(Disclaimer: I don't own the Elder Scrolls series or their characters)

Prologue

The dreams came as they did every night, with a sudden jolt I found myself in a tunnel of sorts with a figure bathed in light at the one end and darkness on the other end which was slowly consuming the rest of the tunnel. With a start I ran for the light lest the darkness consume me, as I drew closer I could make out the the source of the light was a woman. The darkness however was gaining on me fast but as I drew closer I noticed something I never had before in the countless times I experienced this dream, the woman opened her eyes to reveal startling emerald eyes that bore into my soul. Before I could get closer however that darkness did what it did every time I had this dream, it consumed me.

I awoke in a cold sweat, and slowly rose from my bed to inspect my surroundings, this was definitely the inn in Riverwood. It would take a few hours before I reached Helgen to steal a chalice from one of the families in the village. I silently cursed Mercer for sending me on this assignment, he knows how much I despise Falkreath and said that I will never set foot in that town and he is trying to get me as close as possible to it just to annoy me. We never did get along, not since Gallus died. It was probably because I am the only one in the guild who doesn't believe his story about Karliah killing Gallus in cold blood. They loved each other and I can scarcely believe that she would have done anything to hurt him. Needless to say Mercer didn't take to kindly to me questioning him and I can only hazard a guess that the only reason I am still in the guild is because I am one of the best thief in the place and because I am just too well loved by my fellow guild mates. OK, maybe that last one is a bit of a stretch.

My little reverie however was ended by the inn keeper asking me if I was done using the room. "Sure, I was just passing through Riverwood anyway" I said with a polite smile. "Then I suggest you be on your way" she said with a hint of mistrust in her voice. I sighed reluctantly and made my way towards Helgen.

Chapter 1

Where Duncan tries to play the hero

Other than the occasional wolf my walk towards Helgen was rather uneventful though that quickly changed once I got there. The entire town was swarming with Imperial soldiers all on high alert as if they were expecting something big to go down. I couldn't guess what all this was about until I spotted several wagons rolling into town filled with stormcloak soldiers. My attention however was caught by the last cart that carried Ulfric Stormclak, a regular soldier, what looked like a very poor thief, and a nord woman in tattered clothes. Despite all of the dirt on her she looked beautiful; she had auburn hair that went to her shoulders, despite the tattered clothes she had a impressive figure, and much to my surprise startling emerald eyes that looked like they came straight out of his dream. As I looked at where they were taking her my eyes filled with horror as I saw the headsman's block. They were going to kill her! She didn't have the look of a soldier or a spy, she didn't even look like a thief. I silently prayed to the gods that they would spare her and as they began calling out names of the people on the cart my mind was racing trying to decide weather or not I should intervene. Though I was confident in my combat abilities, there were too many imperials to make fighting a viable option. So I had to come up with a better option.

"Who are you?" the nord imperial said as he looked at the woman curiously. "My name is Katlyn Stormfury and I have done nothing wrong!" she said. The man look conflicted and asked his superior officer "captain what should we do she is not on the list?" The captain a small imperial woman in comically oversized steel armored looked like a spoiled child with a new toy and said "forget the list she goes to the block!"

By this point I had enough and decided if my blade can't get this women named Katlyn out of this than perhaps my tongue can. "Stop this madness at once!" I shouted gaining the looks of all of the eyes in the village. "Where is the Emperor's justice! This woman has done nothing wrong, and yet you're putting her to death without so much of a trial!" the captain looked like she could explode with rage at any moment but I kept on with my speech. "She is obviously not a rebel and crossing the border is not a capital offense! She looks like she got attacked by bandits, but instead of helping her you're putting her to death? Every one of you swore an oath to uphold the laws of the empire, do those mean so little that you are willing to cast them away without a second thought? So I ask you all again where is the Emperor's justice because right now I certainly don't see it here!"

the town was silent after my speech however my little mental victory was delayed when the furious captain shouted "He goes to the block too!". I looked over at Tullius but he was stoic and silent on the matter, and the crowed seemed equally so. My hands went to my belt and the handles of my steel short-swords but at the same instance the guards had arrows pointed right at me. Knowing I could not win this one I raised my hands in defeat as the captain grabbed my weapons a look of victory on her face. I looked over at the nord soldier who was standing next to the captain earlier and said "My name is Duncan Blackhearth, and I don't have a hold that I belong to so can you promise me to take my ashes and throw them into the sea when I'm dead?" He gave a nod and said "By my honor I will see that your remains are taken car of." "Good, and to the rest of you who remained silent during this whole ordeal make no mistake I will be haunting your dreams for the rest of your pathetic lives." I said my voice fill with venom. Just then a loud roar echoed through the valley, I knew of nothing on this plane that could have made such a noise and by the look on everyone's faces neither had they.

Tullius was the first one to break the silence that followed the strange noise "It's nothing, carry on." The captain then motioned over to the priest who was standing by the headsman and said "Give them their last rights." As the priest began to recite our final blessings but was cut off by a stormcloak shouting "For the love of Talos shut up and lets get this over with" as his head was placed on the block he said "My ancestors are smiling at me imperials. Can you say the same?" His life was then cut short by the ax coming down on his head. Ralof who was standing next to me muttered "As fearless in death as he was in life." The captain then shouted "Next the Nord woman in the rags!" As she finished her sentence the same noise echoed again only this time it was a lot closer. Katlyn then began to approach the block as my mind raced to find some way to save both of us, and as her head was placed on the block I knew what I had to do. I silently thanked the gods that they didn't have the time to bind my hands, and finish searching me for weapons as I reached into my belt and produced two throwing knives. With deadly accuracy the blades found their marks on the imperial captain and the headsman who both fell with a grunt of pain. My plan was derailed however with the approach of a monstrous black creature with wings that could only be one thing, a dragon.