Morndas, the 17th of Last Seed, 4E 201
The constant clacking of hooves, shaking of the cart, and fearful whispers was what woke him from his slumber. He recognized a couple of the voices but the other two were strange. Their accents were those of the Norfs, natives to Skyrim. But how could that be? They should've crossed the southern border into Cyrodiil so why, why were they with Nords?
He shook his head slightly and groaned, a throb indicated he'd been hit on the back of his head. The elf could hear the others more clearly now and the next sentence went alarm bells through him.
"Watch your tongue! You're talking to Ulfric Stormcloak there, the true High King!"
"Ulfric? The leader of the rebellion?" His sisters went quiet at his voice and his head raising. He fixed the gagged man next to him with a glare from his red eyes. "But if you're here then where are we going?"
Why did he bother asking? A quick look around gave him the answer. Imperial soldiers. Wherever they were going didn't matter. He was certain the end was near and it would take the form of a chopping block. But that just made him focus his attention on the two other wood elves in the cart with him.
"Elena, Ilara, are you both alright?"
Elena, his oldest but still younger sister nodded. She briefly tugged on her restraints, simple rope that bound her wrists. "They're a little tight though…"
His youngest sibling, Ilara, had tears in her eyes and she pushed her hair aside. "They'll let us go, right? We didn't do anything."
He wasn't able to answer that. A soldier had yelled at them all to shut up while they entered the town. The Stormcloak soldier across from them began reminiscing his time as a boy in the town, Helgen being its name. All too quickly though, the carts came to a rest and they were forced to disembark. Names were called, Stormcloaks led away to where he could spot a headsman with his axe. And then it was his turn.
"Aurelio Vecellio of Valenwood."
"Not many Wood Elves would choose to come to Skyrim." The Imperial soldier, a Nord surprisingly, gestured to his sisters. "These two with you?"
"Elena and Ilara." He simply nodded his head in their directions. Of course they were together! Why else would three similar looking Bosmer travel together?
"I'm sorry then. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Valenwood."
No more words were exchanged and all three of their eyes now faced the block. It's wood was once pale from what Aurelio could tell. But the blood from who knows how many people had stained it a deep red. A quick glance around let him know the town citizens had gathered to watch, no doubt to see the leader of the Stormcloaks face the headsman's axe.
One man went up, wanting to get it over with. Then they all heard what sounded like a roar. It was loud and somewhat far away, but it was also odd.
"Next, the male wood elf!" The captain called.
Elena instantly grabbed his shirt and begged that the Imperials reconsider. They weren't rebels! She quickly shut up though when a second roar sounded.
"To the block, prisoner. Nice and slow." It was the Nord who had promised to return his remains.
During this Aurelio remained silent as he approached the small wooden structure. The wood bit into his neck and the blood from the previous prisoner was beginning to stain him as well. He closed his eyes, ready to face whatever his afterlife would be, that is, he was
"What in Oblivion is that?"
A dragon, black as night, landed on the tower next to them. Aurelio swore he could feel its red eyes staring at him, as if it was trying to figure him out. The next several minutes were filled with chaos, fire rained down from the sky, citizens ran around in a panic, soldiers trying to regroup to face the beast. The elf soon found himself in a soldier's barracks with the Imperial Nord, getting his breath back after having run through the city with his hands still bound. Hadvar was his name apparently. He cut him loose and that's when he also started looking around in a slight panic.
"Wait, my sisters! They have to still be out there!" He reached for the door's handle only for Hadvar to grab his wrist.
"If they're still alive you going out there and getting killed won't do them any good! You can find them after we get out of here. Now take a look around, there has to be some gear in one of the chests that you can use."
Indeed there was. Aurelio donned the Imperial armor and followed Hadvar throughout the keep. They fought Stormcloaks on their way through until they reached a cave system. Aurelio shuddered when he knocked an arrow and shot a Frostbite spider. Gods, spiders. He wished they were all dead. At some point they even fought a bear though, thankfully, that was the last obstacle before reaching the outside. Aurelio took a deep breath of the fresh air when he was pulled down by Hadvar. The dragon roared, flying away right overhead, and headed towards some distant mountains.
Aurelio had survived Helgen and the first dragon attack in thousands of years. What in the gods was coming to the world?
Hello and welcome to the blog! Here I'll be writing about Aurelio as he navigates Skyrim in search of his sisters, deals with the dragon's return, Daedra, and other such events. This blog won't always rely on asks to continue the story but they're appreciated if you want to know backstories.
