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-25th of the Last Seed, 4th Era 201-
Two days have passed since Rahgol's trial for the Companions and him officially becoming a member. Despite the Companions only having basic errands for Rahgol 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. Currently, 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.
"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.
"Careful now, we wouldn't want the Dark Brotherhood or Morag Tong to think we're trying to put them out of business now, would we?" Rahgol replied with a smirk, getting a laugh out of Aela and causing a nearby Argonian to stiffen slightly at his words, though neither of the two Companions noticed. 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? Have I broken a law?" Asked Rahgol, getting a glare from Aela at his apparent dismissal of any illegal activity he may have done.
"Not to my knowledge, the Jarl wants to see you immediately" answered the guard.
"Well, I'd better not keep him waiting then." Rahgol said and bade Aela goodbye as he headed off towards 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, the Jarl watched her go before he saw Rahgol and waved him over.
"Again, tell him what you told me." The Jarl commanded the guard when Rahgol got to him.
"Yes, my Jarl." Said the guard, bowing to him before turning to Rahgol. "We saw a Dragon coming from the south. It was fast, faster than anything I've ever seen. When I left it was just circling over the watchtower. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure."
Rahgol's eyes narrowed in thought. "It hunts for sport." he said, gaining confused looks. "No man can outrun a Dragon unless the Dragon itself allows it's prey to run off. This is a game to this one, it enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Probabaly knows that to let one prey get away and inform others means more will come to fight it.
"Go to the barracks and get some food and rest, soldier. You've earned it." The Jarl told the guard before turning to Rahgol. "I'm afraid 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 than anyone else here regarding Dragons…"
"If you call being thrown through the roof of an building experience." Rahgol interjected but was ignored by the Jarl.
"But I haven't forgotten your previous deeds for my city." The Jarl continued on. "As a token of my esteem, I have instructed Avenicci that you are now allowed to purchase property in the city."
"Can't this wait until AFTER I've come back from fighting this Dragon? The right to purchase property won't do me much good if the whole Hold is burned down by a giant flying lizard, will it?" Rahgol deadpanned, earning himself a scowl from the nearby guards as he turned and left, absently noting that Farengar was attempting to convince the Jarl to allow him to join the fight against the Dragon.
He continued out of Dragonsreach to Whiterun's main gate where he met Irileth, who had just finished giving a speech to a squad of guards and they all headed out of the gate and tore down Whiterun's roads as fast as they could.
The watchtower soon came into view as they ran down the roads, and Rahgol could see quite a bit of damage had been done thus far as parts of the tower had been destroyed, fires burning in various places. Rahgol and Irileth looked at each other before sprinting towards the tower. Upon arriving, they were greeted by a frantic looking guard.
"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 and took out bows, stringing them with Steel Arrows and pulling the strings taut, ready to fire them at the command of their Dunmer commander.
"FIRE!" she bellowed and 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 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 Gral, 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, he 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.
Noting this fact, Rahgol unsheathed both of his Iron Swords and 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 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.
As it turned to attack the Dunmer, Rahgol quickly climbed on its back and began making his way along it towards the head. When he reached the head, he raised his sword and attempted to stab it down into the Dragon's brain but the blade shattered upon contact with the skull, unbalancing Rahgol and allowing the Dragon to throw him off. The Dragon then sank its teeth into Rahgol's shoulder, getting a cry of pain from the man and threw him into a nearby rock, the action tearing right through his armour and breaking a number of the straps holding it together, resulting in pieces of the armour flying off.
"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 and 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.
"Not quite futile." Rahgol said, a smirk on his face as Mirmulnir narrowed his eyes in anger and pain. Mirmulnir then grabbed Rahgol's leg in his jaws and threw him into a piece of debris from the ruined watchtower, watching with pleasure as blood began to run from the holes in the armour (and Rahgol's leg) that his teeth had made, Rahgol's pained grunts sounding like music to his ears.
"I was going to be merciful and give you a quick death, joor, but I'm now going to make it extremely long and painful for that little stunt." He growled as he took off into the sky, rising higher until he was out of range of the guard's arrows and Irileth's spells.
"Ah shit." Rahgol groaned.
The Dragon 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 Rhagol, who braced himself for the agonising pain and death. However, a black blur flew down in between Rahgol and the fire, taking the brunt of it without even a flinch or grunt. Mirmulnir's eyes widened as the flames dissipated and he looked down to see the same black Dragon that had saved Rahgol from execution in Helgen.
"Th-Thuri? Why are you here?" Mirmulnir asked the other Dragon but it only fixed him with a glare before it spoke.
"Hi vosotiiv zey, Mirmulnir." She said before inhaling and speaking again. "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 walked over and placed her right foreleg on his throat and began applying pressure.
"D-Druv? Zu'u lost nir!" Mirmulnir choked out, but the Dragon put more pressure on his throat.
"Your mindless bloodlust would've resulted in turning all of Keizaal, resulting in the delay of my plans!" The Dragon growled angrily before she looked up, taking note of her audience. Most of which were shooting arrows and spells at her, but they were harmless to her as she turned her red eyes onto the groaning Rahgol nearby. "This is the second time I've saved you, little mortal. We must stop meeting like this."
"Tell you what, let me know when you want to meet up next time and I'll prepare some mead and biscuits." Rahgol retorted sarcastically, getting 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 what do I call my saviour? It seems a bit rude to just keep calling you 'Dragon'" He asked, attempting to focus and use his limited Restoration abilities to heal the gashes on his chest.
"You are not worthy to know my name, but 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 answered, giving him a savage smile, showing many sharp and pointy teeth. "But, I would like to know your name. Vogaan vis ofaal dii kusah, suranmiik joor."
Rahgol grunted as he sat up. "Guess I should feel honoured to have the attention of one like you."
The Dragoness blinked, looking a little surprised he knew the Dovahzul, or at least what she had said in the Dragon language. "So you know out tongue, do you? Your name, mortal. I won't ask a third time."
Rahgol sighed. "It's Rahgol. Rahgol Dinok Krosis."
The Dragon's eyes narrowed thoughtfully at the name and she hummed. "A strong name... we shall see if you can live up to it's meaning and wear it with honor and pride. But that still does not explain why you smell like one of my kind. Most of them have long since been dead in my time away, all except for..." Her eyes widened as she seemingly came to her own conclusion and growled angrily. "I should've known. The scent, faint as it is, is one I am very familiar with. So he is responsible."
"What?" Rahgol frowned at her, but the Dragoness returned her attention back to Mirmulnir.
"I... I was loyal... a friend..." The male Dragon choked out, and the Dragoness' expression softened for a fraction of a second before going back to the neutral expression.
"It is because of your loyalty that I'll make your death quick and painless." The Dragoness said before she leaned down. "Nuz hi mindok Zu'u dreh ni tholah vothaarn fah naan dahrin. Suranmiik fah grik hinzaal dahrin."
With that said, she sank her teeth into Mirmulnir's neck and ripped a whole chunk out in one jerk of her head, sendind blood pouring out the open wound and onto the grass, staining it in it's red liquid substance. The Dragoness spat the chunk she ripped out of her mouth and cleaned the blood off her muzzle before pausing as she notied Mirmulnir's body start to glow and cackle.
"What's this?" She narrowed her eyes, watching as the 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. "So, you are Dovahkiin. By why did...?" She trailed off in thought.
"No… No, no, no!" Said Rahgol, face contorting in horror as the final wisps of energy entered his form. "I can't be… I won't accept it!"
"Do not deny your nature, little joor. It won't do you any good." The Dragoness warned Gral as she pinned him with a stern gaze before her lips turned upwards into a smirk "Well, farewell for now."
With that, she spread her wings and shot off into the air, leaving the mortals at the tower with more questions than answers.
Arriving at Skuldafn, Alduin landed on one of the pillars and stared off into the distance, a lot on her mind with the recent revelations. First, she had learned the name of the mortal that had gained her slight interest... an interest that had only furthered upon seeing what he really was, and also the other revelation. Having been that close to him, with nothing blinding her focused mind, she had picked up the scent, faint as it was, of an old friend... a former ally that betrayed her. She would never forget the smell, the scent, for it had been a very common one in her childhood.
"Paarthurnax..." She growled, glaring towards the huge mountain known as the Throat of the World, the place where she had been defeated the first time. Where her former brother and closest friend no doubt resided like the coward he was. Even after all these years, his betrayal still hurt. But now she was left qith questions, questions that would need answering.
Rahgol was a Dovahkiin, which explained the smell of Dov around him. But it was stronger than what a Dovahkiin's smell should be. If anything, Rahgol smelled more Dragon than mortal, which was no doubt something to do with being around Paarthurnax and learning from him. But Rahgol was still nothing more than a mortal, a Dragon trapped in the body of a man, clawing to get out. She could see it, the Dragon within him wanted to be free as is it's birthright.
Paarthurnax no doubt knew of what Rahgol was from the beginning. Was that why he was around him?
She was shaken from her thoughts when the ground rumbled, followed by the shouts of four men that echoed across the entire land of Skyrim.
"DOVAHKIIN!"
The shout caught the attention of Odahviing who soon arrived. "thuri, I trust you heard that."
"Hard not too." Alduin remarked dryly. "No need to worry, my friend. I know who the Doavhkiin is... and it just happens to be the little mortal who has caught my interest. I even learned his name when I took down Mirmulnir."
"His name?" Odahviing tilted his head.
Alduin nodded. "Rahgol Dinok Krosis. Much revelations made themselves known to me this day. The Dovahkiin has appeared in this day and age, by father's will no doubt, and the Dovahkiin happens to be one named in the Dovahzul... and I feel I know who gave him that name. That scent, fait as it is, could never be mistaken by me."
"Who?" Odahviing asked.
Alduin growled. "Paarthurnax..."
And that's it for this chapter. Hope you liked it. Let me know in the reviews if you did, and be sure to favourite and follow this story if you are enjoying it.
Yol Toor Shul - Fire Inferno Sun (the Fire Breath Shout).
Thuri - Overlord.
Hi vosotiiv zey Mirmulnir - You disappoint me, Mirmulnir.
Fus Ro Dah - Force Balance Push (the Unrelenting Force Shout).
D-Druv? Zu'u lost nir! - W-Why? I was just enjoying a bit of hunting!
Keizaal - Skyrim.
Joor - Mortal.
Vogaan vis ofaal dii kusah, suranmiik joor. - Few can gain my interest, especially a mortal.
Nuz hi mindok Zu'u dreh ni tholah vothaarn fah naan dahrin. Suranmiik fah grik hinzaal dahrin. - But you know I do not tolerate disobedience for any reason. Especially for such stupid reasons.
Paarthurnax - overlord, ambition, cruelty.