//------------------------------// // 39: Ancestor Glade // Story: Sombra visits Skyrim // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Whiterun was in the control of the Stormcloaks and the former Jarl, Balgruuf, was on his way out of the city with his children and his steward not far behind him. Raika sat outside Dragonsreach, watching her brothers and sisters make sure that the citizens were unharmed and began rebuilding pieces of the city that had been ruined. Balgruuf gave her the stink eye as he walked by her, basically telling her that he was disappointed in her choice in joining the Stormcloak army. She sighed and stared at the city, her mind returning to the quest that she had been taken from and wondering what the Moth Priest would tell her about the Elder Scrolls. The thing she was more worried about was if anyone was going to remember her after she died, because whenever she went to do something one of her friends outshined her. Princesses Celestia and Luna were skilled warriors that were capable of destroying countless enemies without faltering in their steps or tiring for some time. Princess Cadence could see a target in the distance and put them in seconds and Twilight could literally explode an enemy without really thinking about it. Trixie, now powered by the masks of nine Dragon Priests and carried two powerful magical weapons, was a mage that seemed like there was no equal to her power. Then there was Sombra, a fallen king whose power was high enough where he could likely block out the sun itself and still have enough left over to do something else. Raika was supposed to be the one to kill Alduin, but Sombra impaled the massive dragon and nearly killed him the moment they met up at High Hrothgar. Now that his memories were back he was literally killing almost everything that came his way, either outright killing them all or stealing their souls with his scythe. He was a force to be reckoned with, as every time the people of Skyrim saw him they cowered and completely ignored Raika, as if she didn't exist at all. Almost no one in Skyrim cared about the Dragonborn legend anymore, leaving Raika to wonder why she should care about everyone in the province. Her answer was always the same, she wanted to protect people and would do so until something got the best of her. "So, off to Fort Dawnguard?" Trixie asked, standing behind Raika while the rest of their friends waited near the doors of Dragonsreach, "Or was there somewhere else you wanted to go?" "I just want to get this over with," Raika sighed, turning back to face her friends and beckoning for Sombra to come over to her, "I just want to destroy Harkon and then find the person who commanded those Cultists to kill me. I need to put a stop to these schemes before they claim the lives of more innocent people." "You summoned me?" Sombra asked, a neutral expression, the only thing she usually got out of him, on his face. "We're returning to Fort Dawnguard," Raika said, picking up her swords that she had leaned on the side of the wall, "where we'll speak to the Moth Priest and find out where we go from there. Mind summoning a gateway for us?" Even as the words left her mouth a gateway sprung up next to them, causing Raika to give Sombra a blank stare and received a simple smile in return. She beckoned for the others to join them before making her way to the gateway, disappearing in the blink of an eye as Trixie and Serana followed her. Sombra waited for the others to follow Raika through the gateway before heading in himself, giving him enough time to ward off a soldier that wanted a closer look before vanishing. Raika stepped out inside the fort, not really freaking out the soldiers that were patrolling the inside this time, but made Isran growl at her the moment she arrived. She brushed him off and found the Moth Priest sitting in a nearby chair, so she smiled and immediately started to walk over to where he was sitting. Before she got close she noticed a white rag wrapped around where his eyes were, leaving her to fear that worst had happened while they were gone. "So Dragonborn, you have returned," the Moth Priest commented, apparently hearing her approach, "Unfortunately, I can no longer be of any assistance to you. In my haste to read the first Elder Scroll I forgot to take precautions to prevent any negative side effects. I am now paying for my actions." "So basically there's no way to read the third Scroll now?" Raika asked, realizing that if he said no then they'd have no way of discovering where Auriel's Bow was located. "There is an ancient ritual you could perform," the Moth Priest answered, "You must take a draw knife, found in Skyrim's Ancestor Glade new Falkreath, and gather some bark from a Canticle Tree. With the bark in hand you would be able to attract a swarm of Ancestor Moths that would allow you to read the third Elder Scroll." "Wait, you mean I could have gone blind?" Raika asked, now realizing how dangerous even reading the Elder Scroll the one time had been, "I haven't felt any side effects from my first reading, but who's to say that reading this second Scroll won't damage me in any way? What use would I be to Skyrim if I were blind and unable to fight?" "Oh just get going already," Isran growled, picking her up by her collar and tossing her to her friends, "Dexion said the ritual can let you read the Scroll, so head to the blasted Ancestor Glade and find out where Auriel's Bow is hidden. Honestly, I swear to the Divines that you don't listen to anyone at all." Raika stared at Isran and her anger wrapped over her mind for a moment, causing her right hand to land on her sword and draw it out a little before she stopped herself. Isran annoyed her to no end, that was true, but that didn't explain why she suddenly wanted to draw her swords and put an end to him and anyone that tried to stop her. She wondered for a moment if all the darkness that Sombra was using with his gates might be having an effect on her, but she threw that idea away as she realized that if she was effected bu the shadows then the others would be as well. "Don't push your luck Isran," Raika growled, turning back to the Shadow Gate, "When next we return we'll be carrying Auriel's Bow, of that you can be sure of." Raika wasn't sure if Sombra had changed the Shadow Gate's destination, but at that exact moment she really didn't care as she marched right into the shadows. ------------------------------------ When Raika stepped out of the shadows she found herself standing outside a small city, one that she got the sense of dread as one of the citizens gave her a frown. She was right outside Falkreath, exactly where they needed to be to find the Ancestor Glade, but it still bugged her how Sombra knew where these places were without visiting them. She wasn't complaining though, it saved her time and gave her the ability to accomplish a lot more than she could ever do without the shadows. One of the guards came up to ask her something, which she was prepared to answer whatever he asked, but he looked behind her and then ran in the opposite direction like she was a Daedra or something. She didn't need to know that Sombra had her friends had arrived, because every guard around them, literally every single one of them, were shaking in their boots. "You there," Raika said, turning to one of the gate guards, "I'm looking for the Ancestor Glade and was told that it was somewhere around this location. Care to point me in the right direction?" "Its that way," the guard replied, pointing into the mountains behind her, "You'll find a path that winds up the mountain side, but you'll come to an opening in the mountain that you'll want to take. Trust me, you can't miss it." Raika growled at the guard, but instead of lashing out at him she just turned around and walked up the road so she could get to the mountain path he had mentioned. Her friends weren't far behind her, keeping their eyes peeled for any enemies that would hinder their progress or the pathway in case Raika walked past it. Serana stayed close to her, keeping her mouth shut in case Raika decided to snap at her like she had done back in her mother's secret laboratory. Shadow walked on Raika's left, leaving a hand ready to grab his weapon in case they needed to fight someone, while the Equestrian's walked a small distance behind them. "What was that?" Trixie asked, keeping her voice low so Raika didn't hear them, "One minute she was the same khajiit we've been traveling with and then the next it was like she had snapped, going out for Isran's blood. Do you think the Shadow Gates might be having an effect on her somehow?" "I'm sure we'd all be experiencing side effects," Cadence replied, keeping her eyes on Raika for the moment, "but seeing how its only her I'd have to say the gates are not the cause of her sudden change of character." "I would agree Princess Cadence," Sombra commented, "Shadow Gates are only used for transportation, but they aren't the type of Dark Magic spell that would do something like this to someone. If they did this to people I would have suggested either walking or taking a carriage, both of which Raika has grown to hate with a passion. No, what I suspect to be the cause of this change is her Dragonborn powers, or rather the souls of the fallen dragons that she's absorbed so far. I'd be careful around her and not do anything that might provoke this new rage to erupt again." "Is that even possible?" Cadence asked, noticing a small pathway coming on along the road. "I'm not exactly sure," Trixie commented, "Of all the Dragonborns in Tamriel no scholar ever documented the lasting side effects of tearing out a dragon's soul and devouring it whole. It is possible that, after a certain number of souls, the Dragonborn could start developing a sense of madness that begins to eat away at them. It is also highly likely that her current stress is caused by all of us, seeing how we're all attached to some myth or legend or even a kingdom from another plane of existence. It could very well be our fault that Raika doesn't feel that the people of Skyrim are bothering with her, as they keep flocking to heroes like Shadow and myself or run from those they've labeled as villains, like you Sombra." "Then we shall tone ourselves back," Sombra said, confident that he wouldn't have to draw upon his crystals until Raika asked him to use them, "and allow Raika to fight more enemies by herself. Maybe then her rage will subside and she'll return to normal." "Here we are," Raika exclaimed, beckoning towards the hole in the mountain they had discovered, "Lets get in there and do this ritual so we can find that bow." When they entered the cave they immediately ran into a troll that had made the cave its home, but it was fighting a wooden creature further down the path. Instead of fighting they just watched the two of them tear into each other, the wooden creature tightening its vines on the troll while the troll ripped one of the arms clean off. Eventually the two of them went still, crumbling to the ground in a lump of limps as their collective life force spilled onto the ground around them. Raika surpassed a laugh as they made their way deeper into the cave, coming to a gigantic open area filled with trees and a sense of beauty that didn't exist in Skyrim anymore. "So this is the Ancestor Glade," Serana commented, staring at the area in front of them, "its...beautiful." "I wonder what it would look like if it was on fire," Raika muttered to herself, casting a look around for the knife she needed to use, "Alright guys, I'll make this quick." As Raika made her way down towards the lake of water Sombra and the others spread out, keeping their eyes on the area around them in case Lord Harkon found them out. Raika approached the small island and immediately found the knife, as it was just floating in the middle of some stone structure that looked oddly like an eye. She grabbed the knife and approached the nearby tree, raking the knife across the bark and causing some of it to fall off immediately. Once she had enough she picked the bark up and moved to where she spotted some moths flying around, causing them to leave their bushes and come float around her. After a few minutes of hunting down the moths Raika returned to the center island, where a beam of light was now touching the stonework on the ground. She stepped into the light and steeled her mind for a moment, dreading the possible consequences that might come from reading the third and final Elder Scroll. Before she could back away she pulled out the third Scroll and opened it, allowing the sight the moths were giving her to see what she needed to see. As she gazed into the fabric of the Scroll she could see the image of a bow and the location of said bow unraveled before her very eyes, telling her exactly where to go next. "Hold there meat bag," someone shouted, who Raika assumed was just another vampire, "Lord Harkon has discovered you running around the province of Skyrim and has decided to take everything from you. Hand over the Elder Scrolls and you may escape with your...life?" Raika saw a force of at least ten to fifteen vampires standing bear the entrance of the area she had entered, but all of them were looking around the area in different directions. Trixie and Serana stood near the entrance, one on each side of the opening so they could easily hit whoever followed them into the gigantic open room. Sombra stood in the far back of the room with Cadence standing near him, though Raika knew that the both of them could easily hit their targets from across the chamber. Shadow appeared near Raika, his sword in his right hand, while he helped her back onto her feet and stashed the Scroll back where she kept it. "The Archmage of Winterhold?!" "The Divine Crusader?!" "Lord Harkon's daughter?!" "The Crystal Archer?!" "The...the King of Shadows?!" "Hey bloodsuckers," Raika shouted, now annoyed out of her mind that the vampires forgot her, "What about the Dragonborn? The person who slew the dragon known as Alduin the World-Eater? The person who can rip out a dragon's soul and permanently kill them? Quit forgetting about me!" "Oh? Is that what makes you special?" a vampire mocked, walking away from her group and approached Raika, "Well, last I heard you already completed your destiny and blew that giant lizard out of the air. So, what threat are you to a squad of powerful vampires?" Raika leapt forward and threw her right hand, now balled into a fist, right at the vampire, catching her off guard as her fist tore right into her chest. For a moment the vampire thought things were going to be okay and she could easily heal herself, but then the area around Raika's fist caught on fire and the vampire ignited. Raika ripped her fist out of the vampire and noted that the flames were still dancing around her hand, but they didn't seem to be doing any damage to her at all. She looked up at the other vampires and grinned at them, rushing up the steps as the flames wrapped around her entire body and began to burn whatever they touched. Trixie and Serana noticed the change the moment it happened, but when the flames began to burn everything near Raika they immediately backed away to the sides. They had no wishes to be anywhere near Raika while her anger was burning so bright that it caused the area around her to burn, least they got caught in the crossfire. One vampire came at Raika and swung his sword at her, but she ducked and decked him in the chest, flames racing onto his body as they began to eat away at him. She turned to the next vampire and kicked her in the chest, followed by a swift punch that tore right into her heart and ate away at her even faster. Her friends watched from the other side of the gigantic chamber as she ducked, punched, kicked, and destroyed the entire elite group of vampires that Harkon had sent after all of them. She tore through each of them, dropping their smoldering bodies to the ground before moving onto the next enemy and then the enemy after that, until she had literally torn through all fifteen vampires. Serana took a step towards her, but Sombra held a hand out to stop everyone from approaching Raika, keeping a close eye on the flames and waiting for them to disappear. Once the flames died down Sombra removed his hand and they silently approached her, making sure that they stayed far away in case the flames sprung up once again. "You okay Raika?" Cadence asked, making sure that they watched out for the flames as they got close to her. "Yes, I think so," Raika moaned, rubbing her eyes just a bit, "I think that Elder Scroll might have messed with my eyes, just like with the Moth Priest Dexion." Sombra stepped in front of her and stared into her eyes, finding something so strange that he wondered if it was the Elder Scroll or something else that had caused it. "Raika, I don't know how it happened," Sombra said, "but you've got dragon eyes now."