Part 3 - Devil's Dawn
Chapter 54 - Dragonrend
The walk to Ivarstead, a small village at the base of the tallest mountain in Skyrim, was nothing compared to the climb up to High Hrothgar: the monastery at the top. Peter took to swinging up instead of walking. It felt incredible to finally be off his feet. He moved ahead of the others quite quickly. At last he came to a sort of plateau where he stopped and sat down to wait for them to catch up. He didn't like this place; other than the cold wind, there was a strange smell in the air. Suddenly, his spidey sense screamed. He moved just in time to avoid being swatted by a furry white creature. On further inspection, he noticed it had three eyes which creeped him out. He leapt off the rock, slamming his foot into its face and knocking it back. It roared and grabbed him from mid-air. Peter rolled from side to side as it tried to kill him, probably to roast over a fire or put in a stew. Neither option was preferable. Suddenly, it landed a hand on him...he hardly felt it. He remembered he had his new armour. He had seen so little fighting over the last few days that it had just become another part of his body rather than a tool. He drove his fist up into its chest. A shockwave blasted the beast back into a wall where he began to lay into it, landing punch after punch. Yet it still wouldn't go down. This was certainly stronger than all those wolves and sabretooths. A blue shockwave blasted him away from it, and Darian jumped in swinging a different sword from usual; it was the one he kept secured. With each swipe, the beast recoiled more and more, its fur turning into a blaze. With a last roar, it crashed into the snow and the flames went out. Darian sheathed the weapon and hauled the spider to his feet.
"I had it covered."
"Rule number one of Skyrim: never fight a troll without some sort of fire. They hate it."
"I'll keep that in mind."
High Hrothgar was practically deserted. There were only four people there: all monks worshipping something they referred to as the Way of the Voice. All seemed extremely skilled with shouts, but the only one that spoke explained that they weren't dragonborn and only gained their power through intense study. The monks, known as the Greybeards, were hesitant to let them go any further up the mountain. However, they eventually relented and reminded Darian of a shout called Clear Skies which allowed him to temporarily part fog and blizzards.
The Throat of the World seemed quite anti-climactic at first, Teresa thought. But that changed very quickly as a roar echoed from the highest point and a dragon swooped down, landing in front of them. Darian pulled off his strange helmet and smiled at it. The rest of the team tensed up, extremely confused.
"Hello, Paarthurnax."
The dragon bent down and examined the dragonborn.
"It has been a long time, Dovahkiin. Lingrah tiid."
"It certainly has. Alduin will be coming. I have an Elder Scroll which I need to learn Dragonrend again, and he won't be able to miss the signs."
"Indeed. I sense he draws ever closer."
Darian put his helmet back on and walked a short distance away from Paarthurnax.
"Keep your eyes on the sky." He said to the team before opening the Elder Scroll.
Immediately, his body went still and became inscribed in glowing letters of an unknown language. Just a few seconds later, a magenta ball of flames crashed down in the snow near him but kept its distance. Gwen glared at the group.
"This is why you should have given me the Scroll. Alduin is coming and he's coming for blood."
A dark shadow was cast over them and Paarthurnax. Alduin's red eyes almost seemed to bore into Gwen.
"You would betray me? It seems our deal has ended unless you can prove your loyalty."
The dragon swooped down. Peter threw himself at Hiccup and Astrid, pushing them to the ground as fire swirled around them. The spider leapt to his feet when it had passed, firing a web at Alduin and pulling himself up. Paarthurnax also flew towards the World Eater, unleashing a torrent of freezing breath. The spider cut his web and landed back on the ground as the dragons duelled, biting and belching out ice and fire. It was clear who the victor would be almost immediately. Paarthurnax crashed to the ground, coming to a stop just short of Darian. Hiccup reached for his leg and drew what looked like a sword handle. A blade extended and burst into flames. Peter raised his eyebrows.
"That's not something I thought a Viking would have."
A shockwave rattled everything for miles around, knocking the team to the floor. A second later, meteorites began to crash down from the sky. Teresa sneered, knelt down and slammed her fist into the ground. A blue and white projection leapt onto Alduin and began to tear away at the spikes which covered his body. The dragon threw it off and blasted Teresa with flames. She managed to leap clear of the worst of them. Suddenly, a blue shockwave rattled up into the sky. But this one was different: slightly darker and purer blue. Alduin roared as if in agony, blue energy seemingly surging around his body. A few seconds later, the World Eater crashed down near Paarthurnax and grumbled:
"What foul magic have you awoken?"
Darian reached for his sword and drew it. The energy around Alduin began to die away again.
"Joor zah frul!"
Another shockwave and more energy. The dragonborn swiped at the dragon's head. Fire engulfed him but had little effect. Teresa sent another projection in and Peter sprinted forward, unleashing a torrent of fire from his wrists. Hiccup and Astrid slashed away with the flaming sword and an axe respectively. Whenever the energy surrounding Alduin, Darian yelled the three words of Dragonrend again. It soon became apparent that the World Eater was becoming weaker. He thrashed around, trying to force the group away. This was working, Alduin couldn't defeat them like this. Suddenly, Darian felt something round his neck, but he didn't have time to find out what before his body collapsed and his head rolled aside. Gwen raised her arms and clenched her fists, picking up the other four and throwing them away with telekinesis.
"You wanted the head of the dragonborn. There you have it. And I saved your life. Shall we cut a few souls from our deal?"
"Fool! I cannot be slain in this mortal world. This changes nothing."
The World Eater launched into the air, wheeling around and flying towards the east. Gwen dropped the magenta garotte wire and sighed.
"What a waste."
Paarthurnax had managed to get up again. Seeing Darian's corpse, he took a deep breath.
"You do not know what you have done. Dovahkiin lost mahlaan."
"No, I don't. But it was part of our deal."
"Alduin will not fulfil his promise, he serves the will of no joor...mortal. Dreh ni ov rok."
"Then tell me how to get to Sovngarde. Only Alduin can get there."
"Aan lo. This is not true. There is a miirak...portal. You do not need the World Eater to enter Sovngarde."
Gwen sank down onto her knees. She didn't know what to feel. That made sense...of course there was a portal. She just had to find it and she might find Miles. And now there was no more need for blood shed. Except Alduin had to be defeated. With the dragonborn dead there was no safety for those who lived on Nira. She looked up at Paarthurnax who eyed her surprisingly calmly. Suddenly, her spidey sense warned her of something. She drew a katana and thrust it behind her just in time to block a blow from Astrid's axe. Anger blazed in the Viking's eyes as Gwen slowly stood up, forcing the axe back towards its wielder's throat. Astrid swung it again, Gwen ducked and charged an Ethereal punch. Suddenly, Teresa grabbed the spider around the neck and dragged her away from the chieftess. Hiccup restrained Astrid and Peter just shrugged, not sure what to make of what had all just happened. The energy for the punch died away. Gwen turned to Teresa who watched her through narrowed eyes. She sheathed the katana and pushed past the commander, walking to the edge of the mountain.
"You know, I don't think he was the only one." Said Peter, staring at Darian's body.
Everyone, even Gwen and Paarthurnax, turned to look at him curiously.
"Only what?" Asked Gwen, trying to decide whether to listen to this or just to throw herself off the cliff to avenge all those she had slain.
"The only dragonborn. Don't you feel that, Gwen? My spidey sense is going crazy at me, I can still sense the same strength that came from Darian."
"All I feel is the urge to slit my wrists."
Teresa put a hand on Gwen's shoulder but continued to watch Peter.
"Who is it?" Asked Hiccup.
"I don't know. I just know it isn't me."
"You could be sensing him." Suggested Astrid, pointing at Paarthurnax.
Paarthurnax let out a small grumble that resembled a sigh.
"Daar aal kos. The last dovahkiin, destined to bring an end to the Devourer of Worlds."
"We just need to work out who it is." Said Gwen, feeling a little more hopeful.
"We aren't doing anything. Us, the group, will work out who it is." Snapped Astrid.
"If there's another way into Sovngarde then I don't owe Alduin anything; I just need to make sure he's destroyed. I have to do something to make all those deaths worth something."
The Viking chieftess didn't look like she was going to back down any time soon. Teresa sighed and stepped between them.
"Let me throw some facts your way, Astrid. Gwen has the power to kill us all right here and right now but she hasn't. Presumably she would have done if she was going to."
"What does Peter think? We're a team, right? Shouldn't we all have our opinions heard?"
Peter mumbled something then said:
"I'd rather not have said anything, but I'm with Teresa."
Hiccup shrugged, looking at Gwen who was staring Astrid down, daring her to start another brawl.
"I mean...she did save my life back in Berk."
It almost seemed like someone had burst a balloon filled with a grudge: Astrid relaxed and slung her axe on her back.
"That settles it then. You're with us. Paarthurnax, how can we find out who's the dragonborn?"
"Hmm...perhaps by slaying another Dovah."
"Of course! Darian absorbed that power after he killed the thing in Riverwood!" Exclaimed Teresa, slapping herself for not thinking of it.
She looked around to see the others' reactions, then knelt down next to Darian's body. A few feet away lay his sword: a brownish-cream colour that reminded the commander of bones. She picked it up.
"A warrior should go with his weapon in hand. You Vikings believe that sort of thing, don't you?"
"Valhalla waits for great warriors." Replied Astrid.
Teresa placed the sword on the dragonborn's chest and rested his hands on its hilt, then moved his head to sit in a way that it made it look like it had never been taken off. After a few seconds of silence, she removed his second sword from its sheath and stood up, giving it a couple of twirls. The weapon was mostly a golden colour. Instead of a cross guard, a bright light shone like the sun. The commander swiped it across, but suddenly found it blocked by a magenta katana.
"That blade is one of a kind. Be careful with it." Said Gwen.
"Do you know something about it?"
"Not really. But I doubt it's something you can buy from the local blacksmith. We should get going. Alduin won't wait for us."
Crossovers in this Chapter
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Skyrim (if you can't tell, I had a wave of obsession with the game when I was writing these chapters)