"Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor," Alduin bellowed as he drew near. "My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!" Alduin paused, glancing between the Knight and Emmet. Emmet instinctively reached for Lucy's hand. "Very clever, Dovahkiin, to send a decoy to meet me," Alduin rumbled, attention fully on Emmet now. "But it will not save you now."
"Lost funt. You are too late, Alduin!" Paarthurnax roared from his perch before taking to the skies. "Dovahkiin! Use Dragonrend, if you know it!"
All around him, his friends readied their weapons, preparing to fight. "Joor Zah Frul!" Emmet Shouted as Alduin sneered down at him. The great beast let out a snarl as it hit him, circling overhead once before coming to land.
"I have feasted on many greater than you!" the dragon taunted, and Emmet was barely able to get his shield up in time to block Alduin's fire breath, unable to help the scream that escaped him as he was nearly baked alive in his own armor. He had been subjected to other dragons' fire breath before, but none of them were anything like this. It was as though Alduin could breathe the fires of Hell itself. Emmet flinched as he heard Iron-Tail shout in pain, peeking out from behind his shield to see the Argonian being sent flying into the rocks by Alduin's tail.
"No!" he cried out, stumbling to his friend's aid. The effects of Dragonrend wearing off, Alduin returned to the sky.
"Keep a sharp eye out!" Lucy yelled upon hearing a familiar echoing Shout. "He's calling a firestorm!"
"I be alright, lad," Iron-Tail grunted, pushing himself back to his feet. "More surprised than anything. Where's me hammer?"
"Over by the Word Wall I think," Emmet said. He yelped as a flaming meteor crashed down mere feet in front of them.
"Lok Vah Koor!" the Knight's voice rang out, and the skies cleared. Emmet gave him a surprised look.
"How'd you know that would work?"
The Knight shrugged. 'I guessed.' Kitty laughed at his response.
Emmet only nodded in response, and Shouted to bring Alduin down again. The black dragon's scales were tough, and it would take some time to weaken him sufficiently. But they kept at it, Kitty's lightning tearing at his wings, Lucy's arrows leaving scratches, Iron-Tail's hammer chipping away at his scales with every blow. The Knight drew back in alarm when Alduin grabbed his greatsword between his teeth and bit down hard, shattering the blade and drawing blood.
"So ye do bleed," Iron-Tail hissed, swinging his hammer as hard as he could and managing to put a crack in one of the black scales. Feeling bolstered now that they saw they actually could do damage, Lucy tossed one of her blades to the Knight, then put an arrow in the crack in the scales, earning an enraged shriek from the dragon. Paarthurnax swooped down, blasting Alduin with his fiery breath while the other was distracted by the mortals, weakening him further.
Alduin roared in outrage as the Knight leapt onto his back and drove the dragonbone blade between two scales at the base of his neck. The Knight just barely managed to grab the sword and take it with him as he was thrown from the dragon's back, letting out a grunt as he collided with the ground.
Alduin panted in exhaustion and pain, and glowered at Emmet with pure hatred, wondering how this pathetic mortal that couldn't even bring himself to do him harm could manage to keep him grounded. "Meyz mul, Dovahkiin," he snarled. "You are stronger than I thought. But I am Al-Du-In, Firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else! You cannot prevail against me. I will outlast you, mortal!" He spread his wings and leapt up from the snow. Emmet wobbled on his feet and finally collapsed, unable to find the strength to Shout him down once more. Lucy was at his side in an instant when he began to sob, unable to bear the pain anymore.
"Emmet?!"
"Get it off...!" he nearly screamed, scrabbling at his armor. Kitty hurried over to help, the two of them working together to unbuckle Emmet's armor and pull it off of him. Underneath, his skin was blistered and bubbled from the extreme heat of Alduin's fire breath.
"Oh, hell," Lucy murmured and shrugged off her pack, digging for her canister of healing salve. Paarthurnax landed nearby, extending his wings to block the biting winds and gently breathing warmth over the mortals. The Knight and Iron-Tail hobbled over together, supporting each other. The Argonian was moving sluggishly, the cold finally getting the better of him. Lucy finally found what she was looking for, yanking it free and twisting the cap off. "You did so well, Emmet," she soothed, carefully spreading the salve over his burns. "You were so brave." Kitty followed up behind her, hands glimmering with healing magic to speed things along.
"I'm not the greatest at this," she apologized.
"It's okay," Emmet sniffed. "It's helping."
"Ye did amazing, lad, keepin' his attention on ye like that."
"Lot krongrah. You truly have the Voice of a dovah," Paarthurnax praised. "Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory."
"It wasn't really a victory, since Alduin ran off," Lucy muttered. "The coward."
"Ni liivrah hin mere. True, this is not the final krongrah- victory. But not even the heroes of old were able to defeat Alduin in open battle. Alduin always was pahlok- arrogant in his power. Uznahgar paar. He took domination as his birthright. This should shake the loyalty of the dov who serve him."
"We need to find out where Alduin went," Emmet managed to get out, relaxing as the salve and Kitty's magic did their work.
"Yes... one of his allies could tell us. Motmahus... But it will not be easy to convince one of them to betray him." Paarthurnax thought for a moment. "Perhaps the hofkahsejun- the palace in Whiterun... Dragonsreach. It was originally built to house a captive dovah. A fine place to trap one of Alduin's allies, hmm?"
"Jarl Balgruuf might not think so," Lucy pointed out.
"Hmm, yes. But Dovahkiin's su'um is strong." He smiled at Emmet. "I do not doubt you can convince him of the need."
"I'll do my best," Emmet said.
"Your best is pretty amazing," Lucy told him and cupped his cheek, leaning in to kiss him softly. Emmet let out a strange, strangled sound, somewhere between happy and embarrassed, and buried his face in her neck, wrapping his arms around her. Lucy giggled, holding him as Kitty squealed and Iron-Tail let out a guffaw.
YOU ARE READING
Murphy's Law
Fanfiction[Skyrim Crossover] As if Skyrim wasn't already hectic enough, with its inhabitants fighting both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire. Now there's dragons, too, and Emmet finds himself unwittingly roped into the whole mess. What else could go wrong?
