"Gein-Wo-Los-Pogaan!" a booming voice called out in the inky darkness that Erik opened his eyes to after he passed out.
Seconds later, a high-pitched, ringing roar that pierced the silence that followed, and before him rose a creature unlike all others.
It was a hydra, with three heads, a small body, and two, massive wings that would have blown Erik away if it weren't a dream.
But this was more than a dream.
That voice spoke words of power, words to a shout like none other.
But the meaning of these words were lost to Erik.
They made sense, "One who is many", but the deeper meaning behind them, the one that would unlock their use, it was like they were hidden behind a veil.
In that moment, Erik's eyes opened, and he was once again propped up on the half-buried word wall with Paarthurnax above him, like a watchful protector.
"Ahh, Dovahkiin, you have woken." The Dragon spoke as Erik began to stand. "The other two were taken to the monastery by the Greybeards. They wished to speak to them."
"They aren't about to kick Delphine out, are they?"
"Krosis, I do not know. I advised against it, Arngeir was furious to have another outsider here."
"Yeah, I'm sure he isn't too happy with me either."
"Krizaan. I could see the fire of your Thu'um from my perch. You've grown into your power, Dovahkiin."
"That reminds me," Erik said as he picked his shield up from besides him and walked to a spot near the entrance to Paarthurnax's domain.
It felt, wrong. Like it wasn't supposed to exist. It shimmered and shifted like a mirage, but even when Erik was close, he could still see it.
"How do I defeat Alduin? The Tongues of Old, they used a shout, right?"
"Geh, nust drey." The Dragon answered. "It would not help you, however. The First Tongues did not defeat Alduin with a shout, they did it with the Dovah kel."
"The Dragon Elder Scroll?"
"Yes. They believed what they accomplished banished the World Eater from Nirn, but all they did was send him forward in time."
Erik's heart dropped, the words the Dragon spoke made him realize, he was wrong.
"This war didn't bring Alduin to Skyrim." Erik mumbled as he looked up. "It only signaled his return."
"Indeed." Paarthurnax confirmed. "The ones who made the prophecy of the Last Dragonborn, they were not trying to stop Alduin's return, simply trying to warn those who would listen."
"Guess I have someone an apology to make then." Erik sighed. "In any case, what do we do then? I'm not about to hunt down an Elder Scroll, it would take too much time, and I've wasted enough of it."
"If you wish to defeat Alduin, you must do what the Tongues could not, and fight him." The Dragon replied. "You must do it now, as Alduin's forces have nearly reconstructed the portal to Sovngarde that he once held."
"What? Why didn't you tell me he had a damn portal to Sovngarde?"
"You were too concerned with the safety of your Kaaz, and you were too weak to face the World-Eater." The Dragon pointed out, Erik would almost smirk, but Paarthurnax spoke on. "If Alduin regains access to Sovngarde, he will be unstoppable. The souls lost in this war will feed him, and make him fat with strength."
"Get the others then. I can't waste any more time." Erik acknowledged.
Paarthurnax nodded and flapped his mighty wings to lift himself off the ground before he dove towards the Greybeards' temple.
It wasn't long before he rose back up with his two companions on his back.
"You think you can actually take him?" Delphine asked as she got off the dragon and helped M'rissi. "Can you actually kill Alduin?"
"Do I have a choice?" Erik asked. "Alduin nearly has a portal to Sovngarde, if he gets that portal active, I won't be able to stop him."
"Okay, well, what do we do?"
"M'rissi, find a perch up top, something with good cover and a good view."
"She will protect you from the black dragon!" M'rissi nodded and, with her bow and quiver, began to climb the mountain.
"What will we do?" Delphine asked.
"You got a shield?"
"Do I look like I have a shield?"
"Fair enough." Erik shrugged. "You got a ward?"
"I know how to use a greater ward, but that's about it."
"Damn it. You'd still be fried if you got hit with a breath attack." Erik sighed. "How fast are you?"
"Fast enough."
"I sure as hell hope so. We're going to have to be up close. I can draw his frontal attacks, make sure he doesn't focus on you. Watch out for those wings, if you get hit, you're as good as dead."
"How will even call him here? It's not like we can send a courier to the World-Eater."
"When a Dragon is named, it is given three words that best fit its accomplishments. Some Dragons may remain unnamed for centuries." Erik explained as he walked past the woman before him. "Those same words can be used as words of power, to call the dragon to you." The Dragonborn took a deep breath.
This is what he's trained for. What he was born for.
"Al-Du-In!"
It felt like hours passed, maybe it was only a single hour, maybe even a few minutes.
But when the foul Alduin's wretched cries rang out across the top of the Throat of the world, Erik steeled himself for the battle to come.
Though his body may still ache from his fight with Isael, though his heart raced and his mind filled with worries and fear, there was one thing that remained.
This is my duty, as Dragonborn, as lover, as a son of Skyrim.
Soon, the black dragon's shadow passed overhead, and landed before the Nordic warrior.
"So, you've finally come to challenge me?"
Erik seethed and drew his sword and aimed its tip to the World-Eater.
"Hin rel do maar oblaan het, Alduin!" Erik declared as he readied himself. "Naal trir do dii tuz, hin hil fen kos kinz, ahrk hi fen mah!"
Alduin let out a chuckle and lowered himself to the Dragonborn's level.
"Grik Pahlok. Not only do you claim the name of Dovah, but you celebrate my death before I have even bled?" Alduin scowled. "Yol-Toor-Shul!" The dragon spoke before M'rissi could pop up and fire her bow, his eyes shut, her arrow bounced off of his thick scales.
Erik reacted as fast as he could and hunkered down behind his shield as the bright blue flames passed over him.
He could feel the heat, even through the protective enchantments and resistances of his armor, were it not for his shield, he'd have died from that one shout.
Delphine rushed in and slid her blade, specialized for slaying Alduin's species, through the scales and managed to draw the World-Eaters blood and cut the stream of fire short.
He screeched, and moved to attack Delphine, but Erik rose and charged the dragon. He slashed the Alduin's wings, but it wasn't enough to cripple the dragon.
"Fus-Ro-Dah!" Alduin shouted.
This was not a force that Erik could weather.
The Unrelenting Force flung Erik off the mountain, towards his certain death.
"Erik!" M'rissi cried out, and Paarthurnax dove towards the falling Dragonborn, but he would be too slow.
The Dragonborn closed his eyes, and those moments, his life flashed before him, and a realization came to him.
One who is many.
Erik wasn't just fighting for the fate of himself, or his lover with this battle. The fate of Skyrim, the fate of the world depended on the outcome of this fight!
The shout that was given to him, the image that he saw, it wasn't just for him! The "many", was the world that Erik was left to defend!
"Gein-Wo-Los-Pogaan!" Erik exclaimed. The moment the last word of the shout was uttered, a light as bright as the sun took Erik's place. It consumed him, and when it faded, a beast like no other replaced him.
It was a dragon, far bigger than most, with three, long necks, scales as black and jagged as Alduin's that covered hos body and formed the shape of crowns at the top of each head.
Around it, the hydra seemed to give off a golden, ethereal glow.
The beast flapped its mighty wings before it hit the first rock that would have spelled the Dragonborn's death, and began to circle the mountain.
As it got to the top and met Alduin once again, this time with mighty, screeching roars and claws as it grabbed Alduin like a passing Dovah would snatch a guard off his post.
The hydra held the World Eater while two of the heads latched onto both of his wings, and the center head unleashed its fire breath, that burned as blue as the sky!
"What in the nine?" Delphine exclaimed as the two Dovah began fighting over dominance.
"The Dragonborn has gained a new form, it seems." Paarthurnax commented as he landed. "Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I'd have thought it were some twisted brother of mine."
"That thing, it's Erik? Erik lives?" M'rissi asked as she came down from her perch.
"It seems so." The Dragon confirmed as the hydra wrapped two of its heads and its long tail around Alduin and began to dive.
Just before they both hit the ground, the hydra that took Erik's place released the World-Eater, and let him crash into the ground below the mountain as it landed and faced Alduin once more.
"Did you think I would die so easily?" The Dragonborn asked as he rose and spread his wings to assert dominance.
"How did you get that form?" Alduin growled.
The Dragonborn didn't answer, because he didn't have one. Instead, he charged Alduin again, but this time, instead of a sword, he used his Thu'um to strike at Alduin.
Fire, Ice, and Lightning shot from each head, three shouts at once.
Alduin tried to fight back, he even managed to rip one of the heads off, but two more grew back in its place, giving this new form a fourth head and spelling his end.
But, before Erik could deliver a fatal blow, the World-Eater, seeing his defeat, fled and retreated to Skuldafn and left Erik to return to the Throat of the World and return to his human form.
"Alduin fled?" Paarthurnax asked as the Dragonborn fell to his knees, strained from the Draconic Hydra shout. "Did you let him?"
"No." Erik replied and looked up as M'rissi rushed to his side and helped him up. "The coward saw his death and left."
"Did he now?" Paarthurnax almost smirked. "You sent the World-Eater running. Your Thu'um is much stronger than I thought, Dragonborn."
"The hell do we do now?" Delphine asked. "Looks like that shout took a lot out of you."
"It did." Erik groaned. "We'll have to return to the Greybeards and rest. Afterwards, we track Alduin down."
"Tol fen ni kos buruk. If Alduin fled, he went to Skuldafn, the place of his portal to Sovngarde."
"And that would be…where?"
"The Velothi Mountains, between Skyrim and Morrowind. Rest, and come back when you are ready to travel."
"Alduin's followers would let you through?" Delphine asked as M'rissi and Erik started for the Greybeards temple.
"In any normal circumstance, no. However, this is no normal circumstance. Alduin has threatened his position as leader by fleeing." Paarthurnax said as he turned to face the eastern borders of Skyrim. "This development was unexpected. The only being known to have the power to create such a shout that Erik used…"
"Would be Akatosh himself." Delphine finished and sheathed her sword. "Do you think it was him?"
"Til lost kosaan zurnuniik truk. There have been stranger things." Paarthurnax sighed. "I just hope Far-Giver does not let this victory go to his head."
"If it's one thing I've learned about Erik, the only thing he lets go to that head of his is that Khajiit tail." She laughed, and Paarthurnax joined her.
"That could not be truer. But, she gives him the strength he needs." The Dragon replied and crawled onto his perch. "What happened with the elf, he's accepted his path. His power will only grow, and with that, his pride, unless the Kaaz can keep him in check."
"Please, she has him wrapped around her finger. There's no way she'd let him go down a path that would turn him into something like Alduin."
"Vrah." Paarthurnax nodded. "You should go back to the temple."
"Thank you for your help." Delphine nodded and went to catch up with the pair.