Previously on the Legend of Varion…
Varion successfully retrieved the Elder Scroll and after some dealings with a demon, made his way to the Throat of the World once again. He read the scroll and learned Dragonrend from the ancient nordic heroes, the shout used to ground Alduin in the past. However, upon returning to the present, Alduin has arrived to challenge him and with more anger in his heart, Varion prepares to fight his destined enemy…
Now, back to the story…
"Alduin!" Varion growled savagely, anger dripping from his voice. He gripped his weapon tightly.
""Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!" the black dragon replied simply before charging. However, he was intercepted by Paarthurnax who slammed into the world-eater and sent him falling for a few moments before he regained control over his trajectory. Paarthurnax pursued him, fire roaring from his mouth as the two dragons ascended higher, though Paarthurnax kept the battle within range of Varions eyesight. The dragons went at each other, teeth and claws and shouts being used to try kill each other.
"Varion! Use Dragonrend if you can!" Paarthurnax shouted. Varion braced himself, feeling the shout pulse through him. It was powerful, but more worryingly, it seemed like the greybeards were right. He felt the hatred, the fury, the sheer rage at the dragons, and especially at Alduin. He felt his inner nature roar with him as he shouted.
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" As the pulse of energy hit Alduin, the dragon roared in anger. He dropped from the sky, landing on the mountain. Varion performed a dive roll to avoid the falling beast, then attacked, slashing and cutting as much as he could as Alduin pointlessly tried to fly again, before realising that folly and turning his attention to the Dragonborn. Annoyingly, Alduin was hardly a normal dragon. Varions attacks barely seemed to affect him and even the fire enchantment on his sword seemed more like a nuisance to his foe than an effective boost to his combat strength. Suddenly, Alduin managed to smack his wing/claw/hand into Varion and sent him sprawling along the ground. His sight went blurry for a couple seconds before it cleared and he growled in frustration. "He's fast!" he thought with anger and worry. Alduin had caught him off guard already, and they'd been fighting for less than a minute. Thankfully he hadn't gotten his armour shredded by the dragon's claws ("Thanks Eorlund") and he got back to his feet, gripping his weapon still. He ran forward and attacked again, but before he could make a single slash, Alduin was already airborne.
"You may have picked up the weapons of my ancient foes, but you are not their equal!" the World Eater taunted and Varion only frowned.
"You're right. I'm their better!" he shouted back. He wasn't really sure if he believed that, but better to appear confident than cowardly in the face of impending death. "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" Once again the shout brought Alduin down to earth and Varion resumed his attacks. However, despite his speed while wielding it, the Blade of Whiterun was proving a bit too slow to properly damage Alduin. Usually that wasn't a problem, it's lack of speed was compensated by it's massive damage potential and fire enchantment, but Alduin was taking barely any damage at all. Paarthurnax flew overhead, dousing Alduin in flames with a shout, causing him to take his eyes off Varion for a while to roar in anger and defiance. Varion then proceeded to tense and then ram the Blade of Whiterun into Alduin's neck with as much strength as he could. To his joy, the impalement worked and the sword stayed there, causing Alduin to roar in pain. "That should finish this!" he thought with , the World Eaters anger was then replaced by laughter and before Varion could react, Alduin swung his neck and slammed his head into him, sending him crashing into a snowbank precariously close to the mountains edge. "How?" he muttered as he tried to regain his bearings.
"Foolish. I cannot die here!" Alduin chuckled darkly before drawing breath. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" At his words, a mighty torrent of flame shot towards Varion.
"Feim!" Varion shouted quickly, feeling the familiar ethereal weightlessness come over his body just as the flames hit. Using his moments of invincibility, he quickly got out of the snow bank and ran over to the middle of the area again, away from the deadly drop and away from the stream of fire. He glanced at Alduin and saw his greatsword stuck in his neck. "So, even normally lethal wounds won't kill him that easily" he groaned internally before drawing his new katana. He hadn't yet used it on a dragon since he'd taken it from the Blades temple, but he had read a name on the handle, 'Dragonbane'. The blade sizzled with enchanted energy and Varion grinned darkly at the power he felt from it. He moved closer to Alduin, willed himself to become corporeal again and slashed at his face. While it didn't have the ideal effect of slicing his face in half, it left a visible mark and it appeared to burn with special energy. If Alduin's pained grunt was anything to go by, this blade was a damn sight better for killing dragons. He'd seen it deliver shock damage when using it on the Falmer back in Alftand, but whatever it did to dragons was far deadlier. Varion followed this up with a few more slashes before Alduin took off, sending Varion stumbling backwards from the force of his takeoff. He noticed the blood on the snow and growled darkly with satisfaction, Alduin was being worn down.
"Dragonborn! Do not halt your attack!" Paarthurnax called out as he resumed his battle with Alduin in the sky. Every time Varion brought the World Eater down to the ground, Paarthurnax simply soared overhead, bathing Alduin in fire while he allowed himself to rest. Despite the fact that dragons were immortal, Paarthurnax had sat on a mountain in isolation for thousands of years whereas Alduin was technically as he was during the Dragon War, at the peak of his power. Dragonrend grounded Alduin again and with his new weapon, Varion went in on the attack again. Each strike now drew blood. Varion performed a backwards roll to avoid Alduin's bite attack before standing back up and shouting.
"FUS RO DAH!" At his shout, Alduin buckled, not being blown backwards, but stunned nonetheless. Varion leapt forward and stabbed Alduin in the neck, the opposite side to the Blade of Whiterun. "What's wrong?! Where's your bravado Alduin?!" Varion shouted in anger. "I'll destroy him. I'll break him. If I can't kill him, I'll make him beg me to find a way!" These, and many other hate filled thoughts flooded his mind, his body, his soul. He felt his anger fuel every move he made, giving him extra energy, like an adrenaline rush or a stamina potion. Before Alduin could take off again, he shouted once more and staggered the dragon, grounding him yet again. However, at the fourth time of using the shout, Varion felt something inside of him change, just like it had back at Jorrvaskr. His inner nature roared within him, calling for the death of this dragon, of all dragons, but especially this one. Varion's vision blurred for a moment, but it quickly sharpened again. For a moment, he considered driving his nature back into his subconscious, away from his primary thoughts, but then thought differently. "The only one around is me, the old master, and this bastard. Why the hell not? Let's see where this goes" he thought to himself as he focused on his dragon nature instead of ignoring it. It roared again, but he didn't command it to be silent. Instead, he encouraged it to roar louder, and a strange feeling he'd not felt since the day of Kodlak's death came over him. He fell to his knees as the rush flooded his mind and body, and he began laughing, but in the same sadistic tone he'd used when vowing to destroy the Silver Hand. Alduin regarded him with confusion, which then quickly turned to rage.
"YOU MOCK ME DOVAHKIIN?" Alduin roared in anger before shooting flames from his mouth. Varion leapt to the side, performing a roll back to his feet once he was out of the way.
"Why shouldn't I? You fear me!" he said tauntingly before pointing his sword at Alduin. "And it's a damn good thing you do!"
X-X-X-X-X
The fight continued, even bloodier than ever. As Paarthurnax and Alduin fought tooth and claw in the skies, Varion would battle the World Eater on the ground every time he could knock him down with Dragonrend. Dragonbane was a good blade, leaving actual damage on Alduin and Varion could see, slowly but surely, he was wearing down his enemy. Throughout the battle, Varion was grinning, though if anyone had seen him under his helmet, they'd have likely been scared at the bloodthirsty look it gave off. His dragon nature didn't feel like another presence at the moment, he felt complete and more alive now than he had in days. His swings carried the same force as they had before this change, but he felt less effort was required for each one, like his muscles were invigorated. When the flames of either Alduin or Paarthurnax came a bit too close and hit him a little, he grimaced, but then laughed it off, the pain not bothering him, or at least not as much as it would have before. If anything, it refreshed him more. He rolled to the side to avoid Alduin's fire breath before using the same shout on his enemy, causing the dragon to grimace as the flames roasted his body, though he quickly regained his bearings. The disinterested look Alduin had sported when their fight began had turned into a mask of pure rage, and he went on the attack. Varion threw himself to the ground as Alduin bit forward, before stabbing Dragonbane into the bottom of the dragon's mouth, feeling the blade pierce through. Before Alduin could react with anything beyond a pained roar, Varion tore the blade out of the front of his mouth at the chin, leaving a large bleeding wound on the underside of the dragon's head.
"I see you have become strong!" Alduin admitted begrudgingly and Varion only laughed.
"Strong enough to break you!" he shot back, though Alduin only snorted.
"We shall see!" The World Eater suddenly looked towards the sky and roared. Glancing upwards, Varion's dark grin was now actually replaced with a look of worry. The sky had changed colour to the same hue it had been during Alduin's attack on Helgen, and just like that day, rocks now began falling from the sky. They exploded upon impact with the ground and Varion was forced to dive out of the way of one. Alduin had managed to take off in the carnage and was dueling Paarthurnax yet again. Varion's dragon ally had regained his energy from the long time period Varion had kept him on the ground and was now battling him on equal terms.
"Falling sky rocks? That's actually pretty good!" Varion commented, though he doubted the World Eater would hear him. He shouted with Dragonrend, only for it to hit both Paarthurnax and Alduin. Both dragons fell down to the ground and Varion dived out of the way. He shook his head, getting the snow off of his helmet and glanced apologetically at Paarthurnax. "Sorry!" he called out before lunging at Alduin, delivering a quick stab straight into his tail before cutting downwards, leaving a sizable gash in it. However, the tail was still usable as it whipped around and smashed into Varion, sending him flying. He landed in the snow but rolled for a bit and he felt Dragonbane be torn from his grasp. Despite his confusion and pain at such an impact, he managed to grab hold of a rock and stop himself. He then rolled over onto his back and sat up, quickly drawing breath as he noticed that he was dangerously close to the edge of the mountaintop on the side that had a sheer drop instead of a path. "Damn" he thought to himself with some relief. Even with the anger in his mind and his dragon nature coursing through his soul, he still had some common sense, and being knocked off a mountain would be a pretty embarrassing way to end the fight. He stood back up and shouted. "WULD!" In seconds, he was back in front of Alduin, dodging and rolling out of the path of his attacks while slashing at any opening he found. Despite his nature-driven adrenaline rush, Varion was getting annoyed. "I've been carving away at him for minutes with this special sword and the bastard still won't die!" he growled in complaint, though only internally. His breath was better saved for other words. "FUS RO DAH!" he shouted. Alduin staggered once more and Varion saw an opening. He dodged to the right side of Alduin's head, took his dagger from its sheath and stabbed it into the lower half of Alduin's neck. Before the World Eater could react, Varion jumped onto the dagger with one foot, using it to push himself up on top of Alduin's neck. He felt the dagger snap underneath his weight when he pushed and he grimaced, it has been a good blade. However, the only one he needed was currently in his hand and he stabbed it deep into Alduin's neck. "Paarthurnax! Freeze him!" he called out.
"You will be hit too!" the old Dovah replied and Varion gritted his teeth as he tried to stay on top of Alduin. He'd begun thrashing, trying to knock the stubborn nord off and it was taking all of Varions strength to stay on.
"DO IT!" he roared and he felt the frost of Paarthurnax's shout crash into him and Alduin. It was bitingly cold and for a few moments, Varions body went numb and he feared he'd made a mistake. However, just as his reckless self had predicted, the feeling faded fast and his sense of touch returned, his nordic and werewolf blood doing him a world of good. He laughed with battle lust and tore Dragonbane out of Alduin's neck before using his full power Fire Breath shout. The way the blood inside Alduin's neck sizzled would've sickened a normal man, but it was a beautiful sight to Varion in that moment. He then punched his hand into the wound, lodging it inside before using the strongest shock spell he could muster. Alduin's pained roar indicated that his blood was proving a good conductor and his insides were significantly less resilient than his scaly outer hide. He then leapt forward off of Alduin, performing a forward roll as he hit the ground and getting back to his feet, only stumbling a little from the exhaustion. He may have been feeling amazing, soaking up every second of combat with eagerness and battlelust with anger to fuel his movements, but his body could only take so much and it was beaten badly. Alduin simply remained stationary for a few moments, stunned, and Varion breathed heavily to regain his breath. Suddenly, the World Eater lunged forward with his mouth open to devour Varion and he smirked. "You're mine". With that thought, he took Dragonbane in both hands and rammed it straight through the roof of Alduin's mouth before tearing it out of him by pulling backwards, cutting the dragon's nose clean in half. He stumbled back a few steps and Alduin seemed to almost collapse, resting on his wing-feet/hands in a stunned state. Blood poured from what must have been a hundred wounds. One of his eyes was slashed. The mountaintop was covered in the red blood of a dragon, with a little nord blood mixed in here and there. The blade of Whiterun had fallen out of Alduin's neck a while ago, now lying on the red snow, melting it.
"You are powerful, Dovahkiin. Worryingly so" the World Eater admitted tiredly and Varion felt himself grin darkly at that.
"Glad you realised. Are you ready to keep going? I think there's still some spots on you that aren't bleeding!" he threatened, holding out his sword towards the dragon. He wasn't sure that he could keep going, his body was nearly at it's limit, but he wasn't going to let Alduin know that.
"I am Al-Du-In!" his opponent roared. "First born of Akatosh! Muulagi Zok Lot! I cannot be slain here, by you, or any other! I will live long after you are dead, mortal!" he declared, spitting the last word like it was the greatest insult. Varion simply scoffed.
"I'll make you wish you were dead!" he threatened. Annoyingly, Alduin laughed before suddenly taking flight and heading away from the mountain at speed.
"You have triumphed Varion. A mighty battle was won this day. Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory" Paarthurnax said with pride from where he'd been circling above, having regained his flight a while ago. He seemed wounded too, blood dripped from his wounds, but he still smiled. As Alduin flew away, Varion took a step in the direction of his retreat, stomped his foot and roared. It was a deafening sound, full of anger and pride, and in that moment, it truly sounded like that of a Dovah.
"Run Alduin!" he shouted to the dragon, his nordic battle cry and dragon voice making his words thunder across the land. "Run away and lick your wounds! Do whatever you will to try and heal your broken body! But in every waking moment you have left, know that you lost here and ran! And whenever you feel powerful, arrogant, fearless, I want you to remember the one man who beat you!"
X-X-X-X-X
However, shortly after his message to the retreating World Eater, Varion then clutched a hand to his head in pain and groaned in agony. The high that he'd been riding for the whole battle was gone, and whatever had come over him, his dragon nature or just an unnatural adrenaline rush, was fueling him no longer. He tore his helmet off, tossing it to the side before collapsing to one knee, still holding his head as he felt the anger and battlelust practically be sucked out of him.
"Dovahkiin! What is the matter?" Paarthurnax asked with concern, having landed on the word wall in his usual perch.
"My head… My soul…" he muttered. "I feel…" he trailed off. Now that Alduin was gone, he could think clearly without his every thought having the subtext of 'I will destroy him'. He realised fully what just happened, and his blood went cold.
"Varion?" Paarthurnax inquired again. Varion shakily got to his feet, dropping his sword to the ground.
"I gave into it. My dragon soul, my nature…" he started, still with a hand to his forehead. "It's like a little voice, in the back of my head. My most violent and destructive thoughts, speaking to me from time to time. The urge to destroy, to crush, to dominate, it's brought to the surface" he explained slowly.
"I was afraid that this may have been the case. All dragons have the will to dominate in their blood and soul. As Dragonborn, you no doubt feel the same" the old Dovah said sympathetically.
"I don't want to do those things! Or at least, I don't think I do. How do you hold it back? You don't go out destroying things".
"Overcoming the inner evil one was born with is not an easy task. Some would say that the fact Dragons possess this inborn desire is cause enough to put them down" Paarthurnax replied. Varion laughed bitterly.
"You've got that right. I bet the blades would love it if I put every dragon in the dirt. They'd say it's for the greater good". As he said that, he felt anger burn inside of him again, anger at the dragons. "Maybe they're right. Look at what these bastards are doing to my home…" he thought, clenching his fist.
"What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" Paarthurnax asked simply. Varions anger faded. The old dragon was right. He then thought back to what Arngeir had said earlier and came to a worrying realisation.
"That shout, Dragonrend. The Greybeards were right, it changed me. During that fight with Alduin, all I could think about was killing him, and after him, every other dragon. The hatred that comes with that shout, it's strong. Too strong. I gave into my dragon nature fully, just for the extra chance of killing him" he said, thinking aloud. "And I couldn't even finish the job," he added bitterly.
"Not even the ancient heroes could defeat him in standard combat. You have done something greater, you have shamed him. He lost, and retreated. The other Dovah will have their loyalty shaken, now that their leader has been defeated" Paarthurnax countered, trying to console Varion.
"It's not over. He's not dead" was the nords simple reply. He no longer felt burning hatred through his body, his dragon soul was quiet, but he still wanted the World Eater to bleed at his feet.
"Alduin will not be easy to find. I know not where he has gone, but perhaps one of his allies could tell us".
"You think they'll betray him?"
"It will not be easy to convince them. But perhaps the hofkahsejun, the palace in Whiterun, Dragonsreach, would be a suitable place to trap one. After all, that was its intended purpose" Paarthurnax suggested. Varion chuckled a bit at the idea.
"The Jarl might disagree," he warned.
"I have faith you could persuade him" Paarthurnax replied with what appeared to be the dragon equivalent of a shrug. Varion gave a small grin, a genuine one.
"You may be right". However, his grin then faded. "I have a favour to ask you first" he added, glancing at the old Dovah. At Paarthurnax's head tilt, he continued. "I still feel it. The darkness from Dragonrend. It's still eating away at me a bit. I'll be honest, a small part of me wants to kill you right now" he admitted awkwardly, though he made no move to retrieve his weapon as he kept that feeling under control. "Against Alduin, how I was feeling, it scared me. That sheer bloodlust, the desire to kill. I don't trust myself like that. I'm too powerful to lose control of myself" he explained further.
"A wise thought, but where do I come in?" the dragon asked.
"I won't take chances. I'm not leaving this mountain. Not until this, nature, will, whatever it is, is under my control fully. I won't put my friends at risk because of my inner demons" he declared, looking to the elder Dov for guidance. "Please Paarthurnax, can you help me?" he asked, pleading almost. Paarthurnax looked at him the same way a master may look at a younger student and smiled.
"I'd be honoured to have you join me in my meditation, Varion" he said and gestured to the snow in front of the word wall, offering Varion a seat there. He took that seat and looked up at the dragon.
"Thank you," he said gratefully. Paarthurnax bowed his head.
"I warn you, this will not be easy, and we have limited time as Alduin will not wait. But I believe you can work to overcome your nature enough for the coming trials, and then refine it further" he explained. Varion nodded and closed his eyes. He knew that this hastily requested therapy session was eating away at their precious time before Alduin recovered, but he needed to know that he was in control, that his nature wouldn't overwhelm him like that again.
"No, that's not accurate. It didn't overwhelm me. I chose to give into it. These are my thoughts, my choices" he scolded himself mentally. He thought back to Kodlak's words from months ago, his conversations with Arngeir, and his own code he'd lived by throughout his life. "I have to learn to overcome it. It has to be done. But once I'm ready, I'll be coming to finish you off, Alduin!"
A/N:Oh boy, this was quite the chapter to write! This is the longest Skyrim fight scene I've ever written and I can only hope I did this battle justice! Please give me feedback on it, for I hope to make future epic battles even better!
I know that I focused a lot on Varions mental struggle in this chapter, amongst the fight and after it, but it's a major part of this story and it really came to a head here, with Varion giving into it for the first time. Let me know what you guys thought of that, if it's easy to follow, to understand.
I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next time we'll get into Arc 9. Things are really starting to get good, not so much for Varion though…
Favourite, follow, review, and I'll see you all next time!
