4E 202, Above the skies of Shor's Stone
Kiera Fendalyn
"YOL TOOR SHUL!"
Flame roared from Kiera's lungs in a blazing torrent, orange fire spilling forth like the wrath of a newborn sun. It struck the black-scaled form of Alduin and burst across his chest in a violent bloom. The World-Eater recoiled, a thunderous snarl ripping from his throat, and he retaliated just as swiftly.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The Unrelenting Force struck Vermithor head-on.
The Bronze Fury reeled, his massive body thrown sideways through the sky as the shockwave rippled across the heavens. Kiera felt the impact reverberate through her bones, her grip tightening instinctively on the harness as the wind screamed past her ears. For a heartbeat, the world spun, but Vermithor recovered.
With a guttural roar, he snapped his wings wide, catching the air and stabilizing himself mid-plunge. Snow-laden winds howled around them as he righted their course as across from them, Alduin hovered.
"The birth of a new Kruziik…" the World-Eater rumbled, voice thick with contempt, "is something to be celebrated. Yet you turn your fangs against your own kin… how insulting."
Vermithor let out a bark of laughter. "I follow no tyrant, Alduin. Paarthurnax has shown me the truth, that to overcome one's evil nature is the greatest victory of all. I will not betray him, nor his lesson."
Alduin's crimson eyes narrowed, as he snorted.
"How pretentious." His wings beat once, sending a gale across the sky. "Then tell me wyrmling, what manner of Kruziik you have become?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Vermithor's maw curled into a savage grin. "QO SPAAN LOK!"
Lightning as black as the void between stars coiled around his jaws. Kiera moved with him, perfectly in sync. Dawnbreaker ignited in her grasp, radiant gold fire spilling across its blade as she leaned forward.
A lance of black lightning and a crescent of golden flame tore through the sky toward Alduin. The World-Eater twisted midair—faster than something his size had any right to be—evading the lightning by a hair's breadth.
But Kiera had expected that. The golden arc struck where he would be.
The explosion lit the heavens. Alduin snarled as the divine fire scorched across his scales, the light of Meridia's blessing searing even his ancient hide.
"Grrh," Alduin grimaced in pain but he ignored it as he gazed at Vermithor with barely disguised contempt. "The Kruziik of lightning.... A rare gift, wyrmling. One that might have earned you honor among the dov. Now, you shall be known as nothing more than a traitor of your kin!"
He surged forward.
The sky cracked as his claws lashed out, aiming to rend Vermithor's side. The Bronze Fury twisted sharply, the talons missing by inches—but the sheer force of the pass sent shockwaves rippling through the air.
Kiera seized the moment.
"FO KRAH DIIN!"
A storm of frost erupted from her, engulfing Alduin's form in a freezing gale. Ice crawled along his wings and chest, slowing him just enough for Vermithor to strike.
With a brutal swing of his serpentine neck, he smashed into Alduin's side, sending the World-Eater tumbling through the sky. Though that only served to stun Alduin for half a second, for he was flying back to engage them almost immediately.
Kiera swung Dawnbreaker once more as the golden flames converged, only for the World-Eater to disperse them with a single swing of his claws. She frowned then, for Alduin truly felt different than he was back in High Hrothgar.
He was faster, nimbler, and his senses honed to even more ridiculous degrees. Gone was the arrogance that had dulled him, what they were facing now was a predator at the height of his power.
She could feel it, her strength was incomparable to his now. But she knew that could match him—perhaps even surpass him—should she call upon Dragon Aspect.
But not yet, not here.
The new shout Paarthurnax taught her had a time limit. When it faded, it would leave her drained and vulnerable. And against Alduin, a single moment of weakness was death.
Using it would mean that grounding Alduin with Dragonrend was possible, and she had considered using that as an initial strike, but thought otherwise, for below them was an entire city filled to the brim with their allies.
Fighting Alduin in the sky right now is advantageous for them, since doing it in the ground would risk the entirety of Shor's Stone.
Risking a glance downward, Kiera grimaced as things didn't look that great. From this height, the city looked almost small—like a child's carving set upon a blanket of white. But even from here, the chaos was undeniable.
Durnehviir's ability to summon portals of undead inside the walls was not something they had expected. From what Kiera could see, at least two thousand draugr were already inside the walls, with thousands more outside.
Above in the skies, the dragons flew. Wherever they passed, their Thu'um wreaking havoc across the ground, though their ranks thinned greatly by relentless volleys of ballistae and magicka.
From the original seventy, less than thirty were now seen, courtesy of the blue spheres that continue to streak upwards like stars from the Ebony Palace, bursting against draconic forms in violent flashes.
Below them, the streets churned as battles took place all over the city. With the portals open both within and outside the walls, every road was filled with the sounds of clashing steel.
However, something caught her attention as she could see some of those portals—at least the ones closest to the Ebony Palace— close one by one.
Her gaze sharpened, focusing.
There, a flicker of movement. A dark blur weaving through the chaos, hands glowing with pale light as it struck at the rifts themselves.
Serana.
A small grin tugged at Kiera's lips. 'That's at least one problem soon to be solved.'
Her gaze turned back to the city at large, slightly covered in a haze of smoke, ash, and snow. It was difficult to see anything from this high up as most of the people were the size of ants, but a dragon's senses were sharper than most.
Kiera could easily spot the muted gold dots that were the Automaton Guardians tearing through dragons and draugr alike, their halberd-like arms cleaving through scale and bone. One was ripped apart mid-battle by a massive azure dragon, only for another to impale the beast through the gut moments later.
Floods of red and black moved in disciplined waves—the Imperial Legion and the Shor's Guard— holding lines against a tide of the undead. On one of the walls, she could spot Jarl Ulfric surrounded by his Stormcloak blues, who shouted into the skies as the Stormcloak's famed Battle Fury took hold.
All across the city, every soldier who heard that shout had their strength bolstered, Balgruuf and his Whiterun Guards, Isran and the Dawnguard, and even Vilkas and his companions; each one of them rushing across the streets as they continued the fight.
It was for each and everyone of them that Kiera and Vermithor could not fail here.
'Not yet. Just a little longer, partner. We have to keep him here as long as we can.'
They both knew that Vermithor wouldn't last in an extended fight against Alduin. He was a newly raised Kruziik while their enemy was the World-Eater himself. But they needed to buy time. Time for Gerron, Serana, and the others to handle things on the ground.
And so they danced through the skies, to keep him here, away from the city.
"STRUN BAH QO!"
Alduin's voice thundered once more.
Dark clouds surged into existence above them, swirling with violent energy as lightning crackled within their depths.
Kiera reacted instantly.
"LOK VAH KOOR!"
Her Voice tore apart the clouds as quickly as it came, clear skies reclaiming the battlefield as sunlight pierced through once more.
Alduin snarled. "Dovahkiin… your persistence grows tiresome."
Kiera grinned, wind whipping through her hair. "Something I take great honour to be."
A rumbling laughter came out from Vermithor. "Your Thu'um has strengthened Kiera, to disperse the clouds created by Alduin's voice is no small feat."
"I had a good teacher." Kiera said, patting his scales.
Her words had Vermithor grin, "Indeed."
For a fleeting moment, both of them thought of the ancient dragon atop High Hrothgar, the one whose tutelage had given them the strength to fight this day.
Paarthurnax's loss of wing had remained a topic of regret for Kiera till this day, and it happened due to his sacrifice to protect her.
It was a great sin for a dragon to no longer be able to touch the skies, and both Kiera and Vermithor were willing to avenge their master by taking it out on the one who did it.
Vermithor and Alduin circled each other once more as the air trembled with the promise of another clash.
And then something cut across their path, flying between. A flash of crimson.
Kiera's head snapped to the side.
Flying erratically through the air was the indistinguishable form of Odahviing, for he was the only other dragon with comparable size to Vermithor and Alduin.
But what caught Kiera by surprise was the figure stuck inside the mouth of the Kruziik of Wind, struggling between the jagged rows of teeth.
"Was that… Gerron?"
…
4E 202, Shor's Stone
Gerron Ironbreaker
There were worse places to be.
Gerron was certain of that.
But as far as experiences went, being half-swallowed by a dragon—a Kruziik, no less—was quickly climbing the list of things he would very much prefer not to repeat.
His lower body was trapped within Odahviing's maw, swallowed up to just above the waist, while his upper half remained outside—barely. The crushing pressure of the dragon's jaws bore down on him, rows of jagged teeth grinding against his ebony armor with a shriek of metal on bone.
Each scrape sent vibrations through his body, jarring his spine and rattling his senses.
Odahviing had tried to take a bite, but luckily, the armor held. The countless upgrades he had hammered into it were the only reason he wasn't already torn in half. The ward woven from Volsung's mask had flared, dulling the initial impact of Odahviing's charge. Without it, that first bite would have shattered his ribs. Instead, it merely felt like being caught in the jaws of a mountain.
Gerron grit his teeth.
"Of all the ways to die…" he muttered through strained breath.
Thankfully, Odahviing's size worked against him, for the mouth was still big enough for Gerron to have ample space to move. Enough for Gerron to twist, to brace, to fight.
And fight he would.
As of right now, Odahviing flew wildly, no longer the calculated predator he had been moments ago. His wings beat unevenly, scraping against some of the taller buildings and even decapitating one of the lean watchtowers atop the walls, the entire top part sliding away and falling onto the battlements below.
Gerron growled as the falling debris crushed some of his men. He dismissed the Mercury Hammer—which thankfully remained in his grip till now—back to his inventory and pulled out the Spellbreaker sword.
The blade materialized in his grasp, its edge gleaming.
Without hesitation, Gerron struck.
The sword bit into flesh.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again, he hacked at whatever part of Odahviing's mouth he could reach—the jaw, the lower lip, the outer cheek. Dark blood sprayed with each blow, hot and thick, coating his armor.
Odahviing roared. The sound was deafening at this range, a thunderclap inside a cavern of flesh.
The dragon thrashed then. His head snapped violently from side to side, trying to dislodge the stubborn mortal lodged within his jaws. Gerron's world spun with it, the horizon flipping wildly as nausea clawed at his senses.
He clenched his teeth, willing himself to stay focused.
Odahviing inhaled, Gerron felt it then. The sudden rush of air, the building heat deep within the dragon's throat.
"YOL TOOR—!"
Before the shout could complete, in a state of panic, Gerron simply did the only thing he could think of.
Gerron opened his inventory.
And dumped everything.
In an instant, the confined space of Odahviing's mouth was flooded.
Swords. Axes. Shields. Hammers. Helmets. Daggers.
And gold. Gods, the gold.
Thousands upon thousands of septims spilled forth in a glittering torrent, clattering against the inside of Odahviing's mouth.
The effect was immediate. Odahviing choked.
The shout died in his throat, replaced by a guttural, strangled roar as his mouth ballooned outward, forced open by the sudden mass of foreign objects.
The Kruziik recoiled mid-flight, steel scraping against the inner gums as coins jammed between his fangs. The jaws that threatened to bite through Gerron loosened, and herron didn't waste the opening.
With a roar of his own, he drove Spellbreaker down straight into Odahviing's tongue, pinning it there.
The blade sank deep as a wet, choking sound erupted from the dragon as blood poured freely, coating Gerron's arm.
That did it.
Odahviing's jaws snapped open fully.
Everything—steel, gold, and Gerron alike—was expelled in a violent cascade.
Gerron's hand shot out and caught a tooth at the last second, his fingers locked around the massive fang as his body swung free, dangling beneath the dragon's jaw. Wind howled around him, tearing at his cloak and armor as Odahviing spiraled through the sky in pain and fury.
The city rushed beneath them.
But Gerron wasn't done, not yet.
With his free hand, he took out Bronze's brass sphere on his belt. Through the Atronach Tamrielic Inscription etched into his gauntlet, he poured power into the construct—far more than it was ever meant to hold. The sphere glowed brighter and brighter, shifting from dull brass to a deep, ominous blue.
With a final grunt, Gerron hurled it straight into Odahviing's throat, and let go.
He fell through the air as the sounds of wind swallowed him whole.
Above, Odahviing convulsed.
For a heartbeat, nothing.
Then, BOOM.
A muffled explosion tore through the dragon's neck from within. Smoke and flame burst from his jaws as his roar cut short, replaced by a ragged, choking wheeze.
Gerron grinned as he tumbled through the air.
But he knew better. That wasn't enough to kill the damn Kruziik, and so he reached again.
The Mercury Hammer returned to his hands in a flash of light, shifting instantly into its crossbow configuration. Even as he plummeted, he steadied himself midair, taking aim right where the wound was, that festering gash along Odahviing's side, the one tainted by the Ashen Curse.
Locking it right in his sights, Gerron fired. A bolt of condensed magicka screamed through the air and struck true, slamming directly into the corrupted wound.
Odahviing's roar became a shriek, his wings faltered completely.
The great crimson dragon dropped from the sky, crashing somewhere beyond the Ebony Palace in a thunderous impact that shook the city itself.
After all that, he just hoped it was enough to finally kill the damn thing.
Then Gerron looked down, and saw the ground rapidly approaching. The trajectory would have him land somewhere within the center district of the city.
The Mercury Hammer vanished once more, replaced by his Spell Shield. He twisted midair, forcing his body into position as he angled the shield beneath him, and braced.
'Well, this is gonna hurt.'
Tensing himself, the black missile that was Gerron Ironbreaker hit the roof of a building as it shattered beneath him. Wood and straw exploded outward as he crashed through in a storm of splinters and dust.
The floor met him like a hammer blow, the force driving the breath from his lungs as cracks spiderwebbed beneath his weight, a massive thud echoing as the shield slammed against the ground.
For a moment, silence took over.
Then the distant roar of battle rushed back in, louder than ever.
Gerron groaned.
…
AN: This chapter was real hard to make, and I honestly don't know how good it ended up.
The whole Kiera sequence was supposed to be a quick birds-eye view kind of thing where I had her see the battle of Shor's Stone in its entirety while battling Alduin at the same time, so I hoped I portrayed that properly.
Then, the Gerron sequence was honestly a big big doozy. I wrote that entire fight scene at 3 A.M. in the morning on two cups of coffee, so I don't know how fantastical it all ended up being, but that's what was conjured by this caffeine-addled brain of mine, so I'm keeping it. Also yeah, the Spellbreaker Sword was stuck in Odahviing's mouth when he fell, and RIP Bronze.
Anyways and as always, more chapters are available on my P-word. Chapter 131 should be available by the time this chapter is posted. Just look up my name, TeemVizzle, and you'll find me.
Two free chapters are available for free users, make sure to check it out if you want the advanced chapters!
Cheers people.