The Elder Scrolls: Dominion (BOOK 1: Legionnaire)

Chapter 2 - Fire...

Karl immediately grabbed his fur blanket and covered his face, in order to ward off the poisonous smoke from his lungs. He saw the fire spreading across the room and some of the upstairs floorboards had crashed down. That wasn't the least of his problems.

As he tried to stand up, the ground (which means the upstairs, since he was in the basement) momentarily shook, nearly sending him off balance and tripping towards the nearby raging fire. Then, he heard something he has never heard of before: a terrible, earsplitting roar, followed by what he could only describe as the flapping of huge wings.

On instinct, he stood up, the blanket still on his face, and grabbed a sword on his weapon rack (thanks to his father, who believed in caution in the case of an emergency). He also grabbed his bow which was lying on a corner. Thank the Divines the flames hadn't caught up to his beloved wooden bow.

He then ran towards the wooden stairs, which was burning as well. He knew the stairs' boards were already unstable, but if he won't climb up, he would get stuck and burn to death in his own room. He had to take a chance. Isn't that what soldiers do?, he thought. He steeled himself and began to climb. He ascended every step, hurriedly but carefully. He was barefoot, so every touch of the burning boards felt like he was stepping on the coals of a forge. He tried to ignore the painful hike, and kept on going.

He was nearly there. A couple more steps to go. Just as he was about to finally reach the main floor, the step he was currently on suddenly gave way. Karl managed to grab the floor but his feet were dangling, inches away from the inferno that was his bedroom. He felt the fire cooking his toes, and he struggled to get himself up. He then heard footsteps, and looked up.

There was his mother, face ashen and badly burned, reaching out her hand. He instantly grabbed it and pushed himself up, with her help. His mother took his arm and led him to the way out. The entire house was a engulfed in a raging conflagration. There was enough smoke to lower their visibility and poison their lungs. They kept their mouths shut, not daring to breathe. Finally, mother and son reached the main door and ran out.

Despite the disaster, the night was quite beautiful. The sky was filled with billions of stars, and the moons shone brightly together. The nearby woods were dark, but were filled with sparkling torchbugs. Karl could hear the crickets' chirps and even the waves of the nearby lake amidst the crackling of the fire.

They ignored the sights for now and ran to a proximate boulder, where they hid themselves.

"Where's Father?" Karl coughed.

His mother gasped for fresh air before answering. "He's...gone. Burned to death right next to me." She said, her eyes now filled with tears, which were cleaning up her ashen face.

"Why? What is going on?"

"Dragon." His mother answered, clutching her chest. Karl was stunned at the answer. He has never seen a dragon before, but he had heard stories of them attacking villages, mills and even cities. One of his wishes was to see and hunt a live one, but now that one was burning his home and just killed his father, he thought it was a bad idea.

"Karl, go now. Before it sees you." His mother woke him from his thoughts.

"What? I can't leave you here!" He replied. Hours ago, he disliked his mother for treating him like a child and not allowing him to join the Legion. But now, he wanted nothing more than to help her out of this mess.

"You have to. Get help. Call the guards. Anyone. Besides, I would not make it. Not with this face." She ordered, pointing at her badly scarred face. Karl kept silent, trying to hold back his tears, for his father always quoted that tears were a sign of weakness. "I'm your mother, and you must obey me. So go now!"