Not Alone (A Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

     Do not fail.  The words echoed in my head as I mindlessly slaughtered yet another Seeker, heading slowly but inevitably to Miraak.  I had found four different books, each named for an object located on an altar in the center of a room with four paths intersecting at the middle.  Near the end of the fight was always the hardest place of a tomb, cave, or dungeon to get through, so why should Apocrypha be any different?

     I knew I wasn’t in my right mind right now.  I was enraged over Storn’s death, and although I knew it was Hermaeus Mora who had actually killed him, Miraak was someone I could actually fight.  Killing him might not make it right, but at least then Storn’s sacrifice would not be in vain. 

     Yes, I knew I wasn’t thinking straight, and I didn’t care.

     Suddenly out of nowhere came the roar of a dragon, but I was not afraid of it.  I waited calmly until I could see the serpentine beast emerge from the gloom of Apocrypha.  “Gol- Hah Dov!” I Shouted.  Instead of rushing down to attack me, the dragon landed with a heavy thump. 

     “Miraak has forced me to serve him for too long.  Nahkriin saraan lingrah.  Let us destroy him together.”  The dragon turned its neck to the side, waiting for me to climb on. 

     Even in my current state of mind I knew that riding a dragon that had been Miraak’s servant for thousands of years was not a good idea, but there was no other way.  I stared hungrily at the summit only a few hundred yards away.  There was no way to reach it unless I could fly.

     I climbed on, and the dragon took off with a roar.  I felt the rush of wind and breathed in deep, preparing myself to fight.  My body trembled, not with fear, but anticipation.

     “Beware; Miraak is strong.  He knew you would come here.”  I felt the dragon’s powerful sides rumbling as he spoke.  I was here, and I would not be swayed again.

     The dragon landed on a wide open circular space.  Miraak was there, standing in the same guise as I had last seen him.  Two serpentine dragons flanked him, mouths gaping slightly open, saliva dripping from their reptilian lips.  They too were itching for a fight.

     “Sahrotaar, are you so easily swayed?”  My dragon said nothing, only curled his lips at his former master.

     Miraak turned to face me.  “And so the First Dragonborn meets the Last Dragonborn at the summit of Apocrypha.  No doubt just as Hermaeus Mora intended.  He is a fickle master, you know.  But now I will be free of him.  My time in Apocrypha is over.  You are here in your full power, and thus subject to my full power.  You will die.  And with the power of your soul, I will return to Solstheim and be master of my own fate again.  Kruziikrel!  Relonikiv!  Now!”

     I ducked behind a stack of books, wincing as the heat of flames from both the dragons’ mouths washed around me.  To my surprise the books didn’t catch fire.  I heard Sahrotaar’s roar as he darted into the air.  Both the other dragons followed him, chasing after him as he led them in contorted maneuvers around the summit of Apocrypha.  I jumped out from behind the books and unleashed two fireballs at Miraak. 

     “Wuld!”  He used Whirlwind Sprint to effortlessly dodge the missiles, and shot some of his lightning at me, which I also managed to avoid.  I dashed toward him, drawing my Daedric sword at the same time.  He raised his staff at me, and I prepared myself to deal with whatever the weapon would do.

     I could not have possibly been more unprepared.  Instead of shooting it directly at me, he shot the ground just in front of me.  A writhing mass of dark tentacles sprouted up out of the ground.  I tried to jump over them, but one latched around my ankle, pulling me heavily to the ground.  Miraak was there in an instant, cutting down at my neck with a sword.  I slashed the weapon aside with my own and cut the tentacle in the same movement, then rolled to the side as Miraak’s blade came down once again.  Kicking out with my boot I managed to catch him in the foot, tripping him and causing him to fall almost on his own tentacles.  I jumped to my feet, but Miraak was somehow also on his feet.  We closed with each other, only to leap away as the warring dragons dashed directly overhead, shaking the earth with the thunder of their wings.  I shot another fireball at Miraak, hoping to catch him unprepared, but he was too quick and avoided it once more.  Instead of retaliating with his lightning, this time he used the Fire Breath Shout.  “Yol… Toor Shul!” I managed to dodge this as well, if falling flat on your stomach can be called a dodge.  He was on me in an instant, once more going for the killing blow, but I Shouted “Fus Ro Dah!” and threw him off me with the Unrelenting Force Shout, the very first I had learned.