I, Draugr chapter 21 (Patreon)

A hiss of pain leaves his lips as Irileth fixes his broken nose without even giving him a chance to take a breath.

The crack is loud, the pain is worse, and his eyes sting, but Balgruuf sucks it up thanks to the power of the fine mead coursing through his veins, and the still running adrenaline from the wild battle of the night.

"I do reprimand you often, my lord…" Irileth starts, glowing eyes staring at him in a very disapproving way as she cleans her bloodied hands, "But a brawl? Truly?"

Working his jaw, the bearded Jarl stares up at his trusted aid for a short second, "Would you believe me if I told you that Leonidas started it?"

Irileth holds his gaze for a short second before looking away, "Yes, I would."

The sheer chaos that man managed to cause within a single minute… By the Divines, he was sure Farkas punched one of his guards through the roof of Jorrvaskr at one moment while downing a mug of mead.

The brawl turned into a fight between the guards of Whiterun and the Companions, and he just couldn't stand back and watch. It was only right to join his soldiers and brothers in arms, no?

Even if, five seconds later, two Companions put him through a table, laughed at him, picked him up, then said he had to eat more meat and drink more mead.

The fucking gall on those monsters…

With enough mead in them, he was sure any of the Companions could wrestle a giant into the dirt and win, then look for another because they aren't satisfied.

"How many men did we lose?" He finally asks, knowing he'll have to write quite a lot of letters to quite a lot of families.

Just because a man will gladly die in battle without fear does not mean that the family will not mourn them.

"Not as many as we could have." Irileth answers lowly, "The spell Leonidas unleashed across the battlefield turned the tides. Made the soldiers and Companions stronger, and not even a blade through the heart could keep them down. We lost less than two-hundred soldiers, Companions included."

Balgruuf breathes out and closes his eyes. So massively outnumbered, yet so few casualties, even when the Dragons joined the fray.

This, he knows well, is all thanks to Leonidas.

Both for the warning, and for the assistance, and for helping in slaying that damnable Undead creature.

"That man is truly a monster." The voice of his court mage makes Balgruuf open his eyes and regard the approaching robed man with a curious look.

"Why do you say that, Farengar?" He questions lightly, and does not fail to notice the light shudder going down his court mage's body.

"The magnitude of that Spell covered the whole battlefield, my Jarl." Farengar points out, "The sheer upkeep cost of such a Spell… It would have drained my Magicka reserves in seconds."

"Leonidas kept that Spell running even after he left."

Balgruuf takes in a sharp intake of air at that. That… explained some things.

"What do you make of him?" He questions both his court mage and Irileth, with the two sharing a short and silent look.

With a sigh, Farengar crosses his arms with a slightly distant gaze hidden beneath his hood, "I believe he is a wandering Archmage." The theory from his court mage stuns Balgruuf greatly. Even Irileth falters at those words. "His capability to modify Spells on a whim, his depth of knowledge… It terrifies me. He has to be a terrifyingly talented Archmage, perhaps just wandering around and hiding himself from… well, any that would bother him."

Archmage… A title given to terrifyingly talented and powerful magicians with barely any equals.

Balgruuf could count the number of Archmages present in Skyrim on one hand, and have fingers left over. The College of Winterhold has Savos Aren, and he had heard rumors of another wandering Archmage, which he knows is not Leonidas.

"Quite the eccentric Archmage, then…" Irileth muses dryly, and Balgruuf withholds a snort at those words.

Leonidas was indeed quite the weird man, but Balgruuf quite enjoyed how open the man was at times.

Plus, the way he kept giving migraines to his Court Mage was quite hilarious.

Farengar palms his face with a groan, and Balgruuf hides his smile beneath his beard, "That aside… I believe that the two will leave once more soon enough." Balgruuf raises a brow, then motions for his Court Mage to continue. "Leonidas was clearly interested in the invitation from the College, and I believe the Dragonborn will soon seek the teachings of the Graybeards."

Despite himself, Balgruuf frowns a small amount. Mostly out of worry.

His city was not defenseless… But the major reason on why there were so few casualties on the battlefield was because of the Dragonborn and her friend.

Seeing the worry in his Jarl's eyes, Farengar speaks once more, "Also, Leonidas assured me that there are no more pressing threats around Whiterun, and that the Dragonborn is now like a shining beacon for the other Dragons." Hence, Whiterun will actually be more safe without the Dragonborn…

How sickening. It felt like he was kicking out someone who fought alongside him and fought for his people away, just for a bit of hope that the Dragons will ignore his city.

Then, certain words Farengar said repeat in Balgruuf's head, making him freeze, "You said 'pressing threats'…" The Jarl leaves his question silent, but his court mage gulps and nods.

"Leonidas alluded to me that there are more of those monsters out there. Nearly a dozen."

Slowly, Balgruuf lets out a low breath as he leans back, "By the Divines…"

And he couldn't forget how Arkay himself acted in their support, blessing his Paladin with his divine light.

The sight was seared within his very Soul, and Whiterun will probably have to enlarge the church due to a massive influx of believers and prayers from now on.

"Have the finest steeds be prepared for the Dragonborn and her companion." Or companions. They did come back with a red-haired woman and a child from their trip to Falkreath. Wonder what happened down there… "And fund their supply of food too."

This was the least he could do, even though they were practically rich. He'd gift them more stuff, but he couldn't even think of what gift to give them that could be useful.

As his thoughts wandered, Balgruuf suddenly remembered something else, "...Also, have some guards look around for Delphine." He orders Irileth, who stiffens lightly, "Let us hope she doesn't do anything stupid before we find her."

"My Jarl… It's Delphine." He couldn't even argue with that.

And that's when a guard swiftly approached them, and the only thing reason Balgruuf did not jump was because he could see the letter within the hands of his man.

"My Jarl, a letter from Falkreath."

A blink, then a raised brow. Taking the offered letter, Balgruuf excuses the guard and opens the envelope.

What he reads makes him snort, crack, then fall on the ground from laughter.

"M-My Jarl?!" Irileth jumps at his sudden outburst, then watches as Farengar picks up the letter… Then snorts too, before sighing and palming his face. "...What happened?"

With barely restrained laughter, Farengar speaks up, "Leonidas attacked the Jarl of Falkreath and blew up his home, apparently…"

Balgruuf's laughter only grows louder.

                                                                                       ….

"I believe it is a good thing." I state even as Aurelia's pout grows bigger and cuter. So childish and adorable. "I am kinda winging things magic related, so a trip to the College might do me well."

"And you can focus on learning everything you need under Paarthurnax. The faster you master the Thu'um, the better."

I am a bit… Disgruntled to have to part ways with her, as I quite love being around Aurelia, but I remind myself that it is only temporary.

Still, Aurelia huffs and turns her gaze away, burning a hole through the wall beside us. We are outside Jorrvaskr, now that the brawl I caused has died down.

Hildr is still out there hunting down Gretel, while Gretel is still hunting down Nazeem. She is very focused on that task. It makes me very proud.

Still, it's a very nice night. High on morale, a good victory behind us, and a powerful enemy that could aid the Dragons is dead. Plus, the Enchanted Mask now stashed against my hip.

I still haven't checked it out with the System, now that I think about it. I just know that it is quite the good fit for me, due to how it weaponizes Cold-Flame.

Didn't think I'd see such a thing, I'll be fair. I wonder what the other Masks do now.

Especially Konahrik's.

The reaction I got from Krosis was… Quite interesting. The genuine terror in his voice was also quite the surprise.

But I guess that a Dragon Priest named 'Warlord' ain't gonna be a pushover...

"What? Sad that we are gonna be apart?" I focus back on the present and tease the beautiful woman before me, whom I have corrupted to start insulting a Dragon Priest while beating the shit out of that fucker.

Krosis indeed. That dude must've felt a lot of 'Sorrow' at being treated like a joke the whole damn time.

Not gonna like; Aurelia cracking and starting to throw insults at Krosis did make me crush hard on her. Like, very hard.

"Yes." I pause, then lean back.

"Excuse me?" With a cute and deeper pout, and flushed cheeks, Aurelia looks away and sniffs.

"I don't want to be away from you." Good thing I do not have a heart, else I'd have lost it at this very moment.

Lady, you are very dangerous indeed.

"I don't like it either." I admit openly, making her flush grow darker, "But as I said, it is needed. You need the training in the Thu'um, and there is no better teacher than Paarthurnax." It makes me feel like the Thu'um is so much more than just a Shout and release a blast of power kind of thing.

Paarthurnax's words made it sound like the way Aurelia was using it is the most barbaric and direct way of using, so I am quite eager to see a refined Thu'um user at work.

"I guess you are right…" Aurelia sighs, her shoulders slumping slightly, "I won't say no to free training for such a powerful ability." That's the spirit.

I lean back and sag my own shoulders as I cross my arms, "And I want to take my time to figure out my capabilities, and if there is anything else I can do." Plus, check on that Dragon Priest close to the College.

The mark was close to where the Oghma Infinium is found in the game, so it's like killing two birds with one stone.

Even though I do not want to have anything to do with fucking Hermaeus Mora for a long ass time.

"What do we do after?" Aurelia suddenly asks, shyly reaching over to grab and hold onto one of my hands. "Once we are back together, I mean."

Cute. So fucking cute.

I keep my voice stable as I hum and consider her question, "We could deal with some other Dragon Priests – mainly the ones I know are kind of weak… There is one that we must also take on quite soon."

That brings Aurelia to a pause, her gaze hardening, "Why?"

"Hevnoraak. He is between Falkreath and Morthal, and like Dinok, he too is sealed." Aurelia shudders at the mention of the monster beneath the Temple of Arkay. "But his seal is slowly losing power, so…"

I sigh and use my free hand to rub at my hidden face. "Gods, there are so damn many issues that need to be dealt with before disaster strikes…"

Aurelia bites down on her lower lip, yet she holds my gaze in worry, "Talk to me, Leo."

I hesitate, then sigh and push through, "Hevnoraak is one issue, but then there are cultists trying to bring back Wolf Queen Potema near Solitude, and a power hungry dumbfuck of a vampire with an army of his own making seeks to find a powerful artifact so to plunge the world into eternal darkness. And there's worse."

There is Ancano's bullshit at the College that I will surely take care off once there.

There is kinda the matter of the Thieves Guild.

The Dark Brotherhood is taken care off, but Cicero is still out there with that damn corpse and who knows what the hell he is going to do.

There is Dinok, and who the fuck knows what that thing is planning.

There are still Dragons at large, and Alduin has been a no-show so far.

There are the Thalmors, the Civil War being a problem, Ulfric possibly attacking Whiterun, or perhaps even the Imperials doing the attacking.

And, finally, there is Miraak.

I need power. I need to find and push the boundaries of this weird System I have.

"What is more pressing?" Aurelia asks softly, not even asking how I know these things.

"All of them are, I just have no idea when they will become a problem that we must deal with." Dragon Breaks clearly do not exist here, and that is a massive issue. I sigh, then look towards Aurelia, "I believe I mentioned someone to you once. A Serana?"

Aurelia blinks, then nods slowly, so I keep going, "She is the… daughter of the Vampire dude I told you about." And there's the frown. Vampires are kind of undead, right? So I guess she would hate them too. "She could be a very powerful ally, and will help us deal with that issue very easily."

"Leo…" Aurelia starts, a low hiss leaving her, "It's a Vampire."

"Not by choice." I point out, startling Aurelia with how hard my voice is, "Me and her are alike. I became like this without choice, and neither did she…"

A Daughter of Coldharbour, a title given to those women that survive being raped by that twisted fuck that is Molag Bal.

I want to kill him so badly.

And she has been sealed away for two whole damn Eras. She is still awake down there, and she must be so damn hungry too.

Aurelia bites her lower lip, and her gaze relents and lowers, "I'll trust you." I give her hand a squeeze, which makes a cute smile bloom on her face.

"For now, let us just enjoy this victory, and prepare to deal with these things." Once all of that is done, we can go and free Serana, then deal with… probably the Potema issue first.

I do not want to trust soldiers or other folks to deal with that, so I can't even send some kind of warning towards Solitude.

I've given Farengar hints to give to Balgruuf though; Like Ulfric's possible attack on Whiterun, and the presence of other Dragon Priests out there.

Balgruuf will surely start recruiting more soldiers soon enough, enlarging his army and giving them greater and more focused training now that it is very needed.

And if I can, I'll see if I can put my fingers on Enchanting while at the College, and maybe set up a supply of Enchanted Gear for the city.

I also want to see if I can learn Lightning Magic. My Ice Magic is insanely powerful now, but I won't say no to throwing lightning bolts around.

Lemme enjoy my fuckin' power fantasy-

I pause, then slowly crane my head towards a strangely familiar figure watching me and Aurelia from the square lit by torches down below.

Leather armor, a long katana-like blade resting against her right hip, blonde hair, and a face that not even a mother would love.

Is that fucking Delphine…?

"Don't look." I tell Aurelia as she nearly goes to try and follow my gaze. "Just be wary of a blonde woman trying to approach you from now on. She means to use you and weaponize you, when in reality she should serve you and follow your orders."

Aurelia startles momentarily at my words, "Serve me?"

I nod, "The Blades. They are a group that serves the Dragonborn. They are kind off… dead, mostly. The majority of them has been hunted down by the Thalmors, and Delphine here is a rat that managed to escape them."

And the dumb bitch isn't even trying to hide her allegiance. That sword is such a big tell on what organization she is part of.

"Why is being the Dragonborn such a big damn problem?" My lovely friend groans beneath her breath.

And I gotta wonder if, perhaps, it is the fault of a certain Dragonborn turned Divine who fancied driving around a big fucking Mech.

His ascension did make the Thalmors tweak the fuck out, to be fair.

"Oh, there they are." Aurelia perks up, and I follow her gaze towards the approaching sisters, with Hildr looking so done with life.

Gretel? She is smiling brightly, feet off the ground, collar of her shirt in Hildr's grip as she is carried like a fat potato sack.

Then said little girl gives me a big thumbs up as she approaches, "The hunt was successful!"

Hildr glares at me with a clear desire for murder, though she cannot hide her amusement either, "She found this… 'Nazeem' dude you told her to hunt down."

I nearly cackle, but hold myself back, "What did she do to him?"

Slowly, Hildr sighs as Gretel bares her teeth smugly, "What you should be asking is what did she not do to him… I found them because I heard the man scream, and she went transformed into her Werewolf form to traumatize the man."

"He had pissed himself, was squealing for mercy, and she was cackling in his face while drooling all over the damn place."

Both me and Aurelia turn to stare at Gretel, who just shrugs without care. "Hey, you told me to traumatize him."

And now everyone is staring at me. I openly cackle without care and give Gretel a fist bump, "You are the goddamn best, you little gremlin."

"Don't praise her!"

"I cannot wait to leave Whiterun in your good, evil hands. Make me proud, child."

"I will, Master!"

Hildr, of course, looks ready to die on the spot.

                                                                                      ….

[Krosis – Perfect Quality]

A Mask enchanted with a connection to Takubar, a remote location within the realm of Coldharbour. Through this connection, a link with a powerful Cold-Flame Atronach will be made, granting the wielder the capability to wield and shape Cold-Flame.

Huh, so there is a Quality type above High. I wonder if there is a Daedric Quality or something.

Still, this is truly good. It gives me access to a new weapon, and a new powerful Summon.

Still, I do hope that the Atronach summoned matches my strength, or is close to it. I didn't get to see Krosis's Atronach fight that much since I obliterated it with a Draconian Howl.

Plus, even if I outgrow this Mask, I can still pass it to Hildr. I'm sure she'll be even more skilled at using it than me since she is a Fire Mage.

Wonder if it could synergize with her Familiar… It could be a very powerful boon for sure.

I twirl the mask in my grasp, then slowly move it to my face and use the bands behind it to lodge it in place.

It should also synergize well with my new boosted buff that affects my Frost Magic. If it works on anything cold that I create and manipulate, of course.

I fix the mask a bit, until I can perfectly see through the thin holes without problem or with them being a bother, then turn to gaze out the nearby window.

The sun is high in the sky, and the girls should still be sleeping. They all pretty much collapsed as soon as we came back home, with Hildr and Gretel crashing down in one of our guest bedrooms together and falling asleep within seconds.

It was to be expected, as Hildr barely got any rest since she came to Whiterun, and neither did Gretel.

Hildr because she just refused to stand by and wait for us to deal with the attack on Krosis without helping, and Gretel because she refused to not watch the battle from the walls and stand alongside her sister.

It's about to be afternoon, huh?

There isn't much that I want to do, so I am mostly just… lazing around. Thinking up ideas of possible future Spells I could create and power up.

Plus, what to use these twenty-four left-over Souls I have on me.

Someone could say I should use all of them to make Draconian Howl evolve and make it even more busted, but a part of me just… tells me not to.

Not because it's strong enough, but because if it evolves, I might end up being unable to use it, lest it obliterates me too.

I think I need to Evolve again, since my next Evolution is a big one where my strength will increase massively, then I can evolve it at least once.

Though it is perfect as is for now, so I won't waste anymore Souls on it for a long while.

Winter's Wrath and my new Conjure Beast Spell will require another Evolution though.

Luckily, even if my Spell Slots are filled, I can still learn and use other Spells, like the Wards from Restoration Magic, and they are all useful and strong enough, even without having to empower them with Souls.

The one thing I want to power-up is my body though. I'll have to see about coming out with some sort of strengthening Spell, or put my fingers on one.

Or even have my System come up with a new minor evolution like it did with the Warrior one I picked some time ago.

…

Nothing, huh?

Oh well, can't really expect it to cooperate and drop things that I need on my lap. It wouldn't really feel rewarding.

I sigh and lean back, then perk up when I hear the sound of low and slow footsteps.

I tilt my head towards the door, which I left open so to look into the living room just in case, and see Aurelia come into view, yawning cutely and rubbing her eyes.

Her hair is a mess that makes her even more adorable to my eyes, and her sleeping wear are fluffy gray robes that cling to her curves very nicely.

Her head tilts, and her squinted eyes look around for a few seconds before they land on me, a tiny smile spreading across her lips as they do so.

"What are you doing?" She questions in a tired and rough voice as she enters the room where I do my planning near the large map of Skyrim I have at my disposal.

I shrug, "Just thinking." I answer as she drags a chair over and places it right next to my right side, then drops on it and leans against me, her head coming down to rest on my shoulder with a low hum, "Slept well?"

I ask softly as I see her hand take mine in hers. She seems very touchy recently. "I'd love to sleep a lot more…" She murmurs cutely, eyes closed as she burrows deeper into my side.

Which is definitely not comfortable since I am literally all bones.

"You can sleep all you want for a long while; We'll stay around for a week before leaving again." Aurelia hums, then nods slowly.

"It can help Hildr get to know the Companions a bit more, and explore Whiterun." Aurelia whispers, and I nod in agreement.

It'll help reassure her that Gretel won't be bored here, and that the Companions will take good care of her. They'll love watching over the little sister of someone who helped them in the battle, after all.

Anyone tries to bully Gretel from now on will end up getting cornered by big, sweaty and very angry Companions. I pity them, just a little.

I'd do worse, of course.

"And you can finally catch a break for a bit, of course." I remind her, "You can put some focus in your magic studies." She nods again at that, but I have a feeling she is about to fall asleep on me.

So I just remain quiet and lean back, enjoying the comfort of her presence.

I wish I could enjoy her warmth too, which makes me curse this damnable body once more.

But I guess I am glad enough that I can at least be close to her.

"I don't want to be away from you." Comes Aurelia's soft whisper, making me squeeze her hand.

Why must you make it harder for me?

"I don't want to either." I whisper back as I sag my shoulder-

And that's the time someone decides to knock on the door.

Four quick, powerful knock that shake the door. Less knocks, more bangs.

Aurelia startles, then flares her nostrils in pure anger as she stands and stalks towards the door.

I pause, then decide to quickly follow after her just in case.

With a swift yank, Aurelia nearly tears the door off the hinges as she opens it- And of course it's fucking Delphine.

The blonde has her arms crossed in front of her, a frown on her face as she looks at Aurelia up and down the moment the door is opened.

"So you're the Dragonbor-"

Delphine's words are cut off by a punch to the face that shatters her nose and sends her flying down the other side of the street.

Not by me.

But by Aurelia.

"Fucking bitch…" The lovely Dragonborn growls out, shakes her hand, then slams the door shut before turning around, grabbing my hand, and moving back towards the room we were in while dragging me along.

Fuck having a crush.

I'm in fucking love with this woman!

A.N. Bit of a calm chapter after the battle.

Also, apologies on the wait, had to take a short break from writing, overworked myself a bit.

Next chapter should be another slow one, with the group beginning their travel.

Hope you all enjoyed it!

And thank you all so much for your amazing and constant support!

Toodles!