Okay, so I done goofed again. I'm exhausted so it tends to happen. Instead of one chapter a day, I'll go and do a chapter every two or three days, mainly because I worked ahead and counted the chapters. We'd run out by Sunday, so I'll be releasing these chapters every two to three days until the week Volume 2 becomes available to you all. At that point, we will be back to the main timeline indefinitely until volume 2 finishes for the year. What I'm doing now and everytime a volume/season finishes, are little fillers of Dante's past along with a few extras to keep everyone entertained and interested. These will not only provide you with info of Dante's past, but will give you ideas of his previous powers. Note that these past events of Dante's life before coming to Remnant will tie into future events of the story, so it's best to make everyone comfortable and familiar with a few things beforehand. As always, feel free to pm me with questions comments or concerns, I always love answering questions, as well as fav, follow, and mention this story to others. One last bit I have to announce though, as of yesterday 5:00 p.m in my timezone, we've surpassed 35,000 views! Awesome right? And it's steadily climbing each day! I'd like to take the time to thank you all for reading this story and continuously helping it grow with feedback and comments. On that note, epicfanfic26, I've thought about your idea and like it. So if you want to, please pm the details of your OC idea and i will do my best to incorporate him into the story. With that all said, please enjoy today's chapter.
Chapter 35: Vampire Hunter
Ten minutes later, after Alduin's defeat...
Dante couldn't help but think about this carefully. He just fought and defeated a terror upon the land that would have destroyed it.
"Slaying vampires? Sign me up!"
"Ha ha! Got a fire in your belly for killing vampires? Isran's gonna like you." Said the Orc.
He then gave Dante directions to the base that was reforming the Dawnguard. But tonight Dante would have fun. He would visit each city in Skyrim, and each town to where he was warmly greeted. He visited each tavern, bakery and stands and got food, clothes or money. Since he had no use for the items given to him, except for the food, Dante donated his keeping to the orphanages in each city, then started his journey to fort Dawnguard. He flew in the sky, but flew slowly this time so he could see the scenery. He found a crevice in a mountain pass, just as the Orc described it, landed and went on in. Through the crevice, he found someone else waiting, someone a little bit older.
"Oh you're here to join the Dawnguard too? Do you think you can walk up with me?"
"Uh, sure?"
You're going to join an organization that hunts vampires and you're asking me to hold your hand? Seriously?
"Great! Lets get going!"
The man started to run towards a small building in the distance.
"Hey!"
The man turned around, "It'd take a while to run there. Wanna fly there?"
"Fly?"
Dante grabbed the man and took off in the air. As he flew higher, he saw the building wasn't small, but it was a castle that was enormous.
"Wow! Fort Dawnguard!" said the man.
I gotta admit, I'm impressed a little. But Blanc's soon-to-be castle is bigger.
They finally reached a path that lead to the front entrance of the castle. He dropped the man off and went inside. He saw a man, dressed in gray armor with a large silver warhammer on his back speaking with someone else.
Hall of Vigilants...destroyed...vampire attack...clue to next target... Sounds like the perfect job for me.
Dante approached the man, who asked the teen "Just who are you?"
"My names Dante. You're Isran I suppose?"
"Dante the Dragonborn? Well isn't this a surprise. Don't be expecting to be pampered here."
"We can sit and insult each other or you can give me my first assignment so I can prove myself useful to you."
"Alright then, since you're eager to start, I'll send you out on this mission. The Hall of Vigilants was attacked and our friend here knows of a possible location the vampires will be heading to. They're looking for an artifact of some sort. Up to it?"
"You know it. Though, where am I going?"
Isran simply handed Dante a map. The map led to a location...more like ruins.
"Thanks."
"Prove me right Dragonborn."
"I will." said Dante as he walked away.
The man he got here with, was soon called up by Isran. Dante felt bad for the poor lad, so he patted him on the shoulder as he made his way out the door.
As soon as Dante left the fort, he jumped into the air and dashed towards his destination. He felt like this task might be an actual challenge, so he did his best to hurry. The cold air had grown colder as Dante approached the ruins, which told him that powers of darkness were at work. The teen soon closed his eyes and scanned the area.
One, two, no...six presences within the ruins.
He carefully stepped inside the entrance and crouched down, Darkstepping to another entrance.
So I have to kill two vampires, one... is that a dog? Eh. Doesn't matter.
Dante silently materialized his long sword and crept up behind one of the vampires and stabbed the creature through its face and dropped him. He moved onto the hound and then the last vampire, each falling quickly to Dante's sword.
That marks three of the six.
Dante closed his eyes and scanned once more to be safe.
Yup, three more.
Dante moved on silently and quickly to a dirt path, where a small cliff was present with a vampire on top. All of a sudden, six skeletons started to appear from the ground. Dante approached them and they soon went after Dante. He was much quicker compared to them, so to Dante they moved really slow as he sliced them all apart. The did a rotational slice and took the heads off the other five as vampire jumped off its cliff with speed half as fast as Dante. He simply side stepped and let the vampire attack before decapitating him.
Two left.
As Dante continued on through the cavern ruins he saw a vampire using magic against a giant spider. The spider died due to being struck by a lighting bolt from the vampires hands. Suddenly, the vampire shot a purple sphere of energy at the corpse of the spider and as it came back to life.
Resurrection? What can it-? Wait a minute. Master told us about this type of magic. This is necromancy. Very strong and potent necromancy.
without hesitation, Dante Darkstepped in front of the creature of the night and stabbed it in the heart while the spider soon turned to ash.
So if necromancy is used on a target, and the master dies, so does the target. Interesting find. Either way, that was all of them...
Dante wanted to be sure once more so once again he scanned the area. Three more presences were below Dante went through the doorway and found himself in another room. There was a barred window in which Dante could see three vampires. They were arguing about a decision they made. Dante saw another way inside.
Wanna get past them?
What?
You heard me. Wanna get past them?
How?
I'll give you a power of mine. Interested?
If it'll help.
Dante saw his black energy cover his entire body within a second, then looked at his hands. He was invisible.
"Thanks."
The teen inched closer to the vampires then made himself appear and started to massacre them. He slashed one across the chest and moved onto the second by slicing off his hands then head, followed by him then proceeding to cut the head off the third. The first vampire he slashed across the chest rose back up and attempted to bite Dante, only for the teen to punch the vampire in the wound it sustained and stabbed it in the head. He pulled the blade out as all threes bodies disappeared, which told him it was safe to look around. These ruins in particular were strange. He looked towards the center and saw a pillar half of Dante's size. There was also half a circle on top and a small gap. Dante now started to understand.
This is a blood sacrifice pillar. The question was... how much blood?
He looked around the pillar as he saw more pillars with dishes on them. Before putting his hand on the sacrifice pillar Dante took a deep breath, then slammed his hand on it as a spike pierced his hand. It stayed for a second before retracting while purple flames started to go around the circles on the ground. The dishes now had the purple flame.
What's next?
Dante started to lean on one of the dishes before it moved.
It moved?
It then all made sense to Dante. The circles weren't complete, so he needed to push the pillars in order to complete the circles. After a minute of fooling around with the dishes, the circles were completed and a portal in the ground opened. Out of it came forth a marble container that was square and had another circle on the container. Dante's wound healed once he took it off the spike, but he was sure he had to use more blood to open what was inside. Before he could, he felt something strange. Whatever was inside the box was alive. He readied himself for whatever may be inside and slowly inched closer to the marble container, eyes still on the box. Dante then cut his hand and stopped his healing so he can lay blood on the container. When he finally got close enough to the box and laid his bleeding hand on the circular seal, it started to glow red as the circle started to move. Dante jumped backwards and waited cautiously for what would present itself to him. As the box came undone fully, Dante did not expect to see what he saw. Within the box was a girl, a girl of his age. She had black hair, her skin was nearly as white as snow. She wore a red top covered by a black leather corset with a black cape, red bottoms and black boots. She then started to fall from her prison. Dante threw his long sword aside and slowly reached out to her and caught her before she fell. She opened her eyes slowly and surprised Dante more. Her eyes were exactly the same as his were when Dante's eyes changed, black where the white of the eyes should be, but golden irises instead of blood red. She looked at Dante and was surprised just as well while slowly getting up.
"Where... Where am I?"
"Your guess is as good as mine really. I came down here only recently."
"If they sent someone I would at least thought they would have sent someone like me."
"Like you? What do you mean?"
"I'm a... Wait. You can't tell?"
Dante shook his head, confused by her words.
"I'm a vampire."
That is when Dante's eyes widened a bit.
She a vampire?
"We both have the same kind of eyes. How could you tell that I wasn't -? Wait a minute..."
She closed her eyes quickly and took a small sniff.
"Your scent...how are your eyes like mine if you're a human?"
"Say what?"
Dante left for a moment to look inside one of the dishes to see his reflection. His eyes changed to their demonic ones, whites of the eyes as black as night and irises a blood red.
"Well...to tell you the truth...I'm not exactly human."
"Really?"
"Truthfully... I don't even know what I am myself. I'm...just some person."
Her looks perceived as almost as feeling sorry for Dante, not knowing who he really was.
"What made you think I wasn't a vampire?"
"Well, mainly it was the eyes."
She couldn't help but turn and blush upon hearing Dante's comment.
"Do you have a place to go to?"
"I do actually. There's a small dock north of Solitude with a small boat docked. It'll get us over the ice waters to a castle. That's where my family lives...Hopefully."
Hopefully? Should that be a good sign or a bad one? Doesn't matter. Either way, I'll get her there.
Dante outstretched his arm to call back his sword, which soon appeared into his hands. The girl had been amazed at the sight.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"I'm Serana. Part of the Volkihar family. What's your name?"
"I'm Dante. That's all that I know. I know nothing of my past, my family. I only have memory of what has happened over the year. That's it."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine really. No effect on me. Now, we need to find you a weapon besides that butter knife you have strapped to your waist. As pretty as it may be, I don't think it's going to do much."
Dante looked around. He found a sword from one of the vampires he slew. He picked it up and approached Serana with it.
"You know now to use this?"
Serana then grabbed the blade and then did a series of slashes and hacks and twirled the blade in ways Dante never expected from her. Quite honestly, he was impressed.
"Ok. So you do."
Dante started his way back from where he came. Only exception was the way was shut.
"Great. This was the way I arrived."
He saw another way, a crevice. Before he could take another step Dante heard crumbling behind him. He turned and looked around before getting in front of Serana. He saw something, two gargoyle statues that started to rumble a bit until finally the stone exterior shattered and revealed the monstrosities underneath. They both attacked Dante, but they simply slowed down as they approached him. Dante raised his blade to his shoulder and then slashed at them sideways. They were instantly cut apart. Dante simply swiped his blade to clean the blood off his sword as he looked back at Serana, then focused his attention back to the crevice. As they went, he constantly made sure Serana was with him. The two companions finally reached a small hall. Skeletons were present. They soon saw Dante and Serana and attacked. Dante looked at Serana and the two interlocked arms. Dante and Serana spun and swung their swords mowing through the large amount of undead. The last one was a Deathlord Draugr, and the two cross slashed the undead attacker. Afterwards Dante looked at the fine handiwork the two did. He then turned and saw a lighting bolt erupt from Serena's hand that went past him and hit a skeleton about ready to attack Dante.
"Thanks." He said smiling.
She smiled back saying "You're welcome." while going on ahead of Dante.
He couldn't help but shrug. He was saved by a girl about his age. She was a vampire though. At this point it really didn't matter. Truth was Dante, Dante never discriminated. She was pleasant to be around with for only knowing her for five minutes. There was a small light at the end of the hall which both exited. It was snowing outside, the usual weather of Skyrim.
"The air out here...so...good. It's been a while. It's good to be on the outside again."
"It'll only get this much peaceful. Besides, I got a better way than walking all the way over to the northern end of Solitude."
"How so?"
Dante simply went over to her and picked her up in his arms and then took flight into the air. All she could do was be surprised at what Dante had in store.
He can fly?!
Within half an hour, Dante had reached the small dock. In the distance he could see the castle Serana told him about. He dashed in the air all the way over the icy waters and landed on the bridge that led to the castle. He then dropped her off as she thanked him.
Before Dante took another step Serana grabbed his arm, "Wait. Before we go in there..."
Dante turned and asked her "Are you alright?"
"I am. Thank you for asking by the way. Before we go in I must say that it might not be so friendly towards just you, but me as well."
Earlier she said family... "Is there..." Dante paused, wanting to say the right thing. "someone you don't want to see?"
Serana turned away from Dante.
"That kinda is why. It's my father, he's... not really the same. Especially since we last met. I've been gone for so long now that he might only care for this."
From behind her cloak, she pulled out an Elder Scroll. Dante's eyes widened for a second.
"Is that an Elder Scroll?"
"It is. And it's mine by the way. Lets just say I found it."
"No worries. Just kinda surprised me is all."
"Thanks. And please don't kill everything inside."
Dante was now amused.
"Who said anything about killing? I'm here to keep you safe. That's my only duty right now."
Now she was surprised. A human, no, something more than human wants to protect her? A vampire? It made no sense but, she liked the idea of being protected, something she really never had. They both proceeded into the hall and a large group of vampires were sitting in the hall dining. Dante and Serana had reached the halls stairway, which they were looked upon by all in the hall. Someone in particular arose from his throne. He wore a golden set of armor, similar to the pattern that elves wore. A red cape dangled from the back of the armor.
"Ah. So you have brought back the elder scroll. Excellent. And you've brought a guest. A human."
"He's the reason I made it back here in one piece father."
"Is he now? Well then, he must receive some sort of reward for the safe return of my daughter."
Dante just stared at him.
This is the ruler of a vampire clan? I wonder what kind of reward is he going to give me...
"All I can offer you is a gift, my gift specifically."
Dante scratched his his head.
Vampirism is the gift? Is it worth it? "I don't know exactly."
"I see. You need more proof of our power. Here. Let me show you... The power of the vampire!"
Within an instant, the lords body was covered by a black and red substance which then finally revealed a pale monstrosity with eyes as black as night, skin as pale as snow. Horns grew out of the head and blackened wings sprouted from the back.
"Do you now see the power I hold? Overtime... You will come to this point of power, should you accept."
Wow... I can feel the raw power coming from him...
What concerned him the most is why Serana didn't feel safe.
Is it because of this guy in particular? Something doesn't feel right. I can sense a plot in works I don't know anything about. Serana has an Elder Scroll. Her father, not even greeting her, only cared for that scroll. Well, things have been boring lately...and it doesn't seem like I'm going back for a while, so why not investigate this further? "You sure know how to strike a bargain. Becoming a vampire? It's a tempting gift, even for me."
Serana looked surprised, not expecting his answer.
"But...no can do. Can't exactly turn myself into one either way. Let's just say I have a sort of immunity that won't let me become one."
The lord lowered himself to the ground in his altered form.
"Very well then! Live like the rest of the cattle! But know this...human...I am lord Harkon! I rule this clan! Now...vanish!"
As fast as lighting, lord Harkon shot out his arm towards Dante, who then vanished into a purple, circular portal. When Dante opened his eyes again, he was outside of the castle by the docks.
So that's what his name was!
Dante slowly walked inside the castle fort known as Dawnguard to see Isran waiting.
"There you are. So, what exactly did you find out from exploring the cave?"
"It wasn't an artifact that they were looking for, but a person."
"A person?"
"Yeah...turns out it was the daughter of vampire lord Harkon. She also had an Elder Scroll. And after talking a while, I took her home."
"What?!"
Isran grabbed Dante by the collar, lifting him in the air. Dante was calm as Isran shouted at him, "You met his daughter and you didn't kill her?! Much less take the scroll?!"
By that point, Dante had grabbed Isran's wrist, forcing the large adult to slowly and painfully put the teen down. After his feet touched the floor and Isran's hands where off him, Dante pushed back the vampire hunter.
"You're...you're stronger than you look."
"Thanks. But next time, don't put your hands on me. Otherwise, expect some hurt. As for the matter of Harkon's daughter, there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure she won't say anything else about me. She didn't even know I was working for you guys."
"Very well...despite this...mishap...I have another assignment for you."
"Really? Do tell."
"This couldn't get much worse. This is more than you and I can handle. Its time to bring in some powerful reinforcements to Fort Dawnguard. If they're bold enough to attack us here, then this may be bigger than I thought. I have good men here, but...there are people I've met and worked with over the years. We need their skills, their talents, if we're going to survive this. If you can find them, we might have a chance. I think we'll want Sorine Jurard. Breton girl, whip-smart and good with tinkering. Fascination with the Dwemer. Weapons in particular. Last I knew, she was out in the Reach, convinced she was about to find the biggest dwarven ruins yet. You'll also want to find Gunmar. Big brute of a Nord, hates vampires almost as much as I do. Got it into his head years back that his experience with animals would help. Trolls in particular, from what I hear. With their help, the Dawnguard will be able to gain a little bit more ground against the rising vampire menace. We might just have a chance if we can get them."
"You have me now remember?"
"You may be the Dragonborn, but it doesn't hurt to have some back up. Are you going to find them? Or waste time talking to me?"
"Sorry boss...I'll get right on it."
Dante waved his hand goodbye and then walked towards the exit.
After asking around, Dante managed to get a good lock on where the Nord he was supposed to find was. After Dante found him, he was in a sneaking position, seemingly on the hunt for something.
"Are you-?"
"Shhh! Mind yourself. There's a vicious bear on the loose. I've been chasing it for two weeks, and I've finally managed to corner it."
"A bear huh? In that cave?"
The Nord nodded. Dante walked up to the cave and leaned his ear in.
There's definitely a bear inside. In that case...
Dante summoned his sword and pointed it inside the cavern.
"Howling Dark!"
A wave of black energy instantly shot out of Dante's blade and filled the cave, causing internal explosions while also making the cave collapse. He then walked back to the Nord, who was awestruck at what Dante had just done.
"Don't worry. My energy wave certainly killed him. If it didn't, then the explosions did. If the explosions didn't kill it, then the collapse did. Either way, Isran needs your help. Can't have you wasting time on Winnie the Pooh."
"Isran? Needing someone else's help? Never thought I'd hear that. I'm afraid he's a few years too late. I've moved on. I have more important business to attend to. Besides, he can handle anything alone! He assured me so himself. What could he possibly need my help with?"
"Listen, there's a vampire threat that not even he's sure enough of handling on his own. And the vampires have an Elder Scroll."
"That is bad. Very well then. Tell Isran I'll make my way to the fort when I can. Good luck with your travels."
"Thanks."
With that, Dante took to the skies, to find the other person he was looking for. After half an hour of flying, Sorine Jurard turned up in the wilderness near an unmarked Dwemer convector, just south of Mor Khazgur. She was drifting around, obviously looking for something.
"What would mudcrabs want with my satchel, anyway? I need just one gyro. One, and I can get back to work. Where are they?"
She then turned to Dante.
"Ah, young man! Have you seen a sack full of Dwemer gyros? I think a mudcrab may have taken it."
"You mean these?"
Dante raised a sack full of golden gyros that he managed to find on his way towards her location.
"You find them! Thank you! But, you obviously came here for something else."
"Right you are! You see, Isran needs your help."
"Isran? Wants me? No, you must be mistaken. He made it exceedingly clear the last time we spoke that he had no interest in my help. I find it hard to believe he's changed his mind. He said some very hurtful things to me before I left."
"Well, he did say there was a vampire threat that he really needs your help with and the vampires are also in possession of an Elder Scroll."
"He really does need my help."
"Interested?"
"Very. Let me go back and get some things. I'll be there soon."
"All right Isran, you've got us all here. Now what do you want?" Said Gunmar.
"Hold it right there."
"What are you doing?" Asked Sorine.
A bright light shone from the ground beneath Dante and Isran's two friends, then disappeared after a few seconds.
"Making sure you're not vampires. Can't be too careful. So, welcome to Fort Dawnguard. I'm sure you've heard a bit of what we're up against. Powerful vampires, unlike anything we've seen before. And they have an Elder Scroll. If anyone is going to stand in their way, it's going to be us."
"This is all well and good, but do we actually know anything about what they're doing? What do we do now?"
"We'll get to that. For now, get acquainted with the space. Sorine, you'll find a room to start your tinkering on that crossbow design you've been working on. Gunmar, there's an area large enough for you to pen up some trolls, get them armored up and ready for use."
Isran then looked towards Dante.
"In the meantime, we're going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you."
The hell? What vampire-? Oh. That's who.
"Let's go have a little chat with it, shall we?"
After, walking the stairs up to an unpleased Isran, he asked, "So, mind telling me what a bloodsucker is doing in the fort?"
"Hey now, there's no call for rudeness." Said Dante.
"Trust me, I'd rather not be here either, but I needed to talk to you." Said Serana.
"It's important, so please just listen before your friend, here, loses his patience. It's... well, it's about me. And the Elder Scroll that was buried with me. I'm guessing you figured this part out already, but my father's not exactly a good person. Even by vampire standards. He was once a respectable and better person, but stumbled upon a prophecy that foretold vampires could control the sun. That's what he's after. The prophecy. He wants to control the sun, have vampires control the world. My mother tried to stop him from taking over the world, so I was sealed away with the scroll, to keep it from my father. I realize I'm in a fort filled with vampire hunters, but I need help if we're to stop him. Please, let me help."
"She's right Isran. She wouldn't have gone through the trouble of coming here and getting killed if she was spying on us. Besides, I'll keep watch on her for you. Trust me. If you want the menace to end, you're going to need the both of us for this. She goes, I do to."
"All right, so you've heard what it has to say and you're telling me there isn't any reason I shouldn't kill this bloodsucking fiend right now?"
"Uh, didn't you hear me a few seconds ago? I said yes!"
"Fine...you can keep it for now...but don't feel like a guest, because you're not. You're a resource. You're an asset. In the meantime, don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity, because if you do, your friend here is going to pay for it."
"Funny words coming from a funny little man." Said Serans.
Isran contained his anger for the comment as Serana turned to Dante.
"Remember that I'm still carrying the Elder Scroll on my back. We need to read it to understand the prophecy. The only people who can read the scrolls are the blind Moth Priests who live in the Imperial City in Cyrodiil, which is a long way from Skyrim."
"Funny you should say that. I noticed an imperial scholar passing by on the road just a few days ago. I'm not willing to waste men looking for him, but if you ask innkeepers or carriage drivers all over Skyrim, you could find him." Said Isran.
"I actually suggest the College of Winterhold. Especially since it's a place where a scholar would go.
"Either way, you get to choose what we do. I'm feeling adventurous, so I'll go where you go."
"I do admit, I like your plan a lit more. One, it's logical. Two, it's probably the best place to start the search. Off to Winterhold I guess."
"So this is the right bridge?" Asked Dante walking into town.
"It should be. The Orc at the library said it was."
The town was small, but the Dragon Bridge is what interested them the most.
"Hey, did a Moth Priest pass by here?" Asked Dante to one of the villagers.
"Indeed he did. Not too long ago either. I'd say he was here ten minutes ago. So I'd you hurry, you might be able to catch up to them."
"Thanks."
The two companions walked off towards the bridge and crossed it. After five minutes of walking, they saw the carriage, but no one there. They approached closer after rushing up to it to see no one at the carriage except for one dead vampire broiling away in the sun and one dead body torn to shreds.
"Well then...this guy turned into minced meat." Said Dante picking up one of the bodies chopped arms and spinning it around.
"By the way, why aren't you burning up? Aren't vampires supposed to burn in the sun?"
"The only time our bodies burn up to ash is when we die. If you're someone like me, a pure blood, the sun only weakens you slightly in comparison to a normal vampire."
"Huh. Guess that disproves all the myths I've ever heard."
"Found a note."
"Oh?"
Dante tossed the arm away and went to Serana's side to read the note.
"I have new orders for you. Prepare an ambush just south of the Dragon Bridge. Take the Moth Priest to Forebears' Holdout for safekeeping until I can break his will. Malkus. Well it's obvious. The priests been kidnapped by some vampires."
"And the caves in that direction."
"Shall we?" Asked Dante.
Serana only smiled at Dante's attempt to joke, moving ahead of him towards the cave.
Inside were more vampires and some of the hounds from before.
"What do we do?" Asked Serana.
"Just start walking out. I'll take them out one by one. I see the priest in the distance there. No doubt there'll be some more vampires there, but I'll take out these guys quietly as you move up."
"Pray tell how will you take them out."
"Watch and learn."
Dante Darkstepped away from Serana who then stepped out from her hiding place. Bodies started to fall left and right as Dante appeared and disappeared in streams of black energy, slaying all in his way. By the time Serana reached the point before the priest, Dante had joined her again.
"That...was impressive. I've never seen anyone do that before."
"Just one of my many skills."
"What world do you come from?"
Dante only chuckled nervously at her rhetorical question, then forced his attention to the Moth Priest.
"What's he doing?" Asked Dante silently.
"He's trying to enthrall the Moth Priest. If he succeeds, the priest will be a complete slave to that vampire."
"Which leaves me with a final question. What's that barrier and why do the three remaining vampires have streams connecting from them to the barrier?"
"It's a life link barrier."
"Oh I see. So if we kill those guys, the barrier drops."
"Exactly."
They shifted their attention towards the Moth Priest and the vampire speaking to him.
"The more you fight me, the more you will suffer, mortal."
"I will resist you, monster. I must!"
"How much longer can you keep this up, Moth Priest? Your mind was strong, but you're exhausted from the struggle."
"Must... resist..."
"Yes, I can feel your defenses crumbling. You want it to end. You want to give in to me. Now, acknowledge me as your master!"
"Yes. master."
"Oh shit. We gotta take care of him now." Said Dante.
"When you're ready." Said Serana drawing her sword.
The two of them leapt from cover and beheaded the first two vampires, running quickly towards the head vampire, placing their blades on his neck.
"You..." He said to Serana.
"You traitor! How dare you! You will suffer for-!"
Before he could finish, Dante and Serana quickly decapitated their enemy as he fell to floor headless. Dante looked towards the priest.
"Barriers still up. Anything we missed?" Asked Dante.
"No...unless...check his body really quick."
Dante went through his pockets and found a peculiar stone.
"Clever. Put that stone in the pedestal. It should drop the barrier."
Dante did as he was instructed and quickly placed the stone I'm the column as the barrier dropped, then quickly went and picked up the Moth Priest.
"You okay sir?"
"I serve my master's will."
"Say what?"
"But my master is dead, and his enemies will pay!"
The enthralled priest then stabbed Dante where his heart was located and stepped back.
"Dante!" Shouted Serana.
The teen smiled as he kicked the priest in the stomach, sensing him on his back.
"See...if I was a normal person, then that would have killed me. But since I'm not a normal person, well, tough luck. Try again...let's see, never."
"That... that wasn't me you were fighting."
"Oh goodie. You're back to normal."
"I could see through my eyes, but I could not control my actions. Thank you for breaking that foul vampire's hold over me."
"Sure you're alright? I mean, I didn't try kicking you hard, but I still would have hurt a little but."
"I'm quite alright, thanks to you. Dexion Evicus is my name. I'm a Moth Priest of the White Gold Tower. These vampires claimed they had some purpose in store for me, but they wouldn't say what. Probably hoping to ransom me, the fools. Now tell me, whom do you represent, and what do you want with me?"
"I'm a member of the Dawnguard. Truth be told, I need your help with reading an Elder Scroll so we can possibly beat the vampires at their game."
"You have an Elder Scroll? Remarkable! If my knowledge of history serves me, I recall that the Dawnguard was an ancient order of vampire hunters. I will be happy to assist you with your Elder Scroll. Just tell me what I need to do."
"Just head to Fort Dawnguard and appeal to a man named to Isran."
"As you wish."
The priest instantly headed out as Dante took a second to breath as he pulled the dagger out of his chest.
"How in the world-? What are you?"
"If I were to guess, I'm immortal. Can't die from anything at all."
"No kidding. Well, now that we have our priest, we head back now right?"
"We'd better before Isran comes to rip out both our hearts."
Dante and Serana returned to Fort Dawnguard to find Dexion in the main chamber, facing Isran.
"Right on time Dragonborn and bloodsucker. Dexion has the Elder Scroll and is ready to start reading it."
"Good. Dexion?"
"Ah, my rescuer! It's good to see you again."
"Glad to see you made it back here in one piece. Everyone treating you okay?"
"It's not exactly the hospitality I'm used to, but your man Isran has seen to my needs well enough. And might I add, this is a remarkable fortress. I have colleagues back home that would love to study this place in detail."
"Maybe after you read the scroll Dexion."
"Oh right. My apologies. Now, if everyone will please be quiet, I must concentrate."
The room went silent as Dexion opened the Elder Scroll, reading th glamorous letters written on it.
"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying 'Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise.' In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one. The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now... One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood. My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls."
"Damn. Well we can scratch off having one of the other two scrolls." Said Dante.
"You know where one is?" Asked Serana.
"I had one. But I sold it to the College of Winterhold, seeing since I don't have any real use for it."
"I know where the other one we need is too. But we should go get your Elder Scroll first Dante."
"Right. We'll be back as soon as we can Isran."
"Good hunting." He told him.
After making his way towards Winterhold, Dante and Serana quickly headed to the library to speak with Orc he sold the scroll to.
"Ah you're back. What's it been? A days or two?"
"It has. Listen, I need to buy back the scroll."
"What?! What for?!"
"I just need it. I've found another Elder Scroll and I'm close to deciphering something. I need two for that to happen."
"It'll cost ya."
"How much?"
"2000 gold."
"2000?! That's outrageous!"
"Look that's my price. Since you've saved us and all that stuff I took off half. So my price is 2000. Take it or leave it."
This is ridiculous! I saved this world and I'm getting hassled by an Orc?! What the hell?! Aw fine. It's not like I'm gonna use the gold I got as gifts back in my world.
"Fine."
Dante pulled out a pouch which contained 1000 gold pieces, then pulled out another and threw both on the orcs desk.
"Thank you Dragonborn. I'll be right back."
The Orc got up and left to the back door of the room. Inside Dante could hear magical reactions and finally he came back with the scroll.
"Here you go."
"Thanks." grumbled Dante.
Before he and Serana knew it, they were already back at Fort Dawnguard.
"That was...fast." Isran said.
"Heh. I aim to please."
After Isran left, Serana said, "Dante... I know where to find a third elder scroll."
Dante, with surprise, turned his head to face Serana completely.
"You do?"
"Yes. My mother should."
"Does she now?"
"The problem is I don't know where to find her."
"That's a problem. Did your parents...you know...have problems in the past?"
"They did actually. Ever since they were changed into vampires they each had separate ideals. They didn't like each other. My mother always was trying to tell me that my father was evil. And eventually I started to believe them myself."
Harsh...I hope my parents weren't like that.
"Eventually my mother came to a realization. She took me and we fled. Now that I remember, she was the one who locked me in that stone container."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Afterwards you came and found me. But we need ideas now. Where would we find her?"
That's a tough question. After hearing about her mother and father not getting along with each other and fleeing, I just might have an idea.
"Is it possible she went to the Dawnguard for hiding?"
"Not really. Even if she asked nicely it wouldn't do. Plus my father would've known if she was there or not due to his ways on gathering information."
Okay then, stupid idea.
"It has to be something my father would never expect. Ever."
That's tricky. But what? What could it be?
It then came to Dante.
"What if she hid somewhere here in the castle or left some sort of clue."
"That...actually makes sense. In a way."
Dante shrugged.
"My father would never expect that for sure. But where in the castle?"
"Was there somewhere your mother and you spent time with each other in a part of the castle?"
"Now that you mention it, we both grew a garden together. In a courtyard. In the center was a enormous moon dial."
"Then the courtyard it is. Where would we find it?"
"Well, we get to the castle, then make a turn in an unused ship area and go inside a door. Should be simple."
"If only it were."
They could walk around until they got there. Or...
"May I borrow you for a second?"
"Borrow me?"
Dante then took Serana into his arms and then jumped off the bridge outside of the castle and flew towards Volkihar Castle.
"Can you not try to do that again?"
"Only if its necessary I will."
They both made their way to the docking area Serana spoke of. The door was also present.
Everything's going according to plan.
The inside was horrible smelling and creepy. Dante could feel like he was going to be attacked at any second. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They found another door and Dante could see light from the other side of the door. It was moonlight. But was there something treacherous outside waiting for them? Serana could tell Dante was suspicious of something.
"If my mother rigged this place with traps we would have encountered them when we first stepped through the door."
She does have a point.
Dante opened the door and saw the moon dial first. Afterwards he saw the remains of a garden, which once must have stood tall and beautiful.
"Oh no...the garden..."
Serana rushed off to a small section of the garden.
"This is where I grew plants on my own."
She then rushed to a large area.
"This is where both my mother and I grew plants together. It's a shame these all died."
Serana, along with Dante, approached the moon dial.
"Something's off with it." Said Serana.
She's right. Something's off...
He looked at the dial itself nothing. He looked at he rotational gears, then looked at the plates. There he noticed that each of the plates had a crystalline part of the moon. More specifically the order in which the moon appeared. Only three plates were missing.
Where could they be?
Dante then saw sparkles around the garden. Three of them in fact. He went where he saw the first and found a crescent. He went to the second location and found a half moon. He then finally went to the last sparkle of light and found a full moon. Three pieces to the moon dial. Serana now noticed Dante put the pieces of the dial in the correct order.
Before Dante put the last piece in he said, "Step back. We might not know what will happen."
She slowly stepped back as he put the final piece in. Nothing happened. He looked back at Serana and shrugged, but the teen then kicked the moon dial, which then caused it to move. The moon dial itself started to transform and make a stairway leading downwards.
"Down we go." He said.
They made their way downstairs into a darker area. Truthfully, Dante was nearly afraid of this place. He wasn't afraid of the dark. He was afraid of what was possibly hiding in the dark. He saw some spiked ropes dangling from the ceiling. The teen summoned his sword and sliced the air only once and destroyed all the traps. He also saw bear traps set ahead that were activated through the force of Dante's strike. He saw some skeletons that were also decimated. His powers had grown considerably since he catalyzed The Firsts powers.
If I did that, then I may be powerful enough for anything now. Maybe...
They advanced closer and they both heard the sound of hounds. Death hounds to be exact. These undead dogs were gruesome. About twenty of them encircled the two partners. But all Dante did was smirk. He interlocked arms with Serana and both twirled around slashing hounds with their blades. There was finally five left and Serana let go of Dante as he bounced off the walls and slashed each hound he found in his way. He finally stopped and slashed his blade in the air to clean off the blood, looked up, and saw another giant metal door. Brilliant... He signaled for Serana to stop. He slowly pushed the door and hundreds of darts started to pierce Dante all over his body.
Serana was just about to approach Dante, when all he did was turn around and said "Ouch."
He then turned back around and slowly walked inside, followed by kicking the door shut. All Serana heard was the darts starting to pierce the door and then stone. The teen then opened the door and let in Serana, who noticed his wounds disappeared and his clothes completely untouched.
"I found this lab."
"Hmm. This seems to be my mothers secret lab. Once she became a vampire she was very interested in necromancy and so started to practice the art. I should have guessed this. She might have left a journal around. I've seen it before. It's a little red journal. If we find that, we can get the clue to finding my mother."
Red journal. Shouldn't be hard.
But it was the exact opposite. There were three bookcases. Each large and each completely filled with books.
Perfect...more books.
Dante found an empty table and started to dump the books on the table. He went to the second bookcase and still searched. In the third bookcase he finally found a small red journal with a bookmark in it.
Is this it?
He looked inside the book. He saw ingredients and then saw what it was for.
The Soul Carin? It says that it's the place were souls trapped within a soul gem are sent, or if the soul is simply trapped. This is interesting!
There was also a small journal entry on the side.
I take my leave today for the Soul Carin. I have placed Serana in the stone chamber in my efforts to protect her. Protect her from a prophecy that should possibly be revealed. It was justified in all purposes. I will flee inside the Soul Carin not only to hide, but to seek the higher beings of their world and for them to tell me the secrets of necromancy and possibly even more. I hope my efforts shall not be vain. I have worked too hard and too long to protect her.
To protect her? She basically imprisoned her against her will. Damn her...it's not fair! No one deserves anything like that regardless if they need to be protected! She should have fought to keep her safe like I am now! Man what a sad and cruel fate... It's more messed up than me without memory of my past life!
"Did you find anything?"
Dante turned quickly, hiding the book in his pocket.
"I did. But as soon as I read it it burst into flames and disappeared."
"Great. There goes our only clue."
She turned and sat down in a nearby bench, eyes closed.
"Not exactly. Apparently she went to a place called the Soul Carin."
"The Soul Carin?!"
"Yeah...I remember all the ingredients to enter. See that circle in ground?"
She looked then nodded.
"We enter through there. All we do is add the ingredients in that small cup-like pillar and it will open a portal to the Soul Carin. And I remember the ingredients exactly."
"I can't believe it...she actually managed to do it. When I was still younger and still a human, she talked about the Soul Carin. I never really believed her but, I guess we'll see for ourselves."
Dante then scurried around the room looking for the ingredients. Purified void salts, purified bonemeal and...blood. Specifically her blood.
Serana is her daughter so her blood should be usable.
He found a silver cup of each ingredient except for the blood.
He dumped each one into the silver pillar, then approached Serana, "Unfortunately the last ingredient for the portal requires your mothers blood."
"Well that's great. She's inside the Soul Carin."
"See, I kinda despaired about that as well. And then I thought, 'Serana and her mother share the same blood. So why wouldn't that work?' So is it worth a try?"
Serana thought for a second.
"It's risky business getting the ingredients wrong for a portal. Becareful Dante."
"Please." he scoffed.
They both approached the silver pillar as Dante took Serana's hand into his and raised it above the pillar. She took a deep breath before she would sacrifice some blood.
Dante looked at her and smiled, "Trust me. This won't hurt at all."
Serana closed her eyes and then felt a very tiny breeze on her finger. She looked and saw a very tiny slash on the bottom of her finger tip.
He was right. It didn't hurt at all...
Small droplets of blood landed in the cup like pillar and then the ground started to rumble. The circle then started to break apart and reform into a straight stairway leading inside a purple portal. It was almost like how Serana's stone chamber appeared when he made a blood sacrifice. Now he was the one who took a deep breath. They both went inside the portal at the same time and a flash appeared in the room. Dante was the first to come out and he did not expect to see what he saw. The sky was purple and full of lighting and thunder. He could see a multitude of souls all walking around and could also see stone ruins which almost looked like remains of a city, except for the ground being entirely of sand.
Just what the hell is this place?
Serana soon appeared behind Dante and started to look on with both amazement and puzzlement. And from the looks of it... it'd be a while before they found Serana's mother