Chapter 1: The War of the Orchids
-Road outside of Riverwood-
The wind blew briskly to the west as a fog rolled in from above the high mountains of Skyrim, covering the rocky and dirty road with condensation and dampening it to feel soft underfoot. Clouds obscured most of the sky as this weather continued to roll through the atmosphere and brush weed balls blew across the empty streets to nearby small farms—obscuring any notable tracks that may have been seen.
And coming from the south of the road's starting point was a hooded figure who was keeping himself covered with his silver and indigo colored cloak to avoid the wind blowing around him. Who was this figure traveling alone?
It was Drago—or as his newest comrade Hadvar dubbed him—Drago Bloodfist, and he was making his way to the nearest city. Currently, he was passing through a rather peaceful looking woodland.
The lone Argonian had been drifting from place to place for several days now on his way to Whiterun to tell the Jarl that Riverwood is in need of assistance due to there being a Dragon on the loose. He'd also been occasionally having fights with various of wildlife and other dumb beast, but nothing extremely dangerous.
However, that soon changed when he came upon a small farm, which had several fields, windmills and fences, and was being attacked by a rather large giant—who was also terrorizing the farmers.
With a sigh, Drago drew his Ax and charged into the fray. He slashed at the giant's legs, taking off one of its legs before he jumped onto its back and decapitated it. As the headless body of the beast fell to the ground, he pillaged various pellets and herbs from it, before one of the people who had been fighting the giant walked up to him.
"You fight well. You'd make an excellent shield brother." The female of the group told him, much to the Argonian's confusion.
"A what?" He asked.
"We live by a code of honor, going to various places and solving problems if the coin is good. And we join one of the many warrior guilds in Whiterun." The woman said.
"I see. No offense, but I'm not really interested in joining. I'm more inclined towards the life of a wanderer." Drago stated.
"Suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing." The woman shrugged before she and her allies walked off. Deciding to keep moving, he quickly grabbed what looked like a traveler's pack from an abandoned farmhouse and gathered what food he could and stored the rest of his rations in it before continuing forward.
This continued on for a few more hours, as he walked up what looked like a mountainous valley, and suddenly heard several loud and ominous howls heading his way. A moment later, a pack of wolves ambushed him. They circled him, snarling and baring their teeth,
Hissing in a reptilian fashion, Drago drew his sword and waited for one of the wolves to make the first move. Not a moment later, one of the wolves behind him leapt at him, intending to sink its fangs into him.
Swinging around with a great deal of momentum, the lizard man struck the beast in the side and cleaved it in half, spraying blood all over the ground and nearby rocks and causing the creature's two halves to tumble to the ground. Another wolf tried to charge him, but all that got the beast was a sword to the brain. Ripping his blade free, Drago snarled at the rest of the pack.
Another stepped forth, this one carrying itself differently. Recognizing this one as the pack alpha, Drago adopted a new stance. The alpha circled him, trying to figure out how to best attack the killer of two of its packmates.
Deciding to dash and attack his flank, the alpha attacked, but as he was ready to sink his fangs into the Argonian's leg, the obsidian scaled male swung his powerful tail and slammed it into the canid's side. This sent it flying into a nearby rock and did so with such great impact that it broke the beast's back, killing it instantly.
Drago glared at the rest of the pack, daring any of them to make a move. The pack wilted under his gaze before they retreated, unwilling to take on their alpha's killer. Scoffing, Drago put his sword away before he took out his dagger and started getting to work on skinning and curing the hides and making various rations out of the meat of the beasts.
(A few days later)
After taking a few days to take care of the wolf carcasses and hunt various kinds of game for portable rations or things to sell and cook at his next stop, Drago continued resuming his trek to the nearest city.
After a while, he arrived at a cliff where he was greeted by the view of a city with a castle at the center of it. The castle itself had a rather high tower that rose above the buildings around it. He could also make out a few farms around it as well. On one side was a forest and on the other side was a mountain, which he appeared to be close to.
Deciding to go ahead and make his way there to ask for directions to Whiterun, he made his way to the city's bridge and front outer gate. As he did, he saw many farmers applying their trade and could smell the heaviness of wheat and corn that was being milled into flour which mixed with the smell of damp earth.
The main gate of the city was walled at either side with a barrier wall that had notches on the top for archers and two walls at either side of the bridge, creating a bottleneck space where more archers could rain death upon potential invaders and also arrow holes on two towers at the end.
As he reached this main gate—which was closed off by a large rising door and grate—he saw two guards standing at either side. Both were in light armor and one was armed with a iron round shield and short sword, and the other was armed with a mace and a steel barricade shield.
"Halt! State your business." The short sword guard demanded. Drago couldn't help but leer down at the man as he towered over him, his shadow casting over the relatively smaller built man.
"I'm on my way to Whiterun to speak with their Jarl about a dragon attack at an outpost that happened just recently. I'm hoping to take refuge here in this city for the time being as I prepare to continue my journey." The Argonian stated rather level headedly to the man in front of him, while still coming off as intimidating due to how low and growling his voice sounded.
"U-um… O-o-of course." The man gulped as he and his fellow guard granted the Argonian entry to the kingdom.
"Welcome to Emeril Veil, Argonian. May your stay be a pleasant one." The second guard stated as he stepped inside the city, noting its similarities to the city of Solitude—which he'd been in once before he escaped its prison.
Walking along the streets of Emeril Veil, he noticed that a good few people were dressed in either white, yellow and brown colored clothes, or black, white and purple. The former had pins that looked like Gold Sun Orchids on their yellow cloaks, or Black Moon Orchids on their black cloaks. Additionally these people all either had blond or black hair as well.
The black haired ones seemed to be Katfolk, people who were descendents of both Khajiit and humans who looked mostly human but had varying degrees of feline traits.
The lone warrior surmised that these were probably two different families who lived in the same city together. But paid it no mind as he made his way to a local merchant to sell two of his wolf pelts and one of the boar skins he managed to get.
"Hm, well done on the skinning, indeed." The merchant noted as he accepted the pelts and skin. He then gave the Argonian some gold as compensation.
"Thank you. Do you know where I can find a local inn around here?" He asked.
"Yeah. There's one a bit further down the road. Can't miss it." The merchant nodded as he pointed further down the road. Drago nodded in gratitude before he started walking. Sure enough, he could not miss it. It was a two story inn and it had a sign that read "Crimson Blaze" above the entrance.
As he entered the building, he saw that it was a fairly large inn on the inside. He looked around and saw that it looked very homey, with a long stretch fireplace surrounded by several people. Looking elsewhere, he spotted a bar and his nose caught the scent of mead.
The building has a central tavern area and an adjacent kitchen with a business ledger and strongbox near the fire, which housed a roasting pit. To the rear of the main bar area was a small bedroom and office where shady deals were done. There were also two sets of steps to separate bedroom areas.
Deciding to sit at the bar, he made sure to mind his large tail as he sat down, noting that a few of the members of the two families he saw earlier were sitting at opposite ends of the tavern far away from each other, which he found rather odd.
Taking off his backpack and weapons to get more comfortable, he was soon approached by a Redguard woman who was dressed in fairly comfortable attire, mainly a simple pair of pants and a shirt with a leather vest. This outfit contained her E-Cup bust rather well, as well as her hips and large ass. Her hair was braided and her ebony skin was highlighted by the candlelight of the tavern.
"Evening, Argonian. Can I interest you in any of our special drinks tonight?" The woman asked.
"Depends on what they are. Who knows, I might get one." Drago replied.
"Well, tonight we've gotten a bit of a surplus of meads as of late." The woman said. "For example there's the Nord, Honningbrew, Juniper Berry, and Black Briar meads." She continued, counting them off on her fingers. "Then we also have an imperial mulled wine, a snowberry cordial, hot spiced cider, spiced warm milk with honey, sweet nog, or one of our many teas." She concluded. "Or—if you prefer—I could just start you out with water or ale."
"I'll start out with water followed by a mug of Honningbrew after." Drago said, getting a nod as the Redguard woman got to work. As he continued to wait, another barkeep passed him a basket of yeast rolls to tide himself over as a man sat down a couple seats down from him.
The man in question was a fair skinned one who was dressed in light brown canvas pants, dark brown boots, a white shirt, brown vest and the same yellow cloak and pin he saw earlier. He also had the same blonde hair with a goatee and lilac eyes. He also had a tattoo on his arm that the Argonian couldn't make out.
Before he could think any more about it, the female barkeep came back with his mug of water, which seemed to have ice floating inside it. "Here you are." The woman told him.
"Thank you…?" The man said before she replied.
"Urbosa." The woman responded, noticing how his attention was split between his water and the man across the bar. "That's Thomas Goldlong, in case you were wondering." She told him. "He's the head of one of the two most influential families in the city." She added.
"I'm not from around here. I'm sensing something between these two families, but just what is it?" Drago wondered.
"You're correct. Locals have taken to calling it the War of the Orchids, the Goldlongs and Belladonnas—the Katfolk—have been fighting with each other for generations and their animosity towards each other hasn't stopped since." The scarlet haired woman explained.
"Why do they hate each other so badly?" The Argonian asked, drinking his water.
"Honestly? Who the hell knows, I'm not even sure they know anymore." Urbosa replied, shrugging. Drago had to fight the urge to facepalm at what he could only describe as blatant stupidity. If you can't remember your reasons for hating someone or something, then stop, for fuck's sake!
"Has it caused much trouble for the city? The feud, I mean." He questioned, taking a bite of his second roll, which he swiped in some honey and salt butter.
"It does cause collateral damage at times, but nothing serious. Don't let it fool you, though. That doesn't make it any less of an inconvenience for the folks that live here." Urbosa replied.
"Have complaints been filed with the city's Jarl?" Drago asked. The Redguard woman seemed confused, but realized what he was referring to.
"You mean Jarl Ozwald? Yeah, plenty of those. In fact, just last year he resolved to end the feud once and for all—by forcing the families to unite through an arranged marriage between the head's two daughters." She responded.
"Oh dear. Something tells me that the two heads aren't pleased about their little feud ending." The dragon-like Argonian noted, not really bothered by the idea of same sex marriages.
"Eh you'd think that, but Thomas and Ghira—the Belladonna's leader—we're actually pretty level headed about the whole thing." The barkeep responded as she dropped a few fresh cubes of ice into his flagon and poured him some Honningbrew mead. "Some say it was just to appease the Jarl, but honestly? I think they're just as tired of the feud as he is." She continued.
"Well, that's certainly something." Drago chuckled before frowning slightly. "Hmmmm…" He hummed in thought.
"What?" Urbosa asked upon seeing the black scaled Argonian's expression.
"Don't worry. It's probably nothing, anyway." The wanderer deflected, figuring his suspicions on the rest of the two families were unfounded.
"Well since you're probably staying in town, can I interest you in something to eat?" She asked him as she handed him a wooden board with the day's menu written on a piece of paper nailed to it.
"Hm… I'll take the Argonian Swamp Shrimp Boil." Drago requested after looking the menu over. He did want a small piece of home.
"Lucky for you, our cook Greer knows that recipe like the back of his scaly hand." The woman chuckled as she made a gesture to a green and purple scaled argonian with a pair of curled horns—one being broken—in the back, who also had on what looked like an apron.
"You bet I do!" Greer laughed as he got to work on the recipe of his people.
"Anything else?" The barkeep asked.
"I'll also have the Baked White River Salmon, a Bowl of the Braised Rib Stew with Farrow, with a couple Baked Ash Yams, and some of your Nut and Seed Bread." The lizard man stated before handing the menu back.
"Alright, we'll let you know when it's all done." Urbosa said as she jotted down the Argonian's order and gave it to the cook.
(Later)
As time passed in the tavern, Drago enjoyed his appetizer of sauced and boiled shrimp with yeast rolls while also drinking a fair amount of mead to go with it. The latter of which was rather cheap too, which the reptilian man assumed was probably because of the surplus the tavern had of the stuff.
As he continued enjoying his meal, he heard the door open. Glancing back at it, he saw two young girls enter the tavern. One was blonde with long luscious locks and had lilac eyes, fair skin and a figure that suited her age. She was garbed in Goldlong clothes and had this energetic aura around her. The other had also had fair skin, black hair that was cut into a bob cut, amber eyes with cat-like irises, cat ears and had a figure that also suited her much like her friend. She was garbed in Belladonna clothes and had a calm aura around her.
Both women seemed to be on the curvy side, with the blonde having a generous 106 cm DD-cup bosom and the Katfolk girl having a modest—but still impressive for her age—C-cup bust. They were truly beautiful women, the Argonian had to admit that.
But what really caught the wanderer's attention was the fact that these girls from opposing families were being quite friendly and affectionate with each other, and on top of it all, they both had two gold rings around their index fingers. A sign that they were engaged.
'Huh. Those must be the two girls I've heard about.' Drago noted mentally. He turned back to his food as the two sat at the fire together with Thomas, with Blake smiling warmly as she nuzzled herself into the nape of Yang's neck, purring softly like a kitten.
"Yep, honestly I think they're a match made in Sovereigngard, those two." Greer stated as he came up to his fellow Argonian to refill his cup and take away the empty plate of shrimp tails. Gesturing to the betrothed teens behind them.
"I second that. Separating them would be a fool's wish." Drago nodded as he ate the final shrimp. Greer nodded as he leaned on the bar as Urbosa came by with Drago's Yams, Bread and soup.
"So, if you don't mind me asking—what's brought ya all the way out here?" The cook and second barkeep questioned.
"I'm on my way to Whiterun. A dragon destroyed an Imperial outpost near Riverwood, and the people there are concerned about one attacking them. They're asking for more guards just in case." Drago explained.
"By the Greybeards! A dragon?! Are you serious?" The green argonian asked the former prisoner as the latter began consuming his stew.
"Oh yes. It's true alright. I just barely dodged getting killed by that thing." Drago nodded as he ate his food. Unknown to them, their conversation had caught the attention of the two lesbians behind them.
"What were you even doing at that outpost anyway?" Urbosa questioned.
"Well, I was a prisoner that was going to be executed despite not being on the list of people for that." The obsidian skinned Argonian replied. "I can't even remember why I was a prisoner to begin with. I forgot a lot of things in that damned cell." He added with a hiss.
"What's this talk about a dragon?" The younger blondie asked as she sat at the bar with her fiance.
"Yeah, is that something we should be worried about?" The woman's father, Thomas, questioned. Drago looked at them as he continued his dinner before responding, finding the salmon to be rather tasty.
"As of right now, I'm not sure. But if it does come this way, my only suggestion would be to quickly hunker down, gather your best mages, your seige weapons, and your best warriors. Or else you won't stand a chance against those things." The reptilian humanoid advised, recalling how regular arrows and iron weapons were ineffective against the beast, but well made steel weapons and magic were.
"Thanks for the advice. We'll be sure to have our soldiers ready." Thomas nodded.
"That's something we can both agree on." A new voice said as everyone turned to see a rather large and muscular Katfolk man standing behind them as he took a seat next to Blake. He had long black hair and an equally long beard, as well as a set of fangs and claws. It honestly made him look like a lion.
"Ghira." Thomas said to the man, the other members of the Goldlong family becoming tense, as did the Belladonnas. Almost as if they were expecting a fight to start.
'This better not erupt into a bar fight that ruins my meal, or I'm going to be upset.' Drago thought with a frown as he looked around.
"If a dragon is on the loose, we need to be able to contain it." Ghira stated, tapping the table with one of his claws. "As I'm sure we can both agree, we don't want it ruining our little girl's special day." He continued as he rubbed his daughter's head.
"Indeed we don't." Thomas nodded in agreement as he held his daughter close. Drago ate his stew as he watched the interaction. However, as the hours passed and he finally finished his food, the relatively peaceful atmosphere was ruined suddenly when the doors flung open and an older Katfolk woman frantically ran into the tavern.
She looked like an older version of Blake with darker skin and her cat ears also had gold clamps on them. She also had a much more shapely figure, with an F-cup bust being a fairly stand out feature of her physique.
"Ghira, we have a problem!" She exclaimed frantically.
"Kali, calm down! What happened?!" Ghira asked as he held his wife by the shoulders, silently hoping another fight hadn't broken out.
"The servants and I were trying to get the wine ready for the wedding, but as we were checking it to make sure it was ready, Ilia only just barely managed to stop Ruby from drinking it, when she noticed that it had been poisoned!" Kali explained, causing Yang and Thomas in particular to become very alarmed.
"Blast it all! Who's trying to kill our little girls?!" The blonde man growled.
"How much of the wine was poisoned? All of it?" Drago questioned.
"So far only one or two of the batches, both were meant as wedding presents and thanks gifts to Yang, Blake and the Jarl respectively." Kali explained, finally calming down.
"Sounds like someone wants to keep the wedding from happening." The black scaled Argonian mused with a frown. He could empathize and sympathize with the group to an extent, but wasn't one to get involved in situations that weren't his business to deal with.
However, as the group went to a different part of the tavern—he turned away from the conversation and back to his food. Greer noticed his disinterest in getting involved with the situation and seemed unsure of what to do. He knew it really wasn't his place to ask a stranger for help, but the fellow lizard man seemed like a good enough warrior who could help them avoid what could be a tragedy.
"Hey, friend, listen." Greer said, drawing Drago's attention back to him. "I know you have to go to Whiterun, but—would you be willing to stick around so we can figure out who?" He questioned, but didn't get an immediate response from the lone wanderer in front of him.
"... I'm not sure if I should." Drago replied with uncertainty. "But… I'll think about it overnight, who knows? Maybe I can make something out of it?" The former prisoner added as he got up and paid for the meal he received. "Thank you for the meal, Greer, Urbosa." He nodded as he went towards the vacant rooms in the tavern for staying in.
As he did, Urbosa turned to the cook next to her. "Do you think he'll help them?" She questioned.
"Hard to say right now." Greer shrugged.
(The next day)
Drago was quiet as he sat at the bar in the morning after a good night's sleep. He did a fair amount of thinking about helping the feud in the city come to a close, and was still unsure. While he wanted the feud to end since, in his eyes, it was just stupid since nobody remembered why they hated each other… He wasn't sure it was a good idea to get involved.
As he ate a simple meal of berry and nut porridge, a sweet cream treat with and a flagon of warm milk with honey, he allowed himself to listen in on the conversations happening around him. Most were idle chatter or the Goldlong's fretting over who poisoned the wine and some actively blaming the Belladonnas, and the Belladonnas complaining about how the Goldlongs were probably blaming them while also doing the same thing they were.
However, there was one odd conversation between a Goldlong and a Belladonna—or more likely a pair of sympathizers of either family—that made alarm bells go off in the Argonian's head as he listened in.
"You idiot! You couldn't be a bit more careful with how you poisoned the wine?!" The Belladonna growled quietly. "The whole plan will go into disarray if you mess this up any more than it already is!" He added.
"Oh shut up about it, would ya?" The Goldlong said dismissively. "The way this turns out isn't my problem. My boss is more concerned about the Jarl, not the feud." He added. Drago looked at them discreetly and noticed that the Belladonna had red hair and the Goldlong had naturally gray hair. He made sure to commit that detail to memory for later, since it meant that the two probably weren't relatives of them.
Looking around to make sure they weren't heard, the redhead spoke again. The Argonian had to strain even more to hear them this time. "Then I suggest you make up a plan B, or none of us will get what we want." He snapped angrily again.
"Chill. I'll come up with something and get back to you." The gray haired Goldlong said before getting up and taking his leave. The redhead followed after a few minutes. Drago waited about ten minutes before he started trekking to the Goldlong house.
Upon reaching it, he noticed that it seemed rather similar to the guild hall in Whiterun. Which he remembered from the time when he was on the run after escaping Solitude… Only this building seemed to be much less loud or rowdy than the guild house, since he didn't hear the sound of roughhousing or other ruckus coming from it…
*Crash!*
Right before a Belladonna came crashing through the wooden shutters of the house window and onto the street, and was currently being pummeled by a girl who looked like a younger version of Yang, with darker skin that seemed almost carmel in color, had brandy colored eyes and had long black hair instead of blonde, which was tied up in a handkerchief ponytail.
Additionally, she was also garbbed the same as the Goldlongs and had a steel single edged longsword on her back.
"Maybe this'll teach you to shut up, you bastard!" She growled. The Belladonna only groaned before the girl gave him one last punch. She then looked up and blinked when she saw Drago standing there.
"Let me guess: He was a fool?" He asked flatly.
"Thinks my family would poison my own sister and her girlfriend and blame them. Who the hell do they think they are?!" The girl snapped as she kicked the man in the stomach before turning to the lizard man. "And who're you supposed to be?" She questioned, hand near her sword.
"Just a lone warrior passing through." The argonian shrugged, unphased by the threat.
"That didn't answer my question, reptile." She hissed.
"Fine." Drago said, crossing his arms. "My name—if you must know—is Drago Bloodfist." He stated, his arms folded in annoyance at the girl's tone and manners.
"Lily Goldlong… and your name doesn't sound Argonian." The now named Lily remarked with a blink.
"I forgot my original one, but that's besides the point." The obsidian scaled lizard man said. "I overheard a conversation between two men wearing Goldlong and Belladonna garb, but I don't know if they're members of the family or not." He continued. "As for the conversation itself. It's incriminating enough for me to share it with both family heads." He added.
"Incriminating how, exactly?" The girl questioned, loosening up a bit as she took her hand off her sword.
"Incriminating in the way that I believe they're the ones who attempted to poison everyone, mainly because I heard them say it." He responded. Lily stared at him for a moment before speaking.
"Come on. I'll take you to my dad." She beckoned as she headed inside, the wanderer following her. As they walked through the halls, Drago noticed how bright the building's interior was… It really didn't suit him, honestly. Years in dark cells does that to a person.
Right as they were headed into the main parlor, a woman who looked almost identical to Lily but with a much more womanly figure came into the hall, and she didn't really seem pleased with the girl.
"Is there a particular reason you clobbered a visiting Belladonna, Lily?" She questioned sternly.
"The asshole accused me of being in on the poison thing, even though one of the people I'd be killing was my own sister! What was I supposed to do, take that lying down?" The girls snapped.
"I expect you to alert me when someone is being an idiot!" The older woman snapped. "Tensions are high enough with the wedding around the corner! We don't need incidents like this popping up!" She added further.
"I just hate when they talk bad about us, okay?!" Lily snapped before shaking her head. "Enough about that, though. This Argonian has something related to the poisoned wine to share with dad." She said, directing her mother's attention to Drago.
"I can make my own introductions, thank you." The man stated as he stepped forward towards the woman in front of him. "But yes, I am Drago Bloodfist, and I think I may know of two people who may be conspiring to do more than just poison some wine." He continued.
"Did you get their names?" The dark haired woman questioned.
"No, but their hair colors are gray and red, if that helps." The wanderer replied. "I overheard the gray haired one being ordered by the red haired one to come up with a plan B. I also heard something about the gray haired one's boss not caring about the feud and just wanting the Jarl out of the way for whatever plan she has." He explained further.
This seemed to get a grim reaction from the woman as she turned around. "Come with me." She told the lizard man, gesturing for him to follow her into the main room.
(Later)
"So it's two people who were wearing our colors?" Yang questioned.
"That's what I could see, does their description bring anyone to mind?" Drago asked. The two lesbians thought for a moment before Blake spoke up.
"The red haired one is Adam, a distant cousin of mine." She said before sighing. "To think he'd try to kill his own family.." She added sadly.
"Honestly, it doesn't surprise me." Ghira growled angrily, his arms crossed.
"And the other one?" The Argonian questioned.
"He sounds like Mercury." Raven stated. "He isn't a member of the Goldlong family, he's just a street rat one of our relatives adopted." She continued.
"He always had that power hungry vibe to him, and was always glaring at me like I stole something from him." Yang added, folding her arms.
"Guess we know who to look out for when the wedding starts." Thomas nodded. "Thank you, Drago." The man told the loner.
"What will you be doing now?" Kali questioned.
"I'll stick around and be your contingency plan. They won't expect me to stop whatever comes next." Drago replied.
"Thank you, Drago." Blake said in gratitude as the man got up, nodding to them as he left the room and the house.
(Timeskip)
It was the day of the wedding and Drago had spent most of the ceremony on a balcony watching the two brides and Jarl Ozwald, who was an older man with crooked glasses and was dressed in mostly green and black, with a cane at his side. As the wedding proceeded, he noticed Adam making his way to the altar before drawing a crimson one handed sword.
"The Belladonnas should never have bent to your orders!" The man yelled as he attempted to strike down Ozwald after cutting down every guard that stood in his way. Thomas and Ghira moved to stop him, but Mercury got in the way.
"Nuh uh. This wedding is canceled." He told them, causing the two men to growl angrily. Drago snarled as he leapt from the balcony and landed in a crouch before running at Adam, ax raised.
"I think not!" The Argonian yelled as he swung his weapon down, forcing the redhead to dodge the strike.
Quickly rolling out of the way of the attack from the huge Argonian, Adam quickly got behind Yang and Blake and grabbed the latter from behind—his sword placed to her neck.
"Not a step closer, Argonian!" The redhead snarled as Blake had a look of fear on her face while Drago and Yang glared at him angrily.
"You would kill your own cousin for your skewed perception of bettering your family?!" The obsidian skinned lizard man hissed. "You truly are scum!" He continued.
"I prefer to think of myself as tactical." Adam stated as he forced Blake around so he could stab her, when Thomas suddenly yelled.
"What in Oblivion is that?!" He yelled as a dragon suddenly landed on the church roof, shouting and sending everyone crashing to the ground from the shockwave that shot from its mouth.
"Blast it all! I didn't think a dragon would come here!" Drago grunted as he got up. Blake quickly recovered and put some distance between her and her murderous cousin. Adam tried to stop her, but he was still dazed from the dragon's shout. That left him open long enough for Yang to punch him before throwing him at the dragon, who noticed the flying morsel and ate him without a second thought.
"That's for trying to kill my wife, you bastard!" She yelled fiercely. The dragon then looked down at the ground below it and then noticed Drago… and recognized him. Raising its wing claw to its right eye, it scratched an itch that suddenly sprang up from it and then glared down at the Argonian Warrior and growled. It did not look happy
This made everyone gasp or scream in horror as the entire procession transformed into absolute pandemonium.
"Drago, what do we do?!" Yang yelled as Thomas and Ghira ran up to them, having incapacitated Mercury for now.
"We need mages firing spells at that thing! Everyone capable of using magicka, get to work!" The man exclaimed.
"No!" Drago said suddenly as he took Adam's sword. "That dragon is the same one that attacked the Imperial outpost I was originally at before I came here. It isn't after you all, it's after me." He added. "I'll lead it away from here the best I can, you all get to safety!" He ordered.
"But Drago-!" Ghira tried to say before he was cut off.
"That's an order! Go!" Drago barked before he glared at the dragon. "You want me?! Come get me!" He yelled before he ran off. The dragon roared before it took to the skies and gave chase.
Running outside of the town, he quickly stopped as the beast landed in front of him. Deciding to try and force it to flee, he took a small bottle of frostbite venom and poured it onto Adam's sword before he started running and the dragon to draw its fire.
The flying reptile growled and blasted fire at the Argonian as he kept dodging, blast after blast this repeated until finally the beast suddenly stopped, breathing heavily as if out of breath.
Seeing his chance, Drago took aim and hurled the sword at the dragon like a javelin, and caused it to bury itself into its left flank. The beast roared in pain as it felt the blade in its hide, also feeling the frostbite venom now in its blood. It glared at Drago angrily, and tried to charge at him.
Seeing this coming, the warrior waited for it to get in close, before he nailed it in the snout with a devastating right hook. This made the creature stagger and fall over, completely stunned as the venom left its system.
As soon as he saw that the beast was down, the Argonian turned around and walked back to town, and could hear the sound of the beast slowly trying to retreat as he made his way back to the city.
When he got back to the church, he saw that Mercury had been restrained while the others were cleaning up the damage. Yang looked at him and grinned.
"Hey, look who's still kicking!" She exclaimed, causing everyone to look and see Drago standing there.
"Did you kill the beast?" Ozwald questioned as he walked up to the man.
"No, just weakened it to where it'll spend the next few weeks licking its wounds." The lone wanderer explained before turning to the two families. "I know I haven't been here long, but let me say that it was a pleasure knowing you." He told them before he took his dagger and sheath from his belt tossed it to Blake. "Here, a wedding present and parting gift." He continued. "Now you'll be able to make those think twice about threatening you."
Blake caught the weapon and looked at it before looking at Yang and then him before smiling. "Thank you." She told him as he turned to walk away.
"Hey! Drago!" Greer called as the black Argonian started his trek out of the town. "If you ever find yourself in our neck of the woods again, come stop by! I'll put on a shrimp boil for you!" He added.
Drago chuckled lightly as he waved back at his fellow Argonian friend. "I'll think about it!" He called back as he walked away right as the sun began to set—everyone waving goodbye to him as well—with his path leading him straight to Whiterun—and his next objective.
And up in the cliffs above him, two sharp and eagle-like eyes glared down at him from on high—before a bird of prey shriek ripped through the air and two wings started flapping into liftoff—a single blue feather floating down to the ground below, settling on a water puddle and causing a ripple to appear.
Dragon Emperor0: Uh… What the heck was that? The thing that just flew off?
ThermalsniperN7: I honestly haven't the foggiest idea. I'm wondering why it's watching Drago, though. Does it see him as a victim or something?
Dragon Emperor0: Hard to say, since we have no idea what it is. And in case you guys weren't able to tell, this chapter was packed to the brim with references to one of our favorite shows and a kind of twist on that Shakespeare classic: Romeo and Juliet.
ThermalsniperN7: We hope you enjoyed it all. It was certainly interesting for us. Anyway, see you next time!
