Chapter XIV: Vulthuryol
(General POV)
The battle stills completely as the new arrival makes himself known, the invaders gaping at the terrifying sight while the defenders all shivered as their instincts screamed for them to flee.
The dragon sniffs the air with a mix of disdain, as his eyes pass over the mortal armies he cannot help but grumble "Which of these mortal fools dared to wake me?" his words sounding more like a growl to most of those present "Have you insects finally decided to accept the great Vulthuryol as your overlord?" He looks down at the Falmer, completely ignoring the other mortals.
His musing is interrupted by one of the nearby Falmer getting its bearings and raising its chitinous blade, the dragon is confused as to why the eyeless bug is trying to glare at him but when the tiny creature jumps at his protracted arm and attempts to cut it off with a pitiful yell Vulthuryol finds himself less than pleased.
Like a dam being broken all of the Falmer start throwing themselves at the dragon in a blind rage, their fight or flight instinct going into overdrive at the beast's mere presence, all the while the attacking adventurers start wisely falling back and spreading out... well those that managed to get out of their surprised stupor that is, many an adventurous youth lost their life due to being too stunned to move.
The dragon's claws flash with blinding speed as he reaps a dozen Falmer with each attack, the attacks the creature lands in turn barely chipping at his outer scales, a rather large Falmer specimen manages to land a hammer blow to his head causing the dragon to growl with fury.
Finally having had enough of playing around Vulthuryol takes a deep breath and speaks "YOL FROD AG!" and with a loud hiss a massive sphere of fire surrounds him, frying any and all Falmer that dared approach.
Yet as he did so he suddenly felt a sting atop one of his wings, something had struck him and managed to get through his scales, he tries to find the audacious mortal but by the time he made space with his claws to look, it had already struck him from another direction entirely.
Soon he started getting hit with bolts as well, the vile Dwemer things he had hoped disappeared with their masters hitting him with cruel precision, constantly chipping at his defenses.
As he rends through another dozen Falmer and another bolt strikes his side he growls "VEN DEIN FUS!" and a swirl of wind surrounds him, flinging many of the bolts off target and making most merely skid off his defenses. With a satisfied growl, he returns to butchering the Falmer, wondering how the little creatures even managed to come up with such a strategy.
Nearly an hour passes as the dragon cuts down the entire army of Falmer, the massive time spirit fighting conservatively the entire time yet even with that his scales and wings looked ragged, the annoying mageling that kept striking at him still remaining out of his sight.
As he burns down another group of fleeing Falmer his eyes flash over the position holding the ballistae, and his eyes narrow in fury. He had been played, the honorless Joore that were currently busying themselves cutting down any Falmer that fled their way had used their enemy to weaken him.
Cursing at himself for being played for a fool and believing that the humans were merely thralls to his usual neighbors, Vulthuryol turned to the largest tower housing the still firing automatons and once more took a deep breath "WULD NAH KEST!"
And yet just as the shout left his throat, another struck him in turn "FUUUS RO DAH!"
His momentum was stopped by the wall of force, causing him to merely float a bit before once more being grounded, he looked in the direction of the enemy speaker and his eyes narrowed at the sight that awaited "Mey Fahlil"
(Reyvin's POV)
"Rude" I mutter and nearly burst into a fit of giggles as a Dwemer metal bolt strikes the dragon the moment he speaks to me.
"Cowardly mortal, are you so weak that you need such tricks to face me?!" He growls as the wind around him picks up.
I blink "Do I look like an idiot to you lizard?" he growls and I continue "Besides, I don't know why you are calling me the coward... are you not the one that fled the war to hide in your nice little box?" I smirk cheekily.
The dragon stares at me dumbly for a moment, completely ignoring the bolt spearing into his side... and then mutters "MID VUR SHAAN" and the wind picks up to a ridiculous degree, his eyes blazing in fury as he glares at me "Your insolence will be your undoing fool elf!"
I stare at him, nod to myself, and start running away.
My legs nearly burst from the amount of Magicka I forced into them as I focused on leading the massive idiot away from the towers, the constant bombardment was not doing immense damage but every bit counted for the grand finale. The dragon barrelled behind me, completely ignoring walls or obstacles and merely crashing through them like they weren't even there.
I passed next to a bunch of adventurers that were hiding out, the last I saw of them was their looks of betrayal as they were crushed beneath the raging dragon without the beast even noticing them.
I did not even flinch at their deaths, I needed to tire him out as much as possible for the trap to work.
(Flashback, Vulthuryol's first appearance)
As the big angry lizard starts butchering everything around him with shouts I had never heard I turn to my two companions, both of whom were staring at the carnage with a mix of awe and fear.
"Right then," I say firmly and their eyes snap to me "Here is what we are going to do, as the big bastard gets done killing off the Falmer I will draw him toward the northern section of the wall" They both nod seeing as that way most of the towers will still have line of sight on him "You two are to grab Edrassa and Tolfdir and make sure to prepare a nice surprise for him."
Minthara tilts her head "What kind of surprise?"
I smirk "Oh you are going to love it..."
(Present time)
As the dragon chases me through the winding streets, I suddenly turn and enter a thin alley, hoping to stall him further. The loud draconic intonation of unrelenting force quickly puts an end to such a fantasy as everything around me explodes with a deafening crack.
Thankfully I prepared myself for such an event and immediately shouted "FEIM!" turning myself into a phantom and getting the privilege of experiencing bricks and other debris flying through my form at breakneck speeds.
I quickly exit back to the main street only to see the dragon flailing his arms around, furiously digging in hopes of crushing me with his bare hands. Naturally I, being a gentleman, let him go on for a couple of minutes before he slowly turned toward me, having no doubt finally felt the spell I was charging the entire time.
He blinks slowly and I swear if dragons were capable of feeling or emoting as such he would have blushed in embarrassment at his own idiocy, said embarrassment soon turned back into a burning fury as a massive wave of crimson lightning struck him in the face, melting a large amount of his scales and turning his regal appearance into what I can only describe as a hobo Argonian's face.
This time his furious growl is replaced with an enraged shriek as I am forced to start dodging overcharged shouts every couple of seconds, the dragon being so caught up in his fury he forgot that there were other ways of catching me besides blowing me to bits.
Street after street is demolished as I lead him north, all the while his form is peppered with bolts. As I almost reach my position my precognitive instinct warns me he is about to kill me and I turn to see the bastard's maw right in my face.
I cannot help but praise him for his deception, the fact he managed to hide a whirlwind sprint within all of his destructive shouts really showcasing that while he was an idiot he was still one old lizard.
Just as I am about to once more turn ethereal my precognition warns me of another thing just in time to dodge an utterly massive Falmer ghoul launch itself at the dragon's face and I swear I hear the noise of bones cracking as its clawed hand slaps against it.
I quickly extricate myself as an entire horde of the disgusting things starts throwing themselves at Vulthuryol, inevitably dying in droves but still accomplishing their task of draining the dragon.
My eyes meet with Phineas' who is once more without his usual glamor, holding a baleful wand and like a conductor commanding his forces. His bejeweled jaw twists into the facsimile of a grin as he greets me with a courteous bow.
I bow back and take my position in the distance, feeling my other allies were almost done with their preparations I take out a destruction potion and down it in one gulp. My veins burst with power and I focus every single drop of Magicka I manage to gather during the carnage into a massive spell circle that slowly formed in front of my hands.
As the final ghoul fell, and Phineas peaced out without a word, Vulthuryol once more focused on me he opened his mouth and barely managed to speak "SPAAN!" Before my spell activated.
A shimmering wall of arcane energy surrounded the dragon as the purple spell circle in front of me exploded outwards, wave after wave of fiery lightning struck him as even through his hastily erected shield the overcharged siege spell melted his scales.
As I bolted once more I realized that I could have probably killed him then and there if I fired earlier, something to ponder when my life was not in immediate danger.
As I exit the final street leading to my destination I feel the presence of my hidden allies all around the small square, the trap was ready and all that I had to do was make the dragon walk into it. I quickly fly over and position my back to the city wall just in time for Vulthuryol to crash through the house blocking off the street I came from.
His eyes hyperfocus on me as he walks forward "Now you have nowhere to flee joore." The final word is a snarl of pure derision.
"And how does it feel then" I begin, my voice completely calm "To have been brought to such a state by a mere 'joore' as you call me?"
He chuckles derisively as his feet land just near the trap "My kin had been brought down by you mortals many times before, yet we need not fear death" His sword-length teeth flash as he smirks at me "Even if I die here it will not be my end, after all... how can one slay time itself?"
"Are you sure about that?" I cannot help but ask.
The dragon's eyes widen but it is all too late as the ground below him cracks and a massive chasm filled to the brim with disturbingly sharp steel spikes opens up below him. He spreads his arms and legs to the sides of it, almost comically.
He glares at me once again and just as he is about to shout at me a massive figure blurs out of one of the houses, drawing his attention. The dragon doesn't have the time to fully turn as Tolfdir in his enlarged form drops a magically empowered elbow onto his spine, and with a crack sends the dragon's lower body into the pit.
The massive beast hisses in pain as he bats the old master away, doing no damage to him. Seemingly realizing that he will not survive this battle he once more looks at me and snarls "TIID!"
It seems almost as if he teleports in front of me, leaving behind a large gush of his own blood and guts, his jaw unhinges ready to devour me. Thinking quickly I toss Scorch at him, the poor bird first looking offended and then gleeful as the dragon swallows him whole.
Just as Volthuryol is about to attack once more an explosion happens in his throat causing his head to drop, yet even as his throat is no doubt literally on fire he continues trying to kill me.
As I dodge a swipe of his claws a could of dust covers the both of us, his jaws are once again ready to tear me into shreds but this time I am ready and focusing all my disdain for this massive lumbering idiot I shout "JOOR!"
A wave of baleful blue leaves my mouth and as it touches the dragon I see him recoil in disgust, his scales soften and the light in his eyes dims for but an instant.
Just in time for a flash of red to appear in my peripheral vision and a hammer to crush the dragon's brain.
Even as he dies his eyes widen "Dovahk-"
A nice telekinetic smack stops any of that foolishness.
A blood-covered Minthara turns to me with a cheerful smile, just in time for the dragon to near explode with divine power.
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Many a stone shall be required as tribute for this glorious deed!
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