We started down the street and had only gotten a few dozen paces before we saw the bridge. It arched over a great chasm dropping hundreds of feet until it reached the water. The bridge was ancient, crafted into the likeness of a massive dragon's spine with a stone sculpture of a dragon's head leering at the course of the river. Derkeethus edged away from the structure, already nervous about the idea of crossing it.
But it wasn't time to leave just yet, and I led our horses over to a patch of grass behind the inn and headed up the main road in search of any alchemy supplies that might staunch the poison steadily creeping through my body.
Suddenly, my stomach swooped as if I were falling and I staggered. "Something's coming," I said, without really knowing what.
The roar of the dragon followed on the heels of this thought, and I felt the poison push faster through my system, my entire being encased in searing internal flames. I watched as it circled, and my mind cried out for me to respond. To challenge it and take its power for my own. My bow was in my hand and I was at the ready in seconds.
Slowly the beast approached, roaring and gliding almost idly on the wind. "Shoot it, Henny," Derkeethus growled, and in his voice I felt a commanding power that seeped into my muscles and drew an arrow tight. It was harder to tell where I stood in the maelstrom of thought and emotion, but as the dragon swooped threateningly, I fired an arrow, missing as it banked around again.
Below, the town guards were panicking, people running for the shelter of their homes. Arrows peppered the sky only to come tumbling down to the ground to stick harmlessly in the dirt. We all waited for the inevitable blast of elemental magic--waited for the town to burn to the ground.
I clutched my head as it shrieked shrilly in frustration, the sound drawing me into pieces. My right hand burned as flames filled it; it was an uncontrolled expression of magicka that merely fizzled into nothing as it shot from my hand. Too many forces were pulling at me at once. Not knowing what else to do, I pushed Derkeethus's will away so hard, mine followed right behind it. His head tilted to the sky the same time mine did and out of his mouth I forced a scream of outrage that shook the ground and cracked the air like a whip.
And then the dragon flew low, and we locked eyes for a moment.
Suddenly I was flying and looking down at the tiny village. An insignificant spot on the planet filled with ignorant humans. I was going to show them the meaning of fear. The meaning of the sound of my voice. They would cower and tremble and know my name. I would leave their pathetic attempts to end me in a reign of fire.
Then I was myself, but not before I heard the flying creature croak in surprise. It's wingbeats stuttered for a moment, and its flight faltered before it quickly righted itself. I stumbled a little, still feeling the weight of countless ages in my mind and the overwhelming pride in an almost absolute power. Derkeethus caught me before I fell.
"Don't ever do that again," he mumbled in my ear.
"Likewise," I said, looking at him levelly. He had the grace to gaze at his boots in apology.
The dragon, evidently too confused and surprised to continue its attack, flew away, roaring angrily back at us. We watched it diminish until it was a tiny point in the sky. As it disappeared, every muscle in my arm tightened at once, and I gripped it, grimacing as each fiber flexed and vibrated at once.
Derk turned back to look at me, grinning apparent victory, but the grin slid right off his face and onto the ground when he saw magic erupting erratically from my gloved hand.
"I need to lie down. I'll be fine," I said, breathing heavily.
"All right, we'll get to the inn then," he agreed, leading me up the street to the front of the inn.
Just outside the front steps, I stopped, ripped the leather strip off my arm and threw it aside, watching it flop uselessly on the cobblestones. Blood rushed back into my arm, easing the spasms somewhat, though the muscles refused to relax, no matter how much I mentally screamed the command at them.
The burning that inhabited my limb before was replaced by a deadly chill that raced up where I knew the darkened veins must be.
When my friend took my arm to usher me inside, it retaliated, gripping his wrist with bone-crushing force and a frenetic burst of magicka that set his sleeve on fire. He hissed and glared at me in alarm, swatting at the flames irritably. "What was that for!"
"Derk..." I began between heaving breaths, "I lied. I can't handle this."
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