Chapter 6: Dovahkiin
"Yes yes, but could you hurry up?" Vincent was getting impatient with his new friend or rather follower.
The blue cat stumbled a bit, tripping over his new boots. Inigo, after being locked up without a single rag to cover himself, has grown unaccustomed to armour. Not his armour, for after Vincent freed the guy, it turned out he didn't have anything to wear as he asked the guards to get rid of it. So he gave Vincent his necklace, saying it ought to cover the costs of a simple outfit, and kindly asked him to procure some clothing for him. 'Well, if I'm going to have a follower, might as well keep him alive; I seem to have gained a new ability of attracting trouble lately' Vince thought.
As it turned out, the necklace didn't cover all the costs so Vincent was forced to pay up from the 50 gold coins that he brought with him and was left with a mere 15. Just enough for a carriage back. Anyhow, his new bipedal cat friend now proudly wore a Crimson Archer outfit; a thick grey tunic with overlapping belts and pockets, the shoulders being covered in red coloured leather and studded for better protection. The sleeves, which were just as thick reached down to his gloves. Further down, his trousers, red in colour and upheld by about 4 belts for reasons unknown, reached down and were tucked into a pair of fine leather boots lined with iron pieces. Inigo now looked every bit like a scoundrel.
"Forgive me, my friend. This new outfit itches my fur, and frankly, something tells me that it was made with human anatomy in mind" was Inigo's response.
The queasy smile Inigo could give somehow lessened Vince's frustration and he relaxed. Finally he sighed, "Fine, but please, can you refit it on the carriage? I would like to get to Whiterun as soon as possible."
They left through the city gate, Vincent gave the corrupt guard a glare, and approached the carriage driver. Vincent held out the purse with his last fifteen Septims and asked for a drive back to the Capital of White Hold for him and Inigo.
"Sorry lad, but that will only cover the expense for one of you" the driver replied and Vincent's heart sank.
"What do you mean? Surely it makes no difference whether you have one or two persons on your carriage" Vincent did not what to have to spend more time in this town than necessary, at least not if it was in order to work and make some income. He despised physical work.
But the driver was adamant that two people means two fees.
Vincent was at a loss for a second but then shook it off himself and turned back to the city. Confused, Inigo followed and asked "What do you want to do?"
"It seems I'll have to talk to one of the people who run this city and see if my friend's name means enough around here for me to make some connection"
Still, Inigo didn't understand the purpose of connections. "How would the Jarl of Riften be of any help right now? Surely she can't force the man to take you to Whiterun for half the price"
A smile crept up Vincent's cheeks, "No no no. You misinterpreted what I meant. I was talking of the people who run the city from behind the scenes, this is Riften afterall, the home of Skyrim's branch of the Thieves Guild."
Inigo's eyes widened "You would deal with such vermin?"
Vincent stopped in his track and sharply turned to Inigo. "They are not vermin. Yes they live in the Ratway sewers", he quickly added, knowing that this was why people often thought lowly of the Guild, "but they are people with connections and money. And money and connections are power. Learn this Inigo; friends with power are good friends to have and are far from being vermin." He then turned away from his companion and continued walking to the marketplace.
It didn't take long to locate the person he was looking for. This Brynjolf was quite a popular figure around here. People recognized him and his stall with the Miracle Falmer Blood Elixir. So Vincent walked up to him. "Say friend, you look like you are quite the smart man."
Brynjolf in turn laid eyes on Vincent and smirked. "And you lad look like your purse could do with extra weight."
'Bingo' thought Vince, 'definitely a Thief of the Guild.'
Nonetheless, he kept up him facade of friendliness. "True, I do happen to need some more finance." He leaned on the stall, facing the entire market and without looking at his interlocutor continued speaking. "Say, would a good friend of Jose lend me some money in good faith?"
At this Brynjolf looked at Vincent, shocked. "You know Jose?"
Vincent, without looking at him still replied, "Why of course I do," now he looked at Brynjolf, "influential people tend to know influential people as a rule of thumb. And as it happens, I believe that you owe him a favour for when he saved your life by breaking you out of prison the day before you were destined for the chopping block. You could pay for my carriage to Whiterun and I'll consider your debt to Jose clear."
"Hold on now there lad," Brynjolf began, "I owe a favour to Jose, not you. Why would I pay for your carriage?"
"Of course, but then again, Jose owes me a favour too. I'll write a letter to him telling him that I'm letting him off if he lets you off once you pay for my transport." Vince turned to the Guild representative. "So, wouldn't you call that a fair trade?"
Eventually, Brynjolf gave in, but not before they went to the nearest courier and he saw Vince actually write out the letter to Jose. And on their way out Vince added that he might want to swap out the guy by the gate for someone more competent.
The weather was not cooperative and so their drive took almost two days.
Stepping into Dragonsreach felt good, especially since one could practically feel the awe emanating from Inigo. The Jarl however and his personal Dunmer bodyguard didn't seem to be in such a wonderful mood as he.
The closer Vince got to the pair, the more he could hear and the more he became distraught. He couldn't believe what they were saying...
"It was faster than anything I've ever seen" reported the guard.
"Good job son, get a rest. Irileth, gather your men and go to the western watchtower. Find that dragon if its still there" said Balgruuf.
Vincent walked up to the Jarl slowly with the letter from Laila Law Giver in his hand as Irileth was headed for the outside. "My Jarl, I have the note from the Jarl of Riften, they'll be sending fish soon."The Jarl looked at him and to Vincent's horror the Jarl's eyes lit up.
"Vincent, you were at Helgen yes? You have more experience with dragons than any of us here"
A shiver travelled down his spine but he still managed a weak smile. "Well, that would be akin to saying that if I survived a siege so I must have some greater expertise with them." Vince gulped, "Its not exactly how it wor-"
"We need your help." Balgruuf interrupted him. "I would ask of you to go with Irileth and her men to the watchtower."
Vincent looked to Inigo for help but none came.
Outside the City, Half an Hour Later
"So you survived an attack from a massive fire breathing lizard?" inquired Inigo. "That is amazing, sounds so thrilling! What was it like?" Unlike everyone else who were approaching to the smoking tower, Inigo seemed giddy at the prospect of combating a dragon.
Irileth on the other hand was quite serious about this, though in Vincent's opinion not as frightened as she ought to be. None of these people knew the hell that a dragon could unleash.
"Inigo, this is no laughing matter," he whispered harshly as some of the soldiers went inside the ruins of the tower, "if you haven't yet heard correctly, that dragon had single handedly slaughtered a battalion of troops in a fortified village. I have no desire to relive this nightmare."
Inigo looked like he was going to reply with some other witty remark, but a petrified soldier ran out of the tower dragging the men that came with them, screaming something about "it may come back any second".
A roar tore through the skies. Vincent froze. The frantic soldier broke down into hysteria, "Kynareth save us, here it comes again!"
Slowly turning to the mountains that housed Bleak Falls Barrow, Vince saw a humongous winged beast ascend above the clouds before re-emerging and gliding down towards them; its next prey.
Instinctively, Vincent dragged Inigo behind a slab of a broken wall and cast Oakflesh on himself before turning to his companion. "Listen Inigo, stay away from that thing, attack from a distance with your bow."
The dragon swooped right over their head and the wind from its wings made the two stagger. Looking up Vincent saw the dragon perching itself on another slab of the broken wall. It was not the same dragon as the one in Helgen, which wasn't much consolation as it meant that there are indeed multiple dragons around Skyrim and not just one.
This one was bronze in colour, slimmer and taller. It wrapped its tail around the stone and reared it head and took in a breath. Though it wasn't looking at them, Vincent was still familiar and terrified of what was to come next. The dragon spat a spout of fire and incinerated three guards, one of whom was foolish enough to believe that protecting himself with a wooden shield would help preserve him.
With the corner of his eyes, Vince saw Inigo draw on the string of his ebony bow, a deathly grey ebony arrow knocked and ready to deliver death. Following suit, Vincent readied a lightning bolt spell in both hands and along with his companion they started assaulting the reptile with a barrage of rapid strikes. Unlike the ungodly abomination from Helgen, this dragon seemed to notice and... wince?... Was this one feeling the pain from their attacks?
There was no time to wander about than now. It looked straight at them with pure hatred in its eyes and prepared a new set of flames for them. "Yol...!"
Inigo was already behind the stone, whereas Vince barely made it and his left arm was singed. Looking at the burnt cloth, Vince noticed that his Oakflesh shield was charred and hurt like hell. 'Figures that oakflesh wouldn't work well against fire' he thought grimly.
Summoning a healing spell in his left arm, he started healing it slowly, though it was a slower process as the injuries hindered the flow of magicka in that arm. Yet before he fully treated his ailments, the dragon swooped onto the their stone wall piece and Vince staggered. Turning around, he saw the dragon head launching itself at him, aiming to bite him in half of those jaws would latch onto him. Vince barely managed to dodge and draw Elegance and for the first time in year, he swung it erratically. He managed scratch the dragon's eye and the beast took off into the skies, though it didn't leave.
Vincent's knees felt weak and Inigo barely ran up to him in time to catch his comrade.
First Vince looked at Inigo then at the dragon that decided to land amid the Nord soldiers and was cutting through them like butter; first he would club two against a fragment of a wall with its tail, then fling one with his wing. Once poor soul had the beast teeth clamp down on their torso and the dragon shook their body violently before chucking it aside. The corpse was in shreds. Some were smarter than others. Two archers placed themselves on the stairs to the tower and fired arrows incessantly.
The dragon remained undeterred. It shouted "Yor Tor Shul!" and a burst of flame was hurled at the two archers. Only three guards remained, Irileth and Vicne and Inigo. Irileth charged the dragon in righteous fury, aiming for its wings, having initial success and cutting through the right one sufficiently so that the beast was unable to fly off properly. However, her victory was short lived; the dragon too assaulted her with righteous fury for this impulence on her side. How dare she try to take his flight?
Soon Irileth found herself pressed against a wall without her sword and no magicka left.
The dragon was about to deliver the killing blow until a black arrow found its way into the dragon's nostril. It roared in pain, leaving Irileth alone and turning to the source of its ire; Inigo and Vincent. It rushed, lumbered towards the two beings it decided will be the first to be devoured by him once he was finished here.
It breathed in, this time Vincent prepared himself and raised a Steadfast Ward and placed himself in front of Inigo and took the brunt of the fiery onslaught. However, Vincent could feel the magicka leaving him slowly. Two more spells and his reserves will be depleted.
The dragon was no close enough to attack them and lurched forward savagely, trying to tear them apart. Inigo being more nimble managed to roll out of the way, Vincent got caught on the dragon's head horns and was tossed away several feet. Inigo got the dragon's attention after slicing at its neck with his ebony sword.
In the meantime, Vincent was able to, whilst still pained and curled on the ground, cast the last strands of healing light. He stood up and picked up Elegance and rushed to the dragon.
Inigo attempted to stab at the dragon's mouth but the beast foresaw this and bit down on the sword, and pushed the hilt back into Inigo who got knocked on the ground with his breath pushed out of him. Before he could get up, Inigo's chest was covered with the dragon's paw, immense pressure pushing onto his chest, stopping him from breathing. The dragon loomed above him, wicked smile plastered on its maw. It took great delight in seeing his prey squirming beneath him. The beast lowered its head, its row of fangs at full display before Inigo's face and at that point Inigo understood Vincent's apprehension towards dragons.
The dragon's chest rumbled and whispered "Yol..." and great heat started emanating from its jaws.
However, before the death came, the dragon's pained shrieks filled Inigo's sensitive ears. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a dragon flailing around. A steel rod, no... Elegance protruding from its eye. It was now rubbing its head on the ground, trying to displace the infernal sword from its cranium but it made it worse. Its breaths became ragged and it stopped its tantrum.
It gazed one last time at the man who brought this fate upon it; Vincent was standing right next to Inigo and stared right back into the beast's eyes with a mixture of paralyzing fear and determination to survive.
With its last strength, the dragon stood up on its hind legs and roared into the skies before collapsing onto the ground. Vince and Inigo absorbed the sight of the mighty monster splayed out dead in front of them.
To their further hock, as if today wasn't entertaining enough, the dragon's body was engulfed in golden flames and strange magicks started flying out of it to... Vince!
Both men could only watch as Vince devoured the odd energy, leaving only dragon bones in place of the once mighty beast.
However, Vincent felt a rush of energy and it was overwhelming. He'd never felt so alive! So awake! Every sense became insanely more acute and all colours became more vibrant. A new level of understanding passed through his head and stopped at Fus. Force.
Impulsively, Vince shouted out "Fus!" with all his might and a blue burst of energy escaped his throat, being unleashed into the havens above.\
As quickly as it came however, this feeling disappeared and Vincent returned to his normal cognitive state. Everyone had gathered around him, Inigo was at a loss of words, the guards were in awe, Irileth looked at him with distrust. One of the guards walked up to him and proclaimed "You just devoured a dragons soul and shouted! Like the heroes of old!"
Vincent could barely comprehend what was being said to him, he still felt dizzy. This must looked like disbelief to the guard who continued convincing everyone.
"Just like the legends say, just like Talos himself; you are Dragonborn!"
So that's that. I really hope you enjoyed the fight scene, I tried to keep it as game-related as possible whilst at the same time adding my own little twists and realism to it.
Also, I hadn't asked before but what do you guys think of the story's pacing? Too fast, too slow? Should I make time skips greater or more common?
Again, let me regurgitate this mantra: please favorite, follow and review!
See you next week!