-Hello to everyone tuning in to this new story! I decided to do something different and bring back an idea I had WAY back in the day. Well, an idea as well as a modern twist. I decided to actually type up a Skyrim story, but with some creative tweaks here and there.

I should also make this clear that while I initially intended for this to be a one-shot, I decided to post this up and actually hear your opinions on it as to whether or not I should continue. I do have some ideas for where to take it, but it will all depend on what I hear I suppose...

Anyway! Enough of my prattling on, enjoy my attempt at a Skyrim story, something I've been wanting to do for a while now!

"I want you to go as well."

Lydia blinked once, then twice, and in that instant, words had almost completely failed her. Had she heard correctly? Jarl Balgruuf had ordered her to... go with them? Under normal circumstances she would have been delighted at the idea of putting down a bandit or two, or even helped to cull the numbers of encroaching wolves. Both provided her with challenge and sport that she hardly got to see much of these days, being cooped up inside Dragonsreach. And if truth be told she longed for the times when she could go out and do just that.

But this time was not like any other time; she had been ordered to fight a dragon!

"M-My Lord...?" she finally managed to say.

"Yes, you did hear correctly, Lydia," Jarl Balgruuf replied simply, his face betraying no hesitation of any kind, "If the threat of a dragon is real, then the strength of not one but at least two housecarls will be needed to face it."

Dragon? Gods, simply saying that word sounded so surreal both aloud and in her head; an actual dragon? They were supposed to be magnificent but terrible creatures from a time long ago! In fact, dating back to the Mythic Era, if what she overheard from Farengar was correct. They were supposed to measure as big as houses, with wings strong enough to blow them over! And now, after simply 'disappearing' during their time, they had somehow 'resurfaced'? Admittedly, the mystery of this situation was almost outweighing the danger...

Lydia opened her mouth to say something, but heard someone else's voice behind her speak first,

"My Jarl, I should come along too! I would very much like to see this dragon!" Farengar Secret-Fire spoke with excitement in his voice that could not be contained.

"No, you're too valuable to be put at risk like this," Jarl Balgruuf shook his head, "I need you to remain here, within the safety of the keep, to continue your research into the dragons." His word was simple, yet firm, and Lydia watched in odd bemusement as the hopeful excitement vanished from the court wizard's eyes.

"As you command," he replied, then turned to walk down the stairs.

"Now, one last thing, all of you," Balgruuf addressed the three women standing before him, "This is not a death or glory mission. I need to know exactly what we're dealing with here, which means- survive." The dark elf Irileth quickly saluted a fist over her chest, quickly followed by Lydia. The third woman saw this and hastily repeated their action. Her hasty salute in this manner earned her a look from Lydia.

"Do not worry, my Lord," Irileth spoke earnestly, "I am the very soul of caution. We will succeed." With that, she quickly turned to make her way down the stairs, the other two women turning to follow her. Balgruuf watched after them as they made their departure. Then, carefully whispering well out of anyone's earshot,

"Talos guide you, all of you."

The sun was beginning to set during this time of day, light rays bathing the town of Whiterun in an embrace of orange warmth. It didn't do too much to ward off the ever present cool nip in the air, but it was welcome nonetheless. If anything, it would be much preferable to when the sun and its heat were gone completely, leaving Skyrim at the mercy of its own cold breath.

Looking down the steps she was descending, Lydia's gaze fell upon the townsfolk. They were still there, casually going about their daily lives, preparing for evening. There wasn't any sort of panic, no rushed movements, no raised voices like screaming or shouting. Clearly the severity of the situation had been contained; they had no idea about the danger outside the gates, much less that the same danger could very well come here. A part of her felt guilty that these people could not be told directly about how their lives were at risk, but her more rational side reminded her that this was for the best: the worst that could happen to any civilized city was not an outward calamity, but panic and chaos from within. Irileth had advanced on ahead, saying something about mustering more men. Leaving the warrior Lydia to walk down Dragonsreach's steps with... with... who was this person?

This... Nord woman. She had never seen her before in her life. In the many years she'd lived in Whiterun she was fairly confident she knew who everyone in the city was by face and name. But this woman was definitely a stranger to Whiterun, with her neck-length flowing light blonde hair, fair-colored skin, sky blue eyes, and her ever-present grimace. However, there was one characteristic about this person that Lydia found absolutely strange indeed.

This person was quiet. Too quiet.

Ever since she'd lay eyes on this person, she hadn't remembered her saying a single word. In fact, Lydia didn't even think she'd made any sort of sound like a grunt, laugh, hum, cough, ANYTHING that resembled a sound! And the fact that she was dressed and armed with garb and weapons of a warrior? There was not a single warrior she'd ever met that could manage to keep up a facade of silence for so long. And the more she studied this woman from watching out of the corner of her eye, the more she came to the decision...

That had to change.

"So... did you really survive Helgen?" she asked. She was greeted with silence. Glancing out the corner of her eye again, the woman kept up her decent down Dragonsreach's stairs, her head not even twitching in response to the question. Maybe she hadn't heard her?

"Hey, did you really survive Helgen?" she spoke clearer and firmer, her gaze drifting so that both of her eyes were on her. The woman definitely turned her head, eyes narrowing from the sudden raise in Lydia's voice. It was then that Lydia really noticed this woman's face in clearer detail: a trio of scar-lines marring the edge of the right side of her mouth, yet they appeared to fairly recent, if not healed as best as could be. Her lips broke apart, hanging just barely open as if she were about to say something...

Yet she said not a word.

With each passing second of no verbal response, Lydia could feel frustration within her growing more and more. Still, she tried to keep it under control as she pressed her inquiries.

"Listen, if what the Jarl had said was true, that you really encountered a dragon, some advice for how we should fight it would be very helpful!" Lydia's face quickly glanced back down to watch as her feet set down on the flat ground that was the Wind District, then looked back at the woman. It was at this point that the two women slowed their walk to a halt. The other woman's lips broke apart yet again, as if she wanted to say something. Her eyes were fully on Lydia this time, so it's not as if she was ignoring her. Lydia watched, almost in agony from the wait for anything to emerge from this woman's mouth! The woman's lips twisted, almost as if she were searching for correct words. This display carried on for what felt like an eternity, but the woman let out a small sigh, the only form of sound to emerge from her mouth today.

For Lydia, that was the tipping point.

Her shield clanging to the ground as it was dropped, she reached out and gripped the woman's front with her two clenched fists.

"What is with you?! How can someone continue to be so silent for so long?!" Lydia felt her frustration boil over by this point, "You call yourself a warrior yet you cannot even properly communicate with someone? Say something, damn you!" The woman's eyes held surprise and fear, her hands dashed up to grab at Lydia's wrists. The two women's gazes were locked on each other, the world around them disappearing completely.

"Housecarl?"

The world became clear again as they both slowly looked to the side: a Whiterun guard stood there, head tilted in confusion. In an instant, the world came flooding back to Lydia, as well as her rational sense. She released her fists from the other woman, though keeping her stern face, before turning to the guard.

"Is... everything alright? Has this person done something?" Lydia looked back at the woman, who herself was looking back and forth between her and the guard with surprise in her eyes. Her frustration just wanted her to fix- change- just SOMETHING, for this woman! However, the look in the woman's eyes continued to suggest to her that maybe there wasn't any malice involved. After all, she had been called upon by the jarl to fight this dragon, same as her and Irileth, which in itself was a great honor to be sure...

"No... no, she hasn't done... anything," Lydia relented, leaning down to pick up her dropped shield. For a moment, the panic in the other woman's eyes seemed to leave briefly.

"Are you sure? It looked like you were-"

"I said it's fine!" Lydia pressed, "We were just on our way to the gates to rejoin with Irileth."

"The gates? That's where I'm headed as well," the guard admitted, "I can accompany the two of you, if you'd like." Lydia was about to say something, until she saw out of the corner of her eye, the woman nodded, a little emphatically. She then quickly moved forward, away from Lydia and past the guard. The man followed straight after her while Lydia brought up the rear. As she matched her speed with his, the lingering issue would not leave her still.

"Guardsman?" she asked, "I have to ask... what do you know about this woman?"

"Her?" the man said, "Not too much, Housecarl. She'd only arrived here around midday, carrying a strange looking stone."

"So you did meet with her?" Lydia said, completely disregarding the subject of the stone, "Did she... say anything?"

"Well, I myself didn't speak with her," the man admitted, "But, I'd heard from some of the other guards that she'd done Jarl Balgruuf some service." As a faithful servant of the Jarl herself, this news caught Lydia off-guard.

"A service?"

"Yes, though I never actually heard what this service was." A beat passed between them before he asked a question of his own, "Housecarl Lydia, are you sure everything is alright between you and her?"

This new information completely clashed against Lydia's previous preconceptions. It was a great honor to serve the Jarl, as it would be to serve the Jarl of any hold, from returning a lost item to them to wiping out bandits in their name. All these things were done in the name of not only the Jarl, but the hold which they reside over, something that Lydia herself took great pride in. She was a warrior, who while initially was orphaned, was found and adopted into Whiterun's ranks of protectors until through hard work and dedication rose the ranks all the way to that of housecarl.

Which brought her back to this woman: while she was a stranger in her eyes, she clearly had not done anything 'wrong' or harmful to the Jarl or the realm. If anything she may have done the complete opposite! Somehow alerting Jarl Balgruuf to the threat of a dragon was a profound act of protection, second only to slaying it...

Lydia looked over at the woman walking in front of them. Was it really fair to judge her harshly solely on her lack of speech?

All thoughts in her head were cut short immediately; the woman, herself, and the guardsman had reached Whiterun's main gate, where Irileth herself was standing in front of a group of four more assembled Whiterun guards. The dark elf stood in front of them, clad in her worn yet sturdy-looking leather armor, steel sword on her hip, her arms crossed in front of her, her face of iron determination.

"Listen up everyone!" she announced, "The rumors you've all heard are true; a dragon has been spotted at our border." This news sent murmurs rippling among her audience.

"How is that possible?"

"Where did it come from?"

"What chance do we have?" The dark elf held her hand up to silence them.

"These are all good questions," she admitted, "But unfortunately, I haven't the foggiest answer to any of them. The only thing I'm certain of is that it is here, now, and has made the mistake of attacking Whiterun!"

"I understand, Irileth," Lydia stepped forward, "But, how exactly do we combat this dragon? Will our weapons be enough?" At this, the guardsmen and even the woman unconsciously glanced down at their respective weapons.

"That's a fair question," Irileth regarded her fellow housecarl. She could always count on her to bring forth a perspective not only as a fellow warrior, but also a more grounded-in-reality outlook to situations. It had come in handy more than once when the two of them were both dispatched by Balgruuf to settle whatever dispute lay outside Whiterun's walls, "None of us have ever encountered anything like this before..." She looked back at the others, "But one thing I can guarantee is that there is still only one of it against all of us! We have the advantage of numbers in our favor."

"Impossible," one of the guards muttered out loud, "Even with all of us, it could best us all with one stroke-"

"Enough! I won't have any of that!" Irileth interrupted, "We are honor and duty bound to defeat this creature for daring to attack this city! Could you call yourselves Nords if you ran from this monster? Are you going to let us face it alone?" She added that last part while indicating between herself and Lydia. At this, there were nervous chattering from the guardsmen.

The sound of metal drawing against a scabbard drew everyone's attention. All looked to the other woman who was with them, a her sword drawn forth, but uncertainty grazing her features. Lydia watched this face, strangely accustomed to it by this point. Slowly, the woman's face hardened into one of determination, followed by her raising her sword to the sky. The setting sun's light reflected off the blade, a vibrant orange beacon.

This time was Lydia's turn to be surprised. She gave the woman a sincere nod of approval. There may not be any verbal standing between them, but at the very least, that was a rallying cry she could understand and get behind.

"You see? Even this person, a complete stranger to Whiterun, is willing to fight for it!" Irileth said, "Now what do you all say? Shall we go kill us a dragon?!"

"Yeah!"

"Damn right!"

"Yeah!" Satisfied with the responses, Irileth nodded her head once with a smile.

"Then let's move out!" With that she led the party towards Whiterun's gate. The nearby gates-man opened the massive doors for them, he himself passing off wishes of good luck to them all.

The western watchtower sprouted up from the land. How it still did so was to everyone's amazement, considering the wreckage that surrounded it. Littering the ground all around were massive chunks of the tower itself, broken off from the tower's walls. And if that weren't enough, these broken pieces of debris were still smoldering with embers!

Lydia, the woman, and the guardsmen stood behind a nearby large rock, while Irileth stepped forward for a closer survey.

"Hmm, no sign of any dragon now, but it sure looks like it's been here..."

"By the Gods," Lydia said, "A dragon really did this? To a years-old watchtower?"

"This is bad..." one of the guards muttered. Irileth shook her head and turned around.

"I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened. And if a dragon is still somewhere close... Everyone spread out! Look for survivors!"

"Understood!" Taking point, Irileth led the group out from behind the rock and towards the watchtower. Their pacing slowed down as they avoided the stray pieces of massive rubble that littered the road. Lydia and the woman both found themselves on one side of the tower, when a sound reached their ears.

"Urgh... help...!" The two women looked at each other.

"You heard that too, right?" Lydia said, to which the woman nodded, "But where- there!" She suddenly looked past her and found the source: a guardsman was on the ground, his lower half buried underneath a massive piece of the rubble. His helmet was shattered to where a whole chunk of its right side was missing, so that both women could see the look of pain and fear in his exposed eye, "Everyone, over here! Someone's alive over here!"

She didn't wait around for others to follow, as she instinctively rushed over to his side. She was briefly aware that the woman had rushed over to his other side from behind her, and that the other guardsmen were approaching.

"Are you alright?!" Lydia said, then moved to lift the debris, "Hold on, we'll get you out!" Bending her knees, she clenched her eyes as she strained.

"N-no, get back...! It's still here somewhere!" she could hear the guardsman weakly speak beneath her.

"Hergi!" one of the guardsmen called out as they had reached their position. As one, they all moved to different spots around the broken debris and lifted together. Hergi's pained screams rang out as the large stone was slowly lifted off of him, "There, someone pull him out! Hurry, this thing is heavy!"

"Give me your hand-!" Irileth reached to grab his hand and dragged him across the ground. It felt like the large rock was beginning to slip from Lydia's grip, "Alright, he's out from underneath!" Large relieved grunts were made as everyone else quickly dropped the rock back down with a thud. After quickly rubbing the soreness out of their hands, they rushed over to Hergi's side.

"Hergi! Thank the Gods you're alive!" a guardsman said, "What happened? Did a dragon really do this?"

"Argh, yes..." Hergi uttered, "But Hroki and Tor... that thing got them! I don't think it saw me since I was already there..." he pointed to the spot they'd rescued him from.

"But where is this dragon, quickly now!" Irileth pressed. Just then, an echoing sound carried on the wind. Everyone looked up, but Hergi shuddered in pure terror.

"Oh, Kynareth save us! It's coming back!" He feebly pointed a finger in a direction behind them, and turning around, everyone could see it. It appeared as a speck against the dusk sky, but the moon's light still managed to reflect off of its scaly hide. Two massive wings on both sides of it propelled it through the air, making its very mass appear to grow in size to everyone ground side.

Lydia slowly felt her hand being drawn to her sword hilt. Her eyes looked upon this creature with anxiety and anticipation. This would be a glorious battle, that would grant her either victory or Sovngarde.

"By the Divines..." one of the guardsmen muttered.

"Quickly now, two of you get Hergi inside the watchtower; he'll be safer in there!" Irileth ordered.

"We'll do it!" A guardsmen spoke up, indicating to himself and another standing next to him. They quickly moved to carefully grab him by his arms, while trying to minimize how much the man would end up screaming in pain.

"Everyone else, this is it!" Irileth drew her sword with her right hand, while her left hand began to produce small crackles of lightning, "Archers, make every arrow count; let's bring this beast down!"

The dragon's roar seemed to engulf all present as it was finally upon them. Up closer, the flapping of its wings could be heard clearer and felt harder through the air itself. Now that it was much closer, the dragon's body itself appeared to be slightly curving itself up and down on the wind the same way a slaughter fish would swim through water.

The one guardsman that still stood with them knocked an arrow into his bow and took aim along its sights. His aim wavered along with the dragon's flight path as he tried to take aim. His arrow released and sailed through the air, only to bounce harmlessly off of the dragon's upper scales.

The dragon appeared to have felt this, its eyes glancing down at its ground side opponents, and it curved itself through the air for another pass.

"It's moving too fast! I can't get a fix on it!" the guardsman called out. The dragon suddenly halted its forward movement, and everyone looked up to see that it now was hovering in mid-air, directly in front and above them.

"There, it stopped moving! Bring it down, while-!" As Irileth called out with her own hand charging up a lightning bolt, the dragon made a low, guttural sound, almost like it was inhaling...

Another, though different kind of roaring sound crackled through the air, as the dragon blasted a wave of fire from its mouth, straight down at the ground. On instinct, everyone on the ground jumped and dove away from the point of impact. One unlucky guardsman did not move fast enough and the fire engulfed his entire right foot.

"ARGH!" he shouted out even as he managed to jump away and behind another brick boulder. As Irileth's worried eyes watched him, they looked back up at the dragon, who by now ceased its breath of fire.

"Trond!" another guardsman called out, nimbly moving to his comrade's side.

"Wait, there! Now!" she suddenly called out. Propelling her left hand forward, she discharged the lightning into a bolt straight at the creature. The lightning struck it squarely in the chest, but while it left no more than light scoring, the dragon did utter a different sound; one that almost sounded like pain. In addition, its head and neck wobbled and its two wings flapped out of sync with each other for but a brief moment, before the massive reptile regained control over both of them. As Irileth charged up more lightning in her hand, the dragon cast a glance down in her direction. It's slitted eyes regarded her, its immediate assailant, almost with admiration. Its wings then propelled it forward away from its hovering position, just barely missing Irileth's follow-up lightning bolt and Lydia and the woman's loosed arrows.

"Blast! I almost had it!" Lydia cursed.

"Focus Lydia," Irileth said, "Did you hear that sound it made? I think it was hurt by that lightning bolt!"

"Really?!" Lydia said, surprised, "Well? Hit it again!"

"I plan to! But..." Irileth said, quickly looking around, "I think I have an idea! Any of you guardsmen who can still stand, hang back with me and get your arrows at the ready!"

"Understood, housecarl!" the third guardsman said, pulling forth his bow.

"And Lydia," Irielth turned back to her fellow housecarl, then pointed to a patch of open land that had fewer boulder debris littering the ground, "You take position out in the open there. Try and get its attention-"

"What?! And be burnt by that fire-?!"

"And while its distracted, we'll bring it down while it's better in our sights!" Irileth cut her off. Lydia's facial expressions did not suggest she was at ease with this plan, "Lydia, from one warrior to another, you can trust me with this, can't you?" The black-haired woman sighed, but nodded her head.

"I trust you, Irileth, don't let me down," she said, then looked at the woman, "And that goes for you as well." The silent woman nodded as well. Lydia turned and raced over to the open area. She holstered her bow and replaced it with her shield in her left hand and her trusted sword in her right. Looking up in the sky, the dragon was racing through the air, its head looking straight down at her. Lydia beat the hilt of her sword against her shield a few times, a variation of an ancient Nord rallying cry.

"Come on, you scaled bastard! Over here!" Lydia called out. The dragon appeared to make a beeline straight for her. White-knuckled fists gripping her sword and shield, certain death barreling airborne straight for her, she readied her sword in front of her, prepared to slash...

CRACK!

The familiar sound of lightning cracked through the air. Lydia watched as Irileth's lightning bolt found its mark squarely on the dragon's face. There was no mistaking it this time; the dragon uttered a painful cry as it recoiled its head. Following suit, a volley of three arrows sailed through the air, at least one of them striking true against the veiny skin of its wing. It's wing crippled this time, the dragon's forward momentum was now transferred to a downward fall.

"Yeah!" one of the guardsmen called out.

"Damn good shooting, boys!" Irileth congratulated. The ground itself seemed to rumble from the sheer impact of the dragon crashing. However, Irileth watched on as while the dragon did hit the ground, it didn't immediately stop. In fact, it was actually skidding across the dirt, right towards...

"Lydia! Get out of there!"

The black haired Nord didn't need to be reminded to get the clear message. The dragon was again bearing straight down on her, this time from the ground! She spun around, as fast as her legs could carry her, and bolted in the opposite direction. Glancing over her shoulder, she almost stumbled after seeing that the dragon was approaching her faster than she had anticipated! In fact, before she knew it, she was thrown forward from the motion. She fell to the ground, the wind briefly knocked out of her, and her shield rolling away from her as she had lost grip of it.

"Ugh, by the..." she uttered. Eyes widening, she looked behind her. The dragon had stopped its forward skid, but was now pulling itself to its feet, in a relative sense. Now directly before her on the ground, Lydia got a clearer sense of just how large this dragon really was; it stretched as long as at least forty feet from its head down to its tail! It's two massive wings curved in still managed to appear imposing, even with an arrow or two protruding from them! While these wings didn't appear to be that well 'armored', the same could not be said for the rest of this creature's body. Even as far as its tail tip, rows upon rows of thick, sharpened scales lined this creature's back, each one managing to somehow glisten in the moonlight. They ran all the way down the length of its neck to its head, its massive, scaly, horned head, with red, slitted reptilian eyes staring straight at her. For the first time since she could remember, Lydia felt a weight in the pit of her stomach; a pure sense of dread that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Her left hand twitched, and she was suddenly reminded that she no longer held her shield! Frantically looking around the ground, she hoped it would still be close by to her. Unfortunately, the dragon exhaling a sudden burst of air from its nostrils at her would not be giving her any reprieve. As such, Lydia quickly slashed, putting as much weight as she could into her sword slash. The dragon head actually turned, confirming that she had struck true, so she followed it up with another.

"Hrgh, take this-!" As she tried to follow up with a third, the dragon's maw suddenly shot out, catching her blade in its rows of sharpened teeth. Lydia jerked her hand as hard as she could, and even tried pulling on the hilt with both hands, but the sword stayed firmly locked in the dragon's maw. The beast turned its head to the side, pulling Lydia along with it, then jerked it to the opposite side, effectively throwing her back to the ground. The housecarl rolled to the ground and back to her feet, only this time found that she was completely unarmed. Looking up, she watched in horror as the dragon brought its teeth down hard and shattered her blade into many pieces.

In an instant, Lydia felt her heart shatter in tandem; that blade, 'her' blade... the very sword that was a gift to her from the Jarl... it was gone. Snapped to pieces just like that in the mouth of a scaly monster!

Looking back up, Lydia could only watch, literally empty-handed, as the dragon reared its head back. Whether it was to flame her alive or snap her in half with its teeth, what did it matter? Sovngarde awaited her...

A rush before her, and Lydia was forced back to reality. The silent woman had dashed before her and slashed her own sword up, knocking away the dragon's head before it could do her in!

"Wha-? You? Where did you-!" the woman didn't respond, as she was already moving. The dragon's head was returning back to where it was, and the woman moved to quickly climb on the back of it! Lydia blinked: this woman, this CRAZY woman just climbed onto the back of the head of a DRAGON! Who was this person?!

The dragon wasn't taking kindly to this either, waving its head up and down, side to side, desperate to shake the woman off. In the break of its shaking, the woman began to make her move by slashing quick strikes at the right side of the dragon's head. Each successful strike was followed up by a painful groan from the dragon that grew louder and louder. Eventually, a spot on the dragon's head showed a clear bloody gash was forming! These creatures can bleed!

By now the dragon was violently shaking its head, and in fact had succeeded in knocking the shield from the woman's grip. However, with a freed hand she was able to grab onto the dragon's left head-horn for support. Finally, the dragon stopped shaking its head again. Seizing this opportunity, the woman took grip of her sword with both hands, gritted her teeth, and plunged the blade straight into the gash she'd created.

The cry the dragon uttered this time was guttural, defeated, and death-rattling, as well as its head slowly collapsing to the ground with a thud. The woman was thrown forward into a roll, but did not pull herself to her feet as quickly. Luckily, Lydia was there to help her up.

"By the Gods," she breathed, "I don't even know what to say... You saved me." The woman looked at her, eyes meeting for a handful of seconds, and she smiled.

"Lydia!" the women turned to see Irileth joining them, "Thank goodness you're still alive! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am," Lydia said, "That was a well placed shot on your part."

"Yes, well," the dark elf said, "Let's make sure this overgrown lizard is really de-" Irileth cut herself short when something began to happen. In the dragon's skull, where the sword still lay embedded, the surrounding scales began to glow red, then yellow, then white as they were... burning away?

Irileth turned to the woman,"That's some sword! Just how enchanted was that thing?" she asked, genuinely impressed. Her expression softened when she noticed the woman's face. While she still didn't say anything, her face was one of complete confusion and denial, even when she shook her head. At this, Irileth looked back at the dragon to find that its skeleton was beginning to show itself from how fast this 'burning' taking place.

"Everyone... get back!" she called out. She and Lydia quickly moved away from the dragon's corpse, but the woman continued to stand there, transfixed. The burning effect by now had completely engulfed the dragon's body, yet strangely these flames did not singe the surrounding grass that it touched. Stranger still, this flame gave off no heat, despite it glowing a magnificent yellow-orange in the night. The woman found herself lifting her hand out towards this conflagration...

Waves of translucent energy suddenly lashed out straight into her outstretched hand. The woman pulled her hand back, but the energy continued to seep straight into her. She was fearful at first, visibly struggling... until she calmed herself. This energy, which appeared to be... transferring, from the dragon skeleton into her, seemed to now flow directly into her through her eyes. They widened, starring unfocused into the night sky. Her mouth hung open, but still no noise was uttered from her throat.

Finally, the energy ceased to flow, and the dragon's skeleton began to dim from no more energy flowing from it. On the other hand, the woman found herself bent over. Her eyes and mouth were clenched shut, and her hands were clamped over the sides of her head. She trembled slightly, but aside from that made no other movements.

Off to the side, Irileth and Lydia watched this entire event happen.

"One thing just leads to another..." Lydia breathed, "Now what just happened?"

"I'd say..." Irileth said, "I'd say we won!" Cautiously, Lydia approached the woman and the dragon skeleton. She got within five feet from her when the woman suddenly looked back up at her. Lydia recoiled at the sudden movement.

"Hey hey!" she said, "Are- are you alright?" the woman did not reply, nor gave any sort of response, "What... what happened? What did... you do?" The woman's hands suddenly clamped over her mouth, as if she were about to retch her innards straight out of her mouth. However, instead of bending over and down, the woman bent her back, opened her mouth, and a single noise emerged from her mouth, bearing straight to the heavens itself,

"FUS!"

Within the darkened halls of High Hrothgar, despite being miles away from Skyrim's ground level, they heard it, clear as an eagle's cry on the wind.

Four hooded figures, all having a grey beard styled differently from his peer, knelt together in the lightly illuminated central chamber. Each one looked at the other; they had each heard it, there was nothing that needed to be said. A new one had emerged, after many years, now they must put out their call for who ever it might be to hear.

Picking themselves up, the Greybeards exited the old stone building and gathered in the outer courtyard. The four of them stood around a single brazier holding a roaring fire, the only heat source in the midst of this terrible snow storm. They stood, in this moment of perfect yet delicate balance: the ice cold of the snowstorm, and the fiery heat of this bonfire. As one, they cried their Voices out, a great thunder to be heard all across Kynareth's domain:

"DOVAHKIIN!"

-Well? What did you all think? Let me know in any reviews or PMs you leave me on what I can improve, do differently, or if you think I should continue!

P.S. Cookie, I hope this was good enough to sate your Skyrim curiosity! : ) -