A/N: Hi, yeah. Sorry about that eight-year delay on this one.

Here's a brief breakdown of what I've been up to since we last spoke. I got heavy into a few new things (cosplay, karaoke, bonfires). I joined a band. I left the band. I started a new band. Two of our guitarists left, so we started another new band. We wrote some songs and played some shows. One of our guitarists and drummer left. Now I'm bandless (but hopefully not for much longer). I made a short horror film that played at a few film festivals. We won an award for it. My appendix tried to kill me (while trying to attend one of those film festivals). It didn't win. Then covid hit. So I didn't leave my little remote town in the Canadian arctic for two full years. I said goodbye to my two fuzzy kids, Jemaine and Brit. I grieved. I opened my heart again and welcomed a new fuzzy kid, Loki. I started hosting karaoke. I made my own set of Nightingale armour – which, I'll be honest, is more badass than when I shaved my head to cosplay Imperator Furiosa.

And I finished this fucking story.

Now that you're caught up, I hope you enjoy the rewrites and edits I've done to the existing chapters. In rereading it (incessantly, for a couple months), I came across some nitpicky things I wanted to change (grammar, punctuation, phrases I wasn't happy with, etc.) as well as a few items that needed greater clarification or correction in the story for continuity's sake. Now that all that's finished, I hopefully can start to produce the same level of story that I had written so far. I honestly cannot believe I basically wrote a book for no reason other than my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.

I haven't finished this fight in a while, so as usual I am taking a lot of liberty with this chapter. It's short, but I hope it's effective. Thanks once again to Elder Scrolls Wiki for battle dialogue and translations.

So there t'is. Really. I hope you enjoy the rest of this ride.

Alduin the World Eater

I'm done with all of this

I'm now becoming the answer

I'm done with you today

I resume the path of epic battles

But this time they will be mine

I am the answer

'Hero', Uneven Structure (Omodei, Friedrich, Romarin, Verrier)

The final confrontation was nearly there. Alduin could feel it.

From the moment the so-called Dovahkiin had stepped off the back of his betrayer brother, Odahviing, he felt it. Her first tentative steps in Skuldafn, echoing like the beating of his own heart. She would face many challenges, including his most powerful and loyal devotee, Nahkriin. The dragon priest guarded the gateway to Sovngarde for millennia, awaiting his master's return to Skyrim in the ancient temple. The tiny mortal would not pass through so easily.

Yet, as more time crawled by, he still felt her presence. He knew she had not yet fallen to the challenges of Skuldafn. Her power had continued to grow since he'd last encountered her; since he had felt her Thu'um and been forced to flee to Sovngarde to regain his strength.

The occurrence of his priest's demise then, was not so much a surprise as a disappointment. This Dovahkiin – this Marieka, as his brothers had whispered – was a surprise. Not of Skyrim. Not of Nord blood. Yet, of dragon blood. He'd felt the air vibrate with every use of her Thu'um.

He was not afraid, but curious. He would destroy her as the others. The Nords of old were forced to create something anew to confront Alduin. The only reason any of them survived past their last battle with him at the Throat of the World so many years ago, was because they sent him through the very fabric of time itself with the help of the Elder Scroll.

It would not happen again.

It would not happen this day.

This day would spell the end of the Dragonborn and would usher in a new dawn for Alduin. A new age for the dov.

And it would be soon. For the Dovahkiin had arrived at Sovngarde.

The mist was thick in Sovngarde. Alduin had manifested it into existence to cover the realm and trap the souls that had wandered too far from the Hall of Valor. He had devoured so many of them since he arrived. His power had returned, yet his greed for the souls of dead Nords had not diminished. He would not be sated until every last one of them succumbed to his hunger.

But the soul he ached for the most was that of the Last Dragonborn. Once she was ended, he would be free.

Free to return to Skyrim. To unmake Tamriel, and indeed Nirn itself. He would eat the world.

Alduin's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a bellowing echo from the ground.

"Lok vah koor!"

A singular vocal blast sounded as the heroes of Sovngarde stepped forth from the whalebone bridge into the valley, led by the Dovahkiin. Their combined voices were too powerful for the mist to remain. It dissipated quickly into nothing.

With his cover taken from him, Alduin turned to face the direction of the four.

"There! Alduin cowers!"

He could see the woman from which the exclamation came. The Nord heroine, Gormlaith Golden-Hilt – the last warrior Alduin had slain before he was thrust through the time wound at the Throat of the World. He would be glad to kill her once more this day.

"Ven mul riik!" the great beast countered, filling the air yet again with his choking mist.

They repeated the clearing and filling of skies of the mist, but finally, Alduin had had enough. He was finished hiding.

No more delays, he thought to himself, stepping forward and lifting his great body into the air.

"Face me then! Zu'u Alduin!" he cried out, summoning a storm of fiery meteors from the skies. "I am your doom, Dovahkiin!"

The meteors began crashing into the ground across a wide swath of the valley. One explosion followed the next, as the ground shuddered over and over. The deafening strikes echoed off the valley walls, causing chaos and confusion over where it could possibly be safe. Marieka, Gormlaith, and the two other Nord heroes from the day of the time wound – Hakon One-Eye and Felldir the Old – reacted quickly, avoiding the explosions as the meteors landed all around them.

Alduin flew higher, circling above them, diving down to loose his breath of fire upon them. He focused on Marieka, aiming directly for her as she swiftly tucked into herself and rolled out of his path. She recovered quickly, hobbling on her feet, still not fully healed from frostbite. Still, she spun around to follow his flight and just as he attempted to send flames at her again, she spoke.

"Joor zah frul!"

The force of her Thu'um hit Alduin head on, immediately causing him distress. He had heard this shout only once before – used by the very Nords she fought alongside that day. They created this monstrosity for the sole purpose of driving dragons out of the sky, forcing them to the ground and eliminating their advantage.

Alduin's mind closed – he could not explain what he was experiencing. His comprehension of this feeling was unformed. His wings tightened against his back, causing him to lose altitude. The dragon's body fell slack and his neck could barely hold his head up. He landed on the ground hard with a sickening thud.

"Treacherous mortals!" he roared. "You shall all fall before me for this insolence."

Immediately, the four were upon him. Gormlaith, Felldir and Hakon focused on the beast's legs, forcing Alduin to swing his tail wildly. Marieka stood to the side, raising her hands towards him and summoning her arcane talents. Several bolts of lightning shot from her hand at his great body, and she froze his neck when he attempted to turn towards her.

Alduin rumbled, shaking his body, and throwing the warriors off of him. He had quickly recovered from Marieka's attack and his wings flapped. The intense force from his wings blew her backwards off her feet, and she landed hard on her back. Gormlaith rushed to her side.

"Dragonborn!" she exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

Marieka nodded, easing herself off the ground slowly. "Do not worry. Just winded. We must bring him down again. We cannot defeat him in the air."

The World Eater roared once more, raining down more fireballs upon them. The warriors dodged and ducked out of the path of the meteors, but as Felldir was moving to avoid one, another collided with it, shattering above him. He was showered in a firefall, preventing him from continuing the fight. Gormlaith was also hit by debris, though she refused to allow it to stop her. Her scream echoed through the valley.

Marieka carefully eyed Alduin's pattern of flight, watching as he deftly avoided the flaming meteors. He soared over the valley, burning a path along the ground. She avoided another meteor, suddenly changing course and scampering up the hill. As she scaled the rocks, she turned to see several figures approaching the valley from beyond. The Nords of Sovngarde were joining the fight! They would defend themselves against the tyranny of Alduin and his greed.

Several of the Nords pulled their bows off their backs, ready to aim at the beast. Arrows were nocked and released, soaring towards their target in quick succession. Alduin barely flinched at the intrusion, quickly circling and diving to seize one of the archers in his great maw. The man's horrified cry rang out as the tremendous jaw closed around his body, crushing skin, muscle, and bone.

"Your souls are mine!" Alduin growled, whipping his head back and forth, and finally releasing the archer's body. It flew across the sky out of view.

As Marieka stood tall on the hillside, her face contorted in horror. She would not allow more death. She again studied Alduin's flight closely. When he flew into her range, her voice reverberated through the valley, ripping the worm out of the sky.

Just as before, Alduin crashed to the ground unceremoniously. But this time, he was descended upon by Gormlaith, Hakon, and dozens of Nord heroes of old. They brought their blades, their axes, and their arrows, focusing all their fight on the great black dragon before them.

Marieka slowly descended down the hill towards the battle in front of her. Alduin was losing. He attempted to shake off those who climbed on his body, but her Thu'um had once again forced him to the ground and weakened him critically. The Nords on the ground, warriors all, hacked and slashed and thrust until the World Eater let out an agonizing cry. The force of it sent the warriors surrounding him stumbling backwards.

Alduin turned his head to face where Marieka was approaching him deliberately.

"Your arrogance is pitiful, Dovahkiin," he snorted in derision. "I will humble you and devour your souls. You will be enslaved for all eternity, to serve me. To worship me!"

"You are delusional, worm," she bellowed. When she had nearly reached him, she unsheathed her blade, pointing it at him. Her steps were measured and insistent. "I will end you. For Ralof. For Ulfric. For Brynjolf. For all the souls in Sovngarde. You will die."

"I am immortal. I cannot die!" Alduin snarled, glaring at the Dovahkiin.

"Today you can."

Marieka tightened her grip on her blade and charged towards the beast's neck as he struggled to keep his head off the ground. She leapt at him while bringing her sword up over her head and drove it down into his leathery neck, sliding like a knife through butter.

"For Skyrim."