Chapter 5 - Imprisoned

I felt as if my body were spinning as I slowly began to regain consciousness. I was distantly aware that I was lying down with my back against an uncomfortable, hard surface. Before long, I could see the faint, orange glow of a small fire through my closed eyelids. I thought it strange that I didn't feel any pain. Why was that strange, though? What had happened? I also felt cold. I heard a water drop come from somewhere, and the sound echoed through what sounded like a cavernous room.

I suddenly remembered how I had been rendered unconscious, and sat up abruptly. As soon as I was upright, a throbbing pain began pulsing through the back of my head and I groaned in agony. Apparently, the way I was laying down before was somehow preventing my head from hurting.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, boy," I heard a somewhat deep voice say, as a hand was laid on my chest that slowly pushed me back down to a lying position. It took me a moment to realize that it was Borrin, for I had not yet opened my eyes.

"Jol, you're awake! Thank the Divines!" I heard Cal say as I heard him come closer. I opened my eyes slowly, and saw both Borrin and Cal sitting right next to me. Looking past their faces, I saw that the ceiling and walls were made of stone. I lifted my head a little to try and look around, but the pain was too unbearable.

I spoke finally, "Where are we? Where is Kaira?"

"We're in the dungeons of Dragonsreach," Borrin answered. "The three of us were thrown into a cell together after what happened." I tried one more time to look around, but again I groaned and laid my head back down. "You need to stop moving around so much. Let me try to heal you."

I felt Borrin begin to move closer, but I reached up weakly with one hand and placed it on Borrin's shoulder to stop him, "No, please. What if it makes it worse?"

"Are you suggesting that I don't have the know-how to heal properly?" Borrin responded with just a tinge of annoyance.

"No, it's not that," I said, having to focus really intently to speak, "It's just that… I've never been touched with magic before. And didn't you say the other day that your skills were limited?"

"I was only speaking to the capacity of my power. What I can do with restoration, I do very well, I'd like to think. Now, are you going to let me heal you?" Borrin now sounded impatient with me. Not feeling like speaking anymore due to exhaustion, I gave a very small nod. Borrin spoke again, "You are going to feel some sensations. You shouldn't feel any pain during the process, but it will feel strange for just a moment."

Borrin placed both of his hands around my head, lifting my head slightly and placing his thumbs on my temples. I opened my eyes again to watch, and saw him close his eyes. For a moment nothing was happening, but then I suddenly gasped as a rush of hot and then cold sent waves through my body, starting from my head. It felt as though every individual hair on my scalp was generating a prickling, icy sensation. I heard Cal off to the side mumbling in what sounded like excitement as he watched.

Just as quickly as the sensations had begun, they vanished. Borrin gently laid my head back down. Cal said with astonishment, "I… I could see it! I could see the magic!" I was puzzled at first, because I hadn't seen anything. I had certainly felt the effects, but I didn't see anything happening. Then I remembered Borrin saying a couple days ago that Cal must possess some ability in Restoration, while I seemed to possess something else, so I figured that was why Cal could see it while I could not.

"When you're ready, go ahead and try to sit up on your own again," Borrin said. I noted that my dizziness was gone, and once I mustered the strength, I sat up. To my pleasant surprise, the throbbing pain was gone. There was still a dull pain behind my left eye, but compared to before I felt good as new.

"I feel… I feel much better. Thank you," I said to Borrin, and he nodded to me, now sitting cross-legged on the ground. I was finally able to see the bars that we were locked behind, and looking out into the room I could see many other cells. They were all empty. "You never answered about Kaira. Where is she? And Garren?"

Cal answered, "They weren't arrested. They were both simply pushed out of the way by the guards. It seems it was just easier to accuse the only Redguards in sight for what had happened."

"If they accused us, why were you arrested, Borrin?"

Borrin stretched his feet out in front of him, and he replied, "I apparently just 'look the type,' and since I arrived in town with you two, they just assumed I also had something to do with it."

I thought for a moment, and I remembered what I had seen just before I was knocked unconscious. "Dragonborn… He was... convulsing, just before I went unconscious. He fell to the ground and… What happened to him?"

Cal and Borrin glanced at each other, and Cal said in a saddened tone after a long pause, "Dragonborn is… dead." I stared at Cal, my eyes surely widening as I realized what this meant.

"So we're…" I almost couldn't say it, because I knew what the consequences must be, "We've been accused of assassinating the Dragonborn?" Cal looked at me with sympathy, despite him being in the same situation as I was. Borrin nodded to confirm what I had said. "But how… He was only struck in the shoulder by that arrow. I don't understand."

"It appeared to be some kind of poison," Borrin said, "And a nasty one, at that. He was dead within minutes of being struck." Within minutes? In my somewhat foggy memory, it had felt far longer than just minutes. Borrin went on, "As I suspect you've puzzled out by now, we haven't much time before we are beheaded for what they think we've done. We need to try and get out of here if at all possible."

I knew the punishment for killing Skyrim's greatest hero would probably be execution, but hearing Borrin say it out loud caused a great wave of fear in me. My mouth was dry as I spoke, almost in a monotone as the shock of the situation was settling in, "What do you propose we do?"

"Well," Borrin thought for a moment, "Between the two of you, I think one of you is likely to be able to harness Destruction magic. Perhaps… Perhaps I can try to teach one of you how to produce fire."

Cal questioned after a few moments of pondering, "How is fire going to help us? And I thought you only had Restoration abilities. If you know Destruction, why wouldn't you just do whatever it is you're suggesting?" Cal sounded anxious with all of his questions as the fear of being beheaded was likely reaching him as well.

"I may not be able to use Destruction myself, but I know some of the basic teachings. And my thought is, perhaps we could heat up the lock on the cell door enough to be able to break it loose somehow. I don't know. It may be useless, but we need to try something, or the three of us die for sure." The way Borrin said this in such a matter-of-fact tone seemed to provide Cal with some determination.

"Alright," Cal said, "I'm willing to try."

Borrin nodded, wasting no time as he went to sit directly in front of Cal. He gestured for me to stay back, probably as a precaution. I scooted away, and watched intently as Borrin began to speak, "I'll get straight to it, then. What you need to know as a fundamental to any magic is that the forces you need to manipulate are all physical. They are around you or exist somewhere in some form of matter or energy."

"Like how static is related to lightning," Cal stated, glancing at me momentarily before looking back at Borrin, "I've read about some of this in a book, once."

Borrin nodded, and continued, "Right. So, for fire, it is really a simple matter of focusing raw energy into heat. And then, as I understand it, you must move air through the heat to amplify it into a suitable fire."

"Like stoking a fire," Cal spoke again, saying it more as a fact than a question.

"Exactly," Borrin nodded. "There isn't much I can offer beyond that when it comes to Destruction. All I can say in a general sense is to just clear your mind of all thoughts, and then focus on the energies that you are trying to manipulate. The best I can explain it is that there is a sort of… resonation that you will feel once you have the right focus."

To me, this all sounded very vague and nonsensical, but Cal nodded as if it all made sense to him, and then his face bore an expression of intense focus. He held both of his hands in front of him, about one foot apart, and stared at them for what felt like forever. I didn't expect anything to happen, but I watched carefully anyway. Borrin also seemed to be leaning in, watching Cal carefully.

Several minutes passed, and just when I started to think Cal would give up, a couple of sparks appeared between his hands. I blinked just to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but then several more sparks began to appear. Cal's eyes widened, but when the sparks started to sputter out, he narrowed his eyes again and managed to look even more focused than before. Now, sparks began to flash every other second, and then a small flame the size of a candle appeared, floating between his hands. The flame danced sporadically for a few moments, and then stabilized. Cal finally allowed a smile to crack across his face, the light of the flame he was conjuring creating a glow that seemed to highlight his boyish grin.

After about twenty seconds, the flame sputtered out, but Cal continued to grin as he looked between Borrin and I, saying, "I did it! I just did magic!"

I was honestly in shock. I hadn't really been sure how much I believed that either Cal or I could actually do magic, but here Cal just proved that he could. Despite my shock, I smiled, and Borrin said to Cal, "That is truly quite impressive. That may have been a small flame, but I've never seen anyone get it that fast." Cal's smile grew even bigger.

Cal then asked, looking somewhat puzzled, "Could you see it though, Borrin? I mean, since you said you can't do Destruction?"

Borrin nodded, "Aye, Jol and I could both see it. Anyone can see the manifestation of magic, be it a flame or lightning, or a wound closing up. But the actual flows of the magic are only visible to those who can wield that same type of magic. You were likely seeing some glowing, wispy strands of light that we could not see as you created the flame."

Just then, the armored boots of a guard entered the large room containing the cells. Borrin, Cal and I glanced between one another, and the guard approached our cell. He picked up the torch off of the stone wall and held it forward so that he could see our faces better. The guard's helmet was removed, and he bore a disgusted expression as he spoke in a heavy Nordic accent, "I hope the three of you have prepared your last words. You'll be taken to the block in the morning. You're gettin' off the easy way, the way I see it." He spat towards us before adding, "I don't think you even deserve beheading. Leaving you all to starve and rot here in this cell would be a better punishment for what you've done. Not even Stendarr will show you mercy."

Borrin stood up and walked up to the bars, standing face to face with the guard, "Look, these boys had nothing to do with this. Let them go, at least." This time, the guard spat right into Borrin's face. Borrin grabbed the guard through the bars and punched him square in the face. The guard stumbled back a few feet, and after he regained his footing, he came back up to the cell and seized Borrin by his shirt. He then returned the punch, sending Borrin backwards.

They both had bloody noses, and the guard said angrily as he wiped the blood away, "You'll be beaten for that!" He began angrily fumbling for his keys, and once he found the key to our cell, he reached forward to unlock it. Just then, we heard what sounded like an explosion coming from above. Dust fell from the ceiling, and we all looked up. The guard stopped too, looking up as well. "What in the name of Akatosh was that?" He slipped the keys back in his pocket, and said loudly while pointing at Borrin, "I'll be back for you." He then ran towards the stairs that led out of the dungeons, disappearing from our sight.

"What do you think that was?" Cal asked, now standing up and still looking towards the ceiling.

Borrin responded, "I'm not sure. It didn't sound good, though."

I heard a faint jingle of keys just outside the cell, and a moment later a hooded figure appeared at the cell door. They unlocked the cell in one swift movement, and when they looked up, I realized who it was under the hood. "Kaira? What—"

"No time to explain," she interrupted. "If the three of you want to live, come with me now." Without another word, Kaira immediately turned around and exited the cell. Borrin, Cal and I quickly filed out of the cell to keep up with her, all of us looking around cautiously out of fear of running into the guards.