Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form hold any ownership over the inheritance cycle book series nor Skyrim or its various DLCs and mod authors, they are the property of Christopher Paolini, Bethesda Softworks, and the various mod authors. I in no way shape or form shall gain any monetary or non-monetary rewards for authoring this work of fiction outside of any good emotions originating from said authorship. If either Bethesda, Paolini or the mod makers have an issue with me writing this please PM me, please allow me a week or two to get back to you as I don't check my email often.
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Levos woke early to an annoying itch upon his face. Sadly there wasn't much that he could do about it as it was caused by the early morning sun falling on his face. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to sleep and that it would likely be another few hours until Eragon awoke Levos decided to go and watch the sunrise, even if it made him uncomfortable he could still appreciate its beauty.
Levos found himself a comfortable place to sit to watch the sun. As he cast his gaze east he cast his mind back. He had seen many similar sunrises when on campaign with the Stormcloaks. He thought back to when he had first joined them. Galmars thinly veiled insults should have been the first thing to tell him that it was a bad idea.
He was so angry with the empire that he had managed to blind himself to their obvious flaws. That turned out to be one of the worst mistakes of his life. He had managed to pass the rather unorthodox entry test with little effort and was then off to retrieve the jagged crown for Ulfric. Thinking back on that mission he fondly recalled his friend Ralof, though they were never assigned to the same unit fate seemed to have a way of shoving them together. Levos grimaced as he recalled the end of that mission.
"I should've taken that damnable crown and joined the empire then and there" He muttered to himself.
He had rushed with haste back to Ulfric to give him the crown, but when he was leaving the palace he took a detour to the grey quarter, he had overheard some soldiers talking about it and was curious. When he arrived he was horrified, the slum-like conditions, blatant bigotry and generally terrible conditions had caused a crisis of faith, his belief in Ulfric was shaken to the core.
That was when he had taken leave from the army, he had travelled to Whiterun to fulfil Ralofs request of warning the Jarl about the dragon threat. It wasn't long after that when his destiny was revealed. He had thrown himself into his destiny after that, following the teachings of the greybeards he eventually reconsolidated his faith in the Stormcloaks. It was just after he had raided the Thalmor embassy that he returned to Windhelm and resumed the fight.
After nearly a year of war and some side adventures along the way, they had won Skyrim. It was then that Ulfrics true agenda revealed itself. Ulfric began to implement radically oppressive policies against the mer and beastfolk of Skyrim. That was when Levos left the Stormcloaks for good, in a deep well of depression he threw himself into mercenary work, using the gold to satisfy his draconic side, as by that point it was the only source of joy he could find. But his love for gold grew too great and he eventually joined the thieves guild, he revelled in the larceny, eventually establishing himself as the guild master. But it was when he was on a job in Windham when he heard about a boy named Aventus Aretino. when he stood over the body of Grelod the kind and heard Constances' screams, that was when he saw how far he had fallen. After that he fled to the College of Winterhold, he threw himself into his studies. That was when he got an idea that he believed saved Skyrim. he created a spell, he spent weeks refining and adapting it before he eventually perfected it. He then snuck into Ulfrics bedchambers and cast it on the jagged grown. The next morning Ulfric repealed all his oppressive laws. Levos had made Ulfric a puppet king to his own will. And it made him feel unclean. Sure there were other adventures in there that others would say salvaged his honour: becoming Harbinger of the companions, Slaying Alduin and eradicating the Volkihar vampire clan came to mind easily, but his mind always went back to that spell he cast on Ulfric, and he always felt guilty for it, no matter how much good it did.
HArbinger, Guildmaster, Dovahkiin, Archmage, last Dragonborn, champion of the Daedra, destroyer of the dark brotherhood, loving husband and father. He truly had many titles, but all he really wanted was the last one. He just wanted to be able to raise Sofie and Lucia and live with Aela in a peaceful land where he wasn't constantly being called away on an adventure to some faraway land. Levos could feel his eyes begin to ache as he remembered his wife and daughters, he wondered what they were doing now. They were probably just waiting for him to come home, even though he wasn't even sure he'd make it home this time.
The sudden realization that he may never see his wife and children again filled him with an indescribable sense of loneliness. Then he steeled his will, he would find a way home, he would see them again, he would not lose hope, even if it took all of his immortal life he would find a way home just as soon as this war was over.
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After Levos had finished contemplating his life with the sunrise he decided to descend to the bottom of the tree and meditate for a while. It wasn't often that he prayed for Julianos' wisdom but now he needed his guidance more than ever. However, his prayer was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Eragon looked down at him before saying "we should probably head out now, my teacher is going to be waiting at the cliffside".
So off they went, walking in silence as Eragon lead them and Levos continued to marvel at the Elven architecture. Once they did reach the cliffside through Levos grew rather confused as they seemed to be alone and he had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, but he quickly noticed that Eragon had that weird expression on his face that he got whenever he was talking with a voice in his head. Somewhere between putting effort in and a mild feeling of confusion. After a moment though Levos heard a loud thump and he suddenly recognized the feeling. It was the same rush that he felt whenever another dragon was near.
Levos burst into action, believing that Galbatorix and his dragon had managed to track them down. He quickly cast ebony flesh upon himself before summoning a bound bow and knocking an arrow. Eragon seemed shocked by his actions and he began to speak but was drowned out by the continual thumping sound of wings. As soon as Levos could see the dragon he drew and aimed, but then he paused, as he saw that rather than the pitch-black scales he was expecting they were a rather iridescent gold. Levos lowered his bow slightly as the rash faded and the dragon didn't seem all that keen to attack them as it landed in front of them and sat back on its haunches.
That was when Eragon walked towards Levos, who was still stunned seeing the aged elven man from the day before slide off of the dragons back. Eragon quickly explained, "I'm sorry for lying but we had to keep Oromis-Eldas identity a secret, I'm not the last free dragon rider, there are two of us."
It took Levos a moment recover from the shock and dismiss his bow, in that time the old man, now identified as Oromis, drew closer and placed a comforting hand on Levos' shoulder before saying "Here, for now just follow me, we'll explain everything back at my home."
Oromis and Eragon lead Levos over to the golden dragon before they mounted the creature and flying away. Levos still being rather stunned didn't remember much of the flight, but had his mental faculties back in order by the time they landed. Eragon showed Levos into the nearby hut while Oromis made a large pot of tea. Once they had all sat down Oromis began by saying "I'm sure you have any questions, ask what you wish."
And with that, they spent many hours deep in conversation as levos attempted to learn as much as he could about the history of Alaegsia and what another dragon rider existing meant for the future, in return, however, Levos laid out all he knew about his world, although he did avoid some more, unsavoury, details about his personal history.
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It was many hours, and more than a few pots of tea, later when they left the hut, they were all rather curious about the effects that the magic of their separate worlds would have on each other. They set up multiple experiments and the conclusions always seemed the same, they didn't affect each other. While Eragon had no way to defend against Levos' magical attacks, Levos, in turn, had no way to defend against Eragons'. As such Eragon offered to make an enchanted ring for Levos which would defend against most magical attacks that he might suffer, at the cost of draining his energy. Levos, not being one to turn down free help, agreed. It didn't take very long considering the simplicity of the enchantment.
Levos' greatest advantage against the magic of Alaegsia it seemed was something he had no control over. One of a magician's greatest abilities is their skill in breaking into the mind of others, however, as Oromis put it 'I pity the fool who attempts to invade his mind' as it appeared that the hundreds of dragon souls he had absorbed over the years were very territorial and very willing to protect his mind.
After all, this was said and done however Levos was dismissed and shown a path back to Ellesmera, for Eragon had training to do.
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Once Levos arrived back at the rider treehouse he found his belongings laid out on a table, rearming himself and donned a tunic before setting out to wander and take in the majesty of Ellesmera some more.
After wandering for a while he began to hear the sounds of battle. Worried that they were under attack he rushed towards the sounds of clashing steel. But as he began to arrive he slowed his pace as he heard laughing as well. Eventually, he arrived and saw, not a battle, but rather a training field. He found his way to some benches and sat, watching the elves with interest as they sparred.
The more he watched the more interested he became. Much of Skyrim relied upon the brute strength to simply batter and bash their opponents into submission. However, the elves here were all quick and flighty. They struck quickly, their blades like flickering serpents as they trained and duelled. It wasn't long before one of the younger elves sauntered up and loudly announced his presence "So, the so-called dragon slayer has come to watch true warriors has he?" the elf said snidely. Already Levos was beginning to dislike the boy.
Levos simply stood up and responded by saying "I care not for your tone. You are correct, I was a dragon slayer in my world but I am not one as long as I am within this world."
"Oh yeah, well then. Shall we put that to the test big man?" The rude elf asked.
"If you insist, However, please tell me your name first, I prefer to know the name of my opponents," Levos responded, already growing annoyed by the boys implied insults and cockiness.
"I am Vanir" The elf introduced himself.
Levos simply hmm'd before walking out into an unoccupied battlefield and drawing his blade and bowing mockingly. Vanir was clearly annoyed as he whipped his blade out of his sheath before approaching.
As he walked up, Levos surreptitiously cast ebony flesh to protect himself. once Vanir was in range he began swinging wildly, appearing to believe that sheer speed could compensate for a lack of skill. Levos skillfully blocked each of the strikes. Levos' hope that he could tire the boy out using an unbreakable defence appeared to be in vain as the boy wasn't slowing at all. As a result, Levos changed up his strategy and quickly swung his sword to intercept Vanirs' blade mid-swing causing him to stumble. From there Levos swung overhead driving Vanir to the ground with the strength of his swing. However, Levos was rather surprised when he felt a sudden wave of force hit him as Vanir shouted out in what Levos could now recognize the ancient language. The wave of force knocked Levos off his footing, allowing Vanir to stand up and rush forward.
'So that's how we're playing this. This ought to be entertaining.' Levos though before dropping his guard. Levos began to charge a shock spell, he kept it at the Novice level shock spell, not wanting to hurt the lad.
After a second he began the stream of bright blue lightning. Seeing it Vanir jumped back looking shocked. They soon attracted more attention when he continued the stream of lightning, forcing Vanir back. Levos quickly dashed forwards and held his blade to Vanirs' throat.
The elf boy raised his hands to yield. Although it took a moment Levos noticed that nearly the entirety of the training field was staring at them. Levos quickly sheathed his blade and walked away slightly sheepishly.
It wasn't long until he arrived back at Eragon's treehouse, where he sat down and began to organize his things.
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Hey, I'm about to go into exams so I figured that I should get this posted before then. I hope you enjoyed. Please review.