Skyrim: Secrets of the Moon

by themonkeyknight

Vodrem

Mikal collapsed into a chair by the fireplace with a contented sigh. After taking Fjotra to the priestesses of Dibella, he had gone to the Silver-Blood Inn for a drink. As for Luna, he had given her directions to his house from the temple.

“Why aren’t you going there too?” she had asked.

“I need to stop by the blacksmith to check on an order,” he replied. “After that, I need a drink.”

And so, they went their separate ways. When Mikal had gotten to the smithy, Ghorza presented him with the new weapons.

“Don’t you dare end up breaking these, or I’ll break you.”

Mikal chuckled at the warning and went to the grindstone to sharpen the blades.

“Did someone stay up later than they should have to make these?” he asked.

“Shut up, silver-tongue,” Ghorza snapped. “If you must know, it’s that time again. I am not in a mood to have fun either, nor am I prone to mistakes in forging.”

“I had wondered where your assistant was.”

Ghorza swore and chucked her tongs at Mikal, followed by ingots of varying metals.

“DO NOT MENTION HIM!”

Getting the message, Mikal quickly fled the smithy, his newly sharpened weapons strapped to his sides. Now he was warm on the inside from the drink and on the outside from the fire. The sound of footsteps filled his earholes, and he turned his head to see an old friend.

“Ah, Cosnach!”

“My favorite drinking buddy! How’ve ya been, lizard?”

Mikal laughed. If anyone else called him a lizard, he took offense or ignored them, but for Cosnach it was friendly banter, nothing more. Of course, that meant Mikal could respond in kind.

“Keep pressing your luck, Cosnach. Sooner or later, I will snap!”

The Nord smirked and sat down in the seat opposite of him. “So, what’d you get back from this time? Slaying a daedric prince or summat?”

“Rescuing a little girl and a woman without her memory from the Forsworn. Honestly, Cosnach, how many more times are you going to guess wildly?”

“Until I’m right. Anyways, I’ve got somethin’ that might interest you.”

Mikal quirked an eyeridge. “Oh? What is it?”

“Some armored guys came into Markarth. About five of them. I think they’re mercenaries or something, ‘cause they’re looking for someone.”

The Argonian rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “Do you know who?” he questioned.

“Nah. Figured it’d be more for you than for me, so I left before I found out. Thought you could go and talk to them.”

“Hmm. Perhaps I will. Thank you for the information, Cosnach.”

At that moment, the door to the inn burst open, and a strange-looking man entered.

“Is Mikal in here?” he asked. Mikal and Cosnach glanced at each other and nodded. The Argonian and the Nord rose from their seats.

“Who’s asking?”

(Line Break)

Discord did his dead-level best to remain calm and collected. Thanks to some stealthy and well-timed illusions, he had managed to stir up the armored group into a frenzy by sending them on a wild goose chase throughout the city. Now that they were held up by the city guards, Discord made his move.

It only took asking one of the guards not handling the group to find himself directed to the Silver-Blood Inn, where he hoped Mikal was. He entered the inn rather forcefully, and asked for Mikal without hesitation. It was quiet for awhile, but to his utmost relief, the same lizard-man he had seen riding the dark horse after the lightning storm stood up.

“Who’s asking?” the lizard-man asked.

Discord approached quickly, causing Mikal to reach for a jagged blade.

“Now hold on!” Discord exclaimed, holding up his hands. “I’m not an enemy! Not to you at least.”

Mikal didn’t move his hand from the blade’s hilt, which Discord expected. No doubt past experience kept the pale Argonian wary of people he didn’t know. What he didn’t expect was the whisper filled with power.

“LAAS!”

For a brief amount of time, Mikal’s eyes looked different. Before Discord could figure out what it was, Mikal blinked and his eyes were normal again.

“Fine,” he said. “I will listen.”

Thanking Laurfausta, Discord decided to be abrupt.

“Luna’s in danger.”

“What? How do you know that? How do you know Luna, for that matter?”

“She and I are from the same place. I’m an...ally of hers, in a way. As for how I know, perhaps it’s because I read the paper that accused you and showed you as a criminal. If I’m right, then they’ll go after her too.”

“Who will go after her?” Mikal asked.

“Maybe the group of five heavily armed individuals running around screaming for your blood.”

(Line Break)

“Are you lost?”

Luna blinked, then looked down at the source of the question. It was a little girl with blonde hair and a green dress.

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been standing there for a while, so I thought you might be lost and wanting some help!”

“Oh...yes, I suppose I am," admitted Luna. "Mikal gave me directions to his house, but...well, I can’t remember them.”

The little girl’s face brightened.

“You know my papa?”

“Your papa?”

“Yes! Mikal’s my papa!”

“Oh.” For an instant, Luna tried to comprehend how a bipedal lizard could have a human child, but quickly dismissed it. She could ask later. “Could you take me to your papa’s house?”

“Yeah! Come on, it’s this way! I’m Runa, by the way.”

Luna smiled warmly. “I’m Luna.”

(Line Break)

Shavee stirred the soup, making sure it didn’t burn on the sides on the bottom. She sighed, mentally taking role of the household’s occupants. ‘Alesan’s laying in bed, I asked Argis to see if the apothecary had any Cure Disease potions, Mikal….’ she sighed again. ‘...is hopefully alive and on his way home, and Runa is-’

“Mama, I’m home!”

Shavee smiled at her daughter’s voice.

“Hello, little one. Did you enjoy the temple?”

“No, they didn’t let me in. The nice priestess said that no one could go in ‘cause they were training the new sybil.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. Another time then.”

To be quite honest, Shavee preferred her daughter stay away from the Temple of Dibella. After what Mikal told her about Helga, she wanted Runa to have nothing to do with the Dibellan priestesses.

“I made a new friend, though! Say hi, Luna!”

At this, Shavee finally looked up from the meal she was preparing. Sheepishly standing next to Runa was a female Breton with fair skin, which was lightly tanned. She wore fine blue clothes, and her looked to be a deep navy blue, which was uncommon, but Shavee wouldn’t judge. For some reason, her hair seemed to be shimmering with power. Luna waved.

“Hello.”

“Greetings, Luna. I hope Runa was not too forceful when she dragged you here.”

Luna smiled. “Hardly. In fact, I meant to come here in the first place. Mikal told me to deliver a message to his wife, and I’m assuming that’s you.”

“What’s the message?” asked Shavee.

“That he is back safely. He also said that he would have told you himself, but decided to send me to you with a message, since he had to take the new sybil to the Temple of Dibella.”

Shavee smiled and shook her head.

“He thinks he know everything,” she muttered. “Thank you for telling me, Luna. Runa, go tell your brother to wash up for supper.”

“Yes, Mama.”

She ran off into the house. Luna fidgeted under Shavee’s gaze.

“So, um...how-”

“How do two Argonians have human children?” Luna smiled nervously. That had been exactly what she was going to ask. “They are adopted. Mikal found Alesan living on the streets of Dawnstar, and Runa was in the Honorhall Orphanage.”

“But why no Argonian children? Didn’t you two have a, erm…” Luna blushed. “...honeymoon?”

“Oh, we did. Believe me, we definitely did.” Shavee smirked as Luna’s blush deepened. “But it appears that one of us or both of us are infertile. It matters not. I love Runa and Alesan as though I had given birth to them,” Shavee stated.

Luna’s blush disappeared, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Like my Children of the Night. They were orphans on the street until I took them to a special place. Discord helped me raise them until he turned...turned…”

Shavee looked at Luna worriedly. Luna’s eyes were blank, and her mouth was slightly open. “Luna? What’s wrong?”

“I-I can’t remember who Discord is. I can’t remember who the Children of the Night are.” Luna clutched the sides of her head, and tears started to stream down her face. “But I mentioned them! So why can’t I remember?!”

Shavee moved forwards and enveloped Luna in a hug. Luna in turn wrapped her arms around the female Argonian, sobbing and clutching Shavee like she was her only lifeline. ‘This poor girl,’ Shavee thought. ‘Could things get any worse for her?’

As if on cue, an explosion sounded outside the house. It was a sound Shavee had heard before.

Her husband was fighting.

(Line Break)

The moment Discord had described the armored group roaming the city, Mikal immediately stormed out of the inn, cursing Isran and the Dawnguard. He briefly registered Cosnach and Discord following behind him.

‘Damn those fools. I killed Harkon for them. I told them that I posed no threat to them. I explained my reasons to them. I even gave them the Shield of Auriel that I recovered from the Falmer! So why in Oblivion are they after me!?’

So engrossed in his thoughts was he that Mikal didn’t see the Dawnguard until it was too late. Giving up on their efforts, the Dawnguard had decided to wait on the road for Mikal to approach or leave Markarth. It was then that Nocturnal proved to be a fickle mistress, as right as Mikal left the Silver-Blood Inn, the Dawnguard crossed right in front of it. The Dawnguard member closest to the Argonian yelled at the others, and they all turned to see Mikal, who was now filling the air with every single profanity he could think of. Ignoring this, the group leader, a Nord, stepped forwards.

“Mikal Dovahkiin, you are accused of vampirism by the Dawnguard. You can either come with us for a trial, or resist and be killed here. Your choice.”

At this, Mikal snorted in amusement. “A trial? Sheogorath must have played with your minds if you think I’d go to one of your damn monkey trials in a kangaroo court.”

The leader sneered at Mikal and drew his Dawnguard Axe, the others readying their weapons as well. “You’ve made your decision. Any last words?”

Mikal shrugged nonchalantly. “Yes, actually. Tell Isran that he can take his ego and his axe and shove them both up his arse, along with the stick that’s been there ever since I turned.” The leader growled at Mikal, and raised his axe to strike. “Hold on. I have three left.” Mikal took a deep breath, and-

“FUS RO DAH!”

Near infinite force blasted from Mikal’s maw, and the Dawnguard went flying, one of them disintegrating into ash from the sheer power of the Shout. The four remaining Dawnguard got up, but before they could fully recover, Cosnach rushed in and slipped an ebony dagger in between the ribs of a Dawnguard Wood Elf. The vampire hunter fell to the ground, and his fellow hunter, a Dark Elf, turned on Cosnach with an enraged cry. Cosnach lept back and drew a slender saber that emitted chaos energy. It had been a gift from Mikal some time ago. From behind Mikal, Discord leapt at the Dawnguard standing next to the leader, a female Imperial, effectively rugby tackling her. This left only the leader standing, the Nord’s face registering shock that his two of his team had fallen so quickly. He gritted his teeth and howled, slashing and hacking at Mikal with his axe. The Argonian was prepared and drew his new weapons, a Daedric Sword and Daedric Dagger. Even though he had not enchanted either of them yet, they both seemed to sing for spilled blood. With great ease and skill, Mikal blocked the swings with the Daedric Sword, finally catching an overhead swing in the serrated edge of the blade. Seemingly of it’s own accord, the Daedric Dagger lashed across the Dawnguard’s armored chest. The deadly weapon cut through the armor like a hot knife through butter and into flesh. The vampire hunter fell to his knees, blood seeping from the wound. Mikal put the sword and dagger to the leader’s neck, and swung, beheading him. The Argonian looked over to Cosnach to see him finishing his opponent by running her through, then beheading her as well. As for Discord…

“Sithis and damnation!”

The curse lept from Mikal’s mouth before he could stop it, and for good reason. Discord’s opponent had been ripped to bloody shreds, barely recognizable as a human being anymore. However, Mikal had seen worse. No, what got to the vampire was Discord himself.

Discord now sprouted wings, one reminiscent of a blue jay’s, the other of a bat. On his head was half a set of antlers and a goat’s horn. His left hand had taken on qualities of a bird of prey’s talon, and his right hand was similar to the paw of a sabre cat’s. Discord’s right foot had become green and clawed like a dragon’s, and his left foot looked hardened and brown, not unlike a cow’s hoof. Finally, a long red lizard’s tail with a feathered end sprouted from his waist. His hands and feet were bloodied.

“My Thane?” Mikal jumped, whirling around. A guard had approached, and was eyeing Discord warily through his helmet. “The gate guards heard the commotion. They said that those people you just killed were here on official business. Even had a letter from Jarl Siddgeir.”

Mikal frowned. “A letter? Let me see it.” The guard handed over a letter, and Mikal scrutinized it. Eventually, he swore. “This is a forgery. Siddgeir writes smaller so he doesn’t waste parchment.” He tore up the fake letter. “Tell the gate guards that they aren’t in any kind of trouble. They most likely haven’t seen enough letters from Jarls to tell whether or not they’re fake.”

“Yes, Thane Mikal. What about the bodies of the people that attacked you?”

“Dispose of the bodies. Spread the ashes around; sweep them into the river if you have to.”

“And the daedra over there?”

“A new type to be summoned for battle. Now, spread the word that this was an assassination attempt by the Dark Brotherhood dressed in Dawnguard armor. The reason was so that they could justify their kill by claiming vampirism on the target.”

“Yes, my Thane.”

The guard relayed the orders to the others, and they got to work. Mikal stalked over to Discord and put a finger in his face. “You. Clean up in the stream. Do whatever you did before to look human again. After that, you have some explaining to do.”

(Line Break)

Discord crouched down in the stream that ran throughout Markarth and sighed. This was that Sheo-whatever’s fault. If that idiot hadn’t taken his powers, then he wouldn’t have had to do that to the Dawnguard. Discord had no choice, though. With his magic as limited as it was, his only defense were his claws, hoof, and talons.

After scrubbing the blood off of his appendages, Discord stood up and snapped his talons, hiding his animalistic features. Almost instantly, Mikal’s dagger was against his throat and his sword against his belly.

“What in Sithis’s name did you do to that woman? What are you?”

Discord smirked. The lizard had guts, that was for sure. “First and foremost, I am a draconequus, a being of immense chaos magic. As for what I did to that woman, well, it's not like I had many other options right then.”

“Why?”

“This person named Sheo-something drained me of my magic. He said that the story wouldn’t be very fun if I just did everything with a snap of my fingers. As it is, I have enough magic for illusions and minor reality manipulation.”

Mikal muttered something under his breath about a mad god, then pressed the dagger into Discord’s throat. The jagged blade seemed to sing as it got closer to cutting Discord’s flesh. “And why are you here?”

“Why to protect Lulu, of course! What kind of friend would I be if I left her all alone in this world, wallowing in her amnesia? Of course, it’s a good thing she has amnesia, otherwise she’d be dead already.”

“What do you mean? Tell me!”

Discord smirked again, and though Mikal couldn’t see it, he could feel Discord’s arrogance grow. “I can’t tell you directly, of course. But I can tell you this: Lulu carries information that she and she alone knows about. Or at least, she will once she regains her memories.” Discord’s smirk grew into a full-fledged grin.

“A great hunk of knowledge that not even the gods that created this world know about!” The humanoid draconequus turned his head to look Mikal in the eye.

“The Secrets of the Moon!”

Author's Note:

Formatting is fun (not)!

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

Discord is stuck in Skyrim!?

[Starlight Nova]

8234445
Wait, who is Vaermina?

[ZZaner67]

Hey um... I'm not sure if you're still working on this, but I hope you update cause I found this to be one of the better Skyrim stories on this site. Please update I really would like to see this story unfold.