Rona's Story: The Truth Beneath the Rose

Chapter 13 The Heart of the Dragonborn

A/N: I really tried to split this one into two chapters but couldn't find a good spot to do it at. So after three long weeks you get an extra long chapter!

(Trigger Warning: Violence, Rape, and Murder)

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Eroeh stepped back into hers and Dahlia's shared tent, ready as she'd ever be to collect her supplies and make the journey to the peak of the mountain where Odahviing roosted. But as she went inside she noticed that everything was gone and Eshne was sitting on the edge of her bed, sobbing into her hands. Eroeh went to her, touching her shoulder with a hand and whispered, "Eshne, it'll be alright..."

Eshne looked up at her and wiped at her tears, "Oh Dahlia, I'm already so worried for her. She was always such a rambunctious child, but I fear even this will be too much for her."

Eroeh blinked and shook her head taking in everything she just said. "I'm not Dahlia."

Eshne sniffled, looking at her bemused and then insisted, "Of course you are. You have to be because your sister just... took everything..." Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what had happened.

"When did she leave!?"

Eshne stood from the bed, her hands were shaking and clutching at the air nervously as she glanced around the small space, "I-she-well - it wasn't long! Perhaps an hour - but why would she-!?"

Eroeh didn't wait a minute longer. She snatched her sister's cloak up, wrapped it around her shoulders and grabbed her pair of daggers, quickly strapping them to herself all while Eshne whimpered and panicked. Eroeh turned to her, throwing her hands to the elderly woman's shoulders and said, "I'll send her back Eshne, but don't tell anyone! If they find out Dahlia went instead of me... if Lord Odahviing finds out..." She knit her brows together and Eshne gave her a single nod of understanding. In that second Eroeh ran out of there as fast as her legs would carry her and darted up the path leading to the peak of the mountain. She glanced off at the horizon beyond the moon and saw billowing storm clouds brewing in the distance. For their tribe, it meant a heavy rainfall, but further up the mountain pass, it meant heavy snow. Eroeh only hoped she could reach her sister before the storm overtook them.

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Dahlia shivered in the cold and sat nestled under a mountainous overhang. She was two days in on her travels and each day had been worse than the last, being battered with a heavy snowstorm and now she was stuck while the near constant blizzard threatened to seal her up in the small crevice she sought shelter in. She was losing time and just knew she would have to press on if she was to arrive at Odahviing's roost in time. She used what little magic Eshne had taught her to cast a resist frost spell over herself and sent out a flames spell, carving a path through the snow.

She did this for hours, pushing onward through the storm until finally, she reached the peak of the mountain. Dahlia stepped into the open plateau and glanced around anxiously. There was no sign of the great red dragon anywhere. She wondered if maybe he'd gone hunting, she could only imagine that he must eat a mammoth a day just to sustain himself.

She crept around the snowy knoll and sure enough, her suspicions proved true as she stumbled right into what looked like a mammoth graveyard. Enormous bones that came from all kinds of animals were strewn about the peak and buried beneath the snow. As she stared in awe and fear of the sight before her, she slipped on an ice sheet and caught herself by gripping onto the bony pelvis of a mammoth, stripped clean of its meat and muscle and bleached nearly white by the sun.

Dahlia shivered again, not only from the dread welling up inside her but because her resist frost spell was slowly fading. She looked around for any semblance of cover in that frozen wasteland and noticed a small overhang in the distance. She trekked across the plateau and wandered towards it as the blizzard started to slow which she was all too grateful for. But with a single misstep, she tripped over a large rib and went tumbling down a wide slope. She rolled a short way down and came to an abrupt halt when her body slammed hard against a large mound buried beneath the crunchy, white ice.