SOVNGARDE

The Listener

I'm trembling when we reach the other side of the portal. For one, because going through an interstellar dimension and landing on the other side where all the gods and dead reside is pretty exhausting. Especially without any blood to go with it. But that's only part of the reason why I'm so freaked out.

The Night Mother outright left her only besotted Child, who's been with her through thick and thin, left to die on the side of a mountain. Yeah, he's annoying as hell and really creepy at times, but you'd think she would show some sort of remorse.

Instead, she's watching the area with an assessing eye and staking out her next steps. All with the coolness of a person who merely dealt with a human-sized fly that wouldn't stop buzzing around her food. And now he's dead. I think.

I let her go first, hang in the background. I shouldn't feel sad about Cicero, I mean, he did torture me for a few minutes to see what I was planning. But after I made it clear, there was nothing to plan, he gave up. I just can't get his tear-stained eyes out of my mind.

I banish that thought with another more intrusive one. We got all of the Artifacts and they're nowhere near me. How in the hell are we going to stop her? I know this is the end for that black dragon. He's no doubt here or else Mother will blow a fuse.

I keep myself breathing and walking. If I pause for a moment, I'll fall and never get up. It's getting harder without any blood, so hard to keep going. But I'm curious now. You know if this is end for me, which if very well may be, then I kind of want to check out the potential afterlife. Maybe catch up with some people. If they show their faces.

Breathing is becoming harder, but each step is easier. Soon, my lungs fill with air without trouble. It's almost like this place is healing me. I let Mother go first, her cloak floats out behind her while she walks with purpose. All I gotta do is step on it, maybe then I can outrun her and live out whatever lifespan I have here.

That thought passes quickly with my surroundings. If you thought anywhere in Skyrim, maybe even the heights of Solitude, was something to see then you haven't seen anything yet. Beautiful stone pathways spill down the hill, lit with fires that don't waver. They don't look like they've been out in centuries. Stone warriors stand proudly over their weapons. That's not the only thing. The mist parts ways to show a teeming forest framed by the northern lights up above.

The sky is positively glowing with swirling color. I keep my head back to stare at it and trip into a rough patch of trees. I groan when Mother drags me out by the collar. "Stop screwing around. We need to be cautious." She harshly sneers into my ear.

I freeze up with that while she pulls me along. She's not speaking loudly for a reason. I feel it, some sort of pressure on us from one point. I keep looking around me while snow and pine needles fall from my hair. I can't find the source. We are being watched.

"Travelers! Turn back! Terror awaits you in the mist!" A Stormcloak guy races past us. The Night Mother pays him no mind, she just pulls her hood down lower.

My heart beats a little faster. I have that feeling again, that pressure, but it's stronger.

Mist blankets us, I cough when I get a good whiff of it. It smells faintly like burning pine. "What is this shit?" I call up to her.

She keeps good hold of my arm. "Another trick no doubt. He is here. Keep your wits about you."

No sooner than she finishes talking does a peal of thunder roil across the land. Mother drags me to the ground and grasps the back of my neck. "Stay down." She whispers so softly I almost miss it.

Her hand shoves me to the ground so I'm now on my stomach. She's breathing heavily not even an inch above me. The roar sounds again.

The mist swirls with his wings, he glides through it as if nothing were in his path. Sharp claws peek their way into my vision, but they don't even brush us. If he hears us, he doesn't show it. The World Eater lets us be.

"He's watching us." I say under my breath.

She waits. The sound of wings on the air grows faint. "He's gone. Get up." She says, then drags me along by the collar.

I stumble and nearly fall again. The weight of the heavy chains is gone after they fell off in the portal, but my feet are still clumsy. "What? Where are we going?" I ask.

"The great Hall. Tsun is no doubt guarding the way." She continues to drag me until we see the path open up. A large building sits with elaborate carvings and structures surrounding it in the clearing. It almost looks like it goes off the side of the cliff. I can't take in the sight like I want to because now a half-naked man is blocking my vision.

When I say blocked, I mean it. The guy has to be about seven feet if not taller. His broad chest is large enough to land a dragon on. And his arms are about the size of my torso. He growls and peers down at us with ancient eyes. "What bring you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls end, Shor's gift to honored dead?"

"None of your business, who the hell are you?" I say before she can clamp a hand on my mouth. I just can't believe someone can be so imposing.

"I am Tsun, Shield thane to Shar." Is his response, "The Whalebone Bridge he bade my guard and winnow-"

"Enough, Tsun. We need entrance." Mother snatches the conversation from him. The big guy blinks down at her.

"No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?"

I can just feel her rolling her eyes, "I am the Dragonborn."

"Ah! It's been too ling since last I faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood."

"I am sure. I must enter the Hall this instant." She says. A roar sounds in the distance. I don't dare look over my shoulder to see him. I can feel his eyes on me.

"Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test." He eyes her, "And no magic."

I expect something simple, you know, a little card game or some hopscotch. Maybe that's asking for too much because he full on runs towards us while pulling his great battle axe. Mother shoves me to the side. I scream when some of my bones break from the force of being slammed into the pavement at hyper speed. But when I shove my unruly bangs from my eyes, I see her in battle with him.

She dances around him as gracefully as a gazelle and he's swinging without mercy. She dodges each blow before going for his throat. I groan when my arm sets wrong so I have to break it and I sit up, panting and trying to get my bearings. The world is still tilting. She must have knocked my head around too much based on how far they keep swaying. Then I feel it.

It was a simple movement. I was just readjusting my palm, getting my hand straightened out. Then the ring fell off. It came clean off my finger and is now resting in my other palm. I sit there, in my dizzied state now, trying not to cry in relief. It's off. But will the Daedric Princes find me here? Will they be able to come for me?

The big guy, Summer or whatever, pauses in the fight. He glances up and stares straight at me with such an intensity I wish to shrink back into the forest floor. This gives her enough time. Without his quick feet, she would have had his head cut off cleanly.

He stops the fight and addresses her. I see a few stolen glances my way and slowly, my dumb self, starts to get it. The Princes would come for me if they could. But this is the plane of the gods. If they can find me, then so can the divines. They can help me. I look up and back at him with wide eyes. It's small but I see it. He gives a barely indecipherable shake of his head. Wait.

I hear that in my head. So, I put the ring back on. It can still be moved around my finger but now I think I'm disguised enough that all these gods and warriors won't shit their pants in my presence. I need to keep this advantage to myself.

Her breathing slows and with it she turns to pin me with her gaze. "Come, Eve." She holds out her hand and like any good, loyal, puppy dog, I go to meet her.

The building was farther than I thought. Looks like someone had the good idea to kill something very big and intimidating to use their spine as a walkway to the main Hall. Nope, not joking. Kind of wish I was. With my floppy feet, I almost fall a time or two, but she keeps a good hold on my elbow.

The Hall of Valor or whatever, sits on the other side on a giant rock floating in the middle of space. When we get to the doors I find them towering over us a good forty feet. It should be heavy, but Mother pushes it with such ease.

Inside, I smell the fires cooking something. A giant pyre-like fireplace sits in the center with various meats being sizzled. Food litters the great tables that span the rest of the space. My mouth starts to salivate with the sweet smell of roasted vegetables and pork, even though I have no appetite for mortal food.

"Welcome, Dragonborn! Our door has stood empty since Alduin first set his soul-snare here." A dirty but beautiful Nord man greets us at the entrance. "By Shor's command we sheathed our blades and ventured not the vale's dark mist…" He continues his rant but Mother has grown tired of him already.

She drags me down the steps to a group of Nords standing off to the side. A female and two males who all pull their blades when she shows up. "At long last! Alduin's doom is now ours to seal. Just speak the word and with high hearts will hasten forth to smite the worm wherever he lurks." The woman begins. I see Mother is about to start barking out orders to them, so I let my eyes roam the room.

I should have seen them earlier, they were watching me with wonder this whole time after all, but I guess I was too caught up in the evil tyrant dragging me around. Now that I have them in my sights, it takes everything in me not to sink to the ground and sob.

Her golden hair is the same. His dark hair and dark eyes look much like the last day I saw them. Their faces hold a glow about them that only good health and prosperity can bring. They aren't marred by blood or grimaces like when I last saw them.

I stumble forwards, out of her grasp and she lets me. Her hand goes limp. I fall into their arms.

"Mom. Dad." I croak out as the tears come. I cling to them. Hug them so hard they should break. But they don't. They aren't flayed alive on the cold ground anymore. They're right before me with healthy, beating hearts, and smiles to match.

"Eve. It's been so long." Her high-pitched and musical voice says.

"Mom, I missed you." I cry. She strokes my hair.

"Eve, where have you been? What's gone on?" I can hear dad saying. He 's no doubt asking about my vampire state. I pull back to watch their faces. Study them, like I never did before.

"A necessary sacrifice. I had to take down Harkon. He's the one who killed you, remember? I took revenge on you. He's dead now." My voice is wobbly, but I get it all out.

Mom strokes my cheek. "Oh baby, you didn't have to do that. We didn't need vengeance. We're here, safe and sound and where we were meant to be."

My heart lurches. I guess when you get to paradise all the shit you dealt with while you were living just slips away. They both look at me in fear. "Yeah, but I needed him dead." I say, and it's like a weight is lifted in my chest. That was the truth the whole time. I needed him dead for my sake.

I step back with the sudden dizziness. It's like I'm suffocating. I needed Harkon, my parent's murderer dead, all for me. My own peace of mind. It helped, a little bit. But look where it's gotten me.

I look over my shoulder to see her watching me. She's still in deep conversation with the warriors who are just itching to go kill anything moving outside. And they don't seem to care that she quit paying attention to them. The hair on my neck raises.

"You became a vampire, all to avenge us?" Dad asks softly. I hear the slight amusement in his voice. And worry. "You know it might be harder to get to Sovngarde now."

I can't breathe. I'm here, where I felt like I needed to be this whole time. With mom and dad. Together as one. But what did it take to get here? A change over to the undead, a murder spree, releasing the worst evil the world has known, and making a deal with Daedric Princes.

"Eve." I'm brought out of my thoughts and back to the present. "You're here." Mom says again. She strokes my face before pulling me into a great hug. "I missed you." She whispers.

I choke on another sob. Should I have just died in prison? Given up? And then, maybe I would have been here.

"I hear your plights." That accented voice comes again. I look over mom's shoulder and up to see Tsun and the other Nord from the entrance before me.

"You think you would have reached the halls of Sovngarde without nobility, don't you?" The Nord asks. "You wouldn't have been worthy to even walk the paths. You no doubt would have entered another realm in Aetherius." He mentions.

I pull away from my parents. "What? What are you talking about?"

"All you went through, you needed to, to be here." He states clearly.

"But you know what I've done." I whisper it just so my parents don't hear.

Tsun crosses his shoulders over his broad chest. "I see it, you are bound to them. Have you become noble and worthy to walk these halls? Not yet, I see."

"Eve, what is he talking about?" Dad turns to me.

"Nocturnal has me." I whisper and bow my head in shame. She has helped me so much, but if I were given the choice, I'd rather be here…anyone would.

"Not for long." Another voice sounds. Mom and dad fall back into each other's arms as a hand rests on my shoulder. The Night Mother. "She will be freed from her embrace, I assure you."

Mom gives a soft smile, "Thank you. Then she can come home and be with us in peace."

Mother digs her nails into my shoulder. I grit my teeth and try to keep my expression from betraying the truth. If we screw this up, I won't have even a sliver of a chance to walk the halls of Sovngarde again.

"Come, Eve, we have little time. Alduin awaits." She whispers in my ear.

I try to slow my breathing, try to paint mom and dad's faces into my memory for good. This very well may be the last time I see them, so I have to make it count. "A moment." I whisper.

She lets me. I race back over to fall into their warm and always inviting embrace. I hear mom give a few sniffles and dad just hug me harder. "I'll see you again." I promise.

I mean that. When I turn away from their smiling faces, the ones that drove me to the corners of Skyrim and back and allowed me to bear that damn Voice for so long, I am determined. I watch the back of her pretty head as she glides before me. Her auburn hair is not her own, but I damn well won't be scared of blowing her head clean off.

We wait in the mist. It's like the fog in Riften but heavier. I can actually feel the vapor of it melting on my skin and armor. But I do this all for her. She stands at the front of the pack, the rest of the warriors fan out behind her and I'm in the back.

She yells some words I can't make out before the female Nord yells, "Clear Skies! We combine our shouts!" and she yells to the mist at our right. I stand there watching the fog clear instantly. It shouldn't be like that. At least, at home it gradually lifted. Their power is not anything a mere mage could learn.

They continue to scream into the sky. I use the pad of my thumb to roll the ring around again. It's loose alright. I have to suppress a grin. That's my ticket out of this mess, as long as I play it right.

Like a graceful snake, the mist comes sinking back into the valley again. The warriors do not pause in their efforts. They yell once again with Mother at the helm of it all.

The mist comes back. I see Mother balling her fists up. She's pissed. I wonder how long this will take. I hope it's soon, or else I'll start sweating.

What happens when I take off the ring?

Do I call the divines to my aid? Will they help me? I never got a clear answer from the big guy back in the Hall. I take a longing look at the door all the way over that bone bridge. I could run, pop in for a quick chat, and be back. They'd probably still be shouting anyways.

I take only a few short steps when the mist clears for good. "The endless weight gives way to battle." The blonde woman whispers.

I clench my teeth. I have no time now. All I can do is watch.

It's a graceful entrance. He swoops straight down from the wavering lights above. A dark shadow against and endless sea of color. If I were a lucky person, he would go straight for Mother. He'd try to kill her as he has many times in the past, get his ass beat, then we carry on with what little lives we have left.

But who are we talking about here?

Before I can duck, I see his red, blazing eyes, then his sharp metallic claws impale me. I scream with the sudden pain piercing my stomach and ribs. My arms are trapped. He lifts off, so fast and fierce, I'm not even worried I'll get whiplash anymore. I'm more worried about my nonexistent great-grandchildren getting smacked with that.

He roars above me. The wind whips fiercely in my face. I have to keep my eyes closed tight, there's no way I can keep them open and keep them from watering.

"No!" I hear Mother screech.

Before we can get over the peaks of the nearby mountains a sudden draft comes out way. The dragon plummets. I scream again with the quick ascent. It's just like when I got Meridia's beacon but this time I don't know if I'll make it back in one piece.

"Dragonrend is working! Hit him again!" One of the Nord warrior's yells.

I hear her working up her voice, but the great dragon speaks. I'm still locked in his claws and still bleeding out. Bad. But I peer up with bleary eyes to watch him yell back. "You dare kill me and your right hand dies as well Dragonborn!" He screeches.

I feel the pull of gravity as we circle the warriors panicking on the ground. She hasn't said a word yet. I cough out a laugh, "Sorry, buddy, but she doesn't really care if I live or die." I croak out.

The dragon yells out and before another shout comes our way, he changes course. We go soaring over the valley and end up near the portal I first came through. He drops me to the ground but not before slicing me good down the right side of my face. Blood weeps from the wound but I just wince at the sting. I've felt worse. "You will obey me. You will tell me everything. All of her weaknesses."

His face is inches from my body. His fangs so close. I have a clear mental image of Cicero locked in that other dragon's jaw and wonder if I'll be the same. I cough again. "Blood." I whisper.

Alduin thrashes his tail on the ground. "Fine. Ahzid aar." He uses a fang to cut the edge of one of his great wings. I can't really complain when the blood comes rushing. It tastes so strange, very much like dirt and metal. But I drink as much as I can. He keeps his membranous wing next to me until I've licked enough of his wound. It stitches itself up.

Immediately I regret that. It feels like my stomach is being turned inside out. "Dovah blood is potent. It will take a moment to digest young immortal. Now tell me of Dovahkiin." He snarls down at me. Who would have thought a dragon could hold so much…malice? And be so creepy.

"All I know is she wants you dead so she can take over the world." I sit up as my abs begin to restitch themselves. It feels like my stomach was ripped open cleanly.

"The Blood Flower? Lady Death. I have heard of Dovahkiin's other names. What else of her? Does she have a weakness?"

I blink up at him. He doesn't know. "I don't know." I say with as much honestly as I can muster. Any hope I had in my heart of this guy taking down the Night Mother is all shriveled up. Good thing I wasn't betting on him.

"There must be something!" He screams into my face.

I want to joke about it but, "You could try just eating her. Or shattering her into pieces. I haven't tried that before." I laugh.

He's getting frustrated. I see it in his curled posture and the unbridled fury in his gaze. Instead of answering me he scoops me up in his claws anew. I keep my eyes open this time.

They send more shouts. There's a long standoff between all of them with the dragon flying in circles and me still in his clutches. Who knew the battle for the end of the world would take so long? And be so boring.

"You can still join me, Alduin!" She yells to him. If the warriors are shocked at her admission of deceit, they show no sign of it. I look down at her wavering face and find her locking eyes with me. She sure does want me down next to her for someone who treats her Children like trash.

"We had this discussion before Dovahkiin. I gave you my answer!" He sends down the pain again. Meteors fall from the sky and one by one, they plunge into the earth with enough force that could shatter the skeleton bridge leading to the Hall.

"You will not tamper with my Children." I hear her harsh growl even though it is faint from this height.

"Hear that?" I laugh at Alduin.

His claws tighten, I choke out a breath with the sudden pressure. "You can join me. We can destroy the world. I can give you my power." He purrs so only I hear.

Yeah, no. I just keep quiet for once. "She never will! You fool! Come fight us without cowardice!" I thought that was Mother but it's the other woman warrior yelling to him.

He gives a quick turn of his head to shout at them. They go down with the force of whatever shout he just did. But Mother looks back up with glowing hatred. This isn't good.

The next shout sends the black dragon tumbling down again. We crash into the ground and I have to turn my head just so, to keep from snapping my neck. "Dovahkiin! Is this how you want the end?" He yells. Since he can't walk while holding me. He drops me. I keep my face firmly in the dirt while I feel him move over me.

I should keep tabs on what he's doing. What taunts he's sending. How he's fighting. What Mother and the others are doing to keep him back. But all I can do is stare at the Hall across the way. I actually got to see my parents and I never thought I would again. I truly had no idea what would happen to us all in the afterlife. I heard the stories, the fables, the myths, all religions. Everything. Never really knew what I sided with or where I fell in terms of belief. But after Sithis, I'm happy to see there is hope for a beautiful and peaceful life after death.

That is, if we stop the world-eating dragon from getting his way.

I turn around just in time. I wanted to help but as of now I'm no more useful than a wet noodle. So, this is as good as it gets. Alduin disintegrates before my eyes. He screams something unearthly before sending out all his power. Mother has ingulfed him in hers, the lighting snakes around him. Pokes and prods at all his scales for his weak spots. I see it infesting the interior of his body. He screams again. Then melts away.

The black ash falls in droves. I close my eyes when it coats me. Maybe this will cover me. She won't bother to look, and I can stay camouflaged until the large god drags me out.

I have a few moments of silence before a sifting sound comes my way. Small hands search the sea of the gray and black before landing on my shoulders. "Eve." She says. A sharp, biting command, not a loving exclamation that your child is alive and well. I'm pulled out from the embers.

"You're alive." She smiles and grasps me to her tightly. Behind her I see the warrior men and woman smiling and looking on in slack-jawed wonder at our reunion.

She squeezes tighter. "You did not make a deal, did you?" She hisses in my ear.

"Like I could."

"If there are any tricks…" She begins.

"Then what? You'll kill me? I already accepted my fate." I lean into her. I'm still weak even after that dragon blood. So, it feels good to be propped up.

"You think me foolish enough to kill you without severing your bond from her?" She clutches my closer, sways me around a bit. I hear that amusement in her voice. She thinks she's won. Little does she know I have that trick up my sleeve.

I let the ring drop. It's heavy and my fingers have lost their blood-swollen complexion of health, so it comes of easily.

I grasp the back of her cloak and pull with all my might. She holds on. "What are you doing?" She snarls.

"Tsun! I need you!" I yell into the wind. A moment later I see the big hulking man come running. He pauses when he sees what's going on but he's staring at me like I just sprung a second head. "I knew it was you." He says.

Mother has me by the throat now. "Just what is it you're doing?" She hisses before addressing the other guy. "I have defeated Alduin and we wish to return to the land of the living." She never takes her heated eyes off me.

"The girl. I heard your call from Nirn. In the Temple of Mara…" He continues.

"She wants us all dead. She wants everyone in the Void." I choke out when she lifts me off my feet. "Help me kill her!" I'm frantic now. I should have had a better plan, but this is all I've got.

The man looks confused when Mother flings me to the ground. I go down coughing on all that ash littering the forest floor. I look up just in time for the exchange. Mother is watching Tsun like a snake in the grass and he's looking between the both of us. "What is the meaning of this?" He begins. Then we hear it.

"This woman is no mere hero. She is a danger to all that live in Tamriel. I won't let you send her back, Tsun. She needs to meet her end, here and now."

We all look over to the voice in various states of confusion. How in the hell did she get in here?

Standing across from us, in a halo of golden light from up above, all decked out in ebony Daedric Armor and weapons littering her person, stands Mjoll the Lioness.

Cicero's Journal Entry

A savior has arrived! But instead of taking Cicero to the portal to join Mother, they carry him away. These are likely priests, or some sort of cult. They wear long, black robes and carry masks that look…daedric. Scary creatures. They said they would take good care of Cicero. Nevermind his pleas to send him through the portal. They say a trip to Sovngarde won't save me. It will only hurt. Cicero will have to do a little more convincing it sounds like.