Chapter LIV: Draconic Throwdown (Part 2)
(General POV)
A certain redhead was peacefully meditating next to her slumbering instructor. The days she spent relaxing greatly aided her in internalizing the changes to both her power and herself forced upon her by what she was.
"Or have I always been this way and power has merely set me free..." She muttered with some amusement. Her current teacher sure did have some interesting ideas on a person's nature, she'd give him that much at least.
She blinked and suddenly found a golden orb larger than her head staring at her, the air barely having moved at all as Krein awoke "So quick to lose focus, Dovahkiin."
Tsking at the dragon's perceptiveness she shrugged, a thin strained smile on her face "I learn better by doing."
"As is your nature, by Father's purpose." He allows after considering briefly "And yet you will find that if you do not learn through study you will never get the chance to do so by doing."
"Yes, yes." She rolls her eyes "Can't get stronger if I am dead, I know."
"So long as you remember." The amused dragon chuckles.
And then stills.
"It would seem that you will get your opportunity sooner than I thought." He rumbles quietly and before she can so much as twitch, grabs her in his hand as the both of them are sucked in by Krein's shadow.
(Reyvin's POV)
The dragons' eyes widen as the shout leaves my mouth, my elongating shadow making them back up in caution as the final third of their little trifecta approached from the distance. A grin spread on my face as I felt my strongest vassal make his appearance, only to disappear as I rounded on a spot below him.
""What the fuck?!"" Both Minthara and I exclaimed for very different reasons.
"Thuri." Kreinaarvokun rumbled as he observed the battlefield "I see some worms have decided they no longer value their lives."
"What treachery is this?!" Iiznahkriid growls while his elder merely narrows his eyes.
Krein looks down on them with disdain clear in his eyes "Be silent children."
Before they can respond the final dragon lands behind them "Brother." He greets "You have changed."
"Odahviing." Krein greets as warmly as a Dovah can "It has been some time."
As the two dragons started to reminisce, an obvious ploy by Krein to buy us some time for reinforcements that went utterly ignored by the uncaring red dragon, I looked to Minthara and whispered "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I'd like to know that too." She hissed "He just grabbed me and we were here."
"Huh." I blink and mutter "Didn't know you could piggyback on the bond like that..."
"Screw that!" Her whisper turns forceful "He could have at least told me to grab my armor."
And she was indeed dressed only in casual clothing save for her bound blade which she always had on her.
I shake my head and roll my eyes "Doesn't work like that."
She goes to complain more but the conversation between the dragons growing more heated draws our attention as Odahviing glares at his brother "So you have sworn yourself to a mortal, Durnehviir? Truly, a Dovah of your power?"
"Durnehviir is dead." Krein declares simply "He died with his arrogance. My name now is Kreinaarvokun!" His pride surges as he speaks "And you are in my Thur's path."
"Pathetic." The youngest dragon present sneers.
Both Krein, Vulstrunfeyn, and Odahviing give Iiznahkriid a look which makes him shut his mouth and try and appear as small as possible.
Odahviing chuckles at this and turns back to Krein "You are certain of this choice then? You are content with serving a mere mortal, even if he is far above the rest?"
"Do not be so quick to doubt my resolve." The black dragon growls before a feral grin overtakes his expression "Besides, we would not get to fight otherwise."
Odahviing's face twists into a similar expression "Indeed brother." He growls "Come then! Show me the same might that surpassed even I in conquest!"
'Make sure you keep the collateral low, otherwise go wild.' I instruct before he can even begin to turn around and ask for permission and just like that he turns into a black shadowy blur, slamming into Odahviing and launching him in the air with a blast of unrelenting force. He did not wait for even a moment as he too took to the skies and they begun their 'debate'.
Done casting my spell, I tap Minthara on the shoulder and feel the dragonskin cover her perfectly, earning a quick nod of gratitude as we focused back on our enemies.
As she looks upon the cautious draconic duo, Minthara's whole posture turns predatory and the air around her starts emitting the instinctual hunger she was keeping leashed for weeks now.
It takes the older of the pair a mere moment to realize who he is looking at "Dovahkiin?!"
The younger of the two almost recoils in fear but manages to compose himself as the both of them suddenly turn much, much more cautious.
"What, afraid of a little death?" Minthara grins "I do wonder how sweet your screams will be once you experience the same as the mortals you kill so wantonly."
"You will have to slay us first, youngling." Vulstrunfeyn growls "And I assure you, we will not fall so easily."
Rolling my eyes at the obvious bravado, I saunter forward and point my sword at Iiznahkriid "Kill the scared one first."
"With pleasure." The demigoddess draws her blade.
(Davos' POV)
Rooftiles start flying everywhere as the two monsters start slapping each other about in the air, not even bothering to shout as they happily clawed at one another in some kind of odd deadly dance that would likely destroy a fortress in seconds.
"Heads down!" I bark as the marksmen follow after me "If any of you idiots die to debris I am not even going to bother burying you."
The dozen white-cloaked Dunmer share some chuckles at that as we approach one of the less damaged manors on the edge of the crater that was Boss' battlefield.
""FUUUS RO DAH!!"" Two voices, one male and one female, both easily recognizable almost burst my eardrums as a massive wave of force sends an entire dragon flying through multiple houses, the sounds of weapons clashing with scales and claws following soon after.
As I prepare to share the plan, numerous footsteps come from our right, all of us tense and prepare our crossbows but swiftly lower them as two dozen Bretons come running in our direction, all of them looking grim and battle-ready.
"Ser Davos, is that you my good man?" The familiar voice of the Knight Commander of Evermor greets me as the massive youth waves his gauntleted hand.
"Ser Reynauld." I give him a nod "Weren't you lot supposed to be with the High King?"
"He sent us out here when we realized what was going on." He explains immediately "Both the dragons and undead wreaking havoc is not how I've seen my day going, that much is certain."
"Tell me about it." I sigh and shudder another shout rips the air, eliciting a bestial howl of pain from one of the dragons followed by a crash and a blast of thunder as the other returned to the fight.
"It would seem your liege lord needs aid!" Reynauld grasps his blade "Let us go forth and grant it!"
"I'm going to stop you right there" I raise a tired hand and he balks "If you get in there you die, it is that simple." Before he can protest I go on "What I want you to do is ensure no undead make our way here, they seem to be attempting to help the dragons for whatever reason and we can't have them interfering."
"And what are you going to be doing?" He asks slowly, the idea of not charging into the hardest battle obviously chafing at his pride.
"Ambushing a beast, of course." I grin.
(Reyvin's POV)
Akulakhan deflects a flash of Vulstrunfeyn's thundering claws, allowing my swipe to connect with Iiznahkriid's snout.
The light blue dragon flinches his head to his right, just in the path of Minthara's own strike which he blocks with his right hand.
Well, he attempts to block it anyways, as his clawed hand is sent flying to the side under the monstrous strength of her strike.
I do not waste time either, and the Ebony Blade soon finds itself drinking his lifeforce as I shove the damn thing hilt deep in his throat.
Akulakhan is sent flying over us and I duck as a swipe of lightning attempts to take my head off, Blasphemy flashing without me even turning around and blasting the offending limb with crimson lightning in turn.
Vulstrumfeyn may be resistant to lightning in general, but the disintegrating aspect of the spell sent him reeling back in pain as his hand was suddenly a lot lighter than it was before.
Spikes raise from the ground to meet his fall, only for him to roll to the side and evade.
Exactly into my next concentrated disintegrating ray, shattering his defenses and searing his chest before he gathered his wits for long enough to make another storm call.
This time though, I was prepared and multiple spikes of iron rose from the ground, catching most of the lightning bolts and completely wasting the shout.
Hearing his brother shouting in pain once again, he ignores the massive gash in his side he had to pay to pass me by and lets out a mighty breath of lightning, completely stunning Minthara and almost frying her alive on the spot.
This naturally earned him immediate retaliation as both I and Akulakhan started striking him from all sides, not forgetting to summon another storm of blades atop his brother just in case he tried healing himself once again.
One of my shades finally manages to shank Minthara with a healing syringe and she quickly shakes off the mind-numbing agony she was in mere moment ago and starts taking her revenge, one slash by one bloody slash.
Our clash continues for less than a minute, and yet even in that little blink of time, the ruined streets we were fighting on were turned into a person-deep crater, blood, stone, and metal flying in each and every direction as we kept attacking each other with reckless abandon.
Soon though, we managed to corner Iiznahkriid once again and make him face the exact direction I wanted him to.
'Steady... steady...' I transferred mentally as Akulakhan delivered a slam with his glaive, sending teeth flying everywhere and making the dragon rise on his back legs 'NOW!'
(Davos' POV)
'Steady...' The little spider on my shoulder whispered as I watched the absolute carnage happening outside. Every shout sent my men flinching and cowering, but thankfully none fled just yet as the sheer awe of seeing their lord facing something like that and winning kept them in their place.
'NOW!' The spider almost screeches in my ear "LOOSE!" I bark out immediately and all of us start pelting the damn dragon with every single bolt we had left.
Seeing their weapons do actual damage quickly made the marksmen lose their fear and return to their usual near-manic sadism, as many pulled out enchanted bolt cartridges they bought with their own gold.
I shake my head with a defeated sigh 'Am I the only sane one in this fucking house?' The satisfied thrill I felt go through my spine as I shot the fucker in the eye and promptly exploded it quickly answered that question.
(General POV)
Two dragons circled each other in the air, their movements not stopping for a second as they both seemingly attempted to murder each other with all their power. The red one was a fair bit larger than his opponent and the victor of the majority of their clashes, but even then both of them were scorched, frostbitten, half-blinded, and gushing so much blood all over the place one might find themselves wondering if they had any left.
And yet for all their ruinous wounds, both of their faces were still carrying those massive battle-hungry snarls they did even as their battle began.
Odahviing slashed at Kreinaarvokun's face as he just finished scorching his wing in revenge for the other blinding him with a call of sunfire, batting his smaller brother away and preparing to follow him.
Only to hear a distant voice in his head and suddenly stop, an aggrieved frown on his face.
"The fool tyrant calls?" Krein asks but a moment later, his tone far too relaxed and conversational for all the holes in his body.
"He does." The red dragon sounds almost pouty but then turns hopeful "Do you plan on stopping me?"
Krein huffs "My lord values my life more than he does your death."
And that hope disappears immediately "We will finish this another time." Odahviing states as fact.
"You will not be as lucky then as you were today." His once comrade taunts.
Odahviing turns east and shouts "VULSTRUMFEYN IIZNAHKRIID, WE LEAVE!"
(Reyvin's POV)
Odahviing's command reaches them just as Iiznahkriid is done taking a good three hundred enchanted bolts to the face, the sheer number of projectiles mangling him so much even I would have trouble recognizing the meaty mess.
Vulstrumfeyn doesn't hesitate then, as he shouts "WULD NAH KEST!" And grabs his brother, trying to leave our range as quickly as possible.
Too bad for him I had no plans on letting him flee.
I grasped the Ebony Blade, brimming with draconic lifeforce, and pointed Magnus' staff at the pair of dragons.
Massive barbed chains of black and gold burst from all around them, quickly grabbing the younger Dovah as the elder dodged them on instinct.
He tried pulling his brother out but as he did more and more chains started latching onto him and pulling him down.
The two shared a look, the elder gave Minthara a quick glance, and promptly got the fuck out of there, leaving his cursing brother to be brought back down to the ground.
He attempted whirling onto us and shouting us apart one last time but just when he was about to get into a good position for it I yanked, pulling him to the side and in the direction of his death.
Minthara wasted no time in positioning herself just right, and promptly disemboweling the weakened dragon, once more showering herself in draconic blood and gore, but something in her expression quickly told me she did not care all that much as she gorged herself on its soul.
Scorch appeared on my shoulder and gave me a look at that but I simply swatted him away and lit up a cigarette.
This was a fucking skirmish, and I didn't think it was going to be a one-off.
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