Hi its a rewrite of this from a while ago. Enjoy again, like last time CW for blood, violence, and death.
The valley was in chaos. No, chaos wasn’t the right word for it. Insanity was what had gripped the valley, it was what was controlling the armies. What else would drive them to act this way, to kill and maim thousands of others Ravis wondered.
There was blood everywhere, making the ground slick and causing mud puddles to form. No matter if the soldier was alive, they were coated in mud. Everyone was, there was no way to have survived the hours of fighting without getting dirty. There was no telling people apart, there was only fighting for your life, for the chance to go home.
The healers disappeared an hour after the battle started. They were placed in the back of the lines, to be protected until needed, but they didn’t even stay that long to help. It seemed that as soon as the battle got too rough, too dirty, the healers were called back to wherever they came from to wait this out. Maybe they would return to help, but Ravis didn’t think so. He didn’t have much hope.
Ravis stood near the edge of the battle, looking at the soldiers fighting around him. There were bodies around him, evidence that the last few minutes had not been easy for him. But no matter how many fell to his blade, more kept coming. For every 1 Thalmor they took down, 5 more of Tamriel’s soldiers fell. It didn’t make sense. It was well over half, nearly all of Tamriel against the Thalmor, but that didn’t matter. Every single orc, redguard, nord, imperial, breton, dunmer, argonian, even the bosmer and the khajiit, even if every single person fought against the Thalmor, they wouldn’t win. The Thalmor had sided with the Daedra.
Somehow, they managed to make a pact. At what cost, Ravis wasn’t sure, but they must’ve been pretty desperate. He wasn’t even sure which Daedra, for all he knew, it was multiple. It didn’t surprise him as much as he had hoped. Years ago, he felt the moontide shift, and he decided to cure himself. It was never good when you could feel the bond to the Daedric Prince you were bound to shift. His choice was a good one too. While he and the rest of his pack that had cured themselves stayed sane, the ones who refused to cure themselves had turned against them, joining the Thalmor against the rest of Tamriel. He never thought he would be the one to put a blade through Aela, but that was before she tried to rip his throat to shreds. She had been acting strange before then, more fidgety than usual and asking if it was necessary to fight the Thalmor, and asking why they couldn’t just surrender. That was the first clue to Ravis something was wrong, Aela didn’t back down from a fight.
Ravis shook his head, clearing his thoughts and refocusing on the battle in front of him. He didn’t need to get distracted and end up with his arm cut off. He scanned the battlefield, trying to look through the mass of bodies, searching for his commanders. After he couldn’t find them, he moves through the battle, dodging both friend and foe. He reached a more empty spot, searching for the commanders yet again. When he spotted one, he stepped forward to get to him to ask what to do, what the plan was after so many people dying. As he did, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. No, not quite a stabbing pain, but more like someone was ripping a piece of him out. He doubled over, kneeling in the mud. It took all his willpower not to puke. He wasn’t able to focus, his eyesight blurry from the pain. Everything hurt, but it wasn’t him in pain.
He snapped up, panic taking control. Oh gods. Kaidan where are you? he thought. He lost sight of Kaidan a while ago, when they split up to do more damage to the Thalmor. Once he found Kaidan again, he would never let him out of his sight. He started to slowly make his way through the crowd again, trying to power through the pain that was steadily growing worse and worse. He paused and looked around again, finally seeing Kaidan, maybe 200 feet away. Ravis made his way over as quickly as he could, coming to a halt as he watched an Elf drive a sword through his husbands chest.
He couldn’t describe the emotion he felt at that moment. It was just pure agony. He took off running towards him, not paying any attention to the Elf standing near him except to hit him in the head with his sword.
Ravis slid in the dirt, the tears already streaming down his face. “Oh Gods, Kai…” Ravis said, cupping Kaidans face in his hands.
Kaidan looked up and smiled weakly. “Hey there love. I knew you would find me. Before…”
Ravis started to shake his head, the tears coming faster. “No, don’t talk like that. You’ll be okay. There has to be a spell or something that can help you.” But as soon as he said that, he knew it was a lie. A sword had gone through Kaidans chest. No spell, no potion, no prayer, nothing could heal that.
Kaidan started to cough, blood spattering Ravis’s face. “Love, you know the truth. No spell nor potion can save me. Those swor-” cough “had poison on them. On most of the swords. That’s why the healers pulled back, they were useless.”
Ravis was sobbing. “No! No, you’ll be okay. There has to be some way, some cure to save you.”
“Ravis,” Kaidan said, his voice getting quieter and quieter, almost covered by the sound of battle around them. “Don’t cry for me. I don’t want my last memory of you sobbing over my dying body.”
“Don’t talk like that! Don’t accept it so easily! You’ll be okay! I promise I-I’ll make sure you’re okay!” Ravis sobbed.
“Please don’t cry… I told you, all those years ago, I would be your sword and shield, till the end of my days, across the world. Here we are. You’re still here, still alive.” cough “I did my duty.” He lifted his hand and brought it to Ravis’s face, wiping a tear away. “All I ask for you my love, is to finish this. Do not let my death, and thousands of others deaths, be in vain. I” the coughing grew louder, and more rough, as blood started to drip out his mouth “will see you again in the afterlife, surrounded by lilies and snapdragons. I Love You, My Roaring Dragon.” Kaidan closed his eyes, let out one last breath, and let his hand fall to the mud.
Ravis kneeled there in the mud, watching the color fade from his husbands skin. All that love, that joy.. that hope, all of it that Kaidan had.. gone. He had never quite understood what it was like to lose someone, and at that moment, he wished no one would ever go through it again. It was if a part of him was gone, a part of him he needed to live, to survive. Ravis felt hollow. Empty. He had nothing left. It was as if he had been thrown back into that damned Thalmor cell, with his branding fresh on his back, feeling the worse he had in his whole life. Abandoned. Alone. But this time, no one was going to find him, no one was going to save him this time from being alone. Kaidan was gone, and he wasn’t ever coming back.
His guide, his light. His love. Gone, with the single thrust of a sword.
Ravis let go of Kaidan’s hand, it already going cold. He pushed himself up, out of the mud. He refused to fall to the Thalmor like that, to be sitting there to be taken without a fight. He was to honor Kaidan’s wish, no matter what it cost.
He walked away from his husband, leaving him in the mud, surrounded by bodies. Ravis swore to himself that when this was all over, he would personally take Kaidan’s body home, to make sure he was buried among the tree’s of the Rift.
Ravis could feel a sort of calm spread throughout his body, relaxing his taunt muscles. Something in his body knew where to go, guiding him to an unknown location. It guided him through the battlefield unscathed. It was as if he was invisible, a ghost drifting across the field. Part of him panicked, feeling as he lost control of his actions. He couldn’t fight against what his body was doing, couldn’t resist as he continued to walk up a hill. He couldn’t even control his breathing.
The more he walked, the less he remembered. He couldn’t remember why he was sad, where he was, who he was. It all seemed to fade away… like.. he couldn’t remember. All he could remember was a face, with red eyes and a tattoo, but it blurred. He couldn’t keep his attention on it, and watched as it faded away from his mind. He became nothing, no name, no thoughts. An empty shell.
That empty shell made it up the hill, watching what was left of the battle. The Thalmor, whatever that was, was obviously winning, their Daedra obliterating the rest of the fighters. This is all pointless the shell thought. There is no reason to keep this going. This isn’t fun to watch.
If anyone had paid attention to the lone figure on the hill, they would’ve seen the shadow of a dragon slowly rise from behind them, engulfing the figure. The dragon let out a shattering roar. In the moments after, there was silence. There were no screams of mercy, of anger, of sadness. There was no noise at all, for everyone had vanished. The valley was empty, save for puddles of mud, and a patch of snapdragons and lilies.
When Ravis opened his eyes, he saw red and orange leaves above, swaying in the wind. He sat up, and looked around. It was similar to the forests around his house, but yet, not. It seemed more ethereal, more mystical. He stood up, walking towards a clearing in the trees, a clearing full of wildflowers. There was another figure in that clearing, one with messy long black hair. They turned around at the sound of Ravis’s footsteps.
Ravis stopped, memories hitting him as soon as he saw the figures face. “Kaidan?”
The only response he got was a bone breaking hug. “Oh Ravis,” Kaidan sobbed, “I thought I would never see you again. I- I’ve been waiting so long for you.”
“I didn’t think it was that long…”
“To you maybe. But to me, it was eternity. But, you’re here now. And I am never letting you out of my sight.” Kaidan let Ravis go, and reached out to hold his hand. “Now, lets go home, my dragon.”
“But what about Tamriel? We need to-”
“We don’t need to do anything. There is nothing for us to do. The Gods took care of them. Don’t you see what this means? We can live in peace now! We don’t have to save the world anymore! We’re Free.”
Ravis shook his head. He held up his hand, using his nail to trace where the tattoo should be. “No Kaidan, I can’t do that. My destiny is to save Tamriel, and it is far from saved. I would feel guilty if I abandoned them.”
Something passed over Kaidans face. “Why won’t you listen to me? I said, Your Job Is Done. Why do you care about that world? It was never nice to you. It scarred you, beat you, it killed your friends, your family. It killed your sibling in front of you! It gave you no mercy, why do you still care?”
Ravis froze. He never told Kaidan what happened with his siblings. In fact, he told him he was an only child, that his parents didn’t want any more. “How do you know that.” He asked.
“How. Do. You. Know. About. My. Siblings.”
“You-You told me. During the-”
“I never told you. I told you I was an only child. You shouldn’t know about them. Unless,” Ravis tilted his head, “You aren’t Kaidan.”
Kaidan, or whatever it was, dropped Ravis’s hand like it burned him. “Be that way.” it snarled. “Go back to your world, the one that spits at you and throws you up. I try to save you, and you say no. You won’t get a second chance.” The figure turned around and started to walk away.
“Wait! Where’s Kaidan? Is he here!” The figure didn’t stop walking. “Come back here! Tell me where he is!” There was no answer, only something hitting Ravis in the back of his head.
The first thing Ravis noticed is that he was wet. And smelled of dirt. He could hear footsteps around him, and soft whispers. He cracked open his eyes, squinting from the light. He tried to sit up, which got the attention of whoever was around him. He waved them away, looking for Kaidan.
He didn’t expect to turn to his side and see his sword, in a pile of snapdragons and lilies.
