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Word count.

Original: 1,385

Re-write: 3,186

Chapter II

Dimhollow

Mortis

I push my feet harder against the stone, trying to wrap my arm around one of the many outcrops scattered over and around the cliff face. The rock crumbles off in my hand, narrowly missing my legs as it falls heavily between them and down to the hard ground below. The fall wouldn't kill me but I wouldn't be walking back to Fort Dawnguard. I'd rather not take a tumble down a cliff.

At least not today.

I pull myself up, my foot slipping in the rain that's relentlessly pounding against my back and the stone, only making it harder to traverse. I finally manage to reach the top, swinging my leg over the top and pulling the rest of my weight over my other leg following close behind. The mouth of the cave is almost invisible from the ground, there was a few moments while I was climbing I wondered if I had chosen the right spot. I pull out the crossbow Isran gave me, quickly bracing the strap around my left arm. Loading a bolt, I walk through the threshold and into the dry but damp and earthy cave.

My boots are loud against the stone ground, and the chainmail on my armour creates a soft jangle as I move. I stop walking and have a slow look around so I can try and gage my surroundings, Isran said I should expect "residents". Vampires, apparently that's who the Dawnguard are, vampire hunters. Trying to bring lasting peace to a cursed soul or they just hate vampires, I'm not entirely sure. I didn't bother asking questions, people rarely tell you what you want to know.

The cave opens up into a medium sized cavern, a small waterfall off to the side. There's some old Nordic ruins, a half destroyed wall with some letters engraved in the stone. I walk over to the wall, brushing my fingers against the deep groves that make up the letters. The only place I've ever seen anything like this is in the college near Winterhold and even then it looked to be a simplified version of what I'm looking at now. I turn my head and look at the large iron-gate on the adjacent wall, it's been bent inwards. The rock wall smashed away, leaving rubble all around it.

Crouching down I brush my fingers in the dust leading to the gate, I look up at the way the metal has been manipulated. It was bent inwards, whoever did it was trying to get to where I'm going, there's the tell-tale signs of an opening mechanism at the top of the gate but either age or the force of the gate being all but destroyed has damaged them beyond repair. I lean forward and rest my hand against the rubble.

I lean back slightly, the steel guard at the end of my crossbow scrapes along the floor. I freeze as it echoes through the cavern. Grabbing the stock to stop it from moving. I rest my left hand on the hilt of my dagger, curling my fingers around it, the leather creaking. There's footsteps through the corridor, echoing loudly, two people by the sound of it.

My head whips up, the hood falls back. There's loud conversation from around the corner, their using ancient Nordic? They teach it at the college in Winterhold and that's the only place as far as I know, at least it's the only other place I've ever heard it. Two men walk around the corner one has an axe the other a sword. I take my chance and quickly duck back into the shadows, pulling my hood back over my head I take a couple of steps back, moving quickly and trying to stay quiet.

The one with the axe takes the lead dragging the edge of the blade against the wall, he pulls it off and hits it back against the wall to make it louder. He starts calling out in Nordic, the language is strange sounding and sounds very intimidating, even more so as I don't know what they're saying. He has a broad Nordic accent, very guttural and deep. He quickly switches to a more used dialect. "We know you're here." He steps around, hitting the axe into the stone, chipping away a large chunk that hits the ground heavily. "We hear your breathing." Moving around, I hold my breath and edge around to go behind the waterfall. He stops walking around in the broad circle, turning to stare at the waterfall. "Clever." He hefts the weight of the axe, balancing the weapon as he straightens out his arm slightly. I grab the crossbow, bracing it against my left arm again. The other man moves around behind the other, readying his sword. "But you walk too loudly." I bring up the crossbow firing, the bolt strikes, hitting him in the forehead. He slumps to the ground, his legs buckling as the bolt slams into his skull and shatters the bone. Turning him to dust.

The other charges forward, through the waterfall. He swings the sword at my face. I push the crossbow so that the steel guard clangs into the blade, knocking the sword out of his hand. He grabs onto the cross section pulling forward and kicking me in the stomach. The thick leather manages to absorb most of the force but it stills throws me back. I grab the hilt of the sword on my back, he takes a hold of my left arm pulling me up. I let go of the sword letting it clatter on the hard stone. Trying to quickly draw my dagger he grabs my throat, pivoting on the balls of his feet he throws me back to where the other vampire was. I land hard on my left arm, I quickly roll onto my back.

I reach back grasping the handle of the axe and swing it forward with both hands letting go. The blade embeds itself in his shoulder cutting through the bone and flesh and bursting the arteries. The blood doesn't burst out like in a live body, instead the dark blood drools and dribbles out. He lands on his back with a loud grunt. I get up as quick as I can, quickly scrambling for the dagger, crouching over him I drive the blade up through the bottom of his skull, through the windpipe. He turns to dust under me.

Leaning back on my haunches trying to catch my breath I slam the dagger back into my sheath, I look around at the two piles of dust. I push up on my knee, taking a step forward I pick up my sword and crossbow. I walk back over to the gate, putting my hand on the bars. I lean against it and pull my crossbow around, loading another bolt while I have the chance. I start moving my left arm, stretching it out and pulling it back, I drop the crossbow letting the strap hold it up I grab my left arm and move my fingers along the elbow, I stretch it out one final time before I let go and let my arm fall back to my side.

The corridors inside the caves are winding, narrow and long. Water pools on the floor and more drops from the ceiling, I move as quietly and quickly as I can my crossbow held low in front of me. Pointing down but ready to use if the need arises, I tighten my grip on the stock and push it harder in the crook of my elbow. The buckle of my belt clangs slightly against the metal on my daggers sheath. Creating a soft tap with every step and with the small amount of water on the floor each step makes a small splashing sound. Those two vampires weren't worried about making noise but that doesn't mean that anymore lurking around the corridors and caves won't be. I lift the crossbow up properly so that I can aim better and quickly move around a corner, keeping the crossbow level.

There's a pile of dust in the corner of the room, a dead draugr nearby and another pile of dust just behind it. The vampires must have hit something they weren't counting on. The dead, mummified remains of the Nords who lived before the Empire or the Dominion. If the vampires were killed by them then they defiantly didn't count on them being here. Vampires aren't the most dangerous but two of them would be able to handle a single draugr, unless there was more than one. Although draugr are very dangerous in confined spaces. The vampires probably didn't stand a chance, draugr like to attack in groups.

I come out of the confined space and step into a larger cavern, a small cliff overlooking a thin river gushing in from behind the jagged rock. There's blood in the water, dark blood, not fresh. A torch nearby shines a warm orange glow over the small body of water. There's a vampire close by and she's injured, a large wound in her stomach. She's slumped against a large rock.

I need to keep moving. Isran said the vampires were looking for something probably an artefact of some kind. Intercept and kill them, if I need to, find what they want. Either secure or destroy it. Why send an assassin to do the Dawnguard's dirty work? I reach the cliff face, sling the crossbow across my back and then grab the handholds in the rock and ready myself to start climbing again.

There's a cough behind me. I turn around, the vampires staggering, clutching her stomach. She looks like she doesn't know what's happening around her. "They came from every angle." She falls back down, struggling to keep herself up on the floor. "We didn't stand a chance, Vingalmo left us for dead." She collapses on the floor completely. "Coward ran back to Volkihar." She snarls weakly, spitting out more of her thick, dark blood. It's almost black when it hits the floor.

I walk over to her, standing over her and looking down. "What are you looking for here?" I grumble, holding the crossbow ready, I aim it down at her.

She snarls slightly, showing off her blood stained teeth. More blood runs down her chin and onto her neck. "Why should…" She coughs loudly, choking on her blood. As far as I know vampires don't breathe but blood in their throat must make them "choke". "… I tell you, mortal?"

I shrug slightly, letting the crossbow fall back to my side. "I'm your only chance of getting out of here." I look up at the top of the cliff, then glance back to her.

She laughs bitterly. "I'm not surviving this." She coughs again, spitting up more blood. "You'll kill me after I tell you." She laughs but there's no humour in it. "You've come here. Blind." She grins as she looks at me. "You've been sent, but you didn't ask any questions." She laughs again, coughing loudly, the whole thing racking her body. "Only the foolish follow orders they don't understand."

I raise the crossbow and fire a bolt, it hits her in the chest turning her to dust. I take a few minutes to stare down at the spot where her body was. Maybe she's right, I didn't ask any questions about why I was sent here. I just accepted what Isran told me. I turn back to the small cliff I need to get back to finding the artefact, even if I don't understand why I'm looking for it I still need to follow through with the job. I struggle to climb at first, my left arm still hurting from the fight. I pull myself over the top and start to move back into the tunnels that make up the caves.

The tunnels go deeper, further into the depths. As I walk through them I can feel the slight decline in the ground, there's more water on the floor deeper than it was further up, now there's at least a few inches of water on the floor. The draft is a lot worse down here, more or less freezing. The chill gets you to the bone. I load the crossbow as I move, slowing down to make it easier to ready.

"I'll never tell you anything, vampire. My oath to Stendarr is stronger than any suffering you can inflict on me." A voice echoes, it sounds fairly far from where I am, so I start to hurry to get closer. The man who spoke has a Nordic accent, not as broad as most Nords but still noticeable. He pronounces his words in such a way that gives off the impression that he's well read but the fact that he speaks with a Nordic accent means that he probably isn't as well read as he would lead others to believe.

"I believe you, Vigilant. I don't think you even know what you've found here." Another male voice snarls, in a condescending way. There's a crack and a soft thump, a shallow splash. "Get back to work!" He roars at his subordinates. I reach the cavern they're in, crouching down and low behind cover, I glance through the gaps in the railings, at the top of the ledge at the top of the cavern. The dead vigilant is lying limp on the floor his neck snapped to the side, at an unnatural angle. A vampire is stood over him, flicking through a book. Another vampire and a thrall walk off over to a large carved stone island in the middle of a pit of water.

I ready my crossbow, pulling it around in front of me, I raise it aiming for his head. I fire, the bolt strikes true it slams into his temple, there's a dry crack either from the bolt cracking or his skull. The other vampire charges back to the body of the first which turns to dust just as she reaches it. I climb over the railing dropping down. There's nowhere near enough time to load my crossbow, being so would've been too loud and timing consuming anyway. I quickly draw my dagger, turning it around in my hand so that I'm holding the blade, I ready it and throw it at her the knife hitting her in the chest. Not a fatal wound.

The thrall turns the corner, battle-axe in hand and I scramble to load the crossbow, aiming it and firing as fast as I can. It hits him in the chest, he stumbles back as he loses his footing. I drop the crossbow to the side and draw my sword. The vampire gets back to her feet, pulling the dagger out of her chest and throwing it to the ground. She pulls out a shorter curved sword, she walks to the side readying for an attack. Her footing is a dead giveaway to what her plan is, and what kind of move she's going to try.

She lunges forward, favouring the left side. I twist around to block the attack, she tries to hook the curved edge of her sword around mine. I turn it to the side, moving hers out of the way I move my left arm around and hook it around her arm, pulling her close to me. I pull her forward and kick my leg out into the side of her knee, bending her leg to the side and forcing her to the floor. She falls down to her knees and I drive the sword down into her back, dark blood pools around the entry wound. She slumps to the side and turns to dust, leaving only her dark blood dripping off my sword, some of the dust sticks to the blood on the blade.

There's a thump and heavy footfalls behind me, I turn to face the thrall who struggles to get to his feet properly. He takes a swing with his battle axe, forcing me to move quickly to avoid the blade. I duck down and move to the side. He takes another swing and I manage to grab the handle, he pulls the weapon back roughly and I slide my sword across his throat, slicing through his windpipe. He drops the axe as both his hands go to the gaping wound, trying to stop the blood from rushing out. He takes a couple of steps back, his eyes going wide. He screams silently. I push him back and he tumbles over the railing, landing face down in the water, floating just above the surface.

I walk back over to the dead vigilant. The pile of dust is next to his feet, I bend down and pick up the book the vampire was reading. It has some dust on it, and some blood most likely from a wound on the vigilant's arm. I flick through the pages, there's some sketches of the caves and tunnels, some more of the cavern with the small cliff and some more of this room. A few hastily written notes on the island in the middle of the water. There's something about an artefact that the vigilant's found down here. Dimhollow crypt? Isran didn't bother to tell me what this place was called just pointed to it on my map.

I start on my way to the small bridge, picking up my dagger on the way. I walk across the bridge to the island in the water. There's some metal stands scattered about with large chalice like objects on top of them. I walk over to one and rest my hand against it, there's something in the chalice. I put my hand in and pull out a large chunk of purple crystal, dark and dulled. I drop it back in, I pull the book back out and look for any notes on them. According to the vigilant's research there's soul gems in the ceremonial chalices. I tuck the book in the back of my belt and move over to the centre of the island.

There's a small monolith in the middle of the island. A round piece of stone etched into the top. The journal said something about placing one's hand on the monolith. I do as the journal instructs, pressing down on the round stone with my left hand. A large thin spike slides out tearing through the hardened leather, skin and bone. Splitting the middle fingers on my hand apart. Just as quickly the spike slides back in. the monolith rises up out of the ground. I fall onto my back scrambling for a rag to tie around the wound. I push back, away from it, tying the rag around my hand pressing the fingers back together. A panel on the front of the monolith slides down slowly. I sling the crossbow around bracing it on my knee, putting my now injured left hand on top of the crossbow and aiming at the opening.

A woman falls out.