//------------------------------// // Coward // Story: Orc’s Breath // by Chemtest //------------------------------// I stand side by side with the greatest Nord heroes of old. My greatest friend stands by my side, smiling for the fight about to come. I smile as Wuuthrad calls out for the blood of this dragon. My smile only widens as the dragon flies in. Hakon shouts out, “As one everybody!” We all, with the exception of my friend, shout at once, “Joor Zah Frul!” Alduin falls to the ground as his life force is stripped away. I yell as I charge towards him, “For Malacath!” The Nords shout out as one, “For Skyrim!” I leap with all my force, and being Wuuthrad down onto Alduin with all the power I can. The enchantment of fire burns him from the inside, and the heroes all start to strike with their own weapons. Already, Alduin has been heavily damaged, and cries out in pain. He recovers, and looks at us, “Foolish men, Jul Kall, you think you can use the Thu’um to defeat me?” He takes a deep breath in, and faces the Nord heroes, “Fus Ro Dah!” The heroes are blasted back by the force of the shout, but I take advantage of it. I bring down Wuuthrad with the strength of ten headsmen right onto the joint of his wing. The axe gets about halfway through before I have to pull it out. I spit at Alduin, “They may be but foolish men, but we are Orcs! Ghorbash, together, for Malacath!” He slides across the ground, his Nightingale Armor allowing him the easy movement. He fires a daedric arrow from his enchanted bow, temporarily absorbing the life force of Alduin. He comes out of the slide, right near his wing. He takes out Chillrend, and slices deep into Alduin, sending shivers through his entire body. Ghorbash then backflips to in front of me, and makes use of his temporary strength. He holds his hands out, of which I jump into. He flips me into the air, sending me on a twirling whirlwind of death, headed for Alduin. The momentum pays off as I gouge through his scales, and get the blade deep into his neck. I use the weight of my heavy armor and momentum to bring me down the rest of the way, creating a deep and long wound on Alduin’s neck. I land on my feet, and see the Nordic heroes make a valiant charge. Alduin swats them aside with a single flick of his tail. He faces me and Ghorbash with a rage that would seem common on an Orc face, “You filthy Ogiim dare to think you can stand up to me!? I shall crush you like the bugs you are!” He raises his claw, and brings it down upon us. I shout my rage as I throw Wuuthrad to the ground. I prepare my own fists, and meet Alduin’s claw with my own strength. The impact of his claw and my fists is so powerful that it sends a minor shockwave out from us. I hold against the force of his claws, and think of how to solve this, “Ghorbash! Razor, Wabbajack!” He nods, and rips the items from his back and hip. He holds Mehrunes Razor with a skillful mastery. He drives the blade into the bottom of Alduin’s claw, and starts to suck out Alduin’s very soul. Alduin pulls his claw back in surpise as he stares at the little blade in my friends hands, “You have the Razor!? Sil Al!?” I laugh at his fear, “That’s right, we hold one of the few weapons that can kill you instantly!” He starts to back up, and try to fly away. One of the Nords shout, “Don’t let him escape!” With a single arrow, he loses the energy to be able to fly away. He collapses to the ground, and starts to flee. This is also stopped with another arrow to his legs. He slumps down to the ground, and I approach him. I hold Wuuthrad in front of his eyes, “Get a good look, World Eater. This will be what kills you. Pray to Akatosh if you think your daddy will help you.” He looks back at me with a fire still burning, “I will not pray to any mortal gods. I am a great destroyer, and now it’s my turn to get a taste.” As soon as he says that, the universe splits open. A glowing portal is created by bloodied tentacles ripping it open from the other side. A voice rings out from inside it, “D̵̶͢͏̯̹̫̺̱̫͙̥̜̫̗̳e̷͏̶̡̘͓͇̟͇͔̪̬̰̫͖̰̪̻̤̙͞s̵͉͓̖̗̥̞̱̭̺͕̘͞t̨͖̻͚̺̗̕͜ŕ͉̘̣͚̺͍̬͎̪̖̤̫̗͔̠̘o͏҉̧̲͍͖̻͇̥̩̯̰͉͢y͙̬̣̦͇̻͙̣͕͎̙̰̯̺͎̮̰͔̕͠͝!̷̨̢͓̰͕̮̥̖̳̖̼͉͙͔̭̤̣̞̀͜ͅ” Alduin takes no time to crawl in the portal. I’m only able to process what’s going on by the time his tail has disappeared into the portal. I grab Ghorbash on the shoulder, and start to run into the portal, “We can’t let him escape!” Ghorbash and I rush into the unknown after Alduin, and find ourselves come out somewhere completely different. We emerge on a green hillside as the portal closes behind us. I look over the landscape. Green, very green. I look over to Ghorbash, “I don’t think we’re in Skyrim anymore.” He looks over the landscape, “Gotta admit, that’s impressive.” I scan the horizon, “But where is Alduin!? He’s a dragon, shouldn't be that hard to spot!” Ghorbash puts a hand on my shoulder, and points to a mountain in the distance, “Village over there, and a city on the mountain. City means royalty, royalty means they have their heads shoved so far up their ass that they wouldn’t see a dragon. Village means people on the lookout for bandits and marauders. We should set out for that village, ask around and see where he went.” I nod along, “Good idea. Look at that, some weird smoke coming from a building! Must be a bandit camp, or vampire castle, or something else evil! We can go in there, and free the citizens of that village from the surely evil things inside, then they would be happy to help!” Ghorbash looks at the smoking building as well, “Looks black, like it’s made of ebony or it’s daedric. We should check it out.” I smile, and start to jump down the hill to the village, “Just like old times, eh Ghorbash?” He jumps after me, “If by ‘old times’ you mean last week.” I smile, “Whatever! We’re off on another quest!”