Neverbound Prologue

Deep within the woods of Falkreath a great cry rang out amongst the weathered woods. Blood was spattered across the forest floor, seeping into the earth as its owners lay stone cold underneath the shadows of the trees. The tip of the elf’s knife shone with the blood of her Dunmeri brethren. Breathing heavily, the she elf belted the knife and darted off across the moonlit glade as fast as her bare feet would allow. She ran and ran. Her thoughts becoming muddled by fear and adrenaline. Lights began to shine in the distance making the elf immediately slowed her pace and cautiously make her way towards them, hoping it could be of some sort of aid.

As she drew closer, she began to hear the clanging of armor and the shouting of men. Her heart sunk as the thoughts of help slowly disappeared. She decided to go against her better judgment and gravitate towards the commotion. As they became clearer, she beheld an all out battle between what looked like an Imperial patrol and a group of men dressed in blue across a wide road. A tall man rushed towards the patrol with a mighty shout, bellowing out words in a tongue unfamiliar to the Dunmer. Such words seemed to knock back the patrol as the man began to fight alongside the others. Some of the men fled into the woods, but to no avail. The men of the patrol were hot on their trail, tearing through the trees and into the distance. The elf quickly seized her chance and dashed across the road, seeking shelter in the woods. She ,however, did not find any. An Imperial man, having caught sight of her after cutting down another, grabbed her by her hair and forced her down to her knees.

“What is a Dunmer doing out here on the border of Skyrim?” the Imperial scoffed, keeping a firm hold on the flailing she elf. The elf’s eyes darted frantically across the landscape in search of some distraction that could be granted by the fighters, but found that they had been rounded up and bound by the patrol as well. The man keeping her confined grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back. Sensing the change of circumstances, the elf backed up into the Imperial, catching him off guard. Taking her chance the she elf elbowed him, knocking the wind out of him making him let go of her. She began to run, but was pushed down once again by another Imperial.

“This one is a feisty one, ain’t she?” the commander remarked with a grin.

“Indeed. . .” the bruised Imperial replied, snarling at the elf. The other Imperial put his knee on her back, holding her arms above her head. The she elf huffed at her predicament, still trying to squirm her way out of his grasp. The soldiers who had been chasing the others into the forest, returned  from out of the trees, dragging the men back and tying them up. The last of them came in dragging the two bodies of the Dunmer that had been killed only a bit ago.

“ Commander, we found these bodies in the forest. Who do you think did this?” the guard inquired, holding one of the adult Dunmer on his back. The Commander looked down at the two Dumeri with a look of disdain and then peeked over at the she elf. Having noticed the knife wounds on the mers, he walked over to her and pulled the bloodied blade out of the Dunmer’s belt.

“I think we have our culprit, lieutenant. Put the elf in the wagon with the rest of the prisoners, ” the Commander ordered, handing the elf to the lieutenant. “We ride to Helgen.”

The Imperial dragged the elf into the cart, forcing her to sit down on the unfinished wood. Another soldier dragged the tall man, now gagged, into the seat next to her. The man, now hushed,  glared daggers at the Imperials who had bound him and stomped on the his foot in protest, emitting a nice loud yelp from him. Cursing under his breath, the soldier led another blonde man into the cart, making the man, who was now across from her, let out a light chuckle.

“No! No! You can’t do this! I have a wife and child! You can’t prove I did this!”a man screamed. The elf looked over at the commotion to see a tiny man pulling against the rope binding his hands. “I can’t go! I can’t!” he cried, putting his weight onto the soldiers that were escorting him, making them drag the man onto the cart.

“Shut up!” the Lieutenant snarled.

“You can’t make me!” the man replied  hysterically.

“I beg to differ. Soldier! I don’t want to hear another word from this man for the rest of the trip!” he ordered.The Imperial nodded and proceeded to take the hilt of his sword and knock the crazed man out.

“Anyone else?!” the Lieutenant barked as he mounted his horse, eyeing the tall man in particular, “Good.” The soldiers began to assemble themselves into their positions, gathering the rest of the men into the other carts. The carts began to roll across the moonlit path onto their destination.

In no time the man across from her fell asleep, while the other man still lay passed out with a trickle of blood running down his neck. However, the tall man refused to sleep. He was bent over in defeat, having had his pride snatched from under his feet. The female elf shivered and looked down at the now feeble man. If only they could have held out long enough, she could have made it across without this ‘detour’ of sorts.

“You sure did a good job protecting your men. Probably could have used more of that fancy shouting. . .” she scoffed.

The man looked up weakly at the Dunmer and then back to the cold floor of the wagon. She sneered at the man and spat at his feet. Again, the man looked up at her with his sad blue eyes and looked back at the woodwork.

‘This is going to be a long ride.’ the elf thought.

The elf had no recollection of when she had fallen asleep, but was awakened by the sudden halt of the cart. She squinted as the sun beat down on her crimson eyes. Hands grasped at her arms as she was roughly dragged to the front of what seemed to be a stone tower. She looked around, perceiving the area to be a keep of sorts. Women rushed their children into their houses in hushed voices. Looking around a bit more she spotted the body of the insane man with an arrow protruding from the back of his head. A justicar  crouched over the man, seemingly making sure he was truly dead. He then quickly looked up at her from across the courtyard catching her gaze and then quickly turning to mount his horse and ride off. Puzzled, the elf stared after him, not knowing what to think of the bizarre encounter.

A soldier was calling out the rest of the prisoners names as a stout Imperial man began to shout at the gagged man in words that her fogged mind could not comprehend at the moment. The man seemed to have regained his prideful nature for the sake of his men. As she was looking over at the scene, she noticed a chop block in the center of the courtyard, stained red from a recent execution.

“So this is the end, huh? Guess we deserve to die.” she mocked, gaining the attention of the other prisoners. Which emitted a few glares from the men as well as the icy cold one of the tall man. She glared back at him with an equally fierce glimmer in her eyes. She forcefully kicked the side of the knee of the Imperial beside her, hearing the satisfying crunch and rip of shattering bone and severed ligaments. The soldier cried out and landed upon the cobble with a loud thud, curling up in pain. The surrounding soldiers quickly held down the violent elf, while a brown haired Imperial walked up to her carrying a scroll of what seemed to be the names of the prisoners.

“What is your name?” he asked quickly, trying to save his comrades some time. The she elf looked up at him with her cold red eyes.

“Thraele,”she answered through thin, white lips.