Chapter Two: Last Stop... Helgen?

Ula's ears were ringing... her head hurt terribly, and she felt trapped in an impenetrable darkness.

After a moment of enduring the impossibly loud ringing that permeated the silence in her head, her eyes fluttered a little and she swallowed hard. Her head began throbbing even more violently when she slowly started swimming back into awareness: she felt extremely nauseous. A muffled clopping noise then began to pound in her ringing ears, and as she became more aware of the omnipresent darkness, things seemed to clear up a little. She had to open her eyes... had to escape the weight inside her head before the darkness spiraled up again and swallowed her.

Ula struggled so hard that her stomach clenched: she was fighting to tumble into the light from the spinning shadows inside her mind.

With a jolt, her sparkling pink eyes flew open wide and she immediately began to cry: silent tears began streaming down her cheeks as she panted, gasping for air and trying to figure out what was going on. The crystalline drops landed on the bouncing wood right in front of her face, making her feel extremely sick and dizzy. In that moment, the muffled noises began to make sense, but the way her hearing suddenly came back felt as though cotton had been pulled out of her ears.

After blinking the haze away, she quickly became aware of everything since consciousness had finally started to descend on her.

The moment her mind cleared up and she realized she was lying on something hard and uncomfortable, however, Ula struggled to sit up… but she frowned a little in confusion when she wasn't able to move her arms. Slowly and apprehensively, the tiny girl fidgeted and struggled with both of her hands on an individual level before she simultaneously lifted her palms in front of her eyes: her wrists had been tied together by a rough-looking piece of rope.

A jolt of fright swept through her and her pointed ears stuck straight out in shock.

Kai...? she silently whimpered, struggling not to panic and fighting to get free of her bonds. Svena...? Where am I?! What's going on?!

However, she froze when the memories of what had happened to her home came roaring back: her eyes widened and her breath hitched, heart skipping a painful beat as she recalled seeing almost everyone she'd loved being murdered. Reality then began to descend on her and a horrible amount of fear swept through her heart: she had been taken prisoner by the imperials... for some reason, somehow, she'd survived and they'd tied her up.

It was also... almost unbearably cold: it hit her like a slap in the face when she finally noticed.

Shivering violently, Ula weakly pulled her legs up and curled them up inside her tattered dress in an attempt to keep her lower body warm.

She lay there for a moment, too afraid to do much more... she didn't want to see what was going on.

Perhaps they'd tossed her in a wagon with dead bodies, mistaking her as one of them?

Considering what kind of people they were, she wouldn't doubt it... but she was forced to discard that thought since her hands were tied up. If they'd thought she was dead, they wouldn't have bothered binding her. Ula shifted a little and finally sat up in order to look at what she was sitting in. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that there were three other men in the cart with her. A blonde man with a thick beard and cold blue eyes was glaring at the driver of the cart, a dark-haired man wearing dirty-looking rags was staring sullenly at the floor of the wagon, and the Jarl of Windhelm himself was staring at the sky with a gag tied over his mouth.

Ula blinked and did a double-take when she noticed that their hands were tied as well.

What in Shor's Blood is going on?! the mute wondered in horror, eyes widening as she took in the Jarl's dreadful state. Why is the Jarl tied up?!

Ula fearfully huddled down in the cart, glancing from man to man with uncertain eyes.

She was hoping... nay, praying... that this was nothing more than a nightmare.

She flinched when the blonde man sitting across from her turned his head and cocked a thick eyebrow before straightening up and eyeing her a bit.

His brows furrowed for several moments when she stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, but then his expression smoothed out and he relaxed a bit.

"Hey, you," the blonde man grunted in a thick Nordic accent, which made the girl's eyes widen. "Are you finally awake?"

Ula eyed him warily before giving a hesitant nod; he seemed to be waiting for her to say something, so she gestured at her throat with her foot and shook her head.

His eyes widened when she opened her mouth and mimicked talking: he seemed to have understood.

"So, you can't speak, eh?" the blonde man asked in a deep voice; when she nodded, he shook his head. "Well, in that case, my name is Ralof. They tossed you into the wagon after the ambush in the village was over: those poor souls never stood a chance... I'm guessing you got caught up in it by accident, eh?"

Ula hesitantly nodded and bit back tears: she squeezed her eyes shut when the memories of her friends being slaughtered resurfaced.

"Oh, shut up already with the self-righteous act! Damn you Stormcloaks… Skyrim was fine until you came along. The Empire was nice and lazy," the dark-haired man snapped, making the mute jump; he was staring at the floor of the wagon, brown eyes burning with an expression of sullen regret. "If the Imperials hadn't been looking for you, I could have gotten away with stealing that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now!"

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief," Ralof calmly pointed out, shooting him a pointed look. "Let's not argue."

"How can I not?!" the man barked, glaring daggers at the blonde. "You got women and children mixed up in that fight of yours! That entire village was slaughtered because of you! I'm only a simple farmer who just wants to go home: I shouldn't be here! It's you that the Empire wants."

Shut up back there!" the man steering the wagon barked in an irritated tone of voice.

"What's wrong with him?" Lokir muttered sourly, shooting a glare at the back of the driver's odd-looking helmet; Ula, however, was severely startled when Ralof's laid-back demeanor did a total one-eighty... he literally swung around and stared at the helmeted man with a dangerous expression.

"Watch your tongue," he commanded in a thunderous voice. "You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."

"Ulfric? Wait... those clothes... you're the Jarl of Windhelm?" Lokir abruptly demanded, looking at the gagged blonde man with a stunned expression. "B-b-but, you're the leader of the Rebellion! If they've captured you… oh, Gods, where are these men taking us?!"

"I don't know where we're going," the man stated, looking at the sky as the wind swept through his hair, "but Sovengarde awaits."

"No!" Lokir whispered, brown eyes going blank with fright. "This can't be happening! This isn't happening! I don't want to die!"

Ula's eyes widened in horror and she immediately started shaking: she had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was... it definitely wasn't a good thing. Ula immediately leaned back against the rough wood, but only because her body gave out due to the immense wave of nausea that swept through her stomach. With amethyst eyes that had gone completely blank, the mute girl slowly brought her bound hands up to her face and valiantly tried to fight back her tears of fright.

This couldn't be happening to her.

It wasn't real.

There was no possible way.

But the ropes were cutting her skin, the wind whipping through her hair was freezing, the feeling of the wagon beneath her body was substantial, and she was completely aware of what was going on. It was impossible, but at the same time… everything was actually pointing towards it being very possible indeed: she was either having an extremely vivid dream, or everyone she'd ever loved had been slaughtered like animals and she was now on her way to die.

How in the world had such a normal day turned so nasty and strange?

"Hey, horse thief," Ralof suddenly stated in a soft voice, capturing Ula's attention and making the girl lower her hands; she looked at him with watering eyes to find that he had a sorrowful expression on his face. "What village are you from?"

"Why do you care?" Lokir retorted in a shaken voice, sounding to be on the verge of tears.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home," Ralof explained in a solemn tone, then glanced at Ula to see that she was shaking and fighting valiantly not to cry. When the first gleaming drops trickled down her chin, she lowered her head a little bit and hid them with her hair. After that, her mind went into a daze: she wasn't able to comprehend what was really happening to her, but she knew that whatever this was… it wasn't going to be pleasant.

She wanted to wake up back in her favorite cherry tree again... she wanted to be dancing with Kai and listening to Svena's stories about magic..

She wanted to be eating with her friends and family and dancing around the fire like everyone always did.

Sadly, she couldn't get what she wanted now: her home had been completely eradicated.

"Rorikstead," Lokir finally stammered, speaking after a few long moments of silence. "I'm… I'm from Rorikstead... but why is this happening? It's not fair!"

"Life rarely is," Ralof stated quietly, giving him a sympathetic look.

"General Tullius, sir!" a man suddenly called from the wagon riding ahead of their own. "The headsman is waiting!"

"Good," another man barked in an irritated tone of voice. "Let's get this over with."

Ula shrank down with a feeling of dread in her stomach, ears sticking straight out: now and again, they'd move depending on her mood... it was uncontrollable.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh," Lokir chanted, squeezing his eyes shut as his face paled. "Divines, help me! Please!"

"Look at him," Ralof sneered, gesturing at the man who had leapt off of the wagon just ahead of theirs; it had slipped between two huge castle-like walls that towered above the cobblestone road. "General Tullius is the military governor, but it looks as though the Thalmor are with him... if my eyes are working correctly. Damn elves and their peace treaty ought to rot on the side of the road... Bah... this is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here… wonder if Vilod is still making his famous mead with the Juniper berries. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

Ralof sighed, looking at the ancient buildings and small huts that lined the road with a glint in his sapphire blue eyes.

Ula finally let out a silent whine, curling up into a ball and burying her head in her knees.

"Who are they, Daddy?" a little boy who looked to be around eight years old suddenly asked, peering at the two wagons with bright green eyes from where he was sitting cross-legged on his porch. "Where are they all going? Is it another soldier parade?"

"You need to go inside, little cub," the man standing behind him stated firmly. "Go help your mother with supper."

"Why?" the little boy whined, shoulders slumping down a little bit. "I wanna watch the soldiers."

"Inside the house," the man commanded firmly, pointing at the door; an old woman wearing a weathered green dress glanced at the child and nodded in agreement when his father glared. "Go inside the house, son… now."

"Yes, Papa," the little boy sighed, sounding thoroughly unenthusiastic about leaving the 'soldier parade' Ula had become a part of; the small girl turned and looked at him, silver hair drifting a little in the wind and shining like moonlight. When the overcast sky slowly darkened even further, the albino glanced up at the clouds with frightened amethyst eyes, praying to all Gods, known and unknown, that she would somehow make it out alive.

That was all she could do at this point: even if she ran away, she had no idea where she was supposed to go now that her home was gone.

"Whoa!" a man suddenly called. "Whoa, boy... easy now."

Ula unexpectedly fell over onto Jarl Ulfric's lap when the wagon jolted: her eyes widened and she twitched, especially after looking up and realizing that he was looking at her with a cocked eyebrow. Face going bone white, the girl sat back up and scooted away from him with enormous eyes: she then glanced ahead of them, watching as the wagon she was sitting in slowed down and came to a halt in front of a stone wall.

For a moment, she happened to catch a glimpse of the people in the other cart.

Three men and two women, all of them wearing blue armor, were sitting with their heads lowered weakly.

"Why are we stopping?" Lokir asked with a fearful expression. "What's going to happen now?"

"Why do you think?" Ralof stated grimly. "End of the line."

Ula shook her head in terror, squeezing her eyes shut when her vision began to swim with black and red spots; she forced herself to take a deep breath, but she felt extremely lightheaded when she opened her eyes and looked around once again. The colors of the world seemed overly bright, and the feeling of lightheadedness only increased the more she tried to fight it off: the poor girl soon felt sick to her stomach as she stared at the green and yellow grass. What made the scene even worse were the drab grey cobblestone that lined the keep's walls and sprinkled the road that their wagons had been going down.

Even now, when she was so close to death, she could hear music in this place... it resounded deeply within her.

"Let's go," Ralof grunted, getting to his feet. "Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

The pale girl blanched and shook her head in dismay before shakily getting up and following him out of the wagon. She watched with extremely dizzy eyes as Lokir hopped off the wagon; he immediately began to protest when a man wearing crimson armor shoved him forward.

"No, wait!" Lokir cried, gesturing at Ula and himself with frantic movements; the girl instantly bit her lip, praying they'd listen. "We're not rebels!"

"Face your death with courage, thief," Ralof commanded sternly, blonde hair being blown in his face by the wind; Ula's knees buckled when she tried to take a step forward and she smacked face-first into the wagon. She felt blood running from her nose and let out a dismayed huff of air before shakily sliding upright and scooting off the edge. When she slipped off the wagon, however, she jumped: Ralof and the Jarl were both insanely huge, even for Nords.

They actually bordered on being over seven feet tall, maybe even a little more than that.

"You've got to tell them!" Lokir pleaded, looking at the man with terrified eyes. "We weren't with you! This is a mistake!"

"Step towards the block when we call your name!" a red-clad woman standing in front of the Jarl barked. "One at a time!"

"Empire loves their damn lists," Ralof sighed, shaking his head in scornful dismay; Ula jerkily glanced around, hoping that there would be a way for her to slip away unnoticed… or at the very least, uninjured. However, every area seemed to be blocked off by someone with a sword, and she had a feeling that there were a lot of guards in a place like this. However, despite that fact, she was still extremely tempted to run away.

"Ulfric Stormcloak," a dark-haired man wearing red suddenly called, unfurling a scroll and reading it aloud, "Jarl of Windhelm."

The blonde man standing right in front of Ula lifted his head high and stepped forward, walking away and out of sight with proud movements.

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric," Ralof quietly called, thick accent becoming thicker as he glanced at the red-clad man.

"Ralof of Riverwood," the Imperial called, voice hitching a little as he glanced at the blonde standing beside the mute girl; the Nord glanced down at the tiny white-haired girl and gave her a reassuring smile before he followed Ulfric out of sight. Ula immediately shivered, wondering why everything seemed so much colder after seeing that smile. She was trying to ignore the blood dripping out of her nose, but it got hard when a gust of wind swept through her thigh-length hair.

Why is this happening? Ula wondered weakly, looking up at the sky with tears in her eyes. Why?! Where are Kai and Svena?!

"Lokir of Rorikstead," the Imperial called, making the only man still standing in front of her jump in sheer terror; he immediately stepped forward, brown eyes wide and mouth trembling violently; Ula's stomach flopped when three of the Imperial soldiers put a hand on their swords, but her heart started beating a mile a minute. She felt like a rabbit caught in a cage when she saw their faces as they did so: the Imperials were smiling… as if they were hoping they'd be able to use them.

"No, I'm not a rebel!" Lokir cried, brown eyes filling with tears as he looked at the Imperials. "You can't do this!"

When the soldiers merely sneered, the dark-haired man let out an angry sob and broke into a sprint. Ula's stomach dropped through the ground and she clenched the front of her dress even though her hands were still bound: she watched him run with bated breath, hoping he'd get away.

"Halt!" the Imperial woman screamed. "HALT!"

"You're not going to kill me!" Lokir wailed, sprinting past the house where the little boy had retreated to. "I won't let you!"

"Archers!" the woman barked, looking at three men who were standing in front of the tower beside the house.

The mute girl stiffened in horror when they lifted the weapons and sighted down the shafts.

Her shoulders instantly tensed and her eyes widened in horror... but then, when one of the guards released an arrow, her eyes went blank and her throat locked up with an unbearable pressure. In the blink of an eye, Lokir was on the ground with his scream already cut off; the albino stared at him with shaking hands, waiting for him to get up or move around… but he remained lying down where he had fallen.

The girl's knees began to feel rubbery when she realized he was dead.

"Anyone else feel like running?" the Imperial woman asked in a cocky tone, turning around with a satisfied expression; the man glanced at Ula in particular as the woman asked this question, but his mouth split into a confused frown when the tiny girl nearly passed out from shaking her head so much.

She didn't want to die with an arrow in her back… hell, she didn't want to die at all!

"Wait," the man holding the scroll commanded; he immediately began looking at Ula's features, gazing at her cloud-white hair, peering at her pointed ears, and examining her young features with furrowed brows. "You there, step forward."

Trying not to vomit, Ula timidly moved forward, keeping her pink eyes trained on the ground.

Her legs were shaking so badly that she felt as though only a miracle was keeping her from collapsing: she was that terrified.

"Who… are you?" the Imperial man asked, looking at her with intense eyes. "Speak your name, race, and village."

Ula froze in horror, pink eyes going blank: she floundered for something to do, for a gesture that didn't involve using her hands. The world swam with spots and she felt lightheaded when his eyes began to narrow: he was becoming impatient. Thinking quickly, the girl slowly sat down on her backside and rolled on her side before putting her flexibility to good use. This was pretty much the only real talent she had, since the girl could twist herself into a pretzel and even sit on her own head.

The man and several guards grasped their swords when she lifted her leg and bent it to tap the side of her throat.

Then she mimicked speaking and shook her head before carefully standing back up.

The man's eyes widened in stunned surprise, but he immediately smoothed his expression over.

"So... are you saying you can't speak?" the man asked, furrowing his brows when she nodded; he frowned when he glanced down at the scroll, but then a little spark of hope lit up his expression. He immediately turned to the woman standing at his side. "Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list."

Please say you'll let me go, Ula silently prayed, lowering her head and squeezing her eyes shut. Please... let me go.

"Forget the list," the woman snorted, eyeing the mute girl's form up and down with something close to distaste. "I don't like elves... she goes to the block."

"By your orders, Captain," the man stated softly, looking at the terror-stricken albino with a solemn countenance. "I'm sorry, child... follow the Captain."

When she remained frozen, he nodded to a guard standing against the wall; Ula started crying when she was suddenly shoved forward from behind... but then, when she felt something sharp poking into her back, she got the hint and shakily began following the Imperial woman. The mute walked along the cobblestone path with her shoulders hunched, but when she saw the group of people she had been captured with standing tall and proud, she swallowed hard and attempted to do the same.

She just barely managed to lift her head up.

The view of the mountains immediately took her breath away: these were even more majestic than the ones in Darkwater Crossing. They were so tall that the clouds started obscuring them only halfway up, and their snow-capped peaks were so radiant and majestic that she almost forgot about her fear.

Almost.

When she lowered her head and stopped walking, Ula found herself standing between a burly redhead and a dark-haired man.

"Ulfric Stormcloak!" a man wearing bronze armor rapped out in a ponderous tone; Ula stared at the balding man, watching as he approached the Jarl of Windhelm who had been bound and gagged. "Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne."

"Well said, General Tullius," a guard standing near the wall grunted.

Ula silently watched as the blonde man glared at them, letting out a muffled grunt as his face turned red with anger.

"You started this war!" General Tullius barked, making Ula jump a second time: his voice had an annoying way of striking her frazzled nerves. "You plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace!"

The moment those words left his lips, a distant and ominous screech echoed down from the mountains.

Ula's expression went blank and her muscles went limp, amethyst eyes growing wide as an unfamiliar desire to Sing swept through her soul... she wanted to resonate with the music of life that was always echoing around her... she wanted to become one with the song of existence. Eyes vacant of emotion, the pale girl actually took three unconscious steps forward before one of the Stormcloaks gently pushed her back using his long leg.

When he shook his head warningly, the girl didn't notice... she was hearing music unlike any other, a song that seemed to be speaking from her very soul.

Almost immediately, a beautiful blue light spread out from her pupils and obscured her pink irises... and a strange mark on her throat was suddenly illuminated.

For several moments, her eyes and the mark shone with an odd luminescence... but then the blue glow in Ula's eyes winked out with a twinkle and she shook her head as though she were waking up from a daze. She blinked a few times and glanced around in confusion when she noticed that everyone was staring at the tallest nearby mountain; the small girl shivered violently and bit her lip when she realized that they looked confused.

"What was that?" the imperial with the scroll finally asked, looking a little uneasy. "Some kind of beast?"

"It's nothing," the balding man dismissively grunted. "Carry on."

"Yes, General Tullius!" the woman who'd ordered Lokir's death eagerly exclaimed; she then turned to an unhappy-looking young woman wearing a set of brown robes and a golden hood draped over her head. "Give them their last rites."

The woman sighed and stepped forward, lifting her hands and tilting her head back towards the sky.

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius," the woman cried out in a somewhat gentle voice, "blessings of the eight divines upon you, for you are all the—"

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with," the burly brown-haired Nord standing beside Ula barked, instantly stepping forward of his own accord and glaring at the woman with a fire in his eyes. "There are nine divines… you've shamed us."

"As you wish," the woman murmured, lowering her eyes and slowly turning around with her head lowered. "I'm sorry."

Ula felt as though she were going to hyperventilate when the man holding the axe smiled eagerly from beneath his executioner's mask.

She watched with wide eyes as the Imperial woman, the captain, sneered at the prisoner's back.

"Come on!" the man bellowed, spitting on the ground as the woman sauntered up behind him and put a hand on his back. "I haven't got all morning!"

Ula felt her heart flop when the burly Nord was roughly pushed to his knees, head being forced onto the blood-stained cement block. Her eyes were drawn to the wooden box right in front of the groove that had been carved into it. Her stomach instantly lurched and she nearly threw up when she thought about her head falling in there.

"My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials," the burly blue-clad man stated defiantly, smirking up at the executioner with cold green eyes; the masked villain lifted the axe high above his head and sneered down at him in triumph. "Will you ever be able to say the same thing?"

Ula's eyes widened when the axe came down: she immediately squeezed them as tight as she could, jerking her face away and turning it towards the ground. However, she heard a sickening squelching noise and immediately felt her stomach turn upside down. Doubling over and heaving up the little that was in her stomach, the girl started sobbing hysterically and nearly collapsed due to her shaking knees. She didn't care if the people in Blue were criminals or warriors: this was wrong.

"You imperial bastards!" a Stormcloak woman screeched. "How could you?!"

"Justice!" a man jeered from somewhere nearby, cheering on the inhumane slaughter that had just occurred in front of him.

"Death to the Stormcloaks!" a woman eagerly cried; her voice was full of venom and sickening glee.

"As fearless in death as he was in life," Ralof stated woefully, lowering his head and closing his eyes in pain. "Goodbye, my friend."

Ula glanced at him, but she nearly lost her breakfast when she saw the man's decapitated trunk lying beside the cement block out of the corner of her eyes; it was spewing a thick stream of blood onto the ground, and something white was sticking out of the spot where his neck was supposed to be.

The teenager immediately retched and doubled over again, coughing hysterically with stinging eyes.

Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep from passing out.

"Next," the imperial woman called, looking at Ula with wicked glee in her eyes. "The elf child."

Ula froze like a statue, muscles locking up as her world spun; the second the words left the Imperial's lips, the echoing roar from before drifted through the air… but it seemed to be coming from the other direction this time; everyone aside from the tiny mute looked up in the direction of the ominous noise. The sound of that roar once again stirred something within her, making the girl want to shriek back for some reason. She felt as though it were calling for her, specifically...

"There it is again," the Imperial with the scroll muttered, scanning the sky. "Did you hear that?"

"I said next prisoner!" the woman called, looking a little irritated. "Don't interrupt me, Hadvar."

"To the block, prisoner," Hadvar sighed, putting his scroll in a pouch at his side. "Nice and easy."

Ula's amethyst eyes had gone blank at the sound of the creature's call.

She almost robotically moved forward with no expression on her face, slowly stepping towards the block.

A soft gust of wind swept through her thigh-length hair, rippling her tresses and making them gleam like moonlight.

When she came to, Hadvar was looking her straight in the eyes.

She gazed back at him with an expression that plainly asked, 'How could you?'

He immediately averted his eyes when tears trickled down her cheeks.

Ula felt weak when the Imperial woman ran a seemingly gentle hand through her long hair only to grab a fistful of it and force her down on her knees: because her pathetic height didn't allow her to do very much, the albino didn't have a lot of muscle on her body. Hence why it was fairly easy for the captain to force her head onto the block. Ula nearly vomited when she saw that the burly man who had been decapitated was still opening and closing his mouth in a twitchy manner.

She instantly turned her head and stared up at the bearded executioner, terror jolting through her when she saw his smile.

A breeze swept her long hair across her face, obscuring the sight of his sneer.

However, just as the man gripped the axe and the girl was about to close her eyes, something black and enormous flew out from above one of the mountains and let out a roar that made her heart fly into the clouds. Involuntarily, her mouth opened wide and she let out an answering gasp: the mark once again reappeared on her throat and her eyes literally exploded with bright blue light. She immediately gazed at the winged creature, and after a moment, she realized it was a dragon.

A giant dragon... and the beast was currently flying towards the tower that Ula was facing.

"What in Oblivion is that?!" General Tullius squalled.

"Sentries, what do you see?!" the captain barked.

"It's coming down from the clouds!" a Nord voice bellowed.

The executioner hastily lifted his axe and was about to cut her head off when the scaly creature landed on the outpost.

The man went flying forward with the gust of air that followed its landing.

Ula's breath caught and her eyes went wide when the dragon's glowing yellow irises fixed on her glowing blue ones: their gazes locked for a chilling moment in time.

"DRAGON!" a woman wailed in shock. "IT'S A DRAGON!"

The sound of swords being drawn filled Ula's ears, but the dragon's unblinking eyes held her attention.

She felt as though looking away would be a dangerous thing to do. The mute girl didn't even blink when the executioner staggered around and threateningly hefted his axe, but her heart nearly stopped when the creature drew its head back. She flinched when it let out a scratchy noise and released a wall of translucent white energy from its mouth, which was soon accompanied by a clap of deafening thunder that blew several people off their feet.

The girl's eyes went wide with terror when she saw the sky beginning to swirl with clouds... clouds that soon formed a cyclone of destruction. Not even a second later, a powerful screeching wind tossed her silver hair around and she was violently blown off the cement block. She landed on her side and rolled nearly three times before coming to a halt on her stomach: she could faintly make out the sound of thunderous crashes, and she felt the earth trembling beneath her body, but when she struggled to get up... she couldn't do it.

"Guards!" General Tullius cried, catching Ula's attention. "Get the townspeople to safety!"

"Divines!" a man cried. "How's it moving so damn f—AAAAGH!"

Ula flinched and smacked her head flat against the ground when a wave of scorching heat seared directly above her, obviously engulfing someone who hadn't had good reflexes. After the heat faded, she struggled to roll over, but something had fallen on top of her: she was pinned against the ground. No matter how much she struggled, the girl couldn't get to her feet, and whatever was on her back was too heavy to move without using her arms.

Both of which, conveniently enough, just happened to be tied up and pinned beneath her body.

Help me! Ula silently wailed, kicking her legs in an attempt to catch someone's attention. Help me help me help me help me help me

All of a sudden, the weight on her back was gone and someone was jerking her upright by the scruff of her dress.

"Come on, Girl!" Ralof shouted, jerking her around by the shoulder; he dragged her out of the way as an object that looked horridly like a meteor smashed into the ground only a few feet away. "We have to run! The Gods won't give us another chance! Run to the keep over there! Come on!"

When the man started gesturing towards the area where Lokir had died, Ula glanced at all of the collapsing buildings in horror as flaming balls rained down on them.

She didn't waste any time arguing after that.

Several of the meteors raining down from the sky looked as though they were being blown around by the clouds: moving meteors meant that a ball of fire could slam down anywhere at any time. Tossing her snarled silver hair out of her eyes, the mute girl bent low and sprinted so fast that her tresses flew behind her body in a gleaming silver wave. She heard heavy footsteps behind her and assumed that Ralof was following her, but she didn't take the chance of looking over her shoulder to find out.

She wanted to get out of danger and find out what was happening.

She wanted to go home.

No... that wasn't possible: she had almost forgotten that her home was gone.

She had no home to return to.

The girl bit back tears as she bounced up the steps and darted into the keep.

Once she was safe, Ula immediately doubled over and fought to catch her breath.

After she'd caught her wind, she stood up to see Ralof slamming the door shut behind Jarl Ulfric, who had originally been gagged.

Ula twitched and looked up in fright when the building abruptly shook on its foundations: she shivered violently.

Two men were lying on the ground amidst splatters of blood, and a third was tending the smaller of the two.

"Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing?!" Ralof cried, looking at the formerly gagged man. "Could the legends be true?!"

"Legends don't burn down buildings!" Ulfric Stormcloak stated in a regal voice, looking up with a calm flick of his eyes when the ceiling shuddered and a roaring screech echoed from outside. "We need to move! Now!"

"Where are we going to move?!" one of the soldiers bellowed before pointing at the door. "I only see one exit, and it's currently being blocked off by falling fireballs! Aside from that, there's only one set of stairs leading to the roof of an insanely high tower! How in Shor's Blood are we going to get out of this place without breaking our legs or getting our bodies blown to bits?! Where can we go?!"

"Up through the tower!" Ralof barked, shooting him a glare before stepping forward and running up the stairs. "Let's go!"

Ula swallowed and hesitantly darted after him.

Ralof stopped when an Imperial soldier halted him with a hand: the stairway was blocked.

"Just give me another moment," he stammered fearfully. "I'll have this cleared out in no time at a—AAAAGH!"

Ula jerked backwards when the wall abruptly exploded inwards and crushed him. When the black dragon's head was thrust into the gap, however, the blonde man whirled around and pinned the girl against the wall using his superior strength and heavier body-weight. Her large eyes shimmered when the dragon breathed in, but then it let out a gout of fire with a horrific screeching noise, ensuring that the crushed man was dead.

Then it flew away.

Once Ralof was sure the monster was gone, he gripped her arm again and dragged her up the stairs towards the hole. He examined the area around them before glancing down at the burning house below; then he pulled Ula forward and gestured towards a building with a burning straw roof that rested nearly fifteen feet below them. Her stomach flipped since it was such a long way down.

"See that Inn on the other side?" Ralof demanded, gesturing at the building. "Jump through the roof and keep going!"

Ula jolted and did an extreme double take, staring at him in total disbelief: the look she was giving him clearly said, 'you're insane.'

"Oi, it's either that… or getting burned to death after having your skull crushed like a berry," Ralof pointed out, cocking an eyebrow and purposely glancing at the rocks that somehow seemed to be oozing their own red fluid; Ula immediately shuddered and her face twisted up in horrified revulsion, but she looked at the man with uncertainty in her eyes. "Go, Lass! We'll follow you when we can, but you need to get out of here!"

For a long moment, the girl merely stared at him... but then she whimpered, rolled her shoulders, took a step back, and eyed the distance.

Then, with a hysterical huffing sob, the girl sprinted forward and leapt out of the hole in the stone wall, long hair billowing out behind her like a cloud of silver. Her wide eyes were full of terror as she descended, but then she landed hard and ended up falling on her side. Frantically ignoring the pain, the albino crawled to her feet and fearfully staggered through the burning building, ducking around the pieces of flaming straw and wood that were raining down around her.

After making it to the end of the building, she came to a hole in the floor and looked down at it.

From what she could see, there was no other way out, so she sat down and scooted towards the edge in the hopes of not injuring herself. However, before she could attempt to get down, the entire building shook as the dragon passed by and she lost her balance a second time: letting out a breathless gasp, Ula fell through the floor and landed on her back, instantly knocking the wind out of herself; she slowly rolled over with a silent groan, trying to breathe right.

"Hamming, get over here!" a familiar voice shouted. "Hamming, you need to get over here, now!"

The pale girl shakily hefted herself upright and peered outside to see Hadvar and another man beckoning to the little green-eyed boy from earlier.

Just as the crying child stumbled to his feet with shaking limbs, the black dragon landed only a few yards away from him. The girl's eyes widened in horror when the kid ran behind the building. Just as the dragon took a deep breath, however, she spotted him… the child's father was lying on the ground right in front of the black dragon. However, there was no time to react: the girl jumped backwards and landed painfully on her tailbone behind a pile of debris.

She couldn't cover up the sound of the man's scream, and she somehow knew it would stay with her for the rest of her life.

Once the monster took off again, she made her way out into the open.

"Still alive, prisoner?" Hadvar demanded, looking her up and down with observant brown eyes. "Well, keep close to me if you want to stay that way. Gunnar, take care of your nephew! I have to find General Tullius and join the defense!"

"Gods guide you, Hadvar," the old man wept, looking over his nephew's head at the man. "Be careful."

Turning her back on the old man and little boy, Ula fled after the Imperial soldier: when they passed by the corpse that had once been a little boy's dad, she swallowed hard and tried to avoid looking as she passed... but her eyes watered, even when Hadvar led her into a crumbling alley between a burning house and a stone wall.

The man skidded to a halt in front of a small drop before leaping down.

"Stay close to the wall!" he shouted, looking up and cowering down just as the dragon landed on it. Ula's eyes widened and she dove in after him, pressing her back against the stone just as the monster took a deep breath. However, she thought she heard some sort of weird language exploding from its mouth when it breathed more fire… not just an unintelligible roar. However, she squeezed her eyes shut as more screams erupted from behind the corner of the alleyway.

She nearly vomited all over again when the smell of burnt flesh hit her nose.

"General Tullius, over here!" a man called, making Hadvar's head snap up in surprise. "Into the keep! We're heading into the keep!"

"Quickly, follow me!" he shouted at Ula, turning to look at her with commanding eyes. The albino wordlessly did as she was told, sprinting past burning corpses as unintelligible shouts, screams, cries, and terrified moans of pain filled the air right along with the sound of explosions. The girl's eyes were wide and she was shaking with the effects of an extreme adrenaline rush of some sort. "It's just you and me, prisoner! Stay close!"

When she did as he asked, she nearly bashed her face on his armor since he unexpectedly jerked to a halt.

Then he whirled and grabbed her arm, jerking her forward with a crushing grip; startled, Ula began struggling against him, eyes widening in horror.

Had she fallen right into a trap? Was this man going to hurt her or worse?!

"Let go of the elf child, Hadvar!" a familiar voice thundered, making her amethyst eyes widen in hope. "Hand her over to me and I'll let you go!"

"Ralof, you damned traitor!" the imperial screamed, face turning bright red. "Get out of my way! This girl obviously isn't a normal elf! If she's an elf at all!"

"Unhand her! That girl's home was destroyed by your men, Hadvar," the blonde man roared, thick neck tensing in anger. "You're not stopping me! Let her go!"

"Fine! If you want her so much, take her! I don't even want her with me!" Hadvar snarled, gripping Ula's arm and violently throwing the girl at the Nord; the mute stumbled and let out a startled gasp when her face smacked into Ralof's chest. "I hope that dragon takes you both to Sovengarde, you bastard!"

"Come on!" Ralof bellowed, jerking the albino off her feet and carrying her in his arms like he would a child. "We need to get into the keep!"

Ula shook her head in protest, flailing her arms and legs in hysteria as she was carried into the dark.

Her struggles went ignored... and soon after, the doors closed behind them, encasing the terrified girl in darkness.