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."

"They punished her because she believed I could change. That I could become something better. I remember her asking for just a little more time. She was so sure that she alone could change everything." Draco whispered.

"Oh shut up." Bree growled. "I would have been fine if you'd have let me cast my spell on them."

Ulfric smiled at this and got to his feet, patting draconian the back. "Then show her she was right. If you change... Maybe her punishment would be lifted?"

"You reply on magic far too much!" Dex snapped, pushing her dagger back into place to then draw her sword.

Poppycock." Draco snarled, slamming his fists on the stone barrier in front of him. "The Dragon lords were never so kind. They enjoyed killing her! They enjoy it every time they steal the bodies of those who hunt her!"

"And you rely on weapons too much." Bree shot back, trying to force the other woman to let go of the sword as the guards began to pull out their own.

"Then perhaps this punishment was not yours alone?" Ulfric replies, genuinely feeling sorry for Draco now he had gotten to know him. "If they enjoy it so much... What if she did something all by herself that was deserving of it?"

"My weapon is the only thing I can depend on not to betray me!" Dex blurted before she could stop the words, now nose to nose with Bree as she clung tightly to her sword.

"I can think of only one thing that may have been bad but...not worthy of death." Draco turning his head toward Ulfric again. His eyes were red rimmed as if he were fighting back emotion.

"That is sad to hear." Bree said softly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry you feel that way...believe me I know that thought well. But...right now...we'll have to depend on each other if we want to get any further than this."

Ulfric gave Draco a friendly pat on the shoulder when he saw the pain in the other man's eyes. "It was something she never wanted you to find out, wasn't it?" the jarl felt so small and insignificant the more he listened to tales of Draco and Dex's past. Their souls had endured so much, only to now have hope snatched away from them.

Dex's silver eyes were filled with anguish. She couldn't do it. She could trust someone again, no matter how kind Bree had been to her. "You can't know it... You still have your somebody." She whispered, for the first time admitting to Breenan that it was indeed heartache that made her act so cold toward others.

"She had promised herself to another." Draco told the other man, the words sounding strange to him. He'd never spoken of them as long as he'd lived. "But I...I stole her away...kidnapping I think you call it. I wanted nothing but the beautiful things. I believed that she was mine simply because she was beautiful."

Bree nodded slowly, as if she'd suspected as much. "I understand. It's been hard on me trying to trust you too but...you know...it's getting easier every time."

Ulfric smiled slightly, nodding in understanding. "And the one you stole her from... He cursed her because his beautiful possession fell in love with the very one who had stolen her from everything she knew?" The jarl was quickly beginning to understand why Draco felt his situation was so utterly hopeless.

Dex pursed her lips together as she watched Bree, a habit she didn't know have away the fact she was deep in thought. "If you don't wish me to fight... They are going to arrest us, you know that, right?" She asked finally.

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me anything. He came to get her and I fought him. It was a nasty battle but neither one of us won it. I was very nearly killed. After that she refused to speak to me about it." Draco explained.

Bree shook her head. "Once in a while you're going to have to trust in magicks." She told the other woman. With the wave of her hand the guards turned stiffly and went marching back to their posts.

"Pardon my saying so, but I think you did lose. It sounds like she made a deal with this man, your life in exchange for her's." Ulfric relied sadly. "He most likely accepted the deal, knowing the pain it causes you now."

Dex was Ill at ease with the use of magick, something she had good reason for even if she didn't remember why. After all, it must have been an excruciating experience to have her immortality wrenched from her body by the use of magick. "Magick... How can you even trust what is real when it is flying around?"

Draco's forehead was knotted with the pain that Ulfric was referencing. "Why?" He whispered. "Why would she do that? My life was never worth anything. I was brash and foolish. I believed I couldn't be destroyed. Why would she...most of all she...offer her life for mine?"

"It's not something invisible. You can see it." Breenan told her. "It's easier to trust your own body compared to something outside it. Or someone. Your body rarely betrays you."

Ulfric simply smiled. "Isn't it obvious? Because she loves you." He replied gently. "She knew the price, but paid it anyway, knowing that she would be forced to forget her time with you each and every lifetime."

Dex snorted and shook her head. "You would be surprised how easily your body can betray you." She muttered in reference to the night she had spent with Brynjolf. A foolish mistake she regretted instantly.

"Don't talk to me about love!" Draco screamed turning and shoving Ulfric roughly. Once the other man had tumbled back into the room, he transformed and took to the sky in his dragon form. A roar of agony escaped him, shaking the entire hold.

Bree sighed. "There's no winning with you, is there?"
The roar that shook the hold would save Dex from having to answer. A large red dragon swept over their heads and then over the gate.

Ulfric steadied himself and ran for the door. The other man may not like it, but the jarl had come to consider him a friend these past few weeks, and wouldn't let him go out there to die alone.

"Draco..." Dex didn't need to really see the dragon to know it was indeed her own, and that kept her from holding her tongue as she breathed his name.

"You know him?" Bree asked, giving away that she too knew the dragon's true name. "Holy Talos...This was a bad idea wasn't it?"

Dex was barely listening, she was already running in the direction the winged beast had flown. That roar had been filled with so much pain... It was just like the one she had heard in her dream.

Draco landed in the midst of the enormous crowd that had been gathering outside the gates, roaring at them. The bravest of them immediately ran forward, striking him with their swords and maces. He barely seemed to notice.
Bree made another grab for Dex but was unable to stop her. Her own body was still too weak from the poison she'd drank. "By Talos!" She shouted as she tumbled face first in the dirt.

Dex didn't hear Bree fall, what with the ears of the cowd not too far away. She was sprinting now, pushing her way through any resistance she met. Her silver eyes were wide when she passed through the gate. Draco was barely even fighting back, no matter how many of the townspeople were striking him. "Stoppit!" She shouted, though of course no one heard. Without thought for her own safety, and not knowing she was with child, the dark haired thief placed herself in front of the dragon, challenging the next person to strike to run her through also.

Ulfric had been following the shouting too, cursing Talos when the heavens opened and rain quickly turned the streets to little more than a mudslide. He paused slightly, casting a glance to the direction of the Grey Quarter. He wanted to see Breenan, to make certain she was safe and to tell her to stay locked away indoors. Little did he know she was far closer than he realised.

Bree regained her footing and launched herself towards the young woman she'd become tentative friends with. A Nord man slammed an elbow into her ribs moments before she reached Dex, and she fell to the muddy ground coughing and gasping for breath.

Draco's tail swept many of the crowd away before it came to rest heavily in front of Dex. "What are you doing here?" He growled, lowering his head so that his eyes met hers.

People had seemed to finally remember to fear the dragon and were running through the streets, screams tearing at their throat. Ulfric was only one running in the other direction, and of course none of them realised their jarl walked among them. He found himself knocked down several times, only to get up and push on. Something in his gut was screaming for him to end this panic and find Breenan before it was too late.

"I could ask you that very question." Dex replied coolly, her eyes fixed upon Draco's large dragon gaze. "I have every right to be here, Afterall, I have been living here for several weeks now. Why are you here?"

Bree was back on her feet and heading toward the dragon. For some reason she wasn't so sure Dex being close to it was a good thing. Her ribs screamed at her to slow down and when she got there the Nord man found her again and dragged her backward by her hair.

"I'm hungry." Draco growled, smoke billowing from his nose. "I saw a massive gathering of humans and I thought it would be an easy meal. You ruined everything."

Ulfric didn't even realise it was Bree he was saving as his fist slammed into the back of the other man's head. He had merely seen one of his people assaulting a Dunmer woman, something he had spent weeks fighting against. "Are you okay, miss?"

"I know." Dex replied simply. "I keep on helping you... But when our roles are reversed, you gladly watch me suffer." She added, stilling up at the massive beast before her.

Bree was again gasping for breath but a wide grin stole over her lips and she nodded at her protector. "When I said we should play it coolly...I didn't mean you should pretend not to know me at all." She breathed.

"Are you suffering?" Draco asked her, though there was no hint of true care in his voice. "Have you truly suffered these weeks you've been hiding from me?"

Ulfric broke into a grin also and helped Breenan up, only so he could pull her tight against him. "Silly girl..." He breathed into her wet hair. "You shouldn't be out here, not with all this trouble, and now this damned weather." He added.

"Hiding?!" Dex spat, not missing the lack of empathy to Draco's booming voice. "I have done no such thing! I am not the dragon who detests taking his human form, which begs the question why you have not been noticed until now!"

Bree returned the embrace, holding tightly to her lover. "Maybe I should say the same to you." She whispered softly, leaning her head so that her lips brushed his.

"I have been elsewhere." Draco snorted, turning his head to make a show of looking away from her. "I don't have to explain myself. I'm not the who ran off."

Ulfric smiled and kissed Bree once more. "Perhaps, but I am not the one hiding a woman with a rather large bounty on her head." The jarl chuckled.

"No, but neither did you give me reason to stay." Dex whispered, deeply hurt when Draco would no longer even look upon her. "I..." She was about to tell him she loved him, but stopped herself. "Just get out of here, the hunters will skin you if they catch you."

"Damn it." Bree snorted. "I was trying to keep that from you. I didn't want you worrying about it. So...how did you figure it out?" She asked, glancing to where the dark blonde Nord man was beginning to get back to his feet.

Draco turned his head back to her, unable to stop himself from resting his head beside her. He was hoping she would at least touch him. He knew full well he didn't deserve it. "I sensed you in Riften that first night...I thought you might have gone back to the thieves. But then...you disappeared and I sensed nothing. However, I met a man that had your scent all over him..."

Ulfric smiled and tweaked Bree's nose playfully. "I am jarl, it is my job to know. But since you asked, I found it strange you never let me meet you at Almeada's, so... I'm almost ashamed to say I waited for you one night... That was when I saw her leave the house." He confessed. "I knew you must have good reason, but... I also knew that if the dragon knew his mate was here... There was every chance he would not uphold his end of our deal."

Dex had been reaching out to place her small hand against Draco's nose when his words about her scent on another slammed into her, forcing her hand back down to her side. "I did go back to the guild." She whispered. "I was alone... And you had made me feel less than worthless. But..." She closed her eyes then and turned her face away.

Bree nodded at this. "Glad to see we were on the same page at least." She admitted. "I'm glad to have another reason to trust you. Now we can stop this game of meeting at odd inns. I've been dying to spend more time with you."

"But?" The sudden shift in the air had Draco's scales raised and suddenly he was furious. "But what?" He demanded.

Ulfric flooded with relief and he hugged Bree all over again. "I am most thankful to hear that! However, I must resolve this dragon issue. Please, return to Almeada until I can offer you my undivided protection."

"But nothing. You made yourself quite clear; I am too weak to ever hope to earn the love of a dragon." Dex replied icily. "I suggest you leave now before I am forced to disable you personally."