Crisis in Solitude (4)

A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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By the next day, most of Skyrim's holds got wind of what happened in Solitude last night.

Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak saw his chance and prepared his men, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater knew that there was no leeway out of this coming battle, but only Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone was the one to take a wise action and send a Warband of Nord Youth as a relief force to Solitude.

Last night was when death played its orchestra over the unfortunate city.

The official story was that The Dragon Cult attacked Solitude but no one wanted to believe that quite easily. Everyone and their mothers just decided to take the rumors in a different direction by their imagination powers.

Some say that after the death of the former Queen, the true Queen of Solitude returned, the one whose sigil is the Wolf that adorned the city of centuries, Queen Potema Septim.

Others say that the ghost of Queen Potema was the one to make an entrance that night in Solitude in the shape of a decaying wolf-person and to raise the dead in battle.

Others said that the powerful ghost of the Wolf Queen appeared in the final battle and helped the defenders.

Others say it is a conspiracy by some powerful Wizard to trick the world and make the Dragon Cult fear attacking Solitude, but no one listens to those conspiracy theory people anyway.

Still, what happened in Solitude yesterday was far from any rumor or conspiracy theory. It was a bloody battle of heroes and villains.

***

The hearts beat like drums as the werewolf stood tall within dozens of arrows and spears sticking out from every direction of its body.

The undead ran out a long time ago and the shadow wolves stopped rising. The battle was tiresome and the enemies were almost endless.

"Alright, that's it for tonight."

Jon was done fighting and needed some rest so he ordered Nefertiti to create a screen of darkness around him as he retreated towards the EEC Warehouse. He did so stealthily and to enter it without opening the door, he teleported inside by sensing a space where he can fit in.

The place inside is filled with the people and the guards who fortified it. They seemed to have blocked the gate with a wall of crates to prevent the Cultists from breaking in.

They also had supplies and blankets but had too many injured people. This made Jon quietly fork out some of his potions and leave them in a crate they can easily discover.

He didn't reveal himself the whole time he was in there so that he can look for whatever the Cult was after quietly. After casting a dozen detection spells, Jon discovered nothing of value to the cult. It was just some mundane imports and exports and cheap magic items.

"Weird!" He exclaimed, "There isn't even any secret doorway or passage. The fuck they are after?"

He may have delayed their plans for an hour but the Cultist seemed persistent to get it. In order to prevent that, Jon cast a large protection rune on the warehouse gate and teleported out.

There is something he doesn't know and it is bothering him to no end. He tried to think left and right as he watched the cult's action from afar and still figured nothing out.

The problem here is that he can't interrogate the Cultists. The assassin ones who are wearing Dragon Priest masks are almost brain-dead. No matter how many times he tries to torture them or interrogate them, they just seem to feel no pain.

On the other hand, the Warrior Fanatics of the Cult would rather die than utter a word to him. They can go as far as biting their own tongues if Jon was ever to capture them.

Jon needed to take a breather and give this situation a thought.

"I don't get it. Alina said they have a hidden agenda. The Dragon Cult needs to kill more Nords to send their souls to Sovngarde and feed Alduin. That's how things should be. If the Cult wants to kill as many Nords in Solitude as much as possible then… how do I kill as many people as possible in Solit…"

Jon had to stop thinking at this moment. It wasn't because he was interrupted but because he had come to an idea and quite frankly… It terrified him.

This is not just going to kill everyone in Solitude… this may kill every living thing in Haafingar and the surrounding holds.

"Fuck fuck fu-fu-fu-fu-fu-fu-fu-FUUUUUCK!"

Jon could stand still no more and immediately teleported himself somewhere above Solitude.

"Shit! This can't be happening! Please tell me it is not happening! Just don't!"

As there were Dragons in the sky, Jon flew off completely undetected and headed far and deep towards the Blue Palace. He then took a nosedive down the city and off its rock to the other bank of the Karth river.

"Not here! Not here!" He looked left and right looking for a sign but there was nothing.

He almost felt at ease as his worst fear seemed to be off-point but as he flew under the city and above the river from the thinnest point of the rock carrying Solitude, he found the thing he feared.

Solitude is a city built on a high arc-like rock where the Karth River passes beneath to the Sea of Ghosts. The city always has that daring feeling to it since it was built so high on such a risky place which earned it its name, Solitude.

A city on such a magnificent rock.

But this daring idea is the thing that gave the Dragon Cult the sinister plan of taking down an entire city. And by taking it down, it meant literally bringing the city down.

Many Magic Scripts covered the bottom of the rock that carried the city and just from its appearance, Jon figured out it was meant to shatter the rocks.

"DISPEL!" Jon immediately aimed his staff and started taking down the runes.

He noticed that many Soul Gems were installed between the rocks to give power to the spells so he started aiming for th…

But he felt the world around him move against his will at an incredible speed. Before he knew it, he was inside the mouth of a dragon that snuck up on him and attacked out of nowhere.

"ARGH!"

The Dragon pressed with its fangs against Jon's chest causing him excruciating pain but he gathered his strength in his left arm, summoned his staff and aimed it at the Dragon's snot.

"Highly Concentrated Fart Explosion!"

A spell used by the students of the College of Winterhold to prank each other. Not in any time or space would one use it against a Dragon of all the mighty beings in the world but it was so effective that Jon was not only released away but tossed as far as the dragon could swing his neck.

"Zoirkbaan mun!" The Dragon couldn't help but curse the human calling him hateful.

While Jon was released and fell towards the river mouth, he immediately activated a teleport spell and returned back again under Solitude to dispel the remainder of the spells.

The Dragon wasn't really willing to give up either and returned towards Jon but rather than coming quietly like before, he came with a flaming breath seeking to cook the human before devouring him.

The Dragon closed on Jon at an incredible speed, the fire devoured the floating human and consumed him in no time before the Dragon's maw came in and swallowed the charred man.

But…

"ZOIRKBAAN!" The Dragon shouted from rage as it seemed that he was fooled by another trick where Jon left the Fart spell inside an illusion.

"Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you." Jon seemed to have been hiding all the way up and used this chance to attack the dragon from the back.

But just a second ago, he left Greed and Nefertiti in charge of dealing with the Soul Gems and the exploding runes as he had to deal with a Dragon.

The Dragon that Jon was facing was a green dragon with yellow serpentine eyes. Somehow, it felt venomous and savage.

"Stink Dragon." Jon pointed at the Dragon that landed on a large boulder in the middle of the river before starting to write it down on his note.

"A what?" The Dragon wasn't sure what he heard.

"Well, a nasty dragon such as yourself is definitely a Stink Dragon. The smell gives it away." Jon mocked.

"Joor! Hi Los dilon." The Dragon said one of the generic Dragon lines telling the mortal that he's done for.

"Here it comes." Jon put each hand on the opposite shoulder and with a straight posture, he jumped down towards the river and took a dive in the water.

The Dragon which chased Jon in the sky descended towards the water but seemed to be aware that Jon is preparing a trap.

"The water is not that cold, you know." However, he could still hear Jon's voice provoking him somehow, but even when he tried to ignore it, Jon found the Dragon's trigger right away, "Pussy!"

In a fit of rage, the Dragon took a dive after Jon and the river became quiet for a full minute before…

*SPLASH*

The Dragon got out of the river and tried to spread his wings to fly up but his tail seemed stuck and he failed to make flight before getting pulled back into the river again.

Ten seconds passed before the dragon made a more violent second attempt to leave the river but it wasn't any more successful than the one before.

After that, the river started to stir and swirl violently as many echoes came from its bed and tremors started to be felt in the ground. A few moments passed this way and many members of the Dragon Cult that were laying siege to the city came to check on the Dragon who was fighting an enemy.

After a minute, a golden bright light came from the river bed and the noises died down. As the night was cold and the river was half-frozen, no one dared to investigate any deeper into the river and waited for it all to be concluded.

And just like that, a man came from the river walking to its bank with his Aura covering him like flames and drying all the water on him which caused steam to rise. On the man's arms was another man who was carried like a princess and many were familiar with him as the red-haired maniac, Jon Dare.

"Oh, Dragonborn. I owe you yet again."

The Dragonborn put Jon Dare, who seemed to have been in a predicament, on the ground.

"No worries, Brother Jon. There's nothing such as debts between us." The Dragonborn replied.

The two men looked at each other with sparkly and warm eyes which caused all those seeing them to shudder in and out. Meanwhile, the two men had a different conversation as they grit their teeth.

"Mirren, you bastard. Stop making me look bad." Jon said as he was covering his mouth by fixing his Dragonborn helm.

"You teleported me in a frozen river, you bastard. You think I'll leave your fucking image be." Mirren replied as he was disguising as Jon.

"If Wulfur was available, he wouldn't have complained like you."

"You think I care? You Nords are animals in this cold. People can actually die freezing, you know."

"Bah! Bunch of milk drinkers."

Jon decided to quit squabbling with Mirren and passed him a sword.

"I don't know why but I can't seem to summon anyone from Winterhold here in Solitude. The Dragon's must have made a disturbance to isolate the two cities from linking to each other through Teleportation." Jon said.

"And I am the only bastard who was out of town." Mirren received the sword from Jon.

"Don't act angry, our gay scene is always worth it."

"Fuck you."

"Deal with the Cultists for me, I'll send Wrath as reinforcements." Jon said as he flew up to the city once again.

"Giving me an army of fanatics to deal with? You're a cold-hearted bitch." Mirren cussed at Jon but saw many Cultists coming his way.

"Jon Dare, today you die?" An Orc came towards him with a blade made of some weird materials.

"Don't guys like you ever learn? Jon Dare is practically the name of the Grand Champion of Cyrodiil which makes him the strongest Fighter in Tamriel by default. He's a mass murderer, you know." Mirren asked.

"Die!"

The Orc rushed Mirren with frightening momentum but who is Mirren if not a world-class Arcane Trickster?

Mirren deflected the blade and threw the Orc off balance before aiming his finger against his opponent's forehead and flicking it with a lightning spell.

"Thunder Cookie! No… Jon uses his whole fist." Mirren contemplated.

Whether it was a Thunder Cookie or a Thunder Flick, the Orc had a hole in his head where there was supposed to be none and died on the spot while having his brain getting fried from inside.

"No!" Seeing that, the Argonian who was leading the siege on the Dockyard, Bites-on-Bones, couldn't help but feel vexed that such a strong warrior fell like nothing against the infamous Jon Dare.

Even if they can overwhelm him with numbers, Jon Dare is known as one of the strongest in Tamriel.

"Distract him. We need to activate the Runes." The Argonian said to his second in command.

"But we still haven't added the last part of the runes under the city directly." The second in command replied.

"There is no time and the only way to get there is the Warehouse. This will do enough damage." The Argonian didn't take no for an answer and instructed his men, "Tell the Warmongers to go for the kill, and us followers of the great Secret Dragon Horde shall put on our masks and wait for Lord Nahlot's commands."

***

As the battle raged on this front, three individuals stood to watch the pillars of smoke rise from Solitude.

"The Followers of the Great Cult shall execute the plan prematurely. It seems that the Dragonborn appeared too early." A man wearing a great robe and a pale Dragon Priest mask spoke.

"Well, we have done our part of the deal and smuggled your people into Solitude in my caravan. But you promised us that your Dragons will kill Jon Dare." Beside him, a woman spoke with all the hate and malice in the world.

"Silence, woman! You and your Wizard promised us that you would keep an eye on the Dragonborn. Due to that incompetence, one of the Dragon Lords has perished under the river."

"We had a deal. Tell your Dragons…"

"DISRESPECTFUL!" The Dragon Priest shouted at the woman and his voice carried a very strong and mysterious power similar to that of the Dragons as he aimed his staff towards her.

Maven Black-Briar and the Arch-Wizard with her, the one called Mecinar, felt the immense power coming from the Dragon Priest. However, Mecinar was his match as he held out his right hand and stopped the Staff of the Dragon Priest. Surprisingly, it was an arm made of dwarven metal that is very durable against magic, a prosthetic arm.

"My friend… Nahlot, was it?" Mecinar spoke slyly, "I mean no disrespect of course but our deal was to keep the people of Winterhold from Teleporting here. Whether the Dragonborn was in Winterhold or not is something that you people assumed on your own accord."

"You're questioning the ability of the Secret Dragon Horde?" The Dragon Priest Nahlot didn't seem to be a very open-minded character and reacted with anger.

"Not at all. I wouldn't have provided you with those scrolls if I didn't." Mecinar said.

"You provided them with scrolls?" Maven asked as this was news to her, "What scrolls?"

"Oh, lady Maven. I forgot to mention." Mecinar smiled, "I just provided them with minor magic scrolls for combat use. Nothing but a small tip in the spirit of our alliance."

"Hmph! That and with the funds I provided to your Cult, I expect success." Maven added.

Nahlulot looked between the two poisonous people but deeper towards Mecinar who seemed as powerful as he is if not more.

"The Dragonborn, Jon Dare, and all those who show hostility towards the Great Dragon Cult shall witness an unforgettable night no matter what tricks the unbelievers may use." Nahlot said, "Just wait and see."

The Unholy Allied Trinity of Maven, Mecinar, and Nahlot watched the situation unfold as they held their powers for the big moment. Bringing down a city is surely some big business but Nahlot and Micenar had two different plans in mind.

The night was just beginning and the Dragons danced in the sky.

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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️