⟨ Juno's POV ⟩

Far into the distance, I could hear the crackling and thunderous roars of the Dragon and occasional bright flashes of orange-red which I assumed to be its breath of flames.

Vulthuryol's attack on me earlier had caused considerable damage to my exoskeleton and was still healing the cracks slowly. I was a bit nervous because of that one attack and worried for Jun's safety since they've been fighting for a few minutes already.

I had trust in Jun though, so I needed to put those useless thoughts and worries away.

『Jun, hold on a little longer! I'll be there soon! Please just wait a little bit!』 (Juno)

Small creatures that stood in my way like Chaurus and Frostbite Spiders were ripped apart ruthlessly, decapitated by either my claws, tail, or the tendrils waving around on my back.

The corpses left behind were then half-devoured and had Phyllamorph larvae growing inside. The hundreds to thousands of them followed behind Juno like a green-blue swarm, all heading in the same direction.

Splash

Leaping off from the edge of a rocky mound, I fell into the cold flowing river just below. Aetherium ore and mushrooms growing to the sides and even a Falmer hut were stationed on the river's side. They shouted and readied their bows at me but before I could do anything the Phyllamorphs would surround them like piranhas.

Boom

The sound of explosions and crumbling debris was near to me, just a little further ahead. After passing under a stone arc, I came to the view of a large lake just up ahead, and on the sides of the river I was swimming in was an uprooted giant glowing mushroom, half-submerged and being dragged along the flow of the river with me.

The mushroom was the least of my concerns though and I brought my attention back to the underground lake which was now being frozen over.

Flying high in the skies was Vulthuryol, the cause of it freezing as seen by the pillar of frost supporting from its maw.

Hisss

A low growl crawled its way up my throat and slipped through my clenched teeth as I dug my claws into the soft squishy cap beneath me, waiting for a chance to strike.

The Phyllamorphs having recurved a new command from me immediately went into action as they swarmed Vulthuryol, attacking him all over his body and distracting him.

Roooaar

The only effect they had however was annoying him like flies constantly buzzing in your face and won't go away.

And like any sane person, Vulthuryol let out a breath of flames that burned them to a crisp. But to both of our astonishment, some of the Phyllamorphs erupted in an explosion. Vulthuryol escaped the explosion by using the shockwave to glide backward, however, this lead to an opportunity for me as it was now in a close enough distance to jump onto it.

Leaving a shadowy blur behind, my figure latched onto the end of its tail all the while Phyllamorphs constantly attacked it and helped to hide the fact that I was slowly crawling my way along its back. Upon reaching the base of its tail, another explosion erupted to our left, almost sending me flying off its back if it wasn't for my claws that dug into the flesh of the Phyllamorphs attached to it.

When I pulled myself back into its back, I noticed the many blue Phyllamorphs around, most of which were flying from the distant ceiling above. Eva notified me that they were a variant of the normal Phyllamorphs, a more magically charged type and after observing them briefly I found out they were the cause of the explosions. It seemed that the dense magic inside then mixed with their blood, and with the sudden rise in temperature, resulting in an explosive chemical reaction. Maybe it was a magical reaction? I don't know enough about either to confirm which is true.

Pillars of fire and ice lit up the dim cavern along with intermittent, thunderous roars. He went on to circle the lake a few times burning hundreds of Phyllamorphs every time it opened its mouth before proceeding to take off into the distance along with me who was rapidly approaching its head, just reaching the base of its neck. Following behind us like a trail of smoke, metaphorically and literally, were a cloud of green and blue Phyllamorphs.

After what seemed like hours, we flew over old crumbling dwemer buildings that traced along the bank of the largest river in Blackreach. Vulthuryol then swiftly changed its direction to the river below, diving into the waters temporarily escaping the Phyllamorphs who followed. They could also swim, but were very slow as they're designed for camouflage and flight.

With less of a distraction from the annoying insects, Vulthuryol started to tumble roll aggressively in the water as he dove deeper and deeper.

When Vulthuryol finally slowed to a stop, the many Phyllamorphs that stuck to him were shredded to pieces and slowly sinking in the water. There was just one more creature stuck to its back; me.

He turned his neck to face me with the side of his head but doing so lead to a claw to the face, scratching his pupils and drawing blood from the wound.

His head snapped back to the front and he flapped his wings furiously, ascending rapidly. But instead of bursting from the surface, we came out from the sides of a waterfall, a Dwemer tower built on the cliffs to the side, and many glowing mushrooms growing further down in a much larger underground lake, stretching far into the distance.

The Phyllamorphs nearby were alerted by our reappearance and swarmed towards us just barely dragging along Vulthuryols tail.

Most, if not, all of my attacks were useless and had no effect on the dragon's scales. Luckily, I did manage to cause some damage. The scales that had regrown from Jun's earlier attack were much weaker in comparison to the others and were now the target of my attacks. However, before I could deal any more damage to him, his head whipped around and his wide gaping maw filled my view.

I was far too slow to avoid such an abrupt and quick attack leading to my neck being crushed by its crooked razor-sharp teeth and ripped off from his neck, falling into the vast underground lake below.

I could hear the frequent roars above, muffled by the distortion the water had caused. My consciousness was blurring, and I could feel myself slowly falling into a deep sleep. How long I would be hibernating was unknown, but I could only hope it wasn't too long...

『Jun...』

With half my neck missing and barely surviving, I finally fell into a deep sleep amidst the loud explosions, most of which were from the magically charged Phyllamorphs.

What was going on without my awareness was the ongoing fight with Vulthuryol and the Phyllamorphs. But their ongoing battle caused the terrain to drastically change. Lakes were overturned, cliffs fell apart, Dwemer buildings crumbled away, and half of Blackreach collapsed on itself, burying the once ancient and thriving civilization.