Chapter 2
As Rhanna took a moment to gather herself, she could hear Ralof and Ulfric talking behind her. Ralof must have untied the cloth around Ulfric's mouth so he could speak.
"A dragon…" said Ralof. "They are supposed to be legends!"
"Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric replied coldly.
Yet another loud roar was heard from the other side of the tower door. Rhanna could hear the dragon release more flames from its mouth. She could almost feel the heat from the other side of the stone walls.
"We need to move. Now," said Ulfric.
Ralof looked over to the staircase on the other side of the room. It was the only way to go. "Up through the tower, let's go," Ralof said.
Ulfric, Ralof, and Rhanna—her hands still bound—took off up the stone steps. She wished someone could help her get out of the restraints, but there was no time.
When they reached the second floor of the tower, they saw another escaped prisoner, looking panicked and confused. Before they had a chance to say anything to him, however, the wall next to the staircase just in front of Rhanna and the others exploded, causing a torrent of rubble to spread over the inside of the tower. Ulfric, Ralof, and Rhanna were able to dodge the worst of the tumbling stones, but the unknown prisoner was crushed underneath piles of rubble. He was dead.
Ralof stepped forward and examined the damage. It was impossible to continue further up the tower; the explosion had destroyed the stone steps. There was a gaping hole in the side of the tower where the dragon must have shot a jet of flames. As Rhanna approached the new window to get a look outside, she heard Ralof shout for her to get back. She stepped back just in time for the dragon to launch flames from its mouth into the tower, turning it to a fiery inferno.
Although the flames did not touch her, Rhanna could feel the heat of them as if they were underneath her skin. Just as the heat became almost unbearable, the dragon ceased and flew in another direction.
Ralof and Rhanna ran forward to the hole in the wall and looked around the outside. Ralof pointed to something down in the village.
"See the inn on the other side?" he said. Rhanna nodded. There was a small inn just across from them. Almost half of the thatched roof had been destroyed by the dragon.
"Jump through the roof and keep going," Ralof continued.
Rhanna looked at him, her eyebrows raised in doubt.
"Go!" shouted Ralof.
Rhanna was about to ask Ralof if he would help remove the ropes around her wrists, but she noticed the dragon coming around for another go at the stone tower. She backed up a few steps then ran forward as fast as she could and jumped across to the inn. It felt like she was in the air for several minutes. When she landed on the wooden floor of the second story of the inn, she tried to roll to break the fall. It was difficult with her hands bound together, however, and she felt a sharp pain in her left ankle as she landed.
With a painful groan, she slowly stood up, carefully putting weight on her injured ankle. Although it stung a bit, she knew it wasn't broken. Even if it was, she needed to move. She could hear the dragon's wings flapping almost directly above her. Rhanna dropped through a hole in the floor on the other side of the room onto the bottom story of the inn. She made her way out through yet another hole in the building, this one on the wall directly in front of her.
She came out on the side of the inn and made her way into the street in front of it, after checking the skies for any sign of the dragon. She could hear it roaring and growling, but couldn't see where it was coming from.
After reaching the road, she saw two men standing a ways ahead of her, facing the opposite direction. As she got closer, she recognized Hadvar, the Imperial soldier who had been reading names off the list and who had pulled her away from the executioner's block when the dragon had first arrived. She really didn't know if she could trust him, but she didn't have many options; she was dressed in thin, rough rags that wouldn't protect her from anything, her hands were bound, her ankle was throbbing, and she didn't have a weapon.
"Haming," Hadvar yelled toward a small boy on the road in front of him. "You need to get over here. Now!"
The dragon was flying toward them once again. If they—the boy, Hadvar, the other man, and Rhanna—didn't get out of the street immediately, they would be turned into charred ashes.
The boy ran as fast as he could toward Hadvar. Thinking again of her brother, Rhanna was terrified the boy wouldn't make it.
"That a boy," Hadvar encouraged. "You're doing great." Rhanna could hear the panic underlying his voice.
The child reached Hadvar just as the dragon landed on the road ahead of them. Hadvar picked up the boy with one arm, his iron sword in the other. He quickly darted into an alleyway on the side of the road. The other man—who Rhanna guessed was the boy's father—followed suit. Rhanna sprinted forward a few steps and turned into the same alley.
She turned back to look at the street and saw flames streaming past the opening. After they stopped, the ground shook as the dragon pushed itself back up into the sky and in a different direction.
The four people in the alleyway were all breathing heavily. Rhanna looked down at the ropes on her hands; all of her movement had caused them to dig into her skin, and her wrists were now bleeding like Lokir's had been on the wagon as they first came into Helgen.
Rhanna looked up and saw Hadvar staring, bewildered, at her. "You're still alive?" he said.
The boy jumped out of his arms and ran to his father. The two of them entered one of the buildings in the alleyway and disappeared from sight. Hadvar watched them go and then turned his attention back to Rhanna.
"Keep close to me if you want to stay that way," he said.
Rhanna followed closely behind Hadvar as they ran back onto the street. They ran on the main road for a moment and after turned down another alley next to the stone wall surrounding the town. Then Hadvar stopped so suddenly that Rhanna almost ran into him. He pressed his back against the wall, extending his arm across Rhanna, motioning for her to do the same.
The dragon landed on top of the wall above them, causing it to quake. Rhanna held her breath, hoping with all her might that the dragon wouldn't notice them. They were so close to it that Rhanna could have extended her arm and almost touched its wing.
The dragon burned many of the houses around it, and took off once again to wreak havoc on another part of the village.
"Quickly, follow me," Hadvar said, and they began running once again. Rhanna didn't know where Hadvar was taking her. As they ran, she noticed Imperial archers peeking around walls and out of rooftops, trying to get a clear shot at the dragon. Behind the frequent roars of the dragon, she could hear people yelling and screaming.
After running for what seemed like an eternity, Hadvar and Rhanna reached the town keep. As they ran toward the door to go inside, Ralof the Stormcloak came out of an alley and onto the road.
"Ralof," said Hadvar. "You damned traitor. Out of our way!"
"We're escaping, Hadvar," replied Ralof. "You're not stopping us this time."
The dragon released a deafening roar. "Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde," yelled Hadvar.
Ralof disappeared into a side door to the keep. Hadvar kept running forward toward the main door, and Rhanna followed.
They entered the keep and shut the iron door behind them. They were breathing heavily, tired from running so fast and so long. Hadvar looked around the room. Aside from a few beds and small tables, it was empty.
"Looks like we're the only ones who made it," said Hadvar. After a moment of catching his breath, he continued, "Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the End Times?"
His voice trembled.
"So it seems," Rhanna said. Hadvar sighed. "We should keep moving," he said.
He looked at Rhanna's bleeding wrists. "Come here. Let me see if I can get those bindings off."
Eager to do so, Rhanna took a step closer to Hadvar and extended her wrists toward him. Hadvar pulled a silver dagger out of its sheath around his waist and quickly sliced through the ropes. Rhanna pulled two strips of cloth off from the bottom of the ragged tunic her captors had put her in. She handed them to Hadvar and he tied them tightly, one on each of her wrists, to ensure that the bleeding would stop.
After a few minutes of searching the room they were in for supplies, Rhanna found some light leather Imperial armor in a chest near the door, along with an iron sword. She glanced at Hadvar and he nodded. Rhanna was surprised that Hadvar would be so willing to let her arm herself. Then she remembered that there was a dragon outside.
After she was equipped, Hadvar opened the iron gate leading to the next chamber of the keep. Rhanna followed him through several hallways before reaching what looked like a central chamber. Just before entering it, Hadvar stopped suddenly. Before she could ask why, Rhanna heard someone shout, "We need to get moving! That dragon is tearing up the whole keep!"
Another voice replied, "Just give me a minute, I'm out of breath." This voice was female and had a distinct Nordic accent.
Hadvar pulled Rhanna to the side of the door and whispered, "Hear that? Stormcloaks. Maybe we can reason with them." Before she could disagree, Hadvar had breezed past her and marched into the chamber.
When the two Stormcloaks saw him, they immediately went for their weapons. "Hold on now," said Hadvar, "We only want to—" Before he could finish, the Stormcloaks began charging, their weapons drawn and rage in their eyes. Rhanna drew her iron sword to defend herself, as did Hadvar.
The Stormcloaks had been tired and disoriented; Hadvar and Rhanna had no trouble dispatching them. The fight only lasted a few short seconds.
Hadvar looked down at the bodies of his enemies for a moment, that same tired look Rhanna had noticed returning to his eyes. Then he turned and headed for the other side of the chamber. "Let me see if I can get that door open," he said quietly. Rhanna followed.
As they travelled down more dark hallways, Rhanna heard the roaring of the dragon outside several times. The keep almost shook with each one. Despite her best efforts, Rhanna was unable to stop fear from penetrating her heart.
Then, suddenly, another roar was heard. This one was louder than the others and must have been right above them. The ceiling of the tunnel ahead of them instantly collapsed, blocking any further progress down that route.
After regaining their balance, Rhanna and Hadvar stepped forward to investigate the damage. "Damn, that dragon doesn't give up easy," Hadvar said with a bit of a scoff.
They turned through a doorway on the left and entered what appeared to be a storage or supplies room. Rhanna heard more Stormcloak voices. Hadvar turned back to her and placed his index finger over his lips, motioning her to be as silent as possible. Rhanna nodded and the two slowly approached the Stormcloaks, who were arguing about what supplies they should or shouldn't take. Rhanna and Hadvar each pulled out their swords, slowly and quietly. They successfully reached the rebel soldiers without a sound; Hadvar stood and with a mighty blow beheaded one of the soldiers. Rhanna slit the throat of the other.
Hadvar took a breath and wiped the sweat off his brow. "See if you can find some food," he said. "Might come in handy."
Rhanna found a few bread loaves and some cheese on a nearby table. Hadvar picked up a cloth sack next to him and put the food inside, then strung the sack across his back.
After several more minutes, they reached some stairs leading yet deeper into the keep. At the bottom of the steps, Rhanna could see an iron cage. "The torture room," Hadvar said, his voice quiet. "Gods, I wish we didn't need these."
The two quickened their pace down the steps when they heard yelling and the metallic clanging of swords in the torture room. Just as Hadvar and Rhanna entered, they saw two Imperial soldiers finishing of a Stormcloak. One of the Imperials wore a brown hood and was shooting lighting out of his hands at the rebel. The lightning ceased and the Stormcloak fell lifeless to the floor.
The hooded Imperial turned to Rhanna and Hadvar. With a wicked grin on his face, he said, "You two happened along just in time. These boys seemed a bit upset at how I've been entertaining their comrades." He glanced at one of the iron cages against the wall. Rhanna looked and saw that each contained a dead body. Some were fresh, while others looked as if they had been decomposing for some time.
Rhanna was disgusted. She didn't know any of these dead people, or the two Imperials they had just discovered, but she hated what had been done to these prisoners. She resisted the urge to attack the hooded torturer. She noticed that Hadvar had become very tense beside her.
In a tone that suggested he was suppressing the same urge to attack, Hadvar said, "Don't you even know what is going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!"
The torturer scoffed. "Please," he said, "a dragon? Don't make up nonsense."
"Come with us, we need to get out of here," said Hadvar.
"You have no authority over me, boy," the torturer replied angrily.
Hadvar was becoming very frustrated. "Didn't you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!"
The torturer's assistant, who had remained silent, chose this time to speak up. His eyes were wide with fear. "Forget the old man," he said. "I'm coming with you!"
"Grab what you can and let's go," said Hadvar.
The assistant picked up a key from a table near him and a pouch of gold coins. The torturer said sarcastically, "Please, take all my things."
The other three ignored him and headed toward the door on the other side of the room. "There's no way out that way, you know," taunted the torturer.
Rhanna looked at Hadvar. He knew what she was thinking and nodded. Rhanna walked back to the torturer. He looked at her with arrogant anticipation as she approached. Before he could say anything, Rhanna pulled back her fist and punched him. She heard his nose crack as he fell to the floor, his hands covering his bleeding nose. Rhanna then returned to the assistant and Hadvar, who let out a short bark of laughter and continued down the hallway in silence.
They walked through a hole in one of the keep walls, leading them into cave-like tunnels. After a while, they entered a large room with a stream running through it. They heard more Stormcloak soldiers, yelling at each other in frustration and confusion.
"Where are we supposed to go?"
"We need to get out of here!"
"I know! Give me a minute to think!"
The torturer's assistant drew his sword and charged into the chamber, forcing Hadvar and Rhanna to follow and depriving them of the opportunity to silently sneak closer and get a better scope of the situation.
There was an archer on the other side of the room. He was drawing an arrow and stringing it on his bow. Rhanna began to panic. She had no way to kill the archer from this distance. The torturer's assistant was engaged in battle with a Stormcloak in front of her. Hadvar had noticed the archer as well. Rhanna looked at the dagger on his hip.
"Give me your dagger," Rhanna said.
"Why do you—" Hadvar began. Rhanna reached for the dagger herself and grabbed it before Hadvar could stop her. She grasped the tip of the blade and drew her arm back. She threw the dagger as hard and fast as she could toward the archer. She was successful—the dagger lodged itself solidly between the archer's eyes.
Hadvar looked at the archer, then at Rhanna; he was impressed, although bewildered. Rhanna didn't waste any time. She drew her sword and she and Hadvar then joined the torturer's assistant in finishing off the rest of the Stormcloaks. After the battle, Rhanna counted five dead Stormcloaks, including the archer.
Just as they were getting ready to search the bodies for any useful equipment and make their way out of the room, another archer entered from the other side. Before anyone could react, the archer launched an arrow directly at the torturer's assistant. It hit him in the chest and he was knocked back several feet and to the ground. Rhanna ducked as another arrow soared over her head. She pulled a dagger off of one of the dead Stormcloaks and rolled behind a large boulder. After she heard a third arrow make contact with the cave wall near Hadvar, she stood and threw the dagger. It hit the archer in the neck. The Stormcloak fell to the ground, his hands grasping to stop the heavy flow of blood from his throat, but was unsuccessful. He was dead. Rhanna looked to her right to find Hadvar taking cover behind another boulder.
"That's all of them," Rhanna said to him.
Hadvar looked at her. "Where'd you learn to do that," he asked.
Rhanna didn't answer him. She walked out from behind the boulder and headed toward the door the second archer had come in through.
Before exiting, she took the quiver of arrows and the bow off of the first archer and strung them across her own back.
Hadvar was now behind her, but was still looking at her curiously.
Rhanna sighed. "My father taught me," she said. She then turned to the door and walked out of the room.