"Once she's done run straight for the portal; We only have one chance," I say.
"I know," dad replies. A light I've never seen before shines in his eyes.
Time creeps on slowly, until…
The distant sound of an explosion reaches us. Two Frost Atronachs appear from the mist and start attacking Bonemen. They start fighting back.
Just like Serana predicted, they lost all attention for us.
Without wasting time, we run along the pillars.
An arrow whizzes past my head. Not all of them seem to fall for our distraction.
A Boneman blocks our way. Without slowing down, I twist my body and drive my shoulder into his sternum.
I feel a sharp pain, but I can also feel his chest give way.
I pause momentarily to pick up the sword he dropped, and then I continue running.
The portal is now within sight.
Two taller Wrathmen stand in front of it.
Before we reach them, two ice spikes take them out.
"Let's go," Serana says, dashing to the gate.
Over a hundred enemies are following her.
We quickly follow her.
It feels good to run after being trapped for so long within those walls.
When I reach the steps, I'm forced to slow down from my breakneck speed.
After about fifteen stairs, I realize it.
They aren't following us.
They can't follow us to be precise.
A dozen Bonemen are pushing at the first stair, but they can't push past the invisible barrier. Their arrows vanish when they try to shoot past it.
We're safe.
Serana has stopped halfway the staircase.
"One of you should go first. They'll use light magic and crossbow bolts. Block their first attack with a ward. Crossbows are slow to reload. Most likely, they carry a dagger, but they are slow to switch. The Dawnguard always count on their crossbows, they'll never drop them and only swing them over their backs when it's already too late. I'll go second. The rest should follow quickly."
She seems used to giving orders. Which is rather strange.
Wait a minute, where the hell is...
"I'll go first," dad says. He's the best at Restoration magic.
"Vampires can't cast wards, that's Restoration magic. Undead is their polar opposite," she warns him. "Their bolts are most likely imbued with light magic. One hit and I may end up dead."
"I understand," dad says. "I'll protect you."
She nods. "Let's go then."
Dad takes a deep breath and crosses the barrier.
Serana follows him.
I look at mom. She nods and takes my hand.
Together, we take the last steps and jump through the portal.
We arrive in a big room.
It looks like the alchemy lab Valerica has at the Soul Cairn, except, much bigger.
Tall shelves line the walls filled with ingredients or books. I also glimpse a few alchemy labs.
But there is no time for that now.
Several bodies lie bleeding on the ground, all of them dressed in full armor.
A crossbow bolt races for us, but mom casts a ward before it reaches us.
The one who fired it curses and quickly tries to reload, but before he can do this, a shadow appears behind him. A shadow with orange eyes.
The elven dagger slits his throat. His body falls down, joining the others.
Another one aims for us, but a fireball hits him in the head. His helmet shifts, blocking his view.
Before he can resolve this, an ice spike goes through his shoulder. He drops his crossbow.
The weapon falls down and hits the ground two steps from me.
The Dawnguard-warrior screams and raises his hand.
A blinding light appears.
I need to do something.
I dropped my sword when the light blinded me.
I take two steps in what I hope is the right direction. Then I start searching with my hands.
Where is that thing?
My hands close around something. Something heavy, made out of metal and wood.
The light subsides and I can see the warrior. He now carries a dagger with blood on it.
I quickly take aim and fire.
The bolt makes a soft *thump* when it hits him in his chest. He falls to his knees. Dad appears and kicks the dagger out of his hand.
Serana joins us, sporting a minor injury on her left arm.
"That went quite well," she said, although I notice her face is paler than normal, if such a thing is possible for a vampire.
"There might be others stationed here," dad says.
Serana shakes her head. "I don't think so, not much at least. This castle is useless to them. We're to far north, away from anything. Most likely, they only stationed some men here in case I returned from the Soul Cairn. A few here, and some others to relieve them. But there might be a garrison in Solitude."
"He should know," I say, pointing to the remaining warrior.
Dad checks on him. "No, he lost to much blood. He won't regain consciousness."
"Whatever the case," Serana says. "If there's a garrison at Solitude, they may come check on them."
"So what do we do?" I ask.
"We should put on their uniforms and rest a bit. Then we'll search the rest of the castle and come up with a plan."
A plan to do what?
We agreed to help her take back the castle, but then what? I don't really favor either side. The Dawnguard plans to exterminate vampires, but from Valerica's journals, I can tell that's a quite short sighted view. Not all vampires are 'evil'. Most of them didn't choose to be vampires in the first place. Of course, some abuse their powers and spill more blood than is strictly required, but this problem isn't restricted to vampires.
I can't tell what Serana is planning.
It's clear she wants to take back her home, but if the castle was taken, the entire court should be dead by now. There's no way she can defend this castle on her own, unless the Dawnguard is destroyed.
But I won't be part of that. Without the Dawnguard, the balance of this world will be destroyed. There would be nothing to stop berserk vampires.
So...what now?
I feel like we're being dragged into a war. A war she has no hope of winning.
But there is not much time to think. Serana is already stripping the slain of their uniforms and weapons.
Damnit. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.
But they didn't hesitate to fire a crossbow bolt at me, an innocent human. I did come straight out of the Soul Cairn, but still.
Let's just go along with her.
For now.