Chapter 2.

Unbound into the Unknown

I opened my eyes groggily. They seemed heavy, and I wondered how long I had slept. The rocking motion of the boat was gone, replaced by jolting up and down, as the captain was trying to sail the boat up a half-dried creek. Forcing my eyes open completely, what I saw made me freeze in shock. I was no longer on a boat. I was on solid ground, pine trees passing by me as I rode in a wooden wagon. Men sat around me, all bound with ropes. One had a gag over his mouth, though I paid little attention to him. I was also bound, and wearing unfamiliar clothes. I wore a rough, sleeveless tunic and pants, with only some worn rags on my feet as shoes. My sword, chainmail, and all of my other gear were nowhere to be seen. My awakening was noticed by a man dressed in cloth armor and a blue cloak. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, like me, but there was a sort of ruggedness in his features that I had never seen before.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.", he said. I blinked, my confusion growing. I could understand the man, but his accent was completely foreign. Discounting his accent, what he said made no sense. I had crossed a border? When? I dug into my memories, but the most recent thing I could remember was falling asleep on Morida's ship. While I was still in shock, another man glared at the first. He must have been the thief the blonde man had been talking about. He growled at the man,

"Damn you Stormcloaks! Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and be halfway to Hammerfell." The thief then looked at me, gesturing with his bound hands

"You there. You and me - we shouldn't be here! It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

I understood almost nothing of what the two men were talking about. An Empire? Stormcloaks? Hammerfell? The names of what I guessed to be organizations and countries passed over my head. My geography wasn't the best, but the names of the mentioned countries didn't sound familiar to any that I had learned were close to Hyrule. Still dazed, I wasn't paying any attention to the conversation until the blonde-haired man snarled at the thief.

"Watch your tongue. You're speaking around Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King." he snapped. The thief paled visibly, looking at the gagged man more closely. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you… Gods, where are they taking us?" The thief began to panic, uselessly pulling at his bonds. The man who had welcomed me sighed, then in a voice like a sentenced man said, "I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." With their words, only more questions were built. Where was I? My throat seemed dry, leaving me unable to speak. I couldn't ask the questions that were filling my mind to the brim, and it was killing me.

The two men spoke for a little while longer, but I no longer cared about who they were, or what they were talking about. All I wanted, was to escape. I examined my ropes quickly and didn't recognize the knot. I did, however, see similarities to other knots that I had learned about. More carefully than the thief, I began testing the rope, pulling this way and that. The ropes were strong, however, and did not give. I continued trying, despite my futile attempts, until I began to hear jeers and cat-calls come around me. Looking back up, I saw that the wagon had slowed inside a town, following behind several others, all filled with men and women dressed in the same cloth armor and blue cloak as the man in front of me. Men on the street around us called insults at the "Stormcloaks", and excitedly walked alongside the wagons, towards a square in front of a tower. Already, some wagons had stopped and the bound Stormcloaks were being led off, and put into straight lines. After another minute or two, my wagon had stopped as well, and the thief, Stormcloak, and the bound man were all led off. I was the last one out, leaving me to observe as each was brought to a man and woman, They seemed to be checking off names. The Stormcloak was named Ralof, which seemed a strange name. The gagged man was Ulfric, which I already knew from Ralof's conversation with the thief, whose name was Lokir.

Lokir's death was the first I had seen in decades. He plead to be let free, then tried to run for the gate which we entered through. He didn't make it more than 5 meters away when half a dozen arrows pierced his back. A winded scream left his lips, then he collapsed. Because of that, I was shaken when I was called to the man and woman. The man was wearing leather armor, dyed red and brown, while the woman was dressed in a gleaming set of steel armor. The man, who I guessed was a soldier of some sort, was holding a clipboard. He checked something off of the board, then looked up and said

"You there, step forward. Who are you?"

I considered telling the man that, like Lokir, I was here by mistake. Seeing how neither the soldier nor the armored woman had budged, I decided to just play along with whatever was going on.

"My name is Link. I come from the Lon Lon ranch of Hyrule.", I said. It wasn't exactly true. I was raised in the Kokiri Forest in the Lost Woods, but everyone knew that adults weren't supposed to go into the woods. Lon Lon had become my home afterward, and I had spent the last two decades farming and handling horses. My words didn't have any perceivable effect on the soldier. He looked at his clipboard, flipping through a few pages before he looked at the woman standing beside him.

"He's not on the list. Captain, what should we do?", he asked. The captain scowled, obviously annoyed at the incomplete list.

"Forget the list! He goes to the block.", she growled. My blood ran cold in my veins. I had a suspicion of what "the block" was, and I didn't like it. Looking to my left, I realized that It was as bad as I thought. A block of wood, old and weathered, stood in the middle of a courtyard, It had reddish brown stains covering its surface, and a basket stood just beneath it. A man stood, dressed in hide armor and a cowl, wielding a massive axe. It was what I feared. The block meant an execution. A beheading. My mind went blank once more, and I barely even noticed the proceedings as my mind whirled.

As I watched with dull eyes, I saw one of the men be called forth. He was forced to the chopping block, though he surprisingly didn't resist. As a final remark before his execution, he looked up to the Imperial soldier who had pushed him to the block and growled

"My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperial, can you say the same?" Unmoved, the soldier gave the order to the executioner, and the axe fell on his neck. I spectated as he was decapitated. A spray of blood spurted out of his neck, and I heard a small thump as his head fell into a basket.

Another death. By this point, I had seen enough death to last a lifetime, and I hid my flinch well. Right after the man was executed, a rumble filled the sky. Looking upward, I saw no storm clouds, yet I heard a faint roar as if a great wind was rushing through the sky. Barking orders to the Imperial soldiers who were shifting uncomfortably, the Captain kept the execution going. Looking directly at me, she ordered me to come forth and face my execution next. My feet dragged on the dirty cobblestones, and everything around me seemed to sharpen. For the first time, I was seeing the world clearly- which was ironic as I would soon be leaving it. I kneeled, and my face was forced down, my head resting on a warm puddle of blood. I wasn't ready to die! I couldn't die! Yet, I saw my executioner gripping his axe firmly, strengthening his stance. A million regrets ran through my head, then. The one that I regretted the most, was not telling Malon how I felt. I remembered her hair, red as the sunset and combed to a silky sheen. I remembered her deep blue eyes, like pools of cool water. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end to come. I heard the executioner raise his axe, then reality shattered into chaos.

I opened my eyes to see a dragon, perched on top of the tower to my left. It had obsidian black scales, and its eyes glowed red with malice. It opened its mouth, and instead of a roar, a word- no, several words came out of its mouth in a shout. The sky responded, darkening and filling with clouds, and all hell broke loose. It breathed fire, incinerating a soldier, and prompting the other Imperial soldiers into action. They drew weapons, swords, axes, and bows, and began to fight back. In their confusion, I struggled to stand up, and I ran for cover. My instincts were right- The dragon breathed a column of fire right where I had kneeled. Screams of agony filled the air as more men and women burned, and the air was already filling with smoke. I ran across the road, desperately looking around for a knife, an axe, or even a broken board to sever my bonds. I found nothing. The fire had spread from the plaza to the roofs of the surrounding houses, and townsfolk were running and screaming all around me. I ran between blasts of fire and collapsing buildings and towards the only stone structure that I could find standing. When I arrived, gasping and wheezing for air, I saw two men facing off in the square. Ralof, one of the men who had been with me in the wagon, was standing with a sword drawn at an Imperial soldier. The same soldier who had held the clipboard.

"We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time.", Ralof snarled. He held a sword in one hand, which had blood dripping down its edge. Hadvar, snarled back at him.

"Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!" By this point, Ralof noticed me. "You! Come on into the keep if you wish to live!" I considered my options for half a second, but I knew who I would join in escaping. The "Empire" almost killed me for no reason. Ralof welcomed me when I woke, confused. It wasn't any real contest. I nodded and did my best to walk non-threateningly toward him, ignoring Hadvar.

When Ralof and I entered the keep, I noticed the body of a dead Stormcloak, dressed in their signature armor. An arrow was sticking out of the man's neck, though there was surprisingly little blood. Ralof knelt next to the body, took off the man's helmet, and shook his head in sadness when he saw the man's face.

"Gunjar. May you rest in Sovngarde, brother." Ralof paused. "Here, you over there, what is your name?" he asked me. I gulped and said

"Link. Just Link." Ralof had the smallest of smiles on his lips when he replied. "Well, "Just Link," he said, "You can take Gunjar's gear once I've cut your bonds. He won't be needing the armor anymore, and it's better than those dirty clothes that you are wearing."

After freeing my hands, I examined the gear that Gunjar wore. It was a chainmail shirt with a padded overshirt on top. Typically, chain mail was worn on top of the padded shirt, but I slipped it on anyway. To my relief, fabric was sewn into the maile to prevent chafing. On top of that was a blue cloak that could be wrapped around the chest during battle, along with some sturdy leather boots, gloves, and an iron war axe. I changed into the new gear, and the armor fit surprisingly well, aside from the armholes being too large.

After that, everything became a blur. Overhead, I still heard the sounds of dragon fire and roaring, and the tunnels that I was escaping through collapsed several times. I fought with Ralof, though I wasn't much help. I was still in a daze and had inhaled a good amount of smoke. I was glad, however. Ralof and I encountered more Imperial soldiers in the tunnels and had to fight them. Ralof seemed to relish slaying them, yelling "Skyrim is for the Nords!" and other similar warcries. I defended myself, but let Ralof finish them off. I felt sick- but I knew that I was defending Ralof and myself from those who would wrongly execute me. Along the way, I collected an iron shield and sword, dropping the axe that I had taken. In addition, I took some gold disks from the corpses of the bodies of men that I killed, along with several other trophies. In one room, I encountered a cage with the corpse of a robed man inside. More gold disks and a glowing book lay next to him. Ralof encouraged me to pick the lock, and after several trial and error attempts, I opened the cage, where I looted the gold, book, and robes. I had no way of identifying any of the robed man's items, but I knew they would come in handy.

When Ralof and I finally saw the light of day once more, a knapsack that I had "acquired" was full of stolen goodies, and I wore a steel suit of Imperial armor that I had taken from the body of an Imperial captain. As it turned out, Ralof was very lax about stealing and acquiring "spoils of war" as he put it. His bag was filled with food, weapons, and Hylia knew what else.

"Thank you for helping me get through there, Link. I couldn't have done it without you. However, this is where we must part ways. There is a town called Riverwood a little way down the mountain where my sister runs the wood mill. I'll stay around there until things cool down. You are always welcome to come and stay with us." Ralof stated with a surprising amount of warmth in his voice. Getting to know each other in battle strengthened our temporary companionship. With a nod, Ralof bade his final farewells and began to walk down the mountain path.

I took a deep breath, noting that the air was crisp and clean. The smoke from the town hadn't reached the exit tunnel yet. The land all around me was unfamiliar, but ruggedly beautiful. I saw tall, snow-topped mountains with forests of delicious trees dotting the landscape. Colorful flowers and herbs were visible in the meadow around me, and I could see the ruins of a massive temple-like structure on a mountain only a few miles away. It was beautiful like Hyrule, but was much different. I had no map and no clue where I exactly was. Considering my predicament, I decided to follow Ralof. I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, then followed Ralof into the unknown.