Isabel the Dragonborn

Chapter 2

"Quickly, this way!" Over the confusion and panic, I heard a familiar voice. This wasn't one of the ones that tried to kill me either, thankfully. I turned my head to see Ralof from the cart gesturing towards the tower he was near. He was probably making a general gesture to anyone that happened to be looking his way at the moment but I easily took the invitation. It was hard to move after seeing something as terrifying as a dragon but my body was thinking more of its own safety rather than what was actually happening. My body was shaky as I ran but I made it through the door to the tower. Ralof waited another few seconds but came in after me, immediately closing the door. Not that a wooden door would stop a beast like a dragon from getting its prey. A stone wall probably couldn't protect someone either, if the dragon was powerful enough.

While Ralof and Ulfric were talking about the odds of it being a dragon, I looked out the sections in the tower that were supposed to be small windows, I could only assume. There was no doubt in my mind that what came from the sky was a dragon. After all, there were no birds that big that breathed fire and could scream in phrases. Not that I was sure anyone else heard any sort of sound that wasn't a roar.

"Up through the tower, let's go!" Again, I wasn't sure if Ralof meant me by that phrase but seeing as everyone else was either wounded or not moving, I followed him. At the top of the first flight of stairs was a Stormcloak soldier gesturing for Ralof and I to continue. Ralof and I were about to get to the man when the dragon from outside smashed in the wall and sent the man, as well as a large section of the tower, into a debris pile and finished the job by spurting a long jet of fire into the hole. It reached the other wall but I couldn't help and look at the beast. It was nothing like in the stories. There were probably dozens of different looks for dragons but seeing one up close was not the same as seeing one in a book, no matter how closely it was represented.

After the dragon scorched the man's corpse and the stone from the wall, he withdrew his head and Ralof started up again. I wasn't as eager to follow in case it came back for a second helping and I wasn't ready to follow a stranger to a place that just had a dangerous beast at it.

"Hurry, get up here!" Ralof was getting impatient and I finally felt it would be safe enough to advance. When I looked out the hole into the burning landscape, it was not what I had expected. Fire had engulfed just about every house and if it wasn't burning, it was crushed.

"See that inn on the other side? Jump to the roof and keep going. We will follow when we can." Ralof was talking about the only building that was able to be jumped to but there was no telling that it was an inn before. It was just as destroyed as the others, maybe in a little better condition. Ralof was already descending the stairs again, leaving me to continue onwards. He must have meant himself and any able warriors when he said 'We'.

I took in one deep breath and jumped. It wasn't hard as I was a Khajiit and we were renowned for our agility in both jumping and maneuvering, so the jump wasn't the part that was hard. The descent did hurt a little since my hands were still bound and I had to rely on my legs to catch me rather than falling onto all fours. I carefully but quickly sprinted forward and fell down the hole in front of me, reaching the main floor of what was an inn. I was met with yet another encounter with the dragon but this was a little more distressing. A man was on the ground in front of the dragon and a boy was hesitantly getting to cover, with the help of an Imperial soldier. It was a little odd to see an Imperial helping someone after having my head ready to be disconnected from my body by their own executioner. Still, it was probably expected since he wasn't talking to a Stormcloak or a prisoner. I cautiously walked out of the burned wall of the inn as the man in front of the dragon was burned to an over-cooked crisp.

"Still alive prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way." The Imperial was speaking to me as if he was not just ready to watch me get killed. Then again, I remember the man. He was the one holding the list, who didn't want me to be killed. At least, I assumed that he didn't. The Imperial left the kid and the man behind and started towards where the dragon was focused at the moment. If he was armed and he could at least be bait while I got away, I would take that over running alone.