So this is my first fic and I hope you like it, I will warn you the Dragonborn doesn't do much in this chapter, it's more of just explanatory and He will do more in the following chapters. Everything's in Lydia's POV.

It had been so long since I'd felt real fear, even when I'm sent out with the guard to clear out some bandit's nest, I'm not truly afraid. But as I watch the smoke climb higher in the sky, billowing up from the Western Watchtower, I feel scared again, all the tales of dragons and Dragonborn I was told as a child flashed through my mind. I push open one of the great doors to Dragonsreach and hurried to Jarl Balgruuf, who is sitting quietly on his throne, his hands clasped together in front of his face.

"What is it Lydia?" he asks me slightly exasperated. His calm is unnerving and I stumble over my words, trying to explain to him why he shouldn't be calm.

"Th-the Western Watchtower..." I trail off, looking to his steward for support but finding none.

"I am aware of the predicament and have dispatched Irileth and her men to slay the dragon." He said calmly.

"Will that be enough?" I ask him hurriedly. He seemed like he was thinking something over and I was worried that he didn't seem more concerned.

"I also sent with them a dragon expert and I am confident in their abilities." He told me slowly. It was here that Farengar Secret-Fire, the court wizard spoke up.

"I would hardly call him an expert." Farengar protested.

"He has already survived one dragon attack, can you say the same?" Balgruuf questioned Farengar. The wizard closed his mouth and sulked back into his quarters. The fear of dragons had momentarily subsided replaced by a sudden interest in this "expert."

"Who is he?" I asked the Jarl, and his attention turned back to me.

"You have probably already heard of him, as I understand it he was recently accepted into the Companions." The Jarl told me. I had heard of some newcomer joining the Companions, but no real description and I hadn't seen him. All these thoughts flying around my head, I began to paint a picture of this man in my head. A tall, muscular Nord with flowing blonde hair and a large, rich beard. In my mind he wears thick steel armor that would make a lesser man fall to the ground and slung across his back would be a greatsword large enough to lop off a dragon's head with one swing. At that moment, the doors burst open and Irileth rushed in.

"Farengar, come quick!" She called out, she sounded almost worried. I ran down the stairs to meet her and see what happened. "Lydia, you come too." she said and I followed her out the doors with Farengar and Jarl Balgruuf close behind. On the walkway outside the doors were two figures, one was lying on the ground and seemed badly wounded, the other was kneeling over him, checking and rechecking his pulse. As I drew closer I saw that the kneeling figure was wearing strong leather armor and a hood. I turned my attention to the man on the ground, Irileth and I lifted him up, and carried him inside with Farengar following us, preparing healing spells. We laid the man down on Farengar's bed and stepped back as Farengar attempted a healing spell. I finally got a good look at the man and saw that he was a wood elf with white hair tied up behind his hair, but it was singed on the edges and his face was covered in cuts and soot. I wondered who he was. Could he be this expert? I asked Irileth.

"No that's not him. That's his companion." Irileth told me.

"What happened to him?" I asked her.

"He pushed me out of the way of the dragon's fire and took the full blow himself. Damned fool, he wasn't even wearing any armor." She said, and turned away slightly. If I hadn't known Irileth for many years, I would have thought she was ashamed, embarrassed even.

"How did he survive that?" I asked.

"Malachi had a healing potion on him and it kept him alive until we got him here." She told me. I looked at her blankly, and she clarified. "Malachi is that new Companion." I nodded and turned to look at the wounded elf again. Irileth said something about going to talk to the Jarl and left the room. Farengar followed, mumbling about having to make a potion for him. That left me and this elf. I crouched down next to him and studied his injuries. He had burns up and down his left side. I reached down to touch one and he flinched and his eyes shot open.

"Ma-Malachi." he gasped, his eyes flying around the room, searching and falling on me. "Where's Malachi?" he panted.

"With the Jarl, he's fine." I told him, "What's your name?" I asked him.

"F-Faendal." He sputtered out, "The dragon?" he asked me.

"Dead." I told him, at least I hoped so. He looked reassured by this and his head fell back onto his pillow and his eyes closed. I checked his pulse, it was slow and his breathing was shallow. It was at this point that Farengar reappeared and was carrying a strange clear potion.

"What's that?" I asked him, it didn't look like any healing potion I'd ever seen.

"It's going to... ease his passing." Farengar said and my eyes widened with realization.

"But..." I started and trailed off.

"There's nothing I can do, he's too badly injured. All I can do is keep him from hurting." Farengar explained. I nodded and stepped back to give Farengar room to work. I turned away, not wanting to see him administer the potion. "It's done." Farengar said and stood over the body. "I'll go get the priestess." He said and walked out. Suddenly everything shook, as if it were an earthquake, and I fell to my knees. I got to my feet and ran out into the throne room. There I saw the figure in the leather armor on his knee in front of Jarl Balgruuf, and the Jarl was resting his ax on the man's shoulder. He was being made a Thane. I made my way over to them to introduce myself to this new Thane.

"Ah, and I will appoint Lydia to be your personal Housecarl." The Jarl said as he saw me approach. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the man on his knee. He looked over to me and stood. This must be Malachi. Not quite as muscular as I was expecting, but he was at least taller than me. I also notice the lack of steel armor and greatsword. Instead he wore black leather armor and carried an elven bow and a quiver of elven arrows over his back. At his side he carried what was either a very long dagger or a short sword. He pulled back his hood to reveal a head of shaggy, dirty blond hair. It came down to the nape of his neck and somehow managed to stop short of impairing his eye sight. His jaw was strong but not wide and it matched the rest of his face, but what really stuck out was his seemingly luminescent blue eyes. He extended a hand to me and managed a smile.

"Hello, I'm Malachi."

Well, here we are. I hope you leave a review so I know to continue. Favorite if you want, follow if you really liked it but otherwise just let me know what you thought. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon.