Quest 11: The Last Dragonborn

Loading Screen… Skyrim lives in fear, because during mythic times the Devil, Konahrik Iblis unleashed and flooded the land with monsters, forcing its habitants to retreat into walled metropolises…

~ § ó § ò § ~

He floated down the marble-encased river, skulls riding on the edges as it poured into some ghastly purple underworld, the violet prison. Sending lightning into the acheron, frying all the fish. Flooding the river with tears and burning forever in the fire. The endless lethe.

No, he was daydreaming again. Undoing his crossbow arm and sticking it into the roof of his mouth. Trigger ready as tears trickled down his nose. The bolt-edge tickled his skull and he trembled.

Slip out the back before they know you were there and at the worst, you'll see nobody cares.

He pulled it out, meaninglessly gazing downward, chin tucked as his hair fell over his neck and obstructed his vision. Briefly pondering if he should just walk off in some aimless direction, it wasn't like anyone would care. Krest choked on the frog in his throat. Some mudcrabs were conversing nearby as satyrs were trampling some ways away. As night encroached, the northern lights sprawled over the horizon before he knew it like a thief in the night. The river froze over, veins of mineral water flowing underneath a moonless sky.

"There are foul tidings from Hrothgar. The Greybeards speak of the end of all times," said an unfamiliar voice around the rock bend. It held that damn nordic accent.

I hate you filth. I always have. You worthless Nords. You're all ANIMALS. I'll kill Talos, your stupid Hero.

Then another voice sounded off, "some say Alduin is Akatosh, some say M'aiq is a Liar. Don't you believe either of those things."

Some Khajiit was traveling with Hafnir Forkbeard, the owner of the mead swilling goat. They came in the night. Krest stood up shakily and his arm weapons unfolded as the two men approached. M'aiq the coward ran off at the first sign of trouble, but the old Nord stood his ground.

"You some sort of brigand, boy?" Hafnir wore a peculiar expression as Krest foamed at the teeth. "Renegade from Cyrodiil?"

Krest plunged his needle-like stinger into the man's ribs and threw him through the icy cover into the water. Krest laughed wildly as he pressed the northerner's head underwater, pushing him into the freezing liquid until the man was no longer visible. The man shook and pounded Krest with bated breath while Krest continued to lark maniacally.

Hafnir slackened under the ice and his lifeblood mixed with the river as Krest relinquished his death grip.

I quite like this feeling. Krest grinned with all teeth. Yes, yes, I do.

He walked up the marble path as netches toiled away on the outskirts. Then he entered the city of stars and saw the destruction and rubble that littered the area. Dead, burned, and injured who were being attended to by healers.

"No, this won't do at all," tutted Akatosh, shaking his head. "Tsun, Dibella?"

Tsun was healing a young boy who had been burned severely near a well, and Dibella was vanishing rubble and rebuilding homes. No one noticed them, however.

There was something heroic and attractive about the way the soot covered parts of her face and the mess her hair was in. Soon as Tsun and Dibella finished they flowed back to where Akatosh was. Dibella's face was open and unreadable as she ogled Saadia, for the first time she examined the Redguard woman in whole. Krest watched Saadia as the latter dusted her boots on a broken-down large rock.

Krest's moment of mountaintop catharsis died, and he was reminded of the sore fact he was just another useless nobody at the end of the day. You're the only one who's ever treated me like a friend. Krest's glower lessened into a bored stare at Saadia, and the three scars scrawled on her cheek. She was talking to Ancano.

Krest sat down next to Saadia as Idrasa approached Dibella and said something to her. The latter pair of them stared at Tsun who was secretly supplying a nearby group of healers with more mana to continue curing the injured. Saadia was sitting with her hands beneath her thighs, trying to stay warm in the cold as Ancano kissed her. She scuffed her shoes, eyelids drawn. Krest turned his head to the side, eyes downcast.

The Dragonborn slipped into a frown. "Just seeing all these dead people and destroyed homes... it reminded me of when the Oblivion Crisis ravaged my home, Taneth in Hammerfell. I had to leave everything behind because my family was abusive. My older brother, Kematu, thought I was betraying our House and fabricated a story where I sold us out to the Thalmor. So, it was either escape to Skyrim and further incriminate myself. Or stay and be killed, clinging onto my innocence. I received word that Kematu died a few weeks ago and my parents have aged out of the role, leaving me the heir to House Suda. If I ever go back and I honestly don't think I will. Though on starry nights like these I am reminded of the dunes of the Alik'r desert. The hajj to holy sites. It's Skyrim's sandy cousin. My family was abusive and awful, but they all had bad upbringings."

Idrasa came to sit on the other side of Saadia and engulfed her in her gangly arms, pulling Krest in with her outreached hand. Krest stiffened and shook them off. "A bad past is no excuse for abusive behavior. If you lack the ability to think and reflect, you're nothing more than a slave to conformity and social norms."

The two priestesses huddled in the embrace as the three Divines ahead of them used their combined powers to restore the city and heal the injured, while burying the dead with respect all in one assembled swoop of magic. After they finished the Divines, sweating and breathing hard, cloaked themselves in invisibility, presumably so none would be alerted to their presence. Curious faces peaked out of bedrolls and windows at how the city had magically restored itself as they scurried away with Krest, Saadia, Ancano, and Idrasa.

Ahead, on top of some remaining rubble, a man in a bear helmet and outfit sounded a horn, a group of hardy Nord warriors standing behind him. Sons of Septim.

"That's Galmar Stone-Fist," Idrasa pointed out.

"Ulfric Stormcloak was killed during battle with the dragon. He died a hero, and we the Sons of Septim shall take control of this city until we appoint a new Jarl. However, the traitors known as Falk Firebeard and Sybille Stentor have fled the city grounds. Those traitors should be hunted down and killed. And to any who finds Thane Elisif, she must be brought here immediately, for she harbors the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne in her womb," Galmar announced aloud.

"Are you gonna do anything about this?" Saadia peered at Akatosh, her eyes alarmed.

"We try to avoid getting involved in mortal free will," Akatosh began, "however, these Sycophants of Septim will get their comeuppance in due time. As will their Thalmor enemies."

Krest forced the lump in his throat down. — Magical igloos in the poorer districts glistened to the pointy-hooded, cloaked garbs of mages shuffling through the streets. They descended the rampart and strolled across the quiet city, to the southeast edge of town, bordering boundaries of Nordenbjorg's Solitude District, bypassing the collapsed twin towers and a statue of Talos that was crumbled to bits of fine marble and granite, with the mountains taunting from the north, daring you to cross them. The jewel of the north was still marred with ash and a tang of mire folded on Krest's tongue. The sky coalesced into a cotton bed of white night clouds and giant snowflakes began to fall. So big in fact that Krest could detect all the unique details and intricacies of each one. Oddly enough the snow was warm too. It was like Kynareth was tucking her children in for the evening.

"You guys can just undo all that damage with the snap of your fingers?" Saadia poked a brow at the invisible outlines of them as they made their way through less populated neighborhoods.

"We wouldn't exactly be divine if we couldn't, now, would we?" Tsun responded from a little ways ahead of Krest. "But we have used a lot of our power since we're limited on the mortal plane, so we'll need time to recover. We require worship for strength. Only Anu is all powerful. Only Anu doesn't require worship. We are the conduits to Her."

"No, I suppose not," she confirmed. "But then why don't you all come down here more often and prove your existence to everyone plus heal people?"

"Life here isn't supposed to be heaven. Sure, we helped because we were here, we have to help you defeat Talos," Akatosh explained. "You'd stand no chance otherwise, no offence, dear, but my grandmother could beat you and she's not even real!"

"How?" Saadia's frons stitched together. "On the Talos thing - everyone knows never to mess with grandma."

"More on that later." Akatosh cleared his throat. "We don't want to force mortals to fear us like the Daedra do. Your mortal life is a test, and your choices should bare consequences to the world. This plane of existence is not meant to be a second Aetherius. Eternal life begins in Aetherius as mortality is a prelude to immortality. But when gods cause trouble, it's up to gods to fix it. Enter Lorkhan."

Idrasa's brows waggled. "A man is to kill a god."

I wonder if you can die and not go anywhere like Cuhlecain and Reman did. Just cease to exist like a dreamless sleep.

"I have agency?" Saadia scratched her scalp. Akatosh gave her a thumbs up, removing his invisibility over his hand briefly.

Krest noticed the laces of his boots were now dangling off the sides and stopped by a cherry blossom bush implanted in the marble. His hands were throbbing painfully, and he couldn't quite grip the strings. The others were already way ahead of him, and sprinting back was not safe with untied shoes. A prostitute stood in a corner across the square. She eyed him from under her hood, procuring an apple from her pocket and holding it up to him.

Eww. He jerked his head back.

"If you don't get away from me," Krest told her. "I may just kill you myself."

I'll never betray Dibella.

"Get." Dibella revealed herself, having trekked back for him evidently. "He's not yours, stupid bitch." The prostitute rushed off, carrying her skirt. Dibella shifted her attention back to Krest. "Let me do that. Don't make that face, Akatosh told me to get you. Now, stop wasting my time and stand up."

Krest did as ordered and straightened himself upright as Dibella bent down to tie his shoelaces. Despite the freezing northern wind, heat washed over him in waves and sweat spiraled down his arm.

She shouldn't kneel before me, that's just wrong. He moved away, turning to tie his own shoes.

Dibella sprung up and slapped him hard across the cheek. She grabbed him by the throat. "Listen here, you stupid kid. If I'm doing something, don't fucking interrupt me!"

She released him and grabbed a tuft of his hair to shove him back against a wall. Then she prostrated again to tie his boots. Krest twitched nervously, slightly shifting his legs towards his navel but not enough to deter her. Observing the top of her crown made his knees quiver and cave in, his ankles facing outward at an odd angle. She laced his boots so tight that it physically hurt and that was saying something because his feet weren't particularly big.

Dibella stood up and her eyes of bleach and winter, clear like fog felt quite creepy as her pupils dilated. She choked his throat hard. Krest felt blood rush to his manhood and whimpered. Something he never felt. "Oh my, you like that don't you? You're such a little slut." She squeezed harder, her lips upturning. "Like it when I degrade you? Deep down you know you deserve it." She spit on his face and let go slowly, bounding off toward her temple.

Is this what being loved feels like?

He threw a glance around the widening highway as guardsmen lifted their helmets to the skies in apparent praise to whoever had saved them. "A bit of an arrow to the knee this city has taken."

Krest trailed back after Dibella.

She stopped and glared at him from over her shoulder and beneath her fringe. "You don't matter to me, and you never will. We don't have anything between us, so do me a favor and go fuck yourself."

His throat cracked as she tread off.

He was too dehydrated to cry, leaving him with a numb, concave echo. As if his body was hollow and just ringing with the void. His breastbone hollowing. His eyes pulsed with agony; bloodshot veins staining the sclera that contained black gold. He breathed in and out as sharp, violent stabs of air spiked him continually. Krest held back and cupped his stomach, it grumbled as he crouched down beside a porch.

Warriors from before came out from underground. "What the hell happened here, Skjor?"

"Dragon attack," Pierre vociferated to them. "Turns out Saadia may be something called Dragonborn."

There he is. He just appears out of nowhere.

Krest looked toward the sky as a rim of a snowflake hit his elbow.

"Dragon attack, but the city somehow magically rebuilt itself. What about you, Kodlak? Did you succeed?" 'Skjor' crossed his arms beneath his chest.

"We just got done eliminating the Horme from the Nursery," Kodlak said.

Now the Nords are trying to ethnically cleanse the Horme…

Krest walked through the campus, yawning deeply. He ambled near Nordenbjörg's edge, staring off the deep end.

Dibella was waiting for him. "Get inside. Don't be a fool, it's not safe out here anymore."

Krest ignored her and touched the orb that transported him to the isle. Saadia and Akatosh were training in the yard. The Redguard was sprinting around the temple at insane speeds then she shouted something and roasted a cloud, giving it a stomachache and watching as the rain transitioned into acid.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, huh?" Saadia smirked.

Soon enough he was back inside the temple as they all gathered in the kitchens to eat. A tamed wood-nymph was playing music for them on a violin and humming melodically from the nook of the room.

"So, no offense to Saadia, but why did you choose her?" Idrasa burped. "I thought Dragonborn were more integral to Nord or Imperial culture?"

That's what I thought too, he frustratedly machinated as the fragrances of apple turnovers wafted by his nose. Dibella sighed stridently, tapping her fingers against the dining table.

Akatosh wore the expression Krest had seen on his advisor, Dea down in Cyrodiil. "Well, that's an astute question," he went on, eliciting more than a few confused stares. "Which I'm too tired to answer. Has anyone seen young J'zargo, as of late?"

"Why did you pick a Redguard? She's going to have an exceptionally hard time winning Nords over now, Nords would get on their knees and suck Talos' cock if he asked." Idrasa's mouth collapsed into a grin. "But they'll die before listening to a Redguard woman."

Akatosh glanced at Dibella. "We had a good reason." Dibella didn't return his view. Akatosh then approached Krest and put a warm pair of palms on the wide bridge of his shoulders. Krest glimpsed up into his friendly eyes. "You alright?"

Krest soured his stare.

Akatosh steepled his fingers. "Now, I do think a spot of tea and some pie would be good after all that."

The seven of them sat down, Dibella seated next to Tsun as far from Krest as humanly possible. Saadia with Idrasa, Akatosh with Krest and Ancano. Akatosh had brought out the boiled tea, milk, and apple pie. Everyone began discussing amongst themselves, Saadia enclosed to Akatosh who sat on her other side. "So, what are my duties as Dragonborn? What happened with those words that came out of my mouth, was that the Thu'um?"

"Yes, you'll inherit those abilities from dragons whose souls you absorb. Their souls will guard your own until you die, and you will learn shouts from them. As for your duties," he said in between a bite and sip, "master the voice, train in combat, strive to be as benevolent as you can. I will take care of the rest."

"Do I just have to kill Talos? How do I do that?" She sampled her tea as Krest glared at her, exhaling.

"We'll need the Elder Scroll that prophesies your defeat of him, it will divulge more information to you. We'll also visit the Greybeards to train you up, as well as Ocearan. Then we will track Talos and imprison him once and for all. Easier said than done." Akatosh tucked his beard under his royal red robes.

"I'm glad you're with me." Saadia smiled, leaning the side of her head onto the Father's shoulder.

"Likewise, daughter."

"Father Akatosh, you are everything and more that I dreamt of," Ancano said in awe.

Krest looked over at Dibella who was engaged in an animate conversation with Tsun and Idrasa. Not standing to sit there anymore, he left to his dorm.

In his dream Krest followed a younger Dibella with longer hair and no tattoos as she sobbed on her bed. Several abusive or neglectful men walked in and out, just using her for pleasure. Krest saw a Dibella sitting by a river where she had shaved her head and discarded the goldilocks into the basin. Someone who trusts no one once trusted someone too much. He saw her callously train and grow, maturing into who she was now.

Krest paced down a densely wooded forest, like he was back in Ysgramor's Timberland of the Dwemerian Mountains. Thick canopies hung over him and snow squished beneath his feet. The Amulet of Kings of all things was tied to his neck, glowing dimly. A crossroads met him halfway through his trek. The path on the right was untouched and led to a statue of a golden dragon. The path on the left was marred with footsteps and white, bluish polka-dotted snow snakes. But something strolled out onto the snow, arms swinging in poor posture, covering the path of Akatosh. Krest thought it was a man at first but when he scrutinized it fiercely there was nothing human about it at all. Tall and gangly, paler than the sleet, its head was morphed oddly like a sludge ball, and it had a creepy unnerving smile with wholly black eyes. It didn't move, didn't even sway in the wind. It just watched him as if it were a statue.

Krest stood there, waiting…

The abhorrent thing's button black eyes looked over at the path of Lorkhan and then back at Krest, still smiling. Krest switched his gaze onto the icy, bitter path that descended into some sort of tunnel way ahead. When he looked back at the sludge marsh man, he was closer than where he had originally been. 'Kludge' didn't move, not one muscle even twitched. Then, its long spindly fingers went into its clay, doughy leg and out came a white lily, exactly like the one Dibella wore on her hair and had tattooed on her forearm. Kludge clutched it between his index finger and thumb to show Krest then slowly stashed it back. The being glanced carefully back at Lorkhan's path again and then back towards Krest, indicating its wish, all the while bearing a sickly smile.

Krest stepped in the direction of Lorkhan's way, the whole time his eyes locked onto the unnerving entity, making sure it didn't come any closer.

The being followed him with its eyes, its smile grew larger by a fraction.

Krest kept his eyes trained on it until the trees consumed the sight of it. He padded down Lorkhan's path, his feet fell perfectly in line with Lorkhan's, he was following in Talos' footsteps.

"Walk like them until you become them," misted a voice from within the trees.

"I'm not going to be like him." Krest grit his teeth. "I'm going to find him and kill him."

"To kill him is to kill yourself," purred a different intonation from the other group of forested trees.

"I'm not him."

His feet pounded on the ground as the voices chased him, swirling around his head, hurdling lies and insults. Krest descended into the tunnel, still running full speed as he went deeper and deeper, his surroundings mutating around him. He came into a system of rocky caves, stalactites and stalagmites hanging and jutting all around.

To his left he saw Lorkhan looking over the newly created Mundus, smiling pridefully before Akatosh ripped out his heart and cast it away. To Krest's right he saw himself crossing his arms and looking smug when he thought he was the Dragonborn.

A carving appeared above him on the tunnel surface.

L – Shor Sep

Krest ran forward further into the tunnel, arriving in a whirlwind of violent storms. He saw Lorkhan on his left again, within the winds, he was ignoring his friends, family, in order to take a whole slice of Aurbis for himself. Krest saw himself on his right, daydreaming about obtaining vast amounts of power.

Another lettering blazoned into the rockface.

O – Pelinal Whitestrake

Further into the underground system he went. Icy rain on all sides. Lorkhan on his left, committing genocide on a million altmeri souls as Tiber Septim inside the Numidium. On the right, a massive six-limbed lizard burning many.

More.

R - Ysmir Wulfharth

Swirling gold. Lorkhan watching Akatosh with an envious look on his face. Seeing Akatosh basking in the glory and love from his siblings and followers. Krest watching Saadia covetously.

K – Zurin Arctus

Next a swamp, Lorkhan feasting on the souls of dragons as he arose to godhood once more in the form of Talos. Krest downing bottles of wine.

H – Hjalti Early-Beard

A flaming bit engorged him. Talos wasted away in Aetherius as his followers cried out for him on Nirn. Krest saw nothing on his side.

A – Talos Stormcrown

And finally at the end was a brothel. Krest saw Lorkhan go into a room, first with Kyne, then he forced Mara in, then Dibella went in willingly, and countless more women after that... Krest looked to his side and saw nothing but hatred.

And lastly.

N – Krest Armilius

I'M NOT HIM. Krest screamed and cried. I'M ME. I'M NOT ANYBODY ELSE.

"I"M ME, KREST ARMILIUS. I'M A NOBODY. LET ME STAY A NOBODY. I HAVE FREE WILL, I'M NOT TALOS. I'M ME. ONLY ME. I'M NOT LORKHAN. I'M NOT A SHEZARRINE!"

Then he was in Sovngarde. He looked up and saw the naked forms of Dibella and Talos seated on Shor's Throne in the Hall of Valor. Dibella was sitting on his lap, proffering an apple to Talos' mouth as the two kissed. Krest cried into the styx that flowed purple under him and gazed at his own reflection. Gone were his dark brown eyes, replaced with vivid violet.

Krest screamed at his reflection until it felt like the whole universe shattered at his agony.

He woke up with sweat baring down his chest.

Then his heart stopped beating.

If I'm not the Dragonborn…, could I be The Shezarrine?

~ § ó § ò § ~

A/N: So, just to be clear. My tags were purposefully misleading on the Dragonborn front. A red herring. Krest isn't the Dragonborn but he is the Main character, so the pairing and reference tags are correct. Meaning the main pairing is Krest/Dibella. Just wanted to clarify if anyone was confused. The summary refers to Krest, not Saadia. Saadia is paired with Ancano. Also, check out my other Skyrim fanfic, The Old Kingdom if you haven't already! Also, the Volkihar and the Dawnguard don't exist in this world.