Sonata's Crazy and Wacky Adventure in Skyrim

by Sonata Blaze

31: Return to Whiterun

Sonata and Kael waited a whole hour after dealing with Alduin the World-Eater, allowing Sonata time to rest from having spent most of her energy to obliterate one of her enemies from the face of Nirn. Kael spent his time either enjoying the sights or speaking to several of the mages that had found their way to Sovngarde, despite the fact that most of them happened to be nords. He was clearly interested in this version of the afterlife and wanted to ask his questions before Sonata decided it was time to return to Nirn, where they would retrieve the rest of her friends and begin the hunt for either Harkon or Miraak.

Sonata, on the other hand, had gotten her hands on some of the food from the Hall of Valor, the building that she had been so eager to enter to find allies that would have helped her stop Alduin, and had been able to get some well deserved rest. She knew that she and Kael couldn't stay in Sovngarde forever, not when Lord Grul was running around Skyrim and had her sisters held captive in some unknown area. She also knew that she had to deal with Harkon and Miraak first, because they were threatening Skyrim and would likely restore a fraction of her power once she had taken care of them, if the defeat of Alduin was anything to go by.

When the hour was finally up, and she had some of her energy back, Sonata got onto her feet, collected her ebony sword from where she had left it, made sure that Kael was following her again, and then approached Tsun, the giant nord who's name she had failed to learn when she had first arrived in Sovngarde.

"We are ready to return to Tamriel," Sonata told Tsun, though even as she said that she had to wonder where they would end up in the end, something that she was sure was running through Kael's mind as well.

"Return now to Nirn, with this rich boon from Shor, my lord: a Shout to bring a hero from Sovngarde in your hour of need." Tsun replied, allowing a new Shout to fill Sonata's mind before he drew in his own power, "Nahl... Daal... Vus!"

Sonata felt the world go dark as some unknown power grabbed onto her and pulled her out of Sovngarde, dragging her, and no doubt Kael as well, back to Tamriel. When she next opened her eyes she found that they had been dropped off at the peak of the Throat of the World, where she had originally met Paarthurnax, only this time she noticed that there were quite a number of dragons flying through the air around her and Kael. She silently wondered if they were here to avenge their fallen master, because if they were then she knew she didn't stand a chance to get rid of all of them with what energy she had left.

"Alduin los dilon!" A dragon shouted, causing an uproar from all of the others, while Sonata turned her head to the side as she looked at the host of dragons, "Alduin lost kosaan krinaan!

Sonata and Kael watched as the host of dragons scattered themselves to the winds, though Sonata assumed that they had been somewhat pleased that Alduin had been defeated. Two dragons remained near her while the others disappeared, the one that was still flying around the mountain she immediately recognized as Paarthurnax, though it took her a moment to realize that the second was Odahviing.

"Greetings, Dovahkiin," Odahviing called out, landing behind Sonata and Kael, though Sonata though she saw a smirk on the dragon's face, "I see that you have succeeded in your...mission. Alduin, the Firstborn and the Lord of the dragons, is no more. Paarthurnax is leaving his mountain. No doubt so he can try to teach the other dragons the peaceful lifestyle that he developed in the Way of the Voice. I wish him luck in his quest, as many of our kind would not exchange Alduin's Lordship for the tyranny that comes from Paarthurnax's peaceful teachings. I, on the other wing, shall go high into the other mountains. I shall honor my word and come to your call whenever you need me, if I am able to reach you. I hope to see you sometime in the future, but until then I will take my leave. Farewell Dovahkiin."

Sonata watched as both Paarthurnax and Odahviing took off in different directions, until she and Kael were the only ones left at the peak of the Throat of the World.

"Well then," Sonata said, turning to Kael for a moment, who seemed stunned by what they had just seen, "We had best get underway... because this journey will take us a couple of hours to reach Whiterun."

---

Sonata had been half right in saying that it would take them a few hours to reach Whiterun, because in reality it took them half a day to reach their destination. As they walked along the path that took them towards the massive city Sonata was pleased to find that there was nothing that jumped out and wanted to kill them, though at the same time it made her worry about what Grul was planning next. She hadn't seen a sign of him or his orcs since she had retrieved the Elder Scroll, giving him an untold number of dwarven machines to mess with and do whatever he wanted with them. Grul had wanted the machines for some reason, though she was beginning to think that she had allowed him to get his hands on something that he had been searching for.

Something, she mentally added, that might be the key to him opening that portal she had seen in her dreams, back when she received a vision of Grul burning Nirn to ashes, It was something that she hadn't actually told anyone about, because she wasn't sure if she was right or if she had had a bad dream.

When they actually reached their destination Sonata immediately spotted several guards that happened to be waiting in front of the main gate, though instead of the usual two she always saw she noticed that there were at least five of them now. She had to wonder if any of them had been with her when she released Odahviing so she could get to Skuldafn, though it was impossible to tell thanks to the identical armor all of the guards wore. The moment the guards noticed them walking towards the gate one of them exclaimed something about the defeat of Alduin, which was roughly followed by the entire group cheering and beckoning the pair into Whiterun so they could deliver the news to Jarl Balgruuf.

Sonata assumed that news of what she was doing had spread like wildfire throughout the city, which explained why everyone she and Kael passed seemed overjoyed. She only wished that she could be like them, but knew that she would only truly be happy once she had eliminated the remainder of her enemies and had rescued her sisters.

When she and Kael reached Dragonsreach, and were allowed in by the overjoyed guards, Sonata was pleased to find that all of her friends were scattered around the main hall, apparently helping the various people in the hall with whatever they needed help with. Gol and Mez seemed to be the only ones absent at the moment, which told her that they were at one of the city's forges, no doubt preparing weapons and armor for the coming trials. Kree spotted her the moment she walked through the door, to which she called to the rest of their companions and everyone stopped what they were doing, before they all gathered around the hearth to welcome her back.

"Is... is the task complete?" Kree asked, though it was likely the first time that Sonata had ever heard her friend seem uncertain about something, "Is Alduin... dead?"

"The World-Eater is no more," Sonata replied, which brought on a large amount of cheering and declarations that a celebration had to be planned for what she had done for them.

Sonata was fine with what they were saying, because she almost felt like she had earned one at this point, but knew that now was not the time for them to be celebrating. Grul was still out there, using Harkon as a pawn of his until he got whatever he wanted, and Sonata wouldn't actually take part in any parties until her enemy was destroyed.

She spent the next two hours telling her friends, and by extent Jarl Balgruuf, of her trek through Skuldafn, where she met Kael roughly ten minutes after Odahviing dropped her off and flew in the opposite direction. Several of her companions were surprised to find that her newest companion was actually a former member of the Thalmor, or more accurately the Second Emissary, until he and his soldiers had been dropped off on the mountain by a pair of dragons. As she reached the part about Sovngarde, and the defeat of Alduin, one of the guards ran into the area they were all in, though this time she dreaded to wonder what was coming next.

"My Lord, there's a small group of heavily armed orcs heading this way," the guard told Balgruuf, which only made Sonata moan as she realized that her enemy had come for her head, "and it appears that there is a group of vampires marching with them."

"It seems that we can't catch a break at all, can we?" Lorthan asked, sighing as everyone got onto their feet and turned towards the door, "I'd say that our enemies have decided to give you their own personal welcome back party... wouldn't you say so Sonata?"

Sonata couldn't believe her luck, because she had literally just returned from saving the world from Alduin and now had Harkon's forces, and some of Grul's, breathing down her neck. It was almost as if the vampire lord wanted her to come and kill him, though at this point she knew that it would be best to kill him the instant they crossed paths. No going on some epic quest to find the one thing that might end the fight or anything like that... she was just going to end the vampire lord the moment she laid eyes on him.

She knew that she was thinking like the Siren Queen she used to be, back when she was angry at someone, but right now she barely cared about that... she only wanted to end the attack on the city before innocent people were hurt by her enemies.

Once she and her friends had exited the city, and had walked up the ramps to see where their enemies were coming from, Sonata spotted a force of twenty orcs marching towards the city from the road that led to Riverwood, making her wonder if they had attacked the small village as well. Beside them marched an equal number of vampires, telling Sonata that they we likely paired in the manner of one warrior with one mage, which could have actually made things interesting if she didn't have her friends with her. She turned to Kree for a moment and nodded her head, to which Kree pulled her bowstring back and took aim at one of the orcs that were coming their way.

The instant her arrow pierced the orc's skull, and dropped him to the ground, the rest of the advancing war party began their charge towards the city, which was what Sonata wanted them to do. Lydia and Lorthan charged out to meet their enemies, though not seconds later both Gol and Mez, who had seen the group leaving the city, joined in the fight and tore into some of the orcs. Sonata left Kree, Saerza, and Kael to attack from the ramps, using their spells and Kree's arrows to deal with the enemies at the back of the pack, while she drew her ebony sword and marched towards the soldiers that followed Grul's orders.

She hacked, slashed, and cut her way through all of the enemies that stood in her way, not bothering to use her magic at all, until the majority of the enemies had been routed, save for one wounded vampire and a wounded orc.

"Lord Grul... will tame... your power!" the orc declared, struggling to pick up his weapon while Sonata and the others gathered around him.

"Yes, I have heard that from every orc that I've killed so far," Sonata replied, extending her hand before engulfing the orc in a wave of fire, to which she turned to the vampire as she ignored the burning orc, "So tell me, how badly does Lord Harkon want to capture me and exchange me for whatever Grul has promised him?"

"Oh, very badly," the vampire replied, a fanged smile appearing on his face, "Your power will fuel his portal... and then this world will burn!"

"Then there is no time to waste." Sonata said, engulfing the vampire in flames as well as she turned back to her friends, "So, whose up for finding the Dawnguard and showing them how to properly hunt down and fight vampires? Because seriously, this is starting to get annoying and I have half convinced that they're merely waiting for me to arrive before they do anything useful."

"We should depart for Riften at once," Kree commented, collecting the last of her arrows as she returned to them, "I am eager to see if there is anything special to these vampires... besides joining forces with the orc that wants to capture you."

Sonata hoped that Lord Harkon would at least put up a fight when she found him, though she had the feeling that he was going to be a complete waste of her time and energy, which she could use in finding where Grul was hiding and put that orc down. She only hoped that the orc warlock had killed himself on accident and that his entire war with her was over before it had even started.

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

Here's hoping she doesn't butt heads with Serana.

[Nova Blaze]

she had the feeling that he was going to be a complete waste of her time and energy

Ouch. But accurate.

[Blackdrag-rose]

Dang Sonata... she's already mentally dissing Lord Harkon (but he's a joke for most players anyway)

[Aria Blitz]

7650157 They're likely to agree to kill Harkon and become fast friends.

[Adagio Shimmer]

though she had the feeling that he was going to be a complete waste of her time and energy

To be fair, Lord Harkon is a complete joke and a waste of time.