Chapter 7

Chapter 7

     Do not fail.  The words echoed in my head as I mindlessly slaughtered yet another Seeker, heading slowly but inevitably to Miraak.  I had found four different books, each named for an object located on an altar in the center of a room with four paths intersecting at the middle.  Near the end of the fight was always the hardest place of a tomb, cave, or dungeon to get through, so why should Apocrypha be any different?

     I knew I wasn’t in my right mind right now.  I was enraged over Storn’s death, and although I knew it was Hermaeus Mora who had actually killed him, Miraak was someone I could actually fight.  Killing him might not make it right, but at least then Storn’s sacrifice would not be in vain. 

     Yes, I knew I wasn’t thinking straight, and I didn’t care.

     Suddenly out of nowhere came the roar of a dragon, but I was not afraid of it.  I waited calmly until I could see the serpentine beast emerge from the gloom of Apocrypha.  “Gol- Hah Dov!” I Shouted.  Instead of rushing down to attack me, the dragon landed with a heavy thump. 

     “Miraak has forced me to serve him for too long.  Nahkriin saraan lingrah.  Let us destroy him together.”  The dragon turned its neck to the side, waiting for me to climb on. 

     Even in my current state of mind I knew that riding a dragon that had been Miraak’s servant for thousands of years was not a good idea, but there was no other way.  I stared hungrily at the summit only a few hundred yards away.  There was no way to reach it unless I could fly.

     I climbed on, and the dragon took off with a roar.  I felt the rush of wind and breathed in deep, preparing myself to fight.  My body trembled, not with fear, but anticipation.

     “Beware; Miraak is strong.  He knew you would come here.”  I felt the dragon’s powerful sides rumbling as he spoke.  I was here, and I would not be swayed again.

     The dragon landed on a wide open circular space.  Miraak was there, standing in the same guise as I had last seen him.  Two serpentine dragons flanked him, mouths gaping slightly open, saliva dripping from their reptilian lips.  They too were itching for a fight.

     “Sahrotaar, are you so easily swayed?”  My dragon said nothing, only curled his lips at his former master.

     Miraak turned to face me.  “And so the First Dragonborn meets the Last Dragonborn at the summit of Apocrypha.  No doubt just as Hermaeus Mora intended.  He is a fickle master, you know.  But now I will be free of him.  My time in Apocrypha is over.  You are here in your full power, and thus subject to my full power.  You will die.  And with the power of your soul, I will return to Solstheim and be master of my own fate again.  Kruziikrel!  Relonikiv!  Now!”

     I ducked behind a stack of books, wincing as the heat of flames from both the dragons’ mouths washed around me.  To my surprise the books didn’t catch fire.  I heard Sahrotaar’s roar as he darted into the air.  Both the other dragons followed him, chasing after him as he led them in contorted maneuvers around the summit of Apocrypha.  I jumped out from behind the books and unleashed two fireballs at Miraak. 

     “Wuld!”  He used Whirlwind Sprint to effortlessly dodge the missiles, and shot some of his lightning at me, which I also managed to avoid.  I dashed toward him, drawing my Daedric sword at the same time.  He raised his staff at me, and I prepared myself to deal with whatever the weapon would do.

     I could not have possibly been more unprepared.  Instead of shooting it directly at me, he shot the ground just in front of me.  A writhing mass of dark tentacles sprouted up out of the ground.  I tried to jump over them, but one latched around my ankle, pulling me heavily to the ground.  Miraak was there in an instant, cutting down at my neck with a sword.  I slashed the weapon aside with my own and cut the tentacle in the same movement, then rolled to the side as Miraak’s blade came down once again.  Kicking out with my boot I managed to catch him in the foot, tripping him and causing him to fall almost on his own tentacles.  I jumped to my feet, but Miraak was somehow also on his feet.  We closed with each other, only to leap away as the warring dragons dashed directly overhead, shaking the earth with the thunder of their wings.  I shot another fireball at Miraak, hoping to catch him unprepared, but he was too quick and avoided it once more.  Instead of retaliating with his lightning, this time he used the Fire Breath Shout.  “Yol… Toor Shul!” I managed to dodge this as well, if falling flat on your stomach can be called a dodge.  He was on me in an instant, once more going for the killing blow, but I Shouted “Fus Ro Dah!” and threw him off me with the Unrelenting Force Shout, the very first I had learned. 

     “The Greybeards taught you well,” Miraak observed.  “I will have to eliminate them when I have the time.” 

     By the Divines, I hated Miraak’s smug, self-confident attitude.  I went for something completely unexpected and threw my sword at him.  It was a terrible throw and had no hope of ever killing him or even wounding him really, but it did distract him.  I followed up with two fireballs, both of which caught him square in the chest.

     He didn’t catch fire.  Heck, his robes weren’t even scorched, but he did stagger back and grasp at is chest. 

     Up until now, I hadn’t even managed to hurt him or even really get close with an attack.  But here was a sign that he was human, that he could be slain. Heartened, I threw myself forward, determined to capitalize on this chance.  It was not to be, however.  He used the Whirlwind Sprint once more, dashing to the very center of the battlefield. 

     “Kruziikrel, zii los dii du!” he commanded.  One of the maneuvering dragons broke away and dove down, turning into a burning comet as it came.  By the time it hit the ground nothing was left but the skeleton, and Miraak looked as strong as he had when we had started the fight.  Miraak had somehow just absorbed the dragon’s soul and used it to heal himself.  I hadn’t known such a thing was even possible.

     I realized though that if he was willing to resort to such a drastic measure those fireballs must have hurt him pretty badly.  A few more solid hits and I could end this fight once and for all. 

     Miraak must have realized this as well, for he made no more snide comments.  Instead he began using Shouts to greater advantage, keeping his distance from me as he realized I was stronger than him in hand to hand combat.  I soon became frustrated at his unwillingness to allow me to get close, although I didn’t allow that to change the way I fought.  I knew he was waiting for me to make some sort of mistake. 

     It was he who made a mistake first.  I was facing him while the dragons were behind him, so he didn’t see that they were about to crash into the ground, locked in a deadly embrace of teeth and claws.  The thud as their combined weight struck the ground made me stagger and Miraak nearly overbalance.  I used my advantage to send another pair of fireballs at his head.

    “Fus Ro Dah!”  Miraak used the same Shout that I had not long before.  The fireballs struck the Shout and bounced straight back at me.  I tried to dodge, but couldn’t quite get out of the way and one of the flames left a streak of burnt flesh on my arm where it had sizzled by.  Teeth clenched, I weathered the pain.  I had taken far worse than a little burn.  Still, I held the arm close to me and didn’t try to use it as Miraak finally advanced, closing in now where he had been unwilling to do before.  It hurt to move it, and every little gust of wind that blew over it felt like the rasp of a razor. 

     Miraak sensed this and attacked twice as hard, sword flashing from side to side.  I was finding it hard just to keep up with the number of blows, let alone mount a counter attack.  Normally he would be able to move faster than I could, but I had anticipated this and worn my Thieves’ Guild armor instead of my Daedric armor.  He thrust his staff at me in an attempt to catch me off guard while I parried his simultaneous thrust, but I twisted to the side and snatched the staff out of his hands as he overextended.  Passing it behind my back from my right hand to left and dropping my sword, I shot it at him.  The tentacles instantly erupted from the end, causing Miraak to jerk back with a cry of bitter pain.  I could see his robes bubbling in the caustic fluid produced by the waving things. 

     But had I won?  No.  Miraak teleported back to the center of the room once more.  I realized what he was about to do and focused all my remaining Magicka on two withering Incineration spells, but it was too late.  Miraak forced Sahrotaar to fly down and surrender his soul, healing himself completely. 

     I retrieved my sword as Miraak turned toward me.  I didn’t even have time to react as he used Whirlwind Sprint to propel himself directly in front of me.  The lethal tip of his sword caught on one of the books in a stack near me, and Miraak stumbled at this unexpected resistance.  I bowled him over with a shoulder slam, and we both rolled over and over, swords forgotten as we punched and pounded each other, both trying to end up on top. 

     I ended up on top.  Miraak saw his death looming as I raised my hand, a hint of flame escaping from the glove. 

     I lost control of the spell, and indeed, also lost control of my sight and hearing for a moment as a deafening roar blasted from right in front of me.  I had completely forgotten the third dragon, Relonikiv.  Freed from harassment by Miraak’s absorption of Sahrotaar’s soul, he swept over me.  I just caught sight of his underbelly as he swept overhead, then a blinding, searing pain erupted in my upper right chest and I was bowled off Miraak. 

     More confused than really hurt, I turned my head to look down from where I lay on my back.  A dark red stain was spreading around a thick black object embedded deep in my right shoulder.  I reached a hand up to touch it, still disoriented, and was rewarded with a blast of pure agony.  My vision went black for a second, and when it came back, Miraak was standing over me.  I tried to jump up, I really did, but mostly I just stiffened and began to shake uncontrollably.  Relonikiv landed heavily behind Miraak, and from somewhere far away my mind noticed that one of the black spikes that adorned his tail had been broken off.

     “And so, the First Dragonborn defeats the last.  I leave you to make peace with your gods before you die.  As for me, I shall conquer the lands that you hold so dear, with no one to call master but myself.  You may rest knowing you have failed to stop me.”  Kneeling, he twisted the spike viciously in my shoulder.  I heard a sort of closemouthed scream, then realize it came from me.

     Miraak climbed onto Relonikiv.  “You were a worthy opponent, Dragonborn.  For that, I hope your death comes soon.”

     Then they were gone, though whether the dragon had flown away or I had just lost my vision I couldn’t tell.  Slowly, I turned my head to the side, seeing my fallen sword lying nearby.  I stared at it until my eyes began to flutter from blood loss.

      Miraak had won, and I had lost.

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