The Dragon Returns
It was whilst the Jarl and I were talking to Farengar that news arrived that the dragon had been seen again this time near the cities Western Watch Tower.
Jarl Balgruuf immediately sent his Housecarl Irileth and a detachment of the palace guard to deal with the threat, and somehow I found myself conscripted into this adventure and on my way to kill a dragon.
I could not help thinking that having first seen this dragon less than a week ago, when it destroyed Helgen, it was somewhat optimistic to assume that my warrior skills had improved to the extent that I would now able to kill it.
Nevertheless, Irileth's enthusiasm was infectious and I joined the soldiers heading for the watchtower, half hoping that the dragon had got bored and decided to cause bother somewhere else.
At first my hopes were raised when the guard at the watchtower reported that the dragon had flown off, and I began to think that I might survive long enough to enjoy some of the gold that Lucan had given me for the loot I had recovered from Bleak Falls Barrow. However, my hopes were dashed when with a blood-curdling scream the dragon returned and began attacking the soldiers on the road.
I took the only sensible option and dived through the door into the protection of the watchtower. Here I collected my wits and listened appalled at the sounds of the life and death struggle of Irileth's warriors outside.
In the end shame overcame common sense and I decided to try and aid my companions. I climbed the watchtower steps intent on contributing what little help I could with my bow from the upper platform. For some reason I felt safer inside the tower even though I had witnessed this same dragon turn a tower no different to this one to rubble not six days ago.
On reaching the upper platform I began firing every arrow I had at the dragon as it systematically circled the tower and picked off my unfortunate comrades on the ground below one by one. On several occasions I even managed to hit it, though hitting a moving target, even one as large as a dragon, proved much harder that hitting the unsuspecting stationary Draugr in Bleak Falls Barrow.
Worse still whenever I was successful I merely drew attention to myself and had to duck down the steps into the tower to avoid being toasted by dragon fire.
Eventually, my companions and I managed to do enough damage to the dragons wings to force it too land. Either that or it just got tired of trying to kill us from the air and decided to land to finish us off once and for all. Whatever, the reason the dragon landed on the road about 50 yards from the tower and proceeded to begin toasting anyone who came within range.
With no more arrows left I had little choice but to draw my hammer and venture out of the tower to help Irileth who seemed determined to join her ancestors by standing on the road smacking the dragon on the nose with her sword.
I had no intention of being so suicidal and circling wide around the dragon I approached it from the rear, where at least the orifice I was attacking did not produce flesh melting flames. The dragon seemed pre-occupied by whatever was happening to its front and even leaned forward and raise its tail allowing me to slip under its belly, where I began pummeling its stomach as hard as I could with my hammer.
I must have managed to land three, or perhaps four massive blows, to its under-belly using every ounce of my strength, and was rewarded by having the entire of its massive weight collapse on top of me and crush me flat against the roadway.
I was still trying to struggle to my feet surrounded by fire and the noxious vapors from the dragons ruptured stomach, when I once more felt that same strange feeling I had experienced when standing in front of that wall of words in Bleak Falls Barrow.
When I eventually struggled out from underneath the dead monster, now little more than a skeleton, I was surprised to see Irileth still alive. In fact, more of the soldiers survived than I thought possible. Though the small burning heaps of flesh dotted around the tower confirmed that some of us at least had joined our ancestors in Souvngarde.
I helped Irileth and her comrades bury their dead and made the best efforts I could to recover my arrows and rescue any valuable gear from the corpses before returning to a hero’s welcome in Whiterun.
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