Nearing the western shores of Skyrim, a stray thought occurred to Ketar.

"You know…they're not just gonna let us through the front door." He looked back at Serana's hooded form. "I hope you have a plan for getting in that doesn't require us to slaughter half a coven of vampires."

Serana smirked and gave him a mild chiding look. "Really? Ketar, I lived there for centuries, with two very loud, very argumentative parents; and you think I didn't memorize every nook, cranny, and secret passage?"

He grinned and held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying."

Her eyes rolled as she smiled wider. "There's an unused inlet on the northern side of the island that was used by the previous owners to bring supplies into the castle. An old escape tunnel from the castle exits there. That's our way in."

Ketar arched an eyebrow. "Previous owners?"

Serana frowned and averted her gaze.

He sighed gently and turned forward, almost wincing at the reminder that Serana had not always been so…noble. In that same line of thinking, another question occurred to him. "Were you…always a vampire?"

He could feel her stiffen at his back. "That's…a long story."

Ketar glanced back, voice soft. "I want to hear it."

Serana's eyes flickered to him for a moment before she shrugged and looked off to the side. "I guess... we kind of have to go way back. To the very beginning. Do you know where vampirism came from?"

Ketar frowned. "If it's anything like lycanthropy…I'd guess it originated from a Daedric Lord."

"Exactly," she replied. "The first vampire came from Molag Bal.

Ketar snarled and hissed.

Serana arched an eyebrow. "You've met."

"Let's just say he's not one of the eight I helped. We…didn't part on the best of terms."

"And why's that?"

His jaw clenched. "Because domination is his purview, and he revels in it. He thinks it's fun to screw with people's heads, make them do things they wouldn't otherwise."

"…you?"

Ketar snorted derisively. "Remember what I told Isran when he accused me of being a thrall?"

Serana nodded.

A malevolent smile came to his lips. "Well, that applies to Daedra as well. Bal tried. He failed. But…" his face fell, "the person I was with—a priest, an innocent—he was not so lucky. Bal forced me to kill him just to survive. I tuned his voice out after that."

"…I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he replied, voice agitated. "But if I had a choice of a single Daedra Lord to split from prick to sternum—" his head tilted briefly, "—it would be him."

Serana frowned deeply. "Then you're definitely not gonna like this bit."

Ketar's jaw tightened.

"The first vampire…was not a willing subject. But she was still the first. As you can certainly attest to, Molag Bal is a powerful Daedric Lord, and his will is made reality. For those willing to subjugate themselves, he will still bestow the gift, but they must be powerful in their own right before earning his trust."

Ketar smiled nastily. "And let me guess: ol' Harkon was all too eager to please."

"To be honest…we all were."

He looked back to see most of her face hidden in her hood.

"Look…" Serana bit her lower lip. "I was a different person back then. Young, impressionable, and…my father…he was a storm. Get caught in his radius, and he would pull you in with this impossible charisma. So…when he devised a plan for us to live forever, with power beyond any mortal…of course I said yes." She frowned and looked to the side. "The ceremony was…" she winced, "degrading." A small shudder passed through her body. "Let's not revisit that. But we all took part in it." She looked up at him when she saw pity in his eyes. "Please, don't misunderstand.

"I'm not ashamed of what I am, no matter what choices I had to make to get there." She jabbed a thumb into her chest. "I earned this gift, even if it came out of misery. I chose to become something more than human, and I'm alive today because of that choice."

Ketar's upper lip twitched. "Which is probably the only good thing he's ever done for this world. Pity the rest of your family never turned out like you."

Serana sighed. "Yeah. Thing is, they were always the ambitious ones, not me. Obsessed with gaining more and more power even before they became vampires. Bal's gift just…intensified what was already there by giving it an eternity to grow. And the result…well, you've met my father." She frowned. "He was never particularly stable to begin with, and eventually…he drove my mother crazy with him. And it all ended with me being locked underground for who knows how long. So…maybe you're right, and it had been a bad thing, on the whole. But I don't regret my part in it."

Ketar drew Stormbreaker to a halt and looked back at Serana. "Neither do I."

She stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"As humiliating as it must've been, if you hadn't taken that deal, Harkon might already have had what he wants, because without you…I would've never stumbled across that prophecy, or his clan. And there would be no one left to oppose him."

She nodded. "That's a fair point."

His blue eyes and voice softened as he reached back and took her hand, lacing his gloved fingers with her bare ones. "And we never would've met…which would be my greatest regret of all."

Serana stared at him, lips parted slightly, and leaned forward to embrace him from behind, her free arm going around his midsection as her face pressed into his neck. Ketar pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then released her hand and began to dismount. Serana frowned in confusion.

Ketar waved at the distant shoreline. "Since Harkon knows we know where he lives, he might have patrols on this side of the bay. We'll be harder to spot on foot."

"And Stormbreaker?"

Ketar smiled confidently. "He knows my call."

Serana arched an eyebrow and dismounted. "Whatever that means."

He chuckled. "You'll see when we get out of there. Now, where's this secret entrance of yours?"

…

"Just around this bend." Serana stopped rowing for a moment to stare up at the massive stone towers of Volkihar. "Castle looks so big from down here. I mean…it is big, but, well, even bigger."

Ketar frowned under his Guildmaster hood as they drifted to shore. "If this place weren't so creepy, I'd be impressed. I swear, it's like every time we come to this island, it's either overcast or pouring."

Serana snorted. "Pretty sure that's just your imagination."

"If you say so…"

She helped him drag their small boat ashore, then stopped short and pulled him down behind a large boulder. Frowning, Ketar followed her lead when she slowly came up to peek over the edge.

"Looks like this unused inlet of yours isn't quite so unused," Ketar remarked upon seeing several skeletons patrolling a stone platform above them.

"Harkon's as paranoid as Isran," Serana replied. "Maybe more so. And he knows this place almost as well as I do, so he guards every inch of it, but he'll never expect anyone to have the audacity to actually try breaking in."

Ketar snorted and tilted his head, reaching for the back of his belt. "Lucky us."

Zephyr unfolded to full size with a series of quiet metal clanks, Serana drawing her dagger in one hand and preparing a kinetic bolt in the other. She gave him a sideways glance and a frown.

"Do you even have arrows for that thing?"

Ketar glanced at her before looking up to where a quiver should have been. "Ah. Right." He cleared his throat and laid down the bow long enough for him to open his rift and retrieve a full quiver of ebony arrows. At her questioning glance, he said, "How do you think my Nightingale armor restocks its supply?"

She shrugged. "It's just that last I checked, those high-quality of arrows tend to be expensive."

"You do realize you're talking to the guy who owns a house in every Hold, right?"

"Honestly?" Serana chuckled. "I forget that. Often."

Ketar smiled. "Good. Means the wealth doesn't show. Now…shall we?"

…

Ketar and Serana stood up, one drawing back and firing his bow rapidly while the other charged forward and shot off a kinetic bolt that shattered the rib cage of a skeleton unfortunate enough to be the closest. Ketar's first arrow perforated the neck vertebra of one skeleton, his second nailing another in the skull. Both their glowing eyes dimmed as they crumpled to the ground in pieces, Serana letting out a shout as she dropped to her shins and slid under a greatsword slash from another skeleton. Her dagger slid through the gap between its thigh bone and kneecap, cutting its leg off halfway and dropping it prone.

She was turning to finish it off when she sensed another presence behind her, and was about to whirl with a spinning strike when—

"Fus-Ro-Dah!"

—Ketar's Voice shattered it to pieces.

A smirk made its way to her lips as she brought the point of her dagger down into the skeleton's skull, the unholy energy keeping it animated quickly dissipating. A small pat at her shoulder drew her back to her feet.

"Where to next?" Ketar asked.

Serana took a look around, spotting an arched wooden door right where she'd expected it to be. She pointed it out to him as she sheathed her dagger. "That way."

Ketar blinked twice, then turned to her with a disbelieving stare. "Seriously? Just an…innocuous door guarded by five skeletons? That's it?"

She shot him a look. "There'll be more inside."

"Oh. Good. For a second there, I thought this was gonna be too easy."

Serana threw him a grin as she began to nudge the door open. "Don't worry, dear. You'll have plenty more to keep you from getting bored."

He snorted. "It's not about getting bored. It's about this being too easy—and by extension suspect."

"Ah. I see. You're worried it's a trap."

"We'll see once I get a closer look at the defenses."

Serana nodded as they proceeded into the castle's undercroft. "Well, if it's of any comfort, I did say Harkon would never expect anyone to be this bold."

"I've followed that thinking before. Didn't exactly work out as planned."

"In my experience, most plans don't."

Ketar let out a small groan. "You don't have to tell me."

Serana stopped short at a faint sound, holding up a hand to bring him to a halt at the top of a short flight of stairs. "I hear something."

"Laas-Yah-Nir," he whispered behind her. He nudged her arm and pointed to a door down below. "Something low and quadrupedal beyond that door. Death hound, I'd wager."

She nodded. "Probably. I should probably go first. They'll pick up your scent faster."

"Agreed. What in Oblivion are those things, anyway? Daedra? Or other hybrids, like vampires?"

Serana proceeded down the stairs, Ketar staying a healthy distance back as she drew her dagger. "To be honest? I'm not entirely sure. Though your second theory certainly has merit."

"Sera," Ketar whispered from the stairs, knowing she'd hear him. "There's more than one."

"Then you take the one I miss when I open the door."

His reply of, "Got it," was quickly followed by the metallic grind of his metal bow being drawn back.

"Ready? Now."

Serana pulled on the ring that comprised the door's handle with her empty hand and lunged forward with her right, the Elven dagger digging into the undead creature's neck and severing its spinal cord. A second one tried to chomp at her face, but found its jaw limp and inoperable thanks to an ebony arrow impaling it on either side. A second arrow buried itself in the monster's brain, and it fell to the ground a moment later as Ketar ran to join Serana.

"The old water cistern," she remarked, pointing to their surroundings. "On some days, this smell would just...be glad you weren't here then."

With a grunt of effort, Ketar managed to wrench the arrows free and return them to his bow, both nocked. Apparently, his Voice allowed him to see something she didn't. Serana spotted them a moment later, quickly realizing that there were a lot more than two death hounds. She frowned and twirled her dagger, readying a lightning spell in her left hand.

The sewer…residual smells must be interfering with my nose.

The first hound got an arrow between the eyes, the second a lightning bolt that brought it tumbling to the floor next to Ketar. His Blade of Woe silenced it for good, Serana delivering a sharp kick to the mouth of another when it tried to bite her.

"You should not have come here!"

The new voice, female, hissing, and violent; came from deeper in the cistern, a small set of stairs that led into another room. Serana quickly bent down to finish off the wounded hound, then dashed forward, almost getting her face singed by a lightning bolt whose path strayed far too close to her head. Snarling, her eyes darted about until they locked onto the caster, a pale, green-skinned female vampire with pointed ears and ratty clothing. A mix of pity and revulsion filled her as she charged toward the fiend, dagger at the ready even as Ketar's arrows impaled her shoulders and nailed her to the wall. Serana's Elven dagger pierced her heart a moment later, and the blade slipped free as she turned to dust.

She stared at the ash pile for a few moments before shaking off her blade and turning to Ketar. "That wasn't one of Harkon's. She was a—"

"Feral, I know." Ketar frowned and bent over the dust pile briefly before standing up and moving up the stairs. "I recognized the look in her eyes."

Serana followed and stared at his back for a moment before realizing what he meant and feeling a surge of…well, pity wasn't exactly the right word. She wasn't quite sure what it was, or if it really mattered. "Right. Sorry."

Ketar shrugged and looked the room over, noticing that they were on a balcony overlooking another passage—and a lever in the middle of the railing. He pulled it, deploying a drawbridge that extended the passage below, then vaulting over the rail with Serana right behind. The wooden drawbridge led to a diverging T intersection with a raised drawbridge on the other end and a stone cross-section leading to opposing passages. Sera reached out and took his arm, stopping him and pointing left.

"Go left here," said Serana.

He nodded in reply, letting her take the lead as they ducked around several hanging chains lined with barbed caltrops.

"This is one of those weird double-barred security measures that my father put in when he got more paranoid," she explained. "If we follow this path around, we can find the other switch."

Ketar just nodded again, brandishing another ebony arrow and readying it for the next death hound to come around the corner. Serana frowned when, several more beasts later, he hadn't said a word.

"You're awfully quiet."

He blinked and glanced over at her. "Nothing to say. I'm not really the type to engage in idle conversation."

Serana shrugged. "Not even to pass the time?"

Ketar smirked and drew back another arrow. "That's what the death hounds are for."

Twang!

Another undead canine dropped to the floor, dead, as they stepped over its body and proceeded further into the undercroft. It was when they started seeing massive amounts of cobwebs that she noticed a change in him. Specifically, there was a significant stutter and tension to his steps, and an obvious change to his breathing, as if he were forcing his lungs to expand and retract evenly.

"You okay?" she asked.

Ketar blinked and looked at her, lips pressed into a thin line under his hood. "Fine. Just—"

She caught his eyes widen in alarm and turned around just in time to duck under a glob of poisonous liquid flying her way. An ebony arrow was returned to the sender, followed by a second and third, each burying their way into the grotesque maw of a giant frostbite spider. More than a bit disgusted, Serana didn't even bother getting close, but sheathed her dagger and began bombarding the creature with ice spikes, slowing it down and causing significant damage to its spindly legs. One particularly large spike lodged itself between two of its multiple eyes, and Ketar surprised her by rushing forward and Shouting.

"Fus!"

The single Word of Power was directed straight at the back of the spike, and effectively rammed it in like a hammer and stake, caving in the spider's brain and rendering it quite dead. Looking back at him, Serana was surprised to find his shoulders heaving a bit and his face a bit paler than usual.

He caught her gaze and shuddered a bit. "Not a huge fan of spiders."

Serana arched an amused eyebrow even as she slipped her way past the large corpse and toward a lever on the far side of the web-littered room. "Big bad Dragonborn, who wrestles vampires and spits fire—afraid of a few oversized creepy-crawlies?"

"Hey, everyone has that one irrational fear, okay? Spiders are mine. So what? That's not even uncommon."

She chuckled as she pulled the switch. "That's what makes it so funny."

"Whatever," he grumbled, not even attempting to retrieve his arrows from the spider.

A positively wicked thought stirred in her head even as they made their way back to the intersection, waiting until he was scanning the lowered drawbridge for threats before she snuck up behind him. And eeeever-so-gently flicked her fingers over his shoulder. The effects were immediate.

Ketar stiffened, his breathing going hard and body whirling around in alarm. His eyes went wide and flashed with a mixture of volatile emotions when he saw Serana barely holding back her laughter.

"Do—not—do—that—again."

Serana's mirth immediately vanished at the very-real anger in his tone. "Wha—"

"How would you like it if I decided to fake falling off a cliff again, huh?"

She stared and gaped. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't realize it was that bad for you."

His empty hand fisted and relaxed haphazardly. "It's not—ugh…" He sighed and turned away, jaw clenching. "Just forget it."

Gulping hard, Serana followed behind him glumly, chiming in every now and then to keep them on track until they reached the door to the courtyard. What greeted them on the other side was a sight that absolutely broke her heart.

"Oh…no…" Serana stopped and stared in the doorway of the entrance. "What happened to this place?"

Ketar followed behind her as she slowly strode around the wide, open room, her keen eyes seeing only the dreary gray of death where there had once been plentiful color and vegetation.

"This is…everything's been torn down. This whole place looks dead."

He stayed silent, collapsing and holstering his bow.

Serana stopped at the edge of a former flowerbed, arms hugging herself. "It's like we're the first to set foot here in centuries."

Ketar frowned. "Maybe we were wrong about Valerica."

Serana's lips pursed. "Maybe…but I'm not convinced yet." She strode around the courtyard, eyes going everywhere. "This used to lead into the castle's great hall. It looks like my father had it sealed up." Her eyes misted over wistfully. "I used to walk through here after evening meals. It was beautiful, once." She came to a stop in front of a fenced-in area overgrown with briars, Ketar standing next to her and looking at her profile. "This was my mother's garden," she said, waving at the weed-strewn mess. "It…" she trailed off as she met his eyes, "do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended by a master for hundreds of years?" She turned back to the center of the room. "She would have hated to see it like this."

Then, suddenly, something caught her eye. Serana's head cocked to one side as she stepped closer to the middle. "Wait..." Her eyes narrowed as she pointed toward a large, circular fixture in the center floor. "Something's wrong with the moondial here. Yeah." Her finger's path traced the edge of the dial. "Some of the crests are missing and the dial is askew. I didn't even know the crests could be removed." She looked up at him. "Maybe my mother's trying to tell us something?"

His eyes widened a bit. "Like the braziers in Dimhollow Crypt."

Serana's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

Ketar's lips began moving without words as he too began tracing the dial from afar with his finger. His lips pressed together. "In order to free you from your chamber, I had to array a set of magical braziers in a certain pattern. They activated a mechanism that turned the floor into a set of descending stairs."

"And you think that's what's happening here?"

An excited smile twitched at his lips. "If I were a betting man, I'd say so."

"Then let's find the crests and figure this out. Knowing my father, he wouldn't have wanted anything to do with this room, so if they're missing, it's probably by Mother's design."

Ketar nodded and began traipsing across the room as Serana did the same, searching every nook and cranny.

"Found one!" he shouted.

"Good. Bring it and any others you find to the center."

And so they did for the next couple of minutes, until three crests in all were gathered and arrayed next to each other.

"So you see," said Serana, "the crests show the various phases of our moons, Masser and Secunda."

"Right. So all we should have to do is array them in the order of their appearance over the course of a month. Easy."

"You know," Serana grinned, "confidence is a pretty good look on you."

Ketar grinned back as he began laying the crests in their respective places. "Why thank you, I try."

"Hmm…" she sidled up next to him as he laid the last crest in place, "though not, I think, quite as good as 'flustered.'"

He nodded slowly and bit his lower lip. "If you say so."

Suddenly, the dial in the center of the array started moving clockwise, pointing toward the far side of the room, and when it reached the end of its path, something clicked. Then, just like Ketar had said, the floor in the center of the array began to shift into a spiral staircase leading down.

Serana smirked. "Very clever, Mother. Very clever."

Ketar's right hand and the sapphire of the ring that sat there flared with magicka for a moment before a small white light began hovering around him. "Any idea where this leads?"

She chewed her lower lip as they began to descend. "Well, I've never been down in these particular tunnels before. But if I had to guess, I'd say they run right under the courtyard and into the tower ruins."

Ketar frowned curiously. "You mean the tower's blocked off otherwise?"

Serana nodded. "Deemed too structurally unstable. The result of a magical explosion, I was told…or perhaps that was simply an excuse my mother fed Harkon to keep this a secret. Either way, we're getting closer. I can feel it."

"Want to take the lead?"

She shrugged and drew her dagger. "Well, we're in unfamiliar territory for both of us now, so…your call."

"I'll go first, then," he said, drawing Dragonborn's Fury.

The Candlelight orb following Ketar flew to the sapphire in the sword's pommel as soon as he drew it, the gem itself beginning to glow with magical energy as he held it aloft. Serana frowned and cocked her head in curiosity as her eyes darted from the pommel to his ring.

"I'm curious," she said as he pushed open a door at the end of the stairs.

He glanced back. "Yes?"

"That sapphire in your ring—does it serve the same function as the one in the Fury?"

Ketar grinned. "Smart woman. This ring is how I perfected my skills with Alteration enchanting. I'd like to say I'm still making upgrades, but…truth is, there's a certain point where mortal man's magical power tends to plateau. And—with this at least—I'm pretty sure I hit it."

"So does that thing burn anyone without dragon blood too?"

He barked a small laugh. "No. It was made by the same smith who helped me forge the Fury, but not with dragonfire. The enchanted gem was my contribution."

"Ah."

"But uh…I doubt many others would be able to use it either way."

"Why's that?"

Ketar smirked as they reached what looked like a dead end. "Let's just say—"

He passed his sword to his offhand and reached out to pull a nearby chain down by the ring at its end. The result was the far wall retracting upward and revealing a bloody table and some cooking implements.

"—I have a very distinctive hand size."

Serana's raven eyebrows hiked upward as she followed him through the breach. "There are…so many directions I could go with that statement."

"Yeah, uh, I'll thank you for not." Ketar gave her a small glare.

To which she responded with a demure pout and bat of her eyelashes.

His deep blue eyes rolled in exasperation and amusement as they proceeded further into the tunnels. A staircase leading upward ended with a door that was carefully opened, permitting them into a large, high-vaulted room with various pillars strewn about and a long dining table in its center.

With a half-dozen slumped-over skeletons seated around its circumference.

"Be careful," Serana said quietly as she shifted her dagger to an underhand position. "I've never even seen this part of the castle before. I don't know what might be—"

When they drew close to the table, every single candle adorning the table—and a fireplace on the other side of the room—lit up. And every single skeleton drew a weapon.

Ketar's left hand and the gem in his sword flared with magic as he flipped the weapon to an underhanded grip and brought his empty hand close to the pommel. A plasma bolt charged in the palm of his left hand—faster than usual, as she noted—and was released a moment later, nailing the first undead in the jaw and burning through the dry bones like paper. A kinetic bolt lanced from Serana's empty hand and shattered another's neck vertebrae while Ketar underhandedly deflected strikes from two skeletons at once. On a downward block, he swung his sword upward and left, slicing straight through one skeleton's neck and twisting around an overhead strike to thrust the Fury through the skull of the second.

The burning hiss of the Fury's runed enchantment and the cracking of brittle bones preceded an outright explosion of the skeleton's perforated skull, allowing Ketar to twirl between Serana and an arrow, which he deflected. Serana, meanwhile, was channeling a lightning spell in both her hands, and released it a few moments later, the electrical arcs chaining from one collection of bones to the next and causing the remaining undead to shatter into a thousand pieces. Wordlessly, they exchanged a look, then proceeded toward a staircase on the far side of the room, sprinting up and scanning the halls for any more surprises.

A short second staircase in a second-floor hallway led up to a large room with several stone pillars and a familiarly-patterned statue at the far end.

"Sera…" Ketar started warningly.

His suspicions were proven correct when the grotesque, winged statue shattered its outer skin and roared, baring its fangs and claws and charging toward them. Serana wasted no time, brandishing her dagger and lunging forward to stick it into the gargoyle's neck while Ketar pounced on its other side. It was almost laughable how quickly and easily they took it apart. Within seconds, between Serana's lightning-fast dagger strikes and Ketar's seriously overpowered new weapon, it was in pieces and on the floor in seconds. Seeing no other way forward, a door to the right of the gargoyle's corpse was opened, revealing another half-crumbled room with various unlit torches scattered about.

They also magically lit up when the pair got deeper into the room, and two more skeletons—armored this time—charged toward them from yet another set of stairs.

Ketar sighed hard. "Okay, this is getting dull. How many of these things are there?"

Serana shrugged. "Don't look at me. This was my mother's idea of security. A pretty effective one, too."

"Or it would be," he commented as he cut down another undead, "if they were going up against anyone else."

"Though I guess that was sort of the point," she remarked, climbing up another staircase. "Only the worthy will be able to reach the end of the trail."

Ketar grumbled. "When we're done, I am going to have a serious conversation with your mother about all this."

Serana frowned deeply. "You and me both."

…

To say that climbing the tower of Volkihar Castle was arduous would not have been an overstatement. To say it was extremely tedious would also not have been an overstatement. Long story short, a dozen traps and hidden switches, ten gargoyles and oh, about a hundred skeletons later, they finally reached the topmost room of the tower, what looked like a large dining room with several tables, bookcases, and coffins in various parts of the room. Oh, and a couple more currently-immobile gargoyles probably mixed in with actual statues. Yes, Serana's super-paranoid mother mixed annoyingly deadly magical creatures in with actual statues patterned after them.

And his Voice couldn't detect the difference until they actually started moving—which was annoying. At any rate, to say Ketar was extremely irritated with this whole endeavor by the time they reached this room would not have been an overstatement either. Still, he brandished Dragonborn's Fury and made to cut down the first one in his path, stopping mid-strike when the one next to it shattered instead and twirling in the opposite direction to dig the edge of his blade deep into the creature's left shoulder. He winced.

Damn—I was aiming for its neck. I must really be getting tired if I'm missing like this.

He had no more time to think on it, as he withdrew from a vicious claw strike that almost cut a deep gash in his leather chestpiece and prompted him to lunge forward with a snap-kick to the creature's hip. The hard leather boot cracked against its stony skin, forcing it to recoil in pain and open itself up to his blade being thrust through its skull. It turned to stone a moment later, its body crumbling apart and freeing his sword. He only had a split-second of warning in his peripheral vision before he lunged to his right, feeling pain rip through his side as he felt stony claws rend his armor and the flesh underneath.

A savage snarl that sounded like Serana preceded a sharp shriek of pain from the attacking gargoyle, Ketar turning toward them just in time to see Sera sink her dagger into its neck up to the hilt. She'd apparently pounced onto its shoulders and was viciously plunging her dagger into its critical points over and over again. When it tried to throw her off, Ketar could only gape in pure awe as she backflipped to land behind it, then grabbed one of its wings by the base and pulled with her hips while turning. She effectively tore its wing clean off while simultaneously throwing it into a wall and shattering its body into a thousand pieces.

As Ketar watched her heavily breathing body, his jaw halfway to the floor, she slowly turned toward him, the dim light casting half her face in shadow, her eyes burning through the darkness. Her clenched jaw loosened and head cocked in confusion at the look on his face.

"What?"

Ketar's mind completely blanked out and mouth started moving of its own accord. "That was so hot…"

Serana's shoulders sagged as she rolled her eyes with a sigh and a sassy smirk. "Glad you enjoyed the show." Then her eyes spotted his gashed side and went wide in alarm. "Kay!"

He jumped at the sudden rise of volume in her voice, looking around wildly. "What-what?!"

"What do you mean 'what'?!" Serana stalked toward him and grabbed his left arm, lifting it up and obnoxiously pointing at his injury.

Ketar blinked. "Oh."

He let out a small, high-pitched laugh as his right hand glowed with magic and rapidly sealed the wound shut. Serana stared at him with a mildly confused look as he gently pulled away and started searching the room for another door. He registered that she wasn't following him a moment before she spoke.

"…did you just giggle?"

"Nope," he flatly denied, eyes searching.

"'Cause I could've sworn—"

"Nope."

"…Ketar, I have super hearing."

"…"

"Ketar—"

"Where would your mother hide a secret door in this room?"

Serana sighed softly and came up beside him, her eyes searching alongside his as a concentrated frown came to her features. "Not sure. There's no moondial in here, so your guess is as good as mine."

Ketar hummed in thought, then started toward one of the bookcases, which was placed between two upright, open coffins. He noticed something glowing faintly on its lower shelf almost immediately, and reached down to pick up a set of folded raiment. When he unfolded it, it revealed an armored tunic, rolled-up bottoms, and a cloak fastened with a familiar-looking brooch…

"Serana…this looks kind of like your armor."

She looked over at him. "Because it's based on the same design, just for a male. Mother must've kept a spare in here for some reason."

"Hm." He shifted it to look from several angles. "Anything special I should know?"

"Well, you've seen mine. It's flexible, lightweight, and tough. Oh, and the cloak carries a partial levitation enchantment."

Ketar's wide eyes immediately snapped to her. "That's useful."

She smirked. "It's part of why I often seem so weightless in combat and traversal."

He grinned and turned back to the armor in his hands. "That's going in the rift."

Serana chuckled. "Of course it is." She stopped short and cocked her head when her eyes stopped on an empty, unlit fireplace at the far side of the room. "Huh."

Ketar turned to her as he closed the rift. "What?"

She glanced back at him, then nodded at the fireplace. "What do you think? Classic secret door?"

He frowned and cocked his head. "Possibly. The question is, where would the switch be?"

They both stared at the fireplace for a while before Ketar noticed something. On either side of the fireplace, there were candelabras. Every single torch, sconce, and candle in the room was lit.

Except for the one on the left.

Smirking and mentally crossing his fingers, Ketar reached out and pulled on the left candelabra, turning it clockwise and hearing something click before the stone back of the fireplace receded into the ceiling.

"Well, well," Serana drawled, "leave it to my mother. Always smarter than I gave her credit for."

Ketar snapped his gaze to her with a small frown. "Why her?"

Sera turned to him with a small pout, curling her fingers around his arm. "Oh, of course you're amazing."

His eyes rolled as he pushed forward into the room beyond, his left hand glowing with a magical light that flew to the hilt of his sheathed sword and illuminated a curling hallway that led to another set of stairs. A wooden door at the end stared back at them ominously. They exchanged a look before pushing through.

On the other side was a massive, high-vaulted room, the value of which Ketar couldn't even begin to guess at. In the center of the room was an array of concentric, multiple-sized circles of stones surrounded by candlesticks, most of which were unlit. On the far side of the array was a staircase leading up to a railed second floor, the center of which lacked railing between the balcony and the array. All around the room were bookshelves laden with books, soul gems, and various alchemical materials and equipment. All in all, an impressive setup.

"Look at this place," Serana breathed. "This has to be it!" She started pacing toward the center of the room. "I knew she was deep into necromancy." She turned to him. "I mean, she taught me everything I know. But…" her eyes scanned across the room with no small amount of awe, "I had no idea she had a setup like this."

Ketar strode up alongside her and pulled back his hood, sharing her sentiments, though to less of a degree.

"Look at all this. She must have spent years collecting these components." Serana frowned down at the array on the floor. "And what's this thing?"

He nodded at it. "I was about to ask you that. It was the first thing I noticed upon entering."

"Hm…I'm not sure about this circle, but it's obviously...something." Serana met his eyes. "Let's take a look around. There has to be something here that tells us where she's gone."

Ketar nodded and moved to an opposite side of the room from Serana. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"My mother was meticulous about her research. If we can find her notes, there might be some hints in there."

"Got it." He frowned and scanned the mostly-dark room. "Do you think your mother kept gargoyles in here?"

"Not that I ever saw. My mother had a bit of a thing for magical constructs." She stopped short and looked over at him. "Not...not what you're thinking. She just found them fascinating."

Ketar arched a black eyebrow. "What was I thinking?"

Serana's lips pursed and head shook. "Nothing. Never mind." She went back to searching without another word.

Frowning in confusion, he shrugged and resumed his own search, moving up the stairs to the second floor and spotting a large table filled with alchemy tools. His eyes scanned over the equipment and shelves, flitting from one book to the next as he made his way across the balcony, stopping on a book about ice wraiths and flipping it open briefly.

"Found it!"

His head snapped toward the source of Serana's voice as he laid the book back down and leapt from the balcony to join her. "Anything on where she might've gone?"

"Maybe…" Serana's eyes widened. "Oh gods…of course!"

"What?"

She looked up at him. "The Soul Cairn."

His eyebrows shot upward. "The what now?"

Serana frowned. "Right. You're not a necromancer."

"Not in the slightest."

"Okay, well…Mother had a theory about soul gems. That the souls inside of them don't just vanish when they're used...they end up in the Soul Cairn."

"Okay…why would she care?"

"According to her research, the Soul Cairn is home to very powerful beings. Necromancers send them souls, and receive powers of their own in return. My mother spent a lot of time trying to contact them directly, to travel to the Soul Cairn itself."

"And you think she got in?"

Serana nodded. "If I'm right, that's where we'll find her." She nodded at the array in the center of the floor. "That circle is definitely some kind of portal. If I'm reading this right, there's a formula here that should give us safe passage into the Soul Cairn."

"Formula…" He groaned. "That usually requires ingredients, and I am not in the mood to run all the way back down those stairs to get them."

Serana looked up at him. "Relax, Kay. Mother would've kept this place well-stocked with whatever ingredients she needed. Meticulous, remember? We just need to find them."

Ketar shrugged. "All right then. What am I looking for?"

She frowned and resumed reading. "A handful of soul gem shards, some finely-ground bone meal, a good bit of purified void salts..." Her eyes went wide. "Oh...damn it..."

"What?"

Serana's lips pursed as she looked back to him. "We're also going to need a sample of her blood. Which...if we could get that, we wouldn't even be trying to do this in the first place."

Ketar frowned and stared off to the side, mind racing until— "Wait—don't you share her blood? Both mortal and vampiric?"

Her left eyebrow arched. "Okay, good point." Her lips made a crooked frown. "I hope that's good enough. Mistakes with these kinds of portals can be..." she shuddered, "gruesome." She was silent for a few moments before closing the leather-bound journal. "Anyway, enough of that. Let's get started."

…

Serana had been right. Valerica was an incredibly meticulous and intelligent necromancer. A search of maybe two minutes revealed all the necessary materials, which were then dropped and ground into a metal vessel at the rail-less spot in the center of the balcony. Serana frowned at the contents for a few seconds, mouthing a count of the materials before turning to Ketar.

"Okay…that should do it. The rest is up to me." She bit her lower lip a bit. "Are you ready to go? I'm not entirely sure what this thing is going to do when I add my blood."

Ketar frowned and looked toward the array. "Can I ask you something first?"

She blinked. "Okay?"

He turned back to her. "What will you do if we find Valerica?"

Serana's face fell a bit as she looked away in thought. "You know…I've been asking myself the same thing since we came back to the castle. She was so sure of what we did to my father, I couldn't help but go along with her." She looked down. "I never thought of the cost."

Ketar's eyes pored over her conflicted features for a while. "And now? Now that you've had time, what do you think?"

She looked back up at him. "I…I don't know. I guess even a vampire mother is still a mother. She worried about me. About all of us. But…she wanted to get me as far away from my father as possible before he really went over the edge." Her head cocked as she looked to the side. "At the same time, though, she was practically smirking as we left home. Almost like she was proud of herself. Like she didn't just want to stop my father...she wanted to stick it to him, too. On the one hand, she might just have wanted to protect me. But on the other, it almost looks like she was trying to use me against Harkon…again." Serana sighed hard. "I don't know what to think."

Ketar reached out and gently gripped her shoulders, prompting her to look up at him. "Well…with that thought, there's something I want to tell you. Something important. Something I want to promise you."

She blinked owlishly. "Okay?"

He stared intensely into her eyes. "I will never, ever tell you what to think. Your thoughts, your decisions, from this point forward, are your own, no matter what." He smirked wryly. "And barring some catastrophe, I will stand behind you for every one of them."

Serana blinked again. "That's…one hell of a promise to make."

Ketar shrugged. "Yeah, well…whatever else we are, you're my friend first. And I stand by my friends."

Her lips pursed and—as he barely noticed—trembled a bit before she nodded and pushed forward into his waiting embrace. Ketar gently pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and held her close, his gloved hand lazily stroking through her silky smooth hair. His eyelids slid shut as they held each other, a wave of drowsiness slowly sneaking up on him until—

"Ketar?"

He grunted sleepily.

"Um…the portal?"

His eyes snapped open. "Right."

He cleared his throat and released her, scratching the back of his head as she gave him an amused glance, then turned to the vessel. She stopped short and looked back at him with a small, warm smile.

"Thank you. And…not just for the promise." Serana chewed her lower lip. "I...I guess I never really expected anyone to care how I felt about her."

Ketar blinked and stared at her blankly.

"So…" she looked down, then glanced up at him shyly, "thanks."

He smiled and nodded silently.

Serana turned back to the vessel and took a deep breath, drawing her dagger. "Okay…here goes." With a small wince of pain, she carved a deep gash into her left palm and allowed the blood to drip into the vessel.

The effect was immediate.

The circular array in the floor below began glowing with the same otherworldly violet energy that Ketar had seen in Dimhollow Crypt, every single candle lighting up as the stones began moving.

Serana gaped at the sight. "By the blood of my ancestors…"

The stones turned and rotated in opposite directions, the individual parts moving apart and levitating to form a set of stairs that extended to the platform the pair was standing on.

"…she actually did it...created a portal to the Soul Cairn." Serana huffed an awed breath. "Incredible."

Ketar grinned crookedly. "Bit more impressive than my rift, isn't it?"

Serana arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Well, you don't need to bleed to open it, so the verdict's still out."

He grinned wider as they proceeded toward the steps, making their way halfway down before—

Ketar's breathing started getting heavy, his entire body sagging and draining of strength, then seizing up with a sudden shock of pure agony as he cried out and recoiled from the portal, falling onto the steps back-first.

"Ketar!"

Serana rushed back up toward him, grabbing him by the shoulders and hauling him away from the portal back onto the balcony.

"Kay…Kay?"

He blinked rapidly, staring at the portal, then looked up at her.

"Are you all right?" She frowned. "That looked painful."

Ketar grunted and let her help him to his feet. "It was. The hell was that?"

Serana winced. "Now that I think about it..." she groaned in self-frustration, "I should have expected that." She looked back to see his confused expression. "Sorry. It's hard to describe. The Soul Cairn is...well, hungry, for lack of a better word. It's trying to take your life essence as payment."

Ketar's eyes went double-wide. "Oh. Well…that's…problematic."

"Yeah…" Serana's lips pursed tightly as she looked up at him. "There might be a way to get you through…but I know you're not going to take it."

He blinked and frowned. "Try me."

"Vampires aren't counted among the living. I could probably go through there without a problem."

Ketar's blood went cold. "You're saying…I would need to—"

"Yeah…I'd have to turn you."

He gulped and looked off to the side. "And there's no other way?"

"There might be, but it's risky."

His eyes returned to her. "Okay?"

"We could try to 'pay the toll' another way. It wants a soul, so we give it a soul. Yours."

He blinked. "I don't follow. Wouldn't that kill me?"

"Ordinarily, yes, but my mother taught me a trick or two. I could partially soul trap you, and offer that gem to the Ideal Masters."

"The who now?"

Serana sighed. "They're my mother's name for the beings that inhabit the Soul Cairn. The offering might be enough to satisfy them. It would make you a bit weaker when we travel through the Soul Cairn, but we might be able to fix that once we're inside. Maybe."

Ketar paced off to the side and leaned against the nearby railing. He looked over his shoulder at her. "And those are my only options?"

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew a better way, something that would be easier for you. Just know that..." she came up beside him and laced her fingers with his, "whatever path you choose, I won't think any less of you. Sometimes things just have to be done." She looked down. "I know that better than anybody."

He gave her a brief, grateful smile, then resumed staring off into the distance. He couldn't tell how much time had passed before he suddenly turned to her with an intense blue gaze. "Soul trap me. I think you know I won't feel right as a vampire."

Serana bit her lip. "Are you sure? I'm willing to do it, but you need to think it through. You'll remain mortal, but you'll find yourself weakened within the Soul Cairn."

Ketar grinned. "That's what I have you for."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled before taking his hands and smiling up at him warmly. "I guess I'd be willing to be the strong one—" she leaned closer, breathing over his lips, "—just this once."

Ketar's eyes warmed. "You're always strong to me, Sera."

Laughter lit up her eyes as she leaned back. "And you always say the sweetest things."

He grinned wolfishly. "Wouldn't be doing this right if I didn't." His smile began to fade as she prepared the spell. "Sera…"

She looked up at his uncertain features.

"I hope you realize this doesn't say anything about what I think of—"

Serana stopped him with a hand on his arm. "We've been over this. I told you: no matter what path you choose, I'll never think any less of you." She chuckled. "Truth be told, I'm not sure I could have gone through with turning you even if you'd chosen that. Not quite ready for that step."

Ketar arched a confused eyebrow. "Eh?"

She blinked and stared off to the side with wide eyes. "Did I say that last bit out loud?"

"What step?"

Her face began to fill with color as she looked up at him, then abruptly turned away. "Um…it's nothing."

Curious, he leaned in and loomed over her shoulder as she tried to resume her spell. "Sera."

She kept going.

"Sera…"

Serana sighed. "Yes?"

"What step?"

He saw her visibly gulp as she turned back to him, face almost as red as his when he got flustered. "Um…it's just that…among vampires, uh…" Serana shifted in place and toyed with her hands, looking anywhere but at him. "Sharing blood is…different than taking it. More…" her glowing sunset eyes glanced up at him shyly before turning elsewhere, "intimate." Her next words came out in a hurried run-on. "So I just wouldn't want to feel like I'm doing too much or forcing you into it or…" another shy glance, "anything like that."

Ketar stared down at her, feeling a surge of warmth and embarrassment begin to flare up until—

"Wait," he said suddenly, a grin forcing its way onto his face as he stared at her. "Just wait a minute."

Serana still refused to meet his eyes, even as he pointed a finger at her with a teasing grin plastered to his features.

"So that's why you were so awkward about taking my blood."

That got her attention. "What?"

"And why you were so irritated with poor Babette."

"N-No I wasn't."

He just kept grinning. "Oh yes you were. That's why she was smiling at you so smugly. I offered, she took, and a blind man could have seen the death glare you gave her as she was walking away."

"Well, I—I mean…"

"Admit it, Sera." Ketar drew closer to her and leaned down, almost nose to nose. "You were jealous."

Serana sputtered for a few moments before she crossed her arms defensively and glared at him. "So what if I was?"

He just grinned wider. "We weren't even together then."

Her eyes narrowed. "And?"

Ketar leaned back against the railing and puffed his chest out smugly. "Nothing. Just seems to me you already knew what you wanted long before I did."

Serana flushed an even deeper shade of scarlet before scowling and muttering, "Just for that…"

Ketar yelped in pain, then immediately started cackling as she cast the soul trap spell and offered the gem to the portal. She was still glaring into the portal as the offering was consumed and Ketar strode up to wrap his arms around her from behind, pressing a loud kiss to her cheek. His laughter carried on for a while before he fell quiet, still grinning.

"…you're gonna rag on me about this for a while, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," Ketar replied emphatically.

Serana looked up at him desperately and practically whined, "Why? It's not even that big a deal."

He arched an amused eyebrow at her. "Who exactly are you trying to convince?"

Her eyes widened and faced the portal again.

Ketar chuckled. "I'm just glad I finally have something to tease you about for once."

Serana sat in silence for a few moments before sighing. "Okay, fair enough." Her hands came up to gently grasp his holding arms as she leaned back into his embrace.

Ketar sensed her tension and frowned a bit. "You okay?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Just…a bit nervous about seeing her. It's been centuries, after all."

"Yeah. I can't even imagine how awkward this conversation is gonna be." He sighed hard. "But…duty calls."

Serana snorted a laugh.

He reached down to lace his fingers with hers. "And I'll be with you every step of the way."

Her eyes brightened as she smiled up at him. "I know."

Her gaze hardened and turned back to the portal as they broke their embrace and began moving down the steps. A familiar hum and hiss filled the air, and she turned toward Ketar to see him encased, save for the hood and mask, in his Nightingale armor, sword still on his back between the armor and the cloak.

Ketar caught sight of her curious expression and shrugged. "If I'm gonna be physically weaker in there, best to go fully prepared."

Serana nodded. "Good thinking." She turned back to the portal and released a long breath before nodding firmly. "Okay. I'm ready."

Ketar smiled confidently and pulled up his hood, the mask forming over his features. "Then let's go."

And together, they leapt into the abyss.

AN: Yay! Another one! Pushing the Dawnguard story along, deepening their relationship…all-around what I think is a solid chapter. I hope you all agree. Otherwise, not much to say about this chapter. As always, I'm excited to see your feedback and hope to have more out soon.

Oya, vode.

- CDrake

Musical Inspirations:

Tomb Raider (2013) - The Scavenger's Den: start-2:42—unused outlet/entering the castle/feral vampire, 2:42-end—abandoned garden
Thor: The Dark World - A Universe from Nothing: start-1:22—Sera's thoughts on Valerica/Ketar's promise/"thanks", 1:22-end—opening the portal/unforeseen effects/Ketar's options