13 of lasteed 4e201

My mind went completely blank as I gazed upon the horror its mere presence defying all I knew of history and the world, and yet there it was locking eyes with me, its eyes burning coals against the void of its seemed to pass at a crawl as I knelt there all of my instincts screaming to run,but I couldn't something about the creatures horrible majesty kept me rooted there.

"Hey orc get up! The gods won't give us another chance!" A voice that had grown familiar called out as I was dragged to my feet. I broke my gaze from the creature and looked to Ralof who had been freed of his bonds and just like that my body was under my control once more

"No they wont let's move!" I gasped rather than the shout I expected,as I began moving towards the tower the stormcloaks where congregating, behind me I heard the dragon… laugh as it watched the ants scurry away from it and roared out to the sky which began spewing flaming hunks of rock towards nirn as if answering the beasts command 'such power'. I stumbled into the tower and began making my way to the stairs.

"Jarl Ulfric is that… could the legends be true?" I heard Ralof ask and I turned to look at him

"Legends don't burn villages."Ulfric said soberly

"No they don't and if you no-tusks could save the talking for when that thing isn't burning down a village that would be excellent!" I snarled as I began making my way up the stairs, humans.

"He's right we need to move NOW!" Ulfirc shouted as Ralof began following me up the reached the top to see a stormcloak frantically moving stones who Ralof went to help

"Just need to move the stone-" the nord was interrupted by the wall behind him exploding as the dragon slammed its head through before inhaling a massive amount of air

"MOVE!"

"RUTH-SHUL-AL" Fire hotter than any I've seen rushed from the beast's maw as I threw Ralof back and jumped back myself.I did not move until the roar stopped. I slowly got to my feet and looked down to see that simply being by the fire had burnt my arm, not bad but still burnt

"Thank you" Ralog gasped as he stood up "Is Jorik…?"

"Ashes." I answered and gingerly looked out the hole the beast had made in the wall to the flaming but still somewhat standing inn about 10 feet away "Think you can make that jump?" I asked Ralof

"Maybe but I need to make sure Jarl Ulfric is alright, you go on ahead find Hadvar if you can, might be an imperial but he'll make sure you don't get killed, Go we'll follow when we can!" Ralof shouted as he went down the stairs. If he wants to die with his Chief that's his choice,I grunted as I leapt just barely landing on the destroyed inns second floor and quickly moved down to the ground floor sweat dripping into my eyes, damn this heat I spent my entire life around forges but this is like the Alik'r in the dead of summer but somehow worse. I broke through the fiery door of the inn to see the list-readr and another old man calling to a child who was trying to drag a man I assumed to be his father blood covering his hands, the child was smart enough to realize he could not save the man as his father gently pushed him away and began running towards the list-reader. Just as the boy reached the list-reader the best simply picked up the wounded man and carried him off into the sky, I saw his body fall to the earth and break with a crack

"Prisoner?" The list reader asked

"Not my name" I grunted the man paid me no heed and told the old man to watch over the child

"With me prisoner we need to find general Tullius!" He yelled as he took off at a trot. 'I guess we do' so still bound I followed the imperial. we ran through the quickly crumbling village, fire and blood filling my nostrils, screams and roars assaulting my ears, the end of the damned world all around me. It didn't take long to find the old man who seemed to be desperately trying to conduct the villages defense

"Hadvar! Into the keep soldier we are leaving!" The imperial shouted as he loosed an arrow at the dragon that flew wide

"Yes sir, come on prisoner!" The list reader beckoned once more as he moved towards the keep and once more I followed out of a lack of options,the dragon roared somewhere above us and I could feel that same heat rushing down towards me,acting on instinct I rushed forward and jumped past the list reader and slid on the rough ground and once the heat subsided I scrambled to my feet,the ground where I just had been had become like glass and I couldn't see the the list reader.

"You made it!" I whipped around and saw Ralof enter the courtyard I was standing in "Come on into the keep!" He resumed the jog that he stopped when he saw me and I followed him into what seemed to be the keeps main chamber.

As the door slammed behind me the noise from the village muffled and I stood for a moment to catch my breath

"A dragon…. Malacath preserve me how can a dragon be here" Anger and fear coursed through me in equal measure

"I wish I could tell you that but I have no idea,dragons aren't supposed to be real…" Ralof answered as he entered the room proper and looked around and laid eyes on a dead stormcloak "Rest in Sovngarde might as well take his axe he doesn't need it, think we got enough time for you to get his armor on?"He asked as he cut me free from the damn ropes that kept my hands useless

"I doubt it, hardly the worst thing that's happened today." I grunted as I hefted the dead man's war-axe and tested its weight "Crude and poorly made but it will do."

"Good, now we need to… wait do you hear that?" A look of worry passing over Ralofs features, I listened and heard what sounded like plated boots coming down the hall

"Imperials." I sighed preparing myself, 'suppose im an enemy of the empire now',

"Take cover" Ralof whispered pointing towards the wall by the door the imperials would come from.I called a spell of oak flesh into my off hand and waited,the spell ready to be cast as soon as that door sound of voices grow louder as what sounded like three imperials opened the door,as soon as one of them entered the chamber I finished the casting of oak-flesh and brought me axe down on him,unfortunately the spell gave him just enough warning for him to move himself so the axe came down on the chain reinforced part of his armor rather than his head.

"Rebels!" the lucky bastard shouted right before one of Ralofs axes sunk into the back of the man's neck, I dodged a blow from the second imperial who rushed forward his blade in hand as Ralof engaged the officer who condemned me to death, the man slashed down and just magened to hit the magically hardened skin on my face, it hurt like a bitch but his blade bounced off and left him wide open, I brought the axe across his neck in one wicked hack and left him to gurgle as I turned to Ralof and his was holding his ground but the woman was better armed and armored and he was losing ground fast,I moved behind her as another of Ralofs blows bounced off her plate, taking the axe in both hands I swung it into the lightly protected back of her knee, she shouted in surprise and pain falling to one knee she looked back at me, A wicked smile on my face, Mistake Ralof brought both his axes down on her neck and took her head clean off her body. As her corpse thuded on the floor as I looked down the hall they came from

"Leads back out I think."I spoke as Ralof kneeled down to search the imperials

"Dont think its gonna be a ." I turned to him and caught a small metal object, I looked down at the key and looked up to the locked door at the other side of the chamber

"Nice work." I said as I began making my way over to the door I got a mumbled

'thanks' from Ralof as he continued searching the dead.I put the key in its lock

and turned, a click and a clang as the lock fell of the bars later and the path was clear "Stairs going down over here." I called to him as he stood up

"Great let's go!" He responded as he began to jog down the stairs I quickly followed. The sounds of the dragon destroying the village could still be heard even under this much stone each roar shaking the stone above continued in grim silence as we reached the bottom of the staircase and began walking down the hall, with a roar that even here was loud the dragon seemed to land directly above the hallway and caused it to collapse on the lone imperial soldier who had just turned around to look at us ,not your lucky day. With a look one another we opened the nearby door and entered to find to imperials rummaging what appeared to be the pantry, we moved quickly keeping the element of surprise the fight didn't last long.

"What idiot pillages his forts pantry while a dragon is burning it down?" I scoffed as I wiped the blood from the war axe

"Imperials apparently."Ralof snorted as he shook his head "Come on we should keep moving, that dragon doesn't seem to want to stop." With that we continued down.

As we came to the second end of the obstructed hall the sound of battle reached us and we moved towards it in silence with our weapons ready. "Trolls blood a toture room!" Ralof snarled his grip on his axe becoming white knuckled as we entered the room and looked around I saw at least 2 living imperials a dead one about 4 dead stormcloaks and a thalmor slowly slitting the throat of a fifth,worthless golden-assed no tusk, with no words I charged the thalmor whose back was to me

"Behold the fate of all who challenge the do-" The fools bragging was cut short as I used my momentum to pick him up and slam him into the wall with all my might, the imperials gasped and drew their blades to aid the elf but Ralof had come in right behind me and fell on the first of them a blur of axes and anger. I grabbed the black-robes head and with a violent crack snapped his neck in two, I turned to aid Ralof but shouldn't have bothered by the time I finished the first imperial was dead and the second had raised his hands in surrender.

"Don't kill me I beg of you!"He practically screeched as he backed away

"Why shouldn't I!?"Ralof demanded "How many people have you tortured in here?! How many true children of skyrim have you butchered like animals!?"

"Were wasting time" I cut in "Kill him or not but we need to keep moving." Ralof began walking closer to the imperial

"Please don't! I beg of you-" His pleading was replaced with a gasp as Ralof brought both of his axes down on the man's throat. As the man fell to the ground I nodded my head towards the exit and began moving. Ralof followed wordlessly as the sounds of the dragon began to properly dim whether or not it was because we were going deeper or it was leaving I could not say,

"Mazlor,hold on." Ralof called out, I turned around confused and a bit annoyed "I saw this in there" He spoke as he held out a proper battle axe to me "And remembered that you seem to like the bigger ones."

"...thank you"I responded as I took it and tested the weight "this will do,now come on let's go." We continued in silence and encountered little resistance we entered a large cave devoid of any life and kept moving,we reached a smaller cave that was covered in spider webs and filled with corpses, spiders and a large group of imperials lied around the cave, with a few laughs at the fact that members of the mighty imperial legion were killed by overgrown spiders we kept moving.

"Hold up" Ralof whispered "Over there,looks like a bear den" he pointed to a portion of the caves, bathed in sunlight as it was I could see bones and blood but no bear

"True but I don't see it."I whispered back

"Aye, we should keep moving carefully" We moved in silence as we followed the small stream that I hoped would lead out "I think we're almost out-" A roar cut Ralof but it was not the dragon, I turned just in time to see the bear mid charge

"SHIT!" The bear slammed into me dragging me several feet before I regained my footing and hit it with a few quick slashes from my axe, the bear didn't notice but stood on its hind legs and before I could move out of the way brought its claws down towards me, In a last attempt to defend myself I raised the axes's haft to block the blow but it did nothing, the haft snapped in two and the bears claws easily rent through the rough tunic and dragged through my lower chest and most of my abdomen.

I fell to my knees as Ralof fell on the bear doing his best to distract the beast, my vision began to blur as blood poured from my wounds, the sounds of Ralof and the bear growing dim, I DON'T DIE THAT EASILY, My vision came back into snap focus as the rage built in me and with a primal roar that put the bears to shame I stood up,the beast turned to face me and before it could react I stabbed the broken bottom half of the axes haft in its back and brought the axe blade down on its neck, barely aware of anything but the smell of blood in my nostrils and my foe, I hacked at the bear with the axe forcing it back with each blow,It slashed my right arm deeply with its claws and nearly crushed my left leg with its jaws before I slammed the axe into its neck removing its a crash the beast fell blood gushing through its neck and covering me in the metallic smelling fluid. A scream slowly rose through my gut and as it reached my throat I raised my head and let it out "MALACATH!" the name rousended around the cavern and my rage subsided, the pain finally hitting, causing me to collapse.

"Mazlor you alive!" I heard Ralofs voice call

"Y..yeah" was all I could manage and soon after I felt the nord kneel near me

"Open your mouth I found some healing potions on those imperials" I obeyed and soon felt the warm bitter tasting liquid pour down my of my wounds rapidly knit themselves closed, I barely managed to remain awake through the pain but slowly I stood up

"Let's get the hell out of here" I spoke between coughs

"Yeah…"Ralof stood and we slowly resumed following the stream which proved to lead to the exit the sun's light shining its brightness stinging my eyes as I finally left the damn keep behind me.