A Stranger in Skyrim 2

Chapter Two: The Dragon

In which fire is generally bad.

The dragon opened its mouth and sound rushed out, a disorienting wave of it that knocked her sideways. She … understood it, just as she'd understood the foreign tongue, though she couldn't put meaning to it in the traditional sense. It just … it meant force.

The soldier put himself between her and the dragon, his sword drawn. Not that it would likely do him much good. The dragon shouted again, and she didn't see what happened next; she tumbled to her other side, facing away from her imminent doom.

“Guards!” The general shouted. “Get the townspeople to safety!”

She shifted slightly, rolled back on her toes, standing without the use of her hands. She'd heard that particular trick was hard for some people – it was easy for her. Her head spun, her ears rung. She shook her head to clear it.

Blondie was there. Somehow, he'd gotten his hands free, and he was beckoning her. “Hey – Blue – get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!” When he knew she was up and moving, he turned. “This way!” He began running toward a tower. After a moment or two, she followed him, passing a dying Imperial soldier on the way. There was blood and fire everywhere ….

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the tower, and the first thing she saw was a pair of half-dead Stormcloaks. Another knelt nearby, tending to their wounds. How had it wrought so much destruction so quickly?

“Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing?” Blondie – Ralof – sounded urgent. Everything was urgent. Her head was spinning. “Could the legends be true?”

The Jarl's voice was deep, she noted. “Legends don't burn down villages.” He turned his attention towards her, and she felt small all of a sudden. “We need to move – now!”

Ralof nodded. “Up through the tower, let's go!”

She followed Ralof up through the tower, panting before she reached the top. She was not in good enough shape to be facing off with a dragon. Definitely not. A soldier was digging at some rubble – apparently the tower had begun collapsing from the top already.

The dragon was there, and suddenly a big chunk of the wall was not. He spoke Fire, and then fire shot from his mouth to engulf the soldier, who screamed, flailing his arms to try and put out the flames. The stone didn't burn long, but the soldier was doomed. He flopped to the floor, so much ash. The dragon flapped off.

Ralof beckoned her forward. “See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going!”

She stared at him like he was crazy. It was a ridiculous feat he expected of her. She couldn't jump that distance, and even if she could it was a long drop. She'd break her legs. She shook her head, taking a step back. He tugged her forward. “What are you waiting for – go! We'll catch up to you when we can.”

She still balked at the distance – until he shoved her forward. She teetered on the edge, flailing a bit, and then fell towards the inn.

She landed belly-down on the thatched side of the roof, scrabbling for any handhold, sliding towards the edge. She didn't want to fall, but it didn't look like she had much of an option. She slid down, falling to land on her ass with a thump. Ow. Everything hurt now. Fantastic.

She stood again – because it was urgent – and then immediately covered her head with her arms as part of the tower fell, flaming rocks showering her.

Through the inn. She'd survive this dream somehow – she'd already missed her appointment with Death earlier, so now she had no choice but to continue. She edged around the wall. Stairs, that would take her inside the inn, then she'd figure out where to go from there, right?

Except, not only was the inn on fire, but more importantly, there was no way through. What was she supposed to do now?

There was one section – a cupboard that hadn't yet started to burn. Gods, it was hot – she shuddered, then began to climb over it, fire licking at her arm. She liked fire, but she didn't much care for the idea of burning alive. She made it over – it wasn't that hard of a climb, so even she could manage it – and out the front door of the inn. She'd have burns, but at least she was alive. That was better than a lot of people could say today.

The fire had felt so real, though ….

She came upon two men – the soldier and some other guy. The soldier was beckoning to a small child – the child from before? Surely not. “Haming, you need to get over here, now!”

The child ran towards him – and the dragon spoke fire.

Flames engulfed the boy. No. No, that didn't … that didn't make sense. Children weren't supposed to die – that just wasn't right. But it was true. She didn't know how to take that. The cold, practical side of her pointed out that children were just as mortal as everyone else – and she was particularly mortal. She had to get out of this hellhole before she, too, was set ablaze.

“Haming!” The soldier screamed his denial. “No!”

She ran forward then, dragging the soldier back. “You can't help him, now.”

He looked back and up at her, lost. She didn't know what he read in her expression, but he swallowed, nodding once. “You – you're right.”

Well, he took that better than she was taking it. She could felt her hands trembling.

“Let's – let's go. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense.” She let him go, and he ran off. She followed at a slow jog.

“Stay close to the wall!” She dropped into a crouch, obeying without question. The dragon landed right above them, its wingtip so close she could have touched it.

Oh gods, she was going to die.

The dragon spoke fire, and fire engulfed a soldier, though fortunately not the soldier she was following. She had to believe this was some kind of horrible dream, and she'd wake up soon. As long as she believed that, she could ignore the screams, the way the man's flesh melted from his bones. The smell of charred meat was everywhere.

She was going to be sick. She was going to be horribly, violently sick. She'd never had smells invade her dreams before, and her arms still hurt from the burns.

Oh gods, this wasn't a dream, and she was going to die.

“Quickly, follow me!”

The dragon had taken flight – now was the only time to run. So, she ran, still following the soldier.

The general shouted at the soldier. “Hadvar!” All right, his name was apparently Hadvar. “Into the keep, soldier! We're leaving!”

All around, she could hear the sounds of screaming, dying people.

And it was all. So. Real. She felt herself shaking, terror overtaking her. She couldn't move as that massive black shape swooped down overhead. Fire blazed from its maw, and she found herself feeling relieved because it got someone else. She got to live. The soldier turned back to look at her, then trotted back to shake her by the shoulders. “Snap out of it!” She looked up and over at him. “Look, if we don't get inside the keep, and I mean now, that dragon will eat the both of us! You don't want that, do you?” She shook her head, mutely. “Then come on!”

The soldier – Hadvar – dragged her along by her arms. Well, he'd only grabbed the one, but they were kind of bound together at the wrists.

“Ralof, you damned traitor! Out of our way!”

Oh, it was Blondie again, she noted, dully. “We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time!”

“Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!” Hadvar dragged her towards the keep, so she went, stumbling after him.

The door slammed shut behind them.