Skyrim Khajiit Fic

Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own F'arrasha.

Chapter 3: Escape

My head hurt.

I tried to rub my head and I could feel a biting cold. When I looked up, my vision started to clear and, as I looked around, I got scared. There were other people, and they were tied up like me in the carriage. One of them even had a gag over their mouth. Soldiers were everywhere and, as I was trying to find out what happened, my hands were bound together. What was going on? Where was I going? Panic began to set in and I began taking quick breaths, knowing that this would not be the way I wanted this to turn out.

There was a horse thief with us and, as I looked at him, he blamed the man that had his mouth gagged, saying his name was Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion or something. There was a war going on and, then, it hit both me and the horse thief. We were being sent to our execution. Gods, this was not what I wanted. I just tried to steal a diamond. I could not believe I was going to lose my head for a shiny rock. Oh, why did I have to like shiny things? Why?
The horse continued their emotionless clomping on the cobblestone path and I tried to find a way out. I had no weapon, and there were too many soldiers around to try and escape. And, it was only going to get worse. We entered this place called Helgan. It looked like a fort more than a town and I could see people all lining up, watching us. Many of them thought we were rebels and shouted curses and names at us. I looked at the horse thief and he was twitchy. So was I. I wanted to make a break for it, run as far away as possible. As the carriage stopped, we disembarked. Ulfric and another Nord were on this list the Imperials had, and, as they continued reading names, the horse thief that I was bound with made a dash for freedom. He did not get far as archers fired their bows at him, killing him not merely a few steps away. I swallowed; I was going to die for stealing a diamond.

The man reading the list asked me what my name was. As he looked down on the list, he realized that I was not on the list they had. It was a glimmer of hope for me and thought maybe they would be released. But, the woman there, the one in shiny armor, said that it did not matter; I was going to the chopping block. I sighed, defeated. Shiny things were getting me into trouble. As I moved to where the other prisoners were, a loud roar echoed throughout the mountains. I swallowed nervously at that, and so did a lot of the other soldiers, who had no idea what it was all about. Then, one of the Nords came forward, fearless and devoted to the rebel cause, demanding that the blessings the priest was giving not apply to him and put his head on the chopping block. The axe came down and I almost shrieked in fright. I just stared, wide-eyed at all the blood that was being spilt. A tear trickled down my cheek. The woman in the shiny silver armor ordered me next and I could feel myself go on the chopping block. Then, the loud roar came again, and, as my head was on the block, I saw it.

A dragon.

It landed near the tower and began breathing fire on the fort. Everyone was in a panic at that and, forgetting the prisoners, the soldiers did battle with the dragons. It was hazy for me, and my vision blurred a little as I tried to find some sense of balance or something. When I came too, one of the Nords that got loose from their bindings brought me to one of the stone watchtowers. He barred the door and I could hear the chaos from outside. It was frightening; one moment, I was seconds away from death, and, the next, I was running for my life. The first chance I take, I will run for it and, I did so. My hands were still bound and I dashed up the stairs of the stone tower. I did not get far, as part of the wall came down and the dragon breathed its fire into the tower. I yelled in fright; my people always had an instinctive fear of fire, and fire always scared me; since I was a girl.

Once the dragon had left, I saw a burning shack not too far below me and I jumped through it. I landed on my feet and rolled down to the lower floor. Then, the dragon came near some of the soldiers and they all run behind cover. One of them had a sword and noticed me. He told another soldier to stay near a boy and protect him while he took me. He asked if I wanted to live. I was all too happy to say yes. He then grabbed me and told me to stay close to him. As we ran, we took cover behind stone walls, watching as other soldiers were firing arrows and magic at the dragon. I had never seen a dragon before in my life and, even though I thought about helping, I had no armor and no weapons.

The solider then brought me to the main keep and unbound me, telling me that I had better be good with a sword. After all the fire and destruction I saw, this was slightly more peaceful. The whole keep shook and we began to search for armor and weapons. As I did, I found some gold and quickly pocketed it. While I was here, maybe I could profit from something valuable in here. Maybe even something shiny. The soldier that was with me looked around and found some armor and a sword for me. Though I knew how to fight with one, I preferred daggers. It was just easier for me to use the shorter blades than a much larger one. Still, between that, and archery, I had to take it. Then, we began to escape this place.

The keep shook, and parts of it even collapsed as the soldier and I navigated this place. I had to learn to fight with a sword and fast. I watched as the soldier took on two of the Stormcloak rebels that we had found. They were both teaming up on him and he was not going to last long. I got behind one of them and delivered a strong backstab to them. She keeled over and died. The other rebel soldier turned around, but he was cut down as well. We made our way deeper and deeper into the keep, fending off Stormcloak soldiers as we got downstairs. The soldier commented there was ruckus coming from the torture room. I groaned to myself and the faint whiff of blood and death was all too present in here. Inside a knapsack, I found some potions, and lock picks. I had a little time as I concentrated and opened the cages. I was a little out of practice, but I did manage to get the cages open. There were some more gold coins, and, soon, we were off further into the keep.

There was a point where it collapsed behind us and now, the soldier and I were trapped underground. My heart raced, panic was beginning to set in. I did not want to be trapped underneath here. Though I did not mind the darkness of the cave, I eventually wanted to get back to the surface and breathe fresh air. So, the soldier led the way through the cavern, following a stream of water. At least we would not die of thirst, if it would come to that. But, some spiders made this place their lair and we had to dispatch them. I had scavenged a bow from one of the Stormcloaks we had fought earlier and picked them off as the soldier was wading into combat. I disliked the idea of facing an opponent up close and personal like that, especially one that could poison you. I shook my head and followed his lead, sneaking by a bear. The bear was asleep and, once we got past it, I snickered to myself. I still had the touch of the thief.

Finally, through the snow, we made it, outside…

Next Chapter:

Plans to Make