Vigilants of Stendarr

A Vigil's Light

Chapter 1

An Easy Beginning

"Remember Eirylth, the Daedra are as evil as they are treacherous." Vendol the Vigilant whispered to his pupil of nine and ten years.

The girl nodded, listening and hearing the words of her mentor for yet another time. It was a line he had always uttered, among the many standard sayings the Vigilants of Stendarr had and oft said, sayings and phrases like "the suffering the Daedra caused will not go unpunished," or "wherever the Daedra hide, the Vigil of Stendarr will cast them into the light." He was always quick to say such things, perhaps as a way to remind his young student of what they fought for-of what she fought for-to remind her of what she was born to do.

"Okay, now breathe Eirylth. Do not fret or get nervous, simply breathe."

Her teacher and constant companion continued to instruct. She drew a shaky breath as she continued to hold her drawn arrow in its bow. Her eyes were trained on the sight ahead of her, on the vampires ahead of her. They idled a few feet ahead of both her and her mentor, speaking and being the abominations they naturally were. Just their living alone was an offense to both her and the world. Luckily for them, both her and Vendol were there to deliver the swift mercy they righteously deserved, the swift justice they needed, ultimately ridding them of their accursed affliction. With death came mercy and with mercy death, that was the way the Vigilants worked, gifting mercy through the act of ending, and all with the blessings of Stendarr. It was their goal and their life's work to rid all of Skyrim, all of Tamriel, of the dark creatures and beings that were the vampires, witches, werewolves, things of the like and, most of all, Daedra that plagued the lands.

Eirylth waited, breath drawn, shoulders tensed. She felt grateful for the cover the trees and shrubbery ahead of her provided. The vampires had yet to detect both her and Vendol and it was no surprise, Vendol knew how to hide himself and Eirylth had learned from the best. Her brow furrowed even more as her arms strained, she licked her lips, licking the perspiration off her top lip. Sweat trailed down her neck, the wet trails icy fingers against her skin. For a moment the standard armor and attire that was the Vigilants of Stendarr ensemble felt uncomfortable. The robes were scratchy against her clammy skin, the boots and gauntlets restricting, the amulet around her neck choking, and her hood an uncomfortable weight atop her head. She wanted to claw it all off and scream. The discomfort, however, was probably all in her head because it faded just as quickly as it came. She swallowed, unable to help it, and allowed her gaze to flicker over to her teacher.

Old and marred with wrinkles and lines of all kinds, Vendol was past his prime, but still very much alive. He was an old man, yes, stricken with knowledge and wisdom, but his body was still quite agile and strong despite his age. He managed to maintain his hair, the once brown locks now gray and hanging down in thin strands. His eyes were the most live part of him-other than his burning soul and personality-and were probably always the most live part of his being. They were a peculiar mix of color. Dark and light browns blended with amber containing a thin and thick ring of light and dark grey. They were a tantalizing sight to say in the least, enthralling, mystifying. Eirylth couldn't help but remember the first time she had remarked upon their quaintness.

She was just a girl of five and after a few quivering moments of fear she had mustered up the courage to ask about his eyes, finding them much too beautiful compared to her pale, broken green ones. He had simply laughed at her and given her some elaborate tales and speech as to how he came upon those eyes. They were all giant fibs and involved vast, impossible magic of some sorts and strange interventions of mystical beings. At the time such tales sent her into hysterics, making her laugh and giggle until tears shone in her eyes. As she grew older she realized it was just the blood of his parents and ancestors that made his eyes so. But she always harbored secret thoughts that perhaps it was magic that made his eyes the way they were and even still she believed that there was something magical to this man.

"Eirylth. Are you paying attention?"

She jumped, or almost did, twitching, fingers nearly letting the arrow free and into a far off tree that would surely alert the vampires. Her thoughts were quickly taken away from whatever she was thinking to back to the vampires. Kill, kill, kill, it was almost a faint chant in her head. She had to push through it to get her mind and thoughts clear. A clear mind was always best and even a must in the battlefield or so said Vendol.

She nodded in assent, in show that she was paying attention, though that was a bit of a lie, but Vendol didn't need to know that, did he? The man stared at her for a moment before returning his attention to the vampires.

"…"

Eirylth wondered just what the vampires were discussing, she could only hear faint snippets of their conversations, just one or two words that reached her ears when a vampire's voice rose an inch or two higher than the normal octave. It was so faint and the words were so random that she could not hope or even try to piece anything together, but the girl had no doubts that Vendol was aware of their words and knew just what they were talking about. He was just that great and experienced.

Although… now that she thought about it, something felt off, weird. Her and her mentor weren't doing the standard procedure that was the Vigilants' way. No, they hadn't from the start, she realized. Typically, upon seeing an abomination, Vigilants were taught to eliminate it as swiftly and quickly as possible, both to make things easier and to get rid of any further or future complications that could and would occur if they allowed the abomination to live. Yes, there were instances in which Vigilants did not attack immediately or even needed to wait and observe so they could to extract or acquire information, but this wasn't such case.

Eirylth was now wondering just why her and Vendol weren't charging into the area, hands blazing with elaborate spells and fire that was ready and blasting. If they did that then they wouldn't even be where they were, crouching and hiding. They would have been in their hall, sitting by the hearth, her reading and studying to become an all the more better warrior and Vigil, and Vendol supervising and to his own thoughts, counseling her only when a valid question arose.

They had stumbled upon these creatures, in earnest. There was nothing to study or take from them, no important information. They hadn't even been targets of the many the Vigils had. They were just a random set of very unfortunate vampires, so why were they just crouching here, acting as if they were important to a mission or goal, when they would be dead in a few moments or so? Dead, if Vendol ever gave the clear to move or attack. Just what is he waiting for?

"Go."

She flinched, let her arrow free, and watched as it lodged itself in the shoulder of the female vampire closest to her. She fell with a groan, falling victim to Eirylth's poisoned arrow. The other vampires spun, hissing, seeking and charging forward towards the general direction in which the arrow came.

Eirylth moved, leaping up and charging into action, bow releasing and launching a succession of arrows. Some hit while others missed. She wanted, if possible, to stay away as far as she could from the vampires, expelling them only with her bow.

Move, move, move!

That was all she heard in her head as she ran back and spun around, launching an arrow straight into the eye of an approaching vampire. That mantra continued in her mind, being that it was drilled into her. Eirylth put her complete and utter focus on it, focusing on its order.

Another vampire came and it too fell to arrows. A harsh spell launched itself at her and she dodged, narrowly missing it by a fine hair. If she had moved a second later it would have drained her health, her vitality. She moved again, dodging another harmful spell. She silently thanked Stendarr for her small stature and the speed that came with it as she sent another fine arrow flying. Then she was moving again, darting around as she tried her best to maintain her distance.

Opponents were much more dangerous face to face.

Once, twice, thrice, however, a vampire or two got too close for comfort. And right when she went to fight them, about to switch from her bow to mace, Eirylth found them blasted away by her master's bolt or spell. He had long moved as well, and was now locked in a heated and furious battle with not one, two, but three opponents. He could handle it. More than handle it, Eirylth thought, taking her eyes off the opponent approaching her to give her teacher a momentary glance. Though the glance was cut short as the male vampire before her charged and Eirylth raised her bow in defense.

She fell back as the vampire shoved and grappled with her, tripping-out of all things!- on a errant tree branch. She fell with a yelp and landed with a pronounced oof. The vampire pushed, her arms strained. He was insanely strong. It hissed, raising an arm to claw at her. Eirylth brought her bow up yet another time, luckily and successfully avoiding the blow intended for her face.

She felt a moment of triumph flash through her, but it was short lived as the vampire hissed once more, spit flying, and flung her blow away. For a moment, time hung and Eirylth met the eyes of the abomination before her. It grinned before taking hold of her neck and raising her up. She kicked fruitlessly, not at all making contract. It's claw tipped nails dug into her throat. She choked.

"Ngh!"

More kicking. Her hands flew up to the vampire's arms and she kicked once more. More air left her and she choked once more. Blacking out... She worked to summon up any erg of power, any erg of attack. Couldn't. Flailing. That's it, this was it. Something crunching, cracking. Clawing for air... This was how she was going to die. Gaze darkening. Skin nearly breaking. Black dancing in vision. She really was going to die right then and there. More choking, air thin, too thin. The others were right, she was too weak for this. Wheezing. Clawing. Weak. She was always weak. Not prepared. This wasn't her life. Fading... Fading...

"Hngh. Ah!"

Sudden intake of air. Falling. Fell. On her knees now. Branches, dirt, twigs digging in. Alive. Choking. Sputtering. Coughing. Clutching her throat. Ears ringing. Air. Air! Every intake of air a shaky one. Alive... Alive.

A hiss, snarl, light, death cry. Fire.

Eirylth blinked, working to see past the tears shading her eyes, obscuring her vision. What had just happened? Haggard breaths continued to leave and enter her, her chest hurt, her neck hurt. She was on the ground. No longer in the air. Safe. Safe. She was safe and someone had saved her. She closed her eyes, breathed, breathed more and shook silently.

"Eirylth."

The sound of her name being called by Vendol snapped at her. She looked up with startled eyes. Found her eyes swimming with more tears as she looked to her teacher.

"Vendol. I'm sorry. I didn't know what happened. I-I..."

He shook his head. She shut up, bottom lip quivering. He stretched out his hand, she took it wordlessly, still shaking.

"It's alright. It happens, Eirylth. People make mistakes, even Vigils." He pulled her up, smoothed a strand of hair down. She shook, continued to shake, shame boiling deep within her gut.

He sighed. "This was my fault. I should have never told you to go. You could not handle this many."

She shook her head in protest. No, no she could handle this! She had handled other things before! Granted they hadn't been vampires like this, but, but she had handled other things! How was this any different? What, were vampires more dangerous than some of the Daedra and witches she encountered? Were they?

"Those were not your typical vampires, Eirylth. They were stronger, faster. You are lucky you were able to handle some and for that I am proud. Good job..."

He patted her head, handed her a healing potion that had made its way into his hands. She blinked and with trembling fingers took it. Uncorking it shakily, she drank from it, it's warmth spilling into her, healing her and her injured neck. Some, no all, of the pain subsided. Her neck still throbbed, absolutely sore. She rubbed at it gently, wincing, the nails and hands that had choked her having dug into her much too hard. It would take a few days for it to heal and even a few more for any marks to disappear and Eirylth felt she'd have extremely deep and dark ones. If she was lucky, the marks would fade. If she wasn't, however, then she was looking at scars. As she tended to her wounds and injuries, looking over them, Vendol looked around in thought. She stared up at him, and observed, noting how tense his shoulders were. He didn't appear injured, not in the slightest, the frayed edges and cuts in his robes the only indication of battle.

"These vampires are much more different than the typical ones."

Vendol bent down before an ash pile of dust and gathered some in his hands, examining it and then allowing it to filter out between his fingers. He put his fingers into the pile, brought them up, rubbed ash between his fingers, observing and noting the way the grains felt.

"They're becoming stronger," he murmured under his breath, glaring.

He sighed, took out a pouch from his side and retrieved a bottle from it. Then he collected the dust of the deceased vampires before him in the clearing of woods they stood in. He went to each and every pile and collected a sample, looking into each and every small bottle after collection. When he was done, he set about putting each vial into his pouch and settled it by his side once more.

Eirylth was silent throughout the entire process, silent and waiting. She dared not say a thing. Much too ashamed and disappoint in herself though her teacher had excused her, saying it was alright. No, it wasn't alright. Her trembling hands clenched into tight fists. What sort of Vigilant was she if she could not handle a mere vampire? If she could not get out of a simple chokehold. More shame came and her face reddened with it, her eyes teared with it. She felt useless!

She was useless! Useless, useless!

She had needed her teacher's help to save herself. And what if he hadn't been there? What if she was all alone? Then she would have been dead. Lost to the world, forever gone and off to the afterlife. She paled with that remainder. Even still, what if she had been turned into a vampire? Her body went cold. The worst thing that could happen to her, ever. Turned into one of the many abominations she and others hunted and killed. Slave and subject to whoever turned her. She blanched. Again, she was useless if she couldn't help defend herself. If she couldn't fight close-ranged... If she still depended on Vendol's aid. Her fists whitened with the force in which she tightened them and her cheek had an indent where she bit into it much too hard.

"Eirylth. Let's go. We have much to do."

She nodded and followed after her master wordlessly after he turned away from her. The girl clenched her fist even tighter, gritted her teeth and promised herself that she would be useless no more, she would depend on no one, and she would destroy all on her own. She'd make herself proud, she would make Vendol proud and she'd make the entire hall proud. Eirylth promised herself that, that and more. Most of all, she promised herself that she would become the best Vigilant there was.

Or she'd die trying.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, salutations! Yes, here I am posting another fanfic-I really couldn't resist!- except this had nothing to do with the Dragonborn or the main quests or spotty lines or anything at all. I do not own Betheseda or Skyrim, I am simply borrowing its amazing worls and lore to write a story. Again, this little nugget features a protoganist who is NOT the Dragonborn. She's just a little young girl- teenager really- who is part of the Vigilants of Stendarr and her struggles. I think those fellows are an interesting bunch and little Eirylth (pronounced Ear-re-lith or just like Irelith) came to me as I was thinking about them. I think they're something that could have been expanded upon more, but sadly was not :(. How awesome would it be if you were able to join them? And do missions and quests? That would have been pretty awesome! Although the Dawnguard is technically the extension of the Vigilants, but neh, not really! Point is, those babies needed love, and I'm going to try to give them that love with this story! Daedra will be thrown into the mix in this story-among other things-but Daedric beings will come into play. (I can't resist, I'm a Daedra lover.) I think it'll be interesting. This'll be a fic I'll work on just for fun and if I have the time between things and my other fic Two Dragonborn-which you should check out if you haven't! I hope this was enjoyable read! I hope my two original characters are just as enjoyable. Please read and review if you can, feedback is much welcomed! Thank you so very much! Ciao! (: