Gah'll i can't wait to be done with all this prep work to start really altering the skyrim stuff. damn near following the game moment for moment is buggin the snot outta me. thankfully, i think i only have one chapter more that i'll be doing that to this level. from there on, i think i'm going to be taking a pretty free form approach to it, and hopefully less damn near word for word BS
"How's the wrist Ranger?" Max spoke as he stretched in the room the trio were sharing, having arrived at Whiterun late into the night. As such, they had rented a room at the local tavern, forced to share as there had only been one available room.
"Still hurts. Don't feel any loss of motion though, so what little you could heal it last night definitely helped. I'll keep it wrapped for the next few days." Ranger responded as he wrapped his wrist in a bandage, surprisingly able to tie it tightly himself.
"Alright. Sounds good. What's your plan from here?"
"Take M'rissi to meet the Kajiit that told me about her. From there, probably Rorikstead. There's a ranger there that dad used to work with. You?"
"Turn in that dragonstone then… honestly, I don't know. This is the most money I've had in years, so I'll probably get myself a new blade, or have someone reforge this one. Then just go back to wandering as I've been. Nothing else to really do to be honest."
"Sounds fair. Well, if we ever cross paths again, I'll always be down to help you out." Ranger nodded to Max as he spoke, his attention focused almost entirely on him.
"Sounds good Ranger." Max shouldered his bag, both the ancient frostblade the draugr had been wielding and his ruined blade strapped to the backpack. "So I'll see you two around. Tell M'rissi to take care for me, and I wish her luck with her memory."
M'rissi was still soundly asleep in the room's one bed. Ranger had literally carried her the last mile last night, as she had been falling asleep as she was walking. Part of the reason Max hadn't been able to fully heal Ranger's wrist was healing M'rissi had taken almost all of the magicka he could regain over the past two days of travel. He didn't want to say it to them, but without his magic, she probably would have died before they could have gotten her anywhere. He was no expert with restoration magic, so it was only his guess but M'rissi's brain had been bleeding within her skull, his initial magic and subsequent uses stopping the bleed and alleviating pressure on her brain.
"Will do Max." Ranger gave Max a small curt nod, something about the action telling Max that for Ranger, it was a deep show of respect.
With that, Max turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. It didn't take him long to make his way through the city, only minutes passing before he was stepping into the great hall of Dragonsreach. Once inside, he proceeded straight to the court wizard's area, slinging his pack onto his desk without saying a word.
"Whoa, hey, caref- Max!? you're back earlier than I expected."
"Got some unexpected help. Here." He opened the flap of the bag and pulled the hefty chunk of stone out, handing it to the wizard. The wizard nearly dropped it when he received it, clearly not ready for the weight.
"Wow, you really came through! You are definitely cut from a different cloth than the usual brutes the Jarls sends me! Here…." He set the tablet down as he scribbled a note onto blank parchment. "Take this to the Jarl, proof that you did me a service so he will pay you!"
"Alright hope it helps you."
"Oh it undoubtably will!" The court wizard was ecstatic as he inspected the tablet, almost absently reaching for one of his drawers to pull out fresh parchment.
"Farengar! Come quick! You too Imperial!" The Jarl's Dark Elf Body guard, Irelith if Max's memory was straight, barked that out from the main hall.
Both Max and Farengar gave her puzzled looks, neither making a move to follow her. "What could possibly be so urgent that you need me Irelith? I have more than enough work to do working on this dragon ston-"
"By the Divines, forgot the stone! There was a dragon spotted at the western watchtower!" she snapped that right back.
Farengar seemed to make a total reversal, seeming to launch over the counter as he rushed after Irelith.
Max shuddered as memories of Helgan snapped through his mind, and the utter devastation that dragon had wrought. He himself wasn't too keen on seeing another one so soon. He begrudgingly followed after the pair, being led to an area that seemed more fortress than palace, behind the throne. Jarl Balgruf and an exhausted looking young guard were standing at a wooden table, a map fastened between them. The guard looked to be about to collapse.
"Good job son. This was important information. Now go down to the guard's quarters, get some food and drink and calm yourself. We'll handle it from here." He gently patted the guard's shoulder, the guard breathlessly nodding before shambling away. With the guard gone, the Jarl turned to the three of them, his expression even darker and more serious than it had been when Max first met him.
"Irelith, we need to gather a contingent of your best men to deal with this dragon. Farengar, I need tactics to fight this dragon. Once Irelith leaves with her detachment, I need you working with commander Caisis to get the guards here in town as ready as possible for a dragon attack." He was speaking rapidly, yet firmly, his years of experience and mental discipline showing why he was the Jarl of Whiterun in the first place.
"And you, boy, Max wasn't it? By you being back I assume you were able to help my court wizard… I hate to be asking this of you, but you are the only person here with first hand experience dealing with a dragon. Whiterun needs your help." His gaze shifted to Max, burning into him with an intensity rivaling the sun itself.
"All do respect my lord, but all I did was survive… the dragon in Helgan… the imperials never stood a chance against it. They couldn't even pierce it's hide." Max couldn't stop his voice from quivering. All he hoped was that his word's, as honest as they were, did nothing to piss off the Jarl.
"That's a good experience then boy. Only the survivors can fight another day. And that's how I want you to approach this Irelith. I want you, and everyone you take out there, back alive. Listen to what Max and Farengar have to say, and if their plans fail, fall back immediately."
"Yes my Jarl. Farengar?" Irelith's attention shifted almost instantly to Farengar.
"If only I could go with you… this is the chance of a lifetime! A real liv-"
"Farengar…" Irelith sounded beyond irritated with the wizard, crossing her arms at him.
"Right. Well, to be honest, most of the texts still around today on dragon's are so steeped in myths and legends that I don't feel any legitimate dragon fighting tactics can be divulged from them. The best I can say is bring the most powerful bows you can and aim for the wings. If you can bring it to the ground, you most certainly will have a better chance of defeating it." Farengar spoke quickly, his voice more excited than anything else.
"Well, it's a start. Boy, what do you have to say?"
"Well… the dragon that attacked Helgan had to fly pretty low to attack, and even then, it had trouble hitting folk from the air. It landed several times to intercept runners and kill folks. Maybe we can arrange a trap of some sort, someone plays bait, everyone else hides and waits until we can attack it. Long spears would probably be a good thing to bring. That's all I got, sorry that it's not much…" he rubbed the back of his head as he looked away from her, not feeling very confident in the odds of either hasty plan to be effective. They were taking shots in the dark really, nothing more.
"It's more to go on than we had before. Meet me at the gate's in thirty minutes, it will take us an hour to reach the western watchtower, so pack light. Only what you need." Irelith spoke calmly and evenly, nodding to Max before she strode off.
"Farengar, do you mind if I drop my stuff in your study?"
"Not at all"
Max immediately turned back the way he came, his heart already racing, his thoughts not far behind it. He gulped as he made his way through Dragonsreach, unable to rip Helgan's fire and screams from his mind.
Max hefted the spear in his hand as he hunkered behind a rock outcropping, right next to Irelith he had his shield strapped in place and ready to go as well, the Draugr Ice Blade on his hip. The watch tower was not much more than a smashed ruin now, several areas of the fields around it on fire.
"Anyone see any signs of it?" Irelith whispered that toward the group. The responses all came up negative. "Alright then, move up, and assess the damage. If you find any survivors, give a holler." She spoke as she stood and moved out from the rocks.
Max took a deep breath before he followed, watching the skies for even a hint of movement as he marched forward with the others. The group naturally spread out as they moved, several mangled and burned corpses scattered amongst the rubble.
"Quick, you all need to get out of here before that bloody dragon comes back!" the voice came from a guard, hiding in the ruins of the tower.
"Not until we have a way to fight that beast. Come back with us, we need to learn ev-" Ireliths voice was cut off by a powerful roar, vibrating even the very earth beneath their feet. One that was all too familiar to Max.
No no no no! it's coming back! His eyes snapped toward the source of the sound, seeing a dark winged shape ripping across the sky from the southern mountains, quickly approaching them.
"Everyone, spread out and ready bows! When it swoops down to attack, riddle it with arrows!" Irelith was shouting in an instant, her experience shining like a brilliant flame.
Max took her shout as his own cue, running away from the group to hunker down in some of the rubble. He had no bow, so as long as it was in the air, he was useless here. As the dragon came closer, more and more detail became apparent, it's brown scales and vastly different wing and head structure being readily apparent. It was also smaller than the dragon he saw in Helgan by a fair margin. It was still the size of a house mind you, but it wasn't as massive as the black dragon had been.
Maybe this one will actually be killable? He grimaced as it began to dive, just hoping he was right. Arrows ripped into the air at it, several striking… and sticking. He nearly cheered as he saw that, his cheer falling out as the dragons fire swept across the ground. Three of the twenty or so guards they brought were washed in the flames, two being literally incinerated by the fire, the third running and screaming as he continued to burn.
"Irelith! We might actually be able to beat this one! This isn't the one that leveled Helgan!" he shouted that toward her position, Irelith raising her spear in response.
A moment later, the dragon swooped back for another pass, raking the area with fire once more. Hmph, still only a snowball's chance in that fire… but that's more of a chance than we had before! We gotta bring this thing down!
"How's the new armor Sofia? It's not chafin ya anywhere is it?" Jorge, casually tossed that toward her as they moved up a small rise in Whiterun's plains.
"Eh, not terribly. Wish I had some under garments though! I don't mind being naked but it would be nice not to be sometimes!" she blushed slightly as she grinned. The armor she now had was taken off a bandit corpse not too dissimilar in build to her, though her bosom was considerably bigger, so it made the hide top enticingly tight. Beyond that, it was the typical scant hide armor a lot of Nords wore. Most Nords weren't bothered to much by the cold so they generally didn't wear a whole lot of layers. It was a quick way to tell Nords from other races, as the other races were always bundled up under many layers.
"Eh, lots of folk don't mind when you go naked." He smirked at her as he walked, keeping his eyes mostly on the road.
"Aye. Lot's of women folk don't like it though. Particularly the married ones!" the pair cracked up laughing at that, Jorge's grin exploding. They had already finished three different jobs for the companions now and made a fair amount of coin to boot. Sofia had proven to be as capable as she boasted, throwing flames, fireballs, lightning bolts and all manners of destructive magic like candy. She was also quite adept with a blade, holding her own should an opponent get close. They even found a decent steel blade on the first group of bandits the companions sent them after for her to wield. It was only a shorter arming sword, designed to be used alongside a large shield, but it was all she needed.
Before more could be said between the pair, an almighty roar rang across the area, echoing across the entire massive valley. It was a primal, bestial roar that Jorge immediately recognized. That's a dragon!
"What was that!?" Sofia, had a stunned yet curious expression on her face, the roar having no ill effect on her.
"Eh, sounds like a dragon. Could be fun to try and fell it?" he smirked at her as his hand naturally fell to his axe.
"You had me at fun!" she returned his smirk, her blue eyes seeming to twinkle at him.
With their small exchange finished, they started trotting along the path, as the roar seemed to come from ahead of them, as they crested the hill, they found smoke, fire, and a ruined watchtower no more than a couple of miles from them. A dark winged shape was bearing down on the tower, people barely visible as small forms amongst the flames and debris. Upon sighting the location, the pair speed up to a full run, Jorge having no trouble keeping up with Sofia despite his heavier armor. As the pair approached, they saw the dragon swoop down, burning a swath of the fields as it did so with a roar of fire. Only moments after, it was swooping through again, the pair able to hear screams and shouts. Arrows were being slung skyward, several connecting on the dragon's scales and ripping into it's flesh.
Not long after the, pair were among the ruins themselves, Sofia sending several firebolts ripping into the sky after the dragon. She hit with almost every single one, leaving burns on the dragon's scales.
"Jorge!? The hell are you doing here!?" Jorge recognized Max's voice, seeing him a couple of rubble sections away from him.
Jorge rushed between the chunks of rubble, reaching Max in mere moments. "'ello again Max. findin yerself another dragon I see!"
"Not by choice! Glad to see you again though! Who's the gal?" he was shaking like crazy, his eyes never leaving the dragon flying around them.
"Name's Sofia. Good lass. How can I help ye?"
"No clue! You two don't have a way to ground a dragon, do you?"
"I got one idea… Sofia! Can you hit that beast with the biggest lightning bolt you can manage!?" Jorge shouted that toward Sofia, who gave the pair a thumbs up.
A moment later an orb of lightning appeared between her hands as she looked to be trying to compress the orb. As moments passed, the orb grew more and more unstable, the lightning crackling and snapping louder and faster.
"Alright, get ready!" she hollered that before she shoved both her hands toward the approaching dragon. A crack loud enough to rattle the earth itself ripped through the area as a bolt of lighting shot between Sofia and the Dragon. The dragon immediately scrunched up as its body convulsed, lightly cackling across it's scales as it plummeted to the ground.
"NOW MEN! SHRED ITS WINGS BEFORE IT CAN TAKE FLIGHT!" A dark elf screamed that out, Jorge and Max both leaping from their rubble toward the dragon, along with the rest of the Whiterun guards.
The dragon stumbled onto it's hind legs and the clawed 'feet' in it's wings, visibly twitching and convulsing. That's when it let out an audible chortling laugh, to human to be taken as anything else. "Pruzah unt jul, Nuz nii fen Ni oblaan zu'u!" the dragon shouted that at them, the sounds so structured and versed that there was no doubt it was speaking.
"Oh we will end you dragon!" Max shouted that as he slowed, rearing back and throwing his spear for the dragon. It plunged into the dragon's chest, with half a dozen other spears.
Jorge, meanwhile, rushed forward, swinging his axe for the leading edge of the dragon's wing, feeling bone break and splinter from the strike. The dragon roared out in pain, swiping him with it's clawed wing. He was sent tumbling away by the strike, feeling the dragon's claws bite into his shoulder. Three razor slashes were left in his skin, Jorge barely paying any attention to the shallow wounds as he sprang to his feet.
The dragon let out another roar, spraying fire in an arc in front of it. Most of the guards that had thrown spears were still well clear of the gout of flame, but two were caught in it, both incinerated as the fire raced toward Jorge.
Fuck! He nearly shouted that as he dropped to the ground a moment before the flame reached him. Heat scorched his back, but with it came a familiar tingling sensation across his body, making him grin. It was as though the flame was rejuvenating him, rather than scorching him. So their flame is magic eh? That makes this fight easy!
"Jorge!" he heard Sofia screaming somewhere behind him, prompting to spring to his feet.
"Well that was a might close for comfort! Let's kill this thing already!" he screamed that out as he rushed forward, brandishing his axe as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He wanted the dragon's focus on him. If he could keep it there, it would give the others the best possible chance of stopping the creature.
"Nas!? Dii Thu'um hdro Neh failaan wah krii aan jul!" the dragon reared back from him as it spoke again, both of it's eyes wide. Its hesitation was only for a moment before it lunged toward him, it's maw wide open and ready to snap him. He deftly stepped to the side, swinging in the same motion to plunge his axe into the dragon's snout. It jerked its head away from him, ripping his axe from his hand.
With the dragon completely focused on Jorge, Max had run wide around and gotten right up beside the dragon's neck, an ancient nord blade in his hands. He swung the blade up into the dragon's neck, just behind it's jaw. The scales at the impact point froze and shattered, the blade biting several inches into the dragon's neck, but it proved to not be a mortal blow, as the dragon twisted it's neck clear, then aimed the horn on it's head for Max. Max managed to bring his shield up in time to avoid being gored, but he was still tossed a dozen feet away. The impact did dislodge Jorge's axe, the weapon landing only a couple of feet from Max.
Jorge scrambled over to Max, scooping his axe up before grabbing Max and dragging him with him. A moment later, flame was roasting the ground they had been on, the dragon roaring once more. Max's blade was left on the ground, the blade seeming to explode as it clashed with the high heat of the flames. Nothing was left of it.
"Damn it!" Max cursed as the pair squared back off with the dragon, Max bracing his shield as he was now weaponless.
"Kruziik bladdro Nis oblaan zu'u jul! hi fen Ni oblaan zu'u!" the dragon chortled again, blood seeping from its many wounds, grinning despite them. The guards all had backed off from the beast, clearly too afraid to even approach it.
"I told you once before, we will kill you! No matter what you shout at us!" Max shouted that back at the dragon.
Does he actually understand this thing!? Jorge barely spared Max a glance confused.
"Here, I can fight with out it!" Sofia ran up between them, tossing her arming sword to Max as she blasted the dragon with a firebolt, straight to it's face. It let out an annoyed roar as it reared back.
Both Jorge and Max took that as an opportunity, rushing forward. Jorge aimed a swing for the dragon's eye, his axe plunging down to its shaft in the beast, causing it to rear its head high into the air as it roared out in pain again.
The blade in Max's hand seemed to erupt into flames, a moment before he thrust it into the dragon up to the blade's crossguard. Flames spit back out to either side of him, out of the gash the blade created. The dragon's chest cavity swelled as fire poured from its maw, nothing like the fire it had been spitting out.
"Dovahkiin, Niiiiid!" the dragon screamed out once more before it slumped over, Max stepping away from the corpse with only a third of the blade in his hand. The rest was melted away, the blade still glowing red as he tossed it next to the dragon's corpse.
"I think we got it. I… I can't believe we just pulled that off! Max stuttered a little as he collapsed to his knees, only a few feet from the corpse.
"Aye, ye can say that again!" Jorge stepped up to the beast, yanking his axe from its head as he responded. As soon as he ripped the blade free, it began to glow from the inside, the scales and flesh seeming to start burning away.
"What in oblivion!?" Jorge leapt back at the sight, seeing the light produced by the corpse burning seem to congregate above it before audibly rushing toward Max, enveloping him in light as he stumbled away from it. The boy was utterly panicked as he stared wide eyed at the beast.
Is he!? No, it can't be! There hasn't been a Dragonborn since the Septim line ended! The light eventually faded, leaving nothing but the bones of the dragon lying on the ground. Max was left staring wide eyed at the sight before him, Jorge striding over to him. The guards from Whiterun were all doing the same as well, all as stunned as the boy.
"Wh-What just happened!?" Max snapped that out as he scrambled back to his feet.
"Boy, do you feel any different?" a female dark elf among the group snapped that out as she strode up to him, looking him up and down and forcibly patting his body for any sign of an injury.
"Ye-yeah. A little." He was clearly shaken, barely reacting to the elf's rough searching.
"Max. Try to shout." Jorge pulled the elf away from the boy as he spoke. The elf tried to no avail to stop him.
"What?"
"Shout, twist yer essence into yer voice, make it into a Thu'um."
"O-okay…" he was quiet for several moments, stepping past Jorge and toward the bones. He visibly took a deep breath, looking toward the bones. "Fus!"
With his shout came a blast of energy, scattering many of the lighter bones, though it barely twitched the larger pieces of the skeleton. He's definitely Dragonborn. Who would have thought one would appear alongside the dragons!?
"Boy, yer a Dragonborn." Jorge spoke plainly and calmly, crossing his arms.
"That can't be! I'm just… a normal person! Nothing more! I sw-" Max's voice was cut off as a deep booming echo came from the mountains, a shout of the word 'Dovahkin', reverberating across the expansive valley.
"Huh, seems like the grey beards up on their mountain have noticed you too. They're summoning you to meet them." One of the guards spoke up, gesturing at the largest mountain in the area, known as the Throat of the World. It was the largest mountain in all of Tamriel, so massive in fact, that it seemed to dominate the mountains around it.
"I can't be! Ther-"
"Look kid, ye couldn't shout before right?" Max shook his head in response to Jorge. "Ye can now. Legends have always told of the Dragonborn's innate ability to learn the Voice directly from dragons and absorb their souls. That's what ye just did."
"I for one don't care for this Nord nonsense. Let us just get back to Dragonsreach and report to the Jarl of the dragon's death. You and your friend should come too. I'm sure the Jarl will compensate you for your assistance." The elf spoke almost angrily, striding away when she finished.
"More gold? Sounds like more booze, eh Sofia!?"
"Sounds like a party to me!" Sofia, smirked with her hands on her hips, now finally beside them. Jorge chuckled at her response, roughly patting Max's back as the trio began to follow the dark elf
"Jorge, what's this blood on your shoulder from?" he felt Sofia try to wipe the slick fluid away, Jorge ripping his shoulder away from her.
"It's the dragon's I'm fine."
"You didn't have these scars before, did you?" she immediately slipped her hand back onto his exposed shoulder, touching the faint ridges left from where the dragon had swiped him.
"O' course I did. Ye just been too drunk or busy to notice em." He hoped she accepted that as an explanation before speeding up. He didn't want his secret known after all.