Unbound

As I was slowly coming back to consciousness, I felt the slow motion beneath me as if I was being carried.

I slowly opened my eyes to see myself bounded at the wrists and in a wagon moving through a snowy mountain pass with three others in the same situation as me, weirdly the one dressed in finery was gagged in the mouth.

"Nn what is going on?" I asked aloud to no one in particular with hope that someone could shed light to my situation.

"Hey, you. You are finally awake. I'm Ralof. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." Ralof, the blond man sitting right across me said. And pointed towards the man sitting next to him with his head.

Ambush? Oh yeah there was that. So, that clash of blades I heard was the ambush and I happened to be at the worst place at the worst possible time.

The now appointed thief looked as if he was fuming. "Damn you Stormcloaks! The Empire was nice and lazy until you came along. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now." He said with anger and looked towards me. "You there. You and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

Well I couldn't agree more. Since it was an ambush planned for these 'Stormcloaks', me, a passing traveller, and a simple horse thief shouldn't be with them. But there was nothing I could do at this point. The escape was impossible with these soldiers surrounding our wagon.

Is it just me or was our wagon under more surveillance than the others? Like… the others didn't even have half the numbers we had. What the hell? And they all looked like veterans and men with ranks. Even the hooded man I saw before losing consciousness was here.

"We are all brothers and sisters in bindings now, thief." Ralof said with resignation. He looked like he knew where we were going and what was waiting for us at the end of our destination.

I could somehow guess what it was since I was sitting in the same wagon with the enemy army, it wasn't that hard to guess but a part of me didn't want to believe it. I woke up just recently and it was going to end so soon. "Haha." A bitter chuckle left my mouth unconsciously. But I held a little bit of hope that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought and misunderstanding would be resolved.

"Shut up back there!" The soldier sitting at front and driving the wagon shouted but Ralof and the thief paid him no mind.

The thief the turned towards the gagged man in fine clothing, "And what is wrong with him?"

In return, Ralof lashed out with fury. "Watch your tongue! You are speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak! The true High King!"

Huh? Ulfrci Stormcloak huh, so he's the leader of these Stormcloaks. And what is a High King?

Upon hearing Ralof, the thief looked frightened. "U-Ulfric? The J-Jarl of W-Windhelm? Y-You are t-the l-l-leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you…" His eyes widened as if he came upon the realization that this was the end. And added, "I-If they captured you… Oh gods, where are they taking us?" He said with a voice slowly losing its volume.

"I don't know where we are going. But Sovngarde awaits." Ralof said with resolution in his voice.

"Mmh." The gagged man, Ulfric Stormcloak nodded with acknowledgement.

"No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening." The thief pleaded hysterically.

A brief moment of silence ensued in the wagon, with no one talking, except for the thief who kept muttering "this isn't happening" and "It is all just a dream, I swear I will stop being a thief and find an honest work so please make it stop" etc.

I could have denied the reality like the thief and hope that it would end but I couldn't. I knew it was true and I already resigned myself to my fate with these 'rebels'.

"Hey, what village are you from, kinsman?"

When I lifted my head, I saw Ralof looking at me. "I don't remember."

"Ah, I see. A pity then. A Nord's last thought should be of home. What about you horse thief?"

The thief also came back from his constant denial of reality and looked as if he lost all hope. "Rorikstead. I'm… I'm from Rorikstead. Lokir of Rorikstead. You know, I fucked up real bad back at home, so I was trying to get to Hammerfell and start a new life there in hopes of maybe this time it could be different but I guess it wasn't meant to be."

A silence ensued once more and this time no one spoke. After what felt like hours we finally reached a village.

A soldier on horseback approached from the village to the head wagon. "General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" He saluted the General and reported with a voice enough for us and all the other prisoners in the wagons to hear it.

"Good. Let's get this over with." And an aged voice came from the head wagon.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me." The thief, now identified as Lokir, begged desperately but nothing stopped the wagon from reaching its destination.

"Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they have something to do with this." Ralof said with venom in his voice while pointing towards a man on horse back.

He looked like an old man in his fifties with grey hair and wrinkled skin. He was wearing an ornamental looking bronze armor and was talking to an elven woman with golden skin in luxurious robes.

'Thalmor.' I thought. And weirdly enough I felt repulsed by it. Like I hated even thinking about them. I guess I knew about them before.

"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." Then Ralof continued with melancholy in his voice.

I looked around and saw a lot of people were watching the wagons pulling into town right outside their doorsteps. Then I noticed a man and his son also watching us. "Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?" He asked with curiosity. "You need to go inside, little cub." Was the father's reply.

"But why? I want to watch the soldiers." The boy said with indignation. "Inside the house, now." But his father left no room for argument and they entered the house and closed shut the door.

Just in time for us to stop near a chopping block with a huge man with an execution axe was waiting.

"Why are they stopping?" Lokir asked.

"Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." Ralof replied getting up. "No! Wait! We're not rebels!" But Lokir refused to get up.

"Face your death with some courage, thief." Ralof criticized. "You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" But Lokir still refused to give up. But after getting no replies from anyone and after seeing the Imperials' watchful eyes he also got up and we started jumping down the wagon.

After everyone jumped down, an Imperial that looked to be the leader stepped forward. "Head toward the block when we call out your name. One at a time." And said with a strict voice. And the soldier right next to her spoke up. "Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm."

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!" Ralof said while Ulfric was heading towards the block.

"Ralof of Riverwood. Lokir of Rorikstead." Then the soldier continued with announcing their names but Lokir of course couldn't sit still. "Wait! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" So, he made a break for it.

His attempt at escaping was both futile and stupid. The area was filled with other Imperial soldiers and guards. Roofs were full of archers who were waiting for a single twitch from the captives so that they could rain down arrows but Lokir kept running. "You're not going to kill me!" He said.

"Halt!" Ordered the Imperial leader or should I say Captain. But Lokir didn't obey the command and seconds later he was turned into a porcupine from the unnumbered arrows sticking through his body.

"N…o" and he fell forward.

It would be a lie to say I didn't feel anything from his death. Was he a criminal? Yes. Did he deserve this? In my opinion, no. He was just a simple horse thief with hopes of a brighter future but he was caught at the wrong place and wrong time.

I knew that my fate would be no different than his, the only difference was I wasn't gonna make a run for it. If I'm going to die anyways better to die with some dignity. Plus Sovngarde wouldn't open its doors for me if I were to die so cowardly. A wound in the back is a shame for a warrior.

Wait…

What is Sovngarde? No… I know Sovngarde. It is the place where the souls of brave warriors go after death until the end times.

Then… What is Valhalla?

"Ugh." Pain. The only word I could explain this severe headache with.

"Anyone else feel like running?" The Imperial Captain said.

"Wait you there. Step forward. Who are you?" The soldier called out to me while I was trying to deal with this damned headache.

But his question made me momentarily stop. Who are you?…that is right. Who am I? Ever since I woke up in that unknown forest, I never thought about who I was, only what I was doing there.

Who am I?

With this simple question, it was as if a fog cleared in my mind and the headache stopped. A name.

"Alaric… My name is Alaric."