Once I've loaded Gunmar with all the extra stuff I'd made, I head into the entry hall to speak with Isran. Upon reaching him, I say nothing and get the bow out of my bag.
"The bow… you have Auriel's Bow! I've heard it described in tales, but I could never have imagined its beauty."
"We need your help, Isran."
"Indeed." He replies. "The day hasn't been won while Harkon still walks Tamriel. But what of Serana? Can she be trusted to lift a blade against her own kind? Her own family?"
"I trust her to do the right thing."
"I suppose that's as much as I can hope for. Let me address the Dawnguard, and then we'll be off. The men deserve to know that we've finally gained the upper hand." He turns to face the doorway behind him and raises his voice. "Everyone! Gather round! Come on then, we haven't got all day!"
Once everyone appears, Isran delivers his speech.
"For too long we've allowed these vampires to poison the night and kill our people! Now we finally have the means to strike back. We now have Auriel's Bow! The gods themselves have favoured us and we must answer with action! The time has come to finally put an end to Harkon and his unholy prophecy. We will march on their lair and destroy these wretched abominations so they can no longer corrupt our world. This is our fight and this is our fate! This is the time of the Dawnguard! This is it!"
The Dawnguard cheer, and as one run towards the great doors and stream through, leaving Isran, Serana and I in the empty fort.
"It's time we take the fight to their door." Isran says as the last footsteps fade. "Gather your things and rest well, my friend. We meet outside Castle Volkihar." With that, he draws his massive hammer and follows the rest.
I, too, follow them, at a faster pace, and am through the palisade before them. The sun shines brightly down on us as we trot along the path and through the gap in the rocks back onto the road to Riften.
Within sight of the city walls, we're halted by a thief, the poor fool. I've given up on trying to convince them to just leave me alone – my companions don't seem too eager to let them live anyway.
The road is silent as we reach the north road into Riften, pass through Fort Greenwall and Shor's Stone. I've led Serana down the road into Eastmarch before I even really realise it, so I decide I might as well head to Windhelm and take the boat from there. A spider tries to change my mind unsuccessfully, and a trio of wolves try the same further on, but I can be so stubborn sometimes!
Past a pair of Alik'r harassing a woman – I really should deal with that at some point – I spot a spider, and I Shout before I spot the Wood Elf trying to fight it, and end up accidentally slaying them both. Several vials of skooma spill from the Bosmer's pockets, so I don't feel quite as guilty any more. That stuff ends up ruining your life anyway – he would probably have ended up dead from withdrawal when he ran out of money to buy more. The addicts always end up like that eventually.
A sabre cat and a pair of skeevers later, we're running across the bridge and into the ancient stone city of Windhelm, the famed 'City of Kings'. We're not there for long though, merely passing through to the docks to hire the boat to get to the jetty to the castle.
We get there in what feels like mere minutes, but since I dozed off, it was probably actually several hours. As the boatman leaves, we climb into the other boat, which has gained quite the puddle since we were last here, and row across to the castle where, somehow, the rest of the Dawnguard await.
As soon as we land, they begin the attack, and I decide to see just what this bow can do. Drawing a Sunhallowed Arrow, I aim at the sun, which is fast being hidden by a thick cloud cover, and release the arrow, sending it flying towards the golden orb.
There is a bright flash, and beams of light stream down at random intervals, hitting friend and foe alike, doing great damage to the vampires, many of them being slain with one hit.
Only one vampire remains alive, and she is killed by the time I have reached the main group, so I start up the great slope towards the castle itself. Two of the gargoyles guarding the ramp burst to life, and are easily beaten by the armoured troll that the Dawnguard brought. The troll, after one last swing at the now deceased gargoyle, charges up the ramp – and is shot dead by a vampire that had hidden from the sunbeams in the shelter of the castle doorway.
The foolish creature is now well in my sights, and is dead before he can nock a second shot, and the door is now clear for our attacking force to rush through and attack the inhabitants of the castle. I ignore the ruckus around me, heading straight for a portcullis which Serana said protects the door to the cathedral, the most likely place for Harkon to be hiding out.
The portcullis raised, Serana and I burst through the great doors behind and find the mad vampire waiting for us in his other form, floating about a foot off the ground.
"Serana, my darling. I see you still favour keeping a pet." He says by way of greeting.
"You know why we're here." She responds.
"Of course I do. You disappoint me, Serana. You've taken everything I've provided for you and thrown it all away for this… pathetic being."
"Provided for me? Are you insane? You've destroyed our family; you've killed other vampires! All over some prophecy that we barely understand. No more; I'm done with you. You will not touch her."
"So, I see this dragon has fangs. Your voice drips with your mother's influence. How alike you've become."
"No. Because unlike her, I'm not afraid of you. Not anymore."
"And you…" Harkon drifts towards me. "It appears I have you to thank for turning my daughter against me. I knew it was only a matter of time before she returned with hatred in her heart."
"Hatred born of your neglect." I point out.
"A small price to pay for the betterment of our kind."
"Your kind is a blight on this world." I say, meaning vampires who only see mortals as food like he does. Harkon, however, confuses my meaning with what Isran would mean it as – a blanket term for all vampires.
"Yes, yes; always the noble vampire hunter. And what happens when you've slain me? Is Valerica next? Is Serana?"
"I'm only here to kill you." I raise the bow a little, putting an arrow on the string.
"I see. Interesting that you can set aside your morals when it suits you."
"Enough of this!"
"Yes, quite." Harkon growls. "I'm growing weary of speaking to you and my traitorous daughter. I'll give you a single chance to turn over the bow to me. There will not be a second."
Does he think I'm that stupid? "Never."
"Very well then, you leave me no choice!"
He casts some sort of spell, rendering himself invisible. Great – I have a feeling he'll spend most of the fight like that. I carefully watch for the distortion that is left, where the light is bent around him by the magic. Around us, gargoyles and skeletons attack, so I leave them to Serana to focus on Harkon.
Every so often, the spell wears off and I loose a Sunhallowed Arrow at him, most often missing as he never stays still. Sometimes, as the number of foes around us wears thin, he rushes towards the shrine at the end to raise more, and I use the opportunity to pepper him as full of arrows as possible.
The fight continues like this for a good while; Serana destroying the various skeletons that rise against us, resurrecting them to aid her fight, while I shoot at Harkon as best I can. I'm running out of Sunhallowed arrows fast; but luckily it is the last one that finishes off Harkon.
"No… Serana… your own father…" He groans as his vampire form dissolves around him. It flitters away like dust in a breeze, leaving a winged skeleton behind that, a second later, collapses into a pile of red ash itself. With a clatter, Harkon's Akaviri-made sword lands on top, so I grab that and turn to Serana.
"Well, now that's done." She says, the last of her raised skeletons cascading to the ground behind her.
"What will you do now?" I ask.
"I'm not sure. I'll probably stay with the Dawnguard, for as long as they'll let me. They're respectable fighters, and I think they see the benefits of having a vampire on their side now. Of course, if you've got any more adventures planned…"
"I'd love to have you along." I smile, and for the first time I see a real smile light up her pale face, making her look so much younger and more beautiful.
"That's what I wanted to hear." She says, as Isran steps over the corpses behind her.
"So the beast is destroyed." He says in his bass rumble. "Not only that, but Auriel's bow is in safe hands. It's over; he's dead and the prophecy dies with him. I… I suppose this is difficult for you." He says to Serana, seeming almost like a young boy talking to his crush. I admire his courage – it must take some guts to talk to someone of a kind that you hate to your bones as an equal, as a friend almost.
"I think my father really died a long time ago." Serana responds. "This was just… the end of something else. I did what needed to be done, nothing more."
"I think perhaps… I think you did more than that. You have my thanks." Isran almost runs from the room.
I pause only to roll my eyes at a grinning Serana, then head out of the castle and back to the little boat. I see no other boats at the jetty, but the Dawnguard are all still here… did they swim?
Back at the mainland, we head eastward until we find the road to Solitude. I'm glad it's over, to be honest. I think I deserve a good rest before I get onto any of the other things I have on my rather long to do list. So many people have made requests of me since I arrived in Whiterun all that time ago. I should get a start on them soon. I think I'll go oldest to newest, that seems best.
We soon reach Solitude, and pause before heading up the spiral stairs beneath the windmill to watch the sun fall below the mountains in the west. The inn is as warm and inviting as usual, and the beds, if possible, far more comfortable than I remember them to be.