Stepping out of the portal, we found ourselves standing in a massive, windswept prairie dotted with the disembodied souls of the recently departed living. Wandering around taking in the beauty of Sovngarde, they were completely oblivious to our presence here. Startled by the number young men and women around us, Aela and Lydia quickly pieced together that they were victims of this damned civil war.
"While I would love to stay and admire the beauty of this realm, we cannot linger here. Alduin and his forces will be upon us soon, and this is no place to make our stand.", I said, proceeding toward a distant rocky outcropping that was familiar to me, "Follow me, I believe I know where the Hall of Valor is. We can hopefully secure a few more allies to make this fight easier for all of us."
"Wait a moment!", Aela protested, turning her attention to the lingering spirits, "Hear me, my brothers and sisters, Alduin the World Eater is on his way here to devour all of you. Please follow us, we can ensure he does not fill his gullet with your souls!"
Expecting them to turn and follow us, when none of them so much as glanced in her direction, the color from her face disappeared. Trying once more to warn them of the impending danger, Serana broke the unfortunate news to her.
"Aela, they cannot hear us because we are living beings, and they are souls. You are wasting your time trying to warn them, I am sorry.", Serana remarked.
"What about your necromancy? Can you use it to communicate with them?", Aela inquired, with a hopeful smile.
"That could work, yes, but I do not have the time to cast the spells needed to do it. Not only that, as a Daughter of Coldharbour, it could result in me being ejected from this realm.", Serana replied, with an apologetic look, "I truly am sorry Aela."
"Victor is there anything you can do to help these people?", Aela asked, with a pleading expression, "Many Nords spend their entire lives looking forward to sharing in the splendor of Shor's Hall. While I do not share that dream, I cannot stand idly by while my kin lose their existence at the footsteps of their paradise. Even if I must face the Alduin and his hordes alone, I do so willingly for my Shield-Brother and Shield-Sisters."
Knowing just how much reaching Sovngarde meant for her kin, Aela's sense of duty refused to let her abandon them in their moment of need. Willing to throw away her own life and afterlife for her fellow Nords, she was every bit the honorable and proud women I knew she was.
"Aela, I would never walk away and abandon you or anyone else in my family. When I offered to spend the rest of my life with you, my intention was for better or for worse. No matter who our opponent is, I will always be right beside you through it all.", I proclaimed, as I channeled my Force Energy, "Hear me, Sons and Daughters of Skyrim, Alduin the World Eater is on his way to Sovngarde to feast upon your souls. Rally at Shor's Hall of Valor so that we may slay the foul beast together and end his reign of terror on these hollowed shores. To arms!"
Hearing me loud and clear, all the spirits in the prairie began racing toward the whalebone bridge. Satisfied that we had given them a fighting chance, all of us continued toward the outcropping in the distance. Knowing what lay on the other side, I chose to keep it a secret as Shor's Hall was quite a sight to behold. Racing around the outer edge of the outcropping, the women let out a series of gasps as their eyes fell upon the Hall of Valor then the Nord Army that stood in front of the whalebone bridge.
"By Ysmir's beard, those are Shor and Tsun!!", Lydia said, looking toward the two towering men leading the army, "If they are here to aid us, Alduin will surely fall this day!"
"Victor, did you by chance call them out of the hall?", Serana asked, wary of what might happen to her, "Some of those present are bound to have a grudge against my family for our part in helping Lord Molag Bal's invasion of Tamriel."
"They may also take offense with me as well for giving my soul to Hircine. It was the price I paid to inherit the wolf's blood from my mother.", Aela stated, having not foreseen this possibility.
"I did not summon them, but I will protect you if they choose violence.", I assured them, "Stay close by me till we ascertain their position on both of you."
Nodding their heads, the two women took up positions either side of me and kept their heads down avoiding the gazes that fell upon us. Maintaining stone faced expressions, Shor and Tsun stared at me for a few moments before reaching out their hands for a handshake. Assuming this was a test to see what kind of man I was, I retracted my gauntlets and clasped their hands firmly. Returning the gesture in kind, their bones began to creak as they attempted to crush my hands. Stopping after a moment, both men let go of me and nodded with satisfaction.
"Well met, Otherworlder. We bid you welcome to Sovngarde and the world of Nirn.", Tsun said, with a pleased smile, "Forgive our wariness, the last few groups of Otherworlders that visited Nirn came with the intention of enslaving its people or stripping the world of its natural resources. We were uncertain if you were like them, but our handshake confirmed that your heart is full adventure and curiosity, not conquest and greed."
"It is an honor to meet both of you as well. The Nords hold you both in high regard, and I can understand why after meeting both of you.", I replied, with a respectful nod, "May I assume that your armed presence here is an indication that you are here to aid in our battle with Alduin and his forces?"
"That is indeed correct, your two lovers may be at ease. Though they have chosen to travel different paths, none here seeks to pass judgement upon them for following their hearts.", Shor remarked, with a soft smile, "That said, I do hope that both of you will one day rejoin the fold before your time comes. I would gladly welcome you both as Shield-Sisters."
Hearing Shor call her my lover, Serana opened her mouth to refute him but quickly stopped herself from doing so. Taking a moment to reflect on everything that had happened recently, she looked at my fiancées and I for a second till a realization dawned on her. She had grown to cherish the friendship and warmth we shared with her, but there was more to it than that. Even though Serana had been with us only a few days, she already saw herself as a member of our family. While she still loved Valerica deeply, everything she had ever wanted her family to be was now right beside her in us.
"I can assure you, Young One, that you will find no equal to this man among the mortal realms. He is an exceedingly rare man that has both the strength and tenacity of a powerful warrior, and the heart and mind of a wise sage.", Shor remarked, looking at me with a grin, "The people of this world have grown complacent and lax during this time of relative peace. Meeting you gives me hope that one day soon the people of Nirn will again begin to hone their skills and improve themselves as you consistently do. I know you are not of this world, but your presence here may serve to spur the people forward to brighter future for all who call Nirn home."
"I thank you for words of praise.", I said, lowering my head to him, "As for you, Serana, I will not strong arm you into joining my family, but I would certainly be happy to have you."
"The more I think about it, the more I am certain my mother is hoping for the same outcome.", Serana laughed, with a brilliant smile, "I do not know why you want to be with a screwed-up vampire like me with mountains of family and individual trauma, but…I would be happy to be part of this family. Everyone here has shown me just what I was missing in my life, and I do not ever want to go back to the way I was before. While it will take me some time to adjust to this dynamic, thank you for having me."
"It is good to have you along for this crazy ride!", Clarice giggled, pulling her into a hug.
Quickly embracing her from all angles, everyone hugged her tightly and welcomed her to the family. Overwhelmed by the show of love we were giving her; Serana began to tear up a bit as she had never experienced so much of it before. Opening her mouth to say something, a loud dragon roar in the distance snapped us all back to reality. Letting go of one another, each of us prepared ourselves for a rough fight.
"Shield-Brothers and Shield-Sisters, steel yourselves! The World Eater and his host has arrived upon our doorstep!", Shor proclaimed, raising his war hammer high above his head, "The battle here today will be sung about in both the Hall of Valor and the World of the Living!"
Answering Shor's call to arms with resolute battle cries, the Nords raised their shields and weapons ready for a grueling battle. Feeling the ground beneath our feet begin to tremble, thousands of Draugr and other monsters began to surge around and over the outcropping. Believing we should conserve our main forces for the dragons themselves, I stepped forward to deal with the horde.
"Allow me to begin this fight!", I proclaimed, gathering an ungodly amount of dragonic mana, "Shul Ag Dilon!!"
(AN: Sun, Burn, Dead.)
Enveloping the entirety of the prairie in golden fire, the Draugr and the other undead monsters vanished within moments of the flames touched them. Taking inspiration from Dawnbreaker and the Emperor's Flaming Sword, I created a shout that would erase all my undead foes from existence. Surprised to learn that I was quite proficient in the use of the dragon tongue, Shor and Tsun praised me for my quick comprehension and understanding of the Thu'um.
"There, I see the World Eater and four other dragons!!", one of the Ancient Nords called out, drawing our attention to five small dots that were heading toward us from high in the sky.
'Even though he is up against two deities, an army of angry Nords, and a group of Otherworlders, Alduin still chooses to stick to normal dragonic tactics. How arrogant of him.', I thought, as Julnirsov had told me quite a lot about dragon battle tactics during our long flights, "Felldir, Gormlaith, Hakon, I will need your assistance to bring the five of them down! Will you assist me?"
"Of course, Shield-Brother!", Hakon shouted, as three of them pushed their way to the front, "Let us rip the wings off those flying lizards!"
"Well said!", I chuckled, shaking their hands.
Forming a line at the front of the group, Shor ordered his men to wait till the dragon's were grounded before charging into the fray. Taking a moment to calm ourselves and gather sufficient dragonic mana, as the beasts pulled out of their dive and soared to us, we prepared to shout them into a high-speed crash. Glaring at me intently as the dragons drew closer, Alduin looked at the Nords beside me and immediately recognized them from their previous duel. Realizing what we intended to do, the black dragon formation. Confused by what he was doing, the four dragons were too distracted to notice what was about to happen.
"Joor Zah Frul!!", the four of us shouted, in unison.
Robbing them of a substantial amount of their strength and mana, the four of them tumbled out of the sky and crashed through the rocky outcropping. Coming to a painful stop a few yards from us, the dragons were far too dazed and confused to attack us immediately. Rushing forward, the Nords swarmed the beasts and pinned them down. While some began hacking away at their hardened scales, most grabbed hold of their wings and began trying to tear them off to immobilize them permanently.
"Release me at once, you filthy mortals!!", one of the dragons roared, snapping his maw shut around several of them at once.
Completely unharmed by its physical attacks, as they had not physical bodies to harm, Gormlaith jumped up onto the beast's head and drove her blade through its eye. Screaming like a banshee as it knocked everyone off it, the dragon began lashing out erratically at anything that got close, even its own kind.
"Otherworlder, leave these foul creatures to us! Focus on Alduin alone, we cannot afford to let him escape!", Felldir told me.
"I can do that.", I acknowledge, looking toward my family, "Be prepare to come running, I am going to drop him right on the outcropping."
"See you shortly!", Deirdre remarked, drawing her energy saber.
Using a Force Storm to open a portal beneath my feet and above Alduin's head, I plunged through the opening and slammed right onto his back shoulders. Releasing a startled shriek, the black dragon looked back at me with venomous hatred. Performing a series of barrel rolls attempting to throw me off his back, I held on tightly to his spines refusing to let him go.
"Why will you not release me, Dovahkiin!?", Alduin roared, annoyed that his could not reach me.
"You gorge yourself upon the souls of my lovers, and you ask why I refuse to let you go? Now fall!", I commanded, "Joor Zah Frul!!"
Temporarily robbing him of the strength to fly, the two of us began to plummet toward the ground. Getting a firm grip on Alduin, I engaged my propulsion units and began kiting us toward my intended target. Realizing that we were picking up far more speed than normal, he looked back at me and noticed the bright glow of my repulsors and thrusters.
"What manner of sorcery is that?!", he roared.
"I have no reason to give an answer to a dead man!", I said, letting go of him and quickly switching into a horizontal hover position.
"Take this, you scaley piece of shit!", I laughed, unleashing five terawatts of energy straight toward him.
Hitting him straight on, Alduin slammed into the ground with enough force to blow my family, Shor, and Tsun off their feet with the resulting air pressure. Pinning him to the ground for a good minute, Jarvis cut the power to the Unibeam allowing me to continue my descent toward the ground.
"YOU…FOOLISH…MORTAL!!!", Alduin gargled, his lungs filling with blood, "HOW DARE…YOU HURT…ME!!!"
"Light that son of bitch up!!", Lucoa shouted, as the women began firing upon him with their laser rifles set to maximum output.
Doing what they could as well, Serana bombarded him with dozens of powerful spells while Aela and Lydia lobbed firebombs upon Alduin. Slowly regenerating from his extensive injuries, the black dragon sluggishly rolled off his back and turned to my family. Blinding him with two well placed shots, the group focused their fire next on his wing joints.
"Yol…Toor…Sh- ", Alduin started to chant, before I slammed into the top of his head.
(AN: Fire, Inferno, Sun, it is the standard Fire Breath shout from the game.)
Burying his face several feet into the ground, I did a backflip off him and slid across the blood-soaked grass. With him temporarily immobilized, all that was left was to ensure that he never returned to Nirn or anywhere else again.
"Ziil Los Dii Du!", I shouted.
(AN: Your Soul, Is, Mine, To devour, Miraak used this shout in the game to insta-kill a dragon and devour its soul.)
Ensnaring the World Eater's soul, like he had done to countless mortals before, Alduin ripped his head out from the soil and began to fight me for possession of his soul. Too injured to keep a grip on his soul and shout at me at the same time, he attempted to drag himself toward me to use physical attacks instead.
"I refuse…to be done in…by a…wretched…mortal!", Alduin spat, barely able to lift his head up.
"I am not mere mortal, worm. I am your judge, jury, and executioner, Victor von Stark!", I told him, "Gol Hah Dov!!"
(AN: Earth, Mind, Dragon, this is the Bend Will shout.)
Adding further strain to his already weakened body and spirit, Alduin's souls began to slowly inch out of his body. Understanding that he could not keep this up for much longer, the black dragon risked it all and tried to weaken me with his Thu'um.
"Meyz Sahlo Joor!!", Alduin shouted, using what little strength he had left.
"Your weak words have no effect on me, World Eater. This armor was designed to withstand attacks from beings whose power makes you look like an ant next to them.", I remarked, shrugging off his shout.
"You will all…pay for this…humiliation!!", Alduin coughed, his last bits of strength fading away.
"The living need not fear the dead.", I retorted, using Force Disintegration to deal the killing blow.
Absorbing the tremendous amount of power he had acquired over the centuries, my blood felt like it was about to boil me alive. Grinning through the overwhelming amount of pain I was in, once I had fully absorbed his soul, I dropped to my knees and began gasping for air.
"Victor, are you okay?!", Mylene shouted, rushing over to my side, "Were you just joking when you said that attack did not hurt you!? Olivia, come here quickly!!"
"I am fine…Mylene.", I wheezed, "It was just quite a lot of power to take in all at once. Normally a mortal such as myself would have died from that amount of power, but I appear to have toughed it out."
"You could have died!?", Mylene shrieked.
"There was a small chance yes, but the benefits outweighed the risk.", I chuckled, giving her a playful smile, "Up till now we have had an easy go of things in space, it will not always be that way in the future. Our enemies are numerous, and some are billions of years ahead of me in terms of technological power. If I am not willing to take risks like this for our future and the future of the universe, I have no business being out here."
"Still though, you should not push yourself this hard!", Mylene scolded me, "You are the glue that keeps this family together. If you die…"
"Haha, I think you are very mistaken. If you knew what I do about this fucked up universe, I do not think you would ever want to get out of bed and continue forward. Your beautiful smiles, the memories we have made thus far, and the dreams we have for our future are what keeps me going.", I remarked, as my fiancées helped me back onto my feet.
Looking back at the Nords, who were celebrating the downfall of Alduin, Shor and Tsun came to thank us for our efforts here today. Regretful that we could not join in the feasting with them, as we had to quickly return to the mortal plane before we became part of this realm, Shor placed his hand on my shoulder with a reassuring smile.
"You have done well, Otherworlder. Alduin is no longer a threat to anyone in this world, and balance has been restored once again. Given that our influence is limited to this world, there is very little we can offer you in terms of compensation for your deed here.", Shor said.
"If you could bestow a blessing upon my housecarl Lydia and our future, rebuilt home in Whiterun, I would greatly appreciate it. While most of our work here on Nirn is complete, all of us would still like to come back and enjoy this world beauty every now and then.", I stated, "Would that be alright with you?"
"Absolutely!", Shor replied, with a hearty laugh, "Now then, my friends, it is time for you to return to Nirn and carry on with your mission."
Using the Return to Nirn shout upon all of us, we were quickly swallowed up by darknesses before reappearing in the Breezehome. Deciding to have our own celebration to commemorate our accomplishment, we sent our modern weaponry back to the armory before heading out the door to the Bannered Mare.