Idesto

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Shinbira: Journal of a Survivor. Part 1, Chapter 3

  • Posted by Idesto May 31, 2015 - 1,034 views

    Once again I come to. My head hurts even more than before. But at least it’s still on my shoulders.

    I am not dead!

    But how? And what is happening?! Did I really see a dragon?!

    All around me is mayhem! Explosions, shouting, destruction, fire, dead bodies littering the ground.

    Fire. Fire from the sky. Fire from – yes, there is a dragon!

    More shouting. Directed at me.

    The Stormcloak, that dirty Nord!

    “Come with me if you want to live!” I heard him say.

    Why is he doing this? Doesn’t he know what I am? Doesn’t he know what he is? I’m a hated ‘grayskin’, he’s a vile Nord. Or maybe he’s just too stupid to have noticed.

    Whatever else I may be I am a survivor. I do what I can to stay alive. So once again I do what I do well: I run. Towards a Stormcloak.

    Through the flames and over the rubble, struggling to find my way, my vision fogged, my head spinning, I swallow my pride & follow the sound of that hated voice.

    “THIS WAY! COME ON!”

    I stumble into a tower, full of the dead & the dying. And him – bloody Ulfic!

    Condemned to death as a Stormcloak, now rescued by them, and by Ulfric himself!? My gods, why do you toy with me?!

    And dragons?!

    Maybe I have died & gone to Oblivion after all!

    The Nord calls me “friend”.

    DON’T CALL ME “FRIEND”!!

    I run up the steps of the tower. The dragon! Thrusting its massive head through the stone wall as if it was paper it roars, & all is fire. I fall back, somehow unhurt.

    The dragon flies off, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. I jump through it and down into a ruined building below. The Stormcloaks don’t follow me.

    Good.

    I run out to find terrified men, women and children, cowering in fear, not knowing what to do.

    And now this – my would-be executioner, the petty official: he now is to be my saviour?! 

    “Good: you’re alive!”, he says

    “What do you care?!”

    Ignoring me, again, he bellows “Follow me if you want to stay that way!”.

    I follow.

    If this isn’t Oblivion it comes a very close second! Fire, falling masonry, men fighting, burning, screaming, and everywhere that dragon, with its flames & its ground-shaking roars. Tullius & all his men are helpless against it.

    This Imperial seems to know where he’s going; I stay close to him.

    We run, somehow avoiding the dragon, avoiding death. Maybe this man too is a survivor, in his own way?

    Now sprinting, now hiding, stopping, dodging: we emerge into a courtyard. The Nord is also there; he wants me to come with him!

    I choose the lesser of my two evils; I follow the Imperial into the Keep.

    Inside the Imperial - 'Hadvar' - tells me to take whatever armour & weapons I can find there. Scouring the room, I work quickly; I have done this a few times before...

    A chest: iron sword, Imperial armour, helmet and boots. Good! I am at last starting to feel myself again.

    We move on, but to what? To safety, to danger, death?

    I don’t know.

    What I do know?

    I am Shinbira. I survived. 

    Table of Contents

Comments

8 Comments
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  June 25, 2015
    Haha! And I thought I recognised sarcasm! The pacing here is fast but as Paul pointed it does take a few chapters to get anywhere. Hopefully it's interesting along the way. Any criticism is welcome, especially if it's constructive. Thanks for clearing that up 
  • Exuro
    Exuro   ·  June 25, 2015
    Srry, everyone else was commenting on how short and fast paced the story is, so I felt like being sarcastic I'll try to provide actually useful feedback next time.
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  June 24, 2015
    Lol! I thought I was keeping it short! In what way? I was trying to establish his character in the familiar setting of the game's intro. Thanks for reading and for the feedback
  • Exuro
    Exuro   ·  June 23, 2015
    Meh, too long and too much time is spent setting the scene  I think I'll enjoy following this opportunists journey.
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  May 31, 2015
    Thanks Lissette. The like was a mistake: I saw on my page that someone had liked the post so I touched the heart to see who it was & ended up adding my own like! I've tried to undo it but I can't see how. 
    I'm reading your latest post BTW; I've ...  more
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  May 31, 2015
    yes, I like it. It is a break in style. One thing, though, I don't think you can like your own blog post. I thought I heard that as a policy here. 
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  May 31, 2015
    Thanks. That's exactlycehat I was going for: fast-paced & character-driven
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  May 31, 2015
    A totaly different aproach to my story. You don't give much in descriptions and yet the story is quite vivid and fast paced. Almost like you can see Shin's mind reeling with the events laid before him.