Day Forty-nine Part Three

At the end of the long hallway I turned a corner to see an armored draugr pacing in front of another Nordic puzzle door. Great, I haven't even found one of those claws to use in it. He held a greatsword in his hands that radiated frost from its blue metal and he walked like he knew what he was doing. I pulled out my Sanguine staff and unleashed Kynval.

Immediately the draugr deathlord ran at me. Kynval blocked his first strike, giving me time to run in with my sword and shield and attack the undead from behind.

"You will die by my hand!" Kynval shouted, his sword setting the deathlord on fire.

Every time the draugr went to swing, I bashed him with my shield then hit him once with my sword of ice. The combination of ice and fire must have kept the dead warrior off-balance. He tried shouting at Kynval but it barely fazed him. We exchanged blows and just as my dramora lord disappeared, the deathlord collapsed to one knee. It took me two more strikes to finish him off. I took a moment to heal the one cut he had given me then looked around for the claw key.

There were no chests but I finally found it in the armor of the deathlord. The tips appeared to be made of diamonds. It had to be worth a fortune. Finally something worth keeping from this dank, oily stinkhole. I checked the claw for the symbols and repositioned the rings on the door. I put the claw in and the lock spun open. I pocketed the claw as the door slid down.

I proceeded cautiously into the next room. It seemed too quiet. I walked along an open hall with what looked like small thrones along the walls. I waited for something to stir in the darkness but so far there was nothing. Suddenly I heard a faint, familiar chanting. As I moved on, I saw a dragon wall loom before me. There were no crypts in front of it but that did not mean I was safe. I approached the wall to interpret the glowing word but kept my weapon ready. The wall whispered to me, "Storm call". I felt the word's power and used one of absorbed dragon souls to fully unlock its meaning. I knew now how to call forth a lightning storm with a shout, but I could tell it would leave me drained of my shout power for a while afterwards. It must be powerful to be so debilitating.

My thoughts sprang back to the present. I looked all around but still, nothing challenged me. I explored a bit but found nothing worth taking. The only oddity was a burned corpse I nearly stepped on as I approached the only door leading out. I could not tell what toasted it, but it did not bode well for what may lie beyond the door. I readied my sword and shield and opened the door.

I was assailed by fresh air. I gasped at the briskness of the chilly afternoon, or so I assumed since the grey sky blocked the sun. I heard the draugr approach before I saw them. One charged from the left, another from the right. To the right seemed more defensible with a hill of rumble to dance around so I went after that one first. His first swing missed as I stopped short and backed away. I force shouted at him and watched his skeletal body go tumbling off the edge of the stones and fall away down to the ground.

I turned to face the next draugr but instead caught a face full of ice as a dragon appeared above me. I recognized it as the one I evaded earlier. I must have come out of the temple just at a second level. Then the draugr caught me with his axe before I could raise my shield to block. I decided I needed some breathing room and ran past the dead warrior, jumping over the rubble to buy myself an extra few seconds. I downed two healing potions then whipped out my Sanguine staff. I summoned Kynval and he appeared just in time to run interference with the draugr.

The dragon reappeared, laying down a sheet of ice in front of me but I evaded it and got my bow out. As it flew off, I concentrated on the draugr fighting Kynval. My arrows combined with the Dramora lord's fiery blade took him out slowly but surely. The dragon landed as the draugr finally fell. Kynval ran after him as I started letting loose with my arrows. The dragon's breath stopped the demon and caused him to wink back to oblivion. I saw another draugr holding a bow appear next to the dragon. I decided to try out my new shout.

"Strun!"

No sooner had the word of power left my lips than thunder rolled across the clouds and bolts of lightning crashed down into the dragon and the draugr. The dragon did not advance but kept trying to hit me with his breath. The draugr was shaken by the strike and took a few seconds to recoup. In the meantime, I sent a few orcish arrows into him while sidestepping the dragon's attack. A few seconds later another bolt came from the sky and the draugr was sent to his knees. The dragon glowed for a moment then breathed more frost at me. I sent one more arrow at the draugr and he collapsed against the wall. After more lightning hit the dragon, he started to move towards me. I summoned Kynval back to take the brunt of the attacks while I continued to ply my bow, though my orcish arrows were nearly depleted.

Finally I could tell the dragon was struggling so I joined Kynval and together, our swords felled the grey beast. I saw no more draugr except a few down below but I did not think they could reach me.

I rounded a corner and saw a flame of pure energy rising to the sky at the top of some stairs.

"This must be where the dragon priest that Odahviing told me about is," I said to Kynval.

"A dragon priest?" he said, "Then this must be your fight alone."

"Aww, scared of a dead mage in a robe? I'm sure his mask is verrry scarrry."

"Enough with your patronizing, dragonfool. Dragonpriests are known to take control of thralls. And as much as I would love to twist my blade through your insides, that would ensure I never leave here. My only chance to return to Skyrim and all its fun is to go back with you, so I dare not remain. If you fail, I will find you..." the demon faded away with his threat.

"Eh, who needs him?" I said, "How hard can a priest be to kill?"

Despite my confidence, Kynval's reluctance to get involved with the dragonpriest gave me pause enough to take some precautions. Since no one was harassing me where I was I decided to wait until my shout power was restored. In the meantime I took stock of what I had and made a plan. Once I was ready, I got out my bow and crept up the steps. The energy rising into the sky was emanating from a circular pit behind a small raised platform. That must be the portal to Sovengarde. The dragonpriest floated at the top of the stairs to the platform, his bony arms outstretched. His back was to me. So far, so good.

I laced my orcish arrow with a paralysis poison I had come across. It was a long shot but I recalled the first deathlord I fought in Bleak Falls Barrow was susceptible to it. I drank a potion labeled True Shot that I thought I 'borrowed' from the elf, Faendal in Riverwood. I unwrapped a small bowl of vegetable soup and warmed it with a flicker of my flames magic. It seemed to always help keep my strength up. I could have swallowed it cold but, what am I, a barbarian? I crept as close as I dared then let the arrow fly. It hit its mark exactly where I intended, in the priest's neck. He flinched but did not go down. So much for paralyzing him. I let another arrow go before he spotted me then charged in with my sword. As I ran, I also downed a bottle of the nasty regeneration potion I got from the Greybeards. It was as prepared as I could manage. With all this going for me, how could I not win?

I flew up the stairs and landed a clean shot to his chest. My elvish sword barely bit into his gold scaled armor. I tried to follow up with my shield but he floated back too far out over the pit of energy. That was not fair.

"Your kind has no place here, flesh-bag," the priest hissed. "My name is Nahkriin, and you will learn why it means 'Vengeance'!"

The dragonpriest raised his staff and from it a wall of lightning sprang out and enveloped me. I felt the electricity in places I had no right to feel it in. I thought parts of my armor even fused together. I half jumped, half fell from the steps. My hands remained coordinated enough for me to find the biggest bottle of healing I could find and I gulped it down quickly. With all the potions I had just swallowed, that last shock threatened to make me lose control of my suddenly full bladder. I needed a different tactic. He would finish me off for sure before my sword even cut through his fancy armor.

Let's see if he could take what he dished out. I shout for another storm then decide to use the only weapon I had to keep a distance from his staff. I get out my trusty bow and hoped that elf's potion was still working.

Nahkriin floated down behind the stairs and I used the barrier to run for cover. The sky turned black and I saw lightning flash down where he was. At least that was working for me. The walls around the portal had small dividers that offered a little cover but if the dragonpriest decided to come after me, I would be a sitting skeever. Instead, I went back a little ways to the top of the first set of stairs. An ice spike slammed into my back and immediately I was forced to slow down as I felt my skin burned with the cold. If I was not a Nord, I'd probably have fallen over dead as a handsome Dragonsicle. I quickly put my bow away and started healing with both hands as I made it to the stone pillar I had seen on my approach. I healed as much as I could before my magicka ran out. At least my hands had stopped shivering. I reequipped my bow. I only had a few orcish arrows left but it seemed as though I had over a hundred steel arrows in my quiver. As long as I did not miss too much and he did not get me cornered with his magic, I may be able to pull this off. Of course, I was sure this guy has not lasted for centuries without being able to piece this together as well.

I peeked around the pillar to get a bead on him. The lightning was still striking him as he floated out by the steps, slowly approaching me. An ice shard sped past my face, then another crashed against the stone I was hiding behind. I had to be quicker than ever in my aiming. He was not about to let me line up a perfect shot. I did not have much room either behind me to just walk back and forth. The fall from the ledge may kill me if I was not at full health. Another thing to keep in mind. I could barely see him waiting for me to show myself. I waited for the lightning and as soon as it struck him, I lined up my first shot and let it fly. It struck him in the foot and he instantly responded with two more ice shards. Both missed. He flew more to the side to try and get a clearer angle for his powerful magic. He was toying with me, but as long as I could use my cover, I had a chance.

The battle was long and frustrating for both of us. My arrows hit only half the time. He kept far enough away to where he was able to dodge them. The lightning storm I shouted ended and it seemed to be taking forever for my dragon voice to return. Meanwhile, he kept trying with his ice spikes but only managed to hit a few times, despite floating all around. He must not trust his armor too much since he did not attempt to flush me out. That was fortunate since my healing potions were running low. My arrows were also down by half and the true shot potion was long gone.

By the time I was able to shout another storm, Nahkriin appeared to be weakening. I just hoped he was not able to heal himself. His actions became quicker and he began floating closer, taking more shots at me.

He finally floated further away, behind the steps. This was my chance. I downed another horrid regeneration potion, my last, and another bowl of soup. I also found another potion in the bottom of my pack that was labeled 'heavy armor help'. I drank that too then stalked after Nahkriin with my sword and shield ready.

He was ready for me as well and launched his spikes in my path. I dodged as best I could and closed on him quickly. I bashed him to keep him from using his magic then laid into him with one power strike after another. If it was not for his metal mask, I think I would have enjoyed seeing fear on his face. I shouted a Nord war cry for Sovengarde and landed one more blow that shattered his hold on this realm. He spun away then vanished, leaving only his armor and his staff behind.

The fatigue of the battle hit me and I fell sideways against the wall. I slid to the ground and sat, too tired to move. I had not realized how close I had come to dying. I healed myself then wondered what I had to do next. At some point during the fight, the portal had closed so the spout of energy was gone. Perhaps Nahkriin had something on him to open it, a key maybe, or perhaps I'll need to bleed on it again like at the Blades' keep.

I roused myself from the ground and sifted through Nahkriin's remains. I took his mask. It would look great on my wall in Breezehome, or maybe I would use it to scare the fondue out of Farengar. There was also a nice pile of gold and the staff. I was hesitant to touch it, but then I noticed the end of it was scraped up pretty good. Nahkriin obviously didn't use it for support since he floated around like some creepy king of the fairies. I took it to the seal but did not see anything for it. I remembered when I approached he was on the stairs above the seal so I checked up there and found a small hole. I placed the staff in the hole and the stone seal cracked and glowed. Then the pieces fell inward, releasing the plume of iridescent energy. I could almost hear voices, thousands, perhaps millions, of them, speaking from the portal. Some laughed, others cried, all of them beckoned me to enter Sovengarde.

Now was not the time to lose my nerve. There were people waiting for me and I had a destiny to fulfill. The people of Skyrim needed a real leader and to be saved from the scourge of Alduin. They, of course, needed me. I took a few steps back then jumped into the portal.