Drumroll (II)
Thongvor Silver-Blood glared at the paperwork on his desk. Maybe if he did it hard enough, it would all catch fire and he wouldn't have to deal with it.
Wishful thinking, of course. If he wanted to burn the evil documents, he had a perfectly functional fireplace that looked increasingly tempting every hour he worked. But the papers were only symptoms of his problems, and burning them wouldn't make the problems go away.
It'd surely cheer me up, though…
With the Dragontruce signed and in effect, the Reach had finally had the security and the legitimacy required to secure a much needed loan. They'd actually gotten away with wiping clean all of Markarth's old debts (a small clause in the truce that he couldn't believe they'd managed to sneak by everyone), but unfortunately their new sub-country was going to have to join every nation on Tamriel in owing money to every other nation in Tamriel. Elisif's Solitude and the Empire had been more than willing to loan the cash, despite their own dire straits, because it was in their best interests to form bonds with Markarth if (when) war broke out again.
On Thongvor's end, this allowed him to bulk buy the resources needed to feed and repair the city, offer relief payments to the citizens, and start public works programs to start rebuilding and expanding. He'd be able to pay it back once they were back on their feet, and hey, maybe Skyrim would fall to the Stormcloaks and he'd be able to write off that loan as well. Thonar would be laughing from the Aetherius if he found out how many tens of thousands of septims his brother might have (essentially) stolen with no consequences.
Thongvor sighed. I wish you were still here, brother. This was always your area of expertise.
Of course, gross national debt was the good news. It was the bad news that was making him contemplate committing arson upon his own house.
Since Hjar (the cheeky freeloading bitch) was out playing with Dragons, he had the unpleasant task of keeping two disparate peoples from murdering each other while one of their figureheads was missing. He'd hoped that the shared troubles would cause them to come together in harmony, and there was some of that, but…well. Culturally motivated violence spiked to almost double every day Hjar was gone, and it had been more than triple when they'd both been up at High Hrothgar. Lots of people in Cidnah mine. And there was hardly room, because that was where they were they were keeping the Thalmor and Silver Hand who'd surrendered when the city had been retaken. All of whom had to be fed, watered, and sheltered even though they were contributing nothing to the city's economy, because Hjar wouldn't let him make them work the mines!
The woman's like a rainstorm. You know deep down that it's important and if you got rid of it things would be worse, but it's still a bloody pain to put up with it.
And oh, how could he forget, Hjar! His fiancée! Who he now had to organise his marriage to. That was quite possibly the biggest headache of them all. How do you set up a wedding that two totally different cultures will accept as their own? Especially since the Forsworn marriage ceremonies Kaie had told him about sounded so utterly absurd he was half-convinced she was just making them up to prank him. And on top of all that, neither of them even wanted to do it, especially after a night drinking wherein Thongvor and Verulus had shared a very honest conversation. Among other things…
That memory was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open, making Thongvor growl to himself.
There was only one person still in the city who dared to barge in on him without knocking.
"What in Oblivion is it, Kaie?" He demanded, standing and turning on her. "Because unless you're about to tell me that you've solved our prisoner problem, I do not want to hear it."
Kaie halted just inside the doorway, panting heavily. She looked shaken, he noticed, and met his eyes to give him a very nervous smile.
"Actually…funny thing." She gasped out. "It…turns out we…don't have a prisoner problem anymore!"
Thongvor stared at her, nonplussed. "We what?"
"They're gone!" Kaie flung a hand out vaguely towards Cidnah Mine. "The Thalmor, the Hand, some of the particularly violent criminals from our lot! It's a gods-damned prison break!"
Thongvor's eyes widened. He leaned down to the side of his desk and scooped up his axe, demanding "Where are they? Is the guard assembled? Lock down the entrances to the keep, if they try—"
"No no no that's the thing!" Kaie held out a finger, having finally recovered her breath enough to stand up straight. "A few of the guards we had on the prison are dead or injured, but besides that, no damage to the city! They just broke through the defences on the secret tunnel—"
"Secret tunnel?" Thongvor checked,
" —through the mountain, aye, and they just left!" Kaie explained. "Apparently they had horses waiting for them outside. Our scouts are in a scramble trying to catch up, but they seem to be heading east!"
"We're Markarth! Everything's east!" Thongvor growled and barged past her, moving at a jog to the keep's gates. "Get some of your best warriors together, I'll do the same. We're forming a pursuit party."
"Got it, I'll—" Kaie started following him, then frowned. "Hang on. Why are we chasing them? I mean we were only keeping them because Hjar said we had to, isn't it good that they're gone? We don't have to feed them now!"
Kaie did have a point. However…
"Four reasons." Thongvor retorted, not stopping. "First, I am not dealing with another roving band of criminals in my hills. Second, they've officially gone from surrendered prisoners to escaped criminals. It's not just our right to kill them, it's our duty. Third, this is a good chance to get some Nord-Reachmen bonding done. Fourth…"
He looked back at her, face stony. "What happens if fighters come from the Reach and start causing trouble in other Holds?"
Kaie realised, and her face went pale. "You think they might break the truce on our behalf? That's not fair!"
"None of this is fair." Thongvor retorted, flatly. "We deal with it anyway."
And now we have to track a party of hunters and magicians across the wilds when they have outside help and a head start.
Talos' name…Where's a werewolf when you need one?
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Alexander Meteuse was in a bad mood.
L'laarzen was aware of this.
While he was very skilled at controlling his expression when he chose to, Xander dropped any such acts while his brain was engaged with something else. This she had seen many times during the Dragontruce, wherein he had flip-flopped from cheerfully diplomatic to thoughtfully irritated and back again at a very impressive rate.
Right now, he was sketching crystalline structures on parchment with pencil and ruler, as he had been for the last hour. And it was very clear to L'laarzen that something was bothering him beyond the problem itself.
"Troubled, friend?" She asked, sitting next to him.
"Oh, always." He answered, flashing her a wide and insincere smile before turning back to his work.
"Anything Khajiit can help with?"
"Hmm…" Xander tapped his pencil against the table a few times, then said "You ever walking a place, and see a sign that says 'Don't go any further! You'll die!' and you go 'that's neat!' and keep walking anyway?"
Ah.
"Ah." L'laarzen said. "Well, while this one does not recall having quite that experience, she is familiar with context clues. Is there something you would like to warn us about, Alexander?"
"Azura told me not to try and trap the Dragon soul."
"Oh." L'laarzen blinked. "Well, let's go tell your siblings to stop. That seems fairly conclusive."
"Gods, I wish." Xander groaned, leaning backwards. "She said it was for moral reasons, then implied it might be because she'd seen the future and knew it was a bad idea, then said she wasn't allowed to tell me the future and couldn't see much of it anyhow, then wished me good luck in succeeding."
L'laarzen frowned, trying to parse that. "…What?"
"Right? I know they're operating on a higher plane than us, but, Divines…" Xander sighed, and slumped forwards again. "Optimistically: it's just a whim of hers regarding trapping a sentient creature, and nothing's going to go wrong, and she'd be having the same talk with me if I wanted to, I dunno, arrest a bandit and jail him. Pessimistically: we're all going to die and she's just not allowed to say so. So calling it off is the safe choice. For us, at least. But apparently everything forwards of DB's fight with Alduin is blank to her. Which sucks because that's the part we're worried about."
"You…fear that despite the chance that Azurah has foreseen our doom, we may have to chance it, because the danger Alduin poses is greater." L'laarzen parsed.
Xander nodded. "There's an upper limit on what one Dragon's soul can do in the span of the next few weeks, no matter how catastrophic my thinking is. So maybe what we're doing might cost our lives. But if there's a small chance it saves the entirety of Mundus, don't we have to take it?"
L'laarzen chuckled despite herself. Xander gave her a concerned look, and she explained "Your reasoning sounds much like the Dragonborn's when he delivered his ultimatum. Threatening the lives of a few for a chance to save many."
"Eugh. Yeah, point." Xander looked back to the table. "I mean I'm not threatening to take other people's lives, just…"
"Just ours?" L'laarzen offered, contritely.
He met her eyes. Sighed. "I'll let everyone know what I was told. We'll put it to a vote."
"Good boy." L'laarzen scooted closer and ruffled his hair, making him scoff. "Now then, tell me about your magical problem. L'laarzen is on a roll!"
"Not to be patronising, but I really doubt you'll be able to help with this." Xander gestured at the table, which was littered with dozens of scribblings on parchment, worn down chalk stubs, and shards of soul gems.
"As the Imperials are fond of saying: Try me. Khajiit has heard it can be helpful to explain a problem to a layman, no?"
"Alright…" Xander blew out a breath and drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Well, while the others are working on a way to trap the Dragon's soul, I'm trying to find or build a receptacle for it. Normal soul gems simply aren't built to house anything like it."
"Too big?" L'laarzen guessed.
"Too different. And, yes, also too big. See, normal souls sod right off to the Aetherius when their body dies. But the Dragon is only technically dead, and it's soul is quite content to hover around Mundus until Alduin resurrects it. So the requirements are skewed way off from what a regular gem is even designed to do. Azura's Star could do it because it's a Daedric artefact, but we have nothing else like that."
"So your siblings don't know how to trap it with a spell, and you don't know how to trap it with a gem." L'laarzen summarised.
Xander laughed, once. "Hah! Oh no, I solved that part like two days ago."
"Eh?"
"I've had Azura's Star and the Staff of Magnus for months, I've done some research with (or, on) the Dovahkiin, and I've been inspecting this carcass for a while now. I know how it works. I know how a gem could conceivably hold a Dragon soul. The issue is material. I don't have anything that can fit it."
L'laarzen shook her head, as Xander once again trivialised the patently absurd. "Can the soul gems not be repurposed?"
"I've been trying, but no. The damn things are too fragile. I'll not get into the nitty gritty, but soul gems are…kind of awful, geometrically speaking. Like you take what you can get because they're the only gems that form big enough to funnel the relevant magics, but they're really not much better than coloured glass."
L'laarzen felt an uneasy feeling arise in her gut. "So, other crystals could be used?"
Xander nodded, his expression brightening as he got invested in the explanation. "Oh, yeah, lots of the precious gems we value would be even better, and those are used in certain magical devices. The Dwemer made this an art form, I'm considering going and looting some of their old mines for ideas. I could alter a crystal of a more valuable type into a gem for a Dragon soul, but it would have to be a really tiny Dragon. Good luck finding a ruby or emerald any bigger than a thumb, never mind the size of a fist."
"And, hypothetically." L'laarzen said, slowly. "What would be an appropriate gem for you to use as the receptacle here?"
Xander laughed. "Really? Okay, sure, let's just go wild. Uh…heh. Yeah, ideally I'd need a diamond that's, like, the size of your head, and also flawlessly cut, not discoloured at all, and geometrically perfect. Got one of those lying around?"
L'laarzen stared at Xander.
Xander stared back at L'laarzen.
He blinked, twice, then his mouth opened. "Oh, shut up. No, don't do me like this."
"…No, L'laarzen does not have one of those." She said, eventually, making him exhale in relief.
"Azura's left testicle, L'laarzen! You know for a second there, you genuinely had me convinced that—"
"L'laarzen has two."
"You what?"
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L'laarzen left on Shadowmere, galloping to Riften as fast as the horse could go. She'd be back with the Eyes of the Falmer (Kagrenack's left testicle, she has the Eyes Of The Falmer?) in less than a day.
Excited about a day of multiple breakthroughs, but stuck at something of a bottleneck until the Khajiit got back, everyone else settled down as night fell for a…well. Party. Hjar had gone out and hunted down a few beasts to be barbecued, Cassia had lit a fire that would change colour at random, and Julius had brought alcohol.
("You have Golden Pear Ale? Julius, share!"
"We can open that once we've trapped the Dragon, stick with the cheap stuff for now.")
It was there that Xander, once he got over the tremendous social awkwardness, broke the news of Azura's warning. Results were…pretty much exactly what he'd expected.
"Still in." Cassia said, shrugging. "I'm not gonna let a god tell me what I can and can't do."
"You worship Julianos." Octavia pointed out.
"Because I have experimental evidence that doing so improves intelligence, whether that's placebo or not. I wouldn't give up on this if he showed up and got cryptic with me."
"Fair enough. I also vote to continue." Octavia said, looking to Xander. "In my experience, either prophesies can be changed, in which case worrying about them is dangerous and irresponsible…or they cannot be changed, in which case worrying about them is dangerous and irresponsible."
"You have experience?" Hjar spoke up.
"You're not the only four who've been on adventures." Octavia replied, rolling her eyes.
"I also think we should continue." Julius volunteered. "Alex, we can talk about this later, but I suspect we've come to the same conclusions as to why."
"Which means it's happening, so all you're really offering is the chance to get out of town in case the proverbial dung hits the proverbial windmill." Margret summarised, sat leaning on Hjar's shoulder.
"I can still bring in agents to offer the necessary security." Julius told them, with an apologetic smile. "I'd like to have you here because you have real experience fighting Dragons, but we could use a crack squad of Thalmor or Imperial soldiers instead."
"So nothing's changed since you first offered us this job." Dulurza said, rolling her eyes. "We've still got no idea what's going to happen. I'll stay, just let me send a warning message to Elisif about it."
That left Hjar and Margret as the holdouts, both of whom had thoughtful looks on their faces.
"Xander," Hjar asked, "what do we actually expect to gain from this?"
"Well…You want the pessimistic answer or the optimistic one?" He asked.
"Pessimistic first."
"Possibly nothing. Obviously it could just not work, but that's a failure state and so not what you asked." Xander stared into the fire (currently glowing purple), and grimaced. "There's a chance we can trap the soul but can't think of anything to do with it, so all we have is a way to permakill dragons. Well, it's also possible that the gem doesn't trap them as thoroughly as I want, and Alduin can literally just resurrect them straight out of the crystal. All of which would suck, because right now we only have two possible vessels. Three if I want to make a Daedric Prince despise me."
"Oh, Malacath's name…" Dulurza groaned. "Optimistic answer, give us the optimistic answer, please!"
Cassia laughed. "Isn't that obvious? Optimistically, we get access to the power of a Dragon."
"If the crystals can be configured the way I intend to, I should be able to siphon magicka from them with the Staff of Magnus." Xander explained further, trying not to cackle madly at the idea. "And you all know how much power Dragons have. Not to mention the fact that they're basically gods so they don't run out."
"Could you make that usable without the staff?" Octavia asked. "In case we fill both Eyes and are needed in different locations."
"Uuuh…" Xander looked up to the sky and thought about it. "Sure, I think. I'd just need to invert the fourth, third, and ninth matrices, and put a hole into the souldraw shaping so…" He proceeded to explain (largely for the benefit of his fellow mages) the broad strokes of what he was actually doing with the soul gem, and how it would work.
When he was done, Hjar, Margret, and Dulurza were all looking at him like he'd grown an extra head (Heh. Martials.). Octavia, Cassia, and Julius however…were also looking at him like he'd grown an extra head.
He blinked, noticing the awkward silence. "Uh. If I explained it poorly let me know, I can elaborate—"
"Alex." Julius asked, calmly. "Where did you learn all this?"
"Books?" Xander replied, confused.
"What books?" Octavia asked, much less calmly. "Nothing at the Synod was even close to the level of that, and I've read all the books we have here."
"Yeah, you been holding out on us?" Cassia demanded.
"What? No!" Xander throw his hands up in surrender. "Guys, seriously, most of its from…duuuuh…" He furrowed his eyebrows. He tried to think of the source for all his insights on soul gems and enchanting, but came up blank. Sure, the basics were from books in the Synod and the College, but the rest were just sort of…there in his head. Almost like he'd—
"Ah." He realised. "So, I may have spent about five minutes staring into the heart of the Aetherius a month or so ago."
There was a pause. Everyone stared at him.
"…and a lot longer than that communing with Daedra." He added, sheepishly. "And using the Staff on the Star."
"Xander." Octavia said, with an unusual squeak to her voice. "Please write these great cosmic insights down before you forget them?"
"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll get on that."
"Fun powers." Dulurza prompted. "Go back to talking about the fun powers."
"Right, fun powers!" Xander smiled, trying to dispel the tension. "So, besides all the mages present being able to throw out Dragonfire with ease, it might get even crazier. Cass, you're basically using what DB does as the base for the soul trap, right?"
"That's the current plan." She nodded.
"So, it's possible that controlled absorption of Vulbahlok's power could give, say…enhanced strength?" Xander turned to the martial members of the group. They were looking at each other and trying not to smile, and failing. "So, you know, maybe it can make you superhuman like he is. I wouldn't recommend absorbing a Dragon soul raw like he does, it would probably kill you, but yeah, we have no idea what we could use this for. We might be able to draw upon the Dragons' knowledge of Shouts, too."
"Wait, so you mean we could breathe fire?" Dulurza looked like winter festival had come early.
"Maybe," Xander warned, "and Arngeir would probably be furious with me, but can you imagine Alduin shows up and he's met by half a dozen mini-Dragonborns? Especially if we can get the hang of his miracle anti-fly Shout."
"Ooh! Flying!" Margret piped up. "Could we fly? Wait, can mages fly?"
"Julius?" Xander looked across. "You're the expert."
"The short answer is 'not really', sadly." The eldest Meteuse answered, drawing boos from around the group. "I can certainly boost myself a significant distance, but that's just a long-jump, I've still got to land. Then there's levitation magic, which is illegal."
"Can you do it?" Cassia snickered.
"Of course I can do it." Julius rolled his eyes. "But that's just using magic to connect you to the ground from higher elevation. It's the magical equivalent of standing on stilts. Alex, what's the Dragon word for 'fly'?"
"Bo." Xander recited. He tried to Shout it, couldn't help himself, but it didn't work. "But it means more than just pulling wind under their wings, it's connected to how they needn't fear death. That's why Dragonrend grounds them; it literally forces the concept of mortality on them for a limited time. As far as I know, no mage has ever been able to truly fly, but…if we're actually channelling a Dragon…" Now he was the one who couldn't stop smiling. "Akatosh's left testicle, we could fly!"
"Okay fine I'm in." Hjar said, abruptly, causing further laughter. "But only because you'll all get yourselves killed without me around to save you."
"Don't know why you're acting so superior, miss 'trashed her own city'." Dulurza snorted. "I'm the responsible one here."
"You are? Oh, Oblivion no, you're not getting away with that. Hey, reminder that—"
The pair started heatedly debating which of them was the more sensible, during which Margret stole as much food as she could from Hjar's plate. Cassia and Octavia promptly got into their own debate, causing the fire to spike in size and colour every time the younger sibling got emotional.
Xander laughed, watching the chaos spread. He met Julius' gaze, only to see his older brother giving him a significant look, then glancing off to one side.
Julius stood, gave an unheard excuse, and walked off to the side of camp.
…Huh. Xander got to his feet and followed.
8˂
Brynjolf stared slack-jawed at L'laarzen. "You want them for WHAT?"
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Julius was crouched at the edge of the swamp, behind the shack. In front of him, water was pulling itself up from the murk and swirling around in patterns through the air. It was one of his favourite tricks, and had entertained them all endlessly while they were all growing up.
"Even if Azura says there's a high chance of this being a bad idea, we still have to risk it, because the damage this could cause pales compared to what an unleashed Alduin might." Was the first thing Julius said, as Xander approached. "That's your reasoning, am I right?"
Xander's eyes widened, shocked at having something so close to his own words parroted back at him. "Y—Yeah. Basically."
"Thought so." Julius looked up at him and smiled, tiredly. "Heh. Divines, look at you!"
"Eh?"
"Sorry, just…you're all grown up. Sometimes it hits me for no apparent reason and I get all emotional. I'll try and keep it under wraps."
"Sappy git." Xander chortled, moving closer and sitting down next to him. "You sound like mum and dad."
"Eugh, no." Julius shuddered, and the water in front of him did so in tandem. "Thinking about it, if you're growing up, I must be getting old. Blink of an eye and I'll be thirty, and it's all downhill from there."
"Once you hit thirty, that's it." Xander nodded. "Stories all agree, you can't be a protagonist anymore, you have to grow a beard and be a mentor."
"I already have a beard!"
"A proper beard. Big grey one, and get a gaudy robe with stars on it."
"Hah. Well I do enjoy speaking cryptically, so I have that to look forwards to." Julius glanced at him. "I was planning on being your mentor, you know."
"Really?" Xander blinked, surprised.
"Oh, yeah." Julius nodded. "I was going to take you under my wing, so to speak."
"But…you knew about my…" Xander gestured vaguely at himself.
"Stunted magicka pool? It's certainly not stopped you here, has it?" Julius pointed out. "It's forced you to think. Really think. I like your ambition, and I like your creativity. I knew you were going to do great things. And this isn't just an Auntie Elenwen 'I always believed in you!', I mean I really, really did."
"…But you let me leave." Xander said, quietly.
Julius nodded. "I did."
"Why?"
"The same reason I left you to try and progress through the Synod. Instead of, say, pulling strings to get you skips in the classes you were incapable of." He smiled. "I wanted to see what you'd do."
There was a comfortable silence. Crickets made crickety noises in the distance, accompanied by the gentle swirling of the water and the sounds of chatter from back behind the shack. It was a cool evening, but not unpleasantly so, and the moon was bright in the sky.
"We should all visit mum and dad when this is over." Xander offered. "Once we know the apocalypse is solved, take a few weeks to travel to Cyrodiil and back. Proper family reunion."
"Maybe." Julius sighed, staring out at the water. "I…doubt I'm going to be able to see them again, though."
"Yikes, how busy are you?" Xander asked. Then, once he had caught onto the tail end of that sentence, "Wait, again? Like, ever?"
"Well." Julius coughed. "Not ever—"
"You're not dying, are you?"
"No!" Julius protested. "Well, no faster than any of us, which is still too fast, but—"
"Do you expect to die soon?" Xander clarified.
There was a very dangerous pause.
"Not as such." Julius answered, quietly. "Sorry, I'm being all…I've got a lot to do, Alex. This experiment is just the first thing on a long checklist. And they're going to be difficult, and I don't normally doubt myself but…have you ever had to do anything really, really hard?"
"Everything I do is really really hard." Xander tried for a chuckle, but it came out hollow. "I…yeah. Octavia told you that me and her fought, right?"
"Right."
"I had to go against my sister. I've never done that before. Because Octavia's always right, and I had to go against every part of me telling me that it was a terrible idea to challenge her."
"The hardest things to do are when everyone's telling you you're wrong." Julius nodded. "Either because they don't know everything, or just…"
"Or because what you're considering doing is so crazy that no sane person would ever do it." Xander finished. "And you're just stood there like 'this is going to change so much, and I shouldn't even be considering it'. But…but with the things you know, you know you have to. And you're going to be in big trouble for it later."
There was another pause. Xander looked up from the water to see that Julius was looking at him, very intently.
"…Did you kill the Emperor, Alex?" Julius asked, calmly.
Xander's pulse spiked. He flinched, eyes instinctively going back to the party, only to see the distinct blurring of a privacy ward around them.
Idiot, idiot. What are you thinking, saying things like that? Of course he's going to figure it out! And now he was screwed, because he'd never been able to lie to Julius in his life…
"…Yes." He said, quietly.
"…Okay." Julius replied. Then he went back to looking at the water.
Xander stared at him, jaw hanging open. "That's…that's it?"
"I trust you." Julius shrugged. "Might ask you to explain it at some point, but I have a few ideas as to why. And like I said, I'm busy."
Xander blew out a breath, then shook his head. "I…alright. Just don't tell—"
"Of course."
"Right." Xander's hands were getting cold. He blew into his fingers. Julius flicked a finger, and a warm wind blew over them both. "Thanks. Julius…whatever you're doing, I can help."
"Oh, I suspect you can. Matter of fact, I suspect you might have to." Julius stood, and Xander tentatively followed him.
The elder Meteuse clapped the younger on the shoulder, smiling. "After all, you were right. I'm getting too old to be the protagonist."
Xander narrowed his eyes. "You had better not dramatically die so I can take over your quest." He warned.
Julius snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. Nobody will die if I have anything to say about it."
o ̶ ̶̶| ̶ ̶̶ ̶ ̶̶ ̶ ̶̶ ̶ ̶̶ ̶ ̶̶
Dragonsreach was busy.
As in, Solitude-during-a-coronation type busy.
Turns out, it was impossible to prepare to capture a Dragon without leaking to the city that you were preparing to capture a dragon. Half the city guard were preoccupied just trying to deal with the public, who were split between:
A) Trying to get in so they could watch,
B) Protesting Balgruuf's foolish recklessness as loudly as they could,
C) Packing their bags and trying to flee the city,
D) Heimskr. Uh, Heimskr had decided that this just meant he needed to pray even louder.
Lydia was of the mind that they were all morons. As she could boast being in the exclusive club of 'has fought more than one Dragon and survived', she knew full well that getting too close was suicidal if one wasn't properly trained, and that if one decided to flee through the plains they'd quite easily be snapped up as a pre-battle snack as the Dragon flew in. The safest place for these people was their own damn homes, and that's what had been declared multiple times by the Jarl in an official speech he'd given on the matter. And while some probably took that option, Lydia didn't have the privilege of dealing with such sensible folk.
On the plus side, it had given her the delightful opportunity to punch Nazeem in the face.
Now she was striding back into the great balcony-come-dining hall where the trap was planned to take place. The other half of the city guard were here, preparing the great weights and chains and restraints that would be used to keep a mythical beast of yore contained. Delphine and Esbern were here as well, helping Balgruuf, Irileth and Caius direct everyone. Lydia couldn't help giving the stink eye to the Blades before approaching the man in the middle of it all.
The Dragonborn stood like a monolith in the eye of the storm, calmly looking out at the view of Skyrim through the back of the palace.
"Ready, my Thane?" She asked, stepping up to his shoulder.
"I've done everything I could think of." He told her, calmly. And oh boy, he had; the Dragonborn was bedecked in fine armour that glinted with enchantments, and so did his sword and shield. His belt had a dozen pouches on it, most of which Lydia knew contained powerful restorative potions. Rumour was it that he had the mythical White Phial in there, but she had no idea where he could have gotten that.
"I'm sure this will go fine." She reassured. "After all, you're you."
"Right. I'm the Dragonborn." He echoed. His voice was bitter, almost mocking.
"I mean, that helps." Lydia replied, understanding the problem. "I was more referring to the fact that I've seen you handle worse before. I believe in you."
He glanced at her, an unreadable expression flickering on his face. Then he gave one of his "Hm"s and looked back to the exit.
Lydia counted that as a win. She knew he didn't care for his title, and didn't like the adoration of the people when they heard it. Hopefully, praise from someone who actually knew him (at least a little) would do him good.
"So, we're nearly ready." She said, looking around. "Where do you want me when you call the beastie?"
"Rafters." He pointed, to where the great mechanisms were controlled from.
"You want me to flank it?"
"No. I want you guarding the guards. Make sure the trap goes off properly."
"But—" Lydia stared, hurt blossoming in her chest. Then scowled. Of course. What did I expect.
"And I take it Delphine will have your back in the actual fight." She grit out.
"No." DB replied, just as flatly, making her do a double-take. "I'll be luring and fighting the Dragon alone."
"What?" Lydia moved so she was stood directly in front of the Dragonborn, meeting his eyes. "My Thane, don't be so ridiculous. You have a small army here!"
"Dragonsbreath doesn't care how many people are caught in it. Burns one as easily as ten." The Dovahkiin looked at the people walking around them with what might have been actual disdain. "Chaff, the lot of them. No point in them being here."
"And me?" Lydia demanded, uncharacteristic rage boiling up in her. "Am I just 'chaff' too?"
"No, you're—"
"But you don't trust me!"
"I don't want to lose you!" He snapped, almost shouting.
Anyone else, that might have caused an upsurge of joy and understanding. But Lydia's heart just plummeted further as she heard it.
"…Is this about Kynesgrove?" She asked, quietly.
The Dovahkiin looked down. "Partially." He admitted.
When they'd followed Delphine to the small village, witnessed as Alduin brought a Dragon to life in front of their very eyes, the resulting battle had been chaotic. The Dragon had taken the fight down to Kynesgrove, destroying homes with abandon as they tried to get it to land. The three of them had been forced to split their efforts between saving lives and keeping the beast's attention, and by the time the actual battle had been joined, Lydia was already exhausted and dizzy from the smoke.
Avoiding a swipe from the Dragon's wing had caused her to slip and twist her ankle, and she'd collapsed in the muck, practically helpless. The Dragonborn had been forced to charge in and save her, taking a vicious swipe up his back as he carried her away.
He'd almost died protecting her.
And then the next time he'd headed up to High Hrothgar, he'd told her to await him in Whiterun. He hadn't come back.
She still wasn't sure what was the hardest to deal with: The guilt, the embarrassment, the betrayal, or the rage.
"I'm not some blushing maiden to be kept safe and sound while you save the world!" Lydia protested, furious. "I'm healed now, and I'm stronger than I was! Let me fight!"
"No." DB shook his head. "I can deal with this myself."
"But why should you have to?" Lydia grabbed his shoulders. "I am your housecarl! It is my duty to fight at your side!"
"And it's my duty to protect this world." The Dragonborn replied, tightly. "You're a part of it."
"But I'm not useless! I can—"
There was a flicker, and then there was a sword at her throat.
Lydia gasped, her eyes going wide as they looked into the Dragonborn's, and everyone nearby paused what they were doing to stare at the commotion.
She…she hadn't even seen him move. One moment he was listening to her, his arms at his sides, and the next he was holding his blade to her neck.
"You are a strong warrior." He declared, voice calm (if a little pained). "You're smart, adaptive, brave, and quick on your feet. If anyone in this city had to kill a Dragon, I'd trust you the most to do it." His eyes were cold. "And I could fight fifty of you at once and kill you all. Because I can cut a grown man in half with ease, because I can fight for hours and not get tired, because I can Shout dragons from the sky, because I'm not one of you."
Lydia's heart was thumping in her chest. He didn't…the Dragonborn was humble, he'd never talked like this before—
"But you're my responsibility." He declared. "I can do this by myself. But if there's a guard stood on that balcony when it arrives and he gets snatched up, that's my fault. If you, or Irileth, or Delphine, or anyone make one mistake in this battle and die, it's my fault. I care about you. I won't let that happen."
There was another flutter of air, and his sword was back in his scabbard. "So you're going to wait in the wings, and do everything you can do to help without putting yourself into danger. But not an iota more, do you understand me?"
"This isn't right." Lydia whispered. "You shouldn't be thinking like this, DB, I—"
"Do you understand?" He said, and the room shook.
Lydia flinched. Nodded.
"…Thank you, Lydia." He said, quietly. Then turned to look around the now-silent hall.
Balgruuf shouted for action from the corner of the room, and then they were moving again, finishing preparations.
Lydia took a few steps backwards. Once it was clear that the Dragonborn wasn't paying attention to her anymore, she turned and fled.
̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶ ̶{o ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶ ̶ ̶͜͡| ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ Ϫ 8˂
Because L'laarzen was being so careful, there was barely a clink as she set the bag down on the table.
Because Xander was not at all being careful, there was a quite significant clink as he reached into the bag and scooped up one of the Eyes of the Falmer.
"Hah!" He squeaked, his voice hitting a dangerous octave in his disbelief. He balanced it in one hand and pointed at it with the other. "Look at that! It's perfect! Oh, gods, it's actually pretty heavy—Guys, do you see this?"
"Xander…" L'laarzen warned, gently. "Not to decry your hand-eye coordination, but those are incredibly valuable, so if you could perhaps use both hands—"
"Ah, don't worry, it's made of diamond." Xander rolled his eyes. "We'd have to really try to so much as put a scratch in this thing. I could toss it at that tree and it wouldn't even show it. Here, look—"
"NO!" Shouted everyone else in the clearing, L'laarzen grabbing his arm while Dulurza and Hjar jolted forwards and Julius and Octavia pointed spells at him.
Xander went very still for a moment. Then sighed, moving the Eye back to the table. "Fine, fine. Seriously though, it would take magic, daedric or dragonbone materials, or another diamond to—"
His grip slipped, and the gem fell from his hand to clack against its twin.
Everyone froze, as Xander frantically grabbed both and separated them.
"…They're fine!" He announced after a second.
"Khajiit thinks there might actually be a small—" L'laarzen tried—
"You're imagining it, it's fine." Xander exhaled heavily, before smiling. "So…shall we get started?"
Merry Christmas, you disgusting farmers.
Reviewing today gets you double author points because you're doing it on a day that Really Matters. And I'll probably respond to it anyway cos I also have no life.
Guys I want to say that using the Eyes as vessels for the Dragon Souls was planned. It wasn't. I realised that I could bring those back in, like, mid-november and it utterly blew my mind. I felt so clever. Shoutout to that one reviewer that guessed it ahead of time. Besides that, we get the final pre-chaos party!
I can't wait for next chapter where they trap the dragon. I'm sure it will go perfectly fine and nothing will go wrong and the fanfiction will just end there.
Next Time: Trapping the Dragon goes horribly wrong.