Prologue
"Legate, we will be leaving for Helgen shortly. Are you ready?" General Tullius didn't get a reply from his second in command. She stayed hunched over a small table, reading a piece of paper. He could have sworn that she'd been reading it for the past hour. "Legate Demetrias?"
The woman looked startled as she looked up at General Tullius. She quickly folded the paper and place it in her bag before responding. "Sorry sir, I am ready. Why do we need every high ranking person in Helgen? I have better things to be doing than visiting a small town like that."
"I got more word on the Stormcloaks that were spotted in the area, the scouts believe Ulfric is with them. By the time we reach Helgen they should already be taken prisoner by us, we just have to make sure they are dealt with correctly. We will be meeting Legate Rikke and Captain Nero there." Tullius began to make his way out of Castle Dour, the Legate following shortly behind him. "What's that paper you've been so concentrated on today?"
"I've spent five years serving for the Legion. I thought this was what I wanted for my life, but it's not" She took the paper out of her bag and handed it to Tulius, but he wouldn't take it. "It's been an honor serving as your second in command for the past four years, I hope you understand once you read the letter."
"You've done a lot for the Empire, along with your family. You've also done a lot for me, and for that I don't need to read this letter to understand. I only ask that you accompany us to Helgen to end this war. After that, I wish you the best and if you need a place Castle Dour is always open to. The title of Legate will always be yours, I'd give you general but I'm not giving away my job." Both Tulius and the woman laughed as they continued their walk out of Solitude. "Legate Rikke will miss you, does she know?"
"I told her a few days ago, she wasn't too thrilled about not getting to see me all the time. She'll get over it though." A group of Legion soldiers were waiting outside Solitude's doors, causing the General Tullius and Legate Demetrias to halt their conversation. He turned to his soldiers and began his speech about ending the war and getting rid of Stormcloaks. Legate Demetrias didn't fully pay attention to what he was saying, her mind drifted off to the letter. A letter of lies and reasons she came up with to make her leave seem understandable. The truth was too hard to tell people, even the two people she had grown to trust the most. Nobody could know the truth.
She turned her attention back to General Tullius as he climbed upon his horse, a smirk crossing his face as he raised his sword. "Let's end this war!"
The group had reached Helgen about a week later. They were just in time as three carriages pulled into Helgen, all holding Stormcloak soldiers. The last to enter held Ulfric Stormcloak along with two other men, both wearing ragged clothes and not the usual blue armor of Stormcloaks. Legate Demetrias pulled the reigns of her horse so it would move towards the carriage so she could get a closer look at the two men. She took a glance back at General Tullius and the Thalmor Ambassador Elenwen before moving away from them, towards the carriages. She was glad the scouts arrived as she was growing bored of Elenwen's speech on trying to get Ulfric Stormcloak as her prisoner.
Legate Demetrias stopped once she reached Legate Rikke and Captain Nero's side. She sent a quick smile towards Legate Rikke before she spoke, "who are those two in the carriage with Ulfric?"
"The Nord is a thief, tried stealing a horse and escape from Skyrim we believe. I'm not sure where they got the Redguard from. Neither of us were with the group that caught him but they say he was trying to cross the border and put up a fight when trying to capture him." Captain Nero quickly answered Legate Demetrias question, which she gave a quick nod as response.
"Ready them for the block, we aren't letting these rebels slip through our hands again." Legate Demetrias stood and watched from a distance as Captain Nero began going through the list of each captured rebel. Legate Rikke joined her a few moments later. They watched in silence as everyone was checked off on the list, other than the thief that tried to make a run for it but Legion soldiers quickly put a halt to his escape.
"The Redguard, what should we do with him?" Captain Nero turned to the Legates, "his name is Najee, said he was trying to cross the border to get into Skyrim but won't tell me why. He did hurt one of our soldiers during his capture."
"He can go to the block, no letting people slip through our fingers today." Legate Demetrias rode up towards the execution block once all of the captives were checked in. She watched closely as General Tullius shared some final words with Ulfric Stormcloak. He then spoke to the priest, telling her to give the rebels their last rights before they met the end.
As she began giving them their rights, a strange noise was heard in the distance, somewhat sounding like a growl or roar. Many people gave a question as to what it was but Tulius ordered them to ignore it and move forward. An inpatient rebel complained that they were taking too long, ultimately rushing his death at the block. After he was executed the noise was heard again, this time as if it was closer than before.
"Captain, keep going. The rebel from Hammerfell is next." Legate Rikke urged them to hurry on with their day. The Redguard man slowly moved towards the block, and as soon as the executioner raised his axe something large dotted out the sun for a few seconds. It was met with a loud roar, one that scared Legate Demetrias's horse causing her to fall off and to the ground. She looked up, above her on the watchtower was something she never could have imagined. A large black dragon stood upon it, with its bright glowing eyes staring down at the humans below him. He let out an even louder roar, as large rocks began falling from the sky.
Everyone was in a panic. Stormcloak rebels ran towards a different watchtower as Legion soldiers began their attacks against the dragon. Legate Demetrias readied her bow once she got herself steady, only for her arrow to bounce off of the dragon's thick scales. She needed to get out of Helgen or she would definitely be burnt to ash if she stayed to fight this dragon. Helgen residents were already being ran out of their homes, either by the dragon's flames or Legate Rikke helping them to safety. Demetrias saw a path in front of her, to which she quickly ran towards as she did her best to avoid the flames. She found herself in an alley, and as soon as she entered the dragon landed on the wall. She quickly pressed her back against the wall, being carefully not to move or she risked the dragon's claws that were so close to her face. Once the dragon flew away she readied a ward in her hands. She was better than most Imperials with magic, but not necessarily good at it either, she could only hope that this ward would hold up against the dragon's flames. Around her, Helgen residents and Imperial soldiers continued to be picked off by the dragon. She would have thought that by now they would realize they couldn't fight this dragon yet they stayed and fought. Legate Demetrias kept moving forward, looking for a way outside the city walls. Helgen Keep was a short run in front of her, if she made it to the keep she would at least be safe from the large dragon wreaking havoc around her.
Before running towards the keep she made a quick glance back at the town. Soldiers around her were dying, her soldiers. Residents of Helgen were dying, residents she swore to protect. Around her people were calling for her help, calls of help that she ignored. To her right was Legate Rikke, helping other soldiers in the attack against the dragon. General Tullius was nowhere to be seen, she could only hope that he made it out of Helgen before the destruction. None of the Thalmor members were seen either. At the keep a group of Stormcloak rebels gathered, one of them seemed to be arguing with an Imperial soldier. The argument ceased quickly as they entered different parts of the keep. Legate Demetrias made the easy choice to make her way towards the keep, even if bad consequences were to follow. As she got closer to the keep doors, she noticed someone in ragged clothes running towards her. It was the Redguard man, his clothes seemed to be somewhat burnt along with his wrists. She figured he must have burnt off the bindings that were wrapped around his hands.
"Prisoner!" Legate Demetrias quickly got his attention, causing him to stop a few feet from her and the keep door. "I suggest you stay with me if you want to stay alive. Don't get in my way or I might regret helping you." He nodded and followed Demetrias into Helgen Keep, leaving a short distance between them. Once inside he hesitantly watched her moves and kept a greater distance between them. "I suggest you find some sort of weapon, there should be some in the chest around the room."
The Redguard didn't say anything in response. He did pull a small dagger out of one of the chests, along with some Legion armor that he put on over his ragged clothes. Legate Demetrias held her tongue about him putting it on. If it were any other situation she would say that armor isn't meant for him, now wasn't the time for that though. She moved forward without a word, only assuming the Redguard would follow behind her. She wasn't at all concerned about him being behind her with a weapon, if he had any sense he would know not to try and fight her. Maybe he didn't even know how to fight, Legate Demetrias thought as she glanced behind her to see him awkwardly holding the dagger in his hand. From past experiences with Redguards, many of them were skilled fighters, most of them using curved swords from their homeland.
Shortly ahead Legate Demetrias heard people talking, Stormcloaks. They must have been some of the ones that entered the keep shortly before her. Before they could notice her, she used her bow to take down one of the rebels which caused the her to give away her position. Yet they were no match for her. By the time they readied their weapons they were already dead, the Redguard man didn't even have time to pull his dagger out of its sheathe before Legate Demetrias was putting her sword away. Ahead there were a few more Stormcloak rebels, all quickly taken down by Legate Demetrias. The Redguard stayed back instead of helping with the fighting which Demetrias didn't complain about as it kept him out of her way. The next room they entered was an Imperial torture chamber, occupied by an Imperial torturer and his assistant and the dead bodies of Stormcloak rebels.
"Legate, very nice of you to help us with our new friends," the torturer gave a sarcastic comment to her as soon as he noticed her presence. She rolled her eyes and began going through the stuff in the large room, not noticing anything worth taken. "Yes, of course, just take all of my things."
"There's a dragon attacking Helgen, or have you been having too much fun down here to notice?" Legate Demetrias was never a fan of torturers, even if they were on the same side as her. She never stood for torturing people, then again half the things she has done as a member of the Legion she didn't agree with.
"That's nonsense, dragons have been gone for ages."
"Well this one is very much alive and most likely has already killed everyone inside the walls of Helgen. You're free to stay here if you don't believe me, not that I'd willingly help you anyway." Legate Demetrias didn't wait for any response from him before continuing through the keep. She was ready to get out of Helgen and wasn't going to let people slow her down.
The next room held more Stormcloaks, this time four of them but still no challenge for her. The young Redguard continued to stay back until all danger was gone. It wasn't until now that Legate Demetrias got a good look at his face, he looked like he was in his early 20's, maybe even younger. If he was in his early 20's that would make them roughly the same age. Many people have been impressed by how far she had gotten in the Legion at her age. Most people automatically assumed she just looked young for her age.
The sound of a roar interrupted her thoughts as she was about to continue down a wide hallway. Luckily she stopped herself or she would have been crushed under the rubble that fell from the ceiling, most likely from the dragon landing on the keep. The two had to change their path, continuing through a small door that opened up into a cave. Spider webs were spread across the cave walls and on the ground laid egg sacks and objects wrapped in webs that Legate Demetrias couldn't identify. Among them were three spiders, luckily they were small ones so they were easily dealt with by a bow and arrow. The cave seemed to stretch on forever as they walked further on past the spiders. The dragon could still be heard above them. Legate Demetrias couldn't believe there was much of anything left at Helgen to destroy.
"Bear." Legate Demetrias was so lost in her thoughts about the dragon that she barely heard the Redguard speak behind her. She glanced back at him and noticed he was looking at something in the distance. She followed his gaze and saw a large bear sleeping in front of them. There was a safe distance between the two and the bear that it hadn't waken up to notice them.
"Sneak around it, be as quiet as possible. I don't want to deal with a bear," Legate Demetrias whispered as she crouched down and began walking. She kept glancing between where she was walking and the Redguard, hoping that he was at least capable of sneaking. His sneaking skills were definitely better than his fighting skills as they both made their way around the bear quickly.
A light shined through once they got around the bear, and both of them felt the cold air that was common in Skyrim. The exit to the cave was finally spotted and both were relieved to be out of Helgen and hopefully away from the dragon. When they exited they heard the roar of the dragon as it seemed to be flying away from Helgen, towards Riverwood. Someone would have to warn the townspeople and Whiterun that a dragon was spotted and it had destroyed Helgen, although the people would see the dragon before any human made it to either location.
She turned to the Redguard as he watched her, unsure of what he should do. "I'll forget the we just had you captured prisoner if you do something for me. I need you to go to Riverwood and stop at the inn. There should be two workers there, Orgnar and Delphine, tell one of them that a dragon attacked Helgen. Then go to Whiterun, tell the Jarl the same thing."
"I don't know those places, or how to get there." Legate Demetrias had a blank expression, forgetting that the Redguard was trying to get into Skyrim instead of out of it. She pulled a map and piece of charcoal out of her pack. Using the charcoal she traced a path from their current location to Riverwood then to Whiterun, then handed the map to the Redguard.
"Follow these roads, they'll take you right to both locations. There's also signs along the road that point in the directions of towns." He took the map, looking over the line Legate Demetrias made.
"Where are you going?"
"To see if anyone survived Helgen." As much as she wanted to get away from there, she had to see if any residents or Legion soldiers survived. It was the least she could do before she left them completely. "If you need something to do with your life, the Legion is always looking for more recruits. You'll find us in Castle Dour, it's in Solitude."
"I'm not really much of a fighter, it was sort of obvious back there." Legate Demetrias only gave a nod in response before turning towards Helgen and beginning her walk back to the town. Taking a quick glance over her shoulder, she noticed the Redguard beginning his journey to Riverwood.
It didn't take long for her to catch the smell of burning wood and see dark smoke cloud the sky. There was also no noise to be heard, not even the occasional crunch of snow from woodland creatures traveling on the side of the road. There wasn't even the sound of birds chirping which was something always heard in Skyrim. Helgen was now visible, or what was left of Helgen. Most of the buildings were burnt or crushed from the rocks that were previously falling from the sky. The gate doors creaked open as Legate Demetrias on them, opening to a sight of destruction she thought no creature should be capable of. So many more towns would end up like this if nothing was done about this dragon. But what could be done? All of the arrows simply bounced off of the dragons scales, magic seemed to do no harm, and if someone went too close with a sword the dragon would simply eat them. A small group of Legion soldiers caught her eye, it was a miracle to her that they were still alive. Among them was General Tullius, and he did not look happy.
"Legate, have you seen Ulfric Stormcloak and any of his rebels?" Legate Demetrias shook her head no. She took a good look around her, buildings were burning and bodies scattered around the area. Some were burnt beyond recognition.
"There were a few rebels in the keep but I dealt with them. I didn't see him there or around the perimeter of Helgen." General Tullius let out a long string of curses as he kicked the execution block in front of him.
"We have to head back to Solitude and figure this out. Legate, will you be joining me or should I meet you at Castle Dour?"
"I won't be joining you sir. Like I told you, Helgen was my last trip as a member of the Legion. I have confidence that this war will be put to an end and we will be on the winning side. This just isn't my war to fight." General Tullius' expression changed from mad to slightly saddened, a look Legate Demetrias has never seen before.
"I understand. If necessary, can I count on you if your assistance is needed in the future?"
"Only if you aren't sending me out to fight. I just need a simple life for now." She gave him a small smile and held out her hand although he disregarded it and instead gave her a strong hug.
"You will be missed Legate Demetrias."
~2 Years Later~
She was inside her small home, a peacefully quietness she wasn't use to but had learned to love. It was the first time in her 24 years that she had been able to enjoy a long and peaceful quiet. Some days were hectic depending on if a crew of bandits decided to attack her home or if a giant came passing by. One being that she is glad to have never visit her home is a dragon. It has been roughly two years since the first known dragon attack in Skyrim and since then they have been spotted everywhere. She had heard people talking about various attacks between her visits to Falkreath and Riverwood.
Being alone in the wilderness also added to the peacefulness. There were no other homes near her and her home wasn't visible from any roads so nobody ever visited. She did feel lonely. It was a loneliness she didn't know how to fill. Getting a dog helped but he wasn't capable of the conversations she could have with someone. Many times she thought about moving to a city or even just down the road to Riverwood. A city life was something she loathed now. The thought of living in a city always brought her thoughts back to living with her mother and the various cities that they lived in and traveled to. The traveling between cities and towns was a reason she began to not enjoy her time with the Legion.
It was peaceful until there was a knock on her front door. It was something that never happened. She knew something was wrong, instantly feeling concerned about her safety. There was another knock, as she hadn't gotten up to answer it. Her dog had gotten up to sniff at the door, occasionally letting out a few growls. She grabbed her bow that sat on the table next her, an arrow in her other hand just in case. As soon as she opened the door, she readied the arrow but was unsure where to point it at as two people were outside her door.
"Legate Demetrias, I don't think that is necessary. You are a hard woman to find." General Tullius was accompanied by the Thalmor First Emissary Elenwen, she chose to keep her arrow pointed at Elenwen. The two walked past her and made themselves comfortable at her kitchen table.
"Clearly not hard enough. What do you want? Last time you sent your soldiers to find me in Riverwood I told them to tell you I was done with the Legion for good." she kept her eyes on Elenwen as she was mostly concerned by her presence.
"This isn't about the Legion, or even the Thalmor."
"Then why the fuck is she here? I want her out of my house." She had very negative feelings towards the Thalmor due to her family and she wasn't about to be allowing them into her private residence.
"Legate Demetrias, my hostility towards certain members of your family are not directed towards you. Although I can't say the same for other members of the Thalmor." She gave Elenwen a hateful look, there was no other group she hated more than the Thalmor. She couldn't stand that they made themselves seem higher than everyone else, especially people like her.
"Just tell me what this is about so she can leave." She only slightly lowered her bow as she turned her attention to General Tullius.
"Dragon attacks are stopping progress with the war and so are vampire attacks. You have experience with dragon attacks so-"
She quickly interrupted Tullius, "I have less experience with dragon attacks than the rest of Skyrim by now."
"As I was saying, we just need you to investigate on these dragon attacks along with this vampire issue going on. You won't be fighting for either side in this war. We need an inside person and you are the most convenient person we could get since you have experience working with the Legion."
"If I was to help with the vampires who am I to speak to?" She finally let down her arrow and bow but still kept a close eye on Elenwen as she questioned Tullius. Vampires were something she could deal with since they are about the only creatures that show up to her home. Most of the ones she has encountered were easy to deal with and didn't offer her any sort of challenge.
"There is an Orc in Whiterun, Durak. You should be able to find him at the Bannered Mare. For the dragon problem, which you should be highly interested in, you should go see Jarl Balgruuf in Dragonsreach." General Tullius stood from the table and handed her two pieces a paper, one signed by Durak and one signed by Jarl Balgruuf. "If you take part in either of these, the Legion along with the Thalmor will pay you greatly."
"The Thalmor don't have enough money to pay me, not that I want any of their dirty money anyway. I'll think about the vampire issue, the dragon issue is out of my hands." Elenwen had no comment to her bashing the Thalmor, and she didn't blame her for the words she spoke.
"Here's a beginning payment, go get yourself some good weapons and armor in Whiterun. More will come soon once I hear word on what it exactly is that's causing these vampire attacks." Without another word both General Tullius and Elenwen left her house. She looked at the coin purse that had the Empire's seal on it. The purse definitely contained more money than she needed, more than enough to get her out of Skyrim.
Upon opening the purse, she counted exactly how much was in it. She lost count at 2,000 Septims, and that wasn't even a quarter of it. If they were going to pay her this well, she would be stupid not to take the job. After this was all over her home could definitely use a few makeovers with the money she could make.
And so she got here gear and started her journey with a quick stop at the Riverwood Trader. When she opened the door she quickly spotted Camilla standing behind the counter, a smirk instantly grew on her face. Looking around, she didn't see Camilla's brother Lucan, which was usually good news for her.
"Camilla, it's nice to see you. How have you been?" Camilla only gave her a dry look in return, causing her smirk to drop. "You're mad at me?"
"Of course I'm mad at you! You punched my brother!"
"Look, I apologized and in my defense he started it. He also had no reason to push me because if I recall correctly you came onto me, I was minding my business."
Camilla rolled her eyes before speaking, "did you need to buy anything?"
"1,000 Septims. I need you to watch my home for a while. I'm going away for awhile and I need someone to keep up with the animals and garden. I'll send more money as time goes on, this is just a start." She slid the pile of coins towards Camilla. She gave the woman a confused look. "It's from the Empire, they're paying me to do something for them. It doesn't have to do with fighting in the war, I'm done with that."
"Then what are you doing?"
"It's better that you don't know, you wouldn't let me leave if I told you. I should be leaving though, I have to meet someone in Whiterun. I'll be back as soon as I can." She left before Camilla could say anything and continued on to Whiterun.
The city was quiet considered it was still daylight. Usually there was a lot of people walking between the outdoor stalls and the few shops located in the city. She quickly figured out why. A small group of guards were speaking about how there was another dragon attack outside the city walls. They said that they were lucky enough that the dragon flew away before it caused too much damage to the farms. Inside the Bannered Mare, even more people were talking about the dragon attack. One person inside said he saw the dragon which he described to be large with black scales and orange eyes. It reminded her of Helgen, one of the many days she'd rather not revisit.
There was an Orc sitting at the bar wearing armor she didn't recognize. Assuming this was who she was suppose to meet, she approached him and slid the letter that General Tulius had given her to him. He didn't take a glance at the paper and turned his attention to the woman standing next to him.
"The Legion are sending their top Legate to fight vampires?" She was wearing her Legion armor which she forgot to trade for a new set of armor once she reached Whiterun.
"I haven't been a Legate for two years, I retired after the Helgen incident. This is the only armor I got."
"If you came to see me about fighting the vampires, you'll have to go to Fort Dawnguard. Isran can give you assignments, assuming that you don't need any training. It's located down in the Rift, past Riften." He left without another word, leaving her behind at the inn.
Before leaving she stopped in at Warmaiden's to get herself new armor and a new weapon. Luckily they have just what she needed, a full set of steel plate armor, an ebony sword, and an ebony bow. She also made sure to stock up on arrows as she preferred to keep her distance from her enemies and she was also better with a bow than a sword. As she was exiting Warmaiden's one of the Whiterun guards bumped into her.
"Watch where you are walking citizen." She responded by glaring at him. Something about him seemed familiar, both his voice and his eyes. Both of them kept walking their separate ways, but she continued to glare at him.
"Fucking stuck up city guards think they're all that. Can't even fight properly," she mumbled to herself as she made her way outside the city to find a carriage.
Luckily there was one available and the driver didn't seem like much of a talker. Many carriage drivers in Skyrim would talk too much for her liking, sharing stories about whatever gossip they could get their hands on. She was glad that she would have a quiet but long trip to Riften. Not long after they left, she feel into a deep sleep that was haunted by bad dreams as usual. The driver didn't seem to pay attention to her tossing and turning throughout the night, but peacefully continued their journey.
Not many days later they ended up at the Riften Stables. From outside she could smell the waters found in the city of Riften, and it wasn't a pleasant smell. She decided it was best to just continue her journey rather than stop in the city for the night. She was lucky enough to have ability to see better in the dark, she wasn't lucky enough to get complete night vision like Khajiit though. An hour walk later, she made it to the entrance of Dayspring Canyon. Inside there was a small pond with a large waterfall. Near the shore there was a young Nord anxiously pacing back and forth. He seemed to be mumbling something as she approached him, only stopping when he heard her presence.
"Are you here for the Dawnguard to? My nerves are sort of getting to me right now. Is it okay if I walk up with you?" She gave him a nod in response which caused him to grow a rather large smile. "This is all new for me, the whole fighting thing. I've only lived on a farm with my parents. You look like you've fought before and can handle yourself..."
She tuned him out as they continued their walk up to the fort. She wasn't interested in whatever he was talking about with his farm and his parents. The young Nord figured the woman was listening still since every so often she would nod her head. He assumed that she wasn't much of a talker so he talked for both of them. While he was speaking he tried not to start at the woman too long as he had never seen someone that looked like her before. He decided it was probably the best not to ask about where she was from to figure out exactly what she was.
"Uh, you can go in first. I need a moment to catch my breath and calm my nerves." The woman rolled her eyes as she opened the door to Fort Dawnguard and left the young Nord standing outside.
The first thing that caught her attention was the bright light that shined out in the center of the building. It was almost blinding to her. Two men stood in the middle of it, one wearing the same armor as the Orc she met a few days ago, who she assumed to be Isran. The other man was a Vigilant of Stendarr. They were speaking about how the Hall of the Vigilant was attacked by vampires and no one survived the attack.
Isran quickly turned his attention away from the Vigilant and towards the woman that had just entered the fort. "You, are you here to join the Dawnguard."
"Yes sir I am." Out of habit she addressed him as if he were a General for the Legion, she even stood at attention which earned her a weird look from both Isran and the Vigilant.
"You're the Legate from the Legion I assume. You don't have to do all of that Legion stuff here." The woman relaxed her stance as Isran continued to speak. "Vigilant Tolan just informed me that he needed some help with vampires. I'm going to assume that you are more than capable of dealing with whatever it is he needs help with."
Isran walked past her and towards the young Nord she had walked up with. Vigilant Tolan walked up to her and began informing her about what needed to be done.
"Vampires have been messing around in this cave near the Hall of the Vigilant. We need to figure out what they are doing there or looking for. I'll meet you there, it's called Dimhollow Crypt. You'll find it up the hill from the Hall of the Vigilant." Vigilant Tolan left, leaving her alone in the entrance of Fort Dawnguard.
After five years serving in the Legion, she left to settle down and find some peace. Only two years later she found herself in another army fighting another war as soon as she got her peace.