The masked man stepped forward into Ragnvald
"Mernar, nii los tiid." he said, with a deep commanding voice, Mernar looked down, as if in fear of him. A ruler scared of a visitor in his own home? Bjorn's expression hardened as he watched, the masked man walked further in, his staff thumping against the ground, he was speaking to Mernar, still in a commanding tone
"Alduin lost uth nii, til los nid qahnaar un drog.", Mernar nodded in agreement
"Galik, Galik" he said, nervously. Bjorn stood, his head not hurting as much as before and followed the two as they disappeared into the throne room. He waited at the door and saw Otar sit down in his throne, his back straight and his eyes closed. The masked man stood before him and muttered a word and vanished, as he did so time seemed to slow down, the air became freezing for a split second before he appeared again, something in his hands.Â
The masked man raised the thing above his head, allowing Bjorn to see that it was a mask, then the masked one cried out
"Naal Kyne, naal Shor, naal Orkey, naal Stuhn, naal Tsun, naal Jhunal, naal Mara, naal Dibella ahrk nal Drog Alduin, Zu'u ofan wah hi, Otar!" the room shook and he brought down the mask onto his face. Mernar cried out, in pain or in pleasure Bjorn didn't know, but something now felt wrong, that wasn't Mernar in the mask... No, no this was something else. He whispered to himself
"Laas yah nir..." a red aura appeared around the pair, but within Mernar, or whatever it was in the mask now, he could see rip, a black rip that pulsed strangely, he closed his eyes, deactivating the shout. Mernar, nay, Otar, stood silently and reached to the side of his throne, where his staff leaned against the wall, as he did the masked man vanished with a glow of light. Picking it up he walked towards the entrance, Bjorn suppressed a gasp and quietly ran back to his seat, pouring himself some water as he sat down, he drank it as Otar entered the room to cover up the sound of his panting. Otar stood at the entrance and watched as the Tongues milled about the hall, then he spoke in a slightly muffled, but no less commanding voice
"What are you doing in my city?" he didn't shout, but the words rang throughout the room and into the minds of all that heard them. Bjorn spoke
"Lord Mernar, you allowed us to stay as long as we wished" Otar banged his staff upon the floor and turned to look at Bjorn
"I did nothing of the sort!" he shouted "I want you out of my city before the sun sets!" he continued, Bjorn was speechless, this was definitely not Mernar... This was Otar... Saerek and Torsten walked forward, Torsten said
"Thuri, you did indeed say that the outsiders could stay" Otar looked upon them, clearly in anger, although his face was concealed
"You dare challenge my authority, Torsten?" he said softly, his voice full of malice, Torsten looked taken aback. Saerek said
"Drog Mernar, what has become of you?"
Otar paused for a moment, not answering. He then he threw back his head and let out a maniacal, demonic laugh that echoed through the halls of Ragnvald.
"He's gone insane..." muttered Bjorn, his eyes widened with the horror of what Mernar had become. Otar caught his breath and then spoke again
"If you will not leave, then you shall die." he said maliciously, raising his hand and letting out a blast of lightning from his hand, it struck one of the Tongues and sent them flying backwards onto the wall, with a brief pause they fell to the floor, dead.
Bjorn stood then and cried
"Everyone, to arms!" he dashed towards his chambers, he needed his armor. As he ran, he saw Saerek and Torsten run for the door and leave the city, the cowards... As he entered his chamber, he went to the cupboard and removed his armor, throwing it on as quickly as possible, then reaching for his sword he ran back out to where Otar stood, laughing as he attacked his citizens with his magical blasts of lightning. Bjorn charged forth, his sword held high as he yelled, Otar blocked with his staff and pushed the Nord back, before sending a surge of lightning from his palm towards Bjorn, as the energy made contact with his armor he struggled to say
"Qo lah spaan!" the lightning ceased, but left a tingling sensation on his skin as he brought his sword around towards Otar, who blocked it with his staff again and kicked him back with incredible force. He then sent another blast of lightning towards Bjorn as he was recovering, a fellow tongue that Bjorn knew as Thallnar, threw himself at Bjorn, knocking him to the side, he then screamed as the lightning made contact with his skin and he was fried by the magic, he hit the floor, dead.Â
"He's too strong...." Bjorn muttered, he turned and yelled "Retreat!!", he began to run, watching as the fellow Nords followed him to the already open doors, another of the Tongues fell dead as they ran, then another, and another "We're dropping like flies..." Bjorn said, torn apart to see his brethren fall like milk drinkers. They reached the doors of Ragnvald and escaped Otar's clutches, as they left the doors slammed shut, likely by Otar's will, the company of Tongues ran into the woods.
After several minutes of fleeing, the six remaining Nords stopped, breathless, they dropped to the ground, panting.
"What... happened?" said one of the Tongues, who was named Luntur. Bjorn set his teeth and then spoke
"Rok los aan Sonaak nu, fin suleyk lost wahl rok vorohah..." he said, solemnly, mourning the deaths of the other four Tongues and the several citizens that had died in the crossfire. The other Tongues frowned
"What of Alalf?" asked a blonde haired and blue eyed Nord named Marrn, Bjorn caught his breath as he realized he hadn't told them
"Venstrunriik..." he mumbled, before continuing, louder "He died honorably, Venstrunriik was too strong... I finished it for him..." then another thing came to Bjorn "I also learned a new shout, it is... unique... It made Venstrunriik land and he seemed to be in pain" Luntur's eyes widenedÂ
"You mean... A thu'um that can tear dragons from the sky?!" He cried, in disbelief, as the other five mourned Alalf's passing to Shor's Hall. Bjorn nodded
"We might be able to use it to kill Alduin, but I'll give it to Hakon if and when we see him again... He can use his voice better than any of us" the other Tongues nodded in agreement, Bjorn then said "Where do we go now...?" then a Tongue who had been quiet so far stood up, his name was Galtrand, he said
"We should go to Kvenel".
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