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Word count.

Original: 1,231

Re-write: 3,282

Chapter VII

The Easy Route

Mortis

Serana trudges along next to me, dragging her feet through the mud and snow. She's been silent since we left the inn, probably didn't like how I dealt with Sven. If she's afraid to get her hands dirty then how she has gone this long being a vampire is beyond my understanding. Maybe she doesn't agree with murder. She looks around the dark forest, it's slowly getting brighter. The sky in the distance lighting up slightly.

I just watch her actions. Resting my hand against my dagger. There's a twig snapping somewhere to my right, probably a rabbit or something, never the less I watch the brush carefully. It's a good place to hide if you want the advantage in a fight. I stop walking and pull my bow round, nocking an arrow while I do it. I hear Serana stop walking and she turns to look at me.

"It'll be dawn soon." I tell her quietly. There's a long stretch of silence, another twig snaps and I pull back on the arrow, tensing slightly as I look over the brush for any signs of the vegetation being disturbed.

I hear Serana's footsteps as she moves over to a nearby tree, keeping an eye on the brush. "Yes, it will." She finally replies, clearing her throat quietly before she says it.

I finally let the arrow slide forward, letting the tension off the bow string. I turn to look at her, staring at her eyes. Her gaze is hard, focused. I look back to the brush. I could just leave her, leave the money. They won't find me. If Isran will follow through on his threat. Maybe kill him first, stab him in the back.

"There's a shack." I grumble, looking at her. "Up the path, the beaten one." I tell her, she nods slightly. "If anyone's in there, which there might be." I stand up, swinging my bow back around onto my back. "Kill them." I tell her. Her gaze hardens.

"That your answer to everything?" She asks, a slight mocking tone to her already snarled reply. She shakes her head slightly. "Someone's in your way so you kill them?" She asks disbelieving.

"How else would I get past?" I ask in answer. She expected too much from me, a stranger with a sword. She doesn't know me, anything really aside from my name, she chose to try and trust me at least enough to think that I'm helping because I want to save the world. "If someone's in your way, you stab them in the back." I tell her.

She stares at me. Glares at me. If she wanted some righteous hero to help her save Tamriel then she asked the wrong person. If vampires take over Tamriel, then they take over Tamriel. Heroes don't exist in this world, only in old Nord songs and Imperial tall tales. In the real world, there's only people like me. I'll take what I can and shirk my duties as long as possible, I'll kill who I have to and avoid the needy, only the weak need saving and the weak will only drag you down and force you to burn with them.

I lean my weight onto my right leg, tilting my head to the side slightly. "If you run you might make it before sunrise." I tell her.

She glares at me. "Which way?" She grinds the words out, between her teeth. I point in the direction we were heading. "Where are you going?" She grumbles, beginning to walk away.

"Hunting." I call to her, walking into the brush.

The suns high in the sky, casting deep shadows between the trees. I sit there, in one of those shadows. My bow is leaning against a tree, my quiver propped up against the same tree. The rain beats down hard, making the dirt ground extremely slippery. I turn my gaze along the brush and treeline.

Soldiers are always passing through the woods, they use them to avoid the roads. Stormcloaks mostly. Apparently they don't want the Legion watching they're movements. It's no secret that the Legion secretly watch the roads. A small rabbit, comes into the clearing. I pull my bow around, pulling an arrow free from the quiver as well. I bring the bow up, nocking the arrow. I draw the arrow, pulling the bow string back.

I let the arrow go, letting it glide forward. It hits the rabbit, slicing through the flesh and pinning the small animal to the ground. I walk out of my small hiding place, collecting my quiver and swinging it and the bow over my shoulder. I crouch down, pulling the arrow out of the ground, the rabbit skewed onto it.

I pull my pack around in front of me, putting the rabbit inside. The arrow's shaft is cracked, splintered wood breaking away as I put slight pressure on the shaft. I drop the broken, bloodied arrow on the ground. I stand back up and start walking in the direction of the hunting shack.

The walks not too far, the clearing only around ten minutes away from the small wooden building. The grounds slippery, water falls from the trees above and the rain pelts down hard. Splashing heavily against the ground, throwing more of the rain water up against me.

My foot slips slightly in the mud, forcing me to grab a branch in order to keep my balance. I take a second to get my footing back and then continue on my way to the shack. The wooden structure comes into sight.

I walk up to the door, and open it slowly, quickly ducking in and out of the rain. I move over to the table at the blacked out window without looking around the room, swinging my pack around and pulling the small rabbit out. I put it on the table roughly.

Pulling out a broad bladed hunting knife, I slide it out of the brown leather scabbard. "You've been gone awhile." Serana says from behind me. I look at her over my shoulder, she's sat in the far corner on a large bear pelt, leaning against the wall.

"Aye." I groan, looking back at the small animal. The blood stained table, the knife. "Any trouble?" I ask her, getting to work with skinning the rabbit.

I hear her stand up, and then her boots hitting the wooden slats on the floor as she walks towards me. "You mean, did I have to kill anyone?" She asks, the sounds of her steps stops abruptly. "No I didn't have to kill anyone." She mocks. "I thought you Dawnguard soldiers or hunters were meant to respect the preservation of mortal life."

I stop cutting. Dropping the knife on the table and turning to look at the vampire. "What do you know about the Dawnguard?" I ask her, taking a step towards her. "Who are they?"

She looks taken aback by the question, probably wasn't expecting one about the order she thinks I'm with. "They Dawnguard are infamous in history." She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, like its common knowledge, like everyone who's ever read a book knows.

That just makes my poor decisions that much worse.

"Who are they?" I ask, getting closer to her. She just looks at me. "Tell me." I order her, I probably sound desperate but I need to know who I'm working for and by the sounds of it she has answers.

"The Dawnguard are infamous for their raids and attacks." She tells me. "How do you not know about them?" She asks, I don't bother answering. "They attacked entire villages, burnt them to the ground. Killed anyone who lived there, they were at war for the better part of sixty years." She tells me, that's who the Dawnguard are. Murderers who pillage and destroy. "You're not one of them."

"No." I grumble, looking down. I accepted a job, accepted payment without asking questions and now I'm working for an order who have a history of brutality. I walk back over to the rabbit, continuing with the skinning.

I've always worked for an order with a history of brutality.

There's footsteps behind me, by the sounds of it she's walking back over to the bear pelt. "Then who are you?" I stop what I'm doing and lean against the table. It's a difficult question to answer, who am I. I've not used my name in a very long time, only going by a name given to me by those who feared me. I haven't been feared in long time. She may not know it, but she's just asked the only question I could never answer.

Choose the easy route, always the easy route. "Dark Brotherhood." I finally answer, continuing with the rabbit.

There's a long stretch of silence, too long for me to bother counting. "Dark Brotherhood?" She asks, I don't bother answering. "What are you doing shacked up with vampire hunters?"

I stab the knife into the table. "They paid me." I tell her, the only answer to any question she could possibly have about me and the Dawnguard. They paid me and I agreed, I didn't ask questions, I didn't wait to see who I was talking to. I didn't even get paid. I leave the knife upright in the table. "Can you drink this?" I ask her, lazily gesturing to the rabbit.

There's a long silence. Longer than the one before. It seems to drag on. My reasons are never just, never righteous, never smart. I just do whatever I can, most of the time I just follow whatever will get me paid. Whoever was paying the most, whoever was offering the cheapest drink. I've failed the Brotherhood. I haven't just shirked my duties, I've completely abandoned them.

"No, it has to be man or mer." She finally answers, the sound foreign in the silence of the shack.

There's another long stretch of silence, I sit down on a nearby chair. Dropping heavily against it. "Right." I reply, leaning back in the chair, Serana goes to say something, I only hear the beginnings of a sentence. "I'm not hungry." I interrupt her, looking at the ceiling. "We should be able to make it to Dragon bridge if we leave at dusk."

Dragon Bridge comes into view, the village lit up by torch light. Candles burning in the windows, the flag of the Empire hanging high and proud. No Stormcloaks round these parts, too close to Solitude. It's a small village and really the only things here are an inn and a guard post.

We walk down the road that leads through the middle of the village, towards the namesake of this little village. The proud stone bridge, impressive really. The inn's loud, only public place in these parts, gets a lot of travellers from what I remember.

"I'll ask about the inn." She nods her head in agreement, going to walk up to the steps. "You wait here." I tell her, she just looks at me. "Draw less attention." I grumble walking up the steps and into the inn.

The inns bigger than Sven's. It's mainly just one long room with doors lining the two longest walls, another behind the bar. Probably the cellar. It's crowded, not like Sven's but still a lot of people. It has a nicer feel to it then Sven's, less likely to get stabbed by a drunk Nord with a false sense of superiority.

I walk up to the bar, moving through the crowd of people. Some of them give me a wide birth but a few of them square up to me somewhat. Apparently if you walk in with a weapon and armour people will want to fight you. I get to the bar and lean against it. The landlord looks at me and walks over. "Alright mate." He says. "What will it be?"

I put two septims on the bar, keeping my hand over them. "Moth Priest in these parts. Any idea where he was heading?" I ask, tapping my fingers on the two gold coins.

The landlord, leans into the bar. "Headed out a few hours ago." He tells me, he looks around the inn slightly. "Guards should know which way he was headed." He tells me.

I nod slightly, pushing away from the bar ever so slightly. I slide the coins forward and he quickly snatches them off the bar, tucking them somewhere underneath it. "Cheers mate." I grumble, turning and walking back to the door.

I walk out the door, leaving the nice warm inn and going back out in to the bitterly cold Skyrim night. The biting cold hitting me as soon as I walk out. Serana's stood nearby, leaning against a small cobblestone wall. She's watching a couple of guards carefully. They're watching her.

I walk down the steps and she turns her head to look at me. "Those guards keep staring at me." She whispers, only just loud enough to her what she's saying. I take a couple of steps forward, stopping at the wall. I look at the guards, they're staring at Serana and now they keep glancing at me. Talking to each other in hushed tones. "Do you think they know?" She asks, turning her attention back to the couple of guards.

"No." I rasp, I start walking over to them. They watch me closely, hands straying to their swords. I come to a stop in front of them, they stare at me, hands now on the hilts of their swords. "Which way did the Moth Priest head in?" I ask them. They don't answer, one of them takes a step forward.

"Why should we tell you?" He grumbles through his helmet. Walking around me slightly, coming to a stop behind me. "Outsider." He snarls.

"Few septims in it for you." I tell them, the one in front of me takes a couple of steps forward.

"How many would that be?" He asks, ordering me to answer really. "Because however much it is, double it." He speaks in a strong Cyrodiilic accent, the one behind me a Nord.

I look at the one behind me. "Four septims." I tell him, I turn back to the other guard. "Each." I growl at him.

"Eight septims." He snarls at me, hand tensing on the hilt of his sword. "Each." He adds in a growl.

"Four, between you." I answer back. I look at the one behind me, then back to the Imperial. "And I won't kill you both." I stare into the Imperial's eyes. He goes to draw his sword and I pull my dagger free from its sheath. "I can stab you and slit your friend's throat before you have time to draw that sword mate." He grips the hilt tightly, I hear the other guard shuffle away slightly. "Where'd the Moth Priest head?"

"Alright." The Nord says, breaking the tension slightly. I look at him and he backs away from me a few steps. "He went that way." He mumbles, pointing to the namesake of the town. "With an Imperial escort." He adds.

I slide my dagger back into my sheath, taking a couple of steps towards him. I smirk slightly, pulling out four coins. "Good man." I rasp, dropping the four spetims in the mud. I turn away from them and start to walk back to Serana.

She's leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, head hung low. Her hair is covering her face, though her eyes are noticeable once you get close enough. I stop a few feet away from her, resting my hand on my belt. She looks up at me properly, shifting her eyes over my shoulders to look at the two guards.

"They're still staring." She grumbles, looking at me. I glance at them and they look away slightly. "You said they don't know?" She whispers.

I look over my shoulder. "Aye." Looking back at her, I grab her arm and start to lead her away, towards the bridge. "They don't know." She goes to say something. "They will rape you." She looks at me sharply. "Always happens in small villages, locals don't really care what happens to an outsider. Especially when they're just passing through." I look at her, staring into her eyes. "Priest went this way, with an escort."

We get half way over the bridge and I let go off her arm, Serana rushing ahead a couple of steps. "An escort?" She questions, we cross the bridge and get back onto the dirt path. "This Empire you've been talking about?" She adds.

"Aye." I grumble. This empire, if they don't agree to go to Fort Dawnguard then we might have to kill them. The Imperials aren't the most well equipped but they don't go down easily and they'll be willing to die for that Moth Priest.

The carriages come into sight, the one at the front tipped onto its side and the one behind crippled by the dead horses. Arrows sticking out from their bodies. We hurry up, getting to the carriages as quick as we can. Serana goes off around the side of the carriage and I climb up onto the back, starting to search through the equipment and the packs at the back. "Nowt here but spears and firewood." I climb down.

"Looks like they dropped a couple of packs here." Serana tells me, throwing one of the packs to me. I catch the pack and Serana starts to dig through the one she's carrying.

I crouch down and start looking through the one I have. There's a nasty looking dagger in a rough leather sheath, Nordic runes scratched into the leather. I quickly shove it into my pack. I pull out a piece of paper, writing on it, Nordic words. I hold the paper up to her. "Can you read?" I grumble catching her attention.

She turns around, taking the piece of paper from me while nodding. "Orders from my father." She mumbles. "They went to a nearby cave." She says, looking off to the side of the road. "That way." She mumbles, pointing over in the right direction. "Father probably instructed them to perform a control ceremony."

She starts walking in the direction of the cave, I follow her closely. "Control ceremony?" I ask her. She doesn't answer straight away, probably trying to decide the best way to explain it.

"When we put mortals under our thrall they really only retain their base instincts and emotions." She says to me. "They live to serve us till their dying breath." She looks at me. "A control ceremony lets a thrall keep their intelligence, they serve us but they serve in a much smarter way." She mumbles. "If the Moth Priest was just a thrall he wouldn't be able to read the scroll."

I nod to myself. Makes sense, the few thralls I've fought seemed to rely on brute strength rather than any type of strategy. Anger and hate will carry you quite far through a fight, though without anything to guide it then you're only going to last for so long.

The cave comes into view, dark and small. Only just visible from the outside, mainly covered up by brush. I swing my bow around, nocking an arrow and keeping it low. "We'll move on them slow." I tell her, if they killed the Imperial escort then there must be a few of them.

Serana nods, pulling out her small knife, the golden coloured blade shinning bright even in the dark night.