Child (Book 2)

Chapter 6

We jogged to the door with Irileth and she was beginning to open it when a voice called out to us.
"Wait, wait!" He called. It was the Whiterun guard that had alerted us of the dragon in the first place, the one the Jarl had told to go rest in the barracks. "I.. I want to go with you. I want to serve Whiterun." He explained. Irileth stared at him for a moment with her large, red eyes.
"You want to serve Whiterun? Go to the Companions in Jorrvaskr. Bring them a message; tell them that if they are the heroes they claim to be, they will help us stare in the face of death at the western watchtower. Tell them a dragon is attacking. Whether they refuse or accept, report to the watchtower immediately afterwards." She commands him before rushing out the door with the three of us in tow. My stomach churns at the thought of facing a dragon with or without the Companions. I don't know if I'm ready to see them, especially Vilkas or Aela, but we'd be stupid not to ask for their help.
My mind is clouded with thoughts as we leave the gates of Whiterun in the cold night air. Irileth has rallied five more men who follow behind us, their boots against the ground being the only sound around us in the silence of night. Up ahead, we can see the watchtower and small fires glowing on the ground around it. The structure itself seems to lean precariously to one side, bricks have fallen out of place, the ramp leading to the door is broken.
"Look for survivors!" Irileth commands.
I walk past the body of a guard on the ground, and Marcurio is the one to touch his neck and confirm that the man is dead. Another guard appears in the door of the watchtower, one that did not come here with us.
"Oh, thank the gods, reinforcements! It's gone for now, but I don't think it's done with us just yet." He explains. Irileth asks if he's the only survivor, and to our dismay, he confirms that he is. "Oh no... Here it comes again!" He groans.
We all look to the sky, and distantly, we see a large, dark shadow moving silently on large wings. It roars loudly and I suddenly feel like vomiting right there; the beast sounds exactly like the one that attacked Helgen. How can I face the creature that haunts my nightmares?
It circles around the tower for a while, deciding whether or not to kill us all; playing with us. One of the guards simply can't take anymore and fires an arrow at it. The arrow sinks in his chest, prompting another roar. It pulls its wings in tight and plummets to the ground, landing on the ground in front of the tower, knocking everyone but Irileth to the ground. I realize this is not the dragon that attacked Helgen; this one is green, not black. The realization that there are many dragons, and not just one, is less than comforting.
Irileth commands us all to attack. The guards shout and scream as they run towards it with their swords, but they only make it far enough to slash at the air in front of them before the dragon opens its jaw and shoots a large column of fire out of its throat; it immediately launches itself back into the sky. Two of the guards succumb to their burns and collapse to the ground, leaving us with just five people to fight the monster.
There's no way we can win this. The fighting continues for what seems like hours until it's just Irileth, Marcurio, two guards, and myself remaining alive. We all exchange glances of desperation and fear as the dragon circles overhead once more. We can't afford to send someone back to get reinforcements, and if we retreat the dragon will attack the farms surrounding the city and eventually the city itself. We can't give up, and we are going to die. Irileth's expression is still stone cold as ever, though.
"Attack!" Someone shouts in the distance. We all turn instantly and see the guard Irileth sent to give her message to the Companions, and the Companions following close behind him with their weapons drawn. All of them but Kodlak run alongside him, even Torvar.
A terrible thought overcomes me; they will all die too, and I will have to watch them.
The dragon, picking us off from the top of the tower, notices the reinforcements and jumps down to meet them. Aela fires an arrow into its eye and it screeches, enraged. It throws its head back and bellows fire directly at them; directly at Vilkas as he pushes Aela behind him. Marcurio holds me back from running into the flames to help them; I only realize I'm screaming when the dragon stops and takes off into the sky. As the flames clear away, Vilkas still stands with his shield raise; all of those with shields worked in tandem to protect those that had none. He tosses it away, glowing hot.
His eyes settle on me, and he stands stunned for a moment, then jolts toward me. I forget everything, the Companions, the beast blood, even the dragon as I take a few weak steps toward him as well. The dragon circles overhead, breathing a massive wall of fire between us. As I stumble to the ground, I trip over a burning body; that of the very guard who came back to fight the dragon.
I have only one clear thought as it lands again on the tower, shaking the ground; This ends now.
"Nova!" Vilkas shouts through the flames. "Stay where you are, I'll come to you!" I look between him and the tower numbly. He follows my glance, and understands instantly. "Nova, don't—!"
It's too late, I'm sprinting for the tower, dodging the fiery breath of the dragon as it chases me.
I run up the stairs two at a time, only stopping when the tower wobbles and crumbles a bit, rocks and dust raining down from the ceiling. When I reach the top, the dragon is still there, and doesn't seem to notice me.
I cut a long, diagonal tear through the dragon's left wing. It screeches in agony but doesn't fly away; it can't now. It looks directly at me and prepares to cook me alive, but I dive behind its right wing, shielding me from the worst of the flames. I skewer it in its exposed side and twist; it cries out, a high-pitched wail. While it's head is tossed back, I grab onto its neck, intending to cut its throat. It flails, nearly knocking me off the tower, so I climb onto it's back instead. Another bad idea, because the dragon begins to tumble off the wall; I let go, caught in mid-air. I land just behind it's head, driving my sword through the middle of its skull; the dragon finally goes limp and still.
It begins as a headache, spreading throughout my body in quick pulses. I press my hand to my forehead; the pain is so deep that I can't keep my eyes open. I can hear a crackling of fire beneath me, but it does not burn me. A phantom wind rushes around me, singing away my pain, strengthening me.
The pain disappears completely, and when I open my eyes the Companions, Marcurio, Irileth, and what remains of the Whiterun guards are all staring at me like I've just come back from the dead. I suppose the Companions may think I have. The dragon has burned away, all that remains is its skeleton. I'm standing on its skull now with my sword deep inside of it. I yank it out with the last of my strength and sheath it on my back before jumping down to the ground.
"It can't be.." One of the guards mumbles.
"You! What you just did there; what was that?" The other grunts at me
"I.. I guess I killed the dragon." I breathe heavily.
"No. You did something else... You consumed its very soul! You must be.. But that's not possible..." He asserts to me.
"Dragonborn.." The other guard sighs in disbelief.
"What's that?" Irileth snaps at him.
"In the ancient legends, the dragonborn slew the dragons and ate their souls. That's what you did." He says more to me than Irileth.
"That's not possible. I didn't do anything other than kill it." I explain quickly.
"The legends say the dragonborn is born with the soul of a dragon and the body of a mortal, like the Septim Emperors." He explains further, ignoring me.
"The emperor? I've never seen our emperor kill any dragon." The other guard grumbles.
While they're bickering, I look to the Companions. It seems they're distracted by Torvar, who appears to be injured. I pull my hood up again quickly. Suddenly as I'm trying to explain to Marcurio that we need to leave, the guard tower collapses even further, distracting everyone once again. I take this as our cue to leave.
When we finally reach the city gates, Marcurio seems to be a bit pale as he stumbles and tries to catch his breath.
"Are dragons venomous?" He asks me just before hunching over to vomit. I attempt to hold him up as the ground begins to shake. Voices shout from the Throat of the World,

"DOVAHKIIN."