The next morning, I leave the city by the back gate and follow my usual route behind the keep to get to the back road. The sun finishes rising as I enter the canyon and follow the track to the Fort. Near the first tower, I find they are building a wooden rampart for extra protection. A little further on, however, I realise they started a little bit too late, as a trio of vampires are attacking the fort.

I draw my bow to join in, and somehow this draws attention to me, and the three bloodsuckers turn to attack me instead. Since none of the Dawnguard are behind them, I use my Fire Breath on them and use their stumble as a chance to stick them with a couple of arrows. As the Dawnguard and I are fighting the vampires, I notice that there is a new recruit among them, a sturdy Nord woman who seems to be holding her own against the female vampire who is now giving her all of its attention. Soon, all three vampires are lying dead at our feet and are being buried in the snow which began falling as we fought.

After looting the corpses, I approach Isran, who is still surrounded by the icy aura he had cast as he fought.

"Look at this." He complains. "I should have known it was only a matter of time before they found us. It's the price we pay for openly recruiting. We'll have to step up our defences. I don't suppose you have some good news for me?"

"Not exactly." I reply, hesitantly.

"Damn. Well, what do you know?"

"The vampires were looking for a woman trapped in Dimhollow."

"A woman? Trapped in there? That doesn't make any sense. Who is she? More importantly, where is she?"

"She wanted to go home, so I took her to her castle." I explain. I don't think he'd appreciate the knowledge that I'd helped a vampire, even if she seemed more of a good person than some humans I've met.

"I'm waiting to hear what any of this means."

"They also have an Elder Scroll."

"They what?" Isran cries. "And you didn't stop them? You didn't secure the scroll?"

"I'm lucky I made it out alive!" I respond. If he had seen how many vampires were in that castle, would he have expected to survive an attack?

"Right. So they have this woman, and an Elder Scroll. By the Divines, this couldn't get much worse. This is more than you and I can handle."

"We have to do something."

"Well, of course we do! I'm old, not stupid. We're just going to need some help. If they're bold enough to attack us here, then this may be bigger than I thought. I have good men here, but… There are people I've met and worked with over the years. We need their skills, their talents, if we're going to survive this. If you can find them, we might have a chance."

"Where can I find these people we need?"

"Right to the point, aren't you? I like that. Not like those fools in the order. We should keep it small; too many people and we'll draw unwanted attention to ourselves. I think we'll want Sorine Jurard. Breton girl, whip-smart and good with tinkering. Fascination with the Dwemer; weapons in particular. Last I knew she was out in the Reach, convinced she was about to find the biggest Dwemer ruins yet."

"She'll help us?" I ask.

"Might need a little convincing, but she should. You'll also want to find Gunmar. Big brute of a Nord, hates vampires almost as much as I do. Got it into his head years back that his experience with animals would help. Trolls in particular, from what I hear. Last I knew he was out scouring Skyrim for more beasts to tame. Bring the two of them back here and we can get started on coming up with a plan." With that, Isran heads up the stairs and into the Fort.

I head back down the track and out the crack in the cliffs onto the road. I haven't got much further towards Riften when a Dunmer thief leaps out at me, pronouncing the usual threats in his faint Morrowind accents. His attempt to rob me succeeds as well as his comrades' did, and I head back into Riften the way I left, heading into the market in the centre of the city to sell what little loot I had acquired since Riverwood.

Leaving the city once I've finished, I head down the road north – and almost immediately encounter the road guards fighting a wolf and a spider, who have teamed up against them. We make short work of the beasts, and I continue down the road, down the hill and through the now-quiet Fort Greenwall before reaching Shor's Stone. All is quiet here, too, so I jog on through and down the road, taking the east road when I reach the crossroads.

There is almost literally nothing out here; just the occasional fox, rabbit or goat running as fast as they can out of my path into the bushes that sparsely decorate the roadside. To my left is the cliff-face, and on my right a sheer drop to the volcanic hot springs of Eastmarch below. Where the road cuts into a rocky spur, an Orc stands, slightly swaying. I can practically smell the skooma on him, so I skirt around him and continue on.

Soon, I am trotting through the forested eastern end of the Rift, past a pair of what must be Alik'r warriors confronting some poor woman. I don't stop, however – I've encountered this pair before, and they at least admit when they've made a mistake. Besides, their leader admitted to me that they know that the woman they are searching for is in Whiterun.

Passing a nobleman on a horse and his Imperial guard, I start following the signs for Ivarstead – maybe someone there has heard or seen this Gunmar person. As I jog along the road, I spot a Nord crouching at the side of the road – and he seems to match Isran's vague description of a 'big brute of a Nord'.

"You there!" He cries out to me in an accent I've never heard before. Definitely something Nordic though. "Hold fast! I've tracked this damn bear for two weeks; I'll not let it have any more victims!"

I take a shot in the dark; if he doesn't know Isran, he won't know what I'm talking about. "Isran needs your help."

"Isran? Needing someone else's help?" Yep. This person is Gunmar alright. "Never thought I'd hear that. I'm afraid he's a few years too late. I've moved on. I have more important business to attend to. Besides, he can handle anything alone! He assured me so himself. What could he possibly need my help with?"

"We're up against vampires." I say simply.

"Vampires? That… well, that might change things. Tell me more about what's going on."

"We're not sure, but they have an Elder Scroll."

"By the Eight…" Never thought I'd hear that out of a Nord. "All right, look. I'll consider it, but I can't just leave this bear to prey on more innocent people. Once it's dealt with, then perhaps I'll see what Isran expects of me."

Right then. I think I'll help this burly red-head deal with this bear. I follow Gunmar into the trees and towards a cave surrounded by trees, most of them containing a beehive. A bear stands guard outside, and Gunmar charges in, so I draw my warhammer out of my bag and 'set to'. Three whacks from me, and several slices of Gunmar's sword, and the bear lies dead.

Inside the cave are three more bears, one a lighter shade of brown and a whole lot uglier. The two darker bears are relatively easy to deal with, but the lighter one must be rabid or something, because it's having a hard time seeing us through the foam thickly lining its mouth. I'm hammering away at the creature when suddenly, with a great roar, Gunmar brings his sword slamming down into the bear's skull, putting it out of everyone's misery, including its own.

"Don't know how well I'd have managed by myself." Gunmar comments. "You have my thanks. You've helped me, so I suppose the least I can do is find out what Isran wants. He's still at that fort near Stendarr's Beacon, I assume?"

"Yes; he said to meet him at Fort Dawnguard."

"Of course he did. He's been working on that place for years now. Never lets anyone in. His own little fortress. Well, I guess I'll get to see what he's been up to all this time. I'll meet you there." Gunmar nods to me, then jogs out of the cave.

I pull out a couple of teeth, then I head into the centre of the cave, where a chest lies decorated with the blood of the nearby body of an unfortunate traveller. Inside is a small bag of coins, a pair of potions and a helmet I don't need. Ignoring the helmet, I take the rest and head back outside to take my chances at harvesting honeycomb, and find that luckily the hives had been abandoned a short time ago – probably when the bears moved in.

Heading down the rest of the road and into Ivarstead, I jog straight through and down the hill, crossing the river and up the track towards my little shortcut over the mountain arm. Running along the road beside the river, there is nothing to interrupt my appreciation of the afternoon sunlight shining off of the water. Heading into Whiterun, I stop at Belethor's to sell my loot. I consider retrieving Lydia from Dragonsreach, but I am actually quite enjoying travelling alone; being able to run as fast as I want and not having my presence given away by a blithe comment is rather refreshing.

Following the road east out beyond the stable, I trot past the Western Watchtower with its tiny garrison and slip past the crossroad fort. A little way along the road, a giant is guiding a painted cow towards the open tundra – the farmer is nowhere to be seen. Oh dear.

Not much further on, a trio of Imperials are wandering along, and a sabre cat behind them is rushing after an elk. Unfortunately, the massive feline changes its mind upon seeing me and charges at me – and straight onto my sword, the poor indecisive beast. Taking a tooth that had been knocked loose for my trouble, I continue along the road, finding it hard to see. I'm puzzling over why – maybe I got blood in my eye or something – when I realise it's because night has fallen and I hadn't even noticed. I was so focussed on my enemy I didn't even realise the sun was setting!

As I turn the corner past the pass into the Reach, a pair of wolves use the darkness to try to attack me, but I spot them in time and turn them into rugs. The rest of the trip to Rorikstead is quiet, and ducking into the Frostfruit Inn, I realise just how cold it had gotten too. Renting the room, I am glad to finally get some sleep.