And here's chapter 17. Lots of things are gonna happen within this and next couple chapters. I haven't decided how many chapters are left yet in the story but it seems like I'm halfway or a little more. I'll let you readers know as soon as I decide. Well anyways, enjoy the chapter. :)
::Cain's POV::
"You want to what?!" Jarl Balgruuf shrieked as he nearly fell off his thrown.
"I know it sounds crazy, but please trust me, it's the only way I can defeat Alduin," I replied back sternly. The twins were a little skeptical at first when I told them the plan. Jon understood my plan pretty quickly after I told him. In fact, he's stressing that we should do it.
The Jarl glanced over to Irileth and his steward, I forget his name. He stroked his beard and squinted his eyes. Then he shook his head. "No! I can't allow that, Dragonborn. At least not with war going on between Tullius and Ulfric. We also do not have enough men to trap such a beast and I'm not even sure if the trap still works. Anyways, I cannot allow that to happen while the Empire and the Stormcloaks fight in my hold."
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Maybe we can get both sides to stand down temporarily." The Jarl looked over to his steward and he shrugged his shoulders. I glanced behind me at Steve, Jon and Kevin and rolled my eyes. They all snickered.
"If you can get Tullius and Ulfric to stand down, and or help us with trapping the dragon, I will allow your plan to happen."
Sounds reasonable. I guess the war could be a problem, but the dragons are a way bigger threat and they make the war look like a fucking walk in the park. "I understand. I know where we can have the meeting, but how are we going to get them to meet?"
"Well as a matter of fact, General Tullius was in Whiterun not long ago trying to convince me to side with the Empire. He's heading to Falkreath as we speak. I could send a courier to him there. For Ulfric, you will have to go to Windhelm and take to the man himself. I'm sure he'll be happy to oblige you if you say you are Dragonborn."
"Alright I can do that. Where is Windhelm again? Sorry I'm relatively new to Skyrim."
He smirked and shook his head. "No apology needed. Windhelm is just east of here along the road. Where is the meeting going to be at?"
"High Hrothgar. I thought it'd be a better place to have it because it's neutral."
Balgruuf understood and nodded. "Alright. When?"
"Tomorrow night is what I'm shooting for. We need to hurry up. Alduin gets stronger every minute."
"Then we have no time to lose. Proventus, send in a courier, a letter and my quill."
The steward bowed. "Yes my lord." He then began walking to the barracks.
"I'm going to get going then. I'll see you at the meeting Jarl Balgruuf."
"You too. Be careful out there."
I turned to the guys. Jon seemed eager and the twins didn't know what to think. "I guess I'm going to Windhelm. You guys want to go or do you want to stay here?"
"I'll go," Jon said without hesitation.
I smirked. "Ha okay then, Jon."
"I'm in," Steve said.
"Same," Kevin said after him.
"Alright, we should get going then."
::Bame's POV::
Wow, I didn't think Fort Dawnguard was this big. I hope there's not a lot of guys in the organization just yet. I need to get in there without causing any stuff with the vampire hunters. Drakuv has been silent since we left camp. I have no idea what's going through his head. I turned to him. "You know, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I understand if you don't. Sixty-three years of being one and just now I'm telling you to be mortal. I apologize, that's not fair of me to say that and it's not my place."
The dark elf glanced at me then at the fort. "I need time to think it over. And don't apologize. I know you are just trying to help out."
"Alright I understand."
"Take care. We'll meet again." He turned around and left Dayspring Canyon. He'll come around. He's got that sense of goodness in him.
I resumed walking the path to the door. As I walked on, I saw a orc shooting a crossbow at a tree trunk. I have to make sure he doesn't see my eyes. He noticed my presence and lowered his crossbow. I turned my face and hoped my hood covered my identity. "You here to join the Dawnguard?"
"Yeah. I need to talk to Isran." I kept on walking and never looked back. I'm sure he thinks something is going on. It's only obvious. I heard him place another bolt in his crossbow. Please, for the love of God, please be aiming at the trunk and not me. The crossbow clanged and the bolt engraved itself into the tree trunk. Thank God..
I opened up the fort's main gate and walked in. I spotted Isran showing a recruit where to go. I snickered at fact about the obvious look he has, just like the game, black hair, long ZZ Top beard, low serious voice, one dark brown eye and one white eye, darker toned skin and a huge war hammer on his back. It's nice to see it in person.
He spotted me walk in and turned his built figure around. Shit, he's starting to make me look weak. "You a new recruit?"
"Uh, yeah I guess."
"Then come here. Let me take a look at you." I realized he was standing in the middle of the magnified sunlight. Fuck.. I knew this would happen. I should of cake here at night.
"I-I can't." He turned his head slightly and squinted both of his eyes. Suddenly gripped his dagger on his belt.
"You're a vampire! How can you be so foolish to just stroll in here?" He took a couple steps toward me. I slowly gripped my war axe and took it out of my holster. I raised my left hand in surrender and dropped my axe on the ground.
"Yes I am a vampire and-"
"I don't care what you have to say for yourself. You aren't part of the living anymore. You aren't the person you used to be. You are just a blood sucking fuck that eats the living! You are just mindless cannibal." He pulled out his dagger and began approaching me with a murderous expression on his face.
I lowered my hood and picked up my war axe. I'm not going to kill him, but I have to protect myself. I don't know how strong he actually is. "Look Isran, I'm not a monster. I came here for help." He kept on pacing towards me and I saw white around joints on his fingers as he gripped his dagger.
"Help? Why would we ever help a freak like you?" He's getting too close. I have to stagger him back and force him to listen to me.
"Fus.. Ro!" The shout clubbed him in the chest and he fell back on his ass. Not so tough now, huh?
"What the..?" He groaned.
I ran up to him and pinned him down to the ground and pressed my knee against his ribcage. He glared up at me with thoughts I'd rather not think about. "Look, I'm not going to bite you, I'm not going to kill you. I seriously want help."
He attempted to get me off but I didn't move. He gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes. "What do you want?" He hissed.
"To be alive again, man." His reaction immediately changed to confusion. "I was infected many days ago and now I'm separated from my best friends for as long as I have this fucking curse. And to add a small note," I gave him an amused smirk. "I know what Harkon is planning. I know what the Volkihar vampires are planning and it's not good by any stretch. But I know something that they don't and will not find out in a long time, so time is of the essence."
Isran was caught in deep thought and he glared into my eyes. "Fine. But if you are lying to me, I'll rip off all your limbs and you will experience my definition of pain, understood?"
"You didn't even have to waste your breath saying that." I lifted my knee off his chest, got to my feet and reached a hand out to him. He hesitated at first then grabbed on and helped him to his feet.
"Isran are you alright?" The young recruit from earlier rushed into the dome with his war axe drawn, which reminds me. I need an axe like that.
Isran raised a hand at him. "I'm fine. It was just.. a little misunderstanding. Go back to the range and practice with your crossbow."
He glanced at me and I looked away. "Uh.. Okay then.." He looked back at Isran then went back to where he come from. Isran looked back at me with a dead serious expression.
"Follow me. We have much to talk about then." Immediately, he turned around and headed to the spiral stairs to the next floor. We entered to what seems to be his own personal quarters. The place looked like it was vacant for a long time and he moved in literally yesterday only putting in a bed and a table. He walked around the table, leaned down on it and glared at me. "Speak, vampire."
"The Volkihar vampires are trying to fulfill this prophecy that would permanently free from the 'tyranny of the sun'." I did the quote motion. "Yeah, not good shit."
"They can't possibly be able to do that. The sun is out of their reach."
"Not so much as you think. Well, right now, no. No chance for them to fulfill their little deed. But if they find this girl, they will get their hands on an Elder Scroll which tells about the sun and Auriel's bow. If that happens, then, well, we might as well be fucking ready to live in a world of darkness."
"That won't happen. Who is this girl and tell me more about the Elder Scroll they aren't going to find." His tone of voice was much different than what it was earlier when he tried to kill me.
"First off, the Elder Scroll is with the girl and girl happens to be a vampire. And not just any vampire, she's a pure blood. A Volkihar vampire lord. Harkon's daughter."
"That doesn't sound good," he said in a monotonic voice. I took a seat in one of the chairs at the table.
"Yeah, not good at all. However, the girl's name is Serana. And surprisingly good enough, she's not cold hearted. Well uh, you know what I mean. Anyways, Serana was locked up for God knows how long with the Elder Scroll. Nobody really knows where she's at, except me. She's in Dimhollow Crypt."
"Impressive no I have a problem with all this information you're me. If you were infected only days ago, how would you know what this Serana is like and how would you know something the Volkihar vampires have been trying to find for centuries?"
Shit. I see where this is going. "I have my trustworthy sources and I feel I don't need to explain to you where I got them. That shit doesn't matter. What I told you is the truth and you will have to trust me." He snickered and shook his head. "Yes, I know trusting a vampire isn't a very fond thing for you to do. Let me tell you this; if the information I tell you is true and you don't listen to me, you are responsible for not making a stand and for the destruction of the sun. Do you trust me?"
He squinted his eyes and glared at me. "... No. But I will take your information in consideration."
"Good enough. How do I lift this curse?"
"Dunno. I'm vampire hunter, not a vampire curer," he hissed. "Check around the fort, there may be a book on it."
"Alright. Be seeing you. Don't worry I'm not going to eat anyone." I got up and left the room. Time to do some extreme scavenging. It's gonna be fun..
::Cain's POV::
The Palace of Kings. I think this is the place. Ulfric Stormcloak, I don't know the first thing about this guy except for the fact that he's the leader of a rebellion.
"Is this the place?" Steve asked. The doors were giant and there many guards outside the door.
"Yeah I think. Looks a place a leader of an army would stay at. You want to go in?" The three of them shrugged. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Well it's freezing out here, I'm going in," Jon said as he began walking to the door. The twins and I shrugged and followed behind him. Jon opened the large door and let us in. The place had blue flags with a face of bear in the middle of it. There was a blue carpet leading to the thrown. There's a large dining table in the middle of the palace.
At the thrown, sat a man with bearskin with darker dress clothes underneath it. He had blonde hair and beard similar to Balgruuf's. I'm assuming that he's Ulfric. He was speaking to another man with a hat and a biker beard. Likely his steward. Ulfric noticed us and he raised an eyebrow. I walked up towards thrown and bowed my head.
"Only a fool enters my palace without summons. What do you want?" He lowered his eyebrows and studied my green armor, the Orcish body armor I think it's called.
"Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. My name is Cain, and I'm the Dragonborn."
"I find that hard to believe. But you do look familiar, have we've met before?" I guess he does look familiar. Oh wait! He's from Helgen!
"I saw you at Helgen. Your mouth was muffled. I was the guy that was passed out on the carriage. Do you know what happened to the other blonde man?"
"Ralof? I haven't seen him since the town burned down. I hope he's well, he's a damn good soldier. So you're Dragonborn, huh?"
I nodded. "Yes. I absorb the souls of dragons and I fought the World-Eater and BEAT him with my Thu'um, I could of very well lost that fight." He snickered and shook his head. "You don't believe me? Fine but I need your help, sir."
"Speak, I'm listening."
"I need to trap a dragon in Dragonsreach, but Jarl Balgruuf would only permit it if I get you and General Tullius to stand down temporally, and maybe help us with trapping the beast."
"May I ask why you want to trap a dragon?"
"I have to locate Alduin, and to do that, I need to interrogate his right hand man.. erm.. dragon, Odahviing. I need you to attend to a meeting at High Hrothgar hosted by Arngeir himself. Tullius will be there and I hope that you'll respect my request."
He gave me a long stare and leaned up on his thrown. "Very well. I accept your invitation if it means the dragons demise. I will get my best men and attend your conference tonight."
"Thank you Jarl Ulfric. See you then." I turned around and saw my friends near the front doors. Jon raised his shoulders and his hands a little. I raised my thumb and nodded.
"We're good. Let's go."
::Bame's POV::
The books in this place are pretty much destroyed. I can't even read the words. The only book I found was on lycanthropy and werewolves. There's nothing in this place about vampires other than just killing them, figures. Well the werewolf curse can't be as bad as this curse. Turning into a werewolf would actually be better than being an inhuman cannibal.
What if I can change into a werewolf? Is that even possible? I remember in the DLC that I can change from a werewolf into a vampire lord, but I'm not a vampire lord so maybe I can be changed from a lesser vampire into a werewolf. So I opened the book and started reading away.
...Werewolves are creatures created by the Daedric lord Hircine.. If you die as a werewolf, you will live to hunter with your master (Hircine) for eternity... It is undecided if werewolves are considered dead or alive... The most common transformation is a werewolf, blah blah blah. Nothing about vampires. I do remember being werewolf does mean one hundred percent immune to disease. I do know that there is a vampire disease. I know how to become a werewolf, there's two ways. One, go to Falkreath and talk to a guy imprisoned for being a werewolf, and two, become part of the circle in the Companions. I'm going with idea two. That'd be much easier and I can control my beast blood. And I know how to be cured. I just hope they'll let me in. They have to understand that I'm not a damn monster. But I feel like a monster..
I heard someone walking into the room. I turned my head and saw it was the orc. "Hello?" I greeted.
He didn't reply at first. "I saw your eyes. What are you doing here, vampire?" He gripped the handle to his sword. I placed the book back onto the bookshelf.
"Trying to find a cure. I can't stand being what I am." He raised an eyebrow but still held onto his holster. "I'm serious. I'm leaving here now to find a way out it. When I do, I'm coming back to fight for the Dawnguard."
He let go of his grip. "You better be telling me the truth, because if you are just some Volkihar spy, I will hunt you down and mount your head on my wall, understood?"
"I know I know. Go talk to Isran. I gave him some pretty vital information about the Volkihar vampires. He's probably going to want you to go out and recruit some more members. Things are only going to get worse."
"Fine. Get out of here and don't come back until you're not a blood sucking fiend."
"Okay okay, later." I grabbed my stuff and started for the exit. Maybe I can talk to Drakuv into coming with me.
...
It's almost dark in the Rift, good thing, the sun is making me feel like I'm on fire. I haven't seen Drakuv anywhere yet. I just saw a couple bears, trolls, and bandits. I'm on my way to Ivarstead to take a quick rest. And who knows, maybe Drakuv is holding up there.
I came across a bunch of tracks. Horses by the look of it, heading the way to Ivarstead. From the looks of it, six horses, coming from the east. Something big must be happening in the village.
The at least it's dark out now. I can finally take off my hood now. I don't like looking like I'm shady. I walked into Ivarstead and noticed around fifteen horses strung up next to the bridge. Six on one side of the road and nine on the other. What really shocked is that there were people dressed in Stormcloak uniforms and Imperial uniforms. They should be killing each other, unless..
Oh that's right, the peace treaty conference! Cain has done it! That means he fought Alduin and beaten him! Oh my God, that's insane! Well what can I expect? It's Cain, he can do anything.
One of the imperials looked familiar. Looks like Hadvar, and I think it is. I walked up near him and whispered, "Hadvar?" He turned his head around and looked at me. Immediately I turned my eyes away, he must not see my golden eyes.
"Who is it?"
"Bame, from Helgen. Can I talk to you?" He looked back at his men, raised an arm and mumbled something. The soldiers nodded and he began walking over to me.
"Bame? What are you doing here?" He asked in his low raspy voice.
"Taking rest. Heading northeast to Whiterun." I turned my face and unveiled my eyes. Instantly he was startled and he stepped back a couple steps. "Hey don't worry, man. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a monster on the inside."
His eyes were focused carefully on mine. I can imagine all things going through his head. "What happened to you?" He shrieked.
"I got bit," I replied flatly. "I'm going to Whiterun to get cured. Don't worry, I'm as stealthy as a cat."
"Make sure no guards see you. You can't risk that. They'll hunt you for as long as you live."
I raised a hand quickly. "I know I know. But they know me in Whiterun. I'll be fine. Anyways, what's this all about?" I pointed at all the horses and the Stormcloaks on the other side of the road, ready to get into a brawl.
"Your man Cain has called Ulfric and General Tullius for a temporary peace treaty. I hope gets each side to stop. We need a rest and a time to rebuild."
"I know what you're feeling. Well hopefully, things will go as planned. I better get going before an Ivarstead guard sees my eyes. And I move a lot quicker in the dark. So be careful man. I'll come see ya in Riverwood when all this flattens out."
"Okay. May the Divines be with you Bame. And I pray that you will find a cure to your curse." He reach a hand out.
"Thanks Hadvar," I reached out mine and shook his hand. "Be careful out there."
::Kevin's POV::
So General Tullius, the leader of the Empire of this state and Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion are here in this place called High Hrothgar negotiating a peace treaty in order to capture a dragon. By the looks of it, the rebel leader thinks this is a chance to get land from the Empire without a fight. I don't like him, he's pretty arrogant by the way he speaks.
General Tullius can see the rebel's intention clearly and he isn't letting him get a chance. It's hard to understand what's going on, but it's all politics. From what I've gathered, Solitude is the northwestern city and capital of Skyrim and the main base of the Imperial Legion. Their other satellite bases are Markarth of the west, Morthal of the closer northwest, and Falkreath of the southwest. Ulfric's main base is in Windhelm in the east and his smaller bases are Riften of the southeast, Downstar of the north and Winterhold of the northeast. Whiterun on the other hand is undecided on its loyalty, but it seems like it's leading more to the Empire.
Ulfric wants Markarth and tells Cain that he won't issue the peace treaty if he doesn't get it. He's a coward for saying that. Cain suggested that in order for it to be fair, Ulfric would have to give up Riften. Tullius agreed to the exchange but Ulfric is still thinking about it. Both are major cities so why wouldn't he decline?
"Ulfric, we are here to help the Dragonborn capture his dragon. Can't we focus on that now?" Balgruuf yelled.
"Fine, I accept the exchange. Now down to business. What's your plan Dragonborn?"
Cain took a deep breath. "Well.." He scratched his head. "I need to know where Alduin went, and to do that, I need to interrogate his right hand dragon. I just don't know how I'm going to do it yet. I probably will just wing it like I always do. But none of that matters unless the dragon is trapped. I need you and your men," he shifted his gaze to Tullius, "and yours too General to assist me in capturing the dragon. If we work together, we could stop Alduin and save the world."
The two men nodded. "I'll assist you with your task Dragonborn," Ulfric said proudly. He got to his feet and patted his right hand man. "Come, Galmar, we have work to do." The two men left the room.
"You have my help too. I'll send six of my best men to help you trap the beast."
"Thanks sir," Cain humbly said. He shook hands with General and glanced back at us. "Alright we got this."
"Dragonborn," Balgruuf shouted from across the table. Cain looked over to him. "I'll be ready whenever you are."
"Okay thanks Balgruuf." He waved at us and left the conference room. Cain looked back us. "You guys ready for this?"
"I guess so. I'm not sure what we are up against. But I'll do my part," I replied to him.
"Yeah, I can shield is from any fire the dragon throws at us," Steve said.
"And I'll help with the trapping part," Jon said eagerly like always.
"Okay, I guess lets get going then."
::Bame's POV::
It's roughly just past midnight here in the Whiterun hold. I'm crouched at the edge of the tree line staring at the lights within the city and to be honest, it looks beautiful. The sign of civilization. People who have jobs, families, morals. I can't say I have a job, or a family, but I have morals. However, my kind don't.
I spotted a couple guards patrolling on the roads. Maybe there's a way to slip past them and going in the main entrance is out of question. I'm going to have to climb the wall, marvelous. I better get this curse cured before my see me with these demonic eyes. Not that it's going to change, but I hope I'm choosing the lesser of two evils.
I wonder what Lydia is doing. Maybe she's at the house the Jarl built for us. I might as well head on there and find out. I got up from my crouching stance and started sprinting down the hill. Kind of reckless, but I'm eager to get this curse lifted.
I ran across one of the farm lands and spotted a guard walking in my general direction. Immediately I dropped down to the ground in the crops. The farmer isn't going to like this. Oh well, he'll live. The guard walked passed me without spotting me. Thank God. I got to my feet and rushed to the side of the wall of the city. Nobody would look here, I hope. I continued north, slipping past a couple guards without sounding the alarm. Finally the house came into view, but it was nearly dark inside.
I ran down the hill toward the house and just before I passed a large rock, a figure came out of the front door. It was Irileth. I forgot how close she was to Lydia. I'm guessing she came by to make sure she was okay. I hid behind the large rock and made no noise. The dark elf took a glance around her surrounding and began walking to the road. So far, nobody spotted my presence.
The dark elf was out of sight and I walked up to the house. At first, I was going to just go in and start talking to her or knock, but I don't think that'll work. Suddenly, from atop the house on the guard tower or whatever you call it, I heard the trap door open. I couldn't get a good glimpse on who it was. I ran around to the other side of the house and quickly went up the stairs to Kevin's target range landing. I went on the edge of the railing next to the main hall, climbed on top of it, and pulled myself onto the rooftop. Very slowly, I crawled up on the incline and peeked over the top.
It was her. She's sitting in a chair and leaning her head on her hands. Her elbows are rested on the the mini table. I can hear her weeping in her hands. I wish this never happened to me. This curse made her suffer and it made me suffer. I moved quietly on top and balanced myself. When she looks up, she'll know it's me. I hope. She was wearing her bedtime clothes and her dark brown hair was down and unbraided. I never really seen here out of her armor except for the time she was at the temple of Kynareth. She had a great healthy shape to her figure, not even comparable to when she was at the temple. She's perfect.
I turned my head away from her and looked off to the distance. The moonlight lit up the grasslands and I could see every detail of the landscape. "Oh my gods, who are you?" Suddenly I heard Lydia's startled voice. I turned my head halfway to her. The moonlight made my face recognizable. At the corner of my eyes, I saw her hands cover her face in complete shock. "Bame..? I-is that y-you..?"
I smiled and nodded. "I'm here."
"I-I thought you were dead.." I turned my head slowly and looked into her eyes. She grasped for air and leaned back in her chair more.
"You were right. My body is dead, but my soul ain't." I moved toward the small landing and grabbed ahold of the railing. I jumped over the railing and sat down on the wood in front of her. I can see by her reaction, she was completely speechless. "Lydia, I'm so sorry. I was stupid. I should of known that I've been.. infected."
She got off her chair and nearly tackled me, almost snapping the railing. "Don't you ever leave me like that again!" She cried. Her body was so warm and I wrapped my arms around her.
"I won't. I promise you. I'll never let go of you." She looked up at me, bit her lip and glanced down at my lips. She moved in for a kiss, for a second, I allowed myself to go in too, but I quickly turned my head away from her. "No Lydia. I can't risk it. I don't want you to become a monster within.. like me."
She lowered both of her eyebrows into a heartbroken puppy dog face. "You aren't a monster." I looked back into her eyes. Suddenly I felt my stomach ache. My eyes trailed around her posture and I studied her neck. It looked soft and tender. Muscles all around my body began to tense up and my mind started viewing her as food. I licked my lips and chills bolted down my spine.
I leaned a little into her neck with my mouth slightly open. Hungry growls erupted from my throat. I knew Lydia heard them but she didn't bulge. My heart began racing and adrenaline bolted through my veins. I can feel my fangs sore up just at the sight of her neck. It was maddening.
I closed my eyes shut and turned my head away from her. I can barely control myself, it's like Molag Bal is slowly taking control of my body. "I'm sorry Lydia.." I said quietly.
She glanced up at me. "Don't be. This wasn't your fault." She tightened her arms around me. I gently began massaging her back.
Minutes passed by and I noticed she was sleeping in my arms. For the past couple days, I've been dying thinking that I would never experience this anymore and that a monster like me doesn't deserve to be happy. But those stomach turning feelings faded and a sense of hope sparked in me. The hope of becoming what I once was before this curse, but I'm afraid that the time won't come for a long time.
I rested my cheek on Lydia's head and closed my eyes. For the past couple of days, I haven't slept once. I didn't need to. Sleep isn't a necessity to my health anymore, but I want it. Words cannot describe how eager I am to reclaim my need for sleep. Sleeping led to dreaming and I was a lucid dreamer for the most part. It was like I had a second reality. Controlling dreaming in my opinion was more fun than playing Xbox Live. On Xbox, I had limitations, but lucid dreaming, I had no limitations. I controlled what happened in them.
I have to be patient. I'm not going to able to dream for a long time. All I want back is my friends, my status, my life. It'll all come back in due time.