"You're finally awake." The voice of a male Nord awoke her. She turned her head towards the sound and looked at him for a brief second to gather her thoughts. "Where are we?" She asked and looked around, before she added: "And more importantly, who are you, and why are we here?" The blonde Nord chuckled, "You don't remember anything, do you, Dark elf?" she turned her face back towards him and squinted her eyes at his comment. "If I did remember, I wouldn't have asked, Nord"
She looked down at herself, and sighed over the sight of her wrists bound together. "You were trying to cross the border, and was caught in that Imperial ambush, same as us" He said and turned his face away from her. "I'm Ralof, of Riverwood," The man said and added:" And who are you?"
"I am E'hla," She answered and looked him straight in the eye. She turned her face towards the muffled man beside her, "Who's he?" She asked and turned her face back towards Ralof. He seemed shocked over her question and muttered; "You don't know who that is? He's Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King of Skyrim!"
That muffled man was Ulfric? She couldn't believe it. As she turned her head towards him again their eyes met, and he looked quite surprised to se a grayskin sitting there, right beside him, bound and dressed in rags. "Shut up back there!" the carriage driver shouted at them. "Where are we?" she mumbled and looked back and forth at the two men she shared carriage with. "This is Helgen," Ralof said after a brief look-around. "I used to be sweet on a girl from here." He added as they got through the gates.
"What is going on?" She said, almost whispering, looking around franticly. Ralof looked at her, "What do you think? End of the line." he said and nodded at the other Stormcloak soldiers all lined up for the chopping block. She didn't utter a single word, just looked around at the soldiers, Ulfric and Ralof.
The carriage stopped, and the Imperial Captain said in a loud and clear voice:" Walk over to the block when your name is called!" One by one they walked over to the block, and when E'hla was the only prisoner remaining, a Nord dressed in an Imperial uniform browsed through the list, " Another refugee?" He said, scanning her from top to bottom. "What shall we do Captain, she's not on the list" he said to his Captain. "Forget the list, she goes to the block," The Captain answered. "I'm sorry prisoner, we'll make sure your remains will return to Morrowind." He said and followed her over to the rest of the prisoners.
"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric," The redheaded Nord uttered before the headman's axe descended on his neck, and his head rolled off the block and into the basket. "Next prisoner, the dark elf!" the Captain yelled, but everyone went quite when a loud rumbling sound echoed through the hold. "What was that?" Ralof whispered to himself, but loud enough for E'hla to catch up.
"I said, next prisoner!" The captain repeated, and the Imperial soldier standing beside the block added: "To the block prisoner, nice and easy now." E'hla walked towards the block and looked down at the decapitated man lying before her feet. Her thoughts were racing, but they were brutally ripped apart when a male soldier pushed her back down to the block, and pulled her hair so that her neck would be exposed and ready for the executioner's axe.
Again the rumbling sound rolled through them, only this time it was much closer. "What in Oblivion is that!" an Imperial soldier yelled and pointed franticly at the source of the rumbling. "What are you seeing?" the Captain asked before she turned her head, and uttered a simple: "Dragon!"
E'hla got to her feet, staggered, but alive. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the shape of Ralof. "Come on, Elf, get up and follow me!" he yelled and pushed her with his elbow to get her moving. She obeyed, and stumbled in her own steps as they ran to the inn. "Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?" The blonde Nord asked his Jarl. Ulfric closed the door to the inn, and walked over to a wounded Stormcloak soldier. "Legends don't burn down villages." He said and looked at Ralof. E'hla looked at the two men catching her breath. "Take her with you to the keep," Ulfric ordered and nodded towards E'hla. She looked rather confused for a moment, trying to make out what everyone was saying. Ulfric yelled at his men: "We need to move, now!" Ralof bumped her back and leaned in towards her ear and said:" Up through the tower, lets go!" and nearly pushed her up the steps.
They caught up with the Imperial soldier by the entrance to the Keep, and Ralof and the soldier exchanged some venomous words before Ralof again pushed her in the direction he wanted her to go. "In through that door" He said and lead the way.
They entered the keep, and looked around the room briefly to get an image of their whereabouts. "Looks like we're the only ones who made it." He said and pulled out a dagger. "Come here, let me see if I can get those bindings off." He muttered in a calm voice. E'hla walked over to him and stretched out her arms, which he grabbed in one hand and removed her bindings. "You might as well take Gunjar's gear, he won't be needing it anymore" he said and pointed towards a dead Stormcloak soldier. "Really? You want me to undress a dead man, and wear his armor?" She said and made a grimace. He gave her a sharp look and said:" If you want to run around in rags with a dragon on the loose, fine for me." And shrugged. She gave it all a second thought before she robbed the corpse of everything useful. "You better give that axe a few swings, cause we've got company." He said in a silenced tone and crouched down beside the door. She followed his lead, and kept quiet.
The Captain and one of the Imperial soldiers entered the room with their swords drawn. Before she knew it, Ralof had jumped on one of them, and gave the Captain a couple slashes with his axe, and looked over at the frozen E'hla. In the confusion she had just crouched down between the table and the rocky wall. "Do something, you idiot!" he yelled and fought off the Captain, leaving the other soldier in a bloody pulp.
After checking that both of them were dead, he walked over to E'hla. "What's wrong?" He asked and crouched down beside her. "I can't do this." She whispered, cupping her face with her hands. "Do what?" He asked, and placed one hand on her shoulder. "I .. This is just too much. This should never have happened. I should never have left home." She mumbled to her self. "Don't blame yourself for this." He said, stroking her back with a warm, calming hand. "I won't get out of here alive, and neither will you, unless we stand together:" He said, tilting her head with a hand, forcing her to look at him. Her eyes met his, and he smiled. He rose up and put out a hand to help her up, and said:" Now, let's get out of here."
They made their way through the keep, fighting off other imperial soldiers, and then eventually they entered the damp, dark bowels of the keep. "You could have told me there are frostbite spiders down here" She muttered and plucked out some cobweb from her hair. "How could I? I didn't know until we got here" He said and stopped when they stood before yet another dead end. E'hla sighed and looked around, while Ralof tried to move away the rocks blocking their way. "There's no way we're getting through here," He said and paused. She traced back her own tracks and caught eye on a crack in the rock face surrounding them. "Follow me," She said and squeezed herself through the crack, with Ralof right behind her.
Turned out they had walked right into a frostbite spider nest, and those creepy crawlers now surrounded them. E'hla reached for her axe, and split open the head of one of the smallest spiders in front of her, and in the haste of trying to dodge the fangs of the mother spider she stumbled over a rock, and fell to the ground. Only having time to raise her shield, she tried to take cover behind the circular disc now protecting her from the venomous fangs of several spiders. "Ralof!" She cried out with a voice full of panic and fear. The stout Nord went into a killing spree, and picked up the axe she had dropped when she fell. Now dual wielding the axes he dealt some tremendous damage upon the remaining spiders, which were dead within seconds.
"Are you ok?" he asked and crouched down beside the shaking shield she held in her hands. She peeked out from underneath the rim and looked at him, "Thank you" she said. "I.." She paused, "I'm not to much help, am I?" She asked and rose up, brushing some dirt off of herself and looking at Ralof. He shook his head and said:" No, you're not. But I am starting to sense that you're not much of a swordsman." He reached behind his back and pulled out his long bow and his quiver. "Take it, I believe you'll do far better with this." She smiled at him and placed the quiver on her back, and flexed the bow a couple of times. "Let's get going then," She said with a brief smile on her face and started walking.
The two of them ran through the tight passages, until they came out in a larger cave, and Ralof stopped. "Get down!" He hissed, silenced but loud enough for her to hear him. She did as he said and crouched down behind a old, rotten carriage. "What is it?" She whispered and looked rather confused. "There's a bear just ahead, do you see her?" He said and pointed at the bear, laying a couple of feet in front of them. He took a couple of steps away from the carriage they were hiding behind, and turned towards her, "Are you feeling lucky?" he whispered. She looked at him and smiled, then she took an arrow from her quiver and pulled out the bow. E'hla closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before she stepped out from behind the carriage and took aim. "Ready?" She asked, whispering, and turned to look at him. He nodded, and readied his axe and shield.
A loud roar echoed in the cave when the arrow penetrated the bear's ribs. She readied another arrow, and this time she aimed for it's head. The arrow flew through the air, and hit it's mark with deadly precision. Ralof rose up slowly, amazed over her skills as a marksman. "Well done, Elf" he said and sheathed his weapon. They walked over to the bear together and skinned it. "Do you smell that?" She said and tilted her head towards the smell, and smiled. He tried to focus on the smell, but all he could sense was the skinned bear's flesh and blood. "What is it?" He said and looked at her, "Fresh air, we're getting closer to the exit." She retorted.
She was right. As they walked through the passages, the air got colder, and the wind blew through their hair. "This must be the way out!" She said with a big smile on her face, and started to run towards the opening.
