Dragonborn Saga

Chapter 646 - Crisis Lifted

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The Imperial Vanguard Cavalry led the charge in the city of Solitude and the Defensive Forces chased the retreating Cultists. The Firemane Clan members and the Dare Mercenary Corps landed from the floating island and assisted the Defenders.

The Battle was over and the Siege of Solitude concluded in a matter of minutes with this grand finale.

The Emperor of Cyrodiil was a brute of a man with a menacing look in his eyes. He was riding a horse and waving a greatsword left and right as if it was nothing.

Once the Cultists were cornered in the market of Solitude, he descended off his horse with his Royal Guards and started chopping off the cultists three and four at a swing.

During the mess and when nobody was looking, Jon changed his look back to his usual rather than being the Dragonborn and joined the frontline chopping cultists as well.

When all concluded and when only one struggling cultist was left, the Emperor punched the last cultist which sent him towards Jon, Jon slashed the cultist's torso without cutting the man in half but made him drop to the ground. Jon kicked the cultist back to the Emperor but held his neck up at his sword's edge.

The Emperor approached slowly and looked at Jon with a confident smile before raising his sword and executing the cultist per Jon's generous offer.

The sword fell and the head was severed from its body in a merciless bloody scene. With that, the defenders cheered for the hard-earned victory and for the glory of the Empire.

The Emperor looked around and felt proud as he dragged his greatsword up again before resting it straight on the ground.

For that, all the cheers stopped and in a single unison, everyone knelt to the Emperor.

Not everyone as when Jon was about to bend the knee, the Emperor reached for his shoulder.

The old emperor was a man whose hair has mostly receded back and started balding with age but he still kept a large goatee beard of mostly white hair. His eyes were that of a warlord but despite his ferocious looking, he had a deep wisdom in his eyes which Jon couldn't measure.

"Old friend, Jonrad." The Emperor called.

Jon looked back half-surprised and half-disgusted, making his expressions strange.

"I am…" Jon wanted to say something but the Emperor interrupted.

"Not Jonrad." The Emperor realized, "Jonhild Jonradson."

The Emperor looked around and noticed many tall redheads in the crowd but Jonrad was not present. Actually, he spotted who could be Jonrad but that man hid away in an alley which made the Emperor put on a sorrowful face.

He then turned to Jon and signaled for the crowd to rise.

"I see you are twice the good man I heard of." The Emperor spoke to Jon with a smile.

"This fills me with pride, your Majesty." Jon said.

"Let us have a proper talk later then. The city needs to function and my presence shall hinder everything. Be well, Jon Dare." The Emperor said and walked off with his guards that kept staring at Jon.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jon nodded and backed away respectfully.

He had to show proper respect for the man that kept this crumbling Empire together for many years and won the Great War.

{False Emperor! False and mortal! He is no Emperor! He is not of the Dragon blood!}

Jon heard the whispers of Envy and looked up to see that Envy was on top of Castle Dour eyeing down the Emperor who was being escorted in.

Jon sighed in his heart and raised his right hand towards Envy. Immediately, Envy was moved off her place as if pulled by Jon towards him. The moment she reached him, she was only an Ornate Skull covered with ebony metal and resting on his hands.

Envy has two forms. The Dragonborn Priestess form and the Skull Form that was initially Potema's Skull. In both forms, Envy is immensely powerful but now she's not on autopilot.

{You're Majesty! How is this Mortal an Emperor? He can't be an Emperor without the Dragon Blood, he can't be an Emperor without the Amulet of Kings.} Envy spoke to Jon but no one heard it since it was telepathic.

{As I said for the hundredth time, I am no Emperor, there's no Dragon Blood Emperors anymore, and the bloody Amulet of Kings was shattered by the last remaining Septim.} Jon replied with his mind as well.

{The Amulet… shattered?} Envy became shaken as this was almost impossible in her mind.

{Yes, a Daedric Invasion happened, the last Septim heroically sacrificed his ass to summon Akatosh and beat down Mehrunes Dagon. All things considered, the Septims died out and there is no concept of Dragon Blood Emperors anymore. Akatosh sealed the Rift between Mundus and Oblivion and we all live happily in the Fourth Era.}

{Fourth Era?}

{Year 202.}

Jon took on Potema with no mercy which caused the ancient Lich to remain silent for the time being.

He was about to start dealing with the aftermath of the situation from his side but he was immediately stopped by General Tullius and a score of Legion Soldiers.

"Thane Jon."

"General."

"We thank you greatly for this assistance with defending Solitude." The General paid Jon his due respect.

"That was my duty."

"However…" The General cleared his voice as he watched Jon's expressions carefully, "You have entered Solitude with a score of your men who fight under your banner. This is serious aggression towards Solitude."

"We're pulling out, General Tullius." Jon replied, "Slowly… pulling out too fast is bad… and painful… we just need to take our breath then pull out."

Jon had to make it awkward and so the General felt beyond annoyed.

"Thank you again." The General spoke, "Then about that floating island in the sky."

"What island?" Jon asked.

"Over there." The General pointed towards the location of the floating island outside the city.

"There's no island in the sky, General. Islands fly nowadays?" Jon asked.

The General had the urge to shout at Jon but after the way he was treated by the Emperor, the General had to pile it on with the rest of his stressful burdens.

"Over there… behind the sea mist." The General pointed.

"Oh! That… it is no floating island, General." Jon shamelessly denied.

"It is not?" The General tilted his head slightly.

"Nope. That, sir, is a big ass portal. What you're seeing is Winterhold but the portal is big and in the sky so it looks like a land that is in the sky except that it is not a land in the sky."

The General looked to the Battlemages on his left and right and they all looked puzzled. There is a large magical reading but it is completely different from what portals give.

"In theory, Portals can't be that big." A Battlemage said.

"Have you seen the Portals made by the forces of Deadra above the Imperial Palace a thousand years ago?" Jon asked.

"No." The Battlemage replied.

"What do the records say about them?" Jon asked.

"That they were so large that they would… swallow the entire Imperial City… in one go." The Battlemage replied in a daze as.

"Yeah… imagine." Jon said, "Have a nice day, gents."

Jon wanted to leave quietly but a rude fellow punched him in the guts.

"HAH! That's my nephew." The man passed by Jon and stopped in front of General Tullius.

"Tullius. Haven't seen yeah in 20 years, you old grumpy fuck." The man said with contempt.

"Tyr fucking Firemane." General Tullius looked at Tyr Firemane and spat on the ground, "Still showing off your battle scars acting all brave and shit?"

"Aye! Have a lot more now. You soft milk-drinking folk from the strategic office are always as smooth as a baby's butt."

"Watch it Firemane, you're a war hero alright but to me, you're still that little spy from the Blades."

"See that, Jon. You're old uncle here used to bully him when he was still a tactician officer and now he's all general and shit." Tyr called Jon.

"You two have fun reuniting, old people." Jon had to move on and finish the mess left for him.

***

Jon returned to the Golden Dragon Isle and absorbed the remaining two Dragons that were lying dead in chains.

If a Dragon was killed before the Dragonborn gets to him, that Dragon's would remain until either another Dragon absorbs or revives him.

These Dragons were the last of the Secret Dragon Horde. Unless Alduin revives more Dragons, the only Dragon left in that division is the one called Lotsovengein, the leader of the horde.

Sadly, Lotsovengein is not the kind of Dragon that plays a fair game. He was the one Jon found in the sky before the day of the battle and the Dragon didn't even try to fight Jon head-on.

Unlike the Wise Dragons Horde's leader Onikkeindrog whom Jon spared, Lotsovengein is a devout of Alduin and seemed like a tactician rather than a fighter.

But Jon was nothing if not a schemer at heart.

"Nefertiti, how was it?" Jon asked.

The cat stepped out of Jon's shadow and rubbed her body against his leg before sitting down and yawning.

"Hooman… making me work so much is bad for my health." She replied.

"I hope you didn't turn lazy as you did last time with Serana." Jon said as he tickled the cat's neck.

She purred a bit while closing her eyes before replying.

"At least… she was nice… and let me sleep… unlike a certain hooman." She replied.

Jon stopped tickling her neck, carried her up, and started shaking her around.

"No… jerk hooman… don't." Nefertiti bit Jon's hand to escape him before turning into her human form, "You missed my hair."

"Is it done or not?" Jon asked.

"It is done." Nefertiti said before hugging his leg again, "Now! Gimme food!"

Jon rolled his eyes and waved his hand a little before a plate of specially made tuna appeared before her. She took it right away and went running.

"God, girls are so tiresome to raise." Jon said with a warm smile but soon Beth came to his vision holding a staff twice her size, "Not you though."

"Thank you, teacher."

"How is the thing I told you to do for me?" Jon asked her.

"It is going well. Nothing outside of the expectations." She replied as she showed him a Magic Crystal from her pocket.

In the reflection of the crystal, Jon could see various parts of the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.

"Keep watching the situation and report to me again tonight." Jon patted her head and let her join Nefertiti to play.

Jon was currently looking down Solitude from his floating island which was enshrouded within an artificial mist.

"I don't understand."

It was then when a Skull spoke to him, Jon took out the Skull and reshaped it to take the humanoid form of Envy.

It was strangely resembling an elderly woman with sharp features but rather than an evil face, she seemed dejected.

"I have time on my hands so… ask away, Queen Potema." Jon said.

"You possess power, an army, most likely a kingdom of your own." She said.

"I'm not a King, I'm a businessman. I am also not a Jarl or a Prince, I am just a Thane in Winterhold."

"A Thane? Winterhold? The barren wizard land?" Potema asked.

"The Northern Paradise." Jon retorted.

"Your ambition is too small for one with the Dragon Blood, for a true Dragonborn!" Potema said.

"Ah! Here we go again." Jon smiled, "Don't worry about my ambition. I just see things from a different perspective."

"What is a greater perspective than lording over the entire Tamriel?" She asked.

"You see that city down there?" Jon said and pointed to Solitude, "Everyone and their mothers in that city owes me money."

Jon then walked a little bit to the east and pointed.

"Morthal owes me money."

Then he pointed south.

"Whiterun owes me money…" Then east, "Windhelm owes me money… Falkreath owes me money… Dawnstar owes me money. Even Markarth can't stand on its own with its silver mines and owes me money. Only Riften has been resisting so far and they are economically in a shitty situation and once Maven is dealt with, they will owe me a shit ton of money."

The sun reached the apex in the sky and the entire Skyrim was revealed behind Jon.

"I own this place alright." Jon said, "See that Emperor down there? He's having it rough. You had it rough too with a treacherous palace and scheming councilmen on every corner." Jon added.

"So your power comes from money? The Imperial Family has endless coffers." Potema said.

"Not money. Success. You see, an Empire is on the top of the food chain where there is no imagination left… no more going up… no more evolving. If you come to the top, one day you have to get down because life is not a mountain to climb, it is a road to walk. If you get to the highest point you can see, you will have to get down at some point."

Jon smiled and aimed his sword forward.

"But if you don't look for the highest point but rather keep taking the road ahead and keeping this trail of success going, you won't reach an end. You'll just meet new challenges and either conquer them or learn from them. I walk that road to the end of me."

Jon had a conviction that no power is eternal and no road leads to the top since the top is nothing but an illusion. It is the journey that is the prize, not the destination.

Potema looked at Jon and remained silent before saying.

"Then for you, I lived a life that is nothing but a waste of air." She said.

"Sadly." Jon agreed, "But, you're one of the three women I find most fascinating in this world… after my wife, of course… and my mothers."

"Hmph! Never thought I would witness that day of being a historical figure." Potema mocked, "Who are the other two women?"

"Aside from the legendary Wolf Queen of Solitude, I think the Lady of Mercy Almalexia and the Mother Queen of Mournhold Barenziah to be the most fascinating three."

"The Living Goddess and The Old Hag?"

"More like the dead goddess and the most awesome grandma in the freaking world."

"Almalexia is dead?"

"Two hundred years ago along with the rest of the Tribunal. I'll recommend a few books." Jon said nonchalantly but as he finished his words, a tick was heard around him.

"Ah! Now to round 2." Jon became excited.

"What's that?" Potema asked.

"I asked my kitty cat to put a tracking shadow on that annoying Dragon Priest you were fighting. We have found the hideout of the final Dragon."

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