BEYOND DEATH

Cicero has his orders. You need to follow them too. The vampire needs to die. Anyone who is against us must be eradicated!

I clench my jaw with the sudden assault. One glance at Vorstag and he's kneeling over a now flailing Cicero. "You'll be fine?" I yell to him.

"Yes, Eve. I'll make sure he doesn't move an inch." Vorstag growls.

I block out her wishes and demands. Just grab Serana's hand and take her through the portal. All while the Night Mother screams. It wasn't painful like I thought it would be. It was…calming. Once through the void and on the other side she was quieter. Oh, I could hear her alright, but it was like she was as loud as a mouse.

Easier to ignore. Instead, I'm shocked by our surroundings. Bare, vast, and dead. That's the best way to put it. The Soul Cairn, if that's what this is, holds a purple sky and a dark landscape. Dark trees reach for the sky as if begging for sustenance. Rubble from once great buildings dot the way. I feel the spirits that linger.

I ignore them as they brush past me. "Where to?" I ask my vampire companion. She doesn't seem as shocked as me which is fortunate because I'm about to lose my mind. She leads the way. We cover the vast ground in a half hour. The whole area is the same as what I described before. Trees and rubble with few breaks in between. The only things that signal our passing into another area are the spirits.

They lounge around, some ask for items or people from their life. Chillingly enough, some ask if they're stuck in a soul gem. I just keep my head down after surveying their faces. My old arch nemesis is not among them.

The increasingly dull surroundings break into a great hall. It looks like it should be connected to a castle, but that's not so. I'm just beginning the climb up the million stone steps when Serana gasps and breaks out into a run. I pull out the Ebony Blade. Just in case.

"Mother!" Before she can move further it's like her body hits and invisible wall. My lightning power races down my right arm. Just in case. "Maker… it can't be. Serana?!" A pretty, older vampire emerges from the shadows. If I were to put Serana and her side by side they would be hard to tell apart.

"I…I can't believe it!" Serana lays her hands on the invisible wall. I guess I'm too hardheaded to realize how much she missed her mom. Emotion was rolling off her. "How do we get inside? We have to talk."

"Serana?" Her mother's sharp voice brings us back to reality. "What are you doing here? Where's your father?"

Serana blinks, "He…he doesn't know we're here, don't worry."

Her mother shakes her head. Disappointed, "I must have failed. Harkon's found a way to decipher the prophecy, hasn't he?"

"No!" Serana says, "You've got it all wrong. We're here to complete the prophecy our way, not his."

For some reason right at that moment her mother finally notices my presence. "Wait…you've brought a stranger here? Have you lost your mind?"

Sounds like it. Didn't know we were going to finish the prophecy ourselves. "You." Her mom commands, "Come forward. I would like to speak with you. How has it come to pass that a vampire of mixed blood is in the company of my daughter?"

"Long story." I start, then put away the Ebony Blade. Nothing threatening was showing up yet. "I'm Eve, leader of the Dark Brotherhood. Do you know of the Night Mother?"

I almost expect the woman to look at me like I'm speaking tongues. Instead she nods slowly. "I do. What does she have to do with this?"

I rub my head as the person in question screams at me. But it is oh so easy to focus now. "I'm still figuring that out. My parents were murdered years ago. I'm almost certain it was Harkon's doing."

Now, the woman crosses her arms. Her lips thin, "I would not be surprised."

I have to choke back a sob with that form of confirmation. This whole walk over I was worried they'd flip out after hearing me accuse Harkon of something so cruel. "My father had an Elder Scroll. If I'm right, then Harkon was the one to take it."

"You certainly are." The woman whispers. Her eyes soften. "Your mother was with me for some time."

I freeze, barely registering her words. "What do you mean?"

"My husband was after the second scroll of the three. The other one was locked away with Serana as you probably know, after hearing of this I went into solitary confinement, if you would. He killed your father and brought your mother to the Castle. She was barely with us…so Harkon changed her. But she wasn't completely healed. Missing most of her right arm. The other problem was, she couldn't change back from her Vampire Lord form. I brought her here to keep her safe from him. From what I heard, Harkon was going to torture her more."

I cut her off, by bursting forwards. Hope is now a small flame living in my heart. "Is she here?"

The woman just shakes her head. "No. She died a few years ago. Harkon gave an award for whoever could hunt her down. Last I saw of her…she was so horribly torn apart." She looks away if only to keep from meeting my gaze. "The person who did it wore the stone as a spoil…"

"The red ruby?" The one hanging from that assassin's neck. Now, I'm glad we killed her in the way we did and used the Black Sacrament against her. Emotion toils inside me. I wish to lay in a puddle and cry eyes out, but I don't. I just shove it all away.

"Yes." She says. A final word before changing the subject. "How is the Night Mother involved?"

Good question. If she was quicker, she could have gotten me out of that prison and here to save my mother before her fate. But I'll deal with that later. "She drove me to find him. I want Harkon dead for what he did to my family, but her reasons, I don't know. She's only been helping me get this far. And that's putting it generously."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you have to kill him to get him away from this obsession." She sneers, as if I just didn't express the desire to kill her husband. "The scrolls are merely a means to an end. The key to the Tyranny of the Sun is Serana herself."

Okay. "What do you mean?"

"When I fled Castle Volkihar, I fled with two Elder Scrolls, the one from your family included. The scroll I presume you found with Serana speaks of Auriel and his arcane weapon, Auriel's Bow. The second scroll declares that 'The Blood of Coldharbour's Daughter will blind the eye of the Dragon.'"

Strange. More dragons. "How's your daughter fit into this?"

"Like myself, Serana was a human once. We were devout followers of Lord Molag Bal. Tradition dictates the females be offered to Molag Bal on his summoning day. Few survive the ordeal. Those that do emerge as a pure-blooded vampire. We call such confluences the Daughters of Coldharbour." She seems to stand taller with this new information. With pride.

"So, this was done willingly?" I ask. After all my encounters with Molag Bal, I would not willingly sacrifice myself to him.

She looks offended, "Being selected as an offering to Molag Bal is an honor. She wouldn't have dared turn her back on that."

Oh, I know a few people who wish they could. Maybe Vorstag would rather be dead. I shiver. I haven't gotten to ask him yet. "What's this Coldharbour place?" I ask to distract myself. If he asks me to kill him again…I wouldn't be able to.

The Night Mother's demands keep coming. I have to take a few seconds to shut her up before hearing the answer. "Coldharbour is what some call the domain of Molag Bal. His place in Oblivion."

Lovely. That's what Serana was talking about. Where Vorstag went. There was another thing I needed to know. "The Tyranny of the Sun needs Serana's blood?"

She begins to pace, "Yes. Now you're beginning to see why I wanted to protect Serana, and why I've kept the other Elder Scroll as far from her as possible."

"So, Harkon wants her dead?"

"If Harkon obtained Auriel's Bow and Serana's blood was used to taint the weapon, the Tyranny of the Sun would be complete. In his eyes, she'd be dying for the good of all vampires." Wow, what a wacko. But that was already established. He had my mother rotting here in a mutilated corpse of a vampire…

I shut down those thoughts to keep them locked away tight. I'll need them when I see Harkon and know I can kill him myself. Not now, when his beating heart is so far away. "Oh, don't worry, your daughter will be safe with me." I can't help the evil smile that crawls on my face.

"And how exactly do you plan on completing the prophecy without her death?" The mother questions.

"As I said before, Harkon is a dead man walking." I remind her.

She laughs, "If you believe that, then you're a bigger fool than I originally suspected. Don't you think I weighed that option before I enacted my plans?"

"I guess you didn't want it bad enough. I do. I'll make sure it happens." And if I can't, I know who will. She claws at my mind as I get each word out. Begging me to leave this place. I shake it off.

"The Tyranny of the Sun is your chance at Deification, and like Harkon you won't hesitate to destroy anything that stands in your path." She sneers.

"It's not like I have a choice." I spit back at her. Even though I told her, she doesn't understand what's truly going on, what's truly at stake. Like so many people I've known.

I see her eyeing her daughter, about to tear into her too. But my words stop her. "Is that so? I need you to elaborate." She commands me.

"I told you. The Night Mother is my keeper." I nearly choke the words out. However, they remain true. "She forced the Black Sacrament. She doesn't do anything without reason and his death is on both our minds. Yet, even if I refuse to kill him, she still will. It doesn't matter how hard you protest or how impossible you think it is." I've lived that very scenario for the past few months and now that our objectives are shaping up to be the same, I'll be damned if we deviate from that path.

My Child…She murmurs. A proud Mother.

The two vampire women look taken aback. The mom is the one to snap out of it first. "Just keep my daughter safe. However you use your methods." She then turns to Serana. With the start of their mother/daughter argument I turn to take in the perimeter. Something is wrong with the air. Up over the small ridge in the distance sits a ruined tower. Resting on the roof is spectral spirit who appears to be watching us.

"I'm not sure of your intentions with my daughter." The mother calls out to me. "But I'm willing to help in whatever way I can." I turn back to find her nearly glaring at me. "I have the Elder Scroll secured here. It has been ever since I was imprisoned. Fortunately, you're in a position to breach the barrier that surrounds these ruins."

This all seemed too fast. "Then what?"

"Locate the tallest of the rocky spires that surround these ruins. At their bases, the barrier's energy is being drawn from unfortunate souls that have been exiled here. Destroy the Keepers that are tending them and it should bring the barrier down."

"Alright." I say. No time to stumble after the rug was pulled out from under us.

"One more word of warning. There's a dragon that calls itself Durnehviir roaming the Cairn. Be wary of him. The Ideal Masters have charged him with overseeing the Keepers and will undoubtedly intervene if you're perceived as a threat." Another day, another enemy.

"We'll manage." I nod to Serana and she solemnly follows. I can tell she doesn't want to be away from her mother for long, but I'll need her help. Especially when we near the tower.

Remember that one I pointed out? One of the carelessly strung-out rubble that coats the land? Kind of an eyesore save for the ghost on top? Yeah, that one. He was watching us for quite awhile it turns out. I expected Potema to run wild through here after me. I knew Molag Bal kept her in her soul gem prison. At least, I think. But I didn't know what he did with Mercer's ghost. Would've been nice to get a heads up that he was here this whole time.

Cicero's Journal Entry

Mother I heed your words. I know what you want. I know how this will end. I know Listener will be a problem… I know.

But right now, the bard vampire is lording over me. Like a daedra! HAHAHA. How funny! Cicero has to write fast before he turns around. Lest he find the journal and tear it to pieces! Vampires are such filthy animals…