Chapter 3

Fishcake147- Alright. Criticism is taken into account and the chapter has been updated.

Brelyna

College of Winterhold

"So, there is nothing wrong with him?" Asked Brelyna as Drevis did his daily check-up on the child that she was taking care of. "Nothing to worry about at all?" It's been a week since Brelyna had been chosen to take care of the child. Since then, Brelyna had to learn much of taking care of a child as well as her College studies. It was jarring studies and, in some ways, disgusting to the Dunmer. She had no idea that children were so hard to take care of. It was almost overbearing and combined with her magical studies, which were just as difficult, if not more, she was completely stressed. Fortunately, her friends and instructors were very understanding and helped her with her burdens as much as they can. Who knew that Onmund was so capable of dealing with changing a child and J'zargo was so good in understanding what the child wanted?

Speaking of the child, they still haven't given him a name. This was because they believed that they'll give the child away for adoption once they determined he wasn't a danger to anyone. Although, according to J'zargo, the option of adoption may soon be not an option the longer the child is in Brelyna's hands. The Khajiit refused to elaborate further when he told Onmund this and ignored any inquiries about this further.

Right now, though, Drevis was doing his annual checkup on the child with Brelyna nearby. Classes in the College were now over, thus Brelyna was able to oversee Drevis using his magic on the child, making sure he wasn't doing anything to harm the child, despite Drevis being a master in his preferred field of magic.

"Yes." Said Drevis annoyed at the questions Brelyna was asking him, especially when she said them multiple times. Once he was done with the boy, he spoke up again. "As I said before, somehow this boy has some parts of another person's soul. I don't know how this is done, but this child has the soul of another being. Normally, I would be performing more advanced spells to determine how this is done, but since those spells can be harmful to a new child, I can't do those due to College rules. That and the fact you look like you'll turn me into a cow if I do those on him."

"And I would." Said Brelyna firmly as she glared at her fellow Dunmer, even if he was a College instructor. She would never condone the use of magic that would harm children. Never. She soon adopted a more curious expression when Drevis raised his arms up in surrender. "I don't understand though. How could two souls be in one body without negative effects? Shouldn't the child be suffering from having two souls in one body?"

"Normally yes, but that's what makes this boy so fascinating." Said Drevis before explaining. "He has one full soul, yes, but he only possesses a fragment of another. It's as if someone forcibly ripped a portion of their own soul and embedded it into the boy. Not enough to cause debilitating effects on him, but enough to leave some sort of effect on them."

"What kind of effects?" Asked Brelyna worryingly, concern for the boy increasing.

"Definitely not debilitating that's for sure." Said Drevis, curiosity, and fascination seeping through his voice. "Of course, they may appear once he gets older, but I sincerely doubt they'll be harmful. In fact, it's possible they'll be nothing but beneficial to him. Still, it doesn't hurt to be prepared so I recommend, if we're giving the child to an orphanage still, to place him in a city where a mage is nearby and happy to look after him. Having a mage adopt him is also a good choice."

"Yes, that would be ideal." Said Brelyna, her voice adopting a slightly disappointed tone upon hearing that the idea of adoption is still an option. Drevis heard the disappointment in Brelyna's voice. He rose an eyebrow at this, but choose not to comment on it. Changing the subject, Drevis told her that, aside from what he said, there was nothing else that needed to be said about the child.

"Well, unless you wish for that soul fragment to be removed from him." Said Drevis, catching Brelyna's attention as she picked the boy up in her arms. "Of course, it's best to do it when he's older so as to not hurt him, but if you want, we can remove it from him."

"Really?" Asked Brelyna, curious about what to do. "When would it be a good time to remove the soul fragment from him? Painlessly."

"I'd say when he's ten years old." Said Drevis. "By then, I think he'll be old enough to not make a fuss about it. Of course, it's up to whoever adopts him if you don't want us to remove it now. After all, you're his caretaker at the moment."

"Well." Said Brelyna, unsure of what the right call was here. It was probably for the best that they get rid of the soul fragment within the boy. There could be some unforeseen consequences in having another soul, even if just a fragment, within a small child like the one she was taking care of. In which case, it was probably for the safety and health of the child to extract the soul fragment from his body. However, she worried that this will only hurt the child or leave unforeseen complications by removing it. So, she was stumped on what to do.

Before she could make a decision on this, however, the grounds of the entire college shook as something landed in the courtyard. Something big and heavy for tremors to affect the entire college.

"Oh, don't tell me we have another dragon attack." Said Drevis as he felt those tremors pass. "I thought the Arch-Mage dealt with all of them."

What Drevis was referring to was the Dragonborn having, presumably, dealt with all the hostile dragons left in Skyrim. Years ago, Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon with black scales and red eyes, returned to Tamriel to bring dragon dominance back to Skyrim. He began resurrecting his dead kind, dragons that have long been slain and began a rampage of terror that disrupted the Civil War in Skyrim. Alduin was only stopped when the Dragonborn defeated him in Sovngarde, the afterlife for the Nord people, ending him and his threat to the people of Skyrim. However, even after Alduin was defeated, the number of dragons that he resurrected still pose a threat to the people of Skyrim. Some fight because they wish for a return to the old days. When Dragons ruled over Skyrim and its human inhabitants. Along with any other race within their territory. Others did so because they thought the other races of Tamriel were beneath them and underserving to rule by themselves or because they simply were loyal to Alduin himself and fought for him, despite his apparent demise. Although some dragons have chosen to live peacefully in Skyrim, under the tutelage and guidance of a dragon known as Paarthurnax through some philosophy called the Way of the Voice.

As the only Dragonborn left, it was the Arch-Mage's duty, among other things, to find and eliminate these hostile dragons. This was because he was the only one capable of permanently slaying a dragon by absorbing its soul, otherwise, the dragon would return with the proper magic.

Though the Dragonborn has slain many of the more hostile dragons since Alduin's defeat, they still linger and bring terrible destruction to whatever village or hold that held the misfortune of facing the wrath of those dragons that are still either loyal to Alduin or wish to bring back the days of old.

Panicking slightly at the idea of a Dragon coming to the college now when the Arch-Mage was not present to fight it off, Brelyna was about to grab the boy and hide him somewhere safe when the doors to the Hall of Attainment were forcibly opened and a voice that all the residents of the college have come to familiarize spoke out.

"There's no need to run or fight against the scary dragon." Said a woman's voice, causing everyone in the Hall of Attainment to look out of their rooms to see a Nord woman wearing clothing befitting royalty while also being comfortable and practical enough for long-term traveling and combat with its leather cuirass. Deathly pale, even for a Nord, the woman pulled down the hood she had on at the moment, revealing shoulder-length black hair with some parts braided at the top of her head. Her dark lips held a wicked smile on them while her bright amber, almost gold-like, eyes looked at everyone. The eyes looked evil, but behind them held no ill intent towards the College of Winterhold and its people. In fact, when the woman spotted Brelyna, she smirked.

"So, I'm going to assume on a whim that you're taking care of the child you all found last week." Said the woman as Brelyna looked at her, relief clear on her face. But also a slight surprise as she looked at the woman that took the heart of the Dragonborn. Serana. A vampire.