Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Okay, so, same message as before. I really don't own Bethesda or the Elder Scrolls series. I wish I did, but oh well. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. There's more to come!
When Remus came to, he felt like he was moving. His vision was still blurry, but he was aware that others were around him. He was sitting, and the landscape beyond was moving by slowly. "Am…am I in a carriage?" he thought to himself. He tried to move, but he realized his hands were tied together. Remus groaned in pain. His body ached, and he had the worst headache imaginable. His mind flashed to the memory of the morning after his 18th birthday, when his few friends decided to take him out to the tavern for a night of "fun and indulgence." Remus remembered puking his lungs out the next morning, feeling like crap. This felt like that, except doubled. He could feel dried blood caking the left side of his head, and the point where his head had been hit.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake," said a voice in front of him. His vision cleared enough to see a blonde nord man sitting in front of him, with his hands tied together like Remus's. Remus instantly noticed that the man was wearing a Stormcloak uniform. Fear shot through him, but was quickly dispelled as he remembered that nord was also tied up. Then he noticed that his pack and sword were gone. A cold jolt shot through his body as a thought occurred to him. Looking down frantically, Remus sight in relief as he saw that his medallion was still on his neck.
"You were trying to cross the border right?" the nord continued. "Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us. And those thieves over there." The nord nodded his head to the right, and for the first time, Remus saw that they weren't alone. His vision cleared completely, and he could see two more nord men in the carriage, along with a very angry looking dark elf woman. Behind their carriage was another carriage, being driven by an Imperial soldier. Remus looked and saw that their carriage was being driven by a similar soldier.
Remus looked back to where the original nord nodded to. He was nodding to the dark elf and one of the nods, who was wearing a simple cloth tunic and pants instead of the Stormcloak uniform. The dark elf woman was wearing black leather armor, with long auburn hair tied into a ball. Her ebony skin shined in the sunlight, and her glittering red eyes angrily stared daggers into the carriage floor. The nord man next to her looked scared. When he heard the blonde nord star talking, he twisted his head to look at the nord with a look of hatred.
"Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If it hadn't been for you, I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now."
Then, he looked at Remus. "You there. You, me, and this Dumner. We shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."
Remus said something intelligent like, "Uhhh." His mind was still fuzzed.
The Stormcloak looked calmly at the thief and said, "Were all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."
"Shut up back there!" The Imperial driver yelled.
The thief ignored the driver. He looking to the silent nord in front of him and asked, "Hey, what's wrong with him?"
Remus looked over to see that the reason the other nord had been quiet, was because he was gagged by a strip of cloth. He also had a Stormcloak uniform of, but it looked different than the blonde nord'd uniform. Remus guessed he must have been a higher rank.
"Watch your tongue!" the blonde nord snapped. "You're talking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!"
Surprised, Remus and the thief stared at the gagged man as if he were on fire. "Ulfric Stormcloak," the thief began. "But, you're the leader of the rebellion. If they've captured you then…oh gods, where are they taking us?"
"I don't know where we're going," the nord replied. "But Sovrengarde awaits."
"No!" the thief screamed. Fear was clear in his voice, and his eyes looked like those of a cornered animal before they died. "This can't be happening! This isn't happening!"
Remus didn't say anything. He digested this news in quiet shock. "If they have Ulfric Stormcloak, they'll want to execute him," Remus thought. "That means the rest of us will….shit." Then he looked up and noticed that the blood elf woman's hands were covered in blood. It didn't seem fresh, but it wasn't dried like Remus's. "Your bleeding," he said the the Dunmer.
It was like she knew he was talking to him, because she lifted her head and regarded him for a moment. Her eyes didn't change a lot. They still looked angry, but not as much. "It's not mine," she said at last. Then, she lowered her head, and continued to stare at the floor. He expected her voice to be as rough and her demeanor, but it actually sounded soothing, and frightened. She could hide her emotions with exterior, but her voice betrayed her real feelings. Remus had a feeling she was also scared, though not nearly as much as Remus and the horse thief. Ceria had taught Remus the useful art of reading a person through actions and sounds. He couldn't do it nearly as good as her, but he knew enough to read this dark elf.
Despite her attitude and angry expression, Remus felt the need to speak to her. Unfortunately, he didn't know quite what to say. He wasn't much of a talker, and he was never successful in starting a conversation with a female, other than his mother. He imagined himself asking her, "Hey, so how do you think they'll kill us? Drowning? Hanging?" but he mentally smacked himself. "By the Nine, Brain! What are you thinking! Okay, I can do this." Then, he thought of something.
"What's your name?"
She looked up again, but didn't answer. She just stared at him, and he found that he couldn't look away from her piercing gaze. She looked like she was calculating the best way to take Remus down in a fight.
"General Tullius sir!" came a voice from the head of the carriage caravan. "The headsman is waiting!"
"Good, let's get this over with."
"This is Helgen, "he heard the blonde nord say.
A shadow passed over them, and Remus realized that they were entering a village. Imperial soldiers lined the ramparts, and towers hung high above them. All around, wooden houses stood side by side to one another, with civilians pouring out to watch the criminals. Remus thought the nord was talking, but he wasn't listening.
Still, Remus and the dark elf woman stared, until she broke the silence. "Nyxeris," she said. She then looked over her shoulder. "I'm Remus," he replied, but it didn't look like she was paying attention anymore.
Remus followed her gaze, and saw a large stone building in the center of the courtyard. Empire banners hung everywhere. But what caught his eye, but the execution block placed in front of the building. Next to it was a large man with a black mask covering his face, wielding and vicious looking axe, still covered in blood.
Their carriage suddenly came to a stop.
"End of the line," the nord said. "Let's go, shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." They all then got up from their seats and jumped out the back of the carriage.
Remus purposefully stood next to Nyxeris. She saw him next to her, rolled her eyes, and kept looking forward. She was surprisingly short. Remus thought she was so intimidating that she would be at least his height, around 6''1, but in reality, she only barely reached his shoulders. Her body was trim and muscled. She clearly lived a life that required a lot of exercise.
"Step towards the block when we call your name!" yelled a familiar voice. Remus turned straight ahead and saw the nord Empire soldier from the battle still in her armor. He remembered that she was the one who knocked him out, and anger broiled in him. Next to her, a young nord man held a scroll in front of him. "Empire loves their damn lists," the blonde Stormcloak said next to Remus.
"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm," the young nord called. Ulfric, still gagged stepped forward, and walked to a crowd of prisoners gathered around the block. "It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric," the blonde Stormcloak said.
"Ralof of Riverwood," he called next. The Stormcloak stepped forward and went to the block.
"Lokir of Rorikstead," was the next name called. The horse thief stepped forward. "No! I'm not a rebel, you can't do this!" He then took off running down the stone road, heading back towards the entrance.
"Stop!" the woman yelled.
"You won't kill me!" the thief screamed back while fleeing frantically.
"Archers!" the woman yelled.
Suddenly, two archers Remus hadn't noticed knocked arrows and shot at the thief. He went down quickly, his body releasing blood all over the stone road.
"Anybody else feel like running?"
The young nord with the scrolls looked over at Remus and Nyxeris, then back down at his list. His brow furrowed and he suddenly looked confused. He looked up back at them again. "You two, step forward."
Nyxeris moved forward. Remus forced himself a second later. Once they both stood in front of the soldiers, the nor man asked, "Who are you"?
Lifting her chin high, Nyxeris told them her name. Remus wondered why she told them so quickly but it took a staring trial to get her to tell HIM.
Then the nord looked expectantly at Remus.
"Oh. My name is Remus Damon."
The man sighed. "Captain, what do we do? Their names aren't on the list."
The captain looked over Nyxeris quickly then examined Remus. He could tell she remembered him. The captain simply looked at him for a moment. "What is it with these women and staring," he thought to himself.
"Forget the list, they go to the block."
"As you wish captain," the nord man quickly replied. Then he looked at Remus and Nyxeris. "To the block prisoners. Nice and easy."
The two of them stood near the back of the group, not saying anything. The first prisoner to go, was one a Stormcloak Remus hadn't seen before. The headsman swung his axe and chopped off the nords heads. The stump sprayed blood in all direction before the captain stepped in and kicked the body to the ground.
Remus was shaking. The realization had finally hit him. He was going to die here. A headless body dumped in an unmarked grave.
Nyxeris must have seen him shaking, because Remus then felt an elbow nudge him. "It'll be over quick," she said encouragingly. Remus looked at her surprised, but she was still looking straight ahead. He breathed out. "Yeah," he said. "At least we'll most likely be called last," he said.
"Next, the Imperial!"
"Or not," Nyxeris muttered.
Remus couldn't move. "This is it," he thought.
"I said, next prisoner!" the captain yelled again.
Remus forced himself to walk forward, step by step. Once he was close enough, the captain grabbed his shoulder, and forced him to his knees in front of the block. It was covered in blood and the previous prisoners head still laid in the basket in front of the block. The captains gloved hand pressed Remus's head down on the block, and the headsman readied his axe.
Remus looked down and saw the medallion glinting in the sunlight.
"I'm sorry mother," Remus thought, thinking of Ceria. "I failed. At…at least I'll be with you soon." Remus closed his eyes, waiting for the end.
Then, suddenly, a roar shot out through the mountains. A gust of wind hit Remus in the face.
"What in Oblivion is that!" he heard one of the Imperials call out.
From behind him, Remus heard the captain yell, "Sentries, what do you see?"
"It's in the clouds," someone replied.
"Dragon!" another yelled.
Remus opened his eyes, and wished he hadn't. On top of the huge stone building behind the block, was a black monster with thorns sticking out of its body, enormous wings, and large blood red eyes. It roared, and Remus felt the ground shake. The sky turned black as storm clouds swirled over the monster. Lightning and fire then began to fall from the sky, striking the towers and setting houses on fire. Everyone, Stormcloaks, civilians, and Imperial soldiers alike, began to run and scream in terror. It was chaos. A piece of a tower broke apart, and a brick crashed into the headsman's skull with a sickening splat. The headsman collapsed.
"Guards, get the townspeople to safety!" a voice rang out.
Suddenly, a pair of bonded hands roughly grabbed Remus and hauled him to his feet. Remus whirled to see Nyxeris, smiling broadly. "Come on Imperial! We're leaving!" She then turned and took off towards and open doorway in one of the towers. Remus paused for a moment, then ran to follow her.
Okay so, that was chapter 2. Please read and review, and don't be afraid to criticize if you disliked it. I can take it! Another chapter will be put out soon, thanks for reading!