Though originally I had planned to leave the Dawnguard, an Elder Scroll in the hands of a vampire that powerful and that insane was not something I would keep from Isran. I ran to Solitude, in human form, and took a carriage to Riften. I slept on the ride there, and began to run again, back to the fort. Isran and the others were fighting a group of vampires when I arrived. I drew my bow and in three quick shots, ended the fight.

"Look at this," Isran rumbled as I neared the bodies. "I thould have known it was only a matter of time before they found us. It's the price we pay for openly recruiting." He made a grumbling sound in his chest. "We'll have to step up our defenses. I don't suppose you have some good news for me."

"Not exactly," I said, crouching to retrieve my arrows from the bodies.

"Damn." He directed a few of the recruits to clearing the bodies before he turned back to me. "Well, what do you know?"

I hesitated. Isran was known to be less level-headed than was wise for me to needle. "The vampires were looking for a woman trapped in Dimhollow."

"A woman?" He was confused. "Trapped in there? That doesn't make any sense." He glanced around, as if he might see her come out of the trees. "Who is she? And where is she?"

"She wanted to go home, so I took her to her castle," I said, keeping my eyes on the arrows I was trying to salvage.

He grunted. "I'm waiting to hear what this means."

I met his eyes, tensed to run. "She's the daughter of a powerful vampire lord. And they also have an Elder Scroll."

He was as still as a statue for a moment. Then he exploded. "You delivered the daughter of a vampire lord to her father and you didn't even secure the scroll?"

"I'm lucky I made it out alive!" I snapped at him. "There were too many of them, and only one of me. Werewolf or not, I'm not suicidal."

"So they have everything they wanted, and we have nothing?" He spat on the ground. "By the Divines, this couldn't get much worse. This is more than we can handle."

I frowned at him. "You're not going to give up, are you?"

"Did I say that?" he asked shortly. "We just need... we need help. If they're bold enough to attack us here, then they're more than we're prepared for. I have some good men here, but it's not enough. There are some people I've worked with over the years; we could use their skills. If you can find them, we might stand a chance."

"Where can I find them?" I asked immediately.

"Heh, right to the point. Not like those fool Vigilants. We should keep this small. Too many people and we'll draw more attention than we can handle."

He listed off two names and locations, and a little bit of background information. I promised I'd be back as soon as I could be, and set off. Neither of them were very difficult to find. Gunmar was hunting some bear that had attacked too many people. I helped him kill the thing, secured his help, and went to find Sorine. She was somewhat vacant, more focused on some Dwemer artifacts than what I was saying. When I finally got through to her, she said that she'd help if she had the artifacts she was looking for. I tracked the bag she had dropped and returned it to her, and she went the same was as Gunmar.

I arrived about the same time they did. The gates were up, and Isran stood on the upper floor, overlooking us. "Alright, Isran," Gunmar called. "We're here. What do you want?"

"Hold it right there," he ordered, and pulled a lever next to him. Bright sunlight flooded the room, and I bit back a noise of complaint that might have gotten a bolt through my heart.

"What are you doing?" Sorine asked, sounding more curious than annoyed.

"Making sure you're not vampires." He shoved the lever back into place, and the light disappeared. "Can't be too careful."

He explained things to the newcomers as the gates opened; things I really didn't care to pay attention to. It was only when he directed his gaze toward me that I heard him say, "... in the meantime, we're going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you. Let's go have a chat with it, shall we?"