He opened his stiff eyelids, and saw his bound hands. Slowly everything came into focus. He lifted his heavy head and peered around. He was sat in a wagon with two other men, and a red-haired girl next to him. They quietly chattered between eachother, the whispers sharply hitting Kristian's eardrum, his head was killing him. The blonde Nord infront of him noticed his movements, and smiled.
''Hey, you. Finally awake.''
Kristian decided to respond with a small smile, his hands idly tugging at the ropes holding his wrists together.
''You tried to cross the border, eh? Walked right into that Imperial ambush. Same as us, and that thief over there.''
The newly woken man peered over at the dirty looking thief next to him, and to the person sitting next to the social criminal. The person had regal-looking clothing and a mouthfold. The red-haired girl glared over at the man he talked with.
''Damn you, Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along! The Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell!'' she blurted out angrily between her gritted teeth, her hands clenching together tightly. ''You there, you and me, we shouldn't be here! It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.''
''We're all brothers in binds now, Thief.'' the man infront of him said in response, leaning over with a grim smile on his dirty, bearded face.
''Shut up back there!'' the Imperial man who drove the carriage shouted back at them.
A small silence fell over the 'brothers in binds', but then the girl next to him turned to the gagged man.
''What's the matter with him, eh?''
''Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.''
The Imperial girl lifted her eyebrows and leaned in closer to the man infront of her.
''The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion.'' The Imperial redhead looked like she made a connection in her head. ''... but if they captured you.. Oh gods, where are they taking us?''
The blonde, social Stormcloak responded grimly to the Imperial's question.
''I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits.''
The Imperial girl quickly started to stir around, her face in panic.
''No, this can't be happening! This isn't happening!''
He silently watched the thief, and then at the man infront of him who calmly turned to the girl.
''Hey, thief, where are you from?''
''Why do you care?''
''A Nord's last thoughts should be of home.''
The thief slowly calmed down as she thought.
''Anvil.. in Cyrodiil..''
An Imperial soldier ahead them shouted and rudely interrupted their talk of Nordic traditions.
''General Tullius, sir! The headsman is awaiting!''
The general responded with a short ''Good, let's get this over with.'' The four persons in the horse wagon looked down at eachother's feet in silence. The thief slowly started begging to her gods.
''Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me.''
The horse carriages slowly rolled into the city of Helgen. It was crawling with Imperial soldiers. They could see more of them then they saw citizens. The dirty Stormcloak looked over at the general in spite.
''Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this.'' The silence slowly fell over them like a blanket again, but the Stormcloak was close to take the blanket off.
''This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in... Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe.''
The carriage kept going. They heard families hushing their children into the home, as they came closer to the headsman's spot. He shared a grim expression with the others in the wagon as both the wagons stopped infront of the headsman and a few Imperial guards. The captain and another man stood at the end of the wagons as the criminals lined up before them.
''Step torwards the block when we call your name. One at a time!''
Ralof sighed into his ear, grumbling angrily through his thin lips.
''The Empire loves their damn lists.''
''Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm.''
The Jarl slowly walked forward to the chopping block, with his head held high.
''Ralof of Riverwood.''
The Stormcloak, Ralof, now walked proudly to his place at the chopping block.
''Illirea of Anvil, Cyrodiil.''
The Imperial girl slowly walked, her head held down as she whined out her prayers. The Captain and the other Imperial Scout that counted their names up looked at him.
''And who are you?''
He slowly gathered a breath of fresh air in his lungs and begun to speak in a low, baritone voice.
''Kristian of Markarth, sir.''
''You picked a bad time to come back home to Skyrim, kinsman. Captain, what should we do? He's not on the list.''
''Forget the list. He goes to the block.''
The man frowned and looked upon him sadly.
''By your orders, Captain. I'm sorry, atleast you'll die here in your homeland. Follow the Captain, prisoner.''
Kristian smiled faintly at his Nordic kinsman and followed to the Captain over to the other criminals. Infront of them stood a few Imperial soldiers, the Captain, General Tullius, a priest, and the dreaded headsman. The general started speaking.
''Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne.'' The Jarl grunted in response. ''You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!''
A screech echoed from the top of the mountains, taking the attention of all the onlookers.
''What was that?'' the soldier that called them up said nervously.
Tullius simply turned back to the prisoners.
''It's nothing. Carry on.''
''Yes, General Tullius. Give them their last rites.'' the Captain said, turning to the priest.
The Priestess of Arkay slowly started her chant to bless their criminal souls. The whole pack of prisoners were quiet. Except one who bursted forth, brashly walking up to the chopping block.
''For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with.'' The Priestess nodded glumly and walked back.
''Come on! I haven't got all morning.'' The Stormcloak soldier said bravely, as the Imperial Captain walked up behind him and pushed him down, putting him facedown on the chopping block.
''My ancestor is smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?'' The headsman took a firm grip of his axe and lifted it, before carelessly chopping down - The brave rebel's head got cut off cleanly, the head falling into a basket infront of the block.
Ralof turned his head to Kristian, and they looked at eachother in a mutual sadness.
''As fearless in death as he was in life.'' Ralof slowly murmured out, as the Captain turned to the prisoners again.
''Next! The Nord in the rags!'' Kristian looked down at himself, frowning as he realized this was his one-way trip to Sovngarde. Another echoing screech was heard.
''There it is again, did you hear that?''
''I said NEXT PRISONER.'' the Captain commanded sharply, and Kristian walked forth with his head held high. He knelt infront of the chopping block, over the body of the dead rebel. He slowly put his head down on the bloody spot where many others had died before him. His face turned against the headsman, he was going to see his death. He blinked for a small second and looked again, seeing something black and winged in the yonder sky. Tullius turned sharply to face it.
''What in Oblivion is that?'' Kristian squinted and saw the dragon floating above, behind the headsman who got ready to chop his head clean off.
''Sentries, what do you see?'' The whole town plunged into chaos as the dragon landed on the tower behind the headsman, the mere impact making him stumble forward onto his face. The dragon shouted and sended a shockwave through the air. Tullius began shouting and rallying his soldiers.
''Guards, get the townspeople to safety!'' Kristian stumbled to his feet, his ears ringing at the dragon's loud screech. Ralof ran up to him, dragging him along.
''Kinsman, get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance! This way!'' Kristian stood up, following Ralof into a tower where the Stormcloaks had fled. The Jarl had gotten his mouthfold off.
''Jarl Ulfric! What was that thing? Could the legends be true?'' The Jarl turned with an unamused look on his face.
''Legends don't burn down villages. We need to move, now!'' Ralof and Kristian nodded, his hands still tied together.
''Up through the tower, let's go!'' Kristian ran as fast as he could up, but as he reached the middle of the stairs the wall suddenly burst open, the black dragon's head poking through and delivering a huge puff of fire, filling the whole room.
''GET BACK!'' The three kept out of the way of the fire, and the dragon lost interest. They ran up to the hole, looking at eachother.
''See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going!'' Kristian looked at Ralof, but then took charge and jumped through the hole, landing at the inn's top floor. He ran through the fire and smoke, hopping off and landing behind the Imperial that called up their names and a few others.
''HEMING, get over here! Heming! You need to get over here now!'' he shouted at a small boy, who quickly ran torwards them as the dragon landed behind him. Kristian quickly took cover with the others as another breath of fire was aimed at them, the remains of a burned down building covering them. The soldier turned to Kristian.
''Still alive, prisoner? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way! Gunnar, take care of the boy, I have to find General Tullius and join the defense.'' They started running across the fire-schorched ground, hopping into a small alley.
''Stay close to the wall!'' the soldier shouted, grabbing Kristian by his arm and pulling him next to him. The soldier's instincts were right, the dragon landed on the wall they hid behind and didn't even notice them. The dragon flew away and the Soldier continued, running up a few stairs. Kristian stayed close behind.
''Quickly, follow me!'' They ran through a burned down building, the cough filling up Kristian's nostrils. He was used to the smell of dead corpses and burning villages. The pair got out of the burning remnants of the house, running past a few men firing arrows and tending to their wounded ones. Kristian stared up at the red sky and the dragon spreading the chaos, but the soldier leading him grabbed his bound armour.
''It's you and me, prisoner! Stay close!'' They kept on running, through a gate. The dragon was keeping their distance, to both's joy. They finally stopped as they ran into Ralof and the Imperial thief. Hadvar stopped them.
''RALOF! You damned traitor! Out of my way!'' Ralof and the Imperial stopped to answer, Ralof seemed to already know the soldier.
''We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time.''
''FINE! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!'' Ralof turned to Kristian, beckoning him with a wave to follow him and the Imperial.
''YOU! Come on, into the keep!'' Kristian peered at the man named Hadvar, who ran into the other door. Strength was in numbers, so he followed right behind Ralof and the thief. They ran into a circular room, with two doors and a dead Stormcloak near a chair. The trio stopped to regain their breathe. Kristian peered at the thief and then at Ralof, who was knelt close to the Stormcloak.
''Ralof, he won't be needing his armour anymore.'' Kristian carefully pushed Ralof away, starting to strip the dead man of his armour. The thief nervously walked back and forth, biting her fingernails.
''We're-we're dead men walking!'' Kristian pulled his ratty linen rag off of him, putting on the second-hand armour. He was tired, his headache only dampened by the sheer adrenaline rush the situation gave him.
''Ralof, is there any way out?'' Ralof tugged at a door, frowning. He turned his head to Kristian, who understood. His ears perked as he heard voices and footsteps from the other door. He put a finger to his lips to hush his comrades, slowly taking cover behind the door to wait for whatever would come out. The others followed his example.
''It's that bloody captain from the execution!'' the thief hissed out. Kristian grabbed an axe laying idly on the floor, the door was slowly opened. He wasted no time and dug the axe's tip right between an Imperial scout's shoulderblades. The scout screamed in pain and fell forward, and the Captain walked out, with her sword drawn. Ralof quickly grabbed his sword and pushed the Captain back onto the floor, brutally standing over her and shoving his blade into her exposed throat.
''May the divines have mercy on your soul, Imperial..'' Ralof pulled the now bloodied blade out of the Captain's throat. Kristian did the same to his axe, and turned to the thief.
''You, thief. Look for a key, and steal the armour off of the scout.'' The thief lifted an eyebrow, but did as told. She quickly searched through the Captain and found a small, silvery key.
''Aha! Master scavenger.'' she said with a big grin, lobbing it over to Kristian. Kristian smiled back faintly.
''I don't know whether to applause you sincerely or sarcasticly. Now get some gear on, we have to get out of this room now.'' Kristian said lowly as he opened the other door, swinging it open. He peered over his shoulder and watched the redheaded Imperial get the over-sized armour set on. It didn't fit well over her slim figure.
''Let's go.'' Ralof butted in and led the other two down the stairs. He quickly pushed a big door open and pointed ahead. Kristian heard something distant, that could only signal danger. He grabbed both Ralof and the thief by the scruff, pulling them back as the roof collapsed between them and more Imperials.
Kristian pushed the door open just a bit to glance in. A few Imperial soldiers were talking in some sort of storage room. He quickly kicked the door in and ran in, Ralof next to him. The thief instead snuck around, keeping out of the fight. Kristian swung his axe right into an unlucky, unprepared scout. The blood splattered over his already dirty face. Next to him, Ralof was making quick work of another officer.
''Let's search the room, get any potions you can find.'' The thief went up next to Kristian with a large grin, in her hands she had a few bottles filled with red and blue liquid in them.
''One step ahead of you, slowpoke. Let's move on.'' Kristian couldn't help to smirk at the smug horse thief. The trio kept on running down a few stairs. Battle was ahead. Stormcloaks were fighting in a torture room! Ralof was first, running in and wrapping an arm around what seemed to be the head torturer's throat, and stab his sword through his back, the tip poking through his ribcage.
Kristian meanwhile ran forward to the torturer's assistant, tackling him down and swinging his axe down, splitting the Imperial's skull with ease. He panted, peering at the other Stormcloaks. Kristian peered around at the room that stunk with the familiar scent of death. He peered at a small table near a pillar. A black book with a dragon sigil was laying on it. He peered at the others and picked it up, stuffing it into his backpack.
''I didn't take you for a man of the written word, 'Kristian'.'' the thief said smugly as she saw the Nord's shameless bookstealing. Kristian peered at her with a lifted eyebrow.
''Atleast I -can- read. Now let's move on.'' Kristian sheathed his axe and waved at Ralof and the thief. They ran down another corridor, filled with cells at each side of it. They took a sharp turn down a stair case and through another torture-room.
''Hole in the wall. I think it'll lead us out.'' Kristian peered at Ralof as he said this, but then nodded.
''Lead the way, Ralof.'' The trio went down. They weren't the first in this cave, there were a few torches and man-made steps. The cave was dripping and full of wildlife. A few bugs, and some moss and odd flowers. Kristian oddly found this smell more offending then the one in the previous room.
Kristian heard voices. The Imperials weren't the stealthy type. He drew his axe and rushed forward, leaving Ralof and the thief in his tracks. He quickly rushed over a small stonebridge, and an Imperial scout on the other side saw him and rushed against him. He bent over and grabbed the charging Scout, dumping him down into the rocky canal below. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ralof and the thief catching up.
''Kristian! Archers!'' Ralof sprinted up behind Kristian and tackled the big burly Nord down, an arrow windling over them. Ralof got off him and grabbed his sword, going forward. Kristian got helped up by the thief. They ran over another small bridge and they charged into the archers. They were no match to the added strength on such close-quarters of Ralof and Kristian.
''Thanks, Ralof.'' Kristian said as he pulled his axe out of a female Imperial's chest. Ralof just looked at him and smiled.
''Okay, let's save the romance for later, guys, we have to get out of here, remember?'' the thief sighed, brushing past them with an arrogance unmatched by even the largest of nobles. She peered at a huge drawbridge, and then at a lever. She pulled it and it fell down.
''Go on, stop gawking at my intellect, pull your jaws up from the ground and go!'' Kristian grunted in irritation and continued jogging behind the thief. They came into another man-made cave, but this one looked much less 'used'. Kristian frowned as the thief sprinted ahead. They ran along a small river which lead into a dead end.
''This way!'' the thief yelled and walked into a narrow passage, not without grabbing a muddy coin laying on the ground. Kristian saw cobwebs and gulped hard.
''Ralof, you and the Imperial girl go ahead, I'll make sure noone follows.'' Ralof lifted an eyebrow, but nodded in understanding. He seemed to have read Kristian's dirty face quite easily and ran next to the thief. Kristian shamefully grasped his axe and waited, hearing the sounds of battle. The familiar sounds of arachnoids and their bodies being split open.
''Kristian! Are you coming?'' the thief commandingly shouted. Kristian took this cue and followed them, past the dead spiders and the web. There was another narrow passage they went through, and another man-made bridge. Ralof peered at something in the distance, and Kristian followed his glance. Bear.
The thief looked at the awestruck men, sighing.
''Are you stupid? Let's just sneak around it. Gosh.'' She skillfully snuck over a narrow ledge to get to the other side of the bear. The other men followed suit. They ran through the last part of the cave, out into the fresh air. They all keeled over to pant. Kristian looked up and saw the pitchblack dragon fly away into the mountains.
''I can't.. I can't believe we made it..'' The thief sat down in the middle of the road, chuckling merrily. Kristian sat down next to her, while Ralof stood next to Kristian.
''Thank you, friends. I would be dead if it weren't for you. However I think it's time we split up. Go to Riverwood and ask for Gerdur, she will help you two. Good luck!'' Ralof smiled and jogged away. Kristian panted, leaning back on his hands.
''So, aren't you going to thank me for saving you?'' the thief said with a smug smirk. Kristian just shaked his head.
''I owe more to the dragon then you, but I guess I can thank you for the assistance.'' A small silence fell over their conversation as they gathered their senses.
''I'm Illirea of Anvil, Cyrodiil.'' Kristian looked over at 'Illirea', who had reached out a hand to shake. Kristian gripped it firmly and shook it.
''Greetings, Illirea. You're not half-bad.'' Kristian let go and peered up at the clear blue sky, before speaking again.
''Are we going together to Riverwood?'' Illirea shrugged, pulling a hand through her hair.
''Why not. You seem like acceptable conversation-material, behind all the caked blood and dirt.'' Kristian chuckled and laid back wide, staring up at the sky. This will be a very long walk.