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This article, The Extinction Effect, vol 03 - The Tragedy of Evenhall, is property of KidVegeta. |
 The Tragedy of Evenhall
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| Title: The Tragedy of Evenhall | ||||||
| Full Title: The Tragedy of Evenhall, Book Three of The Extinction Effect | ||||||
| Author: Vigilius Vinius | ||||||
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The Tragedy of Evenhall is the third volume in the series, The Extinction Effect.
Content[]
The alliance of Snow Elf and dragon was a queer thing, not like to have been seen again before or since Snow Prince Cirathyr and Felduven met. The Snow Elves lived in a prosperous, if secret society, and the dragons, three strong, Felduven the Bold, Malmulnax Cravenheart, and Zulsenahlot the Voiceless, watched over them as protectors, a far cry from their previous roles as staunch overlords of all mortalkind. They killed any who traveled near the Snow Elves' hideaway, and whenever an army of soldiers or Dragonguard got too near, the dragons beat them back with their combined voices and dread.
In the coming months after the dragons' arrival to the Starfall Vale, Zulsenahlot became weaker and sicker as his wounds from the previous fight against the Dragonguard festered and refused to heal. He succumbed soon after, in the midst of a winter blizzard that covered Starfall like a swarm of ice locusts. When the snows let up, and the first signs of Spring began to show, the Snow Elves glimpsed at what had become of their old dragon guard - his bones poked up from the melting snow like the broken teeth of a giant. Felduven and Malmulnax had of course known when their kin had fallen, but since they did not oft mingle with the Snow Elves, word did not get out until Spring.
By this time, some among the Snow Elves had come to revere the dragons Malmulnax and Felduven, and some even began to worship them as gods. The dragons took to this well, for it was in their blood to lord over lesser beings. So then did a kind of dragon cult emerge, similar in design to those ancient cults written about in the lands of Skyrim. They claimed the dragons had come to them as a gift from Auri-El, for Auri-El is known to take the avatar of a dragon. The Snow Elves elected no Dragon Priest, and practiced their worship in secret, for they did not wish to offend the majority of their peers and their Snow Prince, who rejected any such alternative religions. However, Cirathyr's own spouse, Finya, bowed down to the dragons, and the power of the Snow Elf dragon cult grew. Indeed, as time wore on, those who saw the dragons as their overlords made a shrine at where Zulsenahlot's bones lay, and others began to call for the Snow Prince to step down so that the dragons could rule. Slowly, even in the court of Evenhall, whispers grew louder for the Snow Elves to abandon their existing pantheon and bow down to the dragons. The most radical amongst them saw even Auri-El as having forsaken them for all the misfortune their species had been forced to endure.
Knight-Paladin Arabor, First Sword to Snow Prince Cirathyr, was troubled by this. He formed an elite guard of Snow Elf knights, perhaps a few dozen strong, and led them to where Zulsenahlot had fallen. Their plan was to raze the dragon cult's shrine and arrest its members. Yet things did not go as Arabor had foreseen. When he attempted to arrest those who had submitted themselves to the dragons' power, he was met with staunch resistance. The First Sword cautioned his knights to refrain from bloodshed, but once a cult member threw a rock and broke the nose of one of Arabor's men, all hell broke loose.
Twelve cult members were killed in the scuffle, and half as many knights were wounded. Knight-Paladin Arabor's troop destroyed the dragon shine and then tore down Zulsenahlot's bones. The surviving cult members scattered and fled into the streets of Starfall. Arabor's knights forged weapons out of Zulsenahlot's old bones, fashioning a long bejeweled battleaxe and armor for him, and many longswords for his company. Afterwards, First Sword Arabor called on all of his knights to join him, and his company's numbers swelled above one hundred. Indeed, as the captain of Starfall's entire army, Arabor commanded all of the knighted Snow Elves in the vale. They marched from street to street, pushing their ways into homes, finding and arresting any who swore loyalty to the dragons. As this was happening, Arabor gathered his most trusted underlings and led them to Evenhall, the castle fortress of the Snow Prince.
There, they overwhelmed Cirathyr's personal guards and made their way into the Prince's personal chambers. Cirathyr was taken aback by the First Sword's actions, and called on his men to stop their treason, but they would not listen. Cirathyr tried to explain that he was not going to let his people forsake their gods for Felduven and Malmulnax. Still, the Snow Elf knights did not listen, for they knew Cirathyr's spouse was a leading member of the cult. So Cirathyr drew his own blade and cut down as many of them as he could.
When his halls ran with blood and fire, and when it had been reduced to only the Snow Prince and the Knight-Paladin, that was when the dragons appeared. They had only just learned of the Knight-Paladin's treachery, and circled the skies like vultures, shooting ice and fire breath down on the homes of Snow Elves. This was no good for Felduven's cause, for he attacked those who had given him shelter, who had come to worship him. In those dark hours of the night when dragonflame lit the city, even the most radical Snow Elves knew they had erred. The knights, under the Arch-Rector's command drew their bows and fired at Malmulnax and Felduven. The dragons roared and shouted back. Houses burned; charred corpses lined the streets. Smoke and ash rose and blotted out the sky. Still, the screams of dying mortals and vengeful gods filled the air. Few knew how the conflict had begun, but now all were opposed to the dragons, and for that opposition, they would pay. Once before had mortals rebelled against Felduven, and he was not like to suffer such a humiliation again.
In the throne room of Evenhall, where once fountains of the purest water, and where the finest stained glass depictions of Auri-El and Snow Elf histories had once stood, now was a smoldering wreck. Cirathyr was an adept swordsman, and he had easily cut his way through Knight-Paladin Arabor's guard. The two dueled then, and it could be said their battle was poetry, that the two spoke to one another as they exchanged blows, as sparks flew and blood ran free. Cirathyr's sword was no match for Knight-Paladin Arabor's dragonbone battleaxe, and soon, his blade was burst asunder from a particularly violent parry. As his only weapon shattered, Cirathyr fell to his knees.
"You have defeated me, sir," the Snow Elf said, not unkindly. He spit blood.
"You have disgraced our people by letting the dragons stay here. They have perverted the minds and actions of many of our kin," Arabor roared back as he paced before his defeated foe. "Even your wife has fallen into corruption! And you sit here and do nothing! Your inaction caused this bloodshed. All who die tonight are your responsibility."
It was at this moment that Cirathyr's princess, Finya, arrived. Aghast, she screamed at the carnage she beheld, "What is going on here?! Knight-Paladin, explain yourself!"
"I have nothing to say for myself," the First Sword replied, pointing his new battleaxe her way. "It is you who must explain yourself."
"You come into our home, murder our guards, betray our trust, and it is we who must answer to you?!" she shouted back, in tears. "It is you who have committed treason! You will pay for this!"
"Hold your tongue, woman. Your worship of the dragons has brought us enough misfortune. You have turned away from Auri-El's light, and thus have brought great peril to Starfall. Our people have suffered enough aleady; this slight will not go unpunished. It will be our ruin if I don't stop you!"
"Murderer!" Finya shrieked. "Traitor!"
That was enough to rile Arabor, and he jumped forward before anyone could comprehend what he was doing. With a single slice, he decapitated Finya.
"You miserable cretin!" Cirathyr screamed in dismay. He jumped up, grabbing a shard of his sword, and charged at the Knight-Paladin.
Arabor met him with his dragonbone battleaxe, hitting the Snow Prince right in the breastplate. The weapon lodged itself deep in Cirathyr's armor, and Arabor was unable to wrench it free. Cirathyr fell forward, blood and hate flowing from his mouth, as he crashed into the First Sword, and stuck him in the neck with a sharp fragment of his royal sword. Knight-Paladin Arabor staggered back and fell to one knee. Cirathyr was on the ground, blood pooling under his armor.
"Insolent wretch!" Arabor grimaced, feeling his wound. He unsheathed a knife from his boot and advanced on Cirathyr. "Tonight you die! I cannot let the dragons rule over us any longer!"
As the Knight-Paladin limped towards the Snow Prince, a great boom was heard. Evenhall rumbled as if an earthquake had begun, and soon, the two Snow Elves saw the elegantly-wrought architecture of the place crumbling down around them in dust and rubble. The ceiling collapsed on them, and the noise of the marble pillars exploding was deafening. When the smoke cleared, Cirathyr could be seen pushing himself out of the rubble, the great battleaxe still stuck in his armor. Arabor stood opposite him, having dodged the falling ceiling, on a great piece of stone. As he watched the Snow Prince struggle to free himself, he crouched down and ran up to him. Right before he could thrust his blade into the helpless Snow Prince's back, however, a large red blur entered the scene, and Knight-Paladin Arabor found himself pinned between the teeth of a fierce dragon.
Felduven took his prey into the sky, twirling up and up and up as the full moon behind him glowed milky white. Then, he silenced First Sword Arabor's screams by gulping him down. Outside of Evenhall, Starfall burned and smoked. Malmulnax Cravenheart, for all his worth, held his ground against the knightly archers who assaulted him. Circling in the dark sky, he blasted them with freezing breath, and they died by the scores. Innocent Snow Elves fled this way and that, taking cover in houses and behind ruined buildings, but many of them were caught in the dragon's path, and they died all the same.
As this was going on, Felduven returned to Snow Prince Cirathyr in the ruined Evenhall. There he landed, and the two spoke for a while.
"You saved me, dragon," the Snow Prince breathed. There was pain in his tired voice. "But at what cost? Was I a fool to allow you to stay here in the first place? Look at what you have done," he gestured at the city Evenhall overlooked. "How many of my people are dead because of you?"
"You should have stopped your knight before he tried this insurrection. If you people had united behind me, none of this would have happened," Felduven contended.
"United behind you?" Cirathyr spit, blood coating his mouth. "We are a free people."
"You are a mortal people, and it is our right to rule you."
"You haughty beast!" yelled Cirathyr. "Does your arrogance know no bounds? I can see now your kind will bring my people more death and suffering, not the hope we so desperately need. Even now, my people are burning, and you don't care at all!"
"And so they will, Snow Prince," Felduven replied gravely, flapping his wings to rise once more into the air. "It is the dragons' right to rule the world. Those who stand against our right will not stand long at all. Should you live till morning, you will see what defiance to our cause yields."
Felduven left at that point, only to find Malmulnax high in the sky, screaming his powers from beyond the reach of even the best bowmen in Starfall.
"Felduven!" Malmulnax whined. "We need to get out of here!"
"We shall not leave until this place has been reduced to a desolate crater!" Felduven responded. "Don't you flee again, coward!"
"They shot my wing, Felduven!" Malmulnax seethed, showing the other dragon where the arrows had pierced him. "I must retreat at once!"
Felduven puffed fire at his kin. "Should you flee, I will hunt you down like no other! Just because you are a dragon does not mean you are free from my wrath."
"Just because Alduin made you a Jill doesn't mean you are my ruler! I am as free as you, Felduven, and it is my choice to leave this cursed place! One dragon has died here already. Our kind is few enough as it is. We don't need any more of us dying because of these mindless mortals."
With that, Malmulnax disappeared into the night. Felduven would have pursued him, but the night was dark, and he lost the cowardly dragon amongst the snow-covered peaks of western Skyrim's mountain range. So instead, Felduven returned to Starfall. There, he laid waste to the city and its people. He charged them from the sky, releasing a wave of fire hot enough to melt steel. They shot their arrows at him and missed, and Felduven circled back for another round. He continued this until the archers stopped firing, their ranks destroyed by Felduven's flames. The Arch-Rector himself was snatched up by the young red dragon and torn to shreds. Once the city had been thoroughly engulfed, most of its people slain, and its knightly army completely decimated, Felduven hovered over what he had done. For a long while, he stayed in the cold night sky, feeling the wind on his body, and the pale light of the moon on his back. He watched the fires burn through through the city until they cooled to embers. He watched for any signs of life, and killed those Snow Elves he saw moving about the wreckage of the city. Once morning came, nothing living moved in what had once been the haven of Starfall. Felduven did not return to Evenhall, for if Cirathyr lived or died did not concern him. Either way was good - if the Snow Prince was dead, so be it; if he lived, then he would experience the pain Felduven had meant to give him for his people's disobedience - the utter destruction of his people with him being powerless to stop it.
So then did Felduven leave, and it cannot be said with great certainty where he went at first. Some reports state that he traveled about Tamriel looking for any dragons to join his cause. It is possible that he assisted the dragon Grahkrindrog in a large destruction in Winterhold and the Eastermarch during the early Second Era. During that rampage, the Dragonguard slew Grahkrindrog, but there was no mention of them killing Felduven, meaning he likely got away. Local reports from the Second Era onward stated that a red dragon was seen in both High Rock and Cyrodiil. Likely, Felduven moved about Tamriel, looking for suitable lairs, other dragons, and perhaps the coward Malmulnax. His alliances with other dragons, if they ever happened, were either ended by the Dragonguard (who later became known as the Blades), or fell apart on their own accord, for the next confirmed sighting of Felduven came in 2E 308 when he began a long period of lairing in the northern badlands of Elsweyr.
Trivia[]
- Grahkrindrog is a real dragon listed in the Blades' Atlas of Dragons. Felduven assisting Grahkrindrog has no basis in historical fact and is likely the creation or fantasy of Vigilius Vinius.
- It is clear by Vinius' word choice in this chapter that he despises Malmulnax.