Lost Legends

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"It can't keep going on like this!" A young woman's voice gasped as two figures dove over a snow drift to avoid detection by passing guards. "We have been fighting for so long that no one even cares anymore!" She added, running her fingers through blue black hair that had already become brittle with the cold.
"Of course they remember, Dex." The young woman's companion replied in an annoyed whisper. "We fight for freedom from the imperial invaders who seek to make us bow down to them!"
The woman who had just been referred to as Dex rolled her grey eyes. "What does it matter who sits on the throne as high emperor? Either way, we're still left down here in the dirt." She added, poking her head up to see if the coast was clear. "The rebellion is just pushing back the tide, sooner or later the imperials will find us all, and execute us as promised."

"And what destiny would this be?" Ulfric asked. "Taking over all the holds of Skyrim?" He mused. "Or perhaps you are gong to save us all from the rogue dragon?"

"You'd think so... Wouldn't you?" Dex replied quietly. "Did he say we were married, or did you just assume so because he brought me here?" She asked, though she wasn't saying the words in hate, she was simply curious.

"Not all destiny is so dramatic, Nord." Bree growled, her dark hair tumbling off her shoulder as she turned to glare at him. "I suppose yours is something like killing the high king and taking over Skyrim?"

"He used some really strange term....oh yes, he called you his mate." The young woman said as she opened the door. "I always thought that meant husband or wife. Was I wrong?"

"It's funny you should say that..." Ulfric purred. "I happen to think I would make a rather fetching high king, of course, I would have, had my queen not been stolen from me."

"I don't know." Dex confessed as she simply stared down into her lap. "He says a lot of things I don't understand." She added, not entirely certain where she and Draco stood with each other.

"Of course I would pick a lunatic as a protector." Bree snorted, rolling her eyes. "Mother, I think it would be best if I sent this one home. We can find a horse and be fine with that." She paused, turning so that she was facing Ulfric. Of course she had to lean her head back to look at him.

The young woman let the door close and she stayed outside. She looked alarmed. "Do you...need me to call a guard?" She asked worriedly. "Did he do that to you?"

"Release me, and what is to stop me from following you and killing you in your sleep?" Ulfric replied. "Or I could send my entire army to Morrowind." He added.

Dex shook her head. "He..." She stopped there and sighed heavily. "I was just so mad at him! He used me, then tossed me aside, literally!"

Bree laughed in his face. She wasn't to know that no one had ever done that before. "I'm not afraid of a Nord." She told him simply. "Your army includes your coin purse and probably a mangy mutt."
"Breenan!" Her mother barked, nearly tumbling out of Ulfric's arms. "This man was kind to us. You shouldn't treat him this way!"

The young woman was already motioning for a guard that stood nearby. The man already had a hand on his sword. "You poor thing." She breathed. "Don't worry. We won't let him hurt you again."

"My coin purse is vast, if you must know." Ulfric sniffed, though he was clearly mocking Bree. "You really are prickly, even for a Dunmer, aren't you?" He added as he watched Bree.

Dex's head shot up and she quickly shook it. "No, that isn't what I meant!" She insisted, painfully scrambling back to her feet.

"I should make you wear a dress and dance in the streets." Bree growled, narrowing crimson eyes at him. "You'll be lucky if I don't." She added, turning again to keep walking.
"Breenan is not all that bad." Her mother said after a long moment. "She has a good heart. She's just...I think perhaps she's disappointed."

The young woman was already ignoring her, thinking it was nothing but the shouts of a terrified victim. She was whispering to the guard who was looking angrier by the minute.

"Disappointed in what?" Ulfric asked, keeping his voice low. "I sincerely hope it is not self disappointment, as she should be extremely proud she was strong enough to get the both of you out of the city, albeit with a little help."

Dex was back inside the room, slamming the door shut behind her as she looked at Draco with panic in her eyes. "Please don't get mad at me..." She breathed, not sure of he was even awake. "But I said something... And now we have to leave."

"Disappointed in me." The old woman sighed. "I have filled her head with stories of her destiny since she was small. She was to meet a great protector, someone who would die for her if he needed to. Someone she would do the same for. But it seems she was right about fate. Her protector never came. We have met only heartache and death in the city of Windhelm. I often wonder if we were not better off dying as a family in Morrowind."

Draco opened one eye, the other still looking rather red and swollen. "Dare I ask what you said?" He asked, his voice barely above an angry whisper.

"Who is to say she won't still meet her protector?" Ulfric asked. "Skyrim is a big place." He added. "She could meet a hundred different people on the way to Morrowind." Clearly, he didn't think himself a candidate.

"Well... It wasn't so much what I said... As how is was interpreted." Dex breathed, pulling the furs off Draco's half slumbering form. "But either way, the guards are coming, and they think you took me hostage and beat me."

"No. No. It was supposed to be in Windhelm." The old woman told him. "She was supposed to meet him in Windhelm. There is no hope now. Somehow...we missed him."
"Nord, leave me mother alone." Bree barked over her shoulder, reaching into the dagger sheath at her thigh as she looked ahead of them. "She has enough stress without you trying to sweet talk her into freeing you."

"I did take you hostage." Draco muttered, yawning widely and trying to pull the covers back from her.

"Jealous that you're not the one I'm sweet talking?" Ulfric asked with a chuckle. "Because you know... Despite your icy exterior, I think I could crack you."

Dex jerked the cover back in her direction. "Alright then, what are your intentions?! Because right now, I do not have even the slightest idea why you brought me here at all!"

"Ha!" Bree shot back, her blade now out as she crept forward. "No man could crack me, much less a Nord!"

Both eyes snapped open and Draco frowned deeply at her. "My intention is to sleep while you are out doing whatever it is you're going to do!" He snapped. "And be warm while doing it!"

"You clearly have never met a true Nord then." Ulfric chuckled. "I think perhaps you fear the touch of a man."

"Fine! Then you lay there and get caught!" Dex hissed, tossing the furs back at Draco, though they landed over his head. "You are an insufferable, pathetic excuse for a mate!" She added.

"Just like a man..." Bree hissed, turning her head toward the bushes on the other side of her. "Always thinking with your lower half..." That said she dove into the bush. After a moment she returned with a recently dead fox. "We won't get past the giants unless we offer them something."

"You say that every time." Draco grunted, trying to fight off the heavy furs. "I never change. You think you'd learn that."

"We could offer them you." Ulfric replied cheerfully. "I'm sure you have more meat than a baby fox." He added, winking playfully at Bree's mother.

"How could I possibly know that?! I don't even know you! I didn't know you when I skewered your hand, and I didn't know you when you threw me aside." Dex was getting so angry now that she didn't realise that more and more of the words she spoke were coming out in the dragon language.

Bree's mother laughed. The younger dark elf, however, did not. "I should tell them we have a Nord who will be willing to sex a Mammoth for them." She muttered, pausing to tie the remains of the creature to Ulfric's belt.

Draco simply nodded at this as if he'd been waiting for her to say that as well. "Just how badly have you done us, girl?" He asked as he managed to shove off the bed. He left behind him a bright spot of blood.

"She would have to buy me a glass of mead first." Ulfric told Bree with a grin. "I don't want this mammoth thinking I'm easy!"

Dex saw the blood and rubbed lightly at her bruised temples. "We need to leave, and you need to stop treating me like a child."

The edges of Bree's lips twitched ever so slightly, her eyes twinkling. "We won't talk about how easy you are, Nord." She whispered.

"Then stop acting like one." Draco grunted, reaching down for a tattered shirt. "Grab something out that wardrobe and lets get going then."

"You're right, how can I impress you if I'm whoring around with a mammoth?" Ulfric relied with a dramatic sigh. "I know you've already thought about me naked." He added, again winking at her mother.

"I don't act like a child.' Dex pouted, which probably didn't help her cause any as she lulled a heavy cloak out of the wardrobe. "We can't go far anyway, not until I stop your bleeding."

Bree laughed at this one, shaking her head. "A Nord naked, can you imagine?!" She continued to laugh as she made her way up the first of many rolling hills. "I'd imagine they'd look no different than a Falmer!"
"I think you'd be very nice looking." Her mother whispered gently. "You know, boy, I never even got your name."

"We'll go as far as we need to." Draco growled. "We'll have to head out of town first so I can transform. It's too dangerous for that here."

"Maybe we should ditch your daughter and go have some real fun then?" Ulfric teased. "And my name..." He hesitated slightly, then decided there was no reason to lie. "Is Ulfric Stormcloak."

"No! You are not transforming!" Dex insisted. "You are injured, and like it or not, I need your help!" She was directly in front of Draco now, a small hand pressing to the wound in his ribs. "Transforming again could kill you." She added, her voice softening considerably.

The horrified look that instantly shot over the elder elf's face was probably worth the truth. "Tell me you are lying." She breathed, all but begging him. "Oh no...She will never get out of this one."
"Hurry up, Nord!" Bree shouted, farther up the way. "You're getting behind."

"I can't protect us in this form." Draco snapped, frowning deeply. "It never helps. Every time I have stayed human...it has ended in disaster!"

"I have no reason to lie." Ulfric reapplied, taking up a brisker pace to follow Bree. "My queen was killed, and apparently my best friend and right hand man has betrayed me... The Storkcloak name seems to mean little now."

"And transforming could kill you! What good will that do anyone?" Dex shot back. "If you stay human, we can loose ourselves in the forest, if they pursue us that far."

The elder elf began to cry, unable to help herself. "Breenan will never survive this...this makes what happened to her brother...oh please, Jarl. Let me take her punishment..."

Draco didn't seem to like this idea but they'd run out of time. The guards had kicked open the door to the inn and were shouting for his head. "Never make things easy to do you?"

"I'm not going to punish her, she is fighting for survival, just like anyone would." Ulfric breathed. "In fact... I was hoping she would be the one to send me to Sovengard."

"Would you stick around if I did?" Dex asked with a faint smile as she shoved Draco to the window. They were both inured, but that didn't mean they should give up trying.

"Sovengard..." The elder woman looked heartbroken at this. "Why ever would you want to go there? You are to be a high king. You are going to save Skyrim. There is no use for you in the Nord heaven."

"I've never been given the chance..." Draco grumbled, grabbing for her as he began to run. Lucky for them it was night. They would have an easier time getting lost this way.

"My queen... She is gone, stolen from me before her time was due. What desire do I have to save a world where I am alone, again?" Ulfric replied sombrely.

The forest was dense, made to feel more so by the difficulty Dex had breathing. She could see her breath clouding just beyond her lips and knew that the night first would soon be upon them.

"You don't have to be alone. Am I so bad? Is my daughter such terrible company?" The old elf asked.
Bree wasn't helping matters as she stopped walking and scowled at Ulfric. "What are you doing to her?" She demanded angrily, able to tell her mother had been crying. "What did I tell you about her delicate state?"

"I have to transform." Draco was saying, as he tried to pull Dex to a stop. "There's no other choice. They will see me. I have to kill them."