Chapter 6

I wasn’t paying attention to what Irileth said to her troops. Instead I was thinking back to some of the children’s stories I’d heard while growing up.

In the old days, even before the First Era, there had been a war between man and dragon. But that was thousands of years ago, and it was said that Akatosh himself had intervened to end the war. But what about today? Certainly we still worship Akatosh as the first of the Aedra, and I’m living proof that he exists now, but still...

I realized that in my introspection, Irileth and the guards had started moving out. There was no time for deep thinking. They took off at a good trot. I quickly caught up with them. At the first intersection, we turned west instead of the east that I’ve traveled so far, and I realized that I’d seen this tower in the distance when I first approached Whiterun. Only there weren’t clouds of smoke rising from it then like there were now. If I had to guess, I’d say the dragon has been very busy.

Irileth held one hand up. “Hold! We don’t want to be taken by surprise, but we need to know what happened here. Spread out, and look for survivors!” The guards quickly obeyed her orders. The flames and smoke from the burning wreckage of this tower made that difficult.

The breeze blew the smell of burnt flesh towards my nose. The guard that brought the news to Balgruuf was much luckier than he knew. I started to climb the path into the tower and a crazed soldier came running out. “No, get back! It’s still here somewhere! Kynareth save us, here he comes again!”

Irileth shouted, “Bows! Make every arrow count!” Coming out of the morning sky, screaming his battle cry, a large brown dragon swept through the sky towards us. He stopped, hovering over one of the guards on the ground, and fire shot from his mouth towards the unfortunate soldier.

Taking aim with my bow, I sent an arrow winging towards the dragon. From behind me, I heard Irileth casting a spell. Apparently she’s a battle mage. Lightning flashed from her fingertips towards the dragon. The dragon recoiled in pain, quit hovering and circled around again. He may not have been expecting this much resistance. More hovering and flame breath by the dragon resulted in more arrows finding their way into his scaly body. Several of those were mine.

The dragon moved around and landed with a thud near the entrance to the tower. I was on the ground and could feel the heat from his flaming breath as it swept up the steps into the tower. I had a clear shot and put more arrows into him. Suddenly he reared up and I could here him yell out, “Dovahkiin, NO!” His head flopped to the ground.

“Get down there, let’s check this overgrown snake to make sure he’s really dead!” Irileth led her remaining soldiers closer. As I got closer to the body, it suddenly erupted in a flash of light. Irileth yelled, “Everybody, get back!”

With a loud roar not unlike thunder, the flesh and scales of the dragon were consumed in an explosion of light. The explosion turned into streams of light, flowing from the body of the dragon towards me, engulfing my body and infusing me with an energy unlike anything I’d ever felt in my life. I know magic, and I’ve felt many a strange energy before in the Isles, but nothing ever like this. It filled me with both pleasure and pain and I actually felt a small orgasm from it. The light quickly faded, with only the skeletal remains of the dragon being left behind.

Irileth came running up. With some surprise in my voice, I said, “We did it, we defeated the dragon!” She replied, “I’ve followed Balgruuf through the wars, and fought many a battle at his side. That was the hairiest battle I’ve ever been in. This dragon fighting business is exciting, I feel like I can take on the world.”

Still feeling the effects of whatever happened to me, my face flushed with excitement, I told her something I normally wouldn’t. “I feel like I want to kiss somebody!”

She was truly in the afterglow from a successful battle as well, from having faced death and won, and said, “Yes, let us do that!” She flowed into my arms and we embraced. Her lips were wet, sweet, and inviting. Our mouths melded and our hands caressed each others body for what seemed like hours. Apparently successful combat made her as horny as it made me, and it was only through sheer force of effort that we avoided ripping each others clothes off right here.

The voice of one of the soldiers broke through our rising passions. “You absorbed the soul of that dragon, like the tales of old. You must be Dragonborn!”

Breaking our clinch, Irileth looked at him. “What are you talking about, fool? I see a dead dragon here, that’s all.”

Another guard said, “I don’t remember any tales of Tiber Septim taking the souls of dragons.”

The first one replied, “You wouldn’t understand, you ain’t Nord! If you can take their souls like that, then you should be able to shout like a dragon, too.”

Irileth said, “Whatever happened here, we need to get a report back to the Jarl. Regardless of us, Martina, I need you to take that report back to him while we clean up here.” I looked at her, questions in my eyes. She saw that. “We’ll talk later, you and I.”

“Very well, Irileth. And as for whatever you, soldier, were talking about, I obviously felt something from that dragon. As for whatever this shouting is you’re talking about...” I grew still, as I felt – something – inside me that wasn’t there before. I stepped past them, and then... “FUS!”

From out of me, a blast of power shot forth, tearing up the dirt in front of me.

“By the Gods, that’s it! Shouting! You must be Dragonborn!” the first soldier exclaimed.

Irileth said, “In spite of this, we still need to get word back. Hurry, now, and I’ll meet you there, later.”

I headed back down the road. It had been early morning when we’d left Whiterun. Between the battle and aftermath, it was now mid-afternoon, and the energy and excitement I’d had earlier was drained from me. I was glad I still had some watered wine and trail rations, even though it wasn’t that far back to town. Drinking and eating while I walked helped refresh me.

The towers immediately outside the gates to the city were manned by alert guards. “What happened?” one of them asked.

“I must report to the Jarl. But for now, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” I replied. You could see their muscles relax as the word quickly spread.

As I passed through the gates of the city, the ground shook like an earthquake. From the mountains off to the southeast, I heard a booming sound, and then a crackling throughout the sky.

“DOVAHKIIN!”

I looked up to see the clouds parted from the top of the highest mountain. Even at this distance, I could see a building up there. Damn, what have I gotten myself into?

The clouds quickly came back, obscuring the building again, and I figured now there’s much more I needed to talk to Balgruuf about. I rushed past two Redguard warriors arguing with one of the city guardsmen, who had ordered them out of the city. “You there! We are looking for someone in the city, a Redguard like us. She may be hiding here in the city, and we will pay you well if you find her for us. We are not welcome here in Whiterun, and will be in Rorikstead if you find anything.”

“Get out of my face while you still have yours. If I find anything, I will consider it. In the meantime, you’ve already said you are not welcome here, and that is truly correct.”

He looked in shock at my words as I left him by the gate. I had no time for this nonsense. I hurried through town and up the hill to Dragonsreach. Entering the hall, I saw Avenicci nervously pacing. “Good, you’re here! The Jarl’s been waiting for you.”

The Jarl and another man, Hrongar, were in deep discussion as I approached. I heard Balgruuf say something about, “What else could it be?” and then he saw me.

“What happened at the watchtower? Was the dragon there?”

“The watchtower was destroyed, but we killed the dragon,” I said.

“I knew I could count on Irileth. But there must be something more.”

“When the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it.”

“So it’s true. The Greybeards really WERE summoning you!”

I was puzzled and it showed on my face.

“Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World.”

“So why would they summon me?”

“The Dragonborn is said to be uniquely gifted in the Voice – the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu’um, or Shout. If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use your gift.”

Hrongar said, “Didn’t you hear that thundering sound? That was the Voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar. This hasn’t happened in centuries at least, not since Tiber Septim was summoned before he was Talos.”

Avenicci started arguing with Hrongar. “What is this Nord nonsense? As capable as our friend here is, I see no signs that she’s this ... whatever you say.”

They started yelling back and forth and I considered showing them exactly what had happened. But before that happened, Balgruuf yelled, “ENOUGH! Whatever the Greybeards want is their business. In the meantime, you’ve done a great service to me, Dragonborn. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun. It’s the greatest honor within my power to grant. I assign you Lydia as a personal housecarl, and this weapon from my armory as your badge of office. I’ll notify the guards of your new title, now that you’re not part of the common rabble. We are honored to have you as Thane of our city, Dragonborn.”

To say that I was in shock would be an understatement. “I am honored to accept, Jarl. Perhaps at some point we can talk about why some of what you say comes as a surprise to me, and other parts of it do not. In the meantime, I believe you said before that I could purchase property here in town, and if I am to be your Thane, then I feel I should have a home here.”

“Very good, Dragonborn. Go to High Hrothgar and seek the Greybeards.” With that, Balgruuf dismissed me.

I turned to Avenicci. “I believe you are who I talk to about purchasing a home?”

He and I discussed property, and before long I found myself with the title to Breezehome, near the smithy at the entrance to town. If nothing else, this would give me a place to keep any treasures I find, as well as a base of operations. When he asked if I’d like to have the house decorated as well, my ears perked up. What woman could avoid personalizing her home? We quickly agreed on how the rooms would be equipped, and he said he’d take care of it.

Our conversation ended none too soon, as I saw Irileth returning to the side of her Jarl. I slowly walked towards her, trying to read her thoughts from her body language. “Irileth, we ought to discuss this.”

“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done. None of us have ever seen a dragon before, or expected to face one in battle. I don’t know about this Dragonborn business, but Martina, I’m sure glad you’re with us.”

“And what about the other ‘us,’ you and I, Irileth? You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it.”

“As housecarl, my job is to deal with all dangers that threaten the Jarl or his people. So you have my attention, Dragonborn.”