Helgan, Falkreath Hold
Skyrim
The 17th of Last Seed, 4E201
She was out maybe a minute or two. But she instantly knew two things: One, she no longer needed to use the bathroom and two, it was raining fire! Speaking of fire, she looked up to see a flaming boulder falling. And it was going to land on her. Thankfully, someone pulled her out of the way and they went flying back a couple feet when the burning rock smashed into the ground. She looked over to her savior. Ralof.
"Thank you," she said with a groan.
"No problem, Ralof grunted. "Let's go, the gods won't give us another chance."
Belinda nodded and managed to push herself up. Ralof slowly got up, wrapped an arm around Belinda's shoulders, and they ran into a nearby tower. Ulfric, Gunjar, Frig, and Woden were hiding inside. Frig and Gunjar were on the floor, Frig clutching at a wound. Gunjar's shoulder was cut and burned, gushing blood and blistering horribly. "Untie me," Belinda told Ralof, who didn't even hesitate. He grabbed a dagger from nearby and cut the rope holding Belinda's wrists together. She rubbed her wrists, sighing in relief. She went to Frig, muttering a healing spell. Natural magic, like what Belinda had, was different from what she was doing. This spell was just that: A spell. Arcane magic worked a little differently and allowed Belinda to cast spells when she didn't have access to physical skin-to-skin contact with another mage.
Belinda was an Astralamancer, not to be confused with Astronomancer. Belinda had the ability to tap the spirits of mages via physical contact. In lamest terms, she was a magical mimic. Whatever a mage knew, she knew. There were restrictions: She could only mimic the person's level of knowledge, she could only mimic one person at a time, and she couldn't mimic racial abilities or skills like Enchanting, Smithing, and Alchemy; they had to be learned, like arcane magic had to be learned. So if she needed to read minds, she needed to touch a telepath to mimic his or her ability to do so. And it always angered her when she found children who didn't realize their true talents because their parents were magic-suppressing tyrants! Inexperience had, more than once, caused her several injuries. The more limited the knowledge, the greater the risk for injury
She heard Frig sigh in relief as the healing spell washed over the wound. It was a strong enough healing spell that it clean out impurities, thus removing the need to clean the wound out physically. Belinda loved magic, especially when it was convenient.
"Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?" Ralof asked.
"Legends don't burn down villages," answered Ulfric, his voice deep. "We need to move, NOW!"
"Up through the tower!" Ralof said.
"I think up is a bad idea," Belinda pointed out.
"We can jump onto the roof of the inn beside the tower," Ralof told her, grabbing her and towing up the stone steps.
"I need to heal the other one! And I still say this is a bad idea-!" The black dragon's head smashed through the wall, glaring with his fierce red eyes. "GET DOWN!" Belinda shouted, her and Ralof ducking as a jet of flame shot at them from the dragon's mouth. "Shit..." Belinda hissed. "This is not a good day."
"No kidding," Ralof agreed as the black dragon flew away. They ran to the gaping hole in the wall, looking out at the burning village. The sky was red, black, and gray, meteorites smashing into buildings and people. Animals and people were running for their lives. "See the inn there?" Ralof asked, pointing to the building next to the tower. Parts of the building were still on fire, leaving a massive hole in the roof.
"I do," Belinda answered.
"Jump through the roof and get going," Ralof ordered. "I'll catch up when I can."
Belinda took a few steps back and ran, jumping out the hole in the wall and through the hole in the roof. She bent her legs and feet to take the force of the landing. When she did, she rolled and got onto her feet. There was a hole in the second story floor and she dropped down, seeing the brunette Nord and another man, another soldier. She decided she would run past them and sprinted. She made it past the brunette Nord and his fellow soldier, only to see the boy from earlier, kneeling beside his wounded father. The black dragon landed behind the boy, forcing Belinda to skid to a halt, chanting arcane words she raising her hand and firing an ice spear from her palm at the dragon's face. The dragon recoiled, roaring angrily.
"Do me proud son, now go!" the boy's father grunted. The boy nodded, crying, and fled as the dragon unleashed a jet of flame upon them both. Belinda got between the flames and the boy, unharmed and unfazed. The brunette Nord and the soldier hid behind a boulder. Belinda heard the hunter die beside her. She turned to see the boy unharmed and fleeing to the boulders. She returned her gaze to the angry black dragon. The beast lunged at her and Belinda jumped to the side. The dragon grabbed a mouthful of dirt, spitting it out in disgust. It flew off again.
"Gunnar, take care of Hamming; I'm going to find Tullius and join him in the defense," the brunette Nord said to the soldier.
"Gods guide you, Hadvar," Gunnar said, taking the boy Hamming and fleeing.
Hadvar turned to Belinda. "Still alive, Prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way," he said.
"Yes, because I didn't just miraculously survive a dragon trying to flame broil me," Belinda replied, following Hadvar anyway. They hopped over some burning planks into an alley, the black dragon landing on the wall above them to blast a mage with a jet of fire. Belinda and Hadvar had pressed themselves against the wall in time to miss being struck by the razor-sharp wing-claws and swatted by the massive wings. The dragon took off again and Hadvar and Belinda cut through a destroyed building to where General Tullius and several imperial archers and battlemages were trying to fight the dragon.
"Into the keep, soldier! We're leaving!" shouted General Tullius.
"It's you and me, Prisoner; quickly!" Hadvar shouted to Belinda.
"I HAVE A NAME DAMNIT!" she shouted before following him under an archway as Ralof reappeared, an axe in hand.
"Ralof, you damned traitor! Out of my way!" Hadvar shouted. He lunged at Ralof and the two started fighting.
Belinda scoffed, rolling her eyes. She approached the two men casually, grabbed them by their ears, and knocked their heads together. Still holding their ears in a vice-like grip, she chided, "In case you brainless oafs missed it, there's a fucking dragon flying overhead killing everyone. I don't know what pissed in your panties, and it's honestly none of my business. But perhaps you two should focus on getting the fuck out of here alive!" That's when an imperial soldier went splat in front of them. Belinda released Hadvar and Ralof, sprinting for the keep doors. The two Nords exchanged glances, looked at the body, and then followed hastily.
Belinda was sitting down inside, taking deep breaths. Seeing her breathless hit the two men and they realized how exhausted they were. It was just the three of them, winded and weary.
"Ugh, I need a bath like bad," Belinda groaned. "I smell like... Never mind. You really don't want to know what I smell like."
"I can smell it from here," Ralof chuckled.
"Oh, fuck you," Belinda laughed.
Soon, Hadvar joined in their laughter.
When they finally fell silent, Belinda rose. "Okay, enough dicking around," she said. "We gotta get out of here." The two men nodded, rising also. They went to a barred door and Belinda tested the handle before Hadvar could say anything. "Fan-fucking-tastic. It's locked and someone took my lockpicks when I was changed into these shit-stain rags. Seriously, what the fuck?! What was wrong with my clothes?! Ulfric Stormcloak and his soldiers weren't changed!"
"I don't know," Hadvar said. "I have a key though." He pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
"Why didn't you say so before?" Belinda asked.
"You didn't ask," Hadvar answered.
"That's a cheap answer," Belinda grumbled.
They ran down a flight of stairs to a hall. The ground shook violently and Hadvar and Ralof grabbed Belinda's shoulders and yanked her back as the ceiling collapsed. Belinda sighed in relief and the trio turned into the room on their left. A supply room. They gathered food, supplies, potions, and gold before moving on.
They made it to a torture chamber where they found Frig and Woden fighting the torturer and his assistant. "You torture people?!" Ralof snapped at Hadvar, outraged. Belinda stepped between the four fighters, chanting an incantation of ice. She blasted the ground around fighters' feet, freezing their feet to the floor.
"ENOUGH!" she shouted. "I demand a truce between all parties until we escape this place!" The two Nords and the two Cyrodiilics backed down and withdrew their weapons. "Thank you." She melted the ice with a fire spell... "Now, anything in here that's useful?" she questioned. They all pointed to a cage with corpse inside. "Lockpicks?" Ralof handed her some from a nearby counter and Belinda worked the lock. CLOTHES! A few tears, blood, and dirt, but it was better than itchy rags that reeked of piss. Sorry, friend, Belinda thought, taking everything off the body. She ducked behind the nearby counter and counter and said, "Anyone who looks will be castrated."
They were simple blue-green robes with ivory hems, but they were comfortable and came with pants. Finally, she pulled on fur boots. Wow, I found my size, she thought. She rejoined them. "We ready to go or are we gonna bitch at each other some more?" she asked, grabbing the nearby knapsack from the table and an iron sword. Everyone shook their heads. "Let's go," she said. They went through the keep's prison, eventually reaching the tunnels and underground pass. The group of seven reached a cavern where they sat down to rest. The torturer's assistant was pacing nervously while Belinda washed her face in the streaming running through the cavern.
"Calm down," the torturer told his assistant.
"Why have we stopped?" the younger Cyrodiilic asked.
"We need to rest and gather our bearings," the torturer answered.
"Well, I don't want to be killed by a dragon!" the assistant snapped.
"The more you worry about it, the more likely it is to happen," Belinda said coldly. She was filling a flask with water.
"I'm going ahead!" the assistant shouted, running ahead.
"No, wait, come back," Belinda called mockingly.
They moved on after a while across a drawbridge. The torturer and Woden were crushed in a cave-in before they could cross. They came to a chamber where they found the torturer's assistant dead. Frig started with, "I don't really liiiiii-ahhh!" She screamed as two large spiders jumped and mauled her. Belinda, Hadvar, and Ralof drew their weapons as more spiders dropped down to attack. Belinda threw out her hand, arcane fire shooting from her palm. The spiders that killed Frig burned, screeching. Hadvar and Ralof fought the other two.
"I hate those things," Ralof stated, shuddering. "Too many eyes."
"Smalls spiders are bad enough, but when they get bigger than your hand, that is too big," Belinda huffed. "I fucking hate spiders." They continued through the tunnels to a massive cavern with a bear sleeping. They paused, worried.
"Great, a bear," Hadvar groaned.
"Got a bow and arrows?" Belinda asked. "Actually, never mind." She chanted, summoning a Daedric bow to her hand. She aimed, her left forefinger pointing out and toward the bear's head as she squinted. With her thumb and fore- and middle fingers, she tugged the bowstring back as an arrow materialized on it. As she drew the magical arrow back, she inhaled, held her breath, made sure her aim was spot-on, and fire. The Daedric arrow zipped through the air, whistling as the tip entered the bear's head. It was swift and clean. The bear went limp, dead.
They moved on, reaching a crevice in the rocks with light streaming through.
"That looks like the way out!" Ralof cheered.
"I knew we'd make it!" Hadvar agreed. They ran up and outside into Skyrim. Belinda followed out, the warm afternoon sun nearly blinding her. When the spots cleared from her vision, she smiled at the scene before her. A beautiful grassy area with dark grey boulders popping out and a small forest of towering pines made up the landscape before reaching the glistening blue waters of Lake Honrich and the White River. On the other side of the lake was another forest, this one surrounding a snow-coated mountain crowned by ancient ruins. And overhead flew the black dragon. Hadvar and Ralof were crouched by a boulder. Belinda stayed where she was, watching as the black dragon, the one she knew was her adversary, flew over the ruins atop the mountain, and then veered north...