The gray cloaked man was still unconscious. From what I could see from the side of the road the wagons were traveling on all of the others had recovered. I walked through the shadows, careful to stay hidden and quiet. I didn't want any of the captors to notice me.

The man stirred and looked around. The other men all started talking. My sharp hearing picked up a quiet snick and a slight ripping sound from the cloaked man.

"Did you hear that?" Kharjo hissed from my side. "It sounded like he cut the rope."

I crouched and moved behind another tree. "How could he have done that? He doesn't have any weapons."

Kharjo shook his head and craned his neck, trying to get a better view. "I don't know Rapier. Knives, maybe?" His ears pinned back against his skull as he strained to see. He gave up and continued following me.

Let's get something straight. I didn't care a grain of Elsweyr sand for the gray man. I was only doing what Astrid had told me too, and that was to make sure that the Imperials didn't kill this man. That didn't stop me from being intrigued with what Kharjo thought he'd done.

At long last the wagons reached the gates of Helgen. Thank Talos. Those things are SLOW! Kharjo and I did our best to act like we belonged with the procession. Nobody looked at us twice as we trailed slightly behind the wagons.

The wagons stopped and everyone did their best to not knock anyone over as they shuffled out, hands bound in front of them. The gray man seemed to have his fingers twisted around, like he was holding the ropes up. He probably was. I couldn't see his eyes very well from where I was standing between two houses.

The man who had gotten out first stood before the Imperial. "Hmmm... Henbane is it?"

The Nord shook his head vigorously. "No, no! I'm not supposed to be here!"

The commander crossed her arms and glared at the Nord. "Everyone is here for a reason."

"NO! You won't kill me!" the Nord took off down the road.

"ARCHERS!"

Several men drew bows and shot down the Nord who had been running. I hissed and lashed my tail. Imperials. Always thinking about no one but themselves. The gray man stood like a pillar of stone. His back was to me, so I couldn't tell what race he was.

"Who are you?" the Imperial with the board asked.

"Why do you care?" the cloaked man snapped. "You're going to kill me anyway."

The commander grunted. "Fair point. Right over there," she pointed to the blood stained block.

The commander made sure everyone was around the block before she walked over herself. "Nameless!" she called. "Come forward!" Her eyes landed right on the cloaked man. She suddenly seemed to shrink under his intent gaze. She looked away. "I said, next prisoner!"

A loud, but distant, sound echoed through the valley right as I was about to leap in and kill every Imperial around.

"What was that?" one of the soldiers asked nervously.

The commander hesitated before answering. "Doesn't matter. Carry on."

The gray man looked up at the sky, a small smile on his face. He was shoved to his knees in front of the block and forced down. The executioner raised his axe. Another roaring sound exploded through the air, much closer this time. Something landed on top of the tower that I was standing next to. The ground shook and I stumbled into Kharjo. The executioner had fallen over and the gray man was laying on the ground.

"DRAGON!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Kharjo steadied me, eyes worried. "Are you alright?"

I nodded and ran out into where the man was laying. He groaned as I knelt beside him. I pulled the ropes around his hands gently and they came off. He had cut them.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

The man squinted up at me. I couldn't see his eyes well enough to tell what color they were. He pushed himself to a sitting position. "I'm fine." He looked up at the dragon and his eyes widened. "Alduin..." He leaped to his feet and pulled me up. "RUN!"

I didn't hesitate, and neither did Kharjo. We ran into the tower where several injured soldiers were huddled. I looked back to see the gray man pull a wicked looking axe out of a wagon before running to join us. "Don't stop!" he shouted. "Up the stairs!"

I didn't know why we were running toward the dragon, but I was too nervous to care. About half way up the stairs Kharjo grabbed the back of my armor and pulled my back. The wall to our right blew inward and a blast of fire roared through the hole. I held up a hand to help protect me from the heat. The fire stopped and I heard the dragon fly away.

"Thanks," I whispered to Kharjo.

He smiled and ran up to the edge of the hole. "There's a house down there we can jump into. Follow." He leaped down.

I stopped. The house he was now standing in was missing part of the roof. It looked a long way down. I swallowed hard.

The cloaked man appeared at my side. "What are you waiting for? Hurry!"

He leaped down, landing in a crouch before turning back and standing beside Kharjo. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again. I could do this. I took a deep breath and leaped. I stumbled when I landed and Kharjo caught me. The cloaked man was already running down the stairs. We followed him through the burning town. People ran around screaming and soldiers were firing arrows at the dragon.

The cloaked man led us to a large door and forced it open. "In," he let Kharjo and I go in first and yanked the door shut behind us. It closed with a hollow boom. He sighed and a glowing gold orb appeared in his hand. He threw it and it flared brightly, sending little tendrils of gold light around his body. A simple healing spell.

"Who are you friend?" Kharjo asked as I looked through the pockets and pouches of a dead Stormcloak.

"My name is Archer," the man said. He wasn't squinting anymore and I could see that he had bright green eyes. One was had a pupil like an elf of Nord would have, and the other had a pupil like an Argonian, or Khajiit (like myself and Kharjo) might have. "I'm from Black Marsh."

"I'm Kharjo and this is Rapier," Kharjo introduced us. I didn't look up as I pulled a healing potion out of a pouch and stood.

"Kharjo," I said holding the potion. "Catch, you need this." I tossed the pale pink vial.

Kharjo caught it and pulled off the lid. He drank the contents and made a face, throwing the little vial away. The gray man didn't look ready to move, but we needed to get out.

"Come on," I said, pushing hard on a lever that was in the wall. A wooden gate creaked open. "Let's get out of here before that dragon comes and burns us up."