Chapter 12.


"Niik, we're here" Recorder said clearly trying to avoid letting too much light in as she peaked under the lid to see me.

The time I spent in my sanctuary of isolation always feels so short when it finally ends. But at least I felt stronger from my time in this sun. I thought last time was bad when I had thin layers of clouds overhead, but direct sun beams are like putting your face to a fire.
But I had to move now. Time to wake up.
Recorder was smart to give me fair warning to get out. Letting be leave the coffin before being in the line of sight of the fortress.
As she drove us closer, I threw some tarps over the coffin to try and mask it a bit better.
It wasn't quite sunset yet, but the fort was located between a few mountains that placed it and us in many shadows, so the exposure wasn't killing me like it was before.
We left the horse behind to climb the steps to a huge door where I banged my fist against them and waited for a response.
A sliding window made of iron opened just at head level showing someone on the other side peering out at us demanding to know our business here.

"Isran is expecting us. The Arch Mage of Winterhold-"

"And I'm here too!" Recorder chimed in waving behind me.

The man on the other side told us to wait before shutting the window again.
I turned to Recorder waiting an explanation.

"Just making sure they know You're the arch mage. I don't want another stunt like at the college. I get stage fright you know"

We stopped talking when heavy locks began turning from the other side. When the chains rattled pulling the huge doors apart, I came to realise I was more impressed with the Dawnguard's fort than their warriors.

"This way"

Recorder seemed put off by the fort's interior. I suppose it was a little grim compared to her quarters at Winterhold. In contrast to the supernatural energy my hold has, this place emanated a sense of death and decay.

"So tell me boy, you ever held a weapon before?"

"Well… not exactly. But I fought of wolves once using my pa's axe"

Recorder and I followed our escort into a room where a new recruit was being trained.

"my pa's axe? heheh, we'll make a warrior out of you yet" The trainer himself had a huge war axe fastened to his back. But instead he reached for a crossbow and handed it to his trainee. "These fire steel bolts that can penetrate some armour"

"but, isn't silver best for vampires?"

"We're short on resources. Shoot them down with steel, then get them with this" While brandishing a blade made of silver, the trainer finally noticed us. His eyes narrowed.

"Isran, the Arch ma-" Our escort, the trainee and even Recorder were silenced as Isran's battle axe clashed against my sword.

He was strong, pushed me against the wall with fire in his eyes.

"Vampire!" He cursed.

Our escort was quickest to react drawing his blade while the trainee fumbled around to aim his crossbow, assuming he even knew how to fire it.

"Thats enough boys" Recorder told them holding a sword in each hand to both their necks. "Niik, having trouble?"

I was actually. Isran's mind was stronger than anyone else's I'd faced. I couldn't get him to let up. A great portion of a vampire's strength is their ability to intimidate their foe into believing they're invincible. But Isran wasn't fooled at all.
However, if I'd taken Recorder up on her blood offer Isran would have been knocked down the moment our weapons clashed.

"Niik!" Recorder called again. "If you're having trouble, just give a shout, okay"

Give a shout? What kind of useless advice is that. If she's in a position to help, why isn't she? I then saw her leading the two other Dawnguard members away, but why?Isran's axe edged closer to my head. I refused to be defeated like this. If I just had a hand free, or some way of getting him to back off.
A shout!

"Fus Ro Dah!"

Isran was sent flying across the room by the force of my dragon shout and crashed into a sacks of farmed produce.
The air was also knocked out of me too, guess I still need more training to cope with the strain using those powers applies.

"Did you get him?" Recorder asked sticking her head out from behind a wall then noticed Isran struggling to pick himself up. "Oh good. This way boys"

The trainee and our escort were brought back at sword point but this wasn't going to help start the conversation, so to Recorder's dismay I asked her to place her weapons on the table next to mine.

"If this backfires, I'll be really annoyed at you"

I ignored her. My focus was more on the two crossbows pointed at me and the angry and hurt Isran limping over using his axe as a cain.

"Isran. I am Niik Havod of Winterhold. Arch Mage and… recently woken Dragon Born"

He stopped and looked at me. It appeared he didn't want to believe that.

"I may be a vampier Isran, I'm also a Dragon Born. If you eliminate Harkon and retrieve the Elder-" Recorder. I just remembered she was next to me and unaware of the Scrolls. If I can't trust her now, when can I? "If you retrieve the Elder Scroll and stop Harkon you'll still have the black beast Alduin to worry about. I'm no more an ally to the vampires as I am to Dragons"

Isran looked to his two men at his sides, then looked passed me and giving some sort of signal with his head.
I followed his stare and noticed a hallway at my back with seven more crossbow being slowly lowered but their wielders still on guard.

"The Arch mage did send word of warning to us. How can I be sure that's you?"

"You sent someone to speak with me, Hakar. A bag of silver too I believe"

Isran and the other's looked troubled.

"Is he dead?"

I saw itchy fingers over triggers.

"I suspected there may be an abort plan if I turned out to be a vampire. So my companion here posed as me to pass his little test, once I'd confirmed the time and place of our meeting I came at once" I felt at the time that using their headquarters as a meeting point was a little amateur. Had I known that from the beginning I wouldn't have bothered. Surly an undisclosed outpost would have made a better location. But thats the Dawnguard for you. Strong steel but soft minds.

"And why do you serve a vampire?"

All eyes were on Recorder waiting for her answer. I didn't even glance her way, too busy making notes of anyone giving snide or hatful looks at her.
I've often found that humans who live with or work for vampires under their own accord often get more direct hate than the vampire itself. Their allegiance being with the dead rather than the living make others feel personally betrayed by them.

"I'm working with the Dragon Born. The rest is incidental to me"

"So you've killed vampires then?"

Recorder was silent for a moment before telling him she hadn't.

"I've not met another vampire other than him"

"You have" I told her. "Well, you saw him outside Whiterun. The man who stopped and watched you run by"

Recorder, lost in thought, was quickly hit with the realisation that she was being observed not for her body, but for her blood.

"Whiterun?" Asked one of the guards behind me. "Isran…?"

The Dawnguard leader sighed into his hand, but gave the caller permission to leave with a small team. Most likely the man had family or at least was from there.
As I watched them leave my eyes stopped over Recorder. I'm not a hero even if she likes to think I am. There is more importing things I can be doing with my time rather than taking out a bunch of cattle herders. But if Recorder got caught, I'd want her back.

"You should know he's a dealer" I said grimly. "Tempts fools in with Skooma and send them to a vampire den where they're trapped and constantly bled into bottles for profit"

"Is that a fact?" Isran asked crossing his arms. "Then before we do further dealings, why don't you go and wipe out the vermin operating there"

"I'm here to stop Harkon finding a use for the Elder Scroll, send your own men"

"The Scroll is not a concern right now. These folk are still in training and those up for such a task are already out on scouting missions"

I hope he doesn't mean the men from Dimhollow. If the two that haven't turned traitor or been eaten by said traitor haven't returned yet, they're probably not going to.
Although the thought of them still standing outside that tavern at Dragon Bridge waiting for their shift to swap with the ones inside is a rather amusing one indeed.

"The bottom line is I still don't know if I can trust you. Do this for me, and I'll know"

I looked around at all the soldiers. Apparently they're still in training so I was sure I could do eight, even if just for a few seconds.

"Take aim" I said giving each of them a turn of eye contact, and suddenly Isran had loaded arrows pointed at him before regaining my full attention.

My mouth was dry but desperately trying to salivate as in order to work Vampire spells my thirst must be sufficiently quenched, and with so many mortals around me, monstrous instincts were trying to take control.

"Your real enemy would just have them kill you now, but thats not me" I said before giving a nod just as my grip over their minds was prematurely released, though it appeared to them that I volunteered it. The downside to the demonstration is I may need to rely on traditional spells for a while. Good thing they come second nature Bretons anyway.

Isran looked me in the eyes. He is a trained vampire killer and would not back down. But I'm an immortal dragon slayer, and I'm not backing down either.
It was Recorder I was worried about. Taking Isran and I out of the scene, she's a lone vampire sympathiser among half a dozen solider's who hate her for it.

"Before we go further, can I assume she'll be okay staying here?"

I could sense Recorder's scepticism without even looking.

"She'll be a guest of the fort"

"By that you mean?" Recorder asked setting a hand on her hip.

"A guest. We just don't want the vampire roaming freely in the halls. You are free to do as you please, within reason" Isran moved his eyes between her and me as he took another breath. "Unless you'd prefer to sit in the dungeon along with your master"

So it's dungeon is it? There I was thinking I'd have my own personal quarters, with maybe a grand piano in the corner to help pass the daylight hours. But looking at the state of the rest of the cobweb ridden fort, I imagine the line between bedchamber and cell is fairly blurred anyway. Not that it'll make a difference to me inside my coffin.
Which reminded me.

"If all that is settled, we need to move our stuff in. Seeing as we'll be here a while"

Isran granted us two soldiers to 'help' but Recorder and I knew he meant them to keep an eye on us and see if we brought anything dangerous. But since they were pretending to offer, I let them carry the coffin in while Recorder an I put Epony away for the evening.

"The stable is in better shape than the fort" She told me as she let Epony walk off the graze on the small patches of grass in the canyon. "Still, pretty impressive looking on the outside"

"Secure. Natural barriers to channel the enemy forces into a small area"

"Bottlenecking" Recorder stated grinning to me. "So I've been meaning to ask, now that we're here and ready to begin on vampires, what happens regarding my training?

I assumed she meant the sessions where she resists my powers, but it probably wouldn't hurt for her to learn some combat training too.

"You've been riding all day. Take a break for now and maybe get to know our new friends"

"If you're going for a walk, I'd like to come too" She skipped up to my side and slowed to match my walking speed. "Didn't want to say in there but… that fort smells weird"

"Carcasses. I didn't spot any but thats what it is" I told her. "They've lived there long enough to have found the source. If they haven't cleaned it up by now there must be a reason"

"What could that be?"

"I don't know" I said deep in thought about it.