章 481: Huntin' Drag-Gits

Michael, Megumin, and Illococoo teleport to Dawnstar once he gathers them, leaving Tiffania to manage the town and protect the Eye of the World should it be needed.

The trio appear on the outskirts of Dawnstar and is greeted with a grim sight... Half of the city had been completely destroyed, and were it not for the recent snowstorm, Michael imagined it would have been far, far worse.

Indeed, Dawnstar probably coped better than any other city simply due to how close the ocean was. Regardless, there were piles of bodies gathered around, with a few scorched remains that'd not been collected yet.

Michael looks over to the burned ballistae and scowls to himself, not only had they seemingly been useless, but most of their ammunition hadn't even been used by the looks of it.

He spots an exhausted-looking guard and addresses them, gesturing at the ballistae, "Did the ballistae not do anything against the beast? Or were you guys just too incompetent to actually hit it?" he asks, taunting slightly to get an honest answer from the man.

"Fuck off, outsider. You want to mock me while surrounded by corpses?" he rubs his eyes, "Besides, there was nothing we could have done... The beast knew to target them first, came out of nowhere and burned them all before we could do anything!"

...

Ah... Yeah... He hadn't actually taken this into account, the fact that the Dragons were as or more intelligent than humans, and would obviously take out the most threatening defences first...

"My apologies then, I guess... Did you at least get one shot off? Could the ballistae harm it?"

The guard shakes his head, "Hah, no! The thing flew like a creature a fraction of its size, dodged like it had a thousand eyes, and shouted loud enough to part the clouds! No one could possibly face something like that!" he exclaims utterly defeated, unable to fathom a way to kill the beast, let alone multiple should the return of the dragons be true.

"Where the Jarl? Skald the Elder, isn't it?" Michael asks, wanting to offer his services in hunting the dragon. Clearly, he'd underestimated the strength of the enemy, and allowing Alduin to continually resurrect them without quelling their numbers a bit would probably doom everyone.

Unfortunately, the guard gave an equally gloomy answer, "Jarl Skald was burned alive in his longhouse alongside his children, Housecarl, and Court Wizard."

...

"Do you at least have any idea where the dragon had gone?"

"That away, you can piss off in the same direction actually." the guard grouses, casually pointing southwest of the town.

Indeed, far off in that direction was the mountain range that separated Morthal and Solitude. Judging from what he knew of the game, and dragons in general, he'd likely find one roosting atop the highest point in the area... Also, if there was a word wall around. He retrieves his notes from his inventory and looks to the one that located all discovered Word Walls.

Looks like there was a Word Wall in that direction, though, it'd take a while to get to it, even more if he wanted to get the drop on the dragon.

He glances at Megumin and Illococoo, "How do you both feel about dragon hunting?"

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Toorlokmaar surveys his lands from the very top of the mountain he rests upon, his draconic slitted eyes focussing on the pitiful mortals travelling along HIS roads, and through HIS forests. The elder brother, Alduin had brought his spirit flesh and granted him the task of removing the mortal settlements.

They didn't want complete annihilation of the creatures, but unlike last time, they wouldn't give them nearly as much power. Their biggest mistake by far had been teaching their most loyal servants their tongue. The first betrayer had been the catalyst for their end, but now? Now he was gone, his mortal flesh too weak to sustain itself against the ravages of time.

But they, the rightful children of Akatosh, would take their place as this world's rulers. Never again would those pathetic mortals raise arms against them, never against would they be allowed a modicum of freedom with which to plot with.

They would continue to rule it, eternally until Alduin saw the need to restart the world anew. Toorlokmaar looked forward to it, wondering what new lands and creatures would present themselves to be domina-...

The dragon pauses in its pondering as it spots three figures trying in vain to sneak up his mountain. They noticed his gaze, and one transformed into... Into a Dov!?

"Dovahkiin!? Hi bo wah zu'u ahst daar sahlo joor slen?!"(You come to me in that weak mortal flesh!?)

Illococoo startles as she hears the dragon tongue, the very words of her opponent causing the world to ripple with the power of his voice, while he wasn't directly attacking her, his words burrowed into her scales, weakening them slightly even without the being's intent.

Shaking her head, she recalls her research and replies back, "Hi. Los? Krii dii. Zaam...?"(You are kill my slaves.) she answers, stumbling over her words slightly, never before having to use them in a conversational context.

Toorlokmaar growls, the deep rumbling causing hte stone of the mountain to reverberate, "Nii los dii golt, ofan naal Alduin!"(It is my land, gifted by Alduin!)

Just as Illococoo is about to reply, Megumin finally finishes her spell, shouting "Explooooo-sion!"

The dragon only just notices this and realises just how much danger it was in as it throws itself to the side. Unfortunately for it, it'd not expected such a powerful sneak attack...

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

A huge explosion rings out, a mushroom cloud forming above the shattered peak of the mountain, spraying the nearby area in large boulders and stone. Morthal was lucky in that it was just out of range of the shrapnel, though, some of Morthal's farms would need renovating...