Metalborn in Skyrim

Storing his essence into his Voidiron metalmind, Kael phased again.

The shadows curled around him as he slipped into intangibility, his body weaving through the molten battlefield. He darted past the Avatar's swinging cleaver, this time with purpose.

Instead of passing through completely, Kael did the unthinkable.

He let his hand remain solid inside the Avatar's core.

The moment his flesh met the pulsing, chaotic mass, agony erupted through his body. It was as if his very being was shattered in an instant. His nerves ignited in white-hot pain as the raw Daedric energy tore through his arm.

Kael screamed as his hand disintegrated, burned away to nothing the instant it touched the chaotic heart of the beast.

The Avatar reeled.

The flames across its form flickered. The molten lines running through its armor stuttered, cracks forming deeper than before. The connection to Dagon wavered.

Kael collapsed, gripping his arm where his hand had once been. Sweat and blood mixed with ash as he gasped for breath. The pain was unbearable, his body screaming at him to stop.

But he had no choice.

Teeth gritted, he burned the gold metalmind.

The wound began knitting itself together, flesh reforming in rapid succession as he forced himself back to his feet. His vision swam, but he could still see it—the Avatar, still faltering, still weakened.

He had to do it again.

Kael lunged forward. Again, he phased. Again, he left his hand solid.

Again, his flesh was annihilated.

He staggered back, a guttural scream ripping from his throat. Gold. Burn gold. Heal. His arm reformed once more, and before he could even breathe, he charged again.

The third time, the Avatar let out a pained, monstrous roar.

The fourth time, its Daedric flames flickered violently.

Before Kael could strike the final blow, a chilling voice echoed through the battlefield.

"Enough."

A sudden gust of unnatural wind swept through the battlefield, carrying with it the acrid scent of decay and corruption. The High Hagraven stood at the edge of the battlefield, her gnarled hands raised as she uttered dark incantations. The air around her shimmered with dark energy, and the very ground beneath her twisted and cracked.

The High Hagraven cackled, her voice grating and hollow. "You dare defy the will of Mehrunes Dagon? Foolish mortal, you cannot sever what is eternal."

With a flick of her wrist, an invisible force slammed into Kael, sending him hurtling backward. He crashed against a pile of smoldering debris, pain lancing through his body. The momentary lapse in focus caused his connection to Voidiron to waver, his form flickering between solid and intangible.

The Avatar of Mehrunes Dagon, seemed to slowly heal as the Hagraven casted a spell on it, the flames of its dying form reigniting with renewed fury.

Kael groaned, forcing himself to stand as the High Hagraven began chanting again, her words twisting the air with unnatural resonance. Shadows coalesced around the Avatar, tendrils of Daedric energy reaching out to stabilize its failing form.

"No," Kael growled. He couldn't let her heal it more.

He shoved aside the pain, burning gold once more to restore the damage done to his body. Summoning every ounce of strength left in him, he ran.

Kael's breath came hard and fast as he sprinted, while burning a steel-metalmind, through the battlefield, weaving between the soldiers. The Hagraven's eyes snapped toward him, her twisted mouth curling into a snarl as she realized his intent.

She screeched, raising her clawed hands, and hurled a spell toward him. A bolt of violet energy streaked through the air. Kael flared steel, pushing off a discarded war axe, sending himself into a rapid spin that barely avoided the incoming magic. The ground where he had stood erupted, charred and cracked as the spell left a smoking crater.

She hissed in frustration, chanting faster, her hands moving in intricate patterns as another wave of energy crackled around her. She was reinforcing the Avatar's core, sealing the cracks, holding it together long enough for it to finish its rampage.

Kael gritted his teeth. Not if I stop her first.

Burning pewter and steel, he shot toward her at terrifying speed, Voidiron shadows still clinging to his form. The Hagraven hurled another blast of energy, but Kael flared tin, his senses sharpening just enough to anticipate her attack. He twisted midair, narrowly dodging the strike, distinguishing all metals, he then burned duralumin with steel.

He became a living projectile.

Kael slammed into her, his full weight enhanced by iron and pewter, sending them both crashing across the battlefield. The Hagraven screeched in pain, her frail body no match for the force of the impact. Before she could recover, Kael drove his sword straight through her chest.

Her screams turned into an unholy shriek of agony as the magic sustaining the Avatar fractured. The flames along its body wavered, its molten cracks pulsing erratically as the stability she had provided began to unravel.

Kael wrenched his blade free, the Hagraven's body slumping lifelessly to the ground. The battlefield stilled for a moment as the Forsworn recoiled in shock—their leader, their greatest witch, was dead.

Kael exhaled sharply, wiping the blood and grime from his brow as he turned to face the Avatar of Mehrunes Dagon once more. The battlefield was a smoldering ruin, littered with the bodies of Forsworn and soldiers alike. The High Hagraven lay dead at his feet, her twisted form nothing more than a husk drained of life. But the fight was far from over.

The Avatar stood motionless for a brief moment, its molten eyes locked onto Kael. Without the High Hagraven's magic to stabilize its form, cracks had begun to spread across its obsidian armor, its fiery glow dimming slightly. Yet, it remained a towering force of destruction, still radiating the raw power of the Daedric Prince.

Kael tightened his grip on his sword. The Avatar had learned. It had seen his phasing ability, had felt the effects of his attacks, and now it was wary. Its attacks would be more calculated, its defenses raised. Kael would need to be smarter, faster, and more ruthless than before.

The Avatar raised its massive, jagged cleaver and let out a guttural, earth-shaking roar. The ground trembled beneath its power as it charged forward, swinging the colossal blade in a downward arc meant to cleave Kael in half.

Kael steel-pushed off a fallen sword, launching himself sideways at unnatural speed. The blade slammed into the ground where he had stood, sending a shockwave of molten rock and shattered stone in all directions. He burned pewter, feeling his muscles surge with strength, and rolled to his feet, immediately closing the distance between them.

The Avatar anticipated his movement, twisting its massive body with surprising speed. A molten fist, wreathed in Daedric fire, came hurtling toward him. Kael barely had time to react before it connected with his side, sending him flying across the battlefield.

Pain flared through his ribs as he crashed into the wreckage of a fallen watchtower. He coughed, tasting blood, but forced himself up. He had no time to be weak.

Burning steel, Kael launched himself back into the fray, using the scattered remains of weapons as launching points to propel himself forward. He flared his tin, enhancing his senses, catching the subtle shifts in the Avatar's stance. It was no mindless beast—it was adapting to him.

The Avatar's cleaver pulsed with dark energy, a deep red glow now coating its edge. Kael's eyes narrowed. Dagon's power was reinforcing the weapon. Even if he phased, it could still connect.

The Avatar swung. Kael tried to phase through the attack, but the blade clipped his shoulder, sending him careening back. He hit the ground hard, gasping as pain seared through his body. His usual trick wouldn't work anymore.

Gritting his teeth, Kael reached into his pouch and retrieved two Voidiron beads. He swallowed them and flared the metal.

The battlefield went black.

Shadows surged forth, swallowing the battlefield in an abyssal void. The moon disappeared, the fires flickered and died, leaving only impenetrable darkness. The Avatar seemed momentarily disoriented.

Kael burned tin, his senses sharpening beyond normal limits. He could see through the darkness. The glow of the Avatar's molten core pulsed like a beacon in the void.

He moved.

Steel-pushing off a discarded helmet, he rocketed forward, dodging blind attacks as the Avatar swung wildly in the dark. It couldn't see him.

Kael dodged a stray swing, then darted low, slicing deep into one of the Avatar's weakened joints. The beast roared in frustration, slamming its fist into the ground to try and locate him.

He didn't let up. He moved like a phantom in the dark, striking at exposed cracks in the Avatar's form. Each blow chipped away at the Daedric energy binding it together. Its core was failing.

The Avatar let out a desperate roar, its body fracturing, the molten veins along its form dim.

Kael seized the opportunity. He steel-pushed himself forward with all his strength and plunged his sword straight into the core.

The Avatar convulsed violently, its form shuddering as the core within it imploded.

Kael was hurled backward by the backlash, rolling across the battlefield. The Avatar's molten body cracked, the once-unstoppable force splintering apart.

The battlefield fell into silence.

The Avatar collapsed to its knees, its towering form struggling to remain intact. Its molten core collapsed inward, its Daedric fire snuffing out.

Then, with one final, deafening roar, the Avatar of Mehrunes Dagon crumbled, its once-mighty form turning to lifeless stone.

Kael lay on the ground, body shaking, his arm slowly reforming once more. The pain was unbearable, but he had won.

The battle had turned.

Mehrunes Dagon had just lost his greatest weapon and army.