I don't know where my story begins. I'm not even too sure that my story begins with me. That's just the way the world works now isn't it? There's an oddity about how it can be your story, and yet you yourself don't even play the lead role. Though I must admit, I'm extremely grateful that I ended up being a shadow rather than the one on a pedestal.
When I walk down the roads to the market no one ever stares at me. I have no scars on my face to show the battles that I have been through, only the memory of the triumph my companion and I have felt when the battle was over. There is nothing terribly remarkable about my features, but years of strife have hardened my will. The Eight Divines have graced me with a role that no one will truly care to share.
Honestly, I can't tell you when my story starts or when it ends, but I can, however, tell you the story of someone much greater than me. I shall tell you the story of someone who bested all in Skyrim; for the sake of his homeland and honor.
He had many names through-out our time travelling together; Nightingale, Harbinger, Listener, Thane, Vampire-Hunter, and Dovahkiin. To me, however, he shall always be known as Valkir.
I lived in Helgen , a small town in the south reaches of Skyrim, for most of my life, and as was tradition for my family, the rest of my life was supposed to be lived there too. I was content with the idea; there are worse things than marriage to a dear friend in a town that you were both raised in. The Imperials that watched our streets didn't bother me much as long as I stayed out of their way and honored my mother's heritage rather than my father's. My father would often claim that it was a sad day when one could not worship his own Gods.
Though worship of Talos had been forbidden he still wore the god's amulet around his neck till the day he left to fight for the Stormcloaks. I don't ever remember my parents discussing the rebellion around me, I was young when it first started, but my father hadn't left for Windhelm to join until I was sixteen. It wouldn't be until the day after my engagement to a dear friend of mine was announced that I would see him again.
When he left I wasn't a child but not yet a woman. I wasn't old enough to understand how cruel the world could be and I didn't understand how my father could have just left my mother and I alone in the world. I thought my father was selfish for leaving us with no true source of income. Every now and then he would send a letter with a few gold coins, but it wasn't enough for very long. Not too soon afterwords I picked up archery and learned how to set simple snares to catch the smaller critters. I found solace in the mountains.
A year had flown by not with out struggle, but it had passed swiftly. I had recruited a friend of mine to help me with my snares while I would prowl the trees for a deer or a wild goat. Alvic was as gentle as one could be and still be a Nord. Though he had thick muscles I don't think I've ever seen him actually use them for anything other than moving crates.
Executions weren't exactly normal for Helgen, but they happened more frequently as time went on. As I grew older I became more aware of how unjust things could be. As my understanding of the world grew I came to forgive my father. He must have felt cheated by the Imperials that had gaurded us. One day I finally realized why.
Sometimes when one looks on a moment in the past the don't remember how the day started or what they did after the event, but till this day I remember the strong beat of the sun on my skin and the fresh coldness of the morning air on my face. Children were playing in the streets and the women were gossiping.
"Elva, can you believe it?" Alvic asked me with his hand in mine. To most on lookers it would be a sweet moment between young paramours, but to us it was as normal a moment as having one's breakfast.
"Yes." I laughed looking up at the few stray clouds in the crisp sky. "I don't know why you're finding our engagement so…"
"Surreal?" My grin just stayed in place as I glanced at him memorizing his features. I was reading him just as he had read me so many times before. He was nervous to marry me. That much I knew. When we were thinking of marriage just outside of the stone walls picking cotton for cloth he told me his concerns of being a good husband to anyone. I hoped that marriage to one of his closest friends would help him with the role, just as I had prayed to Mara that it would make me a good wife. Heavens knew I needed it.
"We have been friends for far too long for it not to happen." I added on letting go of his hand to lean against a wooden post of the front porch to the town's tavern. "Who else would be willing to let me hunt while they watched the children?" I teased. Those words, even though said as a jest towards his kind nature left him in nerves.
There was for the first time in many years a tense and awkward moment of silence between us. I knew how a woman came to be with child. I knew about the intimacy a couple must share for new life to be created. I knew about the pain child labor would send me through. None of these things came to my mind though in that moment of silence. I didn't know why a young man would be so nervous about such a thing. It was a deed that needed to be done to create a family.
The silence continued on and just as I was about to apologize to him for putting him on his nerves, even though I felt as though I had done nothing wrong, when two horse drawn carriages filled with men in blue armor passed by us. In an instant my heart stopped. Familiarity caused my eyes to stare at a blond haired man with dark eyes.
Women moved off the streets to let the Imperial soldiers drive their prisoners to the center of town. Parents ushered their children into their houses awhile silence started to hum through Helgen. I followed the first carriage as close as I dared staring at the unmistakable face.
"Elva, don't get too close." Avlic warned grabbing my wrist. "They might put you on the block too if you let them." Tears started to sting my eyes.
The man's eyes didn't leave the spot they were focused on at the floor of the carriage. Even as the blue garbed men hopped down from their wooden seats he refused to look up. Alvic's grip tightened as I started to fight him.
I couldn't speak; all I could do was watch in horror as they called out my father's name when they checked off the prisoners. If I cried I don't remember it. The sun that I was enjoying only moments before seemed to be non-existent. In that moment all I knew was that my father was being sentenced to death. And I was going to watch.
All the men, and two women, were lined up. One of the men, Ulfric Stormcloak as I would later find out, was being addressed by the Imperial's General. A speech was made. Then a sound so peculiar and chilling came from the sky. It was only that sound that got me to look away from my father. Some little piece of my heart had hoped that it was divine intervention. Talos himself was protecting my father in his greatest moment of need.
"What was that?" Alvic asked. One of the men who lined up tried to use the distraction to run to his freedom. He was quickly shot down. The only other man dressed in torn robes shook his head at the poor soul as if he himself wasn't about to be put out on the block.
The execution resumed and last rites were being given. One of the Stormcloaks cut of the priestess in the middle of her blessings and walked himself strait to the block. "My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials." He sneered as they pushed his shoulders down. "Can you say the same?"
Alvic tried to move me gently from my spot but I was rooted, and in that moment, my old life of innocence had ended. There in front of me was a pool of blood surrounding a man's shoulders while his head had rolled away from his body.
"Next prisoner!" a female imperial officer called. The young man who shook his head at only who I can assume was his dead companion beforehand was now shoulders down on the block face up towards his executioner. Another heart chilling sounded echoed through Helgen.
"What was that?" The Imperials were starting to get uneasy. Except the woman who was barking out orders wasn't done with her blood bath.
"Continue!"
The executioner raised his weapon and then something none of us could have ever imagined appeared before our eyes.
"DRAGON!"
Panic had hit us. No one knew what to do so everyone tried to find cover. But what was sufficient against a dragon? Alvic had run off. To where I don't know, all I know is that was the last of him I ever saw. Rubble from toppling towers was falling all around me. The ground shook. The only thought that passed my mind and defeated my instinct to run was the thought that I needed to find my father.
"Papa!" I called out trying to gain my footing. Golden hair had caught my eye from behind a flame. "Papa!" I called out again making my way towards him. His skull had bled out and his eyes, while open, were dull. "Papa, try to hear me!" I cried lightly tapping his thickly bearded face. Tears dripped from my eyes and mixed in with blood that had stained his hair.
Looking back on that day now, I don't know if what I did next was the right move or just pure dumb luck, but I took my father by the wrist and dragged him between the city wall and the back of a building. I held his broken head in my lap, blood stained my dress and I petted his hair singing a lullaby to him. I choked on smoke, dehydration, and tears every other breath I took but I kept singing my father to Sovngarde.
"Move!" I thick hard voice called out behind me and before I knew it I had been tackled away from my father. A sickening crack of bones came from wear I was kneeling only moments before. One of the Imperial guards had saved my life. Underneath a giant stone that fell from the city's great wall was my father crushed. Organs and blood had been pushed out of his mouth, but I needed to get to him. "You have to leave him!" I fought against over two hundred pounds of pure muscle to try to get to my father.
"PAPA!" I screamed and I wailed as though I was little again. The man slapped my face, hard.
"It's too late for him. You need to get out of here." The guard was a Nord. One of the Nord's that came through Helgen quite often. The man stood up and left me to decide my fate: stay with my father's mangled body and die myself, or go and live my life haunted by the memories of seeing his stomach hanging out of his mouth. I got up on to wobbly feet ran over to my father's corpse and ripped his amulet if Talos off of his neck. I do believe that was the only time it had ever left his person.
I chased after red and leather trying to keep up with the man that had saved my life. Eventually we made it underground through the barracks. "I'm sorry." He stated putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Do you know how to fight?" He asked, his look suddenly hardening. I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded. A coughing fit had begun and the man found me some wine to swig.
"I need a bow." A wobbly voice that I barely recognized as my own said. The man nodded acknowledging my answer.
"Stay on the look-out for armor." Footsteps echoed down the stone hall, "Any armor." He whispered before sneaking over to the door. I couldn't believe myself. This man was asking me to wear another man's chainmail. I didn't know the person who walked through that door, and for the sake of the man who saved my life, I hope he didn't either.
I assume the man was a Stormcloak, or he was an innocent who used the same idea as us to steal someone else's armor. The only thing that I didn't have to assume in that moment was that he would be asking for his armor back anytime soon. The guard jumped from behind the door and slit the throat of the practically harmless man. My hands covered my mouth and I snapped my jaw shut to bury a scream.
"The chainmail and helm will fit you." He said as he started to scavenge the remains of his prey. With shaking hands I walked over to him and took the chainmail and helm. I found some trousers in a chest over in the corner that tied in the front and I slipped those on to rid myself of the blood soaked dress. Nothing other than the shoes on my feet fit, but I had armor. "We need to press on." He stated pocketing the man's money.
There weren't many others down in the tunnels. Most of the men had already been killed or made a run for it. I was told to take a dead woman's armor and bow. "It will do you more good than her." He said taking the chainmail off of her body. After what felt like forever of running through water and slipping over rocks we finally made it out of the tunnels.
The man however had us wait ten minutes before actually stepping out in the light of day. I was safe. I was alive… "What am I to do?" I asked out loud. The panic that I felt earlier now was starting to set in. Tears stung my eyes and my breath was again starting to shake. "Everything.."
The man sighed and looked at me with his eyes furrowed. "I don't know… I'm sorry." Tears streamed down my face. "I can take you with me to my brother's house in Riverwood. It's about half a day's walk from here. But after that we go our separate ways." I took a deep breath to calm myself and nodded. I didn't trust my voice so I just motioned for him to lead the way.
Most of the journey was in silence. A wolf or two had attacked us but we took care of them and took their furs. "Thank you." I spoke softly as we made our way down the winding road. The man just nodded and continued walking. "Elva." The man stopped and looked at me, his hair gleamed in the sunlight. "I'm Elva." The man gave a small friendly smile and nodded.
"Hadvar."