Beyond Death part 1

While Isran took care of Dexion, Serana took Tarrion to the roof of one of the towers of the fort. The stars still shone bright and the canyon bathed in the pale light of the moon. Tarrion saw that they were alone and the lower walls were patrolled by only one guard. He still felt weakened, for he lost a lot of blood. He knew that he needed to rest for at least a few days, but he knew that there was little time for that. He had removed the bandages on his arm and he had healed the wound, so that no-one could guess what happened. He knew that nobody would agree with him or with what he did, and especially Isran would probably kill Serana on the spot. He saw a few crates stacked against the ramparts and sat on one of them.

Serana looked out over the canyon, her hair slowly waving in the wind and her eyes shone bright in the dark.

"So…"

Tarrion stretched and sighed.

"We have to find your mother? Why exactly?"

"Well, I think she might have some information regarding one of the Elder Scrolls that we need."

"What makes you think that?"

Serana leaned against the ramparts.

"Remember when I said that my mother and I never wanted to follow my father in chasing this prophecy?"

Tarrion nodded. "I remember."

"Well, my mother became obsessed as well. Not with the prophecy, but more in trying to stop my father. I'm betting that she would know where to find the next Elder Scroll, and if we're very lucky, she actually has it herself."

"I thought you didn't know where she went?"

Serana seemed to think.

"The last time I saw her, she said she would go somewhere safe. Somewhere where my father would avoid searching. Other than that she never told me anything. But… the way she said it, 'somewhere safe.' It was cryptic and yet, she called attention to it."

"It sounds like she was being careful. Or maybe she didn't trust you either."

"Could be…. By the time she shut me in, she was just as obsessed as my father. But I just can't figure out why she said it that way. I can't imagine a place where my father wouldn't look, and he's had all this time too."

"Any ideas?" Tarrion asked.

"Well, I don't think she would be sealed away like me. I'm sure she wanted to stay awake and find a way to stop my father. But… no I have no idea."

"Castle Volkihar?"

Serana looked at Tarrion with a confused look.

"What?"

"'The closer you're at the danger, the farther you're from harm.' It makes no sense, I know but…"

"No wait!"

Serana jumped up and started to walk around.

"That actually does make sense! There is a garden in the castle's courtyard. My mother used it for her alchemy…. She always said my father couldn't stand the place. Too… peaceful."

"That is very risky of her, you know that right? Hiding under your fathers nose."

"Oh, definitely, but my mother is not a coward. I mean… I don't think we'll actually trip over her there, but it is worth a look. We can at least find some clues there."

"Alright, but why didn't you say something before?"

Serana looked at him.

"Half the people of your little crew would prefer to kill me, rather than even talk to me. That doesn't exactly make me want to open up. Even my father gave me a warmer welcome, and that is saying something."

"Does Harkon even care about you?"

Tarrion saw how Serana's expression changed, and she looked away.

"I'm sorry." Tarrion said. "That was… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's not that." Serana shook her head. "It…. I'm wondering the same thing. I hoped when he saw me again, something would wake inside him. Something of the man I once called father, but…. I guess I no longer matter to him. I'm simply… a means to an end."

Tarrion once again could almost feel the pain Serana felt, and he felt sorry for her. He wanted to tell her that all would be well, but he was not sure if it would, nor if it would help.

"Alright," he said, "but how do we get into the castle? I don't think they will let us use the front door."

Serana nodded.

"True, but maybe we don't need to. There is an unused inlet on the northern side of the island. The previous owners used it to get supplies into the castle. My father never used it, and I doubt he even remembers that it's there. I think that might be our way in."

"Very well then." Tarrion said. "Let's go infiltrate that castle."

He wanted to stand up but Serana stopped him.

"Not so fast, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. Or actually, 'ask' you about."

Tarrion was surprised by this, but he fell back on the crate.

"I wanted to ask you about you being Dragonborn."

Tarrion tried to look surprised, like he did not know what she meant by that.

"Oh, please." Serana said. "When I asked you back at the hut, you nodded. Not only that but at Forebears' Holdout you used a Shout, and at the hut you did it again and it suddenly stopped raining. I am not an idiot, Tarrion."

Tarrion sighed and decided to tell the truth.

"Alright, you caught me. I am indeed Dragonborn, but don't tell anyone here. I preferred if they did not know."

"Why not?"

Tarrion sighed and leaned against the crates.

"The Dragonborn has power. A lot of power, and most people know this. When they find out that I am Dragonborn, they do one of two things. Either they are suddenly, extremely friendly, hoping to get on my good side that I would do a favour for them. Or they start to fear me, because they are afraid that I would destroy them, if they make me angry. They either fear me, or they are incredibly friendly, and it gets annoying."

"So, how powerful are you then?"

Tarrion let out a short laugh.

"As you saw I can calm the weather. At Forebears' Houldout I slowed-down time itself. I can increase the speed of my strikes, charge forward, breath fire or ice, disarm you, freeze you solid, bring a Dragon down from the skies, summon the animals of the wild to my aid, or calm them down and even summon a storm. And that… is not even half of what I can do with just my Voice."

Serana looked at Tarrion with her eyes wide open.

"By the gods…."

"Please don't fear me." Tarrion said.

"I don't." Serana answered. "But I am impressed."

Even-though Serana wanted to leave as soon as possible, Tarrion did not. He still felt too weak to travel all the way to castle Volkihar.

"Can we just wait until tomorrow morning? I think I'll feel better then."

Serana reluctantly agreed, because that meant she had to travel during daylight, and although the sun would not kill her, it would hurt her. But more than that, she now had to spend the night at Fort Dawnguard, and that meant staying in the same building as Vampire Hunters. Tarrion made sure no-one would touch her, but she still did not feel at ease, and she stayed in the same room as Tarrion. And while he slept, she waited.

Dawn was not far away and Serana sat in a chair next to the bed where Tarrion slept. He had taken off his armour before Serana had entered the room and he pulled the covers to his shoulders. But after a few hours of sleep and turning around in his bed, the covers had fallen below his chest. Serana saw the many scars he had on his chest, shoulders and back and wondered how he got them. She thought she saw bite-marks, sword wounds and burns.

In the one of the other rooms she heard movement. She knew that the others started to wake up, and so she woke Tarrion as well.

"We have to go."

Tarrion mumbled something and turned around, but did not wake up.

"Come on, we have to go. Wake up."

Serana grabbed his shoulder.

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

Serana turned around, and saw Isran entering the room. Without a word he grabbed her by her neck and dragged her away from Tarrion.

"I knew it! I tried to warn him, but he refused to listen, but now I have you!"

Isran pushed her against a wall and choked her.

"I got you now you bloodsucking bitch!"

"I… tried to…"

Serana tried to say something, but Isran pushed her so hard against the wall that she couldn't talk.

"You tried what? Don't think you can talk yourself out of it this time! I saw what you tried to do!"

Isran pulled a small, silver dagger and showed it to Serana.

"You are not going to enjoy this."

But before he could do anything else, a hand grabbed Isran's wrist and pulled it away from Serana. Tarrion woke up from all the noises, and his face radiated anger. With hardly any effort he grabbed Isran by his armour and lifted him up. Isran was forced to let Serana go and she fell to the ground. She looked up at Tarrion and saw why some people would fear him.

His face was moulded in a wolf-like shape of anger and he held Isran up with one arm. His scars made him look almost inhuman and his voice had become raw power.

"If you touch her again, I will feed you to the dragons!"

Isran tried to say something, but Tarrion threw him out of the room. As soon as he tried to get up again, Tarrion Shouted.

FUS

As soon as he uttered the Word of Power, a shockwave escaped from his mouth and Isran was forced down.

"I warn you again, Isran! If you touch her, I will not hesitate."

Tarrion saw how Durak, Agmaer and Celann came running.

"What in the name of the Gods is happening?" Celann aksed.

"We heard the commotion and someone Shout."

"I caught the bitch trying to feed." Isran said as he got up. "I saw her."

"She was not trying to feed, she was trying to wake me!"

Serana had gotten up as well and rubbed her throat.

"Isran, I know that you don't like Serana, but I couldn't give a rat's ass about that. She is trying to help us, but if you are too blind to see that, than that is your problem."

"You trust her more than us? You trust that bloodsucker more than a normal human?"

"Yes! She has saved my life, so I trust her and if any of you tries anything, it will be the last thing you will ever do. Alduin was no match for me, and neither are you."

"Alduin?..." Agmaer asked. "That means…. You are the Dragonborn?"

"Yes." Tarrion said. "You have been warned."

Tarrion slammed the door shut and grabbed his armour.

"You were right. We should go."

His voice was calm, but Serana could still hear a tone of anger. It was the first time she actually feared a human, but she felt something else as well. It was not gratitude, but something much stronger.

-Whiterun Hold-

During most of the journey Serana dared not to ask Tarrion why he reacted like that. They took two of the horses at Fort Dawnguard and left. She could feel that Tarrion was still angry, but after they reached Whiterun Hold she felt that his anger had lessened enough.

"Why did you react that way?"

Tarrion said nothing. He looked forward and it almost looked like he ignored the question.

"Tarrion?"

"I don't know." he sighed. "I… I'm not sure. Just when I saw him holding you by your throat like that… and when he pulled that silver dagger, something snapped in me. I don't know why, but… I just lost it."

"Well… thanks… For helping me."

Tarrion nodded, but did not know what to say.

In an effort to distract him, Serana asked him about Alduin. It worked because Tarrion explained who Alduin was, and his mood seemed to lighten. He explained that Alduin was a Dragon, and that he was the first and most powerful dragon of them all.

"The World-Eater, he is sometimes called. A prophecy about him states that he will come at the End of Time to devour the world."

"And how did you defeat him."

Tarrion told Serana about the prophecy of the Dragonborn. How he was the only one that was able to defeat Alduin. Tarrion told of how he fought with him on the highest mountain, the Throat of the World, and how Alduin fled to Sovngarde. How Tarrion then captured a Dragon in Dragonsreach, and how the Dragon agreed to take him to Skuldafn.

"What is that?" Serana asked.

"A large fortress of some kind. On top of it there I found a portal that took me to Sovngarde."

"You actually went to Sovngarde? I thought you had to die to get there?"

Tarrion laughed.

"I thought so too, but there is a very convenient portal if you just want to visit the place. But I think that portal is gone now."

"Too bad." Serana said. "I would have liked to see it. But what did it look like? What happened when you entered it."

"As soon as I entered it, I felt different. I felt… I'm not sure… better? I guess that is what that place does to you. It is Sovngarde after all, I guess that place makes you feel happy, like all the world's problems are no more. But that was not to last. I tried to find Alduin, only to fall in his Soul Snare. A huge mist that made you lose your way to Shor's Hall. I felt despair and fear when I walked through it and I had to use my Voice to clear a path through it. I found the souls of others that have died. Countless soldiers and officers, people I once knew, but who were now dead."

"That must have been strange." Serana said, and Tarrion nodded.

"It was. At first they thought that I was dead too, but I told them I was not. They didn't believe me, and so I wandered on and after what seemed like an eternity, or maybe it was only a few moments, one tends to lose track of time there, I found Shor's Hall."

Tarrion sighed and he remembered what it looked like.

"A massive hall, made out of white stone, with huge doors. You had to cross a dangerous bridge made out of the bones of a leviathan to cross it. Inside… inside there were tables, chairs, benches and food and mead as much as one could ever want. Everyone was merry and toasted to each other's deeds. I met Ysgramor himself, and he told me that there were three of the Dragonborn waiting for me: Gormlaith GoldenHilt, Hakon One-Eye and Felldir the Old. They urged me to make haste to defeat Alduin, and they joined me in battle. We dispelled his mist, and fought him."

Tarrion sighed again.

"Gods, that was a battle. The very foundations of Sovngarde were shaking, and the always clear, starry skies were black with thunderclouds and fire rained down. Alduin was in his full power there, and with every roar the rocks cracked and the ground shook and his every breath unleashed an inferno so great, it was as if the sun itself had come down. But we were with four Dragonborn now, and we forced him down from the skies. And after a long battle Felldir staggered him, Gormlaith and Hakon struck his wings and I finally drove my sword through his skull. Then a deafening roar and rumble was heard and Alduin was killed. Every part of him incinerated and exploded, until a final shockwave marked his end."

He sighed again. He could still see it happen in front of him. How Hakon fell to his knees in relief and how Gormlaith hugged Tarrion.

"But since I did not die to reach Sovngarde, I was sent back, and they told me that I would be welcomed back, 'once I have completed my count of days'."

Tarrion no longer felt the anger he felt before, and he knew that Serana had tried to take his mind off what happened.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Serana asked.

"For taking my mind of what happened."

Together they rode on. The sun had just reached its highest point when they passed through Rorikstead. They still had half of the road ahead, but they both knew that the rest would be more pleasant. Tarrion recommended that they would go to Solitude first, leave the horses there, and go on foot to the Castle. It would also give them the opportunity to grab something to eat at the inn, and Serana agreed.

She asked Tarrion if he felt strong enough, and he nodded.

"I still feel a bit dizzy, but I am fine. I think that I will be my old self by the time we reach the castle. And just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"If you feel hungry… I mean thirsty….. I mean…. When you feel like you could use a drop of blood, ask me. I don't want you to fall off the horse again."

Serana looked surprised.

"What?... are you sure?"

"Yes. If you need something, ask me. It would be better if I lose a bit of blood occasionally, than a lot in one go."

Serana felt hesitant, but nodded. She once again knew, that no-one else would do that for her, and although she was a Vampire, she felt a bit of warmth inside her. A warmth that she could not explain, but she hoped it wouldn't leave her.

=End of Chapter=

=Authors Notes=

This chapter was a bit more difficult to write. I tried to give it a bit of backstory and tried to add stuff, without making it seem like filler. The whole Sovngarde part I thought would be fun to ad, to give more backstory of how Tarrion defeated Alduin. I do hope to give Serana's mother a bit more backstory before we actually meet her, but we'll see. I think I can finish another chapter or two before school begins again.

But at any rate, I hope you enjoyed reading thus far.

Dragon language used:

Fus = Force (from the Unrelenting Force Shout)

(Tarrion also gave away what else he could do with his Voice, but he never said the words.)

Characters:

Agmaer: Nord male recruit of the Dawnguard.

Celann:Breton male recruit of the Dawnguard, and an old friend of Isran.

Gormlaith Goldenhilt: Ancient Nord Dragonborn who fights with you against Alduin in the end. Was killed by Alduin.

Hakon One-Eye: Ancient Nord Dragonborn who fights with you against Alduin in the end.

Felldir the Old: Ancient Nord Dragonborn who fights with you against Alduin in the end. He is the one that used an Elder Scroll to send Alduin adrift through time. (so he is the reason you have to deal with Alduin? The jerk :)

Alduin: Seriously? You don't know him? Big bad dragon that tries to kill you? Rings a bell?

BIG PPS: I am Dutch (from the Netherlands) so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar, please let me know.