Captive

Chapter One

"Numinex, you haven't eaten for three days!  What's wrong?"  Vograhdinok narrowed his fiery, magenta eyes at me in concern. "Why are you acting like this?"

"The World Eater.... I feel as if...something's happened...or will happen...." I replied, locking eyes with the deep violet dragon.  I shuddered in fear at his scales' eerie, pale-blue glow.  I'll never get used to that!

"You prophets!" he scoffed, shaking his head.  "Always dreaming!  And when you aren't doing that, you're looking over your shoulder and screaming at the sight of a deer.  How do you even know if this dream of yours isn't just delirium?  You've been suffering from a fever lately."

"Vograhdinok, we've been friends for years!  Trust me!  Something's changed!  I can feel it!" I growled as I began to pace the stony floor of the cave that had offered us refuge for months.

"Zu'u ni hin fahdon!  I'm not your friend!" he snarled, turning his attention to a pile of pale, glowing gems nearby.  He ignored my piercing gaze as he gently rolled a tiny, pinkish-white crystal out of the pile with his wing-claw.  "The only reason I allowed you to stay with me is that you don't need to be out causing chaos among the dov.  The dragons have enough trouble with this war!  I'm not going to release an insane dovah on them, as well!"

"But an insane dragon's already leading them...." I whispered.

"...Yes, I suppose you're right...." Vograhdinok's reply was barely audible as he delicately picked up his jewel with his blazing-white fangs.  Dropping his precious item onto a nearby stone, he turned to me.  "Alduin chose...to walk in the shadows."

Alduin.  The name made me cringe in terror as I pictured the midnight-black dovah staring at me in hate, his scythe-like scales and dagger-like teeth covered in blood.  I could clearly see him rising from the ground onto his two legs, his leathery wings outstretched to cover the sky.

"The World Eater...." I whispered, shaking my head to rid myself of the horrifying image.  "Maybe...maybe I should go back...try to help him...save him from his fate."

"Numinex, you can't!" Vograhdinok growled.  "He'll kill you!  I know he was your friend, but things have changed.  Even if you did go back...even if he accepted you as one of his most trusted officials again...do you really think he'll listen to someone below him?  He's the Firstborn of Akatosh, deliverer of the dov!  You can't change his fate when he doesn't want to listen."

"I know, but it's my fault he's killing so many!  I'm the one who brought this!  I need to fix it!" I answered, making my way to the cave entrance.

"Numinex, you may have put the prophecy in his head, but Alduin made the choice to allow the dragon cult to survive.  All those Nords...those men and women who were sacrificed aren't your fault!"  he bellowed.  "If you go out there now, the only thing you'll do is add to the number of bodies!"

"If I can't change anything, the least I can do is see if...if I really dreamed the future.  At least then, I wouldn't be as crazy as you think I am," I whispered before crawling out of the entrance and launching myself  into the air.  I never waited for a reply from the purple dovah as I soared through the sky, focused on the tall, dark mountain looming in the distance.

                                        ***

The Throat of the World....  My eyes darted cautiously around the snowy clearing as I searched for the limp body of a black dragon lying on the snow...propped against a boulder.... So much blood's been shed here.  Guess I shouldn't be surprised to find the dead welcoming me....  I gasped in horror at the mangled bodies of mortals and dragons lying in the blood-red light of the sunset. This war's taken so many! How many more lives will it claim?!

As I picked my way through the clearing, I noticed a familiar dovah among the fallen. Sosgrahqeth's scarred, forest-green body slumped on the snowy ground, his glazed, poison-yellow eyes still widened in fear.

The leader of the guard is dead?! What joor, what mortal could have slain him?! I struggled to picture any Nord that could have killed the green dragon. It's impossible...and yet...here he is!

Shivering from the cold and fear, my eyes rested upon the body of a joor lying face-down in front of me. Her thick steel armor had been punctured by a dovah's teeth, leaving several deep wounds along her back.

Only one dragon would leave such deep wounds! You poor, foolish mortal! I shuddered as I pictured her in Alduin's mouth as his teeth clamped onto her and snapped her back. Sighing, I rolled the body onto its back. Her golden hair was drenched in blood and sweat, and her clouded, sky-blue eyes stared sightlessly into the sky. What kind of monster could've done this?!

One you created, a voice whispered in my head. You had to tell him it was his dez, his fate, to lead the dov!

If only I'd done something to prevent the bloodshed...if only I'd done so many things instead of being a coward...if...if.... "I'm sorry!" I croaked as I stared at the mangled body, tears streaming down my muzzle. "I'm so sorry!"

Too late.... the voice replied. Too late....