Fahiil
Thera
"Looks like the dragon was already here," I noted as our group gazed at the burning ruins of the Western Watchtower. Charred bodies surrounded the ruins of the guard tower, laying in the eternal agony of their last moments upon Nirn. I slid a look of 'concern' for the human corpses onto my face. "This is terrible."
Lucius glared at me from behind his dwemer helmet. He hid his distrust well behind the mask, but I could tell his every movement was punctuated with an innate hatred of me, reaffirming my need to deal with him before he figured out the reason I was in Skyrim. "Indeed," he agreed, nodding his head simultaneously.
"Let's get down there – spread out and search for survivors," Irileth commanded. I watched the disgrace for an elf and my target lead the way down the hill towards the crumbling watchtower. My eyes followed the fools down the hill for a moment before I followed at a safe distance.
I looked at the bodies of the dead Nords with disgust. Many of them held weapons in their burnt hands, as if they had tried to fight off the dragon by themselves. "Mun mey," I snarled. I continued walking for a moment towards the watchtower, then froze. "What did I say?"
"What are you doing? You have to run for it, before the dragon comes back!" a Nord voice screamed from the watchtower. "It grabbed Hroki and Tor, then just flew off. We have to get out of here before it -" The sound of a violent roar echoed across the rocky plains. "Gods... it's come back!"
The roar screamed again, and a black beast appeared flying through the sky. "Make every arrow count!" Irileth screamed. I saw the Dunmer woman pull a bow and arrow from her back and aim the weapon into the sky. The yellow-clad soldiers around her pulled their weapons out, mirroring the Dunmer woman.
I thought to myself that, perhaps, I was wrong about the woman – a rare thing, for me to grant a second assessment. Irileth held the absolute respect of the animals that her will commanded, drawing complete and total obedience from even the weakest; even the survivor of the dragon's attack on the watchtower could be seen standing with his brothers at Irileth's side to defeat the incoming monster.
The dragon flew near with a scream of rage. Arrows flew through the air towards the monster, a brown and yellow dragon much smaller than the one that had attacked Helgen. The wood and meal sailed uselessly through the air and fell back to the ground, for the dragon was flying beyond the range of the arrows. "Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde!" the dragon screamed from the sky.
I scoffed as the dragon flew down to hover above us – why would it place itself so within our range of attack? My answer came as each beat of the creature's leathery wings knocked the incoming arrows back at those who had sent them with twice the speed. The metal tips rained down upon our mortal force, killing human guards but glancing off of the armor of many more. "Take this!" the dwarven-clad human shouted. Bolts of surging magicka flew from his hand in the forms of fire and lightning on a path towards the dragon. The magicka burned through the wings and scales of the dragon, who roared once again – a cross between joy and rage.
"Krif krin... Pruzah!" the dragon screamed. The wing beats of the dragon slowed and the huge reptile allowed its massive body to glide carefully to the ground. "Die well, mortals!" The claws of the dragon hit the ground atop to of the Whiterun soldiers. Blood erupted from their flattened bodies, coating the dragon's claws and legs in red.
"Svelki!" one of the humans screamed. He ran towards the dragon, screaming like the barbarian he was. The fiery breath of the dragon came with another shout of its ancient language, the red-hot magicka burning through his flesh and roasting him from the inside out.
Lucius growled. "We have to be smarter about this!" he shouted. He leveled his saber at the dragon as it roared with laughter. "I'll take the creature's face! Irileth and your soldiers: wings. You -" he glared at me angrily. "Thera: The tail. Go!"
I smiled. The fool human was basically guaranteeing he would die at the dragon's hand – or claw, be as it may. I ran behind the dragon as the human began to distract the creature from the front. I slashed my blades at the tail of the creature, content with the knowledge that the creature would contine to ignore me. The battle went like that for a few moments, my weapons cutting into the creature's tail while the human held the attention of the creature. Soon, however, the creature began to flail and attack from all sides. I struggled to sidestep the wild thrashing of the scaly and barbed tail, barely holding on for my life.
"This isn't worth it," I growled to myself. I narrowed my eyes and ducked beneath another wild swing of the dragon's tail. I glanced beneath the dragon to see how Lucius was doing. It seemed that the fool was struggling against the dragon's assault and I grinned. "Time to leave and survive then." I sheathed my blades and disappeared from the battlefield to watch from a distance – Elenwen would want a full report on the dragons. As soon as the humans were dead and the dragon had fixed its attention on setting the human city ablaze, I would make my way to the Thalmor embassy and explain its capabilities to my superiors.
I crouched just out of view behind the Western Watchtower and began my observations.
Jul
Lucius
I took my place at the head of the dragon with fire in my soul. For the first time in – Since... For the first time in a very long time I felt... at home. With a dragon breathing fire at me. Things in my life obviously haven't gone well if dragon fighting – something no one's done in centuries – felt normal. "Eh, mal dovah! Krif krin – bahlaan hokoron!" the creature screamed at me through its gnashing, footlong teeth. The teeth snapped towards me, and I brought my blade forward. The edge collided with the dragon's snout, causing fragments of scale and droplets of blood to fly around me. The Frost enchantment I had placed on my blade coursed through the dragon's body and crystals of ice formed across its scaly hide.
The monster snarled in pain and rage at my attack. It snarled a few words, and flame rushed from its mouth. I gasped and threw up a ward. The fires collided with my magickal shield before it was fully formed, and the clear energy in my hand shattered. I stumbled backwards and the flames licked the heavy metal hanging on my shoulders. The metal that was not separated from my flesh by a layer of leather burned my skin and I gasped in pain. "I can't let it keep doing that – I'll die of heatstroke!" I grumbled to myself. I shouldered a snap of the dragon's teeth with my armor and slashed my blade through one of its horns.
"Ruth joor!" the dragon shouted as my blade traveled through its bone. The dragon snarled and slammed its head into my body, sending me flying back. I tumbled across the ground, and saw the dragon leap atop a group of the soldiers attacking its flank. As I dragged further through the dirt, I noticed that I could not see Thera.
Dead or traitor – hope it's the first one, I thought. I stumbled to my feet and charged the dragon. That's... No – I hope she's not dead. There's a possibility she isn't Thalmor. I ran towards the head of the dragon, where its teeth were carving a bloody and fiery path through the bodies of the human soldiers. "NO!" I screamed. I leaped forward, my blade outstretched. The dragon turned to gaze at me as my blade neared its head and it breathed in to summon its words of power.
"Yol – Tuu-" the creature began.
"NO! Nahlot mahlaan gein!" I shouted, the air trembling around me. The dwarven blade cleaved its way through the dragon's eye, burying itself in the dragon's brain. The dragon screamed and writhed on the ground in rage. It whipped its head around painfully, struggling to throw me off.
"NO! DOVAHKIIN?! NO!" the dragon screamed. Its back arched into the air, finally throwing both me and my blade into the air. I sailed into the sky, directly above the gaping mouth of the dragon. The creature roared again, its last breath of life and suffering communicating an entire lifetime spent destroying those it saw as weak. I hit the ground as the dragon's head did. My body groaned from the impact, and I felt consciousness rushing from my body. I wondered, for a moment, if that was the end.
I only heard about what happened next. I've seen it time and again ever since – but I doubt that what I have seen since lives up to that experience.
I came to a few moments later, a bright energy reminiscent of the Word Wall's power came rushing towards me. My body began to act of its own accord – my bones seemed to mend, and my mind grew clear, despite the pain I had endured. Fire – energy – built up in my chest. Life and pain and... and force rose in my chest. I stumbled painfully to my feet, terrified as the energy continued growing in my chest. "What just happened?" Irileth asked. I looked over at her from beneath my helmet, and a feeling of vertigo overcame me. I tore my helmet off, the pressure in my chest building over and over again.
The dragon was fleshless – mere bone and dust filled with the armor and flesh of the soldiers it had devoured. It looked as if something had taken its life, its soul.
The energy continued building in my chest, rising to my throat.
"A-are you okay?" Irileth asked. I looked over again and saw Irileth staring at me with concern. Behind her, Thera studied me analytically – she hadn't run away, apparently.
I opened my mouth to respond, but only one word came out... "FUS!"
Dovah
Alduin
The gargantuan black dragon hissed with disappointment as the thu'um of a mortal Dovahkiin ran through the air, a first shout. Mirmulnir had failed in his task to destroy both the Dovahkiin and the human city. Alduin noted that he should not have been surprised – for Mirmulnir to have survived the millenia since the downfall of the dragons, he would have been a more cowardly member of the Dov. Only Paarthurnax, the traitor, and a few other cowardly dragons had survived the aeons since. The many Dovahkiin that had been born across the ages, as well as their "Blades" servants, had exterminated the Dov.
And, now, a wave of energy cascaded across Nirn. Alduin felt the soul of his brother flying away, stolen from Mirmulnir by a being whose power was gifted by Akatosh himself. "You curse me, Father? Why? Am I not as you made me?" Alduin asked from his perch near the entrance to Sovngarde. As usual, the Dragon of Time had no answer for his once-favored son. "Ruz Zu'u fen dreh ol Zu'u fen."
"Dovahkiin, Zu'u fen du hin sil."
Jul
Angeir
"FUS!"
Angeir's head whipped upwards and towards the sky. The sound echoed across the mountain from where it had originated, pain and fire and soul resounding from the one who had just learned of their voice. Sun and fire and death and life – the one who could save Nirn from its encroaching doom.
Angeir looked towards the other Greybeards and nodded. The monks drew in their breath as one, and the noise that came from their lungs seemed to crack the heavens themselves.
"DOVAHKIIN!"
