5: The Watchtower Dragon
Sunset and Bjorn finally stepped back into Riverwood, after spending about half the day tracking through Bleak Falls Barrow, fighting off bandits and draugr alike before they retrieved the Golden Claw, the Dragonstone, and the various treasures that had been waiting for them. Then they had found their way out of the barrow, using the secret exit the nords had built into the side of the mountain, and found themselves near where the Guardian Stones had been located. Once they were outside they had walked in the direction of Riverwood, following the river until they had encountered a group of bandits that wanted to kill them and loot their corpses. Taking care of them had been easy, as Bjorn loosed two arrows into the of the bandits and Sunset used what magic she had left, which wasn't a lot, to blast the last one into submission.
As they approached the small village Sunset began to wonder what the strange chanting she had heard from that stone wall had said and, more importantly, why Bjorn didn't seem to hear it when he approached it.
They stopped at the Riverwood Trader, selling off a few pieces of their treasure, before Bjorn pulled out the Golden Claw and handed it off to Lucan, whose eyes lit up the moment it was back in his hands. In the exchange Sunset noticed that, in addition to the three hundred gold they had gotten for the treasure they had sold Lucan, they had also ended up receiving another four hundred gold for returning the claw to him. With the gold in hand the two of them left the trader and began the trek back to Whiterun, both feeling increasingly tired from the journey through the barrow. While they walked Sunset's eyes glanced down at the curved sword that hung at her belt, something that Bjorn had returned to her the moment they were done with the Guardian of the Dragonstone.
She had no idea what had possessed her to open the treasure chest, pull the enchanted blade out of the pile, and then drive it right into the heart of their enemy. It was a last resort weapon for her, as she barely knew how to use a sword and had gotten lucky in the heat of battle, while the draugr had been focused on her companion. She guessed that she could always ask the Companions for some pointers or even see how much Bjorn could show her so it wouldn't just sit on her belt forever.
"What's eating at you Sunset?" Bjorn asked, turning back to find that his companion was lost in thought as they walked, though when he spoke she seemed to snap out of it, "I can see that something is bothering you."
"Just thinking about all of this," Sunset replied, referring to their current task and the draugr that had stood in their way, "We were able to stand up to a group of low level draugr, but then when a much stronger one appeared we nearly couldn't beat it until luck played its hand. Who knows how that fight would have ended if I hadn't found this sword inside of that chest."
"Ah, I see," Bjorn chuckled, stopping to face her for a moment, "you said that you didn't know how to properly use a sword, yet here you are worrying that we might have lost the fight without it. Your wondering if you need to improve your weapon skills, in case there's a time where your magic won't be enough to defeat one of our enemies. If that's all that's troubling you at the moment then allow me to show you what little I know about using a sword, seeing how I have spent the majority of my time using my bow. I cannot promise that it would be enough for you, but I can promise that it will set you off in the right track to learning everything you need to know."
"Would the Companions be able to help in that regard?" Sunset asked, causing Bjorn to raise an eyebrow for a moment before returning to his calmer expression.
"Maybe, maybe not," Bjorn replied, beckoning for his companion to follow him again, "I mean, Aela might be able to teach you how to properly use a bow and Vilkas might be able to show you how to use one of his massive weapons. I'm not completely sure if any of them have the ability to teach someone how to use a sword, but I have never asked them for some pointers and never even considered it until now. While we walk I will tell you the pointers that I know from using my dagger, but that's all I can offer you at the moment."
Sunset chuckled to herself as they walked down the path that would take them to Whiterun, amazed that her companion was willing to show her a few of his skills so easily. She immediately took him up on his offer, which prompted Bjorn to pull his dagger out and, while they walked, simply move it around in a couple of patterns while telling her about them. He showed her where she wanted to hold her sword when she wanted to block an enemy's attack, where she wanted it to be when she was delivering her own attack, and what she wanted to do if she was running after an enemy with her weapon drawn.
She was thankful for him to be showing her these techniques, as she was sure that, at some point in the future, she would have the need to draw her sword once more and use it when her magic wasn't enough.
---------------------------------------------------------------
They eventually returned to Whiterun, where the guards briefly saluted them as they walked passed the main gate, though Sunset was unsure of what they had done to deserve it. She guessed that the respect could have been from delivering the news of Helgen's destruction to the Jarl, which would have meant that the guards had spread the tale among themselves. Still, she was glad that they appreciated their work to make the Hold safer from the dragons, though she was hoping that ending the threat would be simple. As they walked towards Dragonsreach one of the priestesses, who happened to be sitting beneath a dying tree, commented on the tree and Bjorn was quick to offer their services.
As they walked away from the tree Sunset wondered where they could find the dagger called Nettlebane, mostly because she had no idea where 'Orphan Rock' was located. Bjorn seemed to know where the located of the weapon was, but he said that he wanted to finish the Jarl's task before moving onto something else.
They entered Dragonsreach and made their way up the stairs, several of the guards turning their heads to them as one approached them from behind, though instead of talking to them he made his way to the floor above the main hall. Neither of them seemed to know what the guard was doing, but they had a task to complete and quickly made their way to Farengar's study, where they found him chatting with someone else. They patiently waited for their conversation to be over, though Sunset quickly realized that the women he was talking to seemed to be some sort of mercenary that delivered messages between her 'employers' and Farengar. She also suspected that the women wasn't telling the truth, but she decided to keep her mouth shut and simply watch them until the Court Wizard turned to face them.
"Ah, your back from Bleak Falls Barrow," Farengar stated, a smile appearing on his face, "Tell me, did you recover the Dragonstone?"
"Yeah, its right here," Sunset replied, pulling out the stone she had been carrying the entire time, "It wasn't easy to retrieve it, but now we can figure out what to do about that dragon."
"Well, this is where your job ends," Farengar told them, staring at the stone as Sunset placed it on his table, "Speak to the Jarl or his Steward Proventus. One of them will reward you for recovering the stone for me."
Sunset would have thought that their mission was at an end, as Farengar was done with them and clearly didn't want them around anymore, but that changed when Irileth appeared in the doorway. That was when Sunset realized exactly what the guard that had run past them was doing, he had been returning from somewhere in the Hold to report a dragon attack. She beckoned for Bjorn and Sunset to join her and Farengar when they spoke to the Jarl, clearly wishing to use their experience to their own favor. Sure enough when the four of them and the guard approached the Jarl, on the second floor of Dragonsreach, they learned that a dragon had indeed attacked the Hold.
"Go ahead soldier," Irileth told the guard, slightly turning her head to face the man, "tell them what you told me."
"We saw a dragon near the western watchtower," the guard said, recounting what he had seen as Sunset noted that there was a bit of fear lingering in his voice, "coming from the south. It was fast...faster than anything I've ever seen in my entire life."
"What was it doing?" Bulgruuf asked, clearly concerned that his city could be under attack by the dragon at any moment, "Was it attacking the watchtower?"
"No, my lord," the guard immediately replied, trying to reassure his Jarl without causing panic to erupt, "It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my entire life...I was afraid that it would come after me for sure."
"Good work son, we'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest," Bulgruuf told the guard, turning to Irileth not a moment later, "Irileth, you had better get some guardsmen and get over there before the dragon moves on. Remember, this isn't a glory mission. See whatever the beast is doing and then return to me so we can make a proper plan on how to defeat it."
"Don't worry, my lord." Irileth replied, saluting her Jarl the moment she had received her orders, "I've ordered some men to gather near the gates. We'll deal with the dragon, if he's still at the watchtower. If not then we'll make sure to help whoever is still standing."
"Good, don't fail me," Balgruuf said, turning to face Bjorn and Sunset as Irileth made her way down the stairs, "There's no time to stand on ceremony my friends, I require your services again. I need the two of you to go with Irileth and help her deal with this dragon, if it still lurks near the tower. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience dealing with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me by retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem I have instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city, and please, take this weapon as a gift from my personal armory."
The weapon in question was not actually a weapon, as the moment the Jarl handed them the item Sunset discovered that it was a pair of steel gauntlets, something that she knew neither she nor Bjorn would be using. Bjorn was used to wearing light armor, as it allowed him to move faster while he was on the hunt, and Sunset actually liked the feel of the robe she was wearing. Still, Sunset thanked the Jarl for the gifts and the duo made their way out of Dragonsreach, all while hearing Farengar complain that he couldn't see the dragon up close.
"So, a dragon's attacking the Hold," Sunset commented, just as they walked down the stone steps outside Jarl Balgruuf's castle, "Do you think that its the same one that attacked and destroyed Helgen yesterday?"
"By the Divines I hope not," Bjorn swiftly replied, surprising Sunset by how quickly he had answered her question, "Don't get me wrong Sunset, I'm sure that we can take down a dragon if we encounter one, but I wouldn't be saying that if the black dragon showed himself again. If that monster is the one attacking the watchtower then we might as well kiss the tower, and whoever is guarding it, goodbye."
Sunset had to admit it, she wasn't too eager to face the black dragon again, as it had swiftly destroyed Helgen and slaughtered whoever it could get its claws on in seconds. Bjorn was right, they could easily deal with a dragon that wasn't the black one, though she was beginning to think that there was something different about the black one. As they walked down into the market area Sunset resolved to look for the book Bjorn had mentioned to her, the one that apparently spoke of the time when dragons returned to Skyrim. Despite not having a copy of the book she was sure that there was something inside it that could provide a clue as to what was going on around them.
As they walked through the market Bjorn stopped by the alchemists shop and walked inside, only to reappear a few minutes later with a bag full of different colored bottles. The red colored ones, Sunset learned, were the ones that healed wounds, the green ones would restore someone's stamina, and the blue restored magicka. As he gave her the blue potions and half of the red ones she noticed a fourth color that she hadn't seen, smaller purple colored bottles with a variety of markings on them. That was when she learned that the purple ones were poisons, as Bjorn explained that they might come in handy when they found the dragon and might even the odds for them.
Once the potions were divided between them they got underway, walking towards the main gate as several of the guards, those who weren't charged with leaving the city, wished them luck in dealing with the beast.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The duo found Irileth and her five guards standing beside a rock formation not ten minutes later, finding that they were all staring at the burning stone tower in the distance. It was painfully clear to Sunset that the dragon that thee guard had warned them about had already been here, though by the looks of it the dragon was nowhere to be seen. She assumed that there had been a normal entrance and a circular walkway that the guards used to patrol the area from the tower, but the majority of it had been destroyed. Surprisingly only the tower remained, though Sunset didn't like the looks of what was happening in front of her and Bjorn noticed the look on her face.
"Something wrong?" Bjorn asked, knowing that she didn't have a lot of experience with dragons in her home world, but it was more than what most of them had at the moment.
"Just remembering something I had read back in Equestria," Sunset replied, shaking her head as she stared at the sight before her, "This reminds me of a tale that spoke of a dragon, one that loved to attack various buildings on the outskirts of villages, so he could make the ponies or griffins come to him. He would lay in wait nearby, like behind a large pile of boulders. watching from a distance so no one could be able to notice him until it was far too late to retreat. He wasn't a very noble dragon in the end, but for some reason this scene just screams that we're dealing with a dragon that plays by the same rules as that one."
"Spread out and look for survivors," Irileth shouted, her guards drawing their weapons and running towards the tower, "and make sure to call for assistance if you see that dragon."
"Didn't you hear Sunset's story?" Bjorn asked, wondering why the dark elf would ignore someone's experience with dragons, "She said that this dragon is playing by the same rules as the one from her books, so we should be careful and take our time instead of just rushing in like you are."
"That may have been the case wherever she is from, but we don't have time to waste," Irileth replied, standing up to join her soldiers, "You can either come along and help us or just stay out of our way. If that dragon appears then we shall have the glory of being the first ones to kill a dragon since the last age."
Sunset watched the elf draw her sword and approach the tower, but she did Sunset couldn't help but feel that they were walking into the same trap she had just described to them. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the guards, because if the dragon was indeed lurking around the nearby area than it was only a matter of time until the beast decided to show itself. Bjorn glanced at her for a moment, clearly wondering if she had anything else to add to the tale, but the only thing left was who actually defeated the dragon in question. It was about five years after Nightmare Moon's defeat and Princess Celestia had dealt with the dragon rather quickly, though how she was never told and none of the books mentioned it.
Eventually she sighed and beckoned to Bjorn, following her companion over to the wrecked tower to survey the damage and rescue whoever was still alive. As they approached the tower a guard appeared at the top of the ramp, though by the looks of things it was clear that he wasn't in the best of shape.
"No, get back!" the guard shouted at them, confirming Sunset's fear that they had walked into a trap set by the dragon, "The beast is still here somewhere.
That was when Sunset heard a roar echo throughout the nearby mountain, causing her and everyone else to turn their heads and see the shape of a dragon come their way.
"Kynareth save us all," the guard moaned, drawing his bow so he could die with his weapon drawn, "he's coming back to finish us off."
"Come on men," Irileth shouted, nocking an arrow and taking aim at the dragon, "focus your fire and make every arrow we have count."
As the dragon neared the tower it opened its mouth and balls of fire rained down on the guards, exploding when they touched the ground or an unlucky guard. Sunset, on the other hand, ducked behind a section of the ruined walkway and prepared her magic, hoping that they would be able to put down the beast without losing too many lives. Bjorn pulled out an arrow and loosed it at the dragon, hitting it in the side and watched as the arrow fell back to the ground not a few moments later. Irileth and the guards, for the most part, remained out in the open, giving the dragon excellent target practice while they tried to put as many of their arrows in its hide as they could.
When the dragon stopped in mid air and faced them Sunset emerged and threw her magic at the beast, just as bolts of lightning hit the stomach area and caused it to look at her. She had seen it use fire and had chosen to use a different element, though she was considering that frost might have been a better choice in the end. As the dragon turned towards her she noticed that there were flames gathering in its throat, telling her that it was preparing to attack her immediately. It was times like this that Sunset wished that she had wings, so she could fly around the beast and make it harder for her to actually be hit by one of its attacks.
As the dragon loosed its attack Sunset rolled behind the section of the walkway she had hidden behind before, knowing that she'd have to come up with another plan of attack.
The dragon landed right in front of Irileth, causing her to jump to her right before she was consumed by its fire breath, but it continued to follow her despite the others around it. Bjorn took advantage of the distraction by pulling out his own sword, ran up to the beast, and swung it right into the dragon's hind leg, cutting a gash that must have angered the creature by the roar that it loosed. Several of the guards regained themselves and loosed their own arrows into the dragon's sides, some of which harmlessly just bounced off its hide while the rest buried themselves deep. Sunset took a chance and emerged from her hiding spot, channeling her frost magic into the dragon's side to cool down its raging flame, not to mention seal in the arrows for a moment.
What worried Sunset was the fact that they weren't doing too much damage to the dragon, as it looked like it could still fight for hours while they were using up all of their resources. Most of the guards that had followed Irileth into battle were either running around like chickens, trying to find cover to put more arrows into the beast, or just plain dead. Sunset and Bjorn had retreated to the inside of the tower, giving them a moment to catch their breath and down a few of the potions that Bjorn had purchased earlier. She also noticed that Bjorn was running low on arrows again, but she had none to give him and they were, rather quickly, running out of options.
"Surely your tale told of how the dragon was defeated," Bjorn commented, drawing an arrow while he watched from the doorway, "How did the ponies and griffins manage to defeat such a beast on their own?"
"That's the problem Bjorn, they didn't," Sunset replied, mildly annoyed that he was asking about the story in the middle of battle, "Half of them were destroyed the moment the dragon showed himself and the other half are doing what we're doing right now; hiding until we come up with a better plan. They never came up with that plan, as Princess Celestia arrived and told everyone, ponies and griffins alike, to flee before they were caught in the crossfire. Then, when they were all gone and it was just her and the dragon, she did something and the dragon was never heard from again, but what that something was I never found out.
The whole thing is vexing, as most of Equestria's villains were either defeated with trickery, such as Tirek, King Sombra, and a few others that I won't mention, or with the Elements of Harmony, like Nightmare Moon and Discord to name a few. Sadly, we do not possess any of the Elements of Harmony and I am pretty sure that trickery won't get us anywhere with this dragon."
"For Ysgramor!" a voice shouted, just before the dragon roared in agony and a figure rolled into the tower, which turned out to be Aela, "Ah, so this is where you two were hiding. Tell me, do we have a plan for dealing with the beast?"
"Not really," Bjorn replied, turning to face the Huntress, "How did you know we were here?"
"A guard came to Jorrvaskr and told us about the dragon," Aela replied, nocking another arrow into her bow, "Kodlak did not want any of us to come out and fight the dragon, but when I heard that you two were here I grabbed my bow and came running. A warrior does not leave a Shield-Brother behind, nor does she let one of her friends die at the claws of one of Skyrim's oldest foes without backing them up. I will be reprimanded for my actions today, but it will pale in comparison to telling a tale of defeating a dragon to the rest of my Shield-Brothers and Sisters."
"It would be an honor to fight at your side again Aela," Bjorn laughed, nocking three arrows into his bow before nodding to himself, "even if it means that we are both destined to die here in the end."
"Agreed Bjorn," Aela said, making sure her weapons were ready, "Come then, let us show this dragon the combined power of the the Hunter and the Huntress."
Before Sunset could stop the insane hunters from leaving the tower to meet their doom they stood up and marched outside, where she heard them loose their arrows not moments later. She knew that she couldn't leave the two of them to face the dragon alone, but she had absolutely no idea how to even defeat such a creature in combat. All the books she had read only told of vague ways on how to actually fight one if attacked, and all of Princess Celestia's tales never specified how she had done it either. She sighed and pulled herself off the floor, knowing that she was going to do something that would likely mean the death of her and her companions.
"Ful, hi los pah tol los vahlut?" the dragon asked, speaking in its native language as two archers appeared from the tower, though quickly realized that they didn't understand him, "So, you are all that is left? Such a shame. I had heard that the Dragonborn was around this area, but it seems that I was mistaken. Time for you to die!"
Before the dragon could loose its fire at them they loosed their arrows, which pierced the dragon's stomach and caused him to roar in pain and anger. They were buying time for Sunset, because they both knew that she had more knowledge when it came to the creatures than anyone currently alive in Skyrim. They needed her to come up with a plan of attack, so until then they were determined to use every arrow they could until she told them exactly what needed to be done. As the dragon got ready to loose an attack on them both Bjorn and Aela heard a shout as something, a magical spell Bjorn quickly realized, hit the dragon in the back and caused it to turn towards the tip of the tower.
Sunset took a deep breath after throwing the lightning bolt before leaping off the top of the tower, pulling her sword out and swinging at the dragon, somehow getting the blade to pierce the beasts hide. The dragon roared and swung one of its claws at her, though as it did so it lowered itself towards the ground Sunset let go of the blade and fell to the ground, only to be caught by Bjorn and Aela. Once her feet were touching the ground again they turned and faced the dragon, though she noticed that her sword had fallen out and laid halfway between them all.
"Ful, hi los gein bel naal Kynareth?!" the dragon shouted at them, his eyes focused on Sunset and not her companions, until he realized that she couldn't understand him either, "You are the one summoned by Kynareth?! She should have let Atatosh summon someone more worthy to face my Lord than you. You are just an ant, mortal, and I shall take great pride in crushing you into Sovngarde."
As the dragon readied its breath once more Sunset immediately ran forward, much to the surprise of Bjorn and Aela as she reached for her enchanted sword. She reached the sword with ease, but instead of stopping she continued forward, allowing her magic to wrap around the blade as she ran towards the dragon. As the dragon loosed its flames at her she ducked to the side and closed the distance, swinging her sword into the dragon's side and leaving a gash in the scales. As the dragon roared in agony Sunset climbed onto its back and continued to swing her weapon, the flames cutting small gashes into the armored skin until she reached its head.
Before she could plant her weapon in the dragon's skull it shook its head and threw off, causing her to land on the ground nearby and roll back onto her feet.
"I shall make sure to tear you and all of your allies into as many pieces as I can," the dragon promised her, gathering even more flames into its mouth.
That was before Irileth, having used Sunset as a distraction, climbed onto the dragon's back and started hacking into its skin, cutting as many gashes as she could into the beast. The dragon roared in agony as the guards, what remained of them anyway, burst out of their hiding places and started driving their weapons into the dragon's sides. It was as if they realized that they now had a chance at defeating the dragon, but even now it continued to thrash around as if it still had energy to go on for hours.
"Now Sunset Shimmer!" Irileth shouted, turning to face the group that was near the head, "Drive your sword into its head and end this nightmare once and for all."
Before Sunset started to run both Bjorn and Aela ran ahead of her, but stopped halfway between her and the dragon and held their hands together, forming a way for her to get the boost she needed to get to the head. She ran forward and leapt onto their hands, allowing them to throw her into the air and gain the height she needed to run her blade into the dragon's head. As she neared her target she poured the last of her magic into the blade, allowing an even intenser magical aura to surround the blade as she drove it straight into the dragon's head. Then, to be sure the deed would be done, she released the magic inside the dragon's body and cut the beast's head in half, much to everyone's surprise.
Bjorn caught her before she could touch the ground, though everyone started to hail her as the one that had saved Whiterun from becoming the dragon's next target. Then, just as they started to celebrate, the dragon's body shuddered and started to break apart, the outer skin breaking away until the only thing left of the dragon was his skeletal body. As they watched the body a mass of energy rose from the corpse, but just as Irileth drew her sword to cut into whatever it was the energy moved around her and went straight towards Sunset. Then the energy smacked into her chest and filled her entire body, much to the amazement of the assembled guards, Irileth, Aela, and Bjorn, and not to mention to Sunset's confusion.
"What in Celestia's name just happened?" Sunset asked, completely confused as to what just happened to her.
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One: How did Sunset know how to use a sword!? Two: Kynareth summoned Sunset!? Three: Is Talos the same as Ysmir?
6701934 Let's see: One; She was shown how to use it, as Bjorn briefly showed her the movements. I think the heat of the battle made her just go with the flow.
Two; I'd recommend looking at the previous chapter and reading someone's comments. He/she explained his/her reasoning for why Kynareth might be the one who summoned Sunset.
And three; Talos is a Divine, Ysmir is, if memory serves, just a title. I think all Dragonborn were called Ysmir at one point.
6701962 Oh.
6701994 Yeah, and I figured out Ysmir. Its a title given to the Dragonborn, means 'Dragon of the North'.
Still, we finally know who the Dragonborn is, despite the fact that we could have guessed from the previous chapter.
6701994
Long story short: unicorns are holy "animals" of Kynareth. Also i don't think that Sunset is Dragonborn. Unicornborn for sure, but Dragonborn?
And, he, i'm a man.
6702021 I'm guessing you know all this from playing the older Elder Scrolls games? I didn't know about that extra bit of Kyn and I'm really impressed. Her title in Dovahzuul is Dovah Geinzahkey. Wow, that's a mouthful.
6702046
I started with Oblivion, sorry. By the time Ireached Morrowind it had too bad graphic for me to play it long. So just Oblivion lore for me.
6702071 What do you mean by bad graphics?
6702073
Do you truly think that thirteen years ago, when Morrowind was maid, world had Skyrim-quality graphics?
6702166 No. I wouldn't know because I never played Morrowind.
So Sunset is Dovahkiin, this should be interesting!
Sunset is the dragonborn
I can just see the awkward conversations Sunset will be having with Spike after this is over:
Sunset: Oh yeah, I became a dragon-slayer. So you might not want to go on a greed growth-spurt or who knows what will happen to you.
Spike: 0_0
Yes, Sunset Shimmer is the Dragonborn... which means the dragons are kind of screwed at this point.
No matter how many times I go through that fight (and that one has become like clockwork at this point), only every one in ten times will Mirmulnir kill more than one of Irileth's guards. He usually kills the two giants of towards the mountain, but the guards rarely take any fire.
Don't let Sunset near Spike when he comes of age from now on
7480086
Yep.
7480086
Well, I mean, Dragonslayer doesn't have to mean slay.
It COULD mean lay ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Sunset x Spike anyone? XD
10749146
no