A.N. It's been a long time and the update is a way overdue. But I'm here with a new chapter. XD

Sark: Not sure whether you are still around, but thank you so much for the lovely review! You always make me smile and the image of Alduin in frilly costumes was deliciously funny. Alduin probably would disagree, though. XD I'm so glad that you enjoyed the last chapter.

Cloud of Thought: Hey, you! I missed hearing from you and hope you are still around. Sorry for the lack of smut scene in this chapter. But ah wow, you have a wicked imagination. Alduin and Molag Bal together?

Neleothesze: Good point. lol Thanks for taking your time to let me know your thoughts. :)

AMorbidOne: Thank you! Alduin is my favorite character in the game too and that means he is destined to be a gay in my story. XD

Guest: Thank you for the delightful review. You made my day too and I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing.

A large tent stood on the rocky ground, next to the statue of Talos. It was as spacious as a two storey house, a ridiculously spacious tent by a human standard. Still, Alduin wasn't impressed. The flap was open but not big enough to accommodate his dragon form. He contemplated blowing the tent off, but thought better of it. Antagonizing his potential ally probably wasn't a wise move. With a menacing glare, Alduin transformed himself into the shape of a Nord.

What was Talos thinking of? A handshake? He better not ask of him more than he was willing to give, admittedly very little. He wasn't in a good mood.

Alduin schooled his expression into that of impassiveness as he approached the tall figure in the middle of the tent, in front of a large desk, over which a map of Nirn was spread out. Talos was dressed in steel, armor, helmet and sword alike, his countenance solemn without warmth or humor. For a Divine of human origin, he looked pretty ominous. Alduin could almost smell a war in the air, a war that probably had nothing to do with his design. He hoped this war, whatever its intentions were, would not take up too much of his time so that he could get on with the one that would serve him.

"We finally meet, Alduin," Talos greeted with a curt nod.

"What do you want?" Alduin asked in a clipped tone, not even bothering to acknowledge the small nod the other God gave him. He wasn't in a sociable mood. In any case, he never had to learn diplomatic finesse and he certainly wasn't going to try to appease a God who needed a favor from him.

"Straight to the point, I see." Talos replied, looking faintly amused. "A sign of single mindedness. I understand that. We share the same blood."

Alduin narrowed his eyes. Judging from the fact that Talos was emphasizing their blood connection, he was trying to appeal to his sense of justice as well as his self-interest. Obviously, any wrong doings done to dragons need to be avenged and the usurper standing in front of him had a case to be heard. Talos nearly conquered every land of Nirn while he was still a man, and it must have been a bitter blow to be denied his Divinity by the Empire he built almost single-handedly. But he wasn't naïve enough to believe that Talos merely wanted the Empire to be driven out of Skyrim. He probably wanted to reward those who stood by him and fought for their right to worship him, even though he had no right to interfere with the business of the mortals. That right exclusively belonged to Alduin.

"You want Skyrim for the Stormcloaks." Alduin voiced his suspicion, not liking the implication. Skyrim itself wasn't exactly a land of promise. Apart from its silver mines, it held very little appeal. But it was where the rebellion against the dragons had started and where the humans, the underhanded bastards with no sense of honor, turned the tide of the war. He wanted to make an example of Skyrim and it was likely that Talos had a very different idea over the land of insolent humans. "You seriously expect me to play a savior to the descendants of my arch enemies?"

"Your enemies have already paid the price of rebellion against you, if Shor's outrage is anything to go by. You annihilated their souls." Talos pointed out with a matter-of-fact tone. "Your Dragonborn is as much of a Nord as a dragon and he is now your slave. A very willing one for that matter. Surely, you can forgive the Nords when all they want is to worship a dragon freely without being forced to do so?"

Well, put it that way, throwing the Empire out from Skyrim and then leaving the Nords to their own devices didn't seem such a bad idea. The dragons would buy the angle of avenging a wronged dragon. He didn't need to lose a face with his kind, if he pushed that kind of reasoning. And he needed Talos on his side. There was no way he would apologize to Shor. He couldn't possibly allow the Divines to have a laugh at his expense. What was Skyrim compared with his pride? Not important enough.

"Fine," Alduin conceded. "But the rest of the Nirn is mine to take."

"Except Hammerfell."

"I've already agreed to doing you a favor," Alduin growled. Not that he was seriously interested in Hammerfell, which consisted mostly of desert, about as appetizing as Morrowind.

"That was merely your duty as an overlord of dragons," Talos countered smoothly. "Hammerfell is the favor."

"Why Hammerfell?"

"They have guts."

Alduin had to laugh at that. It seemed that Talos had his grievances against the Aldmeri Dominions just as much as against the Empire. Alduin couldn't blame him seeing that depriving him of his Divinity was one of the demands the Dominion made for the price of peace. Since the Redguards fought the high elves alone and somehow stood their ground, Talos wanted them to be rewarded as well. He supposed he could live with that.

"Skyrim and Hammerfell. That is final." Alduin declared and turned to leave. He had a world to bring back to the right order and a slave to play with.

"I suggest that you attack Aldmeri Dominions first once Skyrim is free from the traitors."

Alduin glanced backwards without turning to face Talos. "Why is that?"

"The Empire is ruled by cowards and those who are weary of wars. Once they witness the fall of the mighty high elves, they will surrender without much resistance. You will keep their administration system more or less intact. Easier to rule that way."

Alduin gave a curt nod. It made a strategic sense and he could do without the trouble of having to appoint dragon priests, who always turned out loving their power a little too much and proved unpopular with the men and mer slaves under their care. He was beginning to like the God he had been reluctant to meet.

Aardoin had never seen so many dragons in one place. Not that he was gawking at the assembly, since he was kneeling at the feet of his Master and his eyes were firmly fixed on the ground. But the sun was high in the sky and he could make out the shadows approaching them from all sides and settling around them. The sounds of the wings beating in the air were deafening. How many of them were here? Surely, more than hundreds. The snow on the ground was melting under his knees, making him feel wet and cold. He could hardly feel that discomfort, though. He felt like he was witnessing a moment of some magnitude, fear and excitement raging a battle inside his heart. He only hoped the end of the world wasn't too near just yet; he wished to live and serve his Master a while longer.

Alduin was addressing the dragons one by one, calling out their names in turn and sometimes saying a brief phrase or two in their tongue. It seemed to go one forever, but then Alduin somehow finished acknowledging the presence of each and every dragon and began to deliver a long speech. Aardoin could make little sense of what was said. His vocabulary in the dragon tongue was frustratingly limited, most of them being the words used in the few shouts he managed to learn. The only words he could make out were dragons, Dragonborn, Talos, fury, Skyrim, Nirn and then kill, Imperials, Solitude towards the end of the speech.

Did Alduin just order his dragons to attack the Imperial headquarter in Solitude? He mused, as the dragons flew away one by one. Did his Master want the Empire out of Skyrim? Why? What did this mean in the overall scheme of things? He was so lost in his thoughts that he let out a gasp of surprise when Alduin's fingers, fingers and not claws, brushed his shoulder. His Master had assumed his human form; the dragons must have all left the vicinity.

"Are you cold?"

Was that a note of concern? He stole a quick glance towards Alduin to find that he had not been imagining things. It was oddly comforting to see the look of apprehension in those intense crimson eyes, eyes that are so beautiful and terrifying at once, even though he prided himself in his ability to endure discomfort and pain for his Master. A small smile formed at the corner of his lips, warm, content.

"I didn't notice it, Master."

"You are shivering, zaam." Alduin sounded amused now. "Still, you look happy enough otherwise. Follow me inside."

It felt good to be inside the Hag's End. The place felt like a home, warm, comfortable and no longer empty. It was a place where he served and waited for the return of his Master. He had been happy here because Alduin made him belong for the first time in his life. And despite his apprehension that the world might not last much longer, his cock began to harden in anticipation. By the time they reached the living room, it was no longer possible to hide his arousal behind a silk robe.

"Bend over the table. Naked." Alduin ordered, picking up a bottle of alto wine at the end of the long table and neatly uncorking it with a jagged knife nearby.

Aardoin disrobed himself, flushing a little and willing his hands steady, and placed the garment over a chair near the fireplace, trying to catch the glimpse of his Master from the corner of his eyes. Alduin was now seated in the chair at the opposite end of the table, pouring the wine into a glass goblet. It seemed that the World Eater developed a taste for the finer things in the lives of the mortals. The stone floor felt cold against his bare feet as he bent over the edge of the wooden furniture and rest his forehead on the surface, hands clasped behind his neck. It wasn't exactly comfortable to take the position his Master wanted to see him in. The height of the table made it awkward; he had to spread his legs wide to get a better balance, and still, his stomach wouldn't quite touch the surface, forcing his ass sticking up in the air. Then again, perhaps that was the idea.

By now, he was used to Alduin making him wait, naked and desperate for his Master's touch. He was resigned to suffer his discomfort in silence while Alduin enjoyed his drinks and paid little to no attention to the body so shamelessly displayed for his pleasure. It therefore took him by surprise when his Master decided to indulge him with a conversation while he was trying to focus on maintaining the uncomfortable posture without fidgeting.

"How much of my speech did you understand?"

He wanted the ground beneath him to open up and swallow him. His Master once accused him of being a false dragon, pointing out that he could not speak their tongue. It wasn't his fault. Not really. No one ever taught him the language and he wouldn't have known where to start. He couldn't have possibly asked the dragons to teach him, seeing that their sole interest in him was to kill him there and then. Still, he felt ashamed of his ignorance. He turned his head to the left to make himself better heard, making the already awkward posture even more difficult to sustain.

"Not much, Master. I just thought you ordered your army to attack Solitude. Am I right in assuming that you wish to drive the Empire out of Skyrim?"

"You will have to learn our tongue. I need you to be able to communicate with your kin. Many of them do not speak the languages of the mortals," Alduin observed, lifting the goblet to his lips with a lazy smile. "But you have understood the essential part, probably out of a sheer luck. Or perhaps, the warrior is in your soul, just as it should be."

It sounded like Alduin had a plan for him, aside from using his body for satisfying his carnal lust. Even though he had no complaint about the idea of being thus used as often as his Master's whim would allow, a plan surely meant a long-term future, especially if it involved learning a new language. It meant he would be allowed to serve his lord at least for months to come, maybe even years if he were lucky.

"I would love to learn."

"You will," Alduin promised. "Skyrim and Hammerfell, that's what cost me to keep you as my slave. So, you better make it worth my while."

Aardoin wasn't quite sure what his Master exactly meant by that, but he had a feeling that Alduin liked having him around, a lot. Besides, he wouldn't be able to make up for a loss of such magnitude without being allowed to provide his Master with gratifying services, plenty of them and for a long time to come. He grinned at the happy thought, physical discomfort entirely forgotten.

"Do you believe it a fair trade, Master?"

Alduin rose from his chair, draining his glass and setting it on the table. "I intend to find out whether a slave improves with age just like wine."

As Alduin stood behind him, rough hands closing around his hips and hard erection purposefully pressing against his opening, Aardoin decided that he wouldn't mind his Master taking his sweet time to find out the answer.

After all, he was the last Dragonborn, the closest match to the World Eater.