8)7,650 words
Chapter 12: Missed them by that much5,307 words
Chapter 13: Mini Quests - White River Rescue and The Beacon6,001 words
Chapter 14: Coming Round The Mountain5,451 words
Chapter 15: Reunity at 7,000 feet10,331 words
Intermission: The Second Chaos3,201 words
Chapter 16: The Way of the Voice5,454 words
Chapter 17: The Long Way Around6,754 words
Chapter 18: Ustengrav5,309 words
Chapter 19: Tensions at Riverwood and A New Quest6,058 words
Chapter 20: Kynesgrove6,339 words
Chapter 21: Road to Winterhold10,100 words

Chapter 20: Kynesgrove

There was a saying an old friend of Celestia's once told her. He may have been dead for well over a thousand years, but to this very day, she couldn't allow herself to forget her friend's words of wisdom. "Its a dangerous business Celestia, going out your door. You step out on to the road, and if you don't kick your hooves, there's no knowing, where you might be swept off to." She didn't realize just how important those words were until she found herself thrusted into a hostile world. With Luna once again at her side, Celestia found herself more at peace with her new, unfamiliar surroundings. In fact, at times, she felt herself awestruck at the wild, untamed beauty of Skyrim. From the winding golden meadows of Whiterun, to the evergreen forests of the south and east, to the snow covered wonderland that covered fifty percent of the land. Even the wildlife that reminded her much of the animals that roamed the dark woods of Equestria. It had its moments of beauty and she was internally glad that she got to see it. It was rather refreshing to see landscapes less populated than that of Earth and Equestria whenever she had the chance to see them.

The river flowing through the hold of Whiterun was a beautiful sight in particular. The way it gurgled and whistled, moving down stream, the way it created foam every time it dipped into a pile of rocks. It's curving branches and swirling blue pools along the bank reminded her much of the river where her own tribe once dwelled beside. Its snow white flowers, its spindly long emerald green grass, that stretched out far for what seemed like eternity....

Celestia noticed that Luna was feeling the same way. Away from the expectations of being a princess, Luna was finally starting to loosen up more and more. She only hoped that this stayed with her when they returned home. She was confident too that Katia's morose attitude would lighten up much more, given time and much encouragement.

For the moment however, her concerns were less about the beauty of their new surroundings and more about the character of their new travel companion. Needless to say, Celestia did not trust her in the least, though she would never say it openly. Delphine was one of those people that hid much from everyone and seldom shared very little about herself. Celestia tried probing her mind for information, but was surprised to find a resilient mental block against her advances. It would take nearly a day pounding away at her defenses to probe deeper. Thankfully, their walk to Kynesgrove would prove to give her the time she needed to complete that exact task. That is if nothing along the way interrupted her concentration.

"Hey Luna, wanna hear the most irritating sound in the world?" Ky'ell asked humorously.

"I'd rather not Ky'ell--"

"EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

The man began screeching right into Luna's sensitive ears.

Noticeable veins popped from the foreheads of every girl present. Luna socked the Nord right in the jaw, knocking him out as he fell to the ground with a slap against the cobblestone road. Grabbing him by the ankle, she started dragging him along again. His groans were audible against the constant clanking of the metal plates of his armor.

"Be stupid on your own time," she breathed out in annoyance. "We have a job to do."

"Not until four mommy," he groaned.

"Is he always like this?" Delphine asked with a chuckle.

"Just when he's eaten too much Elsweyran Cheese." Katia joked. "He's pretty special that way."

Delphine did not know how to properly respond to that.

"He may be a little eccentric, but he seems to be a noble, formidable warrior who deserves our utmost respect," Celestia said awkwardly. "I certainly approve of him being the chosen hero of this world, despite his "special-ness".

"When he's not acting like a lunatic," Katia replied dryly. "I haven't been around him long, but he's usually either super cool and serious looking, or retarded as a riekling."

'You'll probably delve more into his backstory as time goes on,' one of Katia's audience members said. 'I bet its psychologically interesting like yours is.'

'Maybe ask him if he can speak more cool Khajiit stuff with you', another one added.

"I told you guys already, I haven't been able to speak fluent Elseweyran in a long time," she grumbled to the voices. "Being around humans for a long time tends to make one forget that sort of thing."

'Go with him to see his parents! I bet they can teach you all kinds of Sneak skills!' Another voice added in.

Katia thought upon that suggestion as they were walking along the winding roads into Whiterun.

For the longest time, Katia had not had the support of another Khajiit since her own parents disowned her. Thanks in no part to her crippling nightmares. Though knowing at least how semi-decent Ky'ell turned out under his caravan, perhaps the possibility of relearning her own culture might not be out of the question.

"Maybe. It would be interesting to meet more members of my own kind. As long as I don't end up doing anything really weird around them. Any kind of alcohol just does not agree with me in the slightest.

'I wonder if they have butterbeer here?'

'You need to learn to handle your liquor girl, the party gods demand it!'

"One: I have no idea what that is, and two: if there were any party gods, I'd like for them to apologize." Katia snapped.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Delphine asked the cat girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope! Nothing!" she laughed nervously. "I'm not doing anything at all. Certainly not doing anything crazy like talking to myself! I'm just talking to the people at home."

"Sweet Divines, the whole lot of you are touched with madness," Delphine groaned.

"At least there's never a dull moment with them," Celestia said with mirth. "Despite the fact we're in a place where everything wants to kill us, I haven't enjoyed myself in a group like this in quite a while."

To extenuate that fact, Luna hit Ky'ell in the head again with her bow for trying to get back up on to his feet.

"You two certainly don't act like any princesses that I've ever seen," the woman stated.

"Well, we want our subjects to know we are approachable, so we've learned how to, shall we say, "loosen up as it were." Luna explained. "For myself, this was hard as I had come back after a very long absence. Society was quite different from what I was used to and I had to learn a different way to, "loosen up".

"Loosening up for normal people usually just means a few drinks at the local tavern. Not, whatever you people do," Katia replied with snark.

"We're special," Celestia replied sweetly.

"Special is one word for it," Delphine said with snark.

The party moved down the road eastward without much interference, save for the occasional band of bandits that had survived Celestia's onslaught or Frostbite Spiders that stalked the waterways of the Eastern Forest. Soon they came back to Valtheim Towers. The rubble of the structure was still there, as was the memory of the battle that the four had undertaken in this place. Pieces of the bridge across the gorge had fallen into the river and already had signs of moss and algae growing on them. Delphine looked surprised at the state of it all.

"This was a notorious bandit hideout. What in Akatosh happened here?" she asked.

"That would be us," Celestia said sheepishly. "The men here wouldn't listen to reason, so I unfortunately had to show them why I am High Princess of Equestria."

"Many people have been slain coming through here. Whiterun owes you a debt of gratitude for freeing this passage to the east once more for all travelers." Delphine thanked with respect.

"I must admit that we did not know it was Celestia that did all of this at first," Luna replied.

"Didnt we see some screaming lunatic get thrown into the air by a giant Princess?" Katia asked.

"That would be my lunatic here," Luna said as she gave the human a friendly nudge. "The giant caught him off guard and made him scream like a little filly."

Ky'ell simply laughed sheepishly at that.

"We aren't here to talk about me, we're here to talk about all the pretty sights and smells of Skyrim." the man deflected.

"Regardless, someone may have to come along to clean this up one of these days," Delphine thought out loud. "This is the shortest route to Kynesgrove, but it might not be that anymore if we have to trudge through more rubble."

"Oooh! I found more funny glitches!" Ky'ell shrieked with delight.

"What are you babbling on about again this time?" Luna asked tiredly.

He pointed over to the right side where the mountain was facing them. The girls were confused and flabbergasted at the sight. Half of a goat that appeared to be flailing around silently in the dirt, blinking in and out of existence. Just a few hundred feet up, there was a sword stuck into a basket, frozen in mid air. Both oddities confused the women to no bounds.

"What???" Katia quietly asked no one in particular.

"You'd think they would hire better testers to watch for this sort of thing," the man said eloquently.

"I don't see anything, you must have had some bad skooma Dragonborn," Delphine said. "We should keep moving. I doubt the Thalmor are aware of you four yet. So for now, we should be safe from them at the very least."

The group weaved through the large pieces of rock and rubble from the remains of the towers and passed into Eastmarch once again. Blankets of clouds rolled over the woods and a chill in the air signaled the coming of another snow storm. A mild one this time that would thankfully only add to the beauty of their surroundings, instead of its danger. Rays of sun light peeked through the clouds every so often, giving them a brief respite from the sudden chill, but even this did not last for very long.

Their path back towards Windhelm took the group down a different road. One that sweeped down and around the mountain into a valley covered in a thin layer of tule fog. Just enough to give the woods a cold look, but not enough to obscure the party's vision of the ground. To their left, the mountain shot straight up into a cliff face like a wall. To their right, many small settlements in the woods started to come into view. A number of cozy cottages, farms and mills dotted the side of the road every so often. It was a rather picturesque sight, light pouring out of windows, most likely from a roaring fire and a warm hearth. It made Luna somewhat melancholy, remembering all of the comforts of her own castle. Now more than ever, she would never take those comforts for granted ever again, so long as she lived.

Not long after, the cliff face disappeared and the valley opened up much more. The forest gave way to tundra that followed alongside the river. It wasnt as deep or strong in this place; just enough for any animal or man to safely bathe or get a drink without risking being swept away by a strong current. A bear once or twice, crossed their paths, but was quickly calmed and sent on its way by Celestia. She had a natural talent back in Equestria for connecting with wild life, as displayed by her large garden containing all manner of birds, beasts, and insects.

Snow started to softly fall on the cobblestone as they came closer to their destination. It was getting later in the day as the weather got progressively colder. Luna did not remember when she was this aware of her surroundings. Cold air and a strong mixed scent of pine, moss, lavender, and steam filled her nose and kept her awake. It was a rather pleasant, fragrant smell that the princess half wished she could bottle and bring home with her. She had a number of fragrances that she used in her own bedroom when trying to fall asleep. Lotus Blossom was her favorite, though she did have a number of other smells that made her slumbers that more luxurious. The thought was rather amusing, but still a nice one.

Circling around the valley, the snow started to pile up on the sides of the road and spill over on to the cobblestone as their path began to rise. They passed Windhelm without much issue. Many of the residents in the outskirts of Windhelm recognized Celestia on sight and greeted her kindly. She had made many friends in the city through her deeds and it gained her their respect. A few guards patrolling the roads greeted her cordially as well and offered her an escort through the hold. Celestia politely declined each time as they went on their way.

"You have become quite the celebrity here Princess. The people seem to love you." Delphine said stoically.

"I was just doing my royal duty, though it is extra special when I can love a people and the people love me back."

"I'm sure you earned it Celestia," Luna said solemnly. "Any creature would be a fool not to love you."

"Don't think too lowly of yourself Luna. I saw the same when I came to Whiterun for the first time. The people there really have come to think of you as one of their own. Even though you are not one of them. And we still have a nation of people to go back to that loves both of us."

"Thank you sister. I suppose that is true. I only hope that we are allowed to see our beautiful nation again."

Heading back down south for a few miles along the road, the party passed a number of houses and farms that surrounded the perimeter of Windhelm. The path sloped upwards as the wind started blowing snow harder and harder against their bodies that clumped and caked their armor in ice. Many bushes and evergreen trees started returning as they came into a small forested area of the hold. Delphine led the party down a branching path that winded further up the hillside. The rest of the group could not tell what laid up the slope, but it have been their destination. Whatever form it took.

"This is the outskirts of Kynesgrove," Delphine finally said. "It is not much to look at, but the innkeeper at the local in should be able to tell us if there is any dragon burial mound nearby."

"Boss fight senses are tinglin. I'm ready for a fun bout of awesomeness," Ky'ell chattered.

Suddenly, the two Sisters could feel an aura of evil magic racing through the air, invisible to most, but clear as day to the alicorns. Their tall fuzzy ears could pick up a roar far off into the distance. The roar of an enormous animal that they recognized almost immediately. It was guttural, full of hate, and dripping with primordial magical power. Luna looked to Ky'ell who's face changed drastically. This was not the face of the noble, charming fool that she had become fond of. This was the face of a steadfast barbarian. The face she had seen back in Whiterun, when she faced down her first dragon in the land of Skyrim.

A woman came down the path, breathing heavily with a crippling fear in her eyes.

"You don't want to go up there! There's a dragon attacking!" the woman cried.

"Where?" Celestia asked.

"Ky'ell are you--" Luna started.

She barely registered it at first as Ky'ell quickly took off like a shot, barreling past the woman and up the hill soon vanishing from her sight.

"Ky'ell wait!" Luna exclaimed.

"Where are you going?" Katia tried yelling through the blizzard.

"Where we should be going," Delphine replied. "Come on! We need to find out what's happening up there!"

The girls came across the inn that Delphine spoke of as they ran through a back gate and further up the hill where more thunderous sounds and giant ominous dark figures started to take form through the growing winds and mist of the blizzard. Off to the right, the girls swore they could make out the entrance to a mine that went into the hillside, but at the moment, it was of no consequence to them.

Out of the dark, they made out a booming evil voice, soaked with malice echoing down the mountain.

"SAHLOKNIR! ZIIL GRO DOVAH ULSE!"

One of the giant monstrous figures dancing in the sky beat its wings violently and sent stronger gusts of wind and snow down the mountain, unknowingly creating miniature hurricanes to hinder their progress forward.

"Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard! Keep your heads down. Let's see what it does!" Delphine shouted to them over the loud wind.

"That's a dragon?" Katia asked fearfully. "I thought those things were just fairy tales. When you said you fought them, I thought you were kidding!"

They stopped for a moment, watching the dragon carefully. As it came closer to the ground, Luna felt herself experiencing a surge of fear and protectiveness for her human friend. She propelled herself forward up the hill, ignoring the protests of the other three behind her. She was worried for the safety of her new friend and she was not about to let him perish in a storm of ice and fire that was sure to come.

She dashed up the hill and around a barrier of rocks as she finally came across the dragon burial mound and the horrifying scene that it was privy to. It was a dragon, black as ebony with eyes blazing red like rubies, hovering over the mound, staring at it as if it had something that the dragon wanted. Luna looked around, but could not find any sign of Ky'ell nearby. Whether he had run off somewhere else or found somewhere to hide, she had no idea.

"SAHLOKNIR! ZIIL GRO DOVAH ULSE!" the dragon repeated. "SLEN TIID VO!"

A burst of grey lightning and black wind came forth from the dragon's mouth, beating down on the burial mound. Piles of dirt and rock exploded out of the mound, as a giant skeleton clawed its way out of the mound and on to the surface. Black magic surged around the skeleton as it generated muscle tissue, organs, tendons, and skin bit by bit, bringing the beast fully back to life.

"Holy shit" Katia swore.

"I must agree," Celestia said with dread in her voice.

Luna turned her head to find the other girls witnessing the event before them. They caught up with her rather fast after she had broken away from the group. Now she was wishing that she had not.

"This is worse than I had imagined."

The resurrected dragon spoke to the black dragon in a raspy, yet intimidating and booming voice.

"ALDUIN, THURI! BOAAN TIID VOKRIIHA SULEYKSEJUN KRUZIIK?"

"GEH SAHLOKNIR, KAALI MIR!"
the black dragon said.

The black dragon turned its head to the side and started right down at Luna. She could tell that its blood red eyes were piercing right into her soul.

"FUL, LOSEI DOVAHKIIN? ZU'U KORAAV NID NOL DOV DO HI. "(So, you are Dovahkiin? I must admit, you are not what I expected.)

Then suddenly, the dragon growled and began to chuckle evilly.

"You do not even know our tongue do you?" Alduin asked in English. "Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."

"I am Princess Luna of Equestria. Diarch of the Sky and Regent of the Moon. My family were blessed with dragon ancestry and thus I became blessed with the Voice when I arrived here. I will vanquish you quickly and I will return home to reclaim my kingdom." Luna proudly proclaimed.

"Bold words for a female, to be sure. I do not know your smell, but if you are not of Skyrim, then you had the help of its people. I will make short work of any who dare to be more than what they are: worms. Insects crawling around in the dirt."
Alduin sneered.

"You will find that you will have trouble with two divine rulers of the sky Alduin," Celestia growled.

Luna readied a magical shield when she saw Alduin begin to inhale for a Shout.

"ZU'U DOVAHKIIN ALDUIN!" a familiar voice roared.

Everyone turned their attention off to the left where an epic sight unfolded.

Straight from the pages of a gripping fairy tale, Ky'ell, standing before Alduin in the blowing snow, faced the two dragons down with a look that would send demons running. His sword and shield were out, shimmering faintly in the white snow that blew all around. His dirty blonde hair seemed to float with the breeze, dancing all about.

Alduin's eyes widened in recognition of this man.

"The man from Helgen." he growled. "So, I have two quarries to deal with do I? SAHLOKNIR! KRII DAAR JOORE!"

Alduin bolted and flew off to the East to give his newly resurrected pawn a chance to kill both Dragonborn. Sahloknir turned to Luna first as he inhaled for his first Thu'um. Ky'ell dashed forward and channeled some of his magicka into his feet and leaped off of a rock, over fifty feet into the air. He flew over the dragon and landed on its neck. The action startled the dragon, forcing it to flail all over the place to remove the offending object. Before he was shaken off, Ky'ell managed to get in a few well placed slashes to the back of Sahloknir's long neck. Blood gushed from the dragon's new wounds and a few damaged scales fell to the ground. Angered by this attack, the dragon took to the air and began launching a volley of fireballs at them through the blizzard. The girls did their best to dodge and stay out of the way of the fireballs. Some of them impacting against nearby pine trees and setting them ablaze.

Katia, doing her best to gather up as much courage as possible, dashed out from behind her hiding spot and launched a dozen fire balls at the dragon, all the while screaming her head off to try to ignore how terrified she was. Half of them hit their mark, but bounced off Sahloknir's diamond hard scales harmlessly. The dragon chuckled evilly down at the quivering Khajiit girl.

"I see that mortals have become quite arrogant in the many millennium that I have slept through," Sahloknir growled. "YOL!"

Katia's pupils shrunk to pin size and her ears flattened against her head as a powerful stream of fire gushed from the drake's gaping maw.

"KATIA!" Celestia screamed.

Her entire life flashed before her eyes once again. In that moment, she was certain that she was going to die in agony.

Something inhumanly fast dashed in front of her and took the brunt of the blast. Katia was forced to shut her eyes from the blindingly bright flames pouring down on her savior.

For five seconds, all she could hear and feel was scorching heat and the roar from the dragon's Thu'um. When the heat ceased, she opened her eyes to find Ky'ell standing there with his shield up. His iron banded shield took most of the flames head on, but it was still scorching hot as the metal glowed a dull orange. No doubt searing into Ky'ell's flesh. If Ky'ell was feeling any sort of pain from this, he wasn't showing it at all. His right shoulder was also somewhat scorched from the flames that were not blocked by his shield. Bits of the fur padding on his armor were singed and the leather was damaged severely. Seeing the man that badly damaged, and still standing tall was certainly a sight to behold.

"That was my favorite studded armor," Ky'ell said menacingly. "It took me two days to get that to exquisite condition!"

Celestia grabbed the stunned Katia and pulled her back behind a wall of rocks while Luna rushed over to check on Ky'ell's condition.

The solar princess grabbed ahold of the Khajiit's hear with both hands and coaxed her to look into her eyes.

"Katia. Just breathe and calm down. Grab a bow and help Delphine bring that dragon to the ground. We will talk about this afterwards. Alright? Right now, we need to keep our heads or we won't survive," Celestia said firmly, but kindly.

Katia started tearing up, but she nodded vigorously as she accepted a long bow and a few arrows from Celestia. The alicorn ran back into the fray and began shooting a number of weaker fire spells at the dragon to conserve her precious magicka.

Delphine was bombarding Sahloknir with a barrage of elven arrows that missed many times. His overwhelming speed in the air was proving to be bothersome for the party.

"We have to bring the bastard down to the ground!" Delphine exclaimed angrily.

Luna tried to tend to Ky'ell's wounds quickly, but he refused vehemently and dashed back into the fight with enough rage to kill an army.

"Ky'ell! Wait!" Luna tried.

She saw the dragon come around for another stream of fire breath and charged up her last reserves of Lunar energy. Holding out her left hand, she stunned the dragon with a beam of magic to the eyes. It made Sahloknir flail widely in the air, unable to see where he was going.

The man waited until the dragon came in for a quick landing to get in a couple of well placed strikes with his sword. It wasn't long before Sahloknir touched back down to the Earth, shaking the ground beneath his razor sharp claws. He saw the Nord coming for him and tensed up with excitement.

"You idiot! Don't let it get too close to you!" Delphine barked.

"My Voice has been silent for far too long! It will be sweet to use it on such fresh prey!" Sahloknir cried with a mad glee.

Sahloknir tried to fry Ky'ell with a close range breath of flame, but the Nord quickly dodged out of the way and started slicing the dragon in any place he was able to.

"Luna! Celestia! If you want to help! Break this rotten old fucker's wings into pieces!" Ky'ell roared.

The solar princess took out her warhammer while Luna ran in with her Elven sword.

Celestia reared back with her warhammer, sending large amounts of magicka into her arms, aiming at the dragon while Ky'ell was distracting it. Swinging forward with massive amounts of force, she released her hammer and watched it fly right into the base of the dragon's wing. The magic, added with her own god like strength made the hammer into a giant blunt shuriken that spun like a windmill. The impact of the hammer dislocated the wing with a sickening crack, making Sahloknir roar in intense agony. Luna couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at what they were doing, but she had to force those thoughts out of her head as they went in to finish off the dragon.

In a fit of rage, Sahloknir tried roasting the two alive with his most powerful fire breath yet. Ky'ell swung up on to his long neck, and with a roar of rage, plunged his sword right down into the dragon's snout, pinning it shut. Sahloknir's eyes widened in surprise as the inside of his mouth started to glow. He tried to stop his own Thu'um, but it was too late as the breath rebounded into his throat and into his stomach, scorching his guts and killing him. Sahloknir stared into Luna's eyes for a few seconds, as if he was looking into her soul. She slowly placed her hand on Sahloknir's snout and rubbed it gently, looking back into his topaz yellow eyes

"Sleep now, dear Sahloknir." Luna said with respect. "May you find peace in the next life that you could not find here. I pray that next time we meet, you will permit me to know you better."

Sahloknir's eyes almost seemed to look happy, like he was thanking the lunar princess for her kind words. They fluttered for a moment before they closed entirely as his massive body slowly slumped to the ground and all life disappeared from him in an instant.

The intensity of the fight stayed with everyone present, until they finally relaxed, and allowed themselves to sheath their weapons.

"I'll be damned. You did it! That was well done. Come on, I've been wanting a closer look at one of these buggers."

Celestia walked over to Luna who had a forlorn look in her eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Luna? Are you alright?" the white alicorn asked.

"I...will be," she said reluctantly. "I understand that he had to die, but...I wish we could have gotten through to him and Murmulnuir. Evil or not, dragons are special like alicorns are. We are among the few primordial species left on Equis. It pains me to have to kill any of them, despite the fact I know I have to."

"You really do have a special connection with dragon kind," Celestia replied with a smile. "To love them this much."

"Is it really love though? I am not certain what these feelings are. Ever since we arrived here, more than my body has felt different."

"It is something that we will have to deal with in time."

Ky'ell pulled his sword out of Sahloknir's head and jumped down to Luna, who felt a familiar sensation begin to once again enter their bodies. They nodded to each other, ready for what was about to happen.

Celestia and Katia stepped back from the dragon's body in surprise when its scales started flying off like ashes in a strong breeze. It then began to glow brighter and brighter.

"Wait something is happening...gods above!" Delphine exclaimed.

Sahloknir's soul was absorbed into Luna and Ky'ell's bodies, as they received his essence and his power. Ethereal otherworldly chanting proclaimed their accomplishments and their well earned prize. It was unheard by all but the two newly crowned Dragonborn who stood silently and felt Sahloknir's power flowing through them. All flesh had disappeared from the drake's carcass, leaving it a pure white skeleton, laying lifeless in the cold snow.

"So you two really are them..." Delphine mused.

Katia walked out from her cover and came over to the group who were standing around, looking down at the skeleton.

"Holy shit, that was...amazing!" Katia said energetically. "Were the two of you always able to do that?"

"Not until recently," Luna replied.

Delphine quietly pulled a number of her arrows out of the skeleton that she had fired and placed them back in her leather bound quiver before turning back to the other four.

"I suppose I owe you all answers now," Delphine stated. "Go ahead. Whatever you want to know. Nothing held back."

"If we are going for the stock inquiry options instead of something uniquely phrased; What do you know of the dragons returning?" Ky'ell asked.

"Not a damn thing. I was just as surprised as you to find that big black dragon here."

"That dragon spoke as if he knew you Ky'ell. Have you met him somewhere before?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's the one that got away."

"Really? Where?" Delphine asked hastily.

"That big black turd was the one that attacked Helgen when the Imperials put me on the chopping block. I escaped along with Ulfric Stormcloak. Kinda weird that he was on the Southwestern end of Skyrim when where he was supposedly captured was on the Eastern end of Skyrim. Seems like a waste of time to bring him that far for an execution, but that's plot holes for ya.'

Luna facepalmed at the man's bizarre explanation while Celestia giggled at the man's antics.

"Interesting. Same dragon..." Delphine commented thoughtfully. "Damn it! We're blundering around in the dark here. We need to find out who's behind it all!"

"Who are you exactly?" Katia asked suspiciously. "We know you've been stalking these two for a while, but other than that, we are all in the dark about you."

"I'm one of the last members of the Blades," she proclaimed. "A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest of the dragon slayers. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose. Now that the dragons are coming back, are purpose is once again clear. We have to stop them. The Blades were once known as protectors of the Septim Emperors. Those days are long gone though. We've been searching for the next Dragonborn to guide and guard as we have been sworn to do."

"My sister and I have something similar." Celestia explained. "Our Celestial Praetorians have been our elite guard since before our mother and father ascended to the throne. Some of them can even trace their heritage back to our ancient tribe of alicorns. They were exceptional unicorn and pegasus ponies hoof selected by the alicorn chieftains to be our most powerful defenders. Most have unfortunately forgotten their true power and potential and act more as high ranking members of our Royal Guard these days."

"Good to see similar practices happen elsewhere," Delphine replied.

"So what is our next move then?" Luna asked. "The sooner we can solve this mystery and fufill this "prophecy" the sooner we can return home."

"First, we must find out who is behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead."

"Those creepy elves that passed by Whiterun? Thought they were just high and mighty assholes," Katia said.

"You already met them? This is not good at all. They are aware of your presence. Its almost certain that they have spies watching you at the places that you frequent."

"Thankfully it is only that, as I sensed none following us as we traveled to Kynesgrove," Luna said.

"Regardless, we are going to have to watch our moves a lot more carefully now. We can't be attracting too much attention to ourselves or the Thalmor will be on to us. If they aren't involved in the dragons, they will know who is."

"So how are we gonna get a bunch of stuck up snobby elves who think they know everything to tell us what they know about the dragons?" Katia asked incredulously.

"Bad experience with elves?" Celestia asked.

"Let's just say I had an incident with an elf mage who led me into a trap," the Khajiit replied.

"If we can get into the Thalmor embassy...its the center of their operations in Skyrim. Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia. Not to mention, they know what the two of you look like, which complicates matters even further."

"So how do we get into that embassy then?" Luna asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but it will take some time to pull things together."

"Where will you go?" Katia asked.

"I'll need a week or two to call in a few old favors across the province. After that, meet me back in Riverwood. If I'm not back when you get there, wait for me, I shouldn't be too long." she said. "In the mean time, I suggest you learn some Alteration magic at the College or learn how to disguise yourselves at the Thieves Guild. The Thalmor will be looking for you now and you will need to learn all you can while you are in Skyrim."

"I do believe that's a good idea. Plus, we have some...business to attend to at the College as well. Some questions we have that need to be answered before we are able to return home," Celestia explained.

They heard a melodramatic groan and something fall to the ground with a clank as they turned their heads to what caused the noise.

Ky'ell had finally ran out of adrenaline and was now feeling the full effects of his serious injuries from the dragon's attacks. He collapsed to the ground unconscious from how much pain he was feeling. Luna panicked and prodded him to make sure he was still alright.

"Ky'ell! Ky'ell! Speak to me!" Luna cried.

"Let me play hop scotch with the goblins later mommy," Ky'ell chattered deliriously as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Oh boy," Katia chuckled.

In the Northeastern most part of Skyrim, the Arch Mage of Winterhold was having a vision about an intriguing group of people. He had just had his evening cup of tea and was honing his divination skills, as was his duty as a mage. Allowing his magical skill to falter was simply not an option at his age. The Arch Mage was a man who rarely delved into prophecies as they often were a waste of time and energy in his opinion. Something about these people though piqued his interest. Especially the two females. Such unlike anything he had ever studied on the very face of Nirn.

"Mirabelle! Prepare the entrance hall!" he yelled out into the hallway.

"Yes sir! Are we expecting someone? New students perhaps?" a female voice shouted back.

"Oh yes, I should hope so! They will prove to open up many exciting prospects for this old place!"

While he scryed out images of the unusual group, a spectral man in a golden robe was watching from afar, sensing the people the Arch Mage was watching.

"So, the otherworldly visitors have finally arrived," the man said before disappearing into thin air.

Author's Note:

For those still confused, In Prequel, the audience was actually able to interact with Katia in the comic. I'm adapting that to be like meta physical voices in her head. Hence, Katia's audience members. Same way Screwy and Stuffy are to Deadpool as the voices in his head.

Sorry for taking so long with this one, I've been exceedingly busy with other things, projects, work, and school, but I managed to finish this chapter here.

As always, like and comment below, and tell me what I can do to make it better.

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