Skyrim:An Unexpected Arrival
A few days ago I left Black Marsh to seek fortune and a better life in the cold tundras of Skyrim. My village was burnt down by what seemed like a small army of bandits. I had heard that the Stormcloaks were recruiting anyone to help them wipe out the Imperials, and the only reason I had wanted to join was to live life to the fullest, becoming famous amongst the Stormcloaks, and most importantly the coin. Yesterday I came across the border to Skyrim and saw what looked to be a trader and his horse carriage, and I desperately needed to sell my useless junk from the remains of my village for some coin. Before I even began to open my mouth the speak to the "trader", I heard a bow string being released. Pain. That was all I felt in my left leg, an arrow had struck me in the knee. I fell to the ground yelling in pain and looked up to see people in brown leather armor surrounding the carriage, some even holding people in blue chainmail hostage. I immediately knew these were Imperials capturing some stormcloaks, as I have heard and seen what they wear. "Wait, I am not a stormcloak! Your ma-" I felt the bottom of a sword handle hit my jaw, and my vision went blurry. My last thoughts before I blacked out was my family, my homeland, and most importantly, what were the Imperials gonna do with me....
I heard a voice calling to me but i could not make out what the voice was saying. "H-y --u" My vision cleared and I saw one of the Stormcloaks the Imperials had captured. "Hey you, your finally awake, I thought you would never wake up" I tried to speak but it took me a while with my almost broken jaw. "Wh- where am I? What am I doing here?"
"Remember earlier you were in the middle of that Imperial ambush? Just like that thief here". I look to the right of the Stormcloak and see a rather skinny, and dirt covered person. 'Wait...that was the trader, or so I thought, that was on top of that horse. Then...now I remember, damn Imperials!...' Hey, what is your name, argonian?" The stormcloak asked. "M-my name is Veekaro-Jai. Yours?" "Hm, strange name, anyways my name is Ralof, how about you, horse thief. You have been awfully quiet." I'm L-Lokir, from R-Rorikstead..." I could sense the trembling in his voice, and himself. We arrived at a fort with a couple of towers and some heavily armored guards, but what caught my attention was an absolute bear of a person, wearing a hooded mask and wielding the largest looking axe I have ever seen. We each dropped off the carriage and the impact of my feet hitting the ground made my legs shake and almost fall. In front of us was a captain and a regular Imperial soldier, and the captain gave each of us a glare that could cut through our bodies like daggers.
The Imperial soldier next to the captain started to call off the names. "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm" When I saw him walk up to the rest of the group, I wondered why he was the only prisoner with a gag. Suddenly the captured Stormcloaks started to call out "Ulfric Stormcloak is the high king!" "You Imperial scum!" The Imperials were not suprised of the ranting and yelling of the Stormcloaks, and they merely ignored them. "Ralof of Riverwood". I don't how how Ralof managed to accept this fate so calmly, but I could think otherwise for the thief. "Lokir of Rorikstead" Lokir looked as if he was gonna burst out crying and pleading for mercy "No please, I'm not a rebel, you can't do this, please!" All in a sudden move Lokir dashed passed the captain, shoving her out of the way. She almost fell from the shove, and I'm surprised Lokir could even do that as a scrawny and skinny thief. The captain dismissed the shove and yelled "Archers!!!". Two archers off to the side quickly dispatched Lokir, as his lifeless body fell to the ground with 2 arrows sticking out of his back. "Step foward lizard, who are you?" said the soldier with the list. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to speak as bravely as I could. "M-my name is Veekaro-Jai, please don't kill me, I'm not a part of this!". The captain seemed to get pissed at the amount of pleading. "Shut up lizard, before you end up like that thief, I'm tired of the stalling, now go over to the block before I make you!" 'Damn, no getting out of this now' _ I thought. "Please, I'm not part of the Stormcloak, I was just passi- AHRHHHRRRR" I fell on the ground as the captain had kicked my injured knee. "Rrr, you bitch!" I shouldn't have said that as she delivered a kick to my face. She yanked me up to the rest of the group, and I thought this was end of the line for me. General Tullius went up the Ulfric with a look of triumph on his face "Ulfric Stormcloak, some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use the power of his Voice to murder his king and ursurp his throne. You started this war! Plunged Skyrim into chaos, now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace! Suddenly an ominous roar echoed through the mountains. "What was that?" The Imperial that had called us to the block said. General Tullius somehow thought it was nothing. "It's nothing, carry on". "Give them their last rites before their deaths" the captain said. A priest in yellow hooding stepped up and began to say her speech. "As we commend your souls to Aetherious, blessings of the Eight Div-" She was interupted by a Stormcloak, but to be honest I was glad he interupted her. "For the love of Talos, shut up and make my death quick" A stormcloak stepped up in front of the block, then the captain slowly pushed him down onto the block. "Come on hurry up, my ancestors are waiting for me in Sovngarde Imperial scum!" The headsman raised his axe as if it weighed like a feather, then harshly brought it down. It was discusting. Blood sprayed everywhere from the Stormcloaks body and it almost made me throw up from the sight and coppery smell of blood. "Next, the lizard!" The roar echoed around the mountains again, this time closer and louder. "There is it again, tell me you didn't hear that" "I said next prisoner!" I scanned around me and saw I was the only argonian in the group. '_Damnit damnit, I have to find a way out of here!' Not surprisingly there was no way out. I had no other choice but to go to the block. I stepped in front of the block and the captain harshly pushed me down to it. "You Imperial bastards will pay" I said in a cold voice. "Ha! Your words mean nothing me me lizard, the Empire will rule all of Skyrim!" I looked past the headsman and saw something fly over the mountains. It made me freeze and stare at awe of what I saw. A dragon, as dark as knight with glowing red eyes that could glare right through you, even more than the captain's glare. The dragon landed on top of the tower and it made the headsman fall, and the ground shaking. "DRAGON!!" The dragon opened it's maw and roared. No, it wasn't a roar. It was something more powerful and louder than that. It shouted and the sky turned grey, thunder and lighting, and fire balls started to come from the sky. Then a shout made my heart stop and my blood freeze. "FUS RO DAH!!!!" A blue spectral wave of enegery erupted from the dragon's maw and knocked towers, buildings, and everyone down. My vision became blurry from the force of that shout. "Come on argonian, the Gods won't give us another chance!!!" I recognized that voice and looked up to see Ralof. My instincts took hold and I instantly dashed with him to the door of a tower. In there I saw injured Stormcloaks, and somehow Ulfric managed to get here to safety. "Ulfric, what should we do now!" Said Ralof. "We need to get out of this tower now! Up the stairs, move!" I climbed up the stairs but everywhere step hurt with my injurned knee. Nearing the top of the tower the dragon's head busted through the wall and rammed into an unlucky Stormcloak. "YOL TOOR SHUL!!!!" In an instant everything in front of me, and that unfortunate Stormcloak literally melted. I could feel the heat from the flame burning my cloths even though I was no where near it. Ralof and I went up to the hole in the tower and saw an inn with a broken roof. "Jump into that inn Veekaro, we will meet again I'm sure, but I must protect Ulfric, go!" To my left i saw splintered wood and it gave me an idea. I put my bindings onto the singed wood and stone and my bondings managed to burn off. "Good idea Veekaro, don't know why I didn't think of that, but you need to go now!" "Alright, we will meet again" I jumped off the tower and into the inn on the other side. The landing made me knee hurt even more but that was the least of my concern with this dragon destroying the fort. I jumped to the first floor and out the door and saw the Imperial soldier with the list earlier. "Veekaro get over here, we have to get out of here!" "You tried to kill me, there isn't any damn way I should go with you!" There is a dragon here and your still worried about that? Come on and follow me, or I have no other choice but to end you!" 'I guess I'll have to go with him, but I will kill him when I get the chance' "Alright then, lead me out of here!" "Follow me close to the wall Veekaro!" I should have listened, the dragon landed on top of the wall and it's wing hit my head, almost knocking me out. *YOL TOOR SHUL!!!!!" * The dragon shouted again. "Get up argonian and stay close!" We ran through a house and saw mages, archers, and General Tullius trying to take down the dragon. "We need to get out of here, abandon the fort soldiers!" General Tullius ordered "How do we kill this damn thing!" An archer shouted. "I said we are leaving, with or without you!" I followed the soldier and then we ran into Ralof again. "Ralof, lets g-" The soldier blocked me with his sword and said to me "Your not going anywhere, your still a prisoner, remember that" 'Imperials and their bloody ignorance...' I thought. "Out of the way Ralof, Veekaro is wi-ARHH" I took the change to strike down the soldier and Ralof came to finsish him off with an axe. "Thanks Ralof" "You made the right choice Veekaro, now lets go!" I followed him into the keep, leaving all the chaos and death outside...
In the keep I saw a dead Stormcloak and Ralof rushed to the body. "We will meet again in Sovngarde brother, I promise." I felt sorry for his lost, but there were more important matters at hand. "Take Gunjars gear, he won't be using it anymore" I felt bad for stripping him of his armor, but I had to get geared up to escape. "You look good in Stormcloak armor, you should join up against the Imperial bastards." "I am, when we get out of here we should meet in Windhelm, but lets get out of here first" "Good choice Veekaro, the Stormcloaks need someone like you to help us." We walked to the door but it was locked. "Damn, locked. We can't lockpick it, we need a key. Let's try that gate" At the gate we heard footsteps and a conversation. "Shh, Imperials ahead" I sheathed my sword and got out a fire spell. "A battle mage are we? Never seen many before" Said Ralof. The gate open and the Imperial captain and a regular soldier walked past us. We took the chance but the captain heard us rushing towards them. The captain managed to block my sword with a hefty looking shield and so did the other soldier did to Ralof. The captain swung her sword at me but I easily dodged to the side. I took the chance and did a wide swing of my sword and it sliced open her stomach. While she was on her knees I dispatched her with my flame spell, and it made her scream in agony. "This is for the Stormcloaks, you Imperial bitch!" I swung around and decapitated her. Ralof killed the other soldier and was impressed with my skill. "Your pretty good, you will make a good Stormcloak. Check for the key, I bet it's on the captain.
I took her sword in case I needed to sell it and her armor, I prefered heavy armor. I unlocked the door and we proceeded down the spiraling stairs. We came to a large hallway, well it used to be a hallway. We heard the dragon's load roar and one part of the hallway caved in, in front of us. "Damn, that dragon is still attacking. We should hurry before that happens to us." I opened a door to my left and saw 2 Imperials that were pretty much like us: Trying to get out of here. "Shh Ralof, Imperials ahead." I saw oil on the floor next to them and I had a perfect plan. I shot a firebolt under their feet and the Imperials immediatly were melted from foot to head. "A supply room, lets stop here and rest for a few minutes, my legs feel like they are about to give out" I said. "Alright, lets get food and supplies because we're gonna need it. Oh and check for potions, your knee looks like a bloody mess." I looked in a barrel in a corner of the room and found several health, stamina, and magicka potions. I greedily drank one of the sugary sweet health potions and my knee began to heal itself. In another barrel I found several carrots, there were dry but I was so hungry I could care less. "Ralof, want a few carrots?" "Sure thanks, be sure to store a few for later." We ate in silence for a few minutes trying to listen to the dragon's roar. After we ate we packed up and kept moving. "Done Veekaro? Alright lets keep moving"
We went out the door to the other side of the debri and came down another spiral of stairs. "A torture room, by the Gods I hate when people use these" Ralof said in discust. We heard the sound of swords clanking against each other and we rushed to see what was going on. Two Stormcloaks were going against 2 Imperials. "Victory, or Sovngarde!!!" Shouted one of the Stormcloaks. The Imperials were out matched as I launched a fireball at one of them, and it made the metal armor melt into his skin which made an ear shattering scream. Not a pretty way to die. Ralof went behind the last Imperial and sliced his axe into the side of his head leaving a giant bloody wound. The 2 Stormcloaks saw my Imperial armor and did not sheath their swords. "Ralof, why are you with an Imperial, have you gone mad!?" "Relax Thonar, he is with me. He is joining the Stormcloaks, just dressed in Imperial armor, not with them" They sheathed their swords with a look of relief on their faces. "Thank the Gods you made it here Ralof. Anways what is your name Argonian?" "Veekaro-Jai, nice to meet you Thonar" "Hm, strange name" 'Why does everyone say that...' "Veekaro take some of these lockpicks, check those cages for supplies." Ralof continuedd his conversation with the 2 Stormcloaks while I picked the cage that had some supplies in it. I picked the lock with ease as my father taught me how to lockpick. In the cage were a magicka potion, a few gold and a rotting body of a mage. I took the novice hood and the robe as I knew they would sell for alot. "Come out Veekaro, we still gotta get out of here, luckily these soldiers will join us." We proceeded down even more stairs and some narrow tunnels.
I heard wispering and I could guess they were Imperials. I rushed out from the corner and jammed my sword through the Imperials back and he died in an instant. "Stormcloaks, and an Imperial traitor!" Shouted one of the soldiers. An Imperial rushed at me but he had no chance against a stream of flames, as he died a painful death. In the middle of my spell an archer shot an arrow and it hit my shoulder, although not hitting anything vital and important. "Ralof, take care of the archers!" The 3 Stormcloaks rushed past me to stop the archers, I stayed to rest and get this arrow out of me. It hurt worse taking the arrow out of my shoulder than it entering my shoulder. I looked to my right and the 3 Stormcloaks were losing against the Imperials because reinforcments came. "Ralof, Thonar, Vori get out of the oil!!!" They heard me and stepped out of the oil and lured the Imperials onto the it. I took the chance and shot a firebolt at the oil, and the Imperials burnt to a crisp. "Thank the Gods, Veekaro are you alright?" "Im fine, I still have another potion on me" "Ralof, me and Thonar will stay here in case Ulfric passes through. You two go ahead, we will be alright" "Gods guide you two" Ralof said. We went across a small bridge, but as always the ceiling caved in and destroyed the bridge. "Well theres only one way out of here now, come on" said Ralof.
Ralof and I came to an opening and it wasn't something we wanted to see. Five giant spiders were roaming around, although they didn't see us yet. "Veekaro, don't spider webs burn up easily? I think we know what you have to do" Ralof said with a smirk on his face. I duel wielded a firebolt spell on my right and, and the flames spell in my left. I shot a bolt and the biggest spider and it burned up easily. Sadly it made the most discusting smell I have inhaled in my nostrils in a long time. Sometimes I wished argonians could have a lesser sense of smell. On my left hand I sprayed fire in every direction and everything that was covered in webs burned. "I never like spiders, they always made my skin crawl" Ralof said. We kept on going for what seemed like hours and we came across a giant hole with light coming through it. "There, the exit of this damn place, finally!!" We went through and were greeted with fresh air. "Finally, I felt like we were in that cave forever" Ralof said. After he said that, a shadow that blotted out the sun flew over us, and towards a mountain with these strange ruins on top. "Its not over, that was only the beginning" Ralof said....
To be continued....