Chapter 10: Alduin

"You, you're awake? You were trying to cross the border right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there," The blonde-haired man told me.

Before I could say anything the thief he mentioned spoke, "Damn stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. The Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you I would've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell!"

Then he looked over to me, "You there, You and me - we shouldn't be here. It's these stormcloaks the Empire wants."

"We are all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief," The blonde-haired man replied.

"Shut up back there!" Shouted the soldier driving our carriage.

"And what's wrong with him?" Aksed the thief, ignoring the soldier and looking at the man in fur clothing sitting beside me with his mouth gagged and his hands tied.

"Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!" Shouted the blonde-haired man as if it was something important.

"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you... Oh, gods, where are they taking us?!" Shouted the horse thief as he began to panic.

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits," The blonde-haired man replied as he looked down and gave a prayer to his gods.

"Whats Sovngarde?" I asked confused.

"You do not know what Sovngarde is?" The blonde-haired man asked.

"No, why? Should I?" I asked.

"How do you know of it?!" Shouted the blonde-haired man with surprise.

"I do not know, I don't even know how I got here or who any of you are," I told them.

"What?! What do you remember?!" Shouted the blonde-haired man with worry.

"Nothing, I only remember waking up here," I lied.

"Damn Imperials!" The blonde-haired man cursed the soldiers escorting us which sent a few glares our way.

Only then did we both notice that the horse thief sitting near us was having some kind of panic attack.

"Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?" The blonde-haired man asked distracting the thief.

"Why do you care?" The horse thief asked.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home," The blonde-haired man told the horse thief.

"Rorikstead. I'm... I'm from Rorikstead," The horse thief managed to utter out.

"And you?" The blonde-haired man asked looking at me.

"America, well...I guess Japan now," I told them.

Everyone sitting in the carriage looked at me before the blonde-haired man asked, "Never heard of it, where is it?"

"On Earth," I informed them.

They only continued to look at me with confusion.

Soon the carriage reached a wall of some kind of town and as the Carriage went past the gate I looked over and found a few men in robes talking to a man in fancy armor.

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" One of the soldiers informed the man in luxurious armor.

"Good. Let's get this over with," The man replied before walking away from the strange robed men.

As the carriage drove(not sure if this is the right term...) through town I heard the horse thief begin muttering prayers.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me!" He prayed.

"Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this. This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe," The blonde-haired man informed us as he looked at the town and the man in fancy armor.

Soon the carriage stopped and a woman who looked to be a captain shouted, "Get these prisoners out of the carts. Move it!"

"Why are we stopping?" The horse thief asked in a panic.

"Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us," The blonde-haired man told the horse thief without fear.

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" shouted the horse thief, loud enough to where the captain and soldiers heard him.

But it seemed the soldiers just ignored him.

"Face your death with some courage, thief," The blonde-haired man told the horse thief before hopping out of the carriage.

"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" Shouted the horse thief towards the blonde-haired man who was standing behind the man named Ulfric he introduced earlier.

"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time," Shouted the Captain as she stood before our carriages.

"Empire loves their damn lists," the blonde-haired man cursed.

The man in fur called Ulfric stepped forward.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm," The soldier holding the list wrote down.

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!" Shouted the blonde-haired man as Ulfric looked at him and nodded before he walked towards the group of blue soldiers in bindings waiting in a square.

"Ralof of Riverwood. Lokir of Rorikstead," The soldier listed off my two other comrades in bindings.

"No, I'm not a rebel. You can't do this!" Shouted the horse thief before he began running for the gate that we entered from.

"Halt!" Shouted the captain as she tried to grab him as he dashed past her.

"You're not going to kill me!" Shouted the horse thief ignorant of the archers that were not far from him that were drawing their arrows.

"Archers!" Shouted the captain as the archers released their arrows that accurately hit the horse thief named Lokir, causing him to fall to the ground and begin squirming in pain.

"Someone take care of him!" Shouted the Captain as she looked over to me.

"You there. Step forward. Who are you?" asked the man holding the list.

"I am Damian Dust, a man from Earth," I told them as the man wrote it down.

"Captain. What should we do? He's not on the list," the man informed the Captain.

"Forget the list. He goes to the block," The captain told the man.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You're still going to execute me even when I am not even guilty?!" I shouted in anger.

"You were caught trying to trespass the border!" Refuted the Captain.

"How was I supposed to know that?! I don't even remember how I got here!" I shouted in anger.

"Doesn't matter!" Shouted the Captain before she began shoving me towards the group of soldiers wearing blue armor gathered at the square.

Once I was at the group I found that all of the soldiers in bindings with me were looking before us.

Standing before us was the man named General Tullius, a woman in robes, and a headsman holding a large axe stained with blood.

Before the execution would begin General Tullius walked over to Ulfric and said, "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne!"

Ulfric could only respond with grunts due to his gag.

"You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!" Continued the General.

Suddenly a loud beastial roar came from behind the mountains in the distance.

"What was that?" asked the soldier who wrote down our names.

"It's nothing. Carry on," The General commanded.

"Yes, General Tullius. Give them their last rites," The captain told the woman in robes.

"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..." Started the priest.

"For the love of Talos, shut up, and let's get this over with!" Shouted a brave soldier in blue armor as he stepped forward.

"As you wish," replied the priest with annoyance.

As the man was pushed down to the chopping block he looked up and said his final words, "Come on, I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

With those last defiant words to Tullius, the Imperial Captain, and the Legionnaires, the Stormcloak is beheaded by the executioner. The Imperial Captain then shoved his lifeless and headless body off to the side of the chopping block.

"You Imperial bastards!" a woman in the crowd of prisoners cursed.

"As fearless in death as he was in life," stated Ralof who stood next to me who rode on the carriage with me.

"A Brave Man," I replied.

"Indeed he was," Ralof replied.

"Next the foreigner!" Shouted the Captain as she pointed at me.

I sighed and walked over, "So this is how I die because of a situation I had no involvement in and am getting executed for," I commented loud enough for everyone to hear me.

"Nice and easy, Prisoner," The soldier who wrote my name down on the list told me as the Captain pushed me down onto the blood-stained block of stone.

With my head on the block, I looked up at the tower and the executioner who began raising his axe.

Another Bestial roar echoes through the mountain as we all looked up to see a massive flying creature covered in black scales and horns flying towards the town.

"What in oblivion is that?!" The General shouted as he looked at the dragon flying towards us.

"Dragon!" screamed a few soldiers as the massive dragon landed on the tower before me, causing the headsmen to fall to the ground, narrowly missing my head.

"𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘩 𝘘𝘰!" Shouted the dragon as the sky darkened like a vortex in the sky as meteors began raining down from the sky.

"𝘍𝘶𝘴 𝘙𝘰 𝘋𝘢!" shouted the dragon as I was flung away from the block and the headsman was sent flying away and slamming into a wall, dying upon impact.