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Everybody Hates The Thalmor

Pain was a reminder that you were still alive.

Elenwen had always hated pain.

It was the most grievous and unapologetic reminder that she was stuck in a fleshy, mortal prison. Oh, her body was beautiful, symmetrical, contoured to perfection, and her mind was quick and sharp. But how it whined at her. Clamouring at her to eat and drink and relieve herself on the daily, and bleed once a month (if that wasn't a demonstration of the flaws in the Elven body, she didn't know what was).

It was why she delighted in torture: To cause another pain was to impress upon another the fragility of their own mortality. To remind them that they were a broken, sinful thing that she could damage at will. Hurting others, she thought, was the closest one could come to being a god.

Elenwen was mortal, and she was in pain, and she hated it.

Sucking in a breath through charred lips into ruptured lungs, she tried to sit up.

"First Emissary! Are you alright? Here—" Shouts echoed around her, making her wince. Her head was ringing, but the golden glow of restoration magic flushed over her, dimming some of the pain. Frustrating. She didn't want it numbed, she wanted it gone.

"Re—port." She coughed, attempting to stagger to her feet.

"Target neutralised, First Emissary." Said some agent or another, steadying her. "The Dragon was killed when it impacted the crystal. But, uh—"

Elenwen tuned him out. The rest she knew. She'd barely had a moment to channel some energy from the gem into a ward before the Dragon's attack had struck it. Cracks had spiderwebbed across the surface of the diamond—

—and then she'd whited out.

She shook her head, looking around. There were a lot of dead operatives. Most of those who'd been close to the explosion had been torn apart, or even shredded into dust. The Dragon was there, slumped on it's side and very obviously dead. There was a dusting of shimmering gem shards dug into its underbelly, and now that she looked, small sparkling crystals could be seen all over the mountain's peak. Idly, she looked down, and saw a good number of them embedded in her own torso.

Oh. How odd.

"First Emissary, we need to get you to a dedicated healer." One of the agents said, grabbing her shoulder. "With the gem destroyed and Meteuse nowhere to be found, we have no way to claim the Dragon's soul. We have to retreat and—"

"No." Elenwen uttered.

"N—No?" The agent blinked.

She shoved his arm off, approaching the beast's corpse. Her body responded sluggishly to her commands; one leg trailing behind her, everything aching or stinging or both. She refused to look at herself, refused to give her body the attention it was so desperately craving.

"I can still perform the spell to absorb the soul." She declared.

"But First Emissary, we have no vessel!"

"We have several." Elisif raised her arms. "But none of you are suitable, so in reality there is only one."

"Wait, but Meteuse said—"

Elenwen cast the spell. Light flashed from her hands, struck the Dragon—

—Click—

And there was a connection.

Elenwen gasped, as the beast's body began to flake and burn, and energy flowed across from it and into her.

This was different to channeling power from the gem. That was controlled, or as controlled as such a thing could ever be. This felt like opening the door to an oven, then realising the fire inside was greater than you had ever dreamed, and that you had no way to close the door again. Part of her frantically reached for somewhere else to store the power—

But there wasn't anywhere else. Only her.

Elenwen's body spasmed, arms flinging out to either side, neck almost snapping as she flung her head upwards, the magic more than her legs keeping her from falling.

This…this was pain. But it was a pain she was willing to endure, wanted to endure. A reminder of her weakness and mortality, yes, but only because that weakness was being stripped away, because finally, finally, she was being made into something better, something purer, something more than she was—

Her body was healing. It was healing! Bones snapped back together, the burns all over her flaked away to reveal fresh skin, it was working, she was becoming perfect—

But if she was perfect, why did it hurt so much? The more power entered her, flooding her mind and body and soul, the harder it was to think, to breathe, and every nerve in her body lit up at once in a feeling more excruciating than she had ever enforced on any other in her life.

At some point, Elenwen began to scream.

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Cicero was eating a wheel of cheese.

Nobody knew where he'd got it, and nobody wanted to ask. But he was steadily munching his way through an entire wheel of cheese. Someone had asked why, and he'd said it was to heal his stab wound. They'd offered him a healing potion, and he'd declined.

Nobody asked him anything else after that.

"Alright sound off! Who's dead?" Called Hjarnagredda, limping into the crowd with one hand still on her stomach. Her other hand was clutching the Ring of Hircine, which she'd recently wiped off rather thoroughly in the snow. Retrieving the thing had been almost as unpleasant as her impalement.

There were a lot of people who weren't dead, and a lot of people who were. The short of it was that all the allies Hjar knew the names of had made it through, which was good enough for her. The arrival of, like, five separate groups of reinforcements (which, from what she was hearing, had meant a very confusing meeting at the bottom of the mountain) had been sufficient to rout the remaining Thalmor and associated mercenaries. Those had now either died, surrendered, or tried to flee down the side of the mountain.

Good luck to them.

Cleanup had only just begun, but Hjar didn't think she'd have the time to take charge of it. As people began to gravitate towards High Hrothgar, she was finally able to snag everyone important for a conversation.

"So nobody's seen Xander?" Mirabelle asked, slumped against a pillar. The poor mage had barely regained consciousness.

"No. Meaning this isn't over." L'laarzen wore the expression of someone who was utterly emotionally exhausted, but was gonna keep going anyway, and this was the fifth time this month she'd had to do that so she was used to it. "He was concerned that Julius could potentially succeed alone. If he lost, Paarthurnax is still in danger."

"And even if he did not; when Cassia Meteuse left High Hrothgar, we heard her go up the mountain." Arngeir spoke up, seemingly appearing from nowhere. "From the Shouts we have heard, there is combat at the peak. Some of your opponents must have bypassed the monastery."

"Well, crap." Dulurza grunted, rolling her shoulders. "Sure, you lot dumped enough potions in me that I can go another round. Who's coming?"

"I can—" Mirabelle tried to stand, only for Dulurza to put a hand on her shoulder and shove her back down.

"Nevermind, I'm not asking. Hjar, L'laarzen, Margret, Borgakh. Let's go."

"And me." Said Elisif, approaching.

"Eh?" Hjar turned and squinted at her. "Uh, your majesty, I don't think—"

"I am not letting Dulurza out of my sight again. I'm simply not doing it." Elisif was implacable. "And you currently have no support mages in your team."

"And you can provide that?" L'laarzen asked.

A shift in Elisif's demeanour, and a raised eyebrow. "She can't. I can."

"Potema." Dulurza growled. "My job is protecting her; I can't have you—"

"We protect each other." Elisif declared, eyes hard. Then blinked. "Oh, wow, Elisif really just said that and then stomped off to the back of our brain. Dulurza I don't think you're winning this."

"One queen is hard enough to deal with…" Dulurza huffed, turned to the others. "Then what's the—"

The walls shook. Everyone stopped moving, all eyes turning towards the peak of the mountain and the rending sound of an explosion that emanated from it.

"…How are we getting up?" Hjar asked.

"Wasn't there a gravity lift on the way here?" Mirabelle asked, weakly.

"It turned off." Hjar dismissed. "Just a burnt-out rune on the floor."

"Oh no!" Potema grinned. "If only you knew someone who could start it again."

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"YOU RODE AN AVALANCHE WITHOUT ME?" Was the first thing Cassia said, as she slid down a snowbank into the wreckage of Helgen. "That's not fair! How come the boys get to ride an avalanche and I—JULIUS!"

"He's alive." Xander called, weakly, having just thrown up a magicka-drained healing potion he'd tried to drink. "Mostly. Uh, no promises about the leg."

"You cut off his LEG?"

"Alexander." Octavia said, following Cassia down. "Explain. Now."

So Xander explained, as Cassia frantically tended to Julius' unconscious (and dismembered) form. Summarised Julius' plan, the reasoning behind his actions, the dangers if he succeeded.

Octavia looked sceptical of the claims, utterly absurd as they were; but became a lot more pensive when Cassia tossed over a pair of letters tucked into Julius' clothing. Letters from Xander, addressed to them.

"He intercepted them. Of course he did…" Xander growled, standing. "Look, Oct, Cass, as much as I'd love to explain in detail, I need to get back to the summit right now."

"Oh no," Octavia raised a warning hand, "You are not ditching us down here when—"

Xander whistled. There was a blur, and then Shadowmere skidded to a stop beside him, shaking a layer of snow off herself.

"I swear on all I have left I will get you another Dragon Soul," he placated, "but I might not have time to waste and—"

"Not what I meant." Octavia walked closer and put an arm on his shoulder. "I'm coming with you."

"You are?" Xander blinked.

"Think I'm going to let the Thalmor hurt you? I may be an embarrassment of a big sister, but I won't stoop that low." Octavia smiled, then looked up the mountain. "Besides. I promised Julius I'd kill Elenwen, and that I don't plan to change my mind on."

"Did anyone tell me anything we planned to do?" Cassia stood up from Julius' body, huffing. "He'll live. I'm coming too."

Xander rolled his eyes, knowing better than to argue. "Fine, but it's going to be a tight squeeze on the horse. Especially with—Oh, crap, Me'Daro."

"Yes, now you notice this one!" The diminutive Khajiit scampered over, hissing at them. "You, Alexander, are paying me double!"

"That's a cat." Octavia remarked, blinking.

"It's a Khajiit, don't be racist." Cassia slugged her in the arm. "Xander, I…why?"

Xander grinned. "Cat in the box. Or possibly not in the box, until he opened it. Oldest trick in the book."

"Then where did you put the Eye?"

"Oh, that?"

"Is…Is that real?" Said Nilsine Shatter-Shield, staring at the enormous diamond that shimmered in the light of the fire. "That can't be real, right?"

"I don't…" Muiri waved her arms in exasperation. "I don't know! It could be anything!"

"But he gave it to you? That young man who you had father introduce to the Jarl?"

"Yes! Well," Muiri looked back at it, flushing, "he said he was leaving it here for safekeeping. He was in an awful rush; rode his horse right through the gates, handed it to me, barely said two sentences."

"How long are you holding it for?"

"I don't know!"

Nilsine bit her lip. "…Must be rich."

"I have reason to think so, yes." Mirri glanced away.

"…Is he handsome?"

"NILSINE!"

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"It's somewhere safe." Xander summarised, vaguely—

Only to look up to the peak of the mountain, where a sudden flash of gold accompanied an echoing boom.

"And wow we've really got to go." He stressed, jumping on the horse. "Me'Daro, you coming?"

"Considering the pain that follows everywhere you go, no. Khajiit will look after your beloved brother." Me'Daro curled up atop the sleeping Meteuse's chest.

"Are you going to kill him while we're gone?"

Me'Daro tilted her head. "Hm…No, but she might carve a penis into his face."

Xander, Cassia and Octavia looked at each other.

"…No that's fine."

"Yeah go wild."

"This is less than he deserves."

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L'laarzen was about to reach the highest point in the world. The world which might be about to end.

She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

The wind that buffeted their group as they climbed was intense, and struck L'laarzen as more of a magical phenomenon than a natural one. From the concerned look on Elisif's (Potema's, rather) face, that was more than a lucky guess.

"I doubt 'be careful' really needs to be said." called the witch. "But, like. Be careful!"

If it was possible, everyone else's faces got grimmer.

L'laarzen, Hjar, Dulurza, Margret, Borgakh, and Potema clambered the last few steps to the peak of the throat of the world.

Just in time to watch the Aldmeri ambassador snap an Elf's neck.

In a disorienting mixture of relaxed and manic, Elenwen's face jerked sideways to look at them as she gently flung the deceased Thalmor to the side. He ragdolled through the air, tumbling off the edge of the cliff some distance away.

The skeleton of a Dragon lay on its side nearby.

"Elisif!" Elenwen said, voice half giggle, half moan, all power. "It's been too long! Oh, and you brought your pet greenskin, how delightful!"

"Good evening, Elenwen." Said (probably) Elisif, as Dulurza moved to stand in front of her. "You, uh…you doing okay there honey?"

"Oh, I feel rapturous!" Elenwen spun in place with a laugh. Snow scattered away from her as she did so, and they all felt something push against them. "We were so right, my dear, we were so right. Mortality…how did you all stand it?"

"Khajiit sees no gem." L'laarzen whispered to Hjar, who was closest. "Did she do what this one thinks she did?"

"Looks like it." Hjar whispered back. "She's strong. Don't get hit."

"Understood. Khajiit has killed the strong before." L'laarzen crept behind a rock, and did her best to vanish.

"We're going to need that Dragon soul to stay right where it is, Elenwen." Elisif warned. "How do you feel about staying up here forever?"

"Forever? You don't know what forever is." Elenwen closed her eyes, breathed in deeply through her nose. "I can feel the mountain. Can you feel it?"

"I got feet?" Hjar answered, unhooking her mace and stepping closer.

"Is this what I had? No, sorry, he had. Paarthurnax, not me, he was…ehehehe…" Elenwen stumbled backwards, giggling again. "Oh, how silly…to think, he had this. The Heart of the Snow Tower. A connection to the very fabric of the world and he didn't use it, even as he died."

"Maybe he didn't want to tear the world apart?" Dulurza told her, exchanging a glance with Borgakh.

"Hm? Oh, now that is a fine idea." Elenwen's eyes finally snapped open again, and she looked between them. "That's what we were planning, wasn't it? Tear the world apart. And then I can share this with you all!"

She blinked. Tilted her head. "Why are you all looking at me funny?"

L'laarzen grabbed her mouth from behind, and slit her throat.

Blood flew, but only briefly. As everyone but Potema (who had at this point fully taken over) charged in, the gash in Elenwen's throat released a bright golden light, as though her skin was only barely containing a miniature sun.

She spun and lashed out with one hand, which L'laarzen ducked, but the following knee came in too fast and slammed into her midriff. L'laarzen choked and curled up, flying backwards through the air from the force of it.

Khajiit is sick of people breaking her accursed ribs—

Dulurza and Borgakh reached Elenwen first, letting out battle cries and swinging, but Elenwen just caught Dulurza's axe in one hand and Volendrung in the other. The gash through Elenwen's throat was already closing, but Hjar opened up another as she slid by and swept Faolan's Blade through her calf, then spun and smashed the Mace of Molag Bal into the back of her knee.

More glowing, and the leg buckled, but the other leg kept Elenwen standing just fine as she pulled up the injured one and stabbed it into Hjar's torso. The Thalmor Emissary's perfectly manicured foot punctured flesh with enough force to tear straight through and slam Hjar back into the stone, making her gasp.

Dulurza and Borgakh renewed their assault but Elenwen just hissed at them, grabbing both their weapons by the hafts and flinging them (the Orcs, not just the weapons) away. Still on one leg, as she raised the other at a gymnastic angle, bringing the skewered Hjar into the air and staring at her for a moment.

That was stopped when a dagger buried itself in her eye. Elenwen turned to give an annoyed look at Margret, who shouted "EVERYONE STOP IMPALING MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Elenwen yanked the dagger out, revealing a glowing gold pit where the eye should be. Tossed Hjar away—

Only for magical projectiles to explode against her back, making her stumble. The annoyed look shifted to Elisif. "You…" Elenwen mused, yanking the dagger out of her eye to reveal another burst of gold. "You're not Elisif, are you? I can't believe I didn't see it before. Who are you?"

"A much better evil dominatrix than you are." Potema shot back, before tilting her head. "Those should have paralysed you, I'm a little concerned that they didn't."

Elenwen's fingers twitched and splayed themselves. Energy crackled between them, whispers of words in Dovahzuul floating through the air, and she launched a torrent of flame from her hands towards the mage. Potema swore, throwing up a ward, but was still blasted off her feet by the barrage of fire.

Elenwen turned, shot flames at Dulurza, who dived out of the way. At Margret, who did the same. At Borgakh—

Borgakh swung Volendrung at the pace of a Daedra-buffed champion and cracked it into Elenwen's cheek, whipping her head around so fast there was an audible snap.

Everyone froze. Elenwen's head was on backwards, but her recently gouged eye was almost entirely regenerated. She blinked twice, and looked at Hjar, who's form was also hideously contorting. "Oh, you're a werewolf. What a fun menagerie of primates you all are!"

"And what in Oblivion are YOU?" Borgakh demanded, bringing her hammer up for a crushing blow down on Elenwen's spine. The Thalmor's head snapped back around, and she punched Borgakh in her chest so hard it sent her sprawling, then waved an arm and let out a magical something that nullified a barrage of ice magic from Potema—

Only to snarl, as Dulurza's axe sunk deep into her lower spine.

"SHE STILL ONLY HAS MORTAL FOCUS!" L'laarzen shouted, clutching her ribs and trying to stand. "OVERWHELM HER!"

Dulurza released the axe and backed up as Elenwen spun and stomped, cracking stone but missing her target.

"Stop running—"

The distraction allowed Margret to leap in from behind and slice a blade across the back of Elenwen's neck. Elenwen twisted back, tried to reach her but missed.

There was a roar. Hjar (now transformed) swung a meaty claw at Elenwen, knocking her onto her back.

Elenwen floated unnaturally back to her feet, only for a lightning bolt from Potema to smash into her face, blinding her. L'laarzen staggered in to rake her claws along Elenwen's side, ducked away from the retaliatory flail, Dulurza grabbed her axe from where it was still lodged in Elenwen's back and yanked it out, Hjar crashed back into her with a snarl at the same time Borgakh made another powerful strike to the back of her legs with Volendrung.

Elenwen collapsed to her knees, swinging her arms wildly but ineffectually, as they all began to crowd in around her, striking again and again, producing more and more gashes of golden light which began to widen and brighten, Borgakh grabbed her head and yanked it back, yelled "NOW!" as Dulurza swung in at her neck—

Elenwen screamed.

It wasn't a Shout, not really. Just sound and fury and power. Her body seemed to erupt, a wave of heat and force throwing everyone backwards to land haphazardly around the mountaintop. The Elf's body spasmed, repeatedly, and she started to float, light swirling around her like it did around Dragons when their souls left them…but it didn't leave. There was nowhere for it to go. The wounds that they'd inflicted closed within seconds, but more appeared all the time. Holes burst open in Elenwen's skin to vent bursts of flame and then heal over again, flame that would then re-enter her body by burrowing in somewhere else.

Her clothes were in tatters, and her eyes were burning. Shards of crystal buried in her chest shone like stars.

"Filthy animals." She snarled. "You think you can stop my ascension? I AM BECOME GOD! I will free myself from the shackles of this pathetic existence and reach planes you have never dreamed of!"

Lightning burst from her fingertips, lashed out at L'laarzen, still trying to stand. She recoiled, but the energy splattered over a blue ward before it could damage her.

Further back, Potema bared her teeth, magic curling between her fingers. "Stop trying to kill the extended family!" She demanded.

This, unfortunately, just made Elenwen grin. The electricity directed at L'laarzen dissipated, only for another to be just as quickly shot at a recovering Borgakh.

Potema shifted her focus and was able to catch it, conjuring up a ward above her too. Then barely blocked the lightning launched at Margret, then was a split second late in shielding against the fire blasted towards Hjar—

Elenwen clapped hands together and blasted a beam of energy straight at Potema. The shield she attempted to conjure shattered under the impact, and she screamed, the light taking her in the stomach and hurling her backwards into Paarthurnax's skeleton.

"ELISIF!" Dulurza screamed, stumbling to get her feet under her. She seemed to be the only one who was still able to stand; Borgakh had a broken limb, Hjar was on fire, Margret was barely conscious—

L'laarzen made a snap decision.

"You know, before, I hated you." Elenwen said, floating closer to the crumpled heap of Potema/Elisif's body. "I thought you were a jumped-up, over-entitled child. But now…I just don't care. Isn't it freeing? How little of this matters? This…" She raised a glowing arm. "This is a mercy."

Potema, shaking, tried to raise a hand in defence—

A hammerhead smashed into Elenwen's face, sending her spinning backwards through the air.

Dulurza let out a battle cry, the Skeleton Key clutched in one hand and Volendrung in the other. She jumped after Elenwen, hit her again, slammed her into the floor. Hit her again, tore one of her arms off at the elbow, grabbed the hammer with both hands and smashed it into Elenwen's skull once, twice—

Elenwen's hand lashed out and smashed into Dulurza's torso. The Orc was hurled away, flying metres into the sky before collapsing on the ground next to her Jarl.

Elenwen rose into the air again, face an utter mess.

"Alright." She gargled. "Now I care again." Brought her hands back up—

And then a fireball the size of her torso slammed into her and exploded.

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"Help them!" Xander shouted, and Cassia jumped off Shadowmere without any further prompting, sprinting towards Elisif and Dulurza.

"Oct, can you—" But Octavia had already disappeared. Doppelgängers of her flashed into existence, dozens of them, floating in the air around Elenwen, who made some hideous noise and began firing blasts of energy at the illusions.

For his own part, Xander bid Shadowmere skid to a stop next to the largest congregation of his friends, all struggling to stand.

"Well it bloody took you long enough!" Dulurza snapped.

"I was preoccupied!" He shouted back, beneath the booms of magical thunder. "Sit-rep!"

"Growwwwrl!" Answered Hjar, who was still a wolf.

"UNHELPFUL!"

"The Eye is broken, Paarthurnax is dead, his soul is in her!" L'laarzen filled in, ever reliable. "Nothing seems to be enough to make her fall!"

Xander slid free of Shadowmere and looked up at Elenwen, trying to resist the urge to gulp. Magicka was pouring off the woman in waves, along with enough heat and light to give him a sunburn. It felt worryingly like his fight with Ancano; another mad mage strapped to a source of incredible power. But rather than a portal to the Aetherius, she had the soul of the second strongest Dragon in existence and quite possibly a link to a cornerstone of Mundus itself.

And he'd blown up the Staff of Magnus.

As he watched, Elenwen screeched and emit a sphere of crackling flame, vaporising all the illusions, before launching a blast of energy at a seemingly empty section of mountain. Revealed as not so empty when Octavia dove free of it, invisibility flickering and failing under the sheer magical pressure.

"Please have a plan." Dulurza begged.

"I have one." Xander said, sighing. He started to walk forwards.

"Mind saying what it is?" She shouted after him.

He turned back to his friends. Smiled. "Give up."

When he looked forwards again, there was someone else in front of him.

Are you sure? Asked Azura. I understand that you did not wish to—

I had a point to prove against Julius. Xander answered, feet still taking him forwards. Auntie Elenwen gets no such treatment, if she's even still in there. Kick her ass.

Meridia was right that you will lose consciousness. Azura warned. You will not be freed unless I release you. The process will likely be painful, and, perhaps uncomfortably intimate—

Azura. He interrupted, gently. Smiled. Go ahead. I trust you.

The goddess stared at him. Nodded. Stepped towards him, as he stepped towards her.

Their foreheads touched, then pushed through each other, as they moulded together, her power flowing into him, and he was—

Dusk and dawn and night and day and contradiction and truth and love and power and fear and supplication and wisdom and too big much too big more than any mortal mind could ever hold more thoughts and sides and fractals than he could ever hope to think through in an entire lifetime and—

The sword need not understand the swordsman, nor the soul gem the enchanter, nor the avatar its host. Sleep, Champion. I will see this done.

The mountain shook, and Cassia stared, open mouthed.

I look away for one second—

Xander…shone, for lack of a better word. It was like a star had just burst to life within him. Light chased dark across his skin, and energy pulsed from him in all directions. His eyes shone blue and black (white and gold?) and Azura's star, which normally hung at his belt, was pressed to his chest, shining like it had never shone before.

Suddenly there were two poles of power atop the mountain, and Elenwen immediately snapped to stare at the second, her face contorting into a scowl. "What…"

"Hello, little Elf girl." Said…not Alexander. Definitely not Alexander. "Did I hear you calling yourself a God some minutes ago? You know we Daedra don't like it when you mortals do that."

"You're—" Elenwen tried to reply—

Azura jumped up and punched her in the face.

Elenwen flew backwards and Azura tore through the sky after her, striking her with a hammer fist that slammed her back down into the mountain.

Dust and shrapnel flew. Elenwen jerked unnaturally to the side just in time to avoid the followup double kick that tore a great hole into the stone, then twisted up and launched a retaliatory strike. Azura caught it on one forearm, was still sent sliding backwards across the surface of the plateau. A flicker of a frown, then she blurred back in, punching Elenwen back into the side of the mountain's highest peak.

Elenwen's stomach caved in, healed itself, then she launched herself back out with a kick that Azura blocked. A rapid trade of strikes too fast to track, then Azura grabbed her by the forehead and slammed her back into the stone, then leapt, dragging the Elf up the rock and making a furrow in it with the back of her cranium.

Less than a second later they rose above the peak, and then Azura smashed Elenwen's head into the top of it, making the highest point of the world a little less high as rubble rained down. Azura raised Elenwen's head and smashed it down again, and again, and again, leaving a crumpled mess of it, and Elenwen opened her mouth—

Dragonfire poured out, washing over Azura and buffeting her higher up into the sky. Azura thrust her arms to either side and knocked the fire away, balanced out, and launched a beam of focused energy down. Elenwen flew up through it, flesh flaking off, before punching the outstretched arm and sending Azura flying backwards through the sky, then pursuing.

The rest was hard to follow, for observers on the mountain. Just two flashes, red-gold and blue-gold, arcing through the air and smashing into each other before separating for another pass. Each collision was accompanied by a shockwave that made anyone still on their feet stagger.

Cassia was not on her feet, having wisely collapsed next to Elisif when the most vital healing was done. Elisif, for her own part, was looking up at the sky with unabashed horror.

"…Could he do that when I bossed him around at the Dragontruce?" She asked, weakly.

"Oblivion if I know." Cassia said. "Last I checked, he had the magicka capacity of an Orc teenager."

Elisif turned to stare at her.

The two lights crashed into each other, hovered there, then shot downwards, and everyone desperately scrambled out of the way before the pair tore into the top of the mountain.

Stone shrapnel went everywhere, and both combatants skidded away from each other, light briefly dissipating. The clothing on Xander's body was hissing and steaming. Elenwen was now completely naked, and her body was putting itself back together again.

"Any last words?" Azura asked.

Elenwen's mouth snapped back into place, and she hissed. "I will—"

"You know what never mind."

Azura cupped her hands together, and the Star at her chest detached itself, floating between her palms and spinning. The glow intensified, as she charged a sphere of blue energy, and released a beam over two metres in diameter, burning a furrow into the ground as it tore towards its target.

Elenwen simply thrust her head forwards and belched flame, a concentrated torrent of Dragonfire that clashed with the beam midway between them.

The two attacks met each other and held, red against blue, energy bursting away to either side at the point of contact. Azura's face was one of intense focus, as the ground at her feet cracked and wind whipped her hair into a frenzy. But she couldn't seem to push the balance forwards.

Cassia wanted to help, but the force being emitted by the pair was so enormous she couldn't even get to her feet; the bloody Dragon skeleton she was braced against was about to start sliding across the mountain at this rate.

Azura scowled, twitched her head to one side. Then, audibly, yelled "Fine! But if he dies its your fault!" She took one hand away from the beam, the point of contact swerving dangerously close to her. Reached to her belt, and unsheathed Xander's sword. Dawnbreaker.

But that's not an artefact of—

Light burst from the weapon, pure white, flooding across half of Xander's body. Azura (if that's even who or what this was anymore —) brought the weapon forwards, holding it in front of the Star.

The blade shimmered, glistening white and gold and blue, and then blasted forwards, leading the column of light as it hit the gout of flame and then punched through.

Azura/Meridia/Xander's energy pushed forwards, picking up speed, before tearing the Dragonfire apart and taking Elenwen in the chest.

The explosion was so bright Cassia worried for her long term visual health. She cowered, shielding her eyes, she was still seeing white through her arm and closed eyelids, and the roaring was so loud she wasn't even sure if she was screaming—

One second.

Two.

Three.

And then, finally, it stopped.

It took another few seconds after that, even using restoration to accelerate the process, before Cassia's eyes could see anything. Xander was still there, still glowing, in front of what looked to be a two-meter circular hole in the side of the mountain that billowed smoke up into the sky.

He reached a hand out, and Dawnbreaker flew out of the smoke, landing in his palm.

A few more seconds passed.

And then Elenwen staggered out of the cave.

Xander's return to consciousness was a lot more abrupt than he'd expected, really. There was a jolt, and suddenly he was on his feet and his body felt like it was on fire. He stumbled, and barely stopped himself from tripping over and collapsing.

"Eeh-weeh?" He spluttered, eloquently.

It didn't work. Azura growled.

Pardon?

Look up.

Xander looked up.

Elenwen, wearing far less clothes than he was comfortable with (I.E: None), was moving towards him.

Her left leg was dragging behind her, but snapped back into place as he watched. Her face—matter of fact, all of her—was charred to almost black, but flaked off in the wind to reveal fresh skin underneath.

There was a hole in her torso, so enormous it was practically bisecting her. That too was regenerating, golden light meshing the wound back together.

Well, that was utterly pointless. Came Meridia's voice.

Meridia? You're here?

I set aside my differences to team up with this smug bitch and help you, yes, but apparently I shouldn't have bothered!

I killed her six times over. Azura extrapolated. Blew out her heart, destroyed her brain, nada. Her body is immaterial. The problem is her soul; the damn thing won't let go of the Dragon its attached to.

"Little Xander…" Elenwen muttered, staggering closer, "Why are you being so mean to me, Xander? You're my favourite. You've always been my favourite…"

"So you gave up?" Xander squeaked, aloud.

I can't steal unwilling souls! Azura protested. And Meridia can't cleanse her, for Dragons are divine! This is us tagging out, come up with something clever!

"Oh, COME ON—" Xander's eyes darted about, taking in the situation. All his allies were practically insensate, no help there. Molag Bal, Malacath, and Hircine all had artefacts here; all might be able to tear Elenwen's soul away from Paarthurnax's, but would all definitely not leave him control over his body once that was over.

I could target her with the same spell she used, the Dragon Soul trap? No, she's not dead, and who knows what would happen, I might accidentally absorb her too.

"AlexanDER—" Elenwen charged magic between her fingers. Panicked, Xander drew the only staff left on his back and fired it.

The Wabbajack turned Elenwen into a chicken. The chicken clucked, and then exploded, revealing her unharmed but even more furious.

Xander tossed the staff away, gulping, and started walking backwards.

Need something that can target her soul, not her body. Something that doesn't give a damn about trying to steal my soul. Oh for the love of—this night has gone on too long already I just need the wench to DIE—

He stiffened.

…Okay, on the list of most terrible ideas we've had in the last forty eight hours this is by far the most terrible what are you even thinking—

"EVERYONE COVER YOUR EARS!" Xander shouted at the top of his lungs. "AND HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU VALUE!"

Confused faces, from those alert enough to hear him, but he didn't have time to extrapolate because Elenwen had apparently decided that she was going to tear him apart with her bare hands, and was now sprinting towards him.

He centred himself. Closed his eyes. Sucked in a breath.

Opened his mouth, and Shouted