C56 Bondage

And a sturdy tree...

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"Nn—"

Delphine was slowly beginning to wrestle herself back to consciousness. She's currently blindfolded and tied to a tough looking tree—an oak, I think.

Her limbs are firmly secured with knots from a BDSM book that I chanced upon in my spare time, long ago. It may seem out of place, but the 'techniques' I came across have their origins in ancient Japanese torture methods, which is exactly what's needed to keep someone like Delphine in one place. As much as I hate to admit it, she's a member of the Blades, and too skilled for normal measures of restraint—something which the alien art of bondage is perfect for.

While she's trying to free herself from her binds, I'm sitting lazily on a log—completely unworried—as I bathe myself in the heat, and hypnotic crackling, of a nearby fire.

I let her work at her binds for a good half-hour, as I'm quite happy to stay where I am after such a long journey here. Though, eventually, I grow eager to move things along—no matter how much I may like watching her in such a position.

In a tone that fully expresses my current mood—utter comfort—I say, "It's a waste of time to struggle. Those binds aren't coming off unless I take them off, or, if you can, cut through them with your nails, which I doubt."

She doesn't respond.

Knowing that I know she's awake, she just stops bothering to be silent and tries all the harder to free herself. I, seeing her act this way, roll my eyes and stand up with a grunt of discontent from leaving my warm spot.

Hearing the clinks of my armor as I neared her, Delphine tensed up and started working even faster—not that it helped any. Once a few feet away, I unsheathe one of my swords. It saturated the air with a crisp metallic ring that sent a shiver up one's spine.

Even Delphine's.

Putting the tip to her neck, I said, "Now tell me. What do you want with the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller?"

She was finally still after feeling the threat of death on her neck, though, it seemed her attitude was impervious to any threat, "Just kill me and be done with it, Thalmor scum! I have nothing to say to you, nor anyone else."

Hearing the familiar sound of Delphine's voice, a smile forms behind my helmet—though it's not exactly a kind one—

"Oh, you're certainly a feisty one, aren't ya. But—sorry to burst your bubble—I'm not even an elf," I crouch down and speak in a quieter, more serious voice, "However, I am quite close to taking off your head, if you don't tell me why you're trying to steal my stuff."

My escalation seemed to go over her head, as her attitude remained unchanged, "I said I'm not going to answer any of—" she appeared to have caught onto what I said, "wait, what did you say?"

Sighing, I poke her blindfold with my sword and fling it off, to the side, then, I pull a rope behind her—snapping it—and freeing her from the tree, but not her binds. Afterward, I pull her up off the ground, letting her hang from my hand.

Making her see my eyes, which never ceased to shine golden—and seemingly more so with my hood and helmet on—I said, "I asked why you're stealing from me?" putting my sword to her neck once again, I continue, "I won't ask again."

She was obviously uncomfortable hanging there, but she appeared rather unaffected by it and answered back, "Y-you're the Dragonborn? But how—" I started drawing blood, "Wait! I'm not your enemy! I was trying to help you, but I didn't expect you to be so fast. Look, I just need you to—" Faster than she could blink, I removed my sword from her neck and cut the rope I was hanging her from.

She fell to the ground, but was free—after a bit of wiggling.

"Yada, yada, yada. You're one of the last remaining members of an ancient organization—or something of the that nature—and you wanna 'help' me in order to achieve some goal, or other," I walk back to my fire while she stands up, trying to regain feeling.

"Listen, lady. At this point, neither of us trusts the other, so, I'll save us some trouble," I sit back down and look at her, "Unless you can tell me where dragons are going to be—before—they ever show up, then I have no need of your help, and we can—"

"I can do that. In fact, I know where one will be very soon. It would be a good chance to see if you really are the Dragonborn, and then we can..." I partially ignored what she said after that, as I just now realized I really don't like being interrupted.

Particularly by people I don't like.

I was just role-playing how I think someone in my position would act, as I already knew that she knew where one would be—but. Goddamn! I just want to take her head off right now...

All I can say for certain is that I won't be travelling with her on the way to the dragon mound.

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"A member of the Blades, you say?"

I eventually had Delphine tell me where she thought a dragon would come—it was still Kynesgrove—then I told her I would meet her there, as I wanted to drop off the horn first.

"Yes. Although she never stated such, she did have a sword similar to that of the Blades, whom you talked about some time ago. Her general attitude and sentiments were reminiscent of what you described them to be, as well."

I'm, again, laying more groundwork, as I want the 'main mission' to go smoothly and with the least amount of hiccups as possible—at least from the Graybeards side, as I think their like cool hippies, but, way more powerful.

"Mm, they have always been troublesome. Their own reckless arrogance caused much turmoil and suffering, all for an outcome that may not have been better than if they never acted at all."

I nod to his words, "Perhaps I wouldn't be forced to fight other dragons, if not for their past actions."

I could almost see Arngeir's eyes shine at my response, "Yes. Though I do not know why, or how, dragons have come back, there could very well be those among them who would've chosen the side of Man and Mir, instead of Alduin and his reign of terror, in the times long past. However—Dragonborn—I suspect that the reason, and destiny, you are here to fulfil is related to their return."

—

After my little chat with Arngeir, I left once again, as I had already been 'formally' accepted and taught the last word of Unrelenting Force after giving them the horn.

As of now, I know Unrelenting Force to a fairly high level, though nowhere near the Graybeards yet, and I've begun comprehending Whirlwind Sprint, but I'm still faster as a werewolf for long treks. That'll change soon enough, however, as I'm going to focus my attention on increasing my travel speed for now, as the thought of a shouted up werewolf makes me a bit giddy.

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Ah, Kynesgrove, it's so—grovey looking...

"Roar! SLEN TIID VO! (FLESH TIME UN-!)"

It's also being visited by the World Eater himself—Alduin—who's currently resurrecting another dragon, though, it appears to be only slightly stronger than Mirmulnir. If, say, Mirmulnir was level ten, then this one is level fifteen, or so. It's a noticeable difference, but not by much.

"It seems you were right. Not only is there a dragon, but two, right where you said," I spoke to Delphine next to me. We're both hidden not far away from the burial mound.

"Of course. I don't waste my time with worthless information. It would be good of you to not call into question my reliability in the future." She, of course, answered like the stuck up broad that she is—but—I didn't regret saying anything, as it'll make it feel even better when I finally stick it to her...

Focussing back on Alduin and the newly reborn dragon.

Unlike in the game, Alduin didn't notice us and eventually left. The resurrected dragon stayed behind, since I'm sure coming back to life after so many years takes a second or two to get used to. It was then, while he's still adjusting, that I revealed myself.

Delphine stayed behind and watched, since it was my turn to 'prove' myself as the Dragonborn.

Seeing me approach, the dragon acted just like I had expected and said, "Aan joor? Lost hi bo wah koraav dii moro? (A mortal? Have you come to see my glory?)"

I played into his delusions and approached him, "Geh! Hin qah los zok morokei! (Yes! Your scales are most glorious!)" He seemed to like my words, as his posture raised a bit. Though, I did notice he was slightly wobbly.

I showered him with more honeyed words to keep him self intoxicated and eventually made it to him. Then—I went straight to the point and attacked him.

This dragon may be stronger than Mirmulnir, but he's also just been reborn and my gear is far better than before, as just a swing from one of my swords was enough to take off the toes from a paw. There was a lot of resistance, but it still went through solid dragon bone.

"Roar! Lo joor! (Deceiving mortal!)"

It took a second for him to realize what happened, but once he did, he forced his body into a fighting stance and tried to attack me back. Keyword being 'tried.'

"FO KRAH D— (Frost Cold F—) Roar!"

When he started breathing frost, he lowered his head, and all it took was one word of Whirlwind Sprint to get close enough to take an eye. But that wasn't all.

After the eye, I grabbed his horn and 'saddled' him, putting me in a great position to take his other eye—which made him furious—because, why wouldn't it.

"Dii miin! Bah Nah! Lo joor! Hi fen— (My eyes! Wrath Fury! Deceiving mortal! You will—)"

"Ah, shut up." Growing bored with the talking rollercoaster, I clamped his neck harder and held a sword above his head with both hands, aiming towards his skull.

Then, with a pulse of golden light shining through my armor, I drove it through his skull. He didn't have any sort of reaction like dragons tend to have when dying, and just fell toward the ground, limp and lifeless once again.

I jumped off before he landed and let his soul get absorbed. It probably looked cool, but I was more focussed on something happening on the inside. Something, which I failed to notice immediately the last time, was that the absorption of dragon souls also increase my bodily strength—but slowly.

After I became a werewolf, my 'normal' body was about twice as strong as a fit nord. A few days after killing Mirmulnir I was about four times that of a fit nord, where it eventually plateaued. Now I'm wondering how much stronger I'll get in a few days.

Opening my eyes, I see Delphine approaching—with a little sparkle in her eyes, "You really are the Dragonborn... I was worried that I would have to kill you if you turned out to be lying, but now," her eyes turned more serious and looked to the direction Alduin left, "I think we should decide the next course of action."

"Yeah..." I started talking with her, but in my head, I was starting to realize just how delusional this lady truly was. To think that she could actually kill me, even after being strung up like she was and then seeing me kill a dragon—single-handedly...

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//Note//

Flooding was taken care of, so I should be fine now.

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I wrote differently this time.

On my end, I think it looks better, but I don't know about you guys.

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If it looks bad on your guy's end, I won't know until I'm done with the next chapter, as I don't check comments until I'm done with chapters.

So, the next chapter will be like this too if I end up changing it back.

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That fight scene was a bit fast, huh.

Well, do keep in mind that he had pretty much everything in his favor this time.

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Do note that I'm limited by a Dovahzul translator, so I can't make as many sentences as I'd like.

I'm basically fishing for words that fit, since there aren't that many.

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His armor's awesome, though, right!

I stumbled across it and knew right away that it was perfect.

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It's in the last chapter's notes, if you forgot what it looks like.

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