"HYAAAGH!" battle cried Nero as he ran at Maw with his summoned swords raised and the armor of his dragon aspect glowing brightly.
Maw raised his staff and shot fireballs at Nero who dodged and ducked under them whilst closing the gap between them and preparing to make his attack.
Nero jumped with both blades ready to strike down on the elf, when suddenly Krull got up and,
"FUS RO DAH"
Nero was blown by the Thu'um high up into the air and cascaded across the city, only to crash through the roof of the Bannered Mare and land heavily in the loft room.
His dragon aspect armor had fortunately protected him from great injury, but it left his head fuzzy, safe for the deafening thought of "well that was stupid."
Back at the foot of the city, Nero's companions turned back towards the warriors with angry looks.
"That was dramatic," said Maw whose orange fiery eyes fell upon Serana, "care to try again? Or will you be smart and give us the girl?"
Serana held Julia's hand tightly and turned to the Huntress beside her, "Aela, can you keep them back while I get Julia to safety?"
The Huntress nodded before taking her bow off from her shoulder, "you don't even have to ask."
The others unsheathed their weapons and stepped forward.
"Let's kill these sons of bitches," said Vilkas, and ran forward with a battle cry.
Aela released an arrow towards the orc which he deflected with his axe at the last moment, before the other companions immediately charged at the warriors.
Maw raised his staff at the city and spoke loudly to the dragons, "Dovah! Al daar golt!"
The dragons behind the warriors roared and took to the sky, just as the companions below charged at the warriors.
Vilkas charged at Maw and went for a heavy swing down on him which the elf gleefully dodged, almost without effort. Vilkas went in for another attack only to see Krull bearing down on him with his large axe. It was stopped though by Farkas' greatsword who immediately swung upwards, sending the axe away from his brother.
Farkas kept Krull busy which allowed Vilkas to turn his attention back to Maw, but he just barely dodged a strike from Covu before the bosmer then immediately bashed him to the ground. Covu came to plunge his glaive into Vilkas' head but the Companion rolled out of the way and raised his shield to block the dark-elf's coming attacks.
Aela saw the wood-elf Proxa coming at her and sent arrows flying. Proxa dodged every single one though and came at Aela with two golden dragon priest daggers and went on a barrage of attacks which the Huntress either dodged or blocked with her bow, until the bosmer sent a powerful strike downwards that cut the bow completely in half.
"Shit!" cried Aela just as Proxa came at her for the killing blow, when suddenly,
BASH
Proxa was knocked aside by Sorine.
"Oh, sorry, didn't see that coming?" taunted Sorine as Proxa got back to her feet.
Krull threw his axe down on Farkas who blocked it with his double sword, and thw two brutes were poised as they struggled against each other; Krull trying to bury his axe in the chest of Farkas who was resisting. Suddenly however, the sound of metal slicing metal made Krull cry in pain as behind him Gunmar had cut across his back. Krull snarled and Gunmar smiled,
"What? Did I scratch ye?!" he taunted, to which Krull screamed in anger and began engaging both Companion and Dawnguard.
Maw, who's eyes were still on Julia, slowly made his way around his siblings towards them.
Serana began pushing her daughter back, "Julia, go, we have to get out of here."
Maw raised his hand and sent an ice-spike which Serana barely blocked with a ward and the ice exploded inches from her face.
"Go Julia!" she cried again as she backed up and Julia moved behind her, making her way up the street.
In the Bannered Mare, Nero slowly got up and collected himself. In the doorway, he saw a young adult Lucia holding a knife pointed at him, but once she recognised him, she dropped it.
"It's okay Lucia, just tell everyone to get down, barricade yourselves inside."
She nodded and made for the stairs which Nero also moved to do; Julia, Serana, the others, he had to get back down there. His thoughts were interrupted however from the roar of dragons raining in from the hole in the ceiling. Nero jumped up and climbed back onto the roof of the Bannered Mare and looked around. Four dragons were flying over the city and wreathing the tops of houses in flames.
"Two can play at that game," he said and with a big breath, he shouted,
"MEYZ WAH ZEY"
His voice rumbled across the ground and echoed into the clear blue sky.
It also unfortunately got the attention of the four dragons that were destroying the city, one of whom was above Dragonsreach about to attack but suddenly turned and made to dive bomb into Nero.
"Shit! Where can I go?" he thought. If he moved, everyone within the inn would be crushed and killed, but if he didn't then everyone and himself would.
He raised his summoned swords and got ready as the dragon descended towards him.
The dragon was just about on him with its teeth bared ready to bite, when suddenly another dragon crashed into him and the pair flew into Belethor's General Goods Store and Arcadia's Cauldron, destroying both buildings. Nero covered his face as wood splintered everywhere in the crash and when he looked down, he saw a red dragon on top who bared his fags and plunged them into the dragon beneath him, killing him.
The dead dragon slowly began to burn away and his soul enveloped Nero just as the red dragon slowly lifted his head and turned back.
"Odahviing, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," smiled Nero.
"Ahrk hi, Dovahkiin," said Odahviing who looked to the skies, "my brethren are coming."
"That's more like it," smiled Nero as a small army of dragons came flying to Whiterun.
"Odahviing, tell them to protect the city from those other dragons!" yelled Nero as he leapt from the roof of the Bannered Mare to the ground, rolling along the stone first and then running back down the hill.
Maw looked to the skies and saw the dragons leaving the mountain, and a little smile formed on his face before he continued to levitate forward towards his quarry.
Serana was backing up as Maw advanced, when suddenly both Asmund and Tobias came to her side.
Asmund sent a firebolt at Maw who blocked it with a ward.
"We'll hold him off!" said Tobias who drew a Skyforge Steel sword from his back with a wolf's head upon its hilt, "go!"
"Be careful, boys!" cried Serana as she continued to get back with Julia behind her.
Asmund and Tobias stood side by side as the high elf came forward.
"I guess we'll get to see whether magic is useful now or not," said Asmund who had a ward ready in one hand and firebolts prepared in his other.
"Uh-huh," agreed Tobias who drew his bastard-sword fashioned for him by Eorland and held it up at the ready against the elf, "okay, I'm going to get close, you cover me!"
Asmund nodded and began throwing a barrage of firebolts at the elf whilst Tobias began running forward.
Serana cast one last look at them before turning around and taking Julia's hand, "come on, Julia-!"
She almost crashed into Nero, "Serana!"
Asmund kept throwing more and more firebolts at the elf, though they seemed to be doing nothing against his ward, and Asmund was running out of magicka; Tobias needed to be fast.
Tobias slid under attacks from Maw and, like Nero, went for an airborne strike,
"HYAGH!"
Tobias thrust his blade through the air and landed it right on Maw's face. But it didn't pierce him.
"What boy? Confused?" smiled Maw whose body was encased in a very strong spell, stronger than Ebonyflesh.
Tobias was suddenly caught still; he had no idea what to do. He didn't need to think for very long though before Maw struck him hard and he crashed to the ground.
"Tobias!" called Asmund who was completely out of magicka, but he stopped when he saw Maw levitating forward.
"Move, boy," snarled the elf who sent a rune to beside Asmund's feet which exploded, sending him into the air and then crashing into the ground, unconscious.
Nero, Serana and Julia turned around at the sound of the explosion and saw the elf floating towards them.
"Go!" said Nero, who also backed up with them but kept his eyes on Maw.
"Oh, this is getting so tiresome," moaned Maw who raised his staff to aim at Nero.
Nero saw this and faced Maw fully, "okay, let's see how you like it," and he took a breath.
Maw powered up a strong firebolt from his staff, making it bigger and bigger.
"Wait for it…"
Maw fired and the ball came flying towards Nero who shouted,
"FUS RO DAH"
Nero's Thu'um galloped over the dirt and crashed into the fire, carrying it backwards towards Maw who did not bring up a ward in time and was struck by unrelenting force and searing flames. He flew back towards the foot of the hill.
Nero, not wanting to stay on the retreat, ran back down the hill towards the other warriors.
He called back as he ran, "keep Julia safe!"
Serana seriously wanted to hit her husband at that point.
"Daddy!" Julia called as he ran away.
Maw fell from the air and tumbled across the ground, dropping his staff in the process, before he to a stop between his Claw-Siblings who were still fighting Nero's other companions, but were losing at this point; Krull was wacked by Farkas and kicked by Gunmar, before both struck him back. Covu was disarmed by Vilkas and bashed by his shield backwards, and Proxa was kicked in the gullet by both Aela and Sorine simultaneously.
The four warriors seemed defeated and were cowering together. Maw growled, pushed himself up to his feet and looked up; three out of their four dragons were thrown from the city to outside the gates by the army that were now protecting Whiterun.
Nero came to the head of the group that were now joined by Whiterun guards and legionnaires at the city gates, followed shortly by Serana and Julia.
"Well, Dovahkiin, I see that you and your friends are strong," Maw pushed himself to his feet, "so I see that we must return even stronger."
The three other warriors got back to their feet and began backing up along with Maw, towards their dragons.
Serana watched them retreating and turned to Nero, "we're just going to let them leave?"
"No, even better," said Nero who took a step forward and spoke up to the warriors, "hey! When you get back to your dad empty handed, be sure to tell him that I'm ready to kill him along with the rest of you if you ever come back!"
"Oh, we will be back, Dragonborn, but next time with an army," snarled Maw, "not just dragons, but with us we shall bring the dead. We shall kill every last man, woman and child in this city, and Lord Zarys shall have your daughter."
"Come and try it, asshole!" cried Serana.
The warriors climbed atop their dragons and took back to the skies.
In Whiterun, people began to come out of their homes and began cheering and clapping now that the villains were gone.
Serana turned to Nero, "you really think he's going to stay away?"
The others came around to hear his answer and Nero spoke to all of them.
"I think I need to find out where Zarys is, fast. So right now, we need to talk. Dragonsreach. Come on."
The group turned around and began walking up the city towards Dragonsreach whilst people cheered, including the guards, and the dragons across the city roared to the sky in victory.
In the sky however, the four warriors were flying north; Maw and Krull had their own dragons, whilst Covu and Proxa shared one together. All four began speaking in the dragon language.
"Well done, siblings," said Maw, "father will be impressed."
"That was just the beginning," said Proxa, "we still have much to do."
"Indeed," agreed Maw, "I will return to Wyrmstooth to await father, you three go to Saarthal. Good luck, siblings."
They all nodded before Kurll, Covu and Porxa split from the group and began flying northwest whilst Maw continued north, towards the island. He stole a glimpse at the Throat of the World and smiled, knowing what his father had done. They were a step closer to their goal.
~ Dragonsreach ~
Upon the great porch of Dragonsreach was a long table and around it stood the Jarl, Irileth, the Queen and several of her Queensguard, Captain Hadvar, Nero and Serana, Farkas and Vilkas, Sorine and Gunmar, and various other Whiterun guards and legionnaires.
Aela was sat nearby, tending to Tobias and Asmund's injuries with a wet cloth, and Julia was sat nearby, twiddling with her thumbs.
"So, we have to assume that they're coming back," said Balgruuf.
"Almost definitely," said Nero, "that wasn't an empty threat. They will return."
"With an army of draugr he said," added Vilkas, "is that even possible?"
"For a dragon priest, yes," said Nero.
"Dragon priest?" asked Elisif, to which Nero nodded.
"How do you know?" asked Serana.
"When I defeated all nine dragon priests here in Skyrim, I took their masks to Labyrinthian where I found a ninth one, a golden one, above the others. It belonged to a dragon priest known as Konahrik."
Serana realized, "Konahrik… Zarys…"
"Okay, so he's a dragon priest, whatever that is," said Hadvar, "but like you said, you killed nine of them before, why should this one be any different?"
"I won't know until I find him," said Nero, who looked at Julia, "but I won't wait for him to come to me."
"What do you mean?" asked Serana.
Nero then turned around and shouted, "ODAHVIING"
Soon enough, the large red dragon landed on the edge of the porch and poked his long head in.
"Ni daar golt, I do not have fond memories of this place," said Odahviing who slowly approached the table.
"Odahviing," began Nero who came towards the big dragon, and he was about to say more when suddenly,
"Oh my gods' it's a dragon!" cried Julia who came running up and stopped just beside Nero to see Odahviing up close.
Odahviing looked down and regarded Julia for a moment. Nero looked down at his daughter who was looking in wonder at the big red dragon stood in front of her. She had seen an army of them not even an hour ago, but it was different seeing one so up close.
"Mal mon, greetings," said Odahviing and Julia saw his large teeth.
"Woah…" she gasped at the size of them and how sharp they looked.
Nero stopped for a moment before he knelt to Julia and took one of her hands and slowly pulled it forward. She seemed reluctant and fearful, but looking in her father's eyes and trusting him, she slowly outstretched her hand and laid it on Odahviing. Her hand felt his scales that were hot to the touch. She smiled, and Nero smile too.
Then, after a moment, Nero took hold of Julia and picked her up, "all right little miss, you sit aside for now, okay? If you're good, maybe I'll let you ride one."
Julia gasped, "you promise?!"
Nero smiled and nodded, "I promise."
Julia broke into a big smile before hugging Nero and then turning around to Serana who picked her up, "all right, come on Julia."
Serana took her back to the side, allowing Nero to continue talking to Odavhiing."
"Alright, Odavhiing, did you know who those warriors were?"
The red dragon nodded, "they were the infamous Dragon Order, the children of the warlord Zarys."
"Right, Zarys. It sounds like you know who he is, but do you know where I could find him?"
"Hmmm," thought the dragon, "Konahrik and his children resided on Wyrmstooth, an island north of Skyrim, if my memory serves right. They came only when called upon by Alduin."
"Wyrmstooth?" asked Nero.
"Like Skuldafn, it is not easy to get to on foot, or even by water."
"Alright, thank you Odahviing."
The dragon nodded again before turning back to the edge of the porch and looking out, keeping watch.
Nero returned to the table where the others were eager to talk.
"You're thinking of going to this island?" asked Serana.
"It's the only way we might find Zarys before he comes for Julia."
Serana stopped for a moment, swallowing her husband's words and seriously asking herself if that's what he really said.
"Under no circumstances are we bringing our daughter to Zarys, Nero," said Serana bluntly.
"You're right, we're not," said Nero.
Serana didn't understand at first until she followed his eyes to the table with all their companions.
Balgruuf saw his eyes and then stood up straight, "Dragonborn, you want us to protect your daughter here in Whiterun?"
Nero nodded, "if we get to Zarys first and kill him, cut the head off the snake like I said, then Julia will be safe. These are some of our closest friends, Serana. They did everything they could to protect Julia today."
"But Maw said he'll come back with an army," argued Aela, "and not just dragons, but draugr."
"What is your solution to that, Dragonborn?" asked Balgruuf, "this is my city and my people, and they're to become prey for the dragons and the dead?"
"I'm going to leave my dragons here to protect the city."
"In the sky, maybe," said Irileth, "what about the dead?"
"That's where all of you come in."
Vilkas spoke up, "I hate to sound negative, Harbinger, but we barely defeated the Dragon Order. If they do come back stronger, what will we do?"
"Oh, I'll help you with that too. You're all going to need a few upgrades. Luckily, I have a very big armory filled with some very powerful stuff."
"Dragonborn," said Elisif, "this seems like a very… 'flawed' plan that you have. You're sure that we can stand against this enemy?"
Nero faced the Queen directly, "I'm sure of only one thing. That we can either stay here and wait for them to come back, or we can take the fight to them."
Everyone around the room looked unsure, but Serana came up to him.
"You've stared death in the face more times than literally anyone else I've ever known. And you've come up with some very crazy plans. But… they have all worked. At least when we're with you."
Nero suddenly saw what Serana meant, "no, Serana, I-"
Serana put a finger over his lips, "if you say anything about me or any of us not coming with you, in front of your Queen, Jarl, friends and daughter, I will pummel you."
Nero saw how serious Serana was and nodded.
"I will send word to General Tullius back in Solitude. The more forces we have the better," said Elisif.
Nero nodded again and then turned to the group, and Serana spoke first.
"So, what now?"
"Well, we gotta make a quick trip home, dear."
Author's Notes
Hey everyone. I know it's been too long again. I've just started a new job and I've been busy outside of work hours too. But I'm glad I could get another chapter out. This is beginning to pick up steam!