Chapter One: Unbound

The first thing M'lecis was aware of when she woke up was that her head felt like somebody had whacked it with a sword a couple times, then sat on it for good measure. It was killing her as she opened her eyes and slowly took in her surroundings. A forest was slowly going by from her postion on a cart. And her hands were bound.

Her day was off to a great start.

How had M'lecis even got here? She'd been with her caravan, on their usual route, when she had heard fighting in the distance. Her stupid curiosity had gotten the better of her-again- and M'lecis felt like she just had to investigate. Of course, the fighting had turned out to be some kind of Imperial ambush, and even worse, it was Imperial squad full of Nords. Nords instantly mistrusted any Khajiit they saw, and M'lecis had been thrown into this cart, no questions asked, before the fighting had even died down.

She was probably in Skyrim now, M'lecis decided. She could see mountains over the tops of the trees and thought they kind of looked like giant Khajiit ears. At least something here reminded her of her native home, even if there were no mountains in Elsweyr.

The cart rumbled on while M'lecis lost herself in her thoughts. They were almost there, wherever "there" was. Probably jail, or at worst a prison. M'lecis was actually pretty good at thievery and picking locks so she wasn't too worried about their destination. Her fellow prisoners clearly were stressing over the destination. One Nord, who M'lecis thought she had heard called Ralof, was talking with the other Nord (who was a horse thief) about how they were going to be executed. Executed? It didn't make sense. Who were the Imperials so desperate to get rid of that they would be killed right after being captured? Surely they wouldn't kill her, a nameless, unimportant female Khajiit?

There were two more people squeezed in next to the strange man who had been gagged. M'lecis leaned over to get a better look. Another Khajiit and a Redguard, both looking as confused as her. Clearly they'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time, same as M'lecis. The Redguard saw her staring and nodded in her direction, as he couldn't wave. She nodded back, and the cart rolled into a fortified town. This was it.

This would be her final resting place.

"Helgen." Ralof said.

The prisoners were ordered to get out and waited for their name to be called. Ralof, the horse thief, and the strange man were all on the list to be killed. M'lecis wasn't and her chest filled with hope until the Imperial with the list said, "Who are all of you?"

"Pip" said the Redguard with an almost undetectable edge in his voice.

"Kharo" That was the Khajiit's name apparently.

It was her turn now. "I'm M'lecis." she whispered.

The Imperial turned to his superior, a female Legate. "They're not on the list."

"Forget the list, they go to the block!" the Legate yelled back.

All three of them were marched over to the block and joined the other captives. A priestess wanted to bless the execution, but a captured Nord bravely volunteered to be executed. The headsman did his work with a swing, and M'lecis shut her eyes as the Nord's head hit a basket, and the chopping block turned red with blood.

"Next, the Khajiit!"

Out of all the ways her life could have ended, this was not the one M'lecis would have chosen, dying in a foreign land with only completer strangers to see and mourn her. Her vision started to blur with tears, but she held them back. She would go to her death bravely. Kneeling, M'lecis laid her neck down on the bloodstained block, trying to pretend it was a pillow. The headsman drew his axe back….

…and was promptly knocked over by something big, scaly and black landing on the tower behind him.

A dragon.

M'lecis scrambled away from the block in terror, trying to dodge the fire the dragon was spitting out. She kept backing up until she ran into something. The Redguard towered over her, the other Khajiit right behind him.

"You alright?" Pip inquired. M'lecis couldn't believe they had come back for her. The other prisoners had long since scattered.

" Yes, but we need to move." she replied, dodging another round of fire.

"Here," interjected Kharo. "We found this rock. Let me get those binds off."

"Thanks."

Pip said quickly, " There's a gate over there, but it's locked." He pointed to the entrance they had entered Helgen through.

"Let's get over there, then." said M'lecis.

M'lecis thought the world was ending as the three of them sprinted for the front gate. Fire was raining from the sky, charred bodies and wreckage were strewn all along the ground and Imperial soldiers were desperately trying to fight of the pitch-black dragon, paying no attention to M'lecis and company.

She reached the gate first. Luckily, the Imperials had left her with three lockpicks left. She fumbled around with the lock, while Kharo and Pip scouted dead soldiers for weapons and armor. On her second attempt, the lock was opened. After hand M'lecis Imperial armor, a bow and some arrows, Kharo and Pip pushed the gates of Helgen open, and the three who would save all of Tamriel ran into the wilds of SKyrim, without a single look back at the inferno that once was Helgen