Ch. 20 Face-Off with Destiny
Well we have the final chapter before that final confrontation between two lovers...are they lovers when one is obsessed and the other is a little hesitant? Ah well that's not important, what is important is that here is the next installment of You Are Mine, Dovahkiin!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to Bethesda. OC's belong to their respective creators.
Why was he putting himself through this again? What purpose did becoming a dragon, if only temporarily, solve other than gave him another massive headache? What was the point of this entire charade? Why can't he just go back to Whiterun, grab his kids and get out of Skyrim?
The answer was simple; Alduin would find him wherever he went even if it meant going to the end of the planet. He would become prey in a game of deadly cat and mouse with his children as the innocent hostages and that was what scared him. What possessed him to say that he would be back with a mother for them?
It all came down to one reason, he was falling in love with that damn dragon. That dragon that he was suppose to defeat had instead found some way to worm into his heart and the mere thought of killing her seemed so repulsive that it made him want to vomit. He had only known her for four months for Talos sake and yet his own body was betraying his excitement of facing her in combat and proving himself to her.
Marius didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at this point but maybe that was for the best. If he laughed then he could appear overconfident but if he cried then he might as well hand in his dragon soul and lie down in a ditch somewhere.
"Focus Dovahkiin, it is too late to be distracted now." Paarthurnax cautioned as Marius brought himself from his musings and barely avoided a fireball. "You only have a few more days before you must face your destiny."
"Don't remind me..." Marius said as he shook his head and refocused on Vulonnah.
-Scene Change-
'It is time.' Alduin thought as she got up from her perch overlooking Dawnstar. She had to give the disgusting joor credit, they knew how to disappear when they wanted but after three weeks and numerous false leads from the townsfolk they finally slipped up and she caught sight of a small child trying to sneak back into a rock near the shore; well every joor in the town thought it was a child but Alduin wasn't fooled at all. She smelled the disgusting scent of a vampire on the girl and she hated vampires above all else including that fool Miraak. Speaking of which, she had to think of a fitting reward for her Dovahkiin for his service in taking care of that fool. 'Business first, pleasure later'
"Were you followed?" Nazir asked Festus as the old magician scowled behind his cowl.
"You doubt my abilities to hide my presence? I was a Master Wizard at the College in my days even more than that fool Tolfdir or Savros.." Festus shot back as Nazir grunted.
"From a fool yes but from a supposed ancient dragon that the Nords consider unbeatable then we have a problem." Nazir shot back as Babette stepped between the two.
"Now boys, you both need to listen to your elder and drop this. Do I need to make you guinea pigs on my newest concoction?" Babette asked as both men shook their heads quickly. "Good now I need..."
Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a loud crash as the door to the liar was torn off its hinges and a very amused figure walked in with a confident stroll. The figure had black colored scales with menacing red eyes and black colored wings sticking out from behind her a dark cloak. Completing the look were black claws on her hands and talons adorning her feet and a long black tail. She would be mistaken for an Argonian but the wings and sharper claws and eyes gave it away that she was different and the three Dark Brotherhood members narrowed their eyes before Babette ran to gather the rest while Festus held up his hands with a fire spell at the ready.
"So the World Eater herself decides to grace us with her presence." Festus said as he sneered. "I know all about you and your abilities."
"Then you know that you are already dead." Alduin said simply as Festus let a large blast of fire loose from his hands and Alduin was engulfed in a large swath of fire as the rest of the Dark Brotherhood finally got to the area. "Is this all?" Alduin asked as she walked out the fire with a stony expression. "This is the so-called best assassins?"
"Don't underestimate the Dark Brotherhood." Nazir warned her as he brandished his Scimitar as she tilted her head before catching an arrow that was aimed at her face.
"The Rose of Sithis, said to be the deadliest arrow ever made and this one was coated with a few extra poisons including Aphlaxis Cospe also known as the Heart Destroyer. So named as it instantly sends a strong gout of poison straight to the heart and literally melts it from the inside out." Alduin said as twirled the arrow in her hands. "A very good try...but in the end it was pointless. I am a true Aedra, a Goddess given flesh!" she shouted before she forced the arrow into her body as the Dark Brotherhood members looked at her like she was crazy.
Babette looked like Christmas had come early as she had specifically tailored each poison to a large enough amount to destroy anything it touched. She could potentially go down as the one who concocted the poison that killed the so called Wold Eater and said dragon just obliged her by shoving the arrow completely through her own scaled skin. She could already hear the numerous clients asking for her special poison in any new contracts that would result from this. 'Something's wrong...' Babette thought as Alduin was still standing and...smirking?
"As I said, nice try but only one joor has the ability to defeat me and neither of you are him." Alduin said as the poison had no affect on her at all. "I hope you all put up a better fight than that so called Thieves Guild." she finished as she was gone in a second and the slaughter began.
The two Initiates fell quickly with their torso ripped open and Nazir swung with his scimitar only to have it cut into pieces with his arm going with them before his throat was ripped apart. Festus attempted to blind Alduin but the old wizard found that his hands were gone before a strong punch made his chest cave in and he was done. Veezara was one of the unlucky ones, he only had his legs cut from beneath him and was left to bleed out with the bow he had used beside him.
Poor Cicero wasn't even given the chance to fight as he found himself hung by his own intestines and was left to both be slowly strangled and bleed out. Only one more was left as Alduin hunted her final target and Babette started to run. Her "innocent child" act would work on most mortals but it wouldn't fool a dragon but if she got outside then she would have a chance to escape.
Sadly, Alduin caught her just as she reached the secret entrance behind the mosaic glass. "And where do you think you are going my little vampire?"
"How...I tailored that poison specifically for you." Babette said a little fearfully as her belief in her alchemy skills had backfired tremendously.
"I said it before but I will say it again; I am a true Aedra, a Goddess given flesh and scales! I am far beyond your attempts to kill me!" Alduin exclaimed as Babette tried to stab her with a hidden dagger but Alduin only smirked at the piece of metal sticking out of her leg.
"I've been alive for over 300 years and I won't let that stop now!" Babette screamed as she threw dirt in Alduin's eyes and disappeared while Alduin cleared them. When Alduin got the dirt from her eyes she growled as the hidden door was wide open and her quarry was gone from the sanctuary.
"Veistul ulfah, Zu'u fen dismember hi ko volzaan ven korasaal fod Zu'u horvutah hi!" Alduin roared as she felt her own Thuum feeding off of her anger. As her anger grew so did the fire in her being and when it reached it's peak she shouted. "Rahgol Toor Kaag!"
In the town of Dawnstar it was a pretty quiet day. Nightmares no longer plagued the town and the mines were told to increase their output for the war effort and best of all was that the increased mining brought in more workers and more workers means more thirsty patrons for the local tavern. Today though became a day when a column of fire suddenly erupted from a rocky structure on the beach. The column seemed to reach towards the sky before the rocks and cliff overlooking the town exploded in a fiery blaze that seemed unnatural as ti intensified.
One witness reported a large black dragon shooting out of the wreckage and heading south at a very rushed pace.
-A few days later with Marius-
"Nii los tiid wah luft hin dez." Paarthurnax said as Marius grimaced uneasily.
"Fos los hin delaal drahlun nau dii grozein?" Marius asked as he finally had a decent grasp on Dovahzul. He could speak it to some degree but he was far off from proficient.
"Truthfully? You have a long shot at best." Paarthurnax said simply as Marius gulped before climbing onto the old dragons back. "This is not a fight to the death but you must treat it as such. To fight for a mate is no easy task and the one you are fighting will no doubt expect your absolute best."
"I'm starting to regret telling my kids they would have a mother." Marius said as Paarthurnax snorted.
"There would be no better monah for your kiir than she." Paarthurnax said as Marius sighed.
"I can't let her get away with lying to me for the last few months." Marius replied as Paarthurnax grunted as he took to the skies.
"True but that will not change the outcome when you win. Regardless of your feelings or hatred for her at the moment you will be hers and she yours forever after." Paarthurnax explained as Marius said nothing. "You may require that she prove herself worthy of your trust again but that won't change what you feel in your hil."
"How did this happen, I was suppose to destroy her." Marius said hysterically as he scratched at his short hair.
"Your duty was to prevent her from bringing about the end of the world but notice how that didn't specify how. It is an open-ended prophecy that is left to interpretation but joors always jump to violence instead of thinking critically." Paarthurnax stated calmly. "There are many ways to prevent something and violence isn't always the best choice."
"The choice was taken out of my hands." Marius said as Paarthurnax nodded.
"It was for the best; could you honestly say that you could've been happy had she not done this?" Paarthurnax asked while Marius remained silent the rest of the flight.
-With Alduin-
She waited on the Word Wall with a glare to the north and raging fire in her body that intensified as her next conquest came closer to their destined meeting. On the back of her former lieutenant and friend was the one that she would claim as hers fully before the day was out. She watched as he dismounted and Paarthurnax took his place above the battleground as Alduin jumped off the Wall and landed in front of Marius while the snow whipped around the from her landing.
"You didn't flee like I thought you would." she remarked as Marius shrugged.
"It wouldn't have done me any good." he replied as she smirked.
"True though it would've ended with your death but that is a moot point. You are here now and that means you accept my challenge." Alduin said as Marius only unsheathed his Ebony sword. "Such fierceness...you keep proving to be an affirming choice."
"Ready yourselves!" Paarthurnax shouted as Marius gripped his sword tighter and Alduin crouched low while licking her lips.
"I will enjoy this and the after fight as well." Alduin said as Marius growled lowly.
Paarthurnax looked between the fighters before he sent a roar of fire into the sky.
"Gon!"
Wow that was a long build-up but the fight has arrived! The moment you all have waited for as happened and the stage is set for a clash of heavyweights.
I apologize that this came out so late but I had a case of writer's block but not the kind you all think. No I didn't lose interest nor did I struggle to write but my case was that I was conflicted between writing one more training chapter or skipping to the fight. One reviewer cautioned against taking too long to get to the fight because too much leads to ever increasing expectations and if I failed to meet them then the backlash would be severe.
With that in mind and my indecision I made a choice to skip to the fight but I will be showcasing what he learned so you all won't miss out. Also, Babette escaped for now but she will be back I promise you that.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter and love the following chapters!
Read and review and vote in the poll if you want. To all the WoW fans out there here is a question, Sylvanas or Tyrande which is hotter or which you would like to date?
Translations courtesy of Thuum . Org
Veistul ulfah, Zu'u fen dismember hi ko volzaan ven korasaal fod Zu'u horvutah hi! – Vile creature, I will dismember you in the worst way possible when I catch you!
Rahgol Toor Kaag – Rage Inferno Explode
Nii los tiid wah luft hin dez – It is time to meet your destiny.
Fos los hin delaal drahlun nau dii grozein – What is your honest opinion on my chances
Dovahzul – Dragon Language (literally language of dragons)
monah – mother
hil – heart
Gon – Begin