Skyrim: Tale of the DragonBorn

The first thing I saw was the light. Blinding. Bright. A searing headache caused me to instantly groan. I cautiously opened my heavy eyes to a world of blurred colors. A moment of focus and the swirling colors slowed to shapeless blobs and then to vague figures. I counted two men sitting across from me and one to my right. As I became more aware of my surroundings I noticed that we were all sitting on a wooden carriage that jolted forward on the rough uneven dirt road. To the left of the road I spotted a deer who trotted gracefully back into the forest once he heard the loud rumble of the carriage. I recognized the common trees throughout the forests of Skyrim but other than that I had no idea where we were.

Besides the carriage driver, there was another carriage ahead and an Imperial soldier on horse behind us. Anger charged down my spine. Blasted Imperials! My hand tightened into a fist and I wanted nothing other to jump off this cart and stab a sword down his evil gut. If only my hands weren't bound and I had a weapon.

I turned my attention to the men in front of me. The one across was obviously a Nord. He had blonde shoulder length hair with a few strands entwined into a traditional braid as well as a short straggly beard. Slowly sound crept back to my senses and I heard the snort of the horse who was pulling the carriage and the familiar clip clop of hooves hitting dirt.

"Hey you! You're finally awake." It was the Nord. He was staring at me curiously and kept talking. "You tried to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

I looked to the Nord's right and saw the thief, a weary dark haired man who rolled his eyes. "Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell." The thief's anger was prominent and I was about to object with his statement when the thief turned his attention to me and said, "You there, you and me, we shouldn't be here. It's the Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now thief," the Nord interrupted.

"Shut up back there!" said the Imperial carriage driver, turning toward us with a scowl.

"What's wrong with him, huh?" the thief asked now looking at the last man who had been keeping silent this whole time. I now looked more closely at this man and saw that even though he had a gag over his mouth, he had finer clothes than the rest of us.

"Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true high king," replied the Nord angrily.

"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you... Oh gods! Where are they taking us?" The thief's voice quickly turned from sarcastic to heavy with fear.

The Nord looked toward the sky. His eyes were distant and hopeless as he said, "I don't know, but Sovengarde awaits."

"No, this can't be happening! This isn't happening!" exclaimed the thief, his eyes widening in panic.

The Nord looked at the hysteric thief and asked, "Hey what village are you from horse-thief?"

"Why do you care?" snapped the thief.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home," replied the Nord sadly and almost to himself.

The thief looked taken back. "Rorikstead. I'm... I'm from Rorikstead."

Suddenly a soldier cried out, "General Tullius sir! The headsman is waiting!" With a jump of shock I saw that we had approached the entrance to a small village. The soldier who had just spoken was an Imperial standing above the gate.

Another voice, an Imperials, replied, "Good, let's get this over with." He sounded impatient.

Trembling with fear, the thief started to recite the names of the gods in prayer. "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kyraneth, Akatosh, Divines please help me!"

As we passed through the gate, I couldn't decide if I should babble in prayer or calmly await Sovengarde.

"Look at him. General Tullius, the military governor, and it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this." The Nords voice reeked of heavy hate and disgust as he glared at the Imperial general who had white hair and more elaborate armor compared to the other soldiers.

The Nord looked around the village and with a wishful voice said, "This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries. Funny, when I was a boy Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe." I gazed at the stone towers scattered throughout the town. The blood red Imperial flag waved from each of these and I pitied the Nord in the carriage.

A young boy rushed out his house to his father. "Who are they daddy? Where are they going?"

"You need to go back inside little cub."

"Why? I want to watch the soldiers!"

The father's voice became firmer, "Inside the house. Now."

"Yes papa," the boy said just as the carriage driver called out, "Whoooaaah, whoooaaah," to the horses.

The voice of a female Imperial rose above the others. "Get these prisoners out of the cart! Move it!" I had been staring at the villagers who gathered outside their houses to watch the escort but at the imperial's voice, fear crept back into my veins. We had finally reached our destination.

"Why are we stopping?" the thief eyes darted back and forth nervously between the Imperials who had gathered at the village square. Our cart had come to a stop and a nervous tension held the air.

"Why do you think? End of the line." The Nord's voice sounded completely calm, as if he had accepted his fate with ease. The carriage which had been in front of ours also stopped and a few prisoners stepped out.

Seeing the other prisoners leave their cart, the Nord said, "Let's go. We shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

We all stood and the thief once more panicked, saying, "No wait! We're not rebels!"

"Face your death with some courage thief." The Nord now sounded annoyed and spit out the last word with disgust.

"You've got to tell them, we weren't with you! This is a mistake!" The thief's voice rose in rising panic.

The female Imperial's voice rang out again, "Step toward the block when we call your name. One at a time!"

"Empire loves their damn lists," muttered the Nord just loud enough for me to hear.

Another Imperial holding a quill and parchment looked up and said, "Ulfric Stormcloak: Jarl of Windhelm." I looked in alarm to the quiet man, the fourth man who'd been on the carriage with me. The one known as Ulfric.

As Ulfric passed, the Nord bowed his head with respect and said, "It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric."

The Imperial continued calling names, "Ralof of Riverwood." With this, the Nord walked away from me and I felt an odd tinge of sadness. Of the three other men, I'd miss the Nord the most.

"Lokir of Rorikstead." At the call of his name, the thief screamed, "No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" Suddenly he sprinted away from the Imperials and towards the gate out of the village."

"HALT!" screamed the female Imperial.

The thief kept running with his hands bound, "You're not gonna catch me!" he yelled, almost laughing hysterically.

"ARCHERS!" Several Imperials drew their long bows and calmly took fire at the thief who had no chance of dodging their arrows. He skidded to the ground with a cry of pain and then silence.

The female Imperial turned angrily to the speechless prisoners. "Anyone one else feel like running?" Her face was red with rage. That unpleasant turn of events was defiantly not expected by her.

The man with the parchment stared at his list of names confused, then up at me. Oh no! I must be next! "Wait, you there," he said. "Step forward." With unsteady steps I walked quickly up to him, unable to take the tension any longer. The man stared at me for a second before slowly asking, "Who are you?"

To be continued...