Fahiil

Thera

I frowned as I spoke with Garan. "And you are sure that these things are what I saw in the vision?" I asked, thinking back on the items I saw in the darkness of the Elder Scrolls' gaze.

"Yes. The amulets of Bat and Gargoyle, the Rings of Erudite and Beast. Weapons of great power and, if what you say is true, the only items capable of defending Vampires from the total control of Lamae Beolfag," the Dark Elf replied. Harkon stood with us, considering what was being said. We stood alone in the Vampire Lord's tent, whispering amongst the riches. Couldn't have the Dawnguard learning anything. "The Atmoran's blindly given statement that the key to victory is in obtaining the Runic weapons displays his foolishness. No doubt those weapons will aid the humans, but we need more, especially for when we make our move."

"Indeed. The play for my daughter is a necessity, and one that must be acted out to perfection. We will not speak of these artifacts to our... temporary allies. Any advantage we can claim in that battle, in the battle with Lucius... will be boon from Bal himself," Harkon said, turning from his examination of his reflection. He stroked his beard for a moment. "Do you know anything else that we can use to gain an advantage over the Dawnguard when the time comes?"

I smiled to myself. "Let me think... a dragon, hm? One of the most powerful dragons left on Nirn ready to lay waste in my name, all at the call of his name. Once Lamae Bal is dead, the dragon will be of much use in that battle. Other than that... I can have assassins at the ready. Archers ready to rain death down upon my enemies. Ah, our enemies. Other than that... I can only think of a few groups, none of which I have any personal connection with, that truly despise Lucius specifically," I explained. I smiled contentedly. Lucius would survive, of that I had little doubt. But afterwards, he would come for the woman he loved. And then he would die by my hand, the final joy I had so desired for oh so long. "If you send Thralls to them, they will come. Take out a few of the Dawnguard before our final battle with them when their tattered forces assault the Castle."

"Are you sure that's how it's going to happen?" the Dawnguard asked.

"Of that I have little doubt," Harkon muttered. He laughed. "They would attack even if it was only their weakest member standing alone in the darkness. They are idealists, which I can respect. But they are also fools, a much more useful facet of their beliefs in the superiority of mortals over Vampires."

"And there is another facet of their existence that we must hold in our minds. Most of them are close quarters fighters," I said with a sly grin. I had a plan to enact an even greater victory for the Volkihar –specifically me, really. "The battle plan will inevitably have them warring on the front lines with Lamae, meaning we only have to, well, let nature take its course on the battle field. From there, our ranks will merely need to fire into theirs. They will be surrounded. Dead in moments."

Harkon smiled, a thin, grim thing. "I love the way you think," he said.

For once, I decided to take the compliment without any disgust.

Jul

Lucius

I cradled the sword at my hip with one hand, frowning. I was on the road with Serana, traveling to the first location of the Runic Weapons, and she was... women are scary when they're angry and annoyed. Especially Vampiric women who can turn into a seven foot tall gray skinned Daedra spawn capable of tearing you in half, drinking all of your blood, and then throwing the used husk nearly thirty miles away. Other than that, her angry glares were just peachy and delightful. Oof, if looks could drain the blood from someone's body and leave them an exsanguinated puddle of bone and skin on the floor.

I sighed and raised my eyebrows, laughing to myself. "Is there something wrong, Serana?" I asked, honestly getting tired of the passive aggressive shit. She hissed a growl at me and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so... nothing? Good, I was worried you weren't just being sulky and had instead graduated to full on... please just tell me what's wrong, okay? I... women are confusing."

Serana just huffed and walked past me, moving quickly ahead of me. Her boots kicked up dirt into my face and I coughed. "Really? You know, I can't actually do anything to fix this if you won't tell me what's going on? What happened between Riverwood and here that you stopped talking to me?"

"It wasn't Riverwood," Serana snapped over her shoulder. She pulled her hood up, like she was trying to block my dumbfounded stare.

"I – what!?" I shouted, incredulous.

"You know what you did!" Serana snapped again.

"I – what!?" I simply repeated. My armor clinked around my shoulders.

Serana's response was a growl. My response was somewhere between a nervous whimper and a laugh. "Okay, so... Dammit woman, would you just tell me what in gods damned Oblivion is wrong!?" I shouted, stopping my movement in a clang of Daedric armor colliding with itself. I looked up at the sky an screamed in exasperation. "I'm not moving. I will not move another damnable step until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

Serana whirled and it was like she had all the rage of Aetherius and Oblivion streaming from her eyes in that moment. Divines Above! Alduin was less angry than she did right then. "You don't trust me."

"I – what!?" I repeated, completely confused yet again. I was starting to sound like I had been cursed with a repetition spell.

She marched right up to me, all six feet of her making my six and a half feet feel very, very small. I swear, I was almost staring straight up. "Sweetie, what's wrong? And can you tell me in plain Nibenese this time?" I asked between gritted, smiling teeth.

Serana's eye twitched and a pang of fear ran through my gut. "You don't trust me," she repeated through gritted, snarling teeth.

"I trust you more than anyone Serana!" I shouted, indignant she would insinuate otherwise. "Why... what in Oblivion would make you think otherwise!?"

"No. You don't trust me to take care of myself!" she shouted right back, probably louder than me. She threw her arms apart and her hood slid from her head. Her hair, much longer now, waved about her head with the same jagged, angry movements that her body did. "What the hell is that about!?"

"I don't trust you to take care of yourself!?" I asked. I laughed dryly as it came to me. "When I attacked Thera. I told you it was my fight. It's my fight."

"So you aren't even going to apologize?" Serana asked indignantly.

"For what!?" I screamed.

"Oh, you don't know?"

"Serana, that woman is almost as dangerous as Dwemer. You didn't complain when I sent you away then!" I snapped. I moved towards the Vampire, our gazes meeting with a shower of sparks.

"I ignored you!" she pointed out. She shoved me back, hard. "I came back anyways, and I was the one that actually killed her."

"Oh, congratulations. That's just great," I praised sarcastically. "Next tell me about the time you killed an entire army by yourself."

"Oh, I might have to start telling the story about how I killed you," she growled, turning away for a moment, then turning right back, eyes angrier than before. "You think you're so scary? So powerful? I'm a Vampire. A gods damned pure blooded Daughter of Coldharbour with ice in her gods-forsaken veins. I know powerful and scary and I've taken it all."

"Good for you!" I screamed. I laughed, perhaps a little too derisively but, hey, I was angry and acting stupid. "You survived one terrible thing. Great. You can't keep pushing that luck, Serana."

"Why not!? I can handle myself!" the Vampire screamed.

"I know you can!" I screamed in response.

"Then what is this about? Why are you acting like a scared child, dammit!?" Serana shouted, shoving me again.

"Stop it," I growled, low. She shoved me again and asked the same question, louder, angrier. "I said stop!"

"What are you so damn afraid of!?"

"I won't let another person die for me!" I screamed. "Because of me, Tanyin became a mass murdering psychopath. You want to know something? That cloak? It heals all your scars, everything wrong with you. She had her scars, which means she cut them back into her neck herself. I gods damned did that to her. Then there was Lydia. I trusted her to take care of herself. I wasn't there, and because of that she died. She died fighting that damnable Thalmor Bitch!"

I screamed incoherently at the sky, then returned my steely gaze. "Gods dammit, Serana. I won't let another person die because of me!"

Serana froze, her eyes filled with sympathy. I panted heavily and felt all the energy leave my body. "I..." I shook my head and covered my face with my hands. "Serana. Just... forget -"

"Luc, you have to let that go. Dwemer made her choices too. And Lydia died for honor, for doing what was right," she replied. It was my turn to freeze in place. "Luc, you have to remember, despite everything I'm still strong enough to fight my own battles. I'm a woman, not a girl, okay?"

"I know, and that's something I admire about you," I finally said, pulling my hands from my face; I saw tears glistening on my armor as I did. "Serana, it wasn't that I didn't think you could do it. I know you can. You're so damn capable in everything."

"Then what was it?" she asked, getting closer to me. She put her hand on my cheek, her cool touch cradling my face.

"I couldn't handle it. I couldn't do it. Just thinking about it, any of it. It fr – Serana..." I stumbled over it. Finally, it was like there was a small fire igniting in my gut. I just steeled my voice and shouted to her, "I just love you, and I couldn't help it!"

Serana gasped quietly, but didn't move away. Her gaze held mine, her amber eyes moving in quick, slight, erratic paths. The seconds seemed to stretch on for an eternity. "Luc I..." she finally said. She smiled sadly up at me, then coughed and turned away from me. "I... guess we should make up for lost time."

"Yeah. I guess," I agreed hollowly. I trudged past her, not stopping to look over at her. She just stared at the ground as I passed, just as lost as I was. "We should hurry."

I stopped when I felt a soft, smooth tug. My cloak. I turned to Serana, who was staring up at me with her lost, golden eyes. "Why?" she asked. I saw her eyes were glistening tears. It was surprising – Serana was always so stoic, so strong. Why was she crying? Why was she breaking down. Dammit, I was the one who had, well, said the word, right? Shouldn't I be angry and emotional? "I'd get sleeping with me. I'm attractive, you're attractive. But you're a human, I've... been with Molag Bal... dammit, Luc, you fought off Lamae Beolfag by yourself and I felt like running."

"I – what?" I asked, turning my body and holding Serana's shoulders. It all made sense now. Of course she was angry about me telling her to get away while I fought Thera. Of course she was sad and angry with herself. She thought she had failed when we last saw Lamae. "What, you didn't... I'm sorry you feel that way, but you didn't do anything wrong – after all you stood up to Dwemer when she knocked me unconscious. Serana, you're scary and you're strong, and you know everything about me that there is to know. With anyone else I'd get weird looks and pity, from you I just get... you. You may think you're a monster, but I'm not exactly Jarl Puppies-n-Rainbows myself."

Serana snorted and covered her mouth, still giggling. She sighed after a moment, stopping her laughter. "Luc..." she just stared into my eyes, smiling in a way that was, somehow, both light and reaching all the way to her eyes. "Oh, dammit. I love you, Luc." She pulled me close and hugged me tight.

I smiled and closed my eyes, burying my face in her hair. "I love you, too."

Jul

Alvor

Alvor awoke suddenly in pure darkness, struggling for breath. He groaned and spasmed, his stomach ejecting its contents in a violent burst. As he retched, he slowly became aware of the presence of others in the empty blackness around him. When he finally stopped emptying his stomach, he groaned and pushed himself up to his knees. "Hello? Hello, who is out there? Sigrid!? Dorthe!? Where are you!? Hello! Answer me! Dorthe!? Sigrid!? Anyone!" There was a noise in the shadows. "Sigrid? Dorthe?!"

The noise echoed once more, the noise of armored boots clacking against stone. "Sigrid?" Alvor asked, stumbling to his feet. "Is that you?"

"Oh, it is, honey," the woman's voice called back.

Alvor sighed, relieved that he had found his wife, not noticing the dark edge that was prevalent in her tone. "Sigrid," he gasped, stumbling to his feet and towards the source of the noise. The blacksmith embraced the woman happily, clutching at her shoulders. "Honey, I was worried." He pushed himself to arms length of his wife, holding her arms. "Where are we? Where's Dorthe? Have you seen our daughter?"

"No, unfortunately, she was not taken," the woman replied, her eyes closed.

"Good," Alvor breathed in relief. "I – wait? Unfortunately?"

The woman opened her red eyes and smiled, her fangs extending the width of her mouth. "But don't worry. We'll find her soon," she whispered.

Alvor shoved the Vampire away. "Sigrid. Don't do this," he begged, eyes wide and terrified. "Just... don't do this."

The woman laughed to herself and Alvor noticed none of the woman he had loved for decades in her eyes. "Sigrid..?" Then suddenly she was on him, tearing his throat with her teeth. Whatever remained of Sigrid's humanity flowed away with the blood of her husband.

"Soon, my Love. Soon you shall understand why," she said, coming up from the throat of her husband, face and neck and hair drenched in blood, "the darkness is so welcoming."

AN: Hey everyone, sorry if this isn't action-y enough. I was just resolving some threads that had gotten out of hand and trying to set up the next section of the Lamae Beolfag conflict, as well as what comes beyond. The next few chapters will see Luc and Thera collecting the artifacts, another conflict with Dwemer somewhere in there, and, afterwards, the battle with Lamae.

Also: Wow! I can't believe I've hit 10,000+ views! Thank you all so much!