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-28th of the Last Seed, 4th Era 201-
Two days have past since Rahgol ventured into Dustman's Cairn with Farkas to retrieve the fragment of Wuthrad as part of a trail to prove himself to be in the Companions. Despite the Companions only having basic errands for Gral to run, he had managed to keep himself busy by either doing jobs for the Companions, bounties for the guards of Whiterun or helping Eorlund Gray-Mane out with repairing the Companions' equipment or forging items for sale, to which he impressed Eorland with his blacksmith skills and inquired what he knew to make, with Rahgol telling him that he's studied in learning to craft all armours up to Ebony and Glass armour.
Right now, Rahgol was returning to Jorrvaskr with Aela the Huntress, the two having been sent on a joint mission to remove an Ice Wraith from the house of a man named Nazeem.
"I still don't understand why we were sent there in the first place, it's not like the fool lives there or anything." Rahgol complained as the two walked through Whiterun's main gate. "He couldn't have handled the problem himself?"
"Does it really matter? We were paid to get rid of that Wraith and we have. Now, if only someone would pay us to get rid of Nazeem too…" Aela responded, getting a chuckle from Rahgol as the two had found themselves getting quickly annoyed with Nazeem's attitude, particularly his constant boasting about spending time in the Cloud District of Whiterun. Though for Rahgol, it was more of the man not dealing with the problem himself and expecting them to do it.
If there's one thing Rahgol cannot stand, it's someone expecting others to do everything for them.
"Do you know how to contact the Dark Brotherhood? They'll do it quick and clean. No wait, they'll think we're trying to put them out of business." Rahgol said with a smirk, getting a laugh from Aela while a nearby Argonian stiffened at Rahgol's words, but went unnoticed.
However, before their conversation could continue, a guard ran up to them.
"There you are." He panted, bending over to catch his breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Why? Did I break a law?" Rahgol asked sarcastically, getting a look from Aela at his apparent dismissal of any illegal activity he may have done.
"Not to my knowledge, but the Jarl wants to see you immediately." Answered the guard.
"Best not keep him waiting then." Rahgol sighed before he bade Aela goodbye and followed the guard to Dragonsreach. When he arrived, the palace was buzzing with activity, with guards giving out orders and carrying out various tasks, with archers taking up positions on the walls and swordsmen pushing catapults up to the walls.
He entered the palace to see the Jarl on his feet talking to a guard with Irileth and Farengar by his side. The Jarl nodded to Irileth and she left the palace, then Balgruuf noticed Rahgol and waved him over.
"Now, tell him what you told me. About the Dragon." Balgruuf said as Rahgol approached, the dark-haird Nord's eyes widened at the mention of a Dragon and his mind flashed to the black Dragoness at Helgen.
"Uh... that's right." the guard said, looking at Rahgol. "We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen."
"What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?" Balgruuf asked seriously.
The guard shook his head. "No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure." He said, sounding relieved he still had his life.
Balgruuf nodded. "Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." As the guard left, Balgruuf looked at Rahgol. "There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this Dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with Dragons than anyone else here."
'That's an understatement.' Rahgol thought, having more experience with Dragons in a way nobody would expect.
"But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar." Balgruuf continued, getting Rahgol's attention again. " As a token of my esteem, I instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city."
"Can this wait until after I've come back from killing the Dragon? Won't be of much use to me if I die while knowing this." Rahgol said rudely, which got scowls from the nearby guards. Rahgol turned and left as Farengar implored the Jarl to let him go and see this Dragon for himself.
Rahgol made his way out of Dragonsreach and down to the city's main gate, where he found Irileth finishing up on giving a speech to a squad of guards that will be accompnying them to the watchtower before they all headed out of the gate and tore down Whiterun's roads as fast as they could. Since the tower was called the Western Watchtower, they headed down the west road and it wasn't long before the watchtower came into their view.
Signs of an attack were obviously, given parts of the tower had been broken off and were scattered across the ground, and some bits were on fire. There was even some fires still burning on various parts of the watchtower itself. There was some bodies laid out, but there looked to be a few survivors... but a very low amount of them.
"No signs of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here. I know it looks bad, but we've to figure out what happened. And if that dragon is still skulking around somewhere. Spread out and look for survivors. We need to know what we're dealing with." Irileth ordered. The men began to look around the watchtower, and some helped the wounded men. Irileth and Rahgol walked in the middle of the wreckage. They saw a wounded man getting helped up and he looked paranoid.
"No! Get back! It just grabbed Tor and Hroki when they tried to make a break for it." He cried before looking up at the sky. "By the gods, here he comes again!"
The group went quiet as shadow fell over them and all that could be heard was the sound of rushing air and the screaming of two guards as they were carried off into the sky, Rahgol's eyes followed the Dragon's flight path as it rose higher and higher before quickly changing directions and – if he squinted – he could make out two small shapes flying towards the horizon. Turning his attention back to the Dragon, his eyes widened as it flew rapidly towards them.
"Ready your bows!" Irileth barked as the guards took out their bows, stringing them with Steel Arrows and pulling the strings taut, ready to fire them at the command of their Dunmer commander. "FIRE!"
A volley of arrows flew at the Dragon, only to bounce off its scales harmlessly. The Dragon showed its displeasure at the attack by catching a guard in his jaws as he flew over the tower, the poor man's terrified screams quickly cut short by the sickening crunch of bone and metal. It then pulled another quick turn before landing in front of Rahgol, Irileth and the remaining guards.
The Dragon took a deep breath and blew out a torrent of flames, forcing the group to scatter to avoid a fiery death. Rahgol rolled to his feet and took a second to observe his opponent: the Dragon seemed smaller in size than the one he'd met in Helgen but with a bulkier build, his scales were a light shade of grey and his eyes were a light yellow colour, the Dragon also seemed to prefer using its wings as a set of legs, instead of its actual forelegs, indicating that it was perhaps unused to walking on its forelegs.
Unsheathing his two Iron Swords, Rahgol charged at the Dragon, swinging them both into the Dragon's neck with all his might but the swords merely bounced off. The Dragon retaliated by lashing out with its right foreleg, the claws slicing through his Iron armour like hot knives through butter, leaving four deep gashes in his chest and tossing him aside like a ragdoll. The Dragon then opened his jaws to bite Rahgol in half but was distracted by a Lightning Bolt spell from Irileth and another volley of arrows from the guards.
"Motag joor! Hi fent ken dii yol!" The Dragon roared and then shot fire out of it's mouth, intending to burn Irileth and the guards who were quick to scatter and avoid the Dragon's fire, but some guards were not so fortunate and their screams filled the air while the Dragon let out a dark chuckle. "Honaat do marzu ko vaarnufaaz ol nust ag... med lovaas wah dii honiir!"
"Hey asshole!" Rahgol jumped onto the Dragon's back and leaped at it's head, intending to drive his sword into it's head but the blade shattered upon making contact. The Dragon roared and threw Rahgol off, then drove it's teeth into his shoulder which caused him to yell in pain before he was lifted and thrown into a nearbu rock, denting and practically destroying his armour as some of the bits holding it together broke, leaving Rahgol nearly exposed from the waist up, showing the gnashes across his chest and the bite mark in his shoulder.
"You fight valiantly, to honour your courage – however futile it is – I, Mirmulnir, will reward you with a glorious death!" The now named Mirmulnir said as he raised his head to bite Rahgol again. Rahgol went for his other sword but realised that it had been thrown clear when Mirmulnir slashed him the first time, so he quickly focused his magic into his hands and conjured a Greatsword, then thrust it into a softer looking patch of scales between the Dragon's foreleg and underbelly, the blade successfully piercing the scales and eliciting a roar of pain from the Dragon.
"Futile huh? Care to rethink that?" Rahgol asked a little cockily, angering Mirmulnir who grabbed Rahgol's right leg in his jaws, making the dark-haird man's eyes widen. "Oh shit-!" The Dragon threw him into a piece of debris, causing the man to groan in pain and cough up blood before he spat it out of his mouth and onto the grass much to the Dragon's pleasure as it stalked towards him. Rahgol, despite the pain, looked up at him with a bloodied smirk. "That all you got?"
"Kaplii joor. I was going to be merciful and give you a quick, painless death... but now I think I'll draw it out and listen to you scream and beg for death." Mirmulnir growled.
"Oh... go choke on a bone." Rahgol retorted, furthering angering and pissing off Mirmulnir who roared as he took to the sky again, rising higher until he was out of range of the guard's arrows and Irileth's spells.
He took a deep breath and bellowed out three words."YOL TOOR SHUL!"
A cascade of flames emerged from the Dragon's maw and shot towards Rahgol, who could be seen desperately trying to drag himself away but it was obvious to all that he would never make it. "Oh... this is gonna hurt." Rahgol said, bracing himself for the pain and agony that'll follow with being burned before death claims him.
Suddenly, a black blur flew across in front of Rahgol and vanished. Mirmulnir's eyes widened as the flames dissipated and he looked up to see the same black Dragon that had saved Rahgol from execution in Helgen, a very displeased look on her face.
"Th-Thuri? Why are you here?" Mirmulnir asked with fear, but he only got a narrow of eyes from the Dragoness.
"Hi vosotiiv zey, Mirmulnir." The Dragoness said before she sucked in a deep breath and then... "Fus Ro Dah."
The words, though calmly spoken had devastating results: when the phrase was spoken, they generated a blue shockwave that crashed into Mirmulnir with enough force to send him crashing into the ground near where Rahgol was laying, landing on one of his wings with a sickening crunch. The other Dragon landed beside him and placed her right foreleg on his throat and began applying pressure.
"D-Druv? Zu'u lost kovir muldeytorax do faantak!" Mirmulnir choked as the Dragoness put more pressure on his neck, her glare not letting up in the slightest.
"Zu'u gave rinik vahk mindovaat. Pah los wah saraan dii uth!" The Dragoness growled. "Instead, your 'sport' would've had all of Keizaal turned against us, resulting in the delay of my plans!" The Dragoness looked up, noticing her audience and snorting with amusement as they fired arrows and spells at her but they bounced off her harmlessly before she turned her attention onto Rahgol. "This is the second time I've saved you from death. Are we to keep meeting like this?"
"Can't help it. I'm just that type of person. How about the next time, I get some mead and biscuits ready for your arrival?" Rahgol retorted sarcastically but it only drew an amused snort from the Dragoness.
"Ha, you couldn't afford enough biscuits to satisfy me." The Dragoness responded, getting a laugh from Rahgol followed by a complaint about how laughing made his wounds ache.
"So, you got a name? Can't exactly keep calling you the 'female Dragon who saved my life'." Rahgol said as he focused on using Restoration on his various wounds.
"It's rude to demand a name from a woman without introducing yourself, is it not?" The Dragoness retorted, clearly fishing for his name.
"Fair enough." Rahgol grumbled with a grunt of pain. "Rahgol. Rahgol Dinok Krosis."
The Dragoness' eyes narrowed at the name. "We shall see if you are worthy of that name. But, you are not worthy to know my name, so you may call me Thuri – or Master if you prefer – as you joor will soon be reminded of who your true masters are." The Dragoness gave him a savage smile, showing many sharp and pointy teeth. "Hi fen wahl pruzah rez."
"Excuse me?" Rahgol's eyes widened, giving her a disturbed look, but the Dragoness ignored him to return her attention to Mirmulnir.
"I... I was... loyal... and a friend!" The male Dragon choked out. The Dragoness' face softened for a small second, then it hardened again before anyone could really notice the change of expression as she leaned down to her fellow Dragon's ear.
"It's only because of your loyalty that I grant you a quick, swift death rather than draw it out for disobeying me. Nuz hi mindok tol Zu'u dreh ni tholah vothaarn benix dii leyk. Suranmiik fah grik ofolin dahrin." The Dragoness said, before she lunged and sank her teeth into his neck then quickly ripped his throat open and stepped back, watching the life quickly fade from Mirmulnir's eyes as she gave him the quick death she promised. However, her eyes narrowed when his corpse started to glow and make burning noises/ "Oh?"
The soft(er) flesh of the corpse continued to burn and evaporate into orange energy, which changed into blue trails of energy that rushed at Rahgol and flew into him with a rush of wind, somehow closing his wounds in the process. She fixed him with an intrigued stare "You are Dovahkiin? Is that why…?"
"No… No, no, no." Rahgol said, face contorting in horror as the final wisps of energy entered his form "I can't be… This can't... I won't accept it!"
"Do not deny your nature, little joor. It will do you no good." The Dragoness warned, spreading her wings.
"He... he would've told me..." Rahgol muttered, still stunned that he was the Dragonborn.
"Oh, I have no doubt he knew what you were the moment he saw you." The Dragoness said as she prepared to leave, her smirk growing wider and more savage. "I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table, Rahgol."
With that said, she took off with a flap of her wings, leaving the mortals at the tower with more questions than answers.
Arriving at Skuldafn, Alduin landed on one of the broken pillars in the courtyard where she found Odahviing already waiting for her arrival. "Greetings Thuri. I take it Mirmulnir is dead?"
"Of course. Although he made quite a mess before I stepped in." Alduin said, getting an annoyed sigh from Odahviing. "No matter, he actions may work things in our favour as they've allowed me to discover something very vital."
"How? I thought you wished for our return to remain secret until we had amassed enough Dov to defeat the joor's leaders and their armies before they could react to our presence, allowing you seize Keizaal in one swift stroke." Odahviing said, Mirmulnir's actions appearing highly detrimental to their original plans in his eyes.
"True, but the mortals' weapons did not have the effect they wanted when they fought Mirmulnir. Their swords shattered, their arrows bounced off his hide and their spells were like throwing sticks. This will cause them to doubt their abilities to fight us and ideally make them more amenable to accepting our rule." Alduin answered, but narrowed her eyes on seeing Odahviing's doubtful look. "You of all Dov should know that an ideal victory is one with no bloodshed on either side."
"Krongrah vothni moro." Odahviing protested, which earned him an annoyed look from Alduin.
"And an unnecessary war or battle is pure idiocy. For your sake, fahdon, I hope that you will temper your desire for glory with reason, logic and wisdom." Alduin warned, making Odahviing shift nervously before deciding to move on from this topic as he knew it was an argument he would not win.
"Is there any other news?"
"Yes, actually." Alduin said with a pleased look. "Do you remember the mortal who insulted me at the settlement I destroyed upon my return?" Odahviing nodded. "Well, he was there to battle Mirmulnir and this is where I discovered something about him. As it turns out, his name is Rahgol Dinok Krosis and he is..."
"DOVAHKIIN!" Alduin was interrupted by the shout of four voices calling for a Dovahkiin, a shout heard and felt all across Skyrim and leaving the citizens wondering what or who exactly is the Dovahkiin. As for Alduin and Odahviing, the black Dragoness had a very annoyed look on her face.
"Well, there's what I was going to say." She huffed before looking at Odahviing. "Rahgol is the Dovahkiin."
An angered look came across Odahviing's face. "I can have three Dov hunt him down and rip him to pieces before he becomes too much of a threat, Thuri. We shouldn't take chances, after all."
"No." Alduin shook her head. "No, I want to see what he can do. Paarthurnax took him in, raised him and trained him. No doubt he knew what Rahgol was the moment he saw him, helped him learn our language and the 'Way of the Voice', so perhaps that is why his scent was so much stronger and more like a Dov than a regular Dovahkiin. I want to know more. The mortal intrigues me, and as long as he does, he shall remain alive. If he proves to be of use to us... then we may gain ourselves an ally to our cause."
Odahviing blinked. "You... You would have the Dovahkiin align with us?"
"If it can work in our favour." Alduin said.
Odahviing shook his head. "Forgive my bluntness, Thuri, but I still say we should kill him. The last thing we need is another Miraak."
The name of the First Dragonborn gained a dark growl from the Dragoness. "Do not speak that name again, Odahviing. If I play my cards right, then Rahgol will not become anything like him. It is by Father's will that a Dovahkiin and I shall fight and Father never leaves anything to chance. There will be multiple Dovahkiin candidates but Rahgol is the only one that has been revealed thus far and I would prefer a Dovahkiin that I know and can watch to one I know nothing about, if only so I can plan accordingly on how to deal with him. However, there is only one who can tell me what I want to know."
Odahviing's eyes widened, knowing who she meant. "You mean..."
Alduin nodded. "It appears I'll be paying my dear brother a long overdue visit earlier than I expected..."
And I'll end it here. So yeah, Rahgol is revealed to be the Dragonborn before Alduin herself, which has gained her quick attention as she knows what this means. However, she isn't all straight for his death as she thinks he may be of some use to her cause... perhaps possible to convert him to her cause. I've always read stories where Alduin just wants the Dragonborn dead, but never seen that many that has Alduin plan to turn the Dragonborn to his/her side, unless it's a story that starts months in and at the final battle or at the Throat of the World.
And yeah, I'm debating on going a similar route to You Are Mine, Doavhkiin, in having Rahgol join Alduin but with my own touch of course. Still need to work on the ideas that could be planted in Rahgol's mind to turn him to Alduin's side. If anybody wants to help with that, feel free to either PM me or chat with me on Discord.
Dragon Tongue translations:
Motag joor! Hi fent ken dii yol: Annoying mortals! You shall taste my fire!
Honaat do marzu ko vaarnufaaz ol nust ag... med lovaas wah dii honiir!: The sound of mortals screaming as they burn... like music to my ears!
Kaplii joor: Vexing mortal.
Yol Toor Shul: Fire Inferno Sun
Hi vosotiiv zey: You bore me.
D-Druv? Zu'u lost kovir muldeytorax do faantak: W-Why? I was only enjoying a bit of sport.
Zu'u gave rinik vahk mindovaat. Pah los wah saraan dii uth: I gave very simple orders. All are to await my command!
Keizaal: Skyrim
Hi fen wahl pruzah rez: You will make a good pet.
Nuz hi mindok tol Zu'u dreh ni tholah vothaarn benix dii leyk. Suranmiik fah grik ofolin dahrin: But you know that I do not tolerate disobedience among my ranks. Especially for such frivolous reasons.
Krongrah vothni moro: Victory without glory.
Fahdon: Friend.
Miraak: Allegiance Guide