My name is Chamelion. I'm an Argonian.

               I don't remember much of what happened before. All I remember was my body getting into a sudden jolt, as if I was bucked forward, vision blurred as I felt myself being moved along on… something. I waited for my eyes to focus, seeing mostly a vision of white but with a darkened figure in front of me. I felt motion, heard the creaking of wood. I could feel something hard against my rear, letting me know I was sitting down.

               Finally, my eyes focus. The white was the snow-filled hills and clouds, broken apart by various trees, seemingly weighed down by snow. The darkened figure was a male, dressed in leather armor, his back to me. The hard feeling on my bottom, as well as the creaking wood, I finally surmised as a travelling horse-drawn cart. The man that was facing away from me was driving the cart. Ahead of him, another identical cart, full of men and women on the back, all looking forlorn for some reason. Ahead of them, a lone man, on horseback. I had no idea why I was in this cart myself, and I was trying to regain my senses. A white buck, watching us from a distance, lifts its head and bolts off into the-

               “Hey, you. You're finally awake." I snap my head around. Another male, blond hair, was sitting across from me. He was wearing a blue tunic with chainmail underneath it – I realized it was identical to the people in the cart ahead of us – and had this beaten look about him. He was staring directly at me as he spoke. “You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

               Ah, yes, now I remember. I just crossed into Skyrim, from my old lands, when I was ambushed. I clearly had been knocked unconscious as I don't remember anything else aside from the-

               My head suddenly throbbed. I reached up to rub my head… only to find my hands were tied. Wait, why? What happened?

               “Damn you Stormcloaks," A deep growling voice to my right was heard. I glanced over, at another male, short black hair, also looking rather beaten up. However, unlike the previous two men, he was wearing a simple light tunic. I noticed his hands were also tied and glanced over to the blue-clad one to see his were as well. “Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy."

               He continued droning on, “If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell." I shook my head. That was the action of an amateur thief, if you had asked me.

               “You there." He turned to me. “You and me – we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants." In my mind, I figured he meant the blue-clad one sitting across from me, since the thief was sounding bitter about being captured in the first place.

               To my immediate right, I noticed another man, this one being quiet throughout the whole time that I almost didn't notice him. And for good reason: he was gagged. I raised an eyeridge at that, wondering why he was so special to be gagged, and took a moment to look at his clothing. Chainmail tunic, fur cloak, blonde hair. Nothing stood out for me. However, the thief also took notice, as he looked over and commented, “And what's wrong with him, huh?"

               The man in blue's voice suddenly turned into a sharper tone. “Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King." Stormcloak? So, wait, he is the leader of the Stormcloaks? And a king? Now I was worried. Did the king get kidnapped?

               “Ulfric?" This was the thief speaking, in a knowing but worrying tone. “The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion." Oh. So, he's not THE king, as the man in blue stated. Just a… Jarl, but a rebel leader of sorts. Although that didn't ease my concerns any better. “But if they've captured you… oh god, where are they taking us?"

               That was a good question. The rest of the conversation was lost to me as I looked around, trying to find anything to help me find out where I was exactly, as we were still moving throughout the mountains. Nothing was standing out. Just hills, mountains, trees, a stone gate…

               …Wait, that wasn't there before. I immediately turned my attention to a large stone gate, with a guard (I assume Imperial, at this point) pacing back and forth along it. As we were approaching, the gates started opening, and I could barely hear the soldier speaking.

“General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!"

               “Good, let's get this over with." That was the man on the lone horse leading the caravan. However, he was too far away for me to get a good look at him, but I at least was aware of his stature. We pass underneath the gate, with Tullius taking one path, and the caravan going another path, around a large stone tower with a building at its feet.

               “Look at him," the man in blue muttered, as we passed by Tullius. “General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmore are with him." Indeed, I could see an elf, on horseback, flanked by two others in armor, speaking with Tullius. “Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this." I frowned lightly, not sure what was going on.  I was still trying to piece together the events of earlier, and why I was captured in the first place.

               We rounded a corner – Tullius and the Thalmar disappearing behind the stone wall of the building – and I craned my head around to look ahead. I glanced up, seeing several banners with an odd red emblem, that I could not recognize. There were a few other buildings flanking both sides of the path we were on.

               “This is Helgen," the man in blue said, his tone having changed to that of… reminiscence? “I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny," he continued, as I kept looking around, “when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used  to make me feel so safe."

               “And yet, you decide to join the Stormcloaks," I finally spoke. I didn't wait for a response, looking back around, noticing a larger building than most. There was a woman and a man leaning on the railing on either side of a door, with a boy sitting on the steps. He seemed to be enjoying himself, as if we were in a parade.

               “Who are they, daddy?" that was the boy. “Where are they going?" Indeed, a question I wanted to know myself.

               “You need to go inside, little cub." That was the man,  clearly the father, as my eyes fell on the boy, who was also staring at me in curiosity.

               “Why? I want to watch the soldiers," the child responded, breaking eye contact with me to look at his father. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation as the noise of the wheels drowned them out, but I did see the young boy getting up and, with a forlorn walk, head into the house.

               I felt the cart slowing to a stop, not too far away from the house the boy went into. “Get these prisoners out of the carts. Move it!" This was from a harsh-sounding woman, which mildly surprised me, and I looked around to see we were in an open square, on the other side of the large tower. A woman in a robe, a man wearing a hood and holding a bloodied axe, and… oh dear… an executioner's block were standing around at the square. It then hit me… I was being carried off to my execution.

               The carts finally stopped. “Let's go," the man in blue stated. “Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

The thief, on the other hand, protested, “No, wait! We're not rebels!"

“Face your death with some courage, thief," the blue man responded, as we all got up and, one by one, started stepping down from the cart.

               Eventually, the four of us in that cart, as well as the four from the other cart, stood in front of four men – no, I'm sorry. Three men and one woman. Two of the men – one standing in front of each group – were holding a book and a quill. “Step towards the block when we call your name," the woman spoke in a commanding tone. “One at a time."

               The man on our side holding the book looks down on it. “Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." The man in the fur cape stepped forward, making his way to the block. “Ralof of Riverwood." The man in blue, whom I never knew the name of until now, stepped forward, and was also guided to the chopping block. I watched as the 'rebels' from the other group were also being sorted.

               “Lokir of Rorikstead." Considering there was only two people left, and I'm not Lokir, I glanced to the thief. Without warning, the man suddenly breaks into a sprint.

               “No, I'm not a rebel, you can't do this!" He ran past the soldiers, heading back up the path that was had taken by cart, shouting about how they were never going to kill him. Out of the corner of my eye, two more soldiers standing by another large tower drew their bows, and in two quick successions, the thief, already escaping halfway down the road and past the large house, fell to the ground, dead. Lovely, I guess that means I can't escape, either. If I wanted to.

               “Wait. You there." This was the man holding the book, looking straight at me. “Step forward."  I did so, gazing into the man's face with a neutral expression. “Who are you?"

               I stiffened, my response being a slow hiss, before speaking. “My name is Chamelion."

               The man raised an eyebrow, looking down at his list. “Are you a relative of one of the Riften dock workers, Argonian?"

               Riften? That name didn't sound familiar to me. However, I am, truly, an Argonian. Average height, average build, dark green scales mottled with lighter ones all over my body, devoid of any horns or spikes some of my other brethren would adorn, eyes a sharp yellow as they stared down at the man, who seemed to be searching for something.

               “Captain," he turned to the female, “What should we do? He's not on the list." Oh, good. Perhaps they realized there was an error and I could-

               “Forget the list. He goes to the block,"  Her words were sharp, even cutting off my hope of a reprieve. I just stared at the captain, in disbelief that she would throw away Imperial customs just for her own benefits. The man, on the other hand, turned to look at me with a pity expression.

“I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Black Marsh."

               I was then escorted towards the block, where the other six rebels stood. One of them, Ulfric, was being spoken down to by a man in armor that showed off his status. It didn't take me long for me to realize that this man had to have been General Tullius from before.

               “Ulfric Stormcloak." Even his voice had a commanding presence, and he was just speaking to a  Jarl. “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 the throne."

               Voice? I titled my head in confusion. This would explain why Ulfric was gagged, but I was confused as to how someone's voice alone would be enough to kill someone. I was an outsider, after all, and I wound up getting caught up in some sort of… rebellious act, I suppose, that started off with someone speaking to a king, and that king just… dying? I felt like I was missing something.

               “You started this war," Tullius continued, “plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace." Oh. Great. So, I walk right into a war between the Empire and the Stormcloaks, and now I'm going to die for peace to be rest-

               An unusual roar, or a cry of some sort, suddenly was heard. Everyone, including myself, glanced up in confusion. It sounded… animalistic but not animalistic at the same time. “What was that?" I heard someone, I wasn't sure who, ask. Clearly, he spoke the words that everyone was thinking.

               “It's nothing." Tullius was quick to dismiss the sound. “Carry on." The Captain gave a salute as the General stepped away, turning to the woman in the robe. “Give them their last rites."

               The woman turned to  the prisoners in line, raising her hands into the air. “As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you-“

               “For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." THIS came from one of the other prisoners, immediately stepping forward to face the captain. I stared at him, wide-eyed,  surprised that someone would be so impatient. Then again, he is a Stormcloak…

               “As you wish." The Priestess, I finally surmised her to be, sounded clearly annoyed at being interrupted. The Stormcloak rebel stood proudly at the block, being pushed down to his knees by the Captain, as the hooded figure lifted up his axe, and struck down on the man's neck, cleaving the head form the body, the head rolling into a crate as the Captain shoved the rest of the body off the block. I felt sick, having to watch that. People who were watching from the sidelines started jeering at either the Stormcloaks or the Imperials.

               “Next, the lizard!" I barely heard those words, and I wished I hadn't. I felt immediate dread as I realized what was going to happen. I took a step forward – only to pause as I heard that same, odd cry… it sounded louder than before. Clearly the rest of the people heard it as well, looking up into the sky to look for the source of the noise.

               “I said, next prisoner!" Damn. Apparently, the sound didn't bother her one bit, and I was forced up to the chopping block, a face of disgust as I looked down at the dead body of the rebel. I felt myself getting pushed down. I couldn't look at the head, so I turned away, deciding to stare up at the headsman, the tower behind him, the large winged creature emerging from the mountains, flying…

               ….Wait. My eyes locked on to that large beast, wings occasionally blotting out the sun as it circled around, before landing on the tower, sending a large shockwave upon the landing, knocking the Headsman away. Everyone else had noticed at this point. I heard someone shout “Dragon!" and the sound of swords being drawn. The dragon in question let in a large breath and let out a cry in some language I could not decipher, but I did see that the sky suddenly turned dark orange and witness several shards of flames falling from the sky. One landed close to me, the impact enough to kill the headsman but knocking me away onto the ground.

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               Absolute pandemonium occurred. I  managed to get to my feet, looking around. The once serene town of Helgen was in a mass waste of destroyed rocks, bodies from both sides of the faction scattered around the ground, fire still raining from the skies, smoke stinging my eyes to make it difficult to see.

               “Hey, Argonian! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!" That was Ralof, though because of the smoke I had a hard time seeing him. I could tell he was in front of me, motioning me  somewhere. I decided to follow him, since I was still disoriented by the chaos that was going on. I eventually followed him into what looked like one of the towers, my vision clearing up, able to see a few of the Stormcloak rebels, injured, laying on the ground, being tended to by another Stormcloak. I turned around at the sound of the door closing, and spotted Ulfric standing nearby. His gag was finally removed, and I tensed.

               “Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?" Ralof was speaking to the Jarl, though I kept my distance, surveying my surroundings. I could see a spiral staircase going up, but no other means of escape. If that Dragon was powerful enough, he could crush us all in the tower.

               “Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric spoke in a calm manner. The roar of the dragon, now distinguishable from its appearance, echoed in the tower. “We need to move. Now!"

               “Where?" I finally spoke, motioning to- oh right, my hands were still bound, so I nodded my head up the stairs. “This is the only way out, or out through the doors and into that dragon!"

               “Yes, up through the tower,  let's go!" Ralof agreed with me. Even though I wasn't originally planning to go UP the tower and get closer to the dragon. “Come on! Hurry!" He rushed up the stairs,  and despite my better judgment, I followed him.

               There was another Stormcloak, standing at the landing of the upper floor, busy removing rubble that was blocking the stairs to a higher landing, I assumed the roof. However, just as we got there, part of the tower's wall caved in, the Dragon peeking his head into the newly opened hole, and suddenly let out a blast of searing-hot flames right into the landing. I backed out quickly to avoid the searing heat, but I knew that the rebel that was up there already wasn't so lucky.

               The dragon fled. I cautiously climbed back up to the landing, and looked out through the opening of the tower, noticing a familiar house nestled against it. It was mostly destroyed due to the dragon's attack, but I realized this was the house that young boy had gone into, and worried about his safety. That feeling was dashed quickly  by Ralof's voice.

               “See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going!" Ralof pointed out through the opening, towards another building in the distance.

               “Wait, how did you-“ I was about to ask how he got freed of his bindings, but Ralof cut me off. “Go! We'll follow when we can!" He ran back down the stairs, to my frustration. Having been left alone, I looked over the edge of the wall, down at the building below. It was a steep drop, but fortunately I didn't see anything that could seriously injure me, so I took a risk and jumped.

               I landed rather hard on the floor, stumbling a bit, but was fortunate enough not to land anywhere dangerous. I looked around the upper floor for a moment; bookshelves knocked over, furniture scattered everywhere, several parts of the floor had holes in them. And I assumed the staircase was also destroyed as I could not find it, so I dropped myself down on the lower floor, where it was in a worse condition than the upper. Half the house was blocked by flaming rubble, and the only way out was through a newly made hole in the wall, where I could see the streets, as  well as a couple people scrambling about from the dragon attack.

               I stepped out onto the streets, looking over, recognizing the boy, as well as the man with the book from earlier. “Haming," the man was saying, “you need to get over here. Now!" The dragon suddenly landed, scaring the boy back towards the other man, and both ducked around the building as the dragon let off a fierce blast of flames, spreading across the street. I ducked behind some rubble to avoid getting hit by the flames. After the flames dispersed, I dashed across the road to hide behind the inn with the others, breathing heavily.

               “Still alive, prisoner?" He asked me. I shot the man a look at the dumb question. “Keep close to me if you want to stay that way." He turned to another man I didn't notice was there before. “Gunner, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join their defense."

               “God guide you, Hadvar," Gunner responded, as Hadvar (now that I know his name) started moving out form the cover of the building, he and I both watching the dragon as it kept flying around in circles. We snuck our way down the road the dragon had attacked from before, ducking into a ruined alley as  the dragon landed once again on a high wall, breathing another blast of flame in a direction I couldn't see, though I could feel the heat from the intense flames.

               The dragon fled, driven away by a flew of arrows and fireball spells, and both Hadvar and I continued on, going through a demolished house, past the burnt corpse of someone who was unlucky enough to be in the dragon's flames at that moment, dropping back out at the gate I recognized from before. I was amazed it was still in good condition, but I couldn't think on that for now, as several Imperials were also milling about, watching the dragon above. However, Hadvar pressed on, making his way through more of the grounds with me following close behind, ducking under a large archway into a large clearing. My mental mapping of the place told me we just basically did a wide circle of Helgen, winding up in a place behind the execution stage. At that point, Ralof emerged, heading towards the two of us.

               “Ralof!" Hadvar shouted to him, “you damned traitor, out of the way!"

               “We're escaping, Hadvar," Ralof responded, and I noticed he had an axe in his hand.  Wonder where he got that from. “You're not stopping us this time."

               “Fine, Hadvar spat, “I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde." Speaking of the dragon, I watched him swoop down, grab an archer off the wall, and fling him high into the air as he flew off. This dragon was serious business.

               “You!" Ralof shouted, and I realized he was speaking to me. “Come on, into the keep!"

               “With me, prisoner," Hadvar countered, moving further down along the keep, heading to a different door than the one Ralof was going into. “Let's go!"

               I decided to follow Hadvar, stopping long enough to shout out at Ralof. “There is no way I'm going to be joining you Stormcloaks if this is your result of your stupid war!" I ducked into the open door that Hadvar held for me, the door slamming shut behind us.

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               It was dark. No, wait. My eyes needed to adjust to the sudden darkness. I also realized they were stinging again, from the smoke I had to have gone through from earlier. I tried to wipe my eyes but then remembered, nope. Still bound. Damn it all.

               “Looks like we're the only ones who made it," Hadvar said, as he and I looked around the room. There were numerous beds along the walls, with chests sitting in front of them, a table or two, some bookshelves, and a couple racks with a few swords on them. The bunkers. “Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the End Times?"

               “Pretty sure it was," I commented, turning to Hadvar. Although I have no idea why one would show up out here… or why. I didn't say such.

               “We should keep moving," Hadvar continued. “Come here. Let me see if I can cut the bindings off." You would not believe how relieved I am to finally get my hands to move. I eagerly held out my bound wrists, Hadvar cleanly cutting them off, and I walks around rubbing my wrists. “There you go. Take a look around, there should be plenty of gear to choose from. I'm going to see if I can find something for these burns."

               I nodded, walking over to one of the chests, opening it rather quickly. I at first thought it a bad idea to raid another soldier's belongings, but as this was currently a dragon attack, and there probably won't be a lot of people around to catch me doing it… And because Hadvar gave me permission. I grabbed a sword and a few leather pieces of armor, putting them on eagerly, swinging the sword around a few times. Swords really weren't my preference, but now I couldn't be picky. I also walked around, grabbing a few coins, and a key. Interesting. It had “Helgen" inscribed on it, so I put it in the pockets of my new clothing and nodded to Hadvar.

               “Let's get going, that thing is still out there," Hadvar approached something on the wall, looking like a ring on a chain, and pulled it. I continued looking around, grabbing a few more loose coins, cracking my neck as I looked over and followed Hadvar through a new door that opened from the ring. Upon closer glance at said ring I realized it was a pull chain, connected to a mechanism imbedded into the wall that allowed a door to open.

               “Come on, this way," Hadvar led me down the hallway, the corner adorned with the same banner I viewed form the outside, before we turned and ventured further in, to another gate. On the other side we could see two of the Stormcloaks. Hadvar stood to one side of the gate, pulling on a chain to open it. I moved to the other end, where I was able to see the two Stormcloaks.

               “Maybe we can reason with them," Hadvar whispered. I wasn't one to argue. They were hiding from the dragon, same as us, so we both entered the new chamber. The two Stormcloaks, one male, one female, spot us  immediately and drew their weapons. “Hold on, now, we only want to-“

               “If you want to die, then so be it," the female cut him off, forcing Hadvar and I to draw our own weapons. I wasn't that skilled in the sword, and I noticed that the woman and Hadvar both had shields, with the other male a large axe in his hands. Hadvar went to strike the axe-man, and I went after the woman.

               It wasn't much of a fight, only several hits from both of our blades and the Stormcloaks were slain. Hadvar himself had gotten knocked down – due to the Stormcloaks ganging up on him at once even though I was trying to pull the female off him – but he seemed to recover just fine. I grabbed the shield from the dead female, and followed Hadvar to another locked gate, which he opened with a key. We both stepped through, and down another hallway.

               Down a set of stairs, followed by a turn of a corner into a large hallway, we stopped as we felt the ground shake from the furious roar of the dragon. The hallway ahead of us suddenly crumbled, leaving large debris to block our way through, much to Hadvar's dismay.

               “Damn. That dragon doesn't give up, does it?" He growled out, before turning towards a door that I didn't notice before, opening it and leading me into a storeroom. I could hear more voices inside – Stormcloaks, I gathered – and drew my weapon in preparation for another fight.

               The two men were carrying a large axe and a halberd, which meant a few quick dodges around their large swings and a slash here and there, before those two men had fallen. I paused to catch my breath, Hadvar looking around the storeroom.

               “See if you can find some potions," he instructed me, and I gave a silent nod, searching various barrels, shelves, and crates for anything good.  There were a few game animals hanging up by the fireplace, and I figured some meat wouldn't hurt for the long run either. I also searched the shelves and barrels, as I mentioned, finding a few small potions but also cooking ingredients, which I took. Helgen Keep was collapsing from the dragon's attack and I figured it's best to not let these go to waste.

               Satisfied with my scavenging, I walked up to Hadvar, who was standing in front of another door, which I surmised led back to the hallway. “Done then? This way!" He opened the door, spilling the two of us back out into the hallway, on the other side of the rubble. I could hear voices in the distance, which also caught Hadvar's attention,  and we both dashed down the hall, down some stairs, into another large chamber.

               This chamber had several cages in them, of various sizes, and I could see a Stormcloak attacking someone in a robe, who was shooting lightning out of his hands. The Stormcloak collapsed from the shock, and the robed man turned deeper into the room, with Hadvar and I following suit, to encounter another Stormcloak standing near the body of someone. The robed man shot out more lightning from his hand, paralyzing the Stormcloak, and Hadvar was quick to finish him off with a sword through the ribcage.

               “You fellows happened along just in time," the robed man spoke, walking back over to the cages. I myself knelt to inspect the bodies, noticing one amongst them that wasn't a Stormcloak, wearing the colors of the Imperials. Apparently, he died during the fight before we arrived. “These boys seemed a bit upset at how I've been… entertaining their comrades." I glanced back up, looking at the cages. Clearly, he was a torturer of sorts. This would also explain his electricity spells.

               “Don't you even know what's going on?" Hadvar argued, “A dragon is attacking Helgen!"

               “A dragon?" The torturer scoffed, “Please. Don't make up nonsense."

               I peered over at the torturer as I searched the bodies. “No, he's right, we barely escaped from the dragon." I ducked into a small room that was left open, noting a small desk with a few books and coins on it. I decided to grab them all as Hadvar continued talking to the torturer.

               “…You have no authority over me, boy!" Sounded like there was a heated argument.

               “Didn't you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!" Hadvar looked infuriated with the torturer, and I could see him turn his attention to one of the cages. “Wait a second. Looks like there's something in this cage."

               “Don't' bother with that," the torturer dismissively responded, “Lost the key ages ago. Poor fellow screamed for weeks."

               My eyes laid on a dagger that was sitting on the counter. Perfect! I grabbed it eagerly, twirling it in my hand for a moment before putting it away, and noticed a few rods used for lockpicking purposes. I decided to grab them as well, feeling a lot more comfortable with these two in my claws.

               Hadvar noticed me taking the lockpicks and motioned me over to the cage. “See if you can get it open with those picks. We'll need everything we can get."

               I gave a nod, stepping out of the small room, walking over to the cage in question. I noticed a corpse of a man (probably the one the torturer mentioned screaming for weeks) inside of it, then kneeled in front of the lock. Being a skilled lockpicker, I could see that this was a simple matter, wedging the pick and the dagger I just picked up, fiddling with it for a moment before I slowly turned the lock, an audible 'click' echoing the room, and I swung the door open with ease.

               I gave a smug look to the torturer, who just shrugged. “Sure, take all my things," he dripped sarcasm from his words. I ignored him and entered the cage, kneeling to inspect the contents.

               Aside from the corpse, there was a few coins, a blue potion, and a book. I collected everything, checking the corpse's pockets (more coins and potions), then flipped through the book with curiosity. To my surprise, it was a spell tome, allowing me to learn the intricacies of channeling lightning from the fingertips, and after a quick study of the tome I felt confident enough to replicate such actions and fire sparks from my own claws. Of course, I chose not to do so, in front of the other two. Instead I walked over to Hadvar, who was standing near another hallway lined with cells, but I paused upon passing a small end table with a book on it. There was an insignia on the cover of it, which caught my attention: it was a dragon on the cover, with its wings spread but angled to look like points of a diamond.

               Curious, I picked up the book, opening the cover to read the title. “The Book of the Dragonborn," I read aloud, then glanced up at the two of them who were looking at me. “I think I'll keep this for later." I tucked the book away, then followed Hadvar down the cells.

               I heard the torturer say something, but I couldn't hear him, instead looking into each of the cells. One of them had a skeleton in it,  with some items, so I decided to take a side detour to pick the lock and loot the body, then followed Hadvar down a few more turns, a set of stairs, and into yet another torture chamber.

               At the end of this chamber, the wall had been knocked over, leaving a large hole into a natural cave tunnel. I was surprised at this, walking towards the opening of the tunnel, looking around with a bit of nervousness. “Not quite the escape route I expected," I murmured.

               “Better to stick together down here," Hadvar replied, heading down the tunnel. I knew better than to argue, following Hadvar down the tunnels, before reaching a large cave with a small stream flowing through it. There were a few Stormcloaks down here as well. Both Hadvar and I immediately few our weapons, as did the Stormcloaks.

               I spotted two archers on the other side, and decided to focus on them instead, jumping down into the stream and wading my way through, dodging the arrows being slung at me, before climbing up the other end and swing my dagger at the first archer, who pulled his bow away to draw a large Halberd. My dagger was faster, however, and it didn't take long for the man to collapse by my blade.

               An arrow shot right past my head just as I finished him off, and I spotted the second archer aiming at me. I deflected the next arrow with my shield, charging at the archer, dagger drawn… but it never reached its target, as another arrow suddenly shot past my head, but from the other direction, striking the archer in the throat, making him drop to his knees as he gurgled out the last of his breath. I turned around, Hadvar standing behind me with a bow drawn.

               I gave him a silent nod of thanks, bending down to wrench the bow from the fallen soldier, as well as the arrows they were both carrying, and checked the remaining bodies for anything of importance. Once satisfied, both Hadvar and I continued our trek through the caves, stopping at what looked like a drawbridge blocking our path.

               “Let's see where this goes," Hadvar walked over to a lever and gave it a pull, releasing the hold on the drawbridge and letting it fall across the small pit. We both started walking across it, though I paused to look up at the ceiling, a faint glow of light coming from the opening. Though it briefly disappeared as a large dark figure flew across the opening, shaking the cave rather violently.

               “Look out!" We both dove for cover, a loud crashing sound coming behind us. I dared to look behind myself to see that the drawbridge collapsed, and the tunnel that was just came out of had caved in. I let out a huff. “Well, looks like there's no going back now,"  I muttered, and examined the new surroundings.

               It was a much larger tunnel system, with a stream flowing through the tunnel, which we ended up following a short distance  down before reaching a small tunnel that the water was flowing through. I knelt by the tunnel and frowned as I could tell it was much too small for either of us.

               “Argh," Hadvar grumbled. “That doesn't go anywhere." He turned to a path that branched off the side of the tunnel, lit by a nearby lantern. “I guess we better try this way."

               I had no arguments, though I did glance over at the skeleton that was holding the lantern, wrinkling my snout at it. We followed  the tunnel down, as it began to grow narrower and darker, forcing us to stand in single file formation, with me leading.

               I regret doing such. My face suddenly became covered in some sort of sticky, sinewy, ropy substance, which I immediately recognized as spiderwebs. A few steps further in and we stumbled into a giant cave full of spiderwebs, large spider eggs, cocooned bodies hanging from the cave roof… and oh, yes, giant spiders, which started to attack us.

               Hadvar went on ahead, drawing his sword and started to attack the spiders, while I stepped back, drawing out my bow, and shot a few arrows at the arachnids with disgust. One, two fell quickly to my arrows, with Hadvar killing the last two on his own.

               “What next, giant snakes?" It was a bit of dry humor coming from Hadvar, so I only responded with a slow shake of my head as I went to each of the spiders, pulling out their venom glands (Spider venom is a very potent ingredient, of course) and even rummaged into he giant egg sacs for some fresh spider eggs.

               Content with my new collection of ingredients for later use, we left the spider's den, following the stream down into a large cavern, following the stream down as some light shone down on-

               “Hold up," Hadvar stopped me  and pulled me behind a large boulder, motioning towards the light. “There's a bear just ahead. See her?"

               I craned my neck. Indeed, there was a bear, sleeping under the sunlight. Hadvar continued.

               “I'd rather not tangle with her right now. We might be able to sneak by. Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step."

               I judged the distance between us, the bear, and where the way out was. There appeared to be a wide enough space for us to by the bear without disturbing her.

               “Or if you're feeling lucky," Hadvar suddenly handed me his bow, “you can take this bow. Might take her by surprise."

               I shook my head, pushing the bow away from me. “No, we're the ones intruding on her territory, I see no reason to attack her, as we're just trying to escape."

               Hadvar nodded, and I snuck my way along the side of the walls, watching the bear carefully. Along the way, I spotted an iron helmet that appeared to be discarded, and carefully picked it up, making sure not to bang it against anything and disturb the bear.

               Finally, we pass  the bear, ducking around a rock wall, and I exhaled sharply. “Whew,  that was close." We both continued our way, seeing light, signaling that we were finally exiting out of the caves and into… well, I don't even know.

               I had to pause to get my eyes adjusted to the light, having been in the dim lighting for so long, the sharp bite of the cold hitting through my scales for a moment. All of this was quickly dissipated as a large roar was heard above us, making us duck behind a large boulder, as we watched the dragon flying high in the skies. It appeared to have appeased itself of rampaging Helgen, and started flying off, disappearing behind a large mountain in the distance.

               “Looks like it's gone for good this time,"  Hadvar said, slowly stepping out from behind the rock. He continued watching the sky for a moment, before turning to me. “But I don't think we should stick around to see if he comes back." He started walking down the path. “Closest town from here is Riverwood. My uncle's the blacksmith there. I'm sure he'd help you out."

               He paused and looked at me. “It's probably best if we split  up. Good luck, I wouldn't have made it out without your help today."

               I said nothing. My eyes were still staring at the mountain where the dragon flew off. I had no idea what to do now. I entered a new land, got captured immediately, barely escaped execution, and now had this concern for a dragon roaming the lands. There was one thing for sure, however.

               My name is Chamelion. I'm a fugitive.