It took a full day of hard riding to get back to Whiterun. It was evening when they arrived, and a woman was waiting outside to meet them. She had dark skin and red eyes. Harry found the combination a little freaky. She introduced herself as Irileth, the Jarl of Whiterun's housecarl. She spoke little, but moved on as soon as they had given their horses to the stable hands. A small group of guards were waiting, and the trio listened as Irileth spoke.

"Here's the situation. A dragon is attacking the western watchtower." The guards were incredulous at this news.

"You heard right! I said a dragon! I don't much care where it came from, or who sent it. What I do know is that it made the mistake of attacking Whiterun! We are honour bound to fight it, even if we fail. This dragon is threatening our homes… our families. Could you call yourselves Nords if you failed to fight this monster? Are you going to leave me to face this thing alone?"

"No!"The guards shouted.

"But it is more than our honour at stake here," Irileth continued. "Think of it – the first dragon seen in Skyrim since the last age. The glory of killing it is ours, if you are with me!"

A while later, the enthused guards and the slightly more dubious Harry, Ron, Hermione and Amdesa were running across the plain towards a tower. There had once been some kind of bridge to the door, but it had long since collapsed. Some large blazes were burning in front of it, and the guards and teens made their way over to an outcrop of rock. They assembled behind it.

Irileth spoke. "I know it looks bad, but we have to figure out what happened. And if that dragon is still skulking around somewhere…" she added on as an afterthought. "Spread out and look for survivors. We need to know what we are dealing with." The guards drew their enormous swords and axes, and the trio pulled out their iron daggers, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Amdesa whipped out two long and wickedly pointed black daggers with gold engravings, and started forwards after the men. The trio stuck together and walked forward.

As they got near the fallen bit in front of the entrance, a guard called out "No! Get back! It is still here somewhere. Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it." The guard was panicked and his eyes were searching the sky. The trio climbed up onto the walkway next to him. As they walked inside the tower, they heard him say: "Kynareth, save us! Here he comes again!" They ran up the steps inside and peeked out the top, crouching on the roof. They got up just in time to see a black creature swoop down at the ground below. They heard a horrible shrieking sound as the dragon blasted fire at the tiny figures on the ground. They looked at each other. "Unrelenting Force?" Hermione asked. Harry and Ron nodded. "Take it in turns." She said. They lined up at the edge. Amdesa stood next to them, and fired arrows at the dragon. Hermione went first. She leaned slightly over the parapet and aimed directly at the dragon.

"FUS… RO DAH!" She Shouted. Harry was next. The words ripped from his throat, and he could see them, weirdly, going through the air. The Shout hit the dragon and it stumbled. Ron went, and then they did it each once more. Each time the dragon faltered, the figures down below were able to hit it again. When it came back to Hermione, however, she looked at them. "My throat is really sore… I don't know if I can do it again."

"Why don't we go use our daggers? If we get behind it, and hit it, then run away if it starts turning round?" Ron suggested.

"Sounds slightly dangerous… but hey, what can go wrong?" Harry grinned. They ran down the steps and out to the dragon, adrenaline rushing. They got behind it and hacked at the tough scales. When it turned its head to blast them with fire, they ran and hid behind another outcrop. It was uncomfortably hot, but they did not burn. However, when they got back, a sweep of the dragon's tail hit Ron and flung him away. He landed on his back, but in the fall his leg hit a rock and snapped. He screamed, and Harry and Hermione ran over. At that moment, one final hit killed the dragon, and it shrieked. "DOVAHKIIN! NO!" and slumped down. The guards turned away grinning, when a wave of warmth assaulted their backs. They turned back, astonished and watched its scales slowly flake off, drift upwards and burn, and then suddenly the entire body burst into flames and a rushing white wind hurled itself at the trio, as the deep voices filled their minds once more:

"GLORIA! GLORIA! GLORIAAAAAA!" The wind subsided, and left the three imbued with energy, who threw their heads back and Shouted unto the heavens:

"FUS…RO DAH!"

The dragon was now only a skeleton, and the guards were staring at them in astonishment. They grinned, and then Ron passed out.