The birds and the wind going through the trees sang in unison as the sun started to rise on the horizon of Skyrim. The constant patting of horseshoes hitting the dirt ground and chains rattling on the prisoners who were locked in the tailgate of the carriages. Guards yelling orders and sharing stories of what they were doing when they took down the biggest villain, in their eyes, to Skyrim. Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion. The rebellion have been fighting against the imperials for years, Ulfric himself killed the High King of Skyrim with just his voice. Now the rebellion leader was sitting right across from the Curator of the sands.
"So where you from thief?" a fellow prisoner asks another, the man seemed to be a follower of Ulfric; he wore the traditional blue colored armor that bore the insignia of the Stormcloaks. The man was of fair color and blonde hair, the people in this area referred to them as "Nords" they were the most proud and most proficient in battle in all of Skyrim.
"What does it matter?" The thief looked rather starved, his skin was pale and he looked sickly. The man had dark brown hair and wore torn clothes; he wore no shoes or any foot covering. The man seemed to not be of any type of nobility, if you were to see him on the street you'd just simply pass by him.
"A man's last thoughts should be of his homeland" The Nord replied.
"I would prefer to not have conversations with lowlifes like you all! If it weren't for you I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Winterhold right now!" The Thief retorted.
"Watch your tongue; do you know to whom you speak? That is Ulfric Stormcloak that you're in the presence of." The Nord spoke proudly of his leader, he spoke with such passion that you'd believe he's known the man all his life.
"Wait, if they've caught him. Then that means….Wait! Where are we going!?" The Thief started to stir.
The guards shouted to settle down, as The Curator of Sands settled back and forth in his seat, rearranging the shackles around his hands, he felt rather naked without having his staff on his side. This was no place for a "man" of his stature to be. To meddle in human affairs was beneath him, he was only here to speak with the new champion of the league, and he knew nothing of her but that she was commonly known as the "Dragonborn".
"I don't know friend, but wherever we are going, Sovngarde awaits." The Nord replied meekly.
Sovngarde was the heaven of the Nords from what Nasus could understand, they believed heavily in the acts of Talos, their god. Even though worship of Talos was banned in Skyrim, the Nords still openly expressed their love for the god.
"Dawnstar…" The thief stated, "...I'm from Dawnstar".
"And what of you? I haven't seen your kind here before, some type of man-dog thing. What are you here for?" The Nord turned his attention to Nasus.
Nasus exhaled heavily, his voiced seemed to echo behind itself. "I am searching for an individual, and I know nothing about her but that she is called the Dragonborn. I came to Skyrim because I have a proposition for her before she reaches the League. I don't suppose any of you would be able to assist me on the location of this individual?" He turned his attention to Ulfric thinking that maybe he would be the most knowledgeable of the prisoners.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I cannot help you, dog." The last word that escaped Ulfric's mouth seemed to have a certain flavor of distain on it. "Not like it matters, we won't live to see a day past this one" he turns his attention to the horizon. "Sadly you take for granted the smaller things in life."
'I don't have time for this, but without my staff it seems as though I won't be getting that far. I could just stick around and see where this road leads. But from the looks of it, it doesn't seem that far.' Nasus pondered to himself as the Nord and the Thief argued over some useless nonsense. Suddenly the carriage came to a stop.
"It would seem we have reached our destination." The Nord stopped his arguing to comment on the obvious.
Nasus was thoroughly confused as to what the blond haired man was speaking about. "What do you mean? Where is our 'destination?'"
The Nord simply laughed, "That all depends on what you've done in your life my friend." The assertive voice of a woman spoke with such force that she must have been of some high ranking, the door holding the prisoners in suddenly dropped. The men on the board were ordered to stand up and make their way down, starting with Ulfric. The Thief began to stir, "No wait, we aren't rebels. We weren't with you. Tell them that we aren't with you!" he began to shake.
"Calm yourself; face your death with some honor friend." The Nord replied with pride as he jumped down from the carriage that was holding them. As the Thief and Nasus quickly followed the Nord's lead, the woman began to shout out orders, while another man was writing words on a piece of parchment and calling the names of the men and women who were "the accused".
"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm. Please step forward." The main spoke without lifting his head as he wrote down word for word the actions of the Stormcloak leader. As the leader took his steps forward and was directed to line with the rest of the prisoners, the Nord gave his final words to his leader.
"It's been an honor, Ulfric Stormcloak." With that the Nord followed along as well.
Nasus felt like these formalities were useless, a waste of time to be exact. Humans always had a way of dragging out ceremonies such as this, even in death, nothing is peaceful to them. As he was asked to step forward, the man spoke "State your name".
"Nasus, Curator of Sands" His voice took a formal tone, deciding to play along with these petty formalities.
The scribe looked up from his writing, "You're not on the list, where are you from? How'd you get mixed into this?" Nasus couldn't help but grin, something about this man's confusion made him smile. But he refused to answer, "Your men took me along with the rebels while I was crossing the border between your world and mine. They mistook me for one of the Stormcloaks."
"Well, we truly are sorry for the confusion. Sadly you'll be put to death with the others, don't take it personally." The scribe seemed to sound sincere in his words, but words mean nothing when the fate is still the same.
Nasus walked over to the line where the others were; one by one the accused walked up to the block and were decapitated by the executioner. The area was consumed by the stench of rotting flesh and dried blood. Even more so to Nasus who's nose was more sensitive to the smells.
The Nord whom had greeted Nasus in the beginning was up next. The man readied himself on the block by kneeling down and resting his head where they had prepared. The basket that was used to catch the heads was filled to the brim; no doubt more executions were to come. This made Nasus pretty worried, seeing how little value life had to these humans.
"My gods smile upon me; can you say the same for yours?" The Scribe wrote down the final words of the Nord. With that, the executioner brought down the blade and with a smooth slice the Nord's head separated from his body, the blood poured into the basket where the other prisoners' were. The body of the Nord shook as the nerves were still alive and moving, the sight was pretty gruesome to see, but Nasus didn't dare look away.
"Next!" the Imperial woman shouted. The woman's words were cut by a thundering the background, no doubt a storm was brewing. Sadly Nasus wouldn't be able to appreciate the storm's beauty because he was next. He walked slowly to the block, and took a deep breath. He thought back to the rebellious leader's words. 'You do learn to appreciate the small things.' With that he kneeled down in front of the chopping block. The thunder now is seeming to be getting closer, and its booms becoming more violent shook the very earth that they were standing on, causing a brief pause in the practice.
"It's nothing, carry on!" The imperial woman grew impatient.
A huge reptilian figure with wings the span of two buildings revealed that this was not a storm approaching, as the figure breathed fire onto the civilians causing them to scatter. Most were burned beyond recognition. The monster roared into the skies, causing fire to drop from the heavens. As the balls of flame engulfed the buildings in a roaring fire, a black smoke tinted the air of the city. Many took it as the opportunity to escape, including Nasus himself. Still bound by his hands, Nasus ran towards shelter, despite the confusion Ulfric was able to escape into the confusion. Many of the guards stood in fear, while the others bravely attacked.
"Dragon!" A warrior cried as he pointed at the monster and readied his bow. Taking aim at the monster. Nasus made his way to a castle-like building, it was the only way he could be somewhat safe from the monster. Not that he hasn't seen dragons before, but he knew the destructive power that they possess. Once inside the structure, Nasus was happy to see a familiar face. Ulfric also used the castle as a shelter too. "You aren't a dumb dog, you seem to be able handle yourself well in the face of fear" Ulfric praised him.
"Cowering away is not a sign of smartness, it's a mean of survival" Nasus replied back with a sense of urgency.
"Knowing when to run and when to fight is as smart of a choice as any" Ulfric replied while looking towards the mixture of civilians and Nords whom decided to use the castle as well.
"Are these the dragons of legend?" A man spoke from the group.
"Legends don't attack villages." Ulfric simply replied.