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Word count.

Original: 1,394

Re-write: 2,077

Chapter XIV

Durnehviir

Mortis

I nock an arrow and raise the bow, close my eyes and exhale. Opening my eyes again I adjust the bow, try and get the angle right. The dragons too far away but it's getting a lot bigger very quickly. Hopefully Serana can make it back to the colosseum and then to the portal before Durnehviir kills me.

It flies straight for the spire, its size making it difficult to tell how far from me it actually is. I raise the bow a bit more, pulling back on the arrow until it's as far back as I can get it. Exhale and concentrate. I let go of the arrow and watch as it flies towards the dragon. It hits its wing and stabs through what look to be scales, there's no sign whether or not it hurt. I quickly pull another arrow from my quiver and line up the next shot, it's a lot closer now; gaining speed as it flies towards the spire. I let go of the arrow and the dragon flies higher into the purple sky, the arrow sailing uselessly to the ground below.

I look up as it flies straight up into the sky, disappearing into the black and grey clouds. I nock another arrow and aim up towards the sky. Its deathly silent. I take a couple of steps back, my boots scraping against the stone. The dragon appears again, dropping straight down towards the tower, it spirals as it falls through the air; its wings wrapped around its body. I dive to the side, completely forgetting about my bow as I land hard on my shoulder. Durnehviir crashes into the spire, smashing the rock to pieces as the dragon crashes all the way through.

There's a roar and then the spire starts to tilt dangerously to the side, I scramble to get back on my feet, moving towards the other, more stable side of the tower. The dragon flies back out of the massive hole it made, smashing through the other side as it reaches into the air again. The spire tips to the side, falling from its base, I jump to grab onto the edge of the hole, pulling my legs up to stop myself from plummeting to the ground below. There's another roar and a plume of fire follows the sound, enveloping the spire in flames. There's an ear-splitting crack as the chunk of rock that I'm on falls down a few feet, I close my eyes and grip the stone tighter.

Durnehviir lands on the other part of the spire as I climb up to the top of the chunk, getting on my knees and grip the cracked and smashed rock. I turn my head to look at the monster, it seems to have a dull purple glow to its body, grey or green scales covering its flesh, it leans its head forward; yellowish drool dripping from its pulled back lips. The arrow still sits, dug into its wing. It spreads its wings and puts its head into the sky, roaring louder now than before if that is even possible. Fire erupts from its mouth, reaching so high into the clouds that I can't see the end of the plume, I can feel the intense heat as it surrounds the spire. It looks back down at me, staring straight at me as I sit on my hands and knees. I look away, glance down towards the ground.

It pounces forward, diving straight into what remains of the spire. The chunk I'm on finally falls, crushing its way down through the rock, I feel it completely crack in the middle as I fall away from it, hitting the collapsed ruins as I try and scramble for a foot hold or anything to grab onto. My right leg falls further into a crack and the spire is pushed further down towards the ground. I scream as the rock grinds against my leg, tearing through the thick leather and cutting through my skin. I hit the ground, managing to pull my leg out of the crack as the remains slam into the ground. I lay on my back and let my head fall back onto the floor hard, a couple of my ribs crack on impact. My leg burns where the rock cut through my skin and pushed against my shin and knee. The ground shakes as Durnehviir hits the floor, its wings slam into the ground as it lowers its head. I crawl behind part of the collapsed tower, dragging my injured leg as I do.

"Ahh." Durnehviir grumbles, its voice rumbling and deep. Dragons can speak? "Mortal, you try and hide?" I can feel it moving around, a loud inhale and then that intense heat again. "I can smell your fear." It rumbles, the large clawed fingers on the end of its wing curl around the top of the spire. "Taste your blood." Its tail slinks round the side, near my foot. "I smelt the other, running from here." I start to move away from the tail as the dragon moves along the other side, its claws dragging along as it moves. "Her fear for you reeks. Cutting into my nostrils as she got further and further away from you." I get up to my feet, limping as quickly as I can, trying to get to the other end of the tower. Durnehviir rounds the corner, his head right in front of me, I fall back onto the ground as his lips pull back, exposing his teeth. "Not as much as you. I could smell you anywhere." I crawl back as he moves forward. "Scared of me! Scared of this place! Scared of failure!"

I stop crawling back as he moves his face down towards me. I lean back as he gets even closer, his hot breath hitting my face as I turn away slightly. "Dragons are extinct!" I shout at him, turning my head back to face him fully. "There's a reason while you're the only one left!" I add, looking into his eyes.

He opens his mouth wider, showing the rows of teeth as his tongue moves forward, licking the back of the teeth. He turns his head to the side, inhaling deeply. He growls deep in his throat. "The barrier is down." He grumbles, turning to look at me. "The scroll will not leave the cairn." He growls at me, before moving back. "The other will burn!" He roars. "Her bones will crack and her skin will boil and split!" He roars, firing burning out of his mouth. "I am Durnehviir! Remember my name mortal, fear follows with it!" He rises into the sky. "A more fitting death awaits you mortal. The Dovah will return when the sons of Skyrim spill their own blood." He rises up further, soaring back the way he came.

I roll onto my side, struggling to get to my feet as I start limping towards the portal and where Serana must be heading. I look down at my leg, blood runs down into my boot. It hurts to put any weight as I drag my leg along, going as quickly as I can. I drop my quiver to the floor, no point dragging the arrows around if I don't have a bow anymore. Hopefully Serana can get back to Nirn and get the scroll as far from Harkon as possible.

Reaching the portal was uneventful, Durnehviir wasn't bothered in me at all, he must've realised I was never any threat what so ever. Getting out of Volkihar was much more difficult, working my way through the ruins without Serana to lead the way. Even more difficult with my injured leg and cracked ribs.

The walk to Solitude's bordering villages is slow and painful, my ribs jerking with every step and my leg burning every time I put even the smallest amount of weight on it. I pay for two nights rest in the inn, getting some needed sleep and bandaging my wounds. I manage to scrape together enough money to get my ribs treated by a healer, making do with the leg injury.

Serana would've headed back to Fort Dawnguard on foot, probably scared to go near Solitude after she learned of the Legion and their careful and tight defence of the hold. I lean my back against the carriage my ribs, despite the treatment still ache, making it hard to move properly. I'll have to walk to the fort from Riften, no way will a carriage driver head up to the gates of anything other than a Legion stronghold.

A week after leaving the Soul Cairn I finally arrive back at Fort Dawnguard. I walk up to the gates, there looks to be more men with Dawnguard amour on now, standing by the gate with crossbows ready. I don't recognise any of them except for Durak, the orc waves down the others, silently ordering them to lower their crossbows.

"You're alive." He calls to me, he moves his hand to the top of his axe. I understand the silent demand, I stop walking and look at him. "The vampire wasn't sure if you made it or not." He adds, so Serana made it back safely, well if it is actually safe for her to be here. "It said you had probably been killed."

"Nearly was." I call back to him. "Only just survived." I lean my weight onto my good leg. "Where is she now?" I ask, I have to make sure she's safe. I suppose I should check before I head out again. This is too much for me now, as soon as I know I can get paid and leave.

"In the fort, resting probably." He tells me. "It was wounded when it arrived." He adds, turning to one of the men. "Open the gate." He orders, looking back to me. "Isran will want to speak with you." He grumbles as I walk through the open gate and towards the fort. Of course he will.

I step into the fort after getting one of the hunters to open the heavy door for me. I limp into the main hall, Isran is stood there as usual. "It said you were dead." He mutters. "Dexion went blind, blames it on the rush to read the scroll." He tells me, getting straight to business; I didn't really expect anything else from Isran. Dexion went blind, he said something about side effects must've been what he meant.

"I want my money." I tell him, I can get straight to business as well and this payment is long overdue. I rest my hand on my belt and point to the bunks at the back of the fort. "She in there?" I ask him, I turn my attention to him as he walks off to get my money.

"It is." He mutters, putting emphasis on the word "it".

I walk into the back. She's in the furthest corner, curled up on one of the cots. There's a bandage pulled roughly around her right arm, looks like she did it herself, probably would've have gotten any help for anyone here. She's asleep, looks tired. I crouch down, getting onto one knee as I look at her face. She looks distressed, pained I'm not sure if it's the wound on her arm or some emotional pain.

"Five thousand septims." Isran grumbles walking into the room, I stand up and walk over to him, pulling my pack round as I do. He passes me a large bag and then a smaller one, I raise my eyebrow and look at him. "For the extra work you did." He says, answering my unasked question.

"How long she been here?" I ask him, shoving the bags in my pack and turning back to the cot. It took me a week, three days really but I was on a carriage and could travel in the sun light.

"Arrived in the early hours." He answers. "Luckily for it I was on the front gate; and it had something I wanted." I turn back to face him. "You leaving?"

I start to walk away. "Aye, I've got places to be, things to do." Five thousand septims and a brothel, some much needed time to "rest". I walk away from Isran and Serana, who hasn't stirred the entire time, must have not really rested making her way here. I walk out of the fort and carry on through the gate and out of its grounds, start heading towards Riften.

There's another chapter. Not many people read this story so really there isn't much point in continuing with it, but I've started so I might as well finish. This chapter is shit, they probably all are.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to carry on the prequel or not but at the minute I don't think I will, no one at all has really read it and I don't think it would be missed or anything. I probably will finish it though.