It was… a woman. I took in her appearance at a glance. She stood in the coffin, seemingly asleep, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked to be in her twenties or even early thirties, her skin only a little pale. Vampires tended to have prominent fangs, but I couldn't see any sign of them in her closed mouth. She was a Nord, with shoulder-length brown hair that was straight and clean, decorated by a pair of tiny braids that wound around to the back of her head. A leather vest covered a red, long-sleeved shirt underneath. A belt held her dagger at her hip, and I could see a hood draped across her shoulders that could cover her head in the sun. Leather bracers protected her forearms from her wrists to her elbows. Black trousers in an outdated, but aristocratic, style disappeared into knee-high black boots.

Something white protruded from behind the woman's shoulder. It looked like a gigantic scroll tube had been tied to her back, and it was almost as tall as the woman herself.

I froze, gripping my blade but hesitating to thrust it into her flesh. This was not a dried husk driven mad by the need for blood… In fact, she looked almost completely human. She was beautiful. She had full lips and a face that held none of the withered, pinched look that vampire flesh tended to become without feeding.

I knew, on a logical level, that she was dangerous: she was an ancient predator who existed to prey upon humans. She had enhanced vision and hearing, inhuman strength and stamina, spells, and centuries upon centuries of experience. She was also infectious; a single bite and I had a one in ten chance of needing to cleanse myself.

And yet… strangely, I felt no threat from the woman.

I had honed a slayer's instinct for fifteen years of my life. No matter how innocuous a vampire would seem, my intuition had been accurate without fail. But this woman, whoever she was, wasn't a threat to me… somehow.

That should be impossible. This place was sealed. Gods only know how long it's been since she's fed. She should be completely out of control!

The woman abruptly slumped, then started to collapse. I acted without thinking: darting forward, I caught her before she fell to her hands and knees. Her hands went to my waist and clutched at my armor for support, even as her head fell forward to rest against my shoulder. Her face was all but tucked into my neck as she leaned her full weight against me.

Stupid-stupid-stupid! Why don't I just invite her in for her first meal? I'm a complete basket head! I berated myself. I come down here all primed and ready to kill vampires, and then like five kinds of idiot, I let one nestle right up to my neck!

She had to know I was human; had to know I was a potential meal. Every vampire that ever rose from their coffin could tell when someone had that sweet, sweet blood flowing through their veins. This one was within literal biting distance of a nice, big artery.

And yet… still… my instincts didn't so much as twitch.

"Unh…" the vampire groaned, shaking her head a little bit against my shoulder. She seemed to be trying to sweep away the cobwebs of sleep from her head. "I'm… I'm sorry. Please just… let me use you for support for a moment."

Dumbfounded by the polite, apologetic request, I murmured, "Sure."

It took her several precious seconds to pull herself upright, swaying a few times before stabilizing. She brought her hand to her eyes and rubbed them with her fingertips, for all the world like an ordinary human coming up from a deep sleep. When she dropped her hand and looked at me, I could see that her thoughts were clearing as she took me in. She might have been thinking that I was a thrall, but there was none of the disdain most vampires had for humans.

Then her gaze fell on the vampire corpses at our feet.

Her eyes widened, and fear flitted across her face as she looked sharply back at me, "Where is…" she stopped, corrected herself, and then asked, "Who... sent you here?"

Her eyes were the only giveaway that she was not human, minus the occasional flash of slender, easily concealed fangs when she spoke. Her scleras were black, and her irises glowed a dark amber.

I swallowed. Eeyup. She knew I was human, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that I was responsible for the vampire remains laying around.

But she still hadn't attacked me. In fact, she was acting quite human, even showing vulnerability. Vampires… didn't act that way. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was an ordinary village maid, lost and unsure of her current company.

The woman's nervous gaze fell on Dawnbreaker, and to my surprise, the holy light from my sword only made her wince and squint.

Strange, I thought. Most vampires react with actual pain to the holy light… Her reaction seems more like someone used to the dark, and getting bright light in the face.

At that moment, something settled in my thoughts; for now, I would treat her as though she were human. My oaths applied to the vampires who were already guilty of atrocities; the ones who were amoral, cruel, and degenerate. Yet here she stood before the holy light of Dawnbreaker, and it didn't cause her any pain. I would be a fool to ignore yet another sign that aligned with what my instincts were already telling me.

"To answer your question: a man named Isran sent me here," I offered.

"I... don't know who that is. Is he... like me?" the woman inquired. Something in her eyes said she already knew the answer.

"Ah… no. No, he's not. To be honest, he would very much want me to kill you. The Dawnguard aren't..." I trailed off uncomfortably.

"...aren't fond of vampires?" the woman finished, tilting her head a little. "That does present a few problems though, and brings up more than a few questions. For example: who are you and why are you here?"

"Hooo boy." I looked away, "I'm not sure how to answer that without making things a teensy bit awkward."

"Well, honesty is the best policy, so I've heard," she rested a hand on her hip. There was a hint of sass in her posture that made me want to smile.

There still wasn't a single twitch from my instincts. "Err, right. Is there a return policy to go with it?"

"Generally not," a small smile was beginning to grow at the corners of her mouth.

By the Divines, I'm actually bantering with her! I realized.

"Look at it this way: you've already admitted you're here on behalf of people who would want me dead," she pointed out. "I'm asking you, personally."

"I'm Lasirah, Warden of Dawn. I've been a… well, a slayer of your kind for about half of my life." The woman raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react much to my admission. I continued, "The short of a very long and ugly story is that the Dawnguard sent me here to slay vampires. We were under the impression that they had come here in search of some sort of vampire artifact."

"And instead you've found me," the woman nodded, her hand dropping from her hip. She spread her hands, palms up, "Well, look. Kill me, and you've killed one vampire. But if vampires are searching for me, there's something bigger going on. I can help you find out what that is."

You already know, I realized. The only thing that surprised you was that I'm not who you expected.

Granted, we were technically mortal enemies. Being cagey with her information was practical. It also made sense for her to try to distract me from killing her out of hand.

It was interesting to me that she was choosing something so benign to protect herself with. Vampires tended to be far too used to being the biggest, toughest, deadliest person on the field. Even the terrified ones blustered and threatened retribution from someone higher up the chain. A peaceful distraction was unheard of.

"Why were you even locked away like this?" I asked, keeping my thoughts to myself.

"That's... complicated." She spoke hesitantly, "And I'm not sure if I can trust you, considering what you've told me about yourself."

It's oddly refreshing to meet someone so honest and upfront about the fact that she's hiding things from me. I gave her a small shrug and a crooked smile. "I guess I can't blame you for that."

She took a deep breath and appeared to gather her wits. "But if you are willing to let us earn one another's trust, maybe you could help me get back to my family's home?"

I paused, then let out a breath of my own. I still didn't feel any threat from her and knew full well that she hadn't used a spell on me. She was, as far as I could tell, behaving like a perfectly reasonable person. "Okay, well, where do you need to go?"

"My family used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I would guess they still do. By the way... my name is Serana. Good to meet you," the woman extended her hand.

The urge to laugh bubbled up in my throat, but I swallowed it down. I was in quite a ludicrous situation; me, a vampire slayer, clasping forearms in fellowship with her, a vampire. And yet, unless she had powers never heard of in any mortal, vampire, Daedra, or Divine, her greeting was genuine.

I sheathed Dawnbreaker and clasped Serana's offered arm warmly. "Serana, well met. Just call me Lasirah. Skip the title."

The corners of Serana's mouth quirked upward, "Gladly."

We soon realized that we couldn't go back the way I had come in. From the top of the amphitheater, I had a straight line of sight to the balcony and the tunnel beyond it. Even in the distance, I could see that the heavy metal gate had closed off the exit.

"So, ahh… any idea how to get out of here?" I rubbed the back of my neck.

Serana looked around, then shrugged and spread her hands. "Your guess is as good as mine. This place looks pretty different from when I was locked away."

"That had to have taken a lot of work." I gave the island a thoughtful look. Years, if not decades of work, I realized. She had to have been able to hear all the work and magic put into building the island. And then? Silence. How long? How long had the silence stretched for her when the last block was set and the last spell cast? And those graves… I'd bet my last Septim that every thrall that ever placed a stone is buried here, ready to serve the returning vampires. If she didn't partake in their deaths, who did? Who put her here?

Out loud, I said, "Well, let's see what we can find, and maybe I can learn a little about you. Assuming you don't mind me being a nosey old granny in the process."

Serana made a sound that was almost a laugh, "I can hardly consider your age to be anything remotely close to being a 'granny." She shrugged. "But I guess I don't mind answering a few questions to pass the time."

"Tell me more about your home?" I began to walk along the rim of the amphitheater, eyeing the shadows with a sharp eye.

Serana followed me, almost as obediently as a sheep following a shepherd. My eyebrows hiked a little higher at how… un-vampire-like she was. "As I said, it's on an island near Solitude. Hopefully, we can find a boat to take us there. It's my family's home. Not the most welcoming place, but depending on who's around, I'll be safe there."

I stopped and looked back at the Nord vampire in concern, "'Depending?' Why wouldn't you be safe there?"

Serana unconsciously crossed her arms protectively over her chest and looked away, "Let's just say that my mother and father had a bit of a... falling out. It'll just be more... unpleasant to run into my father. My father and I don't... get along. Ugh, saying it out loud makes it sound so... shallow. 'Little girl who doesn't get along with her father.' Sounds petty and whiny, doesn't it?"

Serana's stance brought a growl to my throat. I had seen that posture and expression on other 'little girls who don't get along with their fathers.' It triggered a lot of protective— and some violent— instincts.

I wanted her father dead. Didn't matter that we hadn't met. I was completely in favor of ensuring that the man was cut into chunky kibbles for putting that expression on his daughter's face.

I clenched my jaw until it ached, before tamping down my temper. It won't help to rage at him right now, I pointed out to myself. Save it for when it's productive.

I offered, "Well, I'll admit that I've heard similar stories before, but there was never anything shallow or petty about them. There are always truths hidden in the tales that run deep and, well, dark. If you ever want to talk about it in more detail, I'll listen."

Serana's murmured, "Thank you," was almost too low, but she didn't say anything more. She looked… too vulnerable. Too… human. And, there was no other way to describe it… she looked broken. She had been hurt. Badly.

Anger at her father stirred again, and I wrestled it down.

"Hey," I kept my voice gentle, and lightly touched her arm, prepared to pull away immediately if she so much as flinched at my touch. "Hey… I'll get you home if that's what you want, but you don't have to stay there."

Serana didn't reject my hand, but she pulled herself out of what looked like a dark memory with a small jerk. "Thank you," she repeated much more strongly. "I guess we'd better get going."

I grimaced. "Crap. I almost forgot. We have a complication. There's a man who's been enthralled by the vampires I killed. He's still under their sway. I was hoping I could get him somewhere safe and let the spell wear off. That's going to be difficult, especially if we run into trouble on the way out."

Serana paused, "I could enthrall him, I suppose."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"I've actually never actually done it before; I've never wanted to enslave a person to my will. It's been… a long-standing argument…" She trailed off before snapping back to the present. "Anyway, I do know the spell well enough to be able to cast it. It would extend the time for it to wear off, but it would also take care of the dangers of dragging him along as he is..." She stopped, gaze resting on my face. "Oh… Looks like I am not the only one with a dark history. What's wrong?"

I swallowed, folding my arms and unconsciously mimicking Serana's previous defensive posture. I could feel tremors start to run through my body. The cool air in the cave felt positively icy now, and it had nothing to do with the snowstorm outside. "I… I've been enthralled before. It's… it's part of the story of why I'm a vampire hunter."

Serana fell silent for a moment, then said, "You know what? Never mind. Bad idea. Let's think of something else."

Compassion. I realized, feeling a little dazed despite my own dark memories. She has compassion and empathy. Vampires don't have either of those, but she does. She's willing to try another idea simply because her suggestion freaks me out. What kind of vampire is she?

I made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, "No."

Her eyebrows rose slightly, "No?"

I shook my head, "It's… It's the best idea we have. My… not liking the idea doesn't invalidate it. I killed his master in front of him. He's going to want me dead until it wears off, so we can't untie him. But dragging him along, all tied up like a game hen, will get all of us killed trying to protect him."

"Lasirah..." Serana's voice softened with genuine concern.

I held up a hand to stop any further words, and though it visibly trembled, my voice was steady enough, "Just… make me a promise. Don't ever enthrall me."

Serana gave a slow nod, "Let's both benefit from this. We'll be… partners until we part ways. My skills are mostly with magic and alchemy. Yours seem to be with weapons. If we can trust each other, we'll make a good team. We'll respect each other as people and as equals. I won't enthrall you, and you won't attack me for what I am. Deal?"

I gave her a small, slightly wobbly, smile and we shook on it, "Deal."

Serana turned to the still unconscious man and cast her spell, engulfing him in aqua-colored light. The light sank into him within seconds; his master was dead, so no one was holding the chains of his mind. Being unconscious also made the takeover easier.

Serana jumped then, turning to look at me in horror before undoing his bindings and inspecting his formerly injured hand.

Ah. That would be the part of the spell where the vampire delves into the thrall's memories. I grimaced.

"You did a good job healing him," she murmured to me, then touched his temple with her fingertips. "Awaken."

The man's eyes snapped open and he gazed up at the Nord vampire blissfully. "What do you wish of me, mistress?"

I shuddered hard and decided to go back to looking for another exit. Now. Right now was a good time to put some distance between us. I retreated to the other side of the island and hunted in the shadows for another path.

I found our way out, thanks to all the Divines, by the time Serana and her new thrall approached.

For his part, the thrall remained silent, obediently at Serana's heels like a well-trained hound. His hair was somewhere between blonde and too orange to be red. He kept it short so that it hung an inch or two above his shoulders and covered the back of his neck. He wore a beard, as was the Nord custom, divided in two and braided. His brows were angled arches, set above solemn blue eyes on a face that had gotten its fair share of battle scars. Blue woad painted two lines up his forehead. It also ran under his eyes, and traced angular lines across his cheekbones before plunging down, stopping short at the corners of his mouth. His strong jaw and diamond-shaped face were attractive enough that I suspected any number of women would be flocking to his side. Hatred no longer burned in his gaze, for which I was relieved.

"I promised to release him when the spell wears off," Serana reassured me.

I nodded, and then the peep of white over her shoulder caught my eye again. I frowned thoughtfully. The only time I had heard of a scroll being kept in such a large protective case was...

My eyes widened, "Serana… Is that an Elder Scroll?"

"Yes, it is, and it's mine." The vampire's voice grew a defensive edge.

"Easy, easy," I held up my hands in surrender, "I'm not threatening to take it away from you or anything. It's just… well, why in the names of all the Divines do you have an Elder Scroll?"

"It's... complicated. I can't really talk about it... not yet. I'm sorry," Serana squirmed like a child put in the spotlight.

I shrugged, "I won't push, but it does explain a few things."

"What do you mean?" Serana's wary amber gaze turned curious as I led them down the dark path.

"Well, that takes us on another tangent. Do you know how long you were in there?"

"Good question," Serana admitted. "It's hard to say. I... I can't really tell. I feel like it was a long time. Who is Skyrim's High King?"

"Urgh. Well, that's a matter of debate," I grimaced.

"Oh, wonderful. A war of succession. Good to know the world didn't get boring while I was gone. Who are the contenders?" Serana was becoming more animated as we talked.

It helped that the path away from the island was level and boring; allowing us to walk and talk.

"Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm, and Elisif of Solitude."

"I've... never heard of them. What are the supporting factions?"

Vampire hunting didn't usually disrupt the usual day-to-day affairs of a hold, and I kept myself discreet with the Jarls when it did. Knowing the political climate helped to avoid snit fits in the local government. So, I was able to answer; "The Empire supports Ellisif, but there are many in Skyrim loyal to Ulfric due to his own personal and political leanings."

"Empire? What... what Empire?"

I came to an abrupt stop and stared, ignoring for a moment that we were nearing what looked like another exit. "The... Empire. From Cyrodiil."

"Cyrodiil is the seat of an empire?" Serana looked floored for a moment, then deeply concerned.

Serana predates all the Empires. I realized in stunned horror. I wasn't exactly a student of history, but I knew that there had been three Empires in Cyrodiil; the Alessian, the Reman, and the Septim. That meant she had to have been born sometime in the First Era… We were in the Fourth. Gods…

After a long, uncomfortable moment, I started walking again. "Okay, so going back to my comment before, you having an Elder Scroll explains things. I don't know much about them, but rumors say that they exist both within, and beyond time. If that's true, that Elder Scroll you're wearing is why you've been in a tomb for over four millennia. It's why you haven't needed nourishment... and it's also why the coffin you were entombed in didn't suffer the ravages of time in this damn cavern. Just being near it was enough to prevent time from affecting you."

"F-Four thousand years?!" Serana gaped at me in horror.

"If my math is right, over four thousand, two hundred years," I confessed.

"I have been gone for longer than I thought! Definitely longer than we planned. Please, let's hurry. I need to get home so I can figure out what's happened."

"We? Why were you locked away? Who put you in there?"

"I'd... rather not get into that with you. If that's all right." The fear in Serana's eyes was strong, "I'm sorry, it's not that…" She paused, shook her head, and tried again, "...it's just that I don't know who I can trust yet. Let's get to my home, and I'll have a better sense of where we all stand."

"Well okay, but to give you a fair warning, it'll take a few days..."

A loud cracking noise made me spin around in alarm, Dawnbreaker in my hand. With a scream, two of the gargoyle statues came to life, shedding a stone skin and rearing up to their full height. Both turned on me, reptilian eyes focused on mine.

Apparently, anyone could enter the place uncontested, but leaving with Serana was not allowed. Well, crap.

They were huge; standing on two legs, taller than most men, and built for power and muscle. They were somewhat bat-like, but their hands and feet were reptilian in design. They had thick, backward-sweeping horns and small bat-like wings that could never carry them in flight. Both monstrosities sported a mouth full of fangs, and their long, deadly claws glowed blood red.

I doubted that I wanted to get a taste of whatever that magic was. Damn it all to Oblivion. I knew it: dogs aren't the only species the vampires are experimenting with.

"Don't let it hit you!" Serana shouted, then confirmed my realization. "That red glow is a spell that vampires can use; they can absorb your life force." She glanced at the thrall. "Help Lasirah take it down! I've got this one!" Both of Serana's hands blazed with identical blue lights as she began to launch spears of ice at one of the beasts. It roared in shocked fury and swiped at her.

I kept my distance, spearing my roaring beast with arrows while the man... I still didn't even know his name... kept it distracted. The gargoyle I was fighting was a tough bastard. My arrows were just pissing it off, and the thrall's sword wasn't causing any serious damage.

"Stab, don't slash!" I called to him, stepping back to give the beast a quick assessment.

Muscles and bones are too thick. That means... I grimaced, ...I've got to go for the joints! Not the most humane kill...

It took crippling the beast's legs and forearms before I was able to fire a shot in its eye and drop it. Serana turned out to be quite a battle mage: impaling her beast with ice spikes and draining its life force until it finally collapsed.

As silence descended, we all took deep breaths and let them out.

"I know we made a deal, but, thank you," I said, "for stepping in… for fighting at my side."

"Not used to that kind of thing from vampires?" Serana gave me a small smile to take the edge off her words.

"No. My experiences have been." I hesitated, struggling with the words I wanted to say next. "Well, 'not pleasant' would be an understatement. But for the sake of being civil with one another, we'll leave it at that."

She accepted this with a small nod. Then she met my gaze and flushed slightly, eyes finding somewhere else to focus on than my face. I found myself taken aback by the sight of a vampire blushing. Huh. That's unexpected. I didn't think they could blush. And she's attracted to me.

I filed that bit of knowledge away for the future.

Thankfully, once through the second exit, the trip out of the crypt was quick. We battled a few more draugr, Serana fighting by my side, before we finally reached the exit. Fresh air blew over my face and I took a deep, relieved breath, even as it stung my face.

I looked up, and grimaced as the light of day turned out to be heavily muted. The storm had settled in, though we appeared to still be on the edge of it. The horizon was black in all directions but one, and I knew we needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Ahh, it's so good to breathe again! Even in this weather, it's better than the cave." Serana approached the cave entrance, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. The icy air didn't seem to bother her at all, and the dim light highlighted her enraptured expression.

I looked at her, startled, "Oh skeever scat. Serana, it's daylight! Get back in the cave, quick!"

In answer, she drew a hood over her head so that most of her face was cast in its shadow, but the smile she gave me was warm. "Thank you, Lasirah, but I'm okay. As long as I'm not in direct sunlight, I won't be harmed."

I blinked several times, then picked my jaw off the ground and nodded. "Huh. Okay. In that case, I hate to be the one to hustle us along, but if the sky is any sign, the roads are going to close soon. I'm not keen to stay here for however long this monster of a storm will last."

Serana glanced at the sky, frowned uneasily, and nodded, "I have to agree. Let's get to the nearest town and get Helskr taken care of."

So the thrall's name was Helskr. Something eased in my mind to have an actual name to attach to his face.

Author's Note: Helskr is pronounced Hell-skeer and is a masculine name meaning Death.