p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We're getting close to Helgen. Think we should wake her up?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No. If I could be the one to stay out cold for this I would."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Face your end with some dignity, horse thief. Show the Gods you have some courage."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The noise filtered in slowly, first the chatter of male voices, then the sound of wind and horses pulling carts. The typical sounds I was used to from travelling from Elsweyr. Even the rocking of the ground I was sat on was familiar, letting me place where I was before I opened my eyes. The cold hit me next and I shivered, involuntarily and violently. I squinted on eye open, reluctantly lifting my head from my chest and wincing at how heavy it felt, aching more than the worst of hangovers. For a few moments, everything stayed blurry in the weak sunlight. I could make out figures sitting alongside me, confirming we were in a moving carriage, but I had no recollection of who they were./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My memory cleared as my sight did- remembering the ambush I got caught up in, the ruthless soldier and the wound on my leg that was now throbbing painfully as I returned to consciousness. I squinted at my skirt, torn and dark with blood, but I didn't dare shift position to take a look to assess the damage. My head still felt cloudy but I knew it would be smart to at least try a basic healing spell, more to deal with the pain than the actual damage. I hoped it would be enough to tide me over./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I moved my hands over the rough area of the wound, then flinched as I felt the chafing of rope tight around my wrists, forcing my palms clasped together. It made it impossible to try and untie it and stopped any flow of even the most basic of spells. Any naive hope of the carriage taking me to safety trickled away, replaced by a cold feeling of dread./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sure they'll return your remains back to Elsweyr, Khajiit."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I stared blankly at the speaker, a blonde soldier across the cart, in bindings just like mine. I had no idea if he meant the words to comfort me or not, I couldn't find anything to say back either way. They spoke of death and remains and their Gods and all I could do was stare at the trees and mountains, thinking of my family and my dreams. This was so far from anything I'd imagined. I was supposed to discover these new lands with a sense of wonder and realisation, discover my purpose. I wasn't supposed to be barely conscious in a cart full of strange men discussing the end of life with thick, heavy accents./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I tried desperately to block out their words as we rolled past stone walls and into a town. I remembered my longing for a real bed and a hot meal and for a moment I wished I was unconscious again. The contrast from the morning plans to where I was now made my chest ache./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I took note of the presence of more soldiers awaiting our arrival. The colours, the uniforms, all similar to the ones worn by my attacker. Red on their banners, the same colour as the blood they spilled. The wound at my hip throbbed and my feeling of dread grew stronger. Everything suddenly seemed so overwhelming. The mountains, walls and buildings didn't make me feel safe, just trapped. The strange men trying to make conversation didn't comfort me. I didn't want my last words said to a stranger who knew nothing about me. I longed for my family so strongly that it hurt and it was hard to breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I looked back down at my bindings, twisting and turning my wrists in desperation. The rope was rough and burned at my skin as I pulled but I didn't dare do it any gentler. My skin chafed and broke, beads of blood starting to stain the frayed edges. Just another inch and -/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey, you! Cat!" I froze, suddenly aware that we had stopped and my temporary companions were making their way off the carriage and onto the cobbled street. A female soldier was standing to one side, pointing a short sword at me. I cringed back, recognizing her as the soldier who had attacked me before. "Off the cart, cat, or you'll be first to the block."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The block./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My heart clenched and I could taste bile at the back of my throat. I scrambled after one of the men who had spoken to me, trying desperately to keep my footing. My wound burned, shooting pain from my hip right down to my ankle, making it near impossible to keep my weight on it. I had to hold tightly to the side of the wooden cart to stop myself from collapsing to my knees with the pain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The soldier gave me a hard shove forward, forcing me to let go of my support. I staggered forward, barely managing to keep upright and swallowing my cry of pain. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand on my own two feet for too long. But as I stared ahead I realized that would not matter for much longer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The headsman's axe was sharp, glinting in the watery sunlight. It was all I could see./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was like when a fire broke out in dry season and you'd be unable to look away from the blaze even when you knew you should. But this was worse, much worse. Because when fires broke out back home we had a system of people to stop it. Buckets and pulleys pumping water from the rivers, or smaller fires to burn the path before it spread too far. We had homes to return to, paper fans to wave away the smoke and water to drink to soothe our throats raw from smoke./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Here I was surrounded by strangers. Strangers imprisoned and destined to share my fate or soldiers that were happy to kill me without even bothering to question me. I knew that the people around me were talking- soldiers barking orders and prisoners snapping back at them- but there words washed over me, meaning nothing. I had never felt this level of numbness, totally detached from my body./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Under my breath I automatically muttered a prayer from my childhood, a desperate prayer I used to mutter while hiding under blankets from the monsters that lived in the corners and under beds. It used to keep away the nightmares and this was the biggest nightmare I could imagine. I didn't want to die here in this foreign land without saying goodbye to my family. I had promised to write to them, to keep them up to date./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were never going to hear from me again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Movement snapped me back into the present moment more than the voices had. One of the bound soldiers in blue marched towards the block, a determined stride so unlike my shaking legs. He got to his knees, facing away from the crowd, and I swallowed hard. Everything felt in such high focus and so far away at the same time, I was so aware of my heart, pounding in my ears hard enough to drown everything else out. My thoughts were panicked and scattered and the only thing I could think of was that this stranger had the same red hair as me. Maybe in another life, we could have been kin. But in this life, he was going to his death- I was going to watch him volunteer to be the first to die and I didn't even know his name./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My eyes snapped shut right as the headsman started to bring down his axe./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I didn't see it, but I heard it. The sound of an axe through flesh and bone and sinew before the thud of it hitting the wooden block. The crowd of other prisoners let out sighs and outcries but the people from the town who had come to watch let out scattered applause. Would they applaud like that for me?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My knees wobbled and I let out a low moan, unable to keep my eyes closed as I heard the sound of them dragging his body away. The blood was spreading across the stones and I felt my stomach turn. Where was the nameless soldier's dignity now, as his headless corpse was dragged off with people watching and uncaring? The blonde from the cart muttered something and as I glanced up we made brief eye contact. His eyes looked sad and I wished my legs were steadier as I felt the desire to reach for him, grasp his hand. I longed for a brief moment of gentle touch, surely I couldn't die without one last human kindness? I took a shaky, wobbly step towards him and-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The cat goes next!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The world around me swam. For a moment I wondered if I was going to lose consciousness again. It would have been a mercy. But things righted again and the blood on the ground was back in sharp focus. The same soldier from before stepped to my side and stared me down, her eyes cold and hard. I wondered what had happened to her to cause her to hate me so much without even knowing me. I wondered what her evening would be like, whether she would be alone or with family when she cleaned my blood from her blade./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Up to the block, or do I have to drag you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I was sure the crowd would have loved that, a half-hysterical Khajiit dragged kicking and screaming to her death. I took an unsteady step forward, the pain in my leg barely mattering now. Then I took another, unable to stop staring at the spilled blood on the stones. My own blood was rushing in my ears like an echoing roar, drowning everything else out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another two steps. I was close enough to meet the headsman's gaze now, impossible to read behind his hood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One more step. The block was below me and the blood was sticky at my feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Out of steps, I forced myself not to close my eyes as I dropped to my knees, my entire body numb. My hands were shaking and I prayed nobody else could tell. The roaring was steady in my head now, like a scream coming from the mountains instead of my lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This was it. I was going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Father, forgive me..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The headsman adjusted his feet, I couldn't bring myself to look up at his axe. I waited for my last second on Nirn to end and hoped the Gods were waiting for me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Then the sky was darkened. Through the roaring in my head I heard someone scream the word 'dragon' and I lifted my gaze to stare at Oblivion soaring in with dark wings./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The beast opened it's jaws and the ground shook beneath us, fire and stone raining from the sky. The roaring wasn't in my head. I fell back from the block, staring up at the creature as it took back to the sky. The sheer size and power of it was an even bigger horror than the thought of the execution. A thing from myth and legend suddenly soaring above me, breathing fire. I felt trapped in a nightmare that wore a face of scales with eyes red as blood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The town around me was in chaos. Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched the soldiers draw their weapons and forget their prisoners in favour of this new enemy. The horses were free from the carriages and running through the pandemonium. Families were shouting as their houses caught aflame and they rushed to find a safe way out of this horrific reality we had found ourselves dropped in./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A pile of rock and flame crashed next to me, grazing my shoulder and letting me feel the heat of the flame. I let out an involuntary yell, rolling away and onto my hands and knees. The whole world around me seemed to be burning or crashing and I looked around, desperate to spot a way out. There were soldiers from both sides running, factions seemingly forgotten, but I didn't dare follow any of them. One side were rebels and even being near them had almost gotten me killed. The others were the ones willing to execute me for something I had nothing to do with. Getting help from any of them didn't seem too favourable to me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I shook my curls out my face and bit down hard on my lower lip, forcing myself to focus. I had gotten myself this far and I would get myself further. I wasn't sure how- I didn't trust my wounded leg to be strong enough for me to run and my hands were still bound. But something deep within me told me that I was not going to die here. Not from a soldier attack in the woods, not from an axe at the block and not from a dragon as dark as the night sky. Something had brought me here to Skyrim and it wasn't death./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Scrambling forward I spotted the carriages that had brought us here. One lay shattered in pieces and another had flipped over. I aimed for that one. The ground was hot to the touch and I scraped up my knees as I crawled, having to use my forearms instead of my hands to move forward. I could hear the dragon roaring behind me, hear the beating of its wings as I ducked under the carriage for makeshift shelter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In the shadows I caught my breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Think Ma'hlia, think," I scolded myself as I worked to free myself of my bindings. I was useless if I didn't have my hands. Resorting to my teeth, I bit and ripped at the rope until I could taste blood from my lips and gums. I had worked through some of it, but still not enough to get free and time was not on my side. "Shit!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another blast struck, too close for comfort and the carriage rocked. I huddled with my arms over my head, continuing to swear steadily until I was brave enough to uncurl myself. Flames licked the far wheel of the cart, narrowing my time even more. The air was thick with smoke and I choked back a cough. There was only one way to get free quickly enough, but it wasn't going to be pleasant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sending up a quick prayer that I wasn't making my own demise, I shuffled forward and thrust my wrists towards the flame./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The rope was cheap and flammable and caught quickly. I moaned through gritted teeth as I felt my skin blistering and burning alongside the rope and hot tears spilled down my cheeks. It hurt more than the wound on my hip, willingly keeping my hands in the flames and I let out a guttural scream right as I felt the rope burn enough to snap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I snatched my hands back to my chest, my dark skin was raw and blistered and I whimpered as I summoned up what little magic I could. My palms tingled, a more pleasant warmth than the fire and some of the pain receded around my wrists and some of the redness faded slightly. I pressed my hands to the wound on my leg while I still had strength to try to channel as much energy as I could. The throbbing lessened and I let out a sigh of relief. It would still needed stitched or a more experienced healer, but at least the pain was at a level that I could manage to stand - and hopefully run./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tentatively, I stuck my head out from the carriage before I made my way out, forcing myself off my hands and knees to my feet. My wounded leg gave a twinge, but until the spell wore off it was no worse than a sprained ankle. I took a few steps to test it out and a small jump. I managed to stay standing and I made my way scrambling over the rocks and debris that were scattered now that the dragon had knocked down at least one of the tall stone towers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The stone was hot under my hands, the flames burning out of control across the town now. There were less people about and more corpses, burned and black so they were beyond recognition. My stomach lurched and I forced myself to look away. I'd send up a prayer for their souls as soon as I was out of this wreck of a town. The dragon seemed to be focusing on the other side of the town- I could see arrows flying up from where I assumed the soldiers must have been trying to take the dragon down. I didn't know how much of an effect it would have though, as I watched the creature snatch a soldier in it's jaw. Even from where I was crouched I could hear him screaming, the dragon flying higher and higher then shaking his head and sending the soldier soaring beyond the town and towards the mountain. There was no way he could survive that. Another anonymous stranger who's death I instinctively knew would stay with me until the day I died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I let out a small sob, trying to make myself seem as small and hard to see as possible./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was hard going, crawling my way out of there. Every so often the dragon would circle back down, swooping down close to the ground so I had to press down into the hot ground or into a burning doorway. I had more burned flesh, singed hair and blistering skin and I gave up on trying to cast any more healing spells. All my energy had to go into escape. Everything was crumbling down and totally unrecognizable from the well ordered little town I had first rolled into. But one upside at least was that one of the far walls was half collapsed and I desperately made my way forward./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The pain was truly starting to kick back in as I finally reached it, staring up at the sky for any sign of the dragon. It swooped above the town, a shadow of wreck and ruin. A nightmare in reality, it's roar still audible./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sky was starting to clear in the direction I ran to, apart from the smoke from the fires and I managed to clamber awkwardly over the collapsed ruins of the wall. I was halfway over when my bad leg gave out and I let out a choked before I hit the ground. But at least I was on the other side of the wall. The breath was knocked out of me with a gasp as I found myself barely conscious and struggling to move, again. What little time I had spent in Skyrim already had a running theme, and I wasn't enjoying it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I thought of my family as I forced myself onto my hands and knees. I knew I wasn't going to be able to run, but I could crawl. Away from the walls, away from the path. Towards the trees and the shade and away from the screams and the smoke and the blood. I didn't know how long I was crawling before my arms gave out and I just let myself lie in the dirt, gasping and shaking./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually I forced myself into a sitting position, leaning against a tree for support./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I stared up at the smoke filled sky and watched the dragon abandon the town and soar further and further away. Out of immediate danger I could truly feel every wound on my body. I managed to use the last dregs of my magic to take the edge off, but I knew without rest or a potion this was going to be as good as it got. When the dragon finally was out of my sight, I forced myself to my knees and then to my feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I was officially in Skyrim. I had survived the soldiers and a dragon the size of a house./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I had absolutely no idea what to do next./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No. If I could be the one to stay out cold for this I would."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Face your end with some dignity, horse thief. Show the Gods you have some courage."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The noise filtered in slowly, first the chatter of male voices, then the sound of wind and horses pulling carts. The typical sounds I was used to from travelling from Elsweyr. Even the rocking of the ground I was sat on was familiar, letting me place where I was before I opened my eyes. The cold hit me next and I shivered, involuntarily and violently. I squinted on eye open, reluctantly lifting my head from my chest and wincing at how heavy it felt, aching more than the worst of hangovers. For a few moments, everything stayed blurry in the weak sunlight. I could make out figures sitting alongside me, confirming we were in a moving carriage, but I had no recollection of who they were./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My memory cleared as my sight did- remembering the ambush I got caught up in, the ruthless soldier and the wound on my leg that was now throbbing painfully as I returned to consciousness. I squinted at my skirt, torn and dark with blood, but I didn't dare shift position to take a look to assess the damage. My head still felt cloudy but I knew it would be smart to at least try a basic healing spell, more to deal with the pain than the actual damage. I hoped it would be enough to tide me over./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I moved my hands over the rough area of the wound, then flinched as I felt the chafing of rope tight around my wrists, forcing my palms clasped together. It made it impossible to try and untie it and stopped any flow of even the most basic of spells. Any naive hope of the carriage taking me to safety trickled away, replaced by a cold feeling of dread./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sure they'll return your remains back to Elsweyr, Khajiit."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I stared blankly at the speaker, a blonde soldier across the cart, in bindings just like mine. I had no idea if he meant the words to comfort me or not, I couldn't find anything to say back either way. They spoke of death and remains and their Gods and all I could do was stare at the trees and mountains, thinking of my family and my dreams. This was so far from anything I'd imagined. I was supposed to discover these new lands with a sense of wonder and realisation, discover my purpose. I wasn't supposed to be barely conscious in a cart full of strange men discussing the end of life with thick, heavy accents./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I tried desperately to block out their words as we rolled past stone walls and into a town. I remembered my longing for a real bed and a hot meal and for a moment I wished I was unconscious again. The contrast from the morning plans to where I was now made my chest ache./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I took note of the presence of more soldiers awaiting our arrival. The colours, the uniforms, all similar to the ones worn by my attacker. Red on their banners, the same colour as the blood they spilled. The wound at my hip throbbed and my feeling of dread grew stronger. Everything suddenly seemed so overwhelming. The mountains, walls and buildings didn't make me feel safe, just trapped. The strange men trying to make conversation didn't comfort me. I didn't want my last words said to a stranger who knew nothing about me. I longed for my family so strongly that it hurt and it was hard to breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I looked back down at my bindings, twisting and turning my wrists in desperation. The rope was rough and burned at my skin as I pulled but I didn't dare do it any gentler. My skin chafed and broke, beads of blood starting to stain the frayed edges. Just another inch and -/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey, you! Cat!" I froze, suddenly aware that we had stopped and my temporary companions were making their way off the carriage and onto the cobbled street. A female soldier was standing to one side, pointing a short sword at me. I cringed back, recognizing her as the soldier who had attacked me before. "Off the cart, cat, or you'll be first to the block."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The block./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My heart clenched and I could taste bile at the back of my throat. I scrambled after one of the men who had spoken to me, trying desperately to keep my footing. My wound burned, shooting pain from my hip right down to my ankle, making it near impossible to keep my weight on it. I had to hold tightly to the side of the wooden cart to stop myself from collapsing to my knees with the pain./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The soldier gave me a hard shove forward, forcing me to let go of my support. I staggered forward, barely managing to keep upright and swallowing my cry of pain. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand on my own two feet for too long. But as I stared ahead I realized that would not matter for much longer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The headsman's axe was sharp, glinting in the watery sunlight. It was all I could see./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was like when a fire broke out in dry season and you'd be unable to look away from the blaze even when you knew you should. But this was worse, much worse. Because when fires broke out back home we had a system of people to stop it. Buckets and pulleys pumping water from the rivers, or smaller fires to burn the path before it spread too far. We had homes to return to, paper fans to wave away the smoke and water to drink to soothe our throats raw from smoke./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Here I was surrounded by strangers. Strangers imprisoned and destined to share my fate or soldiers that were happy to kill me without even bothering to question me. I knew that the people around me were talking- soldiers barking orders and prisoners snapping back at them- but there words washed over me, meaning nothing. I had never felt this level of numbness, totally detached from my body./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Under my breath I automatically muttered a prayer from my childhood, a desperate prayer I used to mutter while hiding under blankets from the monsters that lived in the corners and under beds. It used to keep away the nightmares and this was the biggest nightmare I could imagine. I didn't want to die here in this foreign land without saying goodbye to my family. I had promised to write to them, to keep them up to date./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were never going to hear from me again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Movement snapped me back into the present moment more than the voices had. One of the bound soldiers in blue marched towards the block, a determined stride so unlike my shaking legs. He got to his knees, facing away from the crowd, and I swallowed hard. Everything felt in such high focus and so far away at the same time, I was so aware of my heart, pounding in my ears hard enough to drown everything else out. My thoughts were panicked and scattered and the only thing I could think of was that this stranger had the same red hair as me. Maybe in another life, we could have been kin. But in this life, he was going to his death- I was going to watch him volunteer to be the first to die and I didn't even know his name./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My eyes snapped shut right as the headsman started to bring down his axe./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I didn't see it, but I heard it. The sound of an axe through flesh and bone and sinew before the thud of it hitting the wooden block. The crowd of other prisoners let out sighs and outcries but the people from the town who had come to watch let out scattered applause. Would they applaud like that for me?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"My knees wobbled and I let out a low moan, unable to keep my eyes closed as I heard the sound of them dragging his body away. The blood was spreading across the stones and I felt my stomach turn. Where was the nameless soldier's dignity now, as his headless corpse was dragged off with people watching and uncaring? The blonde from the cart muttered something and as I glanced up we made brief eye contact. His eyes looked sad and I wished my legs were steadier as I felt the desire to reach for him, grasp his hand. I longed for a brief moment of gentle touch, surely I couldn't die without one last human kindness? I took a shaky, wobbly step towards him and-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The cat goes next!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The world around me swam. For a moment I wondered if I was going to lose consciousness again. It would have been a mercy. But things righted again and the blood on the ground was back in sharp focus. The same soldier from before stepped to my side and stared me down, her eyes cold and hard. I wondered what had happened to her to cause her to hate me so much without even knowing me. I wondered what her evening would be like, whether she would be alone or with family when she cleaned my blood from her blade./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Up to the block, or do I have to drag you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I was sure the crowd would have loved that, a half-hysterical Khajiit dragged kicking and screaming to her death. I took an unsteady step forward, the pain in my leg barely mattering now. Then I took another, unable to stop staring at the spilled blood on the stones. My own blood was rushing in my ears like an echoing roar, drowning everything else out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another two steps. I was close enough to meet the headsman's gaze now, impossible to read behind his hood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One more step. The block was below me and the blood was sticky at my feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Out of steps, I forced myself not to close my eyes as I dropped to my knees, my entire body numb. My hands were shaking and I prayed nobody else could tell. The roaring was steady in my head now, like a scream coming from the mountains instead of my lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This was it. I was going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Father, forgive me..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The headsman adjusted his feet, I couldn't bring myself to look up at his axe. I waited for my last second on Nirn to end and hoped the Gods were waiting for me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Then the sky was darkened. Through the roaring in my head I heard someone scream the word 'dragon' and I lifted my gaze to stare at Oblivion soaring in with dark wings./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The beast opened it's jaws and the ground shook beneath us, fire and stone raining from the sky. The roaring wasn't in my head. I fell back from the block, staring up at the creature as it took back to the sky. The sheer size and power of it was an even bigger horror than the thought of the execution. A thing from myth and legend suddenly soaring above me, breathing fire. I felt trapped in a nightmare that wore a face of scales with eyes red as blood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The town around me was in chaos. Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched the soldiers draw their weapons and forget their prisoners in favour of this new enemy. The horses were free from the carriages and running through the pandemonium. Families were shouting as their houses caught aflame and they rushed to find a safe way out of this horrific reality we had found ourselves dropped in./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A pile of rock and flame crashed next to me, grazing my shoulder and letting me feel the heat of the flame. I let out an involuntary yell, rolling away and onto my hands and knees. The whole world around me seemed to be burning or crashing and I looked around, desperate to spot a way out. There were soldiers from both sides running, factions seemingly forgotten, but I didn't dare follow any of them. One side were rebels and even being near them had almost gotten me killed. The others were the ones willing to execute me for something I had nothing to do with. Getting help from any of them didn't seem too favourable to me./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I shook my curls out my face and bit down hard on my lower lip, forcing myself to focus. I had gotten myself this far and I would get myself further. I wasn't sure how- I didn't trust my wounded leg to be strong enough for me to run and my hands were still bound. But something deep within me told me that I was not going to die here. Not from a soldier attack in the woods, not from an axe at the block and not from a dragon as dark as the night sky. Something had brought me here to Skyrim and it wasn't death./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Scrambling forward I spotted the carriages that had brought us here. One lay shattered in pieces and another had flipped over. I aimed for that one. The ground was hot to the touch and I scraped up my knees as I crawled, having to use my forearms instead of my hands to move forward. I could hear the dragon roaring behind me, hear the beating of its wings as I ducked under the carriage for makeshift shelter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In the shadows I caught my breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Think Ma'hlia, think," I scolded myself as I worked to free myself of my bindings. I was useless if I didn't have my hands. Resorting to my teeth, I bit and ripped at the rope until I could taste blood from my lips and gums. I had worked through some of it, but still not enough to get free and time was not on my side. "Shit!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another blast struck, too close for comfort and the carriage rocked. I huddled with my arms over my head, continuing to swear steadily until I was brave enough to uncurl myself. Flames licked the far wheel of the cart, narrowing my time even more. The air was thick with smoke and I choked back a cough. There was only one way to get free quickly enough, but it wasn't going to be pleasant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sending up a quick prayer that I wasn't making my own demise, I shuffled forward and thrust my wrists towards the flame./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The rope was cheap and flammable and caught quickly. I moaned through gritted teeth as I felt my skin blistering and burning alongside the rope and hot tears spilled down my cheeks. It hurt more than the wound on my hip, willingly keeping my hands in the flames and I let out a guttural scream right as I felt the rope burn enough to snap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I snatched my hands back to my chest, my dark skin was raw and blistered and I whimpered as I summoned up what little magic I could. My palms tingled, a more pleasant warmth than the fire and some of the pain receded around my wrists and some of the redness faded slightly. I pressed my hands to the wound on my leg while I still had strength to try to channel as much energy as I could. The throbbing lessened and I let out a sigh of relief. It would still needed stitched or a more experienced healer, but at least the pain was at a level that I could manage to stand - and hopefully run./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tentatively, I stuck my head out from the carriage before I made my way out, forcing myself off my hands and knees to my feet. My wounded leg gave a twinge, but until the spell wore off it was no worse than a sprained ankle. I took a few steps to test it out and a small jump. I managed to stay standing and I made my way scrambling over the rocks and debris that were scattered now that the dragon had knocked down at least one of the tall stone towers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The stone was hot under my hands, the flames burning out of control across the town now. There were less people about and more corpses, burned and black so they were beyond recognition. My stomach lurched and I forced myself to look away. I'd send up a prayer for their souls as soon as I was out of this wreck of a town. The dragon seemed to be focusing on the other side of the town- I could see arrows flying up from where I assumed the soldiers must have been trying to take the dragon down. I didn't know how much of an effect it would have though, as I watched the creature snatch a soldier in it's jaw. Even from where I was crouched I could hear him screaming, the dragon flying higher and higher then shaking his head and sending the soldier soaring beyond the town and towards the mountain. There was no way he could survive that. Another anonymous stranger who's death I instinctively knew would stay with me until the day I died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I let out a small sob, trying to make myself seem as small and hard to see as possible./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was hard going, crawling my way out of there. Every so often the dragon would circle back down, swooping down close to the ground so I had to press down into the hot ground or into a burning doorway. I had more burned flesh, singed hair and blistering skin and I gave up on trying to cast any more healing spells. All my energy had to go into escape. Everything was crumbling down and totally unrecognizable from the well ordered little town I had first rolled into. But one upside at least was that one of the far walls was half collapsed and I desperately made my way forward./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The pain was truly starting to kick back in as I finally reached it, staring up at the sky for any sign of the dragon. It swooped above the town, a shadow of wreck and ruin. A nightmare in reality, it's roar still audible./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sky was starting to clear in the direction I ran to, apart from the smoke from the fires and I managed to clamber awkwardly over the collapsed ruins of the wall. I was halfway over when my bad leg gave out and I let out a choked before I hit the ground. But at least I was on the other side of the wall. The breath was knocked out of me with a gasp as I found myself barely conscious and struggling to move, again. What little time I had spent in Skyrim already had a running theme, and I wasn't enjoying it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I thought of my family as I forced myself onto my hands and knees. I knew I wasn't going to be able to run, but I could crawl. Away from the walls, away from the path. Towards the trees and the shade and away from the screams and the smoke and the blood. I didn't know how long I was crawling before my arms gave out and I just let myself lie in the dirt, gasping and shaking./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually I forced myself into a sitting position, leaning against a tree for support./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I stared up at the smoke filled sky and watched the dragon abandon the town and soar further and further away. Out of immediate danger I could truly feel every wound on my body. I managed to use the last dregs of my magic to take the edge off, but I knew without rest or a potion this was going to be as good as it got. When the dragon finally was out of my sight, I forced myself to my knees and then to my feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I was officially in Skyrim. I had survived the soldiers and a dragon the size of a house./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I had absolutely no idea what to do next./p