The Heart of a Daedra
By The Grey Knight
Chapter 27:
Having finally vanquished the vile sister of Shadowfang, Sjern made his way over to the unconscious form of Infernus. Kneeling beside him, he cast the healing spell he had used days previous to heal Serana in Morthal in order to both wake and revitalise the fallen Breton. Infernus coughed once and sat up, shaking his head quickly to clear it.
"Are you alright Infernus?" Sjern asked, standing up straight and offering the Breton a helping hand.
"Aye I am Dragonborn. Bastards caught me completely off guard, I didn't even hear them behind me. Has that bitch fled again or is she still he-"
Infernus cut his own sentence short, his gaze falling on the mangled corpse of Sunclaw mere metres away. His eyes widened in fear and shock at the large indentation on the right hand side of her head where Sjern's boot had completely crushed the skull.
"What in the name of Sithis did that?" He exclaimed, taking a step back.
Sjern sighed, knowing he'd have to own up to this horrifying spectacle.
"I did this Infernus. I flew into a rage and… I don't know what came over me but when I tried to take on my Beast Form, I became… something else entirely. The worst part is, I enjoyed it. The strength, the power I – I lost control. I-"
Sjern spun to face the grand table and roared.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The might of his Thu'um was so great that he not only cleared the table, but launched it with such force that it splintered against the nearby stone wall. Sjern balled his fists, his entire body shaking violently after his breakdown. After a brief moment, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright Sjern" Came the voice of the Breton behind him. "You said so yourself, you couldn't control it. You know now what this power can do and, even though I only know you a short amount of time, I know you won't give in to this. You are Sjern Volz, Dragonborn and Hero of Skyrim, of Tamriel even! You are no monster."
Infernus patted him on the back and walked towards the door at the back.
"Come friend, let us go find you some more tables to slaughter."
Sjern couldn't resist the temptation to smirk at Infernus's quip and quickly overtook him, leading the way through the door.
"So why are we here? Or maybe the better question is, what are we here for?" Infernus asked as they approached the Cathedral room at the back.
"We have achieved what we came here for. I have one thing left to do in this place, and it must be done alone."
When Infernus began to argue, Sjern simply held his hand up.
"Please Infernus. It's something that must be done by my own hand. I am not excluding you, I am merely stating fact."
The reply didn't seem to placate Infernus but nonetheless he remained silent after that. When they reached the door, Sjern exhaled deeply. Without taking his eyes off the door handle, he instructed Infernus to wait outside and not to come in under any circumstance. When the Breton finally agreed, Sjern took a deep breath and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him.
Crouching as soon as he entered the room, Sjern immediately noticed two figures, one hulking beast with two large horns protruding from its head. On its back, Sjern could see the silhouette of what appeared to be a large pointed staff. The figure was clad in what appeared to be an extremely large set of Daedric Armour, leading Sjern to believe that it was, in fact, a Daedra warrior. The other was smaller in frame and wore a hood, covering its face. The only thing Sjern could make out from him in terms of facial features were his eyes which were a bright yet menacing shade of gold. Both stood on opposite sides of the altar to Molag Bal, watching Sjern as he slowly approached.
"Hail Dragonborn!" The smaller figure chimed, his voice raspy and shrill, his tone filled with mockery. "Hail to you great vanquisher of evil!"
Sjern stopped a few feet away from them both, drawing himself up to his full height, his dagger held in a reverse grip in his hand.
"I assume you question why you are here yes?" The same raspy voice ringing through the cathedral.
"I know why I am here. You invited me to return to this place. You spoke to me inside my own mind. You got inside my head and you told me that this would be worth my while. So far, I see nothing here that could be classed as 'worth my while'." Sjern retorted, not bothering to hide his disdain for the character on the altar.
"Ahh but it has been worth your while Dovahkiin. If you had not come here, you would not have slain the one they called Sunclaw. You would not have unlocked the secret to your new, more powerful self and you would not be face to face right now with one of the only beings who can give you what you truly desire!"
"And what might that be Daedra? Infinite power? A chance to be a God? Perhaps an unearthly amount of weal-"
"How about peace? A chance to settle down with a loved one, start a family, die at an old age? Can anyone else promise you that Dragonborn?"
Sjern paused for a moment. Indeed this was one of the first times that anyone had offered him peace rather than power. It was intriguing but common sense built up over his travels told him to make his choice in regards to what would benefit all of Skyrim and Tamriel, not just himself.
"You make a tempting offer Daedra, but I am the sworn protector of these lands. My own personal happiness can never be attained unless it is through the achievement of peace in these lands, a peace I am sure that neither you nor any of your kin can supply."
The Daedra's golden eyes flashed at his words.
"You dare to reject such a generous offer?! Very well Dragonborn, if you will not see your days out in peace, you will suffer through them in war! Shriker, get him!"
With those words, the golden eyed Daedra spread his hands wide and was immediately surrounded by a black and purple cocoon of energy which, when it disappeared, had transported the smaller figure from the room. Sjern had no time to dwell on this however, as the large Daedra drew his weapon, a weapon quite unlike any Sjern had ever seen in that it was essentially a bo staff but with two Daedric blades taking the place of either side of the hilt. The Daedra Shriker spun the weapon expertly by its handle, slowly advancing towards Sjern.
'Well, this should be fun!' Sjern quipped sarcastically to himself, raising his dagger.
Leaping backwards, Sjern assumed a defensive stance and began strafing to the left, going around the Daedra. He knew that if he were to engage directly, he would be cut to ribbons in mere seconds. Instead he chose to hold back and see if he could spot any obvious weaknesses.
'He's slow but not so slow as to loop around him easily' Sjern thought, carefully leading the Daedra up one of the stairways. 'Perhaps if I get him up the steps, I can Shout him down and capitalise.'
Backing all the way up the steps, until his back was against a wall, Sjern patiently waited for Shriker to reach the second step from the top before summoning the great power he had unleashed on so many others.
"FUS RO DAH!"
While the Shout was just as powerful as ever, it did little else than slow the gargantuan creature down by forcing him back a step. Making the most of it, Sjern immediately ran and planted his boot across the Daedra's jaw. At least that was his intention, instead the Daedra recovered, grabbed Sjern by the ankle and threw him across the room with ease. Sjern hit the lower steps of the opposite stairway with a sickening 'thud' as he felt the full force of the cold, hard stone collide with his body.
Struggling to his feet, Sjern noticed that Shriker had not rushed himself in trying to get to Sjern. Instead he simply resumed his slow pace down the steps, restarting the spinning of his double bladed weapon.
"Dov-kin!" He bellowed, clearly struggling to string the word together. "Dov-kin… will… DIE!"
Sjern had to hold back his laughter at the obvious stupidity of the beast. True it was a lot stronger than he was and seemed to shrug off his Thu'um as if it were nothing but Sjern had found his weakness. He was stupid. While still one of the mightiest men in Skyrim, Sjern always ensured that his mind was sharper than the tip of his blade lest he ever need to solve something without violence.
'Only question is, how in the name of Talos do I beat this guy? Even if he's thick, he's still strong.' Sjern told himself whilst surveying his surroundings.
So engrossed he was in his thoughts, he made one of the biggest mistakes any warrior could and let down his guard. Before he knew what was happening, he felt the stone underneath him shake as Shriker came within striking distance of him. Swinging one end of his two sided weapon, the massive Daedra let out a triumphant roar. Reacting with inhuman speed, Sjern dropped onto his back, injuring himself further but evading decapitation by a hair's breadth. Summoning as much strength as he could, Sjern brought both of his knees up to his chin before lashing out with both feet connecting with the chestplate of Shriker, knocking him back a step further. Clambering to his feet, Sjern once again called upon his unique power, this time twisting his body slightly to the right and Shouting the words:
"WULD NAH KEST!"
The Whirlwind Sprint Shout took Sjern across the room to the stairway diagonally opposite the one he had been hurled into. Having bought himself a few precious seconds, Sjern's mind went to work once again.
'Come on Sjern, you can do this! You're not just a Dragonborn, you're a hunter as well! Figure out your prey and bring it down!'
Quickly climbing the stairs, Sjern watched as Shriker slowly made his way towards the nearby stairway in an attempt to catch Sjern on the higher ground. This time however, Sjern was ready. Praying to the Nine as he did so, Sjern launched himself off of the ledge, landing behind the giant Daedra which he quickly mounted, wrapping his arms around Shriker's neck and squeezing as hard as he could. While the Daedra was obviously far stronger, he had forsaken easy mobility for his thick armour, meaning he could not reach backwards far enough to take Sjern off of his back. Sjern knew that if the Daedra fell backwards, he would crush him, leaving him open to a death blow with little chance of resistance but he was counting on the beast to be too stupid to figure that out. Holding on for dear life as Shriker thrashed about, Sjern held on tight, biding his time. Finally, Shriker stopped thrashing so wildly and resorted to an attempt of crushing Sjern against a nearby wall, backpedalling as fast he could. Thanking the Nine as he travelled backwards, Sjern released the Daedra's neck and jumped to the left just as the Daedra slammed into the wall. Climbing to his feet, Sjern immediately seized the Daedra's weapon, snapped it in half so as to have both blades and, taking careful aim with one, threw it like a javelin, as hard as he could, impaling the beast through the chest. Not giving Shriker a moment's rest, Sjern sprinted right at him, the other half of the broken sword staff creating sparks as the tip bounced along the ground. Swinging the blade as hard as he could, Sjern buried around half of the blade's width in the Daedra's neck before taking a step back, steadying himself and, for the third time in the battle, releasing the awesome might of his Thu'um.
"YOL TOR SHUUL!"
The Fire Breath Shout was usually damaging to foes who were less than a couple of feet away from Sjern. To those who were directly in front of him, it was devastating and Shriker, despite all of his strength, was no different. Taking the brunt of the flames to his unguarded visage, he howled in unintelligible pain, dropping to his knees. Relentless, Sjern grabbed both of the several inch long horns atop the Daedra's head and wrenched backwards, pushing the Daedra's body the other direction with his foot. There was a sharp, sickening crack as both horns came loose of their resting place, eliciting yet another blood curdling scream from the Daedra. Spinning them in his hands, Sjern took one final look at his foe.
"Tell your master that he's going to wish he haggled for my favour!" Sjern exclaimed, his tone dripping with venom.
Shriker appeared to try and formulate a sentence, perhaps to beg for his life, but it was too late. Sjern embedded both horns in the Daedra's skull, killing it almost instantly. The Daedra gargled on his own blood for a moment before the cold embrace of death overcame him. Feeling the fatigue of the harsh battle catch up to him, Sjern fell to his knees and exhaled heavily. He had won but Daedra never truly died on Nirn. There was every chance that Shriker could return. And if there were any more like him, Sjern was not sure that he could handle it.
Sighing heavily, he allowed himself to simply kneel there for a couple of minutes, taking the time to heal all of his wounds. Looking down on the corpse of Shriker, impaled with two blades and both of his horns sticking out the wrong way around from his head, Sjern almost felt pity for the creature. He blindly followed the orders of the smaller figure and had paid the price, impaired by his own blades and finished off by his own horns.
'It's almost like a sick joke.' Sjern chuckled to himself. 'I wonder if his master will be merciful.'
Sjern remained in the same position until the sound of the door opening startled him, his instincts taking over and causing him to jump to his feet, Chain Lightning spell at the ready. He immediately deactivated it when he noticed that it was Infernus, poking his head around the door with a mixture of worry and bemusement on his face.
"You gonna fry me up Sjern?" He quipped, stepping into the room.
Sjern allowed himself to smile slightly at Infernus's words, walking towards him and the exit.
"Only if you hadn't looked so helpless" Sjern fired back, causing Infernus to crack a smile.
"Helpless? I beg your pardon but I'll have you know that-"
He never got to finish his sentence as, at that very moment, the room darkened and Sjern's head split open with a sharp pain, almost as if someone were driving a red hot blade through his skull. Grabbing either side of his head, he dropped to one knee, screaming in unending pain as images of Serana and his other friends back home flashed through his mind. They were all unconscious, even Zacharias, and being dragged from Proudspire by a group of black robed individuals in masks that strongly resembled that of a Dremora. Sjern roared once again, this time, anger and grief intertwining with his throes of pain as he helplessly watched his friends being carted off. The city of Solitude had been set ablaze and Oblivion Gates were active on every street. After what felt like an era passing, Sjern's thoughts began to clear and he could think once again. He still saw the harrowing images of Solitude in flames and the people he had come to care for being ruthlessly taken from him but his mind was able to separate what was real from what was a mere illusion.
"So you think this is not your reality Dovahkiin?" A familiar shrill voice resonated through his thoughts. "You will never know unless you return to them. But I would hurry, Dovahkiin otherwise it may be too late."
Then, as suddenly as it started, the illusion dropped, leaving Sjern on the ground, shaking and sweating profusely. Infernus was down on one knee, his hand resting on Sjern's shoulder.
"Sjern! Come on you Nordic bastard, speak! What in the name of Sithis happened?"
Sjern said nothing for a moment, letting himself catch his breath. Then, when he felt strong enough to speak, he did.
"We need… to go back. They're all in great danger."
Well… this is awkward. It's been a long time since I last updated and in all honesty, this chapter was rewritten more times than I care to count. I just hope it's up to the usual standard and I hope you all can forgive me for such a long hiatus. I'll try and update as regularly as possible as we're near the end of the story. As always, reviews or PMs with any form of criticism or opinion are always welcome. It's great to be back my friends and may Talos guide you! Peace