Attack on Helgen

A deafening roar spread across the sky, and Aila forced her eyes open. She could see the headsman, his axe raised above his head, ready to sever hers. It was the dragon behind him, though, that brought tears to Aila's eyes. It was sitting atop the watchtower, its scales as black as night and menacing. Numerous spikes were protruding from all over its body and had two jagged horns on its head. Its wings were resting on the front of the tower, while it's two legs were gripping the back to support itself. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and let out another ear-splitting roar.

Aila didn't know how but at the same time the dragon roared, everything within its vicinity was thrown backwards, including Aila and the headsman. She rolled to the ground and tried to stand, but she could not. Her hands were bound, so she could not use them to support herself. The pain from the dragon's roar only made the effort that much more difficult. She made it to a kneeling position before she fell back on her arse.

Aila grabbed her knees and hugged herself, too afraid to move. She felt warm tears roll down her cheeks and she tried wipe them away, but they kept coming. She flinched as something touched her arm, and for a brief second she thought the dragon had grabbed her, but it was only a man.

"Come on! The gods won't give us another chance!" He said. He's a prisoner, Aila thought. Just like me. Aila looked at the watchtower. The dragon was gone, but the watchtower was on fire. Even the stone. Aila yelped as a large boulder crashed down not five feet from her. She tried to find where it had come from and nearly fell over when she saw the sky.

It looked as if the sky had been ripped open and had left a black void. Enormous boulders were falling from the hole in the sky crashing into buildings and destroying everything in their path. Aila could hear the screams of people as they died. She saw the dragon, flying high above, avoiding any arrows fired from Helgen's guardsmen and Imperial solders. Not that it needed to. None of the projectiles could penetrate its thick scales.

The man tugged at her arm, pulling her to her feet. "We need to keep moving!" He said. "If we stay here we die!" He ran ahead pulling Aila after him into another tower. When they were inside the prisoner raised a knife, most likely taken from a corpse, and headed toward Aila. She backed away in response, frightened of what he was going to do. "Relax," he said. "I'm just going to cut your bindings." Aila hesitantly let him near her and just as he said, the prisoner hacked away at the bindings on her hands. "Now let's go. It isn't safe here." He led Aila up the tower's staircase. They were nearly to the top when the tower wall suddenly collapsed and Aila screamed. The dragon was clinging to the side of the tower and had smashed in the wall leaving a gaping hole with an excellent view of the dragon's head. It opened its mouth and the prisoner pulled her behind a large stone that fell from the wall of the tower.

"YOL"

Fire erupted from the dragon's mouth, and Aila could feel the heat of the flames that threatened to engulf her. Her protective rock wasn't enough though, and she cried out in pain as her arm burned. The searing flames stopped, and Aila heard the loud thud of the dragon great wings beating the air as it flew away. Aila refused to move from behind the rock, so the prisoner had to force her to the hole the dragon had left.

"Look over there," he said. "That's Helgen's Keep. That's where we are headed." Aila tried to look, but she was too afraid. She didn't like heights. "You're going to have to open your eyes. The only way down is through the roof of that inn." Aila reluctantly opened her eyes and saw that directly below the tower was an inn. Most of its roof was missing, and it was on fire. If they jumped down they would land in the second floor of the inn, and if they moved fast they could climb down the stairs and leave the building. A short distance away from the inn was the keep the prisoner had mentioned. If the exited the inn they could run straight to the keep. "We'll be safe there." the prisoner said. "The keep is the strongest building in Helgen. Ready?" Aila blinked. Ready for what? They weren't actually going to jump down, were they? He didn't give her any time to think about it. He was already in the inn. "Come on!" He shouted at her. Aila looked down at him. He coughed.

"I... I can't!" Aila shouted back.

"It's not that far! Just remember to bend your knees when you touch the ground!" He coughed again. "I'm going! Either follow me or stay there!"

"No..." Aila was trembling. What if she got hurt? What if she broke her legs and couldn't move? Aila grabbed her burned arm. It would make the landing more difficult. The prisoner was heading toward the stairs. Aila hated heights, but she hated being alone more. She forced herself to move and jumped down to the inn. She stumbled when she hit the floor, and was sent sprawling to the ground. The prisoner helped her up.

"Good," he said. "I'm glad you followed." Aila only nodded and started toward the stairs clutching her arm. It was hot. There was fire everywhere, and the smoke made it hard to breath. They climbed down and stopped at the entrance. The prisoner looked out cautiously. "I don't see the dragon. On the count of three we're going to make a run for it." Aila nodded. "Okay, One... Two.. Three!" And Aila ran. There was death all around her. Burnt and bloody corpses. It made her sick, but she kept on running.

Aila's heart sank when she hear a roar. She turned her head to see the dragon chasing after them. Aila never ran so fast in her life. As soon as she entered the keep she fell to the ground crying and waited for the prisoner. And waited. He never came. Aila wanted to check, but she was too scared to go and look. Instead, she sat in the corner of the room and cried.

Aila couldn't tell how long she sat there. At some point the roars and the screaming stopped. Soon after all became quiet. Even so, Aila didn't move. It must have been hours before she did. She struggled to her feet and carried herself to the door and slowly pulled it open. It was dark out, and she couldn't see very well. She could smell though, and it smelled of death. Aila had nowhere to go, so she walked out into the darkness. She could see the silhouettes of corpses as she walked, and she tried her best not to throw up. She walked past the dead bodies, broken buildings, and the gates of Helgen. She walked along the road not knowing where it led. For the most part she was safe, but she was alone. Aila hated being alone. She had been most of her life.

Aila walked and walked until she couldn't walk any longer, and she collapsed onto the ground. Gods, she was tired. She felt her eyelids grow heavy. Aila thought she heard footsteps, but she was too tired to care. The last thing Aila could remember before fainting was someone picking her up and carrying her.