Chapter 20: Markarth

"Well, here we are," Sonic said when they came to a stop. "The ruins of Ragnvald. Silver said that Manic was here, right?"

"He did," Shadow said.

"Then let's head inside."

The others nodded in agree and they pushed open the old stone door. Once inside, they looked around. There was a chill in the air, and the three anthros felt a strong presence.

"That is either really good, or really bad," Jet said.

Sonic grimaced. Wings burst from his back as his hands became paws. His eyes turned yellow and he looked around, snarling. "There's a Dragonpriest here."

"Really bad, then."

"What should we do?" Shadow asked his husband.

"If Manic is here, we need to look around."

"What about the Dragonpriest?"

"We can handle it."

Sonic walked off, followed by Shadow and Jet.

"Why's Sonic have draconian features?" Jet asked the black hedgehog.

"He's the Dragonborn, and apparently that's something they can do."

"Interesting. Can he transform into a full dragon?"

"Not right now, if that's even possible." They continued to follow Sonic until he stopped and looked around. The Dragonpriest was close. "Is it nearby?" Shadow asked. Sonic nodded and morphed even more. His feet became paws and his tail lengthened into a dragon's. "Why are you changing so much?"

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with the Dragonpriest?"

"Possibly...how close is he?"

"Somewhere in here."

Sonic walked ahead, still sensing the Dragonpriest. They finally came to a large room with a sarcophagus that was definitely more important than the others in the ruin. There were slots for some kind of keys on the side of it, and it was larger with more detail than the others.

Shadow looked at his husband. "Should we open it?"

"I doubt Manic's in it," Sonic said, "and we don't have the keys anyway."

"We should probably find them, then."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Fair enough. Let's keep looking for Manic."

They still didn't find him after they were fairly certain they had searched the entire ruin.

"Damn it, there's nothing here!" Sonic yelled, pulling his quills in frustration. "I thought Silver told us that Manic would be here!"

"Maybe Manic was moved somewhere else? Or he was lying."

"Why would he lie?"

Shadow shrugged. "He could have any number of reasons."

"He's your friend, right?" Sonic asked Jet. "Do you think he sent us here on purpose?"

"Silver must've had some reason for sending us here," Jet said.

"Can you think of anything he would've wanted us to find here?"

Jet thought about it. After a few minutes, he shook his head. "I've no idea. Maybe he thought Manic was here?"

"So, should we go see him again?"

"Yes, we should."

"Let's go then."

They walked out of the ruin. Sonic sighed and hung his head as Shadow walked up to him. "You okay?"

"Disappointed," Sonic said. "I really want to find him. Before something awful happens. But there are too many places to look. Even with my speed..."

"You're clearly stressed," Shadow noted. "Maybe we could...relieve some of that stress. If you know what I mean."

Sonic stared at him for a moment, then grinned. "All right, but it's gonna take a lot to relieve this stress."

"We should probably do it somewhere private."

"Not an inn," Sonic said. "Somewhere else."

"Any ideas?" Shadow asked.

Sonic held up a hand and ran off, returning half a minute later. "Nothing but open area and rocks here. So... Markarth it is, but I don't know how private an inn will be."

Shadow smiled and looked at his friend. "You coming with, Jet?"

"It sounds as if I might not want to. I'll go to Markarth with you and find something to amuse myself with."

"Sounds good. We won't be there long."

They started to walk and Jet followed them. He had a good idea what Sonic and Shadow were going to do. "You can take as much time as you need."

Shadow smiled at his friend. "Thanks."

Once they got to Markarth, it was already nighttime. It wasn't difficult to get two rooms at the Silver Blood Inn. One was for Sonic and Shadow, and another for Jet. Sonic ran into their room and threw himself onto the bed.

The next day around noon, Sonic and Shadow left the inn. Sonic was currently a female, and glanced over at her husband. "What should we do today?"

"I'm not sure," Shadow said. He looked at Sonic. "Are you still stressed?"

"Not at the moment. You did a really good job last night."

"I aim to please. So, should we continue looking for Manic today or is there something else you want to do?"

"We need to keep looking for Manic."

Shadow smiled and kissed her. 'Sounds good. Where to?"

"Back to Winterhold?"

"Sure."

Jet walked up to them. When he that Sonic was a girl, he looked surprised. "You're... What happened?"

Sonic grinned. "I have the ability to change my gender to female," she told him.

"That's... cool..."

"Do you...think it's weird?"

"I've heard of some weird magic before. It's just something I haven't run into before."

"We're heading back to Winterhold," she told him. "You still wanna tag along?"

"Sure."

Sonic smiled at him, and they walked out of the inn. Shadow's stomach growled moments later; he was getting hungry. "Why don't we get something to eat before we go?" He suggested. The three entered the inn once again and walked up to the owners. "May we get something to eat?" Shadow asked.

"Of course. What would you like?" The innkeeper asked.

"I'd like some bacon and eggs." He turned to Sonic and Jet. "What about you two?"

"I wouldn't mind some sweet rolls," Sonic said.

"I'll have some too," Jet told the waiter.

The innkeeper nodded and motioned to one of the tables. They followed him and all sat down. "Your food will be over soon."

"Thank you," Sonic said.

The innkeeper nodded and walked away. An hour later they were leaving the inn again.

"That was a good meal," Jet said.

He looked at Sonic to ask her what she thought but saw that she was talking to Shadow. He smiled and waited for them to finish talking. "What are we going to do at Winterhold, Sonic?"

Sonic looked at him. "We're going to ask Silver about Manic again, and I want to see how Shadic's doing there as well."

"That would be nice. I have a feeling that Silver didn't tell us everything."

"He definitely didn't, and I plan on getting the truth out of him."

Jet was about to speak again when Martin and Frobnair landed. The two dragons flapped their wings slightly and saw the group. Shadow smiled up at them. "Where have you two been?"

"Around."

"Great. We're going to head to Winterhold again." Shadow told Martin. "Silver is keeping something from us and we want to know why."

"It's very likely he's at least partially responsible," Martin said.

"I'd also like to see how my son is doing," Sonic said. "Did he get there safely?"

"He did."

"That's great. Would it be okay if you took us there?"

Sonic looked at Shadow and Jet, who both nodded. "Go ahead." Martin lay down, allowing the three to get on. Sonic was starting to get on his back when a thought occurred to her. "Actually...would I be able to transform and fly there?" She asked Martin. "Since I can gain dragon features."

"I don't know if your abilities work like that," he said.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"For one, you haven't mastered them."

Sonic got on Martin's back and the dragon flew into the air. "How could I do that?"

"Training."

"Can you teach me?"

"Of course."

Sonic smiled. "Thanks."

Martin nodded and flew on. Frobnair flew beside him and they eventually reached Winterhold. The dragons landed far enough away from the city to prevent anyone from trying to attack them and Sonic and the others hopped off Martin's back.

"Thanks for the ride," she told him.

"You're welcome. We'll wait for you around here."

Sonic smiled and waved as she left with Jet and Shadow.