Part 3 - Devil's Dawn
Chapter 53 - The Elder Scroll
Peter was getting fed up. Despite being on an enormous space station orbiting Earth, there hardly seemed to be anything going on other than daily briefings with the council saying the exact same thing: no more progress had been made. He walked into yet another, five days later, and took his seat. Darian still hadn't arrived, but that changed quickly. 'Mystery Man' was through the door before it had even opened fully for him.
"I've got it. We can defeat Alduin."
He took a seat, gently placing a fragile looking book on the table in front of him.
"How?" Asked Hiccup, angry with himself for thinking Alduin was more than just a killer.
"Dragonrend."
All Darian got were blank looks and raised eyebrows from Teresa.
"OK, this might take some explaining. If you didn't know, I'm what's known as a 'Dovahkiin' or 'Dragonborn' in English. It's not so much a power as an ability if you get my meaning. That blue shockwave I can summon is called a shout, specifically called Unrelenting Force. Dragonrend is another shout created specifically for killing dragons. Each shout is made up of three words in Dovahzul: Dragon Tongue. For Unrelenting Force, those words are 'fus', 'ro' and 'dah' meaning 'force', 'balance' and 'push' respectively. Dragonrend has three words as well."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's kill that son of a..." Started Teresa.
"Son of Akatosh, not a bitch. And unfortunately there's just a small problem. I don't know the words anymore. After I left Nira, I decided there was nothing but temptation in the power of the shouts so I let myself forget them. The only one I remember is 'fus ro dah'."
Peter groaned and planted his face on the table. Edward sighed.
"So near yet so far. How do you plan to learn Dragonrend again, then?"
"By going back to the first time Alduin was defeated."
"About that...the Doctor left us. He said he was sick of taking orders and just making things worse in the long run."
"A TARDIS is too intrusive. We need the Elder Scroll used to cast Alduin adrift."
"Am I the only one not understanding this?" Asked Astrid.
"Nope." Replied Teresa with a wiry grin.
"The Elder Scrolls are fragments of creation itself. In bigger terms, they're fragments of the Plate of Imagination. If we get the Elder Scroll, I can return to the Throat of the World and use it to look back in time to see it being used, and I can get the words."
"This is where there's another 'but'." Moaned Peter.
"That depends. I've no idea where the Scroll is, but I hope I can find out."
"Don't we all." Breathed Teresa.
Edward clapped his hands together.
"In that case, you lot are assigned to getting that Scroll. Meanwhile, I'll organise the fleet to start taking down the other dragons."
"Does that include us?" Asked Hiccup.
"I'd advise it. I've no idea what we might come across on our travels." Said Darian.
"Then yes, that includes both of you."
"Just don't bring the dragons. In Nira, dragons are evil and something to be killed. We will travel on foot." 'Mystery Man' added.
"Why not use a Phantom?" Asked Teresa.
"Because it will freak out the locals and we need to have good relations with them if we're to stand any chance of finding the Scroll without having to dive into every ruin in Skyrim."
"You heard the expert. Suit up and get ready to go. You will depart in one hour from hangar seventeen. Unless there's anything else, you're dismissed."
Darian was late to the hangar, but it was obvious why when he did appear five minutes after the scheduled time. Peter raised his eyebrows, looking the Dragonborn over. He was wearing dull grey metal armour from head to toe, the only exception being his helmet which looked like it was made of stone. Two curved horns protruded from the forehead. On top of the armour, he had two swords sheathed on his waist. One was strapped in securely whereas his normal weapon was ready to be drawn at a split second's notice. On his back was a quiver of arrows, a slightly dull gold bow and his usual shield which matched his armour. Astrid seemed amused.
"How do you even move in that?"
"It's surprisingly light, actually. Let's go before we get our take-off slot revoked."
The modified Phantom touched down in the middle of a mountain range. It let them off before returning to its base. The team looked at Darian expectantly. He pulled out an electronic tablet and opened up a map.
"We're not far from a village called Riverwood in the hold of Whiterun. We'll go there and see if anyone knows about an Elder Scroll there."
Riverwood was nothing but fear. The group first heard the roars from a kilometre out and soon spotted the dragon flying overhead. They sped up. Peter leapt down rock faces, pulling ahead of the rest of them. Suddenly, he heard a howling sound. His spidey sense made him jump clear as a wolf lunged at him. A second later, a bullet killed it. The spider reached the town and knew that all he could do was help people out of their houses. He jumped down and helped an old lady back onto her feet and setting her on her way. Teresa's projection arrived and succeeded in leaping onto the dragon's back. This was clearly not Alduin: its scales were pale brown and it breathed ice. Yet the guards were struggling to do anything against their foe. The projection was hurled away and crashed through a thatched roof. The dragon landed with a thump that threw Peter off balance as he ran with a child to get them to safety. The beast tore a guard in half, throwing the pieces aside. This was looking hopeless. That was until the rest of the team arrived. Darian pushed one of the guards out of the way of a blast of icy breath, drawing his sword and walking towards the beast. The dragon seemed quite confused by this and watched the dragonborn with fierce eyes. After a few seconds, it decided he was close enough and went to snap him.
"Fus ro dah!" Darian roared, unleashing a blue shockwave that made it recoil.
He took his chance and leapt onto its back, then onto its head where he slashed at its scales before driving his sword down into its skull. The Dovah thrashed angrily, throwing him clear; but as the sword came loose the beast went limp and collapsed. The guards, villagers and members of the team gathered around as Darian admired his handiwork. Suddenly, something strange happened. The scales began to flake away, rising into the air like smoke from a fire. Strange wisps of power wrapped themselves around the dragonborn, the wind howled, then there was a distant booming. When Darian turned to his audience, all that remained of the dragon was its skeleton.
"He's...Dragonborn. Like the legends." Said one of the guards.
The word passed around in whispers.
"It's really dead, then?" Asked one of the children.
"It's really dead." Darian reassured them, sheathing his sword and approaching a guard. "I need to find an Elder Scroll. Heard anything recently?" He asked.
The guard shook their head.
"Never heard of an Elder Scroll. Something too big for me."
"Any idea who might know?" Asked Teresa.
"The Jarl's court mage, maybe. I don't know. All I know is that I mostly deal with petty thievery and drunken brawls, until this. But disrespect the law and you disrespect me."
"I understand. Me and my friends are just passing through. Come on, everyone."
The team walked past the corpse of the dragon, heading north.
"So we're just gonna leave it there?" Asked Hiccup.
"You're welcome to carry it." Said Peter with a grin.
Gwen had watched the fight unfold from a rocky ledge. Darian was the Dovhakiin who Alduin wanted the head of? It made sense; clearly he wielded a lot of power. But he had said that power wasn't as strong as the Ethereal Plates, so why did the World Eater consider him a threat? Perhaps his power was different and was Alduin's only weakness? What did it matter? She just had to relieve him of his head and give it to the dragon and she would have fulfilled one of the conditions of the deal. She hated all this pointless killing, it achieved nothing. What would Miles say if he could see this? There wasn't even a guarantee he was in Sovngarde. He could be in any of the countless afterlives. But she had to try something, although surely there must be another way to find out if he was there than killing a billion people. There probably weren't even a billion people in Skyrim, maybe not even in Tamriel, or the entire planet of Nira. She stood up and began to swing through the trees, further down the mountain, aimlessly. She preferred swinging to flying: it was less stressful and felt more natural, and it helped her take her mind off things.
Darian and Peter were the only ones who entered Dragonsreach, the palace of the Jarl of Whiterun. Peter's suit received a lot of strange looks, but he didn't really care. What mattered was finding the Elder Scroll to stop Alduin. The Jarl eyed them cautiously.
"What brings you to Dragonsreach?"
"We're looking for an Elder Scroll and wondered if you know anything, or know anyone who does." Replied Peter.
"I do not know much of such things, but my court mage might. Farengar!"
A man appeared from a side room dressed in dark blue robes.
"Yes, my Jarl?"
"These two are looking for an Elder Scroll. Do you know anything?"
The man looked at the two visitors from under his hood, trying to work out who might be asking such a thing.
"I know nothing myself, but I know where you might find something. The College of Winterhold would be your best chance. If they know nothing there then you're out of luck."
Darian nodded.
"Thank you. We'll take our leave."
The pair returned to the team who were waiting by the gates to the city of Whiterun.
"More walking." Grumbled Peter after Darian had explained.
"We need to do this to defeat Alduin before he decides to eat any dimensions."
"How do you plan to do that when your feet hurt so much?"
"Perseverance."
The city of Winterhold didn't seem to be much of a city. By the looks of things, it looked like much of it had collapsed into the sea. However, the College had strangely survived. A lady stopped them from entering initially, but Darian demonstrated his power and he was allowed to cross with Peter. The pair had become good friends over their time working together. Inside the College, they found their way to the library where the librarian showed them some books and directed them to find someone called Septimus Signus out on the ice who was an expert on the Scrolls. Getting to Septimus' outpost was risky. The water wasn't deep, but it was freezing cold when Teresa tested it with her hand. The group picked their way over ice sheets. Finally, however, they came to a small igloo. Darian and Peter entered yet again, which was starting to annoy Teresa. Why was she walking around through deadly cold storms only to be told to wait behind at the important parts? But orders were orders and technically Darian was in charge of the group. She was a soldier, and following orders was what she did. Septimus was a strange man: he spoke in riddles and the conversation finished with talk of a place called Blackreach, the name of a Dwemer underground city, and them being given a small sphere and cube.
Darian sighed as they approached the city, seemingly almost buried under a glacier.
"I've never liked the Dwemer. They're arrogant, don't abide to any rules, and they did horrible things to the Snow Elves."
"I don't think it's going to matter. This place looks abandoned." Said Astrid.
"Really abandoned." Agreed Peter.
Darian frowned and rushed to a stone structure. It was locked shut with a gate.
"Damn the Dwemer. The minute they die out they start locking their doors."
"They might actually be damned. Who knows where they went?" Said Teresa, looking the gate up and down.
"If Miles were here he could take this down with a venom strike." Said Peter.
"Miles isn't here. He's dead and unless we let Gwen have her way, he's not coming back."
Hiccup frowned.
"Gwen? Who's she? I thought we were fighting Alduin."
Teresa sighed.
"Good job, Darian. Edward will have your head."
Darian rolled his eyes.
"To hell with it. We shouldn't be keeping all of this from the rest of the resistance. She's just as dangerous as Alduin. Gwen was the one who saved your life in Berk when you tried to tame Alduin, Hiccup. She's evil and has to be destroyed before she kills anyone else or commits another atrocity like 7065."
"Oh no, he's onto 7065." Teresa muttered, knowing that destroying all life on that Earth was the biggest bit of red on Gwen's file.
Every time someone found out, people became scared of her. However, the commander began to wonder whether the number was jinxed like Voldemort's name from Harry Potter. As the Dragonborn started to explain the mess, a magenta ball of fire and wings landed between the Vikings and the rest of the team.
"They don't need to know." Gwen snarled.
Darian drew his sword, twirling it threateningly. The flames died away, Gwen walked past him and looked at the gate.
"You need in? What's on the other side?"
"None of your concern." The dragonborn snapped.
The spider turned to Teresa.
"Teresa, what's on the other side of this gate? I just see a lever."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because it might be able to bring back Miles then I'm not tied into some contract with a dragon."
"An Elder Scroll. We need it to learn something."
"What?"
"Some Dragonrend shout." Blurted out Peter.
Gwen looked at him, leaning against the gate. Magenta energy began to course through the bars.
"What does Dragonrend do? Will it kill Alduin?"
"No. It just allows us to hurt him."
"Well...maybe this Elder Scroll will let me into Sovngarde to find Miles."
The gate shattered, its pieces falling to the ground with a series of metal clangs. Gwen stared at Darian angrily.
"You're going to find that Elder Scroll and tell me if it explains how to get into Sovngarde."
"The Elder Scrolls don't work like that. Now leave before we kill you."
"What a kind person."
The Ethereal spider walked away and sat down in a snow drift. The team stepped inside the structure and Darian pulled the lever. A round slab of stone began to descend a long way.
The elevator stopped and they found themselves staring at a strange object: an enormous sphere made of the same metal as the gate.
"What is this?" Asked Astrid, gazing up at the array of metal arms and lenses which sat above the sphere.
"I've no idea but I can feel a lot of power coming from it." Replied Peter.
"That's because there's an Elder Scroll somewhere in all this. We just have to solve the puzzle."
Darian had climbed a ramp up to ledge with a group of four buttons which seemed to be covered.
"Where's the cube Septimus gave us?"
He placed the object in a stand next to the buttons. The cube suddenly opened up and the arms of the machine began to turn. The two right-most buttons were uncovered. Darian looked at his team mates.
"Suggestions?"
"Second from the right four times." Replied Peter.
He didn't know why he had such a strong urge that was correct but he guessed his spidey sense had something to do with it. With each press, the arms of the machine spun. After the fourth, another button opened.
"Press it twice, then the last button once." Said the spider.
Following the sequence, the other arms seemed to fold to the side and a hidden arm extended with a strange pod. The pod opened revealing the team's goal: the Elder Scroll. Teresa picked it up carefully.
"Wow...it's pretty heavy."
"It would be. Give it here. We have to go to the Throat of the World where it was used before to defeat Alduin. There's no time to waste."
Crossovers in this Chapter
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Skyrim (far too much of it to be honest...)