Irina stared up at the sky with annoyance, it had begun to rain on her trek up the mountain. Now having arrived at the top, the rain was heavy and her body soaked. Her light brown hair stuck to her face and neck. Her leather armor which already had a snug fit hugged her body even more so than before.
Green eyes glanced down to see the blood her body was covered with slowly wash away in thin red lines, there'd been a vampire exiting Dimhollow Crypt on her way to the entrance, the both of them were quick to react to each other. Of course, no words were exchanged and Irina disposed of the creature easily enough.
Although the rain did help wash away the blood, the wood elf didn't think it wise to keep standing outside and possibly catch a sickness. The dovahkiin stared blankly at the cave entrance to Dimhollow Crypt and bit down hard on her jaw, the smile she hadn't known she had was beginning to grow into a smirk.
She felt her fingers twitch in nervousness and excitement at the idea of fighting off a whole clan of vampires, the nordic culture had really rubbed off on her, the thought of any type of battle made Irina's soul fill with fire.
She knew how great the risk would be and all the same, the allure was there. Granted, her time in High Hrothgar was long and peaceful, not once had she lifted a blade against another person, only straw dummies.
She still wasn't sure if she retained her skills or not.
Her cautious nature made her curtail her impulsive decisions and Irina nearly sheathed her sword to go and journey to Whiterun to find her housecarl. Lydia would've been in Breezehome, awaiting her just as she always did.
Irina hadn't seen her housecarl in years... that beauty of a nord.
A warmer smile spread across Irina's face.
The dovahkiin blinked in realization and ran a hand through her soaked hair, she'd been staring at the entrance for a good while now mulling over the past. She chuckled to herself and shook her head whilst entering the Dimhollow Crypt, the woman would manage without her housecarl.
Her body was cold.
Her muscles wound up tight with the cold coming from the wind-chill mixed with rain and the low temperature of Dimhollow. She stayed near the entrance not advancing any farther until she was warmer.
Thankfully she had a way to speed that up, destruction magic flared in her hands lighting up the small space around her. Irina's skill with any type of magic was unimpressive. Despite being an elf she had never taken a liking to it. However, her time in Skyrim had made her appreciate her talent with swords and axes and not worry about what she lacked for in magical skill.
It was a good thing she wasn't casting any spells. The heat coming from her hands was more than enough to dry her soaked frame, Irina moved her calloused palms over her body and let out a small sigh in response. Skyrim was a cold place and during the winter it gets even colder.
Once she was dry the wood elf stood erect and moved her arms about in circles, Irina took in a deep breath before placing a hand on her swords handle.
She had swords and battle-axes of all material in her homes, some more resistant to the elements and stress of battle than glass, but Irina preferred the blade's design over any ebony or even daedric weapon. Her skill with a sword made up for the fact that she used weaker material and whenever she could, the elf would sharpen her blade with patience and, in this case. Enchant her weapons.
Her boots scarcely made a sound as she quietly delved further into Dimhollow. She managed, with a little bit of difficultly, to sneak past a few vampires and thralls. Some she killed and some, if she could, she left to their business. Her sneaking became short-lived as the number of her enemies increased. Irina was never one to take chances on the possibility of an enemy coming back to stab her in the back, especially vampires.
Irina took notice that her combat skills needed some fine-tuning. Her footwork was slightly off and her thrusts weren't all precise as they had once been, spending three years atop High Hrothgar to practice on a straw dummy will do that to one's form. There was nothing like the thrill and learning experience from a real fight. Despite all that, Irina had felt her heart racing in her chest and knew her soul, the dovah, was encouraging her to continue onward, to satisfy her carnal need to spill the blood of scum.
Eventually after many skeletons and undead bodies, she came upon a section of the cave that housed multiple stone archways. The architecture was becoming different and more consistent to a more specific ancient style. Irina would hardly call it nordic but nothing like she'd ever seen before, almost as if conjurers had decided to build this section of the cavern themselves.
Her eyes flickered down below to where a torch was lit and four figures were seen. Three were vampires, their pale skin and bright yellow eyes made it obvious in the dim lighting. On his knees, a vigilant was before them in a defeated display. The mortal's knees were bruised and his upper body was exposed, his torso covered with bruises and burns from the torch. Irina had forgotten his name already but she saw him just a few hours before she left for Dimhollow herself, he'd been talking to Isran pleading for help.
Irina couldn't make out what they spoke of, she could have sworn she heard a male vampire laugh but the elf didn't dwell on it for long when another vampire, this one a woman, brandished her blade and sliced the vigilant's neck open. A thin line of red appeared and then after a few brief moments his blood spilled freely from his neck.
Irina's lips tightened and she clenched her jaw in disgust when the woman knelt down to his level with a hungry look in her eyes, it wasn't even a look of hunger from famine. Her eyes were almost… perverted as if she were being pleasured by his sorry state. The woman sucked the blood from his wound greedily with her tongue licking the inside. Another joined her and while they fed Irina had to look away for a moment to get her bearings. The elf was high above them, at least twenty feet and covered in shadows thanks to a balustrade.
The elf gulped quietly and restrained a gag at watching them lick the man's tissue, vampires were once humans were they not? Can't they recognize how disgusting they look right now?
Once having composed herself Irina equipped her bow, one made of ebony and tempered to the point of it being worthy to be compared to an arcane weapon, and coated an ebony arrow with a poison of slowness. Irina inhaled softly and focused on the only vampire who wasn't feeding. The vampire was relaxed with his arms crossed and back straight, he was almost elegant, with clothes tailored to his body and the material just announcing their worth.
He must have been their leader. Irina tried to read his expression as she continued to pull back the string to her bow, he seemed different… it was difficult to tell what his expression was but she could vaguely make out the man shaking his head in disappointment. The dovahkiin exhaled sharply and released her arrow into the center of his back.
Why was she dwelling on his expression in the first place? Vampires were cruel and unrefined monsters. The idea of them being any more organized than a clan of bandits was the same as giving them credit to act as civilized people, it was impossible and highly unlikely.
The sound of the arrow shooting was quiet and it moved past the other two at speeds faster than expected, when the black arrow entered his body and dislocated a disk in his spine he immediately dropped to the floor with blood squirting freely and rapidly. Since the puncture was small the blood was dripping off in small quantities but Irina had enough knowledge of anatomy to know that he won't be getting up anytime soon which gives her enough time to deal with his comrades.
The vampire cried out in pain and tried to grip the stone floor with his hands to try and steady himself but to no avail, one small push from the ground up and he was on his knees again. One of his female companions quickly turned around in alarm and called out his name in worry. Irina hadn't bothered herself to try and remember as she nocked another arrow, this one coated already coated with a magika poison.
The pair of undead looked around for the direction in which the arrow shot the robed vampire; Irina was far back enough for the arrow to stick out in such a way that it seemed it came from ground level. The bosmer decided to ignore the master vampire who was near death and move her attention to the vampire nightstalker who was flaring her magic in her hands and scanning the area for Irina, her face was covered in blood. It was a sickening sight, her fangs were bared and the blood made them appear a pale yellow.
An ebony arrow shot through the air and through the vampire's chest, piercing through her armor and into her heart. The magic died from her hands as she choked on a gasp, she cursed quietly when she couldn't bring forth her magic to try and heal her pierced heart and fell to the ground. The woman grabbed the shaft of the arrow and attempted to pull it out of her body but at the lightest pull the undead woman cried out in agony.
Still, the vampire rose to her feet with shaky legs.
"You coward... Come out of the shadows and face me-" the woman barely got the last of her words out before another ebony arrow shot her in the neck with another poison, the last poison Irina had on her person. This time, the vampire fell to the floor for good and stayed there unmoving.
'To the heart and still...? The undead are resilient...'
Green eyes looked to the floor and saw the master vampire removing the arrow from his back and crawling away feebly, he tried to stand but only ended up falling again to his knees, the regenerative ability of these vampires were noteworthy. Normally with her run-ins of vampires in the wilds a good and strong thrust to the body with her sword or even a well placed arrow to the chest would keep them down.
The vampires in Dimhollow Crypt were a different story altogether.
Irina felt herself relax for a moment when the master vampire lay unmoving and still, signaling his demise, but her body immediately reacted to the voice from behind her.
"Found you..."
Her shoulders tensed and she quickly turned around to the last vampire, her expression was pure hatred and the blood she was covered with detailed every last line on her face. Irina's heart raced but her lips couldn't help but curl upwards in excitement, she eyed the vampire with caution as the undead woman glared down at her with all kinds of anger; in her left hand was a steel sword while her other had magic swirling violently, fully charged and ready to fire. The intensity of the magika was prominent, one good blast and Irina would be dead.
There was a silence of two long moments with nothing but the sound of the air in the cave.
Irina saw movement from below her waist, and so the elf moved too.
The vampire had reacted first but not as fast as Irina, with her sword slicing the elf's cheek in a desperate forward thrust. It was a deep scratch. Irina was smart enough to lunge at the last second to avoid being decapitated and pierced the vampire with her own glass sword from below.
The dovahkiin marveled in the expression of the vampire, it was nearly the same as all other cutthroats when they realized their end was near, her eyes wide and her face twisted into anger and shock as if she couldn't believe that she was beaten. Before a last rush of adrenaline burst through her undead body Irina gripped the handle to her glass sword and twisted her blade inside the nordic vampire's stomach. Bones and muscle tissue twisting and breaking was heard, along with the chunks of cold blood dropping to the floor.
Irina removed her sword from the body with a good pull and wiped the blood off her blade with her forearm before she returned the blade to its sheathe. She caught her breath as she descended down stone steps to where the vigilant's body lay. "What in oblivion did they need you for?" Irina murmured whilst stepping over his body.
The dovahkiin eyed the stone archways and felt a chill pass through her body, a warning from her instincts to be prepared. Irina stepped over a few skeletons that were clustered around, what appeared to be, a giant summoning circle, there were small pillars that looked to be mobile. It was a puzzle, she realized and her lips pursed together in annoyance.
After a few attempts at moving the pillars around, the elf blinked in surprise when a purple glow emitted from cracks of the stone beneath her feet. Irina was tempted to turn back and leave, magic wasn't her strong suit. But, she'd dealt with enough daedric lords in her life and this summoning circle looked as if Irina was about to ensnare her soul with yet another prince, something that she was more than used to now.
The woman took about half an hour but the bosmer finally managed to figure out the puzzle, as soon as she solved it a button emerged from the ground right in the center.
The elf stared at it suspiciously and approached with caution, at finally stepping up to it she pushed it with her finger but it didn't budge.
Irina sighed and placed her palm on it before pushing down with force, the button gave in easily however a spike emerged from its center piercing her hand. The elf grunted painfully and her fingers twitched nonstop in pain.
The button was rigged with a trap and she found out too late. Irina could only dread what came next, the spike left her hand slowly entering into the stone causing the bosmer to clench her jaw in acute pain. With her free uninjured hand she began to heal the bleeding hole left in her hand. Irina wasn't skilled at magic but she knew how to close a few wounds just fine.
A small rumbling from beneath her feet had her ready her hand on her sword, and what she had expected to be some ancient artifact rising from the ground turned out to be a stone coffin. The coffin looked ancient with its edges being crumpled off and an even layer of dust covering it, at the thought of engaging draugr in combat she took a careful step back.
Irina hoped to the eight divines that there wasn't a dragon priest inside that coffin, their staffs were insanely powerful and having received a blast of shock magic from one dragon priest in the past was enough for the dragonborn to remember to not trifle with them.
The stone coffin opened and a cloud of dust blew in Irina's face, the elf coughed and took another step back. She waved her arms about to clear the cloud of dust and dirt, not entirely registering the forming silhouette that was inside the coffin.
A nordic woman with her arms crossed over her chest and head tilted back was revealed once the cloud of dust cleared. If she was alive or dead, Irina couldn't tell. Her skin was pale and her body looked almost rigid inside the coffin. Yet there were no signs of decay and her clothes weren't torn up or looked battered.
Irina gripped her sword handle more firmly and examined the woman more, she looked to be in her late twenties and going back to her clothes...they were similar to the one that the master vampire had worn. In both design and quality…- The bosmer blinked into focus when the woman's knees gave out.
Immediately, the elf lunged forward and caught the pale woman within her own arms, the nord was thin but oddly heavy. Her weight was most likely from the elder scroll that strapped on her back. Irina hadn't failed to take notice of it.
The woman furrowed her brows and quietly groaned before opening her eyes and very suddenly grabbing a hold on the bosmer's toned forearms.
Irina tensed at the tightness of her grip and her heartbeat quickened. Her brain thought rapidly and a hundred different ways to escape had come to Irina, for the nord was a vampire. The woman had a golden glow to her eyes that became apparent immediately after she'd open them, and she had widened them unreasonably so; like an animal deciding whether or not to strike.
The pale woman relaxed her grip but continued to stare at the elf curiously. Irina slowly gulped and inhaled deeply, preparing her thu'um. Instead of attacking her like Irina initially thought she would, the nord rose gracefully to her feet.
Irina followed suit after a breath of relief and glanced at her, she had no weapons save for an elven dagger hanging at her waist. The wood elf let her hand return to it's place on the handle of her sword. She was clearly a vampire, the elf could tell. But, Irina felt something holding her back from striking her down, this woman… seemed important. Not only was she locked away, her attire matched the vampires that were looking for her, and she was in possession of an elder scroll.
Irina had an inkling that this woman either knows about the reason for vampires being in Dimhollow, or... that she was the reason they were in Dimhollow.
The elder scroll just makes matters worse.
"Who are you? Did someone send you to find me?"
The dovahkiin fixed her eyes to the nord's own and answered in a neutral tone "the Dawnguard…- they sent me to investigate this cave" Irina shifted her feet moving into a position to attack if needed, the vampire didn't seem to notice and tilted her head to the side "I don't know that name, and It's not a name that a group of vampires would choose"
"Unfortunately, vampires didn't send me...is that a problem?" the dragonborn asked lowering her voice into a dangerous octave, the vampire tensed at the intense stare and but she quickly shook her head with her arms up in the air as a sign of peace.
"Well, not necessarily… for the sake of not fighting here and now, It's not an issue" the woman saw the bosmer's shoulders relax, and let her arms down slowly. There was an unsteady silence between them but it was broken by Irina "is there a reason those vampires were looking for you?" the bosmer eyed the elder scroll on the woman's back with a curious stare, seeing her do this made the nord frown and place one hand on the scroll protectively.
The woman was fairly beautiful, Irina thought absently before she responded "relax, I haven't the need or desire to take your scroll, just tell me why you're in possession of one and what you intend to do with it"
"Look, It's complicated...and I'm not really sure I can trust you" the nord said in a careful tone.
"To be fair you probably shouldn't, this situation doesn't look well for either of us, what is your name?" Irina inquired while loosening her grip on her sword.
The vampire looked at her and took note of her built frame. Clearly a fighter, and judging from the progress she made into the cave... not someone the nord could take on after centuries of being sealed away.
"My name's Serana, good to meet you" the bosmer was slightly confused at her being polite but gave her a short nod and responded "Irina, It's a strange name for an elf I'm aware" the bosmer responded seeing her weird facial expression, Serana's eyed widened a tiny bit when she saw the bosmer peering back at her and she began to explain herself in a rushed tone "no that's not why I-"
A hand was raised to silence Serana who abruptly stopped talking, and Irina gave her a somewhat stern expression. "You haven't decided to attack me yet, and while I'd very much like to keep it that way- why?" the pale nord stood erect and eyed the elf as if assessing her the same way Irina did with her, the nord's demeanor changed.
It took a moment for the pale woman's response, Serana was pensive and seemed to carefully choose her words. Irina knew that people who did this were cunning and persuasive, "I don't have a desire to hurt you if I don't have to, I'm not barbaric. But from all the blood you're covered in, something tells me you seem to have ran into a lot of feral vampires. That's nothing like me, but... I'm no pushover either"
"On the contrary, they weren't feral at all. This lot was much stronger than any other clan I've fought off, they were dressed proper...like you" Serana was not pleased by her words. As if Irina's words had given her some kind of warning, did she figure out who it was that ordered the clan into Dimhollow Crypt?
"Look, Serana. I cannot let you leave, especially in the possession of an elder scroll. Your clan is clearly different, I'd be a fool to not see that. But you're a vampire nonetheless and my organization kills your kind, do you see where I'm going with this?" Serana stared at Irina with a calm cool gaze. Something about the way elf spoke had Serana think that there was room for negotiation.
"Yes, I understand. But, you mentioned the vampires you encountered were in fine clothes? That they were also much more powerful than any normal clan? I assure you... If you help me get to my home, I can probably help you. I'll have a better sense of where we all stand" Serana's voice was strangely alluring and low. Irina, if she hadn't been more focused on eyeing the pale nord down, would have probably enjoyed listening to it.
The bosmer quickly responded with a calm even demeanor, the woman was gorgeous and her vampiric seduction would not sway the dragonborn. Irina prided herself on her mental fortitude and it would not be crumpled by a change of tone. "suppose I do, what would you have that can help me? Information is valuable, but would you be willing to disclose why you have an elder scroll? Do you understand how powerful those artifacts are? I need certainties not promises. If I help you return home... I don't suppose your comrades would just let a meal go to waste?"
Serana immediately pointed to the stone coffin as if she expected this answer "I'll tell you about the elder scrolls purpose, and why I was buried with it. I'm sure your organization would want to know about that and besides my comrades will listen to what I say. I'm stronger than most of them" the elf's eyes were filled with interest at Serana's blatant statement. There was a steady silence between them while Irina thought it over, Serana patiently waited and shuffled her weight between her feet.
"I'll help you home. Lead the way"
Just as Serana made to speak Irina stepped right up to the nord's face startling the pale woman despite the bosmer being a whole head shorter, "Don't think you can trick me, vampire. I'm putting a tiny flake of trust in you, you'd be wise to not abuse it" Serana felt oddly pleased to hear her choice of words, someone admitting to putting their trust in a stranger was... strangely humble, considering the circumstance.
"I promise, I won't. Come then, we don't have time to waste, there's a way out over here" Serana said pointing to the opposite side of the stone structure she came from. As the two trekked forward Irina eyed the nord's back with a raised brow, what in oblivion was this vampire doing with an elder scroll? There was no plausible reason that the dovahkiin could try to find, images of Alduin and High Hrothgar flashed in her mind which effectively made shivers run down her spine.
Serana wasn't completely comfortable either, she occasionally checked behind her back to spare glances at Irina.
They ran into quite a few draugr along the way and much to Irina's dismay, a dragon priest.
The sound of a coffin's lid exploding to one side was familiar and Irina loudly and audibly groaned. Her impressive sneaking ability was worthless against a dragon priest, those powerful bastards. The fight had been difficult, the draugr were all wrights or scourges.
Irina had a few more scratches on her leather armor and more bruises on her arms and back, it took awhile for the women to defeat the undead priest but they managed together. Serana was unscathed since she hurled ice spikes from a good distance away, if not for their accuracy Irina would have mercilessly let the dragon priest destroy her first.
Irina had come out of the battle with deep cuts on her legs making it difficult to stand upright for too long.
With a long sigh Irina sheathed her sword and moved her wrist, which had been twisted rather nastily by a draugr, while searching for the exit. The room they were in looked almost like a fighting pit, there was a fire burning below their feet with a cage to prevent from falling into the flames. Though Irina was silent and appeared to be unbothered by her cuts every few seconds Serana would catch the occasional wince and silent curse.
"You took quite the beating… do you know any magic to heal that, or have any potions?" Serana asked the elf who'd finally sat on the ground for some rest. Irina glanced upwards with a frown, "I can only heal small cuts and no potions on me, I haven't the skill for something like this… damn it... I could summon a- "Irina cut herself off at seeing Serana kneel down to her and place her pale hands on her thighs.
Her leather armor covered the area she was touching but Serana had unexpectedly slipped her hands underneath the leather and touched the elf's skin, the pale woman heard the sharp intake of breath and mumbled quietly to Irina, "hold on, just let me focus for a minute"
Her hands were soft and thin, but as cold as ice. Irina felt the hairs on her neck rise at the pure coldness of the vampire. She supposed it could be the same for Serana, feeling a warm blooded creature... Judging from her expression, Serana hadn't seemed all that fazed. She was probably used to warmth from all the people she's had to drink from.
Serana so close had the elf examine her features more and she was taken aback by the nord's dark aura. At first glance Irina could already tell that she was attractive but now being so close... It was stunning. Irina would have guessed she had a vampiric husband waiting for her.
A glow came from her hands which soon Irina captured the elf's attention away from Serana, Irina watched with awe at how her cuts visibly healed and closed themselves, Serana placed her thumbs where a former wound was and pressed down "does it still hurt? Do you think you can keep going?"
Irina stared into the nord's golden eyes and nodded briefly, "thank you for that, I didn't ask"
"You're taking me home, It's the least I can do. Truth be told, I only remember the names of the cities so I sort of need you to navigate me through the current world" Serana spoke with a half-smile. Irina didn't trust the smile. Her golden eyes had reminded the elf to always remain on guard.
The dovahkiin pushed herself up from the floor, "let's go now, I suppose It's paramount that you get home as soon as you can" Serana nodded and stood erect trailing behind the elf. It didn't take long to find the exit to Dimhollow Crypt, however before they had decided to leave, Irina stumbled upon a word wall. The words written in dovahzul drew the elf to them almost immediately.
Serana looked confused. She'd been ready to finally leave the crypt, what in oblivion was that bosmer doing?
Serana glanced at her and raised an eyebrow at her far-away expression. It was as if the world and their current situation didn't matter anymore "Irina?" she asked curiously. A soft sigh was heard as the wood elf placed her hand on the words etched into stone, in her psyche the words glowed a fierce color of blue, a beautiful color.
The wood elf turned pale as she learned the words meaning, its very definition etched itself in her mind and she hissed placing a hand on her head she hunched over and leaned against the smooth stone. Pain had never occurred when learning a word of power, Irina always felt a little fatigued and lightheaded afterwards but never the burning sensation she felt now. A cold and light hand placed itself on her shoulder, she turned around to see Serana glance at her with some worry on her face "are you ok?"
The dovahkiin nodded and reluctantly stood up; she brushed Serana's hand off absently and spoke "yes, this tends to happen when I learn… dragons tongue" the vampire looked confused and tilted her head to the side, "do you mean dovahzul?" the wood elf nodded and walked forward, motioning for Serana to follow her as she walked to the exit of the cave and out in the snowy region of Skyrim.
"I learn more words of power almost instantly, I know it might sting your nord pride that the dragonborn is an elf but it is what Akatosh intended- although this time it was different it was painful..." moonlight poured down on them and it illuminated the skin of the wood elf.
On the parts of her armor where her skin was showing, the moonlight made them glow. Serana could see her scars marring every inch of her body, save for her face. Irina looked like the warrior that Serana took her for... the bosmer captured Serana's attention for some moments before her words registered into Serana's mind.
"Why do you speak that way? Like being an elf is something that I would find distasteful" Serana asked her with an air of confusion and annoyance. Serana was well aware of the history of Tamriel and the tension between the nords and elves but she'd never met an elf who so blatantly spoke like...
Irina turned around to look at her "I've no idea how long you've been packed inside that coffin, but to make things short and simple. The altmer and the empire were caught up in a war that was eventually-"
"Empire? What empire...?" Serana interjected with confusion.
"The empire, in Cyrodiil..."
"Cyrodiil is the seat of an empire? I was gone for longer than I thought... definitely longer than we'd planned, please, we have to continue"
Irina took in her words and was going to ask some questions pertaining to the mention of there being a plan, but seeing the woman in a slight panic had Irina seal her lips. It could come later. The dragonborn changed her expression and looked to Serana expectantly, "Where do you need to go?" Irina conjured her map of Skyrim and moved closer to the nord so she could see as well.
The amount of markings on the map were countless. Serana felt as if she were looking at a child's scribbles.
"My home, It's on an island near solitude, they've got a boat we could use to get there, I'd assume they still do" the pale woman spoke pointing to the uppermost left corner.
The bosmer rolled up her map and conjured the scroll away with purple flames enveloping the parchment, she turned to Serana expectantly and smirked. The wood elf shook her head at herself and motioned for the nord to walk.
"let's get going then"