Hey guys.

Sorry for not putting out a new chapter last week - I came down with a flu.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Morning came as the sun began to shine into Dragonsreach.

I found myself atop a pile of snoring guardsmen, surrounded by empty mead bottles and other sleeping nobles.

Dragonsreach was a complete mess. There were chairs laid around, plates and cutlery on the floor and some patches of spilt mead. Speaking of mead, the sweet stench of it brought about a pulsing in my head and a wrenching in my gut.

I am never touching mead again.

I looked around, eyeing the Jarl. Jarl Balgruuf was fast asleep on his throne with Irileth stood at his side. He had his head in his hands, as if contemplating deep thoughts in his sleep. Irileth, on the other hand, looked the same as usual with her chilling glare.

I noticed Lana in the corner of my eye. She was fast asleep before the hearth, laying across three chairs with her silvery hair beginning to glimmer in the sunlight.

I need to go. If I remember correctly, Tolan rushes ahead and dies in Dimhollow Crypt. There's also the case of who will become thane of Whiterun, and it should be Lana. If I put some words here and there with Irileth and Farengar, I can get it to work. There's no use in me becoming the thane when I will rarely be in Whiterun.

I shuffled off the pile of snoring guards and placed my two feet onto the wooden floorboard with a soft creak. Irileth squared up her shoulders as I quietly walked towards her.

"Irileth." I said, trying my best to keep a whisper with my hoarse hangover voice.

"Yes?" Irileth replied, loud and clear.

She moved forward and positioned herself between the sleeping Jarl and I.

You know, sometimes you forget that there's a civil war in Skyrim. I don't blame Irileth for doing her job.

"I'm going to be leaving soon. I want you to tell the Jarl something when he wakes up." I said.

"Alright. I suppose I do owe you a favour. What is it?"

"The Jarl will probably try and grant me the title of Thane. I want you to tell him I said that Lana should have it." I said.

"That will come down to the Jarl's decision. I cannot guarantee that he'll choose Lana." Irileth replied. There was a hint of fatigue in her voice.

"That's fine. If it helps, let him know that I won't be around for some time." I said.

With that, I went over to Farengar. Farengar was at his desk, inspecting a stone tablet with deep focus. He was scribbling notes across two different books whilst reading the tablet and another translation book at the same time.

I let him know that I was leaving too, and told him to tell Lana when she woke up.

Shortly after collecting all of my gear, I left for Arcadia's Cauldron.

It was an exceptionally quiet morning. No doubt that everyone was asleep or just silenced by their hangovers. Arcadia was more than energetic though. She must have taken one of her stamina potions because that energy is not humanely possible.

Nonetheless, it was good to see my former tutor. I bought some ingredients, restocked my potions and had a small chat about vampire dust prices in different regions. Apparently, vampire dust sells for more in regions controlled by the Empire because they use it to give an 'earthy' flavour to their cooking.

What a bunch of weirdos.

After saying farewells, I headed to the stables.

I found Cat standing there, all saddled up with new gear provided free of charge by the stables boy. I tossed him a septim anyways, and left for Dimhollow Crypt.

The journey was uneventful as I made sure to do my best to avoid bandit camps, ruins and such. There were a few wolves, but thankfully they were normal sized. I left their bodies at the herding camp of a giant as a small gift.

Speaking of giants, they're bloody huge. Not to mention the mammoths they herd. I can feel the ground shaking as they walk, and I'm on a horse. What do they even herd mammoths for anyway? I get the mammoth cheese and meat part, but what do they do with the rest of the mammoth? All they wear is a small fur loincloth and carry a tree trunk as a club.

Oh well, it's not like I can go up to one and ask it.

I eventually made it to the smouldering ruins of the Hall of the Vigilant by midday.

The entire hall had been burnt down and a number of charred corpses laid around. A few embers softly smoked as a small breeze blew. The slight smell of ash and miasma wafted by my nose.

I looked around and spotted a horse tied to the post of a small stable. I brought Cat around to the stable and dismounted.

The horse had a small travel pack attached to its saddle and a half-full bucket of water on the ground in front of it. It seemed that someone, likely Tolan, had left their horse here for just an hour or two. If it is Tolan, no doubt that he's gone up into the crypt already. I would have done the same after looking at the corpses of my friends.

I hope I'm not too late.

I grabbed my gear and jogged up the path to the crypt. It grew increasingly colder despite that the entrance to the crypt was only slightly up in altitude. I got up to the entrance way, which was warmed slightly by a lit brazier beside the crag.

I took a deep breath. The scent of blood touched my nostrils, making my hair stand on edge. Everything went silent as I creeped inside. I was plunged into the dark of the cavern before I knew it.

It was pitch-black as I carefully made my way down the frosty stone pathway. Cold water dripped onto my head and shoulders from the cavern ceiling. Eventually, the sound of flowing water began to cloud the sounds of my shaky breathing and awkward footsteps.

I silently came out into an open area. A cold blue light slightly illuminated the cavern through a hole in the ceiling. There was a small stream flowing through, presumably melted snow from somewhere above. A few pillars of old Nordic origin stood tall throughout the cavern.

I quietly watched as two elves in vampire robes walked around the lifeless body of Tolan. They conversed some words about how the Vigilants were foolish.

Something like that, anyway. I wasn't listening.

I popped off a bolt with a loud clank of the mechanisms. The bolt sailed through the air, striking fair and true into the back of one of the vampire's heads. The sheer impact of the bolt pushed her off her feet and into a stiff slump on the floor.

The other vampire spun around, eyeing the dark and shouting words of intimidation. She drew her sword and made a gesture with her hand. A dark, frosted corpse of a dog with a huge iron collar came running out from behind one of the Nordic pillars towards me. Much to its dismay, however, I was already taking aim with another bolt loaded.

The bolt slammed into the death hound's skull, stopping it right in its tracks with the force of it. It crumpled without a sound, and a small wisp of frost puffed out into the air beside it.

I holstered my crossbow and made my way to the last vampire. She was pressed against the wall on the other side of the cavern, looking around frantically.

As I came into the soft blue light, she froze and looked at me. The wide, glowing orange eyes of the vampire shone through the dark.

"W-wait, please! You win, okay? I yield!" The vampire sputtered. "Spare me, please!"

"No, I don't think I will." I replied.

I drew my silver sword and stepped over Tolan's bloodied body. I watched as the vampire's legs went limp and dropped her to her knees. She sobbed and waved her sword about.

Oh, come on. I feel like the bad guy now. Vampire or not, I can't kill someone who acts like this.

I stopped in front of her and readied myself to strike. I swung my sword up, striking her sword out of her hand with a massive clang. Her sword went sailing away in an arc and splashed down into the stream.

"Get out of my sight." I hissed.

The vampire scrambled away, stumbling across the stream and ignoring her sword altogether. Within moments, she was gone.

Whether that was a good decision or not, it doesn't matter. That was the first person I've seen in Skyrim who actually had that much fear in them to cause them to surrender like that. The thought of it made my skin crawl. To be honest, that was the first time I've ever seen someone that scared for their life.

I scratched at my head and turned around. I looked at Tolan's body. He had many punctures across his body, all with black frosted blood and smudges of dirt. The spiked mace of the dead vampire nearby told the story.

"Rest easy, Tolan." I said, kneeling beside him. I gently placed my hand on his cold cheek for a moment before letting go.

I will be honest here. I don't know how I'm being this calm. It's not as if I am fully calm, but I'm not freaking out or getting emotional like I used to.

No matter. I need to press on. I'll come back for Tolan later.

After looking around for some time, I pulled a lever and entered the next room.

There wasn't much resistance in this room apart from a vampire and a few walking skeletons. They seemed to be much weaker than the pureblood vampire I encountered in Whiterun. Perhaps that vampire sergeant was a higher rank than we thought.

I left the body and bones in a pool of blood.

With another pull of a lever, I came into a room with empty coffins. No doubt that either vampires or draugr had come out of these. I wonder how strong the draugr are too, to be able to push heavy stone coffins out like that.

My thoughts were interrupted with a clang of steel from down the stairs. I heard a yell accompanied by the deep gurgling of some undead creature. The sounds of battle continued as I quietly made my way to the top of the stairway.

There was a thud, and a vampire came flying through the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. He slammed headfirst into the wall, breaking his neck in a horrific display of twisted skin. I watched as his corpse slowly slid down, convulsing slightly.

Just then, a wretched humanoid figure stepped out the doorway. It had pale skin with the texture of beef jerky, and was clad in decomposing bits of leather armour and rusted Nordic plates. Its eyes glowed light blue and left a trail of fading blue as it moved around.

The draugr waved its longsword in the air silently, moving its mouth as if it were speaking. I took a small breath, which was a mistake.

It's eyes shot up at me almost instantly, displaying the full view of its decayed and dried face. I stumbled back in reflex, feeling the adrenaline squeeze through my torso.

The draugr made its way up the stairs, and I found myself standing face to face with it.

I had almost no time to react as it swung its sword down at my head. I stepped to the side just in time, spinning and stumbling slightly as I almost lost my footing on the cobble. I swung my sword down at it, cleaving into its shoulder.

All of a sudden, I was thrown back with a blow to the chest. I barely landed on my two feet, skidding across the stone floor. I looked up to see the draugr with its fist extended, holding the longsword with one hand as if it weighed nothing. It awkwardly made its way towards me, and swung the sword.

This time, I was ready.

I ducked underneath the cleaving motion and swung my sword in a small arc. It cleaved right through its belly, revealing the empty cavity within. I ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the counterattack as it smashed the sword into the ground. Stone fragments flew into the air, embedding themselves into the draugr's leathery skin.

"Come forth!" I yelled out, swinging my hand down.

Space-time cracked open and Bob flew out with an ethereal roar. It sunk its teeth into the draugr's head with a massive crack. The draugr crumpled like a towel as Bob compacted its skull into fragments of dust, dried skin and bone splinters.

And with that, it was over.

"Go, clear that room out." I said, gesturing for Bob to go downstairs.

Bob finished turning the draugr's head into bonemeal and sped off to the crypt below. After a moment, I heard the tell-tale crack of Bob disappearing back into oblivion.

I made my way down the stairs and into the crypt below. The room was full of scorch marks, and the smell of burnt skin wafted through the room. There lay a burnt draugr corpse and the cleaved body of a death hound.

I never thought that draugr would be this strong. I get that they were ancient warriors and ancestors and what not, but sheesh. They have skin like tanned leather and the strength of two to three men despite being dead for who knows how many years.

Thinking about it now, my silver sword wasn't even that strong against it, and draugr are presumably weaker against silver swords. I have the feeling that I'll be going through an amount of dungeons and crypts in my time here, so I think I should learn some fire magic and stuff.

Anyways, it is time to press on.

Hello again y'all.

I'm going to be taking a small hiatus - work is really picking up.

I should be back in a few weeks and such.

Thank you all for the support and kindness!