Sure he was always a little careless, even for a high elf. He always took things at head level and didn't think about it. If some talled trash about him, he'd just ignore it and walk away thinking he was better than that man.
But, why was he suddenly tied up and sitting in the back of an imperial carriage. Surely, he wasn't careless enough to get trapped by these clumsy imperials? He looked to the nord in front of him and noted he was pretty generic. Diagonal of him was another nord, this one a little different with his brown hair and other unique features for a nord. To his right, this was when the severity of the situation hit him, was none other than Ulfric Stormcloak!
He would have coughed a fit if the rope hadn't of prevented him from doing so. If they had the leader of the rebellion with him, then that meant he was off to his execution. He sighed through the rope, well, it seemed death was finally on his doorstep. The nord, across from him, chose this moment to speak up.
"Hey, high elf, what is your kind doing in a criminal carriage?" He said it with a mixture of poison and generous curiosity. He eyed Granaen with a natural mixture of hatred.
Granaen gave a glare, grunted and shook his head. The nord sighed and shook his head too. "You must've been caught in these foolish Imperial's trap meant for us. Damned Imperials!"
Granaen eyed him curiously, his hatred for the Empire ran deeper than his hatred for high elves or magic, it seemed. He went to speak but remembered that he had a rope in his mouth.
"Yeah, you were unlucky enough to be caught in this ambush, same as the horse thief over there." The nord tilted his head toward the other nord.
"Damn you Stormcloaks! If it weren't for you fools, I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell! Skyrim was a peaceful place before you guys started this damnable war! The empire was so lazy back then!"
"We are all brothers in binds now, thief."
"Shut up back there!"
"What's wrong with him, I wonder?" The horse thief asked toward Ulfric.
"Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Jarl Ulfric, the true high king!" The nord said to the thief angrily.
"Ulfric? The leader of the rebellion? But, if they've got you, then we are all going to be executed when we get to where we are going!" The thief started to go into a worry fit, that almost had Granaen smiling to himself.
"Yeah, an execution without a fair trial, these damned milkdrinking Imperials!" The nord across from him stated in a very loud and obnoxious tone.
The imperial driving the carriage told them to shut up again, but Granaen knew they wouldn't stop talking.
The nord and thief started talking about their home. Granaen zoned out of their conversation and instead watched ahead of the carriage.
A few minutes later, Helgen's very imposing imperial walls came into view. As stated, the walls were quite intimidating to ride under and almost felt like the end to something.
Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of emotion with this, like he was supposed to feel like an end was near, but he didn't feel it at all."What are we doing? Why are we stopping?!" The horse thief frantically asked.
"What do you think, horse thief? End of the line." The hearty nord answered him.
"Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" One of the imperials yelled to the general.
"Good, let's get this over with." Tullius called back.
"Alright, everyone step down, step to the block when we call your name!" A female Legate called toward their carriage after they had stopped.
"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm!" Ulfric walked to the block and stood with the others.
"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric."
"Ralof of Riverwod!" The hearty nord stepped over to the block with the rest.
"Lokir of Rorikstead!"
"No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!"
"To the block, prisoner!"
Lokir took off in a sprint that kind of surprised Granaen. "You're not gonna kill me!"
"Halt! Archers!"
His speed was not enough and he was almost immediately shot down by five seperate arrows.
"Anybody else feel like running?!"
"Wait!" Another imperial said and looked toward Granaen. "You, step forward." Granaen did as asked. "Who are you?"
The Legate walked over to him and looked up at him with her squinted eyes. She undid the rope in his mouth and he moved his jaw a couple times to lessen the soreness from the rope.
"I'm Granaen, just a regular high elf who likes to travel a bit." He said it in such a calm and velvety voice that everyone's mouth gaped at him.
"Rikke, what should we do, he's not on the list." The same imperial, who had noticed him first, asked.
Legate Rikke got over her surprise and muttered, "Forget the list, he goes to the block." She turned and walked away.
Granaen turned and walked toward the block with the others. "I'm sorry, we'll make sure your remains are returned to the Summerset Isle." The same imperial said to him, he generally seemed upset to kill someone who was innocent, even if said man was an elf.
Tullius said some dialogue about Ulfric and his rebellion and then a Priestess of Arkay started talking. A deep rumble shook the mountain but no one paid it much mind. A Stormcloak walked forward and said, "For the love of Talos, let's get this over with."
"As you wish."
The Stormcloak went to the block got his head put on it and got it chopped straight off.
Some rallies with or against the Stormcloaks rallied around them.
"Next, the high elf!"
He didn't understand why he was up second but he wasn't going to argue. The sooner this was over with the sooner he was done with it all.
Little did he know, fate had brought him to be the second because right when the headsmen picked his great axe up over his head, a black dragon came hurling over the mountain right toward him.
A giant mass of fire hit where he was in the little group and he relaized he was way luckier to be the second person up. But, now there was a dragon over his head and he realised the nord was offereing a hand to help him up.
A fight through Helgen was about to be had and he was wondering what was going on, why in oblivion was there a dragon!
The nord led him into a tower right on the outside of the courtyard. Once inside, with his rope removed from earlier, he simply asked, "Was that a dragon?"
Jarl Ulfric took notice of him and answered, "Yes, the bringers of the end times!"
"Could you maybe untie these ropes so I can fight against such a mighty beast?"
"No, I don't trust magic and definitely not from a high elf, you might just be working for the Thalmor, so you can kill me and they win either way."
"Right, because a random high elf is in your party and he's automatically a Thalmor spy." Granaen said very sarcastically.
"Well, we don't trust you, high elf" Ralof spoke toward him and turned to the stairs. "We need to get out of here, come on, up through the tower!"
Granaen followed him up through the tower, but the dragon busted through the wall of the tower and killed a Stormcloak that was up there. Ralof was thrown back into Granaen from the impact. Granaen naturally used his body to catch Ralof but Ralof did not appreciate it.
"Watch where you are going, high elf!" He said very deliberately to Granaen.
"You fell on me, you big oaf." Granaen said in a casual tone.
Ralof growled but finally moved toward the hole in the tower wall. "See that tavern right below us? You should jump down there and get to safety."
Granaen shrugged and with a quick step he was jumping to the other building. He landed with all the grace an elf should be expected of. There was a tiny fire beside him, but he moved toward the hole in the floor and dropped down to the first floor. Once outside, he saw the same Imperial who asked who he was, who was helping a little boy.
Granaen walked toward him and asked, "How do we get away from a dragon?" He still asked it in a very relaxed voice and the frightened imperial didn't know what to do.
"Come on prisoner, let's try to get to the keep that leads us under Helgen and hope we find an exit." The Imperial said in a pretty brave voice despite the fear he clearly displayed. "Here, let me get those bindings off of you."
"You aren't scared of my magic? Usually, you humans have no trust in us elves." Granaen said to him with a mildly confused face.
"I believe everyone is different and that race has nothing to do with it. It is unfortunate that people get judged by their race." He said with a slightly sad smile then he seemed to remember where they were. The dragon landed on the ground a little ways ahead of them and doused a man in flames.
"Follow me prisoner." Granaen was apparently the only one who truly remembered that he was supposed to get his bindings cut off.
They ran through an alleyway, narrowly avoiding getting crushed under the dragon's wings, and went through a house that led to a courtyard where everyone was. A lot of wounded soldiers were laying on the ground with a few soldiers standing in front shooting at the dragon.
"It's just you and me prisoner, let's go!" The Imperial yelled toward him. They both took off towards a little building in the next courtyard over. They passed under a little bridge on the walls and continued through the other courtyard. Ralof was running from the opposite side of the courtyard and the Imperial stopped and talked to him, or yelled, either way.
"Ralof, you damned traitor!" The Imperial yelled at Ralof when they stopped in front of each other.
"Out of the way Hadvar, you're not stopping us this time!" Ralof yelled back at him.
Ah, so Hadvar is this great guys name? Granaen thought while casually watching them yell at each other.
"Whatever! I hope that dragon takes you all to Savngarde!" Hadvar said to Ralof and started running toward the keep. "Follow me prisoner! We need to go!"
"Follow me if you want to live!" Ralof said as he took off toward the other door to the keep.
Granaen, naturally, chose the guy who actually treats him nicely and followed him in. They stood inside for a minute or so and just caught their breath. Finally, Hadvar started some conversation with him.
"Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the End Times?" He asked it, oviously not expecting an answer from Granaen.
"I am inclined to say 'yes' to your question." Granaen said in a style that most would point to an elf. But, this man took it differently than anyone else.
"I like you, you are different from other people, I feel like you are very important to this world. Come here, let me get thise bindings off." He said it so enthusiastically that Granaen actually smiled.
"You are the first person who has ever liked me, most people hate me, even my own race." Granaen said as he was getting his bindings off. He flexed his fingers and conjured some fire to float in his hand.
"Why is that? I thought high elves always looked highly upon each other?" Hadvar said as he watched the fire with an impressed eye.
"Probably because I don't much like magic, if I had to guess." He snapped his fingers closed after saying it and a tiny cloud of smoke floated up to the ceiling.
"You are pretty good with magic though, a lot better than any human, naturally." Hadvar said in a highly impressed tone.
"I said I didn't like it, not that I wasn't any good at it." Granaen said with a tiny smile as he finally took a look around the room. The room was pretty big, a little study area directly to the right of the door, with some gold on it, a few beds with chests, in a little upper area to the left of the door. He walked over to a chest and found a single helmet sitting in it. He tried to put it on but it was a bit too wide and too short for him. He sighed and out the helmet down.
"You should look for some armor." He heard Hadvar say from behind him. He smiled and looked around the room once more. There was another chest over by a closed gate and a cabinet beside that.
"I don't think I will fit into any armor in here, high elf stature and all that, but I'll try, I guess." He walked over to the chest and seen some Imperial light armor and some Imperial light boots. He tried the boots first and they actually fit pretty good, but the tunic did not fit at all. It was far too wide and far too short for him. He shrugged in it and could feel the shoulder almost fall off of him.
"Well, at least you don't have to worry about walking in these rugged shoes anymore." Hadvar said to him. He chuckled and took the armor off. He sat the armor back in the chest. He walked to the gate and inspected it, there was lever that obviously opened it up.
"We should probably keep moving Hadvar, don't know when that dragon will destroydestroy this place."
"You're probably right, let's go." Granaen pulled the lever and they started moving through the keep. Another gate was ahead of them and they could hear voices on the other side. "Stormcloaks, I wonder if Ralof is with them."
"He probably went further down this place already." Granaen responded rather matter of factly.
"You are probably right, Ralof never much liked waiting around or thinking." Hadvar stated in a nostalgic voice as he kind of zoned out.
"Yeah, what's your history with him anyways?" Granaen asked to his nostalgia.
"We were bestfriends back when we were kids, he lived in Riverwood and I lived in Helgen but we would always meet and play in the river or by the Standing Stones." He said in a very sad tone. "His father was a trader and he was traveling to Riften when a group of Imperials assumed he was a Stormcloak and attacked him. The next day, Ralof vowed to join the Stormcloaks when he was older."
"Hm, that is a pretty depressing story and I am very sorry to hear it." He said it in a casually carefree way but somehow Hadvar knew he was sincere.
"I don't know why, but I can definitely tell that you are being sincere even though you don't show it." Hadvar said with a small smile.
"Is someone there?" A Stormcloak must have heard them talking and started wondering toward the gate. Hadvar and him crouched on opposite sides of the gate and hid. The Stormcloak ventured away a couple seconds later while muttering, "Must just be hearing things."
"Let's try and reason with them" Hadvar stated quietly. "Hey, we don't want to fight, can we talk!" He yelled to the Stormcloaks.
"Who's there?" The Stormcloaks walked to the gate and seen Hadvar standing there. "What do you want Imperial?"
"Come on, there is a dragon attacking outside, surely we don't have to fight to get away from this." Hadvar said with a game-winning smile.
"Hm, yeah, you are right, go ahead and open the gate." The male Stormcloak said to Hadvar. Hadvar smiled and pulled the chain to open the gate. The gate came down but as soon as it did, a greatsword came directly towards Hadvars face. He sidestepped then jammed his Imperial sword directly into the chest of the Stormcloak and Granaen blasted a gout of fire at the other as she was preparing her sword for Hadvar.
The other died in the fire but the guy kind of coughed and spat out some blood. "Damn you Stormcloaks, you milkdrinkers have no honor!" The Stormcloak frowned at him but died soon afterwards from blood loss or lack of breath. They continued through the open door on the opposite side of the circular room. They just then noticed a few dead Imperials and a dead Stormcloak. "Damn Stormcloaks, all they know how to do is kill people."
"To be fair, they are fighting for a noble cause, aren't they?" Granaen asked.
"The only thing they are fighting for is the protection of Ulfric!" Hadvar said in a rather angry voice.
"What about the worship of Talos?" Granaen asked as they continued through the door and down a apiral staircase.
"They only think they are fighting for the worship of talos but in reality they are only decresing our chances of escaping the thalmor. What's the point in fighting the Empire if after you win, the Thalmor are just gonna destroy you?"
"Hm, that is unfortunately true." Granaen responded, he was really beginning to like this guy, he knew what he was talking about. They reached the bottom of the stairs and passed through the door to the right. As soon as they crossed, the ceiling fell in and a roar, that sounded like a shout to Granaen, was heard from up above.
"Damn! That dragon doesn't give up easy." Hadvar said after regaining his composure.
"It is a dragon, they are supposedly the most aggressive creatures in existence." Granaen said with a smile towards Hadvar.
"I'm not happy to be part of the people who are discovering that that statement is true." Hadvar said with a frown that Granaen knew wasn't real.
He laughed and knew that Hadvar was already a very close friend. "Yeah, you do have a point there." Hadvar smiled at him and they walked through the doors to the left. There were two more people in the room and Granaen immediately shot the Stormcloaks with a bolt of lightning that made them both move a bit slower due to the muscle tightening caused by electricity. Hadvar made very quick work of them and then turned to Granaen.
"How many different elements of magic do you know how to use?" Hadvar asked toward Granaen. "Fire is one thing, but lightning is another story."
"I can use adept level fire, apprentice level lightning and I can use frostbite which is novice ice." Granaen responded in a relaxed voice.
Hadvar chuckled and said, "That is pretty good for someone of your age, isn't it?" He shook his head and walked toward the barrel to grab a few potions of health and magicka. He handed two of each to Granaen and kept the rest.
"I guess, but I wouldn't really know, I never much cared for magic much." Granaen said with a shrug that Hadvar couldn't see.
"And why is that? Someone of your skill should be super excited to learn more magic." Hadvar said with a quick glance over his shoulder.
"I don't know, I always just learned it for the protection while I travelled. Never enjoyed learning it at all." Granaen said as they passed through a door on the other side of the room.
"Well, I guess that's respectable." Hadvar said with a shrug of his own. They started walking down some steps. "Damn, torture rooms, wish we didn't need these." There was a tiny battle going on in the torture room and Hadvar rushed forward to help the torturer and his assistant. The Stormcloaks were killed easily between the three Imperials.
"You fellows happened along just in time, our enemies seemed a bit upset at how I'd been treating their comrades." The torturer said in a relaxed tone.
"Don't you even know what's going on? A dragon is attacking the keep!" Hadvar said to the torturer who just chuckled in turn.
"A dragon? Please! Don't make up nonsense." He said in a joking voice. "Although, come to think of it, I did hear some strange noises coming from up there."
"Come on, we need to get out of here, follow me!"
"You have no authority over me, boy!"
"Forget the old man, I'll come with you." The assistant said to Hadvar.
"Wait, what's in this cage?" Granaen asked the torturer. Pointing to one of the middle cages with a dead mage in it.
"Don't bother with that. Lost the key ages ago, poor fellow screamed for weeks." The torturer said it in a mildly displeased tone and Granaen was almost afraid to wonder what he was displeased about.
"Do you have any lockpicks?" Granaen asked the torturer.
"Yeah, right there in the knapsack on the table." He imdicated to a tiny round table beside a pillar in the middle of the room.
"I should be able to lockpick the door to this cage." Granaen said to Hadvar.
"Good, take what you can and let's go." Hadvar said as he waited by the exit to the rest of the keep.
Granaen walked into the key after picking the lock and looked into the cage, there was a book that taught how to cast ice spikes and he quickly grabbed that. The mage was wearing some magic clothing and Granaen decided to try the stuff on. They were a surprisely good fit and he smiled to himself as he walked toward Hadvar. Hadvar smiled at him and said, "Now you are beginning to look like a real mage."
Granaen smiled at him and it actually felt good to be complimented on his magic but he didn't know why. It never did before.
"Anyways, we should keep moving, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can warn everybody of a dragon, and grab a mug of mead." Hadvar turned and ran through a hallway with cages lining the wall on both sides. The torturer's assistant and Granaen were right on his heels.
They passed through another part of the torture room, and ran through a courtyard looking place and killed about a half dozen more Stormcloaks and finally reached a draw bridge that was already down and has to kill the last two Stormcloaks who were about to cross the down bridge. The torturer's assistant stopped and said, "I should probably head back and make sure the old man is doing alright, and keep him safe, good luck you guys." He turned and ran back the way they'd come from.
"Looks like it's just me and you again." Hadvar said with a tiny smile in Granaer's direction.
"Let's do this." Granaer said with a nod toward the bridge. They crossed the bridge and the dragon chose that moment to send the ceiling crashing down on the bridge.
"Damn dragons and their aggression." Hadvar said with a smirk.
"I'm beginning to wonder how lucky wewe truly are." Granaer said with a smile.
"We're lucky that didn't come down on top of us. Come on, we should keep moving, this way." He started walking towards a cave entrance. There was a little walkway to the left and Granaer decided to explore.
"Hold on, let me explore this pathway." He walked away without waiting for a response. In the pathway there was a dead skeleton with a gold purse and a health potion. He headed back toward Hadvar with the health potion and gold purse.
"How much gold, do you think?" Hadvar asked with obvious curiosity.
"Probably about 50 gold, if I had to guess." Granaen said with a shrug and went to hand the gold to Hadvar. Hadvar just put his hands up and stepped back.
"Nope, you found that, it's yours." Hadvar said. Then he turned amd started walking into the cave. The rest of the cave was pretty easy going, a few spiders. "What next, giant snakes?"
"You'll bite yourself with that statement, Hadvar." Granaen said with a chuckle.
"You are probably right, but who cares." Hadvar said with a chuckle of his own. They walked the rest of the way to the exit of the keep after sneaking past a bear and finally entered the beautiful sunlight.
"Finally! We made it out!" Just then the dragon swooped right over the mountain, we both immediately crouched behind a rock. "I think it's gone for good, thanks for your help, I couldn't have made it without you."
"The feeling is mutual, Hadvar, I feel like I'm closer to you than I've been with anybody else." Granaen said in a casual tone with a shrug.
"How do you always act so careless because I can clearly see you care more than anybody else. Anyways, I need to go, you should head to Riverwood, it's a little village to the north of here." He turned and took off running down the rock road.
Careless? Of course I'm careless, no one has ever cared enough about me, why should I care about anything else.
End Chapter 1: Careless?
[Hey guys bandit14 here! I'm quite new to this whole thing so please be patient and I honestly suck at English already. I hope you guys enjoy my little realism I throw into Skyrim and please tell me if it's too realistic! I plan to upload weekly, maybe even twice a week if I feel really good. Please enjoy my story and I plan to make Granaen have a most exciting life in the future, stay to read it!]