Chapter 2

Escape from Helgen

Sorry this is taking a long time. I've been doing a lot of stuff and it's the early chapters of this story that takes a long time. All because when I first wrote this story years ago, I mistook Hadvar as an Imperial, not a Nord. (I feel so old, now! XD)

Anyway, once the Helgan/Riverwood chapters are done, the rest should be a breeze.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief as he and Toothless managed to enter the barracks that the three Nords, the Argonian, and the Khaljiit entered in order to escape the dragon that was attacking Helgen. There was never a dragon that caused Hiccup to be so panicky. And that's with the Red Death and the first time he met Hookfang, his cousin Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare. But there was something about that black dragon that just seemed…horrifying to Hiccup.

Deciding to set his unraveled nerves aside, Hiccup looked to the small band of people that entered with him.

"Is everyone ok?"

Everyone nodded with Hadvar, the Nord soldier, speaking as he looked around the room they were in. It was one of the soldier's bed chambers in the barracks.

"Looks like we're the only ones who made it." He then looked to the stone walls as they heard the roar of the first dragon continued. "Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the End Times?"

The soldier then looked to Hiccup as did Ralof and the three youths.

"How is it that you befriended one of those creatures? You better not be a Dragon Priest in training." Hadvar spoke warily.

Hiccup raised is bound hands while keeping a defensive Toothless from attacking the soldier.

"No-no! He's not from here either! He's with me from my home!"

Rahm-Ku approached the Viking, trying to keep peace from the nervous Tamrielans and the foreigners.

"No one is accusing anyone of anything. If anything else, we need to keep moving. That other dragon could possibly topple this place any minute."

Renee nodded and spoke. "He's right. Best to save such questions until we're safe from this place."

Ralof and Hadvar looked at each other warily before nodding in agreement.

"Very well. Let's get out of here first. Then we'll talk." The soldier spoke.

"I agree... for once." Ralof announced before ushering Renee over to him. "Come here, lass. Let's see if we can get those bindings off."

As Ralof cut Renee's bindings, J'Kiir allowed Hadvar to unbind him while Rahm-Ku allowed Toothless to cut his bindings with the dragon's teeth along with Hiccup, fascinated at the prospect of a trained dragon.

"Fascinating." The Argonian muttered.

Once they were unbound, Hadvar spoke. "There. Best for all of you to take a look around. There should be plenty of gear to choose from. I'm going to find something for my burns."

Ralof kept an eye on Hadvar as the young bloods began to search around for what they might need. They found four sets of Imperial armor, but Rahm-Ku decided to tailor Hiccups, the Viking's small frame making the armor too big.

"I won't need any weapons. My magic is fine with me." The Argonian announced.

"Then I will take this dagger and longbow. If anyone finds a quiver of arrows, let me know." J'Kiir announced, finding up two daggers and a longbow in one chest.

"Mind if I have the other one of those daggers, J'Kiir?" Hiccup asked as he was being fitted.

J'Kiir agreed and placed the dagger on a bed near Hiccup as the Viking checked to make sure Rahm-Ku's tailoring was agreeable. But as he checked Toothless' tail for any signs of damage, he found that the prosthetic tail had broken and torn throughout their fall and until they find a blacksmith's shop, there was no way the Night Fury could fly.

Renee approached from a curtained area, dressed in a female version of the armor and examining a small sword and a leathery shield.

"I guess these will do for now."

She then looked to the grown men as they examined a barred archway. "Does that lead out of here?"

"I think so. I've never been down this way in a while." Hadvar admitted.

Once they were settled with their new equipment, Hiccup climbed onto Toothless' back and the small dragon followed the others down a flight of stairs.

But once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the path ahead of them began to collapse.

"Look out!" Ralof called out as the group steadied themselves while during the collapse.

Once the last of the stones finished falling, the company found their way blocked by the rubble. Growling, Hadvar spoke as he walked to examine the rubble before turning to a closed door that evaded the rubble.

"Damn, that dragon doesn't give up easy. Thankfully, that debris hasn't blocked this door."

Hadvar went on ahead, followed by Renee, J'Kiir, Hiccup and Toothless, Rahm-Ku, and Ralof. The room they entered was a storeroom and kitchen for the barracks as Hadvar stopped to looked at the group.

"There should be some potions in here. Find anything you can carry and take it. We might need it."

Looking at the saddlebags on Toothess' saddle, Hiccup spoke up.

"We can store them in my saddle bags until we need them."

"Smart lad." Ralof commented before he went with J'Kiir to raid the larder.

Rahm-Ku, however, looked to the Viking and spoke. "As long as we're in one place gathering supplies, mind giving that explanation. It would probably be best for the situation we're in."

Hiccup understood. It is clear that Hadvar and Ralof not only hated each other, but know each other as well. Also, the three young bloods, as Ralof called them, were still wary of each other, especially Hiccup and Toothless. And in order for any of them to escape from the city, they needed to trust each other.

"You're right, Rahm-Ku. I'll explain while we gather supplies."

So Hiccup told his story to the five, from when he was the runt and the laughing stock of Berk to the defeat of the Red Death and the opening of the Dragon Academy to his latest adventures at the Dragon's Edge. Of course, they did ask the occasional question if the tale was real or not, but Hiccup repeated the same answer each time.

"If it wasn't true, then why am I riding a dragon here in Skyrim?"

By the time he was finished, the saddlebags were full of food and potions and J'Kiir found several quivers of iron arrows for him to use with his longbow. Ralof was the first to speak as they continued down the corridors.

"I must say, lad, you lead an interesting life. Fighting and training dragons on a daily basis, discovering new species…I am impressed."

"As am I. Hopefully, we won't need your dragon to fend off the other one. I'm not sure he can handle it." Hadvar spoke.

Hiccup nodded. "When I looked into that dragon's eyes, it was like they were telling me that there was no way that dragon could be tamed. In fact, it was like they were telling me it sought our destruction for something instead of survival."

"Well that answers my question." Renee spoke, disappointed.

As they made their way down the halls, the company found themselves in a torture room. The sight of the dead bodies almost wanted to make Hiccup vomit. Hadvar looked at the room and spoke.

"I feel the same way every time I come in here. And I am with the Legion."

"Then maybe you should consider changing sides." Ralof muttered.

"Not exactly the time to go over politics, you two." Renee intervened once again.

J'Kiir found something shining in a knapsack nearby and opened it. "Ah. Good. It is always best to have as many lockpicks as one can carry."

"As much as I am against thievery, I will have to agree with you, Khaljiit." Rahm-Ku spoke bitterly.

J'Kiir glared at Rahm-Ku. "Call me by my name and I will call you by yours, Argonian."

Renee groaned at the two beast men. "Do I have to keep the two of you from killing each other as well? This is getting old."

As the trio argued amongst themselves, Hiccup looked to the table and found a single book with a symbol of a dragon on it. As he examined the book, it found it in a language different from his own. Pocketing the book, the Viking took a mental note to learn the written language of this land. But that didn't quell the feelings of importance he felt for this book. Maybe he could ask Rahm-Ku or Renee to teach him how to read the new language.

Passing the torture chamber, Hiccup and his new companions continued to follow Hadvar into the last chamber that was man-made. Around the room were several hanging cages, a small few containing skeletons and one with a fresh corpse. The stench of rotting flesh contaminated the air the living breathed. And there a wall at the end of the chamber that was broken down, revealing a cave tunnel that led further into the earth.

"We have begun construction of an extension of the barracks a month ago. When we broke down the wall, we found this tunnel and the captains decided that it should be an escape tunnel in case of an emergency. But I have not been down this far before, so I do not know what could be down there." Hadvar spoke.

Upon hearing this, Renee drew out her sword while J'Kiir quickly placed an arrow at the ready.

"The only thing we should be looking for is a way out of here before we get buried." The Nord girl spoke.

The Khaljiit and the girl walked ahead, followed by Hadvar and Ralof, with Rahm-Ku, Hiccup, and Toothless lagging behind.

The corridor was a little snug, but there was enough room for Toothless to walk through until the escapees entered a larger chamber that had a stream run through the center. It was clear that the Imperials were the ones responsible for building the railing and wooden bridge that connected the two ledges to another corridor. This was like the sixth chamber he and the others had passed through and Hiccup was already missing the sun.

Upon entering the next corridor, the current leader of the group, J'Kiir, reached for a lever that stood still at the end of the hall, which was blocked by a wooden panel. Once he grabbed it, the Khaljiit pulled the lever and the panel fell, revealing a bridge. But as they crossed, a rumbling sound caught Hiccup's and Toothless' attention above them. Realizing what that sound was, Hiccup called as the Night Fury charged forward.

"Get out of the cavern!"

Startled at his sudden call, the remaining members of the group jumped out of the way and out of the cavern just as stones and boulders came crashing down, destroying the bridge and blocking the way back into Helgen.

Ralof cursed. "Damn it. Not going back that way."

J'Kiir then spoke. "I guess we're lucky that didn't come down on top of us."

"We'd better push on. The sooner we're out of this deathtrap, the better." Rahm-Ku spoke before he looked to Hiccup. "Good ears, my friend. We owe you our lives."

Hiccup just simply nodded as he continued to ride Toothless through the caverns.

It was at the next cavern chamber where Hiccup not only got to witness his peers' fighting abilities and see an example of the dangerous creatures that inhabit this land. Upon turning the corner, the Viking's eyes caught sight of the largest spiders he and Toothless had ever seen. There were six small ones the size of sheep, while the four larger spiders could possible rival the size of an adolescent Gronkle.

It was a nightmare gone worse.

No sooner that they had turned the corner that the spiders spotted them and, like the predators that they are, began to scurry their way towards the group. Toothless shot at the spiders, causing them to back up, while Renee, Ralof, and Hadvar ran towards the spiders, their weapons drawn. J'Kiir began to fire rounds of arrows at the spiders while Rahm-Ku used a fire spell on them. From his perch on Toothless' back, Hiccup watched as the ferocity of the Tamrielans decimated the spiders. It was Renee who delivered the final blow as she stabbed the last of the largest spiders in the head with her sword.

As Hiccup steadied his dragon, J'Kiir took out some bottles he grabbed from the storeroom and began to 'milk' a substance from each of the spiders' fangs.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked the Khaljiit.

"Frostbite Spider venom makes the perfect grab-and-go poison to taint weapons with if you are in a fight that can't be won with strength, but craft."

"As long as it doesn't attract more of those spiders. I can't stand those eyes." Ralof spoke, hiding his shudder.

"What's next? Giant snakes?" Hadvar muttered in disgust at the spiders.

"I hope not." Rahm-Ku spoke as he took the lead of the group.

As they went down another cavern, the smell of fresh air assaulted the group's nostrils.

"We must be close to the exit." Hiccup spoke.

But Rahm-Ku, upon entering another large chamber, froze and crouched down. "Shh! There's a bear up ahead."

Upon hearing this, the entire company crouched down.

"I don't know about you, Ralof. But I'd rather not tangle with her right now." Hadvar spoke.

"I agree, Hadvar. Let's try and sneak out of here." Answered Ralof.

Even though he had Toothless with him, Hiccup agreed with the men's agreement and whispered to the Night Fury.

"Let's just quietly get out of here. You've only got one shot left and I think it's best to save it for an emergency."

Knowing that Hiccup was right, Toothless carefully followed the Tamrielans and crept past the sleeping bear. They kept creeping until all seven of them were around the corner, where they were safe from the bear's senses.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Renee spoke. "Phew. That was close."

Agreeing with her, the group continued to follow the smell of fresh air until they finally found an opening to the outside world.

"Looks like this is the way out." Rahm-Ku spoke.

"I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see the light of day again." J'Kiir spoke in relief.

But as they exited the caverns, Toothless senses caught a whiff of something. Something not at all friendly. This caused the Night Fury to freeze at the cave's exit, leaving his Viking rider confused.

"Toothless? What are you-?"

"Wait! Hide!" Ralof hissed as he and Hadvar hid behind a neighboring boulder.

Following their lead, Renee and J'Kiir hid within the foliage while Rahm-Ku stayed at the cave's entrance with Hiccup and Toothless. Just then, the dragon that attacked Helgen flew over their heads, unable to see his escaped quarry, and flew off toward the northeast.

Once the dragon had disappeared, Hadvar signaled the others to come out while Ralof spoke. "Looks like he's gone for good this time. But I don't think we should stick around to see if he comes back."

"Agreed." The remaining party spoke.

As they started to walk down the dirt and cobblestone path, J'Kiir asked a question. "Pardon my asking, but where does this trail lead to?"

"To our home village of Riverwood. My sister, Gerdur owns and runs the mill there." Ralof spoke.

"And my uncle owns the blacksmith there. If we wish to separate, then it would probably be best if all of us rest at Riverwood for the night." Hadvar spoke.

Upon hearing that the soldier had an uncle who was a blacksmith, Hiccup hoped that the man's uncle was kind enough to let him use his forge.

"If you plan to travel around Skyrim riding your dragon, I'd have him wait outside the village unless it is approved by the village." Renee spoke.

Hiccup understood. Considering what he had seen and witnessed so far, if he came strolling in on a dragon, it would be a complete disaster.

"Got it. Toothless is usually good about things like that.

As Hiccup rode on with his fellow refugees on the road, he looked out towards the vast lands of Skyrim. Although he may not know it, but this was the beginning of an adventure of legendary proportions.