DISCLAIMER: I in no way own The Elder Scrolls Series. All rights to the world, characters, and story are owned by Bethesda Games Studios and their related partners.

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Enchanted

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Chapter 2: The Dawnguard

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"How would you feel about getting a little revenge on the little Leeches?"

. . . .

"Come boy, I know you can do better than this!" a hash, feminine voice called out over the roar of the flame. All around him were burning buildings and the ashes of those unfortunate enough to be caught in them.

"Focus! Make the flames listen to your will! Bend them, shape them, make them burn in your name!" the voice called again as he held his hands out before him, jets of white hot fire erupting from the palms of his hands as he released a powerful roar of effort. As the flames spread out before him, he brought his hands closer to one another, curling his fingers with great effort, forcing the fires to shrink, and collect between the palms of his hands.

"Good! Now, unleash it, and let the ashes of this town fly in the wind!"

With one final roar, he slammed the orb of now golden colored flames into the ground, the burning force exploding around him, catching everything within its destructive path.

As quickly as the power came, it went. Not even leaving behind the burning embers of the previous fires in its wake.

All around him was silence, the golden flame burning all in its path to mere ashes, save for him. For he was master of these fires. He was its will, its mind, body, and soul.

"Good…" came the voice once more. "You have learned much, my champion. May your flames guide my holy light so that I may purge this world of its darkness."

He panted in exhaustion as he fell to his knees. He looked at the sheer destruction around him, the desolation that his hands had brought. Looking at his hands, still wreathed in flame as he thought of what he had done.

Him. A boy who had not even seen fifteen winters, destroyed the city of Cheydinhal in its entirety.

He began to hyperventilate as he thought of the power he had been given. How could he be trusted with this? How could he be her champion? Him? The bastard child of Man and Mer? A petty thief?

"From this day forward, you are no longer the boy who would pinch purses while the noble were unaware. No longer, are you the child who would stand in the streets and beg this world for mercy. No, from this day forth, you are now my guiding light. Ye who will rend the darkness of this world asunder! You are Roi of Sunder!"

. . . .

Opening his lone eye, Roi let out a sigh of exhaustion as he sat up in his bed, the furs covering his body sliding off as he brought up a hand to run through his hair.

"Something big must be coming to be sending me these dreams, my lady. What is it that you fear so?" he whispered to himself, shaking his head as he slid out of his bed and lit a candle with the wave of his hand.

Putting on a pair of slacks and a cotton shirt, he padded his way towards the door and opened it. Instantly his senses were hit by the sounds and smells of the tavern known as the Bee and Barb.

Sifting through the hall, he made his way for the stairs, and down to the still lit tavern. He only saw a few people quietly enjoying a late night drink. Usually he would ignore them, move to the bar and get his own drink before returning to his room for the night, however, one of the patrons made him break his usual routine with an annoyed sigh.

"You should get some rest, Mjoll. Dayspring Canyon is a little over a day's ride from here." He said as he sat at the bar next to the Nord. Catching the Argonian that ran the bar's eye, he motioned her to get him something to drink, giving them some space while she went to get him a clean mug.

"Can't a woman drink in peace…" Mjoll scoffed with a slight slur to her voice, a testament to how much she had already drank. Roi chuckled blithely as he shook his head at her.

"Aye, she can. But, you on the other hand, need your rest for the ride tomorrow. I can't have a hungover Nord riding with me in case we're attacked by a bear on the way, now can I?" he said in a sarcastic tone that made said Nord's brow furrow in slight frustration.

"So I get to ride with a hungover Breton? Not much of a difference, save a Nord would be more useful." She slurred out before tipping back her own mug, emptying the contents quickly before slamming it back onto the counter.

It was at about that time that the Argonian barmaid came back with a mug for Roi, and with Mjoll's outburst she looked at the Nord with a small frown on her reptilian face.

"I think you have had enough for the night, Mjoll." She growled out in the usual gruff voice that most Argonians seemed to have.

"You know I can drink more, Keerava. Don't you go cutting me off yet." Mjoll protested, before thrusting out her mug. "Now, I need another."

Roi sighed and placed a hand on her outstretched arm. "You've had enough, go home." he said in more of a stern tone. The Nord woman was about to protest further, until a small flash of green light shrouded her body.

"Y-you're right. I'll head back home now…" she mumbled quietly before standing from her chair and walking towards the door.

Keerava motioned for her husband to see her home, and watched the two leave. "You know, she's going to kill you for that…" she droned at the one eyed mage. Roi merely shrugged and took a long drink out of his mug, savoring the feel of the warm mead filling him.

"Eh, she can try." He hummed with a smirk before going back to his drink. He finished his drink and placed a stack of septims on the coming counter. "For hers and mine, as well as the help." He said before he pushed up from his seat and headed back towards the stairs.

"That's quite the stack of coins for a couple of drinks an' a walk home." A voice stopped the one eyed mage before he could ascend the stairs. Roi sighed in annoyance before he looked behind him to the voice.

A tall red haired Nord stood there with a small smirk and his hands on his hips, giving the mage an appraising look. "Bet you've never worked a day in your life for that gold," he started in a hushed tone, sure that only Roi could hear. Slinking over next to him, the ginger swung an arm over the Bretons shoulder and leaned close.

"Now, if you want some real coin, I might just have an offer for ye." Roi just gave the man a hard look and snatched the man's wrist before it could reach into his pocket. The ginger haired man hissed in pain as he felt his wrist start to burn in the mages grasp.

"Aye, I never worked for the gold. Never got the chance, since I had to keep killin' ginger cunts like you to keep what I got." Roi growled out before shoving the man away. The ginger grabbed at his now burned wrist and flared at the Breton. "Now shove off before I send ya ta meet Nocturnal in person, sneak thief."

The Nord growled before shuffling his way out of the Bee and Barb. Keerava shook her head from behind the counter the entire time.

"Brynjolf," she sighed. "How low has the thieves guild become for that to be their recruiting attempt?"

Roi scoffed before he turned around and made his way up the stairs. 'I already serve another, no reason to have Nocturnal trying to sink her claws into me as well…'

. . . .

Morning came quickly after that, along with a blinding headache for Mjoll. She glared at her companion as they rode out of the Riften stables just as the sun began to rise. "You know I should gut you for manipulating me like that." She stated, her words cutting through the otherwise peacefully silent morning.

"Aye, and you'd probably be right to." Roi laughed in response, a small gleam forming in his lone eye. "But ya won't 'cus ya know I was right to do it." Mjoll huffed and returned her attention to her horse. Roi chuckled to himself again and reached down to pat Frost's neck. "And that's anotha' win for me, lass." he soothed the mare and urged her on a little faster.

A few more moments of silence passed between the two before Mjoll sighed and began to ask, "So, what are these Dawnguard folk like? You told me they were vampire hunters, but not much else."

Roi hummed in thought for a moment before turning to her. "Well, I did a little research on em' before I set out to find you, Erandur, and Stenvar. Turns out there's not much on them really, other than they used to be with The Hall of Vigilants but thought they were...too soft and split. They were around for a few years but eventually broke apart."

"Why's that?" Mjoll asked, a little more intrigued with the group they were about to join up with.

"No idea really. Again, not a lot of information on them, even for the college's library."

"Well at least it's something." The Nord relented after a moment. She waited for a brief second before changing the subject. "So...what have you been up to? Been a year since I last saw you." She gave him a pointed look. "And you never even stopped by Riften to get a drink with me and...with me like you promised." She went on, prodding him a bit before cutting herself off.

Sensing the hesitation around bringing Aerin up, Roi opted to just answer her question and not dig into that fresh wound just yet. "Well, when you take over and run an entire college it turns out you become quite busy." He smirked at her shocked expression.

"You're the Archemage?" She asked in a baffled tone. "Who in their right mind would put you in charge of a school?"

Roi could feel the smirk in her tone without even looking at her and gave a hearty laugh. "I know right!?" He chortled on. "I told em' they were crazy for makin' me Archemage, but apparently clearing an ancient Nordic ruin that's never had anyone come back from and then stopping a calamity from destroying all of Winterhold will get you some serious respect apparently."

Mjoll just stared at him for a long, hard moment, before groaning and rubbing a hand across her still hungover head. "It's too early for this. That's a story best left for when I'm well into my cups, not for when you or I are sober."

"Aye, that's somethin' I can agree with there." Roi urged Frost onward. "Now come on, I wanna get there before sundown."

. . . .

Day Spring Canyon was one of the many locations in Skyrim that Roi honestly felt were a piece of art created by the Aedra. It was an absolutely stunning location, filled with life and serenity. Barely any indication that there was any form of human or elven influence in the area aside from the worn dirt path that cut through the area.

"You know, this is something I missed from my adventuring days. Seeing things like this really makes me wonder why I ever stopped." Mjoll said in awe of the living canyon. Roi made to agree with her, only to be cut off by the call of what could only be the voice of a young, and nervous young man.

"H-Hey there!" The two companions looked near where a small waterfall met up with a pond that filled the east end of the canyon. There stood a fairly tall, young blond haired Nord. He wore common clothes, those of a farmer or some other lower class worker, and had a rather old looking ax hung at his hip.

"You here to join the Dawnguard too-" He stopped in mid sentence as he approached the two, and stared in shock at the Breton in the group. "By the Divines! It's you!" he shouted in what could only be reverence as he quickly saddled up next to Roi and Frost.

"Uh, me?"

"Yes, you! You were the one who killed the Vampires at Darkwater Crossing!" The young man went on to say. "M-My names Agmaer, I lived up in Shor's Stone. My Ma lived in Darkwater, and you got her out of there! I can't thank you enough for that, she's the only one I got left, and the whole thing with Darkwater is why I'm even-"

Roi cut him off before the boy could ramble himself unconscious with how little he was breathing. "Alright, alright. You're welcome. I'm just lucky I got there when I did, any later and they would have been long gone and the whole town would have been ash." He said in a calm tone. "Now, if you're joining up with the Dawnguard, what're ya doing over here hiding near the pond?"

Agmaer blushed bright at that and brought a hand up behind his head. "Ah, well you see...I was a little...too nervous to go meet Isran on my own." He got out between nervous chuckles, before gasping in freight. "Ah! Don't tell him I said that, alright? Kind of a bad first impression for a new Vampire Hunter, yeah?"

Mjoll rolled her eyes and urged her horse on while Roi chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright, my lips are sealed...Though, there is one thing." He said while reaching a hand out to the boy. "You're ax, hand it here."

Agmaer hesitated for a moment before nervously handing over his ax. "I-It's my Pa's ax, last thing I really have of his…"

Roi nodded in understanding as he hefted the slightly blunt weapon and examined it. He hummed in thought before reaching a hand into one of the many bandolier pouches on his chest and retrieved a small pale gem stone. Running the edge of the gem across the handle of the ax, he muttered a few arcane words before a brief flash of fire emerged from the blade. "There we go." He said as the gem in his hand turned to dust. "That should make you look a little more promising when meeting this Isran fellow." He handed the ax back to the boy who had a look of astonishment on his face.

"What did you do to it?" He examined the slightly glowing runes that now marked the handle of the ax and admired the slight reddish glow that the blade gave off.

"Oh, just a simple fire enchantment. Should make cutting down Vampires and other undead creatures a little easier for ya...though I do recommend sharpening the blade a little." He explained as Agmaer gained a look of determination in his eyes.

"Yes sir!"

Roi nodded to the boy before kipping Frost into movement. "Now, let's go see what the fuss about these hunters is all about."

. . . .

To say Fort Dawnguard was impressive was akin to saying that dragons breathe fire. It was obvious that it was impressive, but it wasn't only impressive. It was massive and intimidating. Roi had not seen castles or fortresses of the like since his time in Cyrodil. And even then they were not purely made for defensive purposes. But with Fort Dawnguard, the winding path to the front gate, the overbearing towers, the numerous archer's windows. This fort was built to fight back against even the most grueling of sieges. And yet, at a closer look, it seemed oh so very much in disrepair. Trees, weeds, ivy's, and several other forms of vegetation had overgrown the pathways leading forward, leaving it a jumbled mess. Not to mention the growth forming along the sides of the Fortress walls, inadvertently causing large cracks to form in the foundation.

It was a picture perfect Castle. And now, it stood as a solemn reminder of what could have been so very long ago.

"Though this one stands whole, it seems very much like all the other great fortresses of Skyrim. Decrepit, and abandoned." Mjoll piped up as the three new recruits for the Dawnguard made their approach. They had already passed by the first sign of people in the form of Durak, the Orc who had offered Roi the position. He was standing as a sentry below one of the great towers. He had greeted them and told them to head on inside, and that Isran was waiting.

So continuing on, they passed what seemed to be a small camp for those on watch, where they saw a young woman firing what looked like a mechanized bow at a tree for target practise. She paid them no mind, as she continued to fire bolt after bolt into the tree. While Roi would have loved to stop and examine the weapon she had been using, only having seen something similar being used by the Dwemer, he had more pressing matters to be concerned with.

"New recruits huh?" A jovial man with swept back auburn hair greeted them from the steps leading to the front gate. "You better head on inside, Isran will want to meet you."

As the three approached, he stepped aside and let them in after they unloaded themselves from their horses and let them roam into the lush area around the castle. Upon entering the massive castle, Roi removed his hood and undid his scarf, not wanting to have his face hidden for the first meeting with a man he would most likely be working with very closely for the foreseeable future.

As they entered the castle, Agmaer held back and stayed near the entrance. "Y-You guys go on ahead. I'll introduce myself after you guys…"

Mjoll and Roi just shared a quick look and shrugged. The kid'll get by on his own, no need to hold his hand the entire time. Moving forward, Roi had to admit, the interior was just as grand, and desolate, as the exterior. Incredibly high ceilings, well cut stone, and above all, run down and unkempt. Scattered crates of supplies, massive groupings of cobwebs and dust mared whatever beauty the castle would have had when it was first built.

"Well look who decided to show up!" The loud and boisterous voice of Stenvar echoed through the mostly barren halls of Fort Dawnguard. Mjoll and Roi's attention were stripped away from the physical state of the castle they were in, and instead were drawn to the heavily armored Nord quickly approaching the two. The bald Nord quickly pulled Roi into a bone crushing hug, using his heavily muscled arms to crush the smaller in frame Breton against the plate of his armor.

"Yeah. Good to see you too…" Roi weazed out before Stenvar dropped him completely. "Why…" The Breton gasped for air as he found his footing and shot a small glare and the now smirking Nord.

"That," He started. "Was payback for leaving me here to listen to that bastard Isran talk for three days." He finished with a growl before turning to Mjoll. He looked her up and down and crossed his arms. "An' who's this? Needed another person here to keep ya from getting killed?"

Roi inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself and not raise to the jab that Stenvar threw at him. "Don't. You know he wins if you turn him into a bloody smear on the wall. Don't do it...even if you really want to."

"I am Mjoll the Lioness. I don't believe we've ever been really introduced before?" Mjoll stepped forward and reached out a hand, which Stenvar quickly took into a strong grip.

"The name's Stenvar. It's a pleasure to meet another warrior strong enough to make Roi think he'd need us." He laughed out before backing away a few steps. "Now come on. Isran's in a meeting with some guy from the Vigilants. Erandur's with em' and they've been waiting for you." He began walking off towards the west wing of the lower floor and Mjoll and Roi quickly moved to keep pace.

"So," Roi voiced in a low tone. "Is he really that bad?"

Stenvar shrugged. "Depends really. He's incredibly cynical and untrusting, but he's pragmatic enough to get a job done. Though, he's a bit of a...arsehole in general. You'd probably get along well now that I think about it." The Nord ducked as Roi's palm flew over his head. "Kidding, I'm kidding. But yeah. Real hardass type. So be careful."

"Well I guess we'll have to see how it goes."

. . . .

"They're all dead Isran! Carcette, the Vigilant, all of them! You were right, we were wrong! Isn't that enough for you?"

This was the first thing the three heard as they walked into what looked like a briefing area in the west wing. Roi gave Mjoll a look and she gave him a shrug, showing she was just as lost as he was. In the room stood Erandur off to the side, sitting on a bench and looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. The two other occupants were a tall, well armored Nord adorned with distinct priest robes under his armor. As well as a heavily armed and armored Redguard, who at the moment was rubbing his forehead in what looked like exhaustion with the situation.

"Yes, well...I never wanted any of this to happen. I tried to warn all of you...I am sorry, you know." The Redguard rasped out in his deep, echoing voice. "I...I'm sorry, for your loss, Tolan." The two were silent for a moment before the Redguard looked Roi and Mjoll's way. "Stenvar, who're they?" Roi could immediately feel the suspicion in his voice, his keen eye catching the tensing of muscles and the readiness to start fighting in the Redguard's posture.

"They're here to help." Stenvar grunted out as he moved to the side and gestured to them both. "This here is Mjoll the Lioness, and the Breton is the one who got me and Erandur to come here. He's Roi of Sunder, Archemage of the College of Winterhold." None of the inhabitants of the room could miss the widening of the Redguards eyes at Roi's introduction, and Stenvar couldn't help but smirk at that. He stepped back over towards Erandur and crossed his arms. "Told you you'd be surprised…" He grumbled before taking a seat.

Roi stepped forward and offered a hand. "A pleasure. To be honest, I haven't heard much about what's going on, but, I did run into some trouble at Darkwater Crossing. Some Vampires burned the whole damn village down. So, I at least know they're getting bolder, so if you could fill me in, it'd be much appreciated."

Isran was quick to take the offered hand and gave it a strong shake. "It'll be a major boon to us to have you here. And I'd heard what had happened in Darkwater. That kind of thing is exactly why we're getting the Dawnguard running again. This kind of thing has been happening all over Skyrim. Hell, Tolan here was just saying they even attacked the Hall of the Vigilants." He motioned to the Nord besides him who quickly took Roi's hand as well in greeting.

Isran let them introduce themselves before carrying on. "In all honesty, we have no idea what they're after. All I know is that their activity is getting out of hand. So, I've been recruiting and reestablishing this order." Roi listened and nodded along.

"Damn." He grunted before walking over to the table at the side of the room, where a large map of Skyrim was laid out. "Do you know if any other village's have been hit like Darkwater?"

Isran shook his head. "So far, Darkwater is the only one to take such a heavy hit. But, I've heard back that Rorickstead, Ivarstead, and Dragon's Bridge have had attacks, but no real loss."

"Don't forget Riften. They had attacked there not even three days ago." Mjoll cut in, a frown on her face as she brought up the attack.

Isran nodded solemnly and sighed. "I had just gotten the news today from Celann." He moved to stand besides Roi at the map table. "As you can see, we're a bit behind on what's going on as well. In all honesty, I just don't have enough men yet to actively have people out in the field taking the fight to the Vampires…" He let his words hang for a moment before Roi turned to him with an arched brow.

"And that's where we come in?" Roi finished for him. "You need us to be where you cannot, and actually start to push them back and punish them for overreaching?"

"Exactly."

Roi nodded a few times before looking back to the map. "Aye, we could do that. Though, I'll have to let ya know my work is best left to me to be in charge of. I get the feeling you feel the same about people telling you what to do?" Isran reluctantly nodded to that, already guessing at what the Archemage was going to suggest.

Roi looked back to the map and continued on. "You give me targets, and I'll coordinate what to do about them and let you know what happens. Though, how the situations are handled, I need to have the say in that if you're giving me the job."

Isran thought it over for a moment before growling out a sigh. "Fine. It'd be too much of a hassle to make you do anything anyway. Plus, since you're the Archemage, I'm going to trust that you know what you're doing...don't break that trust." Roi nodded along before turning to Stenvar and Erandur.

"Then let's get started." he said before pointing to Stenvar. "Go through the Fort and check to see what's still usable. Get with Isran if you have any points about improving defenses and what the costs would be to get this place back in shape." The Nord grunted out a confirmation and got up to have a look around.

"Erandur, it's good to see you made it." He continued after Stenvar had left. The dark elf gave a short bow to the Mage, and listened for what he was supposed to do. "I need you to start setting up protective wards around the Castle. Alarms, traps, holy barriers, whatever you can get set up with the supplies you have. After that, get an infirmary set up and stocked."

"Of course." Erandur bowed again before heading out of the meeting hall, and began his work.

Roi turned back to Isran and Tolan. "Now, is there anything that needs to be done on my end?"

Isran turned to Tolan and gestured towards Roi and Mjoll. "Why don't you tell them about...what was it, Dimhollow Crypt?"

"Ah yes, Dimhollow." Tolan nodded a few times before moving to the map and marking a location on it. "Brother Adavald was convinced that there was some sort of Vampiric artifact hidden there. We didn't listen to him then…"

Isran stepped in while Tolan drifted off. "With how close it is to the Hall of the Vigilant, I'm convinced they'd be looking into it." He explained. "I want you to go to Dimhollow, find out what they're doing there, and root them out."

Roi looked to Mjoll, and she nodded with him in confirmation. Nodding back to her, he moved to the map again and translated the location of Dimhollow Crypt onto his own map. "I'll look into it. But, if what you say is true, they may have already gotten what they wanted and left by the time we get there."

"Then you need to hurry and get there as soon as possible." Isran agreed. They all moved to leave and hurry to get their work done, but Tolan stopped them before they could.

"I'm going too." He stated, causing the three to pause. "They murdered my brothers and sisters. I deserve to be there to help."

Isran shook his head in disagreement. "No. Tolan, you're no fighter. I need you here to help shore up Fort Dawnguard and help us work on a way to keep us protected from a counter attack once we really start getting things underway." While Isran was being rational, Tolan scowled in response and shot down Isran's request immediately.

"No. I'm going to Dimhollow." The resolve in his voice left no room to argue. "I didn't take this threat seriously before, and I lost the only family I've ever known. I will not do that again." He turned away from Isran to stare Roi and Mjoll in the eyes. "I'll meet you at the Crypt. Maybe this old priest will be of use for once." And with that, without waiting for response, he marched past all of them and out of the Fort.

The three left behind shared a look between each other before Isran sighed tiredly. "You might as well get a move on. And please, try to keep him from getting himself killed."

"Of course," Mjoll responded and started to move off.

"...He's looking for death." Roi said under his breath to the older Redguard. "I make no promises to return with him alive, but, I will try my best." Isran only gave him a nod before the Breton followed after Mjoll.

. . . .

(A/N): To be continued…

Heyyyyyyyy. Just got a new job that gives me a LOT more down time. So, I actually have more time to write now. So, I thought I'd look back to a story that I was very excited to write for since it was outside of the fandom I usually write for. Though, I dropped it when it didn't get the same response as my other stories, I thought I might as well just keep the passion for it alive anyway. The Elder Scrolls series is one of my all time favorite things in the world. (I'm even running an Elder Scrolls themed DND campaign at the moment...been contemplating about streaming it...don't really know yet.)

But yeah, I'd expect a few updates on this one here and 'Into the Wild' every now and then.

Remember to REVIEW! And like always, I'll see ya next time!