Fahiil
Thera

I stood before the Atmoran warrior, a giant of a Man. Prime slave cut, if he weren't stuck in the afterlife. As it were, he merely an annoyance. A fool who guarded my path to the "Tongues" who would help me destroy Alduin and claim the power I so deserved. "What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to honored dead?" the human like being asked.

"I am here to kill Alduin," I replied, disdain for the human dripping from my voice. "Who are you?"

"I am Tsun, shield-thane to Shor. The Whalebone Bridge he bade me guard and winnow all those souls whose heroic end sent them here, to Shor's lofty hall where welcome, well earned, awaits those I judge fit to join that fellowship of honor," the being, a god, said. He was no Divine, true, but if what he said was true... he was a god of Men. "As for seeking Alduin, a fateful errand. No few have chafed to face the Worm since first he set his soul-snare here at Sovngarde's threshold. But Shor restrained our wrathful onslaught - perhaps, deep counseled, your doom he foresaw."

"I seek entrance to the Hall of Valor, then," I replied, somewhat humbled by the knowledge of the man's divinity. Still, he was a god of men, and worth some disdain.

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

"I am Dragonborn, I am denied entry nowhere," I responded, angry that the being before me could not tell he was in the presence of a future god. After all, if the humans believed that Tiber Septim was capable of overcoming mortality through apotheosis then a Mer with superior pedigree definitely could.

Tsun narrowed his eyes for a moment, glaring at me, then burst out laughing. "Ah! It's been too long since last I faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood," he said between raucous bellows.

"Then I may enter?"

He shook his head and continued lightly chuckling. "Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test." With that, he drew the massive ax hefted over his shoulder and bellowed. "Let me taste your might, O gods chosen!" His blade crashed down where I had been a half second earlier, shattering the stone of the afterlife. My eyes widened. Despite his size and the mass of his weapon, Tsun was fast. Almost as fast as I.

His blade turned to me again, whistling through the air and nearly cleaving me in two. "Is this a test, or are you trying to murder me!?" I shouted at the being as his ax nearly took off my shoulder.

Tsun laughed and attacked again. "Is there any difference, O Doom-Driven Hero?" he asked, a wild smile beneath his equally wild hair. His ax crashed into the stone beneath me again and I was tossed backwards. "Though, perhaps one of the Fey folk cannot see that."

I snarled as I rolled to my feet as I tumbled, finally getting a chance to draw my twin blades. I decided not to answer the god, troubled as I would be with the battle anyways. I rushed forwards, towards Tsun, and jumped over his next swipe of his ax. "Ah! There is your fire!" he shouted as I hit him square in the chest with my feet, pushing off to knock him down. No such thing happened, and he continued to swing at me. "Show me all of you, Dovahkiin!"

"Fine. Fus Ro DAH!"

Tsun stumbled backwards and dropped his ax. I rushed forward and held my blade to his throat. "Yield."

Tsun laughed. "Gladly, Dragonborn. You have proven yourself. Enter and find the Tongues brave that await you in the Mead Hall of Shor."

Jul
Lucius

Sovngarde, according to the legends, was supposed to be a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and crag-like stones. Green and life as far as one could see, a landscape both battlefield and place of rest centered on the Whale-Bone Bridge and the Mead Hall of Shor that it connected to. None of that was present, however. In the short time I had been in the afterlife, I had seen nothing but terrified, wandering souls – many of them Stormcloaks whose faces already haunted my sleep – and the thick, oppressive fog that entrapped them as the food source for Alduin. The black dragon shrieked in the air above me and I scowled as another Nordic scream echoed through the unseen land.

"Well, well, well. We meet again, Dragonborn," a sad voice drawled. I turned in surprise to gaze at the soul of Ulfric Stormcloak. He smiled sadly, a look that seemed burned into his eyes. "I die a death worthy of an Epic and where do I end up? In a damn maze of fog."

I froze for a moment, confronted with the ghost of a man – honorable, but broken – that I had killed. "I'm sorry, Ulfric," I said simply, unsure of what else to say. I shook my head and sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Stormcloak asked. He laughed heartily. "Is it your doing that Alduin seeks our souls? Though if you are here..."

"I am not dead, Ulfric," I replied. I drew my blade as Alduin roared once again. "Though if I do not make it to Shor's Mead Hall, that may be rectified by that damnable dragon."

Ulfric groaned. "Aye, the Hall of Shor. I have long quested for it, as did Galmar before..." Ulfric stared at the ground. "He's gone. Said he died a short while after I in battle with the Imperials who invaded the city. Then again saving me from Alduin."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I told the dead man, a feeling of redundancy crossing oddly with the empathy in my heart. "Let us find the Hall together, then. Surely, I owe you that much."

Ulfric nodded enthusiastically. "To aid the Dragonborn upon the fields of Sovngarde? Surely that is a tale that will be told for generations to come," Ulfric replied, drawing the blade he had died with from his hip. "You honor me, Dragonborn."

I looked up at the sky. "Let's clear this out, first," I said quietly. With a burst of air from my lungs and the Clear Skies shout, the air around Ulfric and me cleared to reveal the magnificent hues of the sky, an unending masterpiece of reds and purples against a pitch backdrop. The corner of Aetherius that I found myself in, despite its current entrapment by Alduin, was indeed a magnificent place. And I was determined to ensure that such beauty and majesty would soon be seen by all present in the afterlife.

As I realized who else must be in Sovngarde, I froze. "Lydia," I whispered, and my eyes trailed over the distance. Somewhere, out in the endless maze of fog crafted by Alduin, was Lydia. My friend, my ally, and the one who I failed the most. I had to make sure she reached Shor's Hall, if she had not already stumbled upon it through the grace of the Nine. Whether by my blade piercing the throat of Alduin or by finding her on my trek to the Hall, I would find her and save her as she saved me during our travels. Though, she did have a habit of standing in doorways when I needed to go through them...

"Come on, Ulfric," I told the dead man, and we marched off. I cleared the fog ahead of us whenever I could, but it always returned, accompanied by the echo of Alduin's far off Thu'um. Still, though, I had the distinct feeling that I was soon to find my way through the fog.

As we continued on, the shrieks of Alduin grew closer and closer. He was hunting us, toying with us as much as I was hunting him and searching for my dead friend. "What is he doing, really?" I asked the former Jarl.

Ulfric gazed fearfully at the dragon as it disappeared into another bank of fog. "He devours the souls of Men, just as the legends claimed," Ulfric replied sadly as another Nord screamed his last once again. "I know I am prone to Poetic language, Dragonborn. This is not one of those instances."

I was silent at this, for a while. Alduin was actually devouring Souls. The idea is not so new, I supposed. Soul Gems, especially Black Soul Gems, had been devouring and expending souls since their discovery countless eons ago. But the idea that the Lord of Dragons was using those same concepts of Magick was mind boggling, and raised the terrible question of whether the same could be done for mortals. I was sure that such a tool in the Thalmor Bitch's hands could potentially lead to the end of Nirn as surely as if Alduin were the one using this power. These dark thoughts slowly brought me into a spiral of despair and pain; it felt as if the world were doomed no matter what I did.

Then I heard it. "Back foul beast!" a Nord woman shouted. The voice immediately drew my attention and I turned towards the source. Lydia. "This land belongs to the Nords, monster!" I drew Dragonbane and ran off, drawing confused shouts from Ulfric as he stumbled through the fog after me.

"Lydia!" I cried, sprinting through the fog. Even as I cleared it with the power of my Voice, it echoed back towards me. "Alduin, I'm right here! Come and get me!"

There was a huge snarl, followed quickly by, "My Thane!?" Lydia stumbled through the fog towards me and her face seemed to both light up and drop. "Thane!" She embraced me as a friend, a Shield-Sister, as the Companions would say.

"Touching. A reunion before you both fade into oblivion," Alduin cried from above. I looked up at the dragon and pointed my blade up at the beast. "Meyye."

"If I am such a fool, Coward, come and fight me," I told Akatosh's first born. "Or will you run as you did from the Throat of the World?"

Alduin did not respond with words, either in the tongue of mortals or in the Voice of a Dragon. Instead, he snarled and dove towards me, intent on snuffing out one of the most dangerous threats to his power. "Sorry," I told Lydia as I shoved her to the side. I raised my blade. "Joor Zah Frul!"

Alduin twirled in the air, the blue energy of Dragonrend harmlessly passing by him. I knew that, in that moment, my Doom was upon me. My fate was to die here, and I was not okay with that. I angled my blade upward and screamed at the dragon approaching me, knowing that, even if I died, I would take the damnable creature with me. I would stop both him and Thera in one fell swoop, though the cost may be my life. "Come and face your fate, Alduin!" I screamed, both hands on my upturned blade. Alduin merely laughed in response and continued to plummet towards me. As I was hit and tumbled to the side, I saw the broken form of Ulfric sticking out of Alduin's jaws.

"This is an ending fit for an Epic," he said, his voice bittersweet. Then Alduin's jaws crunched and the light in the soul of Ulfric Stormcloak was no more. Lydia dragged me to my feet, pulling me and begging me to run. I did so, more out of a need to listen than any real desire to save myself. I ran quickly, but without care. Dragonbane hung limply in my fist at my side, as if a single movement could send it tumbling to the ground. I had failed yet again.

"Thane, we must hurry," Lydia urged as we ran blindly through the fog of Souls. Her grip on my wrist kept pulling me towards... something. I could feel it, even in my angry, numbed state. A few moments later, Lydia and I burst out of the fog and were greeted by a sight that awed me.

The aurora in the sky was more magnificent there than anywhere else, with the reds, purples, blues and other, indescribable colors colliding and mixing as if in a dance or a war. Beneath the endless, starry expanse of the sky was a huge wooden building, a mead hall of a god. Lorkhan, or Shor, or perhaps even Talos made their home there accompanied by the endless souls of the Nordic and Atmoran dead who had died heroes over the countless eras. And, at the foot of the building, was the huge Whale-Bone Bridge guarded by the Shield-Thane of Shor, Tsun the god of heroic tasks. "Ah, another warrior from land of flesh... if that be what Shor thinks best," Tsun remarked as Lydia and I grew closer. He turned to the Housecarl. "As for you, warrior long passed, your test of courage was in the fog to last."

Tsun returned his gaze to me. "While she may cross the Whale-Bone Bridge, like Elf before ye, you must take a test of courage," Tsun said as he drew his ax.

I snarled. "Damn!" I shouted. I turned to Lydia. "The one who killed you – she's in there. And I can't do anything to her."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked, torn between the natural desire for vengeance and her deep respect for me. "Why can't you kill the elf? You are Dragonborn, you can defeat anyone!"

"We're both Dragonborn," I said, defeat in my words.

Tsun cut in, then. "Dragonborn you say you are?" he asked. "Two of you? Then Alduin's defeat be not far." I turned to the god with brow raised. "Inside your twin – or enemy – consults the Tongues. Soon will she out here be, with blades of old to set Sovngarde free."

"Then I have no choice but to help her," I growled. I brought Dragonbane up and turned to the fog. I nearly jumped when I felt Lydia's gloved hand on my shoulder.

I turned to her and she smiled. "Well, then I guess I'll have to live with her as well," she told me. She grinned sheepishly. "Poor choice of words, I suppose."

"Indeed," I grinned. I sighed and looked up at the fog once more. Finally: "It's good to see you again, Lydia."

"And you, Thane," she replied. "And you."

Fahiil
Thera

With the ancient human warriors at my side, I exited Shor's hall – a half-baked afterlife for a species only useful for slavery. The three dead humans and I approached the Whale-Bone Bridge, and I saw something that made my blood simultaneously boil and freeze over. "Who may that be?" Felldir asked, his gravelly voice inquiring on... on Lucius Atmoran. As we grew nearer, the humans seemed to recognize him. It was obvious whom they preferred of us. "Ah, the Dragonborn of honor! And his greatest ally. Greetings, great warriors."

Lucius grinned and bowed to the Tongues. "I'm grateful to meet you all," he said. As his gaze hit me, however, the grip on his blade intensified and it shook. His Housecarl also looked as if she wished to kill me. Both, however, remained outwardly still, calm, and collected. Their desire to end me was only defeated by their desire to end Alduin, in Lucius' case, or by loyalty, in his pet's case. He finally addressed me. "Bitch."

"Slave," I replied with a smile. "How did you get here? Wait, don't tell me, Paarthurnax? I knew the old fool wouldn't be able to resist helping you."

"Do not speak of our teacher in such a way, worm," Gormlaith spat, her blade drawn and at my throat.

"Careful, Gormlaith," Hakon cautioned. "Evil she may be, but gods chosen she is as well. Sister Hawk and Dragon God joined her voice with both of theirs. We would do well to remember that."

Gormlaith's eyes narrowed, but she lowered her blade still. "I can control my blade once, elf. Do not tempt it again."

I glanced disinterestedly in the Tongue's direction and stifled a laugh. Then I turned my attention to Lucius' pet. "How are the eyes, pet?" I taunted, reveling in how untouchable I was at that moment. Humans bent to my will and safety – truly it was order of nature.

Lydia snarled at me and began to draw her blade, only to be stopped by her lord. "Not now," he told her, even though his own blade was directed at me. "We still need her."

"Ah, but I doubt that will do any good, Dovahkiin," Alduin called as he landed near us with a thud. He was perched high on a stone overlooking the mead hall. There was a menacing, evil glint in his eyes that gave even me pause. The dragon king breathed in deeply and sighed. "The smell of your joore fear is intoxicating, especially yours Gormlaith. My teeth ache to taste your blood once again."

Gormlaith, to her credit, only shook slightly at the threat. "We fear no wyrm, Alduin."

"Hm, is that so?" Alduin asked with a laugh. "Well, then, are you going to attack? Use the rot duraal to do me in?"

"We will defeat you, Alduin," Lucius said, the calmest out of all present. His grip on his blade was no longer tight with rage or fear, but was held with perfect poise and power. I knew that if I had to face him at that moment, I would be very afraid. "You have my word that this blade will pierce your heart."

Alduin glared at the weapon, a blade adorned with the bones and skin of a dragon. "I will devour your souls, Dragonborns," Alduin stated as he lifted his wings. "I will destroy, here, all who dare oppose the First-Born of Akatosh. Then I will destroy your world." With a single beat of his powerful wings, he took to the sky once more and the wind flowing from his powerful wingbeat caused all present – even the god – to stumble. "Make peace with oblivion."