AN: To Psyonic Dragon: Oh, I wouldn't worry. Things are about to get much worse for Thera, and Lucius won't know his luck has gotten worse for a while. He'll actually be happy, for a while. Imagine that, huh? Also, I've always thought of who is speaking in the chapter as who is telling the story, with all of the historical biases that would entail. I've always assumed that Thera would leave out details that looked bad for her whenever she could. For instance, she might say she killed someone with one slash of her blade without a scratch, but in "reality" it wasn't that easy.

Jul

Lucius

I frowned worriedly as I shifted the weight of the Elder Scroll across my back. I did not want the huge, glittering scroll to shine out in clear view of everyone we passed, but it seemed that I had little choice in the matter. The Scroll seemed incapable of fitting within any bag that I had, and defied logic when I tried to wrap it up, causing the covering to slide off or become too small. It was as if the Elder Scrolls and their power wanted to be seen by all, to fulfill some nebulous destiny that I did not understand even in the slightest. But still, I had it. Progress, for once.

I still couldn't shake the feeling something terrible would happen though. If Dwemer found Serana and me – really, the me is what she's looking for –it would be bad enough. But if the crazy assassin found us while we were carrying an Elder Scroll around? Well, I didn't really want to think about what the Thalmor would try to do with that in their grubby claws.

"Look, do you want me to carry it?" Serana asked. The moons' light danced down around us, giving her already pale skin an ethereal sheen. It was pleasant.

I shifted its weight yet again. "No. I – look, it's fine. I'm fine."

Serana sighed. "Cause I can carry it for you, if you're having that much trouble," she explained. She reached out to grab the Scroll..

"No. I CAN DO IT!" I assured her. I lightly slapped her hand away.

"No need to whine," she grumbled, crossing her arms as we continued walking.

"I'm not whining!" I retorted with a huff. I shifted the weight of the Scroll again. "I can carry it, I'm fine!"

"Really, cause you've shifted it ten times in the past five minutes," Serana shot back. I glared exasperatedly at her as we walked down the road. "What!? You can't carry a single, all knowing, Magickal Scroll that can alter reality?"

"Oh, cause you know everything about Elder Scrolls," I remarked dryly.

"Well... no," she admitted.

"Ha! Turns out you don't learn much just from sleeping with something!"

She smiled. "Are you saying that you want to learn more about me?"

My mouth dried as I tried to respond. Fire rushed into my cheeks. Finally: "Just take it," I croaked, slinging the Elder Scroll off of my shoulder. I held it out for her to take in one hand, the surprisingly heavy artifact almost falling as I did. It wouldn't have done much to it, of course. You could bash someone's skull in with the thing just by dropping it.

Serana laughed and looped the mystical Scroll over her shoulders. "I got you," she snorted, trying to stop laughing for even just a second. She looked at my deep red cheeks and laughed even harder. I mumbled in reply, and she cocked her head sideways. "What?"

I groaned. "I... I'd rather not," I grumbled. She stared at me as we walked, waiting for me to tell her. "I don't even remember."

"Come on. Just tell me," she ordered.

"I... Gods, I said, 'I wouldn't mind,'" I acquiesced. She froze and I walked past her nervously. I slowed, eventually, to a stop and turned back to her. She was gazing at the ground, her golden eyes hidden by her hair. She eventually looked back up at me, the stars and moons reflected in her eyes. She looked like a statue, carved with intricate detail. "I – just, never mind." I turned and began walking again. "Just... forget it. It was a joke. I -"

I gasped in surprise as the woman turned me around, pulling me close and letting our lips touch. Sparks seemed to erupt along my skin as she clutched at my cheeks, holding our faces together. My hands, sticking up in surprise, drifted down slowly to her hips. We stood there, beneath the twin moons, neither willing to be the one that would end the moment. A fire seemed to be burning around my heart and in my brain until I eventually had to be the one to pull away, just for breath.

I panted and looked down at the woman in front of me. She was looking up at me with eyes filled with... fear, expectant worry. It was easy to forget she was a Vampire, but it was almost always easy to forget that, I thought. She opened her mouth to say something, and let her hands fall to my armored chest. She closed her mouth and shook her head when I didn't move to respond, to say anything. "I'm sorry. That was -"

I pulled her close and placed my lips against hers again, quieting the fears in her voice.

Fahiil

Thera

I had collected four of five pieces of the Ancient Vampire's corpse, and had yet to see any sign of either Harkon's traitorous daughter or of my personal target. It was disappointing, honestly; I had wanted so much to have done in Lucius by now. I knew I was strong enough to kill the former slave, despite how close the battle would have been. Oblivion, I could have just threatened... Serva? Sirna? Whatever, you get my point. I could have just threatened, agh... dammit, what is her name!? Damn, Harkon's daughter, fine. I could have just taken that girl hostage and killed Lucius without a fuss.

I mean, she was enamored with him, after all. "In love," as the morons who believe in such things would say. It had been easy enough to see in those few times I had spoken to or around her. A single mention of the fool's name had caused her eyes to light up, her cheeks to get all rosy. Corners of her lips perking up in a shy, nervous smile. Gods, it was disgusting.

And with the girl being all "honor love good happy blah blah human blah," well, Lucius would inevitably fall for her as well. She ran from her family for him and "the right thing." And to be fair, she was attractive, for a human. Ugh, it is so very him. And I can tell because it is so very not me. Could he be any less intelligent if he tried?

I mean, he keeps making idiot mistakes and somehow not ending up dead. How had I not killed him yet? It was almost like he was begging for it. Ergh...

Hmm... where was I? Oh, Ancient Vampire. Well... it turns out that wasn't a good idea. Just like the crazy old Orc said, actually. I was standing outside of the final location. It was a simple cave. It didn't have any claims by bandits or Falmer or Necromancers stuck into the ground outside of the entrance. It was... just a cave. Which, in retrospect, should have told me something.

Every other location of this Ancient Vampire's exsanguinated corpse had been guarded by a small army. Nothing except an extremely skilled former Thalmor could have taken the pieces of the corpse and assembled them. So, it was unnerving when the final cavern containing the skull was found completely empty. The skull just sat there, nothing guarding it. Nothing looking for it. There was merely the mouthwatering scent of blood in the air and a plaque with just a few words etched into it. Ignoring the words, I grabbed the skull and tossed it into the bag containing the rest of the corpse, a decision I would learn to immediately regret. I found an enemy, just then, even more dangerous than my Jokaar.

I turned to leave the cavern, ready to drop the oddly smelling corpse off at the Castle and renew my hunt for the slave. However, it seemed that my easy victory was not meant to be. The bag containing the five pieces of the Vampire was heavy, it contained a full corpse after all. It was difficult to carry on the best day, all those jumbling pieces. However, it soon became impossible to hold, suddenly and inexplicably shaking. It pulled me in every direction as the pieces within the white tarp thrashed wildly, causing the bag to roll and congeal in different shapes. I hissed as I tried to pull it back under my control, nearly doing so many times but always losing control at the last moment.

Then the thrashing stopped. I froze for a moment, then pulled the bag closer. As soon as I did, a blow landed heavily in my midsection and I was sent flying into the wall. Dust and stone erupted from around me and I was stuck leaning against a small crater in the wall. I groaned in pain, then forced my vision back to the bag. I drew one of my blades as the bag, now on the floor, began to rustle. "Show yourself, or die!" I commanded with a hiss. I took a staggering step forwards and nearly collapsed on the ground.

"Are you sure about that?" a woman's voice asked. I growled at the unfamiliar accent that drifted through the air, thick and exotic and filled with blood lust. A single long, pale arm erupted from the bag and was quickly followed by its pair. With a fluid, terrible grace, the hands glided across the ground. The hands clenched on the ground, pulling a long, slender body behind it and pushing it up to its feet. I watched, fearfully, as the naked woman turned her eyes to me. She was human, it looked, though what type I could not put my finger on. She was incredibly pale, like a Nord, but held a familiar Imperial or Breton look to her features.

And she was a Vampire. Glowing red eyes filled with disgust stared out from her skull, bloody pools that searched for blood in kind. Fangs drifted from behind her upper lip as she sneered at me. I wished to run from this creature, this evil goddess before me. And, yet, I found I was incapable of moving even the slightest. She continued to glare as she walked towards me, disgust only abounding more and more in her bloody eyes. "You smell like me," she finally said as she came near, a perpetually angry frown on her face. She leaned close and I began to shake in fear. There was something... primordial about this woman. I struggled to move the sword in my hand, to bury it in her flesh and save myself; I could do nothing but watch in terror. She raised her hand and twisted my head to the side.

Her touch, skin curdling as it was, caused my mind to reawaken. I brought my blade down, carving through the flesh of the woman's side until the blade was buried in her chest. She looked down bored and took a step back, taking my blade with her. I smiled in victory, which quickly turned to horror as her flesh seemed to melt back together around the sword. She reached down and pulled the sword from her chest with another movement of unnatural grace. "No. Weaker than me," she said with a frown. She shook her head. "Hm, still, blood is blood."

I began to hyperventilate as she tossed my sword to the side. "Hm..." she looked down at her naked body. "Yes, I'm going to need your armor, aren't I?" She looked back up at me and moved with deadly menace. She suddenly appeared before me, her hand gripping my head and twisting it to the side once again. I struggled fearfully against her grip.

"Let me go," I whispered. This was the first time in... ever, actually, that I had been afraid. It was as if she... turned off my mind until all that was left was this... ugh, subhuman creature. I was truly nothing before her, and I could do nothing to change that. "Let me go or I will destroy you!"

The woman rolled her eyes and slammed my head into the stone again, cracking it against my skull. I gurgled against her grip on my throat and she moved her left hand to my chin and her right hand to my shoulder. "You made a terrible mistake awakening me, Vampire. You smell like me, which means you serve Molag Bal. My vengeance over him, my domination of my destroyer, requires I destroy all who follow him. Lamae will not bow to any."

My eyes widened in fear. Lamae... I screamed in pain as her dagger like teeth buried themselves in my neck, tearing through my flesh in the most painful way possible. Blood rushed from my body in a river, filling the Vampire draining me to the brim with the power we fed upon. She squeezed my body, causing the blood to flow even quicker from the jagged wounds in my throat that she drank from. I blacked out to the hideous laugh of the god who had tricked me.

Hours later, as I pulled on the light armor I had been given before leaving Castle Volkihar, I was near tears. This woman, she was a force of nature. A terrifying goddess of retribution and destruction that would bathe the world in blood. If she did not cause my blood to freeze, I might have respected her. I walked silently over to the plaque – no, the warning.

You took her bones and blood.

We could not stop you.

So many died to end her red flood,

So leave here, without a piece or two.

Lest you wish to end us all

At the hands of Lamae Bal.

Jul

Dwemer

Dwemer laughed lightly to herself as she rode the horse down the road. Its prior owners were rotting in the night far behind, their blood feeding the flowers aside the road. Fool traders who did not know their city was dead. Insects crushed beneath the heel of her boot.

The woman clutched the cloak around her shoulders close, despite the fact that it had become useless to her. It calmed her, reminded her of the one she was chasing. She traced her remade scars and sighed as the pain from the untreated burns tingled in her throat made its way through her body. "Soon, luv," she muttered to herself as the night air blew against her, cooling her pain. "Soon you'll be back amongst your peers, the best... not this refuse."

"And you are the best?" a woman's voice drifted from the darkness. Dwemer turned and jumped from the horse, twin fires in her palms. A single woman with glowing red eyes, adorned in glass armor, was staring at her. She had a smug, knowing smile across her face. Dwemer took a step towards the woman, threat in the very motion itself. "And you aren't afraid? Well, well, it has been a long time since I have met anyone that is not afraid."

"And you are obviously insane," Dwemer noted. She raised her arm and a pillar of flames erupted around the woman. As soon as the Redguard was sure that this newcomer had been turned to ash, she stopped and turned around.

"No, but you obviously are," the woman said, right in front of Dwemer's face. "Ah, I'm thirsty. It's been millennia, if I am right. You and I have a lot of work to do." The Redguard could do nothing but scream in rage, and perhaps fear, as the woman's mouth opened to reveal twin fangs. Then the world went red and, eventually, black.