Beyond Death part 2
-Haafingar-
The night had fallen. Together the two of them now descended the northern side of the mountains to the west of Solitude. They had left their horses at the stables near the city and now continued on foot. Large snowflakes fell from the grey clouds above them and a slight breeze came from the sea. They now followed the same path as they used before, when Tarrion brought Serana back to her home. Now they travelled it again, but for different reasons. This time they had come to infiltrate the castle and seek clues about Serana's mother, Valerica. Serana thought that she would know where to find an Elder Scroll, or that she would actually have one. Tarrion knew that these Scrolls are extremely rare, and even today, no-one knew exactly where they came from.
"Let's hope the boat is still there." Serana said.
Tarrion hoped so too. He used the boat to get off the island, when Harkon banished him. He just hoped that Harkon wouldn't send someone to retrieve it, and make it much more difficult for anyone to reach the castle.
"How did you get off the island?" he asked Serana. He suddenly wondered it, since he brought the boat to the mainland.
"I have my tricks." Serana simply stated.
"What kind of tricks? Did you transform yourself into a cloud of bats?"
"Oh, I see." Serana teased him. "So because I am a Vampire, I can transform into bats?"
"I don't know…. Can you?"
"…. Yes, actually. That is indeed what I did to get off the island."
"So, you would be able to do that again?" Tarrion asked.
"Yes, but I prefer not to used it."
"Why not?"
Serana sighed and looked out over the open sea. She could see the castle loom in the distance.
"Because it is a weird and unpleasant feeling to do that. You… I don't know… become this presence amidst all these bats, and it feels like your body is ripped into a hundred different pieces, and yet they still work. I don't know, it is a strange feeling, and I prefer not to use it."
"Huh…. So you actually can transform into a cloud of bats. I was joking when I said that. I thought that those abilities were just stories and legends. I never thought they were real."
"Why did you think they were only stories?"
"Well, because I've never seen a Vampire do that."
Serana laughed.
"That is because not all Vampires can do that. Almost all Vampires today are half-breeds. They were bitten by another Vampire, and gained their Vampirism that way. I got it through a ritual, as I told you. I am not a half-breed Vampire. I am a pure-blooded Vampire, as are my mother and my father. We have other powers, that other Vampires will never have."
Tarrion looked at Serana and saw something different in her. She had been kind and humble since he first met her, but for the first time he saw power in her. He saw that she had more power than he first anticipated, and that she never used those powers before.
"So… that thing Harkon did when he offered me his blood… transforming into this bat-like creature…. You can do that too?"
Serana sighed. "Yes, but I have never used it, nor will I ever use it."
They reached the small pier and the boat was still tied up there, as Tarrion left it when he was banished.
"Your father did banish me from the castle. Do you think he will mind if I do return?"
"Ha… What one doesn't know, doesn't hurt one. Besides, we will enter parts of the castle that he probably never visited anyway."
Tarrion rowed Serana to the island again, but he didn't head for the two watchtowers. Serana told him that there was an old, small port built in the inlet where they would go. So Tarrion steered clear from the southern part of the island and instead rowed past the western parts to the northern end of the island.
"Look, there." and Serana pointed over his shoulder. Tarrion looked up and saw that there was indeed a small port build in the cliffs. The same dark stone from the castle was used to build the port and Tarrion saw that it once must have been a place to trade goods with the owners of the castle. But it looked like the many centuries had left their mark and port had fallen to ruin. The stone piers were broken and a small tower had crumbled to a pile of rubble.
Tarrion rowed the boat to one of the piers and it ran aground there on the rubble. As soon as they stepped out of the boat they heard a growling cry. Three draugr came running with swords and shields in their hands, and behind them a large skeleton with a large axe blocked a black door. It didn't take long for the draugr to lie dead again, for they were no match for the combined strength of Serana and Tarrion. The skeleton that blocked the door tried to hit Tarrion, but was fell apart after al large Ice-spike hit it in the head.
"Looks like there were a few guards left to guard this place." Tarrion said, but as he turned around he saw that the skeleton had gotten up again. It's body hovered above the ground and the bones took their place again, reassembling the body.
"What the…?"
Tarrion grabbed the two bones that made the upper legs and ripped them away from the rest of the body, and the rest of the bones fell dead to the ground.
"Oh, yes." Serana said. "I remember reading something about these skeletons that you have to kill twice. I didn't think we would run into them."
They made sure that the skeleton stayed dead and entered the castle again.
They entered a dark and damp place. A small stream divided the room in two and three small bridges were made to cross it.
"The old water-cistern." Serana said. "Some days this place would smell like…. Be glad you weren't here then."
"You came here often?" Tarrion asked and Serana nodded.
"Yes, when I wanted to be alone for a while or when my parents were too busy. It is not the most safe place, I'll agree, but I guess a little Vampire girl was enough to scare-off the rats."
"It sounds like a lonely childhood."
"It was." Serana sighed. "But… I got used to it."
They heard a loud, unnatural bark and Tarrion saw four glowing eyes charge at him. He Shouted and fire escaped from his mouth to stop the incoming attackers. For a second he saw the same black, monstrous hounds he had seen at the Hall of the Vigilants. They looked like they were extremely underfed and their skin was black, their eyes were glowing and their maws were filled with sharp teeth. As soon as they saw the fire they tried to run, but they were incinerated before they could turn around. One of them tried to jump into the stream, but he died before he could reach it.
"What are those things?"
"Death Hounds. Creations made by Molag Bal to serve as guardians for Vampires."
"He made those things as well?" Tarrion asked and Serana nodded.
"I would guess that they are to dogs, what Vampires are to Humans. I don't know how exactly they came to be, but their bite is as cold as the grave."
When Tarrion walked past their corpses he felt that the air around them felt cold, and it looked like cold air leaked out of their mouths.
They came across two small bridges. One of which was raised, and there were two pathways that they could choose.
"Take a left here." Serana said. "This is one of those weird, double security measures that my father had made when he got paranoid. There should be a lever at the end."
Tarrion found the lever guarded by a large Frostbite Spider, who was killed soon after. With the second bridge down, they could move forward and after a few small staircases they reached a door and stepped into the central courtyard.
"Ah, finally. We've made it to the courtyard."
But as soon as Serana stepped in the open, she saw a shocking site. The courtyard, which Tarrion imagined to be quite different, was in ruins. Serana had told him that her mother had a garden here for her alchemy, so he imagined a place filled with plants, herbs and mushrooms. A place of life, even in the middle of a Vampire castle, with a few statues and maybe even a fountain. But nothing could be further from the truth. The courtyard was, in one word, dead. A few old trees stood sinisterly, bending over the two of them, with dry, dead branches and not a single leaf was to be found. The middle of the courtyard had a large sundial, with some of the crests missing. There were three towers surrounding the courtyard, but all of them were blocked by rubble and debris. Tarrion saw a large area surrounded by a small wall with an iron fence, and in there he saw dead plants and two more trees, who were old and broken. The only life Tarrion saw in this place of death, were Nightshade flowers and a bit of fungus surrounding a small, almost dried-up pond.
"Oh, no."
Serana walked past him and looked around, and silently muttered to herself.
"No… no, this... this can't be. What happened to this place?"
She walked up to one of the towers and had a look of disbelief in her eyes.
"This used to lead into the castle's great hall…. It looks like my father had it sealed off."
She walked to the garden and Tarrion saw a small, iron gate that was ripped from its hinges and thrown away amongst the plants. Serana stood in front of the garden and tried to grab the dry remains of a flower, only for it to crumble to dust. She fell to her knees.
"This was once my mother's garden. This… the smell of the herbs once filled this entire place. It… it…. Do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended by a master for hundreds of years?... She would hate to see it like this."
Tarrion walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Serana sighed.
"It looks like my father went on a rampage as soon as my mother fled. We used to walk through here after evening meals…. It was beautiful once."
Tarrion could not find the words that would express how he felt. He once again saw the contrast between Serana and her father.
"It looks like wanted to put the past behind him."
"And then he just walled it off." Tarrion said as Serana got up.
"It looks like it. Maybe if he spent more time with us, he would have recognized the beauty for himself."
They both walked around, looking for something, but neither of them knew for what exactly. Tarrion found one of the missing crests and saw that there was a different image on it. It had an image of a crescent moon on it, and it looked it was made of jade. He turned around and walked to the sundial, and saw that on all of the images showed a different moon, instead of a sun.
"Serana? What is this?"
Serana walked up to him and took a long look.
"It is a moondial, but there is something wrong. There are a few crests missing and the dial is askew."
"A moondial?" Tarrion asked. "Why do you have a moondial?"
"My mother's idea. The previous owners of the castle had a sundial, and that obviously did not appeal to my mother. She persuaded an Elven artisan to make some improvements. You can see the phases of the moon, Masser and Secunda."
"Does it work?"
"Well, that's the thing. What's the point of a moondial? If you want to know the phase of the moon, you can just look up. I always wondered why she didn't just have the whole thing ripped out. But she loved it. I guess it's like having a piece of art, If you're into that sort of thing."
Tarrion still held one of the crests and thought it would be fitting to put it back where it came from. He saw that there were three crests missing. As soon as he placed the crest back, he heard a strange click. Like something snapped in place.
"Serana, can you try to find another crest?"
"What for?"
"I'm not sure." Tarrion answered. "A hunch."
It did not take them long to find the remaining crests. One of them was found behind an old pot, and the last one underneath a broken bench. They placed both crests back into place and Tarrion hoped for something, although he did not know what.
"And now?" Serana asked and Tarrion thought for a moment.
"You said the dial is askew. Which way does it point normally?"
Serana moved to the crest that showed the new moon of Masser.
"Here."
Tarrion grabbed the dial and pushed it toward Serana. It was heavy, but as soon as the dial pointed at Serana, they both heard a deep rumble. Tarrion jumped off just in time, because the floor began to sink and a winding staircase appeared.
"Very clever mother, very clever."
Serana looked down the staircase and saw that a small torch lit the end.
"How did you even know this was here?"
Tarrion shrugged.
"A hunch."
"Well, in that case, tell me when you have another 'hunch', because this was a really good one. I don't know what is down there, but I bet those tunnels lead right under the broken towers into the old ruins."
"Ladies first."
Together they descended the staircase and entered the ruins. They found themselves in old hallways, dimly lit by only a few torches and candles. Serana had no problems with this, but since Tarrion did not have night-vision he stumbled often, and kicked multiple loose stones. Eventually Serana grabbed his hand and led him safely through the darker corridors.
"I've never even seen this part of the castle before. We should be careful. I don't know what might be down here."
After a few minutes of walking, or in Tarrion's case stumbling, through dark hallways, they reached a large hall. A long table stood in the middle and several chairs stood around it, and in each of them a skeleton sat.
"I have another hunch." Tarrion said quickly, and not a moment later the skeletons came to life.
Before they could draw their swords however, Tarrion Shouted and breathed fire on the undead, and they turned to ash before they could react.
As they continued they encountered more skeletons, patrolling the hallways.
"Your mother left a lot of guards here." Tarrion said as he decapitated one.
"I know!" Serana answered while she threw another against the wall, and it collapsed in pieces. "She must have been hiding something in here, and these guys are to repel intruders."
A deep, loud roar was heard and out of the shadows a gargoyle jumped forward. Tarrion could not react in time and was thrown against a wall and he could hear his ribs crack. Serana ducked under one of the gargoyles claws and rammed her dagger in its chest and pulled it downward, tearing the beast open. Black blood gushed out of the wound and the gargoyle fell dead on the ground.
"Yea, that hurt."
Tarrion slowly got up, but he couldn't move his left arm. It hang useless and limp frim his shoulder, and he felt it was dislocated.
"Are you alright?"
Serana walked up to him, and her right hand was black with blood.
"I think my shoulder is dislocated." Tarrion said and he gritted his teeth.
"You want me to put it back?"
"No," Tarrion joked. "I'll ask the next skeleton we meet…. Ach!... you know what?... never mind, you do it."
Serana smiled and gently grabbed his arm, slowly pulled it backwards and put her other hand on his shoulder. Tarrion gritted his teeth again.
"Please… put it in."
"'Put it in'?" and Serana laughed. "That is the first time someone asked me that."
"Dammit, woman! Just put it.. AAAAHHHH!..."
Serana waited for him to relax his shoulder and then pushed his arm back into place. An unsettling crack was heard and Tarrion jumped away and punched right through a door.
"GODS! That hurt!"
"You shouldn't punch through doors then." and Tarrion laughed sarcastically.
Serana licked the gargoyle's blood from her hand, and grimaced.
"Not tasty?" Tarrion asked.
"No, not nearly as tasty as your blood."
"Oh? So I am tasty?"
Serana opened her mouth, but closed it and Tarrion saw her blush.
Tarrion still felt his arm hurt, but he could use it again, and after another few brawls with skeletons and a few gargoyles, the adrenaline had driven out the pain. Serana didn't say anything, but Tarrion saw that she still had a slight blush on her face. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Tarrion asked about the gargoyles.
"Did your mother ever keep gargoyles?"
Serana shook her head.
"Not that I ever saw. She had a bit of a thing for magical constructs. Not….. not what you're thinking. She just found them fascinating."
"What would I be thinking about then?"
"Well…." Serana began, but then changed her mind. "You know what?…I'm not going to answer that question."
After another few climbs and staircases they reached a large room, but there seemed no way out. A few wardrobes stood silently against the walls and a small hearth was made at the other end. They looked around for a door, but there was nothing.
"Look carefully." Serana said. "I don't think we've reached the top yet."
While Tarrion checked the wardrobes, Serana saw that one of the wall sconces was slightly tilted. She smiled and turned it around, and the hearth moved away to show a hidden staircase.
"Leave it to my mother. She was always more cleaver than I gave her credit for."
Tarrion grabbed a candelabrum and walked in front of Serana as they ascended another winding staircase. He wanted a bit of light to see where he was going, and now he could step over debris and not stumble every few feet.
At the end of the staircase they reached a large, steel door without a handle. In the centre of the door they saw the head of a Dragon, with its mouth wide open. They tried to open the door, but nothing happened and no matter how they pushed, the door did not budge.
"Wait…. I see what this is." Serana said.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry I should have known. This is a Blood Door. It will only open with blood."
"Anyone's blood, or is it specific for a certain person?" Tarrion asked.
"I'm not sure," Serana answered. "that depends on the one that put the door here. You can open it with blood from anyone or anything, but sometimes it can only be opened with blood from a specific person, or family."
Serana made a small wound in her hand and a few drops of her blood fell into the Dragon's mouth. It's eyes glowed bright red and the door opened. They stepped through and both of their mouths fell open in awe.
They entered a huge laboratory, and countless torches and candles that were still burning bathed the entire room in an orange light. There was a staircase that led to an elevated area and Tarrion saw bookshelves, filled with books and alchemy ingredients. Countless shelves with ingredients, soulgems, alchemy tools and vails were nailed to the walls and a few large tables were filled with even more ingredients, gems and potions. But in the middle of the room they saw something that neither of them had seen before. A large, stone circle, with the centre slightly lowered, surrounded by candles was made in the middle of the laboratory. The elevated area had a small balcony that overlooked the circle, and it almost looked like some sort of summoning circle.
"Wow, Serana. This is quite the laboratory your mother maintained here."
"I had no idea her 'laboratory' even existed." Serana said as she walked past Tarrion and looked around. "I mean, she had an alchemy set-up in her drawing room… but nothing that even comes close to this."
They walked to one of the larger tables and saw that it was filled with alchemy ingredients.
"Look at this, she must have spent years collecting these components."
She looked around again and it was clear she was looking for something that would answer her question.
"What have you been up to, mother?"
=End of Chapter=
=Authors Notes=
So there is Chapter 2 of this arc. I do hope you like it, and the changes/additions that I made. I thought it would be fun
Explaining a few things:
The Blood Door: I got this idea from the videogame 'Castlevania; Lords of Shadow 2' (really good game btw). There are a few doors that you can open, but only with your blood. I like the idea that Vampires would guard their stuff/hideouts that way, so I included that here as well. Please don't be mad.
Masser and Secunda: These are apparently the two moons that orbit the world of Skyrim. If you pay attention in the game you can see the two moons sometimes, and I guess that the big one is Masser, and the smaller one is Secunda, but I have no clue if that is correct. I'm too lazy to look it up.
Serana's Powers: I thought it would be fitting to give the Pure-blooded Vampires some more powers. Otherwise they would be just as powerful as a random half-breed Vampire. Serana, Valerica and Harkon are Pure-blooded Vampires and thus they are stronger than others.
That skeleton they killed twice: This is from the mod "Immersive Creatures". These skeletons are 'restless', and can reassemble themselves after you killed them, forcing you to kill them again, and in very rare cases, even a third time.
Death Hounds: The game states that their origins are unknown, but I thought that, since they are used as guardians by Vampires, they would come from the same source; Molag Bal. I don't know, call it freedom of expression
MASSIVE, HUGE, MEGA, BIG-*SS PS!
Ok, this chapter took me longer than expected, but I have good reasons for that.
First off: I lost my 'Tarrion safe-file'. I accidently overwrote it when I started a new game. I used that safe-file mostly for dialogue and ideas for what I could include in the story. I would just play a part of the storyline, and take notes about the dialogue I have. I had to use the new game to get all the way to the story as it is now, and I still haven't reached it yet. For those that think: "Can't you just look it up on the internet?"; no I can't. I have a few mods installed for Serana that make her even more immersive. She is, bar none, the most immersive and detailed character in the game, but these mods amplify that even more. So I have to talk to her after every single objective for extra stuff. I actually like it.
Second reason: There are a few personal matters that happened, or will happen, and I have to deal with them. I won't go into details (that's why they're personal), but they will have quite the impact on… well, practically everything. I don't know what I am going to do, but I first need to do that.
With that reason in mind I think I have to take a break from this Fan-Fiction. I do hope that the two people reading my story don't mind, but I need to figure stuff out. I hate to do this in the middle of the arc, but I have no choice. The next update on how things stand, will come with the next chapter.
PPS: For those that want to know; these are the mods that I use for Serana (my entire mod-list is 150+ mods long) : (all from )
Seranaholic (Version 1.2): skyrim/mods/38326/? ... I currently have an issue with it so I use a different one now, namely
BVFE (Better Vampire Fangs and Eyes) Serana and Family: skyrim/mods/39549/? … Still a good mod, but I like the Seranaholic face a bit better.
Serana Hair Physics: skyrim/mods/65547/? ….To retain the normal hair, no matter the other mods, and now with physics.
Marriable Serana: skyrim/mods/28685/? …You can now marry her! Whoohooo.
Serana Dialogue Edit: skyrim/mods/52283/? ….This mod adds a ton of extra, fully voiced (original voice), lines that make her even more immersive. I really like this mod. Highly recommended, even for low-end PCs. It only ads dialogue, nothing heavy.
BIG PPPS: I am Dutch (from the Netherlands) so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar, please let me know.