The story of Lysirius

By Bresne Smythe

In ancient times, there lived a hero named Lyrisius. He fought agains the Akaviri slavetraders and single-handedly slew hundreds. Despite his valor, Lyrisius' army was routed and scattered to the four winds. Lyrisius fled into the moors to escape the Akaviri chariots.

Far from the lands of men, Lyrisius entered the blasted lands. At the heart of this forsaken landscape, he met the wyrm. The great scaly beast mocked the mighty blows of Lyrisius' enchanted spear. It melted the shield Fearstruck, gift of the Daedra Boethiah, with a single blast of its fiery breath. Lyrisius, seeing that he could not defeat the creature by force of arms, surrendered.

The wyrm intended to devour Lyrisius when the hero offered to be its slave and manservant. Ever prideful, the wyrm agreed. Seeing that the wyrm was vulnerable to conceit, Lyrisius spoke, "Oh great wyrm. For my first service, I beg that you allow me to polish your one tarnished scale."

Indeed, centered between the great wings of the creature was a dull scale, clearly out of reach of its long neck. Its vanity was such that it immediately lowered one wing for Lyrisius to climb upon.

Once astride the great lizard, Lyrisius slid his dagger underneath the scale and into the tender flesh of the beast. Though it spun and twisted in all directions, the wyrm could not get at the hero. Finally it took to the air. Lyrisius clung to the neck with all his strength as the wyrm banked, rolled, and dove.

Seeing that Lyrisius could not be shaken free, the wyrm demanded that he remove the stinging blade. Lyrisius answered, "Fly straight on until you see a great army. Destroy that army and I will remove my blade."

With a great roar, the scaled creature set off. The Akavari army had no chance against the fire-breathing beast. They have never plagued Tamriel since.

"I have done as you bid. Now sheath your stinger," roared the wyrm.

Knowing that he would be devoured or worse, Lyrisius pulled the blade and then leapt from the back of the flying wyrm. Indeed, the foul monster had intended to slay the hero. The wyrm pursued the plummeting Lyrisius. Boethiah appeared beside the falling hero. Praising him for ultimately destroying the army of Akavir, she turned him into a raven. Lyrisius quickly lost the wyrm in the clouds.

Legend has it that the wyrm still lives, though this happened in the first era long, long ago. The dragon nurses a grudge against Lyrisius and all of his kind. It has vowed never again to trust two legged bearers of weapons.

Scholar's Note: If this legend has a basis in fact, the artifact Fearstruck was utterly destroyed. No other reference to it has ever been found.