The Price of Vengeance- A Skyrim Fanfiction

Six: Victory or Sovngarde

"Nid! Horvutah med kodaav ... Zok frini grind ko grah drun viiki, Dovahkiin."

Seeing my blank stare, he spoke again. "Ah. I forget. You do not have the dovah speech. My... eagerness to meet you in battle was my... undoing, Dovahkiin. I salute your, hmm, low cunning in devising such a plan."

I cautiously approached the beast from the side. He turned his gaze towards me and watched with a curious mixture of resentment and resignation. "Zu'u bonaar. You went to a great deal of trouble to put me in this... humiliating position. Hind siiv Alduin, hmm? No doubt you want to know where to find Alduin?"

I interrogated Odahviing, learning that the way to Sovngarde lay through the ruins of a place called Skuldafn. However, this place was only reachable on dragonback. The only possible solution was....

"Will you release me - ro laan - if in return I promise to take you to Skuldafn and stop helping Alduin?You can trust me. Zu'u ni tahrodiis. Alduin has proven himself unworthy to rule. I go my own way now. Free me, and I will carry you to Skuldafn."

I didn't have a choice. I would have to trust his word. At my command to release the dragon, the men looked at me like I was insane, and while I was trying to convince the Jarl that I was not drunk or criminally stupid, Farengar approached Odahviing.

"I have waited all my life for an opportunity to examine a creature as yourself. May I, ah, collect some samples?"

Odahviing gave what could only be called a growl of exasperation. "Do not test my promise to the Dragonborn, mage. Leave."

Farengar, that idiot, simply ignored this, and started poking at the dragon's flank. Odahviing roared. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" The edge of Farengar's robes caught fire, and he ran out of the room like, well, like his clothes were aflame. Trying to stifle my laughter, I bowed to the Jarl, who now seemed almost eager to see us off.

Odahviing stretched his sinuous frame, and bent his neck down to look me in the eye. "Saraan uth - I await your command, as promised. Are you ready to see the world as only a dovah can? Zok brit uth! I warn you, once you've flown the skies of Keizaal, your envy of the dov will only increase. Amativ! Mu bo kotin stinselok."

I climbed onto his wide back, my stomach filled with anticipation. He spread his wings and we took off at an almost impossible angle. The steady vibration of his wings flapping against the wind and the way he used his tail to swiftly change direction awed me, and I was grateful for this moment that put me literally, on top of the world.

Too soon it seemed to me, the flight was over, and I got down at a ruin nestled between mountains. I dismounted from Odahviing and he spoke. "This is as far as I can take you. Krif voth ahkrin. I will look for your return, or Alduin's." I bowed in return and he left me.

There was a stone bridge up ahead, and I could barely make out two sentries watching from a distance. I could also see a dragon circling above a collection of old broken towers. Draugr and a dragon. Here we go. I cast a Lightning Cloak around me, and after summoning a Flame Atronach, took a deep breath. Pulling out Tempest and Stormfall, I charged them with a raw full throated yell. "OBLIVION TAKE YOU!"

Judging by the position of the sun, it had been about three hours when I finally exited onto the Skuldafn Temple's roof. I had sliced my way through phalanxes of draugr, draugr lords, and draugr scourges which were basically draugr who could use magic. My poor Flame Atronach had been destroyed long back but I was relatively intact. I had taken an arrow in the knee somewhere in the rush, but I had managed to heal it. It looked like no permanent damage had been done in any case, though the area was still tender. I had also come across loads of treasure, and more importantly, a Word-Wall for the final word of Storm Call. Qo. Lightning.