The Story of Lyrisius                                           Bresne Smythe                                                                                                                                                      )	    %          The Story  of  Lysirius              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.   