Chapter 3
Lylaia was stunned, "Dragon Born? What do you mean?" Hircine responded, 'Technically any man on Nirn could slay a dragon, with enough strength, but dragons are immortal creatures which means they will be resurrected if their soul lives on. The Dragon Born can absorb that soul and destroy the dragon for good.' Lylaia looked over at Leon and he was shouting to the guards. 'You have to make sure Leon is the one to land the killing blow, otherwise the dragon will be reborn' Hircine's voice was fading and Lylaia knew she was running out of time. "Got it" she nodded.
"Got what?" Leon cocked an eyebrow as a burning chunk of wood flew past him.
Lylaia shrugged, "Never mind. We have to kill this dragon, how are the guards doing?"
Leon sighed, "They seem to be wounding it, but it's still doing a lot of damage to the town. If we don't help there might not be a town to come back to."
Lylaia nodded and slapped an arrow onto her bow string. The tip was ebony and sharp as a fang. "I'm going to try to hit it in the face. I think it might stun the creature, and if you can get in a hit that would be nice as well." She stood up and her shoulder against the wall. Lylaia took a slow, deep breath and whipped out from behind the corner to loose an arrow that hit straight on the iris of the dragon's right eye. It reeled back and screeched with fury.
"Nice shot!" Leon grinned and stood up.
Lylaia sighed exasperatedly as the dragon's head came back down to roar fire upon two guards who screamed with agony for a short period. The dragon turned to see her and blood oozed down its face. Lylaia grabbed another arrow and aimed for its other eye. When she shot it dodged easily and blew fire at her. She ducked back behind the cover of the building and noticed Leon was no longer there. She looked around wildly, "Leon?"
"Kinda busy!" he called from behind her where the dragon was. Lylaia looked out from behind the building to see him slashing a few toes off of its feet.
"No, no! Leon you have to hit its belly, or its face!" Lylaia called. The dragon screeched and swiped at the Dragonborn, sending him flying into the Whiterun gates. He slid to the ground and his axe fell to the ground. Blood flowed from between the cracks in his cuirass.
"Hell…" Lylaia sighed and pulled out a small black vial from her quiver. She took an arrow and dipped the tip in the dark red liquid. She put the vial away and aimed steadily at the large serpent. Lylaia shot the arrow and landed a hit on the dragon's neck, more specifically the jugular vein. "That oughta do it…" she muttered while slinging her bow back over her shoulder.
The dragon fell to the ground and writhed in pain while roaring uncontrollably. It spasmed and quivered before finally releasing a final breath and falling dead. Lylaia ran over to where Leon was lying unconsciously, "Hey. Warrior, get up" she called and tapped him lightly on the cheek. His eyes opened slowly.
He groaned in pain, "Ugh…" Suddenly a wisp of light seemed to fade into his armor. "What the…" he touched his cuirass as if to check for cracks. Another small beam seemed to wind its way in the same direction until a wave followed shortly. Lylaia turned around and gasped to see the dragon disintegrating into thin air. The bones were left intact but the flesh was peeling off as if it were burning paper. A wind of light flew off from the dragon and seemed to glow brighter as it grew closer to Leon. It swirled around him in a frenzy then disappeared into his armor.
Lylaia's eyes were wide and the town was speechless for a minute after the phenomenon. "What in Oblivion…?" she murmured. Leon stood up and winced with pain from his wound.
A guard dropped his sword and pointed a shaky hand at the two, "D-D-Dragonborn! He is the Dragonborn!"
One of the other guards shook his head like the man was crazy, "Uri, what are you talking about?"
The man nodded, "That boy is the Dragonborn! You just saw it, didn't you? He absorbed that dragon's soul!"
Leon cocked an eyebrow, "What? Dragonborn? Are you crazy."
Lylaia sighed, "He's right Leon." The guard looked confused but nodded as well.
Leon turned his gaze to her, "Not you too. Did you guys drink some crazy juice? The Dragonborn is a myth…"
Lylaia shook her head and walked towards the guard, "Inform the Jarl that he needs to clean this up… please?" The guard nodded and shakily picked up his weapon before leading all of the other guards up towards the long house. She turned back to Leon, "I'll take care of your wounds, but we need to get out of Whiterun before I can explain this to you."
Leon cocked an eyebrow, "Wait, wait, wait! I have a feeling you haven't been honest the whole time we've known each other."
Lylaia smirked, "What gave it away?" She grabbed his axe and walked east of the gate.
Leon looked confused, "Where are you going?"
"Isn't there a way out of the city using the water ways?" Lylaia asked simply.
Leon nodded and pointed towards a grate, "Yea sure, but those bars are in the way."
Lylaia sighed and grabbed a scroll from her quiver she unrolled it and murmured the small chant to place a fire rune right under the bars. "What's that gonna do?" Leon rolled his eyes.
Lylaia chuckled and threw one of her small knives at the rune causing a small explosion. The bottom half of the bars was blown clean off and they could crouch and walk under them with no problem. "Just don't touch the ends of the bars, probably really hot" she walked under them, still carrying Leon's axe. He nodded and followed, still holding a firm hand on his bleeding mid-section.
When they were free of the city Lylaia followed the path out of town occasionally stopping to help Leon regain his breath. After about an hour of walking they were clear out of sight of Whiterun. Lylaia stopped and sat down on a large boulder. "What? Why are we stopping now?" Leon looked around as if searching for danger.
Lylaia sighed, "I told you I would explain the incident with the dragon, didn't I?"
Leon nodded, "Yes. I'd like to know what the hell you mean by 'I'm the Dragonborn' and also what you really want with me?"
Lylaia took her bow and quiver off and set them on the ground calmly. "I know you are the Dragonborn because my master told me so."
Leon scoffed, "Your master? Are you a slave now?"
Lylaia nodded, "I am a slave to my master, but not to anyone else."
Leon had an angry blaze in his eyes, "And who is this master of yours to tell me that I am the thing of legends?"
Lylaia pulled up the leather sleeve on her right arm to reveal a large black marking in the shape of a wolf's head. The markings were intricate tribal shapes that created the image and stood out among her pale skin. Leon's eyebrows were raised, "What the hell is that?"
Lylaia pulled the sleeve back down, "That is the mark of Hircine; the Daedric God of The Hunt. I serve him loyally."
Leon's eyes widened and he stifled laughter. "So, you're one of those crazy Daedra worshippers? Oh Gods, I almost trusted you there for a second!"
Lylaia glared at him, "I could leave you here to die in the woods, would you like that Mr. Stryde?"
Leon grimaced, "I know how to treat a wound. I don't need you to help me."
Lylaia grinned, "Lucky for you, I've led you to a Saber-tooth infested part of the forest. I'll be taking your weapon and then you can walk back to Whiterun." She got up and grabbed her bow and quiver.
When she reached for the axe Leon held up a bloody hand, "Wait! I… I didn't mean that."
Lylaia smirked, "Good. Now let me heal you while I explain some other things." She took a large white vial out of her quiver with a deep green liquid. She removed the breast plate of his cuirass and saw the huge gash the dragon had clawed into his flesh. "tsk, tsk tsk. Didn't you ever learn not to leave your chest open?" Lylaia chuckled but applied the ointment to his wound. He flinched and hissed with pain a little but sat still. "Thank you for holding up Dragonborn. I've had to deal with worse."
"So why don't you explain a little?" Leon sighed.
Lylaia nodded, "So, as I was saying, I serve my master, Hircine. He told me that you were the Dragonborn and so I figured something like this would happen."
Leon rolled his eyes, "Well that's all fine and dandy but why did he tell you to come find me?"
Lylaia laughed a little, "He didn't tell me to 'come and find you' he told me to kill you."
Leon's eyes widened, "What the hell?!"
Lylaia cocked an eyebrow, "Does it looks like I'm going to kill you? He told me last night that you were off limits because of future events."
Leon shook his head in confusion, "Future events? So someday I'm gonna help him out or something?"
Lylaia shrugged, "In a way… I guess. You are a highly ranked member of The Companions which means sooner or later you'll join the inner circle and be blessed with The Beast Blood."
Leon gaped at her, "The what now?"
"The Beast Blood! Pay attention Leon. It means you'll be blessed by Hircine with a ferocious transformation." Lylaia said closing the vial and putting it back into her quiver.
"That makes no sense… wait are you saying that I'll be… a werewolf?" Leon was staring off into space with a worried look on his face.
Lylaia stared at him mordantly, "No, you'll turn into a cute little bunny during the full moon."
Leon shook his head, "No… No that won't happen! Why would I ever want to be a werewolf?"
Lylaia shrugged, "Not only do you receive immense power and gratitude from my master, you are granted his hunting grounds as an eternal afterlife."
Leon scoffed, "I'd much prefer to spend my days in Savngarde with the rest of my kin."
Lylaia grinned, "That's the thing. Once you receive the beast blood, the other werewolves and Hircine are your kin. Along with all the predators of Skyrim."
Leon glared at her, "I'd rather burn in oblivion than spend my days hunting with a Daedra."
Lylaia grabbed a knife from her belt and held it against his neck before he could draw two breaths. "You speak ill of my master, you speak ill of me. I would not hesitate to leave you here."
Leon was looking down at the blade's hilt, "I don't think there's need for that."
Lylaia withdrew the blade and placed it back in a small sheath on her belt, "Good. Now get up. We have to be moving if we're going to find some place to sleep for the night."
Leon cocked an eyebrow, "Why not just go back to Whiterun?"
Lylaia shrugged and motioned with her hand back down the path, "You may limp back to your mead hall, but I am moving on to the next city and from there you could always catch a carriage. Although I wouldn't recommend them for their timing…"
Leon sighed, "Fine. But the closest town to Whiterun is Riverwood."
Lylaia shook her head, "They won't have sufficient shops to supply us. I travel light. Besides, I took us West from Whiterun."
Leon nodded and looked up while he thought, "So that leaves us with… Rorikstead. But that's at least a day's walk from Whiterun."
Lylaia nodded and picked up his battle axe, "Then put one foot in front of the other because the sun's almost at midday height and we need to get there before dusk."