Prologue

A Nord woman wakes up to the sound of hooves hitting cobblestone and wood creaking with weight. Her emerald eyes scan her surroundings. She was in a carriage, a man dressed in fine clothes sat next to her with a gag in his mouth. In front of her was a different man dressed in blue Stormcloak armour and a thief in rags next to him. The man in the armour tried engaging her in conversation but she ignored him flat, focusing on the scents in the air.

She sighed and slumped down in her seat, finally coming to terms that she was probably going to die soon. The air held a sharp smell of blood- new and old- and the distinctive smell of horses. Her ears picked up when they rode into a small town with the residents watching from the safety of their houses. Voices spoke about them and commands were shouted to waiting soldiers.

The carriage stopped and the occupants climbed off in a very ungraceful way due to the bindings on their wrists. Names were called out and each owner was ticked off from a long list. One tried to run but was shot in the back by some archers. The soldier with the list studied the Nord woman.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"My name is Seraphina." she replied with confidence.

"You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman." the man looked at his list again before turning to the Captain waiting behind him, watching the prisoners. "What do we do? She's not on the list."

"Forget the list, she goes to the block." the Captain said, glaring daggers at everyone wearing blue armour. Seraphina snarled at her attitude.

"I'm sorry, at least you will die here, in your homeland." the soldier said.

This is anything but my homeland, she thought. Seraphina stalked over to the gathering of Stormcloaks and joined them in their waitings for death. A man in armour far more pristine than the others was addressing who he called the Jarl Ulfric of Windhelm. She ignored his speech, instead feeling something strange in the air.

A man behind her was called up to the block and was thrust down on his knees by the Captain. A sound, like a roar, pierced the air. "What was that?" someone asked in a panicked voice. "Its nothing," came the reply.

The man kneeling with his neck exposed on the block seemed more annoyed than scared as the blade came down to claim his end. Someone said a few words about him next to Seraphina but her mind was on thoughts containing that roar. It couldn't be, could it?

"You, the one in the rags." the Captain shouted at her and brought her attention back to current proceedings.

She walked over to the crimson block. The body of the previously alive man was still there and she kicked it out of her way. Someone kicked her and forced her to her knees. The smell of fresh blood wafted from the head in front of her and the sticky liquid coated her cheek. Another roar sounded in the air and a black shape flew across the sky.

Screams and shouts of terror sounded through the air as it landed on the tower right in front of her, knocking down the headsman to the ground and sending dust up in the air. Alarmed shouts echoed around her as she got to her feet.

The dust had yet to settle when she broke the binds around her wrists and fled away from the block. Everyone around her was either running for shelter or shot arrows at the pitch black dragon flying around and torching everything.

Seraphina was neither of those, instead running to the gates of the town and into the surrounding forest. All hell would break loose if that dragon were to smell her scent or see her form.

But how was he here? Dragons had long since been extinct in Skyrim. And surely that couldn't have been the World-Eater himself!

Seraphina ran through the forest like her life depended on it, for indeed, it did. Her feet carried her north, and into a nice little hamlet.

"Where am I?" she questioned the guard stationed by the gate.

"Riverwood." he replied. "Are you okay? It looks as though you've been running for days."

She smiled at him. If only he knew. "I'm fine, but I have news from Helgen."

"Helgen? Aren't they executing Jarl Ulfric today? I saw the carriages ride through." he narrowed his eyes. "I saw someone who looked a lot like you sitting next to Ulfric too."

Seraphina turned away from him. "No, you must have seen someone else who looked like me."

The guard shrugged. "I guess, I doubt someone like you could escape them."

"I saw it!" a cry echoed through the streets. "It was big and black like the night sky!"

"Mother, calm down!" another person said.

An old woman came storming through the street, yelling. A man was trying to calm her down, telling her that she just saw a bird or something and mistaken it.

Seraphina walked to the woman. "What are talking about?"

The woman gave her a wild look. "A dragon! It was black as the night and as big as a mountain! It came flying over here to the north!"

Seraphina abandoned the woman when the man came to take her inside. She walked to the blacksmith. "What weapons or armour do you have?"

The blacksmith looked at her. "You don't believe what she said, do you?"

Seraphina shrugged. "No, of course not. Dragons are extinct, haven't been seen for years."

He looked relieved. "Good, don't get many visitors here. Don't want old Hilde scaring them away. Anyway, I can't offer you much since the Legion and Stormcloaks both buy up any piece of gear around."

Seraphina looked disappointed. "Are you sure? Not even a steel sword or something?"

He considered it for a second before a shouting turned his attention away from her. "Uncle!"

"Hadvar? I thought you were at Helgen." the blacksmith replied.

A soldier, one with red shoulder-length hair and Imperial armour, walked up to the blacksmith. Seraphina remembered him as the one who had called out all the names. She ducked her head and avoided looking at him for fear of being recognised. "Uncle, I need to tell you about something urgently. Can we go inside for a second?"

"Hadvar, I have a customer here but I'll be with you right after." the blacksmith gestured towards Seraphina.

Hadvar looked at her briefly before turning away and looking back quickly again. "How did you-"

"I ran out the gates." she cut him off.

"But the gates were locked, and that dragon was flying around killing anything that moved. You couldn't have just run out."

She gritted her teeth together and thought of a reply but the blacksmith spoke up before she could. "I don't know what happened at Helgen, Hadvar, but why don't you and your friend come inside to talk about it."

Hadvar looked at her and nodded. The blacksmith walked inside the house linked to the forge. Hadvar and Seraphina followed him inside. The room they walked into was warm and fresh food was placed upon the wooden table. "Now, what is this talk about gates and a dragon?" the blacksmith asked once he had sat down on the bench.

"Uncle, you know that I was stationed at Helgen for the executions of those caught in the ambush?" Hadvar asked. He nodded. "Well, after the first person was dead and the second- this woman right here- was sitting by the block, a black dragon flew down from the sky and attacked. It killed many men, Stormcloak or Imperial, but I managed to escape using the underground system and ran here to find you. It flew in this direction when it finally finished Helgen so I become concerned."

Both men turned to look at Seraphina. "So how did you get here? And how did you escape?"

She shifted under their gazes. "I cut free my bonds on a dagger from the ground and ran towards the gates. The dragon must of caused it to fall or break so I ran through it." of course she lied through her teeth but they didn't seem to notice.

"So why were you being executed?" the blacksmith asked suspiciously.

"I was caught and taken when they ambushed. I swear I haven't done anything illegal, just crossing the border." her face carried an innocent expression.

"Caught at the wrong place at the wrong time." Hadvar nodded. "I'm sorry we tried to kill you when you were innocent."

Seraphina smiled at him. "I forgive you, you weren't the one to order my death, after all."

The blacksmith stood up from his seat. "All right then, you're welcome to stay here for as long as you like. Any friend of Hadvar's is a friend of mine." he held out his hand for her to shake it. "My name is Alvor by the way."

"Seraphina." she replied.

"Seraphina? Haven't heard that one before. Where are you from?"

She stiffened. "I wasn't born in Skyrim. My mother and father had me when they were travelling and can't really remember where they were at that time." she really did hate lying to these good people but if they knew the truth, she would probably be killed for being crazy.

Alvor's eyes softened. "I'm sorry then, I never would of thought that..." he trailed off, unsure of where he was going with that.

"No, its okay, really. I've grown used to the fact." she said with a warm smile.

Hadvar cleared his throat and Seraphina turned to look at him. "I'm sorry to have put you in this position but the Jarl needs to be warned about the dragon attack. I'll need to stay here to deal with any other survivors."

Seraphina nodded in understanding. "I'll tell him."

He looked relieved. "And I want you to have this," he unbuckled his sword belt and handed it to her. "The wilds of Skyrim are dangerous."

She looked the sword over in her hands. "Thank you, I'll set off immediately." She turned on her heel and walked outside. The smell of smoke in the air made her wrinkle her face in disgust. Her feet carried her through the nice little town and into the wilderness beyond.

She abandoned the cobbled streets and instead travelled through the forest and bush, avoiding wolves or slumbering bears. Her emerald eyes scanned every inch of the forest, searching for danger. Of course she found nothing more than a few foxes and rabbits.

She stopped at a little pond on the way, gazing at her human form on the sparkling water. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of bright green and her flaming locks of crimson tumbled down her back and shoulders. She had no dislike for this form but it always brought with it unwanted attention- something she did not want.

Her hands reached out to cup the water and her reflection shattered into a million ripples. She splashed the water on her face and continued her trek across the land. She knew walking through the forest takes considerably longer than the roads but she absolutely revealed in the peace nature brought with it.

Maybe some day, she decided, I'll take on my original form to explore these lands better.