Author's Note: We're here! We've come this far, everybody! :) I recommend, of course, the "Sovngarde" theme to accompany the journey. Thanks for sticking around this far!
Cura's feet landed upon the splendid soil of the divine realm. She tucked and rolled on impact and then regained her balance. As she slowly lifted herself up, she was struck with awe upon witnessing the enamouring environment that surrounded her: it was a vast meadow, lined with giant statues of a hooded, bearded divine of sorts, looming over the large, ever-expanding courtyard.
The sky above shone brilliantly with a purple, pink, and blue curtain of rotating light and whirling clouds. The sky was similar to that of the Soul Cairn's, but giving off a heavenly glow of hope rather than despair. At the center of the rotation of clouds lay a bright, shining star.
A thick, colourless fog showered the lower valley that led unto a large palace over in the distance. It was unlike anything Cura had ever seen before in her life. As she walked through the grass, she watched the rising sparkles slip off the grass like raindrops in reverse, heading up into the skies.
This was the realm of Shor. It wasn't at all what Cura was expecting it to look like. She would certainly keep a mental note of it for Mjoll and her friends back home. She looked around and scrutinized her surroundings down to the most minute detail. There was nothing that she wanted to miss.
The more she noticed the skies above, she saw three familiar constellations among the clouds, overseeing them all: the Warrior, the Mage, and the Thief.
When she focused, she could hear a familiar drum beat stirring through the air, and it was accompanied by mystifying voices beginning in a low hum.
Deep, baritone voices sung in the skies above an old tune that Cura recognized immediately, sung by countless bards over the centuries, but somehow here, it rung holy; inspiring; empowering:
"Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan,
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!
Huzrah nu, kul do od, wah aan bok lingrah vod,
Aahrk fin tey, boziik fun, do fin gein!
Wo lost fron wah ney dov, ahrk fin reyliik do jul,
Voth aan suleyk wah ronit faal krein!
Ahrk fin zul, rok drey kod, nau tol morokei frod,
Rul lot Taazokaan motaad voth kein!
Sahrot Thu'um, med aan tuz, vey zeim hokoron pah,
Ol fin Dovahkiin komeyt ok rein!
Ahrk fin Kel lost prodah, do ved viing ko fin krah,
Tol fod zeymah win kein meyz fundein!
Alduin, feyn do jun, kruziik vokun staadnau,
Voth aan bahlok wah diivon fin lein!
Nuz aan sul, fent alok, fod fin vul dovah nok,
Fen kos nahlot mahfaeraak ahrk ruz!
Paaz Keizaal fen kos stin nol bein Alduin jot,
Dovahkiin kos fin saviik do muz!
Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan,
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!"
Sky above, voice within. Cura held a hand to her chest, humbled and encouraged to move forward through the thick fog that encompassed the realm. With each step, pushed forward by the heavenly song, Cura gripped tightly her mace.
She was finally here.
Carcette's dream was coming to fruition: the half-Elven warrior who would defeat the black dragon in a heavenly realm. It was happening.
Her journey was coming to its end, one way or another, and she would make every step count. All that she'd done had brought here to this moment; here, now, she was the Dragonborn. The Dovahkiin. The born Dragon-Hunter.
She would meet her destiny with arms in hand.
Her friends, her trials, her sorrows, her joys, her anguish, her hope, it all led her here. With thoughts of home filling her heart and a mind clear of regret, she looked to the future; for a hopeful future for Tamriel.
That was all that she wanted.
If her death and Alduin's could set right what was wrong with the land, she would take that risk.
If she survived, she could ensure it greater.
That was to be her future; she would turn to philanthropy; she would aid those who needed it; spending her days helping those in need.
Cura swung at the fog, clearing a small bit ahead with each step, though it only seemed to enclose upon her again like an oppressive blanket.
As she lumbered forward, she was immediately approached by what looked to be a Stormcloak Soldier. A Nord fellow by birth, who fought to gain his peoples' sovereignty and order over the land. As soon as he heard Cura approach, he looked to her pleadingly as he issued his dire warning. "Turn back, traveler! Terror waits within this mist!"
Cura nodded, understanding that quite well at this point. "Who are you?"
"Near Giants' Gap, in the gloom before dawn, we marched, unsuspecting into the Imperials' trap. Then we stood and fought, our shield-wall defending until by dawn's light the Legion's ranks wavered. But I never knew if nights-end brought victory - a swift-flying arrow to Sovngarde carried me." his poetic speech carried the tale forward.
Cura raised an eyebrow. "O-kaaaay? What's this mist?" she waved her hands around.
"I do not know - but none have passed through. Alduin, his hunger insatiable, hunts the lost souls snared within this shadowed valley. Can you lead the way to where Shor's hall waits, beckoning us on to welcome long sought?" the Stormcloak requested.
Cura pointed straight ahead from where she'd begun walking, over the man's right shoulder. "Yes, it's at the far end of the valley from here."
The Stormcloak turned his face to look in her insisted direction. "I saw it fair when first I trod this long-sought path. The pain and fear vanished, dreamlike, and a vision beckoned to- Shor's hall, shimmering across the clouded vale. But quenched was hope by the shrouding mist; darkened is my mind. I've lost the way and wander blindly. Hurry! Before Alduin your soul devours bring word to Shor's hall of our hard fate!"
Cura still had difficulty understanding his manner of speech. "Er... all right, I guess. You know, it is curious; I've never known a Nord to speak in such a way."
"The nature sworn to Shor be poetic in its way. Fatally-driven are we who seek his comfort to speak in ways of old." the soldier explained as they trodded through the misty fields.
"Don't worry, I'm here to kill Alduin." Cura attempted to reassure him as they ducked under a cliff's jutted edge while they continued their trek onwards.
"Beware! The World-Eater waits within the mist!" the Soldier proclaimed with great fear in his voice.
Alduin was beginning to feel like a coward, for a supposed World-Eater. He fled at their first real battle, and now hides in mist. Behaviour any Nord worth their salt would condemn as cowardice. Perhaps they ought to rename the wyrm "Alduin the Milk-Drinker."
"In life I felled foes unnumbered, fearless in battle; but no blade can defend against the terror of this gloom-stricken valley." the Soldier blubbered. "There is no escape. Courage is useless."
After a panicked few steps, the Soldier ran ahead of Cura as anxiety built up in him.
A hollow roar resounded through the air, sending chills down their spines.
"Wait, no! Don't-" before she could plead him not to separate from her, the Soldier was scooped up from above by a fast-moving black blur.
Cura gasped, understanding full well what that black blur was, and lamented the poor man's end. She looked at the ground, where the man had stood, and saw an Amulet of Talos laying there in the dirt. She quickly picked it up and then rolled forward and landed under a large rock, escaping the World-Eater's swooping attack.
As she sat under the rock, she examined the Amulet, and then pocketed it. It was the last trace of that poor soul, so she would give it respect.
"My teeth to your neck, Dovahkiin!" Alduin's voice soared overhead accompanied by the beating of immortal black wings.
"If you wanted to consume life so much, and want to bite necks, why not befriend Molag Bal?" Cura called out mockingly, standing up from the stone enclave. She waved her hands in the air in attempt to draw the World-Eater's attention. "Hey! Alduin! I'm over here! What's the matter? Are you afraid of a young maiden? Pathetic!"
She had no audible response; instead a torrent of fire scorched the earth before her in a continuous stream, headed right her way!
With a reactionary gasp, Cura leapt out of the way and rolled across the ground, narrowly escaping incineration. As soon as she was sure where Alduin was, she opened her mouth. "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" her violent wave of anger ripped through the air, but the World-Eater effortlessly looped around it, dodging the attack.
Alduin landed right in front of her. The force of his feet hitting the ground caused Cura to stumble backwards, and he snapped at her with his massive jaws.
Narrowly missing her surcoat, Alduin managed to hook the bottom of the off-white violet cloth with his fang and shredded it as the Dragonborn leapt with a sideways twist, wresting her freedom.
Cura's breath was laboured and she swallowed hard. Perhaps she had gotten a tad overconfident.
Aldun did not stop. He crawled along the floor and, at point-blank range, showered Cura in a torrent of mighty flame. "YOL TOOR SHUL!"
His fire was unlike any Dragonfire Cura had ever blocked or taken before; it soared around Spellbreaker, and its heat caused severe burns over her left shoulder. The ward was shattered and Cura was sent fumbling backwards across the grass like a ragdoll once again. She felt it; hard. Her ankle twisted as she rolled down a craggy slope, sending waves of knife stabs up her left leg.
"Hrrrg-!" the Breton grunted with pain as she quickly crawled between two advantageous stones nearby, escaping Alduin's gaze.
"Tiiraazak nikriin! Where are you?" Alduin snarled as he lifted off and took to the sky again.
Cura took the time to heal herself, and examined the burn on her left shoulder. It went through the brown leather overcape and charred her Spellknight armour underneath. Alduin was no joke. She should have expected him not to go down so easily.
The World-Eater dropped down to the ground again, nearby, and his tail swooshed overhead. He was looking for her, examining the nooks and crannies within the ground itself. Thankfully, his back was to her.
Cura cast a Paralysis Rune behind him to his right, some distance away, in the hopes of confusing the World-Eater.
Alduin took a step backwards, right onto the Rune, and jumped with surprise upon feeling the strange sensation under his large, clawed foot. As soon as he turned to face that direction, Cura leapt from the crags and hurried around behind him.
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!"
With the element of surprise obtained, Cura managed to strike the World-Eater with her Shout.
Alduin cried out as the pain tore through his divine being.
Cura took the opportunity to strike him with her mace, crushing off a few of the scales on his left leg. This, however earned her a violent wing slap, sending her flying backwards into a large rock.
"Sahlo joor, dinok fen kos hin nunon drem!" Alduin cursed her as he pulled himself swiftly towards her.
Death will be her only peace, he said.
"Not my death; yours." Cura retorted as she leapt off the rock, allowing Alduin to ram his head against it at the last second in his attempt to swallow her whole. She dashed away and launched a Rift Bolt straight at Alduin's shoulder, but it barely scratched him before her Dragonrend wore off.
A large, sharp tail swiped her across the chest, and Cura's robe tore open under the surcape. The sharp serrated edge cut above her armour, cleaving open her collarbone underneath. Cura coughed painfully as blood began to pour out from her lower throat.
Alduin was unrelenting. He came at her again, but this time he jumped in the air and brought down his claws. As Cura healed her throat wound, Alduin smashed her down onto the ground with his impressive weight.
Cura could feel the world slipping as the impact to the back of her head settled in. A few of her hair elastics had come undone and red stained her blonde mane. A few of her ribs were shattered under the Dragon's mighty talons.
Alduin lowered his face down to her own and spoke once more. "Tell me, Dovahkiin; why do you fight me? Lein, oblaan, Stahdim. Lay down your arms and accept your fate. I will give you a fast death."
Cura's body was growing wearier by the second, and she recalled Colette's advice. She allowed her magicka reserves to regenerate herself quickly, and she slid out from under Alduin's fingers. She swatted them back with her mace and stumbled backwards. When they locked eyes, Cura blew a stray hair away from her right eye, "Why do I fight you? It's simple. I love the world. I love my family. I love my friends. I love Skyrim. I love the Divines. Any who would threaten any of the above - I will spare no mercy for them."
"You are Bromah's desire... for preservation. Perhaps a part of my father Akatosh sees fit to preserve this world." Alduin pondered momentarily, though the thought merely hung there. "And I am the World-Eater. I destroy, therefore I am. Come, Dovahkiin - rot, krif, zaakan. We shall see who's filos - philosophy emerges victorious."
"You don't have to be the World-Eater." Cura told him straightaway. "You clearly hold some autonomy of your own. You can change if you so desired to. Paarthurnax could teach you the Way of the Voice."
"And you do not have to be the Dov-ah-kiin, but you so choose to do so. You mortals can only resist us for so long." Alduin retorted, stepping back a few paces.
Cura put her foot down and readied her mace once more. "I choose to hunt the Dragons because they are a threat to innocent people."
"'Innocent.'" Alduin repeated almost mockingly. "I did not realize that Keizaal was a land of peace, free of strife, free of greed. Tarvok, irkbaan, maruv. This is why this Kalpa must come to an end. The Stahdim - the Divines grow tired of this evgir unslaad."
The Season Unending.
War.
Sin.
Violence.
Alduin sought to end it all. A final, bitter mercy awaited all who shed blood and harmed innocents.
Cura nodded. "I understand their frustration. How many chances must we be given before we get it right? Well... to destroy us all would undo all that they've given up to make us. Sure, with their restored energy, a potential new world in our stead could be created, and it may be more peaceful, but it may not last. Perhaps in the next 'Kalpa' they will fall the same way we had. Perhaps it is not the fault of those born into the world, but those who manipulate it that cause such things."
Alduin tilted his head.
"The Daedra. It matters not if you destroy our world, Alduin. Molag Bal will still exist, and he will most certainly corrupt the next world, too. And Sheogorath. And Mephala. And Boethiah. And Hircine. They just can't resist." Cura described the futility as she prepared to continue combat. "You're eliminating the flesh, blood and souls of the world, but not the higher powers and enemies in the heavenly places. Nothing will change, except the people of this world will cease to be. And I cannot allow that to happen."
"Hmm. You do make a good dilah, but it changes nothing. I cannot err. I am perfection!" Alduin scratched the ground with his claws before lifting off into the skies, retreating for the moment.
When Cura looked at the ground where he scratched, she saw blood. Blood that had dripped from his exposed hide where she'd torn the scales off him.
She actually damaged the World-Eater!
There was a chance. Maybe she could do this!
Alduin ran so that he could lick his wounds. She had to stop him before he could recover entirely!
However, the all-encompassing fog threw off her sense of navigation. Where was Shor's Hall of Valour? Where was the entrance? Where were the upper cliff? She wandered, and wandered, and wandered.
A short while later, Cura found herself at a smaller ground area, surrounded by bluffs that she could vaguely make out in the mist. And then she saw the bloodstains on the floor. This was where Alduin lifted off from.
"Curses! I've gone around in a circle!" Cura growled with frustration upon the realization.
It reminded her vaguely of the Dream she had where she'd encountered Sheogorath for the first time, back when she was a prisoner in Cidhna Mines. The fog, the circular moving, the confusion.
No doubt Alduin's grand intention. It gave him innumerable advantages over her. Cura tread carefully through the fog, when she encountered a man sitting underneath another large slope of terrain, safely evading the World-Eater.
The man looked up at her. He wore Fine Raiment of fuchsia and white, lined with gold trimmings, and his hair was dark brown, adorned with a circlet. He looked like a Jarl of sorts and his robes reminded Cura of Elisif's elegant gown, in its stylization.
Cura had a vague suspicion to who it might be. She approached in a friendly manner. "Er - hello. What brings you here? Are you a Jarl?"
"When Ulfric Stormcloak, with savage Shout, sent me here, my sole regret was fair Elisif, left forlorn and weeping." the soul confirmed Cura's suspicions, revealing himself in a sentence to be High King Torygg. "I faced him fearlessly - my fate inescapable, yet my honor is unstained - can Ulfric say the same?"
Cura paused for a minute and took a seat beside him under the crag. "You're High King Torygg! We haven't had the pleasure of meeting, but I have met Jarl Elisif."
"My dear wife; how in the land of the living goes she?" the deceased High King asked tenderly.
Cura had no real response. She didn't know her that well, but she would grant him solace. "She's ruling over Solitude, and working with General Tullius to quell the rebellion, to my knowledge. She was there during a temporary truce with Jarl Ulfric. The war was put on hold due to... well... Alduin, naturally."
Torygg nodded. "Good to my ears be it to know that Ulfric was sensible a man enough to quell the fires of war when the sky was filled with wings of ebony."
Cura nodded. "Jarl Elisif misses you a lot. I could tell by looking at her, and the scorn that she showed Ulfric."
"T'was unfair of me, by my death and by foolishness, to leave her abandoned, crestfallen and mourning." Torygg looked down to the floor with a sad expression, himself. "And here sit I, awaiting a second death, at the gaping maw of the World-Eater, doomed to abandon her twice. Once in life, twice in death."
Cura shook her head. "No. I won't allow you to die here."
"Do you know the way? I'm weary and lost." the former High King asked, defeated. It was clear he'd been here, wandering, at least since Alduin returned.
"I do not, unfortunately." Cura confessed. "I thought I had, but I have no way of truly knowing. The World-Eater's fog confounds me so."
Wait.
Why was she speaking like that?
Cura shook it off. "No, you'd best stay here. Find a space where you can take full cover. Think of Elisif and your eternity."
"There is no escape. Courage is useless." Torygg sighed sadly and hung his head, which caused Cura to grow frustrated. He was willing to give up like that? What did Shor think?
Perhaps the Divine understood. This was Alduin, after all. No common foe, and no common Dragon.
"It won't be for much longer. I aim to kill the wyrm." Cura informed him. "I am the Dragonborn."
Once she said it, Torygg's eyes lit up and he raised his head. "Truly?"
The Dragonborn had no cause to lie. Her glare was enough to tell him as much. The High King's spirits lifted as hope began to shine through the dark clouds in his heart. "Then... then 'tis true! Death has come not to man, but to the Dragon. Hammer the final nail upon Alduin's coffin, shall you do. Joyous day! Praise Shor!" He jumped up from his seat on a flat stone and quickly ran around it and signalled for Cura to follow him.
"One before you, long ago, one year hence in exact measurement has come. To us, tales were spun of a Dragonborn of golden hair and eyes of emerald." Torygg announced to Cura as he slowly descended into a borough that was dug in the ground behind the stone. "A tale of Dragon Souls, and warriors of Stuhn, and of mystic relics and Dreamweaving Daedra."
As Cura translated his message, it began to sound eerily familiar. Could it be?
They travelled through what appeared to be a long, descending hallway with homemade sconces lit and hung upon the cavernous walls. It was a shelter within the fog.
"Where does this lead?" Cura asked.
"To warriors seeking to live through the dark night. The presence thou bringst should offer the comfort of knowledge upon them that all is not lost." Torygg explained. "Ere they hide in solace from the World-Eater's jaws, but the Hall of Valor be the end destination, with heroes of old to aid us in our darkest hour. However, we cannot hope to reach them in the winding fog."
Cura silently shadowed his descending steps before they came upon a clearing after passing through the end of the passage.
There were Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers alike down in a large pit, in hiding.
And among them was a face that made Cura's heart stop.
Looking directly at her from the corner of the room was Lydia. As soon as she witnessed Cura's arrival, the brunette's eyes lit up and her jaw hung open.
Cura was short of breath and her eyes welled with tears.
Torygg gestured to the group of wandering souls. "The Dragonborn comes; our souls at last are saved."
"No... my Thane?" Lydia expressed her sorrow. "Have you perished upon the fields?"
"LYDIA!" Cura wailed as she rushed through the crowd, ignoring all who surrounded them. She leapt onto her former Housecarl and pulled her into a tight embrace as she wept tears of joy into her shoulder.
Not only was she overjoyed to know that her friend had made it into Sovngarde, but her heart soared like a dove in the knowledge that she survived Alduin for all this time. She was worried for her friend's eternity. She'd died once already; Cura would never see it happen again.
The weight of the emotion pushed down on her chest like a Mammoth.
"All is well; you may release my person now, my Thane." Lydia announced, but Cura had to hold her a few moments more. Lydia realized that Cura's body was still of flesh and blood, though her spirit was strong here.
"Almost two years. It's been almost two years since they murdered you in Markarth!" Cura's voice quaked as she recalled the event. She slowly released her friend and moved her loose blonde hair back in place awkwardly.
Having the reputation of dying as the Dragonborn's Housecarl made Lydia a tad popular here in Sovngarde. She beamed proudly as nonbelievers gasped upon their reunion. All of her tales were proven true.
Lydia examined Cura closely, and seemed greatly surprised to see the white streak in her hair, the bags underneath her eyes, and the scars on her left cheek and over her nose. She also appeared taller, a touch, and had aged quite a bit from the fresh-faced teenager she knew. Though Lydia was happy to see she still carried Spellbreaker and her favourite Amulet. "You have been through much since last we saw each other. I... am sorry I could be of no help to you since Markarth."
"Please, don't blame yourself." Cura reassured her friend. "It... it was all meant to happen, one way or another."
"Do you hear, my Thane? All of Sovngarde prays your victory be true." Lydia noted the voices humming in the skies above. "As do, too, the men and women of our lands torn asunder."
As Cura examined the crowd, another familiar face pulled through to greet her, nearly causing Cura to drop her shield.
Vigilant Hilda!
Her first friend who accompanied herself and the Imperial Vigilant Bruna through the mountains on their parting journey to Darkwater Crossing.
"Hilde... is... no... it's you?!" Cura found herself tripping over her words.
"Vigilant Cura, ever the modest." Hilda laughed amusedly. "It is I, one felled by an Ice Wraith; and you stand before me, triumphant over Dragons. Your Housecarl was loose with her lips concerning your adventures o'er the land. Dare you not perish to Alduin."
Cura embraced her other friend tightly and nodded. Her emotions were soaring at the moment, choking her throat in a noose.
"Had sooner I'd known you to be Dragonborn, my respect I would have given." Hilda looked down with regret as she slowly let go of the hug. "Pray, forgive my doubts of you, Vigilant Cura."
Cura waved it off. "I forgave you long ago, Hilde. I wasn't even upset by your teasing back then."
"I trust Keeper Carcette and the warriors of Stuhn be well in these times?" Hilda asked.
Cura shook her head. "Not really. It's... a long story, and I don't have time to tell it all. Maybe when Vigilant Tolan or Brother Adalvald - or if I become a permanent resident, you'll hear the full story."
High King Torygg stepped in and addressed them all. "In here you all must remain as the Dragonbron - Cura - does battle with the fell World-Eater." he spoke to Lydia and to Hilde. "By my former right of kingship o'er you do I decree. Remain alive you must." he raised his hands up to the sky from below the earth, in Cura's direction."Hearken now, sons of snow, to an age, long ago and the tale, boldly told, of the one! Who was kin to both wyrm and the races of man with a power to rival the sun."
Lydia smiled at Cura and nudged her right arm with her knuckles. "In your power I trust, my Thane. Make proud the sons and daughters of Skyrim."
Cura granted a fierce nod. "I shall. Alduin will not live past this day!"
The men and women of the Stormcloaks and the Legion cheered in unison as one voice, hearkening to the destruction of the wyrm.
Cura felt empowered. Whatever traces of fear she had before were gone now; replaced with valour and courage. She turned to the High King and granted him a polite bow. "My King, worry not. Peace will be returned to the land and to eternity, at last."
High King Torygg moved away from the entry, and allowed her passage through. "Gods be with you, Dragonborn. Banish the World-Eater and grant us victory's Shout."
Cura turned around one last time to see her friends again, and Vigilant Hilda motioned a friendly fist in the air, encouraging her to fight onwards. Lydia crossed her arms and watched Cura leave. She believed in her Thane.
Upon returning to the surface, Cura looked around before emerging entirely. Fog to her left, fog to her right, fog behind her, and fog directly in front of her. Even above her, as it seemed.
She had an idea, but it would alert Alduin to her location immediately. Though, that was the idea, wasn't it?
After walking a few leagues away from the shelter in order to maintain its obscurity, Cura found a higher position atop a bluff near some dolmens and trees. She licked her lips and Shouted. "LOK VAH KOOR!"
With a burst of energy, the fog quickly began to dissipate, and she could see a clear path around her location. She could also make out the faint shape of the Hall of Valor off in the distance once again, from her higher station. She took a mental note of the location for the time being, as the roar of the World-Eater resounded through the area.
Author's Note: For Alduin, I highly recommend "Alduin the World Eater" a fanmade battle theme by the composer Inyeong Jeong. It is INCREDIBLE.
Cura looked around and immediately saw him swooping down upon her from some distance. Before he could snap her with his jaws, Cura leapt off the cliff and tucked and rolled. She drew Auriel's Bow and hit Alduin in the left eye with its divine Sunhallowed Arrow. This did no damage, but the light did serve to blind the World-Eater. He flew directly into one of the large Statues and was knocked off-kilter in the air.
"DUR NEH VIIR!" Cura Shouted for her Dragon ally.
But nothing happened.
Cura furrowed her brows, anticipating her Dragon ally to emerge at any second, but he did not.
And that was when it dawned on her: she was in an Aedric Realm. Durnehviir was in the Soul Cairn. Naturally the two would have no connection to one another, unlike Mundus. She slapped herself in the forehead.
"Mey miil! That traitor cannot save you from my fangs!" Alduin came swooping down upon her again and her Shield deflected a snapping bite from the black Dragon. She tracked his flight through the skies.
Cura cast a few Shattering Crystals at the World-Eater, and they missed his winding form.
The fog slowly crept in once again, but not soon enough for Alduin. As soon as he swept down, Cura foolhardily leapt onto his face and grabbed a hold of the sharp scales adorning the width of his jaw.
As Alduin soared higher and higher into the air, Cura was holding on for dear life.
"Yesssss, Dovahkiin. You will fight for this world that you love so much! Kril dinok fah Dovahkiin!" Alduin declared darkly as he performed an aerial maneuver around the Hall of Valor with a tight spin, causing Cura's frail form to smack against the side of the , with her left hand, she'd cast a Drop Zone upon the architecture, so the impact did no harm to her. She thanked Tolfdir with all her heart that it worked. Bricks flew off, but she held onto Alduin still, slipping her left hand back to its proper place.
Alduin's taunt stirred the Nord in her. "Victory or Sovngarde!" Cura declared boldly as she used Alduin's spikes like a ladder to climb up to his head. She managed to reach his neck. "JOOR-"
"You forget that the air is my domain!" Alduin dove quickly through the air like a bullet, causing Cura to lose her grip and fly backwards.
The Dragonborn panicked as she fumbled through the Aetherial skies and managed to grab onto a spike on Alduin's back. The Dragon only seemed to pick up his speed with every passing second, violently attempting to throw her to the terrain far below.
Cura grabbed hold of another spike and then another, and then another as she ascended the wyrm's back. She nearly lost her footing and slid down his back when he turned around one of the giant bearded statues, but again, clenched tightly to his back at the base of his tail.
Alduin spun around and swung his tail in attempt to shake her off, but Cura only dragged herself higher up his back in a scrambled hurry. She was determined to reach the Dragon's head.
The flight got more and more rugged as Alduin throttled repeatedly, causing her to have to press herself against him. One of his spikes swept across her cheek, cutting her over old scars. With one final thrust, Alduin knocked Cura back off of him, and the Dragonborn began to free-fall.
The wyrm snaked around the sky and darted right for her, mouth open wide to swallow her whole.
With a gasp, Cura twisted the whole of her body and narrowly missed his gaping maw. She did, however, manage to grab one of his collarbone spikes and held on as the beast soared skyward in a vertical ascent.
Cura had enough. "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" she blasted him now that the opportunity presented itself, and braced herself as the World-Eater was dropped down from the sky. As they fell, Cura smashed a few of his scales with her mace with violent thrust after violent thrust now that he was vulnerable. Like paper, the scales peeled off as his immortality was fading, and embers rose from them. Blood came pooling out of the Dragon's wounds and seemed to stream upwards as he plummeted. The impact from so high up was fierce, and the World-Eater himself roared in agony as he hit the ground.
Cura's entire body was rocked like never before, and she lost her grip. She slid down Alduin's side, and the World-Eater reacted quickly, smacking her off with his left wing. The Dragonborn quickly scrambled back to her feet, but Alduin was faster, snapping forward and catching her left arm. Spellbreaker was knocked off of her arm and slid across the ground some distance away.
"YEEEK!" Cura screamed as she felt one of Alduin's terminal fangs sink into her left arm, biting clean through her armour and flesh and down into her bone. She wailed in horrified anguish as she attempted to pry back her arm, futilely kicking the black Dragon's muzzle repeatedly.
A crocodilelike grin smeared across Alduin's snout as he wrenched his head backwards, tearing the whole lower part of Cura's arm off, making the Breton scream and recoil backwards as blood spurted out from the disconnect and ripped flesh and split veins hung from the open wound.
"Aah-! Aah-!" Cura whimpered in mortified disbelief as she held her sundered limb in her right hand. She watched, helpless as the World-Eater swallowed the other half of her mortal limb and Dragonrend wore off.
Without further thought, Cura cast a Healing Spell on her arm to halt the bleeding and made a mad dash over the field in attempt to flee. She scooped Spellbreaker up with her right hand and fastened it onto her back.
"YOL TOOR SHUL!" Alduin blasted her with a great torrent of flame.
Cura leapt off a raised area of land and rolled below, causing Alduin's flame to miss her. She casted Longstride, and with great speed, retreated behind another stone crag and held her left arm despairingly.
"You cannot evade me forever. Your flesh was delicious to my palette, Dovahkiin. I look forward to the rest of you." Alduin's beating wings could be heard as he flew overhead in the eastern direction.
Something odd happened: Cura's arm had been taken off, but she could see it there - ethereally. She lifted her left arm, and witnessed the strange phenomenon. The upper half was present; physical, but the lower half was ghostly. She was capable of feeling the stones with it, and could touch Spellbreaker.
Then she remembered where she was.
Sovngarde, land of the dead.
Half of her left arm was now dead, so it remained present in Sovngarde.
Cura sat upright in the fetal position with her legs curled up as she felt her elbow. She laboured for breath and tears beaded in the corners of her eyes. She was too confident. She made a mistake! Oh, how she made a mistake!
And she could not take it back.
She shuddered with fear as she looked at her dismembered limb and ghostly essence, and felt herself growing nauseous. She fought back the need to vomit and instead swallowed hard and restored her breathing to its natural rhythm after some time.
And she had to go back out there and fight again. And again. And again, perhaps.
She gazed up at the colourful sky. Stendarr, please... guide my steps. Help me...
It was then that the thought came to her, of what Keeper Carcette had told her about the fateful dream she had all those years ago. It was Cura, and three other warriors using the Voice to defeat Alduin.
Three other warriors.
In Sovngarde.
Using the Voice.
The Tongues?
The Tongues!
Of course; the trio of warriors who banished Alduin all those centuries ago atop High Hrothgar. They would certainly be at the Hall of Valor, she hoped.
Cura slowly stood up again, with her left arm held in hand. She pulled Spellbreaker off her back and wielded it with her ghostly arm. It would have to do for now. Though it pained her greatly, she had to continue onwards.
If there was any silver lining to this situation, at least she could say that she lost her arm to the World-Eater and not to a Mudcrab.
Cura breathed heavily, but tried to keep it silent as she treaded through the fog. With heavy footsteps, she walked over the terrain. Nearby, she witnessed a Legion Soldier, who had been wandering, get scooped up by Alduin. This prompted her to pick up her pace, and she entered a clearing past the fog where she saw what many Nords had always dreamed of: the Whalebone Bridge.
As Cura saw the awe-inspiring sight, she had forgotten her arm entirely.
That was the Whalebone Bridge! She'd heard about it in many stories! And the Hall of Valor! Right in front of her!
The Whalebone Bridge...
Some rumours said that Stuhn had taken the form of a Whale. Yes; in the Ancient Nordic Pantheon, Stuhn was worshiped as the Whale, one of the Hearth Gods. Stendarr. If that were true, and Stendarr perished, or waned in the creation of Mundus, then she could very well be looking at his body, right here.
The bridge formed of the skeleton of a giant whale.
Regardless, Cura bowed her head in respect to it, and slowly descended onto one knee. To her surprise, she was greeted from her right side by a stern, yet gentle voice. "What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor's gift to honored dead?"
With opened eyes, Cura slowly stood up and looked ahead of herself.
A large man stood guard on the right post ahead of the bridge. He was larger, by two heads, than any man she'd ever seen in her life. Near giant in his stature. His chest was bare, though his armour covered his stomach and naval area, and he had long, brown hair that fell upon his broad shoulders. He wore chained bracers around his thick forearms, and donned an Ancient Nord battleaxe on his back. He glared at her with stern brows, expecting an answer.
It was him!
Tsun, the brother of Stuhn - the brother of Stendarr, her god!
Cura lowered her head to Tsun with respect, understanding who he was, and what it meant to her. "It... it's an honour, my lord!" she fumbled to find the correct words. She had never once in her life imagined coming face-to-face with the brother of Stendarr. As she raised her face to him, she found the words. "I pursue Alduin, the World Eater. I wish to meet other warriors and rally them."
"A fateful errand. No few have chafed to face the Worm since first he set his soul-snare here at Sovngarde's threshold. But Shor restrained our wrathful onslaught - perhaps, deep counselled, your doom he foresaw." Tsun spoke poetically. The fog did not reach the Whalebone Bridge, and Alduin was kept from the immediate area - restrained only to behind the Hall of Valor and the surrounding meadows.
Cura pointed across the whalebone bridge. "I seek entrance to the Hall of Valor."
"No shade are you, as usually here passes, but living, you dare the land of the dead. By what right do you request entry?" Tsun stood in her path and crossed his arms.
"By right of Stendarr's mercy. I was born of Dragonblood so that I may spare Tamriel of Alduin's maw." Cura proclaimed.
Tsun leaned forward and looked at Cura, examining her person. His eyes narrowed onto the Amulet of Stendarr she bore around her neck. "Ah, then to you I say well met, faithful servant of my brother Stuhn. Any who bear his glorious name and honour his mighty deeds find themselves welcome to Sovngarde."
Cura smiled in answer. She felt humbled in his presence, but comforted by his answer at the same time. "Can I enter the Hall of Valor?"
"Living or dead, by decree of Shor, none may pass this perilous bridge 'till I judge them worthy by the warrior's test." Tsun informed her as he drew his battleaxe ceremoniously. "Shor's Hall awaits, if worthy you prove."
Cura drew her mace and Spellbreaker, and bowed respectfully before getting into formation. "I'm ready."
"Prove worthy by warrior's test, and cross the bridge to the blessed hall." Tsun said as he positioned himself for combat.
It felt strange. Cura could feel the weapon as if her arm were still there. She knew why, but the paradoxical sensation confused her senses. She would have to ignore it.
Alduin was going to pay for doing that to her. But for now, she had to reach that point.
Cura lunged forward "WULD!" with a quick dash, she brought her mace down on Tsun, staggering the giant backwards. Then she followed up with a shield bash, causing him to flinch backwards.
The divine smirked and wiped his nose. "I've waited long for such a worthy opponent." He brought down his battleaxe in an arch, and Cura leapt backwards, allowing it to slide off her shield. When the battleaxe hit the ground it buried itself deeply therein.
She knew full well that it would have brought her to her knees if it would have connected head-on. Her adrenaline was coursing through her. Cura concentrated on casting an ice Spike from her ethereal hand and it planted itself in the center of his abdomen.
Tsun pulled it out immediately and shattered it with a tight grip. "The joy of battle burns in your heart!" He quickly wrenched his axe out of the ground.
He was measuring her skill. The fight wasn't even a true fight. But then again, it didn't have to be.
It was a test of strength.
Cura was reminded of Vilkas, back when she first joined the Companions. He tested her mettle on her initiation day, shield in hand.
And now, she stood before Tsun - a divine - who would do the same.
She dared not disappoint him.
Cura proceeded to Dual-Cast a Lightning Ball at the giant, and it struck him hard, pushing him back. She spared no quarter. "FUS RO DAH!"
The might of the Thu'um pushed him off his feet and sent the mighty Tsun hurdling backwards. He landed right on the skull of the whale.
He was going to let her in there. She had to go inside. There were no other alternatives.
With that determination, Cura knocked a god off his feet. A result that surprised her, as well.
Cura gave her mace a twirl, readying herself for more, when Tsun instead laughed with amusement and tapped the skull of the whale. The large man pulled himself back up and hung his battleaxe on his back, ending the warrior's test. "You fought well. I find you worthy. It is long since one of the living has entered here. May Shor's favor follow you and your errand."
Cura slowly planted her mace back on her waist. "Thank you, Lord Tsun."
The large brute moved aside, allowing her passage onto the giant whale skeleton that bridged the eternal gap between the valley and the Hall. As Cura placed one footstep upon the skeletal form, she felt shivers on her spine. There was great power within it, and it only seemed to be growing.
She deftly passed over the spine and ribcage as she ascended the cetacian form. She could see Alduin some distance away, hovering threateningly and eyeballing her as she crossed. However, something was keeping him from approaching.
Once Cura made it to the other side, she stood before the entry doors to Shor's own palace. She took a moment to kneel down in respect before it, and then proceeded onwards.
