Anger

Aela rushed off to Jorrvaskr to get the other Companions, leaving Aila on her own. She hugged herself, desperately trying to stop her flow of tears, with some amount of success. I'll be fine, Aila said to herself. There's a dragon attacking, but I'll be fine. There are guards. They'll kill it. Aila heard a roar a ways away. The sound made her shiver. Aela and the others too. They'll kill it, I don't need to go anywhere near it. So for reasons she would never be able to understand, Aila ran toward it.

The dragon was just outside the walls. She saw it flying around, diving at the guards that were surrounding it. They all had their bows out and were firing at it, but the arrows bounded off it's scales harmlessly. Aim for its wings! Aila thought. The dragon spewed fire on the group of guards. Aila heard many of them scream and fall to the ground dead, joining the others that were already there. They're going to die. Aila realized. They weren't prepared. Even if they were, they were fighting a dragon. Most of them likely doubted dragons really even existed until this moment.

Aila felt someone touch her shoulder and she spun around, pulling out her dagger. She lowered her hand and sighed in relief when she saw it was only Aela. A number of the other Companions were with her. "You should head back inside," Aela said. "It's too dangerous out here for you.

"Aela, do you think you can kill that dragon?" Aila asked.

"Of course! We'll drive that beast into-"

"The truth."

Aela was silent for a moment. She looked over to the dragon. It had just torn a guard apart with it's claws. "I don't know. Truthfully, Aila, I'm scared. I've never even seen a dragon before, I don't know if I can kill one."

"That's what I thought." Aila looked at the dragon, thinking. It breathed fire, killing more guards. "This is too much," she said. Aela looked at her questioningly. "This is all too much, too fast. And it's all his fault. If it wasn't for him that dragon wouldn't even be here." Aila's fear gave in to anger.

Aela was lost. "What are you on about, Aila?"

Aila ignored her. She grabbed her bow and darted toward the dragon. This is all his fault. He keeps meddling with my life. I hate him. He nearly killed Kathryn and me before, and now he's doing the same thing. She nocked an arrow and aimed at the flying figure. I hate him.

"SU!"

The dragon's attention was pulled away form the guards around it and directly to her. It roared and turned to fly in her direction. Aila fired arrow after arrow at it. Some missed, some just bounced off its scaled, but many pierced its wings, as she had hoped. The dragon roared again and staggered through the air. With its wings filled with holes, it came crashing to the ground. Aila neared upon it just as it was regaining its balance. It was making an odd noise that almost sounded like laughter. "Pruzah thu'um," it said to her. "Your voice is strong for one so small. Perhaps Thuri will make use of you after all."

Aila tightened her grip on her bow. She nocked an arrow and aimed at its head. "I want nothing to do with your master."

"Dez. That is not a decision to be made by you." It opened its mouth. To roar, to breathe fire, or maybe just to talk some more, it didn't matter. Aila felt an anger in her, so much so that it burned away her fear, and the dragon had just given her and opening.

She shot the arrow directly into its throat. The dragon roared in pain. It looked at her and tried to bite her, but Aila was too fast for it. She dived forward, landing just beneath the dragon. Looking up at its underbelly, Aila noticed that its scales were much thinner than the rest. She grabbed her dagger and thrust it between the scales. The dragon cried out and tried to fly away. It made it a few feet before crashing back down. Aila heard it growling. "Ruth Strun Bah! Curse you mortals and your qiilaanne."

Aila stayed put and watched as the dragon vainly tried again to fly. She looked for another weak point, a spot she could exploit, but she found none. The only ones seemed to be its mouth and its underbelly. She went to a nearby dead guard and grabbed the sword that was near him. When she turned back to the dragon, she aw it engaged with several other warriors. Aela had decided to join the fight.

Before she could be relieved for their help, she saw that they weren't actually helping at all. As skilled of warriors they might be, they had no idea how to fight a dragon, even less so than Aila. Their swords were uselessly clanging against its scales, and action that did little more than annoy the dragon. It responded by lifting up its head and speaking a word.

Aila saw it coming. She tried to warn them, yelled at them to get out of the way, but none of them heard her. The dragon let out a spout of fire, aimed at the Companions. Most of them did manage to move out of the way in time. A couple, however, weren't so lucky, and Aela was one of them. She received the least of it, only singing her arm as she dived out of the way. Athis, the Dark Elf, too it head on. No mater how heat-resistant a Dark Elf may be, no one could survive an attack like that, and Athis was no exception.

Aila didn't know Athis well, but that didn't stop her rage from intensifying as she heard his screams. She ran toward the dragon, sword and dagger in hand, taking advantage of its distraction. She tried to hit it from behind and take it by surprise, but unfortunately, the dragon noticed her coming. It beat its great wings, not to fly, but to hover. It turned itself around and reached out with its claws, trying to grab her. Aila jumped back just before she was ensnared, but not before one of its talons managed to dig into her side. Aila cried out, falling to her knees. But at the same time, she saw an opportunity. One she wasn't likely to see again.

She ignored her pain as best she could and picked herself up, and threw herself at the dragon. The sword went in first, as it was longer, and when the dagger went in, she dragged it across the dragon's underbelly. Blood came pouring out of the wounds she had created, covering her hands. The dragon was reeling in pain. Its roars were deafening. Aila pulled her dagger back out, leaving the sword. She jumped away from it before it fell on top of her and watched its life fade away. She clutched her side, waiting to see if that strange event would happen again. Sure enough, the dead dragon started to burn inexplicably. A light began radiating from it, enveloping Aila. But this time, she felt different. The relief she felt last time didn't come. Her wound wasn't healing. As the light faded, and all of Aila's anger taken out on the now-dead dragon, her fear began to return. Not of the dragon, but of her wound. Why didn't it heal me like last time. It hurt. A lot. She pressed on it with her hands, trying to stop the flow of blood. She heard people surrounding her, murmuring.

"Dragonborn!"

"But I thought Damon was the Dragonborn."

"You saw her, she must be."

Aila saw Aela emerge from the crowd, holding on to her burned arm. "Aila..." she said. "I... I don't believe it..."

"Stupid," Aila said weakly. "You should have just..." Her vision began to blur. "Stayed... away..." She blacked out.