//------------------------------// // 5: Mirmulnir // Story: Sombra visits Skyrim // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Defeating the draugr guardian had been painless and easy, but finding the way out of the cavern was even easier than Raika had been expecting. As she soon discovered all she had to do was walk up a set of stone stairs, turn into a small tunnel, and pull an ancient lever to reveal a hidden passageway. Once she knew where the exit was she returned to the large chest that had been left untouched, where she finally got the chance to see what treasure had been waiting to be claimed. All she found inside was a simple iron shield, an ancient two-handed axe that was surrounded by the cold, an ancient greatsword, and twenty gold coins in change. Nothing terribly exciting from the ancient nords. While Raika was busy with her plunder Tia and Sombra stood near the word wall, one transcribing the translation into one of her books while the second stared out at the open cavern. Tia didn't mind that she wasn't getting anything else from this venture of theirs, that's what she had sighed up for after all, but she was concerned that Sombra hadn't done much more than simply open the door. She knew who he was and what he was capable of doing, but it appeared that he had no memory of his past and had no idea of the power that had once coursed through his veins. She resolved to help teach him how to fight and regain certain pieces of his memory, even if it took her the next few years to do so. Sombra, on the other hand, just continued to stare out at the open cavern, taking in all of the stone structures that the ancient nords had built so many years ago. He was disappointed with himself, disappointed in the fact that he had just stood back while Raika and Tia had taken care of all the draugr they had come across. Ashamed by the fact that the draugr guardian had gotten the drop on him and had nearly put him down had the two women not stepped in almost immediately to save him. He barely knew how to use the sword Raika had given him and knew almost no magic spells, but the only spell he did know took way too much out of him. At the very least he was more of a pack mule, waiting until he came across something that neither of his companions could figure out so he could figure it out and they could move on. "How's the transcription coming along Tia?" Raika asked, keeping her distance from the stone wall in case some strange magic tried to lash out at her again. "Just about finished," Tia replied, writing the last few words into the book before slamming it shut, "I wanted to make sure that I got the language this was written in, the symbols used, and what it all means in case this barrow was ever brought to ruin. Now that I've got everything written down we might as well leave. That is, unless you want to fight more draugr before we leave." "No thank you," Raika told her, making her way to the large stone stairs, "The exit is open these stairs, so let's get back to Whiterun before Farengar wonders if we bailed on him." Sombra sighed and followed his companions up the stairs, around a corner, and through a hidden tunnel before they finally escaped from the barrow. When they emerged from the barrow they were greeted by the sight of the land shrouded in night, with a moon hanging somewhere over their heads. Raika seemed to know where to go, seeing how she decided to avoid the lake in front of them and keep to the side of the mountain, keeping the sight of Whiterun in her vision. Eventually they left the mountain and returned to the plains that rested all around the mighty hold, continuing until they reached the main road. After about ten more minutes of walking they finally reached the front gates of Whiterun, only to be stopped by one of the guards that always stood before the gate. "Hold there khajiit," the guard said, stepping in front of Raika, "I'm going to have to ask you to turn around and leave Whiterun." "Look, I'm on official business for Jarl Bulgruuf and his court wizard Farengar," Raika replied, ready to dish out whatever she needed to get back into the city, "If you want to disturb them and ask if I'm on business for them then be my guest, but I'm sure that the both of them would be really annoyed with you for holding me back." The guard thought about it for a second before allowing the three of them to pass into the city, but that didn't stop him from glaring at Raika as they walked passed the gate. As soon as they were inside the city Sombra noticed that the blacksmith was nowhere to be seen and the young fellow who was chopping wood was missing. None of the shop keepers were around and it seemed like all the buildings, with the exclusion of the local inn, were locked up for the night. Instead of turning up to where Dragonsreach was Raika opened the door to the inn, beckoning for the two to join her inside. The patrons of the inn stopped what they were doing the moment Raika and her companions entered the Bannered Mare and only resumed what they were doing when she had taken a seat near the door. Tia and Sombra joined her, one sitting with her back turned towards the rest of the room while Sombra took the last seat with his back towards the wall. A woman came by to ask if they wanted anything for supper, to which Raika simply ordered three servings of whatever stew they had that night. As the woman left them alone Raika let out a long sigh that she had been keeping back, much to Sombra's surprise. "I hate nords sometimes," Raika said, low enough so only Tia and Sombra could hear her, "all it took was one khajiit taking some food from someone a thousand years ago to label the entire race as a bunch of thieves. Unfortunately, most members of my species are thieves and that doesn't help me when I want to enter a hold city that isn't Windhelm. I work hard, fight for what I believe in with my entire being, and I would never think of stealing something unless I was forced, FORCED I tell you, to do it. You two aren't like the rest of the nords I've met during my travels, you don't seem to care what everyone else thinks about me because of my race. I know its not fair to you Sombra, seeing how you many think different of me whenever you get all of your memories back, but I'm kind of glad I met you. Tia, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you wont judge anyone, even someone who's been labeled as a thief by everyone else, until you know them as a person. I don't think that even if you knew who someone really was that you would judge them, you would just befriend those who need someone and pay little attention to those who wish harm on you." "Raika," Tia said, placing her hand on her shoulder, "I have been threatened, labeled, judged, and even attacked by all sorts of people during my life, but I have never let any of that bring me down. Just ignore the people who are annoying you the most and allow your friends to guide you through your life, so that you can tell others that not everyone of your race follows what they're labeled as." "Thank you Tia," Raika replied, giving her companion a smile as the server placed three bowls and spoons on the table for them, "So, what is tonight's stew anyway?" "Just some apple cabbage stew sweetheart," the server replied, "Make sure that you remember to pay Hulda for the meals before you leave, or we'll have the guards haul you off into the Dragonsreach Dungeon before you know it." As the server left them alone Raika reached into her coin pouch to draw out some coins, but Tia shook her head and placed a small pouch on the table. "Thirty coins for a small meal," Tia commented, pulling her spoon over before steering up some of the stew, "as thanks for suffering through my presence and even accepting me into your fold. If you plan on traversing several more barrows I'd be honored to travel along side you." "Tia..." Raika sighed, pulling herself together before she lost her composure around so many people, "I don't think that Ulfric will mind me not returning to Windhelm for some time, seeing how we've got a dragon that's burning towns to the ground on the loose. We'll help the Jarl and Farengar out and see if we can't best this flying beast, but once the dragon menace is taken care of I'll need to return to my lord before he starts to wonder if I've been killed in action." Sombra stared down at his bowl and aimlessly steered the spoon around, creating a small ripple in the liquid as he considered his future. The only people who truly knew him were making plans on a grand adventure and it didn't seem like they were even considering bringing him along. Nor could he blame them, seeing how he had almost no idea on how to defend himself and was likely to get them all killed on accident. He guessed that he could always go back to Riverwood and take up a job for one of the merchants that lived in the area, until he got some of his memory back to make a better decision. Tia noticed Sombra's depressed state as he mindlessly spun his spoon around, letting the stew go cold to the point that there was no reason to bother eating any of it. If she was to bring him back from the deepest reaches of his memories then he needed to travel along side them. She only prayed that Raika was willing to listen to her before they left on another of the Jarl's errands and believed that he could prove to be an asset in their adventure. As the evening gave way for the night Raika rented the only room that the innkeeper had available for the night and the three of them got themselves arranged in what was available. Raika, having rented the room herself, was given the bed, leaving Tia and Sombra to take two of the chairs for their own beds for the night. Sombra just settled into his chair and eventually let sleep overcome him, while Tia pulled out a book and read a few pages before turning in herself. When morning arrived, made noticeable by the fact that most of the patrons had left the inn, Sombra awoke to find himself in an empty room. As he pulled himself out of the chair and stretched his arms he knew that Raika and Tia had already begun their grand adventure and had left him behind. He sighed and walked down the stairs, expecting to find an almost empty seating area and found Tia sitting at the same table they had sat at the previous night. He knew it was her automatically, seeing how she was the only nord he knew that had large white wings and a long white horn. "Tia!?" Sombra asked, his voice causing the woman to turn his way the moment he spoke, "What are you still doing here? I thought you and Raika were leaving to give Farengar the Dragonstone." "I...managed to talk her into waiting for you," Tia replied, giving him a smile as she stood up, "I convinced her that you had, in your own way, helped acquire the Dragonstone and at least deserved to be there when she delivered it to Farengar. So she's selling off most of the junk she's collected so far, just so she can collect more junk from whatever bandits and creatures the three of us run into on our adventure." "Wait...the three of us?" Sombra asked, confused as to why the khajiit had even considered changing her mind on bringing him along. "Aye," Tia remarked, as if she was pleased that she had changed Raika's mind, "I'm going to teach you the finer points of how to use your sword and how to fight without depending on either of us. That was the condition that Raika placed on me in order for you to continue with us, and I'll be damned if I can't turn you into a proper fighter in time." That was when the inn's door opened and Raika walked in, a smile on her face as if she had made a good deal of coins from all the items she had collected. When she noticed the two of them standing there she simply kept her smile on and approached them without a moment's delay. "Are the two of you ready?" Raika asked, her eyes darting to the innkeeper and her helper, "Farengar will be expecting us to return soon and I think it's best that we don't keep him waiting much longer." "Lead the way Raika," Tia replied, offering her a friendly smile in return, "How much did the shopkeepers give you for all the items you sold them?" "At least three thousand septims," Raika said, as they stepped into the fresh air of the marketplace, "The blacksmith drove a hard bargain for the weapons, but eventually I decided that it wasn't worth the time to argue with her and accepted the price she offered me. Belethor, the owner of the General Goods Store, was more then willing to bend his prices just a tiny bit for the items that I offered him. I've got roughly five thousand septims now, but that could change sometime in the future." They quickly made their way up to Dragonsreach, ignoring the glares that each of the guards gave Raika until they reached the large wooden doors. As soon as they entered Sombra noticed that the elf from before, Irileth he believed her name was, was standing near the door and barely gave them a glance as they passed her. They climbed the stairs and turned into Farengar's study area, which was now riddled with even more open books than their previous visit. "I am amazed Farengar," Tia remarked, drawing the mage out from his private room while she wandered around the room, "Your studies into the arcane arts has improved since I left, though I was unaware that you had to have so many books open to get anything done." "Oh very funny Tia," Farengar moaned, taking a seat in his chair, "I wasn't studying the aspects of magic; rather I was researching possible leads for my dragon research. The Jarl is determined to find the dragon that burned Helgen to the ground and make sure that the holds are safe from it." "And to do that I'm assuming you need the Dragonstone?" Raika asked, setting the stone slab on the table in the only open space she could see, "I'll tell you right now, it wasn't easy getting this thing." "The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow!" Farengar exclaimed, forgetting that Tia was even there and focused on the stone slab, "You actually found it?! With this I could advance my studies into the dragons and possibly determine how to defeat one, should one ever come near Whiterun in the future." "Farengar," Irileth called, coming to a stop in the doorway, "You have to come quick, there's been a dragon sighted nearby." "A dragon?" Farengar exclaimed, somehow more excited about a living dragon than the stone Raika and her companions had risked their lives to recover, "How exciting. What was it doing?" "Come with me and you'll find out," Irileth told him, turning to Raika and her companions, "the three of you should come along as well." Irileth lead them out of the study and up a flight of stairs to a floor that would have overlooked the bottom floor, had there not been a large wall blocking the view. Waiting for them was none other then Jarl Bulgruuf and one of his guards, who happened to be drenched in sweat as if he had run a great distance. "Go ahead soldier," Irileth told the guard, "tell them what you told me." "We saw a dragon near the western watchtower," the guard said, recounting what he had seen, "coming from the south. It was fast...faster than anything I've ever seen in my entire life." "What was it doing?" Bulgruuf asked, clearly concerned that his city could be under attack at any moment, "Was it attacking the watchtower?" "No, my lord," the guard immediately replied, "It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my entire life...I was afraid that it would come after me for sure." "Good work son, we'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest," Bulgruuf told the guard, turning to Irileth not a moment later, "Irileth, you had better get some guardsmen and get over there before the dragon moves on." "Don't worry, my lord." Irileth said, "I've ordered some men to gather near the gates. We'll deal with the dragon, if he's still at the watchtower." "Good, don't fail me." Bulgruuf said, turning to face Raika, "There's no time to stand on ceremony Raika, I need your help again. I want you and your companions to go with Irileth and help her fight the dragon if it shows up. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience dealing with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me by retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem I have instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city, and please, take this weapon as a gift from my personal armory." The Jarl handed Raika a two handed steel battleaxe, one that happened to glow with a dim red glow that Raika happened to know quite well. It was another enchanted weapon, a fire one like the weapon she had found in a bandit chest with Sombra not too long ago. During all of this Sombra noticed that Tia had a slight frown on her face, almost as if there was something about what the Jarl had said that had displeased or annoyed her. He had no idea what could be bothering her, seeing how Raika was the only one among them that had any experience with dragons. Even if she had been bound up by her enemies at the time. The moment Raika had the axe she beckoned for Tia and Sombra to join her, descending the stairs as she made her way towards the doors of Dragonsreach. Once they were outside they made their way towards the main gate, where they passed Irileth and the guardsmen that she was speaking to. After passing them it was only a matter of traversing the curves of the main road and turning right so the could get closer to the burning tower. "Was it supposed to be burning?" Sombra asked, as they drew ever closer to the burning stone structure. "No, it wasn't," Raika replied, gripping her new weapon as they stopped a short distance away from the tower, "It seems like the dragon decided to cause a little destruction sometime after the guard came running to Whiterun. There's no telling how many of the guards he's already killed, how many are left standing, or even if he's still in the immediate area somewhere. When Irileth and the guards get here we'll start our investigation, but be prepared to fight anything in case some bandits come near us or that dragon returns." Sombra waited near the others, twitching nervously as he just waited around for something, anything, to happen in their immediate area and kept his hand on his steel sword. He had no idea if he would be of any use against a dragon, seeing how just one of them had destroyed an entire city by itself, but he was determined to do something useful for once. He still wished that he knew more then a single magic spell, but he didn't trust himself to use it when there was no telling if he could get it to work this time. He noticed that Raika just continued to hold her new weapon, quietly eying it as if she was studying the way it had been constructed for herself, but all Tia did was pull out a book and continue reading. Who in their right mind brings a book to a battlefield and reads as if there's nothing to worry about? "It sure looks like he's been here," a voice said, just as Irileth and a team of six guards arrived, "Be careful men, there's no telling if that dragon is still around." Together the group neared the burning tower, spreading out as they looked for signs of survivors or even a clue as to where the beast could have gone in the time it took them to assemble. Whatever walls there had been to protect the tower had long since been destroyed, reduced to large pieces of rubble that dotted the immediate landscape around the tower. It was painfully clear that the dragon had done quite a number on the area, making some of the guards shake in fear and wonder if they could stand a chance against such a creature. "No, get back!" a voice shouted as a lone guard emerged from the tower's doorway, "The beast is still here somewhere. Kynareth save us, here he comes again." The moment those words left the guards mouth a loud roar filled the air, silencing all activity as the guards looked around for the source that could have loosed such a terrifying sound. Before their eyes was a dragon, flying much faster than anything they had ever seen before in their entire lives, until it was a rather large beast that filled them with pure terror. Sombra stared at the light brown creature as it dived into a group of guards and tossed them all into the air, as if they were mere toys in the dragon's eyes. He fumbled in drawing his weapon, but it really didn't matter as the dragon didn't seem to care about him as he focused on the guardsmen all over the ruins. "Come on men, make every arrow count." Irileth shouted, loosing an arrow right into the dragon's right wing. The dragon landed right in front of Irileth, causing her to jump to her right before she was consumed by its fire breath, but it continued to follow her despite the others around it. Raika took advantage of the distraction and swung her weapon right into the dragon's hind leg, cutting a gash that must have angered the creature by the roar that it loosed. Several of the guards regained themselves and loosed their own arrows into the dragon's sides, some of which harmlessly just bounced off its hide while the rest buried themselves deep. Tia took a chance to cut into the dragon's tail, which caused it to thrash around before heading her way, to which she leapt over it before it got the chance to even touch her. She failed to notice that Sombra was near her backside, because he ended up getting struck by the tail and was thrown into the wall of the tower, hard enough to make him cough up some blood. Raika threw a glance to Tia before getting in the dragon's line of sight, intending to make sure that the dragon kept his gaze on her and didn't hurt anyone else in the area. The dragon roared his head to breath a gout of flames on her, but she ducked under him and delivered a cut to his neck area, cutting off his chances of breathing more flames for some time. That clearly angered the beast, because it forgot the rest of the guardsmen and focused solely on her, following her to a ruined ramp and away from the tower itself. She knew it would give Tia a brief moment to drag Sombra somewhere safe without the dragon taking advantage of such a weakness, but she hoped that she would return quickly. "Don't you dare die on me Sombra," Tia moaned, dragging him up the stairs before leaning him against a wall on the inside of the tower, "Come on, wake up and smell the crystals before that dragon roasts us alive." She had a healing spell in her right hand, trying to clear whatever damage the dragon's tail and his collision with the tower had done to his body, but wondered if she might accidentally awaken something inside him during the process. Her silent question was answered just a few seconds later, as his eyes slowly opened and she noticed that there was no change in them at all. "Sombra," she asked, drawing him to his full height, "do you remember how to Shadow Walk?" "Sh...Shadow Walk?" Sombra replied, feeling lightheaded as something came up in his memory, "I...I think so, but how would it help us?" "I'll tell you about the spell later," Tia remarked, glad that he remembered something that could be of use to them and was in perfect shape, "but what you need to do is slip into someone's shadow and get onto that dragon's back. It wont be easy, as you might go from one guard to another in an instant, but I have faith that you can pull it off and permanently ground that dragon." Raika moaned as she dodged another swing of the dragon's claws, but she was getting tired from all the running she was doing and her side hurt from the last time the dragon had hit her. The guards were scattered about, clearly afraid of the dragon and had decided that she and Irileth were going to fight alone while they healed their wounds before coming back in. She was about to wish for Tia to rejoin the fight, but then she notice her companion emerge from the tower with her weapon drawn and Sombra standing directly behind her. Not a moment later Sombra suddenly vanished, almost as if he hadn't been standing near Tia at all, before appearing behind Irileth. Somehow he had gotten from where Tia was standing to where they were in a few seconds, but if Raika was confused then the dragon was surely pleased with even more sport. Before the dragon could even turn towards Sombra he vanished again, only this time he had somehow gotten on top of the dragon's back and raised his weapon up high. Sombra gripped the handle tight and brought it down hard on the dragon's right wing, allowing the metal to dig into the rough hide and open a wound that would prevent the dragon from flying for some time. Before he could swing it at the other wing he sensed that the dragon was ready to shake him off, so he buried the sword in the dragon's back and was thrown off before he could secure his grip on it. He landed between Raika and Irileth, but his landing was much softer than his collision with the stone tower and he got up without too much harm to his body. "What was that?" Raika asked, watching the dragon squirm as it tried to remove the sword. "No time to chat," Sombra huffed, clearly tired from all the effort it took to cast the spell twice, "I may have just given us a way to deal with the dragon before he burns the rest of us down. All I need now is some way to regain some of my magic and a storm cloud of some kind." The moment the words left his mouth the clouds began to turn into the black storm clouds, almost as if some deity was listening to him as was willing to lend him a helping hand. Tia joined them while all this was happening and passed a small blue bottle into Sombra's hands, clearly knowing that he needed it to pull off whatever he had planned. He downed the potion and enjoyed the rush of magic that it brought with it, but before he got too caught up in the rush he remembered the dragon and moved himself to the highest point around. He dared not use the top of the tower, because he feared that he might fall after casting his spell, so he chose the ruined wall that gave him a clear view of his steel sword. Once he was ready he raised his hand to the black clouds, causing the gathering to spark even an even blacker lightning, before bringing it down towards the dragon, casting the spell. The sky flashed in a fury of rage as several pieces of black lightning coursed from the black clouds in the sky and crashed down into the steel sword, which then coursed through the dragon's nerves and joints. The dragon roared in pain as the lightning ate at it from within, but the pain was short lived as the guards seized their chance and released a fury of arrows into the beast's underbelly. Before it had even a chance to get back at them Raika leapt off the ruined wall and buried her battleaxe in its head, ending whatever it had planned in one fell swoop. As the sky finally returned to normal and Tia caught Sombra before he hurt himself even more the dragon's body began to burn, the scales turning to dust as something magical escaped from the rotting corpse. Whatever it was crashed right into Raika, knocking her off her feet as the entire corpse was just a large pile of bones, arrows, and whatever had been left in his stomach. One thing was for certain, they had just killed a dragon and saved a city from destruction.