For most of his childhood, Raki had never seen cities as he had only ventured into small towns alongside his brother on occasion. When he had first seen the city of Rabona, he had been amazed by the scale and architecture, like a hive of humans just busting around and living their daily lives within the confines of its great walls.

Looking at it again after all these years, after doing so much exploration, he had to say that Rabona, while not as impressive as his first time seeing it, was still something grand to behold. It made cities in Skyrim look rather pale in comparison, even Solitude. Though the people here were the exact opposite. They were all small and thin compared to the denizens of Skyrim. Sometimes they made him feel like a giant in comparison. Rather ironic given how he was before he was taken away. To be fair though, everyone in Skyrim could put up a fight and many folk there had a good deal of muscle to them. Perhaps Raki's definition of small became broader thanks to his time with the companions.

He also noted the mood of the area was less than lively to say the least. There seemed to be barely any small talk and people rushing in and out of the city. Were he any smaller or less built, he would've been tossed back and forth by the crowds, maybe even trampled if he were still a kid. As he was however, he could make his way easily.

Once he arrived at one of the city gates, the guards had stopped him from seeking entrance. While many people no doubt went in and out every day, security must've been increased after the incident six years before in an attempt to identify possible Yoma. They also had an awfully large amount of archers stationed along the walls though and they kept their eyes on the skies.

Raki didn't like the signs of that. He had suspicion of why the security may be so buffed and focused on ranged combat but he knew better than to jump to conclusions. Yoma could fly after all...

"That's one big hammer!" One guard said, whistling appreciatively. It broke Raki from his thoughts.

"What are you going to do with that?" Another asked, sounding a tad cautious. "Bring down a house?"

The young man laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. It seemed that no matter where he went, his hammer could always draw attention, somehow even more so than his attire.

"So what's your business in Rabona? Ever been here before?" the first guard asked.

The man smiled fondly. "Yes, a few years ago with a friend. I have many memories here, some good, and some not so good, but just as precious. I wanted to visit some people I met back then."

The guards shared a look. If the guy knew some citizens, maybe they'd vouch for him. "Really, who, if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged. "No big deal. First there was a pair of guards named Galk and Sid, though I think Galk was a lieutenant or captain back then. There was also Father Vincent at the Church. Though I doubt they'd recognize me now, I was a short scrawny kid last time."

"Yup, definitely not fitting anymore. Tell you what kid, I know those two, and they're off duty at the barracks right now. My own service has just ended so how about I tell them you're here?"

The young man smiled gratefully. "You'd do that? Thanks, it'd definitely save me the trouble of finding them."

"No sweat kid. Which name should I give them by the way?"

He happily told them, "Raki."

()()()()

Galk and Sid had seen a lot of crazy shit in the past few days. First off was Agatha, this crazy strong awakened being, who was later dispatched by Claymores, one of them being an old acquaintance named Clare. But the biggest and most surprising thing was the literal dragon raining down frost in the entire city. The "big scaly fucker", as Sid and Helen like to put it, didn't even feel dead when they buried it. Creepy as hell.

Then there's this guy in his strange get up, smiling at them like he knew them or something. "Is this all we were brought to see?" Said the shorter of the duo, irritated at what may be a waste of time. Time he could use for his work and relaxation if hopefully at all possible.

Galk glanced at his partner and lightly scowled at him. "There's no need to be rude, Sid."

"Yeah, Sid." The man spoke, garnering their full attention. "You guys don't recognize me?" The man asked before he pointed the corner of his face where a scar resided just above his eye.

It took a moment for the guard pair but once realization came, their mouths were gaping for many reasons. Seeing Raki at the city entrance again was a close second to the dragon surprise and the first words to come out one of the guards gaping mouths was, "Holy hell, I think you're bigger than Galk now, kid.", from the eloquent mouth of Sid.

"Glad to see you too, Sid." Raki laughed boisterously, not all surprised by their reactions. He turned to Galk and said, "And I'm glad to see you too, Galk."

"It's good to see you again. You've grown, Raki." The man told him as he walked up to him and nudged his shoulder. "Forgive us for taking a while to get here. Everyone's been on edge lately."

"I could tell something was going on." Raki said as he made a nod to the guards around the perimeter. Galk and Sid grimaced before urging Raki to follow them onward into the city. "Don't tell me something actually assaulted the entire city. It looks like a lot of damage happened here." the young man spoke as he followed them. Inside the city, the mood felt even bleaker. Many people kept their eyes to the skies and seemed to regard each other with more caution or even outright suspicion. Had Raki not been accompanying Galk and Sid, he would surely have received more than stares or even a few glares. He actually saw some carpenters, working on destroyed buildings, who were actually being accompanied by a few guards and he swore he heard the words "End of times!" come from somewhere.

"Twice." Sid sighed out, clearly mentally tired from the commotion and work. "It happened twice and both were unexpected in their own ways."

"Especially the recent attack." Galk went on, his features hardening. "Awakened beings and even Yoma are terrifying enough but that thing, the beast that attacked us a few days ago, really drove fear into the hearts of Rabona."

Raki's eyes narrowed and he drew closer to guards side to whisper, "What beast exactly?"

Sid and Galk glanced at each other. Sid turned to Raki and asked, "You ever hear of a dragon, kid?" Raki's breath hitched and Sid shook his head, "Yeah, I wouldn't believe it on hearsay either. But that's what happened."

Galk nodded and his fists clenched at his sides. "Were it not for the Claymores' efforts, this city would no doubt be in ruins. We were powerless."

Sid smirked, "It's a good thing your little girlfriend was here." He teased. His smirk dropped when he saw the less than amused look on Raki's face. Galk nudged him in the ribs with his elbow, much to the smaller man's annoyance.

Raki was momentarily flabbergasted before he silently cursed. Clare was here! She was here! But a dragon of all things attacked Rabona. Was it random? No, this place was too large for single dragon to attack, too much effort unless the dragon were truly powerful. Considering how intact the city was, he doubted its power. There had to be some deeper motive than a simple attack, not with all these smaller towns to prey upon. Did Daanlotfel send a scout? No, a scout would surely be smart enough not to attack unless told to right... unless they were idiotic. Bah, he could mull over the motives later and unfortunately, the inquiry on Clare had to be put on hold, "Where did the dovah - I mean, dragon go?"

His question threw both the guards off. Galk found it rather odd he didn't jump on finding Clare and went straight for the dragon. Sid quirked a brow and answered, "It didn't go anywhere, the Claymores killed it. We buried it." He was about to ask about that one word Raki had said until said fellow spoke first.

"Where?" Raki asked, his tone growing harsher then he intended.

"In the west outskirts of the city." Galk answered. This new Raki had the guard duo slightly unnerved. He sounded so cold and serious compared to his old self. His physical changes certainly made his attitude shift more off putting.

"Take me there," It practically came out as an order, "and bring some soldiers, you'll need to do some digging."

"What the hell? Why?" Sid didn't appreciate being ordered around, Raki was big but he still a kid compared to him, but he was more concerned about Raki wanting to see a damn corpse. Sure, Dragons were interesting as they were terrifying but let the dead be, especially a fire breathing death lizard. Oh wait, frost breathing.

Raki's gaze softened and he mentally chastised himself for his lack of an explanation. "It's hard to explain so it's better if I just show you. Let me be extremely clear, that dragon is not dead and time is not our side." Raki suddenly reached out and put his hands on their shoulders. "You need to take me to the corpse."

()()()()

Dozens of burly soldiers were hasty in their work while other soldiers stood guard in case of any attack. They dug like their lives depended as they were spurred on by their commanding officer Galk who seemed as worked up as the day of the dragon attack. Cid and some stranger looked on with the other guards.

Everything seemed to run... somewhat usual that day until Sid and Galk started rounding up men to do some digging before they met with some oddly dressed man outside the City gates away from the populace. Next they knew was that they were being told to dig up the monsters shallow grave. "Faster! Goddamn you, Faster!" Galk roared as he dug away at the soil.

And so the others dug faster until someone, a young guardsmen who was most likely in his twenties, stuck something hard and said, "We're almost there, sir! I hit something!"

"That's good! Now - "

"All of you get back!" The stranger now spoke, or roared rather, and took out one of his weapons, the giant warhammer, as he walked to the grave.

Everyone, even Galk, stared at him. They were surprised by the power of his voice and questioned his order. A few were keen on speaking up to question such a command out of the blue, friend of their commanders or not, until they felt the ground beneath them shake and rumble.

"Are deaf or daft, get out the way, Joor!" The stranger yelled. The men scrambled to move out of the way and for some, it wasn't a moment too soon before the titanic reptile burst from the ground. It was an explosion of sediment and frozen bits as a stream of the biting cold erupted from its maw.

Some soldiers were not so lucky and tossed away with a great force, breaking bones and a few outright dying. The beast towered over these mere mortals. Seeing this creature fly to and fro from afar was one thing, frightening on its own, but to be so close to it was far worse. Some of these men were outright petrified, as if an ancient terror had awoken in their hearts.

The fear Agatha put into them was nothing compared to this primal terror.

Adding to the horror was the fact that the beast was not even fully healed. A full third of the skull was visible on the right side, an empty eye socket gazing straight at them like a hole threatening to devour their souls. Chunks of flesh were still missing, showing bones and organs through the gaps all over the body.

Yet those were healing before their eyes, if you could call it that. Rather than flesh growing back, motes of light seemed to gather on the wounds and turn into whatever was needed. This was not the accelerated healing of a normal Claymore or even the fast regeneration of a defensive type. It was more like the very concept of damage was being undone before their eyes, wiped away by a higher power.

This thing... was it alive or dead now? No, it was definitely alive... Then had it been dead when they had buried it?

If not... could they even die then?

The young soldier who struck it first was right under its snout and at the end of its baleful gaze. The missing eye formed into its rightful place. Somehow, this was even more terrifying than the rows of teeth in the maw that was opening to rip him apart. What could mere men do against this? He couldn't even let out a scream and his mind submitted to what seemed to be a predetermined fate.

"Qiilaan wah Dinok." the dragon commanded imperiously.

"MUL QAH DIIV!" came from the voice of the stranger. Everyone, the great drake included, turned to the stranger to see him be enveloped by a mysterious light, an aura that formed into a spiked armor. No one knew what to make of this and those who could move suddenly found the strength to get clear of this beast, the young soldier included. Only the dragon knew what this was and knew to fear it.

"Stay back, joor!" The stranger commanded. "This is my prey! FUS RO DAH!" The man roared and blew the dragon away from the soldiers. It was tossed like a rag doll for many meters and left great gouges in the earth.

The soldiers didn't notice it but the dragon was horrified and was now feeling the same primal terror he made the humans feel. But unlike them, he was a dragon, a Dovah, and was not limited to running in order to flee. It turned from the man and prepared to take flight, to spread the warning of what was coming to its comrades, and to its Thur.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" Then came what the dragon found to be a foul set of words that surged from the man's mouth. The Dragon flopped back to the ground as it could not fly and felt as though a great, terrible weight was put on its body. It was left at a greater disadvantage now and knew that. "Hi nis filok, lir!"

The dragon roared and prepared to blast a cone of cold only to find its jaw forcefully shut by the swing of the man's great hammer. Scale, flesh, and bone caved under the blow as the Dragon's head shot up. That one blow gave the stranger another opening and he rushed under the dragon to pound his hammer against the beast's chest.

The dragon screeched in pain. Rather than a breath of frost, a gush of blood spewed from its mouth. If anyone unfamiliar with dragon anatomy had to guess they would say its lungs must've been severely crushed from that strike.

The dragon toppled over to fall on its side and let out a strangled, pitiful hiss. The man shook his head as if he was disappointed by the display. He walked over and put his foot on the beast's neck, "Naan laan rot?" He said in a disinterested tone.

"Ag, Dovakiin!" It hissed out. Then in one press of the man's foot a loud snap was heard and the dragon let out a one last choked sound of pain before it went still. Within an instant, glowing orange specks of light started forming on the carcass until it was covered in orange light entirely and the light started heading towards the man in a swirl of blue and orange.

This went on for a few seconds until the beast's body was nothing but bone. The man chuckled as his glow dissipated and said, "And that is how you know a dragon is truly dead."

No one else said anything until a few random soldiers pulled out their weapons and aimed them at the man. They started shouting questions at him and jeered at what they saw as a possible monster.

"What are you!?"

"What did you do, demon!?"

"Fucking freak, you aren't human!"

Despite the dragon being dead, much more dead than before, tensions ran high and fear clouded any judgement. The man himself seemed unfazed but had a hand near the hilt of his hammer just in case.

"ENOUGH!" This came from their commander Sid this time, looking just as enraged and stern as Galk. "This is how you treat a guy who saved your worthless asses!?" No one said anything and the guardsmen slowly lowered their weapons. "Everyone get your shit together and start helping the wounded or worse. Anyone who tries to start something with the dragon slayer here will answer to me or worse yet, Galk! Got it!?"

The men immediately put away their weapons and hastily did as they were told. They knew better than to question their commanders. Still, the question of "Who was this man and what is he?" ran through their minds.

Through minds farther away however, another question came to mind...

()()()()

Within the walls of the church, Galatea was shaking. First she felt the aura of that dragon rise from its grave and prepared for another battle, with much worse odds than before. Then she felt it fade until it was snuffed and this strange aura of power started to radiate from the same area. It was faint yet it still managed to pull out these strange intense feelings from within her core. It was as if she felt a sudden urge to bow in submission like some wolf or, for an even more fitting simile, like a lioness submitting to a new pride leader. And then like that it was gone while she was only left with further questions, the main one being, "What in the nine levels of hell was that?"

And she wasn't the only one questioning herself. Clarice and her surrogate daughter felt the same albeit only akin to the wolf analogy. Miata was still young despite her combat effectiveness and Clarice, being a color head, was far more connected to her human ancestry than her incredibly distant draconic one.

Other beings felt this too, to a stronger degree despite not being so close to the ground zero of this power.

()()()()

Octavia and her fellow awakened immediately scrambled to come to their sense after that sudden surge of that strange aura. First it was that terrifying one, the same one that made two of her companions shiver. They immediately started heading towards it in their true forms to investigate and eradicate if necessary. Then out of the blue it was gone and replace by another power, one that made them all do a double take.

It was faint but from that little shimmer of strange, rising power alone, the awakened felt an odd sensation. It was as if their bodies were telling them to yield and recognize a power beyond them.

Few of them felt a somewhat similar experience before such as when Isley and Luciela fought long ago, or in two of the members case when they fought an actual dragon, but it was somehow deeper than that. Their inhuman instincts were screaming from a distance and in another language yet the message seemed so clear: submit or die. They all felt their appendages ready to either take them to the source or far from it.

Yet that wasn't the end of it either, no. The female awakened felt something many barely paid attention to anymore or even in some cases had long discarded and that was the sensation of sexual arousal. Yoki was said to be akin to carnal urges but it wasn't outright that, it was most certainly not that sudden hot flash they felt. Awakened were carnivorous monsters that gave into to their primal side but nothing like that, not like beasts nearly going into heat.

Then it dissipated without a trace.

All Octavia, who was the fastest and farthest among them, could hesitantly say was, "What the pure fuck was that?"

The closest of the awakened to her nodded.

()()()()

Isley broke from his musings on that tiny sensation he felt off in the distance and turned towards his current companion, "Priscilla, are you feeling alright?"

The girl said nothing and continued to stare off into the distance with her eyes glazed over as if she were in some trance.

Isley's sense of danger was going off in his head and the same discomfort he had felt all those years ago when he had first met Priscilla was creeping back to the surface. Looking at her, her face was the same as usual but she lacked the air of childish innocence he was accustomed to. Her silence and the distant yet intense look in her eyes were eerie.

'It's almost like that time... no, better...' he thought as he swore he could see the faintest hint of her pale lips curling up.

Isley was eager to see what he could do after his rather remarkable recovery but he wasn't bold enough to play with what could be considered certain death.

It felt like an eternity before a tiny voice was heard, "Such a bright light. I wanna see it close." She pointed to the South West and spoke again. "I'm going there."

Isley stared at her before smiling, "If you command it then so shall it be."

()()()()

"Do you wanna tell us what the hell that was!?" Sid practically roared. He, Galk, and Raki had now stood in the chapel along with father Vincent and a seated Galatea. Sid, Galk, and Galatea, who found them just outside the city walls and looked a bit off to the guards for some reason, escorted Raki here since the barracks or the forests wouldn't be the best place to have their private conversation. Raki didn't even get a chance to say hi to Vincent before Sid started questioning him and said priest went to get some refreshments. "You're gone for seven years and you come back with this shit!? What are you!?"

"I'm Raki." the young man answered plainly. "And I'm the last human with the power to slay dragons."

There was some seconds of silence where everyone in the room stared at Raki until Galatea spoke, "That's it?"

"Of course not. It's a rather long and possibly hard to believe story though." He said as he pulled up a chair and sat across from the woman. "By the way, who are you? I don't believe we've met before."

Sid quirked a brow, "Hey, wait -"

The woman smiled. "I'm Galatea. I'm a simple blind nun really."

"The main topic -"

Raki chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "Never met a blind nun with a claymore before. Never met one who could leap from a building either. And your attire doesn't seem to fit the dress code."

Galk decided to speak up. "Excuse me -"

Galatea giggled and folded her arms as their eyes met so to speak. "I'm a different type of nun. Just like you seem to be a very different type of man." She replied.

Sid was rather annoyed now and slammed on the table. "No, you two can get to flirting later." His eyes immediately went to Raki and he said, "Tell us your story. After the shit we saw, we're not inclined to dispute anything you say at this point."

Raki nodded and proceeded to tell them of what happened, what he went through, and what he discovered. He spoke of his time in a far of land of people were even farmers would fight whatever threat came forth, where monsters as dangerous as yoma lurked, and an ancient terror arose.

Dragons. Beings beyond time, beyond death. The only thing that could slay such beings was called the Dragonborn, the Dovahkiin. When he finished speaking of this being, he pointed to himself and clearly told them, "I am the Dragonborn. My soul is that of the dov."

Galk, Sid, and Father Vincent, who entered the room at the midpoint of Raki's story, were frozen. All of this was so hard to believe and seemed to be straight out some fairytale or nightmare even. The short, clingy kid who roamed around with some Claymore like a puppy was some powerful being who essentially only wore the flesh of man and came back to fight some ancient threat. Had they not seen so much evidence, the dragons themselves, they would've suspected Raki was on drugs like the recent Skooma that started popping up in some villages. The worse things were the implications of the approaching end of times and how close they had come to annihilation without even knowing it.

Galatea stood up without warning and went to the window in the direction of where the frost dragon was slain. "So they felt it too." She mumbled and turned towards Raki. "You garnered an incredible amount of interest, dovahkiin. Your little outburst has certainly put you on the map now."

"What do you mean?" Raki didn't like the implications of that statement.

Galatea gave him a questioning glance. "You don't know, do you?"

"No." Raki answered and his gaze turned stern. "I'd really appreciate some elaboration."

Galatea nodded and told him what he needed to know. "At some point during your fight with the frost dragon, you unleashed a flicker of your aura. It was there then gone in an instant." She was leaning on the window now. "I don't know if Dragons can sense yoki like us but it seems though a group of awakened beings rushed over to investigate. They're not coming here as of now but it's certainly troubling to have so many so close to the city."

"I see. That complicates things doesn't it?" He muttered and cursed under his breath. He had a feeling that he knew that inquisitive group but choose to withhold that bit of information for now at least. He had already told the gathered audience he was born with the soul of the dragon and there was no need to overload them about meeting such a group in the first place. More importantly, as long as that group stayed away from the city then he doubted they'd be trouble. Chronos and Octavia would most likely keep the more impulsive in check from the looks of it. "Well, I've told you guys all about me, so how about a certain someone tell me a little about themselves."

Galatea shook her head. "Sid and Galk have yet to tie the knot if that's what you're wondering."

Galk sighed and Sid quirked a brow with a lopsided grin. "I'm sorry, do the women fawning over me mean nothing to you or are you just that jealous?"

"Strikes me as denial really." Raki whistled at Galatea's retort to Sid's chagrin while Galk did his best to stay out it.

Father Vincent sighed in exasperation through his smile. "As nice as it is watching you all get along, I believe Raki was referring to you, Galatea."

"Hehe, yeah." Raki said as he ceased his giggling. "Let's not beat around the bush here. You're a Claymore and I know a certain Claymore by the name of Clare."

"And you want to know where she went." Galatea finished and her smile faded. "Unfortunately, I don't know exactly where she went."

"But you have an idea?"

The former ranked warrior nodded. "Indeed but tell me something first." She walked over to the table and leaned over it, locking her unseeing, milky white orbs with Raki's brown ones. "Why are you searching for her?"

"Can't you see? I made a promise to her and I intend to see it through." Raki caught his slip of the tongue and nervously stated, "No offense."

Galatea stared at him for a second and backed away with a rather soft smile on her face. "Fair enough. I've no reason to doubt you." Well, she had no reason to doubt him for now at least. He didn't strike her as two faced but considering how much mystery there was to him despite his honest attitude didn't sit well with her. She'd have to keep an eye on him whenever possible.

Suddenly the doors burst open to reveal a little girl with long hair clad in Claymore armor. Without a word, she immediately walked towards Raki and pointed at him. "Papa."

That certainly caught him off guard, more so than most things nowadays. "Excuse me?"

What followed was a feminine cry of, "MIATA!" and things spiraled from there.

()()()()

translations:

Qiilaan wah Dinok - Submit to death

Hi nis filok, lir - You cannot escape, worm

Naan laan rot - Any last words

Ag - Burn

Joor Zah Frul - Mortal finite Temporary

AN: Hello everybody, Dany here, acting as SHP's beta. To the people who would like this story to be updated faster, please remember he has other fics he is working on and cannot focus on this one, no matter how much we'd like him too. Just so you know, we talk and bounce ideas weekly, and we have several things planned already, so don't think we're dropping this.

Damn straight, Dany Boy. Trust me, this fics gettin' loads of love, more so than other fics that could really use some. But I must say that I'm thoroughly pleased you guys enjoy this fic so much and I hope you guys are eager for more. If you catch references then you get cookies.

As always, enjoy folks!