Chapter Eighteen
"Mercy!" The Thalmor soldiers cried, however Alinja was in no mood to show it. She had heard bandits cry out this, only to be metaphorically stabbed in the back when their confidence grew back.
Alinja slid her blade into and across her enemies, making short work of them all. Wiping her blade clean, she moved towards the building that the mage was guarding. Opening the door, she was faced with another Thalmor soldier, a Thalmor mage and a Nord man dressed in green and brown farm clothes. Just as her blade struck the Nord man she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She fell to one knee, dropping her weapon and leaving it to clank loudly to the stone floor. Gripping the left side of her chest she heaved large breaths in and out.
"Dammit…" She cursed, not understanding where the pain was coming from. She stayed like that, waiting for the pain to subside.
Suddenly, she began to remember memories from her childhood back on the farm in Rorikstead. It was back when she was still a child of around six years old, when her parents had left her in the care of Mralki. She was sitting alone on the wooden fence that surrounded a patch of crops that was situated next to the Inn. She saw herself turning her head and looking up at the Inn to see Erik staring, shyly at her. He quickly ran back into the Inn when she caught his eye. Had he been watching me that whole time? She thought to herself. Her face twisted in pain as another memory flashed into her mind.
She was a little older, an age of about ten or eleven. She was tying leather strips around bundles of wheat, the sun hot on her back and basking the scene in a warm yellow glow. Erik suddenly walked up to her, a shy smile on his face and held up a purple mountain flower to her. Little Alinja smiled warmly, her cheeks flushing slightly to a light shade of pink as she took the gift and looked up at Erik. Back in reality, Alinja cried out in agony as the memories continued.
A memory of Erik and Alinja as teenagers of about sixteen years. They had to share a bed because a few travellers had wounded themselves fighting bandits and they had taken up all the beds in the Inn, though there wasn't enough beds and one of the travellers had to sleep in Alinja's bed. She and Erik were sharing Erik's bed for a few nights until they could get healers to Rorikstead. It was night and they were all asleep. Alinja's eyes were closed and she was sleeping soundly. She didn't even remember Erik lying awake and watching her. He moved a hand to lightly touch her face and move a few strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear. She saw herself moan softly and her face relaxed a little.
"Erik…" Alinja clutched her chest tightly. "Come back to me…" Other memories of Erik subtly showing his affection for her over the years kept flooding her mind. "Stop…" She whimpered to nobody. "Stop!" She shouted shifting her hands to the sides of her head. "Get out of my head!" She toppled to her side and curled up, not realising her face was wet with salt water. "Erik!"
And then it stopped. The pain ceased. And she was left lying on the floor next to her slain enemies, their blood wiping onto the back of her left hand and into her hair. She breathed heavily, eyes wide with fear, mentally scarred from the loss of her best friend and lover. Noticing that she was no longer in pain, she slowly sat up, feeling…nothing. The emotions drained out of her and her face was left expressionless. Vacantly looking around at her surroundings, she stood up and continued, silently on her mission.
The days went on and Delphine sent Alinja on another mission to find another remaining member of the Blades, Esbern. It was hypothesised that he was hiding in Riften. On her way to the town, Alinja went back to High Hrothgar to return the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. She was then formally recognised as the true Dragonborn of the age. They spoke to her in Dragon Tongue, the walls shaking as the other Greybeards spoke as well and taught her the final word to Unrelenting Force—Dah.
The days turned into weeks as Alinja, Delphine and Esbern found an old Blades sanctuary—Sky Haven Temple. They found an answer on a large wall engraved with the story of the Great Dragon War. However, the wall depicted a warrior using a special Dragon Shout, unknown to even Esbern, used against Alduin to end the war once and for all. Unwillingly, the Blades agreed to get help from the Greybeards. Delphine sent Alinja to ask the Greybeards for help in the hope that they would know the Shout used against Alduin. She was sent from place to place by the Greybeards, their leader—the surprising dragon Paarthurnax. Alinja would have been excited to think she was retrieving an Elder Scroll to be able to learn the dragon Shout, Dragon Rend were she not stripped of all emotion.
When the day finally arrived that she was to fight Alduin on the top of the Throat of the World, she thought she would feel fear. She thought she would feel anger. She thought she would feel something. But she didn't. When her deep blue eyes looked dead into the glowing red eyes of the abyssal dragon, she felt nothing. No fear, no anger.
Raising her sword high, she battled the Alduin alongside his brother, Paarthurnax. One final blow and Alduin crashed to Nirn.
But instead of dying, the black beast merely chuckled.
"You cannot destroy me, mortal." He boomed. "I will fly to Sovngarde and feast on the souls of your fallen comrades."
He then lifted his head as if he had never been hit. Just as Alinja was about to strike him again, he took off and flew into the distance.
"Paarthurnax! We need to go after him!" She snapped her head to the cream-white dragon.
"Patience, Dovahkiin." He replied in a bass voice. "If we continue to fight Alduin, he will only regain his strength in Sovngarde."
"Then how do we defeat him?" Alinja questioned, glaring in the direction that Alduin had flown off in.
Paarthurnax continued to explain that she should go to the Jarl of Whiterun to capture one of Alduin's allies. He showed her how to call this dragon to her. Od-ah-viing.
The Jarl agreed to trap a dragon in his city, if she would be able to temporarily stop the fighting of the civil war.
As she sat in High Hrothgar at the head of the stone table with the Stormcloaks on her right and the Empire on her right, Alinja faintly listened to them bicker.
"Dragonborn?"
A strong Nord voice cut into her thoughts.
"Huh?" she looked at Ulfric Stormcloak who had his arms folded and was leaning lazily in his chair.
"We want Markarth and these Imperial bastards want to take Riften from us." He repeated. "What say you?"
"You can't expect to take and take, and not think the Empire doesn't want anything in return!" General Tullius snapped. "Dragonborn, you can't really take this seriously?"
For the first time in weeks, Alinja felt her blood boil. She fiercely glared the Ulfric and then at Tullius. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Arngeir shifting uncomfortably, feeling her Thu'um in the air. Alinja breathed in and closed her eyes. She really did not care for this stupid civil war. She wanted nothing to do with it. It made her furious to think that they were using her time and indeed to time the whole of Skyrim had left. She stood, opening her eyes and slammed her hands onto the stone table, cracking it with the power of her dragon's soul.
"I don't give a fuck what you two are fighting about!" She screamed. "We don't have time to be bickering right now! I don't have the time, and the whole of fucking Skyrim doesn't have the time!" As she yelled, the walls shook and the ceiling creaked. "Right now, just stop fighting until I kill Alduin and then you go back to you pointless war!"
Silence fell upon the roomas Alinja slumped back into her chair, with her hand on her forehead. Arngeir breathed in.
"Forgive the Dragonborn's outburst—" he began but was interrupted by Ulfric laughing heartily from his chest.
"A-ha-ha-ha-ha!" He placed a hand on his stomach and ran his fingers through his hair. "Ah, Dragonborn, I like you. Fine, then. As you wish. But I won't stop this war unless Tullius says it first."
General Tullius glared hard at the big Nord. "I see you're just as childish as ever. Fine, fine. But only until the Dragonborn kills this dragon and when she wins, there will be Hell to wreck, Stormcloak!"
Alinja made her way into Whiterun to meet Balgruuf to figure out how to capture this ally of Alduin. Closing the large heavy gates to Whiterun behind her, she walked past Breezehome. She wanted to fling open the door. She wanted Erik to be there. With Meeko. Clenching her jaw, she continued forward.
Arriving shortly in Dragonsreach, she met the Jarl and they both went to the Great Porch in the back of the castle. Alinja walked to the end of the porch which looked over the whole of the Whiterun hinterlands. It was eerily beautiful as the wind swept through the plains, lifting the leaves of the scarce trees and the browning grass. A few herds of elk were roaming casually on the hills, grazing the dry grass and plants. The silence of the grassland was what brought the eeriness out. No bugs hummed. No birds chirped. It was as if they knew that a dragon was about to enter their land.
"Go on, Dragonborn." Balgruuf said quietly. "Call this dragon. My men are ready."
Alinja's eyelids lowered and her soul blazed.
"Od-ah-viing!" She Shouted.
A few seconds passed before they heard the shriek of a dragon. But it was different to the other dragon shrieks she had heard before. This one was deeper and somewhat…determined. Alinja drew her sword, awaiting what would come.
Suddenly a large shadow darkened the porch, causing Alinja, the Jarl, Irileth and a few Whiterun guards to jerk their heads up. The dragon that was called Odahviing flew overhead, shaking the stone walls.
"Dovahkiin!" he rumbled. "Here I am!"
Alinja couldn't help but stand in awe of this dragon. She had never seen anything like him before. This dragon was a blood red colour which shimmered in the light of the sun. He was slender and lean, his hard muscular legs, wings and chest rippled as he propelled himself around and towards them…
"Duck!" Alinja shouted as she saw Odahviing swoop down to them. Everyone ducked except for one poor guard who was too slow and was roughly picked up by the dragon in his giant taloned feet and flung over the edge of the porch.
Odahviing circled round again and everyone scattered as he landed, roaring and breathing fire.
"Move back!" Alinja cried. "We've got to get him inside!"
All the guards, Irileth, Balgruuf and Alinja ran back towards the entrance of the porch, and like planned, the dragon followed. Just a bit further until he was…
"Now!" Balgruuf shouted and a large wooden curved trap crashed down onto Odahviing, falling around his neck, keeping him in place.
Odahviing cursed in Dragon Tongue and his head fell in defeat, realising he was unable to escape. Alinja walked up to him and he rose his gaze to meet hers.
"I suppose you have some reason you have me in this…humiliating position." He grumbled.
"Indeed I do." Alinja replied. "I need to know how to defeat Alduin."
The dragon stared deep into Alinja's eyes. She couldn't look away, though she had no intention of doing so. She never realised how beautiful dragons were up close. The detail of his scale patterns on his face as they grew smaller around his mouth. The white of his teeth poking out of his jaw. Deep grey-blue eyes shimmered as she saw her own reflection in them. She was suddenly taken aback when she saw how hard her stare was. She had never seen that look on herself before. Breaking up with Erik had—she realised—taken their toll on her.
Breaking her trance by blinking, Odahviing spoke in a deep, toned voice.
"And if I tell you, you will set me free?"
"Only if you promise not to rip my head off…or the head of my comrades here." Alinja replied.
"I agree."
Nodding, Alinja continued to ask about Alduin and how to defeat him, and it seemed that the only way to defeat Alduin was to kill him in Sovngarde, where he was weakened. Once she knew this knowledge, as promised, she told the guards to raise the trap. Against their will, Odahviing was freed. He agreed to fly Alinja to Skuldafn where there was a portal to Sovngarde.
"Are you ready to see the world as only a Dov can?" The red dragon asked.
Alinja thought for a moment. No…she had to do it. "Can you wait for a few minutes? There is something I must do. I won't be long. I promise."
"Do not dally, Dovahkiin." Odahviing replied. "Skuldafn awaits."
Alinja thanked him and ran back through the doors of the porch, down the stairs and out the great doors of Dragonsreach. Running from the Cloud District to the Wind District to the Plains District, she ran towards Breezehome…and stopped dead in her tracks. There he was. There he was.
"Erik…"
He stopped, his back towards her, his hand on the latch to the door into the house. Erik was dressed in a green shirt with dark brown trousers. He turned slowly, his eyes slightly widened.
Alinja continued. "I just wanted to say that I'm—"
"Please, don't…" Erik whispered, shaking his head slightly and opened the door, but she caught his arm.
"This might be the last time I see you." She said.
He turned his head again, this time, his eyes were confused. "What do you mean?"
"I'm…" she hesitated. "I'm going to end this dragon war once and for all. I'm…I…I have to go to…" she looked down. "Sovngarde."
Before Erik could reply she let go of his arm and sprinted back to the Great Porch, eyes welling up with salty water. She forced them back as she returned to Odahviing's side, climbing onto the top of his neck and held onto his horns. And then with one flap of his wings, Odahviing lifted off and they sored through the sky on their way to Skuldafn.
"Lok Vah Koor!" Alinja and the three Heroes of Sovngarde Shouted to clear the mist from the afterlife's sanctuary.
A loud, bestial cry rang out through the air and a large black mass of Alduin approached. The four of them fought bravely, though the World-Eater was resilient. He knocked the Heroes to the ground a good distance away from where Alinja stood, gripping her weapon tightly. Her gaze hardened as the red eyes bore into hers. He roared fiercely as he stalked towards her.
"Die in terror." He hissed.
"Never." Alinja replied in cold anger.
He growled and with lightning fast speed, he swiped at her, sending her flying into jagged rocks. She cried out in pain, before her vison blurred. Disorientated, she struggled to her feet only to be snapped up into the jaws of the dragon and flung a few feet farther, landing heavily on her back, the wind escaping her lungs, leaving her breathless. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth. She coughed and blood spurted from her mouth. She lay her head down. She could feel death coming to her. She could feel in creeping like a skeletal hand through the darkness of a child's nightmare. She could see it in the eyes of Alduin as he loomed over her.
"I will kill you, Dragonborn," he rumbled, "and then I will kill the ones you hold closest to you."
An image from her nightmare flashed into her mind. Alduin's tail injecting itself through Erik's chest. If she was dead…so was he. No…she wouldn't let that happen…she…
"NO!" She screamed. "Fus Ro DAH!" She Shouted will all the strength she had left. The attack struck him right on the throat. Alduin shrieked in pain, blood running from his jaws. Alinja took this opportunity to leap to her feet. Holding her sword high she glared at her foe. "If I die, it will not be in terror. And I shall not die." She brought her blade down into the dragon's skull and brain.
Alduin gave out a short shriek and then shrank back, rearing up in pain and confusion. His gaze was wild with fear as he watched his own body deteriorate before his eyes. And then there was a pause…before he finally burst into black liquid and dissolving into thin air.
The World-Eater. The Bringer of the End Times. Was defeated. And with it, Alinja hoped, her title of Dragonborn.
*Dedicated to my canary bird, whom I named after Paarthurnax.*