The Keeper and the Listener

Chapter 1: Dragonslayer (Irrissa)

All I could feel was the heat of the flames and the pounding of my heart in my own chest as I ran through the fields, the ground uneven beneath my feet. My silvery eyes raised to gaze at the massive form soaring above in the sky, and I winced as it let out an ear splitting cry of a Thu'um.

But the dragon wasn't my largest concern at the moment, unfortunately. I had something else to worry about.

"Cicero!" I cried out, my eyes searching before they finally caught a glimpse of fiery hair and a ebony blade's intricate designs. The dragon landed in front of the fool, shaking the ground with the force of its landing. It snarled and snapped at him with its massive jaws, it's pointed teeth narrowly missing Cicero's limbs as he slashed his blade through the air in an attempt to hit the dragon.

The idiot wasn't even wearing armor.

I watched in growing fear and rage as the dragon pushed itself away from the ground to soar back up into the sky above, leaving the jester below him slicing at the air fruitlessly. Once he had realized that I had cried out for him, Cicero turned around to look at me with bright amber eyes. "Listener has no need to worry for poor Cicero!" His high pitched voice called over to me, filled with life and merriment as it always was. "Cicero can take care of himself!" Turning around, he ran off into the direction that the dragon had flown off in, an excited bounce in his steps that I would have found utterly adorable in any other situation. But as it was, his actions only angered me more.

"CICERO!" I cried out in frustration, stomping my foot on the ground in a rather childish fashion. I could feel that my face was flushed from my anger, and my breathing was shaking. I was usually far more calm and collected than this, and had managed to stay professional in even the most stressful of situations. But for some reason this jester had the uncanny ability to make me absolutely lose my temper, and possibly my mind along with it.

I hadn't even noticed at that point that I had been running after him, but I had already caught up to him at the point that I was snapped out of my thoughts. The dragon had landed, it's gigantic, scaly body perched and ready as its narrow yellow eyes glinted with intelligent amusement. As the creature opened its mouth, I could see the beginning of a flame in the back of its throat, causing my eyes to widen in alarm. I grabbed Cicero by the shoulders, ignoring his sound of protest as I dove behind the safety of a large boulder, and dragged the reluctant fool along with me.

I heard the loud screech of the flame Thu'um, and felt the heat even in the shelter of the boulder. But I steadily ignored all this, and instead glared up at my jester, demanding an explanation from him. And it had better be a damn good one at that. But, instead of getting an explanation for his blatant disobedience, Cicero instead offered me complaints at my dragging him away from the fight he had been so happily engaged in. "Listener!" He cried out, his voice a high pitched whine of protest. "Cicero said he could take care of himself!" His face was scrunched up into a look of discontent, his eyes glaring at me, but with less malice than I felt.

"And I told you not to run after the dragon. Plain and simple." Even I could hear the tense tone in my voice, wound up tight like a thin cord, and about to snap from the strain.

He simply ignored my tone, instead continuing with his complaints. "But Listener said that Cicero needed practice fighting dragons! Is now not the perfect opportunity to do so?" Hearing the tone in his voice only set me off more. Most people would have taken him to be confused, but I knew my jester and he was extremely irritated.

Though not as much as I was.

"I did say that, but-" I began, my tone very careful and low, but felt my chest tighten in anger as Cicero's voice interrupted me.

"No. Listener said that Cicero needed practice, and right now is the perfect time to do so. Cicero promises that he will be perfectly fine." His honey colored irises were soft as he looked at me, and his lips upturned more than usual at the edges in an attempt at a reassuring smile.

It was not at all reassuring.

"Cicero.." I began, trying my best to keep my tone calm and cautious and not at all murderous. "I do want you to learn to fight dragons. But not here, and not now." My words came slowly, my hesitance only from my attempt not to blow up at him entirely. The cord wrapped inside of me was being stretched thinner and thinner as time went by, a clock inside my head ticking threateningly like a bomb. "I want you to practice against a fake dragon. Not a real one."

"But Listener-" He began, his amber eyes full of the coloration of a bright flame.

I stopped him in his tracks, the cord becoming thinner. It was almost non-existent at this point. Why couldn't the fool just give in at this point? I let out an exasperated breath. My ordering him around obviously wasn't going to work this time around, and so I decided to take a different path. "Alright. You want to learn to fight dragons? Well there's a few basic things you need to know.." I began, my voice calm and measured. If I couldn't prevent him from charging at the dragon at all, then I could at least make sure he did it in a way that wouldn't result in his death.

But he interrupted me before I had the chance to finish, his tone arrogant and not at all like the jester I was so used to speaking with. "And what might those things be, Oh Great and Powerful Listener?" Usually he said these words with an air of praise and admiration, but this time there was a particular bitterness behind his words that pushed me completely over the edge.

"Well first of all.." I began once more, my voice so tight and strained I was surprised I still had the ability to speak at all. But once I took one glance up at the expression on his face, it was all over.

The cord had snapped.

"YOU DON'T ATTACK THE DRAGON DIRECTLY AT IT'S HEAD! YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED, YOU IDIOT! DRAGONS BREATHE FIRE! AND HAVE YOU NOTICED THEIR TEETH?! YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF BURNED ALIVE OR EATEN! BY SITHIS, CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!"

The volume and my temper had an immediate effect on Cicero, his light colored eyes becoming entirely void of the fire previously held within them. He stared at me as though I had just slapped him across the face, his eyes large and round. I don't think I had ever screamed at him that way before, and I felt a slight pang in my heart at seeing his empty expression.

He turned his head away, his dark strands of hair falling in front of his pale face as he averted his eyes away from me entirely out of shame. Though it made him stop pestering me, I can't say this was the effect I desired. "Cicero is sorry.. Listener is right, as always. Maybe Listener would be better off without clumsy Cicero getting in the way.."

It must have been instinct that caused it, as I've always had a soft spot for wounded creatures despite my occupation as an assassin, because I had my arms around the jester before I could even process what was happening. I felt his body tense up against mine before relaxing, and I kissed the top of the enchanted jester's hat he constantly wore upon his head, hoping the action wasn't too odd. "No, I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have been so harsh.." I murmured, holding him as though he were a small child I had found abandoned on the streets.

After some time, I pulled away, thinking I had embraced him for a bit too long for it to be normal, and noticed his face was tinted a light pink. He was.. blushing?

If he had been blushing, it was gone before I could correctly process it, for the next time he lifted his face, it was clear of any abnormal coloration as he gazed at the soaring figure in the sky. "So what are we going to do about the dragon?" He asked, the phrasing strangely normal for him.

But I ignored this, gazing up at the sky myself to frown at the creature. I only did this for a few moments before I felt my mouth break into a wide grin. "We kill it, of course."