Chapter 4:
What Once Was Gone Has Now Returned
"So this is how my life will end, a traitors death." Bregoldes had lost everything, her family her home. Now she was going to lose her life. The Imperials surprise attack on the Stormcloak camp was a stroke of genius, but they assumed that she was working with them. Yes an Altmer was working with the Stormcloaks. She had no illusions that there was some prejudice involved with the Imperial Captain's decision to simply execute her instead of investigating why she was in that camp to begin with. Even the Stormcloaks that were captured declared the Altmer shouldn't have the honor to die with them. It didn't matter, nothing mattered any more. Bergoldes had failed everything and everyone she loved and cared about. Death would be a bittersweet release.
There they all stood, a priestess of Arkay giving them their last rights. An impatient rebel with fire red hair marched up and boldly proclaimed that he didn't have all day. Bregoldes was numb to everything around her, all she could do was glare at Ulfric Stormcloak. "Next, the High Elf!" A strange roar could be heard in the distance, "Captain did you hear that." The Nord standing next to her said, he looked quite pensive. "I said NEXT PRISONER!" The young man shook his head and waved Bregoldes forward, "Come on Altmer, nice and easy." She kneeled down, and slowly laid her head on the executioners block. She could feel and smell the warm blood from the prisoner that had gone before her on her neck. "Soon, it will be all over". She saw the shadow of the executioners axe, and then Bregoldes closed her eyes…
What came next was entirely unexpected, a deafening roar! It knocked her clear off the block on to her side. She heard yelling and sounds of people running, and then she opened her eyes. The executioner's legs were crushed beneath stone debris, he was screaming. The Imperial general was scrambling to get his men in order to mount a defense. But what was it that caused all this destruction in only seconds? The Altmer woman scrambled to her knees and saw a great black form in the sky. She blinked in disbelief, a dragon?! A bloody dragon and a huge one at that!
Bregoldes clumsily got her legs from under her and got up. She looked to her right and saw the remaining Stormcloaks (along with Ulfric) barricade themselves in a watch tower. She cursed as she started to run towards the house next to the watch tower if only to find cover for a second. She managed to squeeze through a broken plank in the wall, and quickly looked around for a knife to cut her bindings. Not a single sharp edge, now she had to do the one thing she was hoping to avoid. She slowly summoned some magika to her fingers and a small flame began burning through the leather ties. Bregoldes winced as she smelled her own flesh cooking, finally the bindings gave. She hissed through her teeth as rubbed her wrists, and looked around for an exit.
There was a gaping hole in the wall on the opposite side of the house, Bregoldes scrambled through hoping to avoid any fire or falling debris. As soon as she emerged on the other side a scene was playing out right before her eyes. "Haming you have to come over here now!" It was the Imperial soldier from the execution; he was trying to get a young boy out of the path of the oncoming dragon. "Come on Haming! You're doing fine boy!" The boy was crying over the body of a loved one, presumably his father. Bregoldes didn't give a second thought, she quickly ran past the soldier and grabbed the boy in her arms and threw him over her shoulder just as the dragon landed. She dove behind a ruined house as a wall of fire was shot in her and the boy's direction. She landed ungracefully on her side, the boy running to a local town resident. The man looked at her holding the boy, "Gods bless you Altmer!" She shook her head and looked up as the Imperial soldier walked over. "Nice job prisoner, care to stay alive longer?" He helped Bregoldes up and she began brushing soot off of her battered leather armor. "So you go from executing me to enlisting my help?! This is utter madness! How do I know you're not just going to execute me after we're safe?!" "Look Altmer, we all want to survive right? As far as I'm concerned your execution was cancelled when that dragon showed up." He bent over and rested his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath. "You two, get to cover now! Altmer help me get to the other side of town so I can get to the keep, and I'll look the other way so you can escape!" At that the soldier ran off towards the keep, Bregoldes simply shook her head and began to trail after him.
It was a short but harrowing trip through collapsed buildings and Imperial soldiers trying to stop the dragon; however the Legionnaire and Bregoldes finally made it to the gate of the keep. A very frantic General Tullius was yelling at his soldiers to get into the keep. The duo then headed passed the gate passing wounded and dead on the way. They finally made it to the middle of the courtyard of the keep, the heavily weathered wooden door mere feet away… The dragon landed right behind Bregoldes knocking her off her feet! Its wing span was huge, blood dripping from its teeth. She inched backwards on the ground; the dragon's icy stare seemed to penetrate the Altmer woman's very soul. "Dovakiin…" The Dragon reared up, ready to strike… A flaming arrow hit one of its wings, then the side of its scaled neck. It bellowed with pain and went after the offending archers. Bregoldes didn't think twice, she jumped up and dashed for the door!
She entered the room in the keep and cursed as she stumbled on the step leading down. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the dim light. "Well, looks like we're the only ones that made it..." The soldier lit a torch and looked around. "I can't believe it, a dragon! The bringer of the end times!" Bregoldes sat heavily in a nearby chair, and rested her head in her hands. "Hey, you alright? Let me get some water, you're not looking so well." The man wandered off to the other side of the room and promptly came back with a bowl of water and well kept steel sword. "Hadvar" The Altmer looked up "What?! What are you talking about?" "That's my name, Hadvar. I figured that after what we just went through telling you my name was the least I could do." He took a cloth and dipped it in the bowl and gingerly put it on the gash on elf's cheek. She gasped at the sharp pain and put her hand on the cloth to keep it in place. "I am Bregoldes, and I have no idea how we just survived that." Hadvar smiled and stood up and looked around. "We should try and get out of here, I have a feeling if the dragon doesn't get us the Stormcloaks wandering around will." Bregoldes looked around for the first time, it appeared to be living quarters for the Legion or town guard. She hefted the steel sword, it was well used but also well kept. She fastened it to the belt on her armor. "You good with sword Altmer?" The Nord said teasingly and then gave her a challenging smile. "Pah! I don't need to prove anything to you boy! I've seen more battles than years you've been alive!" "Alright, don't get salty. Come on, we should get out of here, I don't think anyone else is coming. There's a town nearby where my uncle lives. If we can make it there, we'll be a whole lot safer." At that the Nord and the Altmer made their way deeper into the keep.