Author's Note:
I'm really sorry to the people who were looking forward to the song of Fire and Ice. While typing the second chapter I realized that it would take a long time to reach a meaningful part of the story. For example, if I were to stick with my original plan, the fateful visit to Winterfell, ie. episode 1 of GoT would comearound chapter 12. Thus I thought of a new story which would mostly follow the same guideline but with more action sooner.
Please read and review. I really hope you like it.
Arrival in Westeros
Artur the Wanderer ducked under a swing of a blade by a Thalmor soldier, before slicing him apart with his two-handed sword. Only to dodge the incoming Ice Spike from another Thalmor. With a sigh, he switched to his dragonbone bow and shooting the Thalmor Mage, who quickly raised a ward to block the arrow.
WULD
he quickly appeared in front of the startled Thalmor soldier before bashing him with his bow sending him staggering back only to be killed by an ice spike to his gut. Artur took a moment to catch his breath before looking around him. He saw hundreds of bodies on the streets of Alinor. Killed in the war he basically started against the Thalmor. He heard shouts and explosions from other parts of the city which urged him to continue forward.
As he strode towards the palace he thought about how he reached here.
A couple of months after uniting Skyrim by defeating the Stormcloaks, he received a summon from the Emperor. When he reached the Imperial City, the emperor willingly gave him the throne. Refusing the throne at first, he was slowly persuaded into taking the throne by both his friends and lover. Once he became the Emperor he abolished the White-Gold Concordant, angering many of the Thalmor agents all over the empire. Angered by his actions, the Thalmor teamed up with the Silver Hand and attacked the Companions. The Companions fought bravely and took down several of their members before they were ultimately defeated. None of the Companions survived. The Thalmor then ordered a lockdown on Whiterun. The Jarl resisted but was killed along with every other member of his household.
While this was happening in Skyrim, the Emperor, unaware of the Thalmor's deeds was arguing with the Thalmor ambassadors. High Elves who were threatening him to accept another treaty much worse than the White-Gold Concordant or face war with the Dominion. He refused the Diplomats and sent them back to the Dominion.
While in Skyrim, the Dominion approached The Dawnguard and persuaded them into fighting the remaining vampires. When Isran refused, stating that the Volkihar vampires had agreed not to hunt people anymore, they took him, along with several other Dawnguard members to Steepfall burrow. Where they saw several Volkihar Vampires feeding on humans. Enraged Isran along with the others charged and destroyed the surprised vampires. Isran returned with the others to Fort Dawnguard to mobilize and assault on Castle Volkihar after seeing this.
Unknown to him and the others, the Thalmor had set-up the entire thing. They gathered the humans in Steepfall Burrow and told few vampires about them. They told the vampires that they were prisoners and were given to them to feast upon. In their hunger, the Vampires swarmed to the cave and feasted upon the humans.
Isran, on the other hand, accepted the offer of the Thalmor to hunt the remaining Vampires down. They rode to Castle Volkihar where the gates were opened for them. As soon as they entered they attacked the Vampires who were taken by surprise. Dozens of Vampires fell before they managed to shake off their surprise but by that time the damage was already done. The Dawnguard and The Thalmor had a defensible position within the Castle and were slaying Vampires. The Vampires, led by Serana and Valerica soon made a stand in the Castle but were slowly being overwhelmed. One by one the vampires were falling and inch-by-inch the Dawnguard and the Thalmor were making their way towards the Throne room. After an hour of fighting the Dawnguard managed to reach the throne room where the remaining vampires had barricaded themselves in. They managed to break the door down and were faced by Serana, Valerica and a handful of remaining vampires. The Thalmor and the Dawnguard charged eagerly to destroy the remaining vampires when Serana took of a pendant from around her neck and shattered it. Gargoyles that stood in the Throne room and in the hallways immediately came alive and started to attack everyone. Valerica urged Serana to run in the Chaos while she tried to hold them off. Serana refused her and was determined to fight with her mother and the rest of her clan. But Valerica quickly knocked her unconscious and sent her into00 the Soul Cairn. That day the Dawnguard finally destroyed the Volkihar Vampires. Emboldened by this, within a couple of months they took down several vampire camps and the vampire presence in Skyrim was almost zero.
While this was happening the Emperor, finally managed to bring his council to heel and was preparing his army for the inevitable clash with the Dominion.
After destroying the Volkihars, the Thalmor gathered up all their agents in Skyrim and led an attack on the Greybeards of High Hrothgar. However, this turned out to be their downfall. A force of a little more than 200 Thalmor stormed High Hrothgar. They managed to break down the doors of High Hrothgar but the Grey beards, when faced by the Thalmor soldiers, used the power of the Thu'um with devastating effects. The normally peaceful monks took down the entire Thalmor army in under half an hour. But they were not unaffected by this. Three members, including master Arngeir,1 fell to the Thalmor. Paarthurnax, worried by the actions of the Thalmor sent a message to Artur.
Artur upon receiving the news from Paarthurnax summoned Odahviing to check on Skyrim. When he summoned Durnehviir however, he was shocked to find Serana with him looking close to tears. Serana told him about the destruction of her clan sending him into a rage, but when Odahviing came back and reported the state of Whiterun he was enraged.
He declared war upon the Dominion and called the various lands to fight with him. The people of Skyrim eager to help her hero flocked en masse to join the army. The people of Cyrodiil, also angered by the elves answered the call. Morrowind due to the tragedy could not field any warriors. The people of Black Marsh and High Rock chose to be neutral despite being part of the Empire. Hammerfell angered by the support Artur gave to Saadia, who had betrayed them chose to side with the Dominion seceding from the empire completely. Elsweyr, Summerset Isles and Valenwood stood with the Dominion. The Dominion Attacked Cyrodiil from the west and south while Artur along with Serana rode on Odahviing to Whiterun. After destroying the Thalmor presence in Whiterun they made their way to Castle Dawnguard. There he destroyed the ancient Castle along with every single member of the Dawnguard, in retaliation to what happened to Serana. They flew back to Cyrodiil, where he sent the Imperial Army under Legion Commander Tullius to the Summerset Isles in the South. They fought the Thalmor all the way up to the shoreline of Cyrodiil. Meanwhile, the Dominion, hoping to catch the empire in a pincer like the previous Great War ordered the forces from Elsweyr, Valenwood and Hammerfell to push forward and surround the Imperial Army.
Then the beginning of the end for the Dominion for the Dominion began. This was marked by letters being sent to the lands of Hammerfell, Elsweyr and Valenwood, demanding unconditional surrender. Outraged by this audacious demand each of the lands refused with many colourful words. Then the Emperor marched forward with a small battalion. He led a small battalion mainly consisting of several of his followers throughout his adventures. But wherever his battalion went in was an unconditional victory. They lifted sieges from entire cities on their own. It was rumoured that Emperors battalion was as effective as an entire legion put together. They pushed the armies of Valenwood and Elsweyr out of Cyrodiil and into their own lands. But as they moved into Valenwood, tragedy struck them. The Bosmer and the Khajiit made use of the ample forests of Valenwood and ambushed the Emperor. Several of the Emperors friends died in the ambush. Janessa, Marcurio, Faendal, Sven, Uthgerd, Argis died in the ambush. But Lydia's Death hurt Emperor Artur the most. The faithful housecarl, his first in fact, died taking a poisoned arrow meant for him while he was battling one of the larger Khajiits. The Emperor and his battalion retreated after this ambush from Valenwood back to the historic city of Kvatch. The Elven armies emboldened by the defeat faced by the Emperor continued their assault on the Cyrodiilic forces and managed to push them back.
Then came the event which would later be referred to as the Burning. The elven armies emboldened by their victories laid siege on Kvatch while their forces from Hammerfell managed to lay siege on the Imperial City. They planned this in a move to both take the Emperor as well as the seat of Imperial Power.
All were surprised when hundreds of Dragons, descended upon the besieging armies. Within a few minutes, the besieging armies were entirely broken, with some of the besiegers fleeing. The dragons did not stop there. Under the orders of their leader, they attacked each of the lands that were opposing them. The woods of Valenwood were set on fire. Entire forests were lit in flames as the dragons descended upon Valenwood. Millions of Bosmer died in the blaze and less than a hundred Bosmer were left alive after the Dragons were done with Valenwood. The Sands of Elsweyr were turned to glass by the heat of the dragons' breath, and unlike the Elves of Valenwood, there was nowhere for the Khajiits to hide in the sandy shores of Elsweyr. The Entire Khajiit race living in Elsweyr were killed either by the dragons or by being buried under molten glass.
Elsweyr like Valenwood could no longer be recognized as the ancestral home of the Bosmer and Khajiit respectively. Several years after this incident the Scholars would claim that the destruction laid upon both Valenwood and Elsweyr was much worse than the destruction caused to Morrowind by the Red Mountain exploding. The measure of how much worse would be a point of debate amongst the scholars for a long time. But most would agree that it was nearly a hundred times worse. The Khajiit and Bosmer Population was reduced to 5% of their former population.
Hammerfell, hearing the tales of what happened to Elsweyr and Valenwood surrendered unconditionally. The nobility of Hammerfell was banished and Saadia was made High Queen of Hammerfell.
The Dragons meanwhile destroyed both Auridon and Artaeum, while the imperial army assaulted Summerset. Soon the army had Alinor surrounded and were now sieging the city. The walls were easily broken down thanks to Odahviing and the other dragon. Most of the named dragons were here along with Two Legions of the Imperial Army and the surviving members of the Emperors Battalion.
Serana soon stepped beside him. He gave a sideways glance at her. She had changed a lot since the destruction of the Volkihars. She had become much more cynical and cold and didn't show mercy to her opponents. Ten Thalmor approached from the gates of the palace. Five stood behind the others as they launched spells towards Artur and Serana. Both jumped to the side to dodge the assault. As soon as Serana righted herself she sent an Icy spear at the Thalmor. The Thalmor all raised their hands and cast a Greater Ward. The combined effort of the five Thalmor managed to block the spell and as soon as they dropped the ward the Mages unleashed another round of spells at them. However, Serana cast a wall of Frost and blocked every single magic with it. As the Wall crumbled, Artur, who had been sent tumbling by an icy spear managed to right himself.
MUL QAH DIIV
An Ethereal Armour of his Dragon Aspect surrounded him.
WULD
He appeared right in front of the Thalmor, but unlike the ones before, these ones were ready and immediately began slashing him with their swords.
TIID KLO UL
The Thalmor slowed down as he mercilessly cut all of them down. As he finished killing them time resumed at a normal pace.
"I wish I could do that," Serana told him as she caught up with him.
"If you learn to slow time as well, then what will the rest of us do." He said with a smile.
An explosion rang out behind them and they saw the army making their way towards them after defeating the rest of the Thalmor. Along with the army, several of their friends were also making their way from the opposite side while the dragon perched on the roof of the Alinor Palace. Burning any would be Archers.
Serana and Artur entered the Alinor Palace to meet the King of Alinor to put an end to the war once and for all. When they entered the throne room they saw a young elf, not even into her teens sitting on the throne and looking at them fearfully.
"What in Talos name is going on here?" Artur asked confusedly.
"You are too late Dragonborn." A haughty voice said from behind the throne as a part of the wall slid up and several Thalmor agents appeared led by Elenwen.
"Elenwen" spat out Artur.
"Is that any way to talk to an old friend, Dragonborn." She asked him.
"You are no friend of mine, and who is this."
"This is the High Queen of Alinor, Aeryn the Fair." She replied.
"So, you are the one who ordered the death of my friends and threatened war upon my lands." He asked Aeryn dangerously. Aeryn looked at him fearfully which only made him angrier. "did you think that your magic would protect you forever."
He took a step forward only to see her eyes widen in fear. He was about to draw his sword but was stopped by Elenwen's laugh.
"You really think that she would be able to do it. No, the royal family no longer has any power." She explained.
"What do you mean?" Serana questioned.
"In the beginning of the Fourth Era, there was a Civil War amongst the Altmer. The Thalmor against the royal family. The Royal family led the pro-Empire group while we wanted to secede from the Empire and eventually conquer it. We won in the end and now the Board of Emissaries controls the Empire. She is just a figurehead for the people. To keep them in line."
Artur let out a growl. "You have just sealed your fate along with the others Elenwen. You killed good people and elves just because you feel yourselves to be superior to the other races."
"It doesn't matter anymore. We are all finished here."
"What do you mean?" He asked unsheathing his blade and striding towards her. Despite that, neither she nor any of her companions raised their arms.
"Aeryn is like you." She said making him stop in his tracks.
"She has the blood of Auri-el flowing through her. The Soul of a Dragon and the Body of a Mortal. When we realized you were the Dragonborn, we knew that you would become a problem for us. Thus, we took some of your semen while you were sleeping and with the help of our mages we managed to give force the previous queen to give birth to her though it cost her to give up her life."
"You mean… she… she is… my daughter," he said shocked.
"Indeed, and she will be your downfall too. After all, that is what she was made to do." Elenwen said smugly.
"You disgust me." He said striding forwards, intending to cleave her in half but was interrupted as the whole Earth shook.
Thuri
Odahviing shouted from outside the palace. I righted myself and looked around it appeared as if everything had taken a whitish hue.
"She was meant to fight you when she grew older. But as you attacked now, when she was not able to fight you we created a spell. Using her blood and three Elder Scrolls as a catalyst. A spell that would utilize the blood of Auri-El's descendant to send everyone away in time and space. The entire city was a tra- "
She was cut off when he separated her neck from her body with a single slash. He killed the other Thalmor too within a few seconds until there were only him, Serana and Aeryn. He turned to Aeryn who appeared to shrink into herself as he came closer. When he stood in front of her, she closed her eyes waiting for him to kill her. But she was surprised when a gentle hand rubbed her head.
"Are you alright," Artur asked her kindly. Kneeling so that he could be on her level. At this distance, Artur could feel his Dragon Soul resounding in proximity to her tiny one.
"Are… Are you my father?" she asked him timidly.
"Yes, child it appears so." He said to her.
"Daddy." She screamed and jumped into his embrace. "The other elves in the palace used to tease me saying I had no parents. I was not a true elf and shun me." She cried into his shoulder.
"Are you sure about that Artur," Serana asked.
"Yes, I can feel her Dragon soul when she is this close to me. It is indeed the soul of a dragon that resides within her. And since I'm the last Dragonborn, there is only one place from where she could have gotten the soul."
"to think that the Thalmor who create something like this, just for more power. Just how despicable can you get." Serana said with a sneer.
"Serana, do not blame the child, Elenwen and the others are responsible for this. They shall pay for this in the afterlife. Now Let's go and see where we are now." He said while scooping Aeryn into his arms as they walked out of the throne room into the courtyard where the rest of the army was.
As he walked he noticed that parts of the palace were simply disintegrating into nothing.
"My Emperor, are you all right." Legion Commander Tullius said.
Thuri, Mu los nid lingrah ko Nirn.
Odahviing said landing gracefully next to him. He could see a couple of legendary dragons too in holding onto the palace roof.
"What happened inside, Artur." Brelyna, an old friend of Artur asked.
"The Thalmor created a spell using her blood to send us in a time space void like Alduin." He said gesturing to the girl sleeping in his arms.
The others look at her and realize that she is an Altmer.
"Who is she?" Jordis the Sword-Maiden asked.
"She is my daughter." He replied, seeing their confused and shocked faces he explained "The Thalmor created her to fight me when they realized that I was the Dragonborn. She too has the soul of a dovah within her."
The others looked on in shock at the revelation.
"Damn Thalmor scum, to think that they would go this far." Someone cried out from the back, many people agreeing with him. Soon the people, mostly the Nords were shouting kill the abomination.
He levelled a glare at them and said, "You will not hurt her, despite how she was born she is still my child."
And kin to the Dovah
Odahviing said landing beside him and peering at the small child to take a closer look at her.
Paarthurnax also landed in front of me and rested his snout gently on the young child before saying
Her dragon soul is strong.
The Nords were sufficiently cowed and gave up on their shouting.
"So, what should we do now?" someone asked.
"I have no idea. From Alduin's memories it should not take long for us to be thrown out of the Rift, but where and when we land is a completely different matter altogether."
"So, we are going to land several years into the future then." Commander Tullius said,
"Don't know, could be anywhere," he replied.
Suddenly, a white light engulfed the area and the land disappeared leaving the people floating before they lost consciousness.
Artur opened his eyes to see a flaming dragon in front of him.
"Hello, father."
The dragon gave a toothy smile.
"Hello Artur, I'm proud of you son."
"Why?" he asked confused, "I nearly destroyed the homelands of the Khajiit and the Bosmer, led the Empire into a war that killed millions on both sides. Barely any Altmer is left alive as it is."
" True, but you are a dragon after all. Let me tell you a story."
Artur nodded.
"Long ago, when Nirn was yet young. Alduin, my firstborn fell in love with a woman. Like me, he was both man and dragon. He loved the girl so much that he used to spend all his free time with her, however, once, when he returned home he saw her raped and killed by a few bandits. In a rage, he denounced his human form and destroyed the World, gaining the title of World Eater. What I want to tell you is this, we dragons love more fiercely than the others. But when something happens to the object we love, there is none harsher than us dragons. So, it was not at all surprising to see you destroy them. But I must warn you not to lose yourself in your anger."
"Yes, Lord Akatosh." He replied.
"One more thing, the land you reach is not Nirn. It is a land created by my fellow Aedra but they used too much of their power in creating it, that now they do not have enough power to even sustain their forms. I'll send you to a place where you can build a city, but beware, many people there do not like magic at all. They are much worse than even the Nords during the Civil War period. Good luck son, and keep in mind everything I've said."
Akatosh said before fading from view like a flame that is gently being snuffed out. Until all that was left was darkness. He opened his eyes to see the others picking themselves up from the ground. Getting up with a grunt he looked around to see the ruins of a city all around him. The ground was covered in frost and the climate was cold like Skyrim's. He saw that the only building that somehow was transported with them was the Temple of Auri-El, which somehow or the other remained mostly intact throughout their journey.
The others were mainly looking around in confusion as to where they reached. With a sigh, he called everyone to him and began to tell them about the new world and Akatosh's words.
Author's Note
Hope you liked it. Please read and review.
The next chapter will be out before next Wednesday, probably by Monday.
If you have any suggestions, or notice any typos or errors please review. I'll do my best to correct it. As I've mentioned before English is not my native language, and one of the main reasons I'm writing is to improve my English. Thanks in Advance