Titus's jaw dropped as he walked out onto the narrow stone balcony, what had been a narrow series of tunnels had opened up into a vast cave large enough that you could fit the whole of Riverwood in and still have plenty of room to spare. The bottom of the cave was filled with water, a narrow bridge the only path to a raised platform that stood high in the centre of the cave. Titus moved to edge of the ornate stone railing that stood at the far end of the narrow stone balcony, his gaze still fixed by the eerie view before him.
"I won't tell you anything you foul fiends." A voice spoke defiantly despite the obvious pain that the speaker was experiencing. Titus eyes widened as he realised that there were figures below the balcony, two in the familiar gothic armour that vampires were fond of while the third lay on the floor, clothed in the tatters of a vigilant robe. Titus shuffled back rapidly, pressing his body against the wall and praying that the vampires would not lift their gaze to the balcony. His body almost sagged with relief as the vampires laughed, mocking the old Vigilant. While they taunted and imitated their prisoner Titus began to edge himself to his right, the floor of the balcony began to slope down after ten feet or so. Titus was hoping that it would allow him to get down to the same level as the vampires, if he remained up on the balcony he would be slaughtered by the vampire's magical attacks.
The stone path turned to earth as he descended onto small island, a stone bridge linking his island to the one where the vampires tormented their prisoner. The man's howls of pain indicating that the vampires had grown tired of mocking him, instead they had resorted to torturing him to amuse themselves. Titus gritted his teeth, biting back his fury as he crept closer to the two vampires who were using their blades to slice flesh in a macabre competition to see who get the old vigilant to scream the loudest. Still, Titus thought bitterly as he began to cross the final bridge between him and his prey, their malice would be their downfall. The screams of the old man hid the metallic clank of his armour as he slowly advanced towards them, his eye's fixed on the female high elf who stood closest to him.
Titus was just a handful of paces away when the older male imperial jerked round, the shock on his face quickly fading to a distasteful glare.
"Kill him." He spoke tersely to his companion. "I must complete our mission or Harkon will have my head on a platter." His companion hissed in reply, they exchanged a nod before the elder one strode off towards the central platform. The female pivoted round on her heel, a malicious grin on her face as she tossed a dagger from hand to hand. The expression vanished as Titus launched himself recklessly towards her, gambling that the distance between them and his momentum would allow him to knock the vampire off her feet.
The gods must have been watching over him, for Titus smashed into the vampire shield first, an ugly cracking sound echoing off of the cavern walls as his shield connect with the arms the vampire had thrown up in a vain attempt to protect herself. Titus armoured bulk lifted the vampire into the air, the two of the flying for a brief moment before they crashed into one of the solid stone columns that reached upwards. His brief flight set Titus's helmet loose and plunging him in to darkness. Without his sword, which had fallen from his grip as he rammed into the vampire, or his sight Titus felt horribly defenceless, he scrambled backwards while one hand frantically ripped the helmet from his head.
He chuckled at his panic when the helmet had been wrenched off as the sight of the vampire crumpled at the base of the pillar greeted him, his missing sword buried deeply into the fiend's chest. Titus shuffled over to the corpse, his own body still feeling the after effects of the collision. He stared suspiciously at the body, suspicious that the vampire was merely acting in an effort to lull him into a false sense of security. His gaze turned to the older, grey haired vampire who was currently pacing around the central platform in deep thought, oblivious to the fact that his companion had just been killed. Speaking of which, his gaze flicked back to the one that lay in a twisted heap before him, blood staining her once white shirt a dark red. Grunting at the effort Titus jerked the weapon out of her chest before thrusting it once more into the creature. Assured that the creature was most definitely dead Titus wiped the dripping blood from his short sword on a clean portion of the vampire's coat before sliding it back into its scabbard, though he left the final couple of inches free of the leather sheath so he could pull it free more quickly.
Titus did not bother to sneak as he strode over the final stone bridge, despite the final vampire's current preoccupation it was impossible that he would continue to ignore Titus for too long, making any kind of stealthy approach impossible. Instead Titus adopted the traditional Nordic approach to war, one that had been used since the days of Ysgramor, roar insults as loudly as possible while charging at the enemy. Titus held the crossbow closely as he advanced towards the vampire who hissed, baring his sharp teeth angrily as Titus yelled out an ancient Nordic insult that involved the vampire's mother, the family broadsword and a dog.
Titus's finger itched to squeeze the crossbow's trigger but he resisted the temptation, biting his cheek anxiously as he held the nerves that screamed at him to shoot in check. Instead he waited until the vampire leapt towards him, before he sent the steel tipped blot flying towards the black coated blur. The bolt checked the vampire's charge though the vampire shrugged off the bolt that was embedded in his shoulder as if it was merely a bee's sting. The bolt did however did grant him enough time that Titus was able to draw his sword and close the distance to where his short sword could deliver it's lethal stabbing thrusts.
The vampire parried one such stabbing blow with a contemptuous flick of his war axe, his palm slamming into Titus's chest, the inhuman strength causing Titus to stagger backwards. By the time Titus had regained his balance the vampire had ripped an ornate mace from his waist, the vicious spikes that protruded from his head warning Titus that despite its garish appearance the weapon was quite capable of giving him a messy end. He ducked the scything blow that swept above his head unsure that his shield, already battered and beaten from his previous fights, would hold against one the brutal blows from the mace. Metal shrieked as the war axe clashed with the metal boss at the centre of his shield.
Titus saw a flash of leather boots and sent a wild swing towards them, a grim smile on his face as an image of his old centurion chewing out an old recruit for using the edge of his short sword instead of the point. The blow, though perhaps not appropriate by military standards, was effective. The blade slashed through the boot and severed the tip of the boot taking chunks of toes with it. The vampire howled in pain and fury as it hobbled backwards, the cut may not have been a killing one but it had most definitely hampered that agility that had troubled Titus so much in so in earlier fights. If only there was a similar solution, Titus thought to himself as he readied himself to meet the blur of steel that was the vampire's attack, for the vampire's brute strength.
The mace struck at his head, the speed of the blow giving him no choice but to duck behind his shield and pray to Shor that his shield would hold. Fear wrenched through him as a splintering sound followed the thud of the mace, Titus's heart seemed to stop beating for a few moments before the realisation that the shield had held reinvigorated him. With a roar he launched himself upwards, he parried a blow from the war axe before slicing down on the arm that bore it causing the weapon to clatter to the floor. The vampire cried out in frustration, the creature's mace still lodged in Titus's shield. Titus smiled tiredly as he plunged his sword into the vampire's chest, the blow struck true as the vampire, both his weapons lost, was unable to avoid the killing blow.
Titus twisted the blade, both to do maximum damage and to prevent the blade becoming stuck in the body, before falling onto his own back. He lay like that for a few minutes, covered in blood, breathing heavily as the aches and pains that resulted from a day's worth of hard fights began to catch up with him as the adrenaline left his body. When the ache in his limbs had receded somewhat Titus climbed to his feet, curious as to what purpose the vampires had come to this strange cavern.
"There must be something in this place, you don't build something like this for fun." Titus told himself, his voice hoarse from his battle cries. A small pillar in the centre of the platform caught his eye. The pillar was ornately decorated though in the dim light Titus's tired eyes could not make out what was depicted, as he got closer he saw that there was a large button on the waist high pillar. Titus stared at it for a few moments, his hand hovering above the button, before he shrugged nonchalantly.
"What's the worst that can happen?" He asked himself as he pressed down firmly on the button which creaked as long dormant mechanisms were forced into use once more.
"Fuuuuuuck." Titus cried out, his eyes watering as a spike erupted from the centre of the button, the razor sharp spike driving clear through his palm. Titus stared disbelievingly at his sword hand, his mouth hung open in horror. After a few moments the spike withdrew leaving a large hole, the size of a gold coin, in the palm of his hand. Around him stone grated against stone as the different sections of the platform began to shift downwards, creating a staircase down to a large stone coffin in the center. All this Titus ignored as he continued to stare at his hand, he was crippled. He had seen many men suffer crippling injuries in his time as a legionary and a mercenary, their fate was almost always a miserable one. Men, such as Titus himself, only had one talent and that was the business of war. Without it they were doomed to fall into debt, ending their days once filled with comradeship and glory lying ignominiously in some dirty back alley, their only friend a half empty bottle of beer.
So engrossed was Titus on his suddenly dim future, he failed to notice the stone coffin slide open, revealing a beautiful raven haired girl who stared, a puzzled expression on her face, at Titus.
"Excuse me?" She asked politely but Titus ignored her, his mouth still gaping as he stared at his ruined hand. He'd never be able to hold anything, sword or shield, in his hand again.
"Excuse me?" She asked more forcefully, moving to stand in front of Titus who ignored her once more, mouth working soundlessly as he struggled to cope with what had happened.
"My...my…my hand." Titus managed to stutter, still oblivious to the fact that the woman was staring impatiently at him.
"Oh for…give me your damn hand." The woman growled, wrenching Titus hand towards her, ignoring his cry of pain at the movement. She muttered a few words under her breath before a bright white light emanated from her hands which held Titus's injured tightly, though that may have only been because Titus kept trying jerk his hand back. He cried out as the pain but surprising he was unable to pull his hand from her vice like grip. "There good as new." She huffed when the light died down.
"You fixed it." Titus smiled, the darkness that hand clouded his mind lifting with the restoration of his hand. "I am in your debt miss…"
"Serana." She smiled back. "Just call me Serana."
"Vampire." Titus growled, his eyes catching the white glint of her fangs as she smiled back. Looking closer he noticed the other markers of a vampire, the pale skin that had never seen the light of day, the cat like amber eyes perfect for spying prey in the dark of night. His freshly healed hand sprang for his sword but her shout stayed his hand from sliding it free.
"You said that you were in my debt." She spoke calmly, seemingly unafraid that Titus would attack her. Titus stared furiously at her, his hand itching to draw one of the swords that hung at his waist and lop off her head. He stood like that for well over a minute, 'Serana' matching his gaze fearlessly, before he cursed in frustration, his hand releasing the hilt.
"You can call me Titus." He told her, his voice surly. She may have been right about him being in her debt, her spell had saved him from a miserable future but that damn well didn't mean he had to be polite with a vampire.
"A pleasure to meet you." Serana smiled happily, apparently oblivious to Titus's foul mood. "Now that we have got the unpleasantries aside we can leave this 'cave', it's been forever since I've breathed fresh air."
"Now wait a damn minute." Titus held out an arm to stop her from walking past. "I want to know what I have to do for you to release me."
"Take me home course." Serana smiled sweetly before brushing past Titus, she stopped after a few passes to call over her shoulder. "Come on." Titus groaned quietly but did as she asked, though he kept a few paces behind her, he was still not convinced that he wasn't just a handy snack for when she got hungry.
He almost tripped over his feet in surprise when Serana, after seeing that he was indeed following her, swung round to continue walking. Slung across her back was an elder scroll, almost identical to the one that Titus had carried to the Throat of the World. He could not think of any reason why a vampire would need an elder scroll though he was sure that whatever the reason no good could come of it.
"Is that an elder scroll on your back?" He asked, unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice. He had decided that it would be best to determine why she needed done before he took it from her.
"Yes it is." Serana said shortly, the friendliness leaving her voice for the first time.
"Why do you need one?" Titus asked bluntly, smooth talking had never been a talent of his though he'd known legionaries would could sweet talk a drunk out of their last bottle of mead.
"It looks pretty on my back." Serana replied, the playful tone back in her voice. She span round once more to wag a finger at Titus. "Part of your debt involves no taking my elder scroll." She fixed Titus with a knowing smile for a few seconds, laughing when he blushed, before she turned once again to lead him further towards the other end of the platform.
"You could still tell me why you need one." Titus persisted stubbornly.
"I expected to see someone like me when I woke up." Serana said conversationally, now totally ignoring Titus.
"You mean a vampire?" Titus asked sourly, giving up temporarily on the topic scroll.
"Yes that." Serana said airily. "Oh I guess they were here." She remarked as they passed the corpse of the older vampire in the tone of voice that Titus usually associated with a man commenting on the weather. She stared accusingly at him, though Titus got the feeling that it was more for show than any real sense of anger over the death of the vampire.
"How long were you in there anyway?" Titus asked, anxious for information he could bring back to the Dawnguard.
"I have no idea." Serana replied happily. "I feel like it's been a long time. Who's High King of Skyrim?"
"That's actually a matter of debate." Titus replied dryly. The Stormcloaks, though Ulfric had been slain, had not given up. Pledging that they would not lay down their swords until the Empire was driven out of Skyrim they had instigated a fierce guerrilla war that still raged across Skyrim. The Jarls of Skyrim, unable to travel safely, had refused to convene the moot until order had been restored.
"A civil war? Nice to know Skyrim hasn't gotten boring. Who are the contenders?"
"The Empire supports Elisif, the Stormcloaks have rallied behind Harrald the son of the deposed Jarl of the Rift."
"What's the Empire?" Serana asked him uncertainly.
"Well…it's…it's the Empire…from Cyrodiil." Titus struggled to explain it to her, flabbergasted that no one could have heard of it.
"Cyrodiil's the seat of an empire now...good for them I guess." Serana shrugged "The 'Empire' been around for long?"
"Yeah, quite a while." Titus replied, stunned by how old she was. Her appearance was that of a woman in her early twenties but he was realising that she was hundreds of years old.
"Huh." Was Serana's only reply, the vampire seemed remarkably unaffected by the revelation, what were a few hundred years when you were immortal?