Lady Teraniel

The Nord stared at me for a moment. "Captain. What should we do? She's- she’s a…"

The officer, a captain apparently, grunted. "Forget the list. She goes to the block."

"By your orders, Captain,” he said, hesitantly. “Follow the Captain, prisoner."

"Ulfric Stormcloak,” Tullius said, only partly to Ulfric himself, I suspect, as he turned away from the jarl and let his eyes wander through the crowd of humans. “Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to **** his king and usurp his throne."

The brutish jarl, still gagged, grunted. He didn’t even have to use his voice, because even from a distance, his eyes said everything anyone needed to know. I wondered what it would look like if the savage wasn’t muffled, and he could use this Voice to **** his captor.

"You started this war,” Tullius continued. “Plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace."

The wind turned, and suddenly I heard a deep, rumbling roar on the freezing air.

The Nord shivered. "What was that?"

Tullius gestured dismissively, unwisely. "It's nothing. Carry on."

"Yes, General Tullius.” The captain nodded, and signaled a robed priestess taking shelter under the tall stone watchtower. “Give them their last rites."

The priestess stepped into the daylight, spread her arms, and turned her face towards Magnus. "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved...”

One of the barbarians snorted and stepped towards the block. "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with."

The priestess looked stunned as a startled hare. "As you wish."

“Come on,” the barbarian continued, having reached the chopping block. He was already on his knees. “I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

Tullius raised an eyebrow and nodded towards the executioner, who lopped the stormcloak’s head off in one swing. As the captain kicked his lifeless body off the chopping block, another barbarian, a female, charged towards the general.

“You Imperial bastards,” she screamed, before she was thankfully silenced by a fist to the stomach.

"Justice,” a man called from the gathered audience, followed by a "**** to the Stormcloaks,” from someone else.

The barbarian from my cart lowered his head. "As fearless in **** as he was in life," he said.

“Next,” the captain shouted, right before another roar rolled over the mountains, closer this time.

"There it is again,” the Nord muttered. “Did you hear that?"

"I said, next prisoner," the captain said, “You, elf, step up.”

I didn’t move, and instead threw the captain a look. “Are you sure about that?”

Immediately, her tough demeanor showed some cracks, and she sought eye contact with the general, unsure what to do.

Before the general could react however, I heard the mighty roar again, and this time I saw its source. Back then, I wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, or some sort of alteration spell, but it certainly didn’t look like any Daedra I’ve ever seen. The gruesome black horror swooped down from the mountains, turned its terrible wings, and headed straight towards me.

Tullius’ stoic mask shattered. “What in Oblivion is that?”

“Sentries,” the captain squealed. “What do you see?”

And then everyone saw it; the dark monster crashed down onto the tower. The gusts it caused made the those in front of the tower lose their footing. Before they could recover, the creature opened its maw. The last thing I decided to linger for, was a group of Imperials being ripped to pieces in a thunderous form of magic I’d never seen before. At that moment I decided that the best course of action would be a silent retreat. Amidst the chaos I ducked behind one of the carts. Nobody was paying attention anymore. I threw my bound arms over the head of a distracted imperial and whispered a paralysis spell in his ear. Then, I pulled his crude sword from its dagger, and cut my binds. Freedom after all, is never given, but taken, and I wasn’t intending on being a captive any longer.

The horrified innkeeper barely noticed me before I paralyzed him and took his wife’s best riding clothes. Neither did anyone see me when I pacified a panicked horse and rode off into the wilderness.