Jul
Octavian
"No, Father, no! No! I... I didn't want you to die. I didn't mean it!" I growled clutching him, eyes shut against the swirling energy around me. I couldn't look at this. He wasn't dying. "I thought you were avoiding me because it's all my fault. It's my fault Mother died, and I – I..."
"You're real?"
I turned my eyes on her, feeling every ache and sore on my body vanish with the energy that was coursing through my veins, now. Words I shouldn't know came to mind, an entire language of creatures older than the Mortal races. Each syllable thrummed with power gifted directly from the Divines. A gift from my father that I would gladly return.
"But that is impossible. Isran killed you. He slit your throat, I am sure of it," Thera whispered, disbelief coloring her features. She lowered her swords, keeping her eyes locked on me and my allies. "But here you are. Dragonborn. The key to my victory and the mantling of a god."
I continued to glare at her. Tears streaming down my face burned like fire and blurred my vision. I blinked them off.
"How did you survive?" She stared, waiting for a response. "Ah... you are right. It matters little."
I tore my gaze from her, bringing it back down to my father. His armor was falling apart, turning to ash just as his flesh now was. "No... please, no..." I begged, gripping his shoulders. The bone shattered and turned to ash as well, slowly falling through my armored fingers until the floor beneath me was coated with it. I felt my heart fall into my stomach and my entire body gave out, palms slamming into the pile of ash or the handle of Dawnbreaker within, fingers grasping as hard as they could to put my father back together. "I didn't really wish you had died instead of her. I just... I'm so sorry..." I sobbed and my forehead hit the ash. "Please..." My soul channeled Restoration magick while my mind protested it was useless, and the energy did little but disturb the ashes.
"Pathetic. But it won't matter once your blood coats the Bow. You will give your life for my victory." I heard her foot slam down as she began to approach me.
"Take her!" Tora snapped, rushing past me, Athyn, Fen, and Niramo springing towards the Vampire Queen as well. I remained rooted to the ground, my tears causing the ash to stick to my face.
My father had died thinking I hated him, but that wasn't true. I'd been mean. Cruel, even, to him. But that was because it was my fault. I needed him, sure, but the Empire needed him more. He couldn't play father to a boy that had gotten his own mother – that had gotten the Empress – killed when he had an entire world depending on him. Better to push him away before he realized that and pushed me away, right? Better alone by choice than... alone by force. It had to be on my terms, or I would lose.
Meanwhile, my friends were doing their best to fight the Vampire Queen, hacking and slashing at her as best they could. She managed to easily dodge or deflect the blows that came her way. Her twin Dragonbone swords danced through the air, their enchantments leaving ribbons of multicolored light trailing around her. Tora's ax was deflected, and a back kick at the same time sent Athyn flying. Fen and Niramo were easily sidestepped and they crashed into each other, giving the Vampire time to use a shout on the pair. "Force Balance Push!" The two elves were sent flying, Fen slamming into a pillar of stone while Nir tumbled up the stairs and came to a stop. The two forced themselves up and charged the Vampire again.
My eyes opened. That hadn't been what she had said. No, it had been... something else. She hadn't spoken Nibenese.
Tora charged forward, feinting with her ax before slamming her shoulder into the Thalmor's chest. The Vampire stumbled back a step, but used that momentum to spin out of the path of Athyn's fireball. Flames exploded against the back wall so not even flickering embers touched the Vampire. Her Dragonbone swords came up like lightning, tearing the ax from Tora's grasp before she hopped into the air, spinning to deliver a powerful kick to Tora's face. Her face snapped back and her eyes shut, but she recovered and avoided the follow up stab, drawing a dagger defensively as she did.
"You are rather skilled, for children," Thera taunted, grinning evilly as she elbowed an attacking Fen in the face. Blood flew from his nose, now broken, before she turned to cut him down. Nir jumped in just in time, shoving the Queen away before death could claim our friend. She turned her attention to him for a moment, but quickly moved back to Athyn when an Ice Spike flew towards her. She brought up her sword, shattering the spell, then turned spun and tossed the weapon at the Dunmer. Athyn threw himself to the side, barely managing to keep the flame enchanted weapon from killing him. Still, it buried itself in his leg and he was removed from the fight, screaming for a moment as flames engulfed him. He was only saved from immolation by the power of his ancestry.
"Leave him alone!" Fen snapped at the Vampire slowly approaching Athyn. She turned quickly and easily deflected his clumsy blow, redirecting the blade with her remaining weapon, then slamming her knee into his gut. Fen stumbled back as Nir jumped past him and slashed at the Vampire's throat. Her sword swept up, slapping the sword out of his hand, sending it spinning upward.
"If you insist," Thera hissed, catching the sword with her off hand and burying it in Fen's chest.
"NO!" I surged to my feet, terror filling my eyes. Not another person. Not another friend. Not someone else that I cared about! How could I have let this happen!? I... I...
"How disappointing it is to kill one of my own," Thera hissed at Fen, who was now clutching at his chest. His eyes were wide and the battle froze. I heard the footsteps of others approaching. Blades, most likely. Then swords – they must have been waylaid by more Aldmeri soldiers. But I didn't care. All I could truly comprehend was my friend's eyes catching mine just as their spark gave out.
Thera pulled the blade out of Fen's chest, leaving a trail of blood to splatter across the ground. She turned on Tora, slowly advancing. She was going to kill Thera. The woman I loved. The person that was everything to me. I couldn't let that happen. I'd bet the world if it gave me a chance to save her.
So, that's what I did: "I challenge you to single combat!"
Thera and Tora both stopped and turned to me. I had stood up, Dragonbane in my left hand and Dawnbreaker in my right. I clenched my fists on the blades' handles, not knowing what plan was going through my head but going along with it anyways. "To the death."
Thera stared at me, confusion flashing across her face. "Single combat? Why?"
Tora made a move to attack, but I caught her eye and shook my head slowly. Her ax wavered, then fell to a defensive placement in front of her. I returned my attention to Thera. "Because I won't let you kill another person I care about," I said grimly. I sheathed Dawnbreaker and readied Dragonbane. I felt a combination of repulsion and desire coming from Dawnbreaker in response to my hold, but it turned quickly into hungry rage as it was sheathed instead of used in this battle. "And this is your quickest way to get me."
She considered me for a moment. "And what promise do I have your... pets will surrender when you are dead?"
I ground my teeth. Cocky bitch. "My oath." It was a lie, of course. They would fight her tooth and nail until she or they were gone from this world. But this way I had a chance to get rid of her and claim revenge myself. My father was a man of honor, even with those that did not deserve it. I was not going to make that mistake.
Thera, however, bought it. "You humans and your honor," she mocked, raising her blades towards me. "Fine. I accept." Then she rocketed towards me, her sword and Fen's trailing behind her, then slashing up at me when she got close enough. I brought Dragonbane around, deflecting the attack as best I could while diving out of the way. I ran up the stairs and turned back to the Vampire, readying for battle, unsure why – despite the fact that I was hopelessly outclassed – my Soul kept screaming that I could do this.
That and the bottomless well of rage that told me I had to kill this woman.
Fahiil
Thera
The boy glared down at me from atop the stairs, his Vampiric eyes glistening with rage. Defiance. He looked so like his father and mother like this. A fool I would grind under my heel. "Do you want to know what it was like to be responsible for the death of both your father and your mother?" I asked innocently. My face curled into a grin. "Or would you like to tell me?"
The fire in his eyes flared up again and he charged me, screaming a battle cry as our blades crossed. Sparks flew from where my Dragonbone blades caught his weapon, leaving us stuck pushing against one another for advantage. "I'm going to kill you!" he snapped, his rage making him stronger. But not more skilled. I scoffed and released the lock, sliding to the side so he would slide past me. His katana slammed against the floor, sending sparks out from where magickal steel had met ancient stone.
I backed up quickly and readied my blades over my right shoulder. "Mommy dying because you couldn't protect yourself. Daddy dying because he was too focused on you. The Altmer because he foolishly believed you were worthy of following," I listed. I easily dodged his next charge. "Who's next? The Dunmer for trying to ally with your Empire? The other Altmer for trying to gain vengeance for a friend you let die? Or perhaps the Nord?"
That got a larger response. A stream of fire exploded out of his hand, forcing me to dive to the side before I – like the stone wall behind me – was turned into slag. "You will leave them alone!" the prince screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. Good. He was even more unfocused, now. He came at me with an angry slash at my head. I slid underneath it, lashing out with my right hand. Dragonbone slid through a gap in his ebony armor, leaving a thin but deep cut in his flesh that began to bleed heavily before I even made it away from him. The smell of the dragon fire in his blood filled the room, making my stomach rumble angrily. Sadly, I would have to avoid taking a bite of this particular meal; the bow around my shoulders deserved as much blood as it could drink. It would take nothing less that slitting his throat over the weapon to achieve the desired goal.
He turned on me, barely noticing the blood leaking from his side. His hands grasped Dragonbane together, though it was the blade at his side that was of more concern. It hissed, audible to my ears, as it drank the blood of a being both undead and alive, the blade unsure of how it should feel about this development. I was sure it was at least whetting the weapon's appetite. I was going to lock that weapon up in the darkest dungeon in Alinor and fill the entire thing with concrete. No one would hold that cursed thing in their hands to wield against me ever again. I was so focused on the weapon that, even in his rage filled state, he buried his weapon in my head. As it was, I was able to dive to the side, the blade that had his blood on it trailing behind me to take the blow. I felt the force of his blow rattle my entire arm and the sword within my hand slammed into the ground. My fingers slipped from the hilt and the weapon was out of my reach, leaving me with only one weapon with which to defend myself.
I snarled and spun around as he began to recover from his attack, readying to attack again, and slammed the flat of my sword into his fingers. There was a series of loud snaps as his fingers broke under the blunt force, his armor much more useful for defending against slashes than what I had done to him. He screamed, pain suddenly over riding his rage. Dragonbane slipped from his hand and my hand lashed out to catch it. I settled with both weapon tips at his throat as he used magick to fix his hand. "You lose," I said, my victory assured. My divinity assured.
He just glared up at me, realization dawning on him that he'd lost. All because he'd let his emotions get the better of him. Now it was his fault the world as he knew it would die, not just that his friends would. "Oct, get up! Get up, now!" the Nord shouted. Our eyes both drifted to her, kneeling over the Altmer's body. "I can't lose you."
"He's already lost," I smirked at her, reveling in the broken look that brought to her face. I turned back to the boy, ecstatic that, finally, my journey was complete.
But he was his mother's son, defiant even in the face of death. Faster than I could respond, he tore Dawnbreaker out of his belt and brought it up, slapping both weapons away. I stumbled to the side as he found his footing. "Not yet," he growled, golden eyes flaring in time with the gem at the weapon's hilt. The blood leaking out of his side had staunched, sewed shut by his spell.
Jul
Octavian
My father had been speaking to me. I had heard him, just behind Tora's voice. Not shouting, not screaming. Just... speaking. Quiet, but firm. Commanding. And clearer than his voice had managed to be in many years. It was odd. I had both understood and failed to understand the words. They seemed to speak more to my Soul than to my mind. "Dreh ni vos hin rahgot gram hin hahnuheim. Zu'u los dilon. Hin monah los dilon. Nuz tol los ustiid. Hi los aluntiid. Hi los Dovahkiin. Dren med nii."
That was when I had decided to grab the sword at my hip, the one my father had used for over a decade in his battles with the Vampires. My mother had given me her eyes and rebirth, my father his blade. It felt like they were with me. Yes, it was my fault they were dead, but that simply meant I could not die. I had to survive so they would, in some way. I had to bury my hands in Tora's hair and bring her close and tell her, seriously, that I loved her. I had to marry her. I had to mourn Fen with Niramo, send his soul off to Aetherius so he could meet the gods. I had to become better friends with Athyn, to visit his family as an ambassador in Morrowind. I had to lead the Empire.
"Your mother gave me that look just before she slit her own wrist, knowing it would leave you without a mother."
I felt rage bubble up within my gut, but forced it down. I took a breath. I had to stay calm. I had to fight like I knew I could fight, not like a child angry at someone for hurting him. I let the breath out. "Hmph... not like your father, then," the Vampire muttered, again trying to anger me. "He couldn't focus if I insulted your mother. You must not have actually loved her."
I took an enraged step forward before I stopped myself. She wasn't saying anything that mattered. She was just speaking to anger me. I was going to ignore her, even though she made fire coat the inside of my throat. In fact, it actually felt like that. Sparks and smoke flooding from my nose. When the smoke began to obscure my vision, I realized it actually was happening. Unbidden, those alien words in my mind solidified. "Yol Toor Shul!"
Flames erupted from my mouth, a swirling vortex given shape by a magickal reservoir that, until now, I had no idea was within me. The elf snarled and twisted around the assault before rushing me, Dragonbane slashing upward while her other blade moved horizontally to slash across my throat. I jumped backwards, avoiding the upward slash, and blocked the horizontal blow before it could hit me. I disengaged before Dragonbane could swing at me again, and let myself settle into a careful circling of my enemy.
The Voice. I had the Voice. I was Dragonborn. Granted, the energy I had absorbed from my father should have told me that, but it was still true. My father had known, he'd tried to say. I couldn't hear him, though. He'd... he'd given me his knowledge, his Voice, all so I could fight this elf. He'd given me his Soul. I clenched Dawnbreaker harder and it hissed in my mind. It wanted her blood. I'd give it her blood. I rushed for the attack this time, completely in control. I slashed at her head, turning quickly from that feint into a stab. She parried with one sword and slashed with the other, but I moved with the momentum of her block and the blade missed me by hairs. I slammed my elbow backwards before she could respond and I heard a satisfying crunch as her nose broke upon contact. It wasn't enough to even stun her, and she kicked me in the back, getting enough space between us that the combat entered another momentary lull.
One of her hands rose to her face and dabbed at the blood streaming down her chin. She grinned and licked her lips upon getting a good look at the stuff. "It's been too long since anyone's made me bleed."
"Okay, Crazy," I growled. I hoped that I would come up with a plan soon. Simply put, this woman was way too experienced and strong for me to kill by myself. Even if I was a Dragonborn, she was too. And unlike me, she had ready command of her Shouts.
As if to demonstrate that fact, she breathed in and let loose one. "Iiz Slen Nus!"
I had an image of my flesh frozen solid, and realized this was going to be an issue. I threw up my off hand, channeling a large chunk of my Magickal reserves into absorbing the spell's effects. The wall shuddered in my hand as the Shout hit, and I knew I was lucky. The amount of magicka I absorbed by using that ward had nearly refilled my energy, to the point I was sure it would have left a few inches of ice all over my body that would have kept me from even thinking about breaking out.
But she used my distraction at the ice slamming into the ward to dash at me, blades swinging in opposite, horizontal directions like a pair of scissors. I yelped in surprise and hurriedly raised Dawnbreaker in front of me, relieved as the blades met each other instead of my neck. I used my off hand to channel a sphere of Sunlight, then shut my fist. The light of the Sun exploded around my body, creating a cloak of the energy around me. The Vampire shrieked and jumped back, disengaging again. I grinned and rushed her, knowing this was my chance. I slammed my shoulder into her gut and pushed her back into the division between the stairs. "Not doing too well!?" I snapped as I continued to push her.
"Shut up!" she snapped, slamming her elbow into the back of my neck. I felt a surge of pain run down my spine and hit the ground like a sack of bricks. I instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding the tips of the blades that would have impaled me on the spot. "I must admit, you are not as weak as I had believed. But you cannot defeat me." The wounds on her flesh began to sew shut, her nature as a Daughter of Coldharbour allowing her to dominate death itself.
She was right. Only Sun magick of the highest order could kill her. A trio of words drifted through my head, accompanied by the brilliance of Magnus itself. Okay, yeah. That might work. If I could get her to stay in one place.
"You know, I haven't had a fight like this since me and my friends killed one of yours last winter. He was a nasty piece of work," I said, smirking. "But I did him in eventually."
Which, of course, wasn't what happened. Fen, Niramo, and I had held his arms and legs in place so that Tora could decapitate him. I doubted the Vampire knew that, though.
"I think you'll find I am a whole other animal," the Vampire growled, raising her blades. "I'm going to kill you."
I really hoped that Nir and Tora were going to catch on, soon. I rushed her before she could rush me, slashing in order to give my friends time to group up. I slashed at the Vampire's face, spinning past her so she wouldn't see my friends move. Which, thankfully, they were. I then let the Vampire push me back. I began to give ground, trying as hard as I could to block her because, honestly, she was pushing me back more than I had hoped. She was my better in a sword fight, that much was true. I blocked a slash from the upper right, then brought my bracer up to the bottom of her sword to catch the other. Dragonbone and ebony creaked against one another while Dawnbreaker and Dragonbane fought for dominance. The Vampire smirked and lashed out with her leg, sending me tumbling to my back. "Iiz!" my feet were frozen to the ground. I forced Dawnbreaker up to block the pair of swords that came down at me and the force of the blow slammed my head into the ground. My vision grew dark, a tunnel forming around the Vampire. Then her arms were brought up. My sword was free, the world clearing when I summoned a restoration spell.
"NOW!" I heard Tora shout.
Words I barely knew tore from my throat: "Shul Kun Kaagend!" And pure divine light filled the room. There was screaming. It hadn't killed her? I grasped the hilt of Dawnbreaker, ignoring the screams of pain and the curses of the Vampire as she threw my friends off of her. The fire on her flesh melted that around my ankles and, with a single heave, I threw myself up with the tip of my sword aimed at the fiery, smoking mass in front of me.
There was a sudden jolt as the blade ran her through, leaving us face to face. She glared at me, horror in her eyes. I reached around her and tore Auri-El's bow from her back before it could be tainted. "Not like your father at all," the faceless Vampire said.
Then Dawnbreaker exploded, white light burning everything away. I fell unconscious to the sound of chanting, and the feeling of being filled with energy.
Fahiil
Thera
The light was quickly replaced with darkness. A void as long as the universe. I looked around. "What happened?" I asked the void. There was no response. "Where am I!?"
"Nowhere," a familiar, demonic voice muttered. A horrible face, tusks jutting out from his graying skull, appeared before me. Molag Bal grinned, a sight that had haunted my nightmares for years. "Where you are going... is going to be decided."
"After all," a woman's voice said. I turned and came face to face with a decaying corpse, eyes yellow from decay, "you made so many promises."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, backing away from the Daedra as best I could in this formless void.
I slammed into another and whirled around. A Dunmer like face with a long white ponytail sneered at me. "Surely you haven't forgotten. So many lies, so many betrayals. So many deals. All for power," Boethiah mocked. The face leaned in. "And deals have debts."
"We... have come to... collect." Tentacles dragged across my face.
"Mora, what is this? We had a deal -"
"We all had deals," Mephala whispered, her spiders writhing to create the facsimile of a face. "And you wanted to break them."
Another woman appeared beside her, violet hood glowing like her eyes. Ravens shrieked beside her. "You weren't lucky enough for that."
"And now you've been killed, like the disease you were," a small, sickly dragon stated. "Disappointing."
"What nightmare should we bestow upon her?" I turned and saw a pair f glowing red eyes, the only feature in the void.
"Vaermina, I believe a hunt is in order," a wolf howled beside the other prince.
"Well, I think," a red skinned demon said as he appeared with his brothers. "First come, first serve. We take what we can get on three..."
"Ooh, I like that Mehrunes. Luck of the draw," Nocturnal said, laughing darkly. The ravens shrieked again and began to sidle towards me.
"No, I will bury my teeth in her first!" Hircine snapped, the wolf lunging at me with teeth bared.
"No... No!" I snapped, swinging my arms at the gods. I would't let this happen. I'd worked too hard! I'd done too much!
"A bite does sound delicious," the corpse said, advancing on me.
The spiders began to crawl along my legs. "I agree..."
"NO!" I began to swat at the arachnids. This was... What in Oblivion!? What is this!?
Molag Bal appeared before me, a wizened, horrible claw reaching towards me once again. "Another disappointment."
There was pain. Pain beyond compare.
Then, mercifully, there wasn't enough left of me to feel.
Jul
Octavian
When I awoke, the Archmage was there with my friends, asking them each what had happened. Delphine and Dorthe were standing above me, grave looks on their faces. I groaned as I sat up, drawing their attention. "What hit me?" I grunted.
"An explosion of magick designed to kill a Vampire. And apparently a thousand dragon souls," Delphine said. She helped me to my feet then, as one, she and Dorthe fell to their knees. "Primus."
It all came rushing back to me. "My father, he's..."
"Yes," Dorthe said, self loathing filling her voice. "We arrived here after Tora shot an arrow at the setting sun. All the Vampires were turned to ash, and their thralls fled soon after."
It was over then. "I..." I looked over at Tora, who smiled sadly once I caught her eye. Shestarted to move towards me, knwoing I was hurt. Knowing I'd lost everything. It was then that I made my decision.
I brushed past the Blades, silence my only companion. When I reached Tora, I dropped to one knee. "I've lost too many people in my life, Tora," I said, reaching out to grasp her hand. Her eyes widened and the room went silent. "My mother, my father, Fen, the Skald, and so many others. But I still have you. It didn't matter if we were fighting Vampires or burning down the town – literally. You were there. Will you be at my side for this?"
AN:
Hey, sorry it's been so long. There's been a lot of issues at home, then my mom broke her hand, and I've had to help out with everything... It's been crazy. Anyways, glad to be back!
In case you were wondering, there is one more chapter after this one. An epilogue, really. Then, it's over. Three years of this story. Wow. Can't believe it. I hope you enjoyed the ride. I know it wasn't perfect – there are parts, looking back, I'm not ecstatic about. But, I hope it was fun. Fun is more important that perfect, I think.
Anyways, responses:
To EroSlackerMicha:Well, you predicted it. Oct was the one that did it. I hope her comeuppance was enough. Having a soul rent apart by Demon Kings seemed a little light, but I didn't want to go TOO dark, you know?
To G3r1k: I'm glad you didn't lose your sh*t. That would've been unfortunate.
Now, to everyone:
Thanks for sticking by this story this long, through hiatuses and huge spacing between chapters. With twists you might not have liked, or feeling like Thera was winning too much. I hope you had fun!
