Chapter 1: An Unexpected Trip
Elindrell was woken abruptly by a piece of rock to the face to find herself on a moving carriage. Her head felt like it was pounding out a drum beat and the manacles around her wrists prevented her from doing anything about it. Through blurry eyes and blinding pain she could make out the shapes of three other people surrounding her.
"Where in Oblivion am I?" Elindrell muttered bitterly. These surrounding were utterly unfamiliar to her, and she did not cope well in situations where she had no leverage.
"You're on your way to Helgen, elf," one of the men, a Nord, barked. He had shaggy blonde hair covering most of his head and face and was dressed in blue Stormcloak armour, traditionally worn by members of the Skyrim rebellion. He was obviously a soldier. "Normally I wouldn't even waste my speech on you but under the circumstances, I think we better let bygones be bygones. My name is Ralof."
Elindrell cast her gaze upon the other two riding on the wagon, who were also Nord men. She sighed in exasperation. It was just her luck to end up stuck with this bunch. The majority of Nords were not overly fond of elves, and an Altmer like herself was not likely to be received warmly after the whole Thalmor business. She turned back to Ralof.
"I'm Elindrell. What do you mean? It isn't like we're going to die or anything," she responded somewhat sarcastically. She wanted the bulky Nord to get angry and grunt or something so that she'd at least have something to amuse her on this wagon. Grunt he did, but it was accompanied with gruff laughter.
"You have no idea where you're going, do you Elindrell?" She swore she could see a glint of fear in Ralof's eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. "General Tullius and the Imperials caught us in an ambush on the border. You were caught up in the middle of it with that horse thief over there. He said his name was Lokir." Lokir looked positively sick with dread and he was sweating profusely, which was unfortunate for those with noses. He refused to look anyone in the eye, so Elindrell made no attempt to engage him in conversation.
Elindrell peered at the third man to her left. He was dressed in fine clothing from head to toe, though they seemed a little grubby from the trip. He was completely calm and he held himself in a way that conveyed superiority. Unlike herself and the others, he was gagged at the mouth.
"And who might he be?" Elindrell said coyly. She was mightily impressed with this specimen, even if he was a Nord. Ralof snorted at her in disgust.
"That's Ulfric Stormcloak you're looking at, elf, the Jarl of Windhelm!" Ralof spat at her.
Elindrell's haughty demeanour began to crack. If Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the Stormcloak rebellion, had been arrested, then that could only mean one thing.
"Well that's just fantastic," she said dryly. "Just when things start going my way, I get executed. Unbelievable." Ralof raised his eyebrows at her. He'd been waiting to see how long it would take for her to figure it out.
"What?!" Lokir finally piped up. "Execute us? Oh sweet Divines, please help me!" The man began sobbing hysterically and shaking. Elindrell let out another sigh. It was one thing being taken to be executed, to be in the company of wailing baby while doing so was another.
The wagon rounded a corner and soon they were approaching what she assumed to be Helgen. There were Imperial soldiers running around like headless chickens, following orders or giving them. Standing tall above them all on a black stallion was a man dressed in Imperial armour adorned in gold metal symbols. He must the General Tullius Ralof had mentioned. Next to him was an Altmer woman with white hair flowing around her shoulders, dressed in what Elindrell recognized to be the Thalmor robes. There was something about her that was ringing alarm bells in Elindrell's head.
It hit her like a tonne of bricks.
"Elenwen…" she mumbled darkly. "Damn her. Damn her to the Void. She's probably the reason I'm even here in the first place."
Elenwen's eyes fell upon hers. There was something devilishly evil in her facial expression that managed to make even Elindrell herself feel uncomfortable. She reluctantly looked away, but could still feel those cold eyes on her back as the wagon approached its final stop.
"Everybody get out and line up!" bellowed the guard captain. As they all piled out of the wagon her assistant unrolled a long list of names. Lokir took one look at it and snapped.
"No! There's been a mistake! You can't kill me!" The horse thief bolted as fast he could. Just not fast enough. The guard captain turned to Elindrell and the other prisoners.
"Anyone else feel like running?" she snarled, like she was daring them. No one took her up on the offer.
Her assistant partially hid his face behind the parchment. He seemed to be mildly ashamed in committing these people to death. A lot of the prisoners were Nords so it was only natural for him to feel a sense of betrayal on his part. However, Elindrell was no Nord, and so could not think of anything better than to leave all of these miserable fools to their fates and get as far away from Elenwen's icy gaze as she possibly could. After several beheadings had taken place, it became Elindrell's turn to receive the stony glare of the guard captain.
"Next, the red-headed elf!" the guard captain shrieked. The assistant immediately looked very confused.
"What should we do captain?" whispered the assistant. "She's not on the list."
"It's just a mistake Hadvar! She goes to block, like the rest of them," the guard captain said sternly. Hadvar's face fell in dismay.
"I'm sorry. I'll make sure you're remains are returned to the Summerset Isles." He said sorrowfully.
"I wouldn't waste your time. There won't be a funeral." Elindrell said casually. She would not let these Nords see her as weak.
The guard captain began to lead her towards the chopping block. As she did so, General Tullius rode over on his horse and spoke directly to Ulfric Stormcloak.
"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." Ulfric stared at him intensely with piercing eyes and let out a throaty grunt. "You started this war! Plunged Skyrim into chaos! And now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!" Several soldiers clapped and cheered at the General's resounding speech. Elindrell simply rolled her eyes. She could see Elenwen looking mightily pleased with herself as she watched her march towards the block. Elindrell refused to give her the satisfaction. All she could do now was pray to every deity in existence for a miracle.
"Get down on the block prisoner!" the guard captain shouted. Elindrell hesitated. If she was going to die, she was going to make the best of it.
"Please Captain, remember me as Elindrell," she said as sweetly as she could, "and might I say that the helm you're wearing makes you look very handsome."
That comment earned her a hard shove onto the block, so her face was smushed into the blood of the previous prisoners.
The ground rumbled and a distant roar was heard by many. "Wow Captain, you really need to watch what you're eating," Elindrell jested, which resulted in her being smacked around the head. "Let's be done with it already!" the Captain called.
The thundering call sounded again, louder this time. Soldiers and prisoners alike began to look increasingly fearful. Elindrell heard heavy boots walk slowly up to the block.
Just as the executioner raised his axe to detach her head from her shoulders, a monstrous black creature landed on a nearby Imperial tower, nearly causing it to collapse. It boomed out a word in a language unknown to Elindrell but it was obviously something special, because it had caused a small boulder to fall directly onto her executioner's head, knocking him out. The Imperial soldiers completely forgot about their remaining prisoners and scurried around for weapons to fight the beast.
"Well I'll be damned," Elindrell exclaimed. She had asked for a miracle, she'd gotten one.
To be continued.
A/N: Thank you for reading if you got this far! This is my first time writing something like this so if you've got anything you'd like to say feel free to leave a review! Good comments and constructive criticism are preferred but I can't please everyone. Again, thank you!