The worst headache he ever had and being jostled around greet him as he awakens from unconscious. Opening his eyes he is blinded by the sun only catching a glimpse of surroundings that are familiar but also not familiar at the same time before closing his eyes again. Attempting to reach up to scratch his nose with his right hand he feels his left move with it. Slowly opening his eyes and looking down he sees that his hands are bound together with rope and that he's wearing ragged and dirty pants, shirt and cloth wrapped around his feet. Looking around the he sees four other people occupying the carriage. Directly across from him at the front sits a blonde haired man who appears to be in his mid twenties wearing a blue shirt and pants under some kind of plate-metal armor with what appears to be a bear skin draped over the shoulders and down the back, in the middle sits a man also appearing to be in his twenties with light brown hair, dirt on his face and hair and wearing the same ragged and dirty clothes as he had on, on the end at the back sits a woman also dressed in the same dirty, ragged shirt and pants, her black hair hung down to her shoulders in slightly wavy curls, her light brown skin clean compared to the man next to her, a look of complete shock on her youthful face. Seated next to him is an imposing looking man with light brown hair wearing plate-metal armor covered with a blue fabric sash, bear pelt draped over the shoulders with bear motif pauldrons over it who was not only bound like everyone else in the back but is also gagged. Looking down at his hands he thinks to himself that there is noway this is real and that it all had to be a dream.
Sensing the carriage stopping and the other prisoners getting up and off he is roused from his thoughts. Climbing down from the cart he sees a man and woman wearing plate-metal armor covered in gold designs with a red fabric and metal skirt over full leg metal greaves with the female of the pair wearing a steel open-faced helmet, the male holds a book in one hand and a quill in his other hand. He hears the female soldier call out "Alright prisoners when we call your name step towards the block one at a time". Next to him the blonde man murmurs "The Empire loves their damn lists". Looking up from the book the book in his left hand the male calls out "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm". The imposing man that was at the back of the cart stops forward with the blonde replying "It has been an honor Jarl Ulfric".
"Ralof of Riverwood" Blondie steps forward.
"Lokir of Rorikstead" The brunette man screams out "No I am not a rebel. You can't do this" then takes off running only to be cut down by three arrows on the back after twenty feet.
"Anyone else is going feel like running?" The female soldier asks.
The male with the list looks at him and asks "Who are you Imperial? You're not on the list."
Stepping forward he says the first name that comes to mind "My name is Matthius".
"Captain what should we do about him? He is not on the list"
"Forget the list he goes to the block" helmet head replies.
"I am sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Cyrodiil. You heard her prisoner go on over with the other prisoners".
With that Matthius walks over and stands next to Ralof. Standing there he retreats into his thoughts again only to be roused from them a few minutes later by a roaring in the distance.
"What was that?" The soldier with the list asked confused.
"It was nothing carry on" a man wearing plate armor adorned in red and gold with graying hair commands before walking over to the
"Yes General Tulius" the captain responds before turning to a woman in brown robes with a gold colored hood and shawl and saying "Give them their last rites"
As the priestess starts her benediction one of the other prisoners wearing armor made of chainmail under quilted leather with a blue sash over it steps up to the chopping block yelling out "For the love of Talos shut up and let's get this over with".
Stepping aside the priestess simply responds to the outburst by saying "As you wish" before walking off. The prisoner kneels down by the block where the captain uses her foot to push his head down onto it. Appearing to look up at the executioner before tauntingly saying "What are you waiting for? I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling down on me. Can you say the same thing imperials?"
Raising the menacing looking axe above his head the executioner brings it down severing the prisoners head from his shoulders before the captain pushes the body over onto it's side away from the block. Matthius hears "You Bastards" come from two of the other prisoners and "Justice" or "Death to the Stormcloacks" from a few of the villagers looking on at the proceedings. Next to him Ralof quietly comments "As fearless in death as he was in life". The bitch of a captain looks at Matthius and says "Next the renegade from Cyrodiil." Before he can step forward another roar is heard only this time it sounds louder.
"There it is again. What is that noise? Did" list man starts to say only to be interrupted by captain bitch ordering " I said next prisoner". "You heard her prisoner to the block nice and easy" Stepping forward Matthius is pushed down by the bitch. No sooner is another roar heard and from just above in the clouds followed by the appearance of a black colored dragon. Behind him Matthius hears the general call out "What in Oblivion is that?". Looking up he sees the executioner ready the axe to behead him when suddenly the dragon lands on the tower behind the hooded man with a earth shaking force causing him to stager. The beast is black as a starless night with blood red eyes and spikes all over it's body. Before the headsman can raise the axe again the beat roars knocking him over and filling the sky with dark clouds while causing meteors to rain down from above. The force of a meteor landing nearby causing Matthius to black out for a few seconds, coming to he hears Ralof calling out to him "Come on Imperial this way. I doubt the Gods will give us another chance to escape". Getting up he follows the man who leads him into one of the towers where he finds Ulfric, three Stormcloak soldiers and the female prisoner from his cart.
Ralof looks at Ulfric and asks "What was that thing? Could the legends be true"
In an authoritative voice Ulfric says "Legends don't burn villages down. We need to move. Now!"
One of the Stormcloak soldiers looks at Matthius and says "You and the redguard follow me let's see if we can find a way out of this tower" before running upstairs with Matthius and the female behind him. Before they get to the top of the first set stairs the dragon bursts through the tower wall killing the two soldiers that were trying to clear some rubble from the stairs to the roof before it blasts the soldier leading the two prisoners with fire. Slightly over the roar of the fire Matthius could swear he heard the beast shooting out "YOL TOOR SHUL" before it fly's off again. Just then Ralof comes up the stairs stands next to the hole and says "See the Inn over there? You two are going to have to jump through the hole in the roof there and go through. We'll follow when we can. Now go". Matthius look down at the inn then back up before taking a running leap and jumping through the roof landing on a bed in the corner. Getting up from the bed he looks back at the redguard woman standing in the hole of the tower eyeing the gap nervously. He shouts up to her "Just jump like I did the bed will break your fall. Come on we have to get our of here". Taking a running jump from the tower she lands on the bed tucking into herself and rolling off the bed and onto the floor. Helping her to her feet Matthius then running to a hole in the floor on the other side of the room with the woman right behind him. Once out of the inn they run into the soldier that had the list and an older man trying to coax a boy out the road from next to his father laying on the ground. "Hamin you need to get out of the road."
Just then the dragon lands behind the man on the ground causing the kid to run to safety before the beast unleashed a blast of fire breath killing the man. The soldier turns and notices the two prisoners. "You two prisoners are still alive, good. Stick with me if you want to stay that way." Turning to the old man. "Gunnar keep an eye on the boy. I have to locate General Tulius and join the defence". Gunnar replies "Gods protect you Hadvar" before Hadvar runs off with Matthius and the redguard woman close behind. They duck into an alley between a burning house and one of the village walls, slamming their backs against the wall when the dragon lands on the wall above them and roasts two archers standing at the end of the alley in front of them.
Running up the alley and through a destroyed house the trio make their way towards the keep at the West side of the town. Just as they enter the courtyard Ralof and five Stormcloak soldiers jump down from some rubble that used to be one of the archways to the yard. "Ralof you traitor out of our way" Hadvar yells at the man.
"We're escaping, Hadvar. You are not stopping us this time."
"Fine. I hope the dragon takes you all to Sovengarde then." While Ralof and the Stormcloacks run to the door closest the undamaged archway Hadvar runs to the far door. Unsure of who to follow Matthius looks to the woman and see her head toward the door Hadvar went through and decided to follow her.
Inside the keep Hadvar is standing there with a dagger in his hand and looks over at them when they come in and says "Come here so I can get those bindings off both of you". After cutting the ropes from around the prisoners wrists Hadvar heads into the hallway at the back of the room telling them to look around for anything useful before joining him. Turning to the redguard extends his hand to her saying "My name is Matthius. What is your name?". Shaking his hand she replies "Vivian, my name is Vivian"
"That is a lovely name. We should probably search this room for anything useful. I am going to check those tables, bookshelves and chest over they on the right" Matthius says walking over to the table by the door they entered while Vivian checks the chests by the beds on the left side. At the table he finds six copper coins, two full waterskins, two wooden plates each with a baked potato and cooked salmon on them, a loaf of bread and a knife. He moves three of the coins next to each of the two plates before heading to the back of the room. In the chest he finds a set of leather and chainmail armor, a pair of leather boots and a pair of leather gloves/wrist guards. Seeing that Vivian has her back to him he calls over to her "I found some armor that will fit me please keep facing that way while I change into it real quick." "Okay" comes her quick reply while digging around in one of the chests on her side. Shedding his ragged clothes Matthius quickly puts on the armor before grabbing an Iron sword from a weapons rack on the back wall and fastens the scabbard on the side of his hip and picks up a dagger from the table to hand to Vivian. "All done" he says turning around to Vivian tossing a backpack and a leather helmet at him, both of which he puts on. "Didn't find anything for yourself? He asks her. Shaking her head as she puts on a backpack "No all I found was the two packs and that helmet. What all did you find?".
"I found this armor, sword and a dagger for you back here plus there is food, drink and coins on the front table there" he replies walking over to the table setting the iron dagger down and grabbing the knife to cut the bread in half before wrapping the food in some clean cloth that was on the bookshelf and stuffing the parcel into the pack before tying the waterskin to the pack and stuffing his three coins into a leather pouch that he then puts onto the belt of his armor. Walking over to the table Vivian does the same except for placing the coin pouch in her pack then picking the dagger up before turning to Matthius "That is all for this room, I suppose we should catch up with Hadvar. Lead the way as you got the bigger weapon." Making their way down the hallway they find Hadvar crouched next to a doorway blocked by metal bars sticking up out of the floor. "There are two Stormcloacks on the other side with luck we can reason with them" he says pulling a chain to lower the metal bars into the floor. As the trio walk through the doorway the Stormcloacks one a female with a sword and shield the other a male with a greatsword draw their weapons and charge at them. Drawing his sword Matthius charges at the guy with the greatsword while Hadvar and Vivian take on the woman wielding the sword and shield. Quickly dodging and parrying strikes from the two-handed sword Matthius works on a plan for defeating his opponent. Seeing that his opponent is making broad sweeping swings of the sword Matthius decided his best option is to get in close making it harder for the Stormcloak strike at him. Ducking under a horizontal swing of the sword meant to take his head off he slashes at the man's legs taking one off before jumping on him and driving the sword through the rebels heart ending his life.
Turning toward Vivian and Hadvar he watches as the redguard gets behind her opponent and drives the dagger into the back of the woman's skull finishing her off. Grabbing the dead woman's legs she begins dragging the body toward the hallway they entered through. Hadvar looks at her and asks "What are you doing that for?". "I am not going to walk around for who knows how long in nothing but these rags wielding this little butter knife. I will be right back just let me change into her armor" she replies dragging the body into the hallway and out of sight. While the two men wait for her to return Matthius searches his fallen foe for anything useful to take. Finding nothing of use he decides on just taking the greatsword which he places on his back. Vivian walks in wearing the Stormcloak armor minus the blue sash, shield in her left hand sword in her right just as Matthius finishes adjusting the scabbard for the greatsword on his back.
Walking over to a metal gate Hadvar unlocks it then turns to his two companions "We can get out down this way. There is a cave that opens out down the hill from here. Hopefully it will be far enough that the dragon won't notice us.". The trio head down the stairs and into a storeroom. Searching the room for anything useful, they mostly find some vegetables, a few bottles of ale and six glass bottles which Hadvar hands to the former prisoners saying"Here take these potions. The red are to restore health, the green to restore your stamina and the blue to replenish your Magicka reserves.". Dividing the supplies between the two of them Matthius and Vivian put it all into their packs before the trio continue on down the next hallway. At the top of the next flight of stairs they hear the sounds of fighting at the bottom. Descending the stairs they enter a room with two Stormcloacks fighting two Imperial soldiers, one shooting lightning out of his hands at the Stormcloak and the other struggling to fight his opponent off with an axe.
Rushing in to help the man with the axe Matthius charges over sword drawn only for the soldier to be cut down just before his opponent gets a sword through his heart. Turning around he sees the other man finish the last Stormcloak with a dagger to the head while also taking a sword to the chest. Searching the bodies Matthius finds only four silver coins which he gives two of to Vivian before stashing his in his coin pouch and then picking up the weapons and tying them together with some rope. Looking around a celled off area in the corner the former prisoner finds a shield made of wood and iron, some lockpicks and a book whose grayish brown cover display a hand covered in fire with a red aura surrounding the book. Picking the book up he walks over to Hadvar asking the soldier "What is this book about and why is it glowing red?". Looking at the book "That is a destruction magic spell tome the red glow means it is a fire spell probably the novice level spell" Hadvar responds before looking at the book with what looks like a pheonix on it that Vivian just picked up from a small table against a pillar "That is a restoration magic, looks like the novice level spell healing. Both of you should learn that spell." Putting the books away in their packs with Vivian handing Matthius two lockpicks and three more copper coins before following Hadvar further down the passageway. After passing through the passageway and an accompaning room with some hanging cages the group comes to a room with a small stream feeding a pool of water in the center of the room and a lone Stormcloak with a bow in hand and quiver of arrows on her back limping towards the only exit her back turned toward the trio. Pulling his sword out Matthius silently sneaks up behind her and drives the weapon through her back killing her without a struggle before taking the bow and arrows off the corpse and turning to the other two while placing his new weapon in his pack saying "Coast is clear let's keep going" before heading on out with Vivian and Hadvar close behind they cross a wooden drawbridge only for the tunnel to collapse behind them blocking the way back and smashing the bridge in the process. "Guess there is no going back now might as well push on forward now through the cave" Hadvar comments before continuing onward into the cave with the two former prisoners. Two hundred feet into the cave the trio come across a room occupied by three large frostbite spiders which they quickly dispatch before continuing on. Coming across a sleeping bear the trio decide to sneak past it preferring not to get into a fight with a bear that probably weighs more then all three of them combined. After another two hundred feet the exit to the cave comes into view. "Finally the exit. I thought we were gonna be stuck down here for awhile." Hadvar remarks making his way out of the cave with Matthius and Vivian close behind him.
That concludes chapter One. If you liked this and would like to see it keep going please don't forget to rate and review it.