Chapter 2 - Belief is Hard to Come by

I rocked back and forth. A motion I was quite familiar with from my time aboard ships. This was different, it was jolting and not one bit as smooth as the rolling waves. My eyes snapped open at another jolt.

My hands were bound with rope, the cords chafing at my wrists. Not dead again, I thought observing my surroundings. I was sitting in a wooden cart, three men and a woman as my company. All were bound and one gagged.

"Hey you, you're finally awake," one of the men had spoken to me. I looked him over. His blonde hair was shorter than mine though hung down to his chin, a braid roughly done with a few strands down one side of his face.

"You were trying to cross the border right?" He continued, "walked right into that Imperial ambush same as us, and that thief and the elf over there."

Wait, elf? I looked in disbelief at the woman, seeing her sharp features and… pointy ears? I shook my head, ridding the remnants of sleep from my mind.

"Damn you Stormcloaks," the thief had shuffled to look at the blonde man. "Skyrim was fine until you came along! Empire was nice and lazy." He glared at both the guard driving the cart and the Stormcloak. Must be some kind of gang, I mused leaning back on the cart. "If they hadn't been looking for you I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell."

The elf grumbled something under her breath I couldn't make out but it sounded like an insult. The horse thief looked at both of us, an almost pleading look in his eyes. "You two, you and me - we shouldn't be here. It's the Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief," the Stormcloak retorted.

The elf sniffed beside me, "even me, Nord?" She asked, a hint of venom in her tone.

"Shut up back there!" The guard yelled over his shoulder. My bound companions averted their eyes from one another and silence followed. I was thankful for that moment, so confused by the conversation. Empire? Stormcloaks? Hammerfell? I rifled through the questions, and how am I sitting next to an elf?

It was the horse thief to break the peace first. "What's wrong with him, huh?" He gestured to the gagged man at the back of the cart.

"Watch your tongue!" The Nord snapped, "you're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."

This news took the thief back a step and his eyes began to widen. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm?" He questioned, "you're the leader of the rebellion," he murmured. Well that explains the gang name, at least. I eyed the rebel leader, my hands clenching. So this is your fault I'm stuck in this - "but if they've captured you…" my thoughts broken by the thief. "Oh Gods, where are the taking us?"

"I don't know where we're going," the Nord said resigned, "but Sovngarde awaits."

I had no idea what Sovngarde was or if it was a person but I knew one thing. Stuck with a rebel leader meant death.

"No, this isn't happening," the thief babbled franticly, "this can't be happening."

I looked at him with scorn, well at least you've figured out we're dead men, mate.

"Hey, what village are you from horse thief?" the blonde Stormcloak asked in a sombre tone.

The thief looked aghast, "why do you care?"

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." He looked to the elf and then me. If you only knew where my home was. A thought thankful I could keep to myself.

"Rorikstead, I… I'm from Rorikstead." He stammered back, creases furrowing his young brow.

"…sir. The headsman is waiting," the driver called. I could feel my neck muscles tighten with that as the gates opened.

A man on horse and gleaming armour watched us pass, flanked by two others in black robes with trimmings of gold. "Good," he sighed, "let's get this over with."

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Devines, please help me." The thief prayed, looking sorrowful in his plight.

I'd had enough of him. "Oh, for the love of all that's unholy, shut up!" I demanded. "Wishing and cryin' gets you nowhere."

The thief bowed his head from my outburst but his murmured prayers did not cease.

The Nord gestured to the gleaming rider, "look at him. General Tullius, the Military Governor." He spat, "and it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves." He cursed, "I bet they had something to do with this." I could feel the bound elf shifting uncomfortably at his disdain.

"Hey, did you forget your sister in binds here?" Drawing the Stormcloak's attention to me, "she's an elf too." He sighed and looked into the village.

The elf put a hand on my shoulder, "thank you," she whispered. "for a Nord, you're a good man."

I shrugged her hand away, "doesn't help me much if we're going to lose our heads."

"This is Helgen," the Stormcloak claimed wistfully. "I used to be sweet on a girl from here." Oh great, a love lost. In a town where you're going to be beheaded. I thought to my self, my anger still not extinguished from his racism… if it could be called racism.

"I wonder if Velod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in." He reminisced. I wasn't going to stop him. We were going to die and this time, I'm sure I would die.

The cart stopped, I rolled towards the elf in the movement. My body felt stiff, sore and all together wrong. " Sorry," I claimed trying to push my self away. My arms and legs ached with the movement as if I'd done one of my old training sessions before ending up here.

"…tell them we weren't with you!" I could hear the thief plea, "this is a mistake!"

"Step toward the block when we call your name," a woman ordered, "one at a time."

I was helped from the cart by the elf woman, my bones still aching from the small effort to step down from the cart.

"Empire loves their damned lists," the Stormcloak beside me sighed.

Ulfric went first, followed by the Stormcloak the Imperials had labelled as Ralof of Riverwood.

Lokir, the horse thief was next but he wasn't going quietly and made a run for it. A sore attempt at running. Archers took him down within seconds of fleeing, his body crumpling in a heap on the cobblestones.

The captain glared towards both me and the elf. "Anyone else feel like running?" it was no more a question than a statement.

A man had just been shot dead before my eyes, of course I felt like running. I saw my options plain as day. Die quick with an axe through my neck or die painfully with an arrow in my back. I knew which option I'd choose. Well at least it'll be entertaining for some one, I groaned in defeat. My neck lowered already for the incoming doom.

"Wait," the armoured man with the list spoke. "Wood elf, who are you?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Léna Kallaish," my bound companion proclaimed, her head held high. "I live in the Rift with my brother."

The Imperial soldier looked at his list and then to me, "and you Nord?"

My heart stopped, who was I? Was I a Nord or just a simple human being from Australia? I had to think quickly. I was in a land I didn't know. Kings, elves, Nords. All things that didn't exist where I came from.

A whisper came to me, niggling at the back of my head. Jarek, it echoed through my skull. I could see the patience thinning on the man in front of me. "J-Jarek," I stammered, breathing a sigh of relief as the man he looked to his list once more.

He looked to his superior. "Captain, they're not on the list," he gestured, "what should we do?"

The captain scoffed, "forget the list, they go to the block."

"By your orders captain, "he obliged, " I'm sorry, at least you'll die here, in your homeland. Follow the captain prisoners."

I sauntered behind the elf, taking in the soldier's words. Home. I don't have a home. I thought of where I came from. My friends barely spoke to me, moving on with their own lives. Getting married, having kids, buying their first house and making it a home. My work was my home, it was the only constant in my ever changing and isolated world.

A tear rolled down my cheek, I'm going to die alone.

General Tulluis approached the rebel leader, loathing in his eyes. "Ulfric Stormcloak, some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his King and usurp his throne." His hand twitched on his sword hilt when Ulfric grunted in response. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos. Now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace."

In the far off distance a sound echoed towards us. All the company surrounding the headsman block raised there heads. "What was that?"

The general waved the disturbance aside, "it's nothing, carry on."

"Yes General Tullius!" The captain erected herself, "give them their last rights."

Another woman stepped forward cloaked in a yellow hooded robe. The sleeves falling back from her wrists as she raised her arms. A priest?

"As we commend your souls…" yep, that's a priest. I drown out her preaching with my thoughts. I hated religion.

A Stormcloak shoved passed me, "for the love of Talos, shut up and lets get this over with." He growled kneeling at the block.

The priest glared at him, almost wanting to kill the interruption herself. "As you wish." I couldn't help to keep away my smile at that.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning." The captain kicked him down to the block and the headsman slowly raised his axe. "My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials, can you say the same?" A swish of wind and the sickening sound of neck bones being released from their counter part and the Stormcloak's head rolled to the ground. I began to dry heave at the sight. Blood spattered the block and the stench was unbearable. The elf again held me up, my crutch before my death.

"Next, the wood elf." The captain called.

Another echo, this time closer, or was it a roar?

"There it is again."

"I said next prisoner." the captain's patience was thinning.

The soldier with the list looked at the elf beside me. "To the block prisoner," he sighed, "nice and easy."

She walked with her head held high to the headsman block and stood facing the him. There was no emotion in that look, just pure understanding. Has she been through this before?

Unceremoniously, Léna was set to the block and for a fleeting second, I saw her smile… at me, why?

The axe rose, its blood stained edge glinting in the morning sun. I was interrupted by a dark figure bursting through the clouds, a deafening roar shuddering the foundations around me.

"What in Oblivion is that?" I didn't care who had said it for I had the same question. That's too big for a bird, so what in bloody hell is it?

"Sentries," the captain ordered, "what do you see?"

"It's in the clouds!"

A sharp collision that felt like an earthquake came from the tower above us. I was transfixed by the colossal creature looming down at us and fear gripped my soul.

"Dragon!"

It's vast maw opened and the roar that I expected came out as a clap of thunder with a bellow that shuddered every bone in my body. A gust of wind, a force like I had never known blew my feet from under me and knocked me to the ground.

I could feel new cuts open up across my body but I couldn't help but stare at the creature. Large black wings stretched skyward, its talons ripping through the stonework of the tower. It was the embodiment of chaos and destruction, a bringer of death. My mind could not comprehend what the people had called it. Dragons don't exist, I reasoned with myself but there this thing was. Biting and clawing anything in its path, flying and… Breathing fire.

"Hey kinsman, get up!" Ralof was a few feet from me, "come on, that dragon's not going to give us another chance."

I tried to push up from the ground only to have my joints protest in stabbing agony. I cried out, trying to find any strength in my limbs merely to have them shake and give way, leaving me sprawled in the middle of the square.

A pair of hands wrenched me to my feet, I grunted as my body disagreed with the movement. "You're not dead yet, Nord." Léna whispered, pushing me towards the open wooden door Ralof held.

We ran as quickly as my legs would allow. I lost my footing on a loose paving and tumbled through the doorway. I lay there, the cold stone felt nice. Aching joints numbed and I could feel sleep taking over me.

Léna hefted me onto a bench, my groans of discomfort ignored as she walked away to listen to Ralof and Ulfric.

The building trembled around us and a roar followed. "We need to move, now!" I couldn't tell who had ordered it, I was weary and my body pained beyond a state I was used to.

I hissed as Léna tugged at my injured arm. "Time to move," she urged, pushing me to my feet and towards the winding stairs leading up through the building. Just let me die this time!

"Get back!" Ralof pulled us behind him as bricks exploded. The dragon let out a stream of fire blackening everything it touched, it let out another ear shattering roar and flew off to cause more destruction through the village. Ralof peered over the jagged ledge. "See the keep on the other side," he pointed, "jump through the roof and we'll meet you there."

I stepped forward and looked down, seeing what Ralof was on about. Straw roof, well at least he's accurate about 'jumping through.'

"You ready?" Léna looked at me, her sapphire eyes burning with determination. "On three," she prepared.

I had already stepped back, just like any other parkour stunt, then launched myself forward, joints jolting with pain. "Three!"

We plummeted from the crumbling tower, our landing cushioned as the roof collapsed beneath. I rolled with momentum trying to save as much pain from my already aching body, cursing my hands were still tied when I almost tumbled over again. Léna was right behind, her movements fluid and almost cat like.

We ran headlong back into the fray, the dragon snapped at a boy's heels then roasted one of the village soldiers who had gotten too close. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, almost smells like bacon, my stomach growled at the thought.

"You two still alive," it was the soldier that had read the names from the list. "Stick with me if you want to stay that way."

Through the burning streets we ran. Dodging the falling remnants of building structures and the constant billowing of fire from the rampaging dragon. Léna stayed close to me the entire way, keeping me upright whenever I lost my footing and began to fall.

Coming into an opening, I saw men firing arrows at the flying beast and others throwing fire from their hands. I stood in shock and disbelief. This is impossible, magic isn't real.

"Ralof you traitor, out of my way!" I saw Ralof running towards us, a crude axe in his hand.

"We're escaping Hadvar, and there's nothing you can do to stop us this time."

Hadvar looked ready to challenge that statement until the dragon swooped down, taking one of the soldiers and dropping them from a massive height. "Fine, I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde." He left us in that clearing, running into a nearby tower.

Léna once more pushed me forward. "Come on Nord, we're not out of this yet."

"Into the keep, let's go!" Ralof, again holding the door for our salvation.

I grunted away the pain and sprinted for the entry. I wasn't going to let my body fail me while I still held breath in my lungs. Through the doorway and on to paved stone my boots stomped and the sound echoed back. I hit the wall with sudden relief, slipping down to my knees to recover.

Léna ran through followed by Ralof and the final slam of the heavy oak door. They both collapsed next to me, ash and sweat smearing their faces. "Too many close calls today," I gasped. "I should already be dead."

Ralof leant up and inspected the corpse that I had only just seen next me. I rolled in disgust. I was still not used to seeing fresh dead bodies. "I'll see you in Sovngarde, brother."

The elf began examining me, poking and prodding my knees and elbows. "Ow, stop that will ya." I swiped at her, "I've already died twice, isn't that enough to know I'm in pain?

She drew her bound hands away, observing my injured arm, the flannelette caked with my dried blood. "What attacked you?" She asked, almost… Concerned?

I turned away and shielded my arm from her view. "Wolf attack, just after I woke up here."

Ralof walked over then and cut my binds, "cut the elf's while you're at it and get that armour on," he motioned to the dead body beside us, "he won't be needing it anymore."

I cut her bonds and pocketed the knife, then sat back from exhaustion. "Go," I waved, "you deserve to escape."

Léna rubbed her wrists and stared dead at me, her eyes had a sparkle I had never seen. "I'm not leaving you behind."

It sounded final, I nodded in defeat. She turned her back to me and stripped the armour from the dead Stormcloak as well as the fur boots. I hadn't noticed Léna was only in a tattered shift until she was donning the armour. I felt embarrassed at that and averted my gaze when my thoughts began to wander.

I distracted myself by watching Ralof trying to open the gate on my left. He rammed it in frustration but the hinges remained silent. "We can't open it from our side."

"Then we find another way out," Léna declared, strapping an axe to her hips.

My ears pricked, I could hear footsteps down the hall. "Both of you, hide now." I pushed myself up and limped to the gate.

The Stormcloak's eyes widened, "Imperials," he alarmed and quickly made his way to the wall beside the gate so as not to be seen through it.

Léna hid on the other side then gawked incredulous at me, "what are you doing?" She whispered sharply, "Hide!"

A small hint of a smile played across my lips, "trust me."

I rapped my fist against the iron bars and yell out, "help, someone open the gate, there's a dragon out there!"

The footsteps quicken their pace and I was met by two Imperial soldiers, One I thought seemed familiar. "Thank the… Divines you two showed up." I prayed, hoping my sincerity was believable. "I would've been dead otherwise."

I guessed my appearance was quite battered and broken from the disgusted gaze the superior of the two soldiers gave me. "You're that prisoner who wasn't on the list, get this gate open. " she ordered her second.

It dawned on me, and you're the captain from the execution. "Thank you captain, with your help I might survive this." I could feel the dagger pressing at my calf, the hilt barely visible in my deep pocket.

Hinges screamed in protest as the gate swung open. I stepped back allowing the soldiers to enter and watched carefully for the drawing of weapons. "There was a womer with you, where is she?" The captain barked at me.

What the bloody hell is a womer? "You mean the elf?" I questioned then noticed Léna behind the soldier franticly nodding her head. "Ah, she's long gone. Saw how injured I was and split, left me behind to rot, the little shit." I spat the last words, keeping the focus of both the soldiers on me.

"For Skyrim!" Ralof bellowed, pouncing on the second soldier. In bewilderment the Imperial faltered back, knocking me to the ground.

"Jarek," I could hear Léna then the clashing of steel.

I shook my head to rid the dizziness. I saw Ralof gaining ground but Léna was losing. The captain had her pinned against the wall, her axe blocking the relentless strikes meant for her throat. I pulled the knife from my pocket and weighed it in my hand while I focused on the two women fighting. Only one shot, I flipped the knife over, holding it by the blade.

"Oi bitch," the captain stopped and glanced at me for a moment, "catch."

End over end, the dagger flew from my finger tips. A split second of terror crossed her face and then she slumped to the ground. The blade embedded between the captain's eyes, a trickle of ruby red sliding down her nose.

I breathe a sigh of relief and fall back to the wall behind me. I've just killed, the thought sends a shiver down my spine. Not animal, I have just killed another human.

Léna runs to my side, "are you alright?" She asks lifting me up.

I grunt in response, my arms and legs shuddering as she moves me.

"We need to keep moving," Ralof calls and we both fumble through the gate after him.

For hours or minutes, I couldn't tell, we trudged along. Dodging cave ins and Imperials for a sweeter exit until we found a tunnel that looked promising.

"I'll go down first," I proclaimed. Léna about to argue but I held up my hand. "Anyone down there won't be expecting an injured, half crazed lunatic." I smiled, remembering my so called nicknames from a different world.

I trudge down the steps, the knife firmly in my grasp. I hear screaming and immediately push my pained body into a run. What I see is nothing I've known in existence. Men and women shackled to the walls. A soldier at the far end , grinning as they're tortured by him, this man with wicked knives and lightning in his hand.

I couldn't stomach the sight any long. I yelled in fury and lunged at the torturer but oh, too late. He let out a fistful of electricity at me and I slammed against the back wall, convulsing as the shocks subsided.

Léna and Ralof enter shouting over my limp body, subduing the foes and freeing the tortured convicts. I continued to jerk as my muscles regained control, Léna coming to my side shortly after.

"W-What was that?" I ask shakily, trying to kneel and stop the cramping through my shoulders.

"First lightning strike?" Léna pats me on the back. First lightning strike, he threw lightning at me! I nod in agreement still bewildered by what just happened.

"Any of you good with locks?" Ralof calls shaking a cage.

Still quivering I raise my hand, "yeah, a long time ago."

He hands me some rough picks and points to the cage's lock, "See if you can open it, may be things we can use."

I was at my limit of weird. Dragons, elves and magic. This was something I knew. Inserting the knife I'd taken from the captain's skull and the pick, I began to tune the lock and then stopped. "You've got to be kidding me."

Léna peered over my shoulder, "what's wrong?"

I knelt there stunned at the lock, "Nothing," I swung the cage wide, entering without hesitation.

Ralof looked over his shoulder, "the gold is yours," he proclaimed, "you opened it, your reward."

I nodded in agreement and pocketed the coins as well as the book beside the skeleton. Léna stared bewildered at me, her eyes fleeting to the lock I had just opened.

I limped out and glanced back at her, "we moving?"

She shook her head from her thought and took my arm over her shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

Ralof nodded and led on through the crumbling keep.

At least I'm alive this time, I thought as I limped down through the blackness.