Finally, chapter 20. Took awhile to write as I couldn't decide what to do with this chapter. I've rewritten it about 6 times, finally settled on this, might revise it again later on but for now this is it. If anyone is actually still reading this story sorry it took so long for this to be updated. Read, review, follow or favourite its all appreciated.

Chapter XX

The Vale

Mortis

My foot slips in the snow slightly as we quickly make our way down one of the cliffs, the sky is still dark but in a few hours the sun will be rising above the mountains and illuminating the entire valley. The valley itself is a lot colder then Skyrim, great frozen walls of ice line the cliff faces, probably stood there for decades, maybe centuries. Serana moves in front of me, making an effort to find shelter as soon as she can.

"We need to find the chantry of some shelter soon!" I call down to Serana as she jumps down onto solid ground, I let myself slip down and land just behind her. "It'll be nearing dawn in the next couple of hours." I tell her quietly.

"I think I see a cave up ahead." She announces, quickly leading the way. "We can find shelter in there." She rushes off ahead and I struggle to follow in the thick snow.

The cave is cold, only mildly warmer then outside. We sit down an a comfortable silence falls over us, I scratch at my beard and look over to her. The only person I've ever truely wanted to help, the only person I've ever come back to. This is my chance to fix it all and I've almost failed, I got back to my feet but I still fell.

"Vannius." I grumble to her, she looks at me strangely, eyebrow arching. "When we first met you introduced yourself." I clarify, she continues to look at me with curiosity. "I never did." I tell her. "Vannius is my name."

"Why are you telling me?" She asks, not nastily just curious and confused. She collects herself a bit better. "Thank you." She says, there's a small smile on her face. "Can I ask you a question?"

I grin slightly, drop my head and look back up at her. "I might not answer." I tell her honestly.

"Why did you come back?" She asks, I look down at the floor. Why did I? "Isran paid you, you could've just left with your money." She says. I did, I took the money and ran but why did I turn around. "I just want to know why."

I look back up at her, I can't see any judgement in her expression. "That dragon almost killed me." I tell her, I look off to the side at the mouth of the cave, there's sun light shinning in. "I was scared at the time." She looks at me with sympathy. "Not of dying, I've been ready to die for a long time now and not of the dragon." I shut my mouth, I'm letting too much slip, I don't need her help or her sympathy I can make do without it.

She moves over to sit next to me. "What were you scared of?" She asks quietly.

What do I tell her? That I'm not sure? That I can't remember the last time I was scared and that's what made me falter? That the last time I was unsure I alsmot died? No, I'll tell her the only thing I am sure of at the minute. "I was scared of losing someone else." I tell her just as quietly. "I've already lost so many."

She puts her hand on my shoulder, sitting in silence I can try and forget about everything, I'll never be able to but I can try.

Our journey will soon be over.

The fingers are back, breath on the back of my neck. I painfully throbbing in my head, screaming in my ears.

It doesn't matter how you carry on, I always get my due.

Leave me be. I want to shout it, tell it to just fuck off to let me live my life however I choose but there's no point, she's right sithis and the night mother always get their due.

I will drag you to the void.

A hand on my knee, breath on my face. I wake up quickly and reach forward, grasping for the air. There's nothing there. There's a weight on my right shoulder, I look to my side and Serana has her head on it, sleeping peacefully. I look towards the caves entrance, there's still some light left.

I look back at her, it's nice to see her not in pain, or worrying or sad or anything. I don't know how she can still find peace in sleep, I know I never will. I envy her slightly for that. I stare off back at the mouth of the cave.

"We should get moving soon." She mumbles from my side. I nod slowly. "I was lonely as a child." She says, I turn to look at her. "I was lonely as an adult and I was lonely after I became a vampire." She looks pained for a moment. "I spent hundreds of years in that coffin, hundreds of years alone." She smiles slightly. "I'm glad it was you who found me." She says softly.

I pull my gloves off and stretch my fingers out slightly. Start rubbing some of the muck away off the ring on my finger. The silver is dulled now, tarnished.

"Who's was it?" Serana asks softly, staring at the ring, she looks up and meets my eyes. "You don't look like the sort to wear jewlery."

"Belonged to a woman." I grumble quietly. "She died in the Bravil riots." I tell her. I look down at the small piece of metal. "Was part of the reason I had to flee cyrodiil, it wasn't safe there anymore."

She knows not to push anymore. "I've never really had anyone that I was that close to." She looks at me long and hard.

I stand up, pulling my gloves back on, and walk towards the mouth of the cave. "We should head out." I tell her, she stands up as well walks over to me and we fall in step as we head out into the bitter night air.

The chantry rests above a deep ice filled ravine, an ornate marble bridge built over it leading into the chantry itself. A massive golden statue of Auri-El sitting in the middle of a small courtyard. We quickly cross the bridge. The actual chantry is a work of art, looks like the old paintings of Skyrim, before the Nordic invasion and the types of buildings the Altmer still build. Smooth white marble reaching high into the sky, ice and snow resting lightly on its surface. large bronze doors inlayed with gold and silver block the entrance, a small podium in front of them.

We approach the large doors, bronze by the looks of them, embossed with silver and gold, depicting the divines. I rest my hand on the door, feel the cold metal through the leather. I turn to Serana. "This is all that survives of a dead civilisation." She says lowly, she comes to a stop next to me and looks me in the eye. "This will be the fate of all of Tamerial if we do not stop my father." She looks hard at me.

I take my hand from the door. "Aye." I grumble and push the heavy door with all of my strength. "We will." The doors swing open slowly, creaking lowly as they do. The inside of the chantry is covered in ice, bodies line the floor, well preserved in the extreme cold of the valley. sheets of ice covering the dead.

"Gods." Serana mutters. "How many died here?" She asks no one in particular. I can't even begin to answer her question. "Some of these are Falmer." She says, I look at the bodies she's right. I look across at the other side of the room, some of them are stood upright, seemingly frozen where they stood.

I turn around and see it. "There's scratch marks on the inside." I tell her, she turns around and looks at the scratches in the metal door. They were trying to get out. I walk over to one of the raised parts of the floor. "This was meant to be sanctuary, this is a defencable position, and the doors are made of soft metal." I walk towards her. "There's no battlements, no ramparts, nothing." She nods her head, looking like she's not quite sure where I'm going with this. "So why are they wearing armour?" I ask her gesturing to the bodies, she looks at them. "Why do they have weapons?"

She goes to answer but stops, she quickly grabs me and pulls me down towards a partition. That's when I hear them, footsteps and armour. More then one, and by the sounds of it well equipped.

"Serana!" Someone shouts, I can hear the clank of armour as they move around, the crunch of ice. "We saw you approach, you and the mortal." I draw my sword slowly, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He rounds the corner and Serana immediately attacks him, managing to put him on the back step.

I rush around the other side and duck down as quickly as I can as a battle axe sails over my head. I get back upright as he pushes the handle into me, I try and stab at him as he pushes me back. I try to stab him as he pushes me back but his plate armour stops any chance of that happening. He pulls a way and goes in for another strike, I move out of the way and it hits one of the frozen bodies, he force completely destroys it and throws parts of the frozen corpse into the air.

I go in for a thrust at his neck but his manages to parry the attack and put me back on the defensive. These must be Harkon's best, smaller numbers but better fighters, better equipped. He takes another swing and I parry the attack, moving around his side and slashing my sword into his side. The blade runs along his armour and he swings the bottom of the handle at me, i duck back to avoid it as he thrusts with the axe head, trying to from my guard so he can go in for the kill. I hold my sword out and his attack knocks me to the floor. I smash into one of the from bodies, it collapses on top of me. I drop my sword as I hit the floor, I quickly roll away as the axe smashes into the marble. I grab the handle with both hands, holding it down, i kick him as hard as I can in the stomach, he grunts and moves back, pulling the axe to the side quickly, I move out of the way to avoid the blade.

I move in fast and punch him hard in the face, he punches me back in the chest, my armour manages to absorb most of the force behind it but it still knocks me back a few steps. The axe comes at me again, fast making me drop back. I need a weapon, I need a way to fight back. I look around quickly, a sword in the hand of one of the bodies. I move around quickly to grab it. I duck under the axe as I move towards it, I quickly grab the sword and slash at the man's face. He moves back a step to avoid the blade and then swings his axe at me, I go to block the attack but as soon as the blades come into contact mine shatters.

There's a lot of noise coming from the hallway across the room and before I know it more of them enter, around nine of them. Serana comes to stand next to me as the man with the axe backs off slightly.

"Your father has grown tired of games." A man tells us. He walks forward, a red guard with red eyes. A vampire. "I grow tired of games." I look past them, a snow elf is perched on a balcony, watching us intently. "We have the bow, just need your blood."

They quickly surround us, weapons at the ready, one of them pushes a pike towards me, forcing me to back away.

"Bring them here." The snow elf says from the other end of the room.

We're "escorted" and pushed towards the back of the sanctuary, there's pillars and walls of ice all over the place and at the far end, a throne made of ice, towering ten feet off the floor. The snow elf is sat on top. Vyrthur.

I'm hit in the back of the legs with the flat of a blade, forcing me to my knees while Serana is pushed down and her arm pulled up. The pike is kept pointed at me and a hand on my shoulder holds me down. Serana's arm is pulled at a painful angle, causing her to cry out slightly. Of them tucks my sword into his belt while another pulls Serana's dagger out and puts it towards her wrist.

"Bring a bottle." He orders with the blade pushed her against her forearm. "Only a small amount, we'll take it and head back." He tells them. "These two, the traitor and her pet can stay here, Harkon doesn't want them dead." He leans down so his mouth is next to Serana's ear. "He decided to show you mercy." He tells her, he grabs her chin and moves her head to look at me. "He wants him to suffer. He wants you to watch."

One of the other vampires comes over with a bottle and puts it below her wrist. He quickly sinks the dagger into it, she cries out loudly and pulls it down, opening her wrist up and spilling blood onto the floor and into the bottle. He pulls the dagger back up causing her to scream again, before he lets the dagger drop to the floor. They let go of her and she curls in on her self, cradling her arm to her stomach. I can see tears drip onto the floor.

The vampire with the bottle quickly puts a cork in the top and hands it to the leader. "Lets go." He pushes Serana out of the way with his foot. "Take his hands." He calls over his shoulder.

I'm pushed to the floor, my arms pulled out in front of me, flat on the ground. I look up at the man with the battle axe as he stands over me. "Vannius." I look back to Serana, she gets up onto her knees, her right hand forming a spell.

A spear of ice flies forward, stabbing the man with the axe in the eye, the thin shard coming out of the back of his head, he falls backwards, the axe hitting the floor by his feet. Some of the pressure comes off of me and I manage to push myself back up. Turning around I punch the man closest to me in the face as hard as I can and quickly reach for the axe, I lift it up with both hands and swing it as hard as I can into the nearest mans stomach.

Serana quickly finishes off one of the others, a thrall who rushes towards her with a morning star. He drops down and she wastes no time biting into his neck and drawing out his blood.

I slam the axe handle into the other mans face, he doubles over and I slam the blade down into his back. He drops down and I turn to Serana, her wrist is no longer bleeding, the thralls blood fixing the wound quickly.

I turn towards the throne. Vyrthur still sits atop it, watching with interest. I start towards him. "Vannius don't!" I hear Serana shout, it's too late for the warning though as the ceiling starts to collapse around us. Something hits me in the back and throws me to the ground, more chunks of marble fall around me and something hits the back of my head.

"Vannius." There's a hand shaking my shoulder. "Get up." She pleads, more shaking. "I know you can do it." I feel myself get pulled forward. My eyes open quickly, seeing her red ones looking back at me, worry deep in them. "Are you alright?" She asks softly.

I sit up a bit making her lean a bit further back. The ceilings gone, along with most of the walls, just small spires of ice littering the floor along with huge chunks of marble and stone. "Aye." I groan, she grabs my arm and helps me to my feet, I hold her forearm and lift up her sleeve. "Your wrist?"

"I'll be alright." She says, letting me look at the wound, it's mostly sealed up but I can see where it's still open, an angry red line going down her forearm. I wipe some of the blood away with my thumb.

We both begin to walk towards where the ice throne was stood. My armour is more or less completely useless now, I pull some remains of the chainmail off and reposition my empty scabbard. Completely unarmed. Serana no longer has her dagger, at least she know how to fight with spells.

We approach a large balcony type structure overlooking the whole valley. Vyrthur stands at the far end, looking out at the snow covered landscape. His hands behind his back and his white enamelled armour glistening in the moonlight.

"You survived." He says, not sounding surprised in the slightest. "Gelebor sent you didn't he? And before that you sought out the bow." He says. He looks at Serana. "I waited for a daughter of coldharbour for a very long time." He says. The air is cold, the wind strong this high up.

He knows about the bow, about Serana. She beats me to the conclusion, sounding more angry then I could've imagined her being. "You wrote the prophecy." She says, I can her the fury in her voice, he fist clenches, cracking her knuckles as she does it.

"I was arch curate of the faith of Auri-El." He says. "This chantry was mine and my students sanctuary." He turns back to the valley. "Then the Nords took our land and the Dwemer enslaved us." He looks back at us. "When the betrayed attacked this wasn't our chantry anymore, this wasn't a sanctuary of peace it was just another military installation in a destroyed kingdom." He stares at us, unwavering in his resolve. "Auri-El abandoned us but I wouldn't abandon him."

"Why'd you write the prophecy?" I ask him, taking a few steps forward. "What does that achieve."

"The final act of betrayal came when one of my own students turned me." He tells us. "The symbol of light let me, his most devout follower fall to the dark." He walks towards me. "I would have my revenge, I would turn his arcane weapon against him." He looks at Serana. "With the blood of a daughter of coldharbour I could taint the bow and use it to destroy his influence in Nirn."

"But that must of been thousands of years ago." She says, looking at him with confusion.

"Snow elfs live for a very long time, a vampire longer still." He tells her. "I searched for one stronger then me." He steps towards her. "I found Harkon." He stops in front of her. "A pure blooded vampire, ambitious, skilled and powerful." He points at her. "Too rational." He says. "I whispered in his ear, I influenced him and I gave him the prophecy. I searched and then a waited. I've waited a very long time for Harkon and even longer for you." He says.

She stares at him for a long moment. Just taking everything he just told her in. She moves forward quickly, lifting him up in the air by his neck. "Everything that's happened, all the death and suffering, my imprisonment, all of it because of you." She has tears in her eyes as she says it. "You will not have the satisfaction of revenge." She tells him. "I will." she twists sharply and there's a sickening crack as his spine breaks.

She drops his body and just stand over it, we wait for him to eventually turn to dust. The sun almost visible over the horizon. The clouds on the other side of the mountains turning a light pinkish colour as it peaks above.

"I am not sorry to see him go." I turn to look at Gelebor. "He was my brother once but all the suffering he has caused you." He says looking at Serana. "I am truly sorry." He turns to me. "Did you achieve the bow?"

"No." I tell him. "The tyranny of the sun will come to be if we don't get back right now." I walk towards him. "We need to prepare." He nods slowly. "We need to warn the dawnguard." I tell him. "As soon as possible."

He nods to himself and walks back towards a dome like structure. "I will open the weyshrine

That was chapter 20, let me know what you think.