Guts quickly threw the captain to the ground and gripped the seat rail of the cart to his right. He hauled himself up easily, checking to see if the archers were still going to try and fire upon him. Thankfully they were behaving as he expected, firing on Alduin and completely forgetting about him. Their arrows plinked off the black carapace of the mighty dragon as it landed atop the stone tower above the chopping block, staring down directly at Guts.
Guts glared back at the beast, already thinking on how he should kill it.
"Fus Ro Dah!" Alduin shouted, a round bluish wall of force bellowing from his cavernous mouth.
Guts narrowly dodged the unexpected attack by leaping out of the cart, rolling over cobbled stone and keeping a grip on his sword. The wall of force slammed into the cart, blasting it into wooden shrapnel. As Guts rolled to a stop, a small boulder shrouded in flame collided with the ground in front of him, knocking him flat on his back and expelling the air from his lungs.
Guts ignored the pain and quickly scrambled to his feet, seeing that Alduin had left his perch atop the stone tower, flying high in the sky and casting a massive shadow. Guts inwardly cursed as Alduin kept annoyingly out of reach.
Though, with a blade like this, he was unlikely to break that shadowy hide… if only he had his Dragonslayer…
He saw more meteorites fall from a blackening sky, a massive dark hole in the sky having been torn open high in the sky, splitting the cloudy blue sky asunder. The power Alduin wielded could shatter the earth if the dragon so wished it… at least right now it seemed as much.
"Hey Guts! The gods won't give us another chance!" Ralof shouted to him, running to an open doorway to one of the stone towers.
Guts, seeing no other option, fled after Ralof and into the tower, slamming the door shut behind him and quickly backed off into the center of the round chamber. Three stormcloaks writhed in agony at the end of the room, spilling guts and shattered bones causing excruciating pain. Best to just put them out of their misery, there was no helping wounds like those.
Ralof and Ulfric then began speaking to one another, but Guts was too busy thinking of a way to reach Alduin. If he had his metal arm, he would have been able to fire crossbow bolts and his cannon, but his body had been restored completely. He flexed the fingers on his new hand, the feel of it still completely alien to him. Well… he doubted that the bolts would be capable of piercing Alduin's hide.
"Up through the tower, let's go!" Ralof urged Guts, running to the base of the stairwell and waving for him to follow.
Maybe if he got to the top of the tower, he would be able to leap onto Alduin? It seemed very unlikely that would work out well. Perhaps there was a cannon mounted on top? It was worth checking out at least. Without a word, Guts ran up the stairs past Ralof, who followed closely behind.
Guts gripped his sword tightly as he ran up the spiral stone steps, hearing that Alduin's roar was closeby. The sprint up the stairs didn't last very long, a pile of rubble had blocked the path up. A stormcloak was hunched over something in front of the blockage, but before Guts could see what it was, the stone wall next to him exploded.
Daylight suddenly flooded his vision once more, and the massive dark head of Alduin loomed over him, having busted a hole in the tower. Without a second thought, Guts lunged with his blade, stabbing the dragon through one of it's crimson eyes. Blood exploded from the wound and Alduin roared in fury as he pulled his head free of the fresh hole he had made in the tower. Flames belched out and licked the outskirts of the tower, scorching the banners to cinders as Alduin shook his head vigorously in an attempt to remove the lodged blade. Guts had dealt a single very good blow to the mighty dragon with that move… There was just one problem.
Guts hadn't let go of the sword.
His feet had left the ground after Alduin had retracted his head from the tower, and now Guts was holding on for dear life as he was bucked around with the force of ten angry bulls. Alduin flapped his massive wings several times, sending them both soaring high above the slowly shrinking Helgen below.
He thought he could see Ralof down below, cupping his hands next to his mouth and shouting something at Guts. Most of what he was shouting went unheard, but the tone sounded… excited? He thought that he could pick up a single word from Ralofs nearly inaudible shouts.
Sovngarde.
Guts clenched his teeth as Alduin shook harder, flying in a single direction and trying to catch him in his fire breath. Guts arms and legs did get licked by the flames during this sky high struggle, but the pain only strengthened his resolve to hold on. He would not return to the infinite darkness so soon, he would fulfill his deal with the unknown entity.
He had remembered the deal being more than fair.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, the sword finally slid free of Alduin's eye socket with a slick pop. Guts flailed in the air as he fell, spinning out of control as he tried to right himself. If he could control how he landed he might survive, but he couldn't stabilize his spinning. The world around him was a blur of white and blue, and he felt as if he were going to hurl.
Then it happened.
There was a loud splash followed by the ringing of his ears as frigid water engulfed him. The force by which he slammed into the water made his whole being sting with pain, like he had landed on solid stone rather than water. He flailed his arms, feeling himself being pulled by a moderately strong current.
He had lost the sword during his fall, but that was fine, he would need both hands to get out of this mess. Guts felt one of his hands brush up against something, and he grabbed it, feeling cool dirt squish beneath his grip. He pulled himself toward it, using the loose roots within the soil for grip. He then scrambled upward, feeling his lungs burning with the strain. Just when he was about to inhale a lungful of water, his head broke the surface and he greedily gasped for air.
Guts had, by dumb luck, managed to fall into a river. His limbs ached from the combination of his fall, Alduin's burns, and the mere act of hanging onto the sword during that flight. He pulled himself out of the water and lay on his back, staring at the sky as he caught his breath. Alduin then flew overhead, either returning to wreak havoc on Helgen or fleeing to recover from his new injury.
Guts almost snickered. He had hoped that the blade would reach the beast's brain, but he hadn't been that lucky unfortunately. Now he had to hunt Alduin down… but he didn't want to do it unprepared. Guts would need to be ready for their second encounter, and he would need a powerful weapon to break that hide. Guts doubted that he would be lucky enough to get another stab at those eyes, so he would need to cleave into the beast.
If only he had his Dragonslayer…
Shaking his head, Guts rose from the ground, simply taking time to catch his breath. This river ran along a cobbled road, he could see it from his side of the river. A forest of pines stretched out from behind him and to the side of the road, and Guts would occasionally catch sight of wild animals as he observed his surroundings. Plenty of game inhabited these woods, if he could fashion a sling then he could catch himself some rabbit for tonight.
He stood slowly as the dizziness faded, ignoring the pain in his arms and legs and focusing instead on the road across from him. The river he had climbed out of had a strong, but manageable current. He easily crossed the waist-deep waters and emerged on the other side shivering slightly from the cold. He'd need to get some new clothes from somewhere… but he didn't have any money.
Hopefully someone would try and attack him, then he could take all their stuff after they were dealt with. Guts hoped dearly that these lands had a bandit problem, for he desperately needed new equipment and he did not have the coin to pay for… unused goods. His best bet for running into brigands would likely be to simply follow the road.
Guts may be huge, but with his fresh injuries and state of dress, he might get mistaken for an easy mark for any thieves along the way. That, or he could find some friendly villagers willing to dress him in exchange for some menial labor. Either way, the key to finishing his quest would involve following this road.
Which he did. The rags covering his feet did little to protect them from the frigid cold, but Guts had gone through worse inconveniences so it didn't really bother him. As he walked, he struggled to remember the details of the deal that he had made with the entity or even what the entity had been. It had to have been a god of some kind right? That was all he could come up with right now… maybe it was one of those divines Lokir had been praying too on the cart?
He doubted that it was one of the 'gods' from his world… especially since he had killed them all as the Wolf-Knight. It was strange to finally be free of the cursed armor… he had worn it for centuries before he had completed his goal. Guts remembered the focused rage he had felt during those long years, prowling the lands of Midland and beyond hunting and slaying the members of the God-Hand and their apostles… saving Griffith for last.
He frowned at the memory, turning his attention away from his thoughts and back towards reality. He saw what looked to be a town up ahead, with a large mill dead set in the center of the river. As he drew closer he could hear the sound of wood being chopped and a hammer beating metal. Soon, he was before the wooden archway leading into the town, not a guard in sight to stop him from just walking in.
He could see a burly bearded man working a forge next to the river, a roof extending from the house next to him. An old woman sat on a porch across from the blacksmith, talking to a young blonde man standing next to her. Guts supposed that he would go speak with the blacksmith first… get a better handle on where he was.
What was it Lokir had said this country was…?
Ah yes…
Skyrim.
Hey everyone! Glad you're all enjoying the story so far but I wanted to say this: I'm going to take some creative liberties when writing some towns and dungeons. I remember a lot of them by memory but I don't think I'll be describing them exactly as they are in game. Nothing too extreme but I feel like I should at least tell you guys that's what I'm doing. So none of that 'But X characters house is supposed to be at Y' kinda stuff. And also sorry for not posting as much to fanfiction as I used too, I'm publishing more original content now on RoyalRoad. If you want to see that original content, you can just look me up there or search 'Super-Soldier in Another World'. Its my most successful original story yet, hope you enjoy!