Welcome to Beneath Darkened Skies! For those who are following my other stories, I've got some bad news. I'm putting them on hiatus for the time being, and will likely be rewriting them completely. I feel I do my best writing from the third person perspective, so, there's that.
If you don't want to know what I've got planned for this, go ahead and just skip straight to the story, otherwise, keep reading. I will be dealing with the main story(Alduin), the Dawnguard, and Dragonborn DLC's for starters. Those three aren't going to be too different, however there will be some liberties taken in each of those storylines in order to make things a bit fresher, as well as make more sense, in my opinion.
As for the other big storylines and smaller quests, the war, Companions, guilds, towns, etc. I will be taking a great many liberties with those. Leaving some things out, changing some things, adding some entirely new things, etc.
Now, to get some explanations out of the way now...
ALL CAPS = yelling
BOLD = Using the power of the Voice
Italics = thoughts when outside quotes. Stressing words when in quotes.
I'm sure I'm forgetting more of what I wanted to say, but meh... I would like to finally, humbly request that you review when you read, even if it's just to say a few words. Good or bad, getting feedback is great motivation to keep writing and improving. So, without further ado... Enjoy.
The squeaking and grinding of wood on metal was the first thing that Delar sensed as he woke. The next was the jostling of his seat and the uncomfortable itch on his wrists. Wrists, that he realized, were bound with rough rope. The clomping of horses hooves drew his attention as a cold wind rushed past, blowing his bangs back and forth at the top of his field of view. The rustling of the trees sounded ominous and unnatural. The sounds of wildlife were absent from the surrounding forest. The skies were overcast, and there was a slight drizzle.
Delar raised his head and looked around to find he was not alone as he rode in the wagon. A blonde man sitting across from him spoke to him, but he only feigned paying attention as he thought back to how he'd ended up in this situation. He had just been crossing the border into Skyrim and was caught in an ambush. He smirked as he thought about his reason for being in Skyrim. He couldn't help but be amused by the irony of his situation.
Glancing to his right he saw two more men, one was thin and stated his name as 'Lokir.' The other was a large man who, in addition to the rope binding his wrists, also had a gag in his mouth to keep him from speaking.
"Watch your mouth!" the blonde man, Raloff shouted at Lokir, "You're talking to Jarl Ulfric, the true High King of Skyrim!"
"Shut up back there," the imperial soldier steering the cart said over his shoulder.
Delar closed his eyes and waited, listening intently to the sounds of the world around him. Shutting out the constant talking that Raloff was doing, likely to occupy his mind with more pleasant thoughts, Delar listened to the sound of footsteps. The jingle of chain mail. The clomp of the horses hooves. The howl of the wind as it gusted by. And the din of water hitting everything as the drizzle picked up into a steady rain.
"What's going on?! Why are we stopping?!" Lokir asked in a panic.
Raloff replied as he stood, "Why do you think? End of the line."
"No, wait," Lokir begged the Imperial soldiers, "You can't do this! I'm not one of them!"
Delar sighed and shut out the mans yelling as he tilted his head back, letting the rain hit his face and wash away the grime. He hardly even paid attention as the others were called, or when Lokir tried to run. It wasn't until a woman's shout drowned out the constant din of the rain that he looked back down. The Imperial woman was snarling at him, "Step forward prisoner!"
Delar obliged and turned his attention to an Imperial soldier standing next to the woman, holding a list and trying to shield it from the ran. "You, what's your name?" the soldier asked.
With a sigh he replied, "Delar." He found his own voice seemed somewhat hollow and raspy, realizing that he hadn't had anything to drink for quite some time now.
The soldier looked at the list he was holding, and then to the woman, "Captain, he's not on the list... what should we do?"
"He goes to the block with the others," she ordered with a cruel smirk before turning on her heel and moving away.
The soldier looked to Delar in dismay, "I'm sorry. At least you'll die here, in your homeland."
"Skyrim isn't my homeland," Delar replied as he turned away and went to stand with the others, sensing the rain starting to come down even harder as the sky darkened. He stood silently, his throat feeling dry despite the fact that he was sucking the rain water off his lips as quickly as he could. He watched the priestess begin to perform their last rites until a distant, unique howl interrupted.
"What was that?" the soldier , Hadvar, asked.
"It's nothing," the Imperial commander, Tullius said, "Continue."
The priestess started again, only to be interrupted by the same howl, but much louder than before. "There it is again!" a soldier said.
Tullius was becoming agitated and barked at the soldier, "It's just thunder! Now, continue."
Delar cast his gaze up beyond the proceedings as he looked at the roiling clouds as small flashes of light illuminated them from within, casting eerie shadows in all manner of shapes. He continued watching the sky as the first prisoner was led to the chopping block. His ears strained, trying to hear over the sound of the rain falling all around him, soaking him through and chilling him to the bone.
WHUMP. WHUMP. WHUMP. WHUMP. WHUMP. WHUMP.
A twisted grin came across his features as he heard the sound steadily getting louder until the rest of those around him took notice. He saw the shape of something move across the sky, darker than the void between the stars, growing larger and larger. When the massive wings beat, the very air shook with the reverberation of it.
Someone else finally saw the darker than dark shape and shouted, "What in Oblivion is that?!"
Delar looked on, wide eyed as the creature, shrouded in darkness, alighted upon the tower sitting in the middle of the town they were in. A brilliant flash of lightning and deafening roar of thunder charged the air and shook the ground as the creature was illuminated in an instant. Pitch black scales. Two, furiously burning orbs of red. Large, razor sharp fangs, glimmering wickedly in the flash of light. Enormous claws, breaking stone like it was glass.
Delar looked straight at the beast, his eyes wide, his face twisted into a frightening grin. The World Eater was here... at long last. Delar took a calming breath and then spoke as though he wasn't staring into the jaws of death, but was meeting someone for the first time...
"Hello, Alduin."
(Cue Dovahkin song and epic title screen!)
Beneath Darkened Skies
Alduin's mouth opened wide and with a roar, flames shot out of his throat, immediately engulfing the headsman as everyone else scrambled away in fear. Delar could feel the heat of the flame from where he stood and started stepping back. He froze when Alduin's head snapped to him.
"FUS!"
Delar let out a yell, in shock, as he was suddenly thrown backwards several meters, hitting the ground hard and coming to a stop in a large puddle. Before he could get his bearings he felt hands grab him, hauling him to his feet and quickly pushing him towards another tower as the World Eater took to the skies once more.
"You alright?"
Delar looked up to find Raloff standing over him, just inside the tower.
"I'm fine," Delar said as he rolled over and pushed himself up from where he'd fallen once entering the tower. He brought a hand to the back of his head and rubbed it slightly, feeling it slick with something wet. Quickly bringing his hand into his field of view, he sighed in relief. It was just water. He snorted and mentally chided himself for forgetting the storm raging outside.
"Come on, we ave to hurry!" Raloff said, starting up the stairs.
Delar followed on his heels as another crashing sound echoed from outside. He hoped it was just thunder, but knew better than to hope such the moment Alduin's head came crashing through the wall of the tower, filling the tower with a blast of fire before taking off once more. Coughing from the smoke and dust, Delar rushed forward.
"Dammit! The stairway's blocked!" Raloff yelled, "We'll have to go down and around, come on!"
Delar just watched Raloff head down the stairs before turning to look out of the hole Alduin had made. It was chaos. Rock, mortar and wood were strewn everywhere. Buildings were on fire which only seemed to spread despite the downpour. There was a loud flash-crack of lightning and thunder that brought him out of his pause. Making up his mind, Delar stepped toward the hole and jumped out, falling into the adjacent building and landing shoulder first, his body tucked in so that he could roll. Once he came to a stop and got up, he quickly began moving again, jumping down to the ground through a hole in the floor, and running out of the burning house.
Alduin swept by overhead as Delar started running towards three figures he saw running for cover. He recognized one of the men as the Imperial soldier, Hadvar. There was another soldier as well as a young boy who was wailing, with tears streaming down his face. Hadvar spotted him and quickly motioned him to get into cover just as Alduin landed nearby to unleash another attack.
"Still alive, prisoner? Stick close if you want to keep it that way," Hadvar said.
Even as he spoke Delar held his hands out toward the man and shouted over the din of the storm and attack, "Cut these damn binds so I can be of some use!"
Hadvar paused for a moment before deciding he didn't have time to think about it and grabbed the rope, quickly cutting through it as Alduin left. "Come on!" Hadvar said, "We need to get to the keep!" They ran down the road, avoiding the falling rubble as the made it to the keep walls where they could make out several more people heading towards it. Being out in front, Hadvar was the first to recognize them as Stormcloaks. "Raloff! You damn traitor!"
"Back off, Hadvar!" Raloff hollered back, "Y-"
"NOT NOW YOU FOOLS!" Delar shouted and grabbed them both by the shoulders, shoving them towards the keep.
Once they made it into the keep and the door was slammed shut behind the last of them, they all stopped to catch their breath. Delar looked around, there was a mix of Imperials, Stormcloaks, and civilians. Delar groaned, not bothering to hide his frustration as what he knew would be inevitable, started immediately.
"Damn you, Imperials! This is your fault!"
"Our fault?! This is your doing you damn-"
Delar growled and then hollered, "ENOUGH!" The room went silent with the exception of the sobbing boy. Delar glared at all of them. "You really think that now of all times, is the time to fight? If you hadn't noticed, there's a fucking dragon destroying the town! Now is not the time for your political bullshit! We all need to suck it up, set aside our damn red flags and blue flags, and focusing on getting out of here alive. After that, the lot of you can go at each others throats all you want!"
"He's right," Raloff said, "We need to worry about our survival right now. We can worry about the war once we're all safe."
"Aye," Hadvar added, "Come on, there should be a way out down below."
Delar watched as all the soldiers looked at each other and grudgingly accepted that they would have to avoid fighting amongst themselves for the time being. He then turned and quickly followed after Hadvar as the man led the way. They found one hallway blocked by a collapsed portion of the keep and so had to go around, moving quickly until they reached a stairwell.
"You hear that?" Hadvar asked as he came to a stop at the top.
Delar listened and could make out the sounds of a struggle. "Horker shit!" he muttered, "Keep them up here." Before he could get a reply, Delar was rapidly descending the stairs and into what he realized was a torture room. Several Imperials and Stormcloaks were laying on the ground, dead. And in the corner behind a barred door, were two Imperials closing on a lone Stormcloak.
"That's enough!" he shouted as he ran forward, gaining the attention of all three. The Stormcloak took advantage of the distraction and thrusted her sword into the gut of one of the Imperials. The other Imperial saw this and quickly cut down the Stormcloak before rounding on Delar, sword at the ready. Delar immediately recognized the woman as the Imperial Captain that had ordered he be sent to the block despite not being on their list.
She recognized him as well, but before she could reply she saw movement behind Delar and watched as a ragtag collection of individuals, both allies and enemies alike came into the room. "What is the meaning of this?!" she shouted, "Hadvar! Why are you with these prisoners!"
"We're getting out of here," Delar said before Hadvar could reply. The Captain turned her attention back to him and he continued, "We can worry about who's who once we're safely away from here. In the meantime there are civilians here that need to be protected."
"You can't be serious!" Raloff hollered, "That bitch ordered that you be executed even though they had no reason to! You can't really be inviting her along!"
"Now is not the time for your petty grudges!" Delar shouted, looking over his shoulder, "Do NOT make me say it again!"
"You won't leave here," the Captain snarled.
Delar turned back to see her swinging her sword towards him. He quickly jumped back, out of her reach and then as she stabbed forward, he side stepped, grabbed her arm and wrenched the sword from her hand before spinning her. She tumbled and fell back against the counter, regaining her sense just in time to see Delar stabbing down at her with her own sword.
The blade sunk into the wood with a sharp crack. The Captain looked up at Delar with wide eyes, her own blade embedded in the counter next to her head. Delar stood up, letting go of the handle and glared down at her. "You want to live to see tomorrow, you're welcome to come with us," Delar stated, "But, if you're really that eager to die, there's a dragon right outside who I'm sure would be happy to oblige."
Without another he turned and stalked back toward the others. "Let's go," he said, motioning for everyone to continue through the keep.
Together the group moved down another flight of stairs into a cavern that had wooden walkways spanning over streams, and another door way that led into an actual cave system. The group moved on silently, no one seemingly brave enough to speak up. Even the boy had stopped his crying. The only sounds that could be heard were the drops of water falling from above, the small rush of the underground streams, and the splashing and thudding of a multitude of feet as they continued on their way.
"You feel that?" Hadvar asked.
"Wind," Delar replied with a nod, "We're close to getting out of here."
As they rounded a sharp turn in the tunnel they found themselves at the mouth of a cave. Outside the storm continued to rage. The entire group dropped into a crouch as the roar of Alduin reverberated in the air just after a flash of lightning and crack of thunder. Delar spotted the dragon moving off into the storm, his roars fading as he rapidly gained distance from where they were.
"Now what do we do?" One of the civilians asked in a whisper.
"We could go to Riverwood," Hadvar offered, "It's close by, and my uncle runs a smithy there."
Raloff nodded his agreement, "Aye, and my aunt runs the mill. They're a friendly bunch there. I'm sure Delphine wouldn't mind giving us a place to rest for a day or so, at the inn."
"How far are we talking?" Delar asked.
"A few miles, nothing more," Hadvar said.
Delar frowned as he looked outside, "A few miles in this weather could be very dangerous."
"Well what other choice have we got?" Hadvar asked, "We can't just sit here and wait for the storm to pass. Too many of us are injured, and we're all exhausted."
"I know some healing magic," Delar said, "I'll see to the most serious wounds, then we can all rest for a bit and wait for the storm to let up."
"I don't like that idea," an Imperial spoke up, "I'm not about to just sit here, passing the time with these traitors!"
"Watch your tongue, Imperial, or-"
"Don't make me repeat myself!" Delar interjected. "We are, all of us, getting to safety. We'll recover and then go our separate ways once we're able to. After that, if you want to go and kill each other then that's your business, but I've seen enough pointless bloodshed for the time being."
Delar looked to each individual in the group, meeting their eyes so that they could see that it wasn't something that was up for debate. His eyes finally fell on the last person in the back and he met the gaze of the Imperial Captain. She looked away, frowning, but giving a subtle nod of her head.
"Alright," Delar said as a golden glowing orb formed in his palm, "Whose wounds are the worst?"