Dragon Rising
I headed back down to Warmaiden's, where Adrianne had just finished working on a greatsword.
"Ah, hello again," she greeted. "You're the woman who first came here the other day. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure," I replied.
"See that sword there? I made it for the Jarl, Balgruuf the Greater. It's a surprise, and I don't even know if he'll accept it. But... Listen, could you take the sword to my father, Proventus Avenicci? As I said before, he's the Jarl's steward. He'll know the right time to present it to him."
"Sure thing. I'm going up to Dragonsreach anyway."
"Thanks."
I headed up to Dragonreach and entered. On the throne sat the man himself. Above his throne hung the skull of a dragon. On his right stood his Imperial Steward, Proventus Avenicci. On his right stood a Dark Elf woman, with auburn hair and clad in leather armor. "Odd," I thought. "Not many Dark Elves would come to live here."
As I approached, the Dark Elf drew her sword and stood in front of me.
"What's the meaning of this interruption?" she asked in a threatening tone. "Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving any visitors."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Irileth, Jarl Balgruuf's housecarl. It's my job to defend the Jarl against all threats. You have my attention. Now, explain yourself."
"I'm not here to cause trouble. All I came here for is to send the Jarl a message. About Helgen."
"You know about Helgen? I guess it's no coincidence that there has been talk among the guards about that place being attacked by a dragon. You may approach."
I approached the throne, and the Jarl said:
"So, you were in Helgen? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?"
"Yes. I had a great view while the Imperials were trying to cut off my head."
"Really? You're certainly... forthright about your criminal past. But it's none of my concern who the Imperials want to execute. Especially now. What I want to know is what exactly happened at Helgen."
"I was there. I saw the dragon burn Helgen to the ground."
"By Ysmir, Irileth was right!"The Jarl's eye's widened. "What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?"
"My lord," said Irileth. "We should send troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains..."
"The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him." Proventus protested
"Enough!" Balgruuf roared. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."
"Yes, my Jarl."
"We should not..." Proventus continued to protest.
"I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!"
"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties."
That would be best."
"Well done." Balgruus trend his attention back to me. "You sought me out, on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Here, take this as a small token of my esteem." he handed me a purse of septims.
"There is another thing you could do for me. Suitable for someone of your particular talents, perhaps. Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons and... rumors of dragons."
"Hold on; I have a delivery for Proventus."
"Be quick. This is important."
I headed up the stairs and saw the Steward in the war room.
"I have a delivery for you from your daughter."
"From Adrianne? Ah, this must be that weapon for the Jarl. Poor girl, so eager to prove herself. I'll present it to Balgruuf when his mood is... agreeable. Thank you. Please, take these few coins, for services rendered." he handed me another bag of septims.
"Better than nothing, I guess," I thought.
I then followed the Jarl to the Farengar's laboratory. To my surprise, he was also a Nord; most Nords don't care much for magic.
"Farengar," Balgruuf grabbed the mage's attention. "I think I've found someone who can help you with your dragon project. Go ahead and fill her in with all the details.
"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me?" he said to me. "Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."
"What does this have to do with dragons?" "Ah, no mere brute mercenary, but a thinker - perhaps even a scholar? You see, when the stories of dragons began to circulate, many dismissed them as mere fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities. One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible. But I began to search for information about dragons - where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from?"
"So, what do you need me to do?"
"I, ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a 'Dragonstone,' said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet - no doubt interred in the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself."
"I happened to have found this in that ruin." I showed him the tablet. "Is this what you're looking for?"
"Ah! The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow! You already found it! You are cut from a different cloth than the usual brutes the Jarl foists on me."
"Farengar!" Irileth shouted as she hastily entered the lab. "Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby." the Dark Elf then turned her attention to me. "You should come too."
"A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?"
"I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it. Let's go."
The three of us and one of the guardsmen headed up to the war room where Balgruuf was."
"So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?" the Jarl asked the guardsman.
"Yes, my lord," he replied
"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth commanded
"Uh... that's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen."
"What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?"
"No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure."
"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it. Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there."
"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."
"Good. Don't fail me." Balgruuf then turned to me and said: "There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this Dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem, I have instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city. On his behalf and that of all of Whiterun's citizens, I thank you."
"I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon," said Farengar
"No." replied the Jarl. "I can't afford to risk both of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against these dragons."
"As you command."
"One last thing, Irileth. This isn't a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with."
"Don't worry, my lord. I'm the very soul of caution."
As Irileth and I left, the wizard said to us: "I envy you the chance to see this dragon up close."
We both made our way down to the main gate, where four members of the Whiterun guard were waiting.
"Here's the situation." Irileth started. "A dragon is attacking the Western Watchtower."
"A dragon?" "Now we're in for it." shock and confusion ensued between the guards.
"You heard, right! I said a dragon! I don't much care where it came from or who sent it. What I do know is that it's made the mistake of attacking Whiterun!"
"But Housecarl... how can we fight a dragon?"
"That's a fair question. None of us have ever seen a dragon before or expected to see one in battle. But we are honor-bound to fight it, even if we fail. This dragon is threatening our homes... our families. Could you call yourselves Nords if you run from this monster? Are you going to let me face this thing alone?"
"No, Housecarl!"
"But it's more than our honor at stake here. Think of it - the first dragon seen in Skyrim since the last age. The glory of killing it is ours if you're with me! Now, what do you say? Shall we go kill us a dragon?"
"Yeah!"
"Damn right!"
"Let's move out."
We all headed for the Western Watchtower. Surrounding it were burnt corpses and smoldering bushes.
"No sign of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here," Irileth commented. "I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened. And if that dragon is still skulking around somewhere. Spread out and look for survivors. We need to know what we're dealing with." she and her men drew their weapons. I grabbed my sword from its sheath and followed Irileth to the entrance to the tower. That was when a surviving guard appeared from inside the ruined tower.
"No! Get back!" he yelled. "It's still here somewhere! Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!"
"Guardsman! What happened here?" Irileth questioned. "Where's this dragon? Quickly now!"
"I don't know!" he sheepishly replied. "Kynareth, save us! Here he comes again!" he cried as he spotted the dragon flying towards us.
"Here he comes!" Irileth bellowed. "Find cover and make every arrow count!"
"Talos, save us! It's a dragon!" yelled another guardsman before he blew his war horn. The dragon circled the tower twice, saying, "Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde!" before it swooped down and snagged one of the guardsmen in its talons like an eagle snatches a fish from the surface of the water. It then let go, and the unlucky guardsman plummeted to his death.
"Come down here and fight, you coward!" roared Irileth. The dragon then turned around and descended low enough to unleash its fire breath: "Yol Toor Shul!" a torrent of flame almost engulfed me, but I lept out of the way just in time.
"Is that the best you can do?" I taunted the dragon as I tapped my shield with my sword.
"You are brave. Bahlaan hokoron. Your defeat brings me honor." it responded to my taunt.
It then made a hard landing, plowing into the ground as it did so. The guardsmen fired a flurry of arrows at it. One of them was more reckless and fought the beast head-on with his halberd. The dragon grabbed it by the shaft with him still holding on and threw him the air before grabbing him in his mouth, shaking him like a terrier shakes a rat and dropping his limp corpse. The dragon then lunged at me, but I slashed him with my sword, climbed onto its head, and thrust my sword through its nostril, killing it.
"Dovahkiin! No!" it roared as it drew its last breath.
"Damned good shooting, boys," Irileth complimented the guardsmen as I jumped off the dragon's head.
"Look at that," one of the men saw the dragon's skin burn away.
"Everybody! Get back!" Irileth ordered as she saw something rush quickly from the dragon's burning corpse. The force of it made me feel lightheaded, and I blacked out.
When I awoke, I found myself in the temple of Kynareth, on one of the healing beds.
"Ugh, my head," I groaned as I tried to sit up.
"You must rest, child," the priestess of Kynareth, Danic Pure-Spring, held me down so she could heal me. "You've gone through quite the ordeal."
"That feels so good," I mumbled. "Thanks."
That was when I saw Irileth and Vilkas standing in front of me.
"Thank the gods, you're okay," Vilkas sighed in relief. "You had us all worried sick."
"What happened?" I asked.
"You passed out after you delivered the killing blow to that dragon," she replied. "The men carried you up here on a stretcher."
"What was that I absorbed."
"Supposedly, that was the dragon's very soul."
"When Farkas and I were happy pups, Kodlak used to tell us stories of legendary warriors who would slay dragons and steal their power," Vilkas explained. "These individuals were called Dragonborn, who have the unique ability to effortlessly shout in the dragon language."
"That's what my men were saying earlier," replied Irileth. "I've been all across Tamriel, so let me tell you, I've seen plenty of things just as outlandish."
"Fus!" I shouted, knocking some healing potions off their shelves. "Oh, I didn't know it was that powerful," I chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that,"
"It's alright," Danica reassured me. "I'll clean that up later,"
"We'd better head back up to Dragonsreach," said Irileth. "Jarl Balgruuf will want to know what happened today."