Chapter Thirty-Four

The two vampires had remained in the sleeping quarters for but only a half hour before a messenger had arrived, telling Serana she was to meet Lord Harkon in his chambers. The sire and fledgling had shared a glance of worry before the vampire lord obeyed. Yosa'Min, left to her own devices, simply awaited in the grand chamber for her sire's return. Whatever they were discussing, it had gone on for hours already and she had no idea when it was to end.

Watching the clan go about its business was something that mildly comforted the fledgling, allowing herself to take a moment and adjust to the actual people she had surrounded herself with. Within the castle itself, it suddenly occurred to Yosa'Min that she had only briefly seen some parts of it, while others remained entirely foreign and unknown to her such as where the 'cattle' were stored. Now, she began to wander and allow her old adventurous urge to claim her. There was a blacksmith amongst them, Fura Bloodmouth, a stout woman with a fierce snarl that Yosa'Min quickly avoided. She'd poked her head into the side area of the main hall, spotting the nordic vampire slaving away over a hot blade. The blazing gaze of the woman was enough to send the redguard skirting back to the main hall.

It was perhaps the first time Yosa'Min had truly been apart from Serana for any given amount of time since her initial transformation and she'd been far too weak to go hunting on her own. During those times, Yosa'Min would either sleep or try to wrap her head around everything going on, but now she had somewhere she could physically explore. The itch was rising within her fast, and though she was no fan of the blacksmith's gaze she knew there were other things to find within the castle.

Yosa'Min crossed the main hall once more, a pair of vampires watching her with confusion as she entered an alchemy and library, glass bookcases filled with tomes and many shelves of curious ingredients lining the walls. She blinked as she spotted the second level, recognizing it as where she had briefly spoken with Garan Marethi, the vampire which set them on the quest for the Bloodstone Chalice. Perhaps only a moment passed of her inspecting an ongoing concoction upon a table when a vampire swooped down besides her, frowning. "Excuse me, Yosa'Min was it?" He inquired, a bosmer with wild reddish brown hair virtually sprouting from his head like a plant.

"Aye," she nodded.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh!" She blinked, realizing how odd her behavior must have appeared. "I was just... curious."

"I see..." He replied, "Could you stop? My mentor doesn't appreciate snoops."

Yosa'Min blinked once more, shocked, and then gave a slight laugh. "Oh my, wow, this is certainly something I've never heard before. I apologize, I'm simply trying to learn my way around the castle." Sunset eyes drifted to the potion that was being created, and she spotted a few ingredients on the table. "Fire salts, fly amantia and mudcrab chitin... Are you trying to create a potion to resist fire?" She inquired, flicking a hand at the ongoing experiment.

It was his turn to blink. "Why yes, I'm surprised you recognized them. Most other vampires here don't care much for this sort of thing." A small smile reached the bosmer's split lips, and he held out a hand. "The name is Ronthil, I'm Feran Sadri's apprentice."

Yosa'Min shook his hand, and quirked a brow. "Does that mean you're his fledgling also?"

"Oh heavens no!" Laughed Ronthil, "Lord Harkon of course! Well... Sorta..." He trailed off, frowning. "My original sire was a redguard like you by the name of Yura. Lord Harkon had her killed when he discovered she'd had a fledgling without his approval. He took me under his wing after that and made me Feran Sadri's apprentice once he learned of my talent with mixing potions."

"That's terrible!" Exclaimed Yosa'Min, "He actually does that?"

Ronthil gave a grim nod of his head. "The only ones who have safely sired a fledgling here are Vingalmo and Orthjolf, and I believe it was only as favors of Lord Harkon to win their loyalty. Of course... Not long after those fledglings were sent to kill some vampire hunters, but they were hardly three weeks old each, they stood no match."

Yosa'Min furrowed her brow, her dislike of the vampire lord growing with every moment. "Why would he kill off so many if they're connected to his clan? Wouldn't that just weaken him?"

Shaking his head, the bosmer added a bit more of the fire salts to the boiling concoction. "Actually, no. Lord Harkon believes in a purity of the clan. If a fledgling is weak or useless he usually kills them within a moon. Sires will be killed otherwise if the fledgling has skills he can utilize, and he sees their turning of a mortal as an act of treason as they're most likely trying to build supporters to overthrow him. The only one here who has truly successfully sired a fledgling here is Lady Serana..." The bosmer's eyes fell heavily upon Yosa'Min, who swallowed dryly in response. "But I can see why you and she yet live. Lord Harkon values lineage and family, and Lady Serana is his mortal daughter after all. The only one literally of his flesh and blood around here. Then there's you, Dragonborn!" The bosmer chuckled, "I quite liked that show you put on with Orthjolf, he needs to be put in his place every now and then."

"His attitude certainly leaves much to be desired," said Yosa'Min with a dip of her head. She liked this bosmer, he'd been the friendliest soul in the whole clan aside from Serana, and even she at times felt like she was keeping things from the redguard. This fellow fledgling however was unique from the rest, though she suspected he had long outgrown such a term, unless of course he was lying to get on her good side. The passing thought quickly made her mood darken, and she frowned slightly. "You're mixing moon sugar with this potion?" She asked, pointing idly at the bowl of white chunky powders.

"Uh... Yes, is that bad?"

"Well it does the exact opposite of what you want, it'll make the drinker more susceptible to the effects of fire. Even with three ingredients to strengthen it you'll get both effects, so the potion won't be as potent," replied Yosa'Min, the bosmer's eyes widening with embarrassment.

Quickly he began to remove the potion from the fire, muttering to himself of how it was hot, and poured it out into a small pit covered by a trap door. "Blast," he muttered, "This is actually only some of my first actual potions," he replied, "my mentor usually doesn't allow me to try them on my own and I guess I was so excited I must have grabbed the wrong ingredient."

"You probably mistook it for bone meal," she offered.

He smiled with a flush. "Yes probably, thank you for noticing my error," Ronthil said as he began to recreate the potion from scratch, making sure to swap the moon sugar for bone meal before he started. "I must say I'm impressed, are you thinking of seeking an apprenticeship with Feran?"

"Not at the moment," she said back, leaning against a center table of the alchemy room.

"Shame, I'd certainly enjoy you hanging around, but to each their own."

She gave him a soft smile, when suddenly a hand was upon her shoulder. Yosa'Min turned, eyes widening with delight as Serana filled her vision. "Hey," said Serana slowly, masking distress but Yosa'Min could easily detect it. "Can I steal you away for a minute, or are you making friends?"

"Well, I'd like to think I am," Yosa'Min said, Ronthil smiling in response and giving Serana a respectful dip of his head in greeting, "but of course you can." Serana gave her a brilliant smile, her hand lowering to take Yosa'Min's and began leading her away towards the entrance of the castle. Ronthil watched after them, brow furrowed, before returning to his potions.

"What is this place?" Inquired Yosa'Min, standing besides what looked like a long abandoned U shaped dock constructed of stone. There were several boats destroyed within it, a massive one sunk only half way with its bow still piercing towards the sky. A waterfall was on the side from the castle, spilling into the rectangular water. They'd had to exit the castle entirely, and make their way around the icy shore until scaling a slope of snow slicked rocks and carefully climb back down to the dock. It was eerily quiet here, as if no one had come this way in a long time. There were three different sets of stairs, one to the water, one to the second tier and another to the third, and the final set of stairs led directly to a door that went into the undercroft of the castle.

"This is what remains of the previous owners," grimly said Serana, casting her eyes upon the rotting wood of the ship. "But that's not what I brought you here for," she said with a wave of her hand, turning towards Yosa'Min.

"Then what is?"

"My father... He..." Serana trailed off, biting her cheek as she struggled to say it. After a minute, Yosa'Min silently urging her on, she sighed. "He wants to turn you, again."

Yosa'Min took a small step back, stunned. "What?"

Gritting her teeth with displeasure, the sire lowered her head. "I didn't want anyone else to hear us, because this is a very big thing but yes. He wants to bite you, and re-turn you into a vampire only this time as his fledgling directly."

"How is that even possible? I'm already a vampire!"

"My father believes his blood is more powerful than mine, and that it would be able to overpower my claim upon you and change you. He's wrong however, but he refuses to admit it. With a lower-class vampire, one who does not hail directly from Molag Bal like I and he do, then yes it would. That's actually how Orthjolf became one of us, he was bitten by a common vampire first."

"So we really are purer vampires," Yosa'Min uttered.

With a nod of her head, Serana turned towards the cold waters before them and hissed in frustration. "He refuses to accept that I am as pure as he even though if it weren't for me and my sacrifice he never would have become a vampire lord!" She was shouting now, hands balled into tight fists. "And now he wants you, because I can never be stronger than he allows! My father is a liar and a schemer and ruins everything that ever brings me happiness!"

Yosa'Min stood a bit aside, allowing her sire to vent out her feelings. No doubt she hadn't in centuries. When Serana had seemingly calmed enough for the redguard to approach her, she placed a hand upon Serana's shoulder and the nord sighed softly. "What would happen if he tried to turn me once more?"

"More than likely you will die," she grimly said, "and if not you'll probably become an abomination."

"I don't understand, what exactly is the difference between being your fledgling and his? Weren't you turned in a ceremony together?"

With a nod, Serana turned towards her and gave a heavy sigh. "Yes, but he did not turn me. Molag Bal did, and then granted my father vampirism afterwards. We are flesh and blood by mortal means, and we are both pure vampires and having been turned in the same ceremony does mean we are blood-kin and of the same clan... But I have my own line of vampirism while he has his. We both create volkihar vampires, but it's entirely separate of each other."

"Like two potions that do the same thing but with different ingredients?" Yosa'Min offered, trying to follow along.

"Precisely," said Serana, "What he essentially wants to do is purge you of what makes you of my line, and replace it with his own. It would sway you towards him, you'd have that bond with him that we possess."

With a snarl of her own, Yosa'Min shook her head passionately. "I don't want that! But I guess he doesn't care does he?"

"No, he doesn't."

Lips pulled back to reveal fangs, and a fury built within Yosa'Min that Serana had only seen a few times before. "Well he can get over it! I'm tired of people trying to control me when they have no right, I'm tired of being a pawn in some grand game. What is it going to take to get him to give this up?"

"We have to get to my mother," said Serana firmly, "and we can't let him win. Honestly... The only way we can keep you safe is to stop him."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes Yosa..." Breathed Serana heavily, terrified yet determined. "We have to beat my father at his own game, which means we need to find Auriel's bow and keep him from using it. If we can get it first, we could use it as leverage against him to make him give up this pursuit and then... Well we'd have to leave."

Yosa'Min stared heavily into blazing sunset eyes. "You don't want to kill him do you?"

Sighing shakily, Serana shrugged. "I'd rather not, no, but if it comes to it... That man is no longer my father, that time has long passed. I will not risk your life for his selfish games, and I suspect he would simply use and discard you as he has done so many."

Almost timidly, the redgaurd reached forward and took hold of Serana's hands, giving them a firm squeeze. "Where do we start?"

Relief flooded the rigid vampire, and Serana released their hands as she turned towards the door to the undercroft. "Here, actually. We need to find my mother, and I have an idea where we can find some clues."

"Oh?"

"My mother used to tend to a garden in the courtyard, I would help her a lot before everything changed. We'd spend whole days just tending to her alchemical reagents, and my mother actually taught me a lot about it too..."

"Until they turned?"

"It was before then, actually, but yes. When father began seeking power and she with him, all of that I enjoyed was over with. I tried to go there when we first arrived, actually, but it seems I was right about the rubble and the missing tower. My tower, actually," she tisked with annoyance, "but as well as the castle entrance to the courtyard. I have a feeling it's still there, and that my father just wanted to be rid of seeing it."

"All the reminders of before," concluded Yosa'Min as they made their way towards a massive, olden door. "Do you think she'd have left something behind to lead us to wherever she went?"

Nodding her head, Serana pushed it open and they were assaulted by a thick musk of decay and moisture. They were within a set of darkly lit stone corridors, more in the style of the rest of the castle but it was clear that this place had not been visited within decades. Straw and dirt were strew about the floor while whole columns had collapsed, leaving displaced rubbled just as plenty. "She had to have, intentional or not. Mother was in that garden almost every day, especially after father and she began to fight."

They moved swiftly through the shadows, making their way to another door which revealed a larger room, ice hanging from the ceiling and a river in the center with a bridge overtop, contained by stone with small steps leading into it. Immediately however, they were frustrated to see several death hounds stalking within it, rivulets of shadows following behind their ghastly bodies as red eyes peered into the darkness and through the icy fog curling on the ground. "They're not going to be friendly," said Serana with a hiss, "father probably has them here to keep everyone but him out."

"I guess we'll just have to put them down," said Yosa'Min as she drew her dagger and narrowed her eyes. Almost immediately one of the hounds raised its head, and let loose an unholy howl. The many corridors of the undercroft echoed with the return calls, and five additional hounds came peeling around a corner. "Bad dog," Yosa'Min jeered as the first charged. She drove her blade into its open maw, killing it with an eruption of blood, and kicked it off her dagger as another drove forward at them with snapping jaws. Before it was half way to them, Serana zapped it with a lightning spell, thunder echoing off the stone walls like the roar of a dragon.

A pair of them came running at the vampires together, jumping to the side to dodge Yosa'Min's kick and managing to clamp down on her leg. "Yosa!" Shouted Serana in response, a thunderbolt arching forward to piece hound and strike the second one.

"I'm fine," hissed Yosa'Min in pain, jumping on one foot for a moment, "the armor stopped most of it." Nodding her head, the sire turned her attention to the seven more hounds within the chamber. With any luck, the howl had drawn all of them to the pair. "Now let's kill these mutts," she said with anger, prepping a spell of her own in her other hand. Though most of what she knew was solely for means of healing herself and her allies, Yosa'Min also had learned a few destructive spells over the years. As a hound came charging, snapping off spittle with bloodthirst, Yosa'Min punched her hand outwards and a ball of fire soared through the cold air to explode in its face. The black dog yelped, thrashing in pain as its exposed skin burned off, and a pale white skull rose up at them with vengeance. An ice spike promptly finished it off however.

The remaining six dogs were finished off in a similar manner, Yosa'Min hurling fireballs at them and Serana ice or lightning, daggers slicing their throats or piercing their hearts if the death hound had managed to get close enough. By the time they were finished, the pair of them were already tired but they'd faced plenty worse enemies. Pressing on, they were shocked when a woman came leaping at them from around a column, hissing with fury as her glowing eyes blazed with hate. Instinctively, Yosa'min let loose a shout. "FUS!" The single word of power was enough to send the vampire flying through the air, and into one of the ice spikes naturally found in the area. The vampire thrashed in pain, trying desperately to claw out at them, before it died.

"What the heck was that!" Shouted Yosa'Min with wide eyes.

"Probably one of my father's old supporters, who fled here when he went to kill them. She most likely went feral," said Serana, inspecting the wrinkles and paleness of her skin. "That's what happens when you go long enough without blood." Swallowing dryly, Yosa'Min gave another nod of her head, and the pair soon found what appeared to have been the vampire's home. A bed roll, a cupboard with a few rations, as well as an alchemy table were set nearby a bench that had a keg with bloodstains upon it. Turning the faucet, their suspicions were confirmed when not even a drop escaped it. There was also a lever directly to the side, and with a pull they heard a wooden construct fall into place nearby.

With a bit of backtracking, they found a wooden bridge that led across a pit with spikes within it. Instantly Serana stiffened, recognizing the split path with a tunnel at each end. "Take the left," she instructed, "I remember when my father installed these traps as his paranoia set in." Yosa'Min obeyed, and soon spotted hanging spikes within the corridor. A skeptical look was caught by the sire. "Yes, it's this way I promise, just watch your head." The pair weaved their way through bloody traps, and came out in a room with more bookcases and filled with piles upon piles of bones while pools of water covered the floor. Tensing at the morbid scene, the duo swiftly exited up a set of stairs only to find skeletons attached to restraints and bones long picked clean.

"This place is gross," uttered Yosa'Min. They slipped into another corridor, and the redguard's eyes widened as both paths before them were impassible with webs. "Oh no, please not spiders," she muttered moments before a giant frostback spider came sailing down upon their heads from above. "Get off!" She shouted with anger, stabbing its face as flames erupted from a hand. Serana gave a sharp yelp of fright, and with panic from the monstrous arachnid, released a powerful spell that left a seared hole in its chest. Helping the fledgling out from beneath the disgusting corpse, Serana offerred Yosa'Min a sympathetic look. "Let's just get out of here," growled the redguard as she began cutting down the cobwebs blocking their way.

After slicing through several layers of the sticky substance, they were within a web covered room, and a second spider awaited them, this one much larger and drool simply oozing out of its mouth. "I really hate spiders," muttered Yosa'Min as the pair began to fight it. Given the tight space they were within, and its sheer bulk, it was difficult to evade its ferocious attacks. Eventually however, the pair had maneuvered to the other side of the room and Yosa'Min held an arm for her sire to not pass. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" A jet of fire erupted out of her open mouth, flames surging forward to envelope the monster spider and burn it to a crisp. As the fire breath ended, small puffs of smoke escaped Yosa'Min before she cleared her throat.

There was a lever once more, and they could see down to where the path had diverged earlier, something sounding off in the distance before a wooden bridge fell into place. They retraced their steps, and took the new path within only a minute. The new way was a flight of steps, candles burning on their last wick as they rushed up them until at last they were at a door. A rush of warmth and painful light flooded over them as early dawn approached. With a hiss, Yosa'Min tugged her hood up to cover her face. "Is this it?" She inquired, looking around a fairly green and grey courtyard, a massive moon dial in the center while to their left stairs and platforms led into the castle. Even from here she could spot the rubble blocking the way in. There were stairs across from them leading to a walkway up high that came back down, a door at each end. Shriveled up trees and bushes spotted the area, a pond of water with rubble ruining what would have been a tranquil surface. Smashed pots and other broken items were strewn about the place while a pair of tombstones resides in the grass nearby.

When her gaze fell upon Serana, who had raised her hood as well, Yosa'Min's chest felt heavy. Horror was flooded over Serana's face as she took in the disrepair her mother's favorite place had fallen into. "It's..." She trailed off, unable to form the words. "I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly not this. Can you imagine how beautiful something looks like after hundreds of years being tended to by a master who knows exactly what to do? This place used to be gorgeous... I can't believe he let it become this shadow." Serana formed a fist, and stalked up the way towards the rubbled way into the castle. "He tried to pretend it didn't exist, he forgot about all this!"

"Maybe it was too painful to see after your mother left and sealed you away?" Suggested Yosa'Min.

Tensely, the sire just nodded her head. "I used to come here every evening... I'd watch mother tend to the garden or read a book over there," she gestured to a nearby table, layers upon layers of dust coating it. "Some nights father would join us, when I was child at least. He was never very good in the garden though. Other times he'd chase her here, and they'd be arguing so bad I was afraid they'd come to blows. Usually the servants would escort me away before that happened."

"Did it?"

"Many, many times." The pair grew silent then, Yosa'Min allowing Serana to reflect upon what had become of her family. After a while, Serana shook herself. "Enough of this, we didn't come here for me to mope. We have to find a clue to where she's gone." Yosa'Min gave a hearty nod of her head, and the sire slowly began to walk around the courtyard. She'd made her way over to where nothing but nightshade remained of her mother's garden, and gasped as she spotted a shimmering dark blue crest. "The moon dial... it's missing pieces!" She called to Yosa'Min who looked up from across the way. "Find the rest of them, they're not supposed to be removed!"

Dutifully, Yosa'Min obeyed and began to search the whole of the courtyard for the missing pieces. Unfortunately, they'd only managed to find three pieces in total, but when they placed them where they belonged the moondial shifted. The large center piece swiveled around, locking into a new position, and Serana gasped as the white stone center pieces rotated and lowered, falling into place as stairs. "Clever," uttered Serana, sounding both impressed and disturbed at finding this. "Looks like she kept more secrets from me than I thought."

"Were you two... close?" Inquired Yosa'Min.

"Actually yeah," sighed Serana, shaking her head. "Mother and I were always together. I'd help her in the garden, she'd aid me in my studies... I never saw my father much but my mother most certainly. She even let me pick what to plant once. We'd tell each other everything too..." She stopped, pain filling her voice despite her attempts to contain it. "I guess I was wrong about that."

"I know what I say means little in the matter," Yosa'Min said slowly, "But it's still nice you were once close with your mother. Having parents... It's not something everyone gets to have. It might have gone bad, but I'd suggest you cherish what once was."

With a rueful smile, the nordic vampire met her gaze. "I do, every now and then."

"Good!"

She stared down into the curling stairwell, seemingly hesitant now. "Yosa... You've told me before you never knew your father," she said, looking up at the redguard who's lips drew into a thin line instantly. "But your mother, what was she like?"

The redguard looked down at the mossy stone beneath her, and shrugged. "Honestly, I can't even remember anymore. I know she was never really there, working herself to the bone to support four kids with no husband. She... She tried to provide for us, but I was the extra mouth that ruined it all. My brother Vastin was my real parent, not her."

"I see... I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too... I don't know if I'm right to be angry with her either, she was just so tired from working all the time she didn't have the energy to deal with my siblings and I. My brother eventually just took me and left, raised me on his own from there on away from my abusive twins."

"You were a triplet?"

"Oh no," snorted Yosa, "I had an elder brother and then there was a pair of twins ahead of me. I was the baby."

Serana nodded faintly. "Oh... Do you think you'd ever have the courage to face her again? After everything that happened?"

Burning eyes blazed into each other. "Honestly? I'd probably punch her before anything else. She might have been tired but she could have done something when she did have energy," sneered Yosa'Min. "And she never bothered finding my brother and I after we left." The Dragonborn gave her a soft smile. "I know what you're trying to do, stall while you work up the courage to face your mother. As far as we know she might not be down there."

"Where's the one place my father would never look though? Right under his nose, here in the castle. She could be down there, after all this time."

"Or there's nothing more than a lead or a dead end. You're afraid, I know, but it's time to face your mother. I'll be right there besides you too so don't worry."

With a nervous laugh, Serana began to descend the stairwell. "Alright, you win."

Grinning behind her, Yosa'Min couldn't stop herself. "Finally."

AN: From two different spring breaks, a cross-country road trip there and back, and some distracting side projects; there was a lot keeping me from writing the next chapter. I hope you can forgive another long delay, and thanks for reading and I'd love to hear what you think!