Windhelm was in chaos. The dragon circling overhead, so far it hadn't attacked but that didn't mean it wouldn't.
Ulfric stormed out of the Palace of the Kings, watching the beast fly overhead, Galmar following close by his side.
"Ulfric, you simply can't-"
"I'll be damned if I'm going to sit idly while a dragon attacks my city." He growls angrily. He had been angry for the last two days, furious with Astaria for leaving, not that he blamed her, but he was still angry she hadn't tried to talk it through first.
Galmar had no idea about this. "Ulfric, this is a dragon, even your voice-"
Ulfric gave him a dark look that shut him up instantly, before storming off again, Galmar watching nervously. "Where's the bloody Dragonborn when you need her?"
The dragon roared, almost all civilian's had been rushed inside homes when it appeared, now soldiers were watching nervously from the streets and walls.
A spout of flame left the dragons mouth.
Guards started firing.
The fight began.
Ulfric and Galmar yelled orders, trying to get the beast shot down so as ground troops could move in and kill it. Not an easy task. The dragon manoeuvred easily through the air, barely any arrows coming close, before it dived, fire spewing from its mouth and engulfing some men.
Ulfric's orders were loudest and the dragon soon took notice, changing its tactic and going for him. If Galmar hadn't noticed and hurriedly shoved his friend into a small alcove in time, Ulfric would've been fried as another wall of fire was spouted at them.
Ulfric cursed loudly as the dragon landed on the rooftops, which splintered slightly under its weight. Gold eyes were focused on where he and Galmar were hidden. Guards were shooting the dragon, but not even the arrows piercing its hide got its attention and it moved across the roof to where he would be able to see the men.
"I would suggest running but I think the beast has us cornered." Galmar growled.
"Shame they don't believe in fair fights." Both had their weapons in hand, for what little good it was going to do them.
The dragon came into full view, its eyes gleaming and Ulfric and Galmar braced themselves, trapped. It opened its mouth, starting the shout, but-
"Fus Ro Dah!"
The shout rocked the ground and it automatically got both the dragon's and Ulfric's attention. With a growl, the dragon launched itself from the roof and headed towards where the shout had come from. Ulfric followed too, heading for the stairs to the wall, many of the men were already crowded here, but they quickly moved to give Ulfric room to stand.
He saw her, sword in hand, watching the dragon circle above. An uneasy feeling came over him and he found his hand gripping the wall until his knuckles were white.
"Talos help her." Galmar said from next to him.
Ulfric silently agreed.
Watching the dragon above her, Astaria felt incredibly foolish, she couldn't remember what she'd done with her bow, and now she was standing here like an idiot waiting for the dragon to land and attack her.
It was clearly assessing what level of threat she was, her shouting had been the only way she knew to get its attention, and that had worked, it seemed as if there was a momentary standoff, the two of them sizing each other up.
It dived.
Or not.
She dived out of the way of the blast of fire, rolling to her feet, her eyes never leaving it. It had been a test, to see if it were possible to take her out from the air, but it was clear she was fast, even though she knew she would get exhausted diving all the time.
The dragon landed.
Astaria gulped, not being entirely ready for that reaction. Its gold eyes stared at her coldly and she knew that this was a very strong dragon.
"Rodraan wah dir Dovahkiin." It growled.
Prepare to die. Great.
It lunged forward and Astaria leapt to the side, its jaws closing where she had just been with a resounding snap. It was brazen, she had to give it that. She eyed under its body, where the scales weren't as tough and could easily be cut with a sword. If she could just get under it…
The dragon snapped again and she leapt away, knowing that this was going to be a matter of timing. She dodged it again and again and again, finally taking her chance.
She rolled under it, hoping she could end it quickly, and drove her sword upwards, into the stomach of the dragon. It roared in pain and next thing she knew, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. In shock, she let go of her sword, dropping back to the ground as the dragon flapped its wings a few times to move away, landing heavily, her sword still stuck in its stomach.
Astaria cursed, not really looking forward to fighting with her knives again against a dragon. They felt good in her hands, but now it meant she had to get even closer.
Its eyes were ablaze with fury and she readied herself for its attack, expecting another bite. Instead, it shouted fire at her, causing her to move quickly to the side.
Thwump.
She flew several feet back and hit the ground hard, the breath leaving her, she also felt several ribs had cracked. The damn dragon had hit her with its tail. Winded, sucking in air, she struggles to get to her feet, clenching her chest. The dragon steps closer.
Everyone on the wall was terrified, seeing her take a hit like that, they were now more nervous than ever.
But Ulfric had already moved on from that, he was watching Astaria intently, she was in a lot of pain from the hit and clearly trying to get herself to move as the dragon took yet another step closer.
His heart was racing, she had to move now.
There was an echoing roar and fire erupted from the dragon's mouth again, engulfing Astaria. Ulfric cry was drowned out by his men as they all watched in horror, the fire seeming to be never ending.
But it stopped, and Astaria still stood.
Astaria shook the layer of ice out of her hair and moved so it broke away from her body. It had just been enough to protect her, but she doubted whether she could do it again, her mana already drained. She hadn't had to use magic in a long time.
"Yol nis krii zey!" Fire cannot kill me. She yelled.
Using the dragons shock, she rushed forward, picking up her knives and drove them into the dragon's snout.
"She can use magic." Galmar said weakly, leaning heavily on the wall, his face as pale as Ulfric's as they watched the fight continue. "Gods damn that girl, how many other tricks does she want to pull?"
Ulfric found himself moving, ordering his men to follow, he wasn't sure exactly how much help they could be, but he'd be damned if was going to let her fight this on her own. She was wounded, he knew that wouldn't stop her, but it worsened the uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Astaria was breathing heavily, the dragon's snout was now bleeding and it had done nothing to abate its anger. She was crouched low, defensive, ready to move if necessary, and it watched, its gold eyes aflame with fury.
Somehow, she had to get her sword back.
She was almost glad that the air was clear today, that she didn't have to fight the elements as well as the dragon, but it was little reprieve, the cold biting into her skin, something she knew that the dragon was not feeling.
The dragon lunged and she dodged, delivering several fast, shallow blows to its snout, causing it to snap angrily come fiercely after her. She managed to roll under it again, but found herself in the wrong angle to pull out the sword.
Instead, she kicked it.
The dragon roared again and Astaria rushed away from it, breathing heavily. Blood was pouring from the dragon's stomach and she silently hoped that it would bleed to death before managing to seriously wound her.
Just then, movement caught her eye, momentarily distracting her from the dragon, she looked and saw Ulfric and some Stormcloak soldiers moving towards the fight, she let out a small breath of relief that she was going to have help in this.
But the small distraction was what the dragon needed. It lunged.
Astaria wasn't entirely sure what happened then. Pain burst through her chest and the right side of her body, but it almost felt…distant, as if it didn't really happen. She remembered moving very fast, yet feeling so slow, then the ground came rushing up to meet her.
There was a sickening crunch and Astaria screamed, her arm breaking on impact with the ground, and then she found herself still screaming, realisation kicking in. The dragon and clamped its jaws down on her, gone in for the kill and thrown her, but it hadn't been a killing blow, instead, deep lacerations cut through her torso and right arm.
Fury filled her blood and she struggled up, not caring for her heavily bleeding wounds or the amount of pain she was in. Somehow, her left hand had managed to hold onto one of her knives and she clutched it with all her might.
For a moment, the world swam before her and she had to shake it off. No. This dragon was going to die first.
Her gaze once again moved to the sword.
She could barely move her right arm, but she had to get it. She didn't care that the dragon was talking to her, she didn't care the soldiers had frozen in shock, she didn't care that she was bleeding to death, her blood falling onto the snow and filling the ground with red.
All that mattered, was she got that sword.
The fire roared from deep inside her.
"Fus Ro Dah!" The shout was so powerful, the ground rocked, the men staggering from the movement, the dragon was blasted back from the force of it, giving her a chance.
She dashed forward, her knife digging into the dragon's neck as she dived for the sword, yanking it out. The dragon moved, its head turning to face her with a viscous snarl and she brought the sword down with a cry of rage and the last of her energy, the sword embedding itself into the dragon's skull.
The dragon went still.
Breathing heavily, Astaria staggered back, not quite believing what she had done. Her armour was soaked in blood and she had nothing left in her to move.
The dragon started to glow and the light leapt for her. She didn't even have the strength to brace herself as the fiery energy entered her body, sending her crashing to the ground. She lay there, looking up at the darkening sky. She couldn't move, but she didn't care, peace was washing over her. Loud, running footfalls were coming towards her, but she didn't know or care who it was as the world went dark.