World Eater

World Eater Ch.) 2: High Hrothgar

A thunderous pounding in his temples, and a sharp pain in his chest told Alduin he was alive.

He groaned, groggily turning over and opening his eyes- It took a moment for his vision to clear, and his surroundings to come into focus; When they did, he stiffened, suddenly fully awake. Gasping suddenly, his eyes wheeled around the dimly lit stone dwelling as he jerked upright- where was he? He had never been inside a mortal den before- it was completely alien, and made him feel disoriented and suddenly very small.

The room spun- and the already narrow walls seemed to close in around him.

Alduin's pulse pounded in his ears, and he felt the unfamiliar sensation of panic beginning to grip him, until the sound of soft even breathing caught his attention. He looked over sharply, his mind going blank when he saw her.

Beside him, sleeping slumped over in a wooden chair, was the only thing in this strange place Alduin was familiar with- Irridessa's delicate, symmetrical facial features, and thick silver hair- Her grey green eyes- closed at the moment- fringed heavily by long thick dark lashes, which he knew were shot through with gold near the irises...He knew her face better than any other of her kind.

...The dovakiin.

Her! he spat inwardly, immediately lunging for Irridessa with outstretched arms- A sharp pain in his chest jolted him, and he lost his balance, falling out of the bed and onto the floor; Some kind of thin fabric was restricting him, tangled around his...legs?

Alduin gasped sharply, bringing his hands up and looking upon his fleshy appendages with shock and disgust- His nostrils flared, and he felt his heart begin to pound painfully against his damaged sternum once more. As reality set in, his breathing picked up and turned to shallow, ripping gasps. A confusing roaring in his ears drowned out all other noise.

By Akatosh, what was wrong with him?!

He struggled to calm his ragged gasps, and slow the pounding of his heart that was making his blood rush and his mind swim...Irridessa watched silently from the chair, having been woken by his fall. He was obviously having some sort of panic attack- probably from realizing he was in a "weak and disgusting" mortal vestige- Alduin looked up sharply from his shaking hands to her as he caught sight of her movement through his peripherals. His wide eyes were glowing- crazed- as he reached out, clawing at her crossed legs with long uncoordinated fingers.

"Dofffffahkiin!" He spat at her in butchered dovahzul, not quite knowing how to move his tongue, lips, and teeth. She rolled her eyes and ripped her leg away from him, pushing him back roughly with her foot.

He fell back with a startled gasp, and struggled to right himself and extricate his legs from the thin blanket wrapped around his lower torso. She watched in fascination, realizing he had no idea how to use his limbs- he had been a Dragon after all...no opposable thumbs, wings or a tail for balance or counter weight- His coordination was literally nonexistent, and he could only sputter in gibberish between ragged, panicked breaths as he tore the blanket away, rolling about on the cold stone floor- in his struggle, he knocked over a small table, sending the settings scattering loudly across the floor- The noise made irridessa cringe.

She shook her head, getting up from the wooden chair and stepping abruptly in front of him. Fear flickered in his Scarlett orbs momentarily as she knelt and grabbed a fist full of the short unkempt raven hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him face to face with her- his fear lasted only a second and was replaced with the familiar rage- How dare she touch him! He roared internally-but he couldn't get the words to push passed his lips- All that came out was unintelligible sputtering.