//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: The Call // Story: The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM // by FireOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Chapter X: The Call “By all I hold holy . . . a Shout! Like the Greymanes on their mountain!” “Welcome back Thane!” a Whitetrot guard greeted me as I entered the city. I waved back a greeting in reply. It felt good to finally return here after the roundabout journey I’d had. Out of all the places I’d been to in my brief stint in Horizon, this was the only one that I really felt I could call home. Of course, it helped that I had a house in the city. Breezehome was bare when I entered, all the belongings of the pony that had preceded me removed in my absence, but most of the furniture had been left. I was placing a book on the bookcase when a rumble crashed across the sky, shaking my house. Was another dragon coming? I supposed it wasn’t unlikely. After all, I hadn’t seen one since Marekarth and that was days earlier. But I thought I could pick out words in the blast, though none spoken by ponies. I rushed outside to see what was going on, my sword and Axe of Whitetrot still strapped on. Quite a few of the townsponies were outside looking up at the sky, especially to the east. I turned to look in that direction too, at a particularly formidable mountain. The clouds that veiled it seemed broken, as if something had passed through them recently. They billowed out of the way for seemingly no reason. Seconds later the blast hit the town. “““SHE~WHO~WIELDS~THE~VOICE~MUST~COME!!!””” “““TO~THE~MOUNTAIN’S~PEAK~TO ~MASTER~THE~THU’UM!!!””” Shaking my head did nothing to dispel the ringing in my ears after the voice ended. I looked up in wonder as the clouds around the mountain began to close back up on their own. The mysterious rhyme had come from the mountain, that much was certain. “What does it mean?” somepony asked, mirroring my thoughts. More voices chimed in and I found the questions being directed toward me! Like I knew more about it than the ponies who’d lived here their whole lives. But I was Thane of Whitetrot and I guess some responsibilities came with that, among it being somepony the hold’s citizens could look up to. But that didn’t change the fact that I had no answers for them. “I don’t know either,” I finally said when I got a break between questions, “But I’ll go speak to the Jarl right now and find out what’s going on.” The townsponies made a path so that I could climb through the city and some of them followed along, eager to hear what the Jarl had to say. I met Darkfeather just outside the Hall of the Dead heading in the other direction. “Where are you headed to?” I asked her as she quickly swung around, using her wings for balance and trotted up beside me. “To retrieve you,” she said, “The Jarl wishes to speak with you immediately. Good thing I didn’t have to go far to find you.” “Great,” I said, “I was on my way there anyways.” “So what do you think is going on?” I asked her as we began to climb the stone stairs to Dragonsreach. “I have to admit I’m baffled,” she said with a concerned look in her eyes, “The Greymanes haven’t summoned a pony to their mountain since they expelled Jarl Stormcloud decades ago.” I had no idea who the Greymanes were or what their connections with Jarl Stormcloud were, but as the doors to Dragonsreach opened I felt like I was getting swept into something much larger than myself, not for the first time since entering Horizon. “They said the same thing both times,” Faniar was saying to the Jarl as I entered the Great Hall, “Once in Draconic, so far as I can tell, and once in Equine.” “Ah, Sapphire just the pony I wanted to see,” the Jarl said as I approached, “Glad you’re finally back.” “This is uncanny!” Faniar exclaimed, flipping rapidly through the book he was levitating, “This summons is almost exactly identical to the one used to call Talhooves to the mountain nearly 500 years ago!” “Thanks,” I answered the Jarl, ignoring Faniar’s interruption, “So what’s going on?” “I take it you heard the call from the Crest of the World?” “Kind of impossible not to,” I said, “But what was it?” “The Greymanes have made a summons, calling a pony to their mountain, something that has not happened for a very long time.” “The Greymanes?” I asked, hoping the Jarl would forgive my ignorance as a newcomer. I had heard of the Greymanes once before, from Darkfeather when she told me I had the Voice. And the Greymanes’ summons had mentioned the Voice too. But I still had no idea who they were. “Of course,” the Jarl said, “I suppose you’ve never heard of the Greymanes. Then again, not many ponies in Horizon outside of the central holds know much about them either.” “The Greymanes are a mysterious order of monks who live atop the Crest of the World, isolated from the rest of the Northlands,” Faniar explained, “Within their monastery of High Hoofgar they study Shouts, and hone their Voices to be the most powerful in the world. Other than that, nopony knows much about them. They’re very secretive, only allowing certain individuals to enter. But they haven’t allowed anypony to enter High Hoofgar since they expelled Jarl Stormcloud.” “Why?” “Nopony knows. Stormcloud isn’t telling and nopony gets to speak to the Greymanes these days. Maybe you’ll have better luck than the rest of us.” “Why?” I asked again. “You are going to High Hoofgar, aren’t you?” Faniar asked, looking up from his book to meet my eyes, “It’s very unwise to ignore a direct summons from the Greymanes.” “Me?” “Of course, do you know anypony else around here using Shouts that the Greymanes could possibly be calling?” “Well . . .” I said, thinking about it. As far as I knew, I was the only one (besides Jarl Stormcloud apparently) who could use Shouts. But how did the Greymanes find out so quickly? It was only a week ago that I’d first learned to Shout, and they were barricaded up in their monastery. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that the summons was meant for me. Yet, I was becoming wary of how much attention I was getting here in Horizon. If I rose any higher in prominence, it could only increase the chance that my secret would be revealed and I would be sent home in shame. These Greymanes seemed pretty important, yet secretive. Maybe I would be able to hide within High Hoofgar and learn some Shouts at the same time. I had to admit, I was still intrigued by the concept and wanted to know exactly what I could do with this newfound “Voice” of mine. “All right,” I said at last, “I’ll do it. What’s the quickest way to High Hoofgar?” “Well,” Faniar said, "Unless you want to climb straight up the mountainside, the best path is to climb the 7000 steps, starting in Ivarsteed.” “Then I guess that’s where I’m going,” I said, departing from Dragonsreach. “May the Equines watch over your battles, friend,” Valor’s Blade called as I left. ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ Soon I had my saddlebags packed and I was ready to leave Whitetrot once again without even a single night of sleep. By the time I reached Splitten it would be dark and I would probably have to stay in an inn. Thankfully, I had a few more gold coins thanks to a courier that had arrived before I left with a gift from the Jarl. After consulting my map of Horizon, I had decided the best route to Ivarsteed would be through Riverwood and Hoofgen before looping back around at Splitten. The only alternative would be to pass through Windhorn, which I didn’t think was very wise after attacking the Stormcloud town of Dawnstar. My actions in the northern town also made me nervous as I entered Riverwood. Bereloth was a Stormcloud and I had the feeling his parents wouldn’t be too happy to find out I’d helped in an Imperial attack. But, I was intent in patching up my relationship with them. After all, the last time I had spoken to Calciar I was rather rude and I owed him an apology. Eruthar was behind the counter when I entered the Riverwood Trader, arguing with one of the Whitetrot soldiers about the price of a potion he was attempting to buy. I patiently waited until they agreed on a price before approaching her. “Sapphire!” she exclaimed, “I haven’t seen you in a while.” “I’ve been . . . busy,” I said, omitting the specifics of my activities. “Well, it’s good to see you again.” “Likewise,” I replied. Calciar didn’t appear to be around, and he was really the one I wanted to speak to anyway. Hoping he would appear soon, I decided to buy something in a play for time. I picked out a book from the shelf behind Eruthar, “Minotauran Inquiries, Vol. I.” As I was working out a price Calciar trotted into the room. “Calciar,” I said, flipping some coins across the counter at Eruthar, “I feel like we left on the wrong hoof last time and I just wanted to apologize-” “No need,” he said, cutting me off, “Water under the bridge.” “But I was so rude and demanding,” I said, surprised at his reaction, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” “No need. You weren’t in the wrong. I was cheating you with that paltry reward. That’s not something friends should do to each other. That is, if you’re still willing to be friends after I’ve been such a numbskull. First accusing you of stealing the claw and then giving you such a pathetic reward for its return.” “Of course we can remain friends,” I said, shocked that things were turning out the opposite way I’d imagined. “What brings you through our humble little town anyway?” he asked, changing the subject. “I’m on my way to High Hoofgar to study with the Greymanes.” “You’re the one the Greymanes called?” Eruthar exclaimed, “And the pony we’ve heard about who’s been slaying dragons and using Shouts?” “I suppose so,” I said, blushing. “Imagine that! So much has happened since we last met. I suppose you don’t have time to catch up right now, being on your way to see the Greymanes.” “Probably not,” I said, “I hear they don’t like to be kept waiting.” “Well, you’ll have to stop by sometime and tell us all about it,” Calciar said, tossing a coin purse into my saddlebags, “And take the book for free, as our gift.” A smile on my face, I left the Riverwood Trader and stepped back out into Horizon. ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ Even as Talhooves struck down the final marauder, a voice rang out from the nearby mountain. “He who wields the voice must come, to the mountain’s peak to master the Thu’um.” Talhooves looked up in surprise. The Greymanes, the mysterious monks atop the Crest of the World were calling for him. So far as he’d known the Greymanes hadn’t taken a student for years. But, they were not to be ignored. Cleaning his sword the young stallion set off to seek his destiny. As I trotted along the mountain paths of Horizon I was levitating A Brief History of the Empire, Vol. I in front of me, reading it as I went. I had made it through Talhooves’s early life and I was now getting to his rise to fame and his training, which he had apparently received from the ponies I was heading to meet. So far as I could tell, this book contained mainly the story of Talhooves, and not much else about the Empire. But that was alright with me. A book was still a book. Flipping the page to the next chapter I continued reading. Through the howling snow, Talhooves climbed the 7000 steps to the Greymanes’ home, beset on every side by frigid windigos. By the time he reached the ancient monastery, frost coated his mane from his battles. My reading was suddenly interrupted as an arrow pierced my book. Returning to the real world I ducked behind a rock and carefully removed the arrow. Levitating my own bow I peeked around the rock. I was surprised to find I was already outside Hoofgen, or whatever was left of it. The wall had collapsed in places and most of the buildings were burned down, but the fortress seemed mostly intact. Through the gaps in the wall I could see bandits galloping through the remains of the town. After so many ponies had died here, how dare they loot through it and use it as a base. I was angry, really angry! Pulling back an arrow, I shot it at the bandit atop the wall that had shot at me earlier. The shaft buried itself in her forehead and she dropped instantly. Shooting a bolt of lightning at the other archer on the wall, I charged forward. The massive city gates had collapsed, allowing me to gallop straight into the town. Drawing Calcion’s Cleaver I struck down the first bandit before he was able to register that I was upon him. I shot a blast of fire at a nearby group of three bandits, hitting one of them. The other two came at me, one with a warhammer, the other with a mace. The mare with the mace reached me first, and I easily blocked her swing with my sword. I was forced to pull away quicker than I liked, however, to dodge the stallion’s warhammer swing. As the mace came back at me, I blocked with my war axe. I sword my swung around at the buck’s flank. Encumbered by his heavy weapon, he wasn’t able to dodge in time and I cut a deep gash through his cutie-mark, sparks shooting over his body from the enchanted blade. He fell twitching on the ground and I finished him off with a slash across the chest before turning back to the bandit with the mace. Now that it was one on one, she was outmatched. She had only one weapon whereas I had two, both enchanted. As I swung both at her, she made a difficult split-second decision and blocked my sword, allowing my war axe to sink into her flesh. Flames shot from the blade, engulfing her. I turned away as she went up in smoke. My weapons were suddenly knocked from my grasp as I was bowled into by another bandit. Judging by the fresh burns over his side, he was the bandit of the group I had torched before. He landed heavily on top of me, pinning me to the ground. Whatever weapon he’d had before he’d lost, but he pulled a dagger from a sheath at his side with his teeth. I couldn’t move, but focusing my magic I pushed back up on the blade as he tried to bring it down on my neck. But my magic wasn’t quite strong enough and slowly the blade inched its way closer. He gave a wet gurgle as I stabbed my own dagger into his side. Slowly I was able to push his dagger back as he lost strength. As the light faded from his eyes, I rolled his body off of me. I reached for my sword, but was forced to roll away as a bolt of lightning struck near my hoof. The bandit leader here was apparently a unicorn, and I got a glimpse of her as I rolled to safety. A block of the fortress provided enough cover that I could levitate my weapons back over to me. Running around it, I found her much closer than I expected her to be. Not even bothering with weapons at the moment, I shot fire and lightning at her simultaneously. A shimmering orb burst up around her, blocking my magical attacks. She chuckled to herself as she levitated a bow and shot an arrow at me. I dodged it (barely) and quickly focused my thoughts. The Shout took her unaware and burst right through her ward, sending her sprawling into the execution block. Spinning Calcion’s Cleaver around, I charged her. Lightning sparked across the blade as it impacted with the shield she brought up at the last minute. Spinning it around, I knocked the shield from her magical grasp before sinking it into her body. Light flickered around her as she tried to bring up a shield too late. Finally, the glow around her horn ceased as she died. Cleaning my weapons, I took a look around. No more bandits seemed to be in sight, so I left the ghost town and continued on the path to Splitten. ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ ◊◊◊ The city came in sight as the sun was sinking behind the western mountains. Splitten was built on and spilled over the edge of a large lake I was forced to travel around. As I neared the southern gate a guard with crossed swords on his armor raised a hoof to stop me. “Hold it right there,” he demanded, drawing a sword. I obeyed, too tired to argue. All I could think about was getting to sleep in a real bed in whatever Splitten had that passed as an inn. The last sleep I’d had was in Uragbashar and I’d been awaked far earlier for the attack on Dawnstar than I would’ve liked. “No entry at night without paying the visitor’s tax,” he declared, proffering a hoof, “100 gold.” Did he think I was born yesterday? In all of the Northlands I knew of no city that would charge ponies to enter, especially after dark when they would be guaranteed to stay in an inn and pour gold into the town’s economy anyway. “Are you . . . trying to extort me?” I asked. “If you don’t want to enter, fine. Stay outside and brave the elements.” “I can’t imagine the Jarl would be happy to hear about this,” I commented. “Ha!” he laughed, “And how would she find out when you can’t enter the city?” “Well, let’s think about it,” I said, “I could either go around to another gate where there’s a guard who’s not a thief, or I could wait until morning, after all, you said the visitor’s tax only had to be paid at night.” “Fine, fine, go on in,” he said, moving aside to let me pass. “Thank you,” I said as I passed him. He just frowned back at me as I pushed open the gate. The first thing I noticed upon entering Splitten was that the buildings weren’t scattered like in Whitetrot, but shoved tight against each other. The sound of lapping water told me that there was also a waterway running through the town. Because of the close proximity of the buildings I didn’t see anypony nearby until a group suddenly bowled into me out of an alley. I found myself sprawled in the street, another pony atop me. Several more tripped over me in their rush and it just kept snowballing until the street was filled with ponies on the ground. As I pushed myself up I heard shouts and armored hoofsteps closing in. Splitten guards galloped in from all directions. “Lay your weapons down now!” they demanded. Many of the ponies around me grumbled, but obeyed. I just stood there, unsure of what was going on. The guards trotted up and began binding the hooves of the ponies around me. “You’re under arrest, Thieves Guild scum! It’s the dungeons for you!” “Wait!” I protested as a guard approached me, “I’m not part of them! This is all a mistake!” “A likely story,” the guard said, moving to bind my hooves, “You’ve got enough going against you being a unicorn; don’t make this any harder on yourself.” “You,” I said, seeing the guard from outside the city now standing just inside the gate, “Tell them I’m not with them!” “Quiet, prisoner,” he said, his eyes showing the smile he didn’t dare show on the outside. No!” I protested as they bound my hooves. I really didn’t want to hurt anypony here, much less guards, but I couldn’t go to prison. With my magic I reached for a weapon. “She’s trying to use magic!” I heard somepony call from behind me. Moments later the handle of a weapon came down on the back of my head . . . hard. I saw stars for a split second before the world went dark. Level Up Health: 140 Stamina: 120 Magicka: 140 New Perk: Griffin Eyes [Archery] -- Your range and accuracy when using a bow is significantly increased. New Quest: Friends in Lower Places -- Escape prison and learn more about the Thieves Guild.