In Service of the Dread Father

by Wandering Axioms

Prologue

For millennia I’ve served the Dread Father, Sithis. Taking the form of a stallion to serve as a method of transportation for the Listener of the Brotherhood, I usually go by the name Shadowmere; though it is not my actual name (I have none in fact), it will suffice.

Fairly recently I was called to serve the newest Listener: Aleric Raynier; a Breton, fairly young, talked very little. It was less than a week after the successful assassination of Emperor Titus Mede II; the Listener and I were on our way to Markarth to work out the details with a new client. At the time, both the Listener and myself believed it to be simply another contract; he would meet with the client, work out the details, gold would be exchanged, and the target would then be eliminated.

It was on our way to the ancient Dwemer city however, that we had the misfortune to stumble into none other than a Forsworn camp. These miserable little encampments dotted the wilderness of the Reach: as the countryside around Markarth is called.

Rather than turning around, however, Listener Raynier decided to attack the camp and wipe it off the face of Skyrim. First mistake. As we stood on top of a hill overlooking a camp, I could’ve sworn that I heard Aleric mutter something about wanting to increase his illusion skill. Really? I thought. You already have invisibility, the only useful illusion spell. Of course, I could not speak, and my opinions went unheard.

This was very unlike the Listener; he was always more...practical. Rather than sneaking into the camp and slitting their throats as they slept one by one, the Listener dismounted, pulled out Mehrunes’ Razor and charged in. Second mistake.

I decided to charge in with him, and most of the less armored barbarians fell within the first few seconds of the fight. Aleric summoned a flame atronach (which he nicknamed Sam for some odd reason) and we continued cutting down one lowlife after another.

When we had nearly cleared out the camp, my animal senses already heard that familiar roar in the distant skies. With the remaining Forsworn on the run, I nudged into the Listener to get his attention. At first he didn’t understand until I looked up to the skies.

“What is it?” He asked. He must have heard the roaring by then. “Ugh, by Sithis, another damned dragon.” If it was another regular dragon, then there would be no real threat, and the Listener would obtain another soul to unlock the secrets of a new shout. The two of us continued scanning the mountains around the camp in hopes of sighting the beast. It was within moments when we both saw the gold scaled beast fly above the mountaintops, circling us like a vulture.

“By the gods,” Aleric sighed. “An elder dragon!” The coloration did indeed indicate such. Immediately, he pulled out Chillrend, a powerful enchanted sword that he acquired in a job in the Thieves’ Guild. The dragon proceeded to get closer and closer with each circle, until it was almost directly above us; looking down on us with menacing fiery orange eyes.

Aleric looked up and shouted one of his most powerful shouts: Dragonrend. “JOOR ZAH FRUL!!” The point of Dragonrend is to force a dragon in mid flight to land. Unfortunately, half the time, the damnable thing doesn’t work; this was one of those times. It did succeed in enraging the dragon even further. So much that the monster spiraled down towards us, breathing fire all the way. I quickly dashed to my right, while Aleric took this opportunity and grabbed onto the dragon’s wing.

Never before had I heard the Listener (or any mortal being for that matter) scream like that. The Breton was pulled up into the air like a child’s toy; amazingly, he held his grip on the membrane of the dragon’s right wing, the beast trying desperately to shake him off. It was at this point that I followed the dragon as fast as my limbs would go; all the way up one of the taller mountain peaks of this forsaken canyon.

I managed to get a good look at the elder dragon with the Listener still clinging onto the wing’s membrane. Aleric must have plunged his blade into the flesh, as the dragon roared in obvious pain. It suddenly turned to face my direction; it couldn’t have been more than a few meters from flying into me when I noticed it was starting to turn.

A very brief second of relief came over me. That was when its other wing collided with me, sending me far off the peak of the mountain and towards the ground. It would have been humorous had it not resulted in my demise.

“SHADOWMERE!!” I hear the Listener cry out in genuine dismay. As I began the plummet towards the ground, I think to myself. Another death in the service of another imbecile Listener. However, I thought about the boy that became Listener; he was not an imbecile, but he did make an unusually rash decision. Why would Father wish for such a ludicrous death of mine? Does he require my presence in the Void? Perhaps a-

My thoughts were interrupted with me making contact with the rocky ground.

A loud crack. Everything went dark.

---

“So, Twilight,” the small dragon, Spike said to the purple unicorn. “What do you plan on dressing up as for Nightmare Night?”

Twilight Sparkle sat at her study desk, contemplating on the options that she listed on a small piece of parchment. “Hmm, I’m not really sure yet.”

“Isn’t Dash going as a Wonderbolt again this year?” Spike asked.

“Yeah...” Twilight sighed at the thought of her friend’s obsession with the team of athletes. “There’s something wrong with that filly.” She mutters under her breath.

“Uh...Twilight,” Spike said suddenly. The unicorn turned to her assistant.

“Is something wrong, Spike?”

“I...ah, think I feel a letter coming.” Twilight sighed as the little dragon belched out those familiar green flames. Grabbing the scroll with her magic, Twilight noticed the royal insignia on the seal.

Should I’ve expected it from any other pony? She asked herself. Undoing the seal, she proceeded to read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Please be aware that Ponyville may be receiving a new resident. He should be arriving in the next day or so, and while he may seem eccentric, I truly believe that he deserves a chance to fit into our community. Be patient with him, as he is new to Equestria in general.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

Twilight’s ears perked up. “A new pony coming to Ponyville?” She felt a grin crease her face.

“Eccentric, huh?” Spike said, causing the lavender unicorn to jump. “The Princess is being kinda cryptic in this letter, isn’t she?”

“It’s not like she hasn’t been before,” Twilight said standing up. “But I wonder what she means by ‘new to Equestria’?”

---

I felt the cool grass beneath my hooves, and a faint breeze combing my mane. I was still in equine form. Obviously, as my eyes opened, I noticed that I was not in the Void as per usual whenever I died in the mortal realm. I scanned around for a few brief moments when I realize the odd truth.

I was not in Skyrim anymore. The climate felt far too warm, and I was evidently in a forest of some kind; not in the canyons of the Reach. Why would Father want me here? I think to myself. Was I in one of the other provinces of Tamriel?

This notion was quickly defeated when I noticed the fairly odd nature of this place. It didn’t seem...realistic. It seemed almost as if it were a dream; a child’s dream at that. It was fairly colorful...too colorful; I despised it.

I looked towards the sky and noticed that it was daytime; early evening, judging by the position of the sun, slowly setting into the western horizon. Immediately I set out from the clearing in which I awoke, as a feeling came upon me that I was being watched. Possibly a nocturnal predator hoping to find an easy catch.

Quickly I made my way through the forest in the direction of the sun, hoping to reach its end. Whatever it was that was pursuing me, it was fairly damned persistent. Every so often, I would dive into the brush that dotted the forest floor. The feeling of being watched would subside, I’d leave my hiding spot, and continue through the wood until the feeling returned.

For the better part of the evening, this cycle continued until the point I reached another clearing. I turned around and planted my hooves into the dirt, ready to face my stalker head on. Worry had receded well over an hour ago; now the only real feeling I had was frustration. I panned my gaze across the thick trees in front of me.

“There’s no point in hiding,” I hear myself say in an angered tone. My attention was caught: I had just spoken with my...voice? I ask myself. In the mortal world, I had always taken the form of a horse; obviously this rendered me unable to communicate vocally, and had to resort to body language. I was not in the mortal world then, but I was not in the Void either. Was I perhaps thrown into one of the Daedric realms of Oblivion? Perhaps, but it certainly didn’t look like any of the realms that Sithis or the Night Mother had described to me.

A snap of twigs and low growling brought my attention back to the forest; the glowing pair of eyes hiding between the trees to be specific. The hateful red orbs rivaled my own in fact. The beast revealed itself and with a roar, began charging towards me.

Strange creature: body of a lion, bat-like wings, a scorpion’s tail; a manticore? What I remember hearing of these mythological creatures didn’t include them having wings however. From what I knew, they didn’t exist in Tamriel, or on Nirn for that matter. But there was no time to really think; the beast looked rather hungry.

I quickly darted to my left, just barely missing getting swiped by one of its huge paws. I stood tall and gave a defiant stare. Angered, the manticore turned to me and let out a guttural roar, and raised its stinger.

It was unknown if it contained a venom of some sort, but I would be content not to find out; I jumped back a few feet as the barb of the appendage pierced the soil. The beast already was becoming frustrated, probably thinking that something that was so small in its eyes would give it such trouble.

My options ran through my mind as the manticore continued to clumsily swing its paws; me dodging each one with ease. I knew however, that I could not keep this up forever, and something so much larger than me would be near impossible to bring to its knees without help.

As much as it irritated me, I knew I had to escape from the monster’s reach somehow. I cleared some distance between the manticore and me and looked around for any possible cave that was just large enough for me to squeeze into. Sithis must have been gracing me with his cold smile at that moment as I saw a small grotto jutting out of the clearing.

I spitefully smiled at the manticore. It clearly noticed the grotto, as its wings lifted it into flight when I made a dash for the opening. I forced my way into the hole, not any more than two feet wide and make my way to the back of the cave. I heard the manticore growling at the sight that its prey had escaped as its paw dug into the cavern in a desperate attempt to catch me.

I could still feel it circling the entrance of the cave, however. While it was one of the most senseless animals I had encountered since mud crabs, I had to admire its persistence. Realizing that it wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, I sigh and place myself on the floor of the grotto, trying to get some rest.

I still had many questions about where I was and what had happened to me...but those questions could stand to wait until tomorrow.

Comments

[MrTarven]

i like

[Alex Wadegrove]

Shadowmere is a "she". 'least she was in Oblivion.
Anyways, nice story. Liked/tracked.

[P1N413-P13]

DIS STORY
desrves a happeh Pinki

[Gypsy]

wait is this the same Shadowmere from TES?

[Wandering Axioms]

488695Lucien Lachance refered to Shadowmere as a "she" in Oblivion, but in Skyrim, Astrid refers to it as a male.
I'm not sure if it was just an error on Bethesda's part, or if Shadowmere can swap genders at will or something.
I think that it was just a mistake that Bethesda made, but I decided to refer to Shadowmere as a male because this is a crossover with Skyrim.

[Wandering Axioms]

488801Yep!

[Crowquill Symphony]

488857 Could be that Shadowmere's just a otherworldly entity whose gender isn't important, or changes with every incarnation, or that he/she simply doesn't have one.

[emore]

sweet story dude, defiantly following this

[Alex Wadegrove]

488857
Whether Shadowmere is male or female doesn't really bother me. Makes no difference to me in the game.
The story on the other hand; I haven't seen many stories where the main OC/crossover character is female. But making the main character male certainly applies an 'aura' to him.
Not to sound sexist. Just how Ah sees it.

[Mes Amis]

>>Croquill Symphony I like the way pointed that out, you sir, are a good man that would make a good philosophist. Besides that I can't wait to read this!

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

[1000Fights]

Me Gusta