Beware, Beware the Dragonborn Comes

Summary: "Mother always told me that father was special. She called him Dragonborn. Soul of a dragon, body of a human… It's a shame I don't remember him but mother says I'm like him in more ways than just my appearance."

Family Resemblance

I walked towards the impressive sight known and Bleak Falls Barrow. My breath was taken away by its beauty. But my admiration for this ruin was cut short by a group of bandits. I took the war axe that I has acquired at Helgen and braced myself for bloody battle.

The bandits ran towards me, one by one. I swung my axe, over and over again hoping to make contact with skin. The number of bandits began to diminish slowly until I was the only one standing. It surprised me. I looted their bodies, taking whatever gold and weapons they had. I needed to be ready for whatever was in that tomb. I couldn't let the anxiety get the better of me.

I walked through what was like the foyer of the ruin. The bodies of dead skeevers and dead bandits were a main feature here. I saw light towards the end of the foyer and approached it with caution. Two more bandits were sitting by a cooking pot talking about a claw. I took another step and that is when they saw me.

"Found you!" one of them called out. I tried to finish them off as quickly as possible and continued through the ruin using a mixture of a sword and shield that I picked up from an earlier rival.

I followed the corridors and steps until I got to a large chamber, could this have been the chamber Farengar was talking about? I stayed crouched and watched a bandit pull the lever that was in the room. The lever must have released a trap because he dropped dead within seconds. When I was sure I was in no danger of getting attacked I walked into the centre of the room, looking at the interior. "Wow." I whispered, listening to the faint echo it created.

I looked around the room, paying close attention to the plaques near the roof. I realised that the moving pillars had to match these. Once I moved the pillars I activated the lever and watched the heavy door rise up revealing the continuation of my path.

Straight in front of me was a chest. I couldn't resist trying to open it, but there was a lock. I took out a lock pick from my pocket and tried to open it. I wasted a couple but eventually got it open. Inside was a pair of heavy iron boots. I looked at the light boots I was wearing and swapped them round. It would mean better protection.

I walked down a winding staircase, meeting a couple of skeevers on my way. A nest must've been nearby but who would want to stumble into a nest of diseased ridden skeevers?

As I approached the end of another corridor, I heard the voice of a man calling out. I followed the sound until my path was blocked by a thick web. I swiped it away with my new sword and stepped inside the spider's lair. As I walked towards the man tangled in a web a giant spider fell from the roof and struck me with one of its legs. I kept chopping at it, my eyes squeezed shut. I hated spiders, especially spiders that were bigger than me. When I finally opened my eyes, it was dead, taking up a large part of the floor.

"You. Over here." The man said, watching me as I walked towards him. "You did it. You killed it. Now cut me down before anything else shows up."

"Where's the golden claw?" I asked, remembering back to the bandits from the entrance of the ruin.

"Yes, the claw. I know how it works. The claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. I know how they all fit together!" His rambling wasn't making any sense, although nothing I had lived through so far made sense. "Help me down and I'll show you. You won't believe the power your ancestors have hidden there."

What he said appealed to my curious side, I had to see this power! It was a must. "Hand over the claw first."

"Does it look like I can move? You have to cut me down first."

As I struck the webs he started to move around more and more. "I can feel it coming loose." He fell to the ground and quickly got up. "You fool! Why would I share the treasure with anyone?" He began to run, I had to chase him.

I followed him down the corridors, trying to catch up to him. It seemed like hope was lost until he stopped to fight something… Dead looking that came out of its resting place. I struck him, working with this dead man until he died. Then it looked at me, wanting to finish me too. I swayed my war axe until it fell to the ground.

I heard the groaning of more coming from behind me. These must've been the beings my mother told me about when I was little. Draugrs. When all of them were dead I walked to the man's body and searched him for the claw. I held the golden claw up in the light and smiled. Pure gold, worth a fortune.

After trailing my way through swinging blades, waterfalls and more Draugrs, the Hall of Stories was finally in my reach. I took out the claw and looked at the tiny pictures on the back. Then I looked at the rings that were around the key hole on the massive door. I had to match them up and use the claw as a key.

I was finally in the main chamber. It was dark but there was a blue light shining at a large stone and a table. The Dragonstone had to be there. As I walked up the steps I started to hear chanting, like something was calling me to come closer to this stone. As I did everything became dark except for the markings on the wall. A moment later I was filled with this knowledge, a knowledge that I didn't understand. I turned to the table quickly, wanting to finish what I had started. On closer inspection I realised it was a coffin and as soon as I advanced towards it a levelled Draugr popped out and engaged in battle with me.

When it was done I fell to my knees beside the Draugr and searched the mangled corpse. Under the chest plate of his armour he had the Dragonstone. I finally found it and I couldn't stop the smile from forming on my face. My task was done.

I made my way back to Dragonsreach and went inside. As soon as I gave the stone to Farengar he told me that the Jarl wanted me. I began to panic. What was going on? What else had I to do?

I walked up the stairs by the side of the throne, into a conversation with the Jarl, a guard and Irileth. "So you were at the watch tower?" Jarl Balgruuf said.

"Yes my Jarl."

"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth glanced at me as I stood beside her.

"Uh… That's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast… Faster than anything I've ever seen."

"What did it do? Is it attacking the watch tower?" The Jarl was worried; it was clear in his voice.

"No, my lord. It was circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life… I thought it would come after me for sure." The guard explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good work son, we'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You deserve it. Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there."

"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

"Good, don't fail me." The Jarl turned to me. "There's not time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again."

"Anything." I nodded.

"I want you to go with Irileth and fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. Please accept this gift from my personal armoury."

I smiled at him and took the axe. "Thank you." I waited for Irileth at the bottom of the stairs and followed her to the main gate where the other men were waiting. Soon after we left the city and made our way to the watch tower. There was no time for dallying.

From the tower you could see smoke and fire. The place was almost in ruins. I walked towards a guard that had stayed at the tower. "No get back! It's still here somewhere! Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!"

"Listen, Irileth and her men are here to kill this dragon, so am I."

In the distance you could hear the rumble and roars coming from the dragon. The guard looked to the sky, trying to find the dragon. "Kyraneth save us."

I looked in the direction he was looking in and watched the dragon swoop down over tower. "Oh my."

Some guards fired arrows at the beast and those who were brave enough sliced it with their swords. Some even used spells. I looked at the axe the Jarl gave me and decided to put it to good use. I joined the guards that were brave. I wasn't going to be afraid of anything anymore. I was going to kill this dragon.

Three of us ran up to the landed dragon and began hacking at its skin. Arrows her still shot and magic was still used. "Dovahkiin! No!" it roared. Finally the dragon died, slumping to the ground.

The guards cheered, hugging each other and patting their comrade's backs. I inspected the dragon, looking it over. Moments later I was surrounded by a yellow light, it was entering my body. I held my hands up to see if there was any change, but there wasn't. "You… Must be Dragonborn." One of the guards approached me. He sounded surprised, but pleased.

"Dragonborn? What do you mean?"

"In the very oldest tales, back from when there still used to be dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power. That's what you did, isn't it? Absorbed that dragon's power?"

I shook my head a little, unable to take this all in. Then tales of my father came flooding back. Mother called him Dragonborn. I was Dragonborn. "I think you may be right."

"There's only one way to find out. Try to shout… According to old legends, only the Dragonborn could shout without training, the way the dragons do."

More guards began to come around us. "Dragonborn? What are you talking about?"

"That's right! My grandfather used to tell me stories about the Dragonborn. Those born with the old dragon blood in them like Tiber Septim."

I thought back to the barrow, the wall that was there and the knowledge I took in. Now I knew what it was, I could feel it in my body. It felt like nothing I had ever felt before. I concentrated on the word, and from my chest I felt the word 'fus' erupt from me.

"What do you say Irileth? You're being awfully quiet."

"Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums on matters you know nothing about." She said, pacing back and forth. "Here's a dead dragon and that's something I definitely understand. Now we know we can kill them. But I don't need some mythical Dragonborn. Someone who can put down dragons is more than enough for me."

"You wouldn't understand Housecarl, you're not a true Nord." A guard responded.

She became offended and crossed her arms. "I've been all across Tamriel. I've seen plenty of things as outlandish as this. I'd advise you all to trust in the strength of your sword arm over tales and legends."

A guard turned to me, a small smile flickering on his face. "That was shouting, what you just did. Must be. You really are Dragonborn."

I turned to the road to report back to the Jarl, a large smile on my face. "Dragonborn… I'm Dragonborn."