//------------------------------// // Chapter 86: The Final Battle // Story: The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM // by FireOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Chapter LXXXVI: The Final Battle “He’s not a monster; he’s a MINOTAUR!” With Whitetrot retaken, the Three Armies made a push for Marekarth immediately. The Minotauran Overseer of Whitetrot had said that the Minotauran Supreme Overseer was in Nuzel-zum, and we intended to catch him off guard while we had a chance. As the sun set, we reached the city of Marekarth, which was active with Minotauran technology once more. Pegasi rained down from the sky, landing within Marekarth’s walls and taking the Minotaurs by surprise. The Legion and Stormclouds surged toward the city’s gate, forcing it open with battering rams. Just inside the gates, the Minotaurs had set up ballistae that tore apart the front ranks of soldiers as they attempted to enter the city. Steadfast, Mystic, and I hid just outside the gates as Mephalda flew over the wall, firing arrows at the sentries atop it. She tackled the Minotaur that was watching after the ballistae, sinking her Blackwing blades into his back. Once he was out of the way, she deactivated the giant crossbows so that we could enter. A cheer went up from the Stormclouds and Imperials, and we all charged into the city together. I spotted a group of automatons and Minotaurs trying to come at us from the side and ran to intercept. I blasted the first mech with a bolt of lightning before sinking my Draconequus sword into its head. As I threw the automaton off, I swung my blade around and met the sword of another automaton. The machine pulled its weapon back before swinging it back around at me, both its arms spinning around its body. I ducked down beneath the blades, and swung my sword at the sphere holding the automaton up. As it tried to roll away, my sword sliced its method of locomotion apart, and it fell to the ground. I slashed Dawnbreaker through its head before it could try to push itself back up. A Minotaur swung a mace at me, and I blasted fire at him, forcing him to keep his distance. As my flames ran out, he charged back in, swinging his oversized mace around at my side. I blocked with Dawnbreaker, stopping his strike, if only just barely. I jumped back as he swung the mace around and down at my head. <> I Shouted, and his swing came up short as he stopped to clutch at his chest. While he was vulnerable, I jumped it toward him, swinging my sword around at his tarnished armor. The blade cut through easily enough, but I didn’t give him a severe wound and was forced to jump back as he swung his mace at me. The next time his mace came my way, I swung around not at the weapon, but at his hand. As my blade sliced through the backs of his hairy fingers, he dropped his weapon, and I was able to stab my blade up through his armor and into his chest. I shot ice spikes at another Minotaur as I swung my Draconequus blade around and through the torso of an automaton. The Minotaur I’d been shooting at drew her crossbow and began shooting at me. I grabbed a Minotauran shield that had been dropped by someone, and used it to block the bolts as I advanced toward the Minotaur. I threw the shield at her as I reached it, and she dropped her crossbow. She had a battleaxe out in a moment, however, and swung it around at me. I jumped back, avoiding the swinging blade, and shot a bolt of lightning at the Minotaur. A gem embedded in her armor absorbed my magic, and I did no harm to her. I swung Dawnbreaker around at her legs, but she blocked with her battleaxe. I swung my blade around again, this time aiming for her waist, but she once again blocked, hooking her weapon over mine. She tried to pull Dawnbreaker away from me, but I held on tightly, refusing to let go, until I yanked my sword free and swung it around through her chest. Her armor split as my blade dug through her flesh, and she fell to the ground dead. I picked the Minotauran shield up again as crossbow bolts began to rain down on me. I advanced toward where they were coming from, a group of Minotauran automatons with crossbows instead of blades at the ends of their arms. Climbing stairs up to the next tier of the city, I knocked one off the ledge with my shield. Holding it between myself and the remaining automatons, I worked my way down the line, destroying the machines with my Draconequus blade. A flash of light caught my eye, and I turned to see a fireball flying down from the guard tower in the center of the city. It landed among the pony soldiers, frying a group of them instantly. Looking up at where it had come from, I saw that the Minotaurs had rigged up some kind of machine that could replicate a unicorn’s magic and shoot fire. As another blast of flame was shot into the city, I made my way up toward the tower. A few automatons got in my way as I headed up toward the keep, and I brought Dawnbreaker up to block their swings. As a blade struck mine, I slid my sword down it until I was able to chop the sword off. The automaton swung its other blade around at me, and I ducked before swinging Dawnbreaker around and slicing that one off too. <<>> I Shouted, and the machine I’d just disarmed went flying back, smashing into the others behind it. I sent flames shooting out from my horn as the machines began to recover and roll toward me. It wasn’t until after a few rolled into the flames and began to heat up that I killed the fire and swung toward the glowing figures with my Draconequus sword. My blade sliced through the heated metal, ripping the automatons apart. I carefully stepped around the still-glowing automaton wrecks as I approached the rest of the machines. I swung Dawnbreaker around at an automaton, the force of my swing tearing its arm off. It spun its remaining blade around toward me, but I blocked it easily and forced the weapon back. To finish the machine off, I swung Dawnbreaker around through its neck, separating its body from the thinking mechanisms in its head. Without its head, the automaton rolled off the ledge and crashed to the ground. <<>> I Shouted, covering the remaining automatons in a wave of ice. As their steam plants froze over, they came to a stop, and they offered no resistance as I slashed Dawnbreaker through the brittle metal. A crossbow bolt went shooting past my head as I took care of the last one, and turned to see a Minotaur advancing toward me. I galloped to meet him, dodging the bolts he fired at me. I shot a blast of fire ahead of me just before I met him, but the Minotaur seemed unfazed, and drew a spear to fight me. I swung my Draconequus sword around at his leg, but he easily blocked it with his spear. He spun it around, pushing my sword away, and stabbed the javelin at me. I stepped back, and the tip struck the stone between my forehooves. I tried to take the opportunity to swing Dawnbreaker around and knock the spear to the side, but the Minotaur was too quick for me and swung his weapon up, striking my chest. My crystalline armor held, but I was thrown back off my hooves and dropped my sword. I pulled out the Blade of Hoofingar as the Minotaur stabbed at me again, and I knocked his weapon to the side. Undeterred, he swung his spear around, cracking the end across the side of my head. I tumbled across the ground, recovering just in time to block his next swing. I was dangerously close to the ledge that dropped down to Marekarth’s lower level, and as the Minotaur swung the spear at me again, I grabbed it in my magic. Heaving with all my might, I pulled the Minotaur closer to the edge before pushing him the rest of the way with my hooves. I jumped to my hooves as he went plummeting down, and galloped up toward the upper level of the city. As I reached the area in front of the keep, an automaton with a crossbow began to fire at me. I shot ice spikes back until I managed to tear its crossbow off its body. Leaving the unarmed automaton behind, I headed for the guard tower. It was built in an odd place, on the opposite side of the Temple of Difillya. I crept around the temple, trying not to broadcast my presence, until I was within sight of the tower. Another blast of flame went shooting down from above as I approached the tower’s door and pushed it open. A Minotaur standing within saw me immediately and drew his sword. I charged toward him, Dawnbreaker swinging, and our blades met. The metal screeched as we pulled them apart, and I swung toward the Minotaur’s legs. He blocked, pushing my sword away, and swung at my head. I ducked down, but swung Dawnbreaker over my head, meeting his blade. In order to get a bit more height, I jumped onto a table, putting me nearly face to face with the Minotaur. The drawback was that I couldn’t maneuver quite as well. I jumped as the Minotaur swung his blade around at my legs. When he swung back at them, I was barely able to dodge and ended up landing on his sword, pinning it to the table. I swung Dawnbreaker around, slicing off the Minotaur’s head before he could draw another weapon. Leaving the Minotaur’s corpse behind, I headed up the stairs to the open top of the tower, where the flame engine was set up. I pushed the trapdoor open rapidly before jumping through, catching the machine’s operator by surprise. He fired a shot at me with a crossbow before dropping it and grabbing a war axe. I jumped to the side as he swung it around at my head, being careful not to fall from this precarious place. I swung Dawnbreaker around, stopping his blade as he swung it down at me. As I swung my sword toward his neck, he sidestepped, nearly running into the flame engine. I took advantage of the slip-up to swing my blade around at his arm. Unfortunately, my blade didn’t penetrate, and it only left a nick in the armor. The Minotaur swung his blade around at me, and I ducked down to avoid it. As he swung it at me again, I blocked with my Draconequus blade, holding him in place. He gave a quick twist of his axe, and was able to pull my sword away from me, sending it clattering to the floor. Before he could swing his weapon back around, an arrow sprouted from his throat. More soon followed, and he staggered backwards, tumbling over the railing and falling from the tower. Mephalda flew into the tower and landed next to me. “It looked like you could use some help,” she said as I retrieved my sword. “Thanks,” I said before trotting over to the flame engine, “How do you suppose this thing works?” Turns out, it was very easy to work. Spinning the wheels mounted on the side allowed it to spin and aim, and a simple pull of a lever shot a blast of fire from the smoking end. I turned the Minotaurs’ own weapon against them, raining fireballs down on them and their automatons wherever I saw them. Once all the enemies within the city were taken care of, Mephalda and I left the tower and headed down toward the city’s keep, meeting up with the rest of the ponies there. We followed the crowd into the side of the mountain, where some of the soldiers had already entered. It appeared that the ballistae that had troubled us during the Stormcloud invasion of the city had been repaired, but it didn’t take long for them to get destroyed again. While some of the ponies headed for the throne room and the rest of the keep’s rooms, I led the bulk of the troops to the entrance to the Nuzel-zum excavation. As we neared the bridge, a terrible hissing of steam came from the far doors. Three giant automatons came lumbering out of Nuzel-zum and began to shoot their giant crossbow bolts at the assembled soldiers. My friends and I split off from the main group of ponies as one of the death-clankers began to make its way toward the exit to Marekarth. Mystic shot a blast of pure magic at the automaton, melting one of its legs. <<>> I Shouted, quickly cooling the melted metal so that the automaton was fused to the ground. The machine pulled its leg free, causing it to snap in two, and slipped as it tried to walk again. Steadfast charged in and swung his warhammer at one of its arms, knocking the crossbow apart. The automaton lifted its other arm, revealing it had a flame-launching device underneath, and aimed it at Steadfast. Mystic teleported in, grabbed Steadfast, and teleported out before the machine fired its flames at him. Mephalda fired an arrow at its flame-throwing device, but missed as the automaton stood up. The machine extended its crossbow-less arm and used it as a crutch as it stood up. With its other arm, it alternated between shooting flames and crossbow bolts at us. <<>> I Shouted, galloping swiftly in toward the automaton. I slashed Dawnbreaker through its flame-throwing device as I galloped under its arm and ran away as fast as I could as a fireball exploded out from it. Putting out the flames at the ends of my mane and tail, I dodged the swing the automaton made at me with its charred arm. The machine turned toward me, and I brought Dawnbreaker up to block as it swung its arm down at me. My Draconequus blade tore through the machinery, causing the machine’s hand to go limp. Steam began to hiss from the automaton, and it opened its chest as it prepared a steam attack against me. <> I Shouted, and time slowed to a crawl. Before the death-clanker could blast me with scalding hot steam, I jumped toward its open chest. An orb rotated in the center, bizarre and magical lights swirling within. I stabbed Dawnbreaker through it, causing the automaton to explode. I ran away as the machine was blown to bits, and doubled my pace as time returned to normal. The other automatons were destroyed by that time, and the soldiers were pouring through the doors to Nuzel-zum; we followed close behind them. As we entered the ancient Minotauran city, we encountered mostly automatons. The Minotaurs we did spot retreated almost immediately after seeing us. The upside was that they were unwittingly leading us right to the Supreme Overseer. So far, the path was following the same route we’d followed to get to the observatory. Therefore, we knew exactly what to expect as we entered a large, dark room. Mystic and I began shooting lighting up at the ceiling immediately after entering, striking the horde of Minotauran spiders clustered up there. Lightning bolts began to rain down on us from the automatons, and the unicorn battlemages around us put up wards. They extended them as the pegasi flew up to strike out at the machines. The earth pony archers provided cover fire as they did so, and soon the spiders were all gone, their broken metal husks falling to the floor. We continued through the Minotauran city, passing by hissing steam pipes and empty workshops. As we entered the Debate Hall, the Minotaurs finally stood their ground. Mystic shot a blast of lightning at the row of Minotaurs wielding crossbows in the back as they began to fire their bolts at us, and the Stormcloud archers followed suit with their arrows, returning fire. I scrambled through the chaos until I ran into one of the armored Minotaurs. She swung her sword down at my back, and I swung Dawnbreaker around to block. I drew my Changeling war axe as well and swung it toward the Minotaur’s legs, but she drew another sword and blocked my swing. She crossed her blades and slid them away, nearly pulling my axe from my grip. She swung one around toward the side of my head and the other down from the top, and I blocked them both with my otherworldly weapons. She pulled her sword away from my Draconequus blade and drew it back before swinging around at my forelegs. Her sword glanced off my crystalline armor, and I brought Dawnbreaker around to block as she angled the sword up toward my chin. <> I Shouted, and her swords went flying from her grip. I swung Dawnbreaker up toward her chest, but she blocked with a raised ridge of metal on the outside of her greaves. As I swung my Changeling war axe around at her legs, she did the same thing with her other arm. I sheathed my axe and shot a blast of lightning at her. However, she now had a free arm and used it to punch me in the neck. I gasped for breath as I dropped Dawnbreaker. She snatched my Draconequus sword up with her hand and lunged at me with it. I galloped beneath her arm and around behind her as she did so, drawing my ebony sword. Before she could turn around, I plunged the Blade of Hoofingar through a gap in her back armor. As she collapsed to the ground, I retrieved Dawnbreaker from her hand. I spun around at a Minotaur wielding a mace. As he tried to smash me with his weapon, I ran under it and stabbed Dawnbreaker into his chest. My strike failed to kill him, however, and he grabbed me by the tail and threw me away from him. I ducked down to avoid his mace as he swung it at my cheek, and knocked it to the ground with Dawnbreaker. I jumped onto his mace and used it to launch myself toward the Minotaur. He swung his arm at me, stopping me from reaching him. As he did so, I grabbed onto his gauntlet with my magic and used my momentum to pull it off his arm. I threw it away as I slid across the floor, my hooves creating sparks. I galloped back toward him, dodging a swing of his mace, and swung Dawnbreaker around. My blade sliced off his hand, and the Minotaur instantly dropped his weapon in pain and clutched his bleeding forearm to his chest. He blocked my next swipe with the gauntlet on his good arm, and pulled a potion from his belt. Before he could use it, I used my Changeling war axe to yank his arm out of the way, and stabbed my Draconequus sword through his chest. One Minotauran archer was much better than the rest. So far nopony had been able to reach and kill him without dying themselves. Even Mephalda wasn’t able to do more than land a hit or two on him with her bow. I galloped right toward that Minotaur. I Shouted as he turned to shoot at me with his crossbow. Immediately his heart was filled with fear, and he cowered away from me. He turned to run and hastily fired a few poor shots with his projectile weapon that I was easily able to dodge. He even threw his crossbow at me in an attempt to slow me down before my Shout wore off, and he realized his mistake. He drew a sword from his belt as I reached him, and blocked my swing at his neck. Dawnbreaker flew through the air, headed for the Minotaur’s waist, but he managed to angle his sword and block before going on the offensive. He swung his blade around toward my neck, and I spun my Draconequus blade around to block. As he slid his sword down my blade and angled it toward my neck, I stepped to the side, and his blade slid along the side of my helmet instead. As it neared my neck, I spun Dawnbreaker around and knocked his sword away. I ducked as he swung the blade back at me, and I jumped forward, slicing my Draconequus sword up through his side. My blade cut through armor, bone, and flesh beneath, puncturing his lung. I stepped away as he fell to the floor, coughing up blood. As the soldiers finished off the last of the Minotaurs, I rejoined my friends, and we scouted ahead, searching for the Supreme Overseer. We spotted an armed Minotaur standing in front of a locked gate and converged on him. He drew a flail as we approached and swung it around, blocking out progress. Mephalda shot arrows at the Minotaur, but most bounced off his armor. Mystic’s blast of lightning managed to get through, sending him shaking and knocking his flail from his hand. Steadfast and I charged forward as he recovered and retrieved his weapon. He spun the flail around, and the head slammed into my back, my armor absorbing the strike. I sliced at his arm with Dawnbreaker, and he drew it back as Steadfast swung his warhammer into the Minotaur’s leg. I heard bone snap, and the Minotaur fell to his knees. He swung his flail around, wrapping the chain around Steadfast’s warhammer before pulling my companion’s weapon away from him. As the warhammer went flying, the Minotaur prepared to swing his flail at Steadfast. <> I Shouted, and the Minotaur’s weapon went flying from his hand. I spun Dawnbreaker around before stabbing it into the Minotaur’s chest. He grabbed at the blade with his hands, trying to stop it from sinking in deeper. He released it as the blade cut through his armor and he tried to shove me away instead, only succeeding in impaling himself further. I pulled Dawnbreaker from his chest as he toppled forward, dead. The soldiers caught up to us as I finished off the guard, and the battlemages burned the lock off the gate, allowing us to proceed up the steps on the other side. We climbed through the ancient Minotauran city, heading for what we hoped was the Overseer’s office. Crossbow turrets on the walls appeared from time to time, but the pegasi were easily able to fly up and disarm them while the unicorns provided magical protection. I took their appearance as a good sign, suggesting that whatever was up here was worth protecting. A hallway at the top of the stairs held doors to several offices, and the soldiers forced each of them open, checking for Minotaurs. Most of those they found were civilian administrators, and they surrendered immediately, some even pointing the way to the Supreme Overseer. We followed their directions down the halls, headed for the one Minotaur that could end all this. The door the other Minotaurs had said to look for suddenly opened as we approached. Out of it strode a Minotaur coated in armor that hissed steam. Bulky apparatuses stuck out from the armor in places, running the mechanical suit. The Minotaur wearing the steam powered armor leveled an arm at us and began to rapidly fire crossbow bolts from the weapon mounted on his forearm. Mystic put a ward up in front of us, stopping the projectiles, while Mephalda returned fire. I leant a hoof, shooting ice spikes at the Minotaur and trying to strike the machinery on the suit. Giving up on using its crossbow, the Minotaur switched to the flame-launcher mounted on its other arm. The flames washed down the narrow hallway, having nowhere to go but straight at us. Mystic braced herself as the fire hit her ward and passed around it. <<>> I Shouted, sprinting down the hall until I was standing before the Minotaur blocking our way. I swung Dawnbreaker at his arm as I dodged around him, wrecking his crossbow. Flicking his arms, he caused a blade to emerge from each of his gauntlets and swung them around at me. I ducked under one and jumped over the other before blocking his next swings with Dawnbreaker and the Blade of Hoofingar. While he was facing toward me, he had his back toward my friends. Mystic rushed in, coating the steam plant on his back in ice. Steadfast galloped past her, smashing the plant to bits with a strike from his warhammer. Without its power source, the Minotaur had trouble moving his armor. As he sluggishly tried to bring his blade around to block, I swiped Dawnbreaker across his neck, and he collapsed to the floor. Not wasting any time, I headed for the door the Minotaur had emerged from. Throwing it open, I stepped into a large conference room, my friends close behind me. The Minotaurs within abandoned what they were doing and raised their hands up in surrender. “Which one of you is Adamantium Resolve?” I asked. The Minotaurs all pointed to the Supreme Commander, who was standing at the head of the table. Adamantium Resolve lowered his hands as he was pointed out, and strode around the table toward me. “Why do you want to know?” he asked innocently. “I need you to call off your war against ponykind,” I said as soldiers of each of the three races began to enter the room. “Call off this war?” he asked, “A war that took decades to plan and centuries to come to fruition?” “You’re going to fail,” I told him, “Surrender now.” “What makes you think the Minotaurs will fail?” he asked, striding up to me and bending down to look me in the eye, “We have technology and weapons far superior to your primitive tools.” “Your invasion’s already failed,” I stated, “Not enough Minotaurs were transported forward in time. Your cities are in ruins, and you abandoned Underkeep, your most defensible position. Nuzel-zum is all you have left, and a pony army is storming it as we speak.” “We still control your town Splitten,” the Supreme Overseer replied, though he seemed to be grasping at straws now. “How long will that last?” I asked, “A day? Maybe two? You’ve lost.” “And if I do surrender,” he said, “What will become of my people?” “You’ll be allowed to live,” the voice of Emperor Cuirass spoke from behind me, “But you’ll be forced to leave the Northlands, so that you cause no further trouble for us.” I turned around to see all three leaders were here now that this area of Nuzel-zum was secure. Of course, I was fairly certain these three stallions would’ve come even if things weren’t safe. It was just who they were. “Leaving our cities and our homes?” Adamantium Resolve asked, “How can you even ask such a thing?” “You brought this on yourself,” High Commander Typhoon replied, “If you had returned in peace, we would have gladly welcomed you back. But, you decided to attack instead, and so you will be forced to leave this land.” “We’re not asking,” Jarl Stormcloud pointed out, “This is not a negotiation between two equal parties who will mutually benefit. This is us laying down our demands in a way much fairer than you deserve.” “What choice do I have?” the Supreme Overseer said, “If I accept your terms, then my race will be forced to leave everything we have, but if I don’t, then we will all die. I accept, but I will not forget this, and neither will my people.” ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ I watched from Marekarth’s guard tower as the Minotaurs filed out of the city as a group, soldiers from the Three Armies escorting them. The line of torches and lamps stretched out of the city and weaved south through the Karth. Eventually the Minotaurs would make their way to Horizon’s southern border, and would use some little used mountain passes to leave the Northlands forever. I watched a lone windigo fly through the air, searching for its fellows. I’d noticed a sudden increase of them in the sky during the Battle of Five Armies, and I’d seen them more often than normal ever since. But, now that the Northlands were finally at peace, the windigos had no conflict and hatred to feed off of and were starving. One of my main goals was completed, and now only one more remained. Alduin had to die. Level Up Health: 390 Stamina: 380 Magicka: 380 New Perk: Be a Tree [Sneak] -- You are now able to hide in plain sight from enemies searching for you by impersonating the scenery. New Quest: At the End of it All -- Enter Sovngarde and defeat Alduin using the Elements of Harmony.