Once inside the keep Hadvar said to her, “Come here and let me cut those bonds. I think we’re both going to have to help each other if we want to stay alive. You with me on that?” She replied, “Of course I am and thank you!” Hadvar cut her bonds but then asked, “What happened to you when we were crouched against that wall with the dragon directly above us? You looked white as a ghost! You were in a sort of trance or something!”
“I am not sure, the dragon, he was speaking to me, laughing at me! “Really, you sensed him speaking to you, why you, who are you anyway?” She turned and looked directly at him, frustration rising in her like a star getting ready to go nova, “Don’t you see! I don’t know! I can’t remember anything about who I was, where I was, why I was crossing the border! Nothing at all! I don’t even know my name…”
There was silence for a moment. Hadvar saw the pain in her eyes, the tears forming and rolling down her dirty cheeks. Hadvar gently placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “I am sorry, truly!” She then exclaimed, “He told me, I was the reason he was here; the reason he was destroying the town to show me how helpless all of us were against his power.”
Hadvar replied, “Hey, we’ll figure this out together! Okay? See if you can find some armor and weapons. You might need it before we get out of here. There should be something here, this is the barracks for the soldiers stationed here.”
She asked Hadvar as she began looking around the room, “Why are you being so nice to me, you were willing to lead me to the block to have my head separated from my body earlier?” “You heard me question those orders, I am a soldier, my captain ordered me to follow through!”
“She looked hard into his eyes, turned, and said, “Well, I guess that will have to do. You do seem like a pretty nice fellow when you’re not playing soldier!” Hadvar chuckled, “Thank you by the way. So you really don’t remember your name?” “No, let me find something to change into so I can help protect us!”
She began to walk around the room they had entered. It appeared Hadvar was right, this must have been a guards barracks. This room had multiple beds lined up on a raised stone floor. Likely in case the old fort leaked during the rainy seasons to prevent their beds from getting wet.
She found an old doll sitting on top of one of the chest that were lined up in the row of beds at their footboards. She thought, “I wonder if this soldier was a father and maybe this belonged to their daughter?” She gently set the doll down on the bed, then opened the chest, “Not much in this one!”
She continued searching and found another chest on the opposite site of the room. In it was a key. She mused, “likely for the lower levels and prisoner cells if it had them which she thought, it probably did.” She also found some light-weight Imperial armor and a short sword and shield and grabbed them. She then spoke to Hadvar.
“I am going to go over to the corner area to change. If you could please give me some privacy.” Hadvar smiled, “You certainly didn’t live a soldier’s life, but I respect your wishes. Anyway you’ve been through a lot lately it appears. I will keep watch this way while you change. Just let me know when you’re done.”
She thought to herself, “He’s kind, I wonder…” She walked to the corner area to change out of the ragged prison clothes they made her and Lokir wear. They were tattered and beginning to fall off of her in places. She wondered, “How long has it been since I’ve eaten or drank something? Maybe there will be some food and such lower in the fortress where the cooking takes place.”
Looking at herself as she changed and noticed how bruised, cut, and dirty she was. She thought, “It sure would be nice to get a bath and clean up a bit, maybe a good night’s sleep too.” Once she was done changing into the armor she picked up the sword and shield. She thought, “They feel like they belong here, something from her past maybe. Well, it doesn’t matter does it since she couldn’t remember a thing about who she was, where she lived, or even who her parents were.”
She came around the corner and said, “Okay, you can turn around now.” Hadvar turned and grinned. He then said come on, let me get this door open and let’s hope we don’t run into any Stormcloaks on our way through the fort.”
Hadvar pulled on an old chain with an iron ring sitting at the end of it. A mechanism could be heard clicking then the gate fell into a slot made in the floor. The doorway opened to the hallway beyond. Hadvar had picked up a torch and led the way. “Follow me, I’ll light the way ahead!”
As they neared the next closed gate they could hear someone. “Come on will you! We have to find a way out of here before either that dragon or the Imperials find us again.” They both quietly looked at each other thinking, “Stormcloaks they both thought”. Then they heard another voice, a women soldier, “I am coming, I just need a moment to catch my breath. That darn dragon almost got me out there.”
Hadvar opened the gate with a similar chain and handle device as the previous one. He said, as he walked in, “Hey you two, why don’t we…” However he never got to finish that statement as the male Stormcloak soldier cried out, “Imperial dogs! We’ll show you what it’s like to taste steel. “
Something happened that no one anticipated. This Breton girl leapt into the room and slid past the initial attacker rolling into the women Stormcloak and knocking her off her feet. She moved with an efficiently rarely seen in battle. She had just knocked her out and thought, “She would hurt when she came to but at least she’s alive, just disabled for a while.”
She recovered her stance, picked up the war axe the Stormcloak soldier had dropped after she had injured her, slammed it’s head against the nearby stone wall with an incredible force. The axe head broke off, and she threw the handle still in her hand with such force it struck the other Stormcloak in the shoulder as he turned to meet this new threat.
He was flung through the air in a twisting motion from the force of it. He struck the opposite stone wall from where she was standing. He slumped to the floor knocked out cold. Hadvar, looked at the two Stormcloaks and said to her, “Well, they’ll live to see another day! “ He then said to her, “Where did you learn to fight like that? I’ve seen a lot as a soldier but never anyone who could fight with such proficiency. Come on let’s go, we need to find a way out of here.”
Hadvar wiggled the handle on the next gate and then turned towards her and asked, “You didn’t happen to find a key in any of those chests did you? “ She searched in a bag draped over shoulder and handed him a key. He slipped it in and the gate opened.
They both silently move their way down the stairway. They could hear voices but also the roar of that darn dragon outside. As they reached the bottom and turned the corner they saw a group of Stormcloak soldiers further down the hallway.
Then with a loud roar, the whole ceiling collapsed in front of them to block the way forward. They both stumbled to their knees then coughed from the dust flying around everywhere now. Hadvar asked, “You okay, that darn dragon really has it out for you doesn’t it?” She stood up and replied, “Yeah, but I am still not sure why? “Well if we can make it out of here alive maybe we can find some answers to that.”
“I hope so, I feel like a stranger to myself. I mean what the heck!” He opened a door that led into a large area that looked like it was used for cooking and dinning by the soldiers. As they entered the room they both heard some Stormcloaks speaking to each other about getting some food and potions, anything they could find.
She quickly picked up two apples and a butter knife she saw laying on a nearby table . She placed the knife between her teeth. As Hadvar and her stepped forward one of the Stormcloaks saw them and immediately called out, “Imperials, kill the filthy dogs and teach them what it means to be ‘True sons and daughters of Skyrim!’”
Before they could move an inch, she was already in motion. She slung the two apples in sequence, and both hit their targets in the head on either side of the bigger soldier. It knocked them over onto their backs out cold. She then saw the big man who watched his two comrades fall in battle. He let out a loud battle cry raising his sword while rushing forward.
Before he could take two steps and as Hadvar raised his large battle shield to protect them, she reached up and slid the knife she had held between her teeth. As she rushed forward she threw it flying and struck the man in a soft spot under his raised sword arm forcing him to drop it. He bent over from the pain. She rushed in and slammed him with her shield knocking him unconscious on the cold stone floor of the keep.
Hadvar then said to her, “There must really be a story to tell concerning you! How on earth did you learn to fight like that? What school of combat were you in that taught you how to disable but not kill your enemy? Please tell me?” She then remember something, a memory came rushing forward and she spoke in riddles like prose.
Hadvar heard her say in a voice that sounded far away,
“In shadowed lands where darkness creeps,
We rise, we stand, where silence weeps.
With hearts aflame and spirits bold,
The warrior creed guides our way.
For those who suffer, caught in plight,
We bear the burden; we seek the light.
With honor’s shield, and loyalty’s might,
We guard the meek through endless night. “
She then exclaimed confused, “What! What just happened to me? Hadvar what did you see?” Hadvar said, “You looked far away again, you were speaking about some creed or something! We have a saying that we recite when we become part of the Imperial army, it is similar as it speaks of honor, loyalty, and protection of others. But that was more. Like an ancient creed of some type. A warriors creed possibly?” Hadvar thought a moment then asked, “Was the dragon speaking to you again?”
She looked up at Hadvar with a hunted look in her eyes and said, “No, this was something else, a memory maybe from my past? But I don’t know. All of this makes no sense to me!” Hadvar had noticed in the flickering light coming from the large open fireplace where meals were cooked that she was pretty, even covered in soot, dirt, and blood.” He just turned then and said to her, “let’s see if we can find some potions, food, and water. You look like you could use some.”
She nodded then began to walk around the room thinking to herself, “Who am I? What has happened to me?” She found some food, spices, wine, and ale, and also some potions that she split with Hadvar.
He began to protest but then she raised her hand and said, “Please, remember you said we might need each other to get out of here alive. We don’t know what’s further in yet so take them. I’ll be fine.”
He opened the next door, and they could hear yelling below and combat. They also heard the crackling of magic flying by someone below. Both ran forward and down the stairs. As they turned on the first landing they saw separate battles between two Imperial guards and three Stormcloak soldiers.
She thought, “I don’t want to get between that magic user and his target, so she ran forward and picked up a table as she went. She stood it on its side and then leaned into it and pushed forward with all her might. She came between the other Imperial soldier and the two other Stormcloaks. The table hit them hard and knocked them both over on their backs knocked out cold.
Hadvar and the other Imperial soldier moved in then. Hadvar knocked out the women soldier, but the other Imperial soldier drove his sword into the male Stormcloak. She saw what he did from the corner of her eyes. She turned towards him then and cried out, “Why did you do that? You could have just knocked him out! Who the heck do you think you are anyway?”
He looked at Hadvar for help and he gave him a look that said don’t mess with her. You’ll regret it the rest of your life! He simply stepped away and let her be. Hadvar stepped in then as the magic user who also looked to be the jailer said to the two newcomers. “You folks happened along just in time. These boys and girls seemed a bit upset at how I’ve been entertaining their comrades.”
Hadvar replied, “Don’t you even know what’s going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!” The other man said, “A dragon? Please. Don’t talk nonsense.” Then he paused and said in the next breath, “Although, come to think of it, I did hear noises coming from out there.”
Hadvar then replied, “Come with us. We need to get out of here.” The other man replied, “You have no authority over me, boy.” Hadvar replied, “Didn’t you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!”
Then the other soldier said, “Forget the old man. I’ll come with you.” Hadvar then said, Hey you, Breton. Look in these cages. There might be something we could use in them. See if you can open them with some lock picks.”
She looked around and saw a book, dagger, and bag sitting on nearby table. She look through the bag and found some lock picks. She saw the book on the table. It read, “The Book of the Dragonborn.”
She picked it up and slipped it into the bag she carried strapped over her shoulder. “This might be something I can use later to learn about the dragons if we all survive this.” She stepped over to the door of a holding cage that had a dead mage in it. She tried to use the lock pick but the first one broke on her.
Suddenly something clicked within her mind. She heard herself recite a few silent words, then there was a small flash from her hands and the door opened as if by magic. She heard Hadvar say, “Breton, and a magic user too. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by that.”
She found a few things, some potions of magic, a spell book, and some gold coins. “Maybe if we make it through this I can spend those few coins on a bath at a nearby inn if there’s another town that dragon hasn’t destroyed.”
They continued to walk down a skinny corridor with empty stalls where prisoners where kept. As they passed the cells she let her fingers rubbed across the bars of the cells and she suddenly heard whispers in her mind. “They were voices, of those who had been held in the cells, “Why do they torture us so? Why don’t they just kill us and end our suffering?” She was shaken by this and didn’t touch another cell as she passed them.
No one else noticed so they kept making their way downward and then they heard voices further in. “More Stormcloaks looking for a way out of here too. Hardvar turned and told them, “Well, I am not going to bother trying reason with them since the don’t appear to be in the mood to listen right now.”
She followed Hadvar in the lead and the other soldier knowing she would have to gauge the situation quickly and let her instincts take over. Once they entered the large room, she saw a bridge leading over to another side.
Her instincts came alive, she could sense something awakening inside of her. There was a series of steps leading to a large open pit area slightly below them with water streaming through it. She let Hadvar and the other Imperial take the two soldiers in the pit area where the water was as another Stormcloak soldier ran across the bridge toward them.
She waited until the soldier was midway across then slid between their legs twisting as she went and raised herself up behind them with her shield placed between the soldier’s legs. This tripped her off the bridge and into unconsciousness. She saw two archers beginning to line up their shots on Hadvar and the other soldier. She noticed they were standing in some oily looking substance that had leaked from some nearby barrels.
“There isn’t time for me to reach them!” She grabbed a nearby torch stuck in a torch handle on the pillar and threw it into the oily substance. It lit up like a barn fire during the holidays, and both soldiers went running for the pit and the water to put the fire out that had crawled up their legs.
“Time to move, now!” She leapt over a fence railing and knocked both of them out as she put out the remaining fire left smoldering on their bodies with the nearby water. The other two Stormcloaks laid unconscious and bloody in the pit.
The one Imperial soldier that had come with them then said, “I think you two will be fine. I am going to return to make sure the old man doesn’t get himself killed.” He looked at her with respect in his eyes now and said. “Send some help if you make it to the next town will you?”
Hadvar replied, “You bet and thank you for helping!” The other soldier looked at Hadvar then her and said, “Well, I don’t know that you need it with her along. By the way you should try recruiting her for the Empire. That one is a rare fine indeed. I’ve never seen such fighting skills before.”
He turned then and Hadvar said to her, “Come along, let’s see where this leads.” They walked into the tunnel and Hadvar found a lever pulled it and the bridge on both sides fell into place. They both stared into the vast cavern beyond. This was more like natural caves; there was no real architecture or human structures beyond the initial area that either one of them could see.
They walked ahead and down some stairs. Once down they continued together following a stream that was flowing along the floor of the cavern. The cave narrowed a bit, and they reached a dead-end going forward. She noticed the remains of what must have been a soldier or prisoner escaping a long time ago. She thought, “What’s this more gold just waiting for us next to that… Well whatever it was, just bones now. Hot bath and maybe a meal.”
They decided to continue to follow the path to the right and downward more. Hadvar turned to her and asked, “How are you holding up?” She replied, “Okay I guess. Let’s just continue so hopefully we can find a way out soon. “
As they moved downward she sensed movement ahead and saw a multitude of spider webs stretch from the ceiling of this next cavern to the floor. As Hadvar reached the bottom she sense them first before seeing them. Her hands lit up with fire. She knew they would be attacked soon.
She grimly thought to herself, “If this is spiders I am not going to be happy. I am not a fan of them at all.” Sure enough they appeared suddenly and Hadvar lurched forward with his shield raised in one hand and his Imperial short-sword in the other.
Her hands came alive then with the spark of fire she had already formed in each one. She let it flow like a river across the room and up onto the ceiling. She could smell it burning the flesh of some of the spiders as her magic rolled over them.
It was a short battle and when they were both done, all the spiders laid burnt and injured. Nether her nor Hadvar were much worse off than when they had been before this skirmish started. The cave narrowed again and she followed Hadvar downward the across a narrow pathway across another stream.
When they got to the other side she noticed an old cart sitting there and Hadvar suddenly knelt down and whispered, “There’s a bear sleeping over there. Let just try and sneak past. Or if you’re feeling really brave I have a bow and some arrows you can use.
She looked over then nodded she preferred to sneak by if possible. They both crouched and he followed her this time as they crossed into an open area to the left of where the bear slept. They slowly made their way across and Hadvar kept an eye on the bear to make sure it didn’t start to wake up and look around.
They finally made it around a corner in the cavern, both stood up and he nodded they would likely be okay. He said to her, “This way, I can see some light up ahead. Hopefully it’s a way out of this place.”
She replied quietly, “No, hopefully that dragon is far away now and we are free to look for any survivors.” He said, “Let’s hope so and then turned to walk towards what appeared to be an opening to the outside.
As they stepped outside they both saw the large black dragon rise from what must have been the ashes of Helgen and fly away to the south / southeast. Hadvar had crouched as they watched the dragon fly away as if that might save him had the dragon taken notice of them. She just stood there watching the path the dragon was taking until it disappeared across the mountain tops out towards some large ancient structure in the distance.
She wondered to herself and then spoke to Hadvar. “I don’t think we’re going to find anyone left alive in that!” She pointed up the mountain at the burning; smoldering remains of what used to be Helgen. She then said, “Let’s try to get to another town, maybe we can organize some help to come back when the fires have died down to look for anyone who might have somehow survived any of that.”
Hadvar who had been looking back at the remains of Helgen said, “I agree, let’s continue on, looks to hot there to try and do anything right now.” So they both began walking the switch back trails that lead to the opening of the cave they had just come from. As they began to walk down the path, she stopped to look at the flowers and plants.
Hadvar asked her, “What are you doing?” She replied, “Picking flowers, there’s something about this that calms me.” Hadvar grinned, “Picking flowers, really! Come on Breton!” So they continued to walk the way down the trail.