20demayo Chapter 285: Chapter XI: Dovahkiin
Chapter 285: Chapter XI: Dovahkiin
Chapter 285: Chapter XI: Dovahkiin
Even as she kept muttering curses at the now very dead dragon, the proud part of Minthara basked in the adoration the crowd of battered warriors offered, her back straightening just a tiny bit with every word of praise she heard.
That same part of her made a stray thought enter her mind unbidden 'This, this is where I belong!' The thought was fleeting but it was something she knew would remain in the back of her head for a long time.
She was not preening, and she would smack anyone who said otherwise!
But it would seem that not all appreciated her display, as she sensed a very annoyed glare being directed at her back.
(Reyvin's POV)
As the Nords cheered their throats out, completely ignoring the just under two hundred dead around them, I was too busy holding myself back from smacking a little shit. Sure it was badass that she essentially stopped time and proceeded to maul the poor motherfucker in less than it took me to blink and then proceeded to fucking decapitate his scaly ass.
Somehow.
But I could not stop my left eye from twitching violently... This little shit just broke my hammer!
How in Mephala's spidery sacks do you manage to break a weapon enchanted by ME of all people, a weapon enchanted specifically to take superhuman levels of punishment?! That thing was supposed to crush through ebony without chipping!
The pained whimpering of a downed Nord made me deflate as I got back to work fixing up the idiots who thought fighting a dragon while clad in leather and armed with a shortbow was somehow a good idea.
'Keep telling yourself that' Scorch mocks 'It might make the fact you let them die less frustrating.'
Ignoring the future participant in my soup experiments-
'Hey!'
-I continued treating the wounded.
Stabilizing most of them did not take me much time, the more rowdy fighters didn't even stop cheering before I was done in fact, and as I finished forcing a potion down the throat of the still knocked out Hrongar I heard one of the housecarls speak.
"I cannot believe it!" He pointed at Minthara "You're... Dragonborn!"
"I am aware." The blood soaked demigod deadpanned, all of her jubilation immediately drowned as she realized she would now have to deal with this.
Another chimed in "By the gods, that hasn't happened since Ti-"
"Tiber Septim, yes." Minthara accepts a bit more forcefully this time "Look, can we leave this for later? I am really not in the mood right now." She gestures to her apparel and the blood still dripping on the ground and pooling below her.
"Leave the good woman be lads." Balgruuf interrupts with a wry yet tired look on his face "She has earned that much at the very least."
The soldiers accept his words without much complaint and leave to talk among themselves, the whole group of them looking as animated as children as they spoke of what they had just witnessed.
"My, oh my Minthara." I call out with a shit-eating grin, and immediately see her tense up "I did not expect that killing a dragon would actually make you wet."
Balguuf choked and started coughing painfully, stuck between glaring at me and holding back his laughter.
The soaked demigoddess sent a glare of such intensity my way, if she could power it I'd have been disintegrated on the spot "I will fucking murder you Reyvin."
I tilt my head, my grin still plastered on my face "So you don't need my help?" I ask innocently.
She briefly debates with herself, her desire to not be filthy warring with her fear of giving me another win. Yet the conclusion was as inevitable as my reaction, letting her shoulders slump in defeat she forced out a "Please."
My levels of smug reached a whole new level as I simply waved my hand, combining water magic with a bit of blood control I learned from the Volkihars, immediately forcing every single bit stuck to her very expensive clothes to detach and fall onto the ground.
She was so relieved by this that she even forgot to be angry for a moment as she basked in the fact she was not covered in filth.
"What kind of amateur enchanted that armor anyway?" I ask after a brief pause "Who forgets to add a self-cleaning function on such expensive gear? The drain is practically non- existent."
Her immediate reaction is to turn defensive, but once my words actually reach her she turns thoughtful, cupping her chin and frowning "That is actually a very good question."
"Is it new?" I ask leadingly.
She stills for a moment and very cautiously confirms "Yeeees..."
I just let out a malicious giggle and say nothing.
"Fucking Titus." I hear her mutter.
"If you are snrk-" Balgruuf, who was still laughing stops himself from bursting into another fit "If you are quite done" He forces himself to keep a straight face "I think we should help the rest deal with the damage, we can talk once we are back in Whiterun." His gaze turns serious as he inclines his head ever so slightly "You have my thanks, Dragonborn."
She offers a solemn nod in return.
"And what am I, chopped liver?" I snark with no heat.
The two did hit it off quite well surprisingly enough, so I could at least be content in the fact that Lydia was not too likely to end up being launched off a mountain by way of unrelenting
force.
Chuckling at that mental image/memory I allowed my thoughts to drift further east, as I genuinely wondered how Ulfric was going to react to this whole thing. Would the setbacks he suffered make him more reasonable, or would he attempt to double down while his people
burned around him?
I was genuinely disappointed that my conclusion led me toward believing the latter of those
two propositions.
I must have been stuck in that trail of thought for longer than I realized because the next thing I felt was someone dragging me up with a force that did not belong to a mortal creature.
My surprised expression quickly shifted into a complete deadpan as I realized that it was Minthara who pulled me up, a very drunk and uncharacteristically merry Minthara. "Reyviiin." She slurred "What are you doing skulking in that dark corner?"
"Wizardly pondering." I vice dryly.
"Come ooon, lighten up!" She sways as she speaks, almost falling over "We won, didn't
weh?"
"Uh huh." I nod and slowly place a hand on her shoulder to stop her from suddenly falling
over "And I see you have rediscovered the wonders of booze. So little time away from Mede
and you already forget his lessons."
"I am the Drahgunburn." She hiccups "I can do whatever I wahnt-" And then she keels over
and vomits all over the floor.
I give the curious feast-goers a pointed look and they suddenly find themselves with other interesting things to occupy their eyes as I make sure the woman of the hour doesn't end up covered in filth for the second time in the day.
To no one's surprise it took her barely any time to recover, as she was once again awake and
aware in mere minutes after spilling her guts on Balgruuf's floors, much to the man's amusement, but it would seem that the celebratory spirit had left her with the departed spirits as she simply sat down next to me and joined me in my people watching. Bleary-eyed and half asleep she probably did not even realize it when she asked me "Hey
Reyvin?" Registering my questioning hum she continued "I didn't make a fool of myself, did
I?"
Holding back an eye roll I tap her on the back "Relax, you did great." "Thanks." She mumbled and fell asleep while leaning her head on the table. I let her remain
there for a couple of minutes before summoning Junia and telling her to take her to a room. Deciding to actually listen to her words for once, I left my 'dark corner' and spent the rest of
the feast sharing tales with the Companions as the warrior order mourned their dead and celebrated their ascension.
I also made sure to subtly question Kodlak about their little conflict with the Silver Hand and
how that was escalating, the answer to which was a mix of success and failure, mostly due to
overeager circle members rushing into danger without thought and ending up surrounded by enemies.
The fact that they survived just as often as they died was not lost on me.
Time seemed to fly as we began sharing tales and soon the sun was about to rise once more, so
I decided it was time for me to leave. I said my goodbyes to Balgruuf and his brother, left instructions for Minthara's party to meet me at the caves hiding Geirmund's Halls, with a map of course, and departed toward Dawnstar.
I should have the whole thing done before the poor Greybeards were deprived of the blessing
that was my presence.
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