Chapter 23: Dragonslayer
The watchtower came into view, and I froze mid-stride.
Half of it was gone. Stone scattered like kicked-in sandcastles. The eastern ramparts were blackened to ash, the resting quarters roof crumbled on top of the resting men.
Bodies littered the slope—some in armor, others half charred and twitching. One soldier crawled with no legs, his eyes hollow, his scream silent.
My eyes twitched as my hand began to shake. Am I even strong enough?
I looked toward the blackened sky. The behemoth—a dragon blotted out the sun, it wasn't the biggest or the strongest one I had seen, yet I was shaking.
I curled my fingers into fists, trying to control the trembling. What am I even afraid of? Death? I chuckled to myself.
The clatter of hooves and thunder of boots became the final straw, as it snapped me out of my paralysis. From the south road, a contingent poured in—reinforcement. At the head, her brown leather armor catching the light of the burning sky, rode Irileth, with dark blood red eyes, with an angular face of a Dunmer.
"Form ranks!" she barked, dismounting even before the horse came to a halt. "Archers in the back! Mages, focus on its wings!"
Twenty, maybe thirty in all, hardened soldiers of Whiterun, arraying themselves in staggered formation. A proper war band, not the poor bastards who had been caught in the initial storm. Irileth's voice carried precision and authority, cutting through the fear like steel through cloth.
Not the woman I met in the armory, she was soft spoken, much easier to talk to, but then again, I'm not in the armory now, am I? I thought as a bow materialized in my hand.
The dragon shouted from above, not an attack, Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde(My overlord will devour your souls in Sovngarde)
I aimed my bow to the sky, pulling back the empty bowstring, I waited until it passed by, and it did, in the next instant an arrow materialized in between my fingers, and I let go of the string.
A hit.
The soldiers did the same, as some hit, and some didn't, but it didn't seem to faze the monstrosity even a bit.
The dragon named Mirmulnir made another pass, banking wide in the sky. Fire built in its throat like a furnace fed by hatred and pride. Soldiers raised their shields, but the heat was already coming. I felt it in the air, the oxygen pulling away.
"Scatter!" I shouted.
Yol Toor Shul!
The dragon shouted.
A stream of fire carved through the air, melting whatever neared it. Some made it out, others not so much, as they remained standing and burning.
Then it landed.
The ground shook. Its feet digging into the ground, the dragon roared to the sky, almost mockingly.
Krif krin(Fight courageously)
Its eyes narrowed as it looked ahead at us, almost bored.
Fo Krah Din!
It said in Dragon tongue, the words reverberating with power, as the air began to freeze, the attack was a polar opposite of the previous one, it was cold, too cold even for a Nord.
Soldiers began to breathe heavily as their lungs began to freeze.
Irileth stood her ground. "Now!" She shouted to archers and mages standing far away, as they were unaffected by the attack.
At once, all the bowstrings were dancing back and forth, all the staffs were tapping on the ground, Mirmulnir looked to the sky, seeing the rain of arrows and Ice lances coming towards him, he was unmoving, arrogant, but not me, not now.
While he was admiring the attack, I got close to him, my hands empty. Mirmmulnir shouted again, Yol Toor Shul! To the sky, rendering every projectile useless, as the Ice melted, and arrows burned off before they reached him.
When I was at the perfect distance, I put my hands together by the wrist, my palm facing the dragon, and I activated the spell.
"Plasma Lance."
The spell has one major issue, the distance, I can only reach something standing 7 meters from, any further, and it will be useless.
But I was close, the spell flared in my palm—light condensed into a spear of crackling energy. I sprinted, aimed for his head.
The lance slammed into the dragon's head, burning the flesh around it, its skull exposed. It screamed, the sudden attack threw it off, as it stumbled back, and before it took flight.
I cut his right wing, and it began to bleed from its head to its wing. As I ran out of Magicka, I quickly pulled out a warhammer while it was disoriented, bashing it at its ankle, shattering it.
"FIRE!" I shouted to the soldiers at the back, their minds clear, lungs back to normal.
They began to fire, indiscriminately. I focused on breaking its other leg, but before I could, it used its other wing to throw me to the side. I blacked out momentarily.
And when I opened my eyes, I saw the dragon staring at me, its mouth gaping exhausted, it had 40 different things sticcking out from it's back. Irileth stood behind him shouting something I couldn't hear.
Yoool Toor Shul!
It shouted, as the fire reached me, I blacked out, unable to move out of the way, I felt the fire pinch me, biting every inch of my flesh, my mind raced as I was burning, I removed my armor, so as not to let it get stuck to my skin, I didn't know why I was so calm, it felt as I had experienced this before, but I just couldn't remember it.
The dragon finished its attack and turned toward Irelth and the soldiers standing behind her. "I had forgotten what fine sport you mortals can provide!" It laughed, speaking in mortal tongue.
Blood dripping from one side, as it walked toward them, slowly, every step shook the ground, the soldiers in front began to tremble, as Irielth clenched her teeth, her hands shaking.
The mages were exhausted, archers out of arrows, warriors out of spirit, the only one that did any damage was killed just like that, what were they going to do against it?
Irileth turned back to get them back into the battle, only to see them flee, but some stood their ground, knowing it was futile, it was worth the try.
"We need to stop it before it reaches Whiterun." Irileth shouted, a frown on her face, anger, frustration and something else visible on her face.
'Darius!' she murmured to herself, 'What is this feeling?' She shook her head. Irileth and three soldiers moved to the right, where the dragon was partially blind, and the other 7 soldiers distracted it.
.
.
.
When the dragon had turned around, leaving me burning, I found myself in a dark place, with no light, no air, and no ground to stand on. I was waiting, I waited until my nerves had been destroyed, and the fire had extinguished, and when it felt like it did, I opened the system.
I used my 20 attribute points to increase my [Health] and [Magicka] I opened my eyes to the smoke filled sky, my nose inhaled the dust and the burning smell of corpses.
My whole body had regenerated, like I was never burned, like I was never dead.
I equipped a new set of armor, as leather strapped around me, and I stood up from the ground, materializing the Nordic sword from inventory.
I looked down at it, chuckled, and placed it back inside. I used my Plasma Lance again, since I had regenerated my Magicka.
Mirmulnir was still standing, though limping, but he was far from defeat. Irileth and the small band of soldiers struggled to keep his attention.
As it began to pick them one by one, devouring, Irileth used her lightning spell to immobilize the beast, and it proved to be effective as it stopped it from moving.
But its neck was too high for any of them to reach.
I dashed forward as Irielth kept her spell active, finally noticing me, her eyes widened in shock. A ghost?
I climbed up from its tail, my palm extended to the beast's scaly back, as I activated the Plasma Lance, slicing its thick armor with a sizzling roar, it's torso was parted like the red sea, by the time it turned back to eat me, it was too late.
With a warhammer in hand, I swung from right to left, making impact with the lower jaw, shattering it.
Mirmulnir let out a deafening scream, then collapsed, as I jumped off it on time.
I stood near its head, my warhammer raised high, as it was still breathing.
Its bloodied eyes widened, recognizing something, Dovahkiin?It muttered in confusion, before I brought down the hammer, it cried, almost pleading, No!Before I send him to oblivion, never to rise again.
A/N[I'm gonna mention most of the System prompts at the end of the chapters, since it might be annoying in between.]
System Prompt: Two-Handed 25 -> 26
System Prompt: Two-Handed 26 -> 27
System Prompt: Archery 17 -> 18
System Prompt: Destruction 27 -> 29
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Read +3 or +5 chapters ahead on my Pat*eon
First_Endless