Rising Ice: Prologue

• Posted by Manhattan July 25, 2015 - 1,187 views

                     

                         Prologue: New Beginnings

  "I pray to you, great Auriel, to give me safe passage and guidance on my treacherous journey." The person got up from the makeshift shrine to Auriel, then scooped it up and placed it in the open satchel at his feet. "I hate having to pray in the woods. Especially at night." The man said. He then picked up the satchel and set off. The man was tall, with white hair, pale skin, and very pointy ears. He kept muttering to himself as he walked, along with the occasional curse word here and there. "Why does Skyrim have to be so warm now? It used to be purely frozen, not a patch of grass untouched anywhere, until those Nords came and started plowing and heating up the ground." He said resentfully. His family had died to the Nords, so he has rather good reasons.          Looking around at the landscape, it looked to be around spring in this part of Skyrim. The trees were blooming new leaves and blossoms on their branches, and the wildlife had all come out of hibernation. Birds chirped cheerfully in the trees, rabbits ran around in the grass, and deer grazed peacefully in the meadows. As he walked, he checked his map and the surroundings, looking for familiar landmarks. He couldn't recognize anything until he noticed a tree he had carved the star symbol of Auriel in, which told him he was on the right track. He continued on until he looked on the map and saw the marker that marked the location of the village was close by. He changed into his white monk robes, and continued on his way. Then he saw it. The old burned and blackened sign. The only remnant of his village. He walked up to it and touched it. He had done that thousands of times before, but to him it gave him a sense that he was still a child, playing with snow foxes in the woods, pretending to be adventurers looking for treasure with the other village children. But those times are long gone, and had been for a very long time. Now all he has is a remnant, a lasting memory, that has kept him going. And the last words his mother said to him before she died. Aulsiviel, escape! And hopefully one day you can return, and bring pride to the snow elves once more! He stopped remembering his childhood, then continued further into the ruins. He stopped near a flat area with a few stone foundation blocks jutting out of the ground. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a bouquet of flowers, which he then proceeded to place at the foot of the ruined house. He muttered a silent prayer, then left the village.

          "We have you surrounded, Ulfric! There is nowhere to run. Surrender, and you will have a painless death." Aulsiviel stopped in his tracks when he heard shouting nearby. He crept behind the nearest boulder to listen. "Jarl Ulfric, do not listen that Imperial scum, we have fought tougher battles than this!"

  "No."

  "I knew you weren't a complete idiot, Ulfric. Now come along, we mustn't keep the headsman waiting."

  "But Jarl Ulfric-"

  "No excuses, Ralof. I understand your hatred for the Empire, but we're outnumbered. Resisting now would be suicide."

  "Come on, we haven't got all day!"

  "Alright, if it has to come to this."

  "Legates, search the area for any Stormcloaks that broke off from the rest! We need all of them to face trial."

  "Yes ,sir!" said three voices in unison.

  As soon as he heard that, Aulsiviel ran. He knew if they found him, they would find out he was the last snow elf, and they probably wouldn't have changed their philosophy pertaining to snow elves in all this time, regardless of give or take 5000 years passing. As soon as he started running, he heard someone yell, "Stop, rebel scum!", then footsteps getting closer and closer, until he felt the air get knocked out of him as he got tackled. He was about to get up when he got a punch that had enough force to kill a bear to his face, instantly knocking him out.

     "Hey, wake up." A voice said. As soon as he heard the voice, Aulsiviel's eyes shot open. He looked around at his surroundings. He was wearing prisoner's clothing, in a cart, on an unfamiliar road, with three complete strangers. For him, that's a first. "Good, your finally awake. We were starting to wonder if you were dead." He looked at the man who just spoke. He had golden-brown hair, pale skin and a blue cuirass with a bear emblem on it.

  "Where are we going?"He asked.

  "Helgen." The man said.

  "Why?"

  "To be executed."

  "Why are we being executed?"

  "You sure do have a lot of questions." The man next to him said. Aulsiviel studied the man. He had black hair, he was scrawny, and he, too was in prisoner garb. "What are your names?" He said. "I'm Ralof." said the golden-haired man. "My name is Lokir." said the black-haired man. "And who is he?" He asked. "That is Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm and the leader of the great Stormcloak army!" said Ralof. All of a sudden the cart jolted and stopped. "What happened?" He asked. "We're here." said Ralof. "Alright, prisoners, line up!" said a soldier. We hopped down from the cart and got in a line.They rattled off names until they got to us.
  

  "Ralof of Riverwood." Ralof walked forward to stand beside some other rebels.
  

  "Lokir of Rorikstead."

  "No, you can't do this, I'm not a rebel!" He then ran for the gate, saying, "You won't kill me!" Then he got killed. After that scene, they finally got to Aulsiviel. "Hmm... prisoner, step forward." He walked forward a few paces until they were two feet apart.

  "Who are you?" he asked.

  "Aulsiviel Sunblood." He thought that now that he was caught, there was no point in hiding it now.

  "What race are you? I don't think I've ever seen an Altmer the likes of you." 

  "I am the last snow elf."

  "Hah! Don't make me laugh! Those have been long extinct."

  As soon as he said that, he probably wished he didn't. Aulsiviel's eye right eye started to twitch unnaturally, and his skin went from white to grey. "How dare you make jokes about the fate of my people!!" "Oh gods, your being serious! How are you still alive?! Are you a vampire?" he said in awe. "No, our race was immortal, but could still die from weapons. So I've been hiding for 6000 years, protecting my immortality.""That is amazing! Wait... captain, he's not on the list." The captain was a middle-aged woman in full body armor. "Forget the list! I don't care what he is, he goes to the chopping block." "I'm sorry. I hope you can meet your race once more in Sovngarde." "Me too." He was then ushered by guards to the block, and his head was pushed onto the wood. The headsman walked forward with his axe and readied it. All of a sudden, a huge, surprisingly close by roar was heard just over the mountain. Wait... that sounds familiar... "What was that?" said a man who went by the name of General Tullius. "Probably nothing, continue!" The headsman raised his axe, and before he swung it down, he realized where he remembered that sound from. And so he ducked.

             Before it came, Aulsiviel had figured out that the sound he was hearing was none other than the roar of an ancient and legendary creature known as a dragon. He ducked and rolled in anticipation of an incoming attack, and it worked. He was running as soon as it landed, and he managed to make it to the keep before anyone realized what was going on. He knew that the gates were locked to prevent prisoner escapes, so the best bet was the keep. He ran in the door, then saw an Imperial group approaching, and a Stormcloak's body nearby. He took his clothes, then ambushed the Imperials. He killed the two guards quickly by waiting by the door and impaling one and using him as a shield, then decapitating another. He then went up against another captain, who tried to slash him across the legs, but he jumped and slashed him deeply across the chest, then impaling him. He traded in the weaker cuirass for the stronger Imperial metal armor, and continued on. He walked into a supply room and used a dagger he picked up off an Imperial soldier he slit one's throat, then stabbed one in the heart. He continued on, and found seemingly no resistance, considering mostly everyone was outside. He ran until he found a cave system the keep emptied into. "Well that probably makes prisoner escapes a LOT easier. Talk about a design flaw." Continuing, he reached the central cave that led to the outside. In the middle was a giant bear that was surrounded by bones. "I stand corrected." He knew he couldn't take on that thing by himself, so he carefully sneaked around it to the cave exit. Unless someone can kill it, no one is getting out of here alive. He thought. He then exited the cave to sunlight and with that, into his past.