Chapter One: The Beginning of a Tale
The Cart bumped against the rocky road, jolting Atticus awake. Barely conscious, he groggily looked around. There were three other men in the cart with him, and a driver in the front. Atticus eyed them warily. One was wearing fancy clothing, a royal no doubt. He was bound and gagged, whilst the other two were bound at the wrists. Prisoners. Atticus noticed he was also bound and frowned, he was a prisoner?
Shaking his head he vaguely remembered traveling somewhere… Skyrim! That was it. But why was he
"Hey you!"
Atticus looked to the man in front of him
"Finally awake" He said, a small smile on his face.
"You were trying to cross the border right? Walked into that Imperial Ambush, same as us. And that thief over there" he said nodding to the other man in poor clothing.
Atticus's eyes slowly widened nodding. He had been a poor blacksmith, his parents dead and no relatives to speak of. He had decided to cross the border to Skyrim, hoping for a new life and some decent work. He had studied up on Skyrim beforehand and had learned that it currently was under Civil War. The Imperials were part of the "Empire" a larger governing body that dominated most of the continent called Tamriel. Some of the people of Skyrim, Nords they were called, didn't appreciate the Empire and formed the Stormcloaks, a rebellion led by Ulfric Stormcloak. Such an original name.
"Damn you Stormcloaks" The Thief said narrowing his eyes at the man talking to Atticus.
"Skyrim was fine until you came along, the Empire was nice, lazy and content. I would've stolen that horse and been halfway out of Skyrim by now if it wasn't for you."
The Imperial guard driving the carriage shouted
"Shut up back there!"
There was a small lapse of silence as Atticus observed where they were headed. They were surrounded by a dense forest. The road slowly sloped downwards and in the distance, Atticus could make out the shape of a gate or bridge of some sort.
"What's his problem" The Thief mumbled nodding to the Royal.
"Watch your tongue!' The Stormcloak sitting across from Atticus shouted "You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, leader of the Stormcloaks!"
"Ulfric Stormcloak?!" Atticus exclaimed "The leader of the rebellion? But… if they've captured you, where are they taking us?" he said darkly.
"I don't know where we are going" The man across from Atticus said. "But Sovengarde awaits us"
Atticus remembered from his readings of Skyrim that Nords believed that when you died, you went to Sovengarde, the heaven where all heroes rested. Great he thought I barely step into Skyrim and I'm already going to be executed.
"No! This can't be happening!" The Thief panicking said "This isn't happening!"
"Hey" The Stormcloak said. "What Village are you from Thief?"
"Why do you care?!" The Thief bitterly snapped back, angrily glaring at the Stormcloak.
"A persons last thoughts, should be of home" Atticus replied wisely giving the Thief a kind look.
The Stormcloak smiled and nodded at Atticus. The Thief heisted before sighing, as if to admit that everything was indeed happening and replied;
"Rorikstead. I'm from Rorikstead."
Atticus nodded. He hadn't a clue where Rorikstead was, he guessed a poor place based on the Thief's clothes.
"How 'bout you?" The Stormcloak asked Atticus.
Atticus sighed, not wanting to think about his old blacksmith's shop. His dead parents and dead… well. He didn't want to dwell on it. He was about to reply when the Cart abruptly stopped jolted and stopped
"Well. Guess that's the end of the ride for us" Atticus muttered. Looking around he saw that they were in the central square, houses and shops crammed together, run down and dreary. On the far side was the gate they had entered, a bridge across the top to allow Soldiers to patrol across it. The square had narrow streets sprawling from it. In the center of the square was a block of a stone, where a man adorned in battle armor stood, looking as if he had seen many battles in his day.
"General Tulius sir!"
The man, Tulius tuned to the soldier running up to him.
"The executioner is ready."
General Tulius nodded at the solider gravely saying "Good, let's get this done with."
The Thief started muttering prayers to his gods mumbling of how he was sorry for his crimes and to spare him. Atticus didn't recognize any of the names, not attending chapels and churches or keeping up with the Gods around Tamriel. Atticus briefly tried to recall what he had learned about the land of Tamriel in his studies at home.
Tamriel consisted of The Black Marsh, a swampy dense and wet place, Cyrodill the home of the Empire. Elsweyr, the home of the cat people as Atticus fondly called them, but their real names were Khajiit. There was Hammerfell and High Rock homes to the Redguards and Bretons respectively. There was Morrowind home of the Dark Elves.
Atticus grimaced at the thought of the Dark Elves, a pompous and arrogant race, they held the Empire at their mercy, one of the reasons the Stormcloaks hated the Imperials.
There was Valenwood, a high forest area home of the wise Wood Elf's. And finally of course, Skyrim home of the Nords.
It had all been a lot to comprehend for Atticus as he studied upon the world when he decided to go to Skyrim in search of a new life. He had decided to at least have a basic understanding of the world, but all the countries, allies, provinces and such had left his head spinning.
Atticus returned his attention to the center block. The Executioner was at the side of the block and the prisoners were slowly getting off the other Carriages. The Stormcloak smiled at Atticus.
"Lets go" he said "Don't want to keep the guards waiting."
The Thief panicky shouted as he climbed from the cart.
"Wait! I'm not a rebel, please I beg you!"
A women calmly stepped up beside General Tulius looking at the mass of prisoners.
"Line up here until your name is called from the list, then go by the block to wait for your deaths." She said coldly, ignoring the thief.
"Empire loves their damn lists" The Stormcloak growled as he stepped from the cart.
An Imperial soldier held a book and started reading off names.
"Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm" he stated plainly.
The royal, Ulfric glared at the man and started to walk over.
"Ulfric, it has been an honor serving you." Said the Stormcloak next to Atticus. Ulfric paused, turned round, nodded to him and went on to the block.
"Balgruuf of Riverwood"
The Stormcloak next to Atticus nodded and headed over to the block as well.
"Lokir of Rorikstead"
The Thief looked around in alarm.
"No!" He shouted "You can't do this!"
He started to run as fast as he could down the street.
"Archers!" The woman next to Tulius coldly stated.
Four Archers on the rooftops carefully took aim, and fired upon the poor thief. Lokir was struck in the heart and head and fell without another sound, dead on the rocky road.
One by one the Stormcloaks were called up, all waiting by the block. The Woman frowned as Atticus was never called.
"Ma'am" The Imperial soldier with the list said "This man isn't on the list."
General Tulius and the woman regarded him carefully.
"Send him anyway" She stated.
Atticus raised his eyebrow replying "I have no name on your list, nor any Stormcloak gear, yet you insist on executing me."
She stonily regarded him with contempt in her eyes.
"Move it. Or else you face the unhonorable death of our little thief over there" She said nodding to Lokir's corpse. Glaring at the Imperials, Atticus made his way over to the block with the rest of the Stormcloaks.
The Imperials moved swiftly to the front of the group. General Tuluis stepped towards Ulfric.
"Ulfric Stormcloak" he said "You know, some here in Helgan regard you as a hero. But a hero does not use a power like the voice to kill his king and usurp his throne."
Use a power like the voice? A strange accusation Atticus mused.
"You started this war Ulfric Stormcloak, plunged Skyrim into chaos" The General angrily stated. "Now the Empires going to put you down and restore the…
A loud roar pierced Tulius's speech.
"What was that?" One of the guards hesitantly asked.
"It's nothing. Cary on." Tulius told him, turning away.
Nothing? Atticus had never heard anything like it. He felt... odd. A shiver of excitement went down his spine when he heard that sound. He shook his head clearing it of his thoughts. He would rather face death with a clear head.
"Yes General Tulius!" The Woman briskly said.
She pointed to a Stormcloak near the front.
"Come up. It is your time."
The man rolled his eyes.
"Well come on then" He grumbled walking up to the block and laying down. "I haven't all day."
The Executioner raised his axe high. And swiftly chopped off his head. It rolled towards the crowd, The Stormcloaks swiftly stepping back.
"Next, The Breton in the rags!" The woman shouted pointing at Atticus. Atticus looked surprised, not expecting to be called on so soon. Before he could move however, the roar started again, sounding closer than the last time.
The Imperial with the list frowned turned to the woman saying "There it is again, did you here that Legate?"
She merely glared at him saying, "I said, next prisoner!"
Atticus sighed, accepting his impending doom. As he slowly walked up to the block he thought of his dead parents wondering what they would think of him now. He would rather think of them last, then his home with all the terrible memories. He crouched down on the block, sticking out his neck, waiting for the inevitable axe to fall upon his head. Looking up at the short guard tower that stood before them he prayed for a miracle.
The Executioner raised his axe and Atticus closed his eyes. He heard the piercing roar again, closer much closer. But a mere roar wouldn't save him.
"Archers, what do you see?!" The woman's voice rang out. Confused, Atticus opened his eyes to see a sight that would never leave him.
A giant, black winged beast flew to the top of the Guard Tower, landing with a massive tremble. It regarded them for a few moments before roaring. As it roared it seemed to grow louder and a giant dark cloud seemed to twist into reality above them. It wrapped around the town like a vortex hanging high above them.
Giant balls of flame erupted from it, striking the town. Atticus was thrown back as a blast stuck near him. The Imperial Archers had climbed to the top of the walls and opened fire on the beast, but their arrows merely bounced off its scales. It turned to regard them before roaring again, this time it seemed to summon the very winds themselves and blasted the Archers high off of the walls.
As Atticus slowly rose from the ground in awe at the beast, he remembered the stories of creatures of old. Creatures that seemed to be able to bend the will of the earth itself to them. He realized that they could be only facing one thing;
A Dragon.
A/N
Bit of an abrupt ending I know, but I felt that was where the best place was to stop at. Future chapters will most likely be longer than this one, it all depends on the natural flow. This is my first time writing a fan-fiction so feedback and constructive criticism would be very much appreciated :).