Author's Note

Here's the moment I believe some of you were waiting for, I hope I did it justice.

Uploaded

01/08/2024

LEGEND BELOW

"That's two down..." = Normal speech.

Chapter 11

A Goblin Slayer's battle with a fearsome dragon

Rated-M

M rating for mature themes, nudity, romance, violence, blood, adult themes, and of course, sex.

Music of the day

Skyrim - Watch the Skies

The doors to the catacombs were unlocked, guards stationed at the ready. Yet when they opened them, they bore witness to the Goblin Slayer and his loyal companion walking out, in their arms the two missing girls.

They expected the warriors to have suffered some form of harm, wounds to show for their efforts. Yet instead, Goblin Slayer seemed to have suffered a single minor injury, and nothing more. The blood that covered his armor was not his own.

"G-Goblin Slayer…? H-Have you… are the goblins dead?" The head priest asked, voice quivering. Her eyes snapped to the unconscious woman in his arms, and his companion's. They'd been stripped naked, yet, thankfully, no major wounds covered their bodies.

"The goblins are dead. I killed them all." The armored man muttered, voice low. "There was a cave that lead to outside the city. It's how they got in." He explained, stepping forward.

"Our young ladies, are they alright?" She asked, moving to his side.

"They will survive." He muttered, moving past the older woman. "I will return them to the temple. They need rest, and a healer should check them over too."

Yet, no sooner had he said such, a terrible sound echoed out across the city walls.

His head snapped skywards, spotting some sort of giant flying beast soaring through the skies.

And it was coming right for the city.

"B-By the gods! A-A dragon!!" The guard pointed out, stunned. "I don't believe my eyes, a real dragon!"

Goblin Slayer's eyes widened as he realized what it was that was approaching the city. Looking around, he realized that everyone was in danger, especially the unconscious girl in his arms.

But more than that, Serena was in serious danger. If what little he'd heard of the dragons were true, and they could breathe fire, she was at a serious disadvantage.

No…

Not disadvantage…

There was a very real chance she could die in that situation.

He cursed his luck. Why couldn't it have just been more goblins?

"Get everyone inside the temple. It is made of stone, it will survive an attack better than your houses." Goblin Slayer ordered, turning to glance at the guards.

"Who are you to order us around?" The Nord growled.

"And you! I'd recognize those monstrous eyes anywhere, you damn vampire!" The other Nord hissed in surprise, drawing his blade as he held it up towards the voluptuous vampire woman.

"Then go ahead and die, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going to stop that dragon, with or without you." Goblin Slayer said simply, turning to face Serena as the men guffawed at his blatant disregard of authority. "You follow the priests inside the temple, keep the girls safe in case I don't return-" He ordered, handing the unconscious blond in his arms to the other women.

"No!" The vampire cut him off. "I-I'm not going to sit this battle out while you go out there and fight for your life!" She exclaimed, moving up to him as he tried to walk off. "If you think this is that dangerous, there's no way I'll let you go out there alone."

"It breathes fire. You could die." He reiterated blankly, staring down at her. She bristled at his blatant disregard of her feelings in the matter, and the fact that he was already counting himself out of this fight like there was a small chance he would win.

"So could you! You're not fireproof, Master! Don't be reckless, what am I going to do if you get yourself killed!?" She hissed, grabbing his arm firmly as he tried to leave.

He turned to tell her off again, but was given pause when he saw the tears in her eyes, her expression deeply pained.

His brow furrowed in confusion behind his helmet. Was she really that upset about him wanting her to stay behind while he fought? That didn't make any sense to him, it was his job to protect, her in particular.

"It's my job to protect you. How am I supposed to do that when fighting a dragon?" He asked lowly, staring down at her with those glowing crimson orbs.

"I'm not useless, you know." She muttered, grip lessening on his arm.

"I know." He said simply. "I'm… afraid of losing you. If you die, then who am I going to care for?" He admitted, turning to glance up at the flying beast as it began laying down fire to the city.

Her eyes widened, the heat in her heart vanishing as she realized he wasn't doing this out of some manly need to protect her, but because he was genuinely afraid he could lose her to the dragon.

He was afraid that if things fell apart, and the dice were rolled against their favor, he wouldn't be able to do anything to protect her.

That being said, he needed to know that she felt just the same. Without him, she would be lost in life.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said after a long moment, biting her lips as a fiery determination was set ablaze beneath her breasts. "And I'm not going to die either." She promised.

He stared at her for what felt like forever, as if seeing something he'd forgotten.

His eyes narrowed. "I see." He said. "Do what you want." He turned to make his way out of the city.

"Hey! We're not done here! I cannot believe we allowed a vampire into the city! Such a mistake will be rectified this instant!" The guards shouted, moving to cut him off, weapons raised.

Serena's eyes narrowed, her grip on her staff tightening. This was exactly what she was afraid of.

And yet. "Touch her and you will die." Goblin Slayer muttered darkly, his usual monotone voice laced with a dangerous level of defensiveness. He drew his blade, brushing past the Nord men. "I'm going to kill that dragon. You can complain about my wife later. I already told you, get your people to safety before they are slaughtered alive." He ordered, his voice so powerful and dominant the men felt as if he were their king.

It was the words of a man who had seen death and stared it down many, many times more than they ever would. It told them that he knew what he was talking about, and that trying to go against him would be just about the poorest choice they could make.

Either way, they realized that the far bigger threat to them and their people was the dragon razing the beloved city to the ground, not the vampire woman following the Goblin Slayer.

Without saying another word, the two Nord guards turn and left, rushing to help bring their wounded and unarmed citizens to safety.

Goblin Slayer watched them go, pleased with the turn of events. "Now then…" He muttered, turning to find the dragon.

The flying beast was outside the city walls, breathing fire on the guard towers. As if sensing his gaze upon its form, it turned to glance his way, its giant eyes staring holes into his own from across the divide.

At that moment, one of the priests came running out of the temple, giving the vampire back her cloak. They seemed to be well aware of what she was, but besides some hesitation when getting close to her, they didn't condemn her.

"T-Thank you for saving our young servant girls! Their lives are forever in your debts!" The head priest exclaimed, offering the two of them a quick yet respectful bow. "Please, I hear you are planning on facing that dragon. I beg of you, please come back…" She begged seriously, looking the armored man dead in the eyes.

Goblin Slayer seemed to study her for a moment, before turning to his vampire companion.

"Serena, prepare ice magic. I want you to help put out those fires and save those men." He ordered as he began running, quickly making his way out of the city. "I'm going to draw its attention. I have a feeling it will go after me once it knows what I am." He explained, rushing through the opened gates.

"What then?" She asked, keeping pace with him.

His eyes narrowed. "Join those archers and bring it down with your ice spikes. Aim for its wings."

"Yes Master!" She exclaimed, rushing to join the other archers, cloak once again shielding her eyes from others and she from the sun. She quickly seemed to spot Irileth, joining the dark elf warrior's side. "Lady Irileth!" She exclaimed, sliding to a stop beside her.

The elf's eyes widened as seeing her appear as if from nowhere, but she tossed aside her surprise for battle hardened focus instead. "Serena? Good, we could use some help. That foul beast is slaughtering my forces, any assistance would be most appreciated!" She stated firmly, firing off another arrow at the dragon. "Where is Goblin Slayer?" She asked lowly, having not seen him.

Serena aimed her staff skyward, summoning a slew of freezing spikes of ice. "He ran ahead without me. He's got some sort of plan, but he didn't have time to explain." She stated, launching her attack. Her spikes joined the many arrows in the skies, stabbing into the tough hide of the monster.

The beast roared as arrows and magic struck true, doing a marginal amount of damage to it. However, unless it landed on the ground, arrows certainly weren't going to ever truly bring it down.

That's when Goblin Slayer's plan was thrown into action.

The man leapt into the battlefield, rushing past the wounded and still fighting Nord guards as he loudly brought all the attention right towards himself. Sliding to a stop in the center of the field, he glared up at the beast, and spoke in its native tongue.

"Fus!" He shouted, the word of power flashing forward through the air. The attack did little more than anger the dragon from the distance it was utilized at, but it certainly got its attention.

With a newfound target to feast upon, the dragon roared as it dove right for him, intending to swallow him whole.

Goblin Slayer stared it down, reaching into his pouch to grab another of his items. What he pulled out was a long rope, a large metal claw attached to the end.

"H-He's not really going to try and mount it… Is he?" Irileth muttered, bow arm lowering in shock as she watched the armored man hit the ground the moment the dragon neared him. At the same time he tossed the other end of the rope, and managed to wrap it around the dragon's neck, locking it in place.

Her question was received in the form of Goblin Slayer taking off into the skies, being dragged along by the dragon as it flew higher once more.

"I regret ever leaving him alone…" Serena muttered to herself, arms shaking as she watched her Master fly up into the sky.

"Where is he?! Where is the Goblin Slayer!?" Both Serena and Irileth turned to find Aela as she rushed to join the fight, her twin maces gripped firmly in her hands.

The vampire shook her head, instead pointing skyward at the dragon.

The barbarian woman's eyes widened in shock, watching as the Goblin Slayer was carried high into the air, riding the dragon into the skies of Skyrim. "B-By the gods… He's truly a madman…" She breathed in awe, face flushing in the heat of battle and passion. Seeing the man doing such dangerous actions made her heart pound beneath her breasts.

With Goblin Slayer attempting to mount the beast, all ranged attacks against it temporarily halted for fear of accidentally shooting the man.

The dragon itself didn't seem to notice the man slowly climbing a rope up to it, and wasn't prepared for him when he suddenly found said man standing on its backside.

The Nords roared in excitement, watching as a mortal man did the unthinkable and mounted the massive flying beast. They all chanted as they watched the death defying battle in the skies above, ready to assist the man with their bows the moment the time was right.

Back up in the sky, the dragon roared in anger as Goblin Slayer began slashing at its head, blood flying everywhere.

It tried to shake him off, but with the rope tied around its neck, he wasn't going anywhere.

The man wrapped his legs around its neck, and reaching back, he swung his sword for its face, gouging out one of its eyes.

The roar that echoed across the sky was heard throughout all of Skyrim, the first of the mighty dragons having returned from the dead roaring in agony as it was brutally and efficiently being taken down.

Goblin Slayer reached up to try again, this time aiming for its other eye.

But the beast had enough.

It suddenly banked hard in the air, flying upside down for a moment to try and shake him off.

He hadn't been prepared for such a maneuver, and fell from the sky. Or he would've if he wasn't still tied to the dragon, thrashing about as he tried desperately to not let go.

"Goblin Slayer!!" Serena screamed, watching as her Master dangled from a single rope hundreds of feet in the air, moments away from falling to his death.

"If he falls from there, he's dead! He's got to hold on!" The dark elf hissed, fist clenched as she couldn't shake the feeling of uselessness from where she stood down on the ground.

The man grunted, being flung violently around in the sky, the only reason he hadn't fallen to his death due to the rope tied tightly around his arm.

An arm that felt like it had been yanked out of socket, pain shooting up his entire shoulder. He hissed at the sensation, but didn't allow it to slow him down.

He held on for dear life, the dragon shaking in the sky as it tried in vain to lose him. He began climbing back up the rope, inching closer and closer to the beast as the Nords and world watched on as a mere man fought tooth and nail hundreds of feet in the air.

Soon enough he was back on top of the monster, and drawing his blade he launched forward, flying onto its head. With one hand firmly gripping a dagger, he impaled it in the cheek of the beast, holding him in place while he began slashing it apart with his sword.

It tried blasting him with fire, but hanging onto the top of its mouth as he was, nothing could hit him.

If the battle were to continue up in the air, the dragon would die. It must've realized this at some point, or it seemingly lost the strength required to keep itself in the air, for soon enough it went crashing down to the world below.

Goblin Slayer held on for dear life as the dragon came crashing down belly first into the earth, digging up a trench along the way. Try as he might, he was eventually ripped free from his hold on his dagger, falling to a crumbled heap on the ground behind the beast.

"Now men!! Charge the dragon!! Show it the power of the Nords! For all of Whiterun! For all of Skyrim! Slay that dragon!!!" Irileth shouted as loud as her lungs could, her voice echoing across the battlefield as her men and fellow adventurers alike all roared in a fellow battlecry, charging after the downed beast.

"Today we slay a dragon!" Aela shouted as she ran full sprint towards the dragon, grinning a wild untamed battle ferocity as she fell to her urges to fight, consequences be damned.

Serena leapt from the safety of the guardhouse, ice magic charging up around her as she rushed to her Master's aid. "Master! I'm coming!" She called out, thrusting her staff forward as she launched her spikes of ice at the beast.

A dust cloud surrounded the beast when it finally stopped sliding, a cloud that was suddenly assaulted with both magic and arrows.

But the battle wasn't over, as the beast stood up and began breathing fire everywhere in a pitiful attempt to save itself from its fate.

The fire tore through the Nord men, forcing them to retreat lest they get burned to a blackened charcoal.

Serena froze as a wave of blistering fire came her way, so hot she could feel her flesh screaming in fear of it as it neared her.

In that moment she realized that it would've been better if she'd just listened to her Master and stayed behind. Because try as she might, having summoned a wall of ice to protect herself, if did little in slowing the flames that rapidly accelerated towards her.

As a vampire, her body was extremely vulnerable to fire attacks, and from a dragon that could breathe waves of fire so hot it would turn trees to ash, she knew that the moment it hit her she would be a goner.

That's why she couldn't believe her eyes when he suddenly appeared in front of her, throwing his body in front of the flames to save her. The flames slammed into his armored body, his shield doing little in the way of stopping the fire.

"Run!" He shouted, not even turning to face her, voice pained.

She listened without hesitation, fleeing back to avoid any further fire.

With her finally out of harms way, he was able to focus on the beast.

And it seemed like it was finally tiring out as its fire breath petered out and died. The moment it did he rushed forward, cutting into it with reckless abandon, slashing apart its maw again and again. It tried to bite him, but it suddenly found its mouth unable to clamp down, his shield jammed between its teeth.

In that moment, he thrust forward, breaking his steel blade off in the monster's neck. Blood spurted out in waves, the beast reeling back.

It roared towards the heavens in its final moments, before it came thundering down, crashing to the ground.

It was dead.

Goblin Slayer stepped back, stumbling as he tried to catch his breath.

All those in the field cheered for their victory, their roaring voices only raising in octave as they watched as the soul of the dragon was suddenly torn from its body, before flying into the mouth of the one responsible for slaying it.

Then?

Only bones remained, as if the dragon had never been brought back from the dead to begin with.

The battle was over, and the dragon would never again arise. No magic could reverse its final death, its soul consumed.

It was over.

Goblin Slayer stepped backwards, the sudden overload of knowledge flooding his mind as he absorbed the soul of the dragon. He felt compelled to speak the new word that had been made clear in his mind, uttering it like he had always known of it.

"Yol." The moment the dragon word slipped free from his lips a wall of fire shot forth, encompassing the bones of the dragon. It's knowledge, its wisdom of the dragon language, was passed onto him in an instant.

"By the gods! He is Dragonborn!"

"He consumed the dragon, stealing its soul!"

"He speaks in the voice! Fire from mere words!"

Exclamations exploded around him, Nords and fellow adventurers rushing to his side as they began chanting his name.

Goblin Slayer, the Dragonborn who had brought down a dragon and consumed its soul.

It would be a day all would remember, a day that would be the beginning of the end for the dragons. It was a day that would alight hope in the hearts of those of Skyrim, to show the world that even dragons could be killed.

"Goblin Slayer!" Serena had rushed up to him the moment she saw him set the dragon ablaze, wrapping him in a hug from behind. "O-Oh Master! I'm so sorry! I knew I should've listened to you!" She cried, the reality that he'd been burned because of her blunder apparent in her mind.

"You! I can't believe it! You slayed the dragon without me!" Aela shouted, tossing her weapons to the side as she stormed up to him. "I've waited forever for a hunt so great, and you hogged it all to yourself!" The woman hissed, stomping up to him, jabbing her finger into his side. "You must make it up to me!"

He was silent, having not responded to either women. Serena's eyes widened in worry, pulling away from him. "Master…?" She muttered lowly, turning to face him.

Her eyes widened.

Blood leaked from his visor, staining the front of his body. He reached back into his pouch, pulling out all of the rest of his potions, a shaking hand reaching up to shift his helmet aside as he downed all three of them at once.

He dropped the empty bottles to the ground, wiping the blood off of his chin, glancing at the worried face of his vampire wife. "Sorry… I'm really tired…" He grumbled, voice scratchy and hoarse.

His legs shook underneath him, the damage he'd suffered up to that point slamming into him all at once. He fell forward, only for the two women to catch his shoulders before he could.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked in worry, eyes quivering as she glanced up at him.

"I just need some rest…" The man muttered weakly, using them to support himself.

"I've got a warm bed waiting for you, Goblin Slayer." Aela cooed lowly, her grip on his arm tightening as she led him along back to the city. They eyes she was casting at him weren't missed by anyone at all, save for the man himself that is.

"I see…" Goblin Slayer muttered lowly, red dripping from his helmet. "That sounds… nice." He struggled to find the words, legs feeling heavy.

He needed a stamina potion too, but he was too tired to try and grab one right that moment. Even if he did, his arms were both currently locked up by the women carrying him along.

He supposed he could wait until he was sitting down.

He was only vaguely aware of the hundreds of people around him chanting victory in his name, his kind focused more on every step he took that brought him closer to resting…