Chapter 7: 7
Chapter Text
I run for around 8 minutes, weaving this way and that, around the city and through forests to throw off anything that could track us, before I start to feel the strain from using Godspeed. Feeling that we have made sufficient ground, I deactivate Godspeed and come to a stop in a lightly forested area. No snow yet that I can see, but the air is crisp so we're definitely getting further north. I gently place Svarline down and hold my arms under hers in case she gets dizzy.
Svarline stands tall for a moment, then bends over and empties her stomach onto the ground. I hold her hair back as she gets sick and look her over to make sure she's ok.
She's obviously queasy, but other than that, and a little shaking from the cold, she seems fine.
Once she's done, I give her a wineskin I inventoried to wash her mouth out as I cast a few Heals on her just in case.
"You ok?" I ask after she'd had a moment.
She nods and sits down heavily. "I'm fine. You did warn me something could happen. Just promise me we only do that again if we absolutely have to?"
I nod. "Don't worry. I'll only subject you to that if we find ourselves in another situation like the one we just left." I sit down next to her, and we fall into silence for a moment.
Soooooo, that fucking happened.
I really need to learn my lesson about relying too much on meta knowledge. It's useless for anything that is not concrete fact.
Farengar... Ok I should have seen that coming. He was an arrogant ass in the game too, but Delphine?! She practically worships the ground you walk on! What the hell lady?!
I don't know how the hell to react to this! Do I nuke Whiterun? Do I not nuke Whiterun? Do I apologize?
No. Fuck that, I don't apologize. So nuking? I am so fucking lost right now.
I look back over at Svarline and see she is starting to freak out.
"We need to talk." I say, breaking the silence, hoping to help her out a little.
Svarline nods and looks to the ground. "I messed up. Didn't I?" she asks and looks back at me.
I look over at her confused. I go back over events and realize that she did strike first. Personally I think she was completely justified but this is bugging her. She did lose her cool there at the end. Is that what's bugging her?
"No." I start. "They were way out of line. I get why they were so desperate, but if you hadn't acted, and they had kept pressing, I probably would have attacked them instead of you. The only logical person in that room was Balgruuf, and frankly, I lost most of the respect I had for the man. I wasn't willing to subject myself, or you, to whatever half-cocked scheme they had come up with. Farengar might as well have said they were going to chain you a cart and wheel you to various dead dragons." Svar's eyes harden at the mental picture. "While the situation definitely could have been handled better, you're not the one in the wrong."
Svar noticeably sags in relief at my words.
"That being said," I say, causing her to tense up once more. "something's obviously bugging you. Does it have anything to do with when you lost control?"
Svar nods and looks back to the ground and mutters, "I'm sorry."
I sigh and rub my head. "Don't apologize. Like I said, had it gone any longer I would have acted. It probably would have been a lot more destructive too, but we do need to figure out a way to help you get over whatever this is."
Svar looks back to me. "You're not going to ask?"
I shake my head. "Am I curious? Yes, but I respect your privacy. If you can work this out yourself? Fine. If you want to talk about it though, I'm willing to listen."
We lapse back into silence when I finish speaking.
I take the time to look up to the sky. The sun is not quite halfway to its apex, so we have over half the day to figure out where to go from here.
Man things went to hell real quick. An hour ago we were on our way to Winterhold. Now we are probably wanted in Whiterun for attempting to assassinate the Jarl. Without knowing if crime is tracked here like it is in the game, we can't really risk going to any major settlements. We're also probably going to have to watch out for bounty hunters.
There's also the fact that I'm probably going to have to kill Delphine and Farengar now. I made the mistake of thinking this Delphine was like the one in the game. That won't happen again. The last thing I need is those two working against me, so I need to take the both of them out as soon as I can.
God I am in no way prepared for this.
"I don't like being used." Svarline's timid voice breaks me from my train of thought. "Delphine outright said she was going to use the dragonborn. It got harder to think clearly after that."
"Sounds like there's some history there." I try to gently probe.
Svarline nods and looks up to the sky. "I didn't really have many friends growing up. Honestly it was mostly my fault. My mother was the best alteration mage in Bruma, and I was obsessed with being just like her." She smiles sadly.
"Every spare moment I had was spent learning from her and my older sister Grossi. My mom taught me alteration magic, and my sister taught me what restoration magic she was learning from the temple. It went on like that for quite some time. I didn't have a lot of friends because I was never really in a position to meet anyone."
Svar pauses and looks down at her hands. "Three years or so worth of learning later, and I meet a girl in the market one day. She was really nice, and introduced herself as Fiale. Fiale became the first friend I ever had. We hung around each other for a few months before she introduced me to her family. She was the daughter of some pretty well known jewelers in the city. My mother had brought me around them once or twice, but I didn't really know them that well. Fiale had me show them some of the alteration tricks I had shown her, and they were pretty impressed. I would turn wood to gold, and river stones into sapphires. It took me awhile, and was pretty exhausting, but my friend liked it. So everyday I would go over to her house, and we'd talk for a little while before I would show off my magic some more." Svar stands up and walks over to a nearby tree. Sitting down and leaning against it.
I get up and sit down next to her.
"I lost track of how the time passed." She continues her story. "I was just happy that I finally had a friend really. We would spend every moment together. I would teach her minor cantrips, and she would show me how to appraise the gems her family sold."
She looks off into nothing as she continues. "Fiale and I had been friends for roughly a year when I walked over to her house one day and no one was home. I got a little worried, because normally at least her mother would be home unless she was at the market, but Fiale and I would typically go with her if that was the case. So I used my magic to open the lock. When I got inside, the place was empty. All of the larger and heavier things were still there, but Fiale's room and her parent's study were empty of all their belongings. I searched the house for around an hour before I began walking home, and wondered if they had maybe moved without letting me know. I was halfway back when I heard a large amount of yelling coming from the town square. I walked over to see what everyone was so excited about and saw a pair of headsman's blocks. Someone was getting executed. I hadn't heard of any trials so whoever this was must have done something terrible to be killed so quickly."
Tears start to fall from Svar's eyes and she leans heavily against me.
"I stood there waiting with everyone else to see who it was, and what they had done to deserve this. The captain of the guard walked out and read the charges. Whoever it was was guilty of manipulating the markets using magical means, which explains why there wasn't a large trial. Magic was heavily regulated to begin with, but when someone used it to illegally fill their coffers the penalty was death. The captain went on to say how the accused magically altered various substances into precious metals and gems and used said materials to make substantial amounts of gold. Oversaturating the market and making certain metals and stones all but worthless. Putting some smiths and jewelers out of business. I thought maybe that was what happened to Fiale. Her parents were run out of business by whoever they were executing."
Svarline chokes up as she continues to tell her tale.
"The captain called for the prisoners to be brought out and all of a sudden I couldn't breath. The headsman brought my mother and sister out from the prison in chains. I couldn't believe it. I knew my mother would never do that. It was the first thing she taught me! I was going to run forward and tell the guards how they had to be wrong, but I suddenly couldn't move. I looked at my mom and saw her eyes on me. She shook her head at me and her and Grossi were put up against the blocks. Grossi was terrified. She wouldn't stop shaking. I tried to yell, to tell them that she was a healer. That all she ever wanted was to help people, but my voice just wouldn't work!"
Svarline is bawling at this point and I've put an arm around her to steady her.
"I had to watch!" She cries. "I couldn't do anything! I had to watch them kill my mother and my sister for something they didn't do! I couldn't even scream!"
I pull Svarline into a hug and she cries into my shoulder. Sobs wracking her entire body. I just hold her and let her get it out.
She gets herself under control and quietly continues. "I could move again the second my mom's head landed in the basket, but I was too shocked to, so I just stood there and stared."
She pauses for a second before continuing. "Eventually I got myself under control and realised I needed to leave. I went back to Fiale's house to hide. The guards would be looking for me as an accomplice. I couldn't go home because they would have been waiting there, wanting to kill me too, and I didn't have any other friends who could help me."
Svarline leans into my damp shoulder as she continues.
"When I got back to Fiale's house, I locked myself in her parents' study and cried. I don't know how long I stayed there, but when I got up, I saw a small blue stone on the desk. I picked it up and saw it for what it was. It was one of the stones I would change into gems for Fiale and her parents."
Svarline's face contorts in rage as she finishes her sentence.
"I realized exactly what happened in that moment. I got my family killed. I killed Grossi, I killed mother. All because of fucking Fiale." Svarline growls the name.
"Her entire fucking family used me! They killed my family." Svar's eyes adopt a fire I've never seen from her as she continues. "I spent the rest of the day going through their entire house. I tore everything apart looking for any hint of where they went. In the end, I used a little alteration trick my mother taught me to send one of their belongings back to them. I followed that stupid little doll for days. I barely ate, I barely slept. I was too focused on making them pay."
Where before Svarline was trembling with uncontrolled grief, she is now shaking in uncontrolled rage as she continues her story.
"I followed the doll until it came to a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, and I saw Fiale's father feeding the chickens. I waited until night before sneaking into the house. I used my magic to bypass the lock and snooped around. They had chests of gold in the cellar. Letters of credit falling out of the drawers. They killed my family so they could get rich."
Svar's eyes glaze over.
"I killed them Dusk." she says emotionlessly. "I stuffed a water soaked rag into Fiale's mouth so her parents wouldn't hear her screams when I turned her bed into spikes and slowly pushed her down into it. I turned her parents room's walls into straw and dropped the roof on them."
Svar moves away from me then turns and looks into my eyes.
"I killed all three of them Dusk." She says. "And I enjoyed it. They killed my family. They got what they deserved."
I looked back at her without speaking. I had no idea what to say.
Svar looks out into the forest. "I've been on the run since that night. I had to keep away from the guards and bounty hunters trying to collect on a murderer. I didn't care though. When they found the bodies, they found the money. Everyone learned what had happened, and my mother's and sister's names were cleared. That was all that mattered."
Svarline looks down to her hands. "I'm not sure how long I was running. It's been so long, the days have just sort of blended together. I travelled around getting stronger. I would travel with different groups. It was really nice having comrades to share burdens with." Svar's voice becomes detached. "That is until they got killed by whatever beast or bandit happened to do them in. It seemed like everyone I traveled with would die sooner or later. Eventually I just stopped trying. Went my own way.
"I would avoid towns and seek out anyone who could teach me more magic. Learning whatever spells anyone was willing to teach me."
She lets out a self-deprecating laugh. "It's ironic. My magic is what got my family killed, but once they were gone, it was all I had left. My life became a tale of wandering from place to place, and learning what I could. All the while keeping away from those who would come after me."
She sighs and leans back against the tree. "I did quite a bit. I would help some people, screw over others. I just did whatever the hell I wanted. Knowing sooner or later someone would catch up and kill me. I don't want to go out with any regrets."
She gives a light chuckle and continues. "Anyway, I decided Skyrim would be a good place to lay low, but got caught crossing the border. You know the rest."
I say nothing for a very long time. Svarline seems content to let the silence last.
Eventually, I say, "Your mother… What was her name?"
Svar looks at me and simply says, "Jofta. Her name was Jofta."
"I'm sorry Svarline."
She shrugs. "Thanks, but that doesn't really change anything does it?"
"No. I guess it doesn't." I say back and we fall into a short silence once more.
I break it by asking, "Why are you hanging around with me?"
Svar looks at me confused. "What do you mean?" she asks.
"Your story." I say. "You haven't really had the best experiences with letting people close, so why do you seem so comfortable around me?" I ask.
Svarline looks at me. "Are you going to stab me in the back?" She asks.
"No." I answer.
She smiles. "I know. Not sure how, but I do. You're also strong enough to not die on me. I've kept people at arm's reach because whenever I got travelling companions, they'd all die and leave me alone again. I got over my trust issues after the second group got eaten by those werewolves. Realized life's too short to let my baggage rule my life. Besides, if anyone fucked me over that badly again, I would just deal with them the same way I dealt with Fiale. The way we're going to deal with Delphine." She snarls as she says the name.
Svar looks at me. "Besides, you're the first person besides my family who didn't immediately see me as something to use."
I stand up and walk a little further away from her. Now feeling guilty, I look down and say, "But I did."
Svarline tenses and looks over at me.
"Helgen." I said looking back at her. "I knew I was likely going to die when that dragon burned the place down. I used you and Ralof to get myself out in one piece. My plan was literally to hide behind the two of you. I wasn't focused on anything but getting my ass out alive. You were a convenient way to do that." I say honestly.
Svarline looks at me for a moment without speaking. Eventually she asks, "And now? Are you using me now?"
I shake my head. "To be honest, I actually had to ask myself why I hadn't left you yet." Svarline is completely focused on my words. "I asked myself if I wanted 'The Great Dragonborn of Legend' to have my back, but I laughed that off almost instantly."
Svarline looks confused.
I stare at her. "I wasn't kidding when I said trouble will be glued to your ass. Hell look at what happened today." Svarline winces. "I realized that hanging around the dragonborn was pretty damn likely to get me killed, so, given that I like being alive, I knew that wasn't the reason."
"Then why are you still here?" Svar asks. "I just told you I killed the only friend I've ever had. Not only that, but I enjoyed it. Why are you still here?" Her voice starts to slowly pick up as she walks closer. "I'm the 'Great Dragonborn of Legend', destined to get you killed. People will be after you for attempted regicide because of me! Just like me, you can't stay in any place for too long now. They'll hunt you down like a dog! You have so many options to get away. To run on your own in a way they will never be able to catch! You are literally as fast as lightning, and can freaking teleport! So. Why. Are. You. Here?!?!" She yells, standing not a foot away as she glares at me.
I look her in the eyes and say, "Because I'm lonely."
Svarline clearly wasn't expecting that answer, as her anger bleeds away and her jaw hangs open.
I shrug. "I've never had a lot of friends either, and while I haven't been scarred nearly as badly as you have, the few I did have left me for various reasons. It's been awhile since I was able to enjoy being around someone, and I can honestly say that I've enjoyed hanging around with you."
Svarline doesn't respond. Instead thinking over what I just said.
"Look," I say. "I've pissed you off, I get that. You want to part ways here? Ok. You've been on your own long enough that you obviously know how to take care of yourself, and I'm strong enough to figure something out. If you want me gone? Fine. I'm gone. Personally? I'd like to stick together, and see what happens. Who knows? We might be able to kill the big bad dragon if we stay together."
Svarline doesn't hesitate before responding. "Good." She says, and begins walking away from me.
I try very hard not to feel too disappointed to see her turn her back and walk off.
I fail.
I sigh and say, "It's been a genuine pleasure. Best of luck Svarline."
Svarline stops and turns to face me. "What? We have one little fight and I'm Svarline. No. You're going to call me Svar, and you're going to like it. You aren't getting rid of me that easily Dusk." She walks forwards a little more and picks her backpack up from where it was laying on the ground. "So now that we've got that delightful little talk out of the way, what are we doing, and where are we going?"
I smile at her before placing a hand on my chin to ponder her question. "I don't know." I reply. "We need to get those assholes in Whiterun back at some point, but for now we should lay low. We shouldn't head to any major settlements until either things calm down, or we work out a convincing way to disguise ourselves. Do you know of anywhere we could go?"
"Not a damn clue." She replies. "You're the one who pulls daedric artifacts out of his ass. If either of us would have a place to lay low it would be you."
She seems a lot more relaxed. This talk was good for her.
Let's see, places we could lay low. Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild are out because I don't want to deal with them. Ever, if at all possible. I really want to avoid drawing the attention of the organizations respective deities whose names I will not speak for fear of the possibility that their utterance will grant said beings a modicum of control over me. Seriously those two are terrifying in the lore. Lucifer freaking Morningstar levels of run away in terror. I want nothing to do with that. Dawnstar sanctuary is out for the same reason.
We need somewhere close that not a lot of people will think to look.
Hang on a sec, where in Oblivion are we? I didn't really watch where I was going while running did I?
"Hey Svar?" I say. "You still got that map of the province?"
She nods and pulls it from her bag.
We both look it over, and my eyes are instantly drawn to a small forested area a couple dozen miles north of Whiterun.
Well that was fast. Woodsmen perk for the win!
"We're here." I point our location out to Svar.
"How do you know?" she asks.
"I pulled a daedric artifact out of my ass." I answer.
"It was one of Sanguine's wasn't it?" She asks with a grin.
"Nope. We are avoiding good ol' Sam for as long as is physically possible."
"Don't you mean San?" She asks, confused.
"Nope."
Shaking her head, she turns back to the map. "I don't know what you're looking for here. All it shows is rivers, mountains, and cities. You'd have to be a legend to make any sense of it."
I turn my head to look at her but she avoids my gaze and innocently studies the map. I see the corner of her mouth pull up though, giving her away.
Ignoring her jokes I study the map a little closer. "I'm not looking for anything specific. Just areas close to us where we might be able to lay low."
Svar turns to me. "Got anything."
I do some quick math in my head to gauge the distance. "I have one really good place in mind, but it's too far." If we were closer to Markarth, Sky Haven would have been perfect. Given where we are though, it would take too long to get there.
"Where is it, and what is it?" Svar asks.
"Answering in reverse, an ancient forgotten temple hidden inside a mountain that only a dragonborn can access. As for where, stone's throw from Markarth. It would take us too long to get there."
Svarline looks at me for a moment. As if she's trying to decide whether or not I'm bullshitting her. Seemingly come to a decision, she asks. "Couldn't you just run us there with your lightning? We should be able to make it there in no time travelling like that."
I shake my head. "I've already pushed it too far. I can still use it, but if I push it again I'll be unable to cast it for a week."
"What about teleporting?" she asks.
"Draws too much attention. You will by now have noticed the large booming sound and flash of bright light that accompany the use of that spell. We're trying to lay low here, not send up a flashing 'Kill Us Here!' sign."
She lets out a huff. "So that option is out. Anything else you got?"
I look over the map and imagine all of the destinations I memorized over various playthroughs. Everything I can think of is either populated by bandits, draugr, or worse. The Forgotten Vale would be another really good place to hide, but again, we're too far.
Wait. Dawnguard.
I look back at the map and see the forest we are standing in is a little less than half the way to Dawnstar.
So the idea is valid. Do I really want to tangle with this so early though? Thinking it over, if we go before the Hall of the Vigilant gets sacked then there shouldn't be any master vampires. On the other hand, Windhelm shouldn't have been attacked and we should be walking up High Hrothgar right now. I'll ask Svar's input.
"Svar?" I grab her attention. "How would you feel about diving headfirst into an ancient tomb forgotten by time that has remained undisturbed since before Cyrodiil was the seat of the Empire?"
She gives me another analyzing look. Trying once more to determine if I'm being serious. "Will we be safe hiding there?"
"Probably?" I say unconvincingly. "I know what could be there, and it's really bad, but it shouldn't be. Not yet at least."
Svar stares at me. "You really aren't filling me with confidence, you know that?"
I shrug. "Daedric artifact ass pulling is an imperfect science."
Svar ignores me and says, "So either we run all the way to Markarth to unlock the secret dragonborn hideaway or we head to a tomb that time forgot about and maybe get killed and eaten by whatever monstrosities may be there?"
I nod. "Those are the options, yes."
Svar just stares at me for a solid five seconds. "One of these days you're going to tell me how you know all this stuff. Let's just go to the tomb."
"Alrighty then. Follow me." I begin walking towards the Dimhollow Crypt. "So," I say to Svar as we walk. "why aren't you pressing me for details on how I know all this."
"I trust you." she says. "If I need to know something, you'll tell me."
"Awful lot of trust for someone you met a week ago."
"Not someone I met a week ago. My friend."
Huh, I kinda like that.
We lapse back into silence as we continue walking along.
On our way, we fight off a number of wolves, bears, and even a few trolls because of my flaw.
We even got jumped by our first pair of bandits!
Bandit
Level- 7
HP- 350
"Give us all your valuables if you want to live!"
There's only two of them. I've checked around, and they don't have any backup. Are these guys stupid? That is the shittiest knife I have ever seen. Did they not see our expensive armor?
"Guys." I say. "I'm a nice guy. So I'm going to give you a chance to live. All you have to do is tell me what was going through your mind when you attacked us. I'm legitimately curious."
"Last chance! Give us your goods or we cut you!"
Dude. If there were a Darwin award in Tamriel you would have just won it.
I turn to Svar. "You want this or should I handle it?"
She's chewing on a piece of dried beef and waving me in their direction. "You do it. I'm busy."
"Ok."
Two lightning bolts later and there are two very dead bandits at my feet. On a hunch, I try to inventory the more intact body. It disappears and I feel it in my inventory. Neat.
Svar looks over curiously. "What's the body for?"
"We may or may not have to appease a slumbering vampire who might be extremely thirsty. It's much easier to do that with blood that isn't your own."
Giving me another look, Svar sighs and we continue on.
As we continued walking, Mr. Rogers happily trotted along at our side with a dead bird hanging from his mouth. Not sure where he got that, but I didn't really care enough to ask. Could he even answer? He is pretty smart. Eh, it's not important.
We'd been walking long enough for the sun to begin to descend from the sky when my sixth sense triggered an urgent warning.
I grabbed Svar on the shoulder and we teleported 100 feet to the right. I looked back to the place we left in time to watch it light up a brilliant blue. A resounding *BOOM* echoed out through the woods.
I felt Mr. Rogers dissipate as Svar pulled Ascalon from its sheath, and we both heard a great rushing of air. Followed by a mighty roar.
"Dovahkiin!" a thundering voice greeted us. "I challenge you!" The now visible blue scaled dragon roared as it landed in the space we were just standing.
LIIVHAHFIIK
Withering. Mind. Mirror.
Level- ???
Tier- ???
HP- ???
Thought about you- ???
Great! Just what we needed! A freaking surprise lightning dragon. Because why the hell not?!?!
Svarline steps forward sporting a very wide grin. "Are you the one that attacked Windhelm?" she called to the beast.
The dragon released large rhythmic gusts of air. Was that a chuckle?
"No. Your human dwelling was attacked by one of my brothers, Dovahkiin. One you will never meet." Having said its piece, the dragon shouted out at us. Unleashing a cone of sparking energy.
I turned myself into electricity and ran in front of Svar. I began throwing my magic into the oncoming thu'um in an attempt to divert it.
Svar saw what I was attempting and dodged the other direction.
The wave was directed far enough that it missed her, but it still connected with me.
-364 HP
That was with my absurd lightning resistance. This guy's no joke.
"You are an interesting one." The dragon breathed out as it tilted its head to study me. "I might keep you as a pet."
A shout drew both of our attention as a silver colored mass impacted the dragon from the side.
A very fast, Svar shaped mass of steel had charged forward and embedded Ascalon into the creature. The holy sword having no trouble bypassing the ironhard scales.
The dragon howled in pain and began to take off. Flapping its massive wings and tearing up the landscape.
I unleashed a torrent of lightning into the creature's stomach, but it just laughed at me.
"Just as you are unhurt by my energy, I am unhurt by your storm small thing." the dragon taunted as it continued to climb.
Svar had pulled Ascalon free and was trying to get in another swing, but the dragon had already exited her range. We wouldn't be able to beat it unless we could somehow bring it down.
Working on a hunch, I pulled Yamato from my inventory. I unleash slash after ranged slash aimed towards the dragon's wings. I see the hits connect, and deep gashes are opened up with every hit, but the blade does not sever the limb with a single strike.
Well shit. There goes that idea.
I replace Yamato in my inventory and run over to Svar.
Her skin has been turned to solid steel. Making her look like a small golem. Her alteration magic most likely.
"I can't bring it down." I tell her quickly. "It's resistant to my magic and Yamato doesn't work. What have you got?"
"Keep it distracted and give me an opening." she says before sprinting after the flying dragon at an impressive speed. That Ascalon buff is no joke.
I activate Godspeed and immediately feel the strain. I ignore it and sprint after the dragon.
Once more I'm grateful for the extreme hubris of dragons. The beast lazily circles the air as it watches us run around beneath it in amusement.
I arrive directly underneath it and cast a shaped electric half-sphere over the top of the dragon and slightly to its front. The dragon collides with the sphere and is forced downward by the spell's repulsion effect, having not expected the spell and being unable to brace itself in midair. The damage it does is surely negligible but that wasn't its purpose.
I keep casting the spell to force the dragon closer and closer to the ground.
Once it is around fifty feet up the dragon finds a weakness in the spell.
By using his electrical shout, the dragon floods the spell for a brief moment allowing it to cleanly escape.
Having foiled my strategy the dragon lets out a deep laugh, and turns to fly straight for me.
"You are most clever small thing. I think I will keep you." The dragon barreled towards me and my sixth sense screamed at me to move.
I teleport away just as the dragon loses a torrent of fire in the space I once occupied.
Using godspeed I sprint back under the lowered dragon and wrap electrical chains around its leg. I connect the chain to a tree and pull against it in the hopes of grounding it.
The dragon pulls the chain taut and is caught for a moment, before it kicks its leg forward. Pulling the tree from the soil and the chain from my hands. The chain dissipates into nothing short moments later, dropping the tree from the sky.
Well that didn't freaking work.
The dragon comes around towards me again and releases a bout of frost this time. I use Godspeed to dash away and immediately fall over in pain.
I roll a good thirty feet as Godspeed expires on its own and I'm left in a heap on the ground.
You have overused Godspeed!
Godspeed unavailable for 1 week!
This had to happen now?!?!
I stand up in time to feel another warning from my sixth sense screaming at me to move.
I try to teleport but I'm engulfed in a wave of flame as the dragon passes over me once more.
-1803 HP
I collapse and scream as the dragonfire washes over me.
I hear more laughter as my sixth sense activates again. I'm once more too slow to teleport as I'm hit by the dragon's tail as it swoops down on top of me.
-889 HP
The strike sends me flying through the air, and I roll to a stop in a heap once more.
Gritting my teeth. I put my feet under me and stood up as I cast Lightning Form once more.
My sixth sense tells me of an incoming attack from the rear, and this time I'm fast enough to get away. I teleport up to the top of a nearby tree as the dragon slashes its claws through the ground where I once stood.
The beast begins to rise back into the air and away but I jump down from my perch onto its back with twin Chidoris and dig my hand into its scales.
The spell grinds noticeably slower than it did when fighting Mirmulnir, but it is still enough to give me a grip as the dragon starts to fly higher.
This was such a stupid idea! What the hell was I thinking!
The dragon laughs out even as my hands grind past his scales.
"You wish for a ride small one? Then let us ride!" The dragon cries.
The dragon slowly rolls in the air so that I'm now between it and the ground, and the dragon starts to descend.
Oh shit.
The dragon laughs maniacally as I try to pull my hands free, but the ground closes to meet us before I'm able. Crushing my electric form between a dragon and a hard place.
Redistribution! All SP to HP now!
HP Restored to 3765!
-3251 HP
With no space in between the ground and the dragon my form can't maneuver out and I take the full impact.
This is so bad.
I reach my arm out and greater teleport away but the dragon laughs off the damage as it leisurely rolls over.
"Aw, that was fun pet! Shall we try again?" the dragon taunts as it rights itself.
I cannot take another hit like that. I'm honestly surprised I'm alive right now.
It spreads its wings to take to the sky once more, but is interrupted by a very close shout.
"FEIM!" Svar yells as she jumps towards the dragon, turning incorporeal mid-way to the dragon.
The dragon tries to move out of the way but Svar is too fast as she phases right through the dragon's scales and doesn't come out the other side.
She just Tale of Jonah'd a freaking dragon.
The dragon starts writhing and screaming in agony. Shouting this way and that, clawing at its stomach and whimpering in pain.
I cower far away from the massive creature and rapidly cast Heal on myself to try to recover my hitpoints.
The dragon howls out once more, before falling to the ground unmoving. Its scales and flesh begin to melt off and implode inwards as Svar begins to absorb the dragon's power while still within the beast.
A quick lightshow later leaves the skeletal remains of what was once a dragon with a metal woman standing within the rib cage, dripping viscera.
Svar cuts out once more with a gore covered Ascalon and one of the ribs falls free. She steps through the opening and drags herself over to me. Her steel form dissipates and she is back to being her normal self.
"Took you long enough." I say as I continue to spam Heal.
"You ok?" she asks.
"I will be when the pain stops. You?"
She looks down at her fist. "Ya. I'm great." she finishes with a smile.
You Leveled up x2
For killing an enemy over 100 level higher than you, you level up an additional 5 times!
Gain 70 stat points!
Dusk the Master of the Storm
Level- 111
Class- Saber - LVL 12/100 [6%]
Crafting Class- Blacksmith LVL 9/50 [63%]
Tier- Mortal
Alignment- ???
HP- 4395 [1172 per minute]
MP- 12120 [2424 per minute]
SP- 4395 [1172 per minute]
STR- 289
END- 293
DEX - 324
INT - 606
WIS - 606
CHA - 260
LUK - 264
MP Regen= WIS x 4
MP= INT x 20
SP/Health Regen= END x 4
SP/HP= END x 15
Oh screw you too martially inept! I got like 60 levels from the last one! Then again I do have insane magic EXP, whereas my martial EXP gain is in the negatives. Oh well, I'm alive. How's Svar looking?
Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend
The Last Dragonborn
Level- 97
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)
HP- 5984
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)
- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)
Thoughts about you- She thought you died when you were crushed. She is very happy she was wrong.
Svar kneels down next to me and begins to help me heal myself.
Once I have enough hitpoints to be safe from strong winds, she pulls me into a hug.
"I'm sorry." she says into my shoulder. "I didn't mean to take so long. I didn't have an opening, and then the dragon fell, and you were under it, and I…"
"Shh." I cut her off. "It's ok."
We sit there and hold each other covered in gore. A skeletal dragon corpse in the background.
I smile and break the silence. "It's ok. Next time though? Try to avoid dragon your ass."
Svar freezes for a moment and looks up into my smiling face, before we both lose it and fall over laughing.
"I'm such a good influence on you." she says as we pull ourselves together.
I chuckle. "Good, right. That's definitely the word I would use."
We stand up and Svar casts a spell which removes the blood and guts from our hair, skin and armor. Now clean, we make our way over to the dead dragon.
I summon Mr. Rogers and pat him on the head.
"I'm sorry I couldn't teleport you bud. I didn't have enough time to reach out and grab both of you."
His ears droop and he nods his head.
"I'll tell you what though!" Mr. Rogers perks back up. "You can pick any bone you want and I'll store it for you."
The dog pants happily and trots over to the pile of bones.
"You spoil him." Svar says from the side.
I scoff. "I don't spoil him. I just give him everything he deserves, being the perfect pup he is."
Mr. Rogers comes to a stop and sits down next to a bone before placing his paw on it and panting at me.
Svar falls over laughing again as Mr. Rogers selects the dragon's skull as his new chew toy.
"Ummm, not that I have a problem with it boy, but can you even chew that?" I ask him.
Mr. Rogers nods and walks over to the side of the bone. He opens his mouth and goes to chew but his jaws get stuck as his mouth fails to fit around the side of the head. He wags his tail at me and playfully growls.
I shrug. "Alright then." I inventory the skull and Mr. Rogers happily picks up a small piece of the dragon's tail to chew on while we walk.
I inventory the rest of the dragon's larger bones for when I start crafting. Eventually. I really need to get around to that. My ingredients aren't done growing yet though, and I need to make sure I have enchantments to make the potions stronger to make the enchantments on the next set stronger so I can maximize the amount of yield I can get out of each ingredient and material because I would really hate to waste…..
"How much further to that place you know?" Svarline interrupts my mad scientist train of thought.
I pull the map out and check. "We can be there before nightfall."
"Good. I want to go to sleep."
The three of us continue on, leaving a dead dragon in our wake.
Shortly before nightfall, we crest a hill and see various robed figures moving around a small wood and straw building.
Good, the Vigilants are still alive. We've got time.
I hope.
I'm going to assume metaknowledge is wrong and hope it isn't. I have learned my lesson.
I lead Svar around the hall so as not to be noticed and before long we come to a cave entrance.
"This is it?" Svar asks.
"Yep." I reply.
"This is very ominous."
"Yep."
"You're going first."
"Ye… wait what?"
"Too late!."
Svar grabs my shoulders and shoves me through.
AHHHHHHH!!! COME GET SOME YOU DAMN… they're not here.
"It's clear. Also screw you." I say over my shoulder.
Svar chuckles as she and Mr. Rogers walk in behind me.
Svar takes a look around the interior. "Remember when I said the entrance was ominous? I was wrong. That gate is ominous. What do you think's back there?"
"A horde of undead, more undead, even more undead, a vampire that has been asleep since this place was made who has an Elder Scroll strapped to her back, animated gargoyles, an even bigger undead horde, a word in the dragon language, and some nice flowers." I list off.
Svar gives me the look again.
"We're totally exploring that tomorrow." She says before wandering off to find a comfortable place to sleep.
The three of us snuggle up under travel blankets in the building with the lever, given that it was the only place free of mud, and fall asleep.
(Interlude: Hulda)
I'm finishing up a batch of smoked fish in the yard when I hear someone calling for me from inside.
Divine's saggy tits who wants what now?
I close up the smoker and walk back into the inn.
"Can I help you?" I ask the two town's guard who are rifling around behind my counter.
Saadia looks over to me and says, "These two louts barged in and said we're being closed down! What in Oblivion is going on?"
All joviality bled from my already crappy mood, I turn to face the guards. "Care to explain what I've done that deserves this response?"
"I'm afraid it's need to know Miss. Now if you would be so kind as to show us to your books, we can get things underway."
Ignoring the kid I walk around him and behind the counter and pull a bottle of Black-Briar from my stash. This is shaping up to be one of those nights.
"Miss," the boy continues. "I need to see your books immediately. Failure to comply with our inspection could cause you to serve time in Dragonsreach's cells." The kid smiles broadly, as if he's accomplished something. How green is this idiot? "If you wish to remain a free woman, you will show me to your books. Right now Miss."
I take a good long swig from my bottle. I look to my employee. "Saadia, would you do me a favor and get to work on cleaning out that stew pot? Thanks." The girl walks off and I turn back to the authority-high kid. "As for you, I know for a fact whatever hogshite you're cooking up here ain't legal. Irileth and I go way back, used to run with her before either of us settled in the city see, which means she would tell me of any issues before I stepped on the wrong toes. So take your too-tight britches, and fuck off."
The guard bristles and his eyes narrow. He draws his sword and moves towards me. "On the orders of Farengar Secret Fire, you are hereby under arrest Hulda. You will be held until you are able to afford bail, or found innocent of your crimes."
I simply take another swig as the idiot approaches.
He reaches his hand out to grab me, but is suddenly pulled down from behind by a very pissed off dark elf.
"Bjales," Irileth growls. "If it hasn't been made clear to you yet, Farengar no longer holds any power in Dragonsreach. The Jarl had to be convinced not to execute the arrogant prick, so take whatever illegitimate orders he cooked up for you, and as the nice woman said, fuck off!"
The two guards stumble over each other to run from my bar.
Heh, serves 'em right. Bastards.
"Ears." I greet my friend. "You look like shit."
She groans as she falls onto a stool. I slide her some wine and she starts drinking.
"Today has probably been the worst day I have had the displeasure of living through in all of my very long memory." she moans when she puts the bottle down.
I raise an eyebrow. "Woulda thought that would be the dragon attack."
Irileth sighs again. "It was until today happened."
"What could possibly be worse than a bleeding dragon attack?" I ask her.
She looks up at me. "Hypothetically speaking, how bad would it be if a certain brain-dead wizard and his favorite blonde haired bimbo attempted to conscript the dragonborn after threatening said being from legend with enslavement?"
I spit out my mead and snap my head to her. "They fucking didn't."
Irileth just nods. "Her and her friend didn't take kindly to it apparently. She nearly burned the keep down, and her companion destroyed the door. A door designed to weather sieges brought down by one man. The Companions are pissed. We asked them for help patrolling the city, but they not so politely told us to shove it up our collective asses."
I give her a very long look. "You all got incredibly lucky the two of them didn't decide to stick around."
Irileth looks up at me. "I figured, but care to share whatever insight you have that I lack?"
"You pissed off the dragonborn, which is bad enough on its own, but Dusk is even stronger than she is."
Irileth does that thing where she goes pale while still having ash colored skin. Always thought that equal parts cool and weird. "Tell me you're fucking with me." she pleads.
I shake my head. "You know my magic ain't what it once was, but I'm pretty damn certain about this. The man cured a hangover I had a few mornings ago. Gave me a pretty good picture of his strength. He was pretty good, but nothing to write songs about. Fast forward two days and I force him to do it again. The man had gone from gifted to master in days. I'm fairly certain he could kill everyone in the city if he wanted. Only one who could stop him would be Svar, but she's so head-over-heels for the dense moron she'd be helping him instead of hindering."
Irileth groans and slams her head down onto the counter. "I came here to feel better not worse you ass."
I laugh. "You know us diviners, hard truths are much better than comforting lies in our book."
Irileth sighs and looks back up at me. "Any idea where the two of them would go?"
"Before you walked in? I assumed they were on their way to Winterhold. Now? Anywhere fucking else. Good luck. You're going to need it Ears."
The elf takes a long draw from her bottle before setting it down. "I have even less of a plan now than I did ten minutes ago. Isn't talking to you shits supposed to be helpful?"
I laugh again. "I wish. Half of my predictions are cryptic horseshite even to myself. It makes for an interesting time if nothing else."
Irileth exhales and looks up at me. "Any chance of getting a meal and a bed so I can forget any of this exists till morning?"
I chuckle and toss her a key. "Come on." I say moving back around the counter. "You can help me with the fish."
