Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter VII - Knight in Shining Armor

The beast descended from the southern mountains, menacingly plummeting towards her.

After Aeyrin spent the night at Moorside Inn, she headed towards the road leading east, searching for the caravan. It was barely afternoon when she saw the carriage filled with boxes riding down the road. She had to make sure to stay a safe distance away, so that neither the guards nor the caravan driver could accidentally see her.

She followed for a few hours, but by the time the sun was setting, a familiar roar echoed from the mountains. All this took much less time than she had expected. Not that she wasn't happy about that. The sooner she got this ordeal over with, the better.

The guards brandished their weapons and rushed further away from the caravan, determined to protect the man and the goods he was transporting.

She hurried down the road instantly.

When the guards spotted her in the distance, she could have sworn that she saw their tense stances ease up a bit. It was somewhat heartwarming that she inspired such confidence in them, yet at the same time, it was quite a pressure. She could already see the heartbreak and disappointment in their faces if any of them didn't make it through the fight. They would rely on her so much to protect them from the beast.

No matter. Her target was clear and she needed to do everything in her power to save these people and Maven's merchandise.

She finally reached the guards after a short while. There were three of them and they all looked at her with palpable hope in their eyes.

"Are... are you the Dragonborn?" an Imperial woman among them asked uncertainly.

"Yes. I was just traveling towards Dawnstar when I saw," Aeyrin nodded. She tried to sound reassuring, but she wasn't sure if she had managed. Every dragon was still daunting to her, even after all this time.

"Should we... should we do something specific? What is their weakness?" a Nord man beside the Imperial probed.

That was a difficult question for Aeyrin – saying that she didn't know would likely not bolster their morale. She looked the guards over briefly. The woman had a greatsword, the Nord wielded two axes and the last man, a Breton, had a glowing staff in his hands. Well... at least he could attack it at range, but it would still be better to keep the beast on the ground.

"Try to attack its wings to prevent it from flying, then concentrate on the head. Blind it if you can," she nodded resolutely. She knew all too well that battling dragons was much more about improvisation than anything else, but the guards seemed more reassured after hearing a clear tactic.

Perhaps fortunately for her, there was no more time to talk as the beast closed the distance, staying low above the ground. It opened its maw mid-flight and a bright faint-blue light began forming at the back of its throat within a moment.

Gods, she'd be freezing the whole night again after this.

If she survived...

Stop thinking about that!

Aeyrin and the caravan guards all rolled out of the way instinctively, dodging the ray of frost hurled from the dragon's maw. The ground got promptly covered in a white mist while crystals began forming on the rocks paving the road.

The beast passed them in its flight, but it turned right around and reached them again a second later. It hovered above, watching them with what looked like a measured stare in its eyes. It opened its maw again, but before the Shout could even form, a large ball of fire was hurled onto its head.

The dragon roared in anger and heaved. It wanted to charge at them – Aeyrin could already tell.

She considered telling the guards to be ready to roll out of the way, but then she realized that the beast could actually understand her too. It was odd to think about. Tactics were yelled out often in battles against dragons, and only after meeting Paarthurnax she fully realized how stupid it was – it only gave the beasts a heads-up.