Alduin's Rise

[Xion136]

Teresse dove into the fray, stabbing one spider woman through the chest.

"I..." she kicked the spider down, pulling her blade free. "Hate..." she focused and dodged the strikes of a sider, the spun, grabbed her arm, and yanked her forward, stabbing her throat. "Spiders."

Ripping her sword out and tearing her head off, Teresse found herself facing three. Switching to Frost and Blaze, she launched herself at the monsters.

 

Eight spider women later, and Teresse walked forward, cheek, legs, chest, and now back of her hand hurt. But no matter.

 

Teresse started to charge, leaping up to land on one's back. She scissored it's head off, then rode the body down.

"How many more portals?"" She called.

[twentynine29]

Edwin skillfully slayed the spider daedra with blade and with spell. He skewered one of them through the eye with an ice spear. Edwin turned to another one on his left and shot a lightning spell at it, blowing it's head to bits. He tried to speed things up by forming walls of ice in front of the portals. However they only lasted a few minutes before being smashed open by the damn bugs.

 

Enough was enough, he was about to lose his temper. "Everyone get down!" He shouted. He sprayed the entire room with fire like a human flamethrower. A chorus of screeches and shrieks flooded the small room. When he stopped, many of the spiders were reduced to ashes. He even managed to get a few burn marks on the phylactery. "How are the portals doing Sivari?"

Edited November 4, 2013 by twentynine29

[FennecFyre]

Hevnoraak doubled up the hammer blow. Had he been mortal, it likely would have killed him on the spot. The remaining few Draugr closed in again while he recovered, stabbing and slashing at Tordin. Hevnoraak rose to his feet again, pus leaking from his bashed, exposed ribcage. "This entire city will rot," he growled, "And you and your pathetic companions will be powerless to stop it." He stabbed at Tordin's eyes with his blade, fury rising in his dead veins. This mortal was beginning to irritate him.

 

-----

 

Outside on the balcony, Lizjotstrun raised his ancient, frost-encrusted head. He could hear echoes of the fighting inside, but felt no desire to aid Hevnoraak. If the Priest fell, then he would simply report back to Alduin to report his failure. After killing the 'heroes', of course.

 

-----

 

Hearing Edwin's warning, she hit the deck, feeling the wave of heat wash above her, smelling scorched fur. Rising again, she looked around hopefully to see if the spiders had stopped coming. "Just one more!" she said, seeing the flickering portal against the wall. She rushed forward, amulet in hand, and moved to close the portal. A spider's head thrust out of the portal, screeching. Sivari screamed and drew her blade across it's face on pure instinct. While it reeled, blinded with blood, she held her against the portal. It closed with a thunderclap, slicing through the creature's neck. The head dropped to the floor, eyes rolling for a brief few seconds before glazing over with death. Sivari shuddered, nudging it with the toe of her boot. "I'm beginning to share your feelings on spiders, Teresse."

 

Shaking with exhaustion, she turned to the phylactery. "I think he's thrown everything he can at us," she said, "We're ending this now." She walked up to the urn and lifted her hands, fur prickling with nervousness. Her fingers wrapped around the handles without any more traps going off, and she breathed a sigh of relief. With a scraping sound, the urn was lifted off the altar, held high, then thrown down on the floor, striking the cobblestones with a resounding crash. Eddies of magic swirled around the mess of pottery and rotted guts, and Sivari covered her nose to stop herself from gagging.

 

The tunnel began to rumble. She groaned. One final got you last trap.

 

"Come!" she said urgently, making for the doorway, "We need to get out of here!"

 

------

 

Hevnoraak suddenly stood bolt upright and began to scream. His mask fell off his face, revealing a skeletal visage, glowing blue eyes, and sallow grey skin stretched over bare bones. The Draugr shook and jerked, collapsing into piles of dust, their armor clanking on the floor. Hevnoraak was last to go, dissolving into ash from the head down, leaving just his armor, his staff, and his mask.

 

They had killed their first Dragon Priest.

 

Sivari emerged from the tunnels with the others, running towards Tordin with a broad grin. "It's over," she said, wiping blood from a cut above her eye. She had thought it was, at least.

 

Another crackling red portal manifested in the center of the hall, and she whimpered, unable to believe they would have to go through another horde of enemies. But no Daedra came crawling out of this portal. Instead. she saw several human forms stumble out and collapse on the ground before the portal flickered shut again. Sivari paused for a moment, unsure if it was a trap or not, but eventually she approached them, kneeling down to the shake the shoulder of one man. Beside him were four others, three children and an older, balding man. The man groaned and stirred, attempting to sit up. Sivari helped him rise, and he looked at her with bleary eyes. "Who...who are you?" he rasped.

"I'd rather know who you are first," she replied. "At the moment, this one is quite suspicious of things that come out of portals."

"My name...my name is Balgruuf." said the man. "Former Jarl of Whiterun." His eyes turned to the piles of ash next to Tordin and widened. "Is that Hevnoraak?"

"What's left of him."

Balgruuf stood and went to the others, attempting to rouse them. The other man sat up and rubbed his eyes as if he had been sleeping for a long time, then looked at the warriors. "Is this some sort of trick?" he asked cautiously.

Balgruuf helped his children sit up, and one of them, a young girl, looked about as if she expected something to jump out at her. "I had a nightmare that we were trapped somewhere horrible," she managed, her normally spoiled attitude doused for the moment. Balgruuf drew her into a hug. "It's all over now, Dagny," he said quietly, then faced the others again. "That monster trapped my steward, family, and I in Oblivion when he took over," he sighed, "after killing my brother and housecarls." he seemed to realized something, "Ye gods, is Alduin still in power?"

[Keanumoreira]

When the last of the Spider Daedra fell to their blades, Abdul watched as Sivari lifted the phylactery from its stone alter. He readied his bow, just in case Mephala had another trick up her sleeve. As dust and shards spilled across the ground, a resounding crash released into the room, followed by a bellowing roar that shook the room violently. Abdul knew in his heart that Hevnoraak had fallen.

 

Acting quickly, they retreated from the walls and rooms collapsing around them before emerging in the main hall. Piles of dust littered the floor, swirling about a final portal that they seemed to have missed. Abdul relaxed his arm, which had instinctively reached for his bow, when what looked like people stumbled out and onto the ground. The Argonian rushed to offer his assistance, relieved that they were largely unharmed. Their stories of imprisonment were horrific. He wondered if the Jarls of the other holds had met a similar fate.

 

Upon hearing the Jarl's question, Abdul suddenly stood and turned to Sivari, "The dragon, the one that Hevnoraak communed with...he's still here, isn't he?" The Argonian turned to the doors of the balcony, "It's not over yet. We're still in danger." His thoughts turned to the Jarl's family, especially the children. How many more would die to save this forsaken city?

Edited November 5, 2013 by Keanumoreira

[Macman253]

Tordin stood, his large arms covered in bleeding cuts. His armor scored from the blows of the draugr. He growled in pain as he stood, with a defiant low growl he spit a wad of blood onto the ashes of Hevnoraak. He turned to face the Jarl and dropped to a knee slowly, blood dripping onto the floor fairly steadily. He rested his hammer on the ground next to him and bowed his head. The large nord gripped his weapon and stood after paying his respects He noticed his companions had returned. Tordin smiled, for the first time he saw them in a different life, they had saved his life.

 

"My Jarl, Hevnoraak has been destroyed." He said as he looked to Sivari and bowed his head in respect.

[Xion136]

Teresse had limped, her leg hurt. Nothing some healing magic wouldn't fix, but the fact was it hurt.

Least this pain let her know she had won.

Following the others, the Valkyrie pretty much fell to her knees before Balgruuf, panting. She was good. But even numbers can overwhelm the hardiest of soldiers.

 

"Jarl. Mephala's Spider Daedra are dead and the portals are gone. Whiterun belongs to Skyrim once agai ." She looked up. "Edwin? I need a dose of your best healing magic." She grimaced, then uncovered her side. One of the spiders managed a good stab. "This hurts like Oblivion." She screwed her eyes shut. "I need to invest in some chainmail or dragonscale." She muttered to herself.

[twentynine29]

Edwin let out a small laugh of relief, he was just happy to be alive. Edwin had a brief celebration by spitting, kicking, and stomping on Hevnoraak's remains. The day had been won, for now at least. Edwin crouched down to heal Teresse's injured leg to the best of his ability. The wound sealed shut, as if she wasn't even cut at all. He looked at Jarl Balgruuf. He was quite shaken as well as his children and steward. Other that that they looked ok. "Were the other Jarls in the same 'prison' you were talking about?" he asked the Jarl. He turned back to the group. "Who's next on our kill list?"

[FennecFyre]

"He is," said Sivari, "but we're intending to remedy that,"

The Jarl attempted to remain impassive, but one brow slid up, "A bold undertaking."

Sivari's hand wrapped around her amulet as she gave a small smile. "We have a few tricks up our sleeves."

 

Balgruuf grunted in a slightly disbelieving manner, but there was respect in his eyes. "You all have done a great service for Whiterun and her people," he said. "I have half a mind to name you all as Thanes."

"Should we survive," replied Sivari, "we'll take you up on that." She turned to Tordin, healing magic flickering her her hand. "Hold still before you bleed all over the place," she said, moving her hands over the worst of his wounds. Her talents were pitiful compared to a professional mage such as Edwin, but it was enough to staunch bleeding. When she was done, she moved to Abdul, healing his wounds as well. "Thanks for sticking with me down there," she murmured quietly, stepping with a shaky breath. Magical stamina was not a Khajiiti strong point.

 

"I don't know," said Balgruuf in response to Edwin's question. "It felt almost like a dream. I didn't get hungry, or tired, and I wasn't aware of the passage of time." His eyes widened. "Time. How long were we gone?"

"Three months, give or take," said Sivari. "Long enough to be missed by your people," She thought for a moment as Edwin asked who they were to take down next. "I say we decide that after we rest for a few da--"

 

CRASH!

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRR!"

 

"After we kill the dragon," she amended. The crash had sounded wooden, perhaps the beast had broken down the balcony door. Her suspicions were confirmed as an enormous reptilian head peered at them from the upper level of the hall. It's scales were bluish-white, and as it shuffled down the stairs, Sivari saw the enormous black spikes on it's back. But hell, they had just taken down a Dragon Priest. Their victory had given her a temporary boost in cockiness. "Okay," she said, swinging her arms, "who wants to risk death again?" She waved off Balgruuf at the others. "You might want to take shelter." She then looked back at her friends. "Abdul, you've got the bow, attack it from a distance. Edwin and Teresse, go for it's flanks. Tordin, if you feel well enough, use that hammer and see if you can't give it a concussion." She drew her daggers again. "Charge!" She took a running start towards the dragon, who inhaled, then opened his jaws wide to release a veritable blizzard. Sivari hissed as she felt tiny slivers of ice dig into her face and arms, but refused to retreat, instead heading for it's jaws. She stabbed one dagger into it's nose and swung up, straddling it's broad head. With one hand gripping a horn, she stabbed at it's eyes, holding on for dear life as the dragon swung his head about, roaring angrily.

[Xion136]

Teresse cursed as the dragon invaded, not even able to thank Edwin.

Jumping up, she drew Requiem's Call. "Go left!" She hissed to Edwin, then went off running, coming around the right. She used Sivari's distraction to stab it's side, and kept doing as such. She kept an eye on Sivari, knowing one slip could mean death.

And one jab or Shout could mean life.

[Keanumoreira]

Abdul glanced up as the dragon peered down at them, opening its maw and filling the room with a torrent of ice and snow. The stories of the "sky serpents" were true. Fear flooded his veins, but never once did he dare to surrender. They were this close to saving Whiterun; a dragon was their final test.

 

 

Arrow after arrow left his bow. One dug into one of the dragon's eyes, splintering in a cloud of blood. It's enormous tail swung at him, lifting into the air before crashing back down, bringing wooden beams and pillars with it, causing part of the roof to cave in. Its tail came around again, sweeping Abdul into the wall and fracturing one of his ribs. He wailed in pain, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but this only did more to antagonize him. Gripping his side, he rose and leaned on his bow weakly. "I'm okay!" He signaled to his companions, but being unable to move as much as an inch, this couldn't be any further from the truth.

 

In was in this moment of weakness when Abdul recalled the words that the Hist had spoken to him. The Argonian looked down at his bow, those words flooding back: " 'All you have to do is remember your roots...' That's it..." He threw his bow aside, nearly collapsing to his feet; he shrugged it off, stumbling before the dragon.

 

"Hey...y-you...the one the Hist calls 'Lizjotstrun'..." He coughs violently, blood spilling out, "that is your name, yes? Lizjotstrun?" The dragon lifts his leg, ready to crush the pesky Argonian, "Well know this you foul demon. Today is the last day that you live..."

 

His amulet became enveloped in a dark mist, rushing to the palms of his hands. Raising his arms into the air, the earth suddenly rumbled, the wooden floors splintering into tall, jagged arches. It seemed like all of Dragonsreach was being swallowed up by the ground. The massive roots of the Gildergreen erupted through the floor, covering Dragonsreach in a canopy. The roots slithered down, halting the foot of the dragon just as it was about to crush Abdul. It wrapped around its scaly neck, enveloped its serpentine tail, and bound its wings in place. Unable to move, the beast flailed savagely.

 

Abdul fell to the ground in agony, "AGHHH! KILL IT! KILL IT! QUICKLY!"

Edited November 6, 2013 by Keanumoreira