Rastislav
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Arc 7 Chapter XCV: The Temple Summit
🕑 Added 2024-09-12 01:01:55 +0000 UTCEven as I prepared to charge my opponent I still felt the wards of this place pressing down on all of us, trying to stifle our magic utterly, and while I myself was more than capable of pushing through it with contemptuous ease, the rest would suffer greatly before the battle was done.
That needed to be dealt with quickly "Shalazar, Tolfdir, ward, now!" I yell out without looking away from the Draugr Overlord, feeling the duo I called out still briefly before nodding at each other and pulling back behind the lines and getting to work.
Nodding in satisfaction, I allowed myself a smirk, and then promptly teleported behind the undead, with some difficulty I noted as a spatial lock attempted to assert itself, slashing for his neck fast enough to make the air whistle.
Fucker blocked me without even looking at me, even had the temerity to do the slow turn around and grin at me through his helmet.
I naturally rewarded him with a full-face blast of sunfire.
He was no longer as amused and attempted to freeze me solid with a swift growl "IIZ SLEN NUS!"
"FEIM ZII!" Immediately responding by turning myself ethereal, I passed through the overlord, sealing the fate of the few Draugr who were attempting to flank me moments earlier and shattering them with a twitch of telekinesis a moment later.
My hand was already moving into an overhead slash as I re-materialized, only for me to suddenly twitch to the side as a beam of deep-purple lightning destroyed the wall where I was standing a moment earlier.
The Dragon Priest had made his move.
Nahkriin, if memory served, was supposed to be some kind of leader figure in the cult and it showed, his robes were far more ornate than those of his comrades and most impressively they were still fully intact, the staff in his hand brimming with the unfamiliar but easily identifiable power of Sovengarde.
As I observed him I let out a derisive snort, not visibly angering him even as his Magicka surged even further than before.
I did not ponder the no-doubt arrogant string thoughts he had as he looked at me and turned back to my enemy in time to fling away his heavy slash accompanied by a roar and a growl, just as Minthara burst from within the messy fighting happening all around us and aimed to slam her hammer into the priest's head.
He would never make it that easy though, as he followed my example by turning himself ethereal and retreating behind his goons.
Not that they themselves lasted for more than a second, as a rather annoyed Dragonborn simply walked through them with a whirlwind sprint and was already back in the priest's face.
The battle around us was far less one-sided however, as more than a dozen of our companions had fallen to the elite Draugr, their shouts being too much for the mostly melee fighter composed force.
Not willing to just let the undead go to town though, I abused the fact that my opponent could only attack me so many times in a second, and began showering the entire battle with wide-range solar magic.
My Magicka churned so much that my fingers ached as they drew power from my rings, but the sudden lack of pressure on my allies was more than worth the light annoyance, as they soon began pushing the undead back, the ancient embalmed warriors now notably slower and less reactive than before.
The Draugr before me had no such issues however, his armor enchanted to resist and absorb as much Magicka as possible, I was honestly surprised that he had not yet exploded from the sheer volume of the power I was letting out.
Then again the constantly charging ebony-flesh he was casting with surprising efficiency swiftly disabused me of the notion he was just slurping my Magicka like so much mead.
Unlike his... friends his attacks became faster and faster as each moment passed, soon pushing me back enough that I decided that was enough of fair play and promptly summoned some professional aid.
Without any warning, Akulakhan barreled through a group of Draugr with a single swing of the blunt end of his glaive, sending bone flying everywhere as he rammed the Draugr Overlord with more force than a charging cavalryman, giving me the perfect opening to stab my sword through his visor and suddenly extend it by summoning its staff/shaft.
Fucker was still growling at me from his new perch in the wall before I simply decided 'Fuck it' and stabbed him with the razor, shattering his entire torso and a good chunk of his armor.
A shame for a masterwork to be destroyed so blatantly but needs must and all that.
The fight ended quickly after that, Nahkriin seeing where the winds were blowing retreated back to no doubt prepare another welcome and his thralls, now alone and unsupported, were methodically cut down in detail, all of our allies falling upon the nearest enemy the moment they won their respective fights.
Part of me grumbled at the idiotic duel-like fights most of them engaged in but it wasn't like we had enough time to drill formation and all of them were more than competent enough to properly win outside of one.
The last Draugr fell when the Ebony Warrior slammed its head with his shield as he was just about to skewer Aela the Huntress in the side, the entire chamber descending into an uneasy quiet as he did.
"Casualties?" I fired the question off, my crown receding for the moment, and snapping out the lot of them from their newfound stupor. Potions were immediately handed out and people got to work saving as many as possible.
While they did so I approached Davos "Think you can scout forward and see what awaits?"
"Sure thing Boss." He nods, a bit uneasy "Think you can send someone to watch my back though? Even I can feel the wards in this place."
Before I can answer, the glamored-up form of Phineas floats up behind him and he places his distinctly boney-feeling hand on the short Dunmer's shoulder, causing him to yelp in surprise "I will go with him, worst case scenario I stay to hold back any attempt at an ambush while he retreats."
"Most gracious of you" I offer the lich a mocking bow and Davos a smirk before leaving them to their work and turning to Oren, who had just ran up to me with a casualty report, and going by his expression this was going to be a long-ass slog.
(Minthara's POV)
By the time we finally reached fresh air again, I was practically vibrating in anger. So annoyed was I that I did not even notice how my fury was enough to keep my dragon aspect up for long after it was supposed to expire.
Four gods damned ambushes, each more harrowing than the last!
Four ambushes... and some four dozen people who chose to follow me dead, and most of them being people who had grown on me in the past weeks of hunting dragons and earning glory.
Reyvin himself was downright furious, the oldest of his three captain brothers was disintegrated by a life-drain shout, one of his paladins had his neck snapped with a hammer and worst of all, Davos nearly got killed on three separate occasion, the Dragon Priest seemingly targeting him in particular without rime or reason.
Or maybe it had to something to do with the quite frankly ridiculous casualties he was inflicting with his crossbow? Who knows.
He was so annoyed that I could feel his power straining against the wards, the very walls shuddering that the weight of his presence as he was forced to improvise his sudden lack of foresight with what he called a 'Poor man's radar'.
Whatever those words meant, and I would make him tell me later, it seemed to work as after the first close shave with death his right hand elf had we were not taken by surprise again, even if more and more people died with each battle.
Potions were powerful, but they could do nothing against mental fatigue and a lack of reaction speed here was as deadly as enemy blades.
Speaking of blades, my own Blades made a good showing of themselves, Esbern was quite stifled by the wards but Delphine was cutting through Draugr with such speed I got the impression she was trying to make some kind of point.
She was, but it was still funny to think about.
Our path was then made even easier as Reyvin finally decided to stop being annoying and use a weapon he didn't like for a bit, and summoned Auri-El's bow to start taking down the most powerful of the undead also helped us push through with less casualties.
Part of me really wanted to kick his ass for delaying it but I could understand... I think.
My specters and Reyvin's shades started picking up more of the fighting as we went deeper in, and while they were not able to hold the line as well as the rest of us they were still useful for delaying the enemy by using them as distractions.
Not like they had a life to lose anyway, even if the specters summoned by my hammer somehow managed to start looking tired by the end of it.
The final Draugr blocking our path crumpled to dust under my hammer, the ancient servant of the dragons was strong but not strong enough to resist a combined effort from the strongest among those still living.
His equipment would make for good loot though, even if I wouldn't be getting my hands on it.
'Oh mINthAra, wE hAVe tO MoTIvATe tHe fOdDEr sOMehOw' I roll my eyes at the memory, so what if I wanted to gather my rightful plunder? It isn't like all of us slept on mountains of gold.
Reyvin gave me an amused glance, as if reading my thoughts, before the two of us rushed up the staircase, fully expecting to be faced with a throng of Dremora or anything the Dragon Priest could still summon to delay us from our inevitable victory.
The priest met us silently, levitating in place and looking far worse for wear than when we first faced him. His robes were ripped and damaged, and his mask cracked in multiple spots, all of them from moments he barely managed to get out of my reach before I could crack his skull with one well placed swing.
"Forgive me, my master..." I heard the priest mutter with a bow of his head, grasping his ornate dragon-beaked staff with both hands he rose it up above his head and the portal below him, which had been lightly bubbling with power suddenly burst upwards, the power immediately flowing into the priest as he glared at us.
For a moment I feared the portal would be destroyed but save for a bit of shuddering and creaking of stone, the dam that held back the flowing power of Sovengarde managed to hold.
Th priest rose his staff again, and the air shook, the wards suddenly pressing down on us with even greater power as I felt more than heard some of our weaker followers fall onto their knees as their breath became heavy.
"Heretics and blasphemers." The priest rasped as he glared at us, and me specifically "Foolish usurpers." Power surged from within him, visibly cracking his skin and robes and almost completely ruining his mas "COME AND MEET YOUR END!"
(Reyvin's POV)
Watching the people behind me panic almost managed to make me break my composure and let out an amused chuckle, though I was distracted quickly enough by the downright impressively crafted magic circle now floating above us.
My amusement was promptly destroyed then as I identified the spell he was trying to cast. A meteor shower would slaughter most of the people following us, and that was just unacceptable to me. I did not just slog through a temple filled to the brim with unfairly powerful undead just so they could all get one-shot by a cheeky mage.
That was my job! Not his!
It was with almost sadistic glee that I spoke then "Tolfidr, do it." my soft voice ringing out loudly and more importantly widely enough for me to be heard even at the bottom of the mountain.
Obviously the Dragon Priest heard me as well, his channeling becoming even more frantic and self destructive in an attempt to preempt whatever it was that I had suddenly cooked up, but it was already far, far too late.
Tolfdir, Shalazar and a force under the leadership of the Ebony Warrior had descended into the depths of the temple instead of following us up, having detected that the wards were housed in the priest's personal quarters and not the summit like we initially thought.
The ward shuddered, and then cracked. The priest panicked but he could do nothing as the power he had absorbed and relied on the entire complex to control swiftly destabilized and began wreaking havoc within and without his body.
We were saved from the sudden storm of spatial slashes and bursts of raw power by Akulakhan, who followed his purpose perfectly and cast a defensive ward potent enough to block it out or in the worst cases slow the storm enough for me to block it myself.
Nahkriin himself though, was far less fortunate. His form bulged, twisted, and crackled with power before be simply burst like a popped balloon, sending shards flying everywhere and getting the vast majority of his very being outright obliterated by the raging energies, leaving behind only the barest piece of a coherent soul, barely enough to power an ant.
Before we could relax, the spell which was still in the skies began summoning the meteor shower, powerful enough to outright kill most of the people who had followed us and more worryingly destroy the entirety of the temple.
Thankfully we were not the only ones paying attention to this, as a trio of voices ringing out across the field saved us from the imminent divine levels of an enemy getting the last laugh. Odahviing, Krenaarvokun and Vulstrunfeyn all shouted "LOK VAH KOOR!" As one, the shout thankfully counting to dispell the storm the priest had summoned.
Things turned completely silent then, the warriors behind us feeling lost by the sudden end to the fighting, only for the soft ting of a piece of mask hitting the ground to break them from their stupor, the roar of victory soon following the tiniest and yet heaviest of sounds.
(General POV)
As the victorious cheers finally died down, the group of nobles and leaders led by High King Torygg approached Minthara and Reyvin, both of whom were staring at the still bubbling portal with an unusual intensity.
"That is the path to Sovengarde?" Jarl Balgruuf asked aloud.
"Yep." The young Dunmer archmage smacked his lips "Straight into the afterlife."
"I don't know about the rest of you" The amused voice of the far older Dunmer archmage cut in "But I don't feel like throwing myself into my death quite yet."
"Quite." The suspiciously still pristine form of Phineas Gestor nodded "I have no idea what kind of effect entering the bloody thing would have, but I am not about to check."
"You can't enter anyway." Reyvin turned around with a shrug, Minthara still too busy staring at the swirling blues and purples "Only those of a certain... blood may survive such a thing."
"Our duties are done then?" The leader of the Redoran contingent spoke up "It all falls to a single person then?"
"Your part in this is done, yes." Lord Dagoth gave him a light but grateful nod.
"Good." The Dunmer warrior offered a crisp salute and left to tend to his men.
"Awfully serious that one." Thane Harald scoffs, though his eyes are quite telling of his respect for the elf "You sure the lot of us can't go and help her?"
"Her?" Reyvin raises an amused eyebrow "What makes you think I am not going?"
"Reyvin" Torygg sighs "You just all but told us one needed to be of divine descent to enter the portal, how exa-" He pauses "Oh no."
"Oh yes." Reyvin's red eyes glow with glee "You will find, High King, that I am something of a godling myself."
The sound of Davos' palm hitting his face could be heard across the entire summit.
The King's shoulders slumped "You know I want to say I am surprised but at this point this is just par for the course" He sighs, even as General Tullius stares at Reyvin so intently he could burn a hole through his skull.
Giving the mildly disturbed General a quick wink the young Dunmer turned back to Torygg and smirked "You know you love me" And turned to leave.
(Reyvin's POV)
As I joined Minthara and lightly tugged at her shoulder to shake her from her stupor, the people behind us turned utterly silent "Well then" I muttered quietly "Off we go to the afterlife."
The hesitant demigoddess lets out a whine of distress but still follows after me.
The quiet behind us is broken by someone slamming a sword on their shield, my sight quickly informing me that it was Torygg. A moment later he did it again, now joined by another dozen of those still standing, and then another, and another.
Until everyone was either stomping or slamming their weapons or making some kind of noise and the summit of Skuldafn nearly shook.
Both my steps and Minthara's became more sure then, even as the crowd began chanting a mix of "Dagoth!" and "Dragonbane!" soon joined by the distant roar of the three dragons, wishing us a good battle.
As we neared it, Minthara did not stop and simply passed through the portal, unwilling to give herself any more time to hesitate.
I on the other hand turned to the slowly quietening crowd, and offered them a deep bow, before straightening and allowing myself to fall into the portal back first.
