What's this? An update? Shocking! Okay, yes, I realize it's been a long time since I've updated this book, and I apologize for that. But no worries, because I've got one here tonight! Hope you enjoy!

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8th of First Seed, 4E 210

Lars Battle-Born was a big, mean bully.

Mama and Papa told Jergen and me stories about how Lars wasn't such a bad kid when he was younger, but now he was just awful! He kicked baskets of food over in the marketplace, tipped the Greymane's cow over in the middle of the night, and other nasty things. The worst part, though, was that he picked on us kids.

The only reason he was able to get away with it was because he was never caught. He would pull my hair, break sticks that Jergen used as swords, and push Bria over just for standing in his way. He once shoved Jergen into a guard so that he would get in trouble instead of Lars. It didn't matter how much I said it was Lars, because the guard didn't believe me. He dragged us both back to Jorrvaskr that day, and we got in big trouble with Mama and Papa. It wasn't fair, but we didn't know what else we could do. He was so much bigger than us.

Jergen, Bria, and I sat in the grass in front of Jorrvaskr, playing with our wooden toys. Papa and Uncle Farkas had made them for us for our birthdays last year, a different set for everyone. We always put our sets together when we played, and we had much more fun that way. Today, I had the wooden figure that we pretended was Mama, and Jergen had the dragon. We recreated the fight in Sovngarde while Bria played the Tongues.

"You'll never get away with this, Alduin!" I said, waving my figure high in the air. "I'm the Dragonborn!"

Jergen huffed at me. "Embla! Mama can't fly!"

"Oh, sorry." I put the figure back on the ground. "Do the voice, Jergen!"

Jergen deepened his voice and laughed. "I am a big and mean dragon with stinky breath. You are just a human. What can you do?"

"FUS RO DAH!"

"Oh, my!" said Bria. "She is the Dragonborn! Hurry! We must help her defeat the World-Eater!"

We made the sounds of swords clashing against one another, roars of a dragon, and other shouts of battle. This was our favorite game to play. It never got boring or old. It was fun to imagine what it must have been like for Mama to fight off dragons and save the world.

Then, just as we came to the end of our game, Lars Battle-Born kicked the dragon out of Jergen's hand. "What a stupid little game," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Your ma ain't a real hero. It's just a bunch of fairy tales."

"Don't you call my mama a liar!" said Jergen as he jumped to his feet. "She's the greatest hero in the world! She saved all of you!"

Lars shoved Jergen down. "Shut up and stay down, brat!"

This time, I scrambled to my feet. "Leave my brother alone, you big bully!"

Bria stood at my side and put her fists up. "Yeah! Go back home to your milk-drinker family!"

I gaped at Bria for saying such a bad word, but she just glared at Lars.

He laughed at us. "What, are you gonna make me, little girl?" He yanked on her hair, and she screamed for him to let her go. "That doesn't look like you're making me."

That was it. I had finally had enough. I wasn't going to stand by and let him bully us anymore. I had to do something. I had to put a stop to this. If we stood up for ourselves, maybe he would leave us alone. We just had to fight him together.

"Let her go!" I screamed just before punching him in the stomach. He wheezed and let go of Bria, reeling backwards.

"Little bitch!" he shouted as he straightened. His eyes narrowed. "You're going to pay for that."

Jergen and Bria stood beside me. I looked at them and nodded. Even though we were young, we had training. Mama and Papa and Uncle Farkas and Aunt Tyra had been training us in basic combat. It was time to test our skills for the first time.

As one, the three of us rushed Lars, but only Jergen lunged for his legs. Bria and I ran to his sides while Jergen distracted him. We grabbed his hands and pulled his arms behind his back, then shoved him forwards into the grass. Jergen hopped out of the way as the bully fell down, and the three of us piled onto him and sat. I pulled on his hair, Bria jumped up and down on his back, and Jergen held onto his legs so he couldn't get up.

"Get off me!" he roared as I pushed his face into the ground. "Get off!"

"How do you like us now?!" said Bria as she laughed. Her blue eyes flashed with angry triumph, and she plopped down onto his back. Hard. "We beat you! We beat you!"

"That'll teach you!" said Jergen. "Don't ever bully us again!"

"We can do this again and again!" I said. "We're not afraid of you anymore!"

As Lars continued to scream, he drew attention to us, and it didn't take long for the guards and other grown-ups in the area to stop and laugh. That only made Lars scream louder and fight harder. We looked at one another and started laughing, too.

Then, the doors to Jorrvaskr swung open, and our parents came running down the stairs towards us. Mama looked angry, Papa looked surprised, Aunt Tyra looked worried, and Uncle Farkas looked proud.

I smiled at Uncle Farkas. I could always count on him.

"Look-it, Papa!" says Bria as she plopped down on Lars's back. "We beat Lars!"

"Get off of him this instant!" said Mama. We scrambled to obey. "Just what were you children thinking?" She motioned for us to stand beside them, and after we gathered up our toys, we did.

"When my family hears about this, Companion, you're finished!" screamed Lars as he picked himself up off the ground. He had grass stains on his face. "Finished!"

"All talk and no fight, Battle-Born," said Uncle Farkas as he stood between Lars and the rest of us. "If you ever touch my daughter, niece, or nephew again, I'll knock you into the next era."

"And he won't do it alone," said Papa, standing next to Uncle Farkas. "Leave."

After making some weird gesture with his hand, he turned and left.

The four grown-ups led us up the stairs and inside Jorrvaskr once he was gone. Then, they sat us down at the long dining table and asked us what happened. We told them everything, even about the bad word he had said.

"And you stood up to him?" asked Mama when we had finished.

"We're tired of being picked on, Mama!" said Jergen. "Lars is a mean old bully! We don't want to be bullied anymore!"

"Well, with the way you three ganged up on him, I don't think he'll mess with you anymore," said Uncle Farkas, that proud smile still on his face. "You kids are tougher than we give you credit for."

"Farkas!" said Aunt Tyra. "Don't encourage this!"

"Why not? They saw injustice, and they stopped it. I'd say they did exactly what we Companions do on a daily basis." He turned to us. "You three ought to be proud of yourselves."

"But remember that fighting is not the answer to everything," said Papa, shooting a glare at Uncle Farkas. "Now, all of you, go get cleaned up. It's almost dinner time."

We slid off the bench and headed downstairs to get washed up before dinner. All the way, I couldn't keep the grin off my face. We had done it. We stopped Lars from bullying us. The next time he wanted to try something, he would remember today, and remember how three five-year-olds pushed him into the ground.

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Again, sincerest apologies for not getting an update ready sooner, but my biggest problem with not having an update ready is that I've sort of hit a wall with ideas for this book. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing. It just means that I need YOUR help. As you know, this is a request-open book, and I'm willing to listen to any suggestions you have for stories. I would be thrilled to write your ideas, and I can only do that if you send them to me! So don't be shy! Make a request! I'd love to bring it to life!

Love and sweetrolls!
~WG 💙