Wild Souls (A Skyrim Romance Bishop/OC Fanfiction)

30: Call of the Elders

"This is bullshit. This is absolute bullshit." Bishop's voice was something akin to a whine as we walked along Whiterun's road on the way to the Western Watchtower. "I can't believe we're actually going out to fight a dragon."

"I'd ask what your problem is, but then we'd be here all day." I sniffed and rubbed at my nose, the cold weather starting to get to me.

"Ladyship, you've got a death wish," he reiterated. "And I'm just dumb enough to follow you."

Irileth cleared her throat. "Enough chit-chat," she growled, glaring with her unsettling crimson eyes. We've got a dragon to kill, which means no twittering like a pair of gossiping old ladies."

I bristled, already pissed. "You know what, you blue bitch? I don't have to come help you. It's been fucking days since I so much as laid down. I could go get a room at the Bannered Mare and just ignore you and the dragon." I leaned in. "Don't fucking test me." The Dunmer looked like she wanted to punch me in the face, but simply snorted and hurried off to the main gate. In the meantime, Bishop stared at me with a smirk.

"Ladyship?" Bishop nudged my side.

"What?"

"That was fucking hot." I felt my cheeks go red and elected to ignore him.

"Good for you," I mumbled, quickening my step to trail after Irileth. "But it was true. I'm exhausted."

Bishop furrowed his brows. "Then why aren't we just resting? We'd both prefer it, and I'm tempted to just leave you alone to face that dragon."

"Then why aren't you?" I smiled inwardly as Bishop scrambled to answer, Karnwyr barking in his stead. "Mmhmm. Yup." That's what I thought. We hurried to join Irileth at the front gate, where she was trying to hype up the guards.

"Here's the situation," she began. "A dragon is attacking the Western Watchtower." The guards burst out in protests and shocked remarks.

"What?!"

"A dragon?!"

"We're in for it now."

"You heard right!" Irileth shouted, crossing her hands at the small of her back and beginning to pace. "I said a dragon! I don't much care where it came from or who sent it. What I do know is it's made the mistake of attacking Whiterun!"

One of the guards started twiddling his fingers, clearly afraid. "But Housecarl," he mumbled, looking at his boots. "How can we attack a dragon?" I expected Irileth to respond with hostility, or even to call the guard a coward. However, she seemed more sympathetic than I'd expected.

"That's a fair question," she admitted. "None of us have ever seen a dragon before, or expected to face one in battle. But we are honorbound to fight it, even if we fall!" Her hands clenched into fists. "This dragon is threatening our homes, our families." Her voice hardened into a challenge. "Could you call yourselves Nords if you ran from this monster? Are you going to let me face this thing alone?" A collective sigh from the guards later, they reluctantly agreed.

"We're so dead," the same guard replied despondently. Still, it was an acceptance to run to battle.

Ignoring the guard as though he hadn't spoken, Irileth continued her spiel. "But it's more than our honor at stake here!" she insisted. "Think of it-- the first dragon seen in Tamriel since the last age!" I wonder if she's counting Martin Septim's avatar, or if the 'last age' was the Second Era when the dragons attacked Elsweyr. "The glory of killing it is ours if you're with me!" The Dark Elf's shout shook me from my thoughts. "Now, what do you say? Shall we go kill us a dragon?" At first, silence. Then: