A/N:

So this is chapter 17. It is the longest one, I wrote for this story until now. I thought I would try and make it longer than the other ones, thanks to rubenruben44. ;)

I hope you will enjoy this one.

Chapter 17:

Dawnstar was a small village, no more. Aurora had indeed known that, but it still was a surprise to her. Since she was born in Whiterun and had spent the last two years in the empire, she had expected the capital of a Hold to be more.

The ride on the cart was fast, but also had been extremely uncomfortable. Luckily the sun had never shone freely down on her more than an hour at a stretch, but despite the clouds, it was summer and the days therefore quite long. But after two days she had finally brought it over with.

Thanks to her enhanced self-control, she hadn't ripped the driver's throat out and drank his blood. Now after two days she had had been exposed to the sun, the thirst had begun to burn in her throat. After she had been deposed on the outskirts of the city, she started to search an unseen place to hunt.

On a small snow covered clearing, it was a thin blanket of snow on the ground in spite of the summer, she found a single soldier of the Stormcloaks.

Right, the Civil War.

She hadn't noticed much of the war on the way to Dawnstar. But it doesn't matter, he was easy prey and what was more important, he was alone.

After she had strengthened herself again, she made her way into the city, she had to know where exactly the cave was and the easiest place to hear something like this was a tavern.

The Tavern, the Windpeak Inn, was the only such building in Dawnstar. The sun had just begun to disappear behind the horizon and colored the cloudy sky in red and orange. Aurora was unspeakably happy she was still able to see these beautiful moments. She didn't know whether she would survive without the sun. For the warmth the sunshine brought of her skin, she happily took the slight stinging, which was triggered by direct contact with sunlight, in exchange.
Her timing was good. If she could learn quickly where she had to look, then she would be able to travel at night and her skin was could recover a little bit.

The interior of the tavern was nothing special. A public bar with some tables and benches and adjoining rooms those were likely to be rented. Behind the counter a Nord man stood, he had shoulder-length auburn hair and wore the typical work clothes of an innkeeper.

Aurora sat down on a stool at the counter and waited for him to come for her.

"What'll it be?" He asked, as he stood in front of her. "A med and something to eat, or a room to stay at?".

" I would like to hear some information, if you can serve with that," she said, looking at him kindly.

"That depends on what you want to know, but if I can, I'll help you."

"What do you know? About vampire activity around here," she asked.

He thought for a moment before he answered her.

"South of here, there is a cave or some say it was an old grave. It was only a few hours before now, that two Vigilantes of Stendar were here and said they would go there."

The Vigilantes didn't wait. Aurora was not surprised. The mistrust between them and the Dawnguard probably went deeper than she had thought. Perhaps she could use this fact when the Dawnguard should become a real danger.

"Can you tell me how to get there?" She asked the host.

"I can show you the location on a map, if you want," he said, pulling out a large folded piece of parchment under his table.

After he had shown her the position exactly, Aurora thanked him and left the village to the south.

She had found the entrance to the cave easier than she expected. She looked around, a thin but noticeable trace of blood led through the snow into the cave. According to the smell it was human. Carefully she entered the cave and looked around.

A narrow passage led into the depths. All over its walls, glow mushrooms were growing and set the cave into a cold, dim light. Suddenly the passage opened into a hall. It was that big, that to her left a small tower actually was built. From above a waterfall fell into a small river bed that flowed the cave and was melting the snow on its edges. Suddenly she felt the presence of vampires. She wasn't able to say how many there were, but they were there.

A dog barked, but it sounded more like a mutilated roar. A shudder ran down Aurora's spine. What twisted creature was that? Next she heard two voices that were slowly approaching her. Her fine senses could also hear the crackle of magic. If she wanted to avoid a fight, she had to become noticeable.

"Probably another Vigilant of Stendar" a woman said.

"He fought well. He killed two of our brothers."

So they were vampires, evidently the ones she was looking for. She took a step out of the shadow of the wall she was hiding behind and looked at the two vampires who came to meet her.

"Look who is here," the woman said, "Has Lord Harkon sent one more for the search or are you here to spy for him?" She asked.

"Nobody ever said, I've been looking for you and nobody sent me here, but …" Aurora began, but was interrupted by her opposite.

"Then you are at the wrong place," she said coldly and jumped at Aurora.

She was so fast Aurora managed to dodge her attack last second. If they just attacked with no more reason than her appearance, then what there were looking for must be very important or secret, probably both.

As it turned out, the two vampires were no match for Aurora thus her doubts at the beginning of the fight. Marcus was a lot more powerful and had made her much more problems.

As both vampires were dead and the dog had fled through the cave entrance, she looked around. The chamber in which she was one more way out but a gate blocked the way. She took a few steps towards it and stopped abruptly. Vigilant Tolan's body lay in front of her on the floor. His body looked terrible. All his limbs stand away from his body in strange angles and two of his fingers were missing. Either he was tortured for information, or one of the vampires had taken great pleasure from torturing him. Most likely both was the case.
Disgusted Aurora turned back to the gate and made the last few meters, so she could inspect the gate. As it turned out, it was locked in place. The design reminded her of the two old Nord-Ruins she had explored. If that was the case somewhere had to be a lever that opened the door. After she had looked around the cave, she thought the only place where it would make sense to seek was the tower in the left corner of the chamber.

A narrow staircase led up the slightly crooked building and ended at a window with view on the gate. An iron lever, which was decorated with small ornaments, was on the floor below it. She carefully pushed the lever to the other side, prepared for the case, she had triggered some trap, but nothing happened. A rattle from gears and chains was heard, then the gate opened.

Quickly she went down and stood in front of the now open doorway. The air that came up the pathway smelled old and stale. The rugged rocky passage opened quickly in a wide, high and long room, which had been built, judged by its appearance, by the old Nord. Left and right on the wall stone coffins were located, the majority of them were open. After two-thirds of the room a stairway went two meters into the air and gave the room a second level.

When she was few meters from the stairs, she heard footsteps in the upper part. She already was so close to the staircase, she couldn't look over its top. She drew her dagger from its sheath, and took it by the blade to be able to throw it quickly. As quietly as possible, she crept up the stairs and saw the vampire. It was a woman who wore a leather armor, which was held in red and black. It looked thicker and probably offered more protection than Aurora's leather pants and jacket, but she had grown to love them over the years and had ordered a new and stronger set in Bruma.

She had noticed the presence of another vampire in the room and expected to find it here. Resolutely she reached out with her throwing arm and threw the dagger in the direction of the vampire.

The blade dug into the back of the woman's shoulder. With a loud hiss she turned around and stormed on Aurora. Before the woman could build a ward spell, Aurora had thrown two ice projectiles into her stomach and chest. With a pained moan she collapsed to the ground and died. Apparently her old appearance was only prove of her late turning and not the result of a long life as immortal. With one foot she turned the woman on her stomach and pulled her dagger from the shoulder.

On the second level a way led back in the direction she had come from, but ended up halfway and disappeared in a new passage into the rock of the wall. A gate blocked the way, but a pull chain was right next to the gate. Ready to avoid any traps, Aurora pulled the chain. The gate rose and disappeared into the ceiling. Either there had been no traps here or the vampires had defused all of them.

She quickly came to another staircase and followed it down a few steps. She found herself standing in a kind of tomb. Left and right grave niches raised and formed a square room, in the middle of four columns were standing and supported the celling.

Some Draugr fought against another vampire. The two Draugr were bigger than any she had ever seen. They wore helmets with some kind of horn on them and waved large grate-swords. She waited to see if vampire was able to overwhelm both of his opponents. After a brief battle, the vampire had managed to kill one of the two Draugr, but the second had brought his great ebony-sword over his head and let it go down. With a loud crack and then a short cry of pain, it spitted the head of the vampire. With drawn sword, she left her coverage and moved toward the Draugr. When she almost had reached him, he opened his mouth and an incredible power threw her back against the stairs. The shock wave was accompanied by a bluish shimmer and a curdling roar.

Aurora took a moment to collect herself and got back on her feet. Right as she was about to get up, the great Draugr swung his sword down at her. She just could avoid the blade, because she dropped back to the ground and rolled to the side, the stairs were digging hurtfuly into her back. His blade was hitting the ground next to her. That was setting an idea into her mind. As he lifted his heavy sword again, she rolled again and came to rest under him, then stabbed her Akaviiri blade between his legs upwards. After she had crushed through the resistance of the pelvic bone using their supernatural strength, she drove the sword up into his stomach until the hand-guard hit the armor of the Draugr. With a screaming noise, he collapsed and fell backward to the ground. Just in the last moment, she was able to pull away her legs, other ways his heavy and rusty iron armor would have crushed her bones.

While she ponded the dust off her clothes she stood up. This Draugr was more powerful than all she had encountered before.
After some more narrow pathway and two vampires who attacked her, she reached a steep staircase leading upwards. Slow to make not any unnecessary noises she moved up and came to a small terrace. To her left she could look down to some other parts of the cave, on the other side a big gate, out of steel bars was to be seen. Behind it another room was it looked natural again, like the beginning of the cave.

In this room, a vampire struggle with an oversized frost spider. However, the battle didn't last long and the spider was dead fast. Satisfied the vampire put his sword into the sheath on his belt and moved toward the door. Aurora quickly moved behind a corner to stay out of sight. The gate disappeared with a loud rattling in the ceiling and the vampire stepped out. She was no longer willing to take any risks and didn't identify herself. She had accepted that if she wanted to know what was going on here and perhaps meet this Harkon, she must not hesitate to in her methods to come further into the cave.

When he had gone past her, she drew her dagger, sneaked behind him and slit his throat. With a gurgling noise he fell to the ground.
After she had forced herself through the narrow space between the spider's giant body and the wall, she could see a door in the wall. She carefully opened it and stepped into the gigantic hall. The free space was so enormous big, she could barely see the other end.

Aurora immediately heard three voices.

"From me you will learn nothing. I'm not afraid of you, Stendar is watching over me. "

A faint cracking noise was heard, then a woman said.

"Was that really necessary, probably he was able to tell us what we wanted to know, with the right motivation."

"We find what Harkon has sent us for and rise in his favor, this Vigilant had to offer nothing," answered a man.

At this moment, Aurora accidentally stepped against a stone, which was laying in front of her on the floor. With a loud clunk it sprang down the stairs to her left.

"What was that?" She heard the woman ask.

Only a moment later, she heard magic was cast, then several footsteps where coming up the stairs to her. Aurora did not hesitate and pulled her dagger and prepared herself. When she saw the first vampire, she threw the dagger. He met the man in the abdomen, but did not manage to penetrate the armor there. With a metallic sound it fell to the ground and slid down the stairs. However, it distracted the vampire long enough, to allow her to shoot an ice-spike into his neck.

Even before he had fallen to the ground, the woman had come in sight, with her was a Nord, who apparently was her thrall. Together they attacked her, she with sword and dagger, he with a big war hammer. The movements of the man were so clumsy that it was easy to dodge his attacks, but the woman was an entirely different matter. She was like a bee and stung her with her blades and managed to almost hit Aurora several times. Her thin leather armor had nothing to oppose against the sharp steel weapons. She managed to place some strikes against the woman, but failed each time at her good defense. She always managed to deflect Aurora blade at the last moment.

After some time, she decided to use another tactic. She waited until the North had raised his hammer high above his head, then attacked him. She met the shaft of the weapon just at the moment when it began to fall down. The force of her blow drove the head of the hammer away from her and above the head of the last vampire. With a sickening crunch, her skull was smashed. Startled, about the sudden death of his mater, the man dropped the hammer and start on her body. A moment later, Aurora blade separated his head from the rest of his body.

After Aurora had regained her breath, she began to climb down the stairs. She felt that no more vampires were nearby, so she thought it was safe enough to stow her sword again.

A narrow bridge led across the chasm that separated the stairs from a round platform in the middle. Surprised that she hadn't noticed the abyss before, she looked down into the depths. She couldn't see the end. Shuddering, she squirmed away and went on to the podium, which was standing in the middle of the large stone cone that stretched up from the depths. It seemed to be out of solid rock. No seams where to be seen. On the top some sort button was located.

Aurora put a hand on the knob and pushed. Too fast for her to react, a large iron nail shot upward. It had at least the diameter of your thumb. A flaming pain exploded in her hand as it dug through the midst of it. Aurora could feel blood running from her hand. She leaned forward to see where it disappeared. A small gutter transported it into the pedestal. Suddenly pink flames flared up around her and the sting from the podium pulled back and gave her hand free.

The pain in her hand quickly subsided and then disappeared completely, although the hole was still there. But Aurora had no worries, no later than tomorrow her hand look normal again would and be would be healed.

After she had moved the other stone pedestals so, that every one was standing at an end of the flaming path, the ground began to move. It sank itself into the ground something about two meters, only in the middle a large monolith was standing into the air.

So she had definitely found something here.

When she walked to the hexagonal stone, one side began to disappear in the ground. The stone was so hollow.

Inside was a woman. Her face was pale, but had nice features. Her lips were full but had also pale and emaciated, some small drops of blood flowed out between them. Her long brown hair was falling freely on her shoulders, except for two braids around her head. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be unconscious. Just as Aurora was finished with admiring her face she began to fall forward. Aurora succeeded to catch her and thus prevent her face hitting the ground.

The case free fall seemed to have awakened the mysterious woman, for she opened her eyes and freed herself from Aurora's arms. When she was back on her own legs, Aurora was able to see her eyes. The woman's eyes were red, a beautiful ruby and her pupils were reminiscent of those of a cat. Obviously she was a vampire.
She opened her mouth and began to speak.

"W-Where is ... Who sent you here?" She asked, apparently still baffled by her unconsciousness.

"Whom you had expected?" She asked her.

That seemed to bring the woman out of concept. She thought for a moment, then said:

"Definitely not someone like me," her voice was surprised and hostile.

What did she mean not someone like her. Should she be awakened from a mortal? Aurora didn't believe that. Since she was a vampire, there was one option left. Aurora had to check her suspicions.

"What do you mean, someone like you?" She asked.

"A daughter of Cold Harbor," she said dryly, "Did my father found once again someone he could sacrifice for his thirst for power?"

So she was also a daughter of Cold Harbor. That might explain why she hadn't felt her presence. And who was her father?

"I don't know your father, and I was sent here by no one. I've heard that powerful vampires are here and wanted to know more. "

"If that is so, I can help you in finding out what's going on," she replied, a bit more friendly, "I have to go home."

"Where exactly you have to go?" Aurora asked curiously.

"My family lived there for a long time, it is a castle on an island west of Solitude. I would bet there still live there".

"Why should I help you get there?" Aurora asked. She wanted to know how important it was for the woman to get there, even if she had to admit to herself that she would help her, no matter what she was giving her n return.

"Look, you're came here to find powerful vampires and here I am. I'm like you, from me you can learn more than from all other vampires you could have found here ".

That was exactly the answer Aurora had hoped for. However, her curiosity wasn't satisfied yet.

"Why were you locked up?".

She could see, the woman was considering what to say.

"I would prefer to not tell you, if that's okay," she paused and sighed, "Look, it's not that I ... at the moment I don't know who I can trust. Bring me home and I'll know where we all stand. "

"Are you in danger?" Aurora asked concerned.

"No, depending on whom we meet in the castle, I'll be safe there."

The re-mention of the castle, reminded her of something that she wanted to ask first. If this woman was not sure if her family still lived in the same place, how long she had been there then.

"How long have you been in there?" She asked, pointing to the stone coffin.

"A good question, I do not know exactly. Who is High King of Skyrim? ".

"Something, one can argue about," Aurora replied, smiling a little.

" Ah, nice to see some things never change. Who is fighting against whom?".

"The Empire supports Elisif, she is Jarl of Solitude. Against them stands Ulfric Stormcloak, he is the Jarl of Windhelm ".

"Empire, which empire?".

"The Empire ... from Cyrodiil?"

"Cyrodiil is the home of an empire? I must have slept longer than I thought, definitely longer than we had planned. Come on, we must lose no time. "

"Any idea how to get out of here?" Aurora asked.

"Well, we could take the same away on which you came in," the woman suggested "By the way, my name is Serana".

"Nice to meet you. Aurora, "she said, holding out a hand.

A/N:

If you like the story, than review, I would be glad.

extraordinary banana had an execlent idea. Here I'm going to quote the review it was mentioned:

"I had another thought for you, in the games you can be the champion of every drastic Lord, however I reckon it would be cool if in your stoth you had different original chcharacters playing the role of champions and wielding various artifacts, some could be very minor characters with short appearances, some could be much more important characters, they could be good or they could be evil. You could even allow people to submit there own characters and you pick your favourite".

I think it is a realy good idea, so if you want to sent me a character or have questions, just send me a pm. :))