Skyrim: The Hybrid - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

My heart was absolutely racing as I jumped to my feet, my right hand igniting with red hot flames while sparking, crackling blue power exploded into existence in my left and whirled to face.

“Good instincts.” the ethereal blue form of Sinding nodded approvingly at me. And despite appearing before me in such a weak man's form, there was a massive, intense pressure pressing down on me.

I jerked to a stop, just before I thrust out my hands and unleashed the magic in my palm. I clenched my hands together, dispelling the magic and dropped down to one knee, “Lord Hircine.” I said respectfully. As fucking annoying as it was to bow down and be respectful at the drop of a hat, it was the best play to make. It was in my best interest not to draw his ire, especially with what I'm planning.

“No need for the ceremony young hunter, I have no interest in it,” Hircine waved me off, gesturing for me to rise back to my feet. I did as bided, “Though, I believe you have something of mine?”

I forced myself to remain calm. The pressure Hircine exuded, was intense. I was jittery and could feel the adrenaline humming in my veins. My fight or flight instincts were a hair trigger from rampaging out of control.

I have killed wolves. I have killed sabre cats. I have killed bears. I have killed bandits. I have killed even Draugr that had escaped their resting places and even felled a mighty troll with powerful regeneration. That meant nothing in the face of the ultimate hunter. The god of of the hunt.

“Yes.” I replied simply and held up my hand towards the gods ethereal avatar, holding out the white ring sitting upon my palm.

“I thank you young hunter,” Hircine dipped his head lightly once in recognition and plucked the ring from my grasp, where it immediately disappeared, “You have impressed me. Your ability to stalk your prey undetected and leave without a soul knowing of your efforts was marvellous and you have done me a great service.”

“It was nothing Lord Hircine,” I played it off. In the end, it wasn't all that hard to accomplish, “An opportunity was presented to me to accomplish a goal, and I merely took advantage of it. The fact that I could retrieve your ring was mere icing on the cake.”

“Hmm, I will not ask how you knew my ring was stolen,” Hircine hummed and nodded slightly, “But tell me young hunter, why did you want the soul of a werewolf? I can sense a grand ambition from you, an ambition I have not sensed from a mortal in a many a year. Does it perhaps have something to do with the soul of the vampire you have taken as well?”

...He could sense the soul of Vighar? Or was he simply watching the entirety of Falkreath since Sinding was here and saw me?

He'll most likely be able to tell if I lie, so maybe playing it straight is my best bet? I have a bit of his favour right now, so being up front with it might work out the best.

“It does,” I answered, “I want to be strong. More than strong, I want to stand above all others and gain the power needed to let me do as I please. And the method I thought of, needs the soul of a werewolf and a vampire.”

“..I see..” Hircine trailed off for a moment before snorting lightly and beginning to laugh, “How audacious of you young hunter! I see what you want! The power of the beast and the power of a creature of the night. That would indeed make for a powerful combination.”

He was amused, and was laughing. That was a good thing right?

Hircine kept laughing for a good few moments before calming down, “Quite the task though. To achieve such a form, you would have to destroy the tether that links those souls to not only myself, but Molag Bal as well,” the Daedric Prince of the hunt mused lightly, “You would need a lot more power than you have now to accomplish such a thing. You picked your targets well though, I do admit. The soul of one I would see punished for his transgressions against me, and a vampire Molag Bal, fickle as he is, has most likely long forgotten about.”

They were more targets of opportunity, “Luck favoured me my lord.” I replied humbly. As I mentioned before. It really was just plain luck. Sinding, in his human form I could take, but as a werewolf? Unlikely. Unlike the game where werewolves were a joke, in this world, the true werewolves are monstrous beasts. Even in human form they are multiple times stronger than before they were bitten, and when they transformed, their strength and other physical abilities was massively increased even further.

And there is no way in hell I could have taken Vighar. Either in his base humanoid form, and definitely not the vampire lord form. Only absurd existences like the Last Dragonborn could take beasts like that one on one and win.

“True, luck did indeed favour you. But, you will find young hunter, that luck is indeed a major factor in a true hunt,” Hircine replied idly, and then began stroking his chin, “Still, it is quite the creature you aim to become. A true predator of predators. What will you call it? A werepire perhaps?”

I chuckled, no way, that sounded cringe as fuck, “I was thinking more along the lines of a Hybrid,” I shrugged, “After all, the werewolf and the vampire are only two thirds of the set that I'm going after.”

“Hoh?” Hircine leaned forward in interest, I had his full undivided attention “Your ambition is great indeed. Tell me, what other manner of creatures power are you planning on taking for yourself? The power of the bear perhaps? The crocodile? The shark?”

“None of the above,” I smirked. Interesting though, he had confirmed the existence of the were crocodile and were shark that were mere rumour and myth to both my lives, “Though, the crocodile is close I guess. It is a lizard, just one higher up on the food chain.”

Hircine's eyes went wide with realization and a wide grin split across his face, “Ah, now that is an ambition I did not foresee at all. Your desire for strength is greater than I thought,” the god shook his head, “I have underestimated you hunter. To take the power of the wolf and vampire for yourself is a lofty goal in of itself, but you will not be satisfied with merely that I see. You desire the soul of a Dova.”

“That's the plan.” I nodded, crossing my arms.

What kind of soul gem can hold the soul of a dragon? No Grand or Black soul gems would be able to do it. At their simplest, in the mortal realm, dragons are the mightiest beasts of all, the children of Akatosh, Demi-Gods.

I don't want to simple be a hybrid of werewolf and vampire. I want to become Dovakhiin as well.

The only soul gem I can think of that can possibly hold the soul of a dragon, is Azura's Star.

But, I don't need the full soul of a dragon. I just need part of it, enough to empower my own soul and become Dragonborn. Then, even with that meagre amount, with the strength of a werewolf and a vampire lord, I may be strong enough to kill dragons myself, or at least survive in the battles that will ensue around them.

Bit by bit, soul by soul, I will devour the souls of the dragons. I will become the most powerful in the mortal realm. And with the combined regeneration of a werewolf and vampire lord, and the immortality of a vampire, I will be unstoppable.

“How very interesting, I take my words from before back. I have met only one mortal like you, and they became my sibling,” Hircine laughed, spreading his arms wide, “I will be watching you with interest young hunter. In fact, how would you like to be my champion?”

..Wait, what?

“Sorry Lord Hircine, but I don't want to be bound to anybody, that's the whole point of going for these things the way I am, or I'd just become a werewolf right here and now.” I replied.

“I respect that, but I do like you young hunter, your boldness and ambition resonate with me,” Hircine mused, before smirking at me, “What say we make it a competition?”

I gave him a confused look, blinking slowly, “Competition?” I wondered.

Chuckling, Hircine clicked his fingers, and suddenly, a familiar white marble ring with a roaring wolf head decoration slipped onto the middle finger of my right hand, and the fur atop my torso was on my bed and replaced by a different, much more luxurious looking piece of fur armour, with a furry collar at the back and deep plunging neckline and sleeveless arms.

I could feel the power emanating from them both. The ring itself felt so much different compared to what it was like before.

“I have un-cursed my ring, and you now wear the Savior's Hide,” Hircine explained looking me in the eye, “Take these and be my champion. With them, I have first claim to your soul beyond any other should you accept. The competition is simple. If you manage to accomplish your goal, I will relinquish my claim on your soul and you may keep my artifacts and do with them as you please.”

“Wait, seriously!?” my eyes flew wide open. I wasn't fucking expecting this at all! The ring alone let any were beast fully control their transformations without any training and transform back and forth as they pleased. And the Saviors Hide in game offered magic resistance and poison resistance. But, the power I feel coming off it, is insane! And I could feel the magic coming from it spreading all across my body. It alone was probably tougher than steel armour!

“I am indeed serious,” Hircine dropped his arms and nodded, “So what do you say young hunter, will you take me up on my challenge?”

With Hircine's Ring and the Saviors Hide, things I'd be leery about going for right now, are easily well within reach. The Saviors Hide specifically is perfect for letting me get my hands on another incredibly amazing piece of armour, one worn by somebody that shouldn't be all that far from where I am right now either.

And being the Champion of Hircine affords me a certain measure of protection from other Daedric Princes and will let me operate much more freely and with much less hesitation.

..And in the end. Hircine's realm is definitely not the worst I could end up in after death as far as risks go. I only need to be stronger than the rest so I'm the predator and not the prey.

“Sign me up,” I grinned, “I'll take you up on that challenge Lord Hircine.”

Hircine laughed and clapped his hands, “Splendid, splendid!” the god of the hunt crowed, “Tell me my champion, what is your name?”

“Yormin Fafning, be sure to remember it, because everyone will have their eyes on me some day in the near future.” I introduced myself boastfully, I was on a high, my luck could not have been better!

“Descending Dragon eh? Quite the fitting name,” Hircine happily nodded, and crossed his arms over his chest, “Use my artifacts well my champion. And hunt well, for I will be watching!”

And then the Daedric Prince was gone, as if he was never there to begin with.

Laughing at the absurdity of it all, I fell back onto my head and just lay there for a moment, coming to terms with what just happened.

Things really are going incredibly well for me right now.

'I suppose the next course of action is getting a bit power like he said I'd need. But, I'll need to get my hands on another black soul gem for that.' I mused.

There's a certain other powerful artifact I should be able to get my hands on easily enough. A special mask that allowed the user to summon the spectral soul of a Dragon Priest to fight for them. In other words, an incredibly powerful person from thousands of years ago, and incredibly vulnerable. A sitting duck, just like Sinding and Vighar.

Even just a fraction of the power of one of them would increase my own power massively.

And from there, I think I may head back to the Evergreen Glade. The place where my old home sat just weeks ago before it got burned to the ground during the scuffle between the retarded Stormcloaks and the impotent Imperials.

There's a certain burial mound not far from my old home. I'd came across it many a time and had been told by my father it was most likely a remnant from a large battle and many a proud and honorable Nord was probably buried within.

I now knew though, that it is the grave of a dragon.

'Before all that though, I need to make some money.' I mused, my eyes going to the enchanted fur top sitting on my bed.

Good thing anything enchanted was worth quite a bit of money, wasn't it?

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You know what I did to celebrate my amazing gains of the early morning? I mean, not only had I gained the souls of both a werewolf and a vampire lord, I had also more or less gotten the blessing of a Deadric Lord and was gifted not one, but two of his artifacts.

It was a real cause for celebration, and I was staying in a tavern already.

So I went to sleep. I got myself some good shut eye and slept in.

In this life, I never got to sleep in at all after all. I was up at the crack of dawn near every morning. And from there, I was training or out hunting with my father, every damn day. And right after that, I was fired right in to my studies on the magical arts with my mother, or being taught by my father on the importance of smithing, or helping him skin the beasts we hunted for their pelts and de-fang or de-claw them among other things like pulling out their organs for alchemical ingredients to sell.

I loved my parents, and I'll miss them dearly. But having a long lie in is amazing. And a luxury I rarely was afforded, and now I can indulge in them as much as I please now.
I slept right up until noon, getting a good six or so hours of sleep extra. And god was it good.

And after I woke up and had a nice breakfast that I'd already paid in advance for with my room, alongside a lovely bottle of Nord mead, I got back to business.

What I need right now more than anything else, is power. I need to amass great physical power and a ton of magical power. Both to accomplish a variety of things towards my goals and to accomplish my goals in of themselves.

To accomplish my main ambition though, I need to absorb and fuse the souls of three separate creatures with my own. A soul of a werewolf. A soul of a vampire. And a soul of a dragon.

I already have the soul of the werewolf and the vampire. It's impossible to gain both of their abilities as I want with the way they are now though. They are gifts from two separate Daedric Princes, and lay claim to the soul. And no Daedric Lord will happily give up their claim to another, which is why it's impossible to have both lycanthropy and vampirism at the same time.

What I need is the power to sever the tether the Daedric Princes have on the two souls I have in my possession. That, is the truly hard part of gaining both powers. Actually absorbing the souls and gaining their powers after that, is the easy part.

So, until I massively increase my own power, that avenue is locked from me.

There are so many other options for me to get stronger though. Like for instance, what if I take the heart of a Briarheart and their soul and use both to enchant the benefits into my own heart? What if I kill Mercer Frey and steal the Skeleton Key? With it, I can unlock my own potential and grow vastly stronger and gain the favor of Nocturnal.

These come with problems though. I doubt I can take Mercer Frey in a fight right now. Or a Briarheart really. The undead warriors of The Reach have horror stories told about them. With the strength of ten men and the magic power to lay waste to thirty Imperial soldiers.

The problem is, I lack the strength needed to go about those as well. That leaves me only a few options for immediate power increases to work with.

The mask of Konahrik is one of those. With it, I'll be able to summon a Dragon Priest as my minion who will follow my orders. And while the Dragon Priest themselves is a juicy target to take the soul of. I can first use them and their amazing power to crush my those I want dealt with.

Before that though, I have another idea.

The third soul I want to to complete the three powers I want. That of a dragon. Normally, that would be the most difficult one.

That is if the dragons were already revived by Alduin. But, they aren't, not quite yet at least. They are currently still within their graves, nothing more than skeletons.

Skeletons with their souls still residing within them. Because even if you slay a dragon, they will not truly die. The only way to kill a dragon, is to have the soul of a dragon and devour the defeated dragons own.

That would also be impossible for me. I have no soul gem that can hold the soul of a dragon. And Soul Trap is highly unlikely to work.

But, the biggest weakness a dragon has, is another dragon. So, what about a weapon forged from the bones of a dragon. Bones of a dragon, that still have the soul of the dragon within them.

And let's say I fashioned those bones into a weapon. And include a multitude of soul gems in its forging. And enchant it to bind it to me alongside enchanting it with Soul Trap. 

Well, the weapon itself would already have the ability to absorb dragon souls would it not? The Soul Trap enchantment, would merely be me adding a trigger to that ability to pull at my leisure.
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With that thought in mind. What I really needed, was money. So, I headed over to the local Falkreath blacksmith to sell my gear.

Falkreath has ties to the Imperials and supports the war effort. So, weaponry and gear, especially of the enchanted kind, goes for a lot of money.

I was hesitant to part with my enchanted iron short swords. But, at the end of the day, they only had a small amount of sentimental value. And I'm not really a sentimental guy. At least not for small things like that.

So I sold them to the smith, alongside the necklace I'd pilfered form that drunken Vigilant of Stendarr and all of my fur gear, boots, gloves and all. Those, and a bit of bartering later, and I was eight hundred and ninety two septims richer.

"Pleasure doing business with you lad," Lod the Falkreath Blacksmith, a large, bulky blonde man gave me a broad smile as he handed me the large pouch containing my gold, "I'll fetch a pretty price for these the next time the Imperials come through looking to stock up on gear."

"Cheers to you as well mate," I grinned, accepting the bag. I slid it into my rucksack before leaning over the counter within his home, and looked the man in the eye, "So tell me, know of anywhere here I can get my hands on some soul gems?"

"You a mage or something lad?" Lod raised an eyebrow at me.

"Aye, something like that, who do you think enchanted all that stuff I sold you?" I asked, my grin widening.

"Is that right?" the blonde man hummed, "Impressive, there ain't nobody in this hold who can enchant anything. Not even Lady Nenya. The Jarl will probably be quite interested in hiring you lad if you're interested."

Is that right?

'Well, it's not a bad option.' I mused, and getting the backing of the fickle Jarl of Falkreath should be quite easy then considering he only had eyes for people that paid him tribute.
Play my cards right, and I could become Thane of Falkreath. And if something tragic sadly happened and the Jarl and his uncle died, leaving nobody in line for the throne, well, it was only natural the trusted Thane would take his place, right?

"I might try that out," I shrugged lightly, "But before anything like that, I've got some stuff I need to do. So, about those soul gems?"

"Alright lad, give me a moment, I've got some myself," Lod waved his hand at me and crouched down under the counter. A moment later, he popped up again, a large dusty box in hand. He set it down on the counter with a loud thump and blew off the dust, and opening the box to reveal a bunch of gleaming crystals, mostly of the lesser and common variety, but I could see two greater ones in there and a grand one as well I think, "Been a while since I've sold these. What ones you wanting, and how many?"

I eyed the box of soul gems thoughtfully, "How much for the lot of them?" I asked.

Both Lod's eyebrows rose this time in surprise, "All of them..?" he gave me an odd look, but shrugged when I nodded in confirmation, "Well, they're worth a pretty penny, but nobody has been buying em around here lately. I'll give you the lot for five hundred and fifty lad."

Hmm. Grand Soul gems themselves could go for anywhere between three and five hundred. That was a real bargain by my reckoning, "That's perfect mate, cheers." I said, putting my rucksack down to pull out the gold I had just put away and carefully counting out five hundred and fifty septims.

Lod accepted them and gave me the box of soul gems which I happily accepted. I quickly emptied them out into a pouch and tied it around my waist for ease of access.
I'll be filling some of them up as soon as I leave here after all.

"Pleasure doing business with you lad." Lod clasped my hand and gave me a firm handshake, "Take care of yourself out there now lad, don't want you losing yer life trying to fill em up."

"It's all good mate," I waved off his concerns, "I'm young aye, but I'm no pansy milk drinker. I'm quite experienced when it comes to hunting beasts."

"That so?" Lod chuckled, "Well, just keep me in mind if you make any more gear like that, I'll be interested in purchasing them off of you."

"Will do mate, will do." I laughed, bidding him goodbye and leaving the the shop behind.

After leaving Lod's smithy behind, I made my way through the hold to the front gates and left Falkreath behind.

My destination was my previous home in the Evergreen Forest. My home itself might have been leveled. But, the basement was still in tact.

The basement was where my parents had invested in their main prospect, and by that, I mean me. In the basement, there is both a small forge, and an enchanting table. Perfect for me to go about my business undisturbed.

I wasn't going to be making a straight shot there though, which would only take me a few hours without pausing.

But, the Everglade Green Forest is home to all manners of beasts. And not only did I want their souls to fill up a bunch of my soul gems. I also wanted to forge a contract with a few I hunted before I sent them off to Hircine's Realm so that I can summon them as my familiars.

A roar split the air and tore through the forest around me.

I sprinted at top speed through the foliage, bow in hand, Behind me, a massive Sabre Cat that reached nearly to my shoulders barreled after me, twin blade like fangs prepped to tear me limb from limb.

It was faster than me and catching up quickly. And when it was just a few feet behind, it launched itself into the air at my back.

I was planning on that though. It was a typical hunting tactic of its. And I'd been hunting these things for years at this point.

I juked to the side, rolling and coming to a stop on one knee, bow coming up at the ready as it soured right through my previous spot. A glowing purple arrow of magic appeared knocked on my bow with a thought, a conjured, bound arrow and I ran my magic through both it and the bow, activating the enchantment of the bow.

It glowed a neon green that seeped into the arrow, and I fired.

The now glowing purple and green arrow pierced into the flank of the massive Sabre Cat as it made to turn after landing and immediately, its body went limp as that same green glow seeped into its own body.

'And target caught.' I grinned, sheathing my bow. I'd enchanted it with paralysis specifically for things like this. For all a Sabre Cat's physical power, speed and bulk, it had very little magic power of its own, and could not resist the enchantment of my bow.

Making my way over to it, I held my hand up, purple light flaring into life in my palm before I fired it into the ground around the Sabre Cat. The light spread out, forming a glyph of purple symbols under it and I clenched my fist, connecting my mind to the conjured rune and forcing my will on the beasts.

Purple light seeped up from the rune underneath it, spreading across its body. And with it paralyzed, unable to move and with a paltry amount of magic compared to my own, it was almost child's play to force its will to yield to my own.

When I felt it submit. I wasted no time, summoning a bound daedra in the form of a large glowing purple sword, the same make as my arrow before it and promptly swung it at the Sabre Cat before it could recover, slicing cleanly through its neck and killing it.

"There we go." my grin got larger as I felt a familiar connection slip into place within me.

I dismissed my sword and held my palms up, filling them with spheres of purple magic energy. I thrust both out and both energy spheres slammed into the ground and expanded upwards and outwards. They shattered and disappeared a moment later to reveal my wolf familiar, and my newest familiar, the glowing purple ethereal form of the Sabre Cat I just killed and bound to myself.

The reason people can make familiar contracts with beasts like wolves and Sabre Cats, is because they belong to Hircine's domain. And upon death, they are bound for his realm. They, for the most part, are the weakest souls that end up there and are at the bottom of the totem pole. But, because they are bound for his realm, they also fall under the same conditions as many Daedra themselves. And, we on Nirn can make contracts with them and summon them. They're just so weak in comparison to Daedra and the like, that forcing the contract on them prior to their death is the best option for summoning them.