His escape out of the city had been 'fun'. After grabbing all his things, and 'borrowing' some sweetrolls, the argonian had bumped into some guards on the way out of the tavern, effectively trapping him. Or so they had thought. Voltaire, with as much manners as a troll, hopped onto the bar's counter, then over the captain's head, knocking off his helmet with his tail just for spite. Retrieving Shadowmere was just as exciting, with dodging arrows that were aimed directly for his head and an angry stable master chasing him with a shovel,
"Oh~ But what would life be without the occasional threats to one's life, hmm?" Voltaire hummed, patting the side of the demonic horse's neck. Shadowmere whinnied in response, bobbing his head up and down in agreement. "Well, it should be smooth sailing for now at least." Famous last words.
-x-
"Someone, somewhere, really has to hate me…" spat the Listener, diving behind a tree just in time to avoid a blast of searing hot flames. He watched as the bronze scaled dragon circled around the area, hearing the beast laugh heartily at him. "Keep yucking it up! I'm still going to kick you leathery ass-!" The argonian yelped as flames managed to brush his tail, jumping out from behind the tree and diving for the nearby river to put out the fire.
The ground shook as the reptile landed, lashing its tail around and knocking down a few tall pine trees. Shadowmere reared up and tried kicking the dragon, but backed away when it snarled and snapped at it. Voltaire groaned loudly as he dragged himself onto the shore banks, shaking the water from his armor and scales like a dog. Grabbing his hammer, that he dropped while diving into the cold waters, the Dragonborn ran forward and slammed the heavy weapon down on a bronze wing. The dragon roared in anger and whipped its head around, opening its mouth. '-I am going to enjoy picking your flesh out of my fangs with your bones!-' The dragon spoke in its native tongue, voice a deep and booming baritone, without actually speaking. Voltaire tried to scuttle back, but the beast would not have that. It clamped its mouth down on the Listener's arm, earning it a howl of pain from the male, before tossing him a few yards. Voltaire hit a tree, hard. His vision was dotted with black spots for a moment, but he could make out a shape of someone darting out of the trees and slashing at the dragon. It only took him a moment to regain all of his vision and to see who that person was. "Cicero!" he shouted, utterly terrified for the red haired imperial that was slashing at the dragon with a small dagger.
-x-
The Fool of Hearts had to admit, his superior was…different when not in the presence anyone. His usual tall, tense frame slacked and looked loose and comfortable. The scowl was gone and replaced with a carefree, ever so cocky, grin, which suited him much more. Cicero almost found it 'cute'. Though, it was hard to really get a good look at the Listener when he was crawling up rock like a miniature, wingless dragon, diving off cliffs into deep water, or moving faster than the wind on Shadowmere. It seemed to the Keeper that the argonian was always in motion, never halting or slowing.
Adjusting his jester hat, the imperial peeked around a large pine tree to get a look at the other male. Voltaire had finally come to rest, plopping down onto a log and pulling out a stolen sweetroll and munching happily on it. 'Oh…Need a sweetroll…or a carrot.' The fool thought, stomach rumbling loudly. Voltaire would probably have been able to hear it if it was not for the eardrum shattering roar from the sky. Cicero's head shot up and he gapped openly at the bronze dragon that dived from above the clouds, swooping low and releasing a breath of fire. "…That cannot be good…"
Voltaire did well for the first few minutes, working quickly with a bow and arrow to get the beast to land, even though he was horrible with a bow and could not hit the broad side of a mammoth on a good day. But, once the dragon landed, the Dragonborn Listener luck slowly ran out. Taking out one of the bronze reptile's wings infuriated the creature to no end, and it then decided not to play around anymore. Cicero growled when he saw Voltaire hit a tree with a loud thud, and decided he could hide no longer. 'No Listener means Mother will be unheard again! Cicero will no fail Mother. Never!' Taking out his dagger, the imperial darted out of the trees, taking the dragon of guard. He slashed wildly at the dragon's head and neck, cutting it across one of its rage filled eyes. The dragon roared in pain and the utmost fury. It shouted, without moving its mouth, in a language the fool did not know, before whacking him full force across his stomach with its tail. The hit made Cicero exhale all the air in his lungs painfully and roll across the grassy forest floor faster than a barrel down a hill. Cicero thought for sure he was finished when the dragon turned its head to him, opening wide jaws and forming a ball of fire between razor sharp teeth. "Wuld Nah Kest!" Voltaire appeared on top of the beast's head hammer raised. With enough force to shatter stone, the Dragonborn brought down his weapon, effectively shattering the flying reptile's skull. The bronze dragon collapsed to the ground, mouth still wide open in a would be attack.
-x-
Voltaire panted heavily as he crawled quickly off the dragon before it burst into flames. Dropping his hammer, the argonian quickly made his way over to his underling, kneeling next to him. "For a Listener," the red head said quietly. "You sure do a lot of shouting."
The last thing the Fool of hearts saw before he blacked out from the pain was strings and ribbons of energy entering Voltaire's body, and the grin that was on his pale scaled face.