//------------------------------// // Thu'um of Dragons // Story: Elder Scrolls V 1/2 : Equestria // by Swordoath //------------------------------// "So this 'Cadence' is the most powerful, and that is why she's your leader?" The Dragonborn asked his temporary companion. They were walking down a valley on their way to a place called Canterlot. The towering walls of ice on either side cooled the valley drastically, sending chills down Dorian's spine. This was as cold as the northern wastes, during the winter. In the water. "It's more because she cares for us more than Sombra did, and she overpowered him with the help of a Dragon, with the Crystal Heart." It must be like Azura's Star, holding energy in it's own realm, thought the Imperial. Then, he caught onto the other part of what she'd said. "A dragon helped to vanquish him?" "Yeah. I think his name was-" Ice strider paled. A resonating roar echoed across the valley sending small snowfalls down the sides. "W-what was that?" "Dragon," Dorian said, eyes narrowing in on the enemy soaring across the sky nearby. "Looks like a Blood Dragon, but it's hard to tell from here." "A B-Blood D-Dragon?" She stammered, backing against one of the valley walls. "Oh, dear Celestia-" "Shh," Dorian hushed her. No, it was definitely just a normal Dragon. If dragons could ever be considered normal. He charged up both hands with a single firebolt, and sent it soaring through the sky at his target. Narrowly, he missed, the ball of flames flying just in front of the dragon's head. The dragon turned to look for the source of the attempted sneak attack, and began to home in on their position. "Damn," he swore, panicking slightly as he summoned his Flame Atronarch and charged another firebolt. This one hit target, searing it's scales on the underbelly of the reptilian monstrosity.. The Dragon flew overhead and shouted a raw northern wind of frost at him. The icy hurricane bit into his exposed skin like thousands of daggers. He raised his arm up in a futile attempt to block out the frozen gale. Lowering his arm, Dorian took a deep breath, and shouted loud as he could "Joor Zah Frul! The Dragon was enveloped in a blue light, and was forcefully dragged down to the ground. "Dovahkiin?" It growled. "You guessed it," Dorian said. With that, he summoned a bound battleaxe. He swung it up over his head in a deadly ark, where his atronarch lit it ablaze. He swung it around, and slashed across the dragon's jaw as it shouted a frostbitten wind at him one last time. Dorian collapsed to one knee as the dragon's skin flaked away as ash, his battle ax vanishing as easily as it had appeared. He reached into his pack and drank a healing potion, cringing at the taste. "Ug," he grunted as he rose again. "Tastes disgusting, but does the job." "Y-you... You just-" Ice Strider began. "Killed it." Dorian finished. As he spoke, the soul of the dragon was being absorbed by him, the knowledge flowing into his mind. It took much of his concentration, hence his short response. "What was that thing you said, the thing that made them it fall down?" Ice-Strider gushed. "I mean, you just knocked it out of the sky and cut it's mouth open like an orange! And that fiery thing, what's that? And where did those weapons come from? Why is the dragon turning to a skeleton?" "What I just did was use a Thu'um, a Shout. That particular one was called Dragon Rend." Dorian began answering, watching as the last few flakes of scale turned to dust. "Forces the concept of mortality into it's mind. The 'feiry thing' is a Flame Atronarch. I summoned it and the weapons from one of the many planes of Oblivion. As for why the Dragon is rotting... I've just finished absorbing it's soul." "Y-you took it's soul?" "Don't worry. Only works with Dragons, not people- eh, ponies. It's because I'm DragonBorn." "'DragonBorn?'" Ice Strider echoed uncomprehendingly. "I see we have more to exchange, lore-wise. We should walk as we do so." Dorian said, continuing in the direction they'd been travelling, his Atronarch dissipating with the wind. Ice Strider took one last look at the completely still skeleton behind her before trotting to catch up with the taller being. "So you can make a dragon dead permanently, and use it's power as your own?" Ice Strider surmised. It had begun to snow, and although they'd almost left the ice-bound part of the north, they were still a while's off from being out of it entirely. In the distance he could see a verdant grassland, far more lush than the dried-out tundra that Whiterun consisted of. "Essentially, though I need to know the words of power before I can use them." "Could you show me another Thoom?" "Thu'um," Dorian corrected. "I suppose one wouldn't hurt." He drew a deep breath, and shouted at the sky, "Lok Vah Koor!" The clouds parted before his words, and the snow all but stopped for nearly a mile around. Ice Strider flinched as he did so, and stood slack-jawed at the feat. "You... That's... Wow." "Indeed." "Do it again, do a different one!" Ice Strider cheered, excited to see another power. "It takes much power to do so. I have to wait a while before I can use another shout. Besides," The DragonBorn chided. "It would be childish to abuse a power such as the Thu'um." "Oh," the pony said, blushing slightly. "I guess you're right. But still, that was really cool. Is there any way you could teach me?" "No, I'm afraid not. Only the Greybeards can truly teach the Way of the Voice, and it's a lifetime's training. I am uniquely gifted with the Dragon Blood that let's me use a shout without training." "Well, how did you find out you're DragonBorn?" "The Whiterun Guards and I took down a dragon at the watchtower, and the soul was absorbed by me. I found myself capable of using the word of power I'd found in Bleak Falls Barrow the day before, Fus, or Force." "That sounds... Y'know, you really are bad at making a story exciting. Even when you kill a dragon." "Excuse me?" Dorian said, raising a brow. "Nothing." Ice strider said innocently. "Right," the Imperial said slowly. "Say, we are going to need to stop for the night soon. Is there anywhere nearby we can find respite?" "I think the Emerald Fields Inn isn't too far from here," Ice Strider said, rubbing a hoof against her chin as she thought. "I've never been though. Might be pretty crummy." "I've slept in unventilated and in use mines, over-protected, steam-powered ruins, and ancient crypts filled with the undead. I'm sure it'll be fine." "You really slept in a crypt?" "Yes. By the way, make sure the dead are really dead before you sleep among them." Ice Strider giggled a bit. Surely he was joking. "But Seriously, you do not want to wake up with a Draugr's sword pointed at your neck. Not a great wake up call." Added Dorian. Ice Strider gulped. "Draugr? You mean like a zombie?" "If by zombie you mean the walking dead, then yes, something like that." She shivered. "How awful." The DragonBorn snorted. "You're telling me. I've put hundreds, maybe thousands to rest, and they still creep me out. And that one incident with that necromancer in Hillgrund's Tomb." He shivered. "Divines, it took nearly two hours to clear out the draugr. Not to mention that accursed mage who kept reanimating them." "That sounds like you've been through Tartarus and back." "What is 'Tartarus?' Some kind of arena?" "Tartarus. Y'know. The underworld." "I... I do not understand." "Where monsters come from?" "Is it a plane of Oblivion?" "Uh... Sure? Like a different world, right?" "Ah. It stands to reason you'd call them different than I." Said Dorian. "I'll try to remember this, 'Tartarus'. Perhaps I could learn summons from that realm as well." "Yeah, 'cuz that makes a lot of sense." Ice Strider mumbled. "Crazy, that's just plain stupid to try." "Hm?" "Nothing!"