Indira Skyrim Fic

Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own Indira Rosebed.

Chapter 3: A Second Chance

When I came to, I felt a throbbing pain in my head. I cursed to myself that I was so easy to let my guard down. I looked around and felt my hands were bound and I was no longer in my hunter's clothes, but in rags. I felt the cold air brush against me and I shivered. One of the prisoners, I do not remember who, asked if I too was captured trying to cross the border. I shook my head, but I am unable to speak, as another prisoner, a thief and, from what I saw, a beaten one at that, began cursing the Stormcloaks for ruining his life.

I do not follow politics that much, considering that it mattered little to me, anyway, but, from what I understand of the war that is occurring right now, the Stormcloaks are a rebel force that insisted that one of them, a man named Ulfrec, was the true king of Skyrim. One of their leaders was sitting next to us, a sort of celebrity. I looked over him and his mouth was gagged, which I thought to be unusual. I shivered again and felt a cold wind brush up against my cheek. My dark red hair was unkempt and my face was still dirty from a combination of the war paint and the run through the wild. I know this war had something to do with the outlaw of Talos worship, but that was about it.

One of the prisoners said that many of the elves had joined the side of the Empire. Again, that matters little to me. My village is one of the few that chose neither side, and I personally do not seem to care if the Imperials and Nords are bent on slaughtering each other, as long as it does not bother me or involve me. Sad to say, however, it does involve me, here and now.

A soldier told us to keep quiet and I discovered that this carriage was heading towards Helgan, a town surrounded by a stone wall. I looked at the others and the thief was praying to the divines for clemency and forgiveness. I whispered a prayer to my deities as well, praying that either the Imperials would realize that I was truly innocent, or perhaps a twist of fate would intervene.

As we neared the town's entrance, I could hear one of the soldiers calling for the headsman. This could only mean one thing; we were going to get executed. As the carriage stopped and we began to get off, I felt something. I felt a feeling of anxiousness. I do not know what it was, but my ears were burning, despite the cold weather. I only get this feeling when I am on the hunt for big game, or there is an extreme danger coming this way.

The thief I see attempting to break out with his hands bound, but, he barely gets by as a salvo of arrows rains down on him, one penetrating his heart. I did admit, the Empire did train their archers well, and I knew escape was going to be fruitless, especially if I could not fight back.

One of the people, a guard, was reading off a list of people that were going to be scheduled for execution, but, when I told him my name, he said he could not find it. The captain, a dark skinned woman in ornate metal armor, dismissed it and ordered me to the block anyway.

As I walked over to the other prisoners for execution, a low rumble could be heard. It was nothing like I had ever heard before, and it shook me to the bone with fear, more so than the cold weather. I could not help it, but that burning I felt was getting slightly warmer. I watch as a man steps forward, interrupting a chaplain's last rites. I think he is not big on religion, or he simply does not fear death. Either way, I watch as the axe comes down on him and his head rolls into a basket. I look away, closing my eyes. It is such a gruesome sight. I have grown accustomed to the savagery of nature, but the savagery of people like Bretons and Nords and Imperials knows no bounds.

I am escorted next. As I am about to, that roar is heard, this time it is closer. Something is coming at us, I just know it. It has this city in our sights, and, for whatever it is worth, it is big. I do not know how big, but, it is easily bigger than a bear. The headsman is growing impatient and I could feel a guard force me on my knees and force my head onto the block. I am leaning onto the side and that was when I saw it.

A dragon.

Or, at least what I thought was a dragon. The roar was right on top of us and everyone began to panic as the dragon perched on a tower right in front of me and breathed fire. There was an explosion of some kind and I was knocked to the ground. The headsman was nowhere to be found, but one of the rebels that had been in my carriage shouted for me to follow him and take cover. My vision was blurred and I stumbled about, but I could see him, barely. I ran in his direction, still tied up. I needed to get out of these things and fast.

We made our way inside a tower and barred the door. There were several wounded inside, as well as another rebel. Apparently, the rebels were storming the place at the exact same time a dragon was attacking. Either they had a great sense of timing, or they sent the thing ahead of themselves and cause chaos and confusion.

It did not matter; the gods had granted me a second chance, and I was aiming to take it. The Nord that was with me told me we had to go up the tower. We were about half-way up when the wall came down onto of someone ahead of us and the dragon breathed fire through the hole. I felt the hot breath of the beast near me. It was as hot as a forge, hotter even. I pressed against the wall and waited until the thing went somewhere else. I looked out and saw smoke in several of the burning buildings, as well as many of the wooden houses set ablaze. The Nord told me to jump and he would meet me on the other side.

I jumped through the hole as hard as I could, finding a new energy within me. I rolled on the ground and stood back up. I made my way carefully down and jumped off the second floor to the first. It was there that I met an Imperial soldier and he was protecting another soldier and a boy. I remember the boy earlier was watching us as we came in, before the chaos started. The Imperial soldier's name is lost upon me, as my memory is still somewhat affected. I shook my head and he told me that, if I wanted to stay alive, that I had to stay near him. I had no argument with that, considering my hands were still bound together.

We rushed through the courtyard of the fortress, the dragon raining down his hot, fiery breath on the town. Archers were firing their arrows and it did not seem to have an effect on it. I do not know why, but I felt something about this majestic beast, something about this dragon. I do not know what it was, but this was not the best place to analyze it.

The Nord I encountered earlier, the rebel, had gotten loose and got his hands on a sword. He ran in one direction, while I went with the Imperial in another and we both took cover inside one of the last remaining stone buildings left. This Imperial was like many of the other soldiers that were stationed here, but, he did untie me and I rubbed my hands together. I stretched slightly, groaning slightly. It was finally good to be free of those bonds. The Imperial told me to look around for armor and a sword while he looked for a way out.

I began scavenging for armor and found an old set of leather armor. I shrugged; it was outfitted for a man, but I am not picky, given the situation. I look over and I could see the soldier looking at me, expecting me to hurry up. I told him that, if I wanted to hurry, he had to turn around. He told me he could not do that; technically, I was still a prisoner. I rolled my eyes and began stripping down in front of him. At this point, I really was not in the mood for arguments about modesty and shame. I really wanted to get out of this forsaken place as quickly as possible.

The Imperial soldier was definitely looking me over; a beautiful, lithe creature of the forest. I brushed my hair back, not bothering to wear a helmet and, when I finished putting on the armor and boots, I picked up a long sword I found and raised an eyebrow at him. He then opened the metal door and we continued on.

This place was unnatural to me; cold stone neatly organized into blocks. There were no straight lines in nature; that paths and trails were cut when people regularly traveled through them. I could also hear the clanging of metal and the sounds of screams muffled outside by the dragon's onslaught. I gripped the rough iron long sword in my hand tightly, my hands nearly chaffing from the grip. I needed to find some sort of gauntlet if I were to continue fighting.

We made our way through the fortress, encountering some of the Stormcloaks. Diplomacy was lost upon them and they attacked us. The Imperial was better with a weapon than I thought he was, and I waited until an opportune moment came as I stabbed one of the Stormcloaks in the back. I managed to salvage a pair of fur gauntlets and we continued on our way.

There was more trouble as we went to find more rebels, attempting to pilfer supplies. We defeated them and I managed to find potions and ingredients to make potions. Then, we found the torture chamber below, in the depths of the fortress. I winced at the smell of blood and screams as the torturer and his assistant were handling some of the rebels that had managed to get to the room. I found some more supplies, while the Imperial begged for the help of the torturer. He did not believe there was a dragon attack, only a rebel strike. I found some lockpicks and opened the cell doors, getting some practice in before we had to head out again.

The torture room led to a cavern and, as we ventured through, there was a cave in. We were trapped, and the only way to go was forward. Many people died, but, thanks to one of the rebels I killed, I managed to find a bow and some arrows. I smirked, sheathing my long sword. I had a feeling of strength as I touched the bow and felt the tightened string across my fingers. It was as if I was whole again.

The cavern was carved from the water, and we noticed skeletal remains of some of the people that had long become trapped here. Some spiders tried to block our path, but we managed to dispatch them. I was a good shot, enough to impress the Imperial I was with. He must have been attracted to me, I could tell. He did see me naked, but that was a situation I could not avoid.

After sneaking past a bear, I could feel fresh air. The scent of pine needles was getting stronger and the cold, crisp air was coming from a cave.

Finally, we had escaped…

Next Chapter:

The road ahead…