"And the Scrolls have foretold

of black wings in the cold,

That when brothers wage war come unfurled!

Alduin, Bane of Kings, ancient shadow unbound,

With a hunger to swallow the world!"

"Hello, BROTHER."

Lewis spun at the Voice, seeing a familiar figure reclined on the Throat of the World.

"No," he breathed. "NO. This is not possible."

Alduin stretched his obsidian wings lazily, yawning widely.

"You seem to think that denial of a problem is the same as defeating the problem, Dovahkiin."

Lewis' hand went to his side, but Dragonbane was not at his hip, and he was not wearing any armor.

"You are dead," he stated lamely.

Alduin's head whipped to face him, burning intensity in his black eyes.

"Come, come now," he hissed. "You and I both know that to be false."

One black wing stretched and the razor-sharp talon moved to point at Lewis' breast.

"I'm. Right. Here."

A rune appeared on the Dragonborn's chest, smoking and scorching the flesh beneath. Ripping off his shirt with a curse, Lewis scooped handfuls of snow against the red-hot letter. Even if Paarthurnax had not been teaching him Dovahzul, he could have suspected the meaning of the rune: Kin Slayer.

"One does not consume the Soul of the World Eater without consequences," chuckled Alduin. "And your little witch did not even dream of the possibility of anything happening different from her… what was the word… VID-EE-Oh game?"

The Time-Curtain rent in twain, and suddenly Lewis could hear the voice of Felldir the Old: coming from all those eons ago:

"HOLD Alduin on the Wing, Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard!

Be gone, world-Eater! By words with older bones than your own, we break your perch on this age and send you out.

You are banished, Alduin, we shout out from all our endings unto the last!"

Then the vision faded, and Alduin's smiling face reappeared.

"I am the World-Eater, brother. It is my destiny to consume this world, at the end of Time and Days. Did you think you were going to end me with a sword? Or that I was JUST another dovah to kill? JUST another soul to consume?"

"I was destined to defeat you!" Llewellyn Dragonborn replied, feeling the fire in his blood. "The End is not today, wyrm! MUL QAH DIIV!"

Alduin looked unimpressed at the Dragonborn's defiance, even as the Dragon Aspect wound its magical flames around his form.

"As long as I live," Lewis continued, "Your soul is imprisoned within ME. And I will not die this day."

"It shall not be tomorrow, either, Little Brother," he shrugged. "With the souls of our brethren that you have consumed, you are destined to live far beyond the allotted years of Man. But try as they might, no man lives forever."

The serpentine head moved in front of Lewis, and the grin now vanished.

"And on that day, my and our brothers' souls shall be freed!"

Lewis stood unphased, staring down the firstborn Son of Akatosh.

"It will still take you hundreds of years to regain your physical forms."

"Thousands, Dovahkiin," Alduin clarified. "But what is a few millennia to the Favorite Children of Akatosh? Know this, DRAGONGBORN: In the long run… you have failed. STRUN BAH QO!"

The Storm call shook the heavens, and lightening began streaking down around the two figures.

"THIS WORLD SHALL BURN."

Alduin lifted his head and sent a pillar of flame into the sky, and then looked back to Lewis, the smug grin returning.

"And I thank our Father that I shall see it all through your eyes. I will feel your despair as you watch everything you have carefully built, guarded, and hoarded turn to ashes and dust between your fingers."

"ENOUGH!" Lewis called out, "Your words are empty as your soul, Tyrant."

"You call me Tyrant," Alduin mused, "And yet you accumulate power and riches, attempting to control the very winds and Tide of Time.

Alduin bent his head and fixed one dark eye upon Lewis.

"Perhaps you are a true dovah, after all."

Lewis lifted a hand to summon a Spectral Blade, but instead saw a leathery wing instead. Horrified, he looked down to see his form burning away, skin and flesh replaced by hard scale. Hands turned to wings, and when Lewis opened his mouth to scream, a dragon's roar sounded instead.

"LEWIS!"

*RORICKSTEAD*
WHITERUN HOLD
SKYRIM

Llewellyn Dragonborn shot awake, hand grasping for the blade by the bed. Hands caught at his wrist and for a moment there was a fierce struggle.

"Lewis!"

The voice and the sight of Sarai Gellarus, Arch-Mage of Winterhold, slowly brought him back to the present. It was only then that he noticed the drawn Blade of Woe held against her throat.

"I'm… sorry," he stammered quickly dropping the blade onto the floor. "I'm… sorry."

"It's OK, love," she murmured, holding him close. "I'm here… I'm here."

Strong, weathered, scarred arms wrapped around her, and the High King of Skyrim buried his head between her breasts.

"I've got you," Sarah murmured again. "Shhh… my love."

"Alduin again," Lewis sighed. "Taunting me with more deaths."

"They're just visions, dearest," she replied quickly, cupping his head in her hands. "They. Are. Not. Real."

"I can't do this, Sarah," the boy from Texas half-sobbed, "I'm… so... tired... I never wanted to be a hero. I can't be what they need me to be."

"Shhh… shhh…" Sarah soothed, pulling him down onto the furs next to her. "You don't need to be anyone else, darling. Just be with me, right now. Be with me…"

Author's Note:

More deviations and more secrets from Team "Preserve the Timeline."

I am writing and editing the upcoming showdown, but I thought I'd rather post this short tidbit to keep my promise of regular updates.

As always, your thoughts /suggestions/constructive criticisms are welcome in the review section below! I love hearing from you all, and those alerts make my day!

ROCK ON, MY FRIENDS!

-Tusken1602

Reviewer Responses:

METALHELLSPWN, shadow wolf 501, jdboss1, artembesmiley, Guest – There will be blood. There will be sacrifices… and surprises.

JimmyHall24, Not Revan, Inuyoukai52 – I have plans for Tala x Serana, not to worry. *chuckles.

rc48177 – And Slaanesh is also chuckling, I have no doubt.

Guest – I try to keep my Necromancy to an absolute minimum as a parent.

NotRevan – Thanks! I got tired of all the stories having a LawfulGood Dragonborn "The One Who Can Do No Wrong." I read those stories and just thought, 'Jeez, that'd be annoying after twenty minutes.' And thus the characters of Lewis and Sarah came into being, and the character of Tala was created as a third-party platform to watch them.

Nelkis – Glad I could be there for you! Best of luck with State Testing!

HonorLove – Welcome on board! Hope you'll keep reading and reviewing!

EE-RAH!