Skyrim: Fall of the Dawn

1. Awakening

"Alesan?"

A silent, muffled voice. He heard it. Barely, but it was there. Memories. A friend. Joy. No. There was...nothing. Everything is dark. Everything is blank. And everything is so...weak. Lack of strength, not even enough to open eyes. Body is limp, hanging on shackles that are locked around his wrists. Cold metal cuts deep into oddly warm skin. The feeling is almost comfortable. Comfort with a hint of mad nostalgia.

"Alesan!"

He hears the voice again. This time it's louder. And sharper. All clear. He lets out a grunt, shivering slightly in strain. Body responds with an ache. He can feel a dull pain in those stiff bones and flat, lanky, almost non-existent muscles. Finally, he squints and tries to open his tired eyes for a few seconds, letting in a dim light of this narrow space.

"Com'on, mate!"

That word, mate, rang like a warning bell that once sent shivers down Alesan's spine. Waves of incredibly hot yet utterly cold sweat used to cover his sallow skin. Familiarity of that word and voice finally reached out to him and Alesan weakly opened his eyes, though they were still heavy with specks of an exhausting sleep. It was enough that he could see a man who used that word more often than he should.

In front of him, behind rusty, iron bars, stood a tall and broad man. Alesan immediately recgonised piercing blue gaze accompanied by strands of short brownish hair. That could only be Blaise. A friend older than Alesan's identity, before either of them chose what to believe in and took a stand in this vast, cruel world. It was a friend whose presence was accompanied with childhood laughter, like a shadow that was always there for him.

Alesan looked around to see where he was only to grow confused. Walls of a cell were round and made of limestone that was once perhaps even white if not gray. Now, nearly black painted with flecks of moisture and torch's soot. Ceiling was made of rods similar to the bars of the cell, though they were much thicker and looked even more dreadful as they were covered in a filthy layer of rust. However, there was a different image behind these rods. One Alesan missed greatly as if it was absent for decades. Sunlight has touched his bruised, scarred skin, broken like glass, tired like a hermit. His face full of dirt was illuminated and revealed like a long awaited truth.

As Alesan's senses awakened he had to lower his gaze when he suddenly felt ice-cold liquid below his bony knees, stinging like glass shards deep into his bones. He was standing in a muddy water, the scent of it was anything but pleasant. In fact, it was hideous. The sharp smell of urine and acid-like smell of rotten food, all combined with something even more repugnant that Alesan could not bother any longer to identify. This was already enough to conclude that he did not leave this room for as long as he was here. And he really wondered for how long they were keeping him here, restrained like a wild animal.

Alesan shook his head slightly, feeling the numb pain throbbing through his skull. It was the sunlight and weakness veined deep in his muscles. He felt disgusted looking at his scrawny legs. He couldn't even fully stand on his feet, so he let his full weight be held by shackles cased around his wrists. Alesan desperately tried to remember something. Anything at all. Nothing. Nothing came to his mind. He could only remember his early life. The cold winds and piles of snow. Alesan tried to push away his thoughts, fearing he might start shivering and panicking. However, he could figure the answers stood right in front of him.

"Blaise?"

Alesan's voice was merely a whisper, cracked completely. It resembled a howl of a dying dog. Soundless and miserable. He lowered his head, ashamed that he sounds like that in front of this mighty warrior, his friend.

"I am here, Alesan."

Blaise answered reassuringly with a warm note to his voice. It was good to know that voice still hasn't lost empathy and energetic optimism, which was often rather foreign to Alesan. Nevertheless, Alesan always appreciated Blaise for his kind attitude. One always needs someone like him at some point.