Warning! Those of you who cannot take child deaths may want to brace themselves or skip this chapter . Sorry for the spoiler.

Chapter Nine

A mass of black scales rushed above their heads, it's wings spread wide across the earth, dwarfing the shadows of the clouds. Alinja felt the pits of her stomach freeze over as the nightmare became reality. She suddenly felt a rough tug on her arm as Erik dragged her desperately to the shelter of a nearby shrub. He, her and Meeko lay flat on their stomachs, not daring to twitch a muscle. The ground rumbled again as the dragon shrieked a deafening cry before flapping its wings in one strong propel, lifting its giant body high into the sky and disappearing beyond the clouds in the distance.

The three companions lay still for a long while, making sure the beast was gone for good—or perhaps they could not physically move due to the monstrosity they had just witnessed. Alinja's eyes were screwed tightly shut, wanting to relieve herself from the terrifying memories of her nightmare. Her hands were securely bound to her ears, shutting out the noises of the world. She wanted to believe that this was another nightmare, that there was no such thing as dragons. Sweat formed on the surface of her skin and her breaths became more frequent. Anxiety began to overwhelm her. She suddenly got the urge to return to the safety of Rorikstead. Why did she come to Helgen? What did she expect to do when she saw the dragon and the destruction it caused to the poor little village? What did she expect to do now?

"Alinja!"

Her eyes flew open. Erik's hands were wrapped around her biceps, holding them tightly. His face was filled with concern. She stared blankly at him.

"This is real, isn't it?" She breathed, suddenly feeling physically drained. "We just saw a dragon…didn't we?"

Erik nodded his head slightly. "Yeah." His voice was quieter than a whisper, he himself was still trying to comprehend the situation. "What does this mean, then?" He sat back, his head resting on the trunk of the shrub they were hiding under. "What do we do? How do we deal with this? How do we deal with a dragon? A dragon! They haven't roamed Tamriel for centuries! What do we do?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Alinja failed to calm herself. Her muscles twitched violently and she held her hands to the sides of her head, warm tears streaming down her face. "This is the end of the world, Erik. This is it."

"Hey, hey," Erik shifted next to the quivering nord, wrapping an arm around her, "no, we can't afford to lose our heads now." He gently gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "We have a duty to Skyrim now. We need to investigate further and send word out that a dragon has returned to the waking world."

Alinja took a deep breath in, steadying her viral nerves and nodded. "Y-yes."

"Don't be afraid, Ali," he soothed, "I'm going to be right here with you."

"Woof! Woof!" Meeko barked, licking her face enthusiastically.

"And Meeko will be here too." Erik grinned.

Lifting her head to gaze at the boys, the fear within her began to melt away. As long as the three of them were together, she felt reassured. Erik stood and offered a hand to help her up. The three of them then turned their attention to the village. Thick, black smoke rose up to the sky from behind the walls. A silent agreement between them and they marched forward and up to the gates of Helgen. Erik leaned on the wooden gate and heaved forward. The door creaked with protest but eventually gave way and swung open.

"By Ysgramor…" Erik gasped and then tilted his head to look at the smaller nord. "Alinja…your dream…"

She could only nod in agreement. She couldn't find the words to match what she was feeling as she witnessed the broken town. The rooves of houses were alight with bright orange flames, which spread along the wooden walls. The walls themselves of some of the houses were completely burnt away, leaving the remains of its charred exoskeleton. The road that snaked throughout the town was burnt and no longer attached to the dirt beneath it. Large rocks and stones accompanied by planks of wood still glowing dangerously with embers blocked off a complete section of the street, restricting anyone from using that path. The three slowly walked further into the town, checking the smouldering houses for signs of survivors, but as expected found nothing but the burnt corpses of what used to be the living. Alinja almost broke down again at the sight of a burnt corpse huddling in the corner of a decaying house, gripping what looked like a tiny, burnt baby to its chest. A little way from this was a small, crisp body of a child with the blackened figure of a dog standing protectively over him. She knelt next to the child. Half his skin was still intact. He wasn't as destroyed as the rest of the corpses. Bright golden hair spiralled in patches around his burnt head. She couldn't understand, but the sight of the unburnt hair looked like a hopeful life amongst the death around her. She flicked her gaze to his eyes. They were still there. Among what was left of his young face. The eyes were a dull grey. The grey of the dead. The grey of a memory of bright blue orbs with a shining future.

"Ah…"

She snapped her head to her right. A small voice came from beneath the rubble of what used to be a fire-place. Alinja leaped to her feet and immediately began clearing chipped stones and broken wood. She kept working until she saw a small hand. Pulling it, she heaved a small girl out of the debris. She was about seven years, pale skin and dark hair. Alinja slid her hands around the girl's waist and lifted her up bridal style and placed her back on the ground.

"Hey," Alinja said quietly.

The girl's eyes flickered open. Her skin, like the corpse of the boy was burnt raw in patches around her face, arms, neck—anywhere where her skin was exposed. Tears welled in her small eyes and she whimpered in pain as the salty water ran over the scorched flesh.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Alinja tried to reassure the girl, but she wondered if she was actually trying to convince herself. "Erik!"

Footsteps hurried towards her and Erik appeared by her side, staring down at the girl lying on the ground in Alinja's arms.

"Mu-mummy…" the girl whined. "I want Mummy…"

Alinja glanced at the burnt corpse of the figure holding the baby. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. "I-it's okay…" Alinja whispered, holding the girl close to her.

"It hurts." The girl was crying. "Ow…Mummy, it hurts…make it stop hurting."

"Erik, a potion!" Alinja snapped.

"Alinja…" Erik looked sorrowfully at her and then at the girl. "I don't…"

"I didn't ask for excuses!" She hissed. "Give me a potion!"

Reluctantly, Erik obeyed, reaching into his pack and pulling out a healing potion. Alinja snatched it up, popped the cork of it and placed it to the lips of the frail girl.

"Drink." She said softly. "It will make the pain go away."

The girl's eyes blinked slowly, but her lips didn't move. They dull blue eyes poured into Alinja's mind. No expression on her face. Alinja reached down and opened her mouth and tipped some of the reddish liquid into it. She waited a few seconds and poured more into her mouth.

"Alinja," Erik rested a hand on his partner's shoulder.

"I don't know why its not working." She replied dumbly.

"Ali."

"I'll get it." Alinja poured more.

"Alinja!"

"What?!" The two stared at each other.

"She's in pain." Erik said quietly.

"I know! That's why I'm trying to make it better!"

"She's not going to get better!" Erik shouted.

"Shut up!" Alinja screamed.

"There's nothing we can do for her now!" Erik's brow was deeply furrowed and his eyes were stern. "There is a dragon on the loose, Alinja! We need to get to the nearest village from here and warn people."

"How can you be so heartless!" Alinja's eyes were wet again. "This girl needs our help and—"

Erik gripped Alinja's shoulder hard. "Look at her!"

She shifted her gaze the dying girl in her arms. She was looking up at the quarrelling nords.

"You have to understand that it's best for her to—"

"Don't say it!" Alinja squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't do something like that to a child."

"Then let me."

Shock ran through her veins. Was this the same Erik she knew? He would never agree to do something like this. He would try everything in his power to make sure this girl would live. She gazed at the broken body in her arms, a tear drop landed on her burnt cheek.

"I'm sorry…" Alinja whispered before placing a soft kiss on her forehead and lying her down on her back. She stood and walked past Erik and sat down outside the decaying house.

Meeko trotted up to her and sniffed her hand. She wrapped her arms his neck and buried her face in his fur. Inside, she heard the girl ask Erik if she could see her mother.

"Yes," Erik replied, "I'll take you to her."

There was a light chime of metal and then silence. That silence was the loudest thing she had ever heard. She held Meeko tighter and he sat there, obediently as she cried into his fur. Slow footsteps walked towards her and she looked up at Erik who stared back at her.

"Who are you…?" She whispered before getting up, leaving hims standing there alone.

"The journal." A voice suddenly blew into her mind like wind. She stumbled, but Erik caught her before she could fall.

"Don't," Alinja pushed away from him, "touch me."

She walked past him as he sighed in defeat. The robed man in her dream told her to find a journal. Is the journal here? She thought to herself. She climbed a pile of heat glowing wood carefully and rounded a corner into what looked like a courtyard. She glanced around at buildings. Everything in this part of the village had not been touched. Nothing was broken or burning. A chunk of wood play in the middle of the courtyard.

"Oh…" Alinja breathed and remembered that this was the courtyard where she was about to get executed in the dream.

She leisurely strode over to it and placed her hand on the smooth surface. It was warm. As if there were a fire within it. She ran her fingers to the dip in the wood where it was cut to match the nape of the executed's neck. Raising her head she stared intently at the tower rising before her where the dragon had landed. She could almost imagine the beast flying up over the mountains and landing heavily on the top of the building. Glaring into her soul, with its glowing red eyes. She shut her eyes and shook her head slightly, breathing out, steadying her twitching nerves. Alinja stood and turned around to face the wall of a house that looked perfect from the side she was standing on, but most likely was destroyed around the other side of it. Something suddenly caught her eye. It was a figure that was lying facedown on the floor. How did I miss that? She asked herself silently. Hurrying over to it she found out that it was another burnt corpse. She was about to turn away, remembering the other corpses she'd witnessed when she caught a glimpse of an object that was glowing slightly in a soft gold colour.

Frowning, she bent over and lifted the stiff, crisp body and pulled the item from underneath it. It was a book..no a journal. The journal. Flinging the pages open, she scanned her eyes over the rough handwriting, learning that the journal had most likely belonged to the corpse. It told her that this person was a nord, traveling from Daggerfall to Skyrim illegally. Apparently, this person was able to quickly write the events of the dragon attack before they died. They were about to follow two people called Hadvar and…

"Ralof…" Alinja whispered. He was the Stormcloak rebel who was in the same cart as her. She continued to read, concluding that these two people the journal mentioned were in a cave. She wasn't sure how the author of the journal could possibly know this, but she thought it would be a good idea to check this cave to see if Ralof and this other person, Hadvar, had survived.

"Alinja," Erik caught up to and stood beside her, "look I—"

"We have to find a cave." Alinja interrupted.

"Cave?"

"There might be one nearby." She continued, getting up and walking past him without even glancing at him.

"What?" Erik jogged to keep up with her. "Why are we going exploring now? We need to warn people about the dragon."

"This is probably linked with the dragon." Alinja replied, hastily.

"Alinja, wait." Erik caught her arm.

"I told you, don't touch me." Alinja wriggled free of his grip.

"I did what was best for her." His voice was under a shout.

"And would you have done the same thing if it were me?" Alinja looked him straight in the eye.

Erik paused and averted his gaze. "I...I would…" He raised his eyes to look back at her. "I would've saved you, but you're different, you're—"

"How am I different?" Alinja raised her voice. "How am I any different from that girl? Why am I so special that I need to be saved?"

"You're special to me!" Erik yelled. The two stared at each other before Alinja turned her back to him.

"I'm going to the cave. You can come when you're ready." And she walked to the gates of the village.

Erik clenched his jaw, but followed her with Meeko at his heels.

-oOo-

The three companions were able to locate a nearby cave that rested just below Helgen. Cautiously scanning for dangers, they made their way deeper, until they came to a large chamber. A stream ran through the middle of it and a short man made bridge of stone loomed over it. A cough caught their attention. Meeko began to growl defensively, but was hushed by Alinja. She stood slowly from their crouched sneak position and strode over to where the noise had come from. She stopped, only for a few seconds, to see a man lying on his side in a fetas position, clutching his arm that appeared to be severely burnt. The man was wearing light imperial armour and had short brown hair, that flicked past his ears. Alinja hurried over to the man and almost choked when she saw who it was. The man from her dream. The imperial soldier that was checking the list of prisoners.

"Hey," Alinja said, crouching down to his level.

"What are you doing here?" He croaked weakly. "You need to send word to…" he coughed violently. "Riverwood about the dragon."

"Are you Hadvar?" She asked suddenly.

"Yes," he sighed, "but it doesn't…" he looked up at her, studying her face. "I thought you were someone else…"

"It doesn't matter anymore." Alinja lowered her gaze to his arm. "Hold on." She opened her pack to look for a healing potion. Finding one, she opened cork and pressed it his lips. "I'm going to at least save you…"

He drank gratefully and she watched as the burn on his arm faded to a dull pink mark. He let out a breath of relief and sat up. "Thanks, friend."

She nodded and stood, helping him to his feet. Erik waited a little way away from them with Meeko, his gaze lowered to the ground. Suddenly part of the ceiling of the cave crashed to the ground causing it to shake, Hadvar protectively threw his body in front of Alinja to stop any rocks from hitting her.

"We need to get out of here," Hadvar called, "I don't see Ralof anywhere."

"Ralof?" Alinja perked up at the name.

"Yeah, he…was a rebel, but I was helping him get out of here when it began to smoke heavily in here. I don't know how, but we couldn't breathe. I lost him in the confusion." Hadvar glanced at Erik. "We need to move." The four hurried out of the cave before any more the ceiling could collapse.

Outside, Hadvar scanned the sky. Alinja followed his gaze. "We saw the dragon take off from the village and fly over the mountains in the distance." She explained.

"Right," Hadvar replied, "well we probably shouldn't stick around to see if he comes back."

"Agreed." Alinja followed the imperial soldier down the path leading away from the cave, followed by Erik and Meeko.

"The closest town from here is Riverwood." Hadvar commented. "My uncle is the blacksmith there. I'm sure he'd help us out."

-oOo-

Arriving in Riverwood, the four stopped at a building with a complete set of a blacksmith workshop built into the side. A large man with a matching-ly large beard and red blacksmith apparel hammered a heated iron sword into shape, ignoring the sparks lightly singeing the hair on his arms.

"Uncle Alvor, hello." Hadvar greeted.

The man stopped working and looked up, the concentrated look wiped from his face and was replaced with a warm smile. "Hadvar, what are you doing here? Are you on leave from…" When he saw the black ashes marked on his face, his expression changed to concern.

"Shh, uncle. I'm fine." Hadvar hushed.

"By, Shor what happened to you, boy? Did you lose an argument with a Cave Bear or something? And who are they?" He gestured to Alinja, Erik and Meeko.

"They're friends. Saved my life in fact" He explained. "But we need to go inside to talk."

"Okay, okay," Alvor sighed, "come, follow me. We'd better head inside."

The companions entered the small house. A double bed covered with animal furs rested in the middle of the room, while a small single bed stood in the corner to the right. A wooden table with three chairs rowed around it was placed next to the entrance while a cooking pot with a fire was opposite.

"Sigrid!" Alvor called. "We have company!"

Footsteps sounded out and a woman with long light orange hair, braided back appeared from a staircase behind the table.

"Hadvar!" She expressed in delight. "We've been so worried about you! Come, you three must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat. Dorthe," Sigrid looked past the quadrate to a little girl with light blonde hair. "Go downstairs and get more chairs."

"Yes, Mama." The girl, Dorthe replied obediently.

The group all sat around the wooden table and discussed the events.

"Now," Alvor said, leaning forward on the table, "what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I don't even know where to start…" Hadvar mutter, rubbing his forehead, smearing black ashes further across his face. "I was part of the Imperial scout, when we captured Ulfric Stormcloak when we were attacked…by a dragon."

"A…dragon?" Alvor's brow furrowed and his arms went to fold across his chest. "That's ridiculous! You aren't drunk are you, boy?"

"Husband," Sigrid scolded, "let him tell the story."

"There isn't much left to tell," Hadvar continued, "after the dragon attacked Helgen, it must have flew off. Not many made it out alive, I doubt I would have, if not for my friends, here." He gestured to Alinja and Erik. "I was hoping you could help us out," Hadvar looked at his uncle, "food, a place to stay."

"Of course!" Alvor beamed. "Any friends of Hadvar are friends to me." He looked at the two younger nords. "Like I said, you are my friends as well, but I need your help. We," he glanced at his wife and daughter, "need your help."

"What is it that you need?" Alinja asked.

"The Jarl needs to know if there is a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenceless! If you do that, I'll be in your debt."

"Of course." Alinja replied standing. "We'll head over to Whiterun immediately."

"Thank you." Alvor said, a slight expression of relief crossing his face.

She, Erik and Meeko left the small house and headed down the northern road out of Riverwood. They were just reaching the small hill, looking over the Whiterun plains when Erik stopped, catching Alinja's hand. She tried to pull free, but his grip tightened.

"Alinja."

"What?"

"Stop."

She stopped struggling, but didn't turn around to face him. "What is it?" Her voice was soft.

"Please look at me." Erik pleaded. Alinja hung her head, but still didn't move. "Ali…" he moved to place his hands on her shoulders.

"No!" She stepped away, finally turning to face him. "Just…don't."

"What's the matter?" Erik's voice was almost a shout. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know!" Alinja yelled, using all her strength not to cry. She had shed too many tears than she cared to admit.

"Yes, you do!" Erik cried. "What is it?"

"You aren't the same!" Silence filled the chilled air.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since we started adventuring, you…" she struggled to find the words, "you're different from before. You were so sweet and kind, and you would have never let that girl die. I'm beginning to think that Mralki was right. I don't think we're ready for this."

Erik just stared at her, speechless. After all they had prepared for adventuring, she was now thinking that it wasn't a good idea?

"Erik, say something!" Alinja's voice broke, but the water never fell from her eyes.

He said nothing, but simply walked to her and embraced her tightly.

"I…" she stuttered. "I miss the old you."

"I am the old me." He replied into her hair. "You know it was cruel to let such a young girl live through so much pain. And where would she go if we did save her? You know how bad that orphanage is in Riften. And how could she keep living anyway, knowing about the gruesome death of her entire family along with the fear that their killer is still patrolling the skies."

As much as she didn't want to believe it, he was right. The tears finally couldn't stay in their ducts and flowed freely down her face, retracing the dried lines of her previous drops. She shook slightly and wrapped her around around Erik.

"Erik…" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"Shh." He hushed her, lightly kissing the top of her head. "I know how you feel. I didn't want to…do that…to the little girl, but…"'

"I know." Alinja whispered. "But I'm sorry for how I've been treating you. I…I'm…"

He lifted her face and kissed her sweetly, drowning any words that escaped her mouth. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

They remained in their loving embrace for a short while until Erik finally pulled away, clasping Alinja's shoulders gently. "Come on," he said, "we need to deal with this dragon business."

She nodded and they continued their way to Whiterun.

**Dedicated to all those people who are hurting over the death or loss of a loved one**