[A/N]: Hey guys this is my first fanfic, and I'm really excited to see how this turns out. When I got Dawnguard I fell madly in love with Serana, Lord Harkon and his court. All the troubles in the court made me want to expand upon them, as well as the Dawnguard storyline itself. So I set out on the monumental task of writing a novel length fic about it. I've also decided to make some adjustments to the Dawnguard storyline to make it more interesting. Feel free to leave your comments, questions or concerns, I definitely want to hear what you guys have to say. Well here we go...
[DISCLAIMER]: I don't own the Elder Scrolls Series or Bethesda. I'm just giving them the credit they deserve, but Arela and Enden are my characters.
~Lana Del Rey, Get Free
Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind
I want to get off but I keep riding the ride
I never really notice that I had to decide
To play someone's game or to live my own life and now I do
The snow fell in thick sheets, but Arela hadn't expected anything different from northern Skyrim. Moments like this made her feel blessed to be a true Skyrim-raised Nord; she had adapted to the cold, and it was only a bonus her Nord blood allowed some resistance to the numbing cold. The frigid air had been nipping at her skin for almost an hour, causing her exposed fingers to turn a bright shade of magenta.
Arela was satisfied with her decision to bring her Nightingale armor, which clung tightly to her skin, keeping in her body heat and shielding her in the shadows away from prying eyes. It only helped that this blizzard would disguise her as well; she was convinced that no one could see her now.
The snow whirled around her obscuring everything in her sight; she could hardly making out the giant decrepit castle in front of her. The castle had two visible spires, one which looked like it was about to topple into the sea. Arela had heard stories from sailors at the bars in Riften about this place. They claimed the place has been haunted well before the first era, and now seeing the castle for herself only made the stories seem more realistic.
She couldn't help but chuckle at how funny fate seemed to be. Only a few days ago she had been kicking back at Fort Dawnguard, and now she was hiding in a frozen ditch next to an old watchtower.
Arela almost missed Fort Dawnguard, the nice warm fires, and hot meals; it was a haven for the cold and hungry. But she was sure that many of the members had been glad the day she had departed for Dimhollow Crypt. Arela had a way of finding trouble, and pulling pranks on many members of the fort hadn't helped. She had been raised in the Thieves Guild and pranks had been a daily occurrence. She had learned from the best; Delvin had always been a master at pulling pranks.
So, when things had gotten boring, which was frequent, she would often pull a prank or two. Her favorite was when she had put worms in Isran's boot's, but the best part was Arela had framed Agmaer – the newest member at the time. She was confident that after a short time Isran began to suspect her, because he realized Agmaer wasn't smart enough to think of such absurd things.
So when Tolan, a pious man of Stendarr, had come complaining about powerful vampires destroying the Hall of the Vigilant Isran decided it would be great to get rid of Arela and her brother Enden; they had always been the most obnoxious members at the fort – but also the most capable.
Isran had sent them to Dimhollow Crypt with Tolan who had plowed in ahead of them, and Tolan had been found gutted when they had gotten in the cavern. He thought it had been a magnificent idea to charge in by himself.
She was pretty sure Isran was hoping that the vampires would kill them off, because he had been silently infuriated with Arela and Enden since they joined. Unfortunately for Isran, Arela and Enden were definitely more powerful than a small militia of vampires squatting in a cave.
What they found at Dimhollow was what really disturbed her the most. Enden had found a young woman trapped in a monolith. The women's blazing orange eyes and her snow pale skin had given it away – she was a vampire. Honestly, Arela didn't have a quarrel with vampires, but her brother Enden did. He despised them to their very core, and Isran – that man was a whole other story with how hysterical vampires made him.
The mystifying part was this young girl had an Elder Scroll; something that Arela had only encountered once, when she had been forced to read one on the Throat of the World.
Arela only felt empathy for the young girl, she seemed so lost and confused – it reminded Arela of herself after she had joined the Nightingales, when everything she thought had been turned upside down. That had been the most difficult period in Arela's life, when she had ventured to hunt down Mercer Frey for the Skeleton Key; she hated to even think about the whole ordeal.
The mysterious woman said her name was Serana and that she wasn't sure how long she had been locked away. So, she urged Arela and Enden to take her to her home north of Solitude. Arela's brother, Enden, had decided that he would take Serana 'home' and quietly told Arela to follow them. They were both sure if they could trust Serana. Arela had split up from them after they freed Serana from Dimhollow Crypt – Enden had wanted Arela to cover their tracks, but she was at least a one day's journey behind them, and as of now she had tracked them here, to Castle Volkihar.
And now because of her brother's paranoia Arela was crouching behind some freezing rocks, next to a watchtower waiting for something to happen. She had been sitting outside for at least an hour waiting for any signs of her brother or the mysterious woman named Serana. She had begged them to take her home, claiming that she needed to figure out what was going on. Serana told them that they could be safe at her home, depending on who was there. Which didn't comfort Arela at all, now that she was crouching behind the castle's watchtower.
Another half an hour had past; Arela was starting to get restless, and drawing pictures in the frozen dirt was beginning to get boring. If nothing happened soon Arela considered jumping into the boat and rowing herself back to Skyrim's shores.
As Arela was contemplating leaving she heard low murmurs from over by the small boat behind her. She slowly shifted her feet hoping to make the least amount of noise possible. Arela strained her ears to hear what they were talking about.
"Do you smell that Stalf?" Arela just made out the words, which were said by a women with a frail, but high-strung sounding voice.
Arela's muscles tensed instantly at the comment, and her heart started to pick up its pace in her chest. She stopped breathing for a second, afraid that her own breath might compromise her position.
The man or vampire which was likely named Stalf scoffed. "Fura, are you getting forgetful? I'm pretty sure it's just the lingering smell of that one mortal that arrived during our court meeting yesterday with Lady Serana." Arela's heart beat slowed a bit – she assumed the mortal they were talking about was Enden. WHich meant Enden was somewhere in that castle, and so was Serana.
"I'm not forgetful, it smells more recent to me. I think you're losing your touch, Stalf," the woman Fura snapped.
Arela silently scooted over more, hoping she could maybe get a glimpse of the vampires' position. Arela nervously leaned forward silently praying to Nocturnal that she wouldn't be spotted by the vampires.
Unfortunately, the only thing Arela saw was a small brambly bush next to the boat and a heap of rocks. There were fresh footprints in the thick snow and they lead to the castle so she felt a little relief wash over her.
Arela slowly turned around to face the opposite direction of the boat, relieved the two vampires had left.
In a split second Arela realized she was mistaken when she was met with a pair was of glowing, reddish eyes that blazed like fire. Arela stumbled backwards, but instantly she felt the hand of her attacker wrap about her neck, and her feet leave the ground as the women lifted Arela in the air. She let out a muffled scream, but it was only in vain, as no one was around to hear it, other than a man who was behind her attacker. It must be Stalf, she assumed.
Arela wiggled frantically, desperately praying her attacker might lose her grip on Arela's neck. But Arela only felt the hand constrict around her neck with a crushing force, and genuine fear set in as her lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen, and her vision started to blacken around the edges.
"Well, well, look what I found," Fura said in a wicked tone, as Stalf watched Arela choke out.
Finally Stalf spoke. "Fura, I'm sure that you would love to kill this mortal, but our Lord will want to discover her reasons for trying to ambush us. If she is a spy Lord Harkon will want to deal with her." Her attacker, Fura, let out a disheartened sign, before she loosened her grip on Arela's neck, but just enough so she didn't feel like her windpipe was being turned to dust. Arela still couldn't breath and her vision was starting to darken so quickly, she felt unconsciousness creeping in.
"Stalf, you ruin all the fun." Fura uttered, though Arela could hardly comprehend anything, the lack of oxygen was making it impossible to focus. "I suppose I can spare her life for right now, but only because it would please Lord Harkon, and you know how I live to please him." Her suggestive tone disturbed Arela more than anything, but Fura continued in the same tone of voice. "Plus he would want to kill her himself – he loves to have a little bit of fun from time to time." Fura's grip on her neck loosened a bit more, just enough for Arela to get a small gasp of air.
Stalf chuckled lowly and said "Oh, I know how to ruin all the fun, do I?" His said in a joking manner.
All Arela could think about was beating his brains in. How can anyone be making jokes at a time like this. She was choking to death! Stalf then turned a bit more serious and his voice lowered an octave, "Fura you know we can't take her back to the castle awake, Lord Harkon would make sure we never saw another night again."
"Oh, you're right Stalf don't worry I'll take care of it."
Instantly Arela felt Fura's hand jerk back in a lightning fast movement. In that moment Arela's head connected with the stone wall of the watchtower behind her with breathtaking force. Stars jutted across her vision before she fell into an unconscious slumber.