My impending and certain doom is postponed thankfully, as a cough that was more of a gurgle drew our eyes away from each other. The hole-riddled form of Tsun stood there looking at us both with eyes filled with respect as his numerous wounds could be seen closing down in real time.
As a thank you for no doubt saving me I immediately blasted the man/god with a wave of healing magic, the spell spreading out to the rest of them but doing nothing as they were all purely soul-based beings.
They were getting healed by Sovengarde itself though so they should be out of danger now.
Tsun gave me a quick grateful nod before refocusing on the triumphant hero of prophesy.
Minthara being a rather self-conscious person whenever her emotions aren't behind the proverbial wheels immediately backs off with a blush and meets the massive lesser god's eyes. Her yet-sharp gaze softens immediately as she sees his state but relaxes just as quickly as she realizes he would live.
A few seconds later, his throat is healed and he speaks with some difficulty "Dragonborn" He looks to me and nods "Dagoth" Before looking back at her "Your deed this day is one of the mightiest I have ever had the privilege of beholding" He offers us both an earnest bow "The halls of Shor shall sing of your valor until the end of time."
Those heroes who are able to stand, and even some who are not, begin banging on their shields and weapons in a slow salute.
"Our deed?" Minthara asks with some minor annoyance "I do believe it wasn't just the two of us" She gives me a light glare "Who battled the beast." She shakes her head and raises her hammer, the amulet on her neck glowing with power "No, it was all of us who fell the wyrm! So celebrate your own deeds as you would ours for you have proven your valor a thousand times over on this day!"
The previously solemn banging swiftly turns into a roaring cheer, or merrily raised limbs in the case of those who could not quite yet speak.
"Your words are as mighty as your hammer it would seem" Tsun smiles at her "And ye-"
Before he can finish speaking we all feel a burst of power come from Alduin's corpse. My eyes immediately narrow and Blasphemy is already in my hands and a shout on my lips by the time I turn around only to find a black mist slowly wafting off the fallen dragon's corpse.
"Oh no you don't." I growl and replace my glaive with the Mortal's Razor.
But a distant yet omnipresent stare stops me in my tracks as I feel a duo of grand golden eyes stare down at me. I stare back without fear, my hand still clutching at my weapon as the nearly incomprehensible being that was Akatosh temporarily ceased tugging at his son's soul.
Then a series of images began bombarding myself and Minthara, whose presence I could feel being a part of the 'conversation'. Images of praise and glory for us came from the Chief Divine but also images of temperance and of caution as he effectively explained that he was not trying to save Alduin's soul but make sure his power could not be taken by anyone.
Part of me considered pointing out that Minthara should have it but a larger one knew that she was nowhere near ready to handle that kind of thing yet, and neither was I for that matter.
Something Akatosh noticed almost immediately as his eyes shone with approval and a downright ginormous clawed hand appeared in our not-quite-sights as he pointed at his newest child and promptly blasted her with a wave of golden power easily equivalent to a dozen dragon souls and all of it made to fit her perfectly. A small sliver of it also entered my own amulet, giving it a nice little boost.
In the next instant the vision was gone, as was Alduin's body and soul, not even the scales were left behind for me to tinker with as they no doubt held some of the divinity held by the fucker... and Akatosh had just finessed me out of said bits by distracting me...
'Whatever' I roll my eyes and turn back to the heroes 'I was too tired for this shit anyway'
Minthara soon joined me as well, even if she looked to be quite distracted by the new power boost. She shakes her head and wisely shoves it for later "You were about to say something?" She asks Tsun as if nothing had just happened.
Something the minor god wisely follows as he nods "Indeed Dragonborn." He pauses hesitantly before continuing "The souls of the still living are not meant to be in this place for long, and while you have earned your spot a thousand times over I recommend against remaining any longer."
He then gives me a long look but says nothing, the implication that I could probably exist in Lorkhan's domain permanently quite clear to the both of us but neither he or I wanted me to stay here.
"Already sick of us, eh?" Minthara huffs, a thin smile on her lips.
"Apologies" Tsun bows his head "Though know that your mighty deed will not go unrewarded by us, even if I can feel your own divine sire has taken care of that quite thoroughly."
She crosses her arms and gives him a smug look "More power is always good."
"Indeed, Dragonborn" Tsun moves out of the way as Ysgramor steps forward, followed closely by Jurgen Windcaller whose throat had yet to heal from being ripped out and a hesitant Ulfric Stormcloak "You have earned the allegiance of the Hall of Valor, and for that we offer you our aid whenever and wherever you may call us."
Jurgen inclines his head and his voice manifests all around us "When aid you require, simply voice these words and we shall answer... HUN KAAL ZOR!"
She leans away for a moment and then blinks, a radiant smile overtaking her expression "Thanks, I will be sure to not to throw you lot at all of my enemies."
"Hesitate not, sister." Ysgramor grins "This great battle has awakened my thirst for glory and merely wasting away my afterlife in a... what did you call it?" He tilts his head and pretends to think "A pointless existence? It just won't do." He smirks as she looks away earning a chuckle from all of us.
"Can someone please help me up already?" A frustrated and oddly familiar voice calls from below us, swiftly revealing a quite thoroughly bifurcated Gormlaith glaring at us from the dirt "Some gentlemen you are, not helping a woman just because she has her guts out!" She huffs, much to the roaring laughter of her peers.
Noticing my confused look, Tsun gives me a mildly smug one in turn "They are souls, child. All who were not devoured will recover after a time."
Both of my eyebrows shoot up in surprise and I swiftly shake away a relieved smile. While I did respect the heroes of Sovengarde somewhat I did not hesitate for even a second to use them all as disposable cannon fodder, in fact I did not so much as blink as they were torn apart and flattened by the dozens each second as the battle went on.
The fact that most of them would recover after a undetermined amount of time was a nice balm on my own callous decisions.
'And speaking of recovery...' My mind supplied and I turned away from the raucous bunch who were already bringing out the drinks and pestering Minthara with congratulations.
As much as I had proven myself to them in battle and by quite thoroughly fucking Alduin up they were all hesitant to turn to me as I was still very much so an outsider, and I preferred it that way as these were people I would most likely never see again.
Ignoring the slightest tinge of disappointment that disappeared as swiftly as it came I moved towards the crumpled form of Akulakhan Junior, the light of his aetherium core shining through the numerous rents in his armor as his remaining glowing purple eyes tared up at me.
"Master." The automaton tried to rise but I halted him with a nudge of telekinesis.
"Anything critical?" I ask as I begin examining the damage, thankfully all of it was quite fixable even outside of his 'regeneration' "No damage to the core?"
"None." He responds, an almost static-like quality to his voice. A silent moment passes before he speaks up again "I have failed you, my master."
An eyebrow quirks on its own as I give him a sideways glance "How so?"
"More than once I fell to a single strike."
"And what, feeling sorry for yourself?" I ask with a scoff as I send a wave of Magicka-infused noise at his vocal cord equivalent.
He hesitates but answers after a moment "I should not be feeling this." He states simply "I am a tool, not some weakness-cursed meatbag who wallows in his own misery."
I give him a long look, pausing my repairs for a moment to consider my words before speaking "For a creature who had just began developing a soul from sheer power and deed I don't think you calling yourself deficient really fits."
He stills "A... soul?"
"Yup." I smack my lips and nod, it was a tiny newborn thing that now occupied his aetherium core, the mere existence of which filled me with both annoyance and pride. It was almost like watching a kid grow up, though admittedly more of a pet-like relation than one's own child...
Damn that was messed up.
"Just don't worry yourself over it too much." I chuckle as I begin levitating him up and ensuring nothing was about to blow up "You will have all the time in the world to come to terms with your new level of existence, and don't you even dare say something stupid like I should remove it so you can serve me better."
Him remaining completely silent says enough about that.
Knowing that there would be no true consequence, I shoved him into my storage and walked back to the group of heroes who were now frantically gathering the remains of their fellows, the soul-meat wiggling about as it tried crawling back together on sheer instinct and divine blessing.
Kinda disgusting now that I think about it.
"Done saying your goodbyes?" I ask Minthara as I approach her from her left.
"Yeah..." She says quietly, refusing to look at me for the moment "It is sad that we are leaving so quickly. They've all grown on me."
"Well it isn't like you won't be able to summon them whenever you wish." I chuckle and look to Tsun "Ready to do whatever it is you were intending?"
He nods "Indeed, just say the word and I will send you back to Nirn."
Minthara gives the heroes one last look as they offer a final salute to us with their weapons raised, and nods at Tsun.
"Return now to the bounty of Nirn, heroes great!" He proclaims after a moment's pause "And may we welcome you both back after your time upon the lands is done! NAHL DAAL VUS!"
A wave of power hits us and we are gone.
------
The first thing we hear as we are transposed by Tsun's shout (A small part of me wanted to wring his neck for only now 'remembering' something that could banish someone from Sovengarde but I doubted it was powerful enough to contest with Alduin's voice and power) Were the numerous shouts of dragons whose presence I could feel even before my eyes rapidly readjusted to our new environment.
The four or so dozen dragons all sounded downright jubilant as they declared to the world "ALDUIN MAHLAAN!" In almost perfect synchronicity... almost as if they were beginning some kind of obituary chant a small part of me noted "SAHROT THUR QAHRAAN!"
"Dovahkiin" The calm voice of Paarthurnax draws me from the skyborne spectacle "It is done then? Alduin is slain?" He asks hesitantly.
Knowing that Paarthurnax still partly loved his older brother Minthara did not gloat and instead nodded "He is dead." Her tone one of finality.
"He has brought his fate upon himself." The old dragon laments and lowers his head "I know this as I know the sun rises in the east and yet he was my brother once and I will mourn him for many passes of the moons. The world shall never be the same."
"ALDUIN MAHLAAN!" The skyborne dragons declare again "DOVAHKIIN LOS DOVAHKRIID!"
"Perhaps, Zeymah" The only other dragon who did not join the dance in the skies speaks up as Krein steps forward "It is time you moved on from that ancient conflict. Timeborne we may be but timeless in truth we are not, and living in but one moment is to turn our boon into a curse."
"ALDUIN MAHLAAN!" The not-quite-dirge continues "THU'UMII LOS NAHLOT!"
"You speak wisdom brother." Paarthurnax lets out a long exhale "But it will take me much to move on from this."
"Not if I have anything to say about it..." I hear Minthara mutter to herself, her devious streak no doubt already at work to kick ole' partysnacks into gear.
The dragons begin landing all around us, occupying the jagged rocks and peaks surrounding the clearing at the throat of the world "Alduin Mahlaan!" They all intone as one and all as one lower their heads "DOVAHKIIN LOS THUR!"
'Well now...' I smirked, my thoughts already considering the implications.
Minthara on the other hand... just gawked.
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HUN KAAL ZOOR = Hero Champion Legend
NAHL DAAL VUS = Living Return Nirn
ALDUIN MAHLAAN = Alduin has fallen
SAHROT THUR QAHRAAN = The great overlord is vanquished
DOVAHKIIN LOS OK DOVAHKRIID = Slain by the Dragonborn
THU'UMII LOS NAHLOT = His voice is silenced
DOVAHKIIN LOS THUR = Our lord is now the Dragonborn
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Methinks a stone or five are in order.
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