Murphy's Law

Chapter 24

It was indeed a dragon raising hell in the city above them, a massive white and dark blue beast with a ridge of wicked-looking spikes down its spine. Kitty cheered to find Lucy, Mayhem, and Bruce had returned, and were already fighting it, along with several city guards. It blasted them with its freezing breath as it dove down, driving them to their knees as the bitter cold weakened them.

Kitty gave a war cry as she called her magic to her hands, striking the dragon with her lightning spells. It let out a startled shriek, slamming into a building hard enough to destroy it. Iron-Tail hefted his massive warhammer and ran straight for it as it lay flailing in a pile of rubble, giving the beast an impressive strike to its skull. The Knight wasn't far behind him. Snarling in outrage, the dragon spat an ice ball at them, trying to drive them away.

Lucy forced her shaking legs back under her and drew her twin blades, stumbling toward the dragon. There was no way she could perform another impressive feat as she had at the watchtower, in her current weakened state, but there was no way she was going to let her friends have all the fun. She didn't even flinch as a crossbow bolt whistled past her, picking up speed as movement got her blood flowing again. The dragon was putting up an impressive fight, keeping Iron-Tail and the Knight at bay with frosty breath and sharp-bladed tail. The Captain snarled indignantly as the beast snatched his warhammer from his hands and flung it far away. The Knight slashed at its throat, but this one's scales were even tougher than the last dragon he'd faced, and he barely managed more than a scratch.

Another bolt shot past, this one lodging itself in a sensitive spot just under the dragon's wing, and it whipped around with a scream. It almost startled to come face to face with Lucy, and opened its mouth to snap her up, but she was faster, driving one of her swords into its soft palate. It thrashed and writhed and shook its head, screeching awfully the entire time, before finally slumping to the ground. Lucy grimaced, planting a foot against its jaw as she yanked her sword free again.

"That was impressive," Vitruvius praised. "How long were you fighting that dragon before they showed up?"

"A couple minutes, maybe," Lucy panted. "Not long." She glanced over as Iron-Tail grumbled, jogging away to fetch his warhammer. "You're with them?" They both watched as Mayhem made her way over to the Knight, the two of them clasping each other's shoulders in greeting.

"In a sense. I take it you're friends."

"Yeah. We're with them. I'm Lucy, and that's Mayhem, and that's Bruce. And Emmet..." She glanced around. "Oh, there he is."

"Are you okay?!" Emmet gasped as he made his way toward her, stumbling out of whatever hidey-hole he'd been shoved into during the chaos.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "A little chilled, but nothing a nice hot cup of Alfred's chicken broth won't cure."

"Okay." He startled when he realized they weren't alone. "Oh! Hi, who are you?"

Vitruvius gave him an amused look. "I'm-"

He was interrupted as the dragon burst into flames. Lucy stared in confusion as they didn't burn toward Emmet, but elsewhere. In fact, they didn't stray far from the dragon's corpse at all.

Standing at its side, unusually transparent, was another man in dark blue and green robes, his face hidden behind a golden mask reminiscent of Emmet's kidnappers. Lucy stared in confused horror as he was the one to absorb the dragon's soul. "Thank you for your help," he said, bowing his head slightly in Emmet's direction, and vanished.

"What. Was that," Bruce demanded once he could find his voice again.

"Rex?" Lucy guessed, turning back to Emmet.

"Yeah, that was Rex," Emmet confirmed. "You guys could- actually see him? He's really not just a figment of my imagination?"

"I definitely saw him," Mayhem said, and shuddered.

"Rex; Rex... Now why does that name sound familiar," Vitruvius mused. The Knight approached them then, Kitty at his side, and Iron-Tail catching up once he'd retrieved his weapon. Emmet shrank back at the sight of him, eyes wide.

"Oh- Emmet no, it's okay! This is the Black Knight!" Lucy hurried to introduce.

'So this is our Dragonborn?' Emmet relaxed, but only stared in confusion at his signing.

"You're Dragonborn?" Vitruvius asked, staring intently at Emmet now.

"Uhh..." He chewed his lip. "Yeah."

"And whoever this 'Rex' fellow is, he's also Dragonborn." Emmet nodded. Vitruvius glanced up at the Knight. The Knight stared back. "...I think we all need to sit down and have a nice long talk about what exactly this could mean for us."

After some prompting from Emmet, and reinforcement from the Knight, the Master Builders repaired the buildings that had been damaged during the fight. The citizens of the city had been kind enough to keep the presence of the rebels a secret; it was only fair that they used their abilities to fix the destruction they'd inadvertently caused. After a bout of inspiration from Lucy, the dragon's skeleton had been dismantled, and as much of it as they could carry brought into the base. Most of the bones were taken to the forge; the skull, however, now hung proudly in the dining hall.

Once introductions were out of the way (and Lucy practically had stars in her eyes once she learned the strange old wizard was the Vitruvius), they did indeed sit down to discuss the situation. They'd all been given mugs of Alfred's piping hot chicken broth at the housecarl's insistence, gratefully soaking in its heat as they recovered from the fight with the dragon. Nearly everyone else had crowded around them as well, wanting a glimpse of the fabled Dragonborn. The only exceptions were the Ambassador, who was confirmed to still be unconscious, and Watevra and Jenny.

"If it helps any, Rex said he was the first Dragonborn," Emmet offered.

Vitruvius frowned at that. "But that would mean he's thousands of years old. That can't be right."

"He's been stuck in Apocrypha this whole time."

"...Apocrypha, you say?"

"Is that ringing a bell?" Penn asked.

"It is, actually. I think I remember reading about it, now. His true name has been lost to time, but Rex was indeed the first Dragonborn. Despite this, he became a priest of the dragons, and was highly esteemed and very powerful. They trusted him to the point that they let him rule over Solstheim. Then, for reasons unknown, he turned against them, becoming something they feared. He turned on his masters, using his power as the Dragonborn to devour their souls. The ancient heroes- Hakon, Gormlaith, and Felldir- they begged him for his aid in defeating Alduin, but he refused them, starting his own rebellion. They say the fight was terrible, but he was eventually defeated by another Dragon Priest, and his temple razed to the ground. There were rumors, whispers really, that he'd had a Black Book in his possession. Given the fact that the Priest that defeated him had sworn an oath of vigilance to watch for his return... He very well could have been in Apocrypha this whole time."

"That's pretty much everything he told me," Emmet confirmed. "Well, except the bit about the heroes, he never mentioned them. Or that he was defeated by another Priest."

"I'm sure that really stung his pride," Lucy mumbled.

"But I think he genuinely wants to be a better person," Emmet continued. "Maybe he refused the heroes, but he agreed to help me with Alduin."

"Did he?" Vitruvius seemed intrigued by that. "Hm. Perhaps his time in Apocrypha has humbled him."

"But I still don't think we should trust him-" Lucy started to argue.

"Oh no, I agree with you on that," Vitruvius interrupted. "But perhaps we should allow him the chance to prove himself, instead of writing him off completely. Another ally against the World-Eater could prove most valuable."