Hey hey hey hey!
So this one is a little different than I usually write and at the moment it'll be a one-shot thing, but if you guys want me to carry it on, I will, just let me know. I own nothing, it's all Bethesda's work. So here we go. :)
Seeing the bridge from the boat, I immediately knew that something was wrong, that something had happened while I was away. I could feel the anxiety build within me as we got closer, not knowing what I would find on the island. I had only been away for a mere few hours visiting my old friend Sybille in Solitude.
I stepped off the boat onto dry land to find the air was thick with the aftermath of a battle and, as I walked across the thick bridge, I found bodies scattered and blood splattered everywhere. Even the gate guard had fought to his last breath and ended up with a sword through his gullet.
I pushed against the gate, using more strength than I expected would need, suddenly feeling even guiltier for forcing this on our watchman every night. Seeing the main hall brought back memories I hadn't thought of in a century. It was a massacre. Both sides clearly had many losses, Volkihar and Dawnguard alike. Vingalmo slumped in the corner, his head barely recognisable, Salonie Caelia's head laying on her master and mentor's lap showing that she had been killed after finding him dead. Such a sweet romance if ever there was one. Fura lying in a pool of her own blood on the carpet in the centre of the room. Orthjolf's body lying in a position I had never thought possible under the head table, his head hanging at an ungodly angle, Stalf lying a mere 2 feet away, clearly having been killed saving his master, mentor and friend.
My beloved Death Hounds, CuSith and Garmr each lying on the ground, members of the Dawnguard sprawled around them. I knew that they had done us proud that day, dying for the same cause as everyone else in the room. Save the castle from the invaders.
I bent down by Hestla, our Blacksmith and a woman who had been a good friend of mine since I had found her in the Companions and changed her to our 'cause'. I pressed my hand to her forehead and silently prayed to Molag Bal, our maker and lord, to make sure she made it to his plain. I looked around the room to find that almost every member of our court had been killed in that very room, the last of the Dawnguard, that I could see anyway, dying in the alcove under the stairs by the entrance.
I moved over to the dying Dawnguard, bending down beside her, seeing the blatant fear on her face as I gripped her chin, forcing her to look directly at me as I asked;
"Harkon. Where is he?" I asked, tightening my grip on her face. I felt her shake a little before I realised that she had begun laughing before she spoke.
"Soon, the beast will be dead and Skyrim will be free…" and before I could say another word, she became limp in my grasp and died before my eyes, slumping to the ground as I released my grip on her. Of course that was their aim. That's the only reason they would come to the castle.
Tapping into the Vampiric skills that I hadn't needed to use in years, I cast a spell, searching for life in the castle, finding only 1. Dawnguard. Clearly in the cathedral. I cast another spell to locate any vampires still alive in the castle, finding the remnants of the 'lives' of each of the vampires in the main hall, but also the strong power that I had become used to over years of living in the castle. Harkon.
Harkon was in the cathedral with some human. I made my way to the dingy room, listening in at the door to find that the person my husband was teasing was the 'legendary Dragonborn' that had been plaguing Skyrim for the recent years. I heard a halt in Harkons voice and I knew that he now knew I was here, though clearly the 'all powerful' Dragonborn didn't.
Releasing my blade from my back that I had taken with me as a precaution due to the harsh nature of Skyrims wilds, though I still don't know why Harkon had insisted I took it as I would have been in the wilds of Skyrim for minutes at a time between the dock and Solitudes gates, I opened the door silently, and slipped through the tiniest gap into the cathedral showing a small smile and flashing my fangs at my husband as he spoke to the mortal as I thrust my blade through her armor and impaled the Dragonborn on my sword, never breaking eye contact with the Vampire Lord at the other side of the room.
Pulling my blade back, I tore my gaze from my husband to watch the body slump to the floor, grinning as I pulled a piece of cloth from my pocket and wiped away the blood from the blade and threw the cloth at the dead Dragonborn.
"Not so 'all powerful' after all." I said, the disgust clear in my voice. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into the eyes of my husband who had made his way over as I had spoken, silent as always.
We stayed locked in one another's gaze for what seemed like an age, though it was probably only seconds to anyone else.
"How many have we lost?" Harkon asked, breaking the sweet silence, and I was thrown back to the scene in the main hall as I went to answer the question.
"All dead." I said, trying to keep the sentiment out of my voice, though it was difficult since we both had lost friends in the battle. Harkon audibly sighed as he manoeuvred around me and out of the door, pushing it open a little more so I could follow.
We walked down the few steps by the hall, looking around the room. I counted the dead. 30 members of both our clan and the Dawnguard all dead in this one room, though including the Dragonborn it would be 31. I watched as my husband weaved in and out of the bodies, clearly searching.
"She isn't here. At least, not in this room. I know not where she may be now, though be sure that she was not killed in the battle." I said, knowing it would most likely not ease his conscience as he continued to search for his daughter.
"She may not be here, but she is still with them. Dawnguard filth. Traitor to her own kind. We must find her. I must make sure she is uninjured." He turned back to me, head held high as he broke. "Lina. Gather all the vampires you can muster." I lifted my hand to ask though he knew my question as usual as he continued, waving his hand a little. "Yes, yes, even the little assassin girl, she will be an advantageous ally in what is to come." I dropped my hand and made my way over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, feeling him clearly relax in my grasp.
"They will pay for what they have done here, Lina, you can be sure of that. They will know what it means to 'pay with blood'. Killing my entire clan was a big mistake and, with the help of the Dragonborn, we have gained everything we need to defeat the Dawnguard, and claim Skyrim as our own." He turned in my arms and looked into my eyes again, smiling a little as he spoke. "We are going to war. With the Dawnguard and with Skyrim. City by city, we will conquer this feeble country, and you will live as queen!"
So there we go. I had fun writing this, to be honest.
I probably won't be writing more of it, at least not yet anyway. If you guys have any ideas for it, let me know.