"Quickly, this way!" Over the confusion and panic, I heard a familiar voice. This wasn't one of the ones that tried to kill me either, thankfully. I turned my head to see Ralof from the cart gesturing towards the tower he was near. He was probably making a general gesture to anyone that happened to be looking his way at the moment but I easily took the invitation. It was hard to move after seeing something as terrifying as a dragon but my body was thinking more of its own safety rather than what was actually happening. My body was shaky as I ran but I made it through the door to the tower. Ralof waited another few seconds but came in after me, immediately closing the door. Not that a wooden door would stop a beast like a dragon from getting its prey. A stone wall probably couldn't protect someone either, if the dragon was powerful enough.
While Ralof and Ulfric were talking about the odds of it being a dragon, I looked out the sections in the tower that were supposed to be small windows, I could only assume. There was no doubt in my mind that what came from the sky was a dragon. After all, there were no birds that big that breathed fire and could scream in phrases. Not that I was sure anyone else heard any sort of sound that wasn't a roar.
"Up through the tower, let's go!" Again, I wasn't sure if Ralof meant me by that phrase but seeing as everyone else was either wounded or not moving, I followed him. At the top of the first flight of stairs was a Stormcloak soldier gesturing for Ralof and I to continue. Ralof and I were about to get to the man when the dragon from outside smashed in the wall and sent the man, as well as a large section of the tower, into a debris pile and finished the job by spurting a long jet of fire into the hole. It reached the other wall but I couldn't help and look at the beast. It was nothing like in the stories. There were probably dozens of different looks for dragons but seeing one up close was not the same as seeing one in a book, no matter how closely it was represented.
After the dragon scorched the man's corpse and the stone from the wall, he withdrew his head and Ralof started up again. I wasn't as eager to follow in case it came back for a second helping and I wasn't ready to follow a stranger to a place that just had a dangerous beast at it.
"Hurry, get up here!" Ralof was getting impatient and I finally felt it would be safe enough to advance. When I looked out the hole into the burning landscape, it was not what I had expected. Fire had engulfed just about every house and if it wasn't burning, it was crushed.
"See that inn on the other side? Jump to the roof and keep going. We will follow when we can." Ralof was talking about the only building that was able to be jumped to but there was no telling that it was an inn before. It was just as destroyed as the others, maybe in a little better condition. Ralof was already descending the stairs again, leaving me to continue onwards. He must have meant himself and any able warriors when he said 'We'.
I took in one deep breath and jumped. It wasn't hard as I was a Khajiit and we were renowned for our agility in both jumping and maneuvering, so the jump wasn't the part that was hard. The descent did hurt a little since my hands were still bound and I had to rely on my legs to catch me rather than falling onto all fours. I carefully but quickly sprinted forward and fell down the hole in front of me, reaching the main floor of what was an inn. I was met with yet another encounter with the dragon but this was a little more distressing. A man was on the ground in front of the dragon and a boy was hesitantly getting to cover, with the help of an Imperial soldier. It was a little odd to see an Imperial helping someone after having my head ready to be disconnected from my body by their own executioner. Still, it was probably expected since he wasn't talking to a Stormcloak or a prisoner. I cautiously walked out of the burned wall of the inn as the man in front of the dragon was burned to an over-cooked crisp.
"Still alive prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way." The Imperial was speaking to me as if he was not just ready to watch me get killed. Then again, I remember the man. He was the one holding the list, who didn't want me to be killed. At least, I assumed that he didn't. The Imperial left the kid and the man behind and started towards where the dragon was focused at the moment. If he was armed and he could at least be bait while I got away, I would take that over running alone.
I started following the man to a small space between a wall and a stone building. The Imperial stopped and I froze as well. I wasn't ready to run out and be fodder for the beast. From above me, the beast's wing landed a few inches from my person and I reflexively flattened my body against the building. I wasn't going to even try to wound the beast, not that I had that option, since it would most likely have a better chance of getting me down the for the count. When the beast left, the Imperial continued and I followed. In what looked like a courtyard. Wizards and archers were trying to knock the beast from the air but it was too fast and too high. They couldn't get a good shot and were shooting blanks. The Imperial into what looked like the main and biggest building in Helgen. It must have been a keep of some sort. Either way, the Imperial was cut off by Ralof as he was heading to an entrance to the keep. Ralof started an argument with the Imperial, who he had called Hadvar, but I was ignoring them to see where the dragon had gone. It was coming dangerously close but its target was an archer. The dragon grabbed the archer and threw him higher in the air. He obviously was dead before the dragon even let go because his body lifelessly fell to the ground not too far away. If I were not bound, I would have looted him for things to use as protection.
By the time I looked back to the two soldiers arguing, they were parting ways and Ralof told me I had to choose which to go with. I quickly made an educated guess and went with the one that was the least likely to turn on me, following Ralof. I took a look to see Hadvar but he had already entered his door. Ralof and I entered the keep and was met with an empty, circular tower with a dead Stormcloak inside. Ralof must have known this man because he spoke of him with respect.
"Looks like we're the only ones that made it. That thing was a dragon. No doubt, just like the children stories and the legends. The Harbingers of the End Time. We had better get moving. Come here; let me see if I can get those bindings off." I was a little hesitant still about someone I didn't know hold a knife around me but if he wanted me dead, he could have done it a while ago. I let Ralof cut the bindings and he did just that. I pulled the ropes from both wrists until they were clean and rubbed them, moving them to make sure they still worked right. I wasn't in the bindings for long but they were tight enough that I was losing feeling in them little by little.
"Mine as well take Gunjar's gear; he won't be needing it anymore." Ralof was talking about the man dead before us two. As disgraceful as it was to take a dead man's items, Ralof was right. He was dead and I had nothing on for protection or to use as a weapon.
"Turn away, Ralof." I personally did not like anything under any sort of clothing unless it was a bra or panties. I didn't like the feel of clothes on clothes.
"Oh, right. Get ready and I will look to see if we can get out of here." Ralof went to one of the iron clad gates and examined it. While he was pre-occupied, I took off the clothing I had on before, which was just a basic cloth tunic, matching pants, and leather boots, replacing them with the armor that Gunjar had. It wasn't exactly all too good for armor in a sword fight but it felt better than heavy metal armor. I also took his axe and felt the weight. It was not a particularly well-made axe meant for extensive use but it was sharpened and would work as a killing tool, if needed.
"I can't get in. It looks like we need a key." Ralof said from the door he was examining, looking back at me. I was dressed in Stormcloak armor that was made primarily of reinforced leather but included light chainmail underneath for a bit of added protection. The cuirass also extended below me knees, keeping my body still dressed for battle. I have seen what some women consider armor and I know it wouldn't protect anybody with how much skin they were showing. I also had to put my cloth pants back on, since I still didn't feel comfortable having my legs revealed. Gunjar's boots replaced my horrible foot wraps before and despite them being used and worn by a dead man, the boots felt great compared to what I had before. I really didn't expect the armor to fit me as well as it did since Gunjar was much bigger than I in body but it was like the armor changed itself so it fit me without any issues. I didn't question it but went with it, assuming it was a coincidence.
"Come on, this way!" My ears twitched and Ralof and I both turned towards the wooden gate. Whoever was coming, they didn't sound friendly and both Ralof and I took a spot on either side of the entrance, crouching and ready to surprise the enemy. The sound of the voice was familiar, though. Someone familiar who I had seen just today.
"Maybe these people will have the key. If they are Imperials, kill them." I rolled me eyes at Ralof. He was ordering me around like I was some kind of child going through a training exercise. There were things he didn't know about me, things that would make me much more intimidating than I gave the impression of.
"Let's go, hurry with this gate!" The voice came from a woman and my memory immediately was showing me a mental list of women that I had met today. There was just one that rubbed me the wrong way enough to leave a memory. The Imperial Captain.
When the gate opened and people came through, which were confirmed as just two, my anger boiled. It was indeed the captain and she didn't see myself or Ralof. At least until he decided to start the offensive by going after the soldier that came through the Captain. He distracted the two enough that I was able to get a well-earned preemptive strike on the Captain. I remembered her over the top helm and grabbed the top, pulling it off her head. Before she could look back to see who it was, I had my axe lodged into her neck. Her body became lifeless as I pulled my axe out after seeing it was a fatal blow and let her helm fall on top of her. Ralof had killed the other soldier.
"Well, look at that. I didn't know you could kill so well. See if one of these two have a key on them for the door." I rolled my eyes once again and searched the bodies. I started with the soldier and pulled out a couple of things. First, I replaced my axe with a sword that I was well more experienced in using. I also had gold in my hands. I was ready to pocket it when it just…disappeared into nothing. I backed up a little from my hand and closed it and reopening it. The gold had disappeared.
"What in the hell." I thought about the gold and it suddenly reappeared back in my hands. I was shocked yet again. I don't know what kind of magic was happening here but it seemed like the gold was still usable but it…disappeared into some unknown realm. All I cared is that I had it still. I shook my head and also took a couple more piece of armor from the soldier. I took his bracers and helmet, immediately equipping both. They were Imperial armor but I didn't necessarily care since I wanted some protection. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep myself safe from arrows or sword strikes but they had some form of protection.
I searched the Captain next and found her full suit of heavy armor that I was not going to grab because I wouldn't wear it and feel comfortable in it. Nor could I fight well in it. I also found the key to the door we were trying to get through. She also had a few gold coins on her that, like the others, disappeared to who knows where.
I returned to the gate Ralof was beside and unlocked it. We made our way down the stairs to another hall. There were two more Imperials down the hall we had come into and both Ralof and I ran to meet them but we didn't get far before the ceiling collapsed, closing our way down the hall.
"Grab what you can carry and let's go." The Imperials could be heard in the room beside us. Ralof and I wasted no time in bursting in the room. The Imperials were on high alert, so getting around by sneaking, which was my preferred style, was not going to happen. There were another two soldiers, one in heavy armor and the other in light leather armor. I immediately went for the more dangerous one, the heavily armored one. He was not fast but he was strong. I was duel-wielding with two Imperial blades I took from the soldier and Captain from the floor above. I parried his swing with one sword and directed it away, leaving him open and shoved my other through his throat. He died instantly and I pulled my blade back out, covered in blood. Ralof had, like before, taken the other soldier and there was nothing left but to see if there was anything useful to take. After looting the bodies for a few gold and replacing my one bloody blade for a clean one, I look around for some provisions. I found a potion and recognized it as a healing potion. While holding it, it randomly disappeared like the gold did. I wasn't expecting it but I didn't pull back like before. Instead, I thought of the potion in my head and it appeared before me in my hand. I was not sure what was happening here, assuming some extreme magic was happening that I didn't know about. I wasn't carrying any bags so that was out of the question of where it could have went and I had no other form of holding items other than my own hands.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and let's go." Ralof was getting impatient as he saw me staring at my hands. He must have not seen what I did, or at least assumed I had done something myself. I finished searching the room, scavenging a few more potions of restore health, mana, and fatigue. I may have not needed a couple of those, mainly the restore mana or fatigue, but it was also useful to have some in case I was in a tight spot or someone that was with me needed a boost quickly.
The dragon did a number on the ceiling and I was more than happy to be where it had a less of a chance to kill me. Though, if it could destroy a part of a ceiling of a lower floor, there was no telling what other kind of destruction it could do no matter where its intended victim was. Ralof and I continued down the path that was cut off by rubble to a staircase leading down.
"AHH!" A woman's voice was heard in pain in the room that was led into by the stairs. I didn't like it when allies were in pain but females were more of a priority than males, if only by a little. A man's scream was also heard but it was overtaken by the woman's to someone who didn't have animal hearing. A bright light was also coming from the floor below, so there was no telling what was happening from first glance. I sprinted down the hallways, jumping down long flight of stairs in a few jumps. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw a particularly new sight. It may have not been new to others but it was to my race. An Imperial was shooting lightning from his hands and shocking a Stormcloak women. They were at the other end of the room and I had to think fast before the woman was killed. I pulled left arm back and threw my weapon towards the torturer. My focus was set on the torturer and I didn't notice that another person was beside the head torturer, using the same magic on another soldier. They seemed to be apprentice and master or something like it. The blade missed the head torturer after he dodged it, seeing the blade out of the corner of his eye, leaving his apprentice wide open. The woman was free from the torturer's lightning because of the distraction but he immediately set his sights on me. The blade continued on though and it hit the apprentice in the shoulder, forcing him to stop as well and freeing the other soldier from the torture as well. It didn't kill him right away but the man that was caught in the apprentice's magic lightning easily retaliated with what little strength he still had and finished off his torturer. The head torturer put his arm out and the same spell he was using before was suddenly used on me.
"AHH!" Being a Khajiit and not very adept with magic in any way other than very simple spells or ones that help us for protection like Oakflesh or that could help us in danger like Detect Life, depending on the profession, is all we knew. We didn't really get trained for any higher magic either. I was not one to care too much about things like that nor did I ever have any offensive magic used against me that was constant. This was a first and it hurt more than I would have thought. Even more, I felt paralyzed out of pain, which explains why neither soldier could move.
"Let her go!" The female Stormcloak came from beside the distracted torturer and gave him a hard swing of her mace into his gut, causing enough internal damage that he was crouched on the floor, blood coming from his mouth. She finished the man off with a hard crushing motion to his skull, no doubt killing him. I was on the ground on my hands and knees, shaky and breathing hard. Ralof and both soldiers came over to help. I waved their help away and stood up carefully, counting on my own strength. I wasn't exactly one to ask others for help unless it was a last resort. The male soldier returned my sword and I grabbed it, sheathing both swords and continuing forward after regaining my composure.
"These Imperials are horrible, Is'Ma, take these lockpicks. You may be able to unlock the cage." Ralof handed me a fair share of lockpicks and left without waiting to see what I was going to do. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be racist to me because I was a Khajiit but I felt like he wasn't, surprisingly. Maybe this Ralof may be a good guy after all and these Stormcloaks may be as well. Since he left without supervising me, I figured I would explore a little to catch my breath as well. I didn't really stop to take a breather since the dragon came and I did have a lot of stamina but I wasn't a Dwemer machine. There indeed was a body locked in the middle cage but the other two were empty. Only the middle one needed unlocked and looted.
Lockpicking was a skill that Khajiit had a knack for and I was not embarrassed to say I have gotten quite good at it. I wasn't perfect but I did have much experience with both low level locks and opened a few higher level locks with success. This one was very simple, though. Ralof handed me a small shiv meant for assistance with lockpicking as well and within a few seconds of playing with the lock, it was unlocked and the cage opened. Inside was a dead mage with a nice set of robes that had a certain shine to them, enough that I couldn't help but strip the man of the robe and leave his dead body in the cage. I wasn't sure how I was going to do carry all the items I may find here but it was answered with a familiar disappearing trick with what I was holding.
"I will never get used to this." I was talking to myself while scouring the floor for what I could find. There was a few gold that left like the robes and just about everything at this point. The last and most unusual thing was a book with an odd marking on the cover. It was not the cover to a normal book but it looked familiar for some reason. I cautiously opened the book to check inside and there was a kind of circle with odd symbols and a larger symbol inside the largest circle. The smaller circles decorated the larger circle's border, as well as faint shining from the circles. I flipped through the pages and they all had the same symbol on one side but the other was blank.
"What in the hell does this even do?" I put my hand on one of the pages and felt a spark. I reflexively took my hand away but it didn't spark again. I put my hand back on the page and the sparking started again. Unlike with the torturer's spell, though, it didn't hurt. I finally pushed my entire hand onto the page and it started glowing, blinding me with a bright light. I closed my eyes but didn't move my hand and when the light died down, the page I was at was clear. I took my hand away, flipping through the pages once again to see that they were all clear.
"Okay, whatever." I dropped the book back in the cell, thinking it was useless and held up my hand.
"So, some sparks came and now wh-" I was cut off by a pillar of lightning came from my hand and connected with the ceiling. My eyes widened and I only stared for a few seconds before closing my palm. The lightning stopped and when I opened it again and focused my memory on the pillar, it came back again. I closed my palm again to end the spell and a wide smile shone on my face.
"Wow, I can summon lightning. This is already getting better. Maybe getting caught wasn't so bad. The other Khajiit will be so jealous." I shot the lightning a few more times in front of me, holding it a little longer than before. On the third try, I held it as long as I could before it just died down to nothing.
"Oh? I guess this must be that mana mages and stuff always talk about. I guess it doesn't last forever." I didn't know how long had gone by until Ralof came back from wherever he came to and spoke to me.
"Is'Ma, come on. We need to leave." Ralof must have been losing his patience but I understood. If I was waiting for someone and they got distracted like this, I wasn't sure if I would be able to wait as long as he did.
"Yeah, be right there." I wasn't one for listening to others but I know he had a point and I was going the same way, so getting out were both of our priorities. He left again and I hurried and checked the last place in the room. It almost like a cage meant for the Imperials but it was probably for their own protection. There were not many things of interest that I needed at the moment. A shield that I wouldn't use and a mace that I wasn't proficient with using, either. There were more lockpicks, though, that I pocketed for myself. These didn't disappear like the others but I also had a place for them on my person. I stashed them all in a pouch that I got from one of the fallen Imperials that they probably used to hold gold or potions. There were also books and I picked them up to take a quick peek but they disappeared like the rest into what I could only assume was a demented section of Oblivion or something. As I passed the cage on the way to the hallways Ralof had went, I seen one last thing. A bag and another book. The book disappeared as I picked it up and the pouch had lockpicks and gold in it.
"Hm, this could be useful." I picked up the knapsack and replaced it with the smaller bag I had before holding my lockpicks. It was a little bit of a pain but I would get used to it. More room to carry things around, if they didn't disappear into Oblivion.
Lining the walls in the hall towards Ralof were more cells that were all but empty and a couple were already open. I couldn't stop myself from checking them, though. I always liked looking for lost or hidden things when I was young and even now. The last cell on the right had a coin purse beside it. My eyes lit up and I quickly took care of the lock and snatched it, pocketing the gold and meeting Ralof, finally. He ended up finding another torture room, as if this place didn't have enough, with hanging cells. These guys must have really liked being cruel.
"Alright, it is about time. Let's get out of here already." Ralof turned and left as he saw me coming. I did a quick vision sweep to see if anything valuable was around but I didn't expect anything. The Imperial torturer would have already taken anything when the victims were alive.
Ralof and I continued along at a quicker pace, snaking through a quite large naturally made cavern into another load of Imperial soldiers. The Stormcloaks we helped free before went in blindly and barely got anywhere out before being picked off by archers. They weren't the best shots but a couple of lucky shots downed our guys quickly. Ralof and I retreated back into the tunnels as we made a plan. It wasn't a very fleshed out plan but it was something. I was faster than Ralof, so I volunteered myself to be a sort of distraction. I assumed my speed was good enough that the archers couldn't kill me. I was sure hoping, at least. I didn't know how well the Imperials trained their archers.
I ran in with my head and body down, making myself a smaller target and made it over the first bridge where I was safe from archers but not the soldiers that reinforced them. They weren't that hard, though. Ralof came in after me for support and the two of us took out the couple of melee fighters while the archers continued to shoot arrows to try and stop us. They missed both Ralof and I as we made our way around using the pillars as cover. It worked up until they had fallen back and there was a large, straight gap between us two and our opponents. I wasn't waiting, though. I had an idea and clued in Ralof quickly about my experience with the magic book. He was not sure how this would work but it was still a better plan than line up and get shot. I sheathed one of my blades and had the lightning ready in the left hand, keeping my right blade out. I strafed out of cover and shot the sparks toward the archers. It struck one, as expected, and he was immobilized. Ralof threw one of his axes, taking the idea from me with my blade before. It wasn't a perfect throw but got lodged into the archer's leg. The Imperial cringed and Ralof quickly made his way forward with the other axe and finished off the Archer. My lightning ran out and the one I had immobilized fell to his knees. Ralof finished him off with a straight axe to his back. I took a quick looting session with the archers, taking one of their bows and quiver, as well as filling it with arrows. I was more proficient with a bow over melee fighting, anyhow.
Ralof and I continued onwards, having a close call of death when the dragon almost crushed us with more falling debris. It must have been horrible on the surface, if anyone was still left alive. Unfortunately, I was not pleased at all when we came across the next cave tunnel. There were large and thick webs on the walls and that could only mean one thing, spiders. I wasn't sure what the spiders of Skyrim were like, though. By the size of the webs, they must have been pretty huge.
My curiosities were answered when we came to where a few large spiders were just sitting. They didn't notice Ralof and I yet, so I thought I would kill the large bugs from far away. I hated spiders a lot but this just made the ones I remember seem like the least scary thing in Tamriel compared to the ones here.
I took careful aim with the longbow I took from the archer at one of the closest ones. They would probably come after Ralof and I after I took one out but that would be one less to give me utter nightmares. I should take a body back to Tamriel and keep as a sort of trophy. It would take a large section of a room, though.
The arrow hit its mark spot on and the spider was dead quickly. Unfortunately, the others did seem to notice us but Ralof went out to cut them down himself. He made quick work of them, to my relief. I stepped down from my secure little hill but kept my bow out. I had felt like something else was here, something worse than these giant spiders.
I was answered, yet again, with two giant spiders bigger than the other spiders. I guess the 'smaller' ones were a child form because these were amazingly huge, standing at a size that was similar to Ralof. I quickly backed up and started shooting arrows like a mad woman but they didn't stop them. Ralof came back to help out but he couldn't exactly get a decent hit on either of the two without risking his own life with the other having a clear hit of him. I decided to muster my courage and go on the offensive as well, assisting him with my blades. I took one and he focused on the other. It seemed to be going well, until it got a clean hit to my face. It wasn't a fatal hit at all; in fact it was very shallow. Still, the spider's strike left a scar on my nose and close to my eye. I took the opportunity to cut the legs that were closest, causing it to start falling to one side. I followed up with cutting the other front legs off as well. It was falling towards me, so I gave my blade a good thrust through its head, killing it. Ralof had taken care of the other as well and we continued onwards through the cave. We had also encountered a bear but Ralof and I managed to sneak past her. I wasn't ready to fight a bear and I was done with fighting at the moment. I was tired and needed some rest but we weren't quiet out of the cave, yet. At least, up until I had finally seen a good sign. There was a crevice in the rocks past the bear and there was snow, which most likely meant it led to the outside. If not, then I would probably go crazy.
Squeezing through the crevice wasn't too hard for me and my small, Khajiit figure but Ralof had a slight harder time. I was too excited to see the outside to care about our troubles now, though.
"Finally, we made it." Ralof walked ahead of me as I simply relished in the sunlight. I was in the cave for too long. Ralof mentioned a sister of his, Gerdur, that may be able to help me get settled and figure out what is happening. Then he mentioned about us splitting up instead of staying together but I naturally followed him. I didn't know where I was, who this woman I was looking for looked like, or any information on the wildlife. I wasn't going to leave Ralof until I was a little more prepared, so I followed him instead of leaving.