Chapter Sixty:

Shadow of Skuldafn

"There it is!" Odahviing called over the shrill winds that billowed in my face, freezing my eyes. "We descend from here!"

I managed to observe the menacing, ancient structure in the mountains. It was larger than the other temples by a great margin, with crumbling towers that I could see were still patrolled by the draugr. At least four Dragons besides Odahviing flew in the skies above, their eyes trained on the earth for any signs of intruders. It looked as though there was a small army nestled in the mountains, shielded from the cold by the towering rocks and (possible) warmth within the great ruins. The thought of having to face it all alone made me shiver with nervousness. If I got hurt... that would be it. No one to help me or anything. I had to rely on myself all over again.

Milos wasn't willing to let that happen without a fight with the even larger lizard on the Great Porch in Whiterun.

"What do you mean you can only carry one?!" he'd bellowed. "You're a gods-damned Dragon!"

"I am not a service, joor," the Dragon had argued with his massive teeth bared. "I have made a pact with the Dovahkiin. She goes to Skuldafn, but I can only bring one."

"Then come back for us!"

"Do not test my patience!" Odahviing snarled wildly at Milos. "I'll not return for any of you under any circumstance. What the Dovahkiin does, she does alone."

I shivered again, but that time it was induced by the cold. Odahviing dove steep towards the risen platform that was the roof of the main complex and pounded his wings against the air to slow us. Immediately the Dragons converged, screaming across the sky at Odahviing. I cringed when flesh collided with flesh and we were nearly tossed into the mountainside. I clung desperately onto his segmented scales and mentally prayed to whatever gods were still patient enough with me to listen.

Odahviing righted himself and immediately took off for the ground rather than the rooftop. The Dragons above roared, alerting the pacing draugr of our presence, if they hadn't already seen or heard. I chanced a look over my shoulder, and noted the familiar violet robes I knew Eduard to wear, but these were old and clung to dead flesh, a twisted imitation of life and existence.

A very old and undoubtedly powerful Dragon Priest was waiting.

With a sound like thunder, Odahviing landed on the stones that once appeared to serve as the initial gateway into Skuldafn. Eduard had been correct; I could scarcely see any alternate route beyond the sky to approach the structure.

I clumsily clambered off of Odahviing and took a moment to stretch my legs, foolishly ignoring the impending draugr because, well, riding on a Dragon bare-back was probably worse than bare-back on a horse. The horns and the scales obvious reasons, clearly.

"This is as far as I can take you," Odahviing admitted begrudgingly, glaring at the Dragons in the sky. "Krif voth ahkrin. Fight with courage. I will look for your return, or Alduin's."

Odahviing took off into the sky and glided away from the Velothi Mountains, where Skuldafn was stationed. I sighed as I watched the Dragon's figure become nothing more than a dark speck on the horizon.

"Well," I grumbled, "there goes my ride out of here."

With a gulp I drew Dragonbane and faced the imposing ruins that towered above me. The ethereal glowing eyes of draugr were now visible in the darkness. I could hear them hissing loudly like snakes, their bones rattling in warning and anticipation.

"Just try to kick our bony asses," I nearly heard them chant (which they never did).

I lifted my leather hood over my face and secured any loose articles of potions or salves on my bandolier, and when that was done I absently rubbed the scar trailing over my lips. I needed to remember what I said I'd do, even if it felt a bit unfair. I drew the short straw, being Dragonborn, but I wasn't about to go back on my word. I swore I'd see it through to the end. I needed to save Tamriel, and the Nirn.

No pressure. It's just saving the lives of your friends, your enemies, and the random people in between who want to mug you and take your pretty things.

But I didn't like my chances against the army. And it wasn't like I could sneak by them...

I took a deep breath as the draugr flooded down the steps and onto the narrow walkway towards me. Their swords were rusty and stained with thousand-year-old blood, and the flesh rotting off their bones only barely clung to their muscles. They were an imposing sight.

But hey, being Dragonborn has its perks. And the draugr were going to find that out pretty quick.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The draugr met the full force of my Shout and flew backwards into the wall, the stairs, and even over the monolithic tower of Skuldafn. Their bones shattered and weapons scattered. Most were killed instantly (for good this time around), but a few managed to claw their way to the top of the undead bodies and charge at me again. Five draugr not unlike the kind Milos and I had first encountered in Bleak Falls Barrow. Gods, that felt like a lifetime ago...

I ducked underneath the blade of the first draugr and parried the axe of the second. Grabbing hold of the dead fingers clasping the weapon, I yanked it towards the first draugr and buried the axe deep into its breast while thrusting Dragonbane into the back of the second draugr. The third leapt forward and made to chop my head off, so I ducked again and it instead lopped off the head of the second.

I kicked the new (I use that term loosely, what with the dead flesh and all that) draugr hard in the sternum, yanked Dragonbane out of the dead creature and used it as a shield of flesh as the fourth and fifth draugrs shot arrows at me. The projectiles riddled the flesh of my new best friend, making it shriek in pain. I shoved the porcupine-imitation towards the fifth draugr and focused my attention on the fourth. It was just a matter of dodging a last arrow before cutting it in half across the waist. That done, I spun and covered my face, zigzagging a desperate path towards the draugr still firing arrows at me. I slid on the ground and kicked its feet out from under it, then jerked an arrow out of the fallen arrow-ridden draugr and drove the tip deep into the right eye of the fifth and final opponent part of my welcoming committee.

I stood, panting from the sudden exertion, and set my eyes on the rooftop of Skuldafn. Violet robes easily stood out against the grey stone landscape.

In a moment of exhilaration, I waved at the priest with a cocky grin on my face. It slowly retreated from sight, no doubt with evil plots of terror or some bits like that stirring in its pickled brain. But I just made that kind of impression everywhere I went. He may as well have been tapping his fingertips together and laughing like he was about to get away with a wicked prank.

I decided to take the steps up to Skuldafn slowly so I wouldn't be exhausted by the time I got to Sovngarde (alive...). Another few arrows almost nicked me on my way up. The draugr on the towers! I'd almost forgotten! Sheathing Dragonbane, I grabbed my ebony bow and nocked an arrow against the bowstring. With all the avoiding I had to do it took me a second to aim correctly. I needed to conserve my arrows as best as possible, and while I'd rather have taken them out with a blade I didn't have the luxury of running around the entirety of the complex searching for loot and enemies to make dead again.

Three draugr in range down, and then the real fight began. Two of the four Dragons crashed to the ruins in front of me (well, one nearly landed on me, but who cares?) and wasted no time in trying to make me a midnight snack. I had to press myself against the far tower to get out of their biting range, but then fire and frost came at me and I ducked inside the structure, slamming the door shut.

A draugr rushed at me from inside which I quickly dispatched by immediately unleashing Dragonbane, then I charged up the tower and to the nearest door. Outside on the second story of the watchtower, I leapt off, hands driving Dragonbane down until it slammed deep into the skull of a Dragon. I twisted as it bucked beneath me and hurried to use its body for cover as its kin breathed a wave of fire in its rage.

Bet you thought you were the only ones who could attack from above, huh?! I mused with a wry grin.

As soon as the barrage of fire ceased I vaulted over the swiftly-breaking corpse of the Dragon to engage the second, hoping it would be as simple as the first to kill. Well, no. My feet didn't even hit the ground before the Dragon's tail swung towards me and slammed hard into my torso, flinging me into the tower I'd just used. My head rang violently from the impact and I could feel the wetness of blood on the back of my head, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand.

The Dragon's head snaked towards me, jaws wide and eyes glinting with victory. I stumbled to the side, out of its way as it smashed into the temple tower adjacent to the courtyard we were having our little spat in. It spat out bricks into some pots and whirled on me, mouth frothing with fire.

Hey! I can do that! I took a deep breath. "YOL!"

The Dragon howled when my own little brand of flames hammered into it, leaving itself open to attack. Forcing my mind to focus, I leapt at the Dragon and dug Dragonbane deep into its un-armoured neck. I dragged the blade upwards to its jaw until its scales jerked my sword to a stop, then slid the blade out and fled a few metres in case I didn't do as much damage as I'd thought. The Dragon's blood spurted across the courtyard and (unfortunately) all over me. It died quickly after that, and joined the blue-orange cloud that its kin had become. The souls came at me like a crushing wave, but instead of going back to just shooting me across the courtyard like I was worried they would, they enveloped me like how a warm bath on an exhausting day would.

Well, I didn't feel one-hundred percent even after that, so I knew I had to be a bit more careful. As long as I didn't encounter the other two Dragons, I figured I'd be all right. But there was still that Dragon Priest to worry about...

I hadn't seen Eduard really fight before, so it wasn't like I had an advantage or anything. He had his curved dagger, and he used magicka often...

The lightning on Dragonbane crackled, waking me from my reverie. I knew it was the only enchanted thing I had in my arsenal, and I'd brought an appropriate amount of soul gems to keep it charged (courtesy of the court wizard of Whiterun), so hopefully it'd give me an edge over the dead flesh.

I didn't head for Skuldafn until I'd promptly wrapped my head in bandages. I was beginning to feel dizzy, and so forced myself to down one of the few health potions I had. I'd be in big trouble if I was fighting with the force of a drunk against an army.

Once I felt a bit more cognitive, I slowly got to my feet and grabbed my bow. As precious as my arrows were, I needed an advantage of distance at the moment. I could spot a few draugr searching for me up on the ramparts of the fane, scouring for the one that could probably hurt their master. I took deep breaths and ensured I didn't use more than two arrows on any single draugr. With them felled, I picked up my pace to the entrance, grabbing from the corpses what arrows I could, and silently entered the main complex.

The Nordic ceiling vaulted overtop with rusted chandeliers already hanging limp on their weakening links. The room itself was expansive and appeared to be some sort of gathering hall, with rotted food fused to old plates and goblets that stank of vile and putrid liquids that were probably not so different back in the day. But there were no draugr guards within. Clearly they'd been part of the first wave of the welcoming party.

Two archways were on the far wall of the main chamber. I made my way to the one on the left and realized they led to the same antechamber with an embalming table at its centre. Two draugr were patrolling the room within the dimming candlelight. I quietly stowed my bow across my back and drew the ebony dagger I kept on my boot. After waiting for several minutes, a draugr walked past my corner of the wall. I leapt on him and sliced his head off as quickly as I could. I perched on its body while I waited for distraught sounds of alarm from the second draugr, but when none came I stealthily crept up behind the undead female and stuck the dagger in between her shoulder blades and twisted for good measure.

With both draugr dead I ascended the pathways to an upper chamber within Skuldafn. As soon as I stepped inside vertical sarcophaguses exploded their lids away, and draugr slowly rose from their ancient resting places. I wasted no time in cutting off a few slow heads, but even with that there were still about six draugr.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

If the draugr didn't shatter against the wall from the force of my Thu'um, they clambered to their feet and staggered over to me. That left two. I stabbed the first in the head with Dragonbane but was unlucky enough to have the second recover quickly, and while I managed to get out of the way of the brunt of its swipe its axe cut into my left arm. I cried out, removed Dragonbane from the corpse of the draugr and hacked the second with all the strength my right arm could muster. It fell, screeching its unnatural death throes, and finally died.

Gasping in pain, I pressed myself against a large column and dropped Dragonbane, my hand grabbing the wound to staunch it while I desperately reached for the pouch with my bandages inside. Using my teeth and free hand, I tightened the knot I created and hoped it would be enough for the time being. If—when I reached Sovngarde, I'd apply any salves I had to my wounds for the coming battle. I'd need to be at my best if I wanted to match against Alduin. Before, I'd caught him by surprise with that Shout. Now he'd spent days consuming unwary souls of the valiant Nord dead. I'd be in unknown territory. Fight a deadly enemy. Maybe he would summon some of his kin to rip me apart... But only if he was desperate. From what Odahviing revealed, he was hoarding the souls for himself. Chances were his loyal underlings would attempt to consume the dead as well.

I tested my arm to see how it would fare. If I didn't use any terrible movements I'd be all right. I picked Dragonbane up from the stones and sheathed it again, then began to search for a way forward. Two more archways were once again at the furthest wall of the upper chamber, but that time they were guarded by portcullises that were clearly the best off of all metal contraptions since the ruin's creation. I frowned and glanced around. There were three adjustable stones like the ones in Bleak Falls Barrow and Ustengrav, which meant there was also a riddle to be solved.

Above each portcullis was a petroglyph of an animal. Above the left was a hawk and the right was a snake, and after a closer inspection behind each portcullis I saw that the only one not blocked by rubble was the one on the left. A bit more looking around revealed that the stone carvings on the western and eastern side of the chamber. The west had a snake while the east had a whale. I turned the easternmost pillar until the whale faced its respective picture, then walked to the westernmost one and spun it to look directly at its snake glyph. That done, I spun the centremost petroglyph until it showed a snake.

There was a centrepiece in front of the pillar I'd just moved with an old lever resting at its top. I walked over to it and struggled to pull, but it eventually groaned and snapped towards me. The portcullis on the left slowly cranked upwards, revealing the illuminated path ahead.

Without waiting I charged down the hallway and up more steps until I reached a narrow room with three draugr patrolling. I stuck to the wall and the shadows, utilizing my dagger, and cut the throat of one before the other two were even aware of my presence. With whatever precision I could muster I lobbed my dagger at the draugr below, drew Dragonbane and jammed it into the eye of the undead Nord sprinting at me. I was prepared for the other, but my dagger had lodged into the draugr's throat to spare me the trouble. Without a moment to spare I yanked Elana Victus' dagger from the corpse and spun it in my left hand. I was tempted to jam it into its sheathe again, but decided it was best to leave it out. It'd be more of a hassle to grab my bow but I figured it'd be worth it.

And I was right—large and hairy frostbite spiders were nesting in the caverns beyond the sarcophagus I'd passed through, the only way forward I could see. I hacked and slashed wildly at the disgusting monsters, green blood spewing everywhere and onto my clothes, mixing into the Dragon and draugr blood. My tired muscles protested strongly against moving forward, but I couldn't stop and rest for a long time. I needed to move fast, even if I had to kill everything in my way.

In a brightly-lit area of the tunnels a giant frostbite spider screeched and charged at me. I ducked and rolled out of its reach, skewering two of its young while I stood to dodge its pincers. One of its legs shot out and clipped my side, ripping the leather and flesh. I put the pain on a different threshold of my mind and struck out with the dagger. The spider chomped hard on my hand. I screamed, my blood boiling, and brought Dragonbane down in an arc into the spider's brain. It squealed and bit down harder. I yanked Dragonbane out and continued to stab its head in retaliation until it released me and stumbled into the wall.

I held my left hand close to my chest, tears of pain running freely down my cheeks, but continued my ruthless assault against the beast until it had died. My knees buckled suddenly, and I was panting in the dirt and whatever-else-it-was (I knew exactly what it was, but I had no intention on dwelling on the spider droppings at the time) with my hand bleeding ridiculously much. I considered just using bandages but I knew it was serious. I didn't dare look at the wound—I thought I'd see bone. With a tremendous effort I picked out a phial of red potion, uncorked it with my teeth and drank it dry. My hand and side went numb over a period of a minute or so. Then I grabbed the bandages and wrapped my hand as well as I could, but not too tightly. If there really was bone showing, the flesh would need to grow back without resistance.

I staggered to my feet, grabbed the slimy dagger from the ground and shoved it into the sheathe on my boot. I wouldn't be able to use my bow with how my hand was, so I was now relying whole-heartedly on Dragonbane, the only useful thing I'd ever gotten from Delphine (and I didn't even get it directly from her).

When I left the caves behind I was met with iron double-doors, and the moment I swung them open a draugr lunged at me. My eyes widened in surprise, and I only just barely managed to evade the reach of its blade before I even thought to retaliate. I lunged forward and buried Dragonbane deep into the draugr, then hurried into the chamber. I noticed another puzzle had to be solved there. Groaning in annoyance, I quickly scanned the room for more draugr. There were only two more. One wore considerably more armour than the other, so I ran up the curved wooden steps and focused on the one I could kill more easily. I parried a blow and countered with a strike of my own, although I only struck its rickety old shield. It parted its rotting lips and yowled, but I shoved Dragonbane forward and stabbed the undead beast through its mouth. I yanked out my sword and blocked the next attack from the armoured draugr, my arms springing from the force of the sword's strength. I slashed and gouged a deep cut in its breastplate. Enraged, the draugr swung its battleaxe at my legs. I leapt over the blade and brought mine down hard on its helmet. Dragonbane cut through the steel and carved deep into its skull, and the draugr fell to its death.

I gasped for air and clutched my left arm, which stung from the confrontation. But I needed to move. I couldn't stop. The only respite I could get would be from solving the puzzle and moving onward.

I walked back down to the ground floor and observed the room, making sure I took deep lungfuls of air to stop the aching throb at the back of my head. I could feel blood trickling from the wound there down my neck and back... I had to resist the urge to shake my head to stop thinking about it. Instead I just removed my hood and carefully ran my right hand, ridden in the blood of guardians of Skuldafn, through my sweat-plastered hair.

From where I was standing in front of the iron doors, on the above-left was a whale, and above-right was a hawk. I knew I had seen pillars in the alcoves underneath them, so I assumed those were its solutions. As for the one directly in front of me, I couldn't see any indication. I walked around the raised platform, and under the drawbridge I was clearly trying to gain access to was a petroglyph of a snake. With a careful nod of my head I returned to the first pillar and twisted it until I viewed a snake. Then I walked up the rotted wooden steps to the alcove with the hawk and twisted that. I did the same for the whale solution and approached the lever at the centre of the platform. As soon as I yanked on it hard enough the drawbridge crashed down. Some of the planks came loose. I sprinted across the decayed wood to the other side on safe stone and looked back. There was no way I could return without falling ten feet and causing damage to my legs.

I had to press on. Past the new doors I entered a dusty old corridor with cobwebs sticking close to its corners. I emerged into a gallery filled with draugr. By that time I was so exhausted I didn't even know how the fight went until the draugr were dead at my feet and I'd run up the wooden steps. I encountered a blocked chamber and yet more draugr. A connecting room had the lever for the portcullis blocking my path. I hacked and slashed through the undead until their severed heads rolled listlessly on the ground. I shoved the lever forward and forced myself to keep pace. I had enough time to unscrew my waterskin and take a drink before I found myself in the presence of more of the Nord dead. I slashed through them until I reached the very last one, who was heavily armoured and wielded the Thu'um.

Of course, I only found out after Dragonbane flew from my hand.

"Zun Haal Viik!" the draugr Shouted.

I watched Dragonbane clutter uselessly to the ground. In a panic I scrambled after it, narrowly dodging the greatsword the draugr used. In my blind terror my feet betrayed me and accidentally kicked the blade further away, amongst the bodies of the dead. The draugr advanced too swiftly for me to keep my back to it. I spun and readied my only other weapon.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The draugr managed to keep on its feet, but it staggered backwards and raised its arms to shield itself from the force of the Shout. I reached down and plucked my dagger from its sheathe, scrabbled away from the bodies and buried the weapon under the draugr's left collarbone. Its clammy, dead hands wrapped around my neck and squeezed. I twisted the dagger harshly and dragged it this way and that, then removed the blade and shoved it into its right eye. That was, thankfully, enough to kill it. But I still had to pry its dead hand off of my neck.

I fell back and stared at the ceiling, my muscles too overwhelmed to listen to my brain. I must have been there an hour before I picked myself up, sheathed my dagger and found Dragonbane. A few more minutes' respite and I noticed the detailed door at the far end of the hall. Another puzzle, but it was clearly one that required a dragon claw.

After fishing through the pockets of the last draugr I killed, I managed to find a diamond dragon claw. I checked its palm for the solution for the door then cranked the rings until the outer ring had the wolf symbol, the middle ring had the moth symbol, and the inner ring displayed the Dragon symbol. I inserted the claw into the door and removed it when it began to rumble down.

Dragonbane was drawn, but there were no draugr to be seen. I breathed a weary sigh of relief and edged further into the chamber, my heart thudding loudly in my chest. Were there sarcophaguses? Were the draugr just going to leap out and surprise me? No, actually. For the moment, there were no blue-eyed and bodied undead. But at the far end there was a Word Wall. As per usual, one particular Word of Power glowed with ethereal power. I approached it and studied the engraving. Every word popped into my head to tell me the story etched in the stone, but in an instant I understood the essence of the word leaping out and searing into my mind.

"Strun..." I muttered. "Storm..."

The Word learned, I went left and exited the expansive complex. I had hardly enough time to appreciate the vast open skies outside before a draugr shot an arrow in my thigh.

"Gah!" I gasped and grasped my leg, pain clinging like talons around the wound. The draugr cackled loudly to alert its only other comrade in the vicinity. Soon I had two draugr quickly approaching with swords in hand.

I snapped the arrow in two and yanked the shaft out of my leg as quickly as time would allow. I put all my weight on my left leg and thrust Dragonbane forward into the gut of the draugr who'd shot me, then parried a blow from the second and sliced his head clean off. I risked some time by wrapping bandages furiously around my bleeding leg. Limping, I walked around the pathway and spotted one last draugr before I'd have to ascend the steps to where I'd seen the Dragon Priest. I slowly snuck up behind him and promptly ran Dragonbane across his throat, then tossed the body off the roof for good measure.

Even before I'd began climbing the last of the steps I could see the two remaining Dragons perched on the carved pillars of Skuldafn, watching me with leering but curious obsidian eyes. My struggle to ascend the steps no doubt amused them to some degree. By the time I'd managed to reach the top I was considering just letting the Dragon Priest kill me so I could get some well-earned rest, but something told me my rest would be short-lived. Chances were necromancy of some sort would interrupt it and I'd be even more of a drooling husk than I currently was in life.

The priest, as I'd observed below, was clad in tattered violet robes that hung loosely on its rotting flesh. It stood on a raised platform in front of what appeared to be an intricate, ancient staff and a gout of flame that reached the stars above. It cast light all around the Velothi Mountains and Skuldafn, but within the light I spotted souls swimming within. It was the portal to Sovngarde. And the Dragon Priest, who was chanting ancient words in the Dragon Language before it, suddenly halted and yanked the staff from its pedestal. The portal closed abruptly, and the priest turned to face me. His mask was coloured like darkened steel and unlike Eduard's. This priest's had a mouth—a slit enough to breathe through. There were also sharp, intricate designs along the forehead and cheeks, and it didn't have the mammoth-like tusks that Eduard's had.

It said something too fast for me to decipher and thrust its staff towards me. Tendrils of lightning seared the ground at my feet; a clear warning. Turn and flee with my preverbal tail between my legs (clearly not my actual one—the one I had no intention of thinking about at the moment) to lick my wounds and await my fate at Alduin's hands, or get zapped.

Well, I don't know about you, but a zapping didn't seem so terrible after I'd sustained that many wounds. But that could just be the health potion talking.

Every wound on my body ached either with numb relief of healing or a throb of annoyance, but I grinned just as I did when I'd first seen the Dragon Priest and raised Dragonbane. I wasn't going anywhere, except to Sovngarde. And I'd get there on my terms.

The Dragon Priest thrust the staff again. I couldn't dodge with my leg wound. I gritted my teeth instead (mostly so I wouldn't end up biting my tongue off) and took some steps forward. The lightning slammed into my body, jerking it this way and that. Gods, did it hurt. Another lightning strike later and I was looking back on my boldness with an air of "you-weren't-aware-it'd-hurt-this-much". A third coil surged forward. In my desperation I cut the air with Dragonbane to defend myself. It turned out to be more effective than I thought it would be.

The lightning wrapped around the blade and blasted in the direction I was swinging, narrowly missing the surprised priest. I grinned and waited for the next tethers of lightning, and when they came I utilized Dragonbane to fire it all back at the Dragon Priest, but he summoned a ward to protect himself from the brunt of the attack. I glanced down at my right hand and saw it had begun to blacken from the lightning. If I didn't want it to fall off, I'd have to finish it. And with the priest's ward, it'd take a while. But then I found my solution.

One final surge of lightning leapt toward me. I slashed it to the left—towards the thick, carved pillars of Skuldafn. It sliced right through the stone, and it tumbled down. The Dragon Priest floated fast to get out of its way from being crushed, but I was already there. I stuck Dragonbane into its back, twisted, and waited. The only thing the priest seemed to do was chortle, and then it collapsed into a pile of ash and ragged robes. Unconsciously I picked up its staff and mask, hanging the latter on my belt, and struggled my way up the ceremonial steps. I thrust the shaft of the staff into the Dragon Seal, and in a spiral of light the portal to Sovngarde blasted open.

I didn't look back. Instead, I gathered my final bits of strength and leapt into Sovngarde.

No going back.