Indira Skyrim Fic

Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own Indira Rosebed.

Chapter 34: Power of the Dragonborn

Volskygge.

The name itself sounded intimidating as I was able to trek up the mountain. As I came up, I saw that the place was being used as a hideout for bandits. I stayed in the shadows, the night concealing my whereabouts as I watched them divide up the take from their gatherings. Little did they realize that they would not get to enjoy their plunder. My ears were burning at that moment as I heard something approach. I looked up and heard it, so did the bandits.

A dragon.

It was a more mature dragon and, it began circling the ruins of Volskygge. One of the bandits, in panic, fired his bow at the dragon, provoking it into battle. The dragon landed in front of the entrance to the ruin and began breathing fire on the bandits. One of them was right at the dragon's maw and was incinerated instantly. These bandits were not going to last long if the dragon had a devastating attack like that. But, at the same time, I knew it would be foolish to try and take the dragon and the bandits at the same time. I would wait and let the two of them finish each other off.

The bandits were surprisingly resilient; one of them even knew a little magic. All right, so these are not the typical weapon fighting ones I had encountered on my travels. This group of bandits was smart, and more learned. Or, they just got lucky and managed to steal some scrolls and spell books in their travels. Either way, it was a spectacular battle from my vantage point, which sheltered me from the battle, but, also allowed me to see what was going on. Moss had grown on the collapsed pillar, which fell probably a long time ago. The dragon bit into one of the other bandits, but then, the third bandit, one with a big war hammer, drove it right into the base of the dragon's skull, killing it. He himself was wounded and he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his side. He was gravely wounded in the battle and fell onto the ground.

I noticed there was no one else around. Probably the others were deeper into the ruins than I had thought and they did not hear anything that was going on. I walked up to the remains of the dragon and absorbed its soul. The gravely wounded bandit looked on in awe at what I had done and I could hear him whisper something of a prayer. He then closed his eyes, as it was the last thing he ever saw. I could do nothing for the man, and, though he was a bandit, I did have a sense of compassion for him. He chose his life and, though there were times he was cruel, he did give himself to a noble deed in the end. I respect that.

I made my way inside this place, which was crawling with even more of those bandit looters. Some of them had created little campsites throughout the ruins and the halls echoed with the sounds of them fighting the undead Nords that came to life down here. I shuddered to think of what could be down here, but, as I crept deeper and deeper, the number of bandits I encountered began to decrease, while the number of undead began to increase. Moving about, going up and down these ruins was enough to make even my head spin, and I was an excellent scout and hunter. Finally, though; I reached it. I reached the exit to the summit.

The view was spectacular. Despite it being cold, it was almost calming to watch the view of Skyrim from this height. Everything seemed serene up here. No one could tell from this peak that this was a tomb crawling with undead. I spent a moment up there, admiring the view and closed my eyes. A moment of serenity and clarity was all it took. This was what I was fighting for. This land of Skyrim. I was hunting dragons for this exact purpose.

Then, my ears burned again. I opened my eyes and looked around. I could hear something. The language of the dragons calling out to me. I ascended the peak even further and found a dragon monument. There was another word I could read. As I got closer, I could feel the word enter me and I felt it.

Tempest.

I seemed a little disappointed though, that this was the only thing the note said about unleashing the power of the Dragonborn. Suddenly, a casket near me opened up and an undead figure arose out of it, wearing a peculiar mask. It saw me and unleashed some sort of ice attack. I ducked out of the way just in time, but felt one of the icicles scrape my skin. I hissed in pain and clutched my arm as I dove for cover. This new type of undead was not like anything I had ever encountered before. It was surreal. It was like a magical undead creature of some kind. Then, I knew what it was.

A lich.

A lich was a powerful magician that, even after death, the magical essences would still be inside the body. From what I had heard, it was a very perverse way of attaining immortality. The mask, though, was new to me, and, as I peered around the pillar I had taken cover behind, he unleashed more ice attacks. I ducked back down and had my bow ready to go. I fired a shot or two and dove quickly behind cover. The ghastly lich was employing the same strategy I was; taking cover behind a rock as he sprayed me with magical ice. This was going to be a long battle.

We kept exchanging arrows and magic. I even thought of unleashing a fire breath attack on him, but he may have had the ability to counter it. He waved that staff around, conjuring up ice attacks, trying to slow me down. The air was thinner up here, and it was burning my lungs. Still, I had to keep this up. I had fired more arrows than I had normally used, but, as each arrow hit, they would go over the side of the cliff. There would be little chance of recovering them. Still, from the stock of arrows I had with me, I think I could outlast him. Poison was useless against him, so I resorted to my magical bow of immobilization. However, even he resisted that. I ended up using some bow of thunder, and it managed to stop him finally. The lich screamed out in pain and was reduced to a pile of ashes.

As I walked over, I noticed the mask that he had been wearing. It felt ancient, and, it was sort of speaking to me. There were draconic runes carved into and wondered if this was some sort of dragon priest at one time.

It was not for me to decide; I had to get out of here, restock on arrows and potions, and then meet Delphine and Esbern to find the Skyhaven Temple…

Next Chapter:

Sky Haven…