Deathbeds[✓]

3;

They'd been walking no more than an hour when both Anais and Bishop stopped at the sky-cracking roar overhead. Anais cursed and Bishop laughed.

"Just our luck, princess."

The dragon dropped down on the path directly in front of the trio. Bishop wielded his bow and took a step forward next to Anais while she drew her sword. The dragon opened its mouth to release a fury of fire on them.

She wasted no time in slashing and dancing around the dragon's sharp teeth. Her sword slashed against the giant lizard's eye, causing it to raise its head in an uproar. Bishop nocked an arrow, aiming for the beast's other eye.

Bishop smirked as the arrow made its mark. The dragon whipped its head back and forth, causing both Bishop and Anais to duck and roll away from the scaled head. Bishop shot the beast again, this time on its long neck. It turned to him, stalking him down. He released a few more arrows before he was backed up against a cliffside. Bishop cursed and looked for Anais.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

The dragon was pushed aside, rolling over itself twice by an incredible, invisible force. He saw Anais running towards the dragon with her sword raised.

The dragon regained its bearings and lashed its spiked tail wildly, catching Anais by the middle unexpectedly, and sent her flying like a ragdoll several feet away.

Bishop launched arrow after arrow at the beast, slowly making his way to Anais. She was sitting up and touching a hand to her head. A nasty gash ran across her hairline and disappeared behind her temple.

Bishop bent down to jerk her to her feet by her bicep. Her head lolled on her shoulders before she shook her head clear of the fog. The hit left her a little winded, but she had no time to dwell on that. Bishop was standing in front of her, his eyes creased in worry. Anais looked over his shoulder at the dragon behind them, opening its mouth again.

Anais wasted no time in pushing Bishop to the side, falling in a heap on top of him. Bishop hissed as Anais scrambled to get off of him and accidentally elbowed his stomach.

She found her sword in the grass. Bishop distracted it enough for Anais to jab her sword through the pulse of the dragon, pulling the sword out as the dragon gave a final roar to the sky.

Anais sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the soul of the dragon sink into her skin and intertwine with her own soul. Grief and pain gripped her, taking on the dragon's memories as her own.

She opened her eyes to see Bishop scowling at the skeletal remains of the dragon... then he scowled at her.

"Bishop..." she held up her hand to placate him. This was not how she wanted him to find out about her, but there was no other way to say it. 'Hey, by the way, I'm the Dragonborn everyone is so pissed off about. Oh yeah, we also fucked and I left you in the middle of the night.'

"Enough of your games, ladyship," Bishop stopped her and crossed his arms over his chest. "You already know what I'm going to ask. Give me a straight answer or I'll walk away from you now."

Anais frowned at the ground. "I guess I can't keep a secret if it wasn't a secret to start," she sighed heavily and met Bishop's ardent amber eyes. "It's true. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

He scowled at her. "Say it. I want to hear you say it."

Anais narrowed her eyes at him. "Excuse me? You just saw me absorb a dragon soul!"

"You heard me, blasted woman!"

Anais was half-tempted to shout that damn scowl from his face.

"Yes!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "I'm the Dragonborn, you ass! Just because all the bards sing about me doesn't mean I care to wave the title around! There are people out there trying to kill me, remember?" She was fuming, her hands were tight fists at her sides. She continued walking and picked up the pace, anxious to get to Whiterun.