Author's Note: This chapter is mostly dialouge, but is necessary to get the ball really rolling. Anyway, I'm going to try and update once a week, hopefully on Friday or Saturday. So far I have a strong, two week tradition of keeping this rate going! Please read, review and enjoy!

Chapter Two: Serana

Not much could rattle the Dragonborn. While exploring the dangerous and deadly Dwemer ruins, digging through Nordic tombs, fighting from the depths of Blackreach to the heights of The Throat of the World, he had seen and experienced many things and not many of those things scared him anymore. Two things still did and one of them is seeing an Elder Scroll. Seeing an Elder Scroll strapped to the back of the daughter of an incredibly powerful vampire wasn't helping matters at all.

And he actually had expected to see Serana again. Not this soon and not, seemingly, on the same side, and certainly not with the Elder Scroll. But here, in the middle of, despite their amateurism, the most concentrated group of vampire hunters in Skyrim, possibly in the Empire, that was surprising. He actually managed to chuckle as he crossed his arms, with some difficulty due to the extra bulky armor and replied. "To be honest, no. What are you doing here?"

"I'd rather not be here either," she began. "But I needed to talk to you. It's important, so please just listen before your friend here loses his patience. It's... well, it's about me. And the Elder Scroll that was buried with me."

"What about you?" Josef asked, sparing a glance at Isran. The Redguard was hard to read, but at this moment he was rather certain he'd want to take the Scroll, strap Serana to the rack and see how many parts he could cut off of her before she turned into a pile of ash and then probably kill him for listening to her for this long. Josef was intrigued though. His own experience with Elder Scrolls told him that they were very powerful and could drive men to do extraordinary things. An Elder Scroll had ended the Dragon War, and had given him the key to defeating Alduin, but, considering what they had done to Septimus, they could also bring great harm.

"The reason I was down there... and why I had the Elder Scroll." she began, pausing and taking a deep breath."It all comes back to my father. I'm guessing you figured this part out already, but my father is not exactly a good person, even by vampire standards.

"He wasn't always like that though." she continued. "There was... a turn. He stumbeled onto this obsecure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it."

"What do you mean... 'lost himself'" asked Josef. The last prophecy he had seen didn't help prepare for the coming disaster that Skyrim was barely surviving, and even in old tales and songs there was never a prophecy about something good happeneing, until, at least, hundreds or thousands of innocnets had their entire world ruined beyond recovery.

"He just became absorbed... obsessed. It was kind of sick, actually. The prophecy said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun. For someone who fancied himself as vampire royalty, that's pretty seductive. Anyway, my mother and I didn't feel like inviting a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That's why I was sealed away with the Scroll. " she said.

Josef locked his hands together behind his head for a moment and sighed, watching a thousand images flash through his head. There had been small vampire raids in most of the major cities for a few months now, imaging that, only worse, at all hours was an unsetteling thought. He had to admit that, perverse as it was, as far as plans that psychotic vampires would have, it wasn't the worst. He also couldn't be sure it would invite a war with Tamriel, it had been like pulling teeth to get Ulfric and Tulius to lay down their arms for a month while Alduin was dealt with.

"You took a big risk coming here." he said after a pause. He didn't know what else he could say and was slightly worried that if he stayed too quiet for too long, Isran would take over the conversation and his opening statement would be rending her head in with his warhammer, nor was he sure that Serana's head would be first. Luckily, for all involved, Serana spoke again.

"I did. But something about you makes me think I can trust you. I hope I'm not wrong." she said, to Josef more than Isran. A smile tugged at the corners of the Imperial's mouth hearing that but a small, annoying, voice in the back of his head spoke up.

'She's a vampire Josef,' it said in it's smug little tone. 'She's the enemy.' He forced it out though. If he ever listened to his subconscious for more than a short time, another voice started to speak up, and given what was standing in front of him, he wasn't eager to entertain what was always bubbling under the surface.

"No, you're right. We just have to convince the others you're on our side." Josef responded, quieting the voices in his head. That was going to be a difficult task. Josef was well know and, more often than not, quite popular in Skyrim, but in Fort Dawnguard, even someone like him started low. Isran made sure of that and Josef was thankful for it. Everyone he had met since he started killing dragons were eager to thrust him into leadership positions without having to do much to prove himself, and not being handed command of the Dawnguard after speaking a few times with Isran was refreshing.

"Well, let's move then. I'm nothing if not persuasive. " Serana said with a slight grin on her face. Josef had to admit she had spirit and confidence if nothing else. It hadn't shown here but she also had a decent command over magic. There brief encounters with dragur in Dimhallow Crypt had proven that. All in all, she was a fine specimen. He was about to speak before Isran finally spoke. Josef had almost forgotten the Redguard was there, before his gravelery voice reminded everyone.

"All right, you've heard what it has to say." the commander of the Dawnguard said. "Now tell me, is there any reason I shouldn't kill this bloodsucking fiend right now?" Josef's head shot to Isran, anger in his eyes.

"Isran." he said. "A word." He walked a little away from Serana and turned his back, while speaking to his commander.

"You've heard what it has to say." he said gruffly. "Can you honestley give me a reason not to put it's pretty little head on a spike, take the Scroll and get back to what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Isran..." Josef said. "Listen to me, when I took her home, her father wase static to see her. Mainly for the Elder Scroll, but there was something else there too. She's as essential to his plan as the Scroll is."

"You're not making case for sparing her Josef." he said.

"No, but this should." the Imperial countered. "There were close to thirty vampires in that castle. All heavily armed and armored. Isran, if Harkon doesn't know where she and the Scroll is now, he will shortly. And if he finds out that we killed her and have the Scroll, he is going to bring everything he has in his castle down on us and Isran...". Josef looked at him, slowly shaking his head. "We cannot stand against that. Not yet."

"You could." Isran said almost immediatly. The moment the words were out of the commander's mouth though, if looks could kill, Isran would be dead and gone almost in the same instant.

"No Isran." Josef said in a cold dead voice. "Not that, not ever again."

Isran gave him a cold hard stare back. He towered over the Imperial, but he knew, better than most, what kind of power boiled under that man. He turned on his heel and marched back to Serana, Josef following him.

"Don't feel like a guest, because you're not." Isran began, speaking to Serana like she was scum, which to him, Josef was sure she was. "You're a resource. You're an asset. In the meantime, don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity, because if you do, your friend here is going to pay for it."

"Thank you for your kindess," Serana responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'll remember it the next time I'm feeling hungry."

The Imperial gave an almost silent chuckle. 'Cute and funny,' he found himself thinking. 'Still a vampire Josef.' the voice continued. Before he or Isran could say anything next, Serana turned to Josef and spoke again.

"So, in case you didn' tnotice the giant thing on my back, I have the Elder Scroll with me." she said, indicating the object of cosmic power."Whatever it says, it will have something that can help us stop my father. But of course," Serana continued. "Neither of us can read it."

That was both true and false for Josef. He had, in a way, read an Elder Scroll to learn the Dragonrend Shout. But the time he had foolishly opened it he had been struck blind for about an hour. Also, the Runed Lexicon he had gotten for Septimus was as incomprehensible as the man's book about the Elder Scrolls. Without help, whatever information Serana had, was going to stay in that Scroll.

"Who can?" he asked. He didn't expect Isran or Serana to know but if they did, he would take it.

"Well, the Moth Priests are the only ones I've heard of who can do it." Serana responded. Josef smiled, she was impressing him more and more. "They spend years preparing before they start reading, though. Not that this helps us anyway, because they're all half a continent away in Cyrodiil." Josef was about to sigh and mention how trudging back to Cyrodiil was the last thing he wanted to do when Isran spoke up.

"Some Imperial scholar arrived in Skyrim a few day ago." he sid. "I was staking out the road when I saw him pass by. Maybe that's your Moth Priest."

"Do you know where he's staying now?" Serana asked, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that this man's blood boiled everytime she opened her mouth.

"No." Isran responded curtly. "And I'm not going to waste men looking. We're fighting a war against your kind, and I intend to win it. You want to find him, try talking to anyone who'd meet a traveler. Innkeepers and carriage drivers in the big cities maybe. But you're on your own."

"Any idea how you're going to find a Moth Priest?" Serana asked the Imperial. "Skyrim's a pretty big place."

"Where would a Moth Priest actually go?" he asked. He didn't know of any great repository of Elder Srolls, save the one he had, safely tucked away where no one would ever look, guarded by things no one would ever cross.

"Well," Serana began. "Back before I... you know. The College of Winterhold was the first place I'd think to go for any kindof magic or historical thing. The wizards know about all kinds of things that people probably shouldn't know about." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Actually, now that I think of it... I'm going to come along with you. I've been really wanting to get out and explore a bit."

Josef smiled and slightly bowed. "Well then my lady," he said holding out his hand. "Come with me."