Skyrim
A Tale of Two souls
Chapter 1
It is dark and quiet for a few moments till the clattering of horse shoes on stone woke the cat from his restless sleep, which he found himself bound and muzzled. It took him only a few moments to remember what had happened, he and Ne’Ma had been hurrying through some woods and got caught up in a battle of some kind; looking around he figured he had been taken prisoner most likely having been mistaken for whoever won’s foe. He looked around, he was in a wagon with a few nords one looking to be nothing more then a petty thief, the man next to him clearly a soldier belong to whom the Cat didn’t know. Looking to his right he saw the third nord, wearing rather ornate clothing, this man was someone of importance. Noting how not only the nord to his right was bound but also gagged, clearly their captors didn’t want him opening his mouth for some reason, but it was of little importance compared to the way the cat himself was locked and latched. Let alone the muzzle locking his mouth shut, he felt some kind of collar firmly latched around him throat, just enough to let him breath but nothing more then shallow breaths, running from the collar where chains latched to cuffs on his wrist, then again to cuffs on his feet, all of which he was sure was draining his energy out of him; someone didn’t want him anywhere near able to cast magic.
It was little more then a hindrance at this point of time but not something he could remove on his own, so he began looking around for Ne’Ma who was not to be found, which angered him to no end, which ended up drawing the attention of a man in bright golden armor riding a horse, he says trotting up to the cart Usshin was in,
“you best settle down cat or I’ll put you to the sword right here and now.”
All he could do was scowl at the man as he rode past then in front of the cart ahead of them. Finally getting his attention, Usshin looks to the nord across from him who says,
“easy my friend, you’re going to get us all killed if you don’t relax, you’re looking for the little argonian girl right? Worry not they placed her in the other cart, they could have been a little more gentle about it though.”
The thief next to him says with a tone of disgust to his words,
“why don’t you just shut up stormcloak this is all your fault after all, if the imperials had not been out looking for you I could have stolen that horse and have been half way to hammerfell by now.”
The nord chuckles a little before saying, looking the man to his left,
“we’re all brothers in binds now my friend.”
Usshin looks away from the nords as they go on talking about home and other topics, looking at the cart in front of them trying to spot Ne’Ma, but it was no good, if she was there they had her sitting behind one of the nords. Looking at the approaching gate, he could only guess they were being taken to a town where he would be able to explain to the imperials that he and his daughter had nothing to do with these stormcloaks, and they’d let him and Ne’Ma go on their way, however what he heard gave him doubts, a man standing on top of the gate calls out to the man in the fancy armor,
“General Tullius, Sir! The headsmen is waiting.”
Looking at the man named Tullius he says,
“good lets get this over with.”
Usshin Had a bad feeling about what was going on, he was cuffed and gagged to almost paranoid levels, after having been caught up in a battle, and now they were being taken to a town where a headsmen was waiting to do his job, all pointed to one thing, they were planning to kill someone, but who.
Looking back to the Nords he caught win of the thief remarking about the man across from him, the soldier next to him then snapping at the man saying as he did,
“WATCH YOUR TONGUE! You are speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true high king.
Fear fills the thief’s face realizing who he was looking at then saying in a panicked tone,
“Ulfric?!? The Jarl of Windhelm? You’re the leader of the Rebellion, if they capture you, OH GODS where are they taking us?!”
The soldier says watching the cat pull past the gate,
“looks like we go to Sovngarde this day.”
The Thief starts mumbling in a panicked worried voice as he begs and pleads with the gods to aid him, The cat looks to the nord across from him who then says feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over him,
“this is Helgen, I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vilad is still making that mead with the Juniper berries mixed in it.”
Looking on for a moment more, Usshin then sees the plaza of the small town, in-between two towers one much taller and a stouter one, and at the base of this tower was a large man with an even larger ax and a black executioners hood on his head; this felt wrong, Usshin had seen things like this before, it wasn’t just one person getting killed, they planned to kill the lot of them. The carts pulled up next to the plaza where the guard captain, a redguard woman wearing some kind of imperial steel armor shouts,
“get these prisoners out of the carts. Move it!”
Usshin felt his blood boil, if they harmed one scale on Ne’Ma’s head he was already planning on burning the hold to the ground, however as he and the nords in his cart got out, Usshin requiring some help due to the sheer amount of chains and cuffs holding him still, He saw Ne’Ma hop out of the second cart to which she instantly tried to rush over to her papa, only to have the man that had driven his cart shove her to the ground then shout at her to get back in line. If looks could kill the lot of these imperials would have been slaughtered at that very moment as he watched Ne’Ma pick herself up off of the ground then limp back over to the nords from the cart she had been in. The Redguard woman shouts standing next to a man with a list of some kind,
“one by one step toward the block when we call you name.”
Glancing over to Ne’Ma who was wiping some tears out of her eyes as her knee began to bleed, he wanted to just scoop her up and tell her it was going to be ok, but before he could make a move, the nord next to him say setting his bound hands in front of the cat,
“easy my friend, you keep acting up and they’ll kill her first.”
Reluctantly Usshin nods and watches as the imperials list off people one by one all walking over to the chopping block under threat of force, the thief however makes a brake for it after arguing with the captain over his innocence, and with one motion from the captain several arrows meet his back most certainly killing him, asking as she turns back to the others,
“anyone else feel like running?”
After watching all the nords get called over to the block, a man shoves Ne’Ma over to Usshin and says,
“Stay put brat.”
She nods cowering behind Usshin as the guard captain and one of the men with a list walk over to them, then asking as the man looks to Usshin,
“well now, you two seem to be the odd ones out, tell me your name prisoner.”
Usshin cocks his head and lifts an eyebrow, the man then nods and says,
“Ah, yes one second my friend, remove the muzzle, he can’t tell me anything if he can’t open his mouth.”
A soldier nods then removes the leather muzzle from Usshin’s head, backing away carefully as the cat Glared at him, he then says turning back to the man with the list,
“My name is Usshin, this is my daughter Ne’Ma, as you can tell we’re not suppose to be here, we were trying to get through the forest when we got caught up in your little battle with these stormcloak fellows, so if you could just let me and my daughter go, we’ll leave and let you return to your prisoners.”
The man nods making notes on his list then asking,
“I see, and what are you doing in Skyrim khajiit?”
Usshin nods then saying,
“looking for work as it is, me and my daughter are wanders, and came to Skyrim to make some money, we’ve not got much left after coming here; also do you think I could have my robes back? I feel almost naked without them.”
The man makes a few more marks on his list then asks looking over to his captain,
“what should we do captain? Neither of these two are on the list.”
The woman takes no time to think before saying,
“I don’t care, they go to the block like the rest of them.”
The man stands mouth agape then asking,
“ ev . . Even the child sir?”
She stares him down before saying,
“Get them moving Hadvar, to the block now!”
He nods then says looking away from the redguard woman,
“by . . By your orders sir.”
A scowl takes hold on Usshin’s face as he watches the woman walk away, he then says looking back toward the man called Hadvar who says,
“I’m . . . I’m truly sorry my friend, to the block.”
Usshin looks up toward the archers posted on the tower who notch their bows waiting for the cat to give them a reason, he then nods and with Ne’Ma in tow heads toward the block with where the nords had been lined up. The man known as Tullius approaches the Jarl Ulfric and goes on about betrayal and starting a war and then going to be put down to restore the peace, none of which mattered to Usshin as he was trying to formulate an escape plan, he wasn’t about to let Ne’Ma and himself be killed by over zealous imperials, even with everything that had been latched onto him he could still use his magic, it was just a matter of focusing his energies and concentrating. Ne’Ma saw his face and did her best not to distract him however a strange sound coming over the mountains made both of them look around braking the cats focus to which he grimaced and started again. After dismissing the sound the imperials call up a priest to give last rights but is quickly interrupted by one of the stormcloaks who shouts,
“OH for the love of Talos, shut up and lets get this over with.”
The priest scoffs then walks away leaving the imperials to do their work, the captain shoving the nord onto the block and the headsmen gripping his ax. Usshin still focusing on his attempt to cast what ever spell he was working on feels Ne’Ma bury her face in his leg, he sighs and covers her ears with his hands as the nord says waiting for the headsmen to drop his ax,
“my ancestors are smiling at me Imperials. Can you say the same?”
With that the headsmen swings his ax severing the nords head with falls into a basket with a stomach turning thud. Usshin was moments away from being able to cast his spell when the guard captain called for him to be next to the block, and the resulting guard shoving him forward broke his focus once again. As he was forced to the block the captain says inspecting the collar,
“get that contraception off of his neck, wouldn’t want the ax to miss now would we.”
However she is stopped instantly by Tullius who says setting his hand on her shoulder,
“not a wise move captain, this cat is a very dangerous mage, destroyed an entire Thalmor contingent while we were dealing with the stormcloaks, they insist the collar remains on him to keep him from being able to cast his magic.”
She nods then asks looking to the man in the golden armor,
“then what shall we do with him sir?”
He nods rubbing his chin for a few seconds then says,
“set him aside for now, we’ll hang him in the morning, for now get back to the executions.”
She nods shoving Usshin into the arms of several guards, noting the look on one of the nords faces as he said,
“I knew the Thalmor where involved in this.”
Usshin watches on as the imperials get ready for the next person to be killed but as Ne’Ma attempts to run over to Usshin, the redguard woman grabs her up by the collar of the rags she wore and says staring her in the eyes,
“look what we have here, a volunteer, so be it, you go next brat!”
Several people had a nervous look on their faces as she forced the young lizards head onto the block all the while more guards rushing over to try and keep the cat from intervening. The now frightened young girl looked up at the man with the ax who was deliberately trying to scare the young girl saying as he put his boot next to her head,
“well now, better hope I don’t miss, such a small target after all I could end up having the do this more then once.”
Once the man lifted his ax, it seemed fate had another idea in mind; as Usshin was being restrained to the best of the guards abilities, the sound the rolled over the sky sounded again, then with a smashing crash onto the stout tower, a dragon landed. In the panic and confusion of the dragons landing the man Hadvar took note as to how both of his superiors had looked up to the dragon now perched on the tower and slowly made his way to the headsmen. The dragon took only a few moments to look around seeing the young argonian on the block where what could be called a smile crept across its face, then unleashing a blast of sound rocking the entire area, to which Hadvar took this cast to throw himself into the headsmen, causing the man to drop his ax cutting into his own leg. The dragon unleashes another sonic blast tossing everyone to the ground before taking to the sky as the clouds start to encircle and flaming boulders start to fall. Usshin takes his chance and slams his balled fist into the gut of one of the guards trying to hold him which gets him enough room to slip away toward Ne’Ma who was trying to get back to her feet after having been knocked off the block by the dragons second attack; Usshin hurries over to her best he could before helping her up by giving her something to grab onto to pull herself up. Looking over to one of the stormcloaks who shouts,
“hurry you two, this way; the gods won’t give us a second chance.”
The cat nods motioning for Ne’Ma to follow him as he and the nord head into the taller tower, where inside a few stormcloaks as well as Jarl Ulfric had freed themselves of their bonds as stand about trying to recuperate from the chaos of the attack all the while the sounds of battle and explosions rock the tower from the outside. Ulfric calls over the young girl who nods and watches as he takes off her bindings all the while the nord who called them into the tower asks,
“Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?”
Finally having gotten rid of the young argonian’s bindings he says looking up to the man who spoke,
“Legends don’t burn down villages Rolaf”
Several more boulders impact near the tower making it shake a bit, Ulfric then shouting,
“We need to get out of here now!”
Rolaf nods then says pointing up,
“I know up through the tower lets go.”
Nodding in agreement, Usshin follows after Rolaf with Ne’Ma on his heels as they head up the tower where another nord is trying to shift some rubble so they could get through but is killed as the Dragon smashes through the wall bellowing flames for a moment before glaring at the cat and taking off back into the sky. Their pathway now permanently cut off Rolaf says looking at Usshin,
“you see the inn on the other side over there, jump though the roof, we’ll join you as soon as we can.”
Usshin nods then watches as Rolaf takes his ax and shatters the chains binding his legs, then with a nod he kneels down Watching as Rolaf helped Ne’Ma climb onto his back, then making sure she was holding on tight, he dashes through the hole the dragon had made falling into then tumbling through the roof of the inn. Ne’Ma falls off of his back as the hit the floor, but gets up quickly no worse for wear and helps her papa up. Once on his feet again Usshin says looking to his daughter,
“stay close Ne’Ma, I can’t cast any magic till I get this damn stuff off of me.”
She nods then follows as he approaches a hole in the floor leading to the first floor of the inn and a door outside; Usshin hops down then Ne’Ma onto his back then sliding down to the ground. Leaving the inn with the continued sound of the battle around them, Usshin hears the man Hadvar shouts to a young boy, calling him over just as the dragon lands and engulfs a man on the ground in flames. Looking back as the boy hides behind him, Hadvar says,
“your still alive, good, I’d hate to have seen you two die here, stay close if you can.”
Usshin nods as Hadvar looks over to an old man as says,
“Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense.”
The old man nods and says as he wraps an arm around the young boy,
“gods guide you Hadvar.”
Nodding at the old man Hadvar says glancing at Usshin,
“this way follow me.”
Usshin nods following after the nord in the standard imperial leather armor as he leads Usshin and Ne’Ma through the short street to a wall behind a house, where the dragon lands once again bellowing fire unto more imperial troops. Taking off into the sky once again Hadvar looks over to Usshin and nods then leading the two through the charred remains of another home to one of the main town gates where Tullius shouts,
“Hadvar! To the Keep we’re leaving!”
He nods then says looking to Usshin and Ne’Ma,
“its just us three then, stay close and follow me.”
Running through the chaos and panic the thee pass under an arch where one of the imperial archers is grabbed by the dragon and taken into the sky, most likely to be dropped. Moments after nearing the barracks, Rolaf finally catches up to which point Hadvar says,
“Rolaf, you damned traitor, out of my way!”
The stormcloak says gripping his ax,
“We’re escaping Hadvar, you’re not stopping us this time!”
Hadvar shouts grabbing a hold of his blade,
“Fine, I hope that damn dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!”
Both men run past the other but before anything else can happen, there is a snap, time stopping and a white mist setting in as the world turned to a grayscale. A small red fox draped in a black hooded cloak, smiles then looks up to a taller fox in a white cloak, Alex who lowers his hood then says,
“well now, there is a choice to be made here, and its time for our readers to get involved. Should our heroes here go with the Imperial, or the stormcloak? Should they side with the Rebels or the Empire? You decide by popular vote and I will weave fate to the choice that is made, till then we wait.”
He grins raising his hood then Snapping his fingers, which makes everything fall to black.
~End of chapter one~
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