Chapter 3: Hidden Beneath:
A few minutes before Alduin attacked Helgen.
Beneath the Helgen's Keep stood around forty men and women wearing blue cuirass with weapons in their hands. "Today will decide the future of our homeland!" he paused, "For Skyrim," A man at the center of the Shieldbrothers yelled.
They all raised their weapon with a battlecry.
RAAAAH!
HRAAAGH!
HUZZZAH!
.
.
.
Ten Imperial soldiers were stationed behind the cave's entrance. There was a small drawbridge in between that separated Helgen's Keep and the main cave.
"Man! I'm tired of patroling this shithole," A soldier sighed, and said to his friend standing next to him.
"Tell me about it." His friend said, stretching his arms, "Hopefully, we'll get out of here tomorrow."
***
Another pair of friends stood by the drawbridge, standing guard to stop any creature from entering. Suddenly, one of them noticed the sound of footsteps approaching.
His friend standing beside him said, "Hey, did you hear that?" The former shushed him to pay attention to the sound.
By the time they could do anything, they saw around 40 men and women approaching with their weapons drawn. The bridge was narrow, surrounded by cave walls, and the light shone from above.
"We're under attack!" Both the soldiers yelled, their swords aimed high, as the enemy came in pairs; there wasn't much space for more.
The sound alerted the soldiers behind them. The captain of the squad spilled oil on the floor just a few feet away from the entrance of the cave.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the cave. Their hearts raced, but the captain of the squad stood firm while holding onto the torch, waiting for the moment the first enemy would step into the oil.
Suddenly, the Stormcloaks rushed inside, and the captain dropped the torch, burning the first five, as the one behind stopped, the Legion's archer began their assault fire arrows toward the enemy, even though they could not see past high flames of the fire.
Stormcloaks stuck behind were taken by surprise as arrows killed the first in line; they held onto their brother's corpses to form shields against the archers.
Roar!
Crack!
Suddenly, they heard a loud roar from above as the rocks shifted above the bridge, and soon rocks began to fall from the opening above it.
Rumble! Thud!
Clatter! Crumble!
Killing the Stormsclaoks standing below the light, there only 20 or so remained, but their resolves hardened, as the fire became less, they used their brothers corpses to march through it.
And soon they spread around the Legion, Legion though small in number were better armed.
The sound of swords clashing and the grunts that came from both sides when the metal sliced the flesh of their enemies filled the cave, but soon, the fire died, and only embers remained.
Darius POV
+475 Gold
System Prompt: Lockpicking 16 -> 17
I finished looting the torture room and upped my Lockpicking skill to 17 by unlocking all the cells, and I also found a coin purse inside one.
+12 Gold
I followed the trio's trail and walked through the broken wall, which revealed a cave, littered with corpses, fire, and… loot.
I saw the trio standing over a half-dead man, interrogating him instead of putting him out of his misery.
"Someone informed them of our plan to execute Ulfric," Hadvar muttered with concern.
Fuck you man, you sent me to an AU? I cursed, looking up. At least I'm alive, I sighed, I was grateful for that.
"Who could that be?" I said as I walked over to them, knowing fully well who that was, but telling that to the Imperials was like preaching to the wind, and I didn't care.
"You have an idea?" the captain looked at me, and I shook my head. "We need to go back up," Hadvar interjected.
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"The wall above the passage collapsed; it's completely blocked," the captain answered. I nodded in response, agreeing to go back above, as Alduin might have left already.
"What if that thing is still up there?" Lokir said, unwilling to go back.
"You can stay here then," I suggested and started to walk back toward the Torture room.
Hadvar and the captain followed after, and so did Lokir, albeit reluctantly.
As we walked inside the Torture room, the trio behind looked at the naked corpse lying on the floor. "You shouldn't disrespect the dead like this," Hadvar muttered from behind. I stayed quiet. "Seriously, man, even I didn't do anything like this." Now Lokir, and hearing that coming out of a thief's mouth was really embarrassing, but I hid it well.
.
.
.
Reaching the base of the tower in Helgen's Keep, I opened the door, hearing only the sound of fire crackling outside. The door creaked open to the burning village, with corpses of the civilians kneeling on the ground; some held their children, and some put their hands together, praying, their flesh turned charred.
We stepped out of the Keep, taking in the devastation that Alduin had left behind with just his words.
"Arkay preserve us!" Lokir prayed in horror.
"Damn it," Hadvar cursed, while captain stood still in shock, I looked around for any danger while the trio was sightseeing.
I found no one there. They soon got out of their stupor, and we made our way toward the main gate of Helgen, a giant door. it was flung open. "I didn't expect anyone to survive that." A calm, condescending voice came from behind us just as we were about to step outside.
We quickly turned our attention to the source, We paused; before us was the First Emissary of the Thalmor embassy located north of Skyrim.
'I have to say, she's hot, aside from that bitchy personality,' I thought looking up and down at her hourglass figure, and dark golden skin and bright golden straight hair.
Similar to mine.
"First Emissary Elenwen, an honor to see you again," the captain stepped forward greeting her after taking of her helmet and putting it under her arm on the side.
'She looks good too,'
"Ah, Captain. It is good to see you alive and well," Elenwen, matching the respect she was given, "Apologies, but, what was your name again?"
"Sonia Varro."
Thud!
A burning house collapsed behind us. "We can introduce ourselves after we get out of here," Lokir said and moved ahead of everyone.
…
Getting out of the burning and collapsing Helgen, we walked towards Riverwood while keeping an eye on the sky.
Sonia and Elenwen were walking behind us. Hadvar, Lokir, and I took the lead while Sonia was fangirling Elenwen.
"So what are you two doing after reaching Riverwood?" Hadvar broke the silence.
Lokir and I thought for a while, "I'll live my life peacefully in Rorikstead; I'll build a house there and marry a woman who appreciates who I am." Lokir spoke first.
"A thief?" I muttered.
Hadvar chuckled while Lokir glared daggers at me, "Then what will you do, sir knight?" Lokir turned to me and said mockingly.
"Oh, you know, the usual—become the richest man in Skyrim, take down that dragon," I said, 'That dragon' carefully instead of 'dragons'
I could feel the stare, hungry for information, pressing against my back. I continued, "Unlike you, I don't have to settle for a single house and a single woman. The world's too big, and I've got too much living to do—"
"Are you done fantasizing?" Hadvar cut me off; they stared at me with a look of puzzlement and bewilderment.
"What?" I said, "I'm telling the truth."
Lokir scoffed, still salty, "Right. And I'll be the next Jarl of Whiterun."
I chuckled, "Now that's real fantasy." Hadvar and I burst into laughter, only pissing Lokir even more.
Hadvar stopped. "Seriously, what are you planning to do from here?" he asked with seriousness. Honestly, I didn't know what else to tell them because everything I said was within my power and capabilities.
"I'm going to be the High King," I declared.
Hadvar and Lokir glanced at me while walking. They sighed. "And how are you gonna do that?" Hadvar asked.
"I can marry Lady Elisif," I replied.
Hadvar scoffed. "You? Marry Lady Elisif?" He looked at me up and down as if trying to determine whether I was joking or had truly lost my mind.
Lokir barked a laugh. "Now that's the best one yet! And I thought I was the dreamer."
But I simply shrugged. "It's the fastest way to the throne, isn't it?"
Hadvar's amusement faded, replaced by a more scrutinizing look. "You do realize that marrying Lady Elisif isn't that easy, right? Politics, power, loyalty to the Empire—all of that comes into play."
I smirked. "Good thing I'm good at playing."
Hadvar sighed, rubbing his forehead. "By the Divines… just try not to get yourself executed before you even set foot in Solitude."
Elenwen, who had been silently listening, let out the barest hint of chuckle behind us.
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