InsaneJournal

PREVIOUSLY: Ysmir is sent off in search of answers about the Elder Scroll, and is directed to the College of Winterhold. After another "quick" stop at the Dwemer ruin of Alftand, Ysmir finally recovers the fabled Elder Scroll from the depths of the subterranean city of Blackreach.

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With the Elder Scroll now in tow, Ysmir made haste back to Ivarstead and up the Seven-Thousand Steps to High Hrothgar. He'd meant to grab Lydia from Whiterun, but chose instead to press onward without her. Once he reached the Throat of the World, Paarthurnax was perched near the entryway on a large boulder, his head craned and locked on the Dragonborn.

"You have it. The Kel -- the Elder Scroll," he proclaimed. "Tiid kreh...qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There is no question. You are doom-driven. Kogaan Akatosh. The very bones of the earth are at your disposal. Go then. Fulfill your destiny. Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound. Do not delay. Alduin will be coming. He cannot miss the signs."

There was a specific spot near the word wall where the very air was warped - like the haze of a gas trap or the way heat shimmered on a particularly hot day. This was the location of the Time Wound Paarthurnax had once explained to him.

"You're sure this is going to work, Paarthurnax? I can't very well fight Alduin if I lose my sight," Ysmir said, pulling the Elder Scroll from his back.

"Vahzah..." Paarthurnax said. "Read the Scroll, Dovahkiin. Fate meant for you to read it. You will not lose your sight."

He was still a little nervous, but he nodded and stepped into the haze of the Time-Wound. "I hope you're right, Paarthurnax." Ysmir held the Scroll before him and pulled the tab downward, exposing the archaic knowledge within. His sight whited out, but then plunged into darkness and lit up again with a crimson hue and he was surrounded by an array of dragon skeletons and fire.

This was the Throat of the World, just as it had been a milennia ago, mere moments before Alduin was banished. A voice spoke out as a young male Nord crossed his vision. "Gormlaith! We're running out of time! The battle..."

A dragon swooped in and landed before the Nord. "Daar sul thur se Alduin vakrii. Today Alduin's lordship will be restored. But I honor your courage. Krif voth ahkrin. Die now, in vain."

A female Nord joined the male, and Ysmir watched as a mere spectator as the two took down the dragon, together. "Know that Gormlaith sent you down to your death! Hakon! A glorious day, is it not?"

"Have you no thought beyond the blooding of your blade?" the one named Hakon chastised.

"Ha! What else is there?" replied Gormlaith.

"The battle below goes ill," Hakon warned. "If Alduin does not rise to our challenge, I fear all may be lost."

"You worry too much, brother. Victory will be ours," Gormlaith assured him.

"Why does Alduin hang back? We've staked everything on this plan of yours, old man," Hakon said, to who Ysmir could only know was Felldir, the other Nord hero of old.

"He will come. He cannot ignore our defiance. And why should he fear us, even now?" Felldir reasoned.

"We've bloodied him well," Gormlaith announced. "Four of his kin have fallen to my blade alone this day."

"But none have yet stood against Alduin himself," Felldir argued. "Galthor, Sorri, Birkir.."

"They did not have Dragonrend," Gormlaith reminded the old man. "Once we bring him down, I promise I will have his head."

"You do not understand. Alduin cannot be slain like a lesser dragon," Felldir warned. "He is beyond our strength. Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll."

"Felldir! We agreed not to use it!" Hakon interjected.

"I never agreed," Felldir said. "And if you are right, I will not need it."

"No. We will deal with Alduin ourselves, here and now," Hakon said.

"We shall see soon enough. Alduin approaches!" Gormlaith said, turning to see the great black dragon swooping overhead. Alduin hovered above them before perching himself on the word wall.

"Meyye! Tahrodiis aanne! Him hinde pah liiv! Zu'u hin daan!"

"Let those that watch from Sovngarde envy us this day!" Gormlaith roared. The three Nords joined together, and with the words "Joor zah frul", Alduin was brought to ground, his body bathed in a vibrant blue light.

"Nivahriin joorre!" Alduin roared, his body caged. No matter what he did, he couldn't take flight, again; not while he was under the effects of Dragonrend. "What have you done? What twisted Words have you created?! Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck! But first...dir ko maar. You will die in terror, knowing your final fate... To feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde!"

Ysmir watched on as the three Nords did their best to bring Alduin to his death, but the dragon was too powerful for them. Gormlaith was gripped in his maw and thrown off to her death, and Hakon was losing his own battle with Alduin.

Felldir finally had enough of the carnage and unraveled the Elder Scroll. "Hold, Alduin on the Wing! Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard!" he called. "Begone, World-Eater! By words with older bones than your own we break your perch on this age and send you out! You are banished! Alduin, we shout you out from all our endings unto the last!"

Alduin was encased in a cloak of green light, and his very body seemed to disappear into the Void.

"It worked... you did it..." Hakon wheezed through his pain.

"Yes, the World-Eater is gone..." Felldir said. "May the spirits have mercy on our souls."

Ysmir was pushed back into the present, greeted with storming skies and Alduin's roar. This was it.

Alduin hovered himself above the summit and faced the Dragonborn directly. "Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor. My belly is full of the souls of your fellow mortals, Dovahkiin. Die now and await your fate in Sovngarde!"

"Lost funt," Paarthurnax growled. "You are too late, Alduin!"

"Suleyki mulaag, Paarthurnax," Alduin replied. "My power has waxed, while yours has waned."

Ysmir was more than used to fighting dragons by now, but none of them had been old as Alduin, or as powerful, for that matter. For now, he could only hope the Divines would watch over him as he attempted to fight Alduin.

His first use of Dragonrend hit Alduin square in the chest, his body bathed in a blue light. Alduin was forced to land, and while Ysmir couldn't help but feel sorely under-prepared for this fight, he still charged forward and put every slash of his sword he could possibly land on the dragon's snout.

When he saw Alduin was getting ready to use his Thu'um, again, Ysmir readied a ward spell, but was knocked back off his feet instead of being doused in flames. He fell to the snowy ground and rolled several times, the wind knocked out of him. Wheezing, he pushed himself to his feet and unleashed his own attack on Alduin.

His Voice manifested an explosion of fire onto Alduin's maw, covering his snout in fire. Alduin was momentarily stunned from the flames, and Ysmir used the precious time he had to add a few more slashes before Alduin finally found the lift to take off again.

"You may have picked up the weapons of my ancient foe, but you are not their equal!" Alduin snarled at him as he flew around. Ysmir angled himself just a bit before Alduin's flight path before hitting him with another round of Dragonrend, bringing him back down to the ground. This time, he barraged Alduin with as many ice spikes as his reserve of magicka would allow him. Alduin snapped his large jaws at the Dragonborn, forcing Ysmir to retreat a few feet away.

The pair's duel continued on for what seemed like forever. Ysmir was getting tired, and he'd taken quite a few nasty hits from the black dragon, knocked away either by his Thu'um or with his spiked tail. Alduin, too, was losing his zest for the fight - Ysmir could see the way his breath staggered with each hit he took from the Dragonborn. Paarthurnax did his best to help, dousing Alduin in his own rounds of flame, which gave Ysmir the time needed to heal his wounds.

Ysmir brought Alduin down again once more with Dragonrend, using Unrelenting Force to stun Alduin before slashing at his tough hide with his Skyforge steel. The snow below them was spotted with bright red and Alduin roared in pain, turning to snap again at the Dovahkiin before spewing a ball of fire at him. Ysmir just barely managed to get his ward up before the fire hit, but he knew the ward wouldn't last long with how low his magicka pool was, to begin with. The heat was staggering, and Ysmir huffed as it finally died out, firing back with an explosive fireball that bathed Alduin in flames.

"Meyz mul, Dovahkiin. You have become strong," Alduin panted, ceasing his attack on the Dragonborn. He was clearly injured, his energy spent. His hide was coated in a sheen of shiny red that only slightly contrasted with his obsidian-black scales. "But I am Al-du-in, firstborn of Akatosh! Mulaagi zok lot! I cannot be slain here, by you or anyone else! You cannot prevail against me. I will outlast you... mortal!"

Alduin took off without another word, flying off into the distance. The clouds cloaked Alduin's path, preventing Ysmir from seeing exactly where he went. Ysmir clutched his bruised ribs as he sank to his knees, trying to catch his breath. Killing Alduin seemed nigh-impossible at the beginning, but Dragonrend increased his edge in ways he never imagined.

Most dragons he'd been able to take down even without the access to Dragonrend, but Alduin was smarter than most of them and kept to the skies. As long as he was airborne, he was practically invincible until he was forced to land.

He wasn't sure how close Alduin had been to death when their fight concluded, but he at least knew now that Alduin wasn't completely invulnerable. He could be killed, it just wouldn't happen at the Throat of the World.