The Dragon Hunt

This is the story of the famous dragon hunt of 2E 32, as handed down by Gandrius of Rockbourne. It takes place in the marshes of the southeast, where the lizard men now live.

It starts with Arginon, an old Altmer mage. He had chased the dragon, Ridïsniándoras, for many years, to collect its great prize: the dragon's heart. Of all alchemical treasures, this was surely the most valuable, and without a doubt the most rare. But the dragon, revered for its beauty and feared for its strength, had eluded him at every turn.

Now, after chasing it all over Tamriel, Arginon had finally traced the creature back to this place, to this black marsh. Arginon had managed to seriously wound it at their last encounter, and was certain he would not be denied his rightful prize today. Our tale starts on this dark morning, in that darkest of marshes, where no sane man or mer dared enter. Arginon walked slowly, trying not to disturb the water he treaded on. Behind him were two dozen men, mercenaries all. The few brave enough to challenge the dragon, if I dare call this bravery. Most of them were armed with long spears and halberds, and wore steel armor. It would not protect them against the onslaught of fire and ash that awaited them, and it was no accident that Arginon had failed to enlighten them. In fact, it was necessary for his battle plan to succeed.

They had traveled all day to reach the dragon's lair, and Azura's hour had passed before they made it to their destination. Long before they could see their prey, they heard the low rumble of its breath, echoing through the damp marsh. There were periodical flashes of light visible beyond the trees, though their origin was still hidden from the hunters' eyes. As they approached the lair, the deep thunder shook the ground itself and filled their hearts with fear. Every time the thunder grew silent, they prayed it would not come again.

When they could see the tree line, the party came to a halt. The cave in which Ridïsniándoras was sleeping was just ahead. Around its entrance there was a clearing, shaped like a straight corridor leading to the cave, but the charred tree stumps all around revealed that this had not always been so. Arginon could not help but think that his old nemesis had done this deliberately, and that it knew that they were coming. The creature had shown exceptional guile in their past encounters, much more so than Arginon would have expected of any mere beast. Could it be that the drake was taunting him even now? But it did not matter. He would claim his vengeance soon enough.

They rested for 30 minutes, for many of the mercenaries needed to catch their breath. It had been a long day for all of them, save Arginon. Dried mud weighed down on their already heavy armor, and it impaired their movement. A potion of restore fatigue went round for all to take a sip. It wasn't much, but it invigorated them and gave them courage.

"Now listen up, all of you!" whispered Arginon in a commanding tone.

"You all know the plan. If you do what you are supposed to do, you will go home tomorrow with honor and riches beyond your wildest dreams. Deviate from it, and none of us will be going home at all."

Arginon motioned toward the cave entrance, and all the mercenaries slowly walked toward it, spreading out as they went. Arginon remained where he was, watching the cave intently. As the mercenaries approached the tree line, they noticed scorched bones littered the earth all over the clearing. They could not tell whether the bones were human. They continued on, leaving the cover of the trees behind. The dragon's breath still thundered across the land, amplified by the cave. The first mercenary had now reached the entrance, and the breathing stopped abruptly. There were two seconds of silence, then a raging inferno erupted from within, lighting up the clearing. The mercenary was enveloped in flame, his screams of agony drowned out by the dragon's enraged roar.

Arginon sprang into action, racing toward the tree line, murmuring a spell on the way. The other mercenaries petrified. This had clearly not been a part of the plan. Moments later, a huge figure emerged from the cave, illuminated only by the burning mercenary in front of it. The drake had now fully cleared the cave, and spread its huge wings, standing on its hind legs. Arginon had waited for this moment. Ridïsniándoras would now try to take off and rain fire on the mercenaries from above. If it would be allowed to do this, the hunt would be doomed to fail. Quickly Arginon leapt forward and yelled his spell, almost like a battle cry. A purple sphere of burdening magic shot out from his hands and flew toward the dragon, grazing its leg just as it tried to take off.

At first it seemed the spell had missed, as the dragon gained altitude. But before it had even reached the canopy, the dragon slowed down again to come to a halt in mid-air. It flapped its wings erratically in despair, but it could no longer sustain its flight and came crashing back down to the ground, crushing one of the mercenaries in the process.

The remaining mercenaries had regained their fighting spirits and used the opportunity to sink their blades into the drake's flesh. Their assault had little effect, but to enrage their prey further. The creature got back on its feet, unleashing its fiery breath upon the closest mercenary it could see, all the while moving violently from side to side. Only his shield saved the soldier from turning to charcoal, even though the onslaught had left him with severe burns. Arginon had the ability to cast a healing spell at him, but chose to save his magicka reserves for more useful purposes. The remaining mercenaries kept thrusting their weapons at the dragon, but their resolve was quickly fading. Arginon waited to cast his spells until the dragon had turned his back toward him, so as not to alert it to his presence. In the meantime Ridïsniándoras was seriously thinning the ranks of the wavering mercenaries.

When the opportunity finally presented itself, Arginon cast several frost spells at it, each hitting their target in rapid succession. The frostbite not only caused heavy damage to the animal's torso and hind leg, but the numbing cold slowed his movement as well. Arginon was certain the battle had been fought. His burdening spell would keep the dragon from taking flight, and he would not be able to reach Arginon in time, even if he knew where he was. But he was sadly mistaken. Not only did the dragon have enough strength and speed left to catch him, but he now turned to face him. Within seconds the beast had halved the distance between them and spewed forth a fearsome flame, burning trees all around. Arginon had barely had enough time to cast a protective fire shield before the inferno had reached him.

How was this possible? How could the animal still move with such agility? He would have to finish his prey now, before it had reached him. Arginon cast the most powerful frost spell he knew, and threw it at the dragon with all his might. And as the dragon and the frost spell rushed toward each other, time seemed to slow down, each second lasting an eternity. Just as the spell was about to plunge itself into the drake's chest, Ridïsniándoras' powerful wings thrust its body high up in the air. The spell continued on its course, past the remaining mercenaries, finally releasing its power on the cave wall. The freezing cold, spreading rapidly along the surface, bathed the cavern wall in a bright blue glow, emphasized by the moonlight. Had the bulk of the burdening spell missed its target when it grazed the drake's skin?

Ridïsniándoras circled around, preparing to continue its onslaught from above. Sometimes the dragon hid in the clouds, only revealing itself when its dark chest cast a shadow on the stars above. The smoke from the burning wet wood covered the skies, masking the dragon further. It was a matter of time before he would come back and finish off his attackers. Nothing could stop this now. Arginon fell to his knees in despair. Only now did he notice how silent it had become. Many of the mercenaries and all their battle cries had died off, and the rumble of his nemesis' breath could no longer be heard. Only the crackle of the slowly burning trees around Arginon remained.

It did not take long for the dragon to come back and reclaim his lair. Several times he dove down from the clouds, leaving only fire in its wake. First he killed each of the soldiers in the forest, one by one, apparently deliberately saving Arginon for last. He then set down on the clearing, and calmly reentered the cave. The remaining mercenaries, at least that Arginon knew of, were in there.

This was the mage's last chance to finish the dragon off. He was trapped, and his back was turned. Arginon mustered all the strength and courage he had left and ran towards the cave. As he approached the entrance, a bright light and loud thunder erupted from within. The dragon had almost finished this battle. But there was still a chance. Arginon was now able to see into the dark tunnel, but it was impossible to make anything out. For several seconds he continued down the cave, unable to even see the ground he walked on. A shape became visible through the darkness and smoke. At first it moved slowly, then increasingly faster. Arginon quickly cast his frost spells, each disappearing into the dark. He could not tell whether they had hit. His magicka was almost depleted when the dark figure had finally reached him. The drake had gathered much speed by now, and swept Arginon from the ground with one of its talons. Ridïsniándoras proceeded out of the cave, quickly resuming its flight.

Soon Arginon could no longer see anything but clouds. He noticed that he had severely wounded the dragon in the cave, but he could not finish the job now. If the dragon fell, then so did he. But it had sustained too much damage to continue its flight for very long. After what seemed like several hours, they reached a mountain pass, its peaks covered in snow. On several occasions, they passed very closely to the ground. Arginon decided to take his chance, as it was the only one he had. Seconds before they were about to pass over one of the peaks, he drew upon all the magicka he still had in him and flung a frost bolt straight into the drake's chest. The drake lost its grip on Arginon as they both fell towards the ground. Ridïsniándoras had been mortally wounded.

Arginon passed out upon hitting the ground and woke up much later. His legs were crushed by the weight of the dragon, and he could not move. His upper body was freezing, however, and Arginon imagined that the dragon's body heat was the only thing that had kept him alive for all this time. Several days later, Arginon was found on the steps of an imperial chapel. He was frozen to near death, clutching in his hands the dragon's heart. The surgeons were forced to amputate his legs, but Arginon did recover. There had been several survivors among the mercenaries, who had found their way back to civilization as well. Their burns were severe, though they could be healed. But Arginon did not care for them. He thought only of his prize. A year later, he was able to distill a most potent potion from Ridïsniándoras' heart. It would give Arginon great strength and agility. It was unfortunate that his personality remained unaffected.