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Alduin's Blade

By Theo Winters

Even though she had only known the Dragonborn for a few long hours, there was one thing of which Delphine was completely sure. He was an idiot of the highest order. At the moment, the tall bulky nord was laying on his back under a tree, singing The Dragonborn Comes off key and while knowing only half the lyrics. That didn't stop him from adding his own, boasting about himself in third person. It was not a song she was particularly fond of, and had in the past banned Sven from singing it in her inn, yet after listening to the Dragonborn try and fail to sing it, she never wanted to hear it ever again.

The singing would be only slightly less annoying if they weren't trying to stay hidden. Not that Norrid--as that was the man's name--cared at all. He didn't really seem to understand the point of hiding was to not call attention to yourself. It shouldn't have surprised her; in the short time she had known him, he had shown that he knew very little about much of anything, including the fact that Skrim was in the middle of a civil war. She was starting to think that Norrid wasn't actually his name, and that he had forgotten what it was, so had started calling himself Nord and never bothered to learn how to say it right.

His singing stopped, but only for only a few moments before he started into the song for the tenth time.

"Would you please shut up," she snapped from where she sat, looking out over the dragon mound just above Kynesgrove, waiting for Alduin to arrive and prove her fears to be true. They didn't want the dragon to see them, but the singing was giving them away, and probably annoying the villagers as it was nearing dusk.

They had been waiting for hours, and she was starting to wonder if her reading of the dragonstone had been wrong. The pattern seemed so clear, yet Alduin should have arrived by now. She had no idea what was keeping the dragon, but it had to be arriving soon.

A light dusting of snow was starting to fall over them and the mound as she started to wonder just how well Skyrim would fare if the Dragonborn suddenly vanished. Not dead, she wasn't so stupid as to wish for that, but she wouldn't mind if the rumors of Sheogorath turning random people into ridiculous caricatures turned out to be true.

Then suddenly Norrid fell silent, and for a moment Delphine wondered if the Prince of Madness had actually been listening to her.

"Here he comes!" he bellowed, unfortunately still the same idiot he had been the moment before. He had jumped to his feet, pointing to the sky with his sword.

It was easy to spot Alduin as the dragon circled around the mound. He stood out even in the dimming light, his black shape cutting through the sky, his red eyes glowing against the darkness as they scan the burial mound, like he was searching for something.

"Stay down," she ordered, grabbing the back of Norrid's armor and pulling the Nord back to the ground. "We can't let him see us," she hissed, her words barely above a whisper.

Above them the dragon let out something that almost sounded like a laugh as he dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, right on top of the mound. "I have already seen you, so what good is it to try and hide from me?" he asked, turning to look where they were hidden.

For once, the Dragonborn actually did the right thing, and stayed under cover.

Alduin didn't move, his red eyes drilling right into them. She wasn't sure what the dragon was playing at, but he wasn't saying anything. He was just sitting there, waiting for them. Now and then his wing would twitch, but that was all he would do.

"Do not test my patience, for it has grown short with repetition," the dragon finally said after what seemed like an age and a half. "Show yourself, Dovahkiin. I wish to see you in the flesh."

The Nord grumbled something as he pulled his horned helmet down over his mop of hair, his sword held tightly in his hand. He strode forward, head held high, and for the moment looking like the hero the Dragonborn was supposed to be.

"And what of the other? Cowering like a rabbit under the eyes of a wolf. It does not become you... Delphine."

Fear gripped her, squeezing her in ways she hadn't felt since the Blades had been destroyed. It rolled down her spin like a drop of ice-cold water, chilling her to the core. Alduin knew who she was, he knew her name. Nothing good could come of that.

She pushed down the growing fear and climbed up to her feet, her hand resting on the pommel of her blade, never taking her eyes off of the dragon.

Alduin almost seemed to smirk, the corner of his muzzle pulling upwards as he lowered his head slightly, not quite low enough to look her directly in the eyes. Instead she found herself looking up the length of his thick muzzle, the white teeth standing out like a beacon against his black scales. It was disconcerting.

"How could such a small creature be a claw under my scales for so very long? How many times have you stood against me, ordering the Dovahkiin to fulfill your foolish oath?" His breath rolled down over her as he spoke, hot enough to send up steam in the cold northern air. It smelled of burnt meat, with a bitter undercurrent that made her eyes sting.

Delphine didn't know what she could possibly say, other than the truth. "I have done nothing against you, not yet."

That made him laugh, which was unpleasantly like stones grinding together. "You strike from the shadows, use others as puppets for your own ends. Yet this time you will not stop me, this time you will do nothing to oppose me, and I will reclaim what is rightfully mine. You cannot stop the inevitable."

She growled in anger, taking a step forward as she squeezed her hand tightly around the hilt of her sword. "This realm is not yours to take!" she declared, pulling her sword and lunging at the dragon.

Alduin reacted in an instant, leaping back into the sky with a beat of his powerful wings, the air and snow blowing around them both, swirling between their legs and across the top of the dragon mound.

The dragon circled above them in the air, rising upwards, but not fleeing. He was just watching them, watching them with her deep red eyes. He spoke again, this time his words coming down like thunder. " Delphine, ziil gro dovah ulse!"

The chill that came with his second use of her name was as strong as the first one, even if she didn't understand what the rest of the words meant, but they couldn't possibly be good for anyone in Skyrim.

Then with speed that almost seemed impossible for his size, Alduin spun in the air and dove down towards them, letting out a thundering shout.

"Jul Meyz Dovah!"

The power of his words blasted out of his muzzle in the form of a streak of light that rushed towards the ground like a spear. She had expected the power to hit the dragon mound, to revive the dragon that had been entombed there for centuries, but it did something she would never have expected.

It struck her, piercing through her chest and down into her soul, the power rushing through her body in moments. She took a step back, gasping for the air that had been forced out of her lungs. "We... I will stop you." Delphine said, forcing out the words between her gasps, but keeping herself standing, not wanting to show any weakness, not now.

It was then that the pain started, but it wasn't pain, not like the pain she had endured during her training, or the pain that had followed after the loss of the blades. This was not pain like a bruise or a broken bone, this was something different, something worse. She felt herself starting to crumple, arms wrapped tightly across her belly as the feeling grew stronger by the moment.

She closed her eyes tightly, gasping for air as she felt the power boiling under her skin, before she felt her face start to shift. It twisted and pulled, starting to push forward, stretching outwards as her teeth grew sharper, ears twisting backwards, starting to grow longer as they began to move towards the top of her head. Her stretched skin felt hot and tight, starting to crack and split.

The weight of her changing head forced her to curl up tighter, as her neck started to bulge and swell against the collar of her armor.

Opening her eyes, she let out a gasp at what she saw. A large muzzle dominated the center of her vision, with a thick horn rising up in the middle of it. All she could see was blue and gray scales, dragon scales. She reached up, trying to grab the muzzle that had been placed upon her, but the hand she saw didn't look like her own. Her fingers had stretched out, growing longer as she watched, the thumb starting to curl and harden into a claw.

She was turning into a dragon.

"No! You can't!" she cried to cry out, her voice deepening with each syllable.

Above her Alduin laughed, the sound somehow different as her ears seemed to twist to focus on it. "You cannot stop me when you are serving me!" he declared as he circled above her.

Delphine looked toward the Dragonborn, wondering if somehow he could do something to stop what was happening to her, but he could merely gawk in horror, his sword having dropped to the ground.

Another surge of power rushed through her as she felt her whole body start to swell. Her chest strained against her leather armor, even as she felt her breasts melt away to be replaced by a layer of heavy plate like scales. Her fingers were still growing, scales starting to cover them as a thick membrane started to form between each remaining digit.

Her blond hair was beginning to rain down around her as it fell from her head, her muzzle pushing out even more, forcing her eyes to the side. Her vision grew wider by the moment, which only allowed her to see more of her body as the horrible power perverted it.

Her leather armor creaked as it grew tighter across her body, straps starting to pull and tear free, before the growing scales ripped through the material, shredding it in moments. That hurt just as much as the change did, as the armor was the last sign of her having been in the Blades. Now it was beyond repair, nothing but scraps of leather.

Though why a dragoness would need armor was beyond her.

With a shake of her large head, Delphine tried to force the thought away. A thought that wasn't her own, yet was still from her own mind. A thought that felt just as wrong as it did right. She wasn't a dragon, she had to hold onto that one single fact, no matter what happened, she was not a dragon!

Her hips started to shift and crack, forcing her to drop to all fours. Her hands, now nearly wings, slammed into the ground, as she felt her back beginning to stretch, the changes rolling down her body. Soon her skirt was plastered against her thickening thighs, the belt trying to hold on.

Craning her head up to the sky, she glared up at Alduin, "I will never serve you," she said, the words coming out wrong. They were still the words she meant to speak, but the language was not what she had meant to speak them in. She had said the words in the dragon language, not Cyrodiilic.

That made the black dragon laugh again. " All dragons serve me ," he replied, his voice echoing deeply in her ears.

She tried to say something back, only to gasp out as she felt something explode out of the small of her back, ripping through the remains of her armor and clothing in an instant. She didn't even have to look to know that it was a tail, and she could feel it growing longer by the moment, dropping to the ground.

Delphine clawed her wings against the ground, trying to push herself upright as her body grew even faster, the thick leather skirt started to tear around her hips to reveal the blue-gray scales she proudly wore. Her tail lashed from side to side as she felt herself growing stronger with each passing moment.

Her boots hardly seemed to put up a fight as her feet changed, toes growing into claws, ripping through the weak leather in moments. Her legs were thickening, becoming proper legs for a dragoness. Her feet were stretching as she stood on her new tallons, even as her tail swept the ground behind her, allowing her to keep her balance as she rose up on her hind legs.

Standing in the shredded remains of the human armor, she felt her body growing in waves. Each wash of power made her bigger, and more powerful. She could feel her spines filling in down the length of her back, growing larger and sharper by the moment.

"Delphine?" Norrid asked from beside her.

She snapped her head around, eyes focusing on the Nord as she took in a long breath of his smell. With a sickening feeling she realized that he smelled like food... and it made her hungry. The dragonborn took a step back from her sudden move, fear lining his face.

The power washed over her one last time, but this time it didn't wash over her body; rather she felt it slide over her mind. There wasn't any pain, but she could still feel it happening. With a shake of her head, she forced herself to step back from the Dragonborn, even as her mind told her that she should just eat him. That he was prey, and prey didn't matter other than when it filled her belly.

She closed her brown eyes, trying desperately to hold on to who she was. She was a Blade--She was a dragon, she served the dragonborn--she served Alduin, and protected the empire--would kill everyone.

It was like two minds were fighting inside of her, both thought of themselves as Delphine, both had her memories, both knew everything she knew, and thought the way she thought. Yet one was a lade, and the other was a dragon. Yet there was only one she could be, and as the power started to fade, she knew exactly who she was.

Delphine was a dragon.

The dragoness opened up her bright blue eyes, looking once more at the Nord and letting out a snort of air. He moved for his sword, but a sweep of her tail knocked it away, leaving him unarmed. The idiot turned and started running down the hill, moving as fast as his thick legs could carry him.

She let him go for a moment, launching herself into the air, feeling it moving across her wings as she rose upwards, moving as if she had done it all her life. She rose upwards until she was at the same level as Alduin, allowing herself to lower her head in submission towards the powerful dragon.

" I will serve you, Alduin." She said, knowing that she meant every word of it.

" There is still much work for us to do, we must revive more of our kin," he stated, motioning down to the dragon mound under them. She could feel the dragon waiting inside, waiting for him to bring them back to life.

She looked forward to seeing the mortals of Skyrim fleeing before them, being burnt for even daring to stand against their true masters. She was also looking forward to visiting the Thalmor Embassy and burning it to the ground, revenge for what they had done to her before.

An arrow flew between the two dragons, and a glance to the earth below revealed that the Dragonborn had returned, armed with a weak bow. Wordlessly she banked and started to circle higher in the sky, while Alduin prepared to revive Sahloknir. Below, the dragonborn launched arrow after arrow into the sky, doing no harm to either of them.

Of all the threats to them in Skyrim, the Dragonborn was not going to be one of them. After all, the Dragonborn was still an idiot.

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This story was written and copyright 2021 by Theo Winters, reposting and archiving are allowed as long as this copyright notice and the author's name are not removed. This story cannot be published without permission of the author, violators will carry the Dragonborn's burdens.