on her back to reach for.

The man raised a curious eyebrow. "Rahgot? Why the hostility?"

"Why?" Aila exclaimed. "You tried to kill me! Thrice!"

The man lifted his hand with two fingers raised. "Twice. And you already know I did it to make you stronger. And it worked, didn't it?"

"What's the difference? What possible reason could I have to trust you?"

"I did help you out with that vampire nest, remember? It was an... ofan."

"That's what you call a gift?!" Aila exclaimed incredulously. "If you meant it as a gift, you would've placed it somewhere before I went in!"

The man rubbed his chin, as if pondering something. "Hmm... Vahzah. To be honest, I never expected you go fight those creatures. Not alone, at least. The moment I realized that was your intent, I rushed over to the cave and placed the Rotmulaag. Still, I would expect something like that from Damon, not you. Though, you have been fairly unpredictable lately."

I've been unpredictable? Aila thought."What in Oblivion do you mean by that?"

"Bromjunaar. I hadn't thought you'd the spine to actually pass through it with the dragon sighting and planned accordingly. Plans which you ruined."

"So you did have a dragon waiting for me if I hadn't gone through The Labyrinthian."

"Of course. You may have guessed, but the dragon you found instead wasn't under my control. It was also stronger than the one I had planned for you. I was pleasantly surprised you were able to defeat it so easily. Only three souls consumed and you're already as strong as Damon. You may even eventually grow to be stronger than me. Perhaps even without this damnable mask."

That last comment stood out to Aila for reasons she couldn't quite grasp. Mask? What mask?

"But enough about that. You have questions, no doubt. Go ahead, ask."

Aila raised a brow. "Really?"

"Why not? You've grown quite a bit, you deserve some answers."

"And you'll give them?"

The smirk he gave her was almost - dare she say - playful. "I didn't say that now, did I?"

"Of course not…" Aila muttered. She was sure he could hear her, but she didn't really care.

"But ask anyway," he continued. "You never know, I may surprise you."

Aila thought for a moment. Would he really answer her questions? She had so many. Might as well start simply. "What's your name?"

"Names have power, Aila. A better question is 'what is your name?'"

Oh, for the love of… "It's Aila," she said, now a more than a little irritated. "You just said it."

"Is it? I thought that was that was the name you made for yourself, when you didn't know your own. No, I'm asking you your true name. The name that defines who you are, your very being."

My true name? Do I even have a name like that? What does it even matter? I like my name the way it is. "Well then, what's your true name?"

The world shifted. It was like she was suddenly submerged several leagues under ocean, only it wasn't wet. She could feel the pressure all around her, making even breathing a struggle. It was just like the feeling she got when she encountered a dragon only a thousand times worse, and it was coming from him. Only this time, she wasn't scared. Not in the slightest. She was excited. Whoever this man was, he was powerful. Possibly the most powerful being in Tamriel, and picking a fight with him would ensure your own death. And for some strange reason, the thought made her absolutely ecstatic.

But just as quick as it came, the feeling faded, and all hostility was gone from him. But when he spoke, there was just a hint of malice hidden in his words. "It doesn't matter. It's not who I am anymore. Though for the sake of convenience, you may call me Karsten."

What in Oblivion was that? Why was she so excited? She had never wanted to fight something so badly before, especially not a dragon. "What was that?" Aila couldn't help but to ask aloud.

The man, newly named Karsten, raised a brow, as if he wasn't expecting the question. "My apologies. I let my anger take hold for a mom-"

"No, not that," Aila interrupted. "I could figure that out for myself. I'm asking you why I want to kill you so bad."

Karsten let out a chuckle. "Do you? Prodah. It's a dragon's nature to challenge its betters."

Anger flared through Aila at his words, and she growled involuntarily. "You are not my better!"

Karsten raised a hand and tsked at her, wagging his finger back and forth as if scolding a child, an action that infuriated Aila to no end. "Drem, Aila. You must learn to control your newfound temper. It will only get worse as time goes on."

"My… temper?"

"Geh. Don't tell me you haven't noticed. It seems that distance from your little pet wolf tends to leave your rather… irritable."

Aila didn't have a response to that. In all honesty, she had noticed leaving Kathryn's side leaves her with an incredibly short fuse. Case in point: the whole ordeal in Morthal. Since the moment she read Alva's diary there had been a dull rage that burned silently within her and it didn't go out until she had reduced Movarth to a corpse of cinder. But she tried not to think of it. It unnerved her slightly to know that she was so capable of such deeds. And to think she was so distraught when she killed Aringoth not so long ago when now she barely thought twice about such and an act.

Then a thought struck her.. "Wait, why are we here? The last time this happened I'd nearly drowned."

Karsten hummed in quiet thought. "Dahmaan?"

Aila racked her brain for information, trying to remember what happened. "I was… sick? Kathryn was taking care of me."

"Dragons don't get sick, Aila. Our blood is too potent, it purges even deadliest of diseases long before the first signs of illness." He paused for a moment. "With a couple of exceptions," he added.

Aila's brow furrowed. "But I had a fever. And I was thirsty. My mouth felt so dry." She squinted in concentration. "Kathryn said something about blood and… and…" She couldn't remember. She just remembered Kathryn smelled so good in that moment and she couldn't help but hold her close and…

Aila's eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth. "Oh gods… I bit her. I hurt her." Her breath quickened and eyes watered. "How could I hurt her? Why would I bite her?" She was disgusted with herself. She hurt the love of her life. She knew she was becoming increasingly capable of many things, but she never ever thought she could hurt Kathryn.

"Calm yourself Aila," Karsten said in a voice that could have been comforting. "Kathryn is unharmed. She is far more worried about what is currently happening to you. As should you be."

"Me? I couldn't care less about me right now! I hurt-"

"Nahlot!" Karsten's frustrated voice reverberated through the emptiness around them, sending Aila into an angry silence. Evidently, she did not like being interrupted. "You have no idea what's happening to you, do you?"

"What does it matter? Unless I'm dying, then-"

"You are."

Aila blinked. "W-what?"

"You are dying, Aila. Slowly, but if you don't do something about it. You may never wake again."

It took a moment for that to sink in. "Dying? But… how?"

"Well," Karsten started. "That is rather complicated. I've never witnessed this happen to anyone, and I've lived for a very long time."

Aila was tempted to ask how long, but right now she was more concerned with her apparent impending fatality. "Get on with it," she urged.

"It started with the sosnaak that bit you. Or perhaps it was during your fight with Movarth. Either way, at some point you were infected with Vampirism."

"Vampirism?! Then I'm-"

"Nid. Let me finish. Even infected, it's impossible for you to become a vampire. Under normal circumstances you would have recovered after a brief illness none the worse for wear. However you aren't exactly one to keep things simple. During a short, let's say, bloodlust you bit Kathryn, a mungrohiik, and took her blood. Since you weren't quite a vampire, her blood began trying to turn you."

Aila attempted to wrap her head around that. "So… now I'm becoming a werewolf?"

"Nid. You cannot become a werewolf any more than you can become a vampire."

"Okay… why not?"

Karsten let it an irritated sigh. "You still don't understand just what you are. Vampires and werewolves are simply an extension of humans. Only humans can become one. Therefore, you cannot become one because-"

"Because I'm not human," Aila finished.

Karsten nodded. "Now do you understand what it means to be Dragonborn? You are not simply one who has the power of dragons, you are a dragon, given mortal form. If by chance vampirism or lycanthropy were to take over your body it would try to change you into something that you are not capable of being and the strain on your body would kill you."

This news was, to say the least, thought provoking. Her whole life, Aila never thought herself anything other than human, and now to realize that she wasn't… She wasn't sure how to feel about it. "But then, if something like that is so unlikely, why am I dying?"

"Because you had to go and get infected with both at the same time. The two bloods are warring for control and it's tearing your body apart."

"If I'm so sick, can't I just drink a potion to cure myself?" Aila suggested.

"That would be an excellent solution had we any, not to mention your inability of action given your unconsciousness," was Karsten's reply.

"Well then if I can't do anything, how do I cure myself?!" Aila snapped. "You said I must do something, what is it?!"

"Do what you do best. Fight."

Aila rolled her eyes. "Right. I'll just take up sword and cut this illness out of me. Is that what you want?"

Karsten gave her a smirk. "You'd be surprised how well it can work. Let me show you."

In a blink of an eye he was in front of her, and her mind snapped into high alert, ready to fight, but before she could even move he pressed the palm of his hand to her forehead. The blankness around them began to warp and distort. Shapes formed around them and colours faded into existence. A few moments later, the two stood in some sort of clearing in an unknown forest.

"Where are we?" Aila asked, taking in her surroundings.

"A dream-place somewhere deep in your subconscious, closer to your soul."

"Why a forest?"

"Vomindok. This is your mind, not mine."

A noise caught her attention. She turned toward the rustling in the trees and reached behind her and grabbed her bow, not stopping to wonder how it got there as saw an enormous wolf emerge. Her first thought was Kathryn? Her second thought was That's not Kathryn. This wolf was too small to be her and its fur was the wrong colour. This wolf was light brown and as it stood stood on its hind legs to snarl ferociously at her, she saw no scars on its torso. Definitely not Kathryn, she thought as she as it came charging toward her. It lunged forward and Aila dived under it, rolling up to her feet as the wolf landed behind her. She nocked an arrow as fast as she could and fired it at the wolf, but it turned impossibly quickly and caught it in its mouth, snapping it in two.

She barely had time to notice that Karsten had disappeared before the wolf charged her again. Aila drew her sword and prepared to defend herself, but just when the wolf was about to reach her it was it was forcibly thrown to the side with a whine by some unseen force. Hearing movement behind her and figuring Karsten had been the one to help her, she turned around only to encounter a monstrosity.

It was six feet tall with grey leathery skin and blood-red eyes. Fangs the length of her little finger protruded from its lip and its hands and feet were elongated to razor-sharp claws, and a pair of bony wings were folded up behind the horrible creature.

Due to the shock of seeing such a monster charging toward her claws extended, Aila froze in place. It wasn't until she heard the menacing growl behind her that she remembered the danger she was in and quickly ducked down as the wolf jumped over her and pounced on the creature.

What in Oblivion is going on right now? Aila thought to herself as the two creatures fought with each other. Then she heard Karsten's voice behind her.

"Something is not right."

Aila turned to glare at him. "You mean besides my being attacked by freakish creatures?"

"Nid, that is to be expected. But there should be another."

"Good to know," Aila growled.

"This place is a manifestation of the going ons of your mind and body. The two before you are aspects of the vampirism and lycanthropy competing to take over your body, but there is another aspect missing from this scene."

"Well? What is it?"

"Not what, Aila, who. You. There should be an aspect of your soul here attempting to fight off the infection. In fact, other than the these two, this whole place is unusually… calm for what is happening. Almost like… Hmm…"

"Like what, Karsten?" Aila demanded. She was beginning to get fed up with all this. At this point, all she wanted was to wake up and return to Kathryn.

"Nothing. Let's go deeper."

"Deeper wher-" Aila started before she was cut off by Karsten once again placing his hand on her forehead. The world shimmered and blurred as the forest faded away and was replaced by something new. This new place was much like the old one, but instead of whiteness, there was black. She could still see Karsten, somehow, but before she could ponder it, she was overwhelmed with an enormous sense of, strangely enough, security. She felt safe in this dark here, in the deepest reaches of her mind.

She was protected.

She felt It roaming in the abyss. Ever-present, and ever-aware. It surrounded her, enveloped her, shielded her. Its embrace was security. She needn't fear a thing as long as It was with her. And It was always with her.

A voice broke the void. "Interesting."

Aila turned to its source. Karsten. Why was he here? He didn't belong. He was an adulteration of her domain. Only one other was allowed here, and it certainly wasn't him.

"I can sense something out there, hidden in the darkness. It must be your soul's aspect. But why is it hidden so deep within your mind? Why is it not fighting the infection?"

Aila didn't feel the need to answer as she began to stalk toward him, feeling It follow behind her. How could he ever understand? Why would she worry about something so insignificant? Did he really think she was in danger? How absurd.

Aila stopped in front of him.

"Do you feel it Aila? That presence? I was right, it's powerful. Soon you'll be one of the…" His words trailed off when he saw her.

It didn't have to ask, it knew what she wanted. Quick as lightning It grabbed ahold of him, trapping him in a suffocating embrace.

Karsten didn't fight it, not at first. "Let me go, Aila," he calmly demanded.

Aila felt Its rage reverberate throughout the darkness and Aila responded in kind, letting It tighten Its grip further. He should know better than to order her around.

Pain briefly flashed across his face before being replaced by a stoic expression. "Don't test me, Aila. Let me go," he said again. "Before I use force."

When she ignored his warnings, he began to push back against It. He struggled for a moment, but made no progress. His antics seemed to amuse It, and Aila as well.

"Fine. Have it your way."

Like the opening of floodgates, pure force burst forth from Karsten in one, massive wave. But Aila didn't even bother to brace herself. It surrounded her, cushioning her from the blow, while still keeping Karsten in Its grasp.

His brow furrowed. He seemed surprised his attack didn't work. He sent out another wave, but It kept her safe from harm. He began to grow frustrated. He appeared to gather himself for a moment, likely preparing to send out another wave, but then something strange happened. The air in front of his face flickered and a mask appeared from nowhere, covering his face. Aila suddenly got a bad feeling.

What followed was the equivalent of being slammed into a stone wall at high speeds. Or more like a stone wall slamming into them. Both her and It were thrown back from Karsten, and as she steadied herself, Aila was filled with an unbridled fury. How dare he?! He actually had the audacity to attack her in her own domain? He will suffer for this!

Echoing her thoughts, It moved in to attack, but Karsten held out his hand and It slammed into a protective ward.

"Do you really want to fight, Aila? Here? In the delicacies of your mind, where your most vulnerable?"

Vulnerable? Did he really understand so little? This is what he wanted. This is why he sent those dragons to theirs deaths, all to draw It out. And now, face to face with It, he thinks he can stand up to them? Ridiculous. It was time to show him wrong.

Hearing her silent request, It revealed itself slowly, like a fog lifting. Midnight blue scales came into view, followed by the leathery membrane of wings. Dark sapphire eyes glowered dangerously, teeth sharper than any sword bared. It was the most terrifying and beautiful dragons Aila had ever seen, but she wasn't the least bit afraid. Two great curved horns sat upon her head, the only protrusions of her silky smooth scales. Her tail was wrapped protectively around Aila's chest, like a scaly cocoon.

With his mask in place, Karsten's reaction was limited, though what he did do somewhat surprised Aila. He took a step back. Was he surprised? Intimidated? Or maybe even scared? She wasn't sure. She didn't care.

At her discretion, the dragon resumed its assault on Karsten. The ward he threw up didn't last long as she crashed into it, shattering the ward and allowing access to Karsten. She wasted no time in taking him between her teeth and throwing him to the ground and crushing him under herwing to prevent him from getting back up.

Aila watched as he grunted in pain and struggled under its hold for a moment before deciding it was past time he left. She tapped lightly on the dragon's tail, indicating to let her go. She seemed reluctant to release her from her protection, but obliged nonetheless. The tail unfurled around her and Aila made her way to Karsten. He looked up at her and said nothing as she knelt beside him, placing her hand over the top portion of his mask.

In a deadly whisper, Aila told him, "If you come here again, I will kill you." and banished him.

With him gone, Aila began to calm again. The dragon curled around her and she reached out stroked its snout. She could feel her wants and desires, as they resonated with her own. Karsten's invasion of her mind had set her astir. She was attempting to wake. And that was very dangerous. Aila knew innately that she wasn't ready for that. There was no telling what would happen if she was ever set loose with no control. No, first she would have to get stronger. Much stronger. Perhaps once she had sufficient power to control her properly she could wake her up, but for now…

"Sleep, Briinah. Your time will come."

She resisted her will weakly. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to free to roam the skies untethered and unbound. To seek out battle wherever she could find it to challenge herself or just for the thrill of it. She wanted to be near the wondrous, beautiful wolf that was the love of her life.

"Soon, Briinah, soon. I promise."

The dragon finally complied, albeit grudgingly. She knew as much as Aila did how dangerous it was for her to be free, so she allowed Aila to gently coax her back into a deep slumber.

Soon nothing could be heard but the steady beating of the great dragon's heart.