Awakening Part 3
"Ughh…." the woman moaned.
She blinked a few times before trying to get up. Tarrion did not know what to do, but since she was a Vampire, he felt the urge to end her, here and now.
But there was something about her that was different. The deadly glare he had seen before with other Vampires, was not in her eyes. She had a confused look in her eyes, rather than a hunger for blood.
"What is…. Who sent you here?" the woman asked.
Tarrion did not know what to answer at first, but it was clear she was expecting to be awakened.
"You were expecting someone?"
The woman rubbed her head.
"Yes, but… please, tell me who sent you."
"A man named Isran." Tarrion answered.
"'Isran'?" the woman confusedly asked. "Is he… like me?"
"You mean a Vampire?" Tarrion asked. "Because, no. He is not."
"I see."
The woman stood up and almost fell, but she grabbed the monolith just in time to break her fall.
"Who are you?" Tarrion asked. "And why were you locked away like this?"
The woman looked at Tarrion, sizing him up. After a few seconds she answered:
"That is… a long story, and I am not entirely sure if I can trust you. But if you want to know the whole story, help me get back to my families' home."
"Forgive me for saying this," Tarrion said. "but I am not entirely sure if I can trust you either. I have seen my share of strange things, but never a Vampire sealed away like you were."
"No offense taken," the woman answered. "and I cannot blame you for not trusting me. And being locked away like this, was not my idea."
She was clearly trying to figure out if she should explain a few things, or not.
"Let's just say that 'circumstances made it happen'. And don't worry, I am not out for your blood, if that is what worries you."
For Tarrion this was enough for now. At least he knew she wouldn't attack him straight away, and so he agreed.
"Very well. Where does your family live?"
"They used to have an island to the west of Solitude, I would guess they still do."
After some thinking she added:
"By the way, my name is Serana. Good to meet you."
"My name is Tarrion." Tarrion said, and he nodded. "So now that the introductions are finished, do you know where to go?"
Serana shook her head.
"Your guess is as good as mine, this place looks pretty different from when I was locked away."
Serana looked around and saw the silver braziers all standing high around them. The small amount of light falling down from the ceiling and the monolith that was towering over them both.
"Do you have any ideas?"
"We could try the way I came in," Tarrion said. "but most of these tombs have a shorter, second way out. So I would guess, that way." And he pointed away from the bridge he crossed earlier.
"Very well," Serana said. "then let's go."
But before she walked in the direction Tarrion pointed in, she grabbed a large object, wrapped in black cloth from the monolith that previously, Tarrion did not notice. She hung it on her back and walked behind Tarrion, towards another, narrow bridge.
As soon as he placed his foot on the bridge, he heard the sound of rocks falling down, and a loud roar.
Tarrion immediately drew his sword and charged a Fireball in his left hand. His sword was made out of the bones of Dragons and thus it was stronger than any sword, any smith could make.
Out of the shadows two monstrous creatures charged forward. Both had a dark grey, stony skin, large claws, small wings and two large horns. They charged at Tarrion with incredible speed, but before Tarrion could even move, a large Ice Spike flew right past his ear and flew right into one of the creature's mouth, making it fall and tumble off the bridge, into the blackness below them. The second one ignored his fallen comrade, and with its wings, it made a giant leap towards Tarrion. Tarrion fired the Fireball and hit the beast straight on its head. This creature also tumbled off the bridge and joined its comrade in the darkness below.
"What were those?" Tarrion asked as he sheathed his sword.
"Gargoyles." Serana said plainly. "I've seen them before and they act as guardians for Vampires."
"I see." Tarrion said. "Are there any other 'guardians' waiting? Or were these the only ones?"
"I have no idea." Serana answered. "But we should be wary."
Tarrion took another good look at Serana, half expecting to see a deadly gaze in her eyes, but instead he looked at the object she had on her back. It was still wrapped in black cloth. But a few pieces had shifted, revealing the contents a little, and Tarrion recognized it. She shape, the golden material, the jewels and inscriptions on it told him all he needed to know, because he had seen it before.
"Is that an Elder Scroll?" he asked with shock.
Serana hardly blinked, like she thought nothing of the fact that Elder Scrolls are beyond rare and can carry extreme powers.
"Yes it is, and it's mine."
"By the Eight…Why do you have an Elder Scroll sealed away with you?"
"Again, 'a long story'." Serana said.
As Tarrion and Serana made their way out of the dungeon, he kept wondering what this could mean. A young Vampire locked away, with an Elder Scroll? There has to be a reason for this, but he knew he could not ask her, because he knew she would not answer him. So instead he asked something else.
"How long were you locked away like that?"
Serana thought about it for moment.
"I… I don't know."
She suddenly seemed to wonder the same.
"I… I can't really tell... Who is Skyrim's High King?"
"That was actually a matter of debate."
"Oh, great." Serana said. "A war of succession, good thing to know the world did not get boring while I was away. Who are the contenders?"
"Who 'were' the contenders." Tarrion said.
Serana looked confused at Tarrion.
"Ulfric Stormcloak fancied himself as High King." Tarrion explained. "He thought that Skyrim should be independent, and so he killed High King Torygg, starting a civil war."
Tarrion stopped for a moment. He saw the battles being fought right before his eyes. How old friends raised their swords against each other. Brother fighting against brother, and with hundreds of deaths on either side. How he, Lydia and Irileth fought side by side, fighting off the Stormcloaks at Whiterun. And how, at last, he lead the siege against Windhelm, and killed Ulfric. Thus ending the war. He knew Skyrim would take a long time to recover, but it would be better than throwing it into another war with the Thalmor.
Tarrion's thoughts came back to him and Serana in the dark corridors of Dimhollow.
"Let's just say that the Empire was victorious." he concluded. He didn't want to explain all the pain and suffering of that war.
"Empire? What Empire."
Tarrion was taken by surprise with that question, and he looked confused at Serana.
"Ehh… Thé Empire… from Cyrodill." he said. "How can you not know the Empire?"
Serana was clearly confused again.
"Cyrodill is the seat of an Empire?"
"Yes," Tarrion said. "for over fifteen hundred years."
"Fifteen hundr..."
Serana was clearly shocked by this news.
"I must have been gone longer than I thought, definitely longer than we planned. Please, let us go to my home as soon as possible."
After another few dark corridors, they came across a large room, and on the other end, Tarrion found a Word Wall. As he approached it he could hear the Word of Power echo within him. Louder and louder.
Gaan…. Gaan!... GAAN.
He felt the word echoing through him and understood it. Serana asked him what was so interesting about an old wall with strange inscriptions, but Tarrion did not tell her that he was Dragonborn. He did not think it would be necessary for her to know.
As soon as he left the Word Wall, a large fire in the middle of the room started to burn bright. Around the fire Tarrion saw twelve stone thrones and in all of them a figure was seated.
"Oh no, not again." Tarrion said with a sigh.
"Draugr?" Serana asked and she chuckled. "I wonder if they are still as gullible as they were when I was a girl."
She would soon find out, because all of them stood up and drew their weapons.
Most of them went down with hardly any effort, but three of them fought on. One of them tried to kill Tarrion, but he blocked the sword and with a fierce strike he cut of the arm. But the Draugr was already dead and could not feel pain, and so Tarrion grabbed it by its armour and threw it in the large fire pit.
"Sovngarde Saraan!" the Draugr cried out and was reduced to ashes a few seconds later.
The two that remained had gone after Serana, and Tarrion thought that she would need help. He saw that was not the case, for she fired many an Ice Spike and pulled a small dagger from under her cloak. She moved faster than Tarrion expected. Even for a Vampire, Serana moved with lightning speed, and not a second later, both of the Draugr lay dead, both with their head severed from their shoulders.
"You fight well." Tarrion remarked, and he meant it.
"Did you expect me to cower in fear because of a few Draugr?" She asked. "I am not a little girl, and I think I fought foes bigger than you have ever fought."
'I doubt that very much.' Tarrion thought, but he did not voice it, and instead he said:
"I'll make sure not to make that mistake again."
He saw that Serana had a different look in her eyes now. She clearly enjoyed the fight, like she needed one after all those centuries locked away.
It did not take long for them to reach the exit of the cave, and after a few last, dark steps they stepped into the night. The snow was untouched and came to their knees. The sky was lit with green and blue lights and the moon was shining bright. Tarrion looked up and saw that it was a waning moon.
'Good,' he thought. 'that means my transformation won't come for at least another two weeks.'
"Ah, it's so good to breathe again." Serana said behind him.
Tarrion saw how she closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath through the nose, and out through her mouth. The pale light from the moon shone on her face and Tarrion thought he saw her eyes light up. He did not know what to think of it, but a part of him, although a small part, told him that she was unlike any other Vampire. Whether this was a good thing, he did not know.
=End of Chapter=
=Authors Notes=
Fire and Blood will be about Tarrion and Serana and their adventures in Skyrim. Other characters will also make appearances in this story or any of the others. It will start at the beginning of the Dawnguard-DLC storyline and expand from there. There might be a few moments in the story that are not entirely in line with the lore of Skyrim, but I'll make these as small as possible.
What the stories are about is something that not even I know, yet. I'll make stuff up as I go along, so it'll be a surprise.
What is the background of the character and was quests has he completed already? :
-Alduin is killed.
-Civil War has ended in the Empire's favour (Ulfric is dead)
-Companions Questline is completed
-College of Winterhold Questline is completed.
-DragonBorn DLC? Not sure what I am going to do with it.
-Dark Brotherhood? Not sure ….
-Thieves Guild? Not started and I'll see what my character will do with it.
-Paarthurnax still lives.
- (I forgot to mention this last time) Tarrion is Thane in all the holds. (Whiterun, Winterhold, Solitude, Windhelm, Markarth, Riften, Morthal, Falkreath and Dawnstar)
/\
*I will keep this part in until the end of the first Arc*
Dragon Language used:
GAAN: 'Stamina' (from the 'Drain-Vitality Shout')
Draugr Language:
Sovngarde Saraan: 'Sovngarde Awaits'
For those that noticed it; I made Tarrion a believer of the Eight Divines, and NOT the Nine Divines. Tarrion is a Nord, but I'll explain in later arcs why he does not believe in Talos.
Also, the 1500 years Serana was sealed away: It is an estimation. I don't know the exact amount of years, but since the Septim Dynasty of Emperors has ruled for over 1500 years (ish), it would make sense.
Characters:
(You should know the main characters, Tarrion and Serana, by now :)
(You will get to know them both better as the story progresses)
Isran: Leader of the Dawnguard. Redguard, old (50-ish?) and really, really hates Vampires.
PS: Since the holydays are almost over for me, I think I can only finish this arc in the near future. School starts for me again, and I have my mid-terms coming up as well, so I guess the next arcs may take a while.
BIG PPS!: I am Dutch (from the Netherlands), so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar, please tell me about it.