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Arc 8 Chapter CXLII: Prelude To The End
🕑 Added 2025-06-09 20:10:04 +0000 UTCAn: Previous chap has been given a chonky edit. Not much changed contextually but it should feel a fair bit less rushed (not perfectly but hey at least it should be better now :P)
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(Reyvin's POV)
"Twenty one days." Tullius spoke as he heard me approach.
Quirking an eyebrow at his wistful voice I couldn't help but drawl "Reminiscing, General?"
A low but sharp exhale left him, a noise that might have been misconstrued as a huff if one believed the great General Tullius to be capable of such an undisciplined act "No" He answered simply "Merely... comparing."
Ah "The previous war was not quite so swift, I take it?"
Finally he turned to me with a curious glint to his eyes "Why ask the questions you already know the answer to?"
"Perspective, I suppose." I shrug "It is one thing to read something from the pages of a book, and it is another thing entirely to hear it from the mouth of someone who has gone through the ordeal."
He considered me for a moment before giving me a slow nod "I suppose that much is true." He turned to the city in the distance "The first great war was in short, grueling. Every single advance we took cost us thousands of brave soldiers, and every advance the enemy made cost them much as well." I saw his left hand twitch but only slightly "No day went by where blood did not flow in rivers, or some innocent town was burned to the ground, merely to deny the enemy the advantage of position."
"This war" He exhaled "This war feels like a fantasy. A child's fairy tale where the heroes defeat the encroaching foe with their morals upright and their armies intact." He closed his eyes, flashes no doubt passing through his mind "After Alduin's fall... I knew the Dragonborn and you were mighty, but mere might could not account for leadership, for the ability to unite different peoples and lead them to victory."
"Not without sacrificing our morals at least" He added grimly "I will not lie, I expected the world would burn once more, and we would once again be drowned in rivers of blood for years without end."
His eyes cracked open, and a flash of what I could only describe as pure unadulterated pride passed through them "And yet here we stand, not even half a year after it all began, before the very walls of Alinor itself."
And what walls they were.
Tall, mighty, enchanted to hell and back, with slender towers piercing the skies bearing enough openings to murder anyone foolish enough to approach the place with such ease even the braves warrior would cry about cheating.
And yet despite that, the entire city maintained its fantastical beauty.
Each tower carried some form of individuality, whether it be the statuettes carved into them, or the banners flying off their many balconies, all of them flowed into each other with such perfect synchronicity the arrangement could honestly be called divine.
Unsurprising, considering it was said that Auri-El himself once ruled from those halls.
Alinor was in a word majestic, the very definition of refined nobility crammed atop a hill overlooking miles and miles of beautiful meadows, and seas that shimmered beautifully under the morning sun.
My hand clenched.
I wanted to ruin it.
The very idea that one could be born inside of this... this literal paradise on earth, with all the luxuries one might ever need, and a lifespan in the centuries and that they would then decide to set the entire world on fire because they wanted more let loose a simmering rage within my veins.
A rage that dissipated as quickly as it came.
That line of thinking was idiocy at its finest. It was the Thalmor who murdered the family that ruled from this throne of near perfection, and it was the Empire who mismanaged its subjects to the point it built enough resentment to be exploited, not the average high elf living their life in peace and contentment.
I suppose merely liberating the damned place would suffice, even if the Scorch part of me was incredibly disgruntled by the idea.
"Scared of not having any work, General?" I teased as a mere split-second passed outside of my mind.
He once more looked at me and for once smiled, his answer coming without the slightest hesitation "If retirement is the price I would have to pay for the world remaining whole, it is one I would pay a hundred times over."
"Ha!" I couldn't help but bark out a laugh "You are a much better man than most then."
His smile remained the same, but I could feel a bit of pride radiating off him. A moment later, his relaxed posture firmed, and he offered me a crisp salute "You know the plan, Your Grace. I will see you on the other side."
For once, I seriously returned the gesture "Gods be with you General."
I felt him acknowledge my words as he walked away.
Just as he disappeared from sight, two tall figures materialized right next to me, a third of a much more normal height following a moment after as I finished my conjuration.
"Shalazar warned me of some upcoming fuckery" I spoke up without preamble "And seeing how the world likes to work on drama rules from time to time I am going to have you three ensure the enemy doesn't do anything devious while we defeat them."
My Shroud appeared on my back and just as quickly detached "Jackal" I called, feeling the silent Dremora's attention utterly focused on myself "Take this cloak and find out what exactly it is they are doing. You know what to do if you see an opportunity."
He took the shadowy bundle of spidersilk with reverence radiating from every inch of his body "Your will be done, my lord." And in an instant he disappeared from nearly all of my senses, only our connection letting me know where he was.
Nodding in satisfaction I turned to the other two "As for you two, I have something of a competition I believe you would enjoy participating in."
"What is it this time?" Umbra drawled "More weaklings to cut through?"
"You speak as if you do not enjoy the crunching of meatbag bones." Akulakhan boomed "Foolish."
Oddly enough, I did not have to stop the sword-soul from trying to immediately murder him. Still Umbra's constant complaints were getting mildly irritating so I slowly leaned in "I could just have you act as an honor guard for after we win if you prefer to not cut through the best and brightest Alinor has to offer?"
I felt the little beast's pride roil at the provocation but she wasn't dumb enough to let it rule her "Say what you will."
"Most excellent" I clapped my hands and began rubbing them conspiratorially "So, here is what you are going to do..."
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Some hours later I found myself standing beside Minthara, her Dragon Banner just a few steps behind us as they practically demanded they be granted the 'honor' of being the first through the breach.
What breach? You may ask.
Well...
"So they have a city-wide ward..." Minthara looked at the shimmering barrier cascading off one tower and then to another, the sheer artistry of it was mindnumbing "I wonder how much Force they can take?"
Before she could get on with her usual modus operandi I interjected "How about you don't do that?"
"And I can't shout the walls into pieces, why exactly?" Minthara most assuredly did not pout at me as she placed her hands on her hips, her eyes practically screaming 'It is sitting right there, waiting for me to blow it up with a thought!'
"Because, dear" I smiled lightly "The Altmer practically worship magic."
"And?" She deadpanned but before I could get to explaining she rose a hand to stop me "No, wait." Her eyes lit up as she realized my most devious intent "Me merely shouting it apart would still do the job, but if someone were to unravel the work of their most storied ancestors..."
"Someone like, say the most handsome Mer that ever lived?" I grinned widely, causing a few groans from among the Dragon Banner, and a laugh from a certain bard.
I was still amused by the fact Marco disguised himself as a Nord from the moment he stepped foot on this island. Poor fucker would have probably gotten lynched, happened to a few loyalist Altmer already.
Minthara's gleeful expression drew me back from my thoughts as she found the obvious conclusion "Their morale would break."
"Try shatter" I smirked and turned to face the city.
I allowed myself a final moment to enjoy the beauty of it all, and then rose my grasping hand.
Instantly, I felt the dozens of Altmer magi on the walls zero in on me, their staves raised and already halfway through casting spells powerful enough to murder a dragon outright.
But it was already too late for them to stop me, as I allowed my mortal guise to dissipate, stunning the complete shit out of those few who could perceive me as the Dunmer was substituted by a creature of fire and ash, my Aedric Magicka rushing to the surface faster than it ever did as I took one step forward, and slowly raked my hand from right to left.
Only one singular bolt of golden lightning managed to pass through the ward before it was overwhelmed by a sudden assault, destabilized to the point it became less a ward and more a sea of unstable shimmering energy.
As for the bolt, Akulakhan had not been idle since Falinesti, and slapped the thing away with contemptuous ease with his wards now both layered and rotating, further reinforced by arcane geometry.
The Altmer atop the walls were already panicking as they saw their ward take damage from seemingly nothing.
But I was nowhere near done, as a mere moment after the wards began to shimmer, the second layer of my attack arrived and my divinity, shaped into the rough equivalent of a metaphysical claw, struck its target.
A piercing wail rang out across the battlefield, making many of our soldiers flinch or cover their ears on instinct as it only got worse with each second.
It was as if a god had decided to scrape his nails on a cosmic chalkboard, and we were all forced to listen.
Except instead of merely listening, I was the one directing the whole damn thing.
I felt the true walls of Alinor resist me for a full three second before my greater energy subsumed the mere Magicka they were powered by, and just as their defenses shattered into a million tiny shards with the sound of breaking glass, my spell followed after what remained, infecting the ward structure itself like a viral disease and spreading faster than any of their magi could hope to counter.
I pulled my still open hand back, and finally closed the fingers into a fist.
A beat of terrified silence passed as I felt the defenders' realization of just how utterly fucked they were settle within their hearts, and then I chose to make it even worse.
In a shuddering pulse of power, the visible parts of the ward scheme craved into the walls and towers turned from brilliant gold to smoldering grey, and then detonated.
The main gatehouse, two hundred meters of wall, and five towers were thus unmade by a single move of my hand, and the terror of the city could be smelled from all the way here.
Minthara wasted no time, rising Dovakren and calling "Let us end this once and for all!" Her face disappeared under Kohnariik as she roared "CHARGE!"
Akulakhan and Umbra disappeared from beside me in a flash, and without bothering to turn to the roaring legion behind us, I summoned Blasphemy in glaive form and joined Minthara in her charge, the distance between us and the city disappearing below us as we burst through and fell upon the Thalmor within like a hurricane.
Our path to the palace was painted in blood and death.
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(General POV)
Akulakhan and Umbra reappeared within a large stone chamber, startling the already panicking trio of Altmer Generals within.
One was half way through pointing his sword at the duo and demanding "Who are yo-"
Only to have a greatsword shoved through his throat as his two colleagues were grabbed by Akulakhan, their heads turning to soup as they were crushed against each other.
Umbra flicked her blade sideways, decapitating her prey and falling upon his guards, while her sibling patiently cleaned the blood from his hands before unclasping a large round device from his hip, dropping it on the ground without much care and taking one step away as it activated.
As the final guard fell the device finished its work and a shimmering portal opened above it, a short and far too toothy Dunmer stepping inside followed by a Redoran warrior clad in heavy armor and a dragonscale shoulderpad.
"It is always such a pleasure, having someone as brilliant as our Hortator leading us" Vels Karvanni grinned like a shark "Wouldn't you agree, Faren?"
"Indeed" The taller elf nodded, scanning the room "Come, there is work to be done."
A surge of Dunmer exited the portal behind them, and the main garrison of Alinor soon found itself under assault from within.
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On the other end of the city, Narsis, like every other high elf within a good half a day's travel, could practically taste the terror of their kin in the air, the sounds of battle outside so overwhelming they reached even over the great gardens of the Arana and within the palace itself.
He only half listened to the reports rapidly trailing in as most of his attention was still focused on the Overlord, who had yet to engage the enemy in battle despite his constant grandstanding.
But as the last Thalmor runner left the throne room, and the Kinlord went to speak up, something in the air shifted, and the Overlord began casting a great ritual, the magical circle below him activating and circulating power between the seated Thalmor, and the two altars.
Narsis was momentarily confused, but not for long, as he felt the telltale signature of soul energy of the vilest kind being dragged from all around them and into the circle.
No human souls, nor Dunmer were drained, protected as they were by their patrons' attentions.
Only an abundance of bright, hopeful Altmer, their kin betrayed one final time.
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter π
Maxime Cusson
rising Dovakren -> raising*
