下載應用程式
68.16% Unbound Familiar / Chapter 486: Dragon's Reach

章節 486: Dragon's Reach

Michael went on to explain the situation in Dawnstar to Vilkas, leaving out the fact that he'd slain the dragon that'd caused it. He definitely didn't want to be labelled the 'Dragonborn', that was way too much attention. Not only because he'd be looked towards to solve the crises, but because of all the other implications.

The biggest being he would technically be legible to rule the empire, something he wanted to avoid at all costs. Even if he wanted to rule, he'd tear down Cyrodil and rebuild it how he liked, without all the corrupt politics, nobles, and merchants ruining the place.

After speaking to Vilkas, Michael headed straight up towards Dragonsreach to speak with the Jarl. He was somewhat disappointed that Saeko hadn't yet returned to the Companions or even Skyrim by the sounds of it, but he was sure she was still alive and kicking the shit outta Thalmor in Hammerfell.

Inside Dragonsreach, Michael walks through the hall and spots Jarl Balgruuf, who looked distinctly different from how he usually does. His skin was pale with exhaustion and or stress, black bags hung under his eyes, and his forehead seemed to be permanently wrinkled.

"Jarl Balgruuf..." Michael tentatively greets as he stops at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne, halting the quiet conversation between him and Irilith.

"Michael Tahlin, Blade-Bearer..." he says, his voice as tired as his appearance, "Have you need for something?"

"No, I just felt the need to report something to you while I had time... Dawnstar was attacked by a dragon and almost completely burned, Skald the Elder is dead."

...

Balgruuf rests his face on his palm, looking ready to fall asleep as he does so, "So it wasn't just a one-off thing then. Is this the god's punishment?" he whispers the last part to himself, but Michael is able to pick it up with the help of some lip-reading.

"I was wondering if there was anything that could be done about the dragons, clearly regular defences won't work... Jarl Korir is scrambling to find alternatives with the help of the Eredar but it's slow progress." Michael asks, trying to bait out if the Dragonborn had passed through at all.

Thankfully, Balgruuf either doesn't care enough to keep quiet, or is too tired to notice his slip. "I've already sent some people to go looking for an artifact that may help. Though, this would be the third group... Hopefully they don't die like the rest."

"My Jarl..." Irilith mutters with a meaningful gaze.

Indeed, revealing information on a potential tool to use against the dragons wasn't a wise choice, especially since such a thing could be used and or sold for the benefit of Whiterun... Having someone else poaching it was something Balgruuf certainly wanted to avoid.

He waves her however while giving a long yawn, "Would you be willing to volunteer to acquire it if my hires fail the task?"

Michael shrugs, "Er, sure... If I have time. I'm pretty busy these days."

Balgruuf nods, "Especially with that tower of yours. A marvel if it does what my reports suggest, I thank you for ridding us of those Daedric scum, for however long this lasts..." he pauses, "Perhaps the dragons are another scheme to reassert themselves? Would your tower be able to withstand an assault?"

Michael grins, "Yes, and I pity the fool who would attempt it, dragon or not."

"Good. Then if that's all... I'd like to chat more but things are somehow even more chaotic than when the Civil War first started."

"When you were still neutral..." Michael adds, causing both Balgruuf and Irilith to turn somewhat hostile eyes toward him.

"I-... I did what I had to. And I will continue to do so, for my Hold and my family... I trust you to do the same and stop Jarl Korir from forcing your Eredar into battle for Ulfric." he says before waving his hand at Michael signalling him to leave, which he does so without issue.

Well, it seems that someone had been sent for the Dragonstone, whether it's the Dragonborn or not is still to be seen. He'd leave it as is for now, hopefully the plot would be similar to what he remembered... Though, if the Dragonborn died to some Draugr he might just pick up his shit and move to another world in sheer annoyance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere :

Surtr ducks his head to relieve put his face out of the line of fire of the blizzard battering both him and his Companions. This 'Beak Falls Barrow' was proving to be a difficult job already, despite them not even having reached the damned place yet!

He'd warned the Jarl of Whiterun of the dragon threat and thought that the end of it, but while he was resting up in the city he'd been approached by the Court Wizard Farengar to find some 'Dragonstone' in an ancient Nord tomb... He wanted to refuse but, he realised that if this was a solution to the return of the dragons, it needed to be found at all costs... Plus, this way he could decide if such a thing would be better off in Ulfric's hands instead of the Imperial-controlled Whiteurn.

To help with this task he'd acquired the assistance of the legendary Companions, specifically, an Orc nicknamed 'Jackle', and a Redguard called Shakeesh. He didn't know either very well, but from what he'd seen, they were trustworthy enough if their role in the Companions itself wasn't evidenced enough.

The orc woman wielded two axes like wrath incarnate, while the Redguard man was very agile despite his size with those curved swords. Surtr hated to admit it, but both were as good or perhaps better than him when it came to combat...

Unbeknownst to him, his couple of years of experience amounted to their lifetime's worth of fighting. Making him stupidly talented in comparison...


創作者的想法
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :

ShinAmazake

Kingsprovince

Faruk Ereng

next chapter

章節 487: Ancient Whispers

"Gods, will this mountain never end!?" Surtr grouses, preferring the warmth of Cyrodil as opposed to this... Wading through snow up an incredibly slippery almost verticle path.

"Hmph! And I thought Shakeesh was the Milk-Drinker between us!" Jackle laughs, just as Shakeesh slips on some ice and falls face-first into the snow. "Hah! Maybe he still is, despite your incessant complaining!"

Shakeesh scowls, "Mind yourself 'Horky', or I'll take your ponytail as a trophy... Do you even grow hair besides i-Puuffff!" he's suddenly struck in the face by a snowball.

"You wanna talk about race? Let's talk about how most Redguard are built like fat Altmer!"

"Both of you be quiet! I thought you were supposed to be the professionals here!" Surtr grouses before pausing his stride, "Wait, there!" he says, pointing towards the large arch not far from them.

"I think that's it... Seems to be inhabited too..." Jackle adds, gesturing at the humanoid shadows positioned across the structure, keeping watch for any intruders.

"Bandits?" Surtr questions.

"Bandits." Shakeesh confirms, "No sane person would make this place their home without being hunted first. Besides, wouldn't you want to get rid of them anyway? Back in Hammerfell desecrating graves is one of the worst crimes."

"Aren't we technically going to rob the grave anyway?" Jackle deadpans.

"Well, yes, but we have a purpose..." Shakeesh retorts despite his increasingly weaker argument.

Surtr shakes his head, "Whatever, let's just kill them and be on our way. I doubt we could sneak past them all anyway..."

"Wait, I've got something just for this..." Shakeesh says while pulling out a scroll, "That Farengar lent it to me since everyone else he hired never came back."

"What is it?

"Ah... A scroll of..." he pulls out the note Farengar had also provided, "A scroll of Vigour...?"

"Vigour? Sounds like the mage gave us his 'stimulation scroll' by accident..." Jackel sarcastically remarks.

Shakeesh shakes his head, "No, it says here that it'll boost our vitality and stamina."

"Whatever, just use it so we can move. I don't remember Skyrim being this cold in the past." Surtr mutters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trio quickly slaughter their way through the bandits, each person bloodying their blades while the enemy was almost completely helpless to stop them.

*Slash!*

*Thud!*

*Clash!*

*Squelch!*

The trio cut their way through the bandits until they find themselves standing before the large door leading into Bleak Falls Barrow.

"Jackle, you've got something..." he trails off, gesturing to the arrow protruding from her shoulder.

She sniffs at him, "You think?" she jokes while wrenching the dagger from her wound, luckily pulling both the shaft and the top out. The wound then quickly seals itself with the help of the vigour scroll from earlier, "Huh... Looks like it came in handy."

Surtr nods, "Indeed, let's continue before it wears off." he says while entering the dungeon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group kills the rest of the bandits, along with some Draugr and a thief named Arvel that was on the brink of being eaten by a giant spider... The fool attempted to flee from them when they cut him loose, screaming about the 'treasure being his'. They recovered the Golden Dragonclaw from his corpse, which allowed them to unlock a door with it.

"Thank the Gods that thief had the key, otherwise we'd be unable to continue the mission..." Shakeesh says as the door slowly opens with a low rumble.

Surtr shrugs, "I mean, it doesn't look all that hard to pick if needed. Just randomly guess the symbols and you're through... Easier than most home locks to be honest.

"For you maybe, but Shakeesh would stand a better chance smashing our heads against it. Picklocking isn't something taught in the Companions."

The group enters the large cavern and spots a word wall at the end, along with an ornate chest sitting next to a tomb.

"That's it, I think." Surtr says as they shuffle over, but pauses when a glimmer catches the corner of his eye. "You two see that?" he questions while slowly approaching the Word Wall, feeling like something was calling to him.

"...Whispering?"

"You all right there, Surtr? We don't hear anything..." Shakeesh says, glancing at Jackle who shrugs her shoulders.

Surtr continues walking towards the wall, his eyes locked on the glowing words in the center of it. "Here lies the Guardian, Keeper of Dragonstone, a force of unending rage and darkness..." he unconsciously mutters to himself as the words burrow into his mind.

"Oi! What babble are you speaking!?" Shakeesh says, louder than before. "I think he's being possessed!"

Jackle shakes her head, "That's a Word Wall, language of the dragons... Does he understand it?"

The light that only Surtr could see was blinding in its intensity now, the indecipherable whispering shouting not only into his ears but his very soul.

Then, it stops. Leaving Surtr numbly standing as his mouth continues all on its own, "Force, strength, coercion, energy... Fus." he whispers the word and doesn't notice the slight breeze produced by it.

He shakes his head, feeling an uncomfortable sense of deja vu, despite his mind also feeling somewhat numb. "W-what was that...?"

Before the duo behind him are able to answer, a loud *CRACK!* echoes through the room as the stone lid of the tomb fragments slightly, with lines running all along it.

"Shit! Draugr!" Jackle exclaims, pulling Shakeesh out of the way before the lid completely explodes, raining stone fragments onto the group as a Draugr in full ebony arm steps forth from it.

"RUSH IT!" Surtr shouts, no wanting to give the thing any time to pick them off. He sprints at it and slams his shield into its side as it draws its weapon from the sheath still somehow attached to its hip.

It stumbles from attack, hitting the edge of the tomb before landing heavily on the stone floor, turning an angry glare towards the person responsible.

"FUS. RO. DAH!" the undead shouts, blasting Surtr head over foot and causing him to slam into the Word Wall behind the group.


創作者的想法
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :

ShinAmazake

Kingsprovince

Faruk Ereng

Load failed, please RETRY

每周推薦票狀態

批量訂閱

目錄

顯示選項

背景

EoMt的

大小

章評

寫檢討 閱讀狀態: C486
無法發佈。請再試一次
  • 寫作品質
  • 更新的穩定性
  • 故事發展
  • 人物形象設計
  • 世界背景

總分 0.0

評論發佈成功! 閱讀更多評論
用推薦票投票
Rank 200+ 推薦票榜
Stone 1 推薦票
舉報不當內容
錯誤提示

舉報暴力內容

段落註釋

登錄

tip 段落評論

段落註釋功能現已上線!將滑鼠移到任何段落上,然後按下圖示以添加您的評論。

此外,您可以隨時在「設置」 中將其關閉/ 打開。

明白了