Chapter 6: The Dynamic Duo
Rain pelted down the open plains and collided into the earth like a crescendo of drums. The velocity and direction changed constantly, whipping at their faces. Serana was irritated with how her hair clung to her face and smothered her vision. She couldn't begin to imagine the frustration Ashes was going through.
"Water must be your best friend," Serana teased the fire mage.
Ashes raked her drenched hair back and smirked over her shoulder.
"This is quite refreshing actually. You, on the other hand, look like you've seen better days."
"Plenty," Serana grumbled. "The heavens disfavour me, it seems."
She plucked at her damp shirt and frowned at the sound of suction when it released from her skin. The rain had invaded her boots and the heavy clammy feeling was uncomfortable.
"Come on." Ashes pointed ahead, but it was hard to see anything but the washed out blurry plains. "I think I see a cave, we can take shelter in there. I'll dry us off."
Serana looked at the retreating mage's figure when she took off in a light jog.
"Dry us off? Not sure I like the sound of that..."
Nonetheless, the vampire picked up the pace and the massive open-mouthed cave soon came into view. As soon as they ran under the safety of the cave ceiling, their footsteps echoed louder than the rain crashing outside. Serana was right in not liking what she suspected. Ashes had set herself on literal fire to dry off her clothes, and her soaked hair looked as black as soot whilst she kept brushing it with steaming fingers. Serana tried to ignore the searing oxygen-suffocating heat that radiated even with a healthy distance between them and ventured deeper in the cave, shielding her face with her hand when bats rushed out like a plague of locusts.
Webs snagged at her. There was a noise deeper in the cave that called to her to be demystified, and she could have sworn she picked up the faint sounds of crashing water that painted the image of a waterfall rather than heavy downpour. A proper bath in a gorgeous setting would be welcome indeed. A giddy excitement coursed through her and she called out over her shoulder.
"I'm heading deeper in the cave, Ashes. I think I hear a waterfall."
"Wait for me!"
Feet pounded stone and the squelch of the fire mage's damp sandals brought an amused smile to Serana's face. She brushed her hair out her face and waited for the Nord to catch up, grimacing when a small flame burst in Ashes' palm. When the fire mage looked over, she smiled sheepishly and extinguished it.
"Sorry, I forgot fire isn't..." Ashes trailed off. She nodded towards the darkness ahead of them. "Waterfall, huh? I like the sound of that. I could use a proper bath."
"My thoughts exactly."
"What's worse, if I have fire in front of you or behind you?"
"Do I have to choose? They both sound the worst."
Serana sighed when Ashes rubbed her nape and chuckled nervously. The mortal looked around and squinted at things Serana could see clearly, and relented in defeat.
"Fine. Behind me. I'll take lead so I don't have to look at it, but keep your flame really small, please. The heat's unbearable and it's hard to breathe."
"Understood."
The fire mage settled a reasonable distance behind and waited until Serana faced forward before the flicker of heat burst in the large cavern, illuminating the walls and ceiling. Serana was surprised to find she hadn't seen things as clearly as she thought, and came closer to the walls. There were patches where it was rough and bumpy, and others where it looked as if it was chiselled smooth. Stalactites seemed as if they had been broken off.
"Are you seeing this?" Serana whispered.
She ran her hand over a smooth part, and she heard the way Ashes' lips popped as they became unstuck, the breath of a syllable turning into a gasp when there was a distant crash of rocks further within, and something reverberated in the chamber. They shared a look.
"What's worse is what we're hearing," Ashes murmured, her posture rigid and defensive.
There was a scuff of a foot, or feet, and they cringed sharply at the shrill of claws. Serana sucked in a noisy breath and held it when the echo of a long dragging swipe reached them. She tasted a sour tang of adrenaline and fear from the fire mage, and when she closed her eyes, smelled something charred and rotten as if there were a horde of decayed corpses.
"This is no ordinary cavern, Serana."
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," she grumbled sarcastically. She rolled her eyes beneath her eyelids when the Nord's tone danced lightly.
"You're welcome. I'm heading in."
"What? You're-"
Serana brought her arm above eye-level to protect herself from the brighter burst of flames in both of Ashes' palms as she went ahead. Against instinct, the vampire rushed after her. Thankfully the fire extinguished, worryingly abruptly, and Serana saw why when she caught up. The cavern opened up more and it was a majestic sight that kindled the passion of her inner explorer, where what lied within was a wondrous grotto.
With a dragon.
"Stendarr smite me," Ashes cursed under her breath. "How has it made it's lair in here?"
"Explains why the walls are smooth," Serana mumbled. "At least it's keeping to itself in here, rather than terrorizing the locals."
As soon as such ridiculous words left her mouth, had she noticed the blood-spattered claws and smelled the pungent odour of burned flesh. She refused to look at the head that turned in her peripheral vision with a gaze that burned into the side of her face. She refused to acknowledge the sarcasm on Ashes' face. They both had wildly different ideas, and there was no mistaking what belonged to whom.
"We should slay the dragon."
"We should leave the dragon."
Serana rolled her eyes and gestured to the waterfall. "There isn't much room for you to fight, and if it throws you in the water, your flames will be useless."
"You're not going to help me fight?"
"Do you smell those burning bodies? I can't engage with a creature that will blind me or melt my skin just by breathing fire up at the ceiling. The heat will insulate in here."
"We can't just leave this beast be and allow it to continue to terrorize the locals, Serana. What if we bait it to come fight us outside?"
"It'll breathe fire as we're running out, and the rain will be worse than the waterfall." Serana looked behind her and tried to think of another solution. She couldn't come up with anything. "Either way, we're at a disadvantage." She looked back at Ashes. "We can't go rush-"
There was no Ashes.
Serana panicked and searched, where she found thick foliage rustling dramatically. The fire mage could not sneak worth to save her life, and once again she was rushing in despite the very transparent consequences that would become of this if they were to engage the beast. Serana quietly rushed ahead, keeping a close eye on the beast that curled in a ball and slept away, it's heavy snores vibrating throughout the entire cavern. She didn't bother squatting to hide in the foliage that came up to her hips, and she swatted it away when she accidentally kicked Ashes.
"Ow!"
"Keep it down!" Serana hissed. "What are you thinking?"
"Well I'm not running away," Ashes huffed with typical Nord pride. It made Serana want to roll her eyes to the next realm.
"We aren't running away. We are, or we were, thinking about how to attack the dragon in a sensible manner, one that boasts less risk of fatally injuring ourselves."
Despite the air of fear Serana could taste, there was a frightening bloodthirstiness that brewed in Ashes. The vampire grabbed her arm before she moved any further. The smile Ashes made was conflicting, like it was supposed to be reassuring, but instead came off as predatory. One blink, and the amber orbs changed. The pupils thinned into slits, and the irises glowed a fierce melody of oranges and golds. Her scent changed completely, like a hot scorching desert or dry grass wildfires. Serana knelt and grabbed Ashes' shoulder when the Nord took one too many glances in the dragon's direction.
"I understand what your blood is calling for, but you must resist it," the vampire whispered urgently. "Just think of it like... Like me, if it helps. I hear the call all the time, but I do not heed it."
"That dragon is a blight and must be killed," Ashes growled, but her eyes stopped travelling back to Serana's.
"It must, and it will be, but not now. This is your blood talking. Not you."
Glowing irises snapped to the vampire with a heated snarl. "What would you know of me?"
Serana didn't back down. "I know you don't enjoy war, humans and beasts alike."
Ashes' mouth opened.
And shut.
She looked back at the dragon. Serana squeezed the fire mage's shoulder. Ashes sighed and bowed her head, twisting to face the other direction while she sat.
"So what do you suggest we do? We can't take shelter here nor outside and wait until the rain passes. You were right in that it'll just breathe fire at us if we try to lure it ourselves."
Serana was unsettled to see that the bestial eyes remained. She tried not to stare too much and poured her focus in a plan, cautious to keep a closer eye on Ashes so that the woman did not simply wait for an opening to run off and engage the dragon anyways. Even if Ashes were to avoid the waterfall, it would be a shame if a fiery war exploded within here and turned this beautiful grotto into the fire mage's namesake. Serana's eyes fell on the charred corpses and the bones near the dragon's snout, and it gave her an idea.
"Our blood lures us. So let's use blood to lure it instead."
Serana unsheathed her dagger. A shiver ran through her when Ashes' predatory smile came back.
As soon as the rain stopped and Serana reluctantly allowed Ashes to dry her clothes in close proximity to a flaming aura, the two set to work. The first deer unfortunate to cross their path was slayed and it's carcass was dragged to the front of the cavern. Ashes stole the dagger right from Serana's scabbard and, as if it were some sort of poetic symbolism, ran the tip across the palm that was impaled. She squeezed her fist and left droplets of her blood on and around the carcass. They went to hide in the nearby brush and waited.
Nothing happened for a time, and Serana was fine with that. Ashes wasn't.
"When is it going to come out?"
"Just wait. It could still be sleeping. We-"
"Let's go wake it up then."
Typical of what one would expect from a woman who's personality was near identical to that of a flame, Ashes abandoned Serana and ran off into the cave. The vampire hung her head in her hands and sighed in defeat. It wasn't bad enough that they were actually going through with this insane plan of baiting a dragon, and to do so in broad daylight, but now Serana was stuck with someone who's attention span was shorter than that of a fly. She groaned when she could hear Ashes' faint curses among the scrambling of feet, and how it was coming back to the entrance. A guttural roar resonated after. Serana squinted and watched dejectedly as a large fireball flew out of the cave, far bigger than what she knew the mage could boast.
"Here we go again," Serana sighed as she rose.
She braced herself and gathered chilling energy in her hands, readying herself to lay a barrage of ice spikes down. Ashes tumbled out of the cavern and dove to the ground, covering her head as a pillar of flame shot out of the cavern. The dragon's growl shook the air, and Serana fired a siege of her spikes until she expelled every scrap of magicka housed in her body. Ashes rolled to safety, but the beast chased after her. She scrambled in panic and was able to heave the deer carcass into it's mouth when it's teeth snapped at her. She slashed at it's lip with the vampire's dagger and rolled underneath it's jaw, stabbing into the soft flesh of it's throat. The dragon shrieked in agony and swiped with it's paw to knock her out of the way.
Wrath exploded when Ashes collided in a fallen tree log, yelping on impact. Serana was forced to seek shelter in the shadows under trees to recuperate her strength, watching helplessly as the fire mage's spells had no effect on the dragon. Ashes kept trying to close the distance to rip the dagger out of the dragon's throat but it kept her at bay. At least it stopped it from breathing fire, or maybe it was too exhausted to, Serana didn't know. She took off her Elder Scroll and the pack with the bedroll to relieve the weight off of her, hiding the scroll in the hollow hole of a dead tree.
"Serana, where are you?!" Ashes yelled out.
"I'm coming!"
"No, keep your distance! It's fire will-"
"You don't need to worry about me."
Serana stayed on the dragon's tailside as it launched it's attacks with a fury of paw strikes and tail swipes. Ashes was nimble on her feet, using the abundance of trees to her advantage as a meat shield for the beast's claws. She continued, futilely, to launch fireball after fireball, cursing. Serana expended what little energy she regained with spikes of ice that chipped away at thick hide, unable to get in a good position long enough to strike at it's weaker spots. Then Ashes ran to her.
"What are you doing?!" Serana yelled.
"Drain my magicka."
Ashes took the vampire's hand and ran back into the cavern. Her statement caught Serana off guard, and she hissed her frustrations.
"Are you insane? Then you'll be weakened."
"You're the only one able to take down this beast." Ashes' laboured breaths betrayed her stamina for someone with an athletic figure. "I'll distract it. Use the waterfall."
"Use the-?"
Scrapes and rumbles followed after them as the dragon squeezed it's way into the cavern, deafening them. Serana was forced into overdrive when all she could think about was blood, not magicka, and the fire mage's bleeding palm lured her just as much as the furious beast coming after them. The hair on her neck rose and hot air suddenly rose. When she looked back, she looked into the jaws of hell as flame glowed at the end of the cavern. Ashes pushed and tumbled over her as soon as they entered the clearing, narrowly missing the fireball that soared inside and crashed into large stalagmites at the end of the grotto.
"Drain me," Ashes urged breathlessly.
She took Serana's hand and guided it to her neck. Her soul. Her pulsing artery flowing with hot blood that would burn Serana alive if she tried to drink it. She had to stay focused on that and treat it like a fact, even if it was a mystery if it would. She tightened her hold on the fire mage's neck and leeched the essence of the woman's magicka until she had gone pale and sickly in the face, and Ashes tore away before Serana could say she was done. They didn't have the luxury of time. Ashes ran out into the open and dodged another fireball that soared at her, though it was smaller and fizzled out when it crashed into the waterfall, sending water pelting out like rain. It made Serana look up, and the cave ceiling stalactites gave her an idea.
"Ashes! Lure it into the water and run to the edge as fast as you can to jump out!"
Serana rushed to the edge and stayed on the tailside as the fire mage launched petty attacks to enrage the beast, following her into the water. The vampire hovered her hands over the water and waited until Ashes was close to climbing out, then poured all of her energy into freezing the pond in a single burst, powered by the explosive essence that coursed in her veins courtesy of the fire mage. The dragon was stuck and wailed sorrowfully, as if mourning it's impending death.
Ashes ran back and dodged teeth as she slid under to grab the dagger and rip it out. The blood squirted out and sprayed the ice, and she continued to hack away at the jugular. Serana launched the last barrage of her ice spikes up at the stalactites in the ceiling until they looked as though they were going to break off any minute.
"Get out of there now!" Serana yelled.
The fire mage scrambled out and yelped when the dragon just barely nipped her calf, and the new wave of fresh blood flooded Serana's nose. Her fangs grew longer and she had to force herself back into her mantra where Ashes' blood would burn her alive. She focused on breaking the stalactites, and took a few steps back for safety herself as she watched them come flying down. The dragon's last wail came to an abrupt halt when the stalactites impaled it's head into the frozen pond, causing it to crack in a series of webs. It buckled under the weight of the head.
Winds at gale speeds thrashed inside the cavern, and Serana held her hair out of her face to study what exactly was happening to the dragon this time. It's flesh disintegrated as if it was nothing and she could sense the dragon's essence ripped out, disembodied, it's soul flocking towards Ashes. Serana panicked and jumped into action when she saw the fire mage on the ground. When she drew closer, she could hear the wheezy breaths, and the bestial eyes fluttered out of existence over time. Ashes smiled weakly at her.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who over-complicates things. You totally used what I did to the skeletons in your crypt as inspiration."
Serana huffed and crossed her arms, but couldn't stop herself from smiling back. "And what would have been the simpler way?"
"Freezing the water upwards to tear into it's belly."
"How is that simpler? And what makes you think I could even manipulate it to that degree?"
Ashes' smile turned into a smug smirk. "Because you've drained my magicka. Now you can do anything, because I can do anything."
What logic was that?
"Mm." Serana shrugged with refined attitude. "Too bad I didn't drain you of your arrogance while I was at it."
Rich laughter echoed in the cavern.
"Good thing you didn't drain me of my blood too."
Serana shook her head with a roll of her eyes, and she dragged the Nord up into standing with a playful threat. "Careful. There's still plenty of time for that yet."
It was her turn to smirk when Ashes laughed nervously, then ran out of the cavern with a suspicious burst of energy. Maybe threats like that weren't good for nurturing a healthy friendship. And maybe their partnership wasn't anything like the relationship between Ashes and Éclair, but Serana quite liked their version of being the dynamic duo they were learning to be through arduous battles like this.
She wondered what their version of being friends would be like, if Ashes ever relinquished her guard around the vampire.