Glack-Al and Tadal'alla were enjoying the quiet as they rode in the back of the carriage heading for Ivarstead. They had helped Saadia back to the Inn, bought some supplies for the trip, bid farewell to Lucia, left Lydia in charge of the house while they were gone, and were now on their way.
"How long will it take to reach Ivarstead?" Glack-Al asked the driver, Bjorlam.
"Quite some time, Thane of Whiterun." Bjorlam answered. "A day or two at this pace, but possibly longer if we run into any trouble like bandits or wildlife. We'll need to make a few stops on the way to rest as well."
"Well, this one hopes for a little peace after these last few days." Tadal'alla said as she wrote in one of her journals.
"With dragons returning, I don't think anyone's going to be getting much peace." Bjorlam said as they traveled near what looked like two old towers connected by a stone bridge. "But I guess that won't be a problem for you, Dragonborn."
"The only reason I was able to take that thing down in the first place was because we had numbers." Glack-Al said.
"That, and a whole lot of luck." Tadal'alla threw in.
"Yeah, that too." Glack-Al nodded.
"Hold it!"
The horse made a sudden stop as three bandits ran out of the tower that they were passing before surrounding them.
"Uh oh." Bjorlam whispered as Glack-Al and Tadal'alla looked around at the few bandits. "Uh, is something wrong?"
"I'll say there is. You nearly passed by our tower without paying the toll." one of the bandits said.
"What toll?" Glack asked.
"The toll for you all to go through with your heads still on your shoulders. 200 pieces of gold for each of you." another bandit demanded.
"So 600 gold for all of us?" Tadal'alla asked.
"Exactly." the same bandit confirmed before smirking at Tadal'alla as he ogled her body. "Of course, you can pay in...other ways." he said, making Tadal'alla growl at him while the bandit turned towards Glack-Al and Bjorlam. "In fact, we're willing to waive the toll altogether if your friend here joins us for good. How about it?"
"How about a third option?" Glack-Al answered before throwing a small bag of coins at the bandit, nailing him in the head.
"GAH!" the bandit yelled while Glack turned towards the other bandit in the back, a shout of "FUS!" making him stumble back a bit.
"GO!" Tadal'alla shouted, making Bjorlam snap the reigns on his horse, causing it to take off and make the bandit in front jump out of the way to avoid being run over.
"GET BACK HERE!" the bandit that was hit with the coin purse roared as two bandits on the tower began to fire arrows at the fleeing group. After running for a bit, Bjorlam slowed the horse to a stop to let it take a short rest.
"You two okay back there?" he asked.
"We're fine." Tadal'alla answered while Glack-Al kept a watch for the bandits to see if they followed.
"That's good. But it looks like we'll have to take a new path to avoid those bandits in the future." Bjorlam stated.
"Our apologies." Tadal'alla responded.
"Don't worry about it. I'd never leave a woman to bandits." Bjorlam said, making Tadal'alla smile before turning towards Glack-Al.
"What was your plan, anyway?" she asked with a glare
"My plan was to make them stumble and jump them before you decided to have us run." Glack answered.
"You battle-crazed idiot. We had no idea how many other bandits could've been waiting in that tower!" Tadal'alla snapped. "Just be glad that all we lost was some gold, which this one will be taking out of our next job!"
"Ugh, fine. I'm sorry." Glack-Al huffed before he sat back down. "You okay, Bjorlam?"
"I'm fine. And so's my horse." he said before he made her start walking again. "Let's hope that we don't meet any more trouble like that on our way.
"This one agrees with you." Tadal'alla said with a nod while Glack merely grumbled at their choice to run.
"NO! PLEASE! DON'T-" a bandit named Telrav begged before his chest was carved open by Glack-Al's axe.
"You play the victim mugged by bandits and lead us into an ambush for your little gang, then you beg for mercy when your target fights back? Pathetic." Glack scoffed as he pulled his axe out of Telrav and put it away before turning towards his sister. "How's Bjorlam?"
"He is a little shaken, but fine. He said that he will wait for us for only 10 minutes. If we're not back by then, he will leave without us." Tadal'alla explained.
"Then we better look and loot fast." Glack-Al suggested, earning a nod from her before the two began to sneak around for other bandits. One was sleeping inside and didn't stir as the two crept around and looted the place. Tadal'alla had even managed to liberate the bandit of his coin purse before the two left with their spoils.
"Almost left you two behind." Bjorlam said as the two got back onto the wagon before he had the horse move again.
"Glad you didn't. How much farther is it to Ivarstead?" Glack asked.
"Not much farther now. Should get there soon." Bjorlam answered.
"That is good. The sun is setting, and this one prefers to reach there before dark." Tadal'alla said as she counted the coins she and Glack had taken from the bandits.
"How much?" Glack-Al asked.
"Judging from the amount of remains down the side of those ruins...quite a lot." Tadal'alla answered before placing a generous amount into a coin purse and handing it out towards Bjorlam. "For sticking around and not leaving us when things got hairy."
"Thank you." Bjorlam gratefully accepted as they continued onward.
After a little bit more travelling, the siblings finally arrived at Ivarstead.
"Here we are. Ivarstead." Bjorlam announced as he and the siblings got off the wagon. "That was quite an eventful trip, but now it's time to rest. I'm going to spend the night here and let this old girl rest before we head off."
"Thanks again for the lift, Bjorlam." said Glack-Al. "You going to be alright?"
"Ha! I've been ferrying people of all kinds between all nine holds of Skyrim for a long time. I'll be fine." Bjorlam assured.
"We thank you again and wish you safe travels." Tadal'alla said before she and Glack-Al turned to leave.
"Just a moment." Bjorlam spoke up, stopping the two and making them look at him. "A bit of advice for you two. Put on a few more layers before you head up to High Hrothgar. The Throat of the World is a very cold place in Skyrim. Pilgrims who have made the trek have found unfortunate souls frozen solid in the past. Some were even still standing."
"Noted." Tadal'alla said with a nod as Bjorlam lead his horse away, leaving the two to walk into the Vilemyr Inn. They took a quick look around and saw two men sitting at a table and chatting, a man tending to the bar and a buxom blonde woman doing a little sweeping.
"Mmm." Tadal'alla hummed as she ran her eyes over the woman's curves, her eyes venturing north towards her bodice that strained heavily to keep her breasts in.
"Careful, Tadal. You're gonna start drooling." Glack joked as they approached the man.
"Welcome to the Vilemyr Inn. Name's Wilhelm. What can I do for you?" said the owner.
"Two rooms and some food, please." Glack-Al ordered.
"Alright then. You two taking a trip up to High Hrothgar?" the man asked.
"Indeed." Tadal'alla answered.
"Then I'll whip you two up something special for your trip." Wilhelm said before he started to do some cooking.
"Any news or rumors around here?" Tadal'alla asked.
"Rumors? Well, there are a few things I've heard. Narfi still wondering where his sister went. The shouting coming from up on High Hrothgar. A haunted barrow nearby. And then there's this talk about the return of-"
"DRAGON!"
Everyone inside looked towards the door to see a Bosmer barge in, his eyes wide and full of panic as a roar is heard outside.
"THERE'S A DRAGON FLYING AROUND IVARSTEAD! THE RUMORS WERE TRUE!" the Bosmer yelled before the whole building shook.
"DOVAHKIIN! KOLOS LOS HI?!" boomed a voice from above them. "BO AHRK LUFT HIN DINOK!"
"Not again!" Tadal'alla growled while Glack grinned.
"Finally! A proper fight!" he grinned as he ran for the door, axe at the ready. He ran out to see the town guards and citizens all drawing weapons and firing at the dragon, either with bow and arrow or with magic.
"Are you crazy?!" Tadal'alla snapped as she ran outside to see the dragon sitting atop the Vilemyr Inn before it took off.
"Tsk! Annoying pests!" the dragon grunted as he flew away before turning around and flying low, his head rearing back.
"LOOK OUT! GET TO COVER!" Tadal'alla yelled in a panic. The townsfolk jumped out of the way or behind cover as the dragon blew flames as it flew by.
"Come down here and fight, you coward!" yelled a woman, a woodcutter's axe in her arms.
"Tembra! Don't antagonize it!" pleaded a guard as the Dragon circled back towards them.
"HERE IT COMES AGAIN!" yelled another guard as the dragon soared overheard before doing a quick turn and landed in the middle of Ivarstead.
"YOU'RE MINE!" Glack-Al yelled as he ran up swung his axe at the dragon, tearing through part of it's left wing.
"GAH! You'll pay for that, mortal!" the dragon growled before smacking Glack back with it's wing and knocking him away. He rolled a few times before getting back onto his feet and glared at the dragon.
"FUS!" Glack shouted, stunning the dragon and shocking the citizens.
"What was that?"
"Did that Argonian just shout at the dragon?"
"DOVAHKIIN!" the dragon snapped, his attention purely on Glack now, a fire in his eyes more intense than the flames he was spewing earlier.
"COME ON, DRAGON! I KILLED YOUR FRIEND IN WHITERUN, AND I'LL KILL YOU TOO!" Glack-Al boasted.
"The only one dying today is you, Dovahkiin!" the dragon said before grunting in pain as a barrage of arrows hit him, with many of them getting stuck in his scales. "ENOUGH!" he roared as he tried to fly away. However, his left wing's injury made it too difficult to stay in the air, causing him to crash back to the ground.
"It's wounded! Finish it off!" Tembra yelled before chucking her axe at it, making it stick into it's neck. It roared in pain as it shook off the axe, the wound bleeding quite a bit.
"FASTRED! STAY INSIDE!" an old man with gray hair yelled towards a young woman with a sword in her hand.
"This is my village too! I'll help defend it!" she stated as she ran towards the dragon and slashed at it's tail, injuring it and making it growl at her and lifting it's tail to flatten her. It flinched when it felt something hit it's face, which caused it to miss Fastred, and turned just in time to see Tadal'alla throwing fireballs at his face.
"GAAHH!" it howled in pain as large fireball nailed him in the eyes, disorienting him.
"My turn!" Glack said as he ran towards the dragon, only to smacked away when the dragon began to wildly thrash about in pain. "Ouch!" he groaned as he quickly got back up and reached for his axe before realizing it wasn't with him.
CRACK!
*SPLURT*
Glack-Al turned to see the dragon roar in pain, his axe lodged in the middle of it's skull before it slumped over, dead. All was quiet, save for Tadal'alla's heavy breathing as she stood a distance from the dragon, her arms streched out towards it.
"She...She did it!" said a man named Klimmek before everyone started to cheer.
"THE KHAJIIT WOMAN HAS SLAIN THE DRAGON!" the Bosmer, Gwilin, shouted as Tadal'alla fell to her knees, her breathing becoming a little steadier.
"You okay?" Glack asked his sister as he knelt in front of her.
"Saw...your axe...at this one's feet." she got out before looking at the dragon's corpse. "Khajiit picked it up and...hoped for a good shot."
"Good shot, nothing. You nailed it right between the eyes." Glack said with a smile as he helped her up. "Guess we both have a dragon each under our belts."
"Indeed." Tadal'alla said before everyone started to gather around the two.
"That was amazing!" said the woman working at the Inn.
"You actually killed it! I can't believe it!" Gwilin asked.
"Are you the one that the Greybeards have summoned? The Dragonborn?" one guard asked as the dragon's flesh began to burn away.
"Actually, the one who is Dragonborn is-" Tadal'alla began before the burned flesh turned to light and moved towards them before circling and entering...Tadal'alla?
"Look at that!"
"What's happening?"
"Tadal?" Glack muttered in shock as his sister looked at herself in confusion before the light fully entered her, her eyes wide in surprise. "Did...Did you just...?"
"I...think I did." Tadal'alla responded before gently rubbing her head. "My mind feels...clear. Like..."
"Like a fog lifting from it?" Glack-Al asked.
"Yes. That is what it feels like." she answered. "And I feel...something within me."
"What in the name of the nine just happened?" a guard asked.
"Try shouting." Glack-Al suggested. Tadal'alla nodded before she turned away from the crowd, took a deep breath...
"FUS!"
...And shouted the same shout that Glack-Al had been using before. Everyone just watched in amazement as Tadal'alla stared ahead of her before slowly looking towards her brother.
"Do you know what this means, Tadal?" Glack-Al asked.
"Yes. It means this one is heading up to High Hrothgar with you."
A/N: It's been a while since I updated this. Couldn't find the spark needed to move it along. Hope it's still enjoyable. Also, in case anyone who hasn't played Skyrim for a while didn't know, it's added some new Creations for it's 10 year anniversary. One of which, which makes the game a little more fun, is Survival Mode. You can't carry as much as you want in the beginning, you need to sleep and eat to stay healthy and Fast Travel is completely disabled, so you have to pay to travel by horse drawn cart. Gives it more challenge. Anyway, stay tuned for more in the future, and don't forget to leave reviews.