Ysmir looked on as Alduin roared in defiance to his Ultimate Fate. But despite the World-Eater's attempts, he couldn't keep himself together.
He watched as Alduin's soul was absorbed into Aetherius itself. It was an oddly beautiful sight to behold.
In another world, he would have just stood there and watched on, not noticing Akatosh spare a small piece of Alduin's Dovahsil. But this is not that world. He stepped forward. That was a mistake.
Alduin could feel himself fall apart. His consciousness was fading. That... that JOOR had actually defeated him. He couldn't believe it. He was the Chosen of Bormahu, the Thursedov! How could it end like this?!
He took solace in the fact that he would not be absorbed by the Dovahkiin. It was humiliating enough to be killed by the half-broken joor, but to be absorbed after all the defiant dovahhe he himself had absorbed would have been far worse.
Suddenly, he felt Bormahu's presence, but what he felt shocked him.
Disappointment? Disappointment! For doing as he was created to do?! What sense did that make?!
It was then that Alduin remembered the prophecy of the Dragonborn. Joor form, dovah soul. The souls of dov were crafted by Bormahu!
He had been set up to fail from the beginning! Set up to die for following his true nature! How was this fair?!
Anger fueled the last remnants of Alduin's Dovahsil. And then he felt the Dovahkiin approaching.
Some would call what Alduin did next insanity. But when your world view has been shattered, when the God who chose you as an extension of his will abandoned you for doing as he made you to do, what would you do?
In a final act of defiance, the last piece of Alduin freed itself from Bormahu's grasp...
And flew straight to the Dovahkiin's soul.
(AN: Bormahu means "Our Father", and is the name given to Akatosh by the dov)
Ysmir saw a red spark fly from Alduin's nigh destroyed body. He couldn't react as it slammed into him, and unimaginable agony coursed through him.
Tsun could only watch as Ysmir collapsed in agony, screaming with the full force of his Thu'um. It contrasted with Sovngarde reforming around them. He couldn't understand what went wrong, but when he sensed Ysmir's own soul threatening to tear free and be absorbed as well, Tsun knew he couldn't hesitate.
"NAHL DAAL VUS"
Tsun sent him back to Nirn. He prayed to Talos that this great champion would survive.
No one could have known the influence that small speck of Alduin's Dovahsil would have. It was the day Ysmir's mind began to fall to his draconic nature.
//Time Skip//
Ysmir caught the blade the idiot woman had tried to kill him with in his bare hand. He had been insulting her for her stupidity and arrogance, how she had been wasting his time. It had gotten to her to the point that she actually tried to kill him.
He saw Esbern's shock, and how many of his allies looked ready to kill this defiant b tch. He beat them to the punch.
"SOS YOL!"
The last thing Delphine would see were the glowing red eyes.
Delphine screamed in agony as her blood became like fire. Everyone stared in shock and slight fear, wondering what the word "SOS" meant.
When Delphine stopped moving, and looked like a drained corpse, they realized what it meant.
They weren't sure what to do. Ysmir had killed her, but she had been clearly attempting to kill him. They could only watch as Ysmir turned around and walked towards the door. Some of them could still see his red eyes.
"From now on, Esbern is the Grandmaster. Listen to him."
'Let's hope he'll be more useful now that he's not being ordered around by the Idiot B tch,' Ysmir thought.
Stepping outside, he channeled the full force of the Thu'um.
"ZU'U FAAL DOVAHKIIN, KRIID DO ALDUIN. DOVAHSEBROM. KAAL DO KEIZAAL."
With that message sent to all of Skyrim and beyond, he decided to head back to High Hrothgar. He had already planned to kill Paarthurnax for his knowledge on the Voice. He just didn't like being told what to do.
//Time skip//
Ysmir watched as the Imperial and Thalmor soldiers ran through the Pale Pass. The idiots had finally cleared the landslide blocking off largescale access to Skyrim.
Too bad they were all about to die.
When he had returned, he had decided to join the Stormcloaks for a few reasons. The first, was that the Imperials had dared to try and kill him for NOTHING. The second was that a few had tried to threaten his monne, his daughters, to get him to join the Legion. Tullius had had those soldiers that survived ejected from the ranks when he heard why such a powerful symbol was now joining the Rebellion.
It felt somewhat strange to care for Lucia and Sofie, but Ysmir couldn't figure out why. No matter. They were his kiirre, his children, and he would protect them to the best of his ability.
The third had been because it would be far easier to manipulate an idiot like Ulfric to get what he wants. Especially since the High Idiot was so grateful for the special additions to the army that had made the war so easy.
"Stormblade, my friend, not that I don't trust you, but could you please give the signal already?! They're getting way too close for comfort."
Ysmir looked to his trusted ally Ralof, the man flinching at the nigh ever-present cold look Ysmir had nowadays. The glowing red irises certainly didn't help.
"I want as many of them in here as possible. We need to kill off as many as we can. Cyrodiil and Alinor have far more riches than this region, as well as better training, so we need to kill off as many soldiers as we can."
No need to tell him that he had set up thousands of soul gems in an array with Azura's Star. Enchanting wasn't easy!
Just then, an annoying voice called out.
"Stormblade, as your High King, I demand that you give the signal NOW!"
Ysmir turned his gaze towards the approaching annoyance. His Dovahsil roared in satisfaction at the fear in Ulfric's eyes.
"As I just explained to Ralof, we need to kill off as many of them as possible before they can retreat. Learn some tactics, IDIOT."
He could see Ulfric's face redden, but he knew the man wouldn't say anything. It goes to show that Ralof didn't say anything about the High King being called an idiot, despite the fact that Ysmir openly valued Ralof's opinion.
Ysmir calling out the dishonorable way Ulfric had killed Torygg with the Voice, as well as his manipulation of the moot had made a lot of people realize that not everything their beloved Jarl did was as smart as they believed. Manipulating the moot spat in the face of their entire culture. Ysmir revealing that the only reason the Rebellion stayed around so long was the Thalmor secretly giving them supplies had soured even the most diehard Stormcloaks' opinions of the Bear of Markarth.
Ysmir, of course, didn't care much for tradition except when it would benefit him. If he really wanted to, he could challenge Ulfric to a duel. But the position of High King was too open. Being a shadow ruler appealed to him much more.
Seeing the army was only half a mile from them, he decided that they were close enough.
"NU!"
(Translation: NOW!)
And dragons became visible throughout the Pale Pass. Teaching them some spells had been a smart choice.
The army didn't stand a chance. Giving Odahviing some of Paarthurnax's knowledge of meditation had been one of the best choices Ysmir had made. Their Thu'um and magic combined tore the Imperials and Thalmor to shreds.
Out of the 2000+ army that stormed the Pale Pass that day, only 50 escaped back to Cyrodiil. Most were killed. Some were captured.
As he surveyed the damage later that day, Ysmir couldn't help but let a smirk come to his face.
He turned to Ulfric. "Now, Titus Mede will have to listen to us. Remember, the treaty must not weaken them as the White-Gold Concordat did. The Thalmor are bound to try and take advantage of the reduced ranks if the Empire seems vulnerable. Probably barely a tenth of that army was Thalmor soldiers, if that."
Ulfric nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth. He realized now, who truly ruled Skyrim.
Just then, one of the Stormcloak soldiers showed up from the corpse field.
"King Ulfric! Lord Stormblade! You won't believe who we've captured!"
Now wasn't this interesting.
Ysmir smirked at Elenwen's bleeding face. The anger in her eyes was blistering, but letting some of his magic out in an Aura of Power showed her how outmatched she was. He reveled in the fear in her eyes.
He took out a special metal collar. It was a combination of magic-suppressing cuffs from before the Oblivion Crisis and the slave collars used by House Dres in Morrowind.
"You're really going to use it on her?"
Turning to Ralof, his smirk widened.
"Yes. Such a fitting punishment, don't you think? The Thalmor seek to enslave mankind, and one of their most powerful members is made into a slave of one of the most powerful humans on Nirn. Plus, she won't be able to lie to me when I tell her to spill every secret of the Thalmor she knows."
Placing the collar on the prideful Altmer, he watched her swirm on the ground as it took effect.
"Ulfric, tell all the soldiers that as far as anyone outside this Pass will ever know, Elenwen died this day. We don't want a big fuss over this from Alinor, do we?"
Ulfric nodded again.
Ysmir would put the collars on a few more Thalmor soldiers, Altmer, Bosmer, and a few different breeds of Khajiit. They were all women. Ulfric and Ralof didn't particularly care what he would do with the ones he kept.
Ysmir would take the Altmer women to Riften for a Face-Change. Elenwen would be renamed to Rielle, meaning Beauty in Ayleidoon.
Afterwards, he would head to Falkreath. When one of those assassins had attacked his family, he had them all marked for death. The only ones spared were the leader Astrid, the Dunmer Gabriella, and the vampiric child Babette. Having a few assassins serving him couldn't hurt, could it? Especially when they can't ignore his commands. It was a bit weird hearing that corpse speak to him, so he burned it with the rest of the Sanctuary.
He had heard of vampires showing up, causing the old Dawnguard to reform. Might as well see what the big deal was. Learning how to craft those crossbows would be helpful.
//Timeskip//
Holding Harkon down, his wings ripped off and his arms bleeding black blood, Ysmir gave a grin at the once-proud Clan Lord.
When Ysmir had trained his Vampire Lord form, he had felt it grow stronger over time. Less affected by the sunlight. He eventually became what many vampires considered near a god amongst their kind.
He was The Daywalker. And his Dovahsil enhanced it further beyond that. He was far more muscular than the others, and his wings were like that of a dovah's. He could actually fly more than a few meters off the ground.
"H-how is this possible?!"
Ysmir looked Harkon in the eyes.
"You are such an Oblivion-damned idiot, aren't you?
Your prophecy was a complete bust. All life on this world comes from Magnus's Gateway. And you wanted to block that off forever.
Plants feed off sunlight. Herbivores eat the plants, carnivores eat the herbivores, omnivores do both. And at the top of that chain are the mortal races and us, the Sosnaak.
By permanently blocking off the sunlight, you would destroy all life in Mundus. Even if you somehow had the knowledge to create an artificial sun that was safe for vampires, or make a special plant that would feed mortals for farming, it would not prevent most of Nirn from becoming a wasteland.
And in your stupidity, you failed to realize that completing this prophecy would lead to all of Nirn joining up to stop you. Political disagreements and old wounds would be forgotten instantly. Ulfric himself would fight side-by-side with the leaders of the Thalmor if it meant saving our world from mass extinction!
The mortals outnumber us 100000 to 1 if not more than that! It would be mere days before most- if not all- vampires were extinct and someone with the knowledge of how to make Sunhallowed Arrows would shoot one with the Bow straight at Magnus's Gateway.
And that's not counting the mistake of assuming the other clans wouldn't try to stop you. I've spoken with the other Clan Lords, and they are far more intelligent than you. They would have all gone against you in an instant, explaining to any defiant members of their clans just how f cked they would be if you were ignored.
And then there's you facing me. Did you not listen to Serana when she explained I was the DRAGONBORN? The slayer of Alduin the World-Eater. Trust me, a dragon capable of consuming an afterlife was far more dangerous than you. And that was before I became the Draconic Daywalker.
The only reason I gave you the Bow was to make this a bit more challenging! I knew I was more powerful than you!
You never stood a chance, Harkon Volkihar."
Harkon was struggling to get out of Ysmir's grip, but it was child's play to keep him down by the neck.
"Serana, my dear, would you like to do the honors?"
"Yes, Ysmir."
Serana approached, a Sunhallowed Arrow in her hands. Ysmir slammed Harkon's head into the stone ground, disorienting him. He stabbed a specially-shaped Grand Soul Gem into Harkon's chest.
Ysmir had considered slamming the Mace of Molag Bal into Harkon's head, showing him in his last moments how he stood no chance against his own god's champion, but had decided against it. He knew Serana would need this. It would make it easier to have closure in her father's death. Despite what Harkon said, he cared deeply for her. More than he safely should, to be honest.
He stood by Lydia, the collar on her neck prominent. Usually, she would be glaring at him, but she seemed intent on watching Serana. Her sympathy had made her try to help Serana through her troubles. An endeavour Ysmir had joined in on.
"Goodbye, father."
Serana stabbed the last Sunhallow into Harkon's head. She then unsheathed Dawnbreaker, driving it down into his heart. Making those gloves that kept her from being burned had been a pain.
Harkon's body burned quickly.
/Small time skip/
Ysmir and Lydia heard sobbing from Serana's room. The new Lord of Castle Volkihar couldn't allow the woman he cared so much for to stay saddened by what she had to do.
"Hey, Serana."
"What do you want?"
The harshness in her voice caught him a bit off guard. Ysmir gulped his nervousness down a bit. He went towards her after Lydia poked him in the back. He sat down on her bed next to her.
"Look, I know I'm not the best person to talk to about emotions. I spend so much time trying to keep mine beneath the surface, I half-expect to wake up as emotionless as a Dwemeric Centaurion. And I know that you're going through a lot, b-but I know you're going to be okay. We may not always get what we expect in life, but the best we can do is move on. It's not easy, but it can get better over time."
He took one of her hands in his, and put his palm on one of her cheeks. Her eyes so lost and hopeful.
"They say time heals all wounds, but I know better than anyone that it's not that easy. You need people you trust and care about to help you through the day. And, Serana, I want to be that person. I want to listen to your worries and help you through them. When you cry, I want to dry your tears. I'm still here, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. I'm here for you, whenever you need me, whatever you need me for."
Serana was trying so hard not to cry again. Where was this side of Ysmir coming from? Where was the cool-headed, calculative strategist who killed off the Dawnguard with no hesitation? Something her father said nagged at her in that moment.
"Is what my father said true? Did you just keep me around to get power?"
Ysmir felt his chest tighten at this.
"NO! I-I wouldn't do that to you, Serana! I am power-hungry and ambitious, yes. I won't deny that. But I care about you! I would never use you like that! Harkon says bonds don't endure, but I don't believe him. I care about you so much it hurts, Serana! That's not fleeting! That's not momentary!"
The determination and affection in his voice and eyes struck a chord within Serana. And it was then that she knew.
She was in love with Ysmir.
She started sobbing again, tears of joy escaping her eyes as she held onto his hand on her cheek.
Ysmir panicked, thinking he had said something wrong.
"S-serana, are you okay?! W-was it something I-"
He was cut off by her wrapping her arms around him. She muffled her sobs by burying her head in his chest. Ysmir wrapped his arms around her, hand on top of her head, tears coming out in his own eyes as what he said came back to him.
He was in love with her. He had thought his affection for her had been something like what he felt for his daughters, but over time, that had seemed less and less certain. Now he realized what it was. It was far beyond a sense of kinship.
Neither of them noticed Lydia go out in the hall to cry. She had lost the love of her life to the traitorous b stard that had taken her free will. And though it felt nice to know he still had kindness in his heart, she knew it would be shown to few. What had she done in a past life for the gods to punish her so?