No matter how hard he tried, Unthoiz couldn't get a handle on his attackers. If he tried attacking me, my summoned creatures would attack him, and they kept distracting him with their own attacks.

I brought forth a storm antroch, and it's attacks light up the cavern with electric shock spells, bathing the dragon in an erie blue light.  

I hit Unthoiz with several of my Rings of Leaches, draining his life force into my own. Yet each ring could only work once or twice, then needed to recharge. I exhaused every ring I had on him. His life force was the most powerful I had ever encounted to this point in my life.

As he tried to avoid the attacks of a demora and a bonewalker that I had summoned, he started heading towards my position.  

I let loose with a spell that caused weakness to fire.

He would have attacked me, but the summoned creatures helped keep him at bay.

Draining a bottle of my own, home-made "restore magick" potion, I brought forth a spell of God's Fire, as powerful as I could make it.  

Unthoiz was too close to me! The blast enveloped both him and me.   

I was blinded by the blast for a few moments.

Nearby, I could hear the dragon roar in pain from the effect of the spell.  

The blast effect cleared in a few seconds, but I could hear the dragon nearby, roaring from the fire effects of the spell.

I knew it would be only a matter of seconds before he would attack again.   

When my eyes finally cleared, I could see him coming at me, ignoring a golden saint, who was busy slashing at the dragon's feet with a broadsword.

I could see we would have to have this out one-on-one very shortly.

The beast was nearly finished. He was bleeding badly from many large, gaping wounds, and showed burn marks everywhere from my fire spell.

Using my Ring of Weapons, I summoned a shield and broadsword, and approached him.

Quickly, Unthoiz lunged down at me, attempting to bite my head off. I ran under him, slashing away with my broadsword.

Unthoiz turned, and tried to slash at me with his huge claws, but the shield took the brunt of the attack, sparing my life.

I did the slash attack and run a number of times, avoiding his attacks successfully.  

After what seemed like hours, one final attack of my broadsword did the trick, and Unthoiz collapsed into a lifeless hulk on the ground.

I was badly injured myself, but a restore spell could wait for a few minutes.  

Behind a fold in the dragon's arm, I found the staff and gem I had sought.

I should report this to Illwing Redwood and let him know that the dragon threat is no more.   

Before leaving the lair, I headed to the back part of the cave. There, sitting quietly, were several pedistals, and upon each one, sat a huge dragon egg.

I thought about destroying them, but felt bad enough that this magnificent creature had to be killed. Perhaps the staff could be put to a better use.  

Using water-walking spells, I crossed back to the main island of Dagon Fel, and headed back to the dunmer stronghold at the southern part of the island. 

After teleporting back to Caldera, I headed back to the inn where Illwing Redwood was staying, and found him in his usual spot.

"I was starting to worry about you." he said. "Have you found Julius?"

"Yes, I found him," I replied, "but unfortunately, he was already dead. I found his corpse. He was slain by Unthoiz, the black dragon."

Illwing looked puzzled. "I don't understand," he said, "did he not find the Gem of Peryite? Did the staff not work?"

I told him that the staff didn't work as Julius thought it did, that Unthotz awoke and killed Julius, and that the staff was usless against dragons. The only purpose of the staff, I told him, was to make creatures grow faster.

"I am sorry to hear about Julius." he said. "In the past, he was a mighty wizard, but his yearning for power may have been his undoing. Maybe the power of the staff made him an evil man? Corrupted him with the hope of control?"

"It would seem so, based on his notes." I replied.

Illwing smiled, and said "Anyway, it is good to see you have made it out alive. Did you kill Unthoiz?"

"Yes, I did." I said. "It wasn't easy, but he's dead. I took the staff and gem. I have them with me now. Here," I said, handing the items to him, "take a look at them."

After looking at the staff and gem, inspecting them as any skilled wizard would, he said "These really are intricate pieces of work. Now that Unthoiz is dead, his plans for taking Tamriel back are over. Without his influence, the dragons of Vvardenfell will join the Imperial dragons. Of course, some dragons will continue attacking the cities, but I imagine, since their leader is dead, the attacks will subside greatly." He patted me on the shoulder, continuing "You have done a great service to the Empire, and all the people of Tamriel. As a reward for your deeds, you can keep the staff and gem for yourself, perhaps post as a trophy on your wall."

"You know," I said, "there were 4 dragon eggs in the cave. I wasn't sure what to do with them."

Illwing looked amazed. "Really?" he said. "What an amazing thing! I thought only female dragons kept the eggs." He thought about it for a moment, then added, "Maybe if Unthoiz had these eggs, it might be because they are his own sons, and they might have strong factus inside of them. You said there were 4 of them, correct?" I nodded in agreement. "That would mean each egg would have a different kind of dragon inside.

"Do you think that as baby dragons, they could be successfully controled by the staff?" I asked.

Illwing's brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know." he said. "A dragon has an incredible magic power. I doubt that a Breton could use the staff to make such a thing, but it may be possible. Tell you what - after all you have done, it's the least I can do for you. Give me the staff and gem. I will study them and see if it's possible to do what you are asking."

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to let him have these two items.

"Come back in a while and I'll let you know if I've discovered anything."  

I had so much action today, and with the possibility of a baby dragon in my lap, I decided to walk from Caldera to Balmora, to let my thoughts settle.

What would I do with a baby dragon?  Does one know what one feeds them? Perhaps I was taking on more than I really needed to.

I chuckled to myself, thinking about what Laurenna would say if I told her we might have a baby dragon to care for and feed.

The walk home did me good, even thought a light rain decided to wet myself just as I approached Balmora. It would be good to get home and crawl into bed for a good night's sleep.   

I arrived in Balmora just after midnight, nodding a 'good evening' to the guards walking along the river.

As I arrived back at the front door of my home, I re-checked the lock on the door. I could swear there were, what looked like, fresh scratches on the doorlock, fresher than the original ones I saw before.

I decided to do some repair work on it in the morning.  

Laurenna was sleeping, but got up as soon as she heard me slam the door closed.

"Ah, the wandering warrior returns!" she said. "So, how did the battle go? Did you win, or did the dragon eat you alive?"

"Ha ha" I said, catching her joke. "Come here, you." I said, grabbing her. "I have some war stories to tell you!"