41: Darkfall Cave
"Is the Dragonborn going to be okay?"
It was half an hour after the Thalmor's assault on Dragon Bridge, where Raika and her friends had fought the might of a hundred soldiers and mages until the elves were forced to retreat. The retreat wasn't caused by the Thalmor's leader, a high ranking Justiciar, ordering them to retreat, but rather because Raika made the survivors retreat. It also wasn't caused by her the power of her friends, each of them having a variety of skills that could have, when used together, wasted their entire army. Once the Head Justiciar disrespected Raika and called her a nobody and a weakling she snapped, her rage completely taking over.
It had been like a beast had been awakened, as Raika dropped her weapons, charged into the ranks of the Thalmor, and began to rip them to pieces. Her anger at being ignored and underestimated was so powerful that it was accessing the dragon souls that she had consumed, changing her little by little. Once she killed the Head Justiciar, tearing out his heart and burning his body with a breath of flames from her mouth, she fainted in the middle of the roar, causing her friends to rush to her side. Cadence and Serana gently carried her to the tavern, where they got a bed so they could make sure that Raika was okay and that there was no side effects.
Sombra thought it was somewhat ironic; that he was helping the person that had rescued him from Helgen in the exact same manner, bringing her to the closest bed and treating whatever wounds she had.
"To be honest I'm not sure," Sombra commented, staring down at Raika's sleeping body, "This is similar to when my own darkness captured my heart and turned me into a monster, a cruel king that wanted to rule over everything."
"Could her anger be siphoned?" Cadence asked, worried that Raika's rage might corrode her heart, like the old stories that she had read about Sombra.
"Not like I could do with my shadows," Sombra replied, sighing as he wondered what to do next, "Her anger is rooted not only in the fact that almost all our enemies ignore her and disrespect her, but in the anger that the souls of the dead dragons carry with them. I think her anger might be reacting to the dragon souls she's already absorbed, which are increasing her own abilities past what they were before. If I were to siphon off her anger I'd have to devise a way to siphon her dragon souls as well, something that I'm not even sure I could do without damaging her body and mind."
"And what about that?" Cadence said, pointing to Raika's left hand, "Can we really allow ourselves to stand back and watch this happen to the person that's supposed to stop Harkon and whoever sent those Cultists after her?"
"We don't have a choice in this matter," Sombra replied, shaking his head as he turned his gaze back to Raika, "I can only hope that our enemies refrain from making her even madder, otherwise this might spiral out of control."
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Raika moaned and picked herself off the ground, her entire body feeling sore and reminding her of the first time she had actually trained with her brothers and sisters in the Stormcloak army. She expected to find herself in the middle of the road where she had fought the Thalmor or in a bed in the tavern that was in Dragon Bridge, but the moment she noticed the red sky she knew something was wrong. She looked around her, finding a bunch of normal colored trees, boulders scattered around the place, and the sound of dragons filling the air around her.
That was before she turned around to face the area behind her and found a large red scaled dragon, as big as Durnehviir was, laying right behind her. The strangest thing about the dragon was that its eyes were bright red colored, the exact same color as her own pair of dragon eyes.
"So, you have arrived, Raika Snow-Heart," the dragon said, raising itself onto its feet and staring right at her, "I know that it is a shock to find yourself here, in your inner world of all places, but I will make this as short as I possibly can for you. I am sure that you have questions, so ask what you will of me."
"Any question I want?" Raika asked, testing the waters as the dragon gave a small nod, "Very well, I shall start with the simplest of questions. Who are you?"
"You could say that I am you," the dragon chuckled, despite the fact that Raika gave it a blank stare, "I am Yolrahtoor; Yol meaning Fire, Rah meaning God, and Toor meaning Inferno. Your rage is like a fire that consumes everything that dares to stand in your way, thus I use my flames when I do battle, similar to what you did to that Thalmor. Dragonborns are often considered to be godly in their own right, but while you may not be near that level of power, I, on the other claw, am at the height of our power."
"How can you be me?" Raika asked, not really understanding what the dragon was talking about, "Sure, the last Elder Scroll I read messed with my eyes and now I have a pair of dragon eyes that happen to be bright red colored, but I don't see how that means that you are me."
"Oh really?" the dragon said, giving her what she assumed was a frown, "Then take a look at your left hand and tell me that we are not the same being."
Raika took a glance at her left hand, wondering what the dragon was getting at, and nearly fainted when she saw what was now attached to her. Her normal khajiit hand, which she used in her various battles by holding her weapons, had been replaced by a dragon's claw, complete with red scales and sharpened claws. The scales stopped at her wrist, but the fact that her hand had been replaced had shocked her more than she was ever willing to admit to anyone.
"Your anger has awakened me," Yolrahtoor chuckled, causing Raika to look at it, or rather her, again, "I, in turn, have connected the souls of the dragons you have already devoured to you, granting you even greater physical abilities than what your used to. You also gain access to many of the Shouts that the dragons you devoured used when they were alive, evidence of such power being the flames that ripped out of your throat and burned that Thalmor to the ground."
"So I'm turning into a dragon?" Raika asked, curious if she was right or this was all in her imagination.
"In a sense, the answer is yes," Yolrahtoor replied, "it means that you are embracing your dragon heritage, more so than your predecessors ever did. Now, not even I am sure how quickly you'll change, but eventually you and I will be one and the same being one day, in both body and mind. We will meet again Raika, of that you can be sure."
Raika's vision faded and eventually she hit the ground once more.
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Morning came to Dragon Bridge and Cadence stood out in the sun as it washed over the small town, a couple of thoughts running through her mind as she waited for Raika to wake up. The sun reminded her of Princess Celestia and she wondered what she and Luna were doing at that exact moment, all the way back in Equestria. Cadence knew that her time in Tamriel was drawing to a close, considering that both Luna and Celestia had spent a long period of time in this world before returning. She at least wanted to end the vampire threat that was spreading to Skyrim before she was forced to return to her home, hopefully taking Trixie home as well.
Then she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to turn around and find Trixie standing behind her with a small grin on her face.
"Come on Princess Cadence," Trixie said, beckoning for her to come into the tavern, "Raika's waking up."
Cadence nodded and followed Trixie into the tavern, making their way around the morning patrons that visited the place every morning, before arriving at the room they had rented for the night. When they entered the room they found Raika waking up, rising from the frame and putting her hands, or rather a hand and a claw, on her head. Cadence thought it was strange that Raika was changing like she was, but she didn't know if there was any way to slow them down before the person she knew was consumed.
"How are you feeling?" Cadence asked, sitting near the bed as Trixie left to gather the others.
"I'm...not sure exactly," Raika admitted, staring at her clawed hand and realizing that it hadn't been a dream, "surprised I guess. What exactly happened to me?"
"Well, your rage broke," Cadence replied, not really sure how to explain what had happened, "You charged the enemy with your bare hands and ripped them apart, burning their bodies as you passed by them until you reached their leader. You tore his heart out his chest, bloodying your left hand I might add, and then blasted his body with an intense burst of flame that reduced him to ashes. I think your hand might have shifted the moment you pierced his chest, though you wouldn't have felt it in your state of rage."
Raika went silent and stared at her hand, wondering why all of this was starting to happen to her, right after she went through the ritual to read the third Elder Scroll. She could have dealt with her eyes changing, as it was something that she could have hid from everyone in Skyrim, but her hand was something else. There was no way she was going to be able to hide something like a dragon's claw from the people of Skyrim, which made her let out a sigh. She guessed that she would have to continue on her quest as she was, so she picked herself up and got out of the bed.
"I will not be stopped by these changes," Raika growled, checking her armor before grabbing her swords, "we shall make for Darkfall Cave and begin the search for Auriel's Bow. Once we have that in our possession we'll take the fight to Harkon and beat him into the ground so hard that his lackeys think twice about their war with everyone else."
As she walked outside the tavern she found the rest of her friends waiting for her, grins on most of their faces that told her that they were all glad that she was okay. Serana, on the other hand, didn't seem to care that she was okay and kept her arms crossed in front of her, which made Raika somewhat mad that the vampire didn't care. She sighed and let herself cool off a bit, knowing that if she let her anger get too high then she'd start changing even more, which was something she was trying to avoid.
"So, to Darkfall Cave?" Sombra asked, shadows wrapping around him as he prepared to summon a gateway that would drop them off near the cave, though Raika knew he wouldn't have the exact location.
Raika nodded and the shadows opened next to them, opening the way to their long awaited goal. She charged into the shadows and allowed them to take her, knowing that her friends would be right behind her without delay.
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The cave, Raika soon discovered, lived up to its name as the opening was nearly shrouded in darkness, leaving Sombra to lead them down the pathway that would hopefully take them to their goal. Raika was okay to let him take the lead this time, as he was more used to the darkness than any of the rest of the group were used to, causing Serana to sigh in defeat. They passed by a frostbite spider, which didn't know what hit it as Sombra quickly put it out of its misery before moving even deeper into the cave. After a minute or two they came to a bridge, but as they walked across it the ropes snapped and they fell down into a stream of water.
Once they reached the end of the stream Cadence pulled out three arrows and pinned three more spiders in their heads, causing them to drop from the ceilings and hit the ground. Raika smiled as they made their way down the passage, eventually turning around until they came to a bloodied campsite and a couple of slopes. They studied their options, making a note of the potential trolls that were said to rest down one of the paths, but Raika felt confident in their ability and they moved down the path that took them deeper into the cave.
The two trolls that they encountered weren't very hard for them to defeat, considering that Sombra could have pierced them with his crystals, Trixie and Serana could have slain them with magic, Cadence could have pierced them with her arrows, Shadow could have hacked them to pieces, and Raika, well, could have torched them with her inner fire. How they chose to defeat the trolls was to just ruin them with magic, much to the delight of Trixie and Serana, who took great pleasure in wrecking them. The area past the trolls was a simple shrine with a makeshift camp waiting before it, though Raika saw an elf standing before the shrine.
"Ah, good, you have arrived," the elf said, beckoning for them to join him near the shrine, "I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor, Sentinel of the Chantry of Auri-El. Please, do not be alarmed. I know you have come seeking Auriel's Bow, which I will gladly give to you if you first give me your assistance."
"And what would you ask of us Snow Elf?" Serana spat, though Raika had no idea why she seemed so hostile, "Kill a bunch of innocent people to acquire a weapon of legendary power?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," Gelebor replied, "I simply need you to kill my brother, Arch-Curate Vyrthur. The beings you call the Falmer swept into the Chantry and slaughtered many of my people, but they stormed into the Inner Sanctum and somehow corrupted him. He's no longer the brother I once knew, as all he does these days is stare at the Betrayed and watch whatever horrid act their committing. Getting to the Inner Sanctum will not be easy, as all you need to do is follow the Initiates footsteps and visit the Wayshrines that dot the Chantry. The first of which lies at the end of Darkfall Passage, which the shrine behind me will allow you to enter."
"So let me guess," Serana said, shaking her head slightly, "We're going to carry a water pitcher across this Chantry, fill it at all the Wayshrines, and then we'll gain entrance to the Inner Sanctum?"
"With this ewer," Gelebor said, picking up a nearby silver ewer and handed it over to Raika, "Now, allow me to show you the Wayshrines that you'll need to visit."
The moment the words left his mouth he cast a spell at the small golden statue and the entire area began to shake, the shrine rising from the ground until it nearly reached the ceiling. There were six sides to it, one side opened so they could enter, four of them looking like normal stone walls, and one that was glowing like it was a portal. Raika sighed and approached the glowing side, stepping through the portal and found herself standing in another darkened tunnel that she assumed was the one they needed to travel. Her friends appeared behind her, but she stepped out of the way and let Sombra take the lead, which was a good move as he pointed out a nest of chaurus ahead of them.
Trixie and Serana burned the nest and killed the chaurus, but the sound of their magic vibrated through the cave and Raika knew that whatever enemies were ahead of them were now aware that they had company. They made their way through the various twists and turns that the cave contained, arrows flying and swords flashing as they came into the Falmer that called the cave home. Raika should have known they'd be in the cave, but as she and her friends fought their latest enemy she noticed that she could feel the magic of her dragon souls waiting to be used.
Instead of there being a small group of three or four Falmer, like Raika was expecting there to be, they found at least a good three dozen enemies waiting for them. That was the tip of the iceberg, as the deeper they got into the cave the more the numbers of their enemies seemed to pour out of the cracks in the walls. Sombra, knowing that even they would be overwhelmed by the increasing numbers of enemies they had, waited until they passed over a river and summoned a small wall over the pathway. It would hold the Falmer back for a few minutes, but Sombra knew that they would break it and swarm them once more.
What he wouldn't give for Raika's rage to break again so they could turn her against the Falmer.
The plan would have been great, but they managed to run right into another hive of Falmer, finding even more enemies waiting for them to arrive. Sombra groaned and connected to the shadows, causing them to lash outwards towards the Falmer and bind them to the ground in crystal prisons. There were too many of them for him to imprison, but as they made their way towards the exit he made sure to seal it off as best as he could. The dwarven machines could break his crystals walls, but he had no doubt that the Falmer, with their superior numbers, would break through in time.
They eventually found a wall with two levers, but Raika took one look at them and carefully pulled the lever on the left, waiting for something terrible to happen. The wall near them began to open and they made their way past the opening, felling a strange saber cat that happened to be waiting for them to arrive. As they moved deeper into the new area, a giant area full of strange colors and glows, Sombra turned around and sealed the opening they had created. They didn't have to worry about any more Falmer jumping out at them, as they silently made their way around the cavern and encountered nothing more than a saber cat or two.
They crossed over a stone walkway, stepped onto a landing, and moved across another walkway, before they eventually stopped at the first Wayshrine, where they found a ghost waiting for them. It was then that Sombra felt the last barrier he had thrown up shatter, telling him that the Falmer were just barely entering their area and that they had little time before they were near them again.
"Raika, we've got company," Sombra said, spinning his scythe around before Raika stepped down the path, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to break them," Raika growled, flames wrapping around her, "Serana has the ewer, so get that Wayshrine up and running before the Falmer get to us."
Sombra looked up at the ghost and found Serana trying to talk to it, but all it seemed to do was ask her the same question over and over, which only made her madder. Sombra approached the Wayshrine and the ghost turned towards him, giving him the same smile that he had been given Serana the entire time.
"Welcome, Initiate, to the Wayshrine of Illumination," the ghost said, "Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El and fill your vessel with his enlightenment?"
"Yes," Sombra replied, not seeing why Serana couldn't just simply say yes as the ground shook and the Wayshrine rose out of the ground before them, "Raika, the shrine is up."
He turned around to see Raika going crazy on the Falmer, swinging her arms like mad as her bare hands tore threw any unfortunate Falmer that chose to fight her. Many of the fallen elves stood on the opposite side of a wall of fire, something that Sombra knew had been summoned by Raika to prevent them from passing over. Those on her side of the wall faced their end at her hands, until eventually she was the only living creature, excluding her friends, standing behind the flames. A roar, sounding like those the dragons used, escaped her throat, causing the Falmer to turn around and scatter, but for how long Sombra did not know.
"Let's get moving," Raika growled, her flames dying as she approached the shimmering portal and stepped through it, appearing in another cave that seemed to lead to a winding area.
Without wasting a second Raika moved forward, eager to get this over with so they could acquire Auriel's Bow and kill Harkon, but when she reached the top of the winding path she felt nothing but anger. Stretching out before her was a whole new world, a place that would have existed in the old stories and forgotten about over time. The place before her was so big that she began to wonder how they were supposed to find the other four Wayshrines and then, if they managed that, the Inner Sanctum after that.
She was not going to enjoy looking over this entire place for the other Wayshrines or the Inner Sanctum, that much she was sure of.
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Raika has an inner dragon? And its name is Yolrahtoor?
Something tells me that the author is getting ready for something big.
Yolrahtoor reminds me somewhat of Yami from Yu-Gi-Oh.
5865798 Yami? Oh, the guy that Yugi would turn into when he usually dueled someone. How does the dragon remind you of him?
5865874 The only thing the two have in common are that they have dangerous inner selves.
5866413 Oh, I get you. Only Raika's dragon seems to be pretending that it is a god, as it stated in its own name. I think we might be seeing more of it over time.
5865655 The Dragonborn carries the soul and blood of a dragon within their mortal body. It's also been stated that all souls do eventually reach Aetherius, and could potentially return to Nirn from there in a new life. It could very well be this inner dragon is merely the original dragon that Raika's soul belonged to.
5867522 I never really thought about that. I salute you for remembering that fact my good sir.
I am reminded of Yu-Gi-Oh in this chapter... though all that tells me is that I was correct in my assumption that something major is going to happen, and I'm guessing that its going to be soon.
Khajiit are secretly Saiyans and Raika has finally achieved the legendary form of the Super Saiyan.