The day was ending in Whiterun, and the group was readying to head back to Winterhold to return to Thedas. Vidar and Tanya would see them safely home and then they would continue their work until the next time they travelled between worlds. Information on the Eye of Magnus and seeking out the Elder Scroll for Tanya, and continued revenge upon the Silver Hand for Vidar. Night had fallen on the city, and people returned home and closed up shop. Two moons, one a crescent and the other waning from a full moon, lit up the sky.
They were almost past the inn when the screaming rang through the air. Flashes of magic and continued shouting came from the entrance to the city. Jumping into action, all raced for the gate to see a handful of city guards, and the owners of the War Maiden trying to fend off...
"Vampires! To arms!" cried a guard before one of the vampires pounced on him, snapping his neck with a lightning-fast bite. The vampire grinned, blood coating his fangs as he looked up to the approaching party. The sight of their first vampire sent many of the Theodosians reeling in shock; to hear about it was one thing, but to actually see one...
"Get them!" yelled a high elf vampire, who stared fervently at the Inquisitor. He sniffed the air and nodded. "Her scent...keep her alive and bring her to Harkon! Something's different about her. She may be worthy of the gift."
"You cannot have her!" Cassandra snapped, moving in front of the Inquisitor with the others. Sera was whimpering nervously, but nevertheless readied her bow, glaring at the vampires. Horrified villagers watched from inside buildings or hiding behind walls or barrels as the fight went on. The mages unleashed volleys of light from their staves, burning at the skin of the vampires. Sera and Varric remained at a distance, shooting bolts and arrows; one of Varric's bolts managed to shoot right through the chest of a vampire, knocking him down permanently. Cassandra, Blackwall, and Iron Bull danced around them and sliced, trying not to get bitten or scratched. Vidar, on the other hand, was completely immune to vampirism and fearlessly charged into them.
The Altmer's eyes locked onto the Inquisitor, who found herself busy casting barrier repeatedly and fending off attacks from any nearby villagers. A now permanently dead vampire lay at her feet, the result of getting too close and being burned to death by a powerful sunlight spell. If he wanted to infect her, he had to move fast. Darting forward with supernatural speed, he sank his canines into her neck with gusto. Dawn howled in agony, raising the gloved hand to her neck as he pulled away.
The bite did not go unnoticed. Dawn's screech had drawn the others' eyes, who watched as the vampire pulled away. Growling, the Inquisitor summoned her spirit blade, jumped forth, and sliced it across the vampire's neck; at the same time, he had tried to move to grab her and knock her out, and the blade went right through his neck. The head rolled off, and the body fell limp against her. She groaned in disgust and pushed the body to the ground and aside with her foot.
She looked up and found the battle was done, but the others were staring at her in abject horror. Vivienne quickly pulled a potion of cure disease from her pack and hurried to the woman. "Open your mouth, now." she ordered. Dawn obeyed and the bottle was put in her mouth; her face scrunched up at the foul, bitter taste. Even healing potions tasted better than this. Tilting her head back, she chugged it down quickly, closing her eyes tight. When only drip-drops fell on her tongue, Vivienne patted the bottom of the potion bottle hard to make sure every last drop went into her friend's mouth.
Dawn coughed and shuddered, looking nauseated. "Don't throw up," Sera ordered weakly, completely white in the face, "you need it, Dawnly."
"Oooh, fuck..." Bull hissed as Dawn took her hand from her neck, revealing the bite wound, which was still freely bleeding.
"Tanya," Cassandra asked, horrified, just as white as Sera in the face, "you're absolutely certain that the potion removes any chance of infection? Could she..."
"She'll be fine." a gruff voice interrupted. They turned to see several members of the Dawnguard standing over the bodies, having been late to the party. The speaker was a stout, gray-haired orc, who approached the woman calmly. "Those potions are good. Take her to the Temple of Kynareth and the healers there will make certain she's safe. You did the right thing, ma'am." he commended. Vivienne sighed, looking stressed.
"She cannot become one of these vermin. Anything to make sure of that." the enchantress snapped. She examined the wound, thought didn't touch it or the blood coming from it. "Poor dear...that is a horrid wound. Even if the chance of vampirism is gone, we need to have it seen by a physician to make sure it doesn't get infected."
Dorian approached as well, using a gloved hand to examine the wound more closely. He grimaced and groaned as he brushed the blood aside for a second to examine to bite mark, as did the others. "Vishante kaffas, that had to hurt. How do you feel? Are you..." He shook his head. "Well, of course you're not alright."
Dawn hissed as his fingers drew close to the wound, knitting her eyes shut. "I'm...okay..." she lied. Everyone gave her an incredibly exasperated look, and she sighed. "Fine. It stings and I'm getting a little light-headed, but..."
"We'll get you to a healer. Someone go with her to the temple." Cassandra ordered. Cole and Blackwall came forth, and with Dorian, they began to escort her to the healers in the temple. Dawn kept her gloved hand on the wound, while Dorian took his own glove off, tossed it in a trash bin, and walked with them, keeping a hand on the Inquisitor's back.
Cassandra stared down at the decapitated vampire, arms crossed. "Why in the world did he risk biting her on the neck? He paid the price for it and had to know the risk was there."
Durak grunted. "This one had a clear goal. He wasn't trying to kill her; he was trying to turn her." he stated simply, as if it were obvious. "Sometimes vampires find a victim they'd rather turn than feed from. It's a fate worse than death. Dunno what drew him to her in particular, though."
The seeker shared a look with Vivienne, who had the same thought process. Somehow, the vampires had detected the mark, or the magic emanating from it. They didn't know what it was, but Oblivion would freeze over before they gave up something possibly that powerful. Unless they could see through thick leather, however...
"Dawn has a great aptitude for magic," Vivienne said, formulating their story, "I don't know how they could sense this, but they must have seen her as a potential asset."
"That'd do it. They've got ways of telling." Durak agreed, accepting the story as the whole truth. "They'll take what they can get. The Volkihar Clan's up to something, and the Dawnguard's here to get to the bottom of it." The orc turned his attention to Tanya, who was tending to minor scrapes incurred on Adrianne Avenicci's behalf. No bite marks were on the blacksmith, but she took the potion nonetheless and allowed Tanya to use her healing magic on the small wounds.
Durak cleared his throat as Adrianne thanked her and went back inside the shop with her husband. Tanya jumped and turned sheepishly to the orc. "Y-yes? What...what can I..."
"You're the Dragonborn, right?" he asked. Tanya nodded.
"Um, I...er, yes." she confirmed. The orc crossed his arms.
"I'm Durak, with the newly reborn Dawnguard. Surely you've noticed the vampire threat has gotten worse. The Dawnguard wants the help of the Dragonborn to combat the threat. What do you say?"
Sera bobbed her head up and down eagerly. "Do it, Tawn. You're a special chosen-whatsit here. You can fix it."
Cassandra sighed. "I know you are busy with other matters, but these vampires could be a big a threat as the dragons if action is not taken. You must."
The others voice their agreement. Vidar grinned at her, excited for a new crusade; he got like that whenever the chance for new adventures presented itself, practically ready to bounce up and down in excitement like an excited puppy. Tanya shrank back as all eyes went on her, and she pursed her lips. Divines knew how many things she had in her journal that she still had to do, but...
"Yes. I'll help." she agreed. Durak grinned.
"Good. Give me your map and I'll mark the location of Fort Dawnguard."
"Why do you always get the most injuries out of anyone in the party?" Dorian asked ruefully, sitting beside them as the Inquisitor winced while Danica Pure-Spring worked on the wound. Cole was leaning against a pillar near the bench the Inquisitor and healer were on; Blackwall's arms were crossed, and he leaned against a wall by the shrine to Kynareth. He scoffed.
"She hits hard but also gets hit hard. Cassandra's right; I don't know if you need more or less of that strange luck you have. You always manage to get hurt but rebound fast."
Dawn let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm a... ugh... Knight-Enchanter. I'm a little closer on the battlefield to the enemies than most mages."
"Maybe we should just start outfitting you in heavy armor." Blackwall suggested. "We could train you, get you used to wearing it."
Danica poured what appeared to be holy water upon the wound before wrapping it. It was oily and stung the Inquisitor's bitemark, but she didn't complain. Danica cast one last spell on her and began to wrap white cloth around the neck, padding the wound. Finally, she pulled back, smiling. "All done, milady. You needn't worry about contracting vampirism; you're not displaying any symptoms of the disease, likely because you took the potion right away. In fact, you're probably better protected against it than your friends from all the things I gave you to prevent it."
"Oh, thank goodness." Dawn breathed. "Thank you, Healer."
"Anytime. You're always welcome here." She looked to the bloody glove and grimaced. "Your glove is likely saturated with the disease. Let me burn it and wash your hand in a potion just to be safe, though I don't think that any of it-"
"That's quite alright!" Dawn interrupted, pulling her hand away. "I, um...do you have any of this potion to go? I really have things to do, and I can..."
Danica gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you want to go home, lass, but you should let me. If you want every precaution there is against vampirism..."
The other companions shared a look of panic, trying to come up with an excuse. Dorian nervously frowned, biting his lip. "She has a...deformity and doesn't like to show it to people. I can administer anything that you would do here."
Danica shrugged. "You needn't be ashamed; I'm a healer. I see things just like it all the time. Whatever you show me, I can't be shocked."
"She's very self-conscious about it," Blackwall added anxiously, approaching the bench where the Inquisitor sat. "She...er...it's a very ugly deformity and..."
"Don't be stubborn," Danica scolded, "I can handle anything that's under that glove."
Before anyone could object further, she pulled the glove off.