The Legend of Zelda: Skyrim - Chapter 14: Kynesgrove and Dragons
Kynesgrove, everyone. You may know what happens in the game, but this will be somewhat different…
I used two Hidden Techniques, see if you can tell what they are. Also Xero wrote the Sahloknir fight and I cleaned up a bit so thank you.
Rocks scattered on the cobblestone road as Epona galloped towards Kynesgrove, Link checking his supplies as he self consciously directed his horse towards the intended destination. He supposed he had a lot to think about, whether it was his new destiny, who he was now, the new powers he possessed or the fact that seemingly all of his gear was scattered across Skyrim. The Hylian had to admit that he was rather annoyed about that, although he had had to find everything back home as well. Still, one thing worried him, and that was the fate of the Master Sword.
Said sword was... renowned, for lack of a better word. It was known by many names, some of which had been lost to time; the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, Evil's Bane, but there was one name that was most renowned of them all - Demonslayer. The name had come up in the old legends many times, and it was said that only the named runes would appear for those who were most worthy. Such as Link.
As the Hero of Twilight looked down at the bare sword scabbard hanging from his belt, he recalled first drawing the sword it had housed from its pedestal, and how he had felt as if he had finally earned the title of 'Hero'.
His thoughts were interrupted by something whistling through the air and sinking into Epona's right shoulder, causing the horse to fall forwards onto her knees. Link only got to look at the arrow for a second before another one just missed his head and he looked up, only to see an orc standing ten feet away, trying to restring his bow. Fourteen more bandits of various genders and races were standing near the orc, who had given up on his bow and was now holding a war hammer in both hands.
Link didn't say anything, but merely drew a dagger, slashed at the saddle, then got up as it fell to the ground beneath Epona. He then drew the ice dagger and started walking forwards, not stopping until he stood two feet from the orc.
"Well? You gonna say something before we kill you?" The orc leaned on his war hammer as the other fourteen bandits closed in.
"I only have one thing to say to you. No one hurts my horse and lives to tell about it." A second passed, then Link turned and threw the two daggers like boomerangs before he backflipped over an Argonian and caught the daggers as they flew back to him, two bandits dropping to the ground as he did so.
The orc stood there for a moment, roared, then charged at him, war hammer held high.
Link smirked as he put away the daggers, then drew Numinex's Bane and the Elven Shield, waited until the orc was right in front of him, then took a step back, leapt into the air, and swung the sword. A shockwave of energy arced away from the sword and at the orc, who had no way to dodge the attack. The orc flew backwards, roaring curses as he hit four bandits before landing on the ground ten feet away. The four bandits the orc had hit had been knocked out, and therefore weren't a problem at the moment, however, there were still nine left, including the orc.
As the orc was getting up, the remaining eight bandits surrounded Link, who unhitched the Fire Rod from his knapsack and primed it before aiming it at the four in front of him. When they didn't back away, he fired the weapon, a column of fire roaring over the four bandits. While they were preoccupied, Link turned just in time to block an arrow with his shield, then another attack with the staff, then fired it again at two bandits.
For the final two, Link decided to do something different. he hooked the Fire Rod to his shield, then held out the sword, waited, then spun in a circle, the blade cutting through the air and then something solid. When Link stopped spinning, he was facing the orc who was not even two feet away, Numinex's Bane soaked with blood.
The orc raised his war hammer and swung, but Link blocked it with his shield, knocked the war hammer from the orc's hands with the sword pommel, then knocked him to the ground with a kick to the legs. The Hylian then walked up to the downed orc, wiped the blade clean on the orc's cloak, looked down at the war hammer, then sheathed the sword, effortlessly picked up the war hammer, then swung.
Link walked away from the dead bandits and up to Epona, then knelt beside her, examining the arrow in her shoulder. He then, after thinking about it and finding no other options, pulled the arrow out as cleanly and swiftly as possible. As the mare brayed and moved away from Link, he waited until she seemed calm enough, then cast Healing Hands on Epona. The wound seemed to heal, but there was now the problem of the saddle being unuseable, since Link had cut it in the first place to avoid Epona getting caught on something if she had managed to get up and run away.
Fortunately, he hadn't had a use for the saddlebags yet, so he left the saddle where it was and eventually got Epona standing, then looked off in the distance, down the cobblestone road. Link stood there in silence, holding the mare by the reins as he checked her wound to find that it was fine, although there was a small scar. "I obviously can't ride you like this, or maybe I can. I don't want to risk it though, but we're pressed for time as it is..."
Epona tossed her head as she nickered and pawed the ground with a hoof, while Link looked back at the road, debating on what to do. 'Let's see, I have no idea how much father it is to Kynesgrove, I'd rather ride Epona, but I don't know if she can carry me, even if her wound seems to be healed.'
He realized he had been absentmindedly scratching the side of his face and he stopped, noting that it now felt irritated. 'Something must have bit me at some point.'
He dropped his free hand to his side and looked back at Epona, who eyed him for a moment before tossing her head again. "I suppose I can't ride you the rest of the way, right?"
Link didn't receive an answer, and, after a moment, simply sighed and shook his head, then looked back up towards the road before smiling. "Far it, we'll walk. I hope it won't take more than an hour." He gently tugged on Epona's reins and the two began the hopefully short walk to Kynesgrove.
It turned out to be three hours of simply walking up the cobblestone road. Once Link eventually reached Kynesgrove, he noticed people running towards the opposite direction of his. One stopped when they saw him approaching, "No, you don't want to go up there!", the woman pointed towards the nearby hill. "A dragon... it's attacking!"
"Where is this dragon?"
"It flew over the town and landed on the old dragon burial mound. I don't know what it's doing up there, but I'm not waiting around to find out!" The woman ran past him and Link looked up towards the dragon mound, told Epona to hide, let go of her reins, stayed long enough to see her gallop down the hill, then started to run towards the burial mound, drawing Numinex's Bane as he did so.
As soon as Link neared the dragon burial mound, he saw Delphine hiding behind a boulder and she motioned him to walk over to her. He did so, then Delphine pulled him behind said boulder and told Link to hide. Link risked looking over the boulder and saw a massive dragon hovering over the burial mound, the same one that had attacked Helgen. It then spoke.
"Sahloknir! Ziil gro dovah ulse!" (Sahloknir, ever-bound dragon spirit!)
Delphine shook her head. "Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard! Keep your head down, let's see what it does."
The dragon continued to speak as it hovered over the burial mound. "Sahloknir! Ziil gro dovah ulse!" The black dragon repeated, then took a deep breath. "Slen Tiid Vo!" A wave left the dragons maw and hit the burial mound. (Sahloknir, ever-bound dragon spirit!) (Body Time Undo)
Link started to move from behind the boulder but Delphine pulled him back. "Steady. I don't know what's happening. Let's watch and wait. This is worse than I thought..."
A skeletal dragon burst from the burial mound and raised its head up towards the massive black dragon. As Link and Delphine watched, the black dragon somehow started to bring the dead dragon back to life, as flesh and scales began to form over the skeleton.
"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleysksejun kruziik?" (Alduin, my Overlord! Has the time come to restore your ancient dominion?) The now revived dragon seemed to ask as it looked up to the larger dragon.
The massive black dragon nodded his horned head. "Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." (Yes, Sahloknir, my loyal champion.)
The two dragons moved their heads to gaze down at Link, as if they always knew he was there and only now decided to pay any attention to him. Link stood up from behind the boulder and stepped into view, Alduin moving to face him.
"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi." (So, you're Dragonborn? I see nothing from dragonkind of you.)
At seeing the look of confusion on Link's face, the dragon growled. "You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah." Alduin looked back at the other dragon. "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre." (Sahloknir, kill these mortals) He said in a low, ominous tone
As the black dragon rose higher into the air, the newly risen dragon flew into the air, looking down at Link as he did so. "I am Sahloknir! Hear my Voice and despair!, Dovahkiin, your Voice is no match for mine!" He roared.
Link pulled his sword out as the dragon dived towards him, then ran forward and ducked under the dragon as he slashed the beast's stomach. Sahloknir roared in pain as he landed on the ground.
"SU… GRAH DUN!"
Link didn't expect that Sahloknir would start slashing his wings towards him at a speed that should have been impossible for his size. He barely had time to block before he was thrown backward by the blow.
Sahloknir got distracted by an arrow hitting him on the neck from Delphine, giving Link just enough time to shoot flames from his hands at the dragon.
Sahloknir roared before flying up. The Dragon kept going up and up until there was nothing visible of him in the clouds of the night sky.
Link took his bow out after putting away his shield and sword, both him and Delphine looking at the clouds looking for where the dragon could be.
Suddenly a huge shape came out of the clouds with high speed, racing towards them like a cannon. "WULD... NAH KEST!" Taking advantage of the surprise, he shouted to gain even more speed and dived towards them.
Link was suddenly hit by the legs of the dragon and was tossed backward and into a boulder. That hurt even more than the first time he experienced receiving the Unrelenting Force by the Draugr Overlord. He took out a Health Potion and drank it quickly before getting up after hooking his bow to his shield, seeing that Sahloknir was once again nowhere to be found.
The dragon dived down from the clouds again "WULD... NAH KEST!"
This time Link was prepared. "WULD!" He shouted and got out of the way of the claws.
Sahloknir did a spin in the air and landed on the ground, causing the earth to quake and making a small crater. He climbed out and started moving towards Link. "Impressive, You learn fast and are quick on your feet," He said in a calm tone, "but no one is as fast as me!" He roared. "SU… GRAH DUN! WULD!"
Link barely had the time to draw and use his sword and shield for melee fighting as the dragon attacked him with a fury of wing slashes and bites. Even with his fast reaction time, he was still on the defense, and Delphine's arrows didn't seem to distract or even bother the dragon.
Delphine took her sword out and attacked the Dragon from behind, but it seemed that just like Link, she had difficulty as the dragon also attacked with his tail.
Soon, it seemed that the effect of the Shout wore off, and the two took advantage of it and started attacking with all they had.
Link ran to Sahloknir's side and tried his first complete Shout. "FUS… RO DAH!" The power of the shout dragged the dragon away and into his burial mound and staggered him. Link then took out his Fire Rod and sent a barrage of flames down at the dragon.
Sahloknir roared before flying up to the sky and disappearing into the clouds once again.
After a long wait, Sahloknir dived down from the clouds, Link pointed the Fire Rod and shot three fireballs at the dragon.
Sahloknir dodged the first two but the third hit him in the face. The dragon stopped his dive.
"FUS… RO DAH!" Link Shouted. The Shout hit the dragon in the chest and staggered him while Delphine kept shooting arrows from her bow at the dragon.
Sahloknir flew high up and dived down towards Link. "SU, GRAH! WULD... NAH KEST!" and grabbed Link by the shoulder with his leg claw and tossed him into a tree.
Link, however, managed to avoid hitting said tree, instead landing in its upper branches. After eyeing Sahloknir, he took out one of the two Clawshots after sheathing Numinex's Bane in its scabbard and shot a lower branch with it, then started climbing down the tree with the assistance of the Clawshot. Once he was low enough, he let go and landed safely on the ground, holding his hurt shoulder.
He looked up at the sky and saw Sahloknir once again was invisible in the clouds. This was getting nowhere, Sahloknir was both stronger and much smarter than every dragon Link fought so far, not to mention faster.
While remembering his previous fights, he got an idea and looked down at the Clawshot in his hand. 'I hope this works, because it worked against Argorok. Then again, I used both and now I'm using only one. Shouldn't make a difference though.'
He ran to the middle of the clearing and looked up at the sky. If he didn't get the timing right, this could end badly.
He managed to find Sahloknir as he dived down from the clouds. 'Wait for it...' With five words like before the dragon's speed increased 'Wait for it...' Claws opened for grabbing the boy 'Not now...' the distance between them decreased much more. 'Now!' "WULD!"
As Link moved forward while Sahloknir swiped where Link used to be, he pointed the Clawshot at the dragon's back and shot.
The claw grabbed a fin and the chain pulled Link on the dragon's back.
Sahloknir reared as he kept flying and started to move upwards. "Foolish Joor! You think you can ride on my back?!" (Mortal)
Link held on with his life while they went up higher and higher, the cold temperature of the air dropping even lower. Link was thankful that he was wearing the necklace that he enchanted, otherwise he might have frozen from the air, although it didn't help him from feeling light-headed. Even still, he held on. He took Dawn out and started stabbing the dragon, but all the movement from Saklokir made it really hard.
Eventually, Sahloknir stopped going upward and changed his direction to the north "Still you persist, let us see how you react to this!" He started spinning in the air really fast.
Link was holding on with all his strength, but the moisture from the clouds made the scales slippery, and the fins that he was holding on slipped out of his grasp as he started falling down.
Not giving up, he returned Dawn to its scabbard, pointed the Clawshot at the dragon, and shot the right hind leg. Once the claw grabbed the leg, he shouted. "WULD!" and swung back on the dragon's back.
Taking the roar of fury, Link swung the chain of the Clawshot to get it into Saklokir's maw, but he missed and it swung around the dragon's neck. He grabbed the claw at the other end and pulled on the chains.
Sahloknir was beyond furious. "SU… GRAH DUN! WULD... NAH KEST!" and started spinning and flying around with high speed and maneuvering around at hard angles.
Link held on with all his might and looked down at Sahlokir's head "FUS… RO DAH!" He sent the full power of the Unrelenting Force on the dragon's head and staggered him. Taking advantage of the situation, he took both ends of the makeshift reins in one hand, then drew his sword with his free hand and stabbed Sahlokir's shoulder.
It seemed that even while not very effective he caused great pain as the dragon roared and started diving down.
Link looked down and to his horror, they were above what looked like a city. He tried to pull on the chains to maneuver away but it seemed to not do much.
He could only watch as the city got closer and closer until he could make out the steps leading to what looked like a palace.
BOOM!
While experiencing great pain, the last thing Link could make out before he passed out was the embers rising from Sahloknir, and from up the stairs, a familiar man looking down at him with a crowd gathering around the fallen dragon as the darkness took him away.