Guardains
Chapter 1: Unbound
Azina Mageborn is a 207 year old high elf warrior. Born with stunted magicka, a highly unusual occurrence for a high elf, she has relied upon her physical strength and natural agility for most of her life. Her brother, Talarin, is a prominent member of the Psijic Order. Their father was a altmeri knight-wizard, and he died fighting for his people during the Night of Green Fire. As a dissident Azina is wanted by the Aldmeri Dominion, and has been hunted across Tamriel by the Thalmor. Her sole purpose in life is to destroy the Aldmeri Dominion and free her people, and to do this she has devoted her life to becoming a better warrior. A follower of the god Akatosh, she lets nothing stand in her way.
Mervanni Uverith is a 23 year old dark elf intent upon finding her fortune. A rogue by trade she is most adept at picking locks and pockets, but in a pinch she is also a formidable archer. Her adoptive parents found her on the icy shores of Solstheim without so much as a note telling of her origins. Her father was retired Thieves Guild, and he taught his daughter everything he knew. Ready to carry on in her father's footsteps she journeyed to Skyrim in search of one of the last intact guilds, rumored to be in Riften.
Melusine Valtieri is an ageless breton wizard of unknown origin. Having lived through such calamities as the Oblivion Crisis she is a seasoned mage. Although powerful beyond measure, she chooses instead to mask it and use only what she must. She disappeared for almost two hundred years after the Oblivion Crisis,and has only recently returned to Tamriel. Her motivations are somewhat unclear, but wherever she goes there is almost always trouble brewing.
What do these three people have in common? Not much, other than the fact they were all on a prison cart headed for the town of Helgen.
To be perfectly honest Azina wasn't exactly sure why she had been arrested. So she hadn't crossed into Skyrim at a designated border point. And she didn't have any crossing papers. And her face was on the top ten Thalmor most wanted list.
Well, actually, it wasn't that much of a mystery after all. She sighed and rested her bound hands in her lap, as pulling at them had proved to be useless.
Packed in the cart with Azina were three nords, all men, a breton woman, and a dunmer girl. The nord directly in front of her wore a blue lined and padded armor uniform, with a stylized bear head on the bottom right corner of the kilt. Judging by what she'd heard of the civil war in Skyrim he must have belonged to the rebel Stormcloak army. The implications of where they were combined with the fact that the majority of the prisoners on the two carts were these Stormcloaks were unpleasant, to say the least. She sent a silent prayer to Akatosh to protect and guide her.
The dunmer girl was next to him. She was a very pale blue for a dunmer, with blue eyes instead of red and white hair instead of the usual black or red. She wore cloth, mail, and steel plate armor that looked ideal for moving quickly and quietly. She moved her hands in an obvious pattern, and was actually making some progress wriggling out of her bonds. She looked up and made eye-contact with the altmer, and she gave her a one-sided grin. Obviously not her first time being tied up.
The nord on the end was skinny and dressed only in rags. He was praying furiously, although Azina doubted very much that he was religious. From the red puffiness of his eyes it was obvious he'd been crying. Azina resisted the urge to spit; cowards disgusted her.
Directly next to Azina was the breton. She wore a modest purple robe decorated with intricate multi-colored embroidery. Her purple-black hair was cropped short and layered, giving it a very messy look. She had dual colored eyes, with one being a bright purple, and the other being an amber. Her hands were not only bound but in small sacks, marking her as a mage. Her bright eyes were unfocused, as though she was lost in space.
On the very end of that side of the cart was the last nord, a man dressed in a black bearskin cloak and heavy steel armor. He was bound and gagged, and his head was bowed in true defeat. If she had to hazard a guess she would say he was some sort of general, obviously very influential from the quality of his garments.
The silence on the cart was oppressive. No one spoke, and only the sounds of the horses' hooves on the cobblestone road was clear. Azina had been on the cart for a little under an hour, since earlier that morning. Her usual patience was wearing thin, and to be honest she was tired of being tossed around like a vegetable crate that hadn't been properly tied down. That and her elvish curiosity was getting the better of her.
"So, what the deal with him?" Her almost masculine voice broke the silence. She gestured towards the man at the end with her bound hands as best she could.
The nord in front of her scoffed, "That is the mighty Jarl Ulfric of Windhelm, the true high king of Skyrim. You would do well to remember your place elf." He spat the word elf like an unpleasant piece of gristle.
Always quick with a good quip and the annoyed high elf replied, "Well forgive me for not giving two cabbages and a leek about the civil war of the nords." She spat nords with equal emotion as he had spat elf.
Simmering, the nord spat back, "I could wipe the floor with you goldenrod. I dare you, challenge me!"
She smirked, "Really? I have 200 years of experience on you. I bet it would be me, wiping the floor with you tiny brains."
He growled and tried to lunge forward, only to find that he really was well retrained, and he almost fell on his face. Recovering he proceeded to glower at the still smirking elf.
The breton woman sighed, "As amusing as it is to see you two going at, I really think now is not the time, seeing as how we're all going to the block." A certain silence fell over them again.
The skinny nord started blubbering (again) and everyone else on the cart glowered at him until he stopped.
"Well I have no intention of dying." The dunmer girl said confidently. She was still making progress on her bonds. "And who knows, maybe I'll help the rest of you out of the kindness of my heart."
"There are two too many elves on this cart if you ask me." Muttered the first nord.
"Not you though, you're rude. I like you though, what's your name anyway?" Asked the dunmer.
"Azina."
At the same time the first nord said, "Ralof."
"Pleased to meet you Azina. Not so much you though Ralof. And how about you?" This time it was directed to the breton next to Azina.
She seemed to leave her daze again and answered, "Melusine."
"I'm Mervanni."
"Quiet back there!" Called the cart driver from the front. They all fell silent again.
The gates of Helgen loomed closer and for the first time Azina started to worry. She hadn't yet managed to wiggle her way out this predicament, nor had her brother showed up to rescue her as she thought he might. She really hadn't thought much of being on a prison cart until now, and the fear started to set in. Still she had the Mageborn gift of a cool head in a bad situation, most of the time, so her confidence stayed up.
Right until she saw Elenwen chatting with General Tullius.
Elenwen was the Emissary of the Thalmor here in Skyrim. Azina knew this because they had crossed paths before. Elenwen had made it her mission to finish off the last of the Mageborn line, having known and once been friends with Alren, Azina's father. According to Elenwen she and Alren had been a little more than friends, but he had never mentioned her. She wasn't a paper pusher either, she could fight, as the burn scars up and down Azina's left arm proved.
It was then that she started really praying to Akatosh for a miracle.
They parked the two carts on the far wall, and unloaded the prisoners. Villagers came out from their homes to watch. Azina tried to keep her tall altmerish head down, but it was a little late for that. Elenwen had ridden down to inspect the prisoners, and her gaze immediately fell on the only altmer in the crowd. She dismounted and had Azina pulled from the group.
They stared one-another down, both prides flaring Azina was a few inches taller than Elenwen, more so with her heavy steel boots on. Her skin was more of burnished gold while Elenwen's was paller, showing her dislike of Skyrim's climate. Azina's red braid was definitely a stark contrast to Elenwen's long, straight, blond hair. The Thalmor wore far too much makeup with red eyeliner and black blush. Azina never touched the stuff. The next time a nord told her all elves looked alike, she would hold out Elenwen's head on a pike for comparison.
Slowly Elenwen started to smile, and as she grew confident Azina was well restrained she grew closer. In the background an Imperial soldier started to take attendance.
"Azina Mageborn. I knew I would see your end one day, but never did I think you would be so clumsy as to stumble into an Imperial ambush." Still smirking she caught the other woman's jaw and forced her to look her in the eyes. "Tell me, how does it feel to be beaten?"
Azina spat on Elenwen's boot, and managed a self-satisfied smile herself. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
Elenwen's lip curled in disgust as she released Azina's head.
Again in the background there was the call of, "You won't kill me!," followed by running feet, the twang of a bowstring, and the inevitable crunch as arrow met flesh, and then bone.
"A shame we couldn't get your brother here with us. Then we'd have a little Mageborn family reunion. Oh well, he's next."
Tullius was giving a speech to Ulfric about something, and some animal roared in the distance.
"The day I die is the day our cause grows stronger. I will be a martyr, just like my father, and the stranglehold the Aldmeri Dominion has on Summerset will weaken even more."
Elenwen snorted. "You fool, Alren meant nothing, and neither will you. It's Alinor now, and the Aldmeri Dominion is here to stay. You're just one, conceded little girl."
The execution began with a priestess starting a blessing. A nord man interrupted her.
Azina's attention was still very much on the green-clad woman in front of her. "That's not what I hear Elenwen. I hear you are losing support by the day, and that's why you're scrambling to try and control all the other provinces. My brother and I, and all those with sense, will destroy you. The Aldmeri Dominion will fall."
The beast in the distance roared again, and this time it was much closer.
Elenwen smirked again, "Nice last words Azina, perhaps someone wrote them down." Over Azina's shoulder she called, "Tullius, her next."
The general grumbled, but took Azina by the crook of her arm and lead her to the bloodied block. Apparently she'd missed the death of one of the rebels. He handed her off the the captain, who then pushed Azina down onto her knees. From her knees she was bent over the cold, wet block, facing the executioner and behind him, a tower.
She wondered if her father would be waiting for her on the other side. She also wondered if he was proud of her, and if he would welcome her. She thought of her brother, and hoped he would cope well. She closed her eyes and sent one last prayer to Akatosh.
Then she opened them. The headman's Axe was raised, and it gleamed as it reached the peak of it's arc. It looked sharp.
She would have missed it if she had closed her eyes again. A great, black winged creature. It aligned atop the tower, and in a rumbling, guttural voice, it shouted.
The force of it's voice knocked the headsman over and rolled Azina off the block as the axe clattered down. She tried to stand but was thrown sideways by another blast, her head hitting something hard and blurring her vision. Another rumbling roar and Azina could smell smoke. She coughed, and tried once more to struggle to her feet.
A slender hand looped under Azina's elbow and helped pull her to her feet. She looked over and saw the dunmer girl, a smile across her lips despite the chaos. She had a bow and quiver slung over her back and at her hip was Azina's axe. She pulled it free and slashed the bonds holding Azina's hands.
"I believe this is yours." She said, holding the axe out by it's hilt. Azina took it and placed it back in the loop on her belt. "Let's not stick around here shall we?"
"Good plan." Azina agreed. She pulled the dunmer into her as rubble hit where she had just been standing.
The two of them made a beeline for a tower that was still standing amid the rubble and fire. They made it halfway across the yard before the monster made another pass. It hovered above them for a moment, looking straight at Azina with deep red eyes. It breathed in visibly, then with a mighty roar it breathed out fire. Azina spun around with her back to the creature and once again pulled the dunmer girl into her. But the fire never reached her.
She looked up to see a fading magical shield. The breton woman put her hands down and gave her a wave. The three of them managed to make it to the tower in one piece.
"Thanks for the save, we were almost roasted."
Melusine shrugged, "Least I could do. Blue there undid my bonds."
Mervanni, who was leaning against the stairwell, just smiled a little.
At that moment Ulfric Stormcloak and Ralof skidded in, just in time to catch the edges of another wave of flame.
"What was that...that thing!?" Panted Ralof.
"Looks to me like a dragon." Noted Melusine casually. Everyone looked at her. "Although I haven't seen one since the oblivion crisis, and that one was on fire."
"That was Akatosh himself. This, this is not Akatosh." At the mention of her deity, Azina touched the spot where underneath her armor was his token. The thought had crossed her mind that her prayers might have been answered, but this was certainly not what she had asked for.
"A dragon? Bringer of the end times? But that just a story, a legend." Ralof's blue eyes were about as big as they would go.
"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric said cooly.
"We better go see what's going on. maybe the top of the tower has a decent vantage point." Mervanni said. "And besides, I have a better chance of hitting it from up high." she smoothed the feathers of one of her arrows.
"While I don't doubt your skill, I wonder if simple steel would be enough to pierce a dragon's hide. A good idea nonetheless." Agreed Azina, her hands resting on the top of her axe.
"Quickly, this way!" One of the Stormcloaks charged up the stairs, Azina, Melusine, and Mervanni in his wake. Ralof brought up the rear.
They made it halfway up the tower before the dragon made another pass. It's claws tore through the stone like it was paper. The falling rubble from the hole crushed the Stormcloak in front of them, and would have continued falling onto them if Melusine hadn't thrown up another shield.
The beast regained its balance and poked it's head through the hole it had created and locked it's burning red eyes on Azina. It seemed to be sizing her up, assessing her abilities. It did not look impressed. It roared again, and the trio had just enough time to throw themselves out of the way before being hit by the flames. The dragon's grip slipped and it released the tower, to fly off in another direction.
Azina helped the two other women to their feet and carefully picked her way over to the hole in the wall. The tower creaked menacingly as the stone began to grind free.
"It's going to collapse." Azina observed rather calmly. "But that building down there looks like it would be safe to jump into." The tower creaked again and the floor slid slightly.
Mervanni took a running leap out of the hole, tucked her knees into her chest, and did several backflips on the way down. She hit the second floor of the burning building and gave a wave. Melusine jumped next, but she skipped the acrobatics and at the last second slowed her fall to land rather neatly on her feet.
The tower creaked one last time and, giving Azina enough warning to roughly shove Ralof down the stairs before the top half slid out completely. She had just enough time to launch herself out of the tower before the top half went crashing to the ground.
She hit the floor of the in hard and couched stunned for a moment before being escorted by her elbows out the back wall. Mervanni and Melusine had staying down low to the ground to a fine art, but Azina found she was better off sprinting across the open ground ahead of the other two.
She skidded to a halt in front of another mostly-collapsed burning building, next to an imperial soldier and an older man. They were attempting to coax a young boy out of the way of the incoming dragon and away from a man lying injured in the road, presumably the boy's father. Azina knew from experience that he wasn't going to move from his wounded father's side, so instead of standing she acted. She took the soldier's shield, sprinted across the ground, slid on her knees the last few feet, and slammed the shield down in front of her and the boy just in time to block the dragon's fire. The boy buried his face into her armored chest and she wrapped her free arm around him. The metal of the shield was red-hot and difficult to hold, but she had a child to protect.
She was reminded of her father holding her in a similar manner when her mother had died. Daedra and dragons weren't that different after all.
She could see the shield was going to fail. It felt like hours she had been holding it, but she knew it was mere seconds. Time slowed down in these moments. She drew the boy further into her and made a rolling-dash out of the fire and into the shelter of the house. The boy squirmed out of her arms and into those of the old man. He regarded her with something close to suspicion. Melusine and Mervanni were also hunkered down.
"I'm surprised you three are still alive. Stick with me if you want to stay that way." The soldier said gruffly.
"I can handle myself," Azina grumbled, but she wasn't about to refuse an extra hand.
"Look after the boy Gunnar, I'll move on ahead and see if it's safe." He instructed the old man, before looking sideways at the boy.
"I will Hadvar, you just watch yourself out there."
"What about my da?" Sniffled the little boy. Azina peeked over the edge of the wall to see if the injured man she hadn't managed to save was still there. She was fairly certain that the suspiciously shaped pile of ash in the middle of the road was what was left of him.
"He's gone little one." The little boy started to cry, but she lifted his head and looked him hard in the eyes. "I lost my father when I was young to the Thalmor. Right now you need to be strong and get to safety. Your father would want you to grow up now wouldn't he?"
The little boy nodded and dried his tears. Azina stood up to her full height and surveyed the destruction. There was a path that was traversable, but they would have to be careful. With no more warning than that she slid out of cover and made a beeline for the next protected others followed suit.
They made their way through another destroyed home and into a narrow alley. The black dragon swooped in from behind, alighting atop the crumbling wall and bathing the road ahead in flame. The four of them pressed themselves against the wall, not even daring to breath, hoping that although they were mere inches from it, the dragon would not see them. It propelled itself back into the air with powerful hind legs, and they let out a collective sigh of relief. Mervanni even gave a relieved chuckle. They sprinted out into the street and towards the archway of the fort. General Tullius was tending to wounded imperials just in front of it's doors, and Ulfric Stormcloak stood guard over his wounded. The two of them were throwing insults and arguments at one another over the heads of their men over the din of a losing battle.
Azina didn't much care what the argument was about-though from the fragments she cough it sounded like indecision whether to enter the fort or not-all she knew was that she was going to straighten them out then and there.
She took Ulfric by his ear, and before he had time to protest she grabbed Tullius by his. She dragged them both down so their heads were at chest height and their foreheads were nearly touching.
"Now listen you two," she hissed, rage burning in her black eyes, "I don't give a flying fig who started what or who's the rightful ruler of such-and-someplace. There is a sodding dragon out there tearing this place apart, and if we don't get our asses out of here we're going to get roasted like a venison steak. So, if there are no objections, why don't the two of you stop acting like children and help me get these men to safety."
She released them, shock very evident on their faces. Tullius opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the roar of the dragon. It's shadow blocked out the sun as it circled around the courtyard, looking for a place to land. Azina lifted one of the men too injured to walk and ducked inside the fort. Hadvar and Ralof exchanged a glance, then followed suit. Mervanni took aim and fired a handful of arrows at the dragon, trying to distract it. The sharp points might as well have been mosquitoes against it's thick, scaly hide. Melusine stabilized the critically wounded and managed to herd everyone into the keep after Azina. Mervanni kept firing until everyone was safely inside, before she herself made a dash for the door. Fire licked at her heels until she was safely through the threshold.
Azina looked down at the slightly singed girl and raised an eyebrow. She grinned at Azina and gave her a big thumbs-up. The room shook as the frustrated cries of the dragon echoed through the stone.
"We might want to get a move on." Azina noted. Everyone looked to her, as though asking where they should go. "Is there any other way out of here?" She asked Hadvar.
"There are some natural caverns beneath the fort. There could be a way out there." He noted.
"If the whole place doesn't come down on us first." Ralof said as the room shook again.
"Hence get a move on. Let's go." She chose the door with the stairs leading down, and the rest followed her.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and made it about six feet before the ceiling in front of them collapsed. Azina had just enough time to yank Mervanni back before she was squashed. The way ahead blocked, there was only the door to the left.
Melusine nudged it open from afar with telekinesis. It was a storeroom, and it was stable. The shaking wasn't as bad down here, so Azina set the wounded man down and helped to gather up some supplies. Melusine bent to heal more wounds, and Mervanni took up guard in the doorway, an arrow notched to her bow.
Azina rested against a barrel next to Hadvar and examined the entourage. About a half dozen soldiers from each side, counting Ralof and Hadvar, plus Ulfric and Tullius. She was a little disheartened not to see and civilians.
"What should we expect further down?" She asked hadar, her eyes not leaving the party.
"Down those stairs are the interrogation chambers, after those are a few hallways before it starts to turn into natural rock. Do you think we're going to get out of here?"
"If the Nine are with us, I think we will."
"You're an altmer, and you still say Nine and not Eight?"
She looked sideways at him. "Not all elves have their heads shoved up their pompous asses."
"Fair enough."
The building shook again and Azina heard the stone grinding outside again.
"Time to move again. Let's go." She turned to find the Stormcloak she'd been carrying to be fully healed and back up on his feet. Melusine gave her a nod, eyes glinting.
The stairs down were so narrow that they had to go in single file, and so dark that Azina, having taken the lead, had to carry a torch. Above them the fort made ominous noises, and below them not much better. Not for the first time Azina wondered if it was the right idea going into the fort. Not that she'd had much of a choice, but she had more than her own life to worry about.
Interrogation room must have been the politically correct term for torture chamber in Skyrim because that's exactly what it was. In a cruel twist of poetic justice the torturer and his assistant had been crushed to death by their equipment, likely during one of the tremors.
They pushed on through a hallway of empty cells and into the beginning of the natural caverns. The Imperials had built two stone platforms with a walkway connecting them. A trickle of water ran under the walkway, but other than that there was nothing particularly interesting about the place.
At the end of the second platform there was a ramp, lowered by a rusty lever. By the looks of the thing it hadn't been used in years. Azina handed her torch to Hadvar, cracked her knuckles, and pulled on the lever.
It didn't budge.
She pulled again, really putting her back into it.
Still nothing.
Melusine nudged her aside gently. She took the lever with one hand, and with the mere flick of her wrist it pulled down and the ramp dropped.
"You used magic, didn't you?" Azina asked, mildly flustered and slightly annoyed.
Melusine smirked, "But of course, I am a wizard after all."
"That's cheating," Azina said over her shoulder as she continued on.
"I earned those skills as much as you earned your muscles."
"Whatever you say wizard."
The ramp lead down some stone stairs and then into the caves. Azina took a deep breath, testing the air. It wasn't fresh, but it wasn't stale either. She prayed the way out was big enough to fit through, and that the cave wouldn't collapse on them before they got there.
Azina stepped off the ramp and into the caves, Mervanni and Melusine close on their heels. At that moment the cave shook violently. Rocks fell down from the ceiling above, blocking the ramp. Only a small handful of the soldiers had made it into the caves before the collapse, not among them were Ulfric and Tullius.
Azina coughed and got to her feet, surveying the destruction. Ralof was digging at the rubble, trying to clear a path back.
She took his arm firmly and pulled him away, "Come on now, they'll just have to fend for themselves. We have to go." He looked angry for a moment, but it passed as he saw she was right.
Mervanni came back from around a corner. "Guys, that way out is over here! Come on!" With that she disappeared back into the tunnel.
They were following the stream out, as it had eroded a path through the rocks. Wet feet were definitely preferable to being either crushed or burned to death.
As she reached the mouth of the tunnel, Azina realized something was wrong. The room ahead of them was covered in spider webs, and large cocoons that could have been holding a human child. Her keen eleven ears also picked up scuttling and clacking from above. She drew her axe and took a few cautious steps forward, tensed and ready for combat.
She heard the monster before she saw it. She threw herself out of the way just before it landed where she had been standing.
Azina had never been particularly fond of spiders. She was no arachnophobe, but the damn things were so creepy. These spiders were big enough to devour a man and angrier than a bear.
Azina hacked off a leg as it struck for her, and dogged translucent green venom. Some splashed on her arm, and she shivered at the cold sensation as it numbed. She took out it's other front leg, and then brought her axe down on it's head. Green blood covered her, but it was dead.
She looked up to see that everyone else was still very much in one piece, and that three other spiders were dead. Mervanni was pulling salvageable arrows out of one, and Melusine stood before another.
"Frostbite spiders." Ralof noted, "Nasty beasts, especially in large numbers."
"You can say that again. I hate spiders." Mervanni said, wrinkling her nose.
They moved through several more tunnels, before making it into yet another cavern. Fresh air buffeted Azina's face. The way out at last.
Or so she hoped, until she stumbled over the sleeping bear. And it was not very appreciative of being woken. She scrambled out of the way as it clawed for her. The twang of a bowstring, and an arrow lodged in it's back. It roared and charged Mervanni, who had the good sense to move. Lightning crackled and the smell of burning fur filled the room. It then charge at Melusine, her fingertips still smoking. Azina came up from behind it, and jumped on it's back. She struggled to stay on for a moment, but managed to bring her axe down on it's neck. It slumped, it's spine severed.
There were several sighs of relief, and Azina, now covered in all manner of unpleasant substances wished for a bath.
At the back of the cavern there was a crack in the rocks, and through it fading sunlight shone. The way out.