A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree" ⬅️
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"So you took the artifact from that demon of knowledge guy, sealed it in the shadow gate beyond his reach, and when his agent came to you, you declared war on him?" Shadow asked.
"That pretty much sums it up." Jon replied.
"Aren't you just courting death when fighting against an immortal?" Shadow asked.
"Nope. So long I kill his agent, I am good." Jon replied.
"That's just cheating, you know!"
"What cheating? The guy wants to replace his agent with me. His agents attacked me first and the narrative changed. What his agent wants is to replace himself with me so I become the immortal demon's slave in his stead while he goes out into the world and becomes free. The original narrative was that I, the Last Dragonborn, get to defeat the demon's agent, the First Dragonborn, and then the stupid fucking demon gets me as his slave anyway. But I don't want to buy whatever he is selling so now that the narrative has changed, I think Fate can be altered in a whole different way and I get to deal with Miraak and Hermaeus Mora the way I see fit." Jon explained what he told Shadow all over again from the start.
"And all that thing experimenting with Fate was for this moment. That when you do things differently, you get to decide things not as how the narrative was supposed to go but as how you want to alter it."
"Yes."
"Well, it is cheating."
"You keep saying that!"
"You know your goddamn future! That is cheating!" Shadow shouted.
"At least some of us get to have some advantage. I know a bit about my future, how about you?" Jon asked.
"Nothing. I got absolutely nothing."
"Nothing at all?"
"Yes."
"No unfair advantages here or there? A secret guide or a mentor?"
"Hmmm… now that you mention it, I am starting to remember something that I may have taken a little bit for granted."
"See? We all got something."
"But not to the point of knowing the entire endgame. Like the other guys are way worse than you. One, in particular, is completely thrust in the darkness alone."
"Fine. You go save their asses then."
"Other shadows are already in charge of them."
"You make it all sound so easy." Jon looked at Shadow and asked, "So, you said there is something you want to tell me."
"Right." Shadow remembered, "Can you sail?"
"I have a fleet." Jon replied.
"By yourself, I mean." Shadow elaborated.
"Yes." Jon nodded.
"Then this will be the last time we see each other." Shadow said.
"Wow! You have a grudge against sailors or something, mate?" Jon laughed while looking a little concerned.
"Not at all." Shadow laughed, "There are two things you need from me. One of them you will use, the other you will discard, or that's how the prophecy said."
"What prophecy?"
"More importantly, the first is a location in your world called Atmora. The second is this Shadow Gate." Shadow said.
"Hold on, I'm barely keeping up here. Atmora is a continent, what does it have to do with the shadow gate? And you mentioned a prophecy."
"You ask too many questions." Shadow replied impatiently.
"Of course I am asking…"
"Just listen and you will understand it all later if you really want to live." Shadow had to use a stern tune this time.
Saying "if you want to live" had an impact and it caused Jon to frown, stay silent, and listen.
"One day when it is all over, you will be faced with a choice."
"I know."
"Good. I've already given you all the clues then." Shadow said.
"Atmora is one thing I don't understand but when I returned the Skeleton Key to Nocturnal, she gave me the Shadowkey in return and said that it is something I may not want but I will definitely need."
"Nocturnal? A being of shadows."
"The boss bitch."
"Then you're on the right away."
"And Atmora?"
"Fuck if I know. That's all the whispers I heard from the prophecy and…" Shadow said and raised a finger to make a hardline point, "Don't ask about the prophecy."
"Fine. A Shadowkey and Atmora. Great. Anything else?"
"The next Shadow you meet will be a different Shadow. You'll be thankful by then."
And Shadow disappeared.
Jon knew this is the last time he might see this Shadow and possibly the other Shadows.
They are beings that come from different times in an unorganized manner. It can be described as two timelines that are moving against each other. The first time Jon sees the Shadows was the last time they met him and the last time he sees them is the first time they meet him.
"Hooman!" Nefertiti came near Jon
"Your Meowjesty!" Jon replied.
"I have discovered something new." She said.
"Another fish gift?" Jon asked.
"No!" She hit Jon right on the head with her giant paws but as she wasn't realizing the difference in size between them, she sent Jon flying into the opposite wall, "Sorry!"
"This… will… develop… into a serious… masochism case." Jon said as he pushed himself up from the ground.
He dusted himself off, stood up, and faced his cat.
"What do you want?" Jon asked.
"Right… I have discovered something about the Shadow Gate."
"Why does everyone else but me know so much about them damn shadow gates?" Jon said in anger, "Fine, let's hear it."
"So you know why I told you to get your hands into the shadows when we were creating this?"
"To hold that hungry ghost thing!" Jon said.
"Well, yes. But to also make an anchor between the shadow world and the real world." Nefertiti explained.
"And?" Jon asked.
"I found out that I can now change this anchor." She said.
"So what you mean is that we no longer need to keep in the Augur's chambers." He concluded.
"That's right but not quite all." She said then added, "We can make you this anchor."
Jon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
"You are saying that you are going to connect me to this shadow gate… and make me the entrance… or in other words… my shadow will be a shadow gate." He said.
"Yes. But not quite right again. If we alter hooman's shadow, bad things will happen to hooman. We will just make it part of your shadow. Very teeny tiny part." She said.
"Alright. We will be able to access that gate anywhere we want, like having our own Storage Cube without actually carrying the cube."
"We can also customize it too."
"I love that. I think I am going to regret it one day but I love it 'cause my kitty cat loves it." Jon said.
"Alright. Once you go out, I'll make sure it is done." She said and bolted off somewhere.
Jon smiled and stretched his body before standing up and taking one final look at the Oghma Infinium. He smirked slyly and knew that his move against Hermaeus Mora this time was beautifully done.
He needs to make an enemy out of Hermaeus Mora. As stupid as it may seem, seeing this situation through depends on it.
From the game, the situation of the three main antagonists can be considered strangely chaotic. Alduin wants to end the world because his human subjects revolted against him, Harkon wants to blind out the sun so the vampire can walk free from the sun's tyranny and he can become the lord of the night, and Miraak wants to replace himself as Hermaeus Mora's pawn with the Last Dragonborn so that he can get to return to the world of mortals.
Out of all three, Jon thinks that Miraak is the most dangerous of all.
Alduin may be the most powerful of dragons but his mindset is rather chaotic and is being moved by destiny. Even if Jon was defeated by Alduin, the world will be ended and reborn in another Kalpa. In some sense, this is the natural flow of fate, even more natural than when the Dragonborn stops Alduin from ending the world.
Alduin may have revolted against his own fate and settled out to rule the mortal world instead of ending it. Destroying it after losing control is simply surrendering to his own role in the divine ecosystem. In other words, Alduin is not a villain, he's more like a natural disaster.
Harkon, on the other hand, is a fool. He thinks that by blinding the sun, the vampires will rule the world. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that without the sun, the mortal population will die out. Unless the vampires have some method to "herd" a cattle of mortals without losing on blood quantity and quality, the whole thing of the Volkihar Vampire plot is insanely stupid.
And then comes Miraak, the First Dragonborn.
Who is Miraak?
He is someone older than the world's strongest wizard, Divayth Fyr. A being of Atmoran descent, a stronger foe than any, the one was chosen first to beat Alduin the World-Eater. In other words, Jon is the replacement of that Dragonborn. Oblivion, every other Dragonborn across history including Empress Saint Alessia, Reman the Light of Man, Talos of Atmora Tiber Septim, and Jon freaking Dare.
So… if that is the Original Dragonborn, then what is his history?
Simply put it… he is the man who got drunk on his divine power, was a Dragon Priest for the Dragon Cult, defied the Dragon Cult and ruled the Dragons instead of being ruled by Dragons, and was the first ever man to ride a Dragon, one who was equipped to deal with Alduin quite easily, and instead of doing that, he decided to ignore Alduin and pledge allegiance to Hermaeus Mora in order to become immortal, get as much knowledge from Hermaeus Mora as possible, and return to the world to be some sort of immortal being worshiped by the Dragons, who are in turn worshiped by man.
Like…
"What the fuck?" Jon exclaimed.
He was already out of the shadow gate and he felt something rather weird on his own body.
"Hooman… sowwy!"
He was looking at Nefertiti with disappointment while pointing at his chest above his heart.
The black keyhole which was supposed to be on the wall, the one he inserted the Shadowkey into to open the shadow gate, was embedded on his chest over his heart.
" I said I would regret it one day. It had to be today?!"
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree" ⬅️
A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree" ⬅️
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"Well, this is truly unfortunate!"
"I have a hole in my chest.'
"A keyhole."
"A HOLE IN MY CHEST!" Jon shouted with a devastated face, "A man has one, and a woman has two. Why do I have two?"
"Technically, it is not organic."
"No! I can't!" Jon was in disbelief and sat on the ground while holding his head.
The one exchanging conversation with him sighed and looked at the third person in the room.
"It's alright, master. Technically that's not a third hole." Beth said.
"I don't want to be comforted in this matter by an underage." Jon replied.
The man watching this situation couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"Sir Jon, I think it is about time for me to leave Winterhold. While your assistance to the Order made us most thankful, we can't linger more than this in the normal world." Master Quaranir of the Psijic Order spoke.
Jon didn't turn around for the man but he told Beth to leave first.
"Was your research of value?" Jon asked.
"It was. Your fears are true, your methods have to be… radical." Quaranir said.
"I just received one more clue." Jon said, "Atmora."
"The Gray Wind again?" Quaranir asked.
"Not him this time. Those in my shadow are starting to quieten down gradually… one by one." Jon said.
"It is all for the good." Quaranir said, "The Gray Wind is a force that carries much malice towards the Elves. Your existence would have been a threat if it were to be left afterward."
"The Gray Wind is the threat you guys should fear." Jon smiled, "I am peaceful unprovoked."
"Indeed." Quaranir nodded with a sneer.
"Do I take that as a provocation?" Jon asked.
"No… haha! Not at all, please." On the other hand, Quaranir started to act meekly before changing the topic hastily, "We have also found a clue regarding your request."
"Oh, I thought you guys were not interested in helping me." Jon said.
"Fate is not really our thing to cross but your request was quite specific. It got us interested." Quaranir said.
"Alright. I'll hear it." Jon sat down on a chair.
They were in his library/study at the top of the Dare Tower where he got all his collection on display with a lot of books and scrolls stored in the place.
As for Master Quaranir, the monk from the Psijic Order that was tasked to retrieve the Eye of Magnus, seemed to have been staying in the library for quite some time, maybe more than a few days even.
The Monk faced the Grand Thane and said one word.
"Vivec."
"Interesting!" Jon replied, "And?"
"That's all." The monk replied.
"Now that's infuriating." Jon crossed his arms on his chest, "What about Vivec?"
"That's all we got. We did you a favor in exchange for the favor we received and that name was the only whisper we heard from the Wellspring of Knowledge."
"Goodness!" Jon spoke in agitation, "You know who Vevic is, right? I'd get a proper answer from a 3 day old rather than get anything from Vivec. I mean… is he even alive by now?"
"Truthfully, once the Ritemaster heard that the mention of Vivec came from the Well of Knowledge, he did some divining of his own and came to the conclusion that Vivec is probably alive."
"Conclusion? Probably?"
"As I said earlier, we don't really meddle in these things unless we need to. It seems that Fate has some untold tale for you, Sir Jon. And mark my words, Fate is a harsh mistress."
***
Jon was left alone pondering on the words of Master Quaranir alone.
"Vivec? Atmora? And a Shadow Gate?" Jon scratched his head in frustration before touching the keyhole that was on his chest and rubbing it nervously.
"Darling dear!"
Just as he was sunken in his deep thoughts, Alina's cheerful voice rang through the library.
With a single swing of his fingers, a minor illusion was cast on his chest and hid the keyhole from sight with the least undetectable amount of Magicka. As a wizard, he always had a lot of spells hovering over him, and masking such a minor spell with the least amount of Magicka was the only way to slip past Alina's senses.
"I'm here, honey." Jon then called her back.
"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Alina asked and got close enough to Jon for their bodies to press against one another, "The ships are ready."
"You seem eager to go back to Solstheim." He said.
"You said once that Solstheim will hold a great challenge for you. I am only excited to be of help." Alina hugged Jon playfully.
He hugged her back and kissed her forehead before nodding.
"And what will you do once we get there?" Jon asked.
"I'll just stay at the sidelines and watch you kick ass like a good wife." Alina said.
"Really?"
"No! I'll find the biggest ass there is to kick and kick it before you do."
"Why are you so violent, woman? We try to solve things peacefully first."
"Really?"
"No! We kick ass first."
Jon and Alina looked at each other silently before laughing. The two seemed a little bit nervous for each other, which was good, but they had to go seek out an enemy this time and with the amount of preparation they had, it should go according to plan.
***
*Solstheim*
It was bad, nothing was going according to plan.
The Redoran Guard lost many members as of the last few days they should start calling reinforcements from the mainland as soon as they possibly can.
Those who were standing guard at night were enthralled by the ash storms and disappeared somewhere, those who didn't disappear were attacked by Ash Spawns that started to reappear earlier this year, as for those who were still standing, they were terrified and demoralized to no end.
Councilor Lleril Morvayn of House Redoran sent many messengers by sea and magic to the mainland indeed but no news ever arrived. The second best option was to seek out Master Neloth of House Telvanni but the Redoran are a prideful bunch and they wouldn't resort to that option until they are really desperate.
Earlier this morning, Captain Modyn Veleth of the Redoran Guard has taken a force of young Dunmer and crossed the Bulwark with them in order to repel the Ash Spawns looming around the settlement while there are no ash storms.
If this mission was to go wrong, it would be the straw that broke the netch's back and Councilor Morvayn would have no leeway from seeking help from the neighboring Telvanni wizard. Lucky for him, Master Neloth was actually visiting Raven Rock to study the sight of the digging done by the brainwashed citizens nearby.
At that moment, the servant of Councilor Morvayn and his second, Adril Arano, walked in hurry into the Councilor's Manor.
"Councilor! Five ships are approaching the shores." Adril shouted.
"What? Five! At once?" Councilor Morvayn jumped off his seat at once, "Is it House Redoran?"
"No, Councilor. They bear the flag of Skyrim."
"Nords? Why?" The Councilor wondered, "Trading?"
"They have sent a messenger on a boat with a message. They are requesting to deploy their forces on Solstheim." Adril Arano handed Councilor Morvayn a sealed letter.
Right away, the Councilor took the letter and opened it with his eyes going left and right so fast as he read the words.
"Grand Thane of Skyrim Jon Dare? 500 Troopers? Provocation from an unknown enemy on Solstheim?" The Councilor was trying to grasp what he was reading but his mind was lagging behind.
"500? We don't have one-fifth of that." Adril Arano exclaimed, "It's an occupation force!"
"He is requesting to deploy his troopers directly to fort Frostmoth. He's basically asking us to let him in."
"That's too polite, Councilor. We can't trust his intentions." Adril said.
"Yes, we can't but we have no choice either way if he wants to do so without respecting our authority." Councilor Morvayn said.
"You're saying that Skyrim is willing to provoke House Redoran, councilor?" Adril asked.
"Jon Dare is not Skyrim. House Redoran isn't something others cross just because they can either. Still, we can't let him roam the land for free." The Councilor thought, "It seemed that whatever is happening on Solstheim has conjured the wrath of our Nordic investor."
"What should I tell them, Councilor?"
"Tell Jon Dare that I would like to inspect his forces before letting them in. Ask them not to land in the dockyard but far to the north."
"You mean… the Earth Stone?" Adril asked with a worried face.
"Yes. If he lands one-fifth of his force there for the Redoran Guard to inspect, we will see the true objective they are here for. After that, it wouldn't matter whether we agree to let their whole force land or not."
The Councilor had a plan in mind and was going to make sure that Jon Dare hasn't come this time as an enemy. However, if Jon Dare was still a friend of House Redoran, this would be good news. This man from Skyrim might be the answer to all his prayers.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree" ⬅️
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