*Dear people who have the generosity to read my fanfic: Please give me a response! Criticism, anything is welcome! I wanna see a response… Plox…

Chapter 5

Balamur stood next to his fellow vampires in a circle, with the object; Azura's star in the middle. 'Vivec' was in the middle of the circle, and was murmuring mysterious chants in some unknown language. Balamur was still in awe at the fact that one of the great artifacts of the Daedra was found in this cave. However, he did not see what to do with the artifact, as they did not realize how to utilize its power. That's when Vivec showed them that the star could be used to house a powerful soul… Such as a dragon's.

When questioned of the potential of enchantments a dragon's soul could offer, Vivec responded with a smile.

"Endless." He replied.

Blinded by the want for more power, Balamur agreed to help with the ritual, ignoring the other vampires' pleas. And so, after losing two thirds of the vampire group, they managed to trap the dragon's soul inside the star. However, that was not enough. Vivec had told them that to enchant with a dragon's soul, the artifact must be prepared accordingly, as Azura's star was never meant to hold the soul of such a powerful creature, and therefore on this day, the ritual was beginning.

Vivec now lay on the ground, with the star on his chest, and his face to the ceiling.

"Lielle. Prepare the knife, and the Daedric heart." Vivec said.

Lielle nodded, and walked towards Vivec with an ebony knife in one hand, and a Daedric heart in another. After kneeling beside him, she inhaled deeply, and then plunged the knife into his heart.

Vivec roared in pain, but did not struggle. Fear took ahold of Lielle's eyes, as she feared of failing the ritual. Vivec put so much faith in her, but she was scared.

'What if I do it wrong? What if he dies?' millions of thoughts, raced across her mind, as her heart began thumping loudly and fast. Her eyes began shaking, and she was about to stand when-

"Do… It… Right…" came a gurgled groan from Vivec.

And that was all she needed. He mind snapped back into reality, with only one thought, a truth on her mind: "He won't die, if I do it right." Lielle's hands moved quickly and precisely, cutting open Vivec's heart, and replacing it with a Daedric heart. She then put the star inside with the Daedric heart, and cast an alteration spell with a healing spell on it, creating a glowing red misshapen ball of beating flesh, which she replaced with Vivec's heart. She sighed as she reached for the final steps of the ritual, and sewed the wound shut, healing it at the same time. Now it was only a matter of time before he awoke.

Balamur watched the ritual like the other vampires: With a mix of disgust and intrigue. He looked at Lielle, another vampire he had not seen until discovering this cave. She was beautiful, having red hair that was tied at the back in a tail, and eyes that were sharp, but did not give a threatening glare. He lips were red as well, like her hair, adding to her beauty.

'Possibly she was feeding before the ritual.' He thought, observing her lips.

Lielle wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, and stood up, dazed from the whole experience. Parts of her hair clung to her neck and skin, making her look oddly seductive.

"He will wake up soon." He told Balamur.

Balamur looked up from looking at her breasts.

"Oh. Yes… Right, and then what? Does he enchant the weapons?"

Lielle frowned as she realized what the vampire leader was thinking.

"Yes. He will." He told him, and walked away from the ritual circle.

"Where are you going?"

"To wipe this damn blood off." she said without looking back.

"But don't you need to be present for this?"

"I'm not interested in the 'power' you're getting."

Balamur raised an eyebrow.

'Who doesn't want power?' He thought.

The vampires were told that after Vivec awakes, they would gain the ability to wield the weapons that would be enchanted, as Vivec explained: 'Dragon soul enchanted weapons cannot be wielded by mere mortals.'

So they waited patiently around Vivec's corpse.

"Balamur…"

It was one of the vampires that broke the silence.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"This so called… Vivec? You say?"

"Yes, he called himself that."

"Why haven't we heard of him before?"

Balamur was confused.

"I know our group is larger than any other in Skyrim, but didn't we live long enough to remember each other's names?" He asked.

"I-I assumed one of you knew him." Balamur replied, slightly stuttering.

"No… We never heard of him until we found this cave. Also… If he says he's one of us… Shouldn't he have turned into dust by now?"

Balamur's eyes widened with confusion as he turned to face Vivec's body, which was still, clearly flesh and blood.

"That can't be right." Balamur said, now reassured.

"We would have been able to sense that. It's probably a side effect of the ritual." He replied, facing the questioning vampire with reassurance. This debate had made him fear that this Vivec had tricked him, but he was determined to prove them wrong.

"Or perhaps it takes less effort than most think, to fool a bloodsucker." A voice spoke.

It was a clear and demanding voice that did not echo in the room, but it echoed in their minds. They looked down to see Vivec, now awoken, flexing his fingers.

"What…?" Balamur questioned.

"You were fools to believe I'd even waste such a powerful dragon's soul on something as stupid as a weapon enchantment." He answered Balamur's dumbfounded look.

He stood up and looked around at the vampires, and the vampires looked back.

The vampires now saw the same high elf with the name of a god, but his eyes were that of a normal high elf. It did not glow yellow like theirs, a sign of vampirism.

Balamur, both outraged and confused, snarled at this traitor, who dared to oppose the leader of the greatest group of vampires in all of Skyrim, and dashed to charge at him.

Vivec opened his mouth, and the last thing they heard was a deafening cry, in the language of the dragons.

To be continued