//------------------------------//
// 54: Endgame 
// Story: Sombra visits Skyrim 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

	"What...what is this unnatural power?" Chrysalis asked, her voice trembling as she focused on the terrible weather that was forming all around them and the Hold.

"This is Sombra's TRUE power," Celestia replied, almost sounding excited as she stared at Yolrahtoor, waiting for the battle to begin, "This is the power of the former King of the Crystal Empire, who mastered the power of Dark Magic to a degree that nopony has been able to replicate to this day. Observe, Chrysalis, as Sombra shows us how we used to fight over a thousand years ago."

Yolrahtoor floated in the air and stared down at the strange nord that dared to stand before her and her terrible power, deciding how to utterly destroy him. She was not scared of him and his little tricks, some of which he had displayed by darkening the sky and summoning a few crystals from the ground. She knew that she could easily defeat him, as she had easily defeated the one called Celestia earlier, though the thought gave her an idea on how to end her foe quickly.

"YOU SHOULD FEEL HONORED, MORTAL!" Yolrahtoor shouted, flames gathering around her as she prepared the same attack that she had used against Celestia, only this one would be even bigger, "IT IS RARE THAT I ALLOW SOMEONE AS INSIGNIFICANT AS YOU TO FACE ME IN A PROPER BATTLE! I SHALL ENJOY CASTING YOU INTO THE DEEPEST REACHES OF OBLIVION, WHERE NOT EVEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ESCAPE FROM THE DAEDRA'S COLD GRASP!"

Sombra stood there and stared up at Yolrahtoor, whose mouth snapped open and revealed the sphere of flames that she planned on dropping on him. He extended his right hand and the shadows gathered around it, though instead of attacking her directly he simply willed them to conjure something that had once been lost to him. A black sword, one that had been tainted by Dark Magic over a thousand years ago, appeared before his hand, which he wrapped his hand around before bringing it up to his face. This was the blade that Celestia believed to have been lost when he fell into the darkness and became the tyrant, the same blade that she had forged a replica of, but now it would go into battle with him once more.

"Its twice the size of the previous one," Luna commented, her eyes widening as she stared at what was happening, "Yolrahtoor isn't planning on blowing up an island, she's going to invite total ruin to the entire Hold. This would almost be like dropping a miniature sun on top of something."

"Sombra is the only one to truly stop something like this without causing harm to himself," Celestia replied, her eyes locked on the dragon and her attack, "so believe in him and his ability to finish this fight."

"DIE, MORTAL!" Yolrahtoor roared, pushing the larger ball of fire down towards Sombra, who merely watched her the entire time she floated there.

As the ball of fire slowly descended upon Whiterun everyone that was watching the battle held their breath, wondering if Yolrahtoor's attack would obliterate the city without Sombra doing anything. Then a black barrier appeared above the city and the ball collided with it, but instead of a gigantic explosion the ball was absorbed into the barrier and a layer of smoke blew out from where the two spells connected. Yolrahtoor raised herself higher so she could see through the smoke, knowing that it would be hard for either of them to see their opponents until it cleared.

That was before a crystal spire shot out of the smoke and forced her to move to the right, though when she spotted Sombra standing near the tip she wondered how he could have seen her through all the smoke. Before she could fire another attack at her enemy he leapt off his spire and landed on her chest piece, placing his hand on one of the heated plates. She chuckled and opened her mouth to obliterate him with a well placed blast to the face, but then the area around his hand began to light up and she knew that she must have fallen for some trick of his.

"Reflect," Sombra coldly said, pressing part of Yolrahtoor's attack right into her chest piece and literally blew her right out of the air, forcing her to crash into one of the buildings.

"He absorbed it?!" Chrysalis nearly shouted, not believing that Sombra could have pulled of such a feat when Celestia couldn't do it.

"And reflected it," Luna said, nodding as she waited for Yolrahtoor to show herself again, "this means that the fight is about to get real serious real fast."

Sombra spotted Yolrahtoor moving around the broken building and snapped his fingers, several small spheres made of fire and surrounded by shadows appearing behind him. The moment before Yolrahtoor burst out of the building Sombra moved his hand down, the spheres surging through the air until they came into contact with her chest. Several more explosions blasted Yolrahtoor out of the air and into a second building, though this time she barely wasted a second before getting back into the air and soared right up to Sombra. Once she was level with him she spun around and planted her tail squarely in his chest, using the force to toss him into the destruction below them.

The shadows reached out of the ground and caught Sombra before he could hit any of the buildings, lowering him onto the ground before releasing him.

"IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO, MORTAL?!" Yolrahtoor shouted, arrogance dripping from her voice, "IF SO, THEN I SHALL OBLITERATE YOU AND THIS PATHETIC CITY YOU STAND IN!"

Flames danced around her body before gathering in her mouth, which she opened and released a torrent of flames upon the entire Hold, causing the standing buildings to catch on fire. Before she finished her attack she turned to Dragonsreach and poured an extra torrent of flames on top of it, so she could burn the offending building to the ground. She returned to where she had been floating and admired her work, watching for any signs that Sombra would come out so she could rip him apart with her claws.

Shadows began to dance around her flames, consuming them until they were all completely extinguished, but then crystals began to form where the flames had been. The crystals began to come out of the buildings, the stone that had served as the walkways, and even the water that ran throughout the entire city. Yolrahtoor watched as the entire city became covered in her enemy's crystals, though as she looked around she had to wonder where he was amongst the mess. The she saw him, stepping out of the shadows as if he were the master and then element was merely his servant, but all that did was make her even angrier.

"SO, THE MORTAL CAN WITHSTAND SOME OF MY FIRE?!" Yolrahtoor roared, flames dancing around her entire body as several spheres appeared around her, "WELL THEN, I SHALL SIMPLY INCREASE MY OUTPUT AND DESTROY YOU IN SECONDS!"

"She can fire multiple spheres?" Chrysalis exclaimed, fear taking hold in her heart as she watched the fight, "How can Sombra survive such an onslaught?"

Sombra chuckled and held his left hand towards the sky, connecting to the Dark Magic that had seeped into the clouds around the city and prepared an attack that Yolrahtoor wouldn't see coming. He mentally counted how many spheres that had been summoned and found that Yolrahtoor had called seven of the dangerous spheres into existence around her. Once he had an accurate idea of where his enemy was floating and where the spheres were in relation to her he willed the magic in the clouds to ignite. Black lightning leapt out of the sky, but instead of impaling Yolrahtoor in the back he pierced each one of her spheres multiple times and linked each one of them together.

Once he was pleased with his design he closed his hand and brought the spheres together, forcing all seven of the fiery orbs to collide with Yolrahtoor and explode on impact, literally blasting her right out of the air once more. Yolrahtoor crashed into the general goods building and pulled herself up, smashing the rest of the structure as she stared up at her enemy, growing even more annoyed with him. She loosed a roar and soared into the air, but in her blind rage she failed to notice another dragon fly into the city and barrel right into her side, its claws trying to tear at her before it tossed her towards Dragonsreach.

When she corrected herself and stared at her newest enemy she wasn't surprised to find out who it was, she was, after all, expecting him to have arrived sooner or later.

"PAARTHURNAX," Yolrahtoor growled, staring at her former friend as he flew beside Sombra, "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULD SIDE WITH THE CREATURE THAT HELPED DESTROY YOUR BROTHER, SEEING HOW YOU BETRAYED HIM SO LONG AGO! I SHALL TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN DESTROYING THE BOTH OF YOU BEFORE I FINISH WHAT LORD ALDUIN STARTED!"

"Yes, I betrayed my brother," Paarthurnax replied, his eyes locking with Yolrahtoor's, "His pahlok, his arrogance, drove him to do battle with the joor, the mortals, of Skyrim. Alduin believed that, as the Diistkiin, the Firstborn, it was his right to rule over Tamriel and decide the dez, the fate, of everything and everyone. I had no choice but to teach our Thu'um to the joor, so they could defend themselves against my brother and the rest of the dovah, the dragons, that followed him. Alduin was defeated and his army was scattered, but I knew that one day the both of you would return, so now it falls to me to finish the cycle that we started so long ago."

"I WILL BLOW THE BOTH OF YOU TO OBLIVION!" Yolrahtoor roared, soaring past the two of them until she was higher than the tip of Dragonsreach and turned to face them.

Flames danced around her body, rolling over her plates as they slowly gathered in front of her, building into the familiar shape of the spheres she continued to fire. This time she wasn't taking any chances now that Paarthurnax had joined the battle, she was going to increase the amount of power and drop a sphere that would destroy half of Skyrim once it touched the ground. She also began to pull the flames out of the clouds around her, causing them all to burst as she forced her sphere to continue to grow until it was ready.

"Just how much power does she have?" Chrysalis asked, sweat rolling down her face as she quickly realized that they were all in harms way if the newest sphere hit the ground.

"She is the Dragon Goddess of Fire," Celestia replied, now beginning to sweat herself, "I guess she'll put everything she has into each attack so she can defeat her enemies."

"DIE, ENEMIES OF ALDUIN!" Yolrahtoor roared, releasing the magic and allowing the gigantic ball of fire to begin its descent towards the ruins of Whiterun.

Sombra, instead of hitting the attack head on like the last time, flew back to the ground and lightly touched the blackened stonework, which had the slightest hint of flames on them as the sphere neared the city. Knowing that time was of the essence he pressed his left hand against the stone and concentrated on the shadows that had sunken into the entire city, willing everything to rise. A mass of shadows began to rise out of the ground, breaking free from all the crystals that he had summoned across the city, until it began to collect above where he was standing.

Instead of leaving the mass of shadows to wander in the form it was currently in Sombra gave it one final push, caushing the shadows to gather together until they formed a gigantic shadowy version of himself.

"The Avatar of Darkness," Luna breathed, her eyes widening in awe, "versus a Sphere of Fire and Destruction...my bits are on Sombra trashing Yolrahtoor once more."

Sombra huffed for a moment before pressing the hands of the Avatar against the incoming sphere of fire, trying to halt it before it could crash into the city. Once it had a firm hold on the sphere Sombra began to siphon the energy into the shadows, trying to shrink the attack down despite how much power had been poured into it. At first the only thing that he could see was the Avatar being pressed downwards, telling him that the power of Yolrahtoor's attack was far greater then he had expected, but then he noticed it shrink just a tiny bit. With that piece in mind he pressed against the attack and the Avatar raised up once more, the shadows around them reinforcing it while Sombra fought against his enemy.

Paarthurnax, seeing the opportunity to strike Yolrahtoor present itself, flew behind his enemy and rose behind her, his claws and his Thu'um at the ready. The moment that he got behind her he crashed into Yolrahtoor's back and dug his claws into her plates, cutting her concentration to her attack into pieces before blasting her in the back of her neck. Yolrahtoor growled in annoyance and twisted to bite him in return, but Paarthurnax moved out of the way as he noticed that the sphere was being pushed back their way just a bit. That was when an idea, one that could end the fight, came to mind, so he stopped beating his wings and let himself fall, his claws catching between the plates and dragging Yolrahtoor down as well.

The moment the two of them connected with the sphere the sky lit up in a gigantic flash, followed by an explosion that rocked the foundations of Whiterun and could be heard all across Skyrim. The aftershock rippled through the air, tearing apart the Avatar and forced everyone that was watching to cover their eyes until the light was gone. At first there was nothing, almost as if both Paarthurnax and Yolrahtoor had been consumed by the fire, but then a large body crashed into Dragonsreach, smashing through the front door completely. Sombra recognized Paarthurnax anywhere, so his eyes turned back to the sky and began to search for Yolrahtoor, knowing that if one survived then the other had to as well.

Even without having to be right next to him Sombra's shadows wrapped around Paarthurnax for a moment and his fears came true; Paarthurnax had sacrificed himself to end Yolrahtoor, so Sombra turned to his missing enemy.

Then Sombra saw her, though she limped through the air until she landed on the ground near Dragonsreach, but as he stared at her he was surprised to find how much damage she had taken. Pieces of her armor plating were cracked from the intense power she had fallen into, but there were a few plates that looked like they had been broken completely. From the wounds that Sombra could actually see it was clear that Yolrahtoor was wounded and bleeding, which meant that she was exhausted and running low on power. He couldn't blame her for feeling that way, because with the amount of magic that went into summoning the Avatar drained him as well, though he had enough for one good attack.

Sombra was not about to let Paarthurnax's sacrifice go in vain, and it was that determination that lead to him steeling himself so he could see the fight through to the end.

"How do you feel?" Sombra asked, huffing as he readied his magic, "Are you...prepared to...end this fight?"

"DO NOT...Concern yourself...with my condition...mortal," Yolrahtoor roared, though by the tone of her voice it was clear that she was reaching her limit as well, "I...have more than...enough power to...destroy you!"

Sombra chuckled and pressed his hand against the ground, using a bit of his power to summon a flat pillar for himself so he could be above the ruined city. A second flat pillar rose underneath Yolrahtoor, who nearly fell off of it in surprise, but held onto it until it came to a halt and leveled with Sombra's pillar.

"One last attack," Sombra called out, shadows wrapping around his right hand and his sword, "one final exchange of power between the two of us. Bring your best attack, Yolrahtoor, because I wont be holding back."

Yolrahtoor coughed and pulled her head back, gathering as much fire as she could from the surrounding area so she could obliterate her enemy with ease. Sombra, on the other hand, called what shadows remained in the clouds and the ground to his side, allowing them to wrap around his sword until there was a mass of them. He glanced down at the blade for a moment and noticed a small crack in the edge of the blade, though he knew that his beloved weapon was at the end of its days. Then, as Sombra prepared to dash forward, Yolrahtoor brought her head level with him and released a large burst of flames in his direction. Sombra pulled his arm back and then swung, releasing the shadows into a wave of darkness, one that clashed with the flames and forced the two elements to battle each other.

At first the two elements merely battled for superiority, but then, unknown to Yolrahtoor, Sombra leapt into the darkness and followed through with his swing. Once he connected to the flames he began to slice through them, though he continued through the flames as fast as the shadows would allow him to do so. The moment that he past the worst of the flames he ducked under Yolrahtoor's fire, so she wouldn't see him immediately, and swung his shadow-infused blade at the armor plating as hard as he could muster. The instant that his blade connected to the armor he could feel the metal bend under the attack, so when he was standing behind Yolrahtoor he knew that he had accomplished his goal.

Yolrahtoor roared in pain as her armor plating, the armor that Miraak had promised would be indestructible, broke into pieces and fell onto the ground around her. She coughed up blood and stared down at the long horizontal cut that went from where her chest was all the way down to her hind leg on the left side of her body, though her wing had been missed completely. The cut was deadly all by itself because of how deep it had been, but with the shadows attached to it she could feel the cold beginning to devour her inner flame. She tried to move and fell down on the right side of her body, though as she laid there, dying as if Skyrim's winter season was slowly taking the life from her, she glanced at the sky for a brief moment.

"I...admit...de...feat..." Yolrahtoor coughed, feeling the cold wash over her as she finally laid her head on the ground.

Sombra, on the other hand, fell to his knees and dropped the handle of his sword, as that was all that had survived the battle with Yolrahtoor's flames. His entire left arm was burned from the ordeal and part of the left side of his face had been hit as well, but he considered himself lucky. He had poured everything he had into that one attack, knowing that if he failed he could have broken himself beyond repair if he had survived the battle, but in the end he had succeeded. He chuckled for a moment before coughing up blood, which was followed by him hitting the ground and resting his eyes on the still body of Yolrahtoor.

That was before a ghost chose to appear before him, but he knew who it was just by staring up at her face; it was Raika. It wasn't the Raika that had been angry at her friends for being the target of everyone's obsession. It wasn't the Raika that had grown to hate nearly everyone thanks to the power of an evil dragon pushing her emotions into her. It even wasn't the Raika that had taken to despising Discord and the games that he played, which had lead to the loss of her Housecarl so long ago. This Raika was the one that Sombra remembered, the one that would do anything and everything to make sure that she could save Tamriel from Alduin.

It was the Raika that he had met at the beginning of his journey to discover who he was, who had taught him how to fight and eventually reunited him with the love of his life.

She knelt beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder, almost as if she was there to comfort him, telling him that she was okay with him destroying the creature that had taken her body, despite losing herself in the process. He wanted to say something, anything to her, but even though he couldn't find the energy to do so she pressed a finger to his lips to stop him anyway. After a moment a second figure appeared behind Raika, though Sombra wasn't too surprised to find Shadow, the Knight of the Nine, standing behind her. Next to him stood Rend Org'resh, the Hero of Kvatch, who nodded to both Raika and Sombra, though Raika nodded back and stood up to join them.

Sombra knew what it was; Raika, the Last Dragonborn, the Slayer of Alduin the World-Eater, was finally being welcomed back into Sovngarde, where she would rest with the rest of the legendary heroes.

As the trio vanished Sombra smiled and closed his eyes, knowing that, while exhaustion took him, he had freed whatever sliver of Raika's soul that Miraak had missed. In the end, the good guys had won. And Sombra was just fine with that outcome.