A/N: 4 followers and 3 favourites! Thank you! Remember to participate in the poll on my profile to vote whether Talos should battle Janice by next Monday (Sunday if you are in either continents of America)!
All characters, place settings and other items belong to their respective copyright holders, Bethesda Games Studios/Bethesda Softworks LLC./ZeniMax Media Inc.. Characters that does not appear in the original content of The Elder Scrolls (OC, or original character) that bears, but not limited to, a name similar to other popular story character names and/or character behaviour and attitude are purely coincidental.
Chapter 10: Little Whelp
[Arena, 10 a.m. Janice third-person POV]
"Oh! Welcome to the Arena, Your Majesty. My name is Armrod. Are you here to watch the matches or challenge the Arena?" A burly Redguard at the entrance to the Arena called out to the Empress in white Daedric armour.
I think I should spectate these battles before lunch, see what kind of competition I am up against. Janice thought. "Alright, can I sign up for the afternoon matches? I want to spectate the morning matches." Janice told the Redguard.
"No problem, Your Majesty." Armrod said as he gave Janice a ticket and asked her to sign up for the Arena.
Sitting down at the VIP box of the stands, Janice had a clear view of the battles to come. For one, she notices that there were two teams, Red and Blue. Red was the current favourite of the crowd, Janice, however, was rooting for Blue as she had signed up for the Blue team.
Two warriors stepped out onto the battlefield. The Blue team sent out a heavily armoured Orc while the Red team sent out a lightly armoured Dark Elf. The Orc was wielding an orcish warhammer and the Dunmer had two elven daggers. "Your Majesty, since you are in the Arena, you have the honour of starting the fight." An attendant assigned to work in the VIP box said to the warrior Khajiit.
"What do I have to do?" Janice asked the attendant.
"Just shout 'begin', Your Majesty." The attendant answered.
"Alright, begin!" Janice shouted from her seat.
The heavily armoured Orc tried to hit the nimble Dark Elf, swinging his warhammer around himself in a defensive pattern so that he may land a lucky strike when the Dunmer gets close.
Watching in boredom, Janice thought, these guys are a bunch of whelps! Especially the Blue team, no wonder the Blue team is struggling. No matter, team loyalty isn't my concern, I just want a good fight!
Soon, the Orc managed to land a hit on the Dark Elf's head, knocking him back a few feet, blood trickling down his head. Raising his hammer, the Orc seems to be waiting for a signal. "Your Majesty, you have the honour of choosing whether the defeated lives or dies. Just give a thumbs up for life or thumbs down for death." The attendant politely told Janice.
Not replying, Janice immediately put her thumb down, indicating a kill. I'm bored of this fight, the Dark Elf should have proved an interesting fight considering his training. He is beaten by an Orc who does know how to strategize! Janice thought as the Orc flatten the Dark Elf's head.
"Next up, we have a special fight! Two of the Empress's personal guards are here to settle a dispute!" The announcer sounded from somewhere.
Janice's eyes shot into interest in an instant when she heard the announcement. Only two of my housecarls have a dispute with each other! It can't possibly be Jordis and Calder, could it? I hope not, Jordis isn't called the Sword Maiden for nothing. Janice thought.
Unfortunately for her, it was Jordis and Calder stepping into the ring, Jordis from the Red team and Calder from the Blue team. Jordis was wearing an Imperial heavy armour set complete with the kite shield and Calder was wearing his Stormcloak Officer's armour set from when he was in the army. Luckily for him, he had quit when Ulfric got captured or he would have been killed by Janice.
Pulling out their respective weapons given to them by Janice, a Daedric sword for Jordis and a Dragonbone Greatsword for Calder, they awaited Janice's signal to begin. "Begin, I guess… Good luck Calder." Janice shouted, cumulating into a whisper at the last part.
"For the Imperial Legion!" Jordis shouted as she charged with her shield up.
"For the Stormcloaks!" Calder shouted as he prepared himself for a strike against the nord woman.
Oh for my sake! The Stormcloaks are gone! Janice thought as she saw Calder swinging his mighty sword down on Jordis' shield.
Jordis didn't flinch from the impact, instead, she immediately deflected the sword that was still close away from her before swiping at Calder. Calder managed to dodge the counterattack in time and managed to turn the deflection to his advantage. Rotating his body, he put his full strength into the attack as he jumped at the last second, bringing his sword down on the nord woman with a battlecry. Unphased, Jordis quickly sidestepped and brought her sword down onto Calder's exposed back.
Knocking the wind out of the bear pelt wearing housecarl, Calder tried to get up, but was pinned down by one of Jordis' feet. Managing to remove the foot before defeat was declared, he manages to roll out of the way of a sword swipe from the furious female.
Not caring about defense anymore, Jordis brought out a second sword1, a Dragonbone sword. Spinning rapidly to apply more force to her strikes, she quickly dispatches a series of attacks in rapid succession. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Calder quickly brought his sword up to block the series of strikes.
The clashing and clanging of swords had the crowd on the edge of their seats, wanting to know if Calder would slip up and get hit by Jordis' furious attacks.
Jordis, seeing that attacking head on is futile, quickly stop and dashed backwards, equipping her shield again. Seeing his chance, Calder quickly charged towards the other nord, sword raised above his head and shouting a battlecry like a barbarian. As Calder brought his sword down vertically, Jordis quickly kneeled with her shield above her, blocking the attack while giving her a small window to strike at Calder's right knee.
Almost shattering the joint, Jordis quickly withdrew her sword to prevent further injury, not wanting to harm a crucial member of the team. Though, deep inside her heart, she knew that wasn't the only reason.
Falling on his side, Calder managed to continue fighting, swinging and blocking with his sword as Jordis tries to take him out for a defeat verdict. Seeing that attacking head on is futile again, Jordis employed a defensive stance, kneeling so that the shield protects her entire body.
Calder, not daring to fall for another one of Jordis' trap, crawled to within his striking distance, not getting any closer to Jordis'. Swinging his sword sideways with a hand, he managed to knock the shield away. Seeing his window, he quickly threw a dagger into the nord's thigh.
Taking the injury, Jordis quickly checked that her thigh was alright as she repositioned her shield, sticking it deeper into the dirt for a more secure anchor. Seeing this, Calder starts to worry at what the Imperial supporter had planned as he saw Jordis bringing out a dagger of her own.
Seeing that her opponent is unable to get away fast enough, Jordis threw the dagger into the man's right shoulder, earning a pained shout from the former Stormcloak. Pulling out Calder's dagger from her thigh, she threw the bloody dagger into the owner's other shoulder, effectively disabling him from using his hands for fighting.
Standing up wobbly, she limped over to the injured nord, waiting for her Empress' signal to end the fight. I hope she would not command me to kill him… Jordis thought in concern.
Janice, snapping from her trance seeing how well Jordis had fought and had taken an unnecessary trip down memory lane, quickly opted for the man to live, eliciting a heavy sigh from the secret lover.
Jordis picked up the man and straddled his arm around her as they both limped from the battlefield towards the exit.
Seeing that no interesting battles are going happen for the next hour before lunch, she asked the attendant to give her a list of all the Grand Champions of the Arena. Hmm, interesting, most of these people are Khajiits or had been a Dark Brotherhood member. I wonder why? Janice thought as she went through the list, the earliest Grand Champions being first on the list.
Getting to the last page, she saw a name being scrawled out and replace by a 'Sheogorath'. Sheogorath?! One of the Grand Champions was a Daedric Prince?! Janice thought in surprise before seeing the date of the entry. Fifth of Hearthfire 4E 1, eh? I remembered Sheogorath going on about the Oblivion crisis when I met him in that blasted mind of Palagius Septim III. So the Champion of Cyrodiil had become the Daedric Prince of Madness… Well then, as his Champion and another great hero of Tamriel, I might want to go talk to him at his shrine here in Cyrodiil sometime soon. Janice thought.
She went down the list to the current Grand Champion, eyes widening in shock at the name. Jane Septimus! That is my mother's name, the surname that she used to hide the real one! What is she doing here? No wonder she asked me to challenge the Arena. This should be a good battle. Janice thought cunningly as she issued another kill order.
[After lunch, 1 p.m.. Arena, Blue team HQ, Janice third-person POV]
Getting everything ready, she made sure that she had more of her weapons on her just in case she got disarmed. Right now, she is carrying her usual set of weapons as well as two unenchanted Daedric Swords, two unenchanted Dragonbone Swords, The Longhammer, The Mace of Molag Bal, Zephyr, an enchanted Daedric battleaxe, several Dragonbone daggers for throwing, Chillrend as a second compliment to Ghostblade, Dawnbreaker to fight necromancers as magic is allowed, a full enchanted set of Stalhrim weapons and an enhanced crossbow as well as its steel bolts. "Umm… Isn't this a bit too much for the first half of the matches you are going to go up against?" Alduin asked as she inspected the pile.
"Oh right! I almost forgot my poisons and potions! Thanks for reminding me." Janice said as she quickly dashed out to collect her poisons and potions.
"That isn't what I meant!" Alduin yelled as she flew after her sister.
[Line break]
Derkeethus shifted uncomfortably in his seat in the VIP box, not entirely sure he should be watching his wife kill a bunch of people in rapid succession. Knowing her, she would probably have no trouble dispatching the small timers that are sent first into the series of matches.
"This afternoon, we have the greatest honour of witnessing Her Majesty fight in the Arena! Today would be a day to remember as an Empress participates in the Arena for the first time!" The announcer shouted in excitement. "First up, an Orc!"
Dropping her cloak, Janice stepped into the Arena from the Blue team's gate, Ghostblade and Spellbreaker in hand as always. She was met with the wild cheers of the audience while the dazed Orc got none.
"Begin!" Derkeethus called out.
Seeing her first opponent is going to be a slow one, Janice quickly dashed at the Orc, boosting her speed with Whirlwind Sprint. Before the Orc could even react, Janice drove her Ghostblade into the Orc's gut, silently commenting that the armour was poorly made.
This continued for several rounds, Janice quickly killing anyone who couldn't react fast enough to her speed.
"Her Majesty's combat skills are impressive! But how would she do against a mage?!" The announcer shouted in excitement.
Soon after that, a High Elf wearing some light armour stepped out into battlefield.
As soon as the signal was given, Janice had to roll out of the line of fire as several Incinerate spells hit her last location. Continuing her rolling, Janice got ready her own spell in her right hand and a ward in the other. As soon as she stopped, kneeled down as it were, she quickly put up her ward and fired back.
Cartwheeling, the High Elf nimbly dodged the barrage of Fireballs that was exploding around her. Fast one, I would give her that much, Janice thought.
Still with her ward up, Janice uncorked a potion of regeneration that she had made herself. This should keep me from getting injured during this maneuver. She thought as she drank the potion.
Quickly putting down her ward, she started to charge the Lightning Storm master spell, ignoring the feeble spells that weren't hurting her due to the potion. Finishing her charging, she shot the beam at the shocked High Elf, almost managing to disintegrate her for not Janice's memory of not killing the opponent unless given the order. The High Elf slumped over from being fried, drawing incredibly short breaths.
"Woah! That looks incredibly nasty! Would the Emperor let her live and suffer or let her die quickly?" The announcer quickly said.
Derkeethus quickly issued a kill order out of pity.
[Line break]
At the end of the day, Janice had quickly worked her way up into the Champion tiers, retiring to her room for a quick rest.
Remembering that she wanted to meet Sheogorath, she went out onto the balcony that she had ordered the builders to expand on and transformed. Lifting off, she flew in the direction of Sheogorath's shrine, thankful that she had received a map of Cyrodiil with all the locations marked out for her.
[At Sheogorath's shrine]
Landing, she transformed and walked to the statue, not minding the other people staring at her.
Offering the Wabbajack to the statue, a telepathic voice sounded in her head, "So, if it isn't my Champion! What brings you to my shrine? Perhaps to seek a spell to turn stuff into cheese? Or maybe you want to journey through another madman's mind?"
"Sheogorath?" Janice asked around. "I am not going to do any of that, I just want to talk to you, you know, hero to hero, Arena Champion to Arena Champion, Listener to Listener." Janice whispered the last part softly with a harsh tone, not wanting any sane person that was there hear her.
"Oh fine! You were no fun anyway." Sheogorath telepathed before teleporting Janice into his throne room. He was wearing the same outfit that he had worn when Janice had saw him inside Palagius' mind.
"Where am I?" Janice asked as she notice the change in scenery.
"You were summoned to the Shivering Isles by my master, Sheogorath. I am Haskill, his right hand man." Haskill said with a bow to the Empress.
"Hello there, Your Majesty." Sheogorath greeted the Khajiit. "You wanted to talk didn't you? Well, talk!"
"Right, anyway, I notice that you were a past Grand Champion of the Arena? How did that happen? How did you enter as a Daedric Prince?" Janice asked the Mad God.
"Oh, that was before my predecessor turned into Jyggalag! I changed my name in the register after I got the title!" Sheogorath answered.
"So, what are your other accomplishments, besides saving Cyrodiil from Mehrunes' Dagon?" Janice asked.
"Oh, I was the GuildMaster of the Fighters and Thieves Guild. I am sure you already knew about me being the Dark Brotherhood's Listener too. I also became a Divine Crusader for the Nine!" Sheogorath answered.
"I see, well, that is all I wanted to know, is there anything you want to tell me, seeing that I am here?" Janice asked the Mad God.
"Oh, yes actually. I am planning to return to the Arena to challenge you! I was never defeated in the Arena, so I became a sort of Ex-Grand Champion after I quit. I was allowed to return at any time I wish!" Sheogorath exclaimed in excitement.
"How am I going to defeat a Daedric Prince?" Janice thought aloud.
"Oh, that is simple, just use that dragon power of yours!" Sheogorath answered.
"Why are you telling me how to defeat you?" Janice asked, a little surprised that the Mad God is telling her how to defeat him.
"What makes you think I am going to make it easy?" Sheogorath shot back, his hero mentality coming back to him.
"Alright, fine. What are the conditions?" Janice asked the Mad God, knowing full well that he could be unreasonable.
"If I win, I will turn you into cheese and make your husband eat you! If you win, well, I don't know." Sheogorath answered.
"How about you serve me?" Janice told the Daedric Prince.
"Me, a Daedric Lord serving a mere mortal? Unthinkable. I like it!" Sheogorath answered.
"Right, so would you let me go back already?" Janice asked.
"Right, right, see you soon!" Sheogorath said as he teleported Janice back to where she was.
[Arena, Blue team HQ, 8:30 a.m. Janice third-person POV]
"So, are you ready to fight your own mother?" Alduin asked Janice.
"You know that she technically isn't." Janice replied.
"Still, she is YOUR body's mother." Alduin shot back.
"Right, though I really guess I should still call her 'mother', after all, she took care of me." Janice said reluctantly. "You know, since the temple event, I really don't know who to call my parents."
"Just remember who gave birth to you, our father just gave us our souls." Alduin told the Khajiit in white Daedric armour. For some reason, the Arena manager had allowed the use of the individual's armour just for this special occasion.
"Alright, what else do I know about my mother? I knew that she is sneaky, so I have to look out for sneak attacks, I know that she could have studied with the Greybeards for the knowledge on how to use shouts, I believe she heard me use Dragonrend, so I definitely have to watch out for that now that I am a dragon. She might be a werewolf, after all, I spilled quite a lot of blood in Saarthal fighting that invincible draugr before Tolfdir managed to subdue it's power. It is possible that she drank the blood I spilled during the encounter since I was still a werewolf. I have to watch out for the possible use of Dragonbane since I did not see it on my weapon racks this morning, not that I care about the weapon though." Janice carefully listed the possibilities that could surface during the fight.
"You do know that Dragonrend only effects your flight capabilities, right?" Alduin told the Khajiit who is now checking her weapons.
"But it made you weak! Since we share the same powers, wouldn't that be true too?" Janice exclaimed.
"I guess you are right, just make sure you have a ward up." Alduin suggested.
"With Spellbreaker, I don't think that is a problem." Janice replied.
"Alright, let's see here, I still can carry a few more weapons other than what I had yesterday, so I guess I want a silver sword that I looted from the Silver Hands just in case she is a werewolf." Janice mumbled as she packed her weapons.
"You might want to take a health siphoning weapon too." Alduin suggested.
"Right, I will carry more potions too. I don't think I will need any other poisons other than the paralysis ones, don't want to kill my mother immediately." Janice mumbled to herself again.
Going through her inventory again, she now have her usual set of weapons (Ghostblade, Daedric Greatsword named Silencer, Daedric Bow, Mehrunes' Razor, Valdr's Lucky Dagger, Poacher's Axe and Notched Pickaxe), the previous set of weapons she brought with her into the Arena yesterday (two unenchanted Daedric Swords, two unenchanted Dragonbone Swords, The Longhammer, The Mace of Molag Bal, Zephyr, an enchanted Daedric battleaxe, several Dragonbone daggers, Chillrend, Dawnbreaker, a full enchanted set of Stalhrim weapons and an enhanced crossbow), a silver sword she got from a Silver Hand and the Daedric Sword of Vampire General Tullius had given her when they confronted Ulfric.
"Who knew the general likes Daedric weapons?" Alduin commented to nobody.
"Everybody likes Daedric weapons, they are second to Dragonbone weapons after all." Janice answered. "Now, why don't you go and spectate with Derkeethus? This battle is going to be interesting."
"You sure you don't want to bring some extra shields just in case your mother does the whole Telekinesis trick that you can do?" Alduin suggested as she lifts off from the table where Janice was sorting out her inventory.
"Right, that is why I had craft several Daedric shields when you were sleeping." Janice said as she brought out a stack of black and red shields.
"Wouldn't the Imperial shields be better? They have more surface area." Alduin suggested.
"But they are made from wood! How can something made from wood block strong attacks?" Janice complained. "That is why I give my housecarls something much stronger, like Dragonbone shields. The only reason why Jordis managed to get away with it was because Calder isn't as strong as some of the draugrs in those ruins!"
"Right, go have fun now. I will see you soon." Alduin said to the Khajiit as she puts on her helmet and remove the cloak she was wearing.
[9 a.m., Arena battlefield Janice third-person POV]
"Today is a very special occasion indeed! Today, the Empress is going to face off against Jane Sep-. Umm… Hold on... I have just been told by the Empress' pet dragon that the Grand Champion is not Jane Septimus, but Jane Septim, the Empress' mother! This is going to be a very interesting battle indeed! In other Arena news, the Arena manager had saw fit to let the contestants battle it out in their own armours for today! What will Her Majesty be wearing? What will Her Highness be wearing? Time will tell!" The announcer shouted to the fully packed stadium.
"Entering from the Blue corner is none other than our beloved Empress, Janice Septim!" The announcer shouted as Janice walked onto the battlefield, hand waving to the ecstatic crowd. "In the Red corner, our current Grand Champion and the mother of Her Majesty, Jane Septim!" The announcer announced again as Jane stepped onto the battlefield, hand waving to the cheers of some loyal fans.
"It looks like you are gaining popularity!" Jane shouted to Janice with a Dragonscale gloved hand.
"I would never have expected you to have a Dragonscale set, mom!" Janice shouted back.
"And I would never have expected my child to be one of Akatosh's first borns!" Jane shouted at the white and red figure.
Not hearing the conversation over the cheering crowds and from the high position the VIP box is, Derkeethus blindly gave the signal to begin.
Quickly putting her shield up, Janice managed to block the incredibly fast strike her mother had produced using Dragonbane with both hands. "Cheater! I thought you always told me not to cheat!" Janice exclaimed as she blocks the subsequent attacks.
"There is no cheating when I am just using an advantage over you, great dragon." Jane said calmly as she retreats with Whirlwind Sprint.
Not letting her mother go that easily, Janice brought out Chillrend as she dashed towards her mother. Seeing this, Jane used Unrelenting Force to kick a cloud of dust up and quickly hide. Using both her swords, Janice slice through the dust cloud to find her mother is no longer there.
"Where might I be, I wonder?" Jane's voice echoed throughout the quiet Arena, the crowds holding the breaths in anticipation.
Not wanting to be caught off guard, Janice quickly used Telekinesis on her shields to form a wall around her. "Attack me if you can, mother." Janice calmly replied as she walked into the middle of the Arena.
"Oh, that will be delightful!" Jane chuckled as a blur from within Janice's shield wall appeared.
Nearly caught off guard by the surprise, Janice narrowly parried a sword strike from her once invisible mother. Not the least bit surprised, Jane swung her other sword, Dragonbane, into Janice's waist.
Shooting up from the pain, Janice quickly used Telekinesis on the blades and threw them out of reach as the shield wall collapses. Luckily for her, the armour protected her from the blow, but she was crippled slightly by the enchantment. "Lucky hit… Mom!" Janice said as she shrugged off the effects, the enchantments on her armour quickly healing the injury.
Nimbly cartwheeling away, Jane retrieved both swords and charged towards the recovering Empress. Seeing this, Janice quickly put up a vertical straight wall of shields between her and her mother.
Almost expecting this, Jane quickly ran up the shield wall and jumped down behind her child. "You got to do better!" Jane exclaimed as she slashed her other sword across the Empress' back.
Feeling the blow, Janice quickly pulled the shields backwards and sent one hurtling towards her mother. Having no time to react, Jane was hit by the fast moving shield. Eyes wide in horror, Jane witness the wall quickly approaching. Seeing as she can't move out of the way, she braced herself for impact.
With a loud crash, Jane got herself flatten and pinned to the wall by the shield. "Ow…" She groaned as Janice approached with caution.
Not wanting to get beaten that easily, Jane managed to get a hand free from being clamped down. She tries to pry herself off the wall, the shield not relenting its grip.
Janice brought out The Longhammer and brutally smacked the shield, seemingly to add more pain from being crushed.
Needing extra strength, Jane finally relents and transforms into a werewolf, knocking the shield out of Janice's hold at the same time. Not surprised, Janice pulled out the Silver sword she had prepared. "Looks like we have witness a secret! What other secrets could the royal family hold?" The announcer exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh now dear, what did I just said about cheating?" The werewolf said to Janice, eyeing the silver sword.
"It never is cheating if I am just using an advantage." Janice repeated.
"You learn well, little whelp." The werewolf said before charging.
"I was never a whelp when I joined the Companions! Vilkas nearly died when he tested me!" Janice shouted as she charged.
"Don't deny it!" Jane the werewolf said as she smacked the charging Khajiit into a wall with a swipe.
"So that is how you want to play it, eh? Fine then!" Janice said as she broke free from the indent in the wall and transforms into her white dragon form.
"I have been waiting for this!" Jane said as she transforms back into a Khajiit, quickly putting on her armour and hoping no one saw her.
"What a ni-" The announcer started before Janice roasted him with a small fire attack.
"How do you have such control over your transformation?" Janice asked as she turned her head back to the battlefield.
"I practiced, now, ready to fight, dragon?" Jane answered nonchalantly as she brought out Dragonbane.
Not replying, Janice quickly tried to roast her mother with a full blast fire breath.
Conjuring up a ward, Jane blocked most of it as she prepared to shout the words Janice had used against countless dragons before. To her surprise, the ward broke midway and she was subjected to the intense inferno, the only protection now being the fire resistance she had enchanted into the armour.
Taking it fully, Jane was largely burnt, but her wounds are healing quickly due to her healing spell. Breaking halfway as the flamethrower ended, she quickly shouted the words at the dragon, the blue aura enveloping the dragon fully. "ARGHHH!" Janice roared as she felt the magic cripple her.
Not fully incapacitated, Janice shouted Dragonrend back, hoping that Dragonrend effects not just the body, but the soul. With relief, she witness her mother fell to ground, twitching from the attack like she is, groaning even more from the unhealed injuries. "Looks like when found a stalemate situation," Janice manages to blurt out. "Ready to give up?"
"You know that us Dragonborns are to be Dragonslayers!" Jane managed to shout out. "That includes slaying you!"
"You don't possibly intent on killing your own child?" Janice exclaimed in surprise.
"No, you are far too important. And besides, your role is a good one." Jane answered as she tries to resist the effects to heal herself.
"Right, shall we continue?" Janice said as she got up, having recovered from the effects.
"You are great in combat, but let's see how well you do with magic!" Jane said as she summoned two storm atronachs.
"You dare challenge an Archmage?" Janice roared as she puts up a ward with all her daedric shields forming a wall behind it, her giant dragon head poking through the tops slightly to give her some sight.
"Precisely," Jane yelled as she cast Telekinesis on her only two weapons.
"Going for the Telekinesis trick, eh? Good." Janice muttered in a deep draconic voice as she use Telekinesis on half of her weapons and arrows, except her the bows and crossbow of course. "Think two weapons is enough? Think again." Janice said in an intimidating voice as she levitated half of all her melee weapons to the front of the shield wall, the arrows forming a cloud above herself.
"Two is more than enough," Jane yelled as she commanded the daedra summons to start attacking the ward.
Throwing herself forwards, she willed the swords to start knocking away the weapons as she dodge the occasional arrow. Not wanting to lose ground, Janice held the weapons firmly as she orders half of them to retaliate against the two swords while the others kill the atronachs.
The sound of clashing and clanging of weapons could be heard throughout the city that day, a testament of how much strength the two family members are putting into the sword fight.
Knowing that trying to delay the white dragon's attacks by keeping the weapons busy is next to useless, she quickly sent Dragonbane through the ward and over the shield, all the while using her other sword to stop it from being knocked away. Quickly, she vertically stabbed the dragon in the back, eliciting a sharp roar of pain as Janice broke concentration. Seeing that was her chance, she quickly commanded the arrows before it falls onto the wavering dragon. Moving the arrows to her side, she didn't notice that Janice had poured a bottle of poison on a Dragonbone sword that was now hurtling towards her at almost the speed of sound.
"ARGHH!" Jane cried in pain as the sword went through her left thigh, the paralysis poison immediately stopped her from moving.
The arrows that were above her head, were now falling towards her. Janice was in no position to command that many arrows with a sword sapping her powers stuck in her back, and could only watch and hope that the arrows would miss vital organs.
"Ow! Ow!" Cried the Khajiit mother as arrows pierce the thin Dragonscale armour, she was unable to dodge due to the poison.
Not wanting to see her mother die, Janice summoned whatever power she can and used a healing spell to help close the wounds on her mother.
"What is this? The Empress helping her foe? What is she planning? Is she taunting her, or does she want to prolong the challenge?" The announcer, seemingly having recovered, shouted.
Using Telekinesis next, Janice manages to pull Dragonbane out of her back, feeling relieved as her powers comes back. Transforming, she went over to the still paralyzed Khajiit, sword in hand to retaliate against surprise attacks.
When the mother didn't get up, she looked towards Derkeethus, hoping that he would not want her to kill her own mother.
Fortunately for her, the Argonian immediately gave the signal for her mother to live, immediately running off from the box towards the battlefield.
Helping her mother up, Janice said, "So, what have you been hiding?"
Replying in a tired tone, Jane said, "Can we discuss this over some lunch?"
"Sure," Janice said as they made for the exit.
Before they could make it out though, a bolt of lightning struck the area in front of the two Dragonborns. A hysterical laughter and the unmistakable voice of Sheogorath followed, "I am back to challenge the new Grand Champion!"
As Derkeethus managed to make his way to the two Khajiits, the figure of Sheogorath in his Daedric armour stepped out of a portal.
A/N: Remember to favourite and follow if you like this story as well as wanting to see more of it! Remember to review to tell me what you don't like and like about this story! I need to know if I am going to far away from what you guys like! Also, remember to participate in the pool on my profile page!
1. I know housecarls can't dual wield, but it is just game mechanics, not lore.