I gave the dragons another glance, while they roared a challenge, neither side made the first move. My instincts were telling me that this pair were a level above that one we fought previously. It was hard to gauge where they fell on a sliding power scale for the moment, but I was on guard.
Not to mention their Thu'um would always give me cause for concern.
Meridia said that Thorum had many eyes on him, and I only knew the vague details about a sort of prophecy regarding him as a 'Dragonborn' that affected the world.
"Wuld Nah Kest!" Thorum shouted, making the first move as he turned into a whirlwind, charging at his chosen opponent with a very impressive speed. The baleful aura of Gram covering him, soaking the air in its hate, its desire to slay these draconic foes
It made me shudder slightly. I had underestimated this weapon from my birth world. While I would still call it inferior to my Ascalon, it was still impressive by itself.
"Fo Krah Diin!" The Dragon countered, not taken off guard by Thorum's sudden attack. A cold air manifested, bursting out of the dragon's mouth. The cold rivaling my own Freezing Winds of Jotunheim, perhaps even a little colder. It hampered Thorum enough that his sudden burst of speed didn't give him the initiative.
"STRUN BA QO" A shout bellowed from above, echoing throughout the area. The sudden shift of weather immediately grabbed my attention as I had to look away from Thorum's fight.
My wings burst out from my back, and I shot into the air. Massive bolts of lightning having thorn up the spot I was in a moment prior.
The lightning weaved around the air, arcing and jolting in every direction as it attempted to connect with me. The sky above was overcome with this Dragon's magics, an impressive display that I would have admired had I had time to mull it over.
I climbed high up, the dragon mirroring my ascent as it came after me, snarling and rage in its eyes.
I don't know what happened for these dragons to despise me so much, but they clearly wished to end me.
A greater ward manifested in my free hand, dispersing a bolt of lightning. It gave me a moment to cast an Ebony Flesh and a Reinforcement over my body. My Dragon Heart beat fast in my chest and my devil blood anticipated the fight with glee.
With another thought, I willed the Boosted Gear onto my hand.
"[Finally]" Ddraig happily exclaimed as we continued to move into the unnatural clouds above. I rolled to the side, the unrelenting storm of lightning still descended on me as I got closer. The angry dragon was fast, it was already biting on my heels since I had to take a moment or two to dodge every time a bolt of lightning came at me.
My Aura flared, the iridescent light cascading all around me as the lightning splashed against the phenomena that enveloped my entire body. With Aura and my enhancement spells in full effect, I could practically ignore the smaller assaults.
"Boost" I added on a single boost to enhance my physical abilities a step further. The dragon that was nipping on my heels was suddenly befuddled when a boom erupted behind me. With a wave of my hand, Whisper shot out of my ring and towards the gathered clouds.
"ABOMINATION, YOU HAVE APPEARED." The dragon roared at Ddraig's presence. "GAAH LAH HAAS" It shouted again.
A red aura burst out from the dragon and came at me with a speed I couldn't dodge. No, it was like it was undodgeable, speed was not a factor.
Suddenly, I felt slightly weakened, my Aura flared in response but noticably dimmed.
Did…..it curse me?
That was the only summarization I could come to in this brief moment.
It wasn't just my physical abilities it felt like my soul got heavier as well, more lethargic, as if my vitality was being drained.
It was enough that dozens of lightning bolts fell from clouds above, shattering my Ebony Flesh and taking a chunk out of my aura. I even felt some faint burning on my arms.
A type of power that bends the will of the world, targeting someone as a curse.
Scary.
I growled in annoyance.
That caught me off guard.
I stopped my ascent, turning to face the oncoming dragon.
"Boost" I called out again, letting my physical abilities double once again, regaining some sense of normalcy with this strange magic encompassing me.
My swords flashed out, hovering around me and sweeping out at oncoming lightning bolts. This spell or whatever the dragon used was coming increasingly annoying. Something I wanted to emulate in the future, but annoying all the same.
More shouts left its mouth, flames spewed forth in torrents, and we continued to play a small came of tag, where a single misstep left either of us impaled or turned to ash.
It was surprisingly nimble in the air with its body size, and I had to admit, it had more experience fighting this way then I did.
A mental note to get more flying experience was filed away for later.
Letting go of Mirage to hover nearby, Ascalon entered my hand. Sword shining bright, the most recent torrent of fire was slashed through and I dived towards my airborn foe.
"WHAT IS THAT?" It roared in confusion, it's face looking a mixture of shock and fear.
Ascalon's dragon slaying properties sang forth in that moment of opening as I stabbed into its open chest.
The scales and tough hide were irrelevant as my sword pierced into the dragon. It let out another roar of anger and confusion, its nearly impenetrable, hide by mortal standards, had been found wanting with an ease that could cause pause in the strongest dragons.
It didn't betray its age nor strength, it recovered quickly, sweeping its entire body in an air, forcing me to either dislodge the blade or abandon it. Pulling my blade free, I ducked back, barely dodging a swipe of its tail as it flipped in the air.
An admirable ability to keep its moment and not start hurling down to the ground from such a maneuver.
"FUS ROH DAH" It bellowed, a shout I was more than familiar with.
The force rippled through the air, an invisible shockwave. Perhaps it was my inexperience that left me vulnerable in this position, not having time to move out of the way with its linked attacks.
I instead brought my sword up and channeled my magical energy "Ascalon!"
The Noble Phantasm, the blessed blade by which force is slain. It moved in ways that seemed impossible to counteract this invisible force that pressed on me. The conceptual sword met the world-bending attack, of which could blow away a stone tower with relative ease.
I felt a recoil in my arms, a side effect of the abilities' nature not being a singular direct attack but rather an all encompassing force. But my sword held strong, and my body laid unmolested besides some minor aching.
"My turn." I grabbed the dragon's attention, it's confusion still written on its face, but it was snapped out of its stupor by my words. My arms waved in the air and the clouds above us distorted.
They, who had been coalesced out of the intent left behind by the dragon's Thu'um.
They were usurped by me. My Whisper returning to my side after the Runic spell had actualized.
The magics the dragon laid onto the world to force their cohesion was broken apart by me and repurposed for my spell. A familiar silhouette formed of lightning, large hammer in hand as I gestured and it raised it high in the sky.
"Thor's Hammer!"
The massive lightning hammer was brought down, dwarfing the figure of the dragon as I moved out of the way at my quickest speed.
The lightning crackled, the scales and skin of the dragon charred and burst open at the powerful attack.
"L-LOK VAH KOR" It shouted once again, strained and full of pain. As the words left its maw, an invisible force spread out and all the clouds, the lightning, all weathering effects in the area dissipated at an astonishing speed. For as far as I could see, this high up in the air, there were no clouds in the sky, all the way up to the horizon.
The dragon began falling backwards towards the ground, its wings not looking too good but they tried to flap to regain some kind of momentum for continued flight.
I shot down, sword nearby.
"Boost" I called out one last time, colliding with its underbelly. My swords followed suit, impaling themselves on its exposed underside.
Wounds littered its tattered hide, its vibrant red hue was dampened and charred at the high heat and voltage of my lightning
The dragon accelerated to the ground as I jumped off at the last moment. A huge mound of earth displaced and bursting into the surroundings as a new crater was created.
I floated down lazily, the dragon still barely moving, twitching, trying to force itself into an upright position.
Tenacious if nothing else. I don't think its wings could provide flight anymore.
Landing on its underside again, it let out a pained groan. I reached forward, grasping my Sword of Destruction and fed it my Aura.
It erupted in my bloodline ability, my Power of Destruction and the dragon began to wither away and dissipate at the point of origin.
It failed and roared, but it was on its last legs.
While being stronger than that other one, this one didn't seem too impressive by itself. Maybe that's why it joined up with the other to target Thorum?
My gut was telling me that this one wasn't indicative of their race's overall strength.
"RED DRAGON EMPEROR" It roared one final time, as my Power of Destruction took its life.
I was slightly surprised it called me by that title, but I could only sigh remembering the conversation with that Grey Beard from last time I was here.
[Hehehehehe]
It was hard to resist the urge to face palm from heading Ddraig's giggling.
I withdrew my Power of Destruction with a forceful thought. It was still a little difficult to control and not always wanted to listen to me when I needed a gentler touch. I didn't wish to start destroying this things soul, at the very least, I wanted to help Thorum get a little stronger.
I made sure this dragon was dead, Ascalon flashed out and severed its head.
The last time did make me a bit cautious in that regard.
Never thought I would be using a dragon's head as a seat, but here I was. I got a little comfortable as I watched the end of Thorum's fight.
The dragon never took too high off the ground, almost like it was brawling with my friend.
Actually, that's exactly how I could describe this fight. Magical brawling. The Dragon's tail whipping out, Thorum swinging his sword to cleave chunks out of its skin, only to be daught by the dredges of some Dragon Fire.
They were just trading attacks like….., I wanted to call them idiots, but glass houses and all that.
I just sighed, as Thorum finally ran his sword through the dragon.
There were no words of anger or taunting. The dragon looked almost respectful towards him, a large difference from my fight.
Thorum also gave a respectful nod to the dragon as its body dissipated and the soul flowed into his body. Almost immediately, though, he turned to me with that big goofy smile, like he wanted to show off his kill.
He walked towards me happily, Gram lifted up on his shoulder. "It looks like I lost." Though there was only happiness in his voice.
"It was close." I offered, though my fight consisted of a lot more running around.
He gave a good natured laugh, approaching the dragon I was sitting caused it to decompose similar to the ones I've seen previously.
The golden light that I assumed was it soul flew out into Thorum almost unnaturally quickly, like it was desperate to get away from me.
"Oh, I didn't mean to…"
"It's alright." I waived him off, I honestly didn't think I could 'drink' a dragon soul anyways. "Besides, you owe me a proper drink later."
"Aye! I sure do."
We shared a look for a moment before Thorum moved over and wrapped his arms around me in one quick motion.
"My friend it's been too long, you have been sorely missed."
You big idiot. "I missed you too, Thorum." I pat his back as he tried to squeeze the life out of me.
"You must tell me of your adventures in this past month! Especially over a cold mead among friends, I'm sure the others will welcome your return!" He loudly proclaimed.
Well, I'm sure some people will be happy. I wasn't exactly looking forward to stepping into Whiterun's political scene again, but that seemed inevitable at this point.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you what I've been up to." I smiled. "But you gotta tell me what's happened to you as well,."
"Haha, fair is fair." He nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Come, the drinks are waiting."
Gods I missed this.
Though, I eyed the dragon bones on the ground.
I would happily grab those first.
***
Sorry for the late release, got a bit distracted. So, Mc and Thorum going ot catch up after taking care of a couple lower end dragons. MC gets a kick in the shin as a reminder that things that bend the world deserve a bit more respect even if the opponent is weaker than himself.
Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone.