The Stormcloak King - A Rise of the Dark Lords Tale

Chapter 3 - Fire and Fury

JON WAS UPSET THAT ARYA HAD ABANDONED HIM AT WHITERUN WITHOUT LEAVING SO MUCH AS A NOTE OR A GOODBYE.  They were in a strange and very much hostile land where if you couldn't fight, there was a strong chance that you might find yourself at end of a sword.  Jon had no doubt that Arya could defend herself, but some of the Nord bandits, highwaymen and mercenaries he fought were quite capable.  And his duel with Daenerys had only proven that some residents of Skyrim were more than skilled with a blade.  Then again she had training from the Akaviri, a Witcher and the Dragonborn he thought to himself.  His eyes drifted to Brianna who ran a whetstone down the length of her katana's blade.  Jon had once thought Daenerys the most beautiful woman, but the daughter of the Dovahkiin was beyond comparison.  Skilled with a sword and deadly, he was strongly attracted to her.  But her loyalty to her father and the Akaviri had ended her relationship with Eldarion leading Jon to believe that his chances with her were slim.  Daenerys walked over to him and he rose from the table in Breezehome.

"The jarl has sent riders searching for Arya.  He believes she's headed for Westeros" Daenerys told Jon.

"If she reports to Bran that you're alive, then its possible that war could break out" Jon answered.

"Bran Stark would actually go to war with Tamriel" Brianna asked.

"Daenerys still has supporters and those supporters would rally to her if she called.  The resulting civil war would be devastating" he replied.  "And the fact you now have an heir changes everything."

Jon, Brianna and Daenerys felt a slight vibration and dust fell from the ceiling. 

"Is there a volcano near" Jon questioned.

"The nearest volcano is in Morrowind" Brianna said as the ground shook more violently and screams and shouts were heard from the walls.  Jon drew Longclaw and followed Brianna to Whiterun's wall.  They passed a guard who shouted at them to flee as he threw his shield and sword to the ground.  Brianna reached the tower first and her eyes widened in surprise and alarm.

"What in Oblivion is that" she cried echoing General Tullius when he first saw Alduin.

Jon looked at the massive mysterious creature wrapped in flame and fire.  It carried a sword and whip made of flame.  Jon remembered the stories he read as a child of Middle-earth and recalled the Balrogs of Morgoth and their descriptions and what approached Whiterun strongly resembled one.

"Brianna I think that's a Balrog of Morgoth.  But both Morgoth and Sauron were overthrown so who is controlling this devilry?"

"Doesn't matter" Brianna said grabbing a shield and leaping over the wall.  Jon followed the Akaviri Knight as panicked citizens fled behind Whiterun's wall.  Jon believed that fighting the Balrog was a bad idea due to the fact that the only ones who defeated a Balrog died doing so namingly the wizard Gandalf the Grey and the Elder Elf Glorfindel.  Only the Valar survived their battles with the ancient Enemy.  Jon watched in admiration as Brianna strode confidently toward the Balrog - her eyes full of fury.

"By my father the Dovahkiin you shall not enter" Brianna screamed raising her shield.  Jon raised Longclaw in a defensive posture and flanked their terrible foe.  The Balrog raised itself to its fullest height and roared and cracked its whip at Brianna shattering her shield.  Brianna gave a great Nord war cry so loud that it sounded like winter thunder.  For a moment her eyes flared a brilliant hue of blue as she charged and engaged the Balrog, Jon joining the fray slashing at its legs with his weapon.  Under attack from two sides, the Balrog had trouble determining who was the greater threat.  The Balrog screamed in agony as Brianna buried her blade in its knee and as it stepped backward, the sword broke.  Drawing a war axe from behind her back, Brianna crouched and prepared to spring, but a smile crossed her face as she watched Odahviing sink his talons into its neck, her father on the dragon's back.  

The Balrog fell over screaming and Jon and Brianna seized the moment and plunged their weapons into the neck of the ancient foe of Middle-earth.  Odahviing landed and the Dragonborn leapt from his neck and delivered volley after volley of lightning into the fallen beast.  The Dovahkiin delivered the coup-de-grace sinking the Oathblade to the hilt in the head of the fallen Maiar.  Looking at Brianna, the Dragonborn had a look of total disbelief.

"I thought all of Sauron's servants were defeated" the Dragonborn exclaimed.

"So did I" Brianna replied.  "Did we miss one?"

"No" the Dragonborn answered "I believe this to be the work of Sauron's thrall Ulfric."

Brianna picked up the shattered remains of her katana in disgust.  Ulfric the man who murdered who mother stirred anger in her heart and mind.  She desperately wanted to avenge her mother's death, but the man responsible had eluded her justice for the past five years.  

"Ulfric was not a Dark Lord so how could he control a Balrog?"

"He was under the tutelage of Morgoth's deadliest and most trusted servant.  It stands to reason that Sauron trained him in the dark arts of Mordor.  When we fought at High Hrothgar, he shape shifted into armor - an ability something that prior to meeting the Dark Lord he could not do."

"So what you are saying is that Ulfric Stormcloak has ascended to Dark Lord status" Jon questioned.

"What I'm saying is that its highly probable that is the case" the Dragonborn answered the Night Watch Commander.

"VERY ASTUTE DRAGONBORN" ULFRIC SAID WATCHING THE EVENTS UNFOLD IN THE PALANTIR.  Arya threw her tankard across the room in a fit of rage.   Her hand gripped the handle of Needle and she had a mind to slay Ulfric, but thought better of it.  He had mastered the dark arts of Mordor and was studying the forbidden magic of the Mythic Dawn.  Arya took a breath and reminded herself that killing Daenerys was the objective, not Ulfric.

"You promised that the Balrog would cleanse Whiterun of that Targaryen filth" she screamed at the fallen jarl.

"Perhaps you weren't watching the Palantir closely enough.  The Dragonborn intervened and destroyed the Balrog.  Patience Arya, you will get what you want soon enough."

"What I want is Daenerys Targaryen's head on a pike" Arya replied coldly.  "And her son's body torn to pieces.  The heir cannot live either."

"When I was a mortal, I wouldn't want you for enemy" Ulfric said laughing.  Peering into the seeing stone glimpsed the future of the Dragonborn's young son.  And that future would terrify Arya and Bran Stark.  For Ulfric foresaw a middle aged Talion sitting on the throne of Westeros guarded by a host of Akaviri Knights and ambassadors from Tamriel, Middle-earth and Northern Kingdoms all bowed before him.  Little did Ulfric care for who sat on the throne of Westeros, but what the Palantir revealed disturbed him.  For it came to Ulfric's knowledge that the Dragonborn of Skyrim was of the rarest bloodline in all of Tamriel.  If what Ulfric saw came to pass, Talion not only could claim the throne of Westeros but that of the Empire for he knew the truth.  And that truth was Talion's full name was Talion Targaryen-Dovahkiir Septim.  The Last Dragonborn was the heir of Tiber Septim and his son had claim to Westeros and Tamriel.