Jul

Lucius

I rummaged through the chests in the barracks of Helgen Keep. "Are you almost ready, Lucius?" Hadvar asked.

"Luc – just Luc to my friends," I replied. I furrowed my brow and sheathed the iron sword on my hip. I stood tall and turned to Hadvar. I chose to wear a leftover mage robe someone had left behind years earlier. However, I still like the weight of heavy armor – I was wearing heavy steel gauntlets and boots. The weight is just... familiar. Calming. I smiled and brought a shower of embers to my fingers. "Ready."

"Good, friend," Hadvar replied with a smile. He walked to the door of the room and pushed it open. The Nord heaved a heavy sigh and looked like he was trying to think hard. Not something many Nords were good at – they're more "punch punch stab stab" kinds of people. "Gods, a dragon. I -"

I grabbed the Nord's shoulder and shoved him into the wall. "Do you hear that?" I asked. I unsheathed the blade at my hip and summoned the fire back to my hand. I crept slowly towards the next door, trying to sneak up and listen. Unfortunately, my heavy, metal boots clanged against the stone floor and voices came loudly from the next room.

"Who's there?" a thick, Nord voice asked. Male. "Come out here, milk-drinker!"

"Aye! Don't hide like an Imperial Coward!" a woman's voice came with the same thick, almost exaggerated accent.

"Stormcloaks! Maybe they can be reasoned with," Hadvar said. He pushed past me and walked towards the iron gate. "Look, we need to work together with that Dragon out th-"

"Kill him before he tries to trap us!" one of the Stormcloaks shouted. I growled to myself and ran forward to help Hadvar, who was struggling to hold his own against the two rebels.

I unleashed a blast of continuous fire at Stormcloaks, who stumbled backwards. The flame licked their armor and singed the cloth, producing a leathery burning smell. While the two Nords screamed – more in fear than pain – I ran forward with my sword swinging.

I focused my attacks more on the man, letting Hadvar deal with the woman. My sword's edge collided with the wooden handle of the man's warhammer. He shoved his weapon against mine and and I flew backwards. My back collided with the stone wall and the man rushed at me. He swung the steel slab of death at my head, and I barely ducked under the stonecrushing blow in time to save my own life. Rubble rained down on my shoulders from the shattered stone of the keep wall.

I rushed forward before the Stormcloak could recover, my shoulder colliding with his midsection. The Nord doubled over and stumbled backwards with me. I stopped moving my legs and the Stormcloak fell to his ass. My grip on my sword redoubled and I plunged the iron through his throat. "May the Nine receive you," I said. "Talos guide you." The man's eyes glanced into mine with a combination of thanks and confusion. I tore my sword from the man's throat and turned my attention to Hadvar's struggle with the woman.

The Imperial Soldier's sword clanged in a collision with his enemy's blade, small sparks of red fire erupting from the collision. "Die, Imperial dog!" the woman shouted. She twirled with the momentum of her blade's ricochet and slashed at Hadvar's head. He brought his blade up in time and lashed out with his foot, and the woman crashed down onto the ground. She raised the flat of her blade upward defensively, and Hadvar brought his blade downward and his sword crashed into hers.

"I didn't want it to end like this!" Hadvar shouted. He brought the full weight of his body down onto his sword and the woman's grip on her sword slipped. Hadvar's steel blade cut through her face with a sickening crunch as her skull shattered. Blood and brain flowed from the wound, and her soul left for Aetherius. Hadvar's voice came in a whisper. "I didn't want it to end like this."

I stood to the side and slipped the iron sword back into its place on my belt. "I'm sorry," I told Hadvar as I stopped the flow of Magicka to my left hand. I walked over to the Nord and offered my hand.

He looked up at me, eyes half-hollow. He grabbed my hand and I helped pull him up. He stared at the blood on his hand and sword with a dead sadness before picking up the woman's gloved hand and using it to wipe the blood off. "I wasn't going to kill them. I didn't even want to fight them," he said with a frown. He coughed once. "Let's move on."

I nodded sympathetically and gestured for Hadvar to take the lead. The soldier lumbered past me and sheathed his blade with the sound of metal singing against its sheathe. I followed him to the metal door at the other end of the large room, giving a cursory but sad glance at the two Stormcloaks on the ground. I returned my attention to the area before me and followed Hadvar through the now-unlocked door that led to the basement of the keep. I shut the door behind me, and the lock latched shut of its own volition.

We wandered slowly down the stairs, trying to ignore the screams and roars that were echoing into the building from outside. A particularly loud roar came followed by a crash. Rock collided with rock further down the path, and Hadvar rushed forward. I growled to myself and ran after him while drawing my saber. Anything that drew our attention was likely to draw the unwanted attention of Stormcloaks. "Don't reason with them this time," I shouted. Hadvar just grunted in response.

"Damn!" Hadvar shouted. When I rounded the corner, I couldn't help but verbally agree with him. The dragon had caved in the hallway in front of us. "It would take weeks to move all this debris!"

I looked around. "There," I said. I walked over to a door beside us and kicked it open.

"What was that?" a Stormcloak asked.

"Check it out," another Stormcloak commanded.

I rounded the edge of the door with my sword at the ready. The blue-armored Nords stopped in surprise for a moment, then rushed at me. I deflected an incoming blow from a greatsword and brought my iron sword through the neck of my first attacker. The Nord gurgled as blood flew from his wound and mouth. I turned my attention to his friend and unleashed a torrent of fiery Magicka. The man screamed in pain and dropped his weapon. The ax clattered against the ground while he struck his own body in a useless struggle to put the flames out. The Nord screamed for a few more moments as the Magicka ripped the last shreds of life from his body. With a somber glare at the bodies, I put my foot on the chest of my first opponent and wrenched my sword from his neck. As Hadvar surveyed the quick carnage, he said simply, "I'm glad you're on my side."

I smiled grimly at Hadvar. "Aye."

He saw I was obviously uncomfortable for reasons I was not ready to share. "I'll... Hey, look around the room for some supplies. I'll look for a way out of here."

I nodded at the soldier and approached a grouping of barrels. Hopefully they would have some supplies, and not something completely useless like a horker tusk for no reason.

Fahiil

Thera

I dragged the Nord fool into the keep just as fire from the dragon burned its way across the doorway and killed everyone outside. Nords and a few of my more foolish Thalmor brethren screamed in pain as the fire consumed their flesh, blackening their skin and causing their souls to flee from their dying minds. I slammed the door shut behind us and mildly burned my hand on the metal handle. "Daedra spit!" I cursed quietly. I shook my hand and helped Ralof begin to stand by himself.

"Damn Imperials," Ralof spat. He stumbled towards the wall and held himself up for a moment. He breathed in deeply before shoving the wall and standing straight. He slammed his fist into the wall. "So many dead because of them, and now this?"

That piqued my curiosity. "Y-you think that the Imperials control this dragon? But it burned their people," I said.

"Aye. But it's just the kind of discord they would like to sow. The milk-drinkers think that if dragons appear in Skyrim we'll be forced to their banner. Just watch: any day now those Thalmor and their Imperial pets will claim they are the only ones who can stop the dragons." Ralof slammed his fist into the wall again, and continued, "But that doesn't matter right now. We have to get out of here."

Suddenly, we heard the sound of weapons clashing against each other. Ralof and I traded glances before rushing towards the sound of the fight. Dust fell from the ceiling and the sound of rock shattering beneath metal shot through the hallway. I froze and dragged Ralof into a crouch. "We need to be careful!" I hissed. Ralof glared at me for a moment as the sounds of battle ended. We turned the corner to see two dead Stormcloaks with no blood on their weapons.

"Gods..." Ralof said as we surveyed the carnage. He walked over tot he dead man. "Gunjar... I'm sorry."

Ralof placed his hand on the man's forehead. "Talos guide you," he muttered. Ralof was quiet for a moment, then stood up and turned to me. "Take Gunjar's gear. He's not going to need it."

I nodded and walked over to the dead Stormcloak. I took the blood covered armor off of his body and hastily pulled it over my head. I belted the leathery armor and pulled the pants on. I took the man's gloves and boots as well – the woman's were covered in blood and what looked conspicuously like brain matter. I did grab the woman's one-handed sword. "Let's get out of -" Ralof walked over to a door leading downstairs and pulled on it. The sound of rattling came from the door's lock. "Damn!"

"Let's get in there, Soldier," a woman's voice came. I looked towards the source of the voice and saw the Imperial Captain who had been presiding over our execution. I pulled Ralof to the side of the room where the voice had come from. I pointed for him to stand on one side of the door, and I stood at the other, weapon drawn.

"Yes, Ma'am," another voice said. The door opened slowly, away from us. The soldier walked through first and saw Ralof out of the corner of his eye. "Ambu -"

My blade flew through the man's neck and his sentence was finished with the sound of blood gurgling out of his wound. With a wicked smile, I turned and kicked at the Captain, who shoved my foot away and elbowed me in the face. I fell to the ground and felt blood drip into my eyes.

Ralof was attacking the woman as I got up, and holding his own quite nicely. I snarled and grabbed the sword of the Imperial on the ground so I stood with a blade in either hand. Ralof deflected a blow incoming from the woman's blade – a perfect match for the steel blade in my left hand that had an unneeded Imperial Dragon insignia carved into the blade. I crouched and walked behind the woman, who was gaining the upper hand against Ralof.

Her blade arced through the air at Ralof's head. He barely blocked the incoming blow of death, but his iron sword flew from his hand and crashed into the wall. The Imperial woman raised her blade to kill Ralof, and he muttered to himself, "To Sovngarde I go."

With a grin I slashed both of my blades upward, the metal sailing through the woman's arms just below the elbow. The Imperial screamed as her sword arm flew with its momentum away from her body. Her left arm fell limply downward from her body and she fell to her knees. I grabbed the woman's neck with my left hand and pulled her close. I crouched behind the crying woman as the fear finally took over her actions and she struggled futilely against my grasp. With a grin I slit the useless human's throat and let her dying body fall to gush blood onto the stone floor. Her armor clinked against the floor, and the glint of a key on her belt caught my eye. I tore it from her corpse and tossed it to Ralof. "Maybe this will open the door," I said.

Ralof nodded and grinned, "You're a good fighter, Elf," he said.

"That I am – and call me Thera, Ralof," I said. I kicked the Imperial Captain's body for good measure, and added something else in – just to solidify my standing with the Stormcloak standing in the room. "You will die when you are told to, Bitch. That's what you get betraying Talos."

The Nord on the other side of the room raised an eyebrow at me as he unlocked the door and shoved it open. "Come on," he ordered. I nodded and tore the woman's sheathe from her belt. I quickly looped it onto my belt and slid both of my swords into their carriers. I ran after Ralof and down the stairs, further into the Keep and further away from the Dragon.