Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Elder Scroll's universe, Skyrim or otherwise, or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by Bethesda. This is simply my interpretation of some events within the game universe.

[AN: To make up for the painfully short last chapter and to actually get some plot movement happening, here's the first chapter from Jarl Balgruuf's perspective, now things start to get a bit more interesting. /AN]

Jarl Balgruuf:

Perhaps Farengar will be proven correct about this latest adventurer, the previous three are yet to return, and after two weeks only a fool would expect them to. Still, despite his arrogance, Farengar is rarely wrong, and he knows more about the trials of Bleakfalls Barrow than I; perhaps an elf's cunning will succeed where Nord strength has failed.

Irileth didn't much like him, but she is slow to trust at the best of times, and recent times certainly have not been the best, especially since he came to confirm the fearful rumours many have been telling us over the past days; a Dragon attacked Helgen, and razed it to the ground.

At least now Proventus will hopefully stop complaining about the lost trade from having the city locked down.

Still, the fact that this elf was the first refugee from Helgen to reach Whiterun, three days later, does not bode well; I fear that as he is the first, he may also be the last. He himself admitted he was an outsider to Skyrim and would have had no idea where to go if he had not been directed by the people of Riverwood, whereas the people of Helgen would have known they could find shelter and refuge here.

Regardless, we must now start preparing for the very real possibility of a dragon attack, a phrase I never thought I would utter. Dragonsreach is a fortress, designed to withstand the rage of a Dragon, but the rest of Whiterun is vulnerable, her walls are designed to stop besieging armies and the guards are more used to fighting off bandits and Frostbite spiders than a creature of legend.

Still, I have ordered Irileth to despatch guard contingents to the townships of this Hold and to recall the others patrolling the surrounding countryside; if a dragon does attack, we will need as many men as we can find. I will also ask the Harbinger if the Companions would be willing to fight, their bravery is a thing of legend and I doubt they would turn up the chance to fight the first dragon seen in Tamriel in millennia.

Now it just remains to see if Farengar's research will turn up anything that can help us.

Three Days Later...

To think, the Dragonborn, revealed to us first in defence of Whiterun… the Divines have surely blessed us this night.

And to think his first impression of my hospitality was Irileth threatening to gut him where he stood, merely three days ago!

Never did I think that I would see the Dragonborn in my lifetime, but I hadn't really imagined I would be seeing Dragons either. Whether one is a response to the other, or if it is merely the strands of fate intersecting under the guidance of the Divines, I do not know, but I fear for what it means for Skyrim. And now with the Stormcloaks beating their shields louder every day and the Thalmor prowling roads and townships, the Empire is backed into a corner and I am concerned that war is coming to Skyrim, no matter the danger presented by the return of the dragons; it seems that everyone has forgotten they enslaved our ancestors in ages past and would happily do it again!

I wonder what Talos makes of this nonsense? I imagine he is laughing heartily at the fact that the first Dragonborn in two hundred years is an elf, a wood elf at that. Truly, I never believed Skyrim's greatest hero would be so short!

We had always imagined that the Dragonborn would be a Nord, tall and strong, fighting his foes head on and charging into the fray, great-sword raised high, but now we see that he is the furthest thing from that ideal, a blade in the dark that strikes before you ever become aware of his presence. Perhaps it is a message from the Divines, one that the people of Skyrim need to see and understand; my people's pride has grown without check since we helped beat back the Aldmeri Dominion during the Great War, and Ulfric's ravings of Nord supremacy are merely the most recent, dangerous peak.

With war brewing, dragons returning and tensions between races still festering, I fear for Skyrim; but perhaps this new Dragonborn can save us from more than just the winged beasts, if we're willing to listen.

I have decided to make the Drgonborn, Keirn, a Thane of Whiterun, in recognition of his service to this city. He did not need to assist Farengar and myself in retrieving the Dragonstone, he did not even need to warn us of the danger facing Riverwood or confirm the Dragon threat, yet he has done so without fuss or gold-lust. I was discussing possible Housecarl choices with Irileth and she recommended Lydia, a shield-maiden worthy of the Companions themselves. She was with the guard contingent that fought with the Dragonborn today and Irileth says she acquitted herself admirably against the beast, fighting with valour despite the quaking knees of some of her fellows. It will be a pity to lose her from our ranks, but her skill has always called her to grander things than a mere Hold Guard, and if she can assist the Dragonborn in his journeys, then all the better.

Tomorrow, once our Dragonborn has recovered, I will declare a day of celebration, to celebrate the victory over the dragon and to honour our new Thane. The feasting will be good for morale after the last few days of fear and trembling. Besides, it has been to long since we have had good news in Whiterun.

[AN: Again, it's not a huge chapter, but I don't think many of these will be, simply by virtue of the writing style. These chapters are summaries of events by characters, so most of the description and exposition that goes into a normal chapter will be missing. I always aim for at least 1000 words per chapter, but that's not always attainable, unfortunately.

Anyway, thanks for reading and hopefully understanding. I'll try to keep updates for this story at a reasonably regular pace, I just don't know if I'll succeed.

Thanks again, and please leave any feedback you have, it's great to hear from you all. /AN]