You awaken in the back of a cart with your hands bound and clad in ragged clothing, the three men sharing the space glancing at you for a moment before turning back to their conversation. You barely pay attention, still trying to get your bearings while fighting a raging headache, and look around nervously, shift to peer along the cobbled road the cart is on.
A walled town soon comes into view, its gates swing open to let the cart in, and one of your fellow passengers grunts angrily as he glares at the walkway over the gates. A small group of men and elves are there, watching the cart, and you swivel in time to see all of them move to descend from the walkway just before the cart goes round the side of a squat building.
The cart enters a large plaza, surrounded by the walls of both a fort and the town. A wooden block has been set up, an executioner standing next to it, and you twist your hands with a bit of urgency, try to loosen the ropes around your wrists. A soldier approaches the cart when it stops, he roughly hauls all of you from it, and the group you saw by the gates reappear, a mix of expressions on their faces. Another lot of bound men and women, wearing clothing of similar make to two of your group, join you in the plaza and more soldiers arrange you into lines.
You're in the front row, next to a bearded man easily twice your size. With unsheathed swords the soldiers prod him towards the block, force him to kneel. You flinch as the executioner severs his head from his body, listen to the jeers coming from the prisoners behind you. When the man's corpse is knocked away the soldiers approach you. You struggle as they grip your arms, they have to drag you out of position.
They shove you down, you cry out as your knees are scraped, and a firm hand pins your neck to the bloodied wood. You close your eyes when the executioner lifts his axe, try to block out the sound as it slices through the air and then your neck.
You never see your body spasm, never see anything again. It does mean you miss the appearance of a dragon though, miss seeing it rain devastation upon the town…
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