Chapter 1: Awakening

Every step took him more effort than he would care to admit, and although the winter had only just begun, the snow already came up to his knees.

"Why did i even sign up for this?" he asked himself. "Why can't he just go and take a damn look for himself?"

Tarrion had never been fond of people who play the 'boss' role. He always called them lazy-good-for-nothing jerks who let others do their dirty work.

And yet he had himself to blame, again. He, once again, took the job without thinking it fully through. Lydia would not have been surprised, since she went on almost every adventure with him. But not this time.

Tarrion ploughed through the snow. He was now a few miles south of Dawnstar, and if it wasn't for the snow, he could have seen the tower overlooking the town. But he was not headed for Dawnstar. He was not heading north, but west. Up into the mountains, looking for something called 'Dimhollow Crypt'.

It had been two days since he joined the Dawnguard. An old orc, by the name of Durak, had approached him in Riften and told Tarrion of the old order.

"Vampire slayers." had Durak said. "We hunt down those bloodsucking fiends, wherever we can find them."

I fit wasn't for the three Vampires that attacked Tarrion the day before, he would have said no, but since he was apparantly also a target for Vampires, he agreed. He packed up his things and went to the old fort and there he met with Isran. An old Redguard warrior with a thirst for killing Vampires.

It was by pure change that Isran was talking to a man named Tolan, one of the Vigilants of Stendarr. An dit was this Tolan that informed Isran, and in turn Tarrion, about this Dimhollow Crypt. According him it contained an ancient Vampire artefact. Seeing as Tarrion wanted to help, Isran ordered him to go to this place and see what it was all about.

And thus Tarrion walked. The terrain had begun to go up, indicating that he had reached the slopes of the mountains, and that he was getting near his destination.

A long and tiresome walk later Tarrion stopped to rest. The snow had finally stopped falling and it started to clear up. Far below him Tarrion could see the smouldering remains of the Hall of the Vigilants. He had visited it earlier, finding nothing but dead bodies of both humans and vampires. But also of strange hound like animals, with a black skin, red eyes, large claws and maul filled with sharp teeth. Tarrion had never seen these creatures before, but they looked not natural to him.

But then again, what is natural? Not too long ago he fought a giant, talking, black dragon named Alduin, in the spiritual realm of Sovngarde. Ancient Nord heroes fought beside him, despite the fact that they were dead for centuries. And to top it off, when Alduin was killed he did not burst to flames like a normal dragon. No, he let out a deafening cry and basically exploded. But Alduin was the World-Eater, so Tarrion could have expected something different.

Tarrion still had nightmares about that battle. Almost every night he would wake up suddenly, expecting to see a giant, black dragon flying at him. It even happened a few times that he woke up with a Shout, sending the door and furniture flying. On those moments the scars on his chest and back would burn like fire, and Lydia had to rush over to calm him.

Tarrion walked on, following the mountain path, trudging through the snow and looking for the entrance to a cave. It was not long before he found it. The entrance was marked with a few steps, like a staircase, and with a small bowl filled with glowing embers. Tarrion also saw a few footsteps that had not completely disappeared.

"Tolan must have come through here already." Tarrion said to himself.

He stopped for a few seconds before entering the cave.

After a small crevice, and some squeezing between rocks, he found himself in a large open cavern. Light and snow fell through the ceiling, giving the place a peaceful feeling. Tarrion took one deep breath through the nose to realize that was not the case. He smelled the stench of dead bodies. He also immediately heard voices talking to each other.

"These Vigilants never know when to give up. I thought we taught them enough of a lesson already at their Hall."

The voice sounded raw and gravelly. A man's voice.

"To come in here alone, a fool like all the rest of them."

The second voice was softer, like from a woman, but it also sounded sharper.

"He fought well though. Jerod and Bresoth were no match for him." The first voice said.

Tarrion tried to get a better look at the two Vampires that were walking on the other side of the cavern. He could see that they were Vampires. Their glowing red eyes were unmistakably and he could also not hear them walking around. He had learned already that Vampires walk silently, and not even a Sabre Cat can hear them.

Tarrion looked closer and at the feet of the woman he saw a man with an all too familiar outfit. Tolan was lying on the ground. Dead.

"Ha, those two deserved what they got. Their arrogance had become insufferable."

Tarrion understood that Toland had charged in on his own and had killed two Vampires already, but was then killed, and by the pale look on his face, drained of his blood.

Tarrion took a deep, but silent breath, and mustered all the magicka he could find and charged up.

"Did you hear that?" the male Vampire asked, but before he could draw his weapon, a Fireball had hit him square in his face.

The female Vampire turned around, but was also hit by a Fireball and was reduced to ashes a second later.

Tarrion relaxed and walked up to the heaps of red ash that now lay on the ground. He felt no remorse for these two, but did feel pity as he walked up to Tolan. His eyes were wide open and a few drops of blood were still dripping out of a bite wound on his neck. Tarrion knew that he could do nothing for him and simply closed his eyes before walking on. The female Vampire was not wrong. Tolan was a fool to come in here all by himself.

Authors Notes:

Fire and Blood will be about Tarrion and Serana and their adventures in Skyrim. Other characters will also make appearances in this story or any of the others. It will start at the beginning of the Dawnguard-DLC storyline and expand from there. There might be a few moments in the story that are not entirely in line with the lore of Skyrim, but I'll make these as small a s possible.

What the stories are about is something that not even I know, yet. I'll make stuff up as I go along, so it'll be a surprise.

What is the background of the character and was quests has he completed already? :

-Alduin is killed.

-Civil War has ended in the Empire's favour (Ulfric is dead)

-Companions Questline is completed

-College of Winterhold Questline is completed.

-DragonBorn DLC? Not sure what I am going to do with it.

-Dark Brotherhood? Not sure ….

-Thieves Guild? Not started and I'll see what my character will do with it.

-Paarthurnax still lives.

Characters:

Tarrion: Main character and Dragonborn. 6'7 Tall, muscular (not ridiculously), Pitch black hair (short). Tons of scars all over his body. Good guy, with a heart of gold, but also has a darker side that he uses if needed. (although reluctantly)

Isran: Leader of the Dawnguard. Redguard, old (I guess he's 50-ish), Hates Vampires…. A lot.

Tolan: Vigilant of Stendarr, good guy, tells Isran about Dimhollow Crypt when you walk into Fort Dawnguard. Found dead inside Dimhollow Crypt.

Durak: Orc warrior who tells you about the Dawnguard and recruits you.

BIG PS!: I am Dutch (from the Netherlands), so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar, please tell me about it.