Author's note: Soo, due to writer's block, depression and work (and uh, GTA V) this took freaking forever to complete and I apologize to anyone who was left waiting *ball of tumbleweed drifts across screen*, it used to be twice the length but but split it into 2 chapters so I had something to upload now. Also I changed/added some dialogue to give the characters more personality. I can't say I'm overly happy with it BUT this is my first time writing in years so I'm literally just practicing and trying out my skills for now. Chapter 3 will be up as soon as it's finished. Enjoy :)

Another roar. So much closer and clearer than before, it could only be just outside the town. I snapped open my eyes to see a huge, bird-like beast with wings flying out from behind a nearby mountain and disappear again behind the giant stone tower in the courtyard. But this was no bird, not like any I had ever seen anyway.

'What in oblivion is that?!' exclaimed a guard.

'Sentry, what do you see?' said the female captain.

The beast had landed atop the stone tower and stared down at the scene below. It was a huge, reptilian creature with large leathery wings and glinting red eyes, they seemed to stare into my very soul. The executioner threw his axe to one side and ducked out of the way.

'Dragon!' Shrieked a woman.

I had never imagined such a thing to be real, just like in the make-believe games me and my brother used to play. Yet this thing sat a mere few feet above my very eyes, I'd never seen anything less make-believe in my life.

The creature let out another roar, much shorter this time. It was more like a thunderclap, it shook the ground and rang in my ears as the sky suddenly went dark. Monstrous, swirling black clouds formed rapidly in the sky behind the creature. It shot a purple, fiery substance out of its scaled mouth and I heard a deafening crash behind me. The very earth seemed to shake, I began to crawl away but the force knocked me back onto the hard cobbles. All I could hear were the screams and cries of the townspeople, the continued roaring of the creature, the smashing of rubble. I lay there with my face screwed up into the dust, trying desperately to get my senses together.

'Hey Breton!' I heard Ralof's voice yell over the commotion, 'Get up! Come on! The gods won't give us another chance!'

As I struggled to my feet, he started running towards another stone tower across the square. I followed him in a daze, barely dodging the giant pieces of stone falling around me.

'This way!' Ralof ran into the keep and held the door for me as I stumbled in after him.

'Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing?' he panted as he hastily shut the door, 'could the legends be true?'

Ulfric was standing with his back to the wall, bindings and gag removed.

'Legends don't burn down villages,' he shook his head grimly.

A man was tending to two wounded soldiers on the ground, one was slumped against the wall like a heavy sack of flour, completely unconscious. The other lay groaning in pain, his leg bent into an odd angle, blood dripping steadily onto the stone floor.

'Whatever it was, it's lucky it came when it did.' said the healer, hastily bandaging the man's leg with what looked like an old rag, 'I thought we were dead for sure that time'.

'Oh yeah- lucky' gasped the wounded man, 'you tell that to my bloody leg, you stupid-'

Another roar came from outside, making the structure of the keep shake and everyone stop dead for a few seconds. I looked around, we were protected by nothing but the basic stone tower. The room was bare, a few worn rugs and flimsy-looking wooden chairs were scattered around, the floor was strewn with hay and the place smelt damp, it was every bit as cold as outside. This kind of keep was fine if you needed to defend the town from bandits or trolls, but it would never withstand an attack from the beast outside, it would no doubt crumble and fall just like the others around it. And we were trapped inside. A slight shiver seemed to run around the room, as if same thought had passed through everyone's mind.

'We need to move, now!' Ralof said urgently, 'up through the tower, lets go!'

He gestured towards the the stone steps which spiralled along the inside of the round tower. He began to climb at a quickened pace, I followed closely behind, not fully knowing where we were going but hoping he had better plan than to simply wait downstairs for tons of stone to collapse on top of us. All I knew was I needed to keep moving until I got as far away from this town as I could.

'That's nice, just leave us down here! We'll be fine!' called the wounded man after us.

'Oh, shut up!' snapped the healer, shoving a bottle of red potion into the man's mouth.

'Ralof bolted up the stairs ahead of me,

'This way!' he called over his shoulder, 'we just need to move-'

Suddenly, the wall exploded next to Ralof as he reached the next floor, heavy pieces of rubble came crashing into the room.

'Get back!' he yelled, ducking back down the stairs and roughly pulling me away from the wreckage. I felt a sudden blast of hot, angry heat as fire poured onto the pile of rubble inches away from where we were just standing. It was over as quick as it began. We cautiously climbed back up the stairs, catching a glimpse of the beast's large, ugly head through the newly made hole in the wall before it flew away toward the mayhem below. The remaining stairway leading to the top of the tower was now completely blocked by the rubble. I looked around at Ralof desperately.

'What shall we do?' I yelled over crashes and screams below us.

Ralof looked back at me and shook his head hopelessly,

'Well there's no way up' he indicated the rubble. 'Not that we'd have any chance up there anyway- we'd be trapped and exposed'

'We are trapped and exposed!' I said exasperatedly.

We turned almost in unison toward the gaping hole in the wall and looked out over the town, which was now almost completely consumed with thick, black smoke billowing up from the wreckages of towers and houses still engulfed in flame. There were screams, people crying out desperately for lost loved ones amidst the chaos, the beast's roars could still be heard somewhere out of site, guards were readying their weapons in attempt to bring it down. We stood and stared together for a few seconds, struggling to take it in.

It seemed unbelievable, almost like a dream I couldn't wake from. I expected any moment to find myself lying in my bed in our small Daggerfall home, my mother bustling into my room and nagging that I'd slept through breakfast again… if I were to die here today my family would probably never find out where, or why I had gone. They'd report me missing to the guards, the town and surrounding woods would be searched with no avail. I wondered how many nights my family would sit watching the front door, hoping that tonight would finally be the night I walked through it with a wild tale of a kidnap attempt, or a swashbuckling rescue mission. I always told stories like that when I didn't come home when I was supposed to, I rather think my family found them entertaining. But this was quite beyond even my tallest tales, and it would never be told to my mother, father and brother- not by me anyway. I would be nothing but charred remains, lying with the others amidst the wreckage of a town that they'd never heard of, in a province they'd never been to. And they would never know, I would never see them again… I shut my eyes tight and slumped against the cold stone wall for support.

'You alright, Breton?' asked Ralof.

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath to control myself, I didn't want him to see me crying.

'We can't stay up here' I said quickly, avoiding his question, 'we have to keep moving. That thing will be back'.

'Right' nodded Ralof 'See the inn on the other side?' he indicated a burning building just below the tower, I saw through the smoke that a fallen tree had destroyed most of the roof, exposing the second floor room.

'Jump through the roof and get going!' said Ralof urgently

'Are you kidding?!'

'GO!' he bellowed over another roar as the beast flew overhead, 'we'll follow when we can!'

He rushed back down the stairs to help Ulfric and the other men below. Another ferocious roar came from above as a nearby crash shook the tower, I knew I didn't have much time. I took a deep breath and ran to the edge, throwing myself off with all the force I could muster, through the black smoke and into the unknown.

I reached the other side with some ease considering I had jumped with bound hands. I crashed into the room and rolled as best I could, stopping half way at the feeling of hard wood striking the top of my head. Seeing stars, I sat up to see I had rolled straight into a wooden pillar. Head throbbing, I struggled to my feet, silently cursing Ralof for not removing my bindings when he'd had the chance- the tight ropes were now cutting into my wrists.

I made my way across the cluttered remains of what was once a bedroom, stepping gingerly on the uneven floorboards. The whole structure was creaking, it felt like it could collapse any second. Smoke and ash littered the air around me, fortunately the fire had not reached the rest of the building yet. I found a hole in the floor where a stepladder would have once stood, the fire roared beneath me and I hadn't much time before it spread. I sat down on the edge slid down onto the floor below.

My knees buckled as I landed, the angry heat of the fire licked at my back and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Mustering all the strength I could, I crawled toward an empty doorframe in the wall and fell headfirst onto the dry, dusty ground outside, coughing and spluttering from the smoke. There was barely any difference in temperature outside, the dragon fire had made the once cold, harsh Skyrim air overpoweringly stifling. I gulped down several breaths all the same, desperate for oxygen. Knowing I could not stop for rest until I was well clear of the town, I struggled to my tired, aching feet and began to walk down towards the the main path, two Imperial guards stood nearby beside the smouldering remains of a house.

'Don't look up!' one was saying, 'Just focus on me! You can do it!'

As I moved closer, I could see that one of the guards was trying to coax a very pale, dark-haired boy towards him.

'Hamar, you need to get over here! Now!' yelled the guard over the beast's roars overhead, 'Atta boy, you're doing great!' he said as the boy took a stumbling run and crashed into his arms

Suddenly, the ground nearby shook as the dragon landed on the path where the boy had stood only moments before.

'Gods! Everyone get back!' bellowed the guard, grabbing the child and diving behind the safety of the ruins with the other man. I crouched with the guards and the boy while the beast spewed out another blast of flames, scorching the ground in front of it.

It was a few seconds before the creature spread its great wings and flapped away again. We all quickly stood up, the guard with the boy turned to me and I immediately recognised him as the kind-faced Nord who was reading the names from the list before, though he looked very different now. His once golden-brown hair was now grey from dirt, no longer tidily parted and neat but drenched in sweat and falling over his face, he had a large cut on his forehead and burns all the way up his arms.

'Still alive, prisoner?' he said, with a ghost of a smile. 'keep close to me if you want to stay that way'

I nodded, I didn't need telling twice. I'd take guards over a dragon any day.

'Gunnar' he turned to the other guard, 'take care of the boy, I have to find General Tullius and join the defence'.

I looked at the young boy, he could have only been about nine or ten. He stared back at me with wide, dark eyes. The look was bleak, empty. The look of someone who'd had his whole world cruelly removed before his eyes in a matter of seconds and simply couldn't understand why.

'Gods guide you, Hadvar' replied the guard called Gunnar, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.

Hadvar quickly started striding down the cobbled path, me trotting behind to keep up. The path was covered in broken rock and wood, entire buildings were reduced to nothing but smouldering charred wood. The fires roaring around us were almost deafening and the smoke made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. The air stank of burning and ash and I was finding it hard to breathe again. Desperate cries and screams could be heard beyond the fires, bodies lay on the road, burned beyond recognition, crushed under debris. Others lay injured far beyond help.

'Try not to look around' said Hadvar, noticing I had slowed up a little. 'Focus on moving forward and nothing else. You'll be ok.'

He continued across a small wooden bridge, I followed suit, trying to focus on the thought of freedom, of fresh air.

'Stay close to the wall!' yelled Hadvar suddenly as we reached the other side, we both threw ourselves against the side of a stone building as the dragon landed on the roof above us and let out another flow of fire. One of the beast's black, leathery wings draped down below its scaled body. A gnarled talon dangled inches from my face. It flew upwards once more with a great swoop and an almighty roar.

'Quickly! Follow me!' shouted Hadvar over the noise.

We dodged up some wooden steps which led up a small bank and through the remains of a house. Outside there were several Imperial guards, some on ground tending to their injuries, others screamed in agony as they were consumed in flames from the dragon's fire.

'Should we…?' I began uneasily

Hadvar shook his head grimly, 'It's just you and me now, prisoner. Stay close, it's not far now'.

We ran again down the cobbled path and under a stone archway, on the other side stood a large stone keep with a heavy wooden door.

'We'll be safe in the keep' said Hadvar as we headed towards the door 'if we follow it through it'll lead us out of town in no time, providing we don't run into trouble. Hope you don't mind caves, gods know what lurks- Ralof!'

He addressed the blonde Nord in blue who was running towards us from the opposite direction.

'You damned traitor!' Hadvar yelled at him across the courtyard, 'Outta my way!'

Ralof stopped. 'We're escaping, Hadvar! You're not stopping us this time!'

There was a pause.

'Fine!' shouted Hadvar, 'I hope the dragon takes you all to Sovngard!'

Ralof took a swift step forward, axe raised. 'Imperial!'

'Traitor!' Hadvar raised his sword.

'By the Gods!' I exclaimed, quickly stepping between the two men, 'Do you two honestly think this is the best time for-'

With a ferocious roar, the dragon swooped over the high stone wall where several Imperial archers stood, in a flash it had snatched up one of the men in its claws and flew upwards to what must have been a few hundred feet up before releasing the man like a small doll. The screaming figure hurtled towards the ground and into a mass of black billowing smoke and the screaming stopped abruptly. The archers uneasily raised their bows once more.

The three of us in the courtyard stood dumb for a few seconds.

'Ok' said Hadvar, snapping to his senses. 'You're right, prisoner. Let's… let's go'.

He quickly opened the wooden door and ushered me inside first before following.

'No, Ralof.' he said firmly as the blonde Nord also made for the door.

'Curse you Imperial!' bellowed Ralof, trying to force his way through, 'I have as much right to escape this town as you do, You will not stop me!'

'I am not going to fight you, Ralof.' said Hadvar, holding the door. 'Find your own escape route, I don't care. I just want to get the young lass out safely, that is my duty as a guard.'

'She's just as much a prisoner as I am, fated for the chopping block same as we were! What makes her so different?!'

'She is not a Stormcloak' said Hadvar bluntly, shoving the door shut with some force and sliding the metal bolt across.