Chapter XCIII: Striking The First Blow

The house offers praise to... Yolanda Squat Pump, for their most generous and infinitely wise donation. They have hereby been liberated from the mines and granted the succor of the sun (here is to hoping they don't develop some kind of skin disease from the sudden exposure)

On a completely and utterly unrelated note, the miners will no doubt be happy to hear that a new batch of soup has been prepared! Do enjoy yourselves~

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Our gigantic mounts cut through the late night sky in a blur of their respective coloring, crossing the entirety of Skyrim within less than two hours. We all remained silent as we travelled, only the sound of beating wings and howling winds distracting us from our preoccupied minds.

As we reached the Velothi mountains I felt the edges of my vision begin to shift and soon a glamor which I could barely detect even now that I discovered it gave way for a closed off section of the mountains, revealing a massive temple complex situated atop one of its peaks, which was no doubt Skuldafn, going by the rather blatant portal to the afterlife at its peak.

Before we could fully reach our destination I spoke "Alright, I have something of a plan."

"Now?!" Minthara yells with some minor frustration, though the winds thankfully dampen the noise fully.

"Couldn't have come up with it without a good lay of the land." I shrug and the dragons slow down, moving to effectively levitate in place with whatever magic supported their flight "See that alcove there at the bottom?"

The surprisingly pristine and well maintained temple complex was absolutely brimming with Draugr and cultists and a rather discomforting collection of no less than twelve Dovah all chilling atop massive pillars or the temples themselves. Most of it was under constant patrols, units of the living and undead marching about while on high alert and looking over every single nook and cranny of their routes.

No doubt the local Dragon Priest got ordered to place everything on high alert now that Odahviing had stopped responding.

But at the bottom of the temple, where the stairwell near a large landing platform ended, things weren't simply walled off, why would they wall off something unreachable in any case?

Or so they thought.

Where the temple ended, the normal mountain range continued, and my eyes were swiftly drawn to a rocky passage to the direct south of the landing platform, said passage leading into a small and more importantly empty clearing, a perfect place to stage our assault.

She squints her eyes and nods, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she understood the implication "Yeah, doesn't seem to be very well guarded."

"Or at all." Krein murmurs lightly.

Odahviing also tosses in his two septims "A possible trap?" 

"Doubtful" I shake my head "My sight shows nothing, and concealing enough power to trap either of us would be near impossible and definitely not something within the skillset of the cult."

"Did we not just pass through a concealment spell though?" Minthara quirks an eyebrow.

"Hiding a place and hiding a trap are two different things." I point out "Remind me to get you caught up on wards when we are done with this, best not let you die to something dumb like that." I chuckle.

She gives me a deadpan look and shakes her head "Yeah, yeah. How about you tell us of your plan before we spend the rest of the night delaying the inevitable?"

"Heh." I snort "The plan is pretty simple, Odahviing, Krein, and Vulstrunfeyn while we are at it remain flying above detection range while I sneak the two of us to the ground. I make the portal and you guard my ass. Build portal, prepare staging ground and begin assault, simple!"

"So we are to descend when the battle begins then Thuri?" Krein asks.

I nod "Exactly, and not a moment earlier!"

Without waiting for any further response I shadow step behind Minthara, grab onto her shoulder and push the both of us off Odahviing. She doesn't so much as blink as we hurtle to the ground, though her panic does start showing itself as we get juuust a bit too close to the ground for comfort.

Naturally it is then that I unfurl my own wings and cast levitation at the same time, stopping our descent a meter off the stony ground and allowing us to touch down without a single sound being made.

"You know" Minthara whispers as we begin sneaking through the passage "Those stunts of yours are actually fun now that I accepted you always make sure no one gets hurt."

"Excelleeent" I stretch the word out in a creepy croak "Another soul corrupted to the true path."

She gives me a blank look and lets out an amused huff before continuing.

The instant we step into the clearing I get to work.

First step, a concealment ward to ensure we are not disturbed, a dozen grand soul gems should do the trick. The portal's awakening would probably wreck it but we have the dragons to buy us a minute or two for that.

Second step, expand the clearing so it can hold a small army and a base of operations. A few dozen barrels of munitions and supplies would also do quite nicely.

Third step, build the portal itself. All the parts were pre-prepared and now that we were within the wards themselves we could quite easily abuse the orb, which really needed a more grandiose name now that I think on it, to perfect the translocation coordinates within a strikingly short time.

Fourth step, survey the area for extra advantages... Oh hello there conveniently placed mountain that looms over the temple.

Fifth step, abuse the shit out of your alteration magic to carve literal battlements into the side of the mountain. Fairness is a concept I had long since forsaken and ensuring my enemy was under a nice and constant shower of arrows and bolts for the duration of the battle was something I'd never say no to.

Best build extra tunnels as well just in case the dragons shout a section to bits, no point in anyone getting buried.

I did not even realize it as I began humming merrily while reordering an entire mountain, crafting what could be taken as the beginning of a proper dwarf fortress if you squinted your eyes in a very specific way.

Unlike I expected, Minthara was not bothered by the extra delay and instead immediately threw her largely lesser skill at molding rock to my aid, both of us gleefully imagining just how utterly ruined the day of the poor fuckers defending Skuldafn was about to be.

And then came the sixth.

I took in a deep breath, my Magicka bubbling under my skin as it always did before a great fight, shared a quick glance and a nod with Minthara "The one to kill the least pays for the feast!" I blurt, and then the simplest of gestures began the battle for the world as I snapped my fingers.

(Torygg's POV)

"Never thought a feast would make me this eager to get into a fight." I hear Balgruuf chuckle while patting his stomach, before he narrows his eyes "No doubt another scheme of Reyvin's."

"Bah" Harald claps him on the back "You know the brat won't ever fuck us over, just enjoy the moment. We are about to be neck deep in dragons anyway."

"Not an idea I particularly mind." Serana Volkihar cuts in with a rather disturbing hungry tinge to her tone, her licking her lips certainly did not help the image "Personally, I can't wait."

"Right." Harald pales and gulps, leaning away from the vampire lady "Just make sure to not mistake any of us for the dragons."

She looks to him with a beatific smile of such radiance one cold easily be blinded "I will think about it."

Harald gulps again and slams back a tankard of mead, looking anywhere but at the vampire.

"She used to be sane, you know?" I hear Reyvin's right hand mutter to one of the officers under him "Why does everyone Boss touches turn unhinged?"

"There there Serjo." The armored Dunmer pats his back "It will all be alright."

"Your kingliness!" A loud, and adorable, squeak drew my eyes to the diminutive form of one of Winterhold's hidden arch-magi "The time comes, and it comes swiftly! Call forth your warriors and prepare yourself!"

Having already been briefed on the 'mildly' unhinged mystic's habits, all I do is nod and slowly get up from my seat, immediately drawing many gazes of those present. It took them but a moment longer to understand why I did so and all of them slowly began checking on their weapons and armor one last time.

"Sons and daughters of Skyrim!" I began, and swiftly decided to correct myself "Nay, children of Nirn itself!" The crowd responded with eager roars and salutes "The hour of battle is at hand. The World Eater itself feeds upon the souls of the honored dead while it plots to take from us our freedoms and then our lives!"

"But we will not meekly bow before the whims of a failed god!" I continue, ignoring the constant roars, thumps, and battle cries trying to snuff my voice out "Already the greatest of us prepare to guide us to the heart of the enemy, already they aim their might at his unsuspecting minions! Are we going to let them strike them down on their own?!"

The denial came like a tidal wave, and almost made me shiver from the sheer volume.

"Will you follow me, my brothers and sisters, to defy the enemy of the world itself?!" I spread my arms widely "Will you stand by me as we fight for our future and that of our children?!" I feel the familiar buzz of magic behind me and the portal begins lighting up "Free men and women of Tamriel, ARE YOU WITH ME?!"

A deafening """AYE!!!!""" resounded in response.

I clasp my crowned helmet and draw my skyforge blade, turning my back to the band of champions. I raise the sword, pointing at the portal, and issue a simple command "FORWARD!"

And we descend upon the thin passage like an avalanche.

As I stepped through I was immediately met with a fully armored and bursting with magic Reyvin who wasted no time in pointing to the edge of the clearing we found ourselves in "Gather the melee fighters and automatons here, send them forward when they are ready in sufficient number" He immediately moves on and points to an oddly perfectly carved staircase "All marksmen are to climb this way and rain death on the enemy."

He gives me a quick nod "See you on the other side." And suddenly a pair of massive shadowy wings forms on his back and he leaps into the skies, the immediate heating of the air and the following series of explosions and roars of pain telling me exactly what he was doing.

I looked to the Dragonborn, who looked irritated for some reason. Of course I was then promptly reminded that the heroes of our age could have used a bit more sanity in their lives as she angrily muttered "No way in oblivion am I letting him win, I don't have that much money!" Before I could make heads or tails of what she was muttering about she shouted "MUL QAH DOV!"

All I could see was a blur of red heading towards the enemy before she disappeared completely.

Shaking my head and getting my mind back into focus, I turned around and began barking orders. We had a battle to win.

(Dragon Priest's POV)

Nakhriin floated peacefully above his master's portal, forever dutybound to guard the entrance to the afterlife and the great World Eater's feeding grounds.

His master had told him off the most recent treachery, how a great Dovah could ever betray their eldest brother was not something the ancient priest could even comprehend but his was the name of vengeance for a reason and he would slay all who would dare stand against the great one's desire.

The self aggrandizing thoughts streaming through his long-rotten mind were suddenly yanked away without hesitation or care as he felt a massive surge of Magicka in the distance, a power which could only belong to one of the enemy he reasoned as the wave sent a shudder through the entire sacred ground of Skuldafn.

He immediately signaled his undead thralls to take defensive positions and shouted a word of power to the skies to awaken the great Dov atop their places of respite.

And yet, before even the first of his mighty masters could rise, a trio of traitors descended from the skies, one black as night, the other the blue of thunder and lightning, and the last and most insulting of all, a monster of blood red scale.

Their voices rang out throughout the grand temple, and their treacherous assault sent the three of the temple's mightiest protectors hurtling through the skies. The traitorous kinslayers hesitated not for a moment and rushed to end their prey before swiftly turning to the rest of their brethren.

A furious despair welled up in Nahkriin's cold dead heart, but before he could direct his thralls, both living and dead, the source of the Magicka made itself known as a veritable army of the living and defiant rushed through the suddenly massive gorge below the temple, a wave of arrows and battle cries cutting through the air with equal might and ferocity.

Nahkriin grasped his staff, and grit his rotten teeth. He would avenge this betrayal and punish the defiance of the mortals, by the might of his magic and the will of his master.

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