Fahiil
Thera
It was a strange set of events that had created the strange, potential bedfellows of the Volkihar clan and the Dawnguard. Our location of meet was the Weynon Stones in the center of Skyrim, the place nearly equidistant from the Dawnguard's fort and the Castle Volkihar. No one seemed very happy to be present.
The leader of the Dawnguard was a short, if strong and stocky looking Imperial. His beard was bushier than any I've seen for some time, lending the bald man the look of a madman living in a cave by himself. Judging by the smell of the man, that was a safe bet. His eyes were filled were the same weak, inane rage of any human when faced with a superior being. Despite his insistence that he hated all Vampires and had nothing in common with any of them, the angry look he had plastered to his face was an incredible facsimile of the one that Harkon was shooting right back at him. Behind us, fifteen or so Vampires did the same towards the twenty or so Dawnguard with Isran and Lucius.
"You dragged me to the center of this Bal-forsaken nation to speak with these mortal fools?" Harkon asked me, sneering down at the short Imperial. "The Dawnguard? Really? We might as well ally ourselves with children if we want to die this badly." Harkon's voice was, to give him credit, even more full of condescension than I thought a human's could be. He turned to me, scoffing. "When you said that you wanted to find allies, I expected those who weren't already chasing us with the mental aptitude of a mutt chasing its own tail."
"And I didn't expect the sad step son of a leech who couldn't even figure out how to find his own daughter for more than two thousand years," the mortal retorted, crossing his arms over his barrel chest. "Live and learn, I suppose. Or die and learn, in your case!"
The human reached for his huge hammer strapped across his back, only to have a black, clawed, armored gauntlet grab his shoulder and stop him. "As much as I hate it, too, this isn't the time," Lucius told Isran, shaking his head. The huge human looked over at me and sighed. "We need to come to an accord. An agreement that we both find favorable, so let's try to keep the betrayal, rage, and hate to the barest minimum."
"Yes, Father, the sad truth is that we need each other," Serana snapped at Harkon with a growl. He merely raised an eyebrow in interest as his response. "And there has got to be a way for you and your lackies to make peace with the Dawnguard."
"Ah, yes. The friends of your... What do you want me to call your pet human again?" Harkon asked his daughter patronizingly. "Lucky, right? Or, perhaps he'd prefer Spot?"
"It's Lucius to you," the human said, deadpan. He groaned and tugged at the cloak around his shoulders. "We're getting nowhere. Look, we need to at least come up with a general agreement. What do you want, in exchange for your help. Then we tell you yes or no, counteroffer. Goes on until we figure something out."
"I get the bow after the death of Lamae, and my daughter returns to my castle with me," Harkon demanded without a pause.
Isran laughed as if this were a joke. "And we'll give you thirty acres of real estate in Aetherius for free. What in Oblivion do you take me for? A fool?"
"Yes," Harkon growled, drawing the same angry growl from Isran.
"That doesn't help," I hissed, angry I was being driven to agreeing with Lucius. "You said you would present a counteroffer."
"That Bow is a weapon of the Sun. Of Mortals, not Vampires. The Dawnguard take it, you can have the girl," Isran grunted, his eyes glinting with the belief in the 'greater good' that the mortals – humans especially – so loved.
Lucius whirled and the man, gripping him by the shoulders and lifting him into the air. I raised my eyebrow as the soldiers of the enemy – ah, temporary allies – drew their blades and took a step towards Luc. A single glancing glare from the human was enough to stop them all in their tracks. "Excuse me..?" Lucius growled, knives flying from his eyes and glancing off of his commanding officer's steely visage. "You shut the Oblivion up, dammit."
"As much I love this, please let him go," Harkon said beside me, letting a few beats pass as Lucius' angry gaze met his. "Ugh, we don't have time to dally like children. Every moment that passes is another moment that Lamae gathers her strength to flatten us and all Skyrim, Tamriel, Nirn, and beyond. I'd love to tear his head off, and I'd prefer to do it myself. So please let him down."
Lucius glared at the Vampire Lord for a short while, then let go of the shorter man, one hand at a time. I chuckled to myself as Lucius was able to hold the man up with one hand, armor, weapon and all. When Isran hit the ground, he shook his head at the other Dawnguard, who sheathed their weapons. Lucius stumbled backwards suddenly as the Breton's fist collided with my Jokaar's jaw. "Don't touch me, Dammit. She's a Vampire, she goes with them."
"No," Lucius growled standing straight up. He sighed and looked over at the woman in question, who was watching the whole proceeding with worried eyes. Lucius turned back to Isran and stifled another growl – poorly, as I could hear it from the ten or so feet away that I stood. "She stays with me."
Serana scoffed. "Dammit, I don't need your protection," she snapped. Drawing a surprised look from all involved. I saw Harkon's eyes widen in surprise and... rage, it seemed. I was even interested – this woman was a far cry from the one who had acted like a charmed child at the mere mention of Lucius' name just a few months prior. There was an odd steel to her voice.
Lucius' eyes widened and I was sure that his mind was replaying the moment he snapped at Serana that I was "his alone," or some such nonsense like that. "Ah, lover's spat," I sighed, drawing an enraged, surprised, and horrified snort from Harkon beside me. The young lovers' new found tryst had been news to him? Ah, delicious. "Now we really do need to hurry up. Just give us the girl and you can keep the bow." It was more important that I have another sacrifice, as Harkon could not be trusted. I could get the Bow of Auri El later.
Serana had apparently caught on. "No... Take the bow and I go where I want!" she lashed out angrily. Lucius looked over at her, torn between relief and fear, and I knew it was over. Harkon would take that deal, and Serana... well, it was only a Lover's Quarrel after all. Serana seemed a little surprised by this, but pleased nonetheless.
Harkon seethed for a moment, and so did his counterpart. "Well, you came home the moment you woke up. You'll come home again soon," Harkon said, holding in his rage. He even smiled. "You want to live, you'll accept this deal, Mortals. I do."
Lucius and Isran glared at each other before nodding slowly. "Serana -" Lucius stopped and looked over at Serana. "You make the decision, then." Isran grunted an assent. Serana nodded. "Then I guess we'd better start building our base here, since we won't agree on anywhere else. We -"
"Lucius!"
The entire area turned on heel, glaring at the man running towards us. Vampires hissed in hunger and fear. Dawnguard looked like they thought he was one of ours. Only Lucius seemed to recognize the terrified, heavily breathing Imperial soldier sprinting towards our negotiations. "Hadvar..? I mean... Legate, what are you doing here?!"
I turned to Lucius and frowned. But I remained silent – something was astir, with the shadows that we were already concerned with looming in the horizon. "Luc... Riverwood. It's gone."
Jul
Lucius
I stood with Serana and the twitching Hadvar in a veritable ghost town. "Divines. There's no one left," I muttered as I picked up a small, wooden sword from the floor of the blacksmithy. Hadvar's young cousin, now a young woman about to enter the early days of womanhood, had been stolen along with the rest of the town. I looked over at the Legate with nothing but empathy in my eyes. This type of event was one that I had lived through too many times, on both sides of the blade. I pushed myself up to my feet and turned towards the soldier, who was just holding back tears. "If we can, we'll find them.
"Who took them?" Hadvar asked. His voice had a surprisingly steely edge for someone so close to the breaking point.
I sighed and looked over at Serana, then back at Hadvar. "A woman. She knows that I care about the people here," I explained.
"So it's because of you?" Hadvar asked, no accusation in his eyes. He scoffed to himself and snarled. "I knew it would happen eventually. I just didn't expect..." He waved his arms about lamely. "Who? Who is she?"
"I'd -"
Serana stepped up. "She is incredibly dangerous," she said simply. "If you know, you can't go after her."
"I'm honor bound to!" Hadvar snapped. He glanced around with a snort. "Should have known Luc would find a woman who had the same hero complex as him."
"Find a woman?" Serana asked with a low growl.
"You know what I mean... Fine, just... I need to do something," Hadvar begged. He walked over to me and pulled the wooden sword from my hand. He cradled the toy weapon in his arms for a moment, as if trying to hug the people he had lost back to him. He looked so incredibly fragile. We all did, I suppose, all of us at least functionally orphans.
"Look, we know who did this and she scares me. Me," I told Hadvar, causing him to pall. "You need to get to High Queen Elisif, get her to at least prepare the army. But warn her not to march, until we completely know how to deal with this being, fighting isn't safe."
"Not safe how?"
"Any war we fought, we would lose the moment our opponent entered the battlefield. Doesn't matter how many soldiers we have there, they will all die, I will be taken as well, and terrible things will happen," I muttered hoarsely.
"But, surely the General -"
I shook my head. "Even if that helped, we couldn't. The Thalmor, the Vampires. The Empire needs Tullius. Even if he doesn't toss his hat into the ring for Emperor, he's necessary for the unification to take place before..."
"Before the Thalmor War," Hadvar finished. He sighed. "World's getting too damn violent. I was hoping I could at least get a decade of peace, maybe retire before fighting in the next gods forsaken war."
"Peace is for lesser men, Hadvar," I replied with a sad smile. I sighed and clutched at the black cloak hanging again from my shoulders. As I turned to leave, I glanced over my shoulder. "When the time for battle comes, I'll call for you."
"So we're heading to the bow now?" Serana asked.
I shook my head and pulled the hood of my cloak up. "Florentius and I spoke for a little while before the negotiations. Some things are starting to make sense in my head from the Scrolls, including a way we might be able to resist whatever it is that Lamae does. Unfortunately, ancient, sun blessed weapons are a bit hard to come by. Fortunately, on the other hand, Arkay told Florentius where the first one is."
"So we're leaving the bow to her?"
"It's definitely a downside," I responded, my gauntlet curling into an angry fist. "But I don't see any other way out of it."
AN: Hey everyone. I hope you all had a Happy New Year. Sorry it's been so long, but I was enjoying my last weeks with my family before not seeing them again for three months. Ah, College. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this Chapter, and if you did please leave reviews. Also, feel free to ask questions if you want - about the unfolding future of the story, the past, anything. Thanks for reading.
