The Brothers Moonborn

Seven

We took the path leading to the right, crossing a bridge to get across the River Yorgrim. Even with the sun shining at full strength now, we saw very few people on this road. Most of the time, travelers would come by Kynesgrove for a place to stay before they reached the main city. For some reason, this path was much more treacherous.

Which was exactly why we were taking it.

Further on we marched, passing by a lumber mill as the workers there were in full swing. As we walked past, we could hear the sounds of water churning the wheel to power the great saw, axes being slugged through smaller logs, and workers singing over the din. A couple of the workers stopped to wave at us, but soon returned to their tasks.

After we passed the mill, we broke for lunch at an old dragon mound. The grave was empty, which meant that the dragon within it had been revived by Alduin before Ylva killed him all those years ago. Whether this dragon was still out there, though, I had no idea. Ylva said that dragon attacks were infrequent after Alduin's demise, and without the World Eater to bring those beasts back to life, the flying lizards should stay dead for good this time.

I would have to mark this place on my map and ask my wife about it once we returned.

"When was the last time you were out here?" asked Farkas around a bite of bread.

"It's been some time," I admitted. "I think it's been since Ylva and I came to Driftshade to end the Silver Hand."

He chuckled. "Your first date. How romantic."

I glared at him. "Right. And your first date with Tyra involved you falling into the bay back in Solstheim."

"At least one of us got—"

The sound of a roar overhead interrupted him, and we got to our feet immediately.

I hadn't heard a roar like that in a long time.

Dragon.

Dropping our packs in the burial mound, Farkas and I yanked our swords and stood back-to-back while we watched for the dragon in the sky. I couldn't see it yet, but I could hear the sound of his wings beating through the clouds above us.

Then I spotted him, scales of pale gray, talons outstretched toward us, and maw open wide to spew his deadly Words at us.

Farkas and I dove to the side, narrowly dodging the frost spat our way. Grinding my teeth, I got to my feet, threw my sword to the side, and retrieved my bow. I was nowhere near as skilled as Aela with this thing, but the only way to bring the dragon down was to ground it. Without Ylva here to use her Voice against the dragon, we'd have to make do.

I nocked an arrow, took very little care with how I aimed, and loosed my bow. Before the first arrow had even struck the dragon in his sinewy wing, I had already prepared a second shot. I grinned when the second round struck true, and small flecks of hot blood spattered the ground as the dragon tried to get away.

I dumped arrow after arrow into the dragon's wings. I knew from experience that the beast's armored scales would be hard to pierce from this distance, so the only other targets were the wings. If I could rip through the skin there, I'd be able to bring the beast to us.

Farkas brandished his sword over his head as the dragon dipped lower for a second pass. As the lizard prepared to loose another volley of frost, my brother swung his arm in a wide arc over his head and slashed through one of the dragon's feet. Talons and toes rained down on us, blood dumping onto Farkas's face right after.

The beast let out a pained roar before crashing to the ground some fifteen yards away. I dropped my bow, picked up my sword, and charged with Farkas to kill the beast before he could get back up.