The Jarl didn't blink when Elan came running through her doors. She'd thought such a thing would occur. The youth would anger her later, beyond forgiveness, but for now he brought an inner smile with his unbroken spirit.
"My Jarl, I bring grave news-"
There was that artificial deep voice again. There was no shame in being a tenor, but then again she did not know the ways of Nordic boys. He clearly wished he had even the start of whiskers. He was near manhood in all the ways that mattered however, as he calmly spun and knocked down Hroggar before the bigger man could attack.
"-Alva is a vampire and here is her journal. She and a Vampire Lord plan to use Morthal to sate their bloodlust without having to face the sun."
Ingrod allowed horror to cross her face and gave the order for an attack to be launched. "Go in haste."
The boy seemed insulted she would think he would delay, but Ingrod could tell he had put off several important tasks before now.
The Jarl watched pensively as Elan hurried away, likely to raise a small group of townspeople to help fight. It would shame for Morthal to lose such a soul. She will offer him a place as Thane after this. Perhaps she could not stop his sin against her, but maybe she could keep him as protector of her Hold. He would live longer than she would in any case.
Elana went alone into the Vampire's cave.
The thralls were easy enough to deal with. It was easy enough to sneak up behind one of them and slice its head off. Elana was lucky enough to kill a vampire this way as well. Perhaps it was even Alva; but Elana had never seen the woman's face to know.
Will they immediately smell the wolf on me?
"No, they'll smell the dragon first. More magic, more potent, more tempting."
Elana hissed unhappily. So sneak attacks are out?
"Not quite. You have trained to be quite stealthy hatchling. You will be able to get one shot with your bow. Two if you are fast and lucky."
The wolf wanted to be set free, to rampage through the cave, imprudent though that idea may be.
The Dragonborn strung her bow silently and notched an arrow as she came to stand on a wooden platform above the makeshift court the Vampire Lord had made. He himself sat before a table in a great chair. Five others milled about randomly. Drawing back entirely, Elana let the force of her full draw smash into a lesser vampire's skull and the creature dissolved into ashes. Moving quickly, she drew another arrow and let it loose into another's heart as it attacked her. She reached for her sword-
"Halt! Can't you smell that?" The Vampire Lord had risen to his feet with a wicked smile. "The Dragonborn is among us. At last, welcome to Skyrim."
The rest of the vampires shifted nervously around, no doubt itching to attack.
"Perhaps the Dragonborn would like to consider the benefits of living to the next age? We could make sure the Age of the Dragonborn never ends. Skyrim could always be yours."
Elana snarled, allowing the wolf just the tiniest bit of freedom. The Vampire Lord recoiled, recognizing a werewolf. She immediately sprang at the nearest vampire and removed its head before any others could react.
As the Vampire Lord reeled back to prepare a spell, Elana beat him to the punch.
FUS RO!
All the vampires when spiraling back and the Dragonborn leapt after them, her sword burying itself in the fourth vampire before it could react. She then went straight for the Vampire Lord. He drew his own blade and parried her strike.
It was a lightning quick battle that tested the limits of her skill. As the burning in her throat subsided, she grew more and more powerful.
"It's not fair," her opponent hissed. "The Dragonborn against the rest of us."
"It's what you get for believing a reckoning would never come."
A sudden, quick and high gasp ended her train of thought. "And there's your reckoning," drawled the Vampire Lord. "A knife in the back. How does it feel, since now you'll bleed out and we will feast on the town?"
"Pretty… good actually."
"Oh really?"
With a herculean effort, Elana stabbed her blade through the Vampire Lord before twisting herself and the embedded dagger from the grip of the other vampire and Shouting him into a wall.
"It's not fair…"
Leaving the two to die from their wounds, Elana stumbled back towards the exit of the cave, grabbing the enormous coin purses from the table as she went.
"If you stop walking for even an instant, I will drag myself back into a corporeal form just so I can kill you before you succumb to stupidity and this hole in you. How could you forget about the other vampire? There's no Vilkas to save you now. How could you forget the lesson you learned with your knees?"
She just kept slowly walking, steps becoming more and more dragged.
"Little one?"
…
"Little one?"
Just before she fell, she heard Mirmulnir press down on her inner mind. "Go." And the wolf took over.