Valor
The Crow's stared at him from the branches, their red eyes would haunt the best of men, yet not him. Valor had dealt with many like these, even though he may not have realized it at the time.
There were dozens, yet they were divided and leaderless, each bowing to the great eye before them. But Valor looked away, he was no longer drawn in curiosity or fear, he was not scared anymore. And even as the tree darkened and began to die, he still felt no different, his eyes wandering the world around him.
It looked like Skyrim, as the trees were in the beginning were the same color as the ones in the Rift, multi-colored and beautiful. Yet the more time that went by, he noticed that the trees were dying, and the land had suffered. He could hear the distant crackle of flames, and the faint voices of ones far away.
And then he felt something in his hand, and looked down to see the one thing he wanted to stay away from as long as possible. Konahrik's blade, Dragonfire; was in his hands. And his body suddenly was out of his control, as he walked to the dying trees and cut them down with one swing each. Down they fell, while he continued until the forest was almost fully destroyed, except for only a few in the distance.
His sword fell from his hands, and he heard the sound of fire burning flesh as it thudded against the cold dirt. He reached down to grab it, yet when his hands touched the hilt he felt a burning sensation. Valor recoiled, and took a few paces backwards. He tried again a few moments afterwards, but his hand only burned even more.
May he be rewarded for his service, as I am.
The voice of Miraak had been gone for some time, but now it had returned. Valor had never thought he would have to see him again. Miraak's involvements in his dreams prior to the battle were extensive, but this was different. This dream so far had not been like the others.
The, finally Valor's hands gripped the hilt of the blade without a searing pain. He lifted the blade from the ground, and held it upright, staring at it suspiciously. He could hear voices whispering in his head at that moment, dark and terrible voices filled with hate, remorse, regret, and suffering. Then Valor himself felt his mind darken, and he felt just as sad and alone as the voices. Help us! Help us! They shouted, yet Valor could do nothing, only stare into the blade.
"He is always watching." A voice called out to the Last Dragonborn. "You think you have won, that you have evaded his plans, but you are wrong. He will never stop trying to find you, he will never fail. He sees the future and the past, what will happen and what could be. He knows all; you will never be safe again."
Then Valor felt an unimaginable pain and fell to his knees. Nothing had struck him, yet his body had reacted as if something did. It took a while for him to look upward and see Miraak standing down at him, no longer the ethereal spirit like before, but made of flesh. And Valor's blade was gone, he felt defenseless.
"What has fallen upon me will pass to you as well, Dragonborn. For our lord never forgives, and never forgets. If you sue for his knowledge then you have already sealed your own fate. Surrender and you shall earn his clemency, or else you have given up hope for your future."
"Mora has earned no further servitude from myself, tell him he may find a new champion to serve him." Valor replied.
"You thought as I do Dragonborn, yet even one like you must realize that Hermaeus Mora's tentacles will forever keep you in his grasp. I thought I could be rid of him, to end my service to him without fulfilling my end of the bargain of immense knowledge; I was a fool, but not as much as you. If you try to run he will chase you, if you try to hide he will find you, and if you try to fight he will kill you."
"Do you wish to convince me to surrender? Be off then, I will not stoop so low as to pledge my body and soul to one who holds his loyalty so cheaply. Tell Lord Mora that if he wishes to earn back my service, he may ask." Valor seemed to spit at Miraak, who stood in silence.
"Your arrogance in your abilities is what will earn you the same fate as I. If you were wiser you would beg for his forgiveness, you would pledge your blade to him forever, to walk his halls and libraries in his service till the sun dies and Nirn has fallen. Till Akatosh lay defeated and the divines destroyed, till the Daedra are accursed and forbidden to hold the souls of the foolish. If you wish to follow in my footsteps then you will only give Mora victory. He is a fickle master, and you and I both chose unwisely to pledge our service to him, but the past is irreversible. You are the Last Dragonborn, the final member of our kind; you must choose to act as the wise would."
"How would the wise act in my situation?" Valor asked.
"The opposite of what you hope to achieve is what the wise would tell you. Running will end in your death, hiding will end in your death, and fighting will end in your death. But if you choose to surrender and sue for his forgiveness, then you will evade the destiny fate has given you."
"You once said fate decreed that you would live and I would die, why should I believe anything you or 'fate' has anything to say?" Valor said.
"You think you are wise by questioning me, yet you only spiral further and further into the pit Hermaeus Mora has arranged for you. Fate has a crude way or arranging things, but nothing may stop it, should you choose to flee and challenge the will of Mora, it will only end in your death and the deaths of your loved ones."
"You speak nonsense, I will not pledge my loyalty to Mora anymore. That is final!"
Miraak seemed frustrated, as if he was truly trying to help the Dragonborn. He didn't say anything as it happened, he just faded away, and the rest of the world went with him. Valor was alone in the darkness; he felt cold, but didn't do anything about it, he just panned his head side to side to see if anything was around him. But he was unsuccessful, as all that was with him was the music of silence.
"Perhaps a glimpse of the future is what you desire." Another voice called out, yet this one was not Miraak, it sounded more threatening, like royalty, or divine. Then he saw a dragon come to him through the darkness, and while it landed it said, "Time is short, Dragonborn; enjoy it while you can, for something worse is coming. Something that will shape Tamriel's fate forever."
And the dragon went away, and instead he saw images flash by, many unrecognizable, yet others easy to understand. He heard the whispers again, instead this time they said, Sons of Dragons…Dragonborn. Over and over, while Valor looked at the scenes before him.
First he saw the blue palace of Solitude, a sight Valor had not laid his eyes upon in the longest of time. Yet something was wrong, and he saw a shadow above it, along with the sound of screams, the sound of a dagger leaving its scabbard, and a hand wrought in blood. He wanted to turn away, but he simply couldn't.
Then a cold wind passed over him, and Valor could hear the sound of thousands of soldiers marching, their boots beating against eh dirt. He could hear the call of the sea and men raising the sails, heading for war. Then the sound of wood burning, the clash of steel mingled with the cries of women and children. He could the sound of dragons and the crackle of dragonfire. Along with the battle-cries of warriors ready for battle.
Then, he saw the Dragonborn before him, all of them. First was Miraak with his mask, then St. Alessia, along with many of the Septim rulers. He saw unknown Dragonborn as well, full of people he had never heard of or seen before, that were forgotten in history due to their absence of heroic deeds. They all stared at him, some with approval, others with disappointment, and even a few with disgust.
Sons of Dragons…Dragonborn…
"Do not sue for peace and forgiveness, for that is what your master wishes of you. Fight, for it was always your true destiny from the beginning." The dragon said in the common tongue. "Now do you understand why you must fight?"
"The true war is coming." Valor said for him.
He had awoken during midday, his visions was blurry at first, and he was not sure where he was, but yet he knew he had been asleep or unconscious for a while, as nothing looked familiar to him. He tried to remember anything after he had defeated Konahrik, yet nothing popped into his head. He could hear voices around him, and he slowly turned his head. He could tell at that moment that he was on a bed inside a tent.
"The Emperor would be happy to know that the Dragonborn had come as well; you all should make plans to-!" Said a figure that looked like Legate Rikke, but stopped speaking when she noticed Valor had awoken.
"Legate! I didn't even notice you had awoken." Rikke said in amusement, while Valor tried to rise from his bed. He felt drained of energy, yet not in pain like he thought he would be.
Then he heard the voice of Serana right next to him, "What?" she said, until Valor turned his head to see her astonished face. She somehow had not noticed before that he was awake.
Her upper body lunged forward as if she had been pushed, yet the only thing that she did was connect their lips very quickly afterwards. Legate Rikke began to roll her eyes, yet Valor was not complaining. How long have I been out?
When she withdrew, Serana tried not to smile, but was failing miserably. She seemed genuinely glad to see him, which was something that made Valor feel good about himself. Someone cares whether I live or die, that can't be said about the rest of Skyrim.
"How long have I been asleep?" Valor asked.
"Asleep isn't the word, more like unconscious." Rikke began, "It's been two days since the battle, and this one here hasn't left your side since." She pointed to Serana.
"It seems you awoke at a good time, legate; Prince Vaeril's funeral will be in maybe a week." Rikke began, "Not only that, but it will be in Cyrodiil."
"How are we going to get to Cyrodiil in a week?" Valor asked.
"Horses, fast ones." Rikke said, and left Valor alone with Serana in the tent.
Valor turned to look at Serana, who seemed filled with joy and excitement. She's so happy…I don't think I have ever seen her like this before.
"You seem excited." Valor said plainly.
She smiled and grabbed her wooden chair and dragged it further towards Valor's bed, staring at him all the while. Valor didn't say anything, although a smirk was on his face. That said enough to Serana however.
"I am excited." Serana said, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know, just never seen you like this before." Valor replied.
"Oh," Serana's smirk went away, replaced by a saddened look. "I guess you're so accustomed to seeing me complain about being lonely, and looking sad that my parents hate each other and probably hate me too. Sorry if I surprised you."
"Wait…what?" Valor had an utterly confused expression on his face, not only that, but he felt incredibly stupid for some reason. Wait…is she sad now…or pretending? Cause it's very convincing.
Her smile came again, "Wow, I must be a good actor."
"Perhaps you can perform in plays for the Emperor when we are in Cyrodiil." Valor said.
"What's Cyrodiil like?" Serana asked. "I've never been there."
"Big, lots of forests, and the people sound awfully similar. Everyone's voice sounds alike is what I mean. Not only that, but it was destroyed pretty badly during the Great War, ever since then it hasn't been the same." Valor replied.
"Oh, sounds interesting." Serana replied, her face looking more serious. "Is there anything you want to talk about? Maybe what happened during the fight?"
Valor didn't want to talk about it, as he wanted the memory to be gone from his head. He never wanted to remember the struggle, and think of the pain he had felt when he dueled the last Dragon Priest, and when he defeated him with the help of Miraak. "No."
"You sure?"
"I won, that's all you need to know." Valor said, sounding harsher than he had meant to. Serana gave up, slightly taken aback, and leaned into her chair. Valor wanted to take the words back and say it less harsh.
"Sorry, I just don't want to talk about it." Valor said. As much as he would like others to revel in his glory, he would prefer for that memory to be wiped away. If it were up to him, he would forget everything about Konahrik or the battle, especially the return of Miraak.
"It's fine, you didn't want to talk about it, that's all I need to know." Serana tried to smile, "We should get ready to leave, we won't get to Cyrodiil by just sitting here."
And it was then that a few hours later they were off upon their horses, heading for the seat of the Imperial Empire. Valor wondered what the Emperor would say when he met him, or what he would do.
Another Valor chapter, what a surprise! I hope that you guys at least like reading about him, as he is my personal fav character.
Not much, but its something. Didn't write in several days due to homework, so that's my reason for not updating.
Hope you guys at least enjoyed it, I did. Always nice to write anything about Serana, and I like writing about those dreams too.
Hope you guys enjoyed!
(No quote today, as I am too lazy to find one).
