A/N

Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you're all doing okay!

I'm sorry again for the delayed update. This one's just a bonus chapter, but I hope you guys like it. I'm halfway done with the next update so hopefully I'd be able to post it this month!

It took me so long to post because of real life things and... I wrote a later chapter (one that's close to the ending) because I was hit by inspiration and I just felt like I should write what went through my mind that time immediately :)) As usual, I only read this chapter once to check for mistakes. I hope you'd bear with mistakes I fail to correct!

Please leave a review/comment if you're still reading my story! I also want to know your thoughts!

"Oh, you guys are here. I guess I'm late." Argis sneered at his fellow housecarls as he entered the structure behind Valdimar's shop in Morthal. Soon as he did, the talking housecarls fell into a hush. "We're still missing people, huh? I thought I was the only one missing."

"… You're invited?" Rayya asked in a mocking tone.

"Of course, I am, redguard. What's the point of having this gathering if I ain't here?" Argis haughtily replied as he found himself a seat at the table.

Lydia looked at him in disgust. "You're still quite the prick, I see." she commented as she drank her ale. Gregor laughed in his seat.

"… And your tongue remains as sharp as your steel." Argis responded before snatching a tankard away from Calder's hands. The latter glared as the former poured mead over the tankard.

"So, why are we called?" Gregor asked.

"Who knows?" Argis was quick to reply. "I'm still wondering why the old man needed all of us. We don't need weaklings around here…" He then looked at the females disparagingly.

Rayya slammed her cup on the table and turned towards Argis. "You want to figh—"

All of a sudden, Gregor laughed heartily at Argis' remark, interrupting Rayya's supposed challenge.

"What's wrong old man? Senility got you?" the cocky housecarl smirked.

"Hey! I'm not even that old." Gregor chuckled. "It's just funny to hear that, coming from someone who was beat down by a teenage girl."

Argis almost dropped his tankard, his eyes were wide with surprise. The same could be said with the reaction of the other housecarls.

"How did—" the housecarl started to grit his teeth.

"Heard it from Valdimar." Gregor responded nonchalantly. "I couldn't believe Jordis could did you in like that… I guess that girl was talented enough. Ha!" he laughed again.

"Wait, Jordis… beat this guy?" Lydia inquired as he pointed at Argis. Her lips were curving into a smile as she tried to hold in her laughter.

"Yeah. Remember that expedition to Solstheim almost two years ago? When four of them searched for the Thane and left us out?" Gregor turned to Calder with a sardonic smile on his face.

"Don't look at me. I was based at Windhelm… it's not like I had a choice. Valdimar and the others were extremely worried and wanted to go to Solstheim as soon as possible." He paused. "I don't know why you're bringing this up… we've already settled about this last time we gathered, remember?"

"Sure, but I still can't believe you all left us like that. We were all worried about him, too…" Lydia replied as she crossed her arms.

"She's right. Even this brute was worried." Gregor scoffed as he looked at Argis who remained silent in his seat, still glaring at him.

Rayya sat back down. "No matter. Just tell us about how this man was beaten up by Jordis." she sniggered, placing her feet on the table.

"Right, right. So anyway, when we were drinking, Valdimar told me—"

"Shut up!" Argis shouted as he stood from his chair, glaring at Gregor. "Draw your sword and let's take this outside!"

Gregor chuckled once more. "I can't believe you." He held up both his hands as if being apprehended. "Come on! You're really going to fight me over this? You have to move on… our Jordis is just that good. Even I always get a beatdown when we spar." He shrugged. "She's just that talented."

Then he smiled ear to ear. "Although, if we fight now, you can't possibly beat me. Maybe in a hundred years, kid."

"Why you…!"

Suddenly, the door swung open. Calder turned his head in curiosity before smiling. "Speak of the devil."

Jordis walked right in, not minding the commotion. She walked right past Argis and found herself a chair at the end of the table.

"Hey, Jordis. This guy was just looking for you." Gregor called out to the young woman. Jordis ignored him, filling her tankard with a drink.

This annoyed Argis even more. Completely forgetting his beef with Gregor, he approached Jordis.

"Oy, you. Get up. Let's fight."

Jordis briefly looked up at him, before tending to her drink once more. "Not interested."

"What, are you afraid?"

"Why would I be, you could barely hold your sword properly the last time we fought."

This time, Lydia couldn't help but giggle. Rayya on the other hand burst in laughter. The reserved Calder just shook his head.

Having his pride hurt, he suddenly grabbed Jordis arm. "You insolent—"

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" a voice rang in the room.

It was Valdimar. He was standing at the doorway along with Iona.

"I'm just going to teach this little brat a les—"

Argis barely finished his sentence when a small bolt of lightning suddenly struck the space between his feet. Sparks of lightning crackled from the tip of Valdimar's finger.

"Sit your ass down. I don't want your head rolling about until the real fight starts."

"Real fight?"

"Just sit down, you wretched brat."

Argis stared back at Valdimar. Without further violent reactions, he responded with a grunt and did as he's told.

Valdimar sat at the end of the table as he led the gathering of the housecarls.

"Let's start with news on your respective hold assignments."

First in line, Rayya spoke up. "Aside from the thinning down of bandit activity, no news in Falkreath. Lydia and I have Lakeview Manor covered."

"No news in Whiterun. There were reported vampire activities for the last two months, but heightened security dealt with these recently." Lydia added. "I received a letter from the Thane a few weeks ago. His orders were to ease my guard on the hold. He says he always passes by the city. Still, he instructed me to keep an eye and ear about vampires."

Rayya appeared surprised. "Oh, right. I forgot about the letter." She turned to Valdimar. "I also received a letter about those… vampires."

"What's with all this vampire news? Do you really believe those?" Argis scoffed.

Valdimar gave him a fierce look. "You have no idea what you're talking about don't you, boy? Now shut up… and listen. Before I kick you out."

The housecarl was about to retort but chose to comply in the end. He wouldn't want to mess with the old man.

Valdimar nodded at the two female housecarls to acknowledge their reports before looking at Calder.

"No news in Eastmarch. The Thane asked me to monitor Stormcloak activity, but they've been quiet so far."

"What about Solitude?" Valdimar asked Jordis.

"I've kept contact with the Steward since I was appointed as steward of Heljarchen Hall. Seems like there won't be any escalation in the Civil War… for now." the young woman reported.

"Good… good. Next." He raised a brow at Gregor, who in turn nodded his head.

The housecarl took a short moment to collect his thoughts. "I think all of you already know. There was a vampire attack on Dawnstar. The rumors are true."

The other housecarls started murmuring. Argis' eyes widened in shock.

Gregor continued, "The vampires were repelled thanks to the guards of Dawnstar. Our Jordis was also there to defend the city." He then paused; hesitation was written all over his face as he scratched his nose. "… and well, the Thane himself."

"What?!" Argis suddenly stood up, slamming his hand on the table and spilling his drink.

Valdimar quickly eyed the young man. Once the latter met eye-to-eye with the old housecarl, he had no choice but to sit back down.

"Jordis, you've really been hogging him." Lydia joked as she called out from the other side of the table. The young woman just gave her a short smile.

"I know, right? It's been a while since I last saw him in battle." Gregor agreed with a huge grin. "She wouldn't even tell me how it went with him… just another boring and formal report." Then Gregor's eyes widened as if he remembered something. "Oh, aside from the vampire attacks, there have been developments in Heljarchen Hall."

Upon hearing his words, Jordis quickly shot Gregor a threatening glare. The latter gulped down once he met the former's eyes.

"What about it?" Valdimar inquired.

"Uhhh… no. Just… uh… the preparations for building Heljarchen farm adjacent to the manor are coming along pretty well…" Gregor stuttered.

"Hmp. All right." Valdimar remarked as he turned his gaze upon Iona. Gregor kept his palms together and gestured an apology towards Jordis.

Iona stood up. "Besides the thieves guild's activity in Riften, there's nothing unusual to report."

"That's… no surprise. Given the fact that Maven Black-Briar's the Jarl. Noted." Valdimar scratched his head before turning to Argis. "Your turn. Stand up."

Argis scratched his head annoyingly before rising from his seat. "I… I have nothing to report."

"Really, nothing?"

Seemingly pissed, Argis slightly raised his voice. "If I said nothing then there's nothing, old man. Things at Markarth have been terribly quiet since the incident at Cidhna Mine." He sat back down. "This is why I can't believe there's been so much going on in the other holds… Vampires?" he scoffed. "I can't even believe it… that's why I just passed the letter to the Jarl's steward."

He slumped down back his seat.

Valdimar sighed. "You're starting to slack off, boy. But, still… you managed to pass the letter to the steward. It's the least you could do. I'll acknowledge it."

He gave Argis a nod before standing up and clearing his throat.

"Before the attack on Dawnstar, the city of Morthal had also been under attack." He started.

"So, we're just… confirming rumors here?" Rayya sardonically asked but was quickly shushed by Iona.

"It was an attack out of the dark. People believed that the vampire threat in Morthal was gone, along with Movarth's coven. We were wrong."

He paused. "Fortunately, our Thane was there to help."

"I thought so… I knew he was there, too." Rayya reacted. Lydia was quick to slap her arm.

"There were injured that night. But based on the reports, there were no deaths."

"What?! That's impossible!" Gregor cried. "Even our Jordis here had a hard time fighting off vampires at Dawnstar!"

The loud clicking of Argis' tongue was echoed in the room.

"Gunjar, one of the guards at Morthal, told me that the city was supposed to be surrounded. A large force of guards protected the northern part of the city while a small group lead by our Thane was tasked to defend south were majority of the vampire aggressors are coming from."

Valdimar scratched his head before he continued. "Gunjar was part of that small group. And apparently, they didn't even have to fight. The kid went off to fight the vampires himself and asked the small group to defend in case any of them got past him."

"Tch. He hasn't changed a bit. What a showoff." Argis scoffed with a brief smile before drinking from his tankard.

Suddenly, Jordis spoke up. "He did it to minimize potential casualties. He wasn't showing off."

"Huh?! I obviously know that! Who's asking you?!" Argis slammed his tankard on the table. "Stop talking like you know him better than us!"

As Jordis was about to respond, she was cut off by Valdimar.

"All right, no more arguments. It's true… that kid has… a problem. It's hard to explain." Valdimar briefly eyed the fireplace before he continued speaking.

"Now that we're done with your reports, let's move on to why I called a meeting this early."

There was silence among the housecarls as they readily lent their ear.

"Remus, our Thane, is working for the Dawnguard. I know some of you have already been aware of his presence in Skyrim but I thought you should know about this. He's taking the fight to the vampires. And if he did, then there's a lot more at stake besides these reports we just discussed." His expressions suddenly tightened up. "As usual, that little piece of…!"

Collecting himself, he cleared his throat. "… As usual, he refuses to ask for our help… to aid him in battle."

"Well, we really can't do anything, can we?" Lydia asked with worry. "Afterall, he's our Thane. We have to do his bidding."

"Tch, stop being a kiss-ass, Lydia." Argis scoffed.

"What—"

"You know Lydia, Argis is a literal piece of cow dung. But he's right. Stop being a kiss-ass. We can break rules from time to time." Rayya teased, causing an explosive laughter among the housecarls at Lydia's expense.

Flustered, Lydia cried. "Fine… Fine! What do we do?!"

Valdimar beamed with a huge grin. "I'm glad we are on the same page. Because… I've already established contact with the Dawnguard."

"Wait, you did?" Iona asked in disbelief.

Valdimar nodded. "Surprised?" He turned towards the other housecarls. "I already know about the efforts they're doing to deal with the vampire threat."

"So, do we have news about what the Thane is doing for them?" Iona questioned.

"Well… no. Isran wouldn't budge." Valdimar spat. The old housecarl's expression suddenly turned somber.

"Wait, what's the Dawnguard?" Argis suddenly asked.

"Why you little—you really don't know anything don't you?!" Valdimar glowered. "Long story short, the Dawnguard is a group of vampire hunters. Now shut yer trap and figure the rest yourself!"

"Fine!" Argis shouted back, staring daggers at him as he took a step back.

Valdimar turned to face the other housecarls, trying to regain his composure.

"The vampire threat is bigger than any of you think. This is why we have to help him… even if he doesn't ask us to. Keep an eye or ear for vampires? No! We're going an extra mile!"

"Cut the speeches, old man." Rayya complained. "We're in. Just tell us what to do."

Valdimar smiled. "Establish connections in your respective holds. Encourage people to join the Dawnguard. There are still some who refuse to believe the vampire threat."

"What?! The same old boring job?!" Argis bellowed. Suddenly, Valdimar held his fist against the young housecarl's chest.

"No, there's one more thing. When the Dawnguard calls for us…"

He turned towards the other housecarls.

"… we're going to respond."

Upon hearing Valdimar's words, the faces of the housecarls exhibited mixed emotions of surprise and confusion.

The old housecarl grinned ear to ear. "But before that, we have to fit you with the right gear, eh?" he gestured the other housecarls to follow as he walked towards a door further at the back.

Upon entering the room, the housecarls were taken aback in amazement.

"Y-you… crazy old bastard… j-just what have you done?" Gregor stammered.

"Well, that boy kept on dumping all those things in my care back then. I never cared for them, but as it turns out… they were excellent material.

Lined up before them were suits of armor… made from dragon bones. Each set of armor was lined with silver. A variety of Dragonbone weapons also hung on the walls.

"I hope you're all ready. Because soon enough… we're going to war."

A/N

Just in case you're wondering about the ages of the Housecarls:
Valdimar - 58, Calder - 37, Gregor - 33, Iona - 30, Rayya - 29, Lydia - 28, Argis - 25, Jordis - 18

Send me a message if you have any more questions!