Sian's Story part 49 - The Best Offense is a Good Defender
Entry posted by jfraser in Sian's Story
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It was, as I had said, a terrible plan but, in fairness, it kind of worked. The specific part that worked was that the dragon made a beeline straight for me as I shouted and waved my arms. I don’t know if it was because I was shouting the two dragon words I had learned last time (although, of course, there was no power behind them) or just because it was attracted to the clearly insane, but come it did. I waited until it had opened its mouth and its ice began to spew before I turned and ran back down the tunnel.
Almost too late – I caught some ice on my leg, which went instantly numb and caused me to fall forward. I landed hard and it took a few panicked seconds before I could move again, fearing the next spate of killing frost. That spate never happened and after I had leveraged myself back to my feet and limped with as much caution as I could muster back to the entrance, I found a surprising sight.
The dragon was on the ground, one wing torn almost completely off, fighting a losing battle for its life against a single foe. That foe was not, however, Kellan. It was, instead, a naked woman covered in a dizzying number of tattoos holding familiar glowing swords and moving at a speed I would not have believed had I not witnessed it. No matter which direction the dragon turned, she was somewhere else, swords slicing skin, bone, and muscle with every blurred swing.
I took out my bow but didn’t shoot because I was afraid of accidentally hitting her, since her moves were unpredictable. The chances were small that she would be in the exact spot I aimed, but I didn’t want to take that chance.
Eventually Kellan ran into my field of view from somewhere directly below my position on the cliff and joined the battle, though there was precious little for him to do; the dragon was on its last leg (literally – one of them had been chopped off) and faltering by the time he got there. Still, he fulfilled his part of the plan, at least to a degree – with one swing of his sword, the dragon’s head fell and started to roll down the hillside.
Kellan and the Dibellan Defender began to talk, but I stopped paying attention because that’s when the wind picked up and spiraled from the dragon to me. I got lost in another orgasm for a time (and was very fortunate I did not fall from the cliff during it). When I came to, I found both of them kneeling over me.
“Are you injured?” the Defender, who had re-donned her priestess robes, said at the same time Kellan asked, “Are you all right?”
"I love it when a plan comes together," I replied. Then, at their predictably blank stares, I added, “I’m fine. I just…” I waved at hand in the general direction of the dragon, though I couldn’t see it from my vantage on the cave floor.
“Oh!” Kellan looked from me toward the dragon (that he also would not have been able to see) and back. “So it happened? Is that what that wind was? It stripped the dragon right down to the bones!”
“Yes. I’ll be somewhat more use to you now.” I could feel it – the words still rattled around but now they were infused with power. “Let’s go down and I’ll show you.”
They helped me up and we clambered down the cliff face, where I looked over the pile of bones that had once been a dragon, then at the priestess. “That was impressive, Defender.”
She did not seem surprised that I knew what she was (they’re not really a secret, so she probably just thought I knew about them in general). “Thank you, but I only cleaned up what your friend started – he was the one who broke its wing. Then one of its legs snapped when it hit the ground, so it couldn’t really move and therefore was easy enough to dispatch.”
I glanced at Kellan, who was trying not to look smug. For the record, he failed miserably.
I expected the Defender to follow up with a similar recruitment spiel as last time, but she did not. Which was just as well – I didn’t want to go through that again anyway. I turned my attention to the dragon, opened my mouth, and Shouted: “Fus Ro Dah!”
I was disappointed in the result – the bones rattled and shook a little but I had expected something a little more dramatic. Visions of the dragon in Falkreath came to mind, of its bones flying into the air at my words; nothing like the little gust I had provoked here.
The other two, however, at least acted impressed.
“It really worked!” Kellan exclaimed at the same time the Defender said, “Impressive.”
I was about to tell them that it hadn’t been as great as I had hoped when the ground began to shake and a multitude of voices rang through the air.
"DO-VAH-KIIN!"
We stumbled, the bones shook apart into a no-longer-dragon-shaped heap, and small rocks rained down from the cliff above.
Kellan looked around in a frenzy, his sword drawn as if facing a foe. “What in the name of the gods was that?!”
“Um. That was the Greybeards. They’re trying to tell me they want to see me.”
“The Greybeards? I have heard a little about them, but only in fanciful tales. What do they want?”
“They are masters of Shouting. They’re going to teach me how to make the Shout I just did stronger and teach me another that will help me move faster, then send me after that horn I was telling you about. I just hoped to save time by getting the horn first.” Plus, I didn’t add, I wanted to get to it before Delphine had a chance to swipe it again. I didn’t want to go to her until all my dragons were in a row and we could concentrate on killing them.
Kellan looked as if he had a multitude of questions but he stuck to a pragmatic single one: “Does this change our plan?”
“Partially, but only an amendment that should have been there before. I would still like to get the horn first, then go to the Greybeards, then to Solitude.”
“Very well. Riverwood first still, though, right?”
“Ah, the stone. Yes.”
“Do you mind if I travel with you?”
I blinked as we both turned to the Defender.
Kellan responded with gusto before my brain could begin to formulate a response. “Gladly!”
I bit my tongue because the words I had been about to say got overridden by a shot of hot jealously which changed those words to fresh ones I did not want to say out loud.
The Defender either noticed my reaction or also made the obvious assumption about Kellan’s willingness. “I must make it clear that traveling with me does not mean unlimited worship. Dibella’s worship is not intended for the sake of slaking of lust – it is a holy rite made with reverence. Therefore parishioners are limited to services only once a month.”
Kellan turned beet red, and I do not mean that as a colloquialism – I have only seen a red that deep on someone’s skin when my brother spent an entire day helping his girlfriend’s grandparents plant Christmas trees (it was for tax purposes or something – they never ended up selling any) without a shirt on because he was trying to impress her. Ironically, it led to her dumping him because he kept insisting she rub aloe lotion on his back all day, even while they were at work at the local Wendy’s.
Anyway, back to Kellan, who lifted defensive hands and proclaimed, “No, not because of that! You are as good a warrior as I have ever seen! It would certainly be a boon to have you join us! That’s all I meant!”
The Defender gave him a sardonic smile and purred, “Of course,” and I began to like her despite myself.
“I am all right with it,” I said before the ensuing silence could take root into something more uncomfortable. “If you are certain. We wouldn’t want to interrupt your work.”
She gave me a smile, and it was dazzling – I felt it was meant only for me. She was really damn good at her job. “This is my work – to spread the love of Dibella by defeating evil in her name. And from what I can tell, you are about to face a lot of evil. Where else could I be of more use?”
“Fair enough. I’m Sian, by the way.”
“Kellan told me. I am Lane.”
And that is why, whenever I hear about Dibella, all I can think about is my least favorite Beatles song.
Don't feed the bastards. Feed yourself instead.
Edited by jfraser
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