Brelyna POV
After having put Lissandra to bed Lydia finally returned to the throne room, she had been gone for hours now, and Kayci appeared to be going insane with what she wanted to tell her. "Lydia!" she yelled out to her as she returned.
"I almost forgot to tell you, when Resh was here he accidently let it slip that he wanted to make you his Queen," she blurted out in excitement.
Lydia and Brelyna did not seem to share the same joy she did, and replied at the same time, in a weary monotone. "I don't think that's going to happen Kayce…"
"Why does everyone always doubt things like this?" she snapped, getting annoyed at the response from the group. "First Resh now you! can no one actually be happy for once about happy things instead of being so demotivational? what ever happened to finding fun in trivial things? like 'almost' marriages, all the people I've shagged, or Resh's stupid birthmark. Why are we all so serious now, I hate it."
Brelyna sighed. "We're serious because serious things are happening at the moment, and we have no time to get too happy about, and devote all our attention to some silly idea you have about Resh and Lydia."
Kayci scowled. "When he comes back I'm going to make sure we all have a good time, no cynicism, just enjoyment without the serious stuff. Might even make him marry you."
"You mean if he comes back," Lydia snorted, knowing full well that even if he did return it'd be doubtful he'd want to marry her.
Kayci eyes went wide at the offhanded joke, and she started to panic. "You don't think Resh will live?! I've got to save him!"
A few moments of silence passed and Kayci got her answer, and got off her throne to leave, only for Brelyna to quickly stop. "Kayci," she interrupted. "I'm sure he'll be fine, sure it's dangerous for him, but he knows how to fight. Besides, you can't go and help, no one will look after the kingdom."
Another long pause took place as Kayci thought about things, Brelyna desperately hoping she sees reason. "Sure I can!" the Tsaesci shouted before lifting up the surprised Dunmer and planting her down on the throne. "You will, new 'Queen of the Reach', have fun! bye!"
"No!" Brelyna shouted as she watched the woman dash off out of the door. "Resh said I couldn't make decisions!"
"I don't think she's coming back…" Lydia muttered. "I guess you'll be staying in charge then. Don't worry, I think he'll understand."
The new mage Queen looked at her in disbelief. "No he won't! he'll fucking kill me, or at the very least not forgive me and try to keep me away from Kayce! he made that much clear."
Lydia was stumped. "Well then… maybe you'll just have to be a mute for the next few weeks? I wonder how that will go…"
Kayci POV
Her tail hurt, all her muscles hurt, everything hurt. 'Fucking burns,' Kayci thought to herself, the damn things nearly debilitated her in daily life, so it was stupid what she was doing, even if it was to save her friend it still didn't stop her body screaming at her to stop travelling as fast as she could to the big mountain.
She had turned to her Tsaesci form the moment she left the city so as not to scare citizens, despite this it didn't speed her up too much, she was a similar height when a snake as to her Nordic appearance, so she only went a bit faster than usual. But that was still necessary.
It would be extremely difficult, but if she carried on at this pace, barely stopping, she should be able to reach the mountain in a few days, with any luck she'd catch Resh before he did anything by himself. Not like she'd be able to do anything though, all she would want to do is sleep for a few days straight, and take loads and loads of potions to keep her muscles from bleeding and tissue tearing.
"What the fuck is that!?" Kayci heard shouted, interrupting her from her thoughts. She smirked when she saw a terrified bandit run from the bushes to his wooden keep.
Apparently though he was the only one who had seen her when she heard one of the other snap back at him. "Shut the fuck up you idiot! now get back to patrol, we're running low on valuables, and you are meant to be a highwayman! not some idiot who gets scared by the forest!"
Thieves… Kayci hated them, they each deserved nothing but death for taking belongings from those who had actually earned and deserved their things. Glancing over and knowing even in her tired and injured state she could win, Kayci decided to turn around. 'I guess I can take a minor detour…'
Resh POV Three Days Later
It had taken him long enough but Resh had finally decided to go up to the monastery, he had left a few weeks ago, so walked the whole way, clearing out any bandit scumbag groups he saw along the way and taking scenic paths to pass the time.
Despite the ring he still had to resist the cold the main reason, other than being too lazy to climb a mountain and talk to some old people and a dragon, for not having done this sooner was having to endure the feeling. It may have kept him from feeling it, but he still didn't like the snow.
Fortunately, or in many ways unfortunately, Resh was able to ignore the feeling as he reached to top. Too preoccupied with the growing knowledge of the extreme danger he was in, or more horribly the fact sooner or later all this Dragonborn stuff was going to crop up again.
Staying there for as short a time as possible Resh quickly found out from Arngeir what he had to do. There may have been benefits to the old monks, like how he could be around them in his true form and they didn't care but he'd rather avoid them, not wanting to listen to them talk in riddles. So Resh got him to get to the point in a minute rather than have some infuriating conversation about how he was really the Dragonborn and needed to accept it.
It turned out all he apparently needed to do to read the Scroll was go to the top of the mountain to where that Dragon lived and open it there. He sensed there was likely more to it he didn't know, but the less time he was around the monks the better, the chances of them mentioning his Dragon Soul was a lot slimmer when he wasn't around them.
Wasting as little time as possible Resh headed straight to the top, ignoring all that was around him determined to get this done. he barely even noticed the huge dragon to is right as he walked right up to the spot where he needed to read the thing.
"You have it. The Kel - the Elder Scroll. Tiid kreh... qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then. Fulfill your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."
Resh ground his teeth at it's words, hating the disgusting creature with every syllable it said, were it up to him he'd slit the things neck right here, but there was no time if that 'Alduin' was to be here soon.
Pulling open the scroll the light blinded him, bringing back horrible memories about what Elenwen had done shortly after using the scroll on him, he staggered back with a yell, but couldn't stop looking as the light turned red and his eyes could focus on what appeared on the parchment.
The scroll cut out all bad memories as he watched the scene unfold. Three bold warriors were facing off against Alduin in what looked like the end of the world with fire pouring from the skies and the land looking ruined.
Despite looking bleak for the trio as the dragon god could easily melt them where they stood they remained confident. Suddenly Alduin took to the skies, only to have the three shout after him, three dragon words, 'Joor Zaah Frul', disgusting language it was, it reminded him of the horror which they tried to say he way.
The imagery ended at that, and Resh looked away blinking to regain proper focus. Only to see the very monster in the scroll right in front of him. Resh jumped out of the way of the dragons face preemptively expecting a burst of flames, and heard Paarthurnax roar. "Lost funt. You are too late Alduin! Dovahkiin! Use Dragonrend, if you know it!"
"No!" Resh shouted back at him. He would never debase himself, with such grotesque words. He wasn't who they wanted him to be, and never will be! death would be a better alternative than being something so horrible than a dragon!
Not a second later the cover he hid behind was gone, completely destroyed, along with all the snow, trees, and a lot of the rock in the dragon's path. Alduins power was so immense the fires heat turned a good portion of the rock molten, burning Resh leg, making him cry out in pain.
The 'good' dragon intercepted this time, stopping a second assault and granting Resh some time by slashing at the evil dragon god with his claws, doing no damage, but distracting him none the less while Resh ran to some other cover and tried blasting Alduin with some magic, doing nothing. "Dovahkiin, vosaraan! Use Dragonrend before Alduin consumes you!" he begged, but the pleas fell upon deaf ears.
Spell after spell, shout after shout, slash after slash, the two together were doing nothing but losing less and less space to hide from the attacks. It was a losing fight unless Resh shouted, and they both knew it. But Resh still stayed silent. "He is too strong on the wing! Bring him to gol with Dragonrend!"
Resh would've told him to 'shut up' before hiding again but something caught his eye. Kayci had somehow gotten here, and was coming to the top of the mountain! "Kayci, go away you idiot!" he screamed.
She didn't listen however and climbed up to his level, standing by his side, that is before collapsing after the pain of all the travelling. She was awake, but just too tired to actually help him, Resh hated her sometimes, she basically just signed her own death warrant offering no help.
He was about to say something to her but was cut off when he saw Paarthurnax taken out of the sky by the larger dragon. Alduin had grabbed the old dragon by the wings and bitten into his shoulder, before dropping him down the cliff face. Letting out one last roar before falling Paarthurnax said. "Use Dragonrend! It is the only chance to defeat him!"
"I am not going to fall that low!" he cried out running to the other side of the mountain top to lure Alduin from his friend. Having to dodge another burst of flame in the process, and barely avoiding it.
Alduin flew straight upwards, high into the sky away from them, preparing for another attack from above. As he did so Kayci said something he couldn't make out. "What!?" he asked as loudly as he could, knowing his impending doom was inevitable. But even worse knowing Kayci's last words to him would probably be hating him for being a disgusting dragon after having been reminded of it by that Paarthurnax. Sighing, Resh resigned himself to that fate, of all the ways to die, this was the worst, burned to a crisp by a dragon and ready to be cast aside by family.
"Just do it Resh! I don't care that you're Dragonborn, you're still my best friend!" Kayci screamed at him completely unexpectantly, as Alduin swooped down for another breath to scorch the area, no doubt it would kill them both without Paarthurnax to intervene, and with all the cover having melted away. His eyes flashed with insanity as she saw he was still restraining himself from saying it even at what she told him. "DO IT NOW!"
Resh wanted to not listen, to shut her out and ignore her madness, but he had no choice, so did the first thing that came naturally to him. "JOOR ZAH FRUL!"
Kayci POV
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth the dragon was enveloped in a blueish magic, dragging it from the sky until it crashed into the rocks, shattering a large chunk of stone from the mountaintop all around the surroundings.
Resh seemed just as shocked as she did with the way he was standing there, this dragon power seemed to be pretty strong indeed, although chances are he still wouldn't be fond of it. She understood it was all some big issue, and she hated the dragons as much as he did, but he might as well use some of their magic against them.
A few moments went by before Resh decided to run over, it was a shame she was so tired from all the running her or she would have been able to see what happened, but alas all she could hear was Resh's lightning magic being fired repeatedly, and the breaths of fire from Alduin. On the plus side she felt Resh was winning, otherwise the crackling of magic would have stopped and the slashing sound from his sword would've been gone too.
Suddenly Kayci heard a yell from across the fog, and winced in response. It seemed Resh had taken a hit, fortunately it wasn't serious as not long after she saw the dragon launch into the air and fly away from danger, decidedly not about to swoop down for another assault. Resh must have won otherwise it would have came back for her.
Groaning in pain Kayci pushed herself from the ground, it was difficult, but a minute or two of using her worn out muscles again and she was back to normal in no time, jogging over happily to where her best friend the victor against dragons lay.
Apparently he had taken a gash to the arm but wasn't really particularly injured, that shout thing really helped him out. Like her he seemed to be worn out too, so was lying back in the snow trying to recuperate. Kayci had no time for that however, and wanted to get going so she could see Brelyna again.
"It's just a little scratch," Kayci laughed, trying to pull him up but to no avail due to his vast size and weight; also how he tried batting her away in jest when she brushed is cut. "Gods, take it like a man."
Visibly cringing at his friends words he pushed her away to stand up on his own, snapping at her. "Don't say that to me, I'm fine."
Looking at him oddly his friend asked. "You okay Resh? that was a little harsh, it was just a joke."
"I don't care," he hissed, trying to get her to drop it.
"You obviously do care Resh, so don't lie to me," she replied, annoyed at his unreasonable tone. "I make jokes like this all the time and you're usually fine."
Resh glared at her. "I am fine," a pointed looked from Kayci though caused him to sigh and tell the truth. "Ugh, okay, I'm not 'fine'. It's just kind of what… Elenwen said to me when she… well, I'd rather you just not say it."
"Oooh, okay, I'm sorry," she replied awkwardly. To be honest Kayci thought it was a bit of an overreaction at only a few words, she had managed to go almost a century without acting out, so it seemed that he was being a little dramatic. But she didn't want to upset her oldest friend, so kept quiet about that, and made a note not to say things to that effect again. She wouldn't want to have bad memories like that herself.
Breaking the fallen silence Resh sighed just wanting to get all this over and done with. "Go back to Markarth now. Just let me finish all this myself, I guess I just need to find out how to get to Alduin."
"I'm staying with you Resh, once we discover where to find this big pussy of a dragon we can go back to Markarth, where, I'm going to say this now, but you will forgive Brelyna. But I won't be staying, I'm not letting you leave me out on something as big as this, the wenches will be singing stories about how I saved the world, not just you," she laughed, brightening the mood as ever, Resh didn't know how she did it, but he loved it.
"We'll see about that… but yeah, I guess we should ask around, I don't want to have to talk to that fucking dragon though, so let's find Arngeir," Resh muttered, gesturing to the dragon that had just finished flying back to the top of the mountain and landing on the word wall.
"Okay…" Kayci said slowly, not shortly before she quickly shoved him to the ground and shouting. "I bet I can get there before you!"
'So childish...' Resh thought. 'I am never helping her have a kid seeing as it'll mature before her.'
Brelyna POV
She knew it was wrong, and that Resh would have her head for it, but Brelyna really didn't have any other choice. Regardless of his views of her someone needed to watch over the kingdom, it couldn't be Lydia who had loads on her plate, or anyone he didn't know, like the steward, so after a few days of constant questions she gave in.
Although not being sure whether or not he would be angry, Brelyna felt her leadership was for the greater good. It was necessary even if he didn't see it, if there wasn't a leader the place would be a ruin, so he should really be thanking her.
From that day on the Dark Elf had been making decisions left and right, of course trying to stick to Resh's mentality, but with some of her own added, she was sure once he got back he'd be pleased with the results, almost all of the Dwemer ruins had been cleared out, only some of the deeper catacombs were left. As well as this a lot of the Forsworn attacks had died down so what he'd said seemed to have worked.
This was all until he got back however… at first she didn't even notice his arrival seeing as Kayci more or less jumped her on the throne, if the guards didn't know what Kayci looked like they probably would've assumed she was an assassin and not the temporary queens lover.
As usual instead of starting a conversation with words Kayci started smothering the woman with affection, she'd only been gone a week so apparently Kayci was pretty dependant of her. Laughing Brelyna took off the Jarls old circlet and placed it onto her girlfriends head. "And now for my latest order of business, welcome back Queen, lets see if you do as good a job as me." she smirked.
No sooner that she had said that Resh strode into the room, a pissed off look plastered onto face. "And welcome back King," Kayci laughed, chucking the golden headgear across the room to him. Brelyna had assumed he'd continued going on without Kayci, but apparently not, and with his frown Brelyna was convinced he could go crazy and kill her for disobeying.
"I asked one thing of you, all I asked is that you don't take over, and I would forgive you for what you wanted to do to Kayce, but you failed that." Resh growled as he glared at her, inciting a look of fear in the Dunmer. He would've probably told her to get out and leave forever, although looking over at Kayci's pleading face he sighed.
"But, Kayci seems to love you, you didn't really have another choice but to be in charge," he told them, before smirking. "And, if Kayci can forgive me for being something as awful as the dragonborn, I guess I can overlook things just this once."