Skyrim: The Hybrid - Chapter 4.1 (Patreon)

The forests of Skyrim were ripe with all manner of beasts one always had to be wary of on long trips. Even the pathed roads patrolled by the guardsmen of the holds aren't safe to be honest, never mind the untamed forests.

Wolves, mud crabs, giant frostbite spiders, sabre cats, bears are just some of the violent beasts that commonly prowl through them. And those are the more mundane beasts, not taking into the account things like spriggans or draugr.

And it was not all that rare an occasion that draugr ended up wandering from the crypts they toiled away within. There was always some fool that forwent common sense and tried to raid some of the many barrows in search of riches and treasure.

Only to leave the doors open, die gruesomely and allow the draugr to get free.

But, putting the supernatural monsters aside, the natural ones were like any other living creature. They would avoid fights if they could with beasts of similar size.

For example, a bear would not confront a saber cat for a fight for no reason, and only do so if it had to, and that was the same for most, even the frostbite spiders, assuming they weren't in too big of a group.

Which was why, as I made my way through the Evergreen Forest towards a certain burial mound, that the spectral forms of my bound wolf familiar and saber cat familiar prowled at my sides.

Admittedly, with the Saviours Hide and the enchantment on my hood and mask, making it as if I were wearing a full plate of armour stronger than steel from head to toe, the dangers of an attack on me were minimal, but it never hurt to be safe and prepared.

It still didn't stop me from casting the Detect Life spell every so often just in case.

After all, it wasn't just beasts or supernatural that were the problem these days. Imperial and Stormcloak battles could spring up anywhere, and the sheer amount of bandits across the lands of Skyrim had increased massively ever since the war with the Thalmor, and continued to increase by the year.

By time I arrived at my first destination, it was already pretty late. My legs ached and sweat matted my brow and lower back despite how cold Skyrim was, mostly thanks to my warmth enchantments.

I wanted to crawl back into a big, soft warm bed and just sleep, but I didn't have time for that.

"It's huge…" I noted to myself as I practically hiked my way to the top of the burial mound I stopped at.

The game never really gave a good scale for anything, and this was just the same. In the game, the burial mounds seemed to rise up a few feet like a tiny hill.

Here though, it rose up massively, towering above me and looked practically like a great big dirt hump from a camels back.

It was crazy how big it was and this was just part of it that wasn't buried below.

'Alright, here we go!' I took a deep breath and psyched myself up.

I thrust both hands out towards the ground and focused, spreading my magic power down into the great big dirt mound itself and pulled with all my might.

Great big clods of dirt rose up into the air through my telekinesis spell, and were dropped safely to the side of the burial mound. Then I did the same again, and again, until there was a massive pile of dirt as large as I was tall sitting on the ground to the side of the dragon burial mound.

And what I was looking for came free.

It was only a small part of it, a part of its wing, but god was it massive. It was only the bottom tip of it, but even then, one of the bones jutting from the wing bone, was multiple times larger than me.

It truly went to show, just how absolutely massive dragons truly were. Going by this single part of bone on its wing, the thing was probably a good few hundred feet in size easily.

It was tempting, of so tempting to fully dig it out. It would take a while, but I could do it. The problem is, I don't have the power magically to lift something of this sheer size with my telekinesis….yet.

Not to mention, I have nowhere I could store such a massive skeleton. It's better to just leave it here for now and come back later for it if I need more.

With that thought in mind I lifted my hand and grasped the bone I was admiring with telekinesis and pulled.

It jerked a but, but did not come free.

Holy shit was it durable, with how much strength I put unto that tug with my magic, I could have lifted and tossed a boulder as big as a bear.

"…Alright…" I trailed off with a pant, "Let's try this again!" with a shout, I thrust both hands forward and tugged on the wing bone with all my magical might.

It did not come free.

I did it again.

It did not come free.

I did it again, it did not come free.

Again, and again I grasped and pulled on the bone with all the power I could with my telekinesis magic-

And finally on the twelfth attempt, a resounding crack came from the bone as it loosened, and then a final thirteen pull, snapped the bone clean off.

It clattered to the ground, while I fell onto my ass drenched in sweat, low on magic and panting in exhaustion.

'….Fucking hell, it's been decaying for thousands of years and it still took all that just to pull off one tiny part of it.' I thought, stupefied.

Dragons are bullshit man.

Then again, I suppose they are technically Demigods.

"You…better be worth it." I shot a dry look at the huge piece of dragon bone sitting innocently on the ground.

___________

With the material I wanted in hand, I took the time to cover the dragon burial mound once more and continue on my way.

Albeit, I practically had to lean over my saber cat familiar along the way just to keep upright, and that was after securing the dragon bone to its back to carry for me.

Thankfully, my family home that I grew up in, or at least what remained of it after the pissing contest the Imperials and Stormcloaks had around had around it, wasn't far from the dragon burial mound.

It was close enough I'd come to play there sometimes as a child growing up.

Soon, I arrived and was met with the devastation that was my childhood home. Or what was left of it.

That being not much at all.

The house had been levelled, and our belongings ransacked and stolen. All that remained was the blackened, burnt foundation of the home, and junk scattered around that may have once been something of note in my home.

Being back here, brought the memories back, of my father locking me in the basement and telling me to hide while he and my mother tried to defend our home, only to realise that it wasn't some minor skirmish of a few Imperials and Stormcloaks, but two outright divisions fighting each other to a bloody death.

When I finally managed to get free of the basement and break the ward barrier my mother had put around it to keep me stuck within, this was all that greeted my eyes.

A burnt, wrecked ruin.

There had been no bodies in sight, I don't even know who won the fucking fight. All I know, is that whoever did, took the bodies of everyone involved, my mother and father included.

I didn't even get the chance to bury them and say goodbye.

My hands clenched into fists and my teeth ground together as anger spiked through my veins, "Ulfric fucking Stormcloak, this is his fault." I spat in disgust.

If I ever get the chance, I'll rip his fucking head off and piss down his decapitated throat.

The fool only made things easier for the Thalmor. Even if the Legion weren't innocent in all this, even if the way they went about things leaves much to be desired, this stupid rebellion only benefited the Thalmor.

'Stop.' I told myself, shaking my head. There is no point thinking on this right now, not here, not when I can't do anything about any of it.

…Yet.

Once I complete my plans though, things will be different.

I took a deep shuddering breath, before making my way over to where the door leading to the basement was.

I cleared off the grass, twigs and dirt I'd used to conceal it, before pulling it wide open and peering down inside.

"Just as I remembered it." despite myself my lips quirked up into a half smile. It wasn't anything special, just a small square space. There was a forge at the very end of the basement room, with an anvil and wet stone, while at side, there was an enchantment table and alchemy station, while near the ladders to get inside, sat a small bed, with a tiny table beside it.

Alright, time to get down to business.

…Well, after I get some sleep.

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The next morning when I got up, it wasn't long before the basement room was lit up with an orange blaze as I heated up the forge.

I didn't have any good material for the equipment I was planning on making, specifically, a weapon.

Luckily for me though, I did have a few steel pieces I picked up in Falkreath. So I was just going to melt down the steel swords and war axes I picked up over there to use as the base.

I was only going to be using it as a base anyway.

The outer shell of the weapon, and a great deal more of it, had to be made of dragon bone for my plans to have even a semblance of working.

And if it did, I could always switch out the steel later for stronger material if I went about it right.

My eyes glanced over to my belongings, specifically a map I'd laid out last night on the ground from my pack. I'd already marked out a few places I needed to visit on it in advance.

Specifically though, my eyes were on one specific place. It wasn't all that far from here actually, I could reach there within a day, or two at most of travelling, and it actually wasn't all that far from Bleak Falls Barrow either.

Bromjunaar Sanctuary.

See, getting my hands on all these items and making all these plans is all good and swell.

But they mean nothing when I lack the power to put it all to use or even get some of what I want in the first place.

Like the Skeleton Key.

And I am not the Dragonborn, it is not a simple matter for me to simply get stupidly strong overnight and crush who I want. I'd be hard pressed to defeat a single Briarheart for example, never mind Mercer Frey.

But at Bromjunaar Sanctuary, I can get my hands on a subordinate who has all the power needed to crush the likes of them for me.

Konahrik.

The Dragon Priest mask is there for the taking. Not only was it a powerful piece of equipment, but it allowed whoever wore it to summon a spectral Dragon Priest ghost to fight for them like a common a familiar.

With the Saviour's Hide, my weapon when it's ready and the Dragon Priest, I'll be able to do, so so much.

There weren't many alive today in Skyrim, that could take on a Dragon Priest and hope to live and tell the tale, nevermind actually win.

In fact, the only one that came to mind was the Last Dragonborn, or well, Miirak considering he's still out there as well and Harkon.

Well, there's a few, but they're all obscenely overpowered beings I won't be liable to run into for a long while.

Where as a single Dragon Priest has the power to mow down giants as easily as breathing.

Or at least so the stories go.