AN:
Sorry this story updates so slow. I update when I have the inspiration. It comes slowly for this story.
To goddtragonking: Thanks. I will try to make it stay good.
To Undeadmonkey8: Yeah, I know. I thought the same about the kid reveal, but Serana never struck me as the kind of character who would want to beat around the bush. Also, he's not going to be a huge character in this arc. He is five, so his usefulness begins and ends at zero. The last arc picks up about fifteen years after this one ends, so he'll be a lot more important then. Until then, I thought it best to avoid the trap that The Strain(TV) fell into – having a kid around all the time when they'd only get in the way of the action. He's here, and he's important in how Lucius thinks of him. As for Thera and Dragonbane, she left it in Paarthurnax's skull when she killed him, so Luc picked it up from there.
To Operator Blake: I will try to update when I can. It's a lot slower than it should be, I know, but I'll eventually hit a groove and do like five chapters in two weeks. It just varies in how I feel at any given moment.
Fahiil
Thera
This was just... Truly, it must have been a gift from the gods and a sign of my impending victory. He had sent her, the only other Daughter of Coldharbour I had ever found, even with my immense network of intelligence. Summoned Daedra, ancient vampires, and even enthralled Moth Priests. Not a one had found any evidence of another Daughter of Coldharbour's existence on this Plane, and it appeared that Lucius had hidden her specifically from the view of any magic through the use of his own wards and enchantments. Truly, I had suspected she died in the past few years and thus I would need to find a woman capable of surviving Molag Bal once I finally had the Bow. It would be so much better to use her, however. And the boy..? Well, I had no doubt that the blood of a child of a Dragonborn and a Daughter of Coldharbour had immense and unknown powers. I was virtually certain that I would find some use for the boy given enough time to imagine.
Oh, how alive I felt! For the first time in five years, Lucius and I were truly opposed! I could feel the fire in my veins, the power of our hatred for one another! I forgot just how... amazing it all was. Our battles were those of Dragons, pure magic and will bending reality. A shiver ran down my spine as our gazes met and those wills clashed fully once again, both now with specific, opposed goals at their core. Gods, if I wasn't sure that decapitating him would give me unbelievable joy I might have considered letting him live so our battles would continue. But I'm not a fool, so murder it is.
I had believed for some time that Lucius could not surprise me. He had always been easy to predict, with his antiquated ideas of 'honor' and humanity. That was why I was so incredibly surprised at his decision to draw his blade and sprint at me. I drew my blades just in time to deflect his attack and drift to the side. I grinned and slashed at his head, only for his blade to come up and take the blow. "I never expected you to break our truce," I pointed out when he shoved our blade lock apart. He ignored the statement and began a calculated flurry of blows at my head, every swipe of the sword narrowly missing my face.
The villagers had no clue how to respond to the battle going on before them. Even Lucius' vampire bride or his bodyguard pet could do little more than watch. Simply put, everyone around us was outclassed by miles; interfering in the battle of Dragons led more often to death than peace. I caught Lucius' katana beneath one of my blades and pinned it to the ground, raising the other one for an attack. If he wanted a battle, I would be more than happy to oblige, Miraak be damned!
My blow was stopped when a pulse of Magick ran from my opponent's open palm to surround his entire body. His hand simply grabbed the blade of my sword and twisted it to the side. "How -" I was interrupted by Lucius' forehead suddenly slamming into my nose. I stumbled backwards, letting go of the weapon pinning his sword to the ground. I regained my composure just in the nick of time, catching the next blow of his sword on my remaining blade. He growled as the blades met, then slammed his foot into my gut. I gasped in pain and fell backwards.
Luc was a Dragon, and not one to ignore an advantage. He breathed in, the air around him swirling. "FUS RO DAH!" The green energy slammed into my chest and a massive explosion of air threw me backwards. The rest of the force continued outward, and even though I was suddenly thrown thirty feet away I could hear the wooden huts of these savages creak and nearly be torn apart by the blow.
I crashed into the ground and slammed my blade into the dirt. I slid to a stop halfway down the hill leading from the village, and I found myself struggling to even breathe. It turns out I was wrong twice; Lucius could more than surprise me. I didn't think he could fight like this. I... I was no longer sure I could defeat him. This posed a problem, though perhaps not an insurmountable one. I pushed myself to my feet and shook my head. "We have an agreement, Lucius!" I screamed as he neared again. I growled and rolled out of his next attack's path, coming up with one knee on the ground to block his overhand slash. I pushed back up against his blow and hissed from the force on my arms. I could not hold out for much longer. "Lucius, what about Miraak!?"
"When have you ever lived out our truces?" he snarled in response. He raised his blade again and slammed it back down. I felt my arms buckle for a moment and his saber nearly cleaved through my skull.
"When have I ever betrayed you before our goals were done?" I retorted.
"Every time."
Fair. "No, I planned for it." I angled my sword and rolled past him, lashing out with my leg as I came to my feet and landing a kick to the back of his knee. He stumbled forward to regain his composure, giving me enough time to get back into a battle stance. I sighed, "As did you."
He turned and held his sword in both hands before him. He knew I was right. "Regardless, this is a threat to both of us. He got rid of you as easily as he did me?" I inquired. Lucius' silence and inaction spoke volumes. "Yes. Then we need each other, at least until we have weakened him enough to destroy. At that moment this battle can be renewed."
Lucius considered stopping his assault, and I believed he would soon sheathe his weapon and we could go back to planning this moment. Instead, I felt his heel collide with my forehead when he jumped and spun midair to deliver a back kick to my face. I tumbled down the hill again, the entire world becoming a blur of gray ground and... even grayer skies. I came to a stop at the bottom, barely catching myself in time to control the tumble and finish on my feet. A spear of ice appeared behind me in the place where my head had been a moment later.
He was far more serious about this than he had been in quite some time. It seemed years away from his woman had done him no small amount of good. Causally, this was something that was very bad for me. I dashed back to avoid the trio of incoming ice spears and pointed up at Lucius. "Then how about a trade, Lucius?"
"You have nothing that I want!" he responded, his voice a hoarse roar. He raised his hand, the ice spear growing between his fingers.
"Don't I?" I inquired with a smirk. I placed my hands on my hips and narrowed my glowing eyes on Lucius, our gazes locking. "What about Isran?"
The ice spear went wide, crashing into the ground beside my feet. "I see that I have your attention now."
"You're lying," he growled, his voice a hoarse whisper.
I laughed dryly. "Well, yes. I suppose that is a very real possibility," I admitted with a shrug. "I've always been very good at it, after all. But it doesn't really matter to you if I am, now does it?"
His leather gloves squeaked as they tightened around his sword's handle. "You see," I continued, "if you kill me now, there's still a possibility I was telling the truth. That Isran is alive. Even if I was lying, your guilt that you may have let a man you called 'friend' rot in my dungeons for the rest of his life... Well, it would devour you, wouldn't it, Ayleid?"
"Tell me," he snarled, appearing inches from me with a single Word, the sound of his Voice still echoing around us in the wind. The edge of his blade was lightly touching my throat, ready to fly through my neck at the slightest provocation. "Now."
"When Miraak is dead, I will give Isran back to you. I will return to you one of those thousands you have failed." I smiled, and even I could tell that it was a cruel grin. Well, what is life without some cruelty? "Or you can kill me here and never see him again. Either or, really."
I could hear his grip tightening on his sword as he considered beheading me anyways. And, yet, his human weakness won out. The blade rang into its Dragonbone sheathe and he crossed his arms over his chest. He shook his head and began to walk away. "Let's hurry back. We should split the cleansing of the remaining stones."
He stopped a few seconds later and turned around. Before I could even react, his fingers were wrapped around my throat and rage seemed to turn to flames that flew from his eyes. "But once all of this is over," he began, his fingers tightening as he spoke, "I will murder you in a way just as painful as you deserve." He shoved me back, letting go of my throat.
Jul
Lucius
I stood beside my returned wife and newfound son, more than a little unsure of what to do with myself around him. It saddened me to admit, but it was going to be some time before I could truly bond with him. At this point, the pale boy was going to remain a stranger for quite some time. I felt terrible for this slight to my own son. I had grown up without my own family, and I had no desire to deny him his. I had even less desire to continue denying me this happiness. I had only crafted this Empire for her and, without knowing it, him.
I took a deep breath. Dorthe was going to be quite mad with what I was going to order her to do, though she would have to get over it. "So you have no information regarding any other Word Walls on this island?" I asked of the Skaal.
"None for the Shout that you desire, Dragonborn," he stated, glancing between the Thalmor and me. I forced myself not to glance at her, knowing that may reveal fully the existence of the Dragon Aspect shout. The Shout was not the ultimate weapon for either of us, so this was more a petty desire to have something she would not.
"It's fine. We'll figure something out," I assured the Skaal leader.
"What else is new?" Thera remarked coolly.
I shot her an annoyed glare, then looked back at Storn. "It should be fine regardless. What we have now can cleanse the Stones, and we'll figure the rest out as it comes," I assured the man again. I looked at the sky. "Speaking of, I believe our best course of action would be to continue cleansing them, as we agreed. Where are the other stones?"
"The Elf village has one, with another not far north of it in the mountains. A third is near the Mushroom Wizard's home another is north west of hear at the joining of two rivers."
"But what of the Tree Stone in Miraak's Temple?" Frea asked her father. "Should that one not be cleansed as well?"
"We likely wouldn't be able to. That's Miraak's most direct conduit to Nirn," I cut in. "We can stop his control at the other Stones because they are merely... relaying his control. That Stone likely holds the full force of not only his will but also Hermaeus Mora's. I doubt we could stand against that."
"Unfortunately, he is correct. To defeat him with only the other stones as our allies is the test the All-Maker has laid out for us," Storn explained to his daughter.
"Gods, why is it never easy?" Dorthe grumbled.
"This? Well, at least Miraak can be killed by more than just one weapon," Serana pointed out. "Everything should turn out fine."
"Then I will take the two closest to here. I have business of my own to attend to," Thera said once our conversation completely died down. She turned and left without another word.
I watched her leave for a while before turning back to Serana. "How long have you been here?" I asked after a moment.
"Five years, about. I was in Hammerfell for a few months until I realized Octavian was on the way," the woman responded. She placed her hand on the boy's head and he huffed that she would treat him like the small child he was. "I got here just before he was born."
"She hunts the bandits that get too close to our village," Frea explained, and the image of a blood covered Serana flashed through my mind. Vampires.
It made me a little nervous. "Is Octavian..?" I waved my hands and pointed at my mouth nervously.
"A Vampire? Oh yeah, you can tell from how he doesn't age, can't you?" Serana remarked dryly.
"Of course he isn't," I admitted. Still, I should probably look into whatever his Vampire heritage would do to him. I took a deep breath and looked over at Storn. "Change the ward back. No Dragonborn, any, can return once I have left."
"What? But then we -" Dorthe began.
"I can't have her getting in here," I cut her off. I sighed and shook my head. "Besides, you'll be staying here with Octavian and Serana. Or, if they need it, helping the Skaal."
"What?" Dorthe snapped.
"I'm not staying -"
"This isn't a debate," I growled. I looked down at Octavian. "He needs you, Serana. And Dorthe, I need you to stay here so I don't ignore everything and do it myself." I knelt down and smiled at the boy – at my son. Nine Divines, it felt amazing to say that. A gift from the gods, something I had no clue I would desire so. I knew I should be wary of their habit of taking those gifts away rather quickly, but I just couldn't. I had a son! "Octavian, I assume you have many questions."
The boy looked bashfully at the ground, no longer quite as open as he had been before. "Do not be nervous, I am your father, not a monster."
"You have a monster already, don't you?" Serana asked, bending down to pick him up. Octavian laughed exuberantly as she pretended to bite him and then draped him over her shoulder. She calmed down a moment later and held him at eye level with me when I stood up.
"I cannot wait to get to know you." I said. I reached out and grabbed his hand. "You have to help my friend here –" I motioned at Dorthe with my head "– okay? Be good. And take care of your mother. She has a bad habit of getting into trouble." I smirked. "I think she learned it from me. And with my luck, you got it from both of us."
"Same luck as ever," Serana agreed. She nuzzled her head into our son's cheek before gesturing for me to take him. "Just for a moment."
I looked at the ground and clenched my fists, then nodded and held my hands out to my son. "Can I just... hug you? Once?"
The boy basically leapt from his mother's grasp, his arms wrapping around my neck. I stumbled backwards for a moment; the boy was the son of the two tallest living humans after all. When I stopped, I wrapped my arms around the boy a moment later and smiled in contentment. I had found... where I belonged. Now all I had to do was make sure that I didn't lose it.
I put the boy down and smiled at him. "If you need me," I said, looking between Dorthe and Serana, "I'm heading to Raven Rock first. I should probably check in with the First Councilor while I am there."
"Stay safe. I'd rather Delphine not murder me," Dorthe commanded.
"I will," I assured her before waving goodbye and walking away.
"So... You probably don't remember me -" Dorthe began.
"Please. Dorthe, I couldn't forget you," Serana assured. "You are quite a bit taller, but you have the same fire in your eyes that Hadvar did."
I smiled to myself. I couldn't wait for everyone else to see her again. I couldn't send her away again. I already knew that. Not when Octavian existed. The two of them belonged with me in the Imperial City, the Emperor and Crown Prince of Tamriel. I gripped the bow around my shoulders and my smile turned to a sour grimace.
I had to find a way to destroy it.
