What If She Had Left?

Chapter 2

Serana woke with a start, the cold rain of Skyrim fell harshly on her face. The tree she had been sleeping under had provided less cover than she thought it would. As she looked around, she saw a cabin on the side of the mountain opposite her and decided to head there for shelter.

Grabbing her pack, she thought to herself, "How long has it been since that day? A hundred years? A hundred and twenty, perhaps?"

Time has no meaning for vampires after their first few millenia. And in her first thousands of years of undeath, she had never felt anything towards a human but hunger.

Then He had saved her from that godforsaken tomb that her mother had sealed her in. He protected her. He obtained Auriel's Bow and He had used it to defeat her father. He had done more for her in little more than a month than either of her parents had in centuries. She had never felt love before, until she met the Dragonborn. But, as with everything for a vampire, she had lost him.

Time was a relentless foe, never stopping for anyone, except her and her kind. The curse of having to watch the only person you ever loved brave countless dangers, win against impossible odds, just to watch him die slowly. She could have saved him. He could have accepted her offer and become a vampire like her, but he chose not to. He was a Companion at heart, as he was their Harbinger after Kodlak Whitemane had been murdered by the Silver Hand.

This was also a blessing in a way. The abilities of a werewolf granted him incredible strength and prolonged life, though not eternal. He died at the age of one hundred and forty-seven, to the distress of the entire region of Skyrim. Once he died, Serana felt lost and alone. She returned to the Dawnguard, only to find herself chased away. In the chaos that enveloped the major cities of Skyrim after the death of the Dovahkiin, she found it easy to slip into a feeding frenzy, driven by sadness.

After one such feeding, Serana found she had consumed nearly a quarter of the labor force of Markarth! Now she was constantly chased by assassins that were hired by the livid Silver-Blood family. The mere thugs they had sent at first had fallen easily to her powers as a vampire. But recently, they had gone to a whole new extreme. Currently, she was being chased by an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood, a Khajiit female known as Zanabi, which had her on the run in the mountains near Whiterun.

"Almost there," whispered Serana to herself, continuing to make for the cabin.

A twig snapped behind her. Serana ran hard and hid herself behind a tree. She straightened and strained her ears for any noises hidden in the rain. The rain lulled to a drizzle. Suddenly, she heard the near-silent twang of a bowstring releasing an arrow. As she rolled to the side, an ebony arrow embedded itself in the tree where her heart was a moment before.

"This cat means business," she thought as another arrow whizzed past her shoulder, "But then, so do I."

Serana was a skilled necromancer, though over centuries spend training, had become a master of Destruction magic as well. She waited for another arrow to fly towards her, barely dodged it, and launched a fireball in the direction it came from. The blazing orb flew into the trees and illuminated a shadowy figure that leaped out of its path. The ball's explosion however, was far weaker than normal.

"It's the rain!" realized Serana, "Gods, I'm getting sloppy," she muttered to herself.

As Serana quickly dispelled the fire in her hands, Zanabi crouched in a tree and used the light created by her target's spells to fire a very special arrow. No sooner had Serana began charging a lightning spell in both hands, that she was struck in the shoulder by a Daedric arrow. The arrow made a sickening thock, mixed with Serana's scream,as it glided through her body and exited out her back. Normally, blood would have flowed freely from such a wound but not a drop fell.

"I..I can't move! Can't cast any spells!" said Serana in a growing panic.

Her legs quickly gave out from under her and she collapsed on her back on the soggy ground. Zanabi gracefully leaped down from her perch in the tree and casually strolled over to her prey lying helpless on the ground.

"Entertaining a target you make, this game of cat and mouse grows tiresome," purred Zanabi.

"Go to hell," growled Serana through gritted teeth.

"Ohh, does Zanabi's poison make you angry? It should. Very expensive poison that not only drains stamina and magicka, but paralyzes target too so that Zanabi can play with her kill," the dappled cat snarled in her ear.

As she slowly pulled out a blade to cut out her target's heart, Zanabi's ears perked up as if they had heard something. There seemed to be a soft thump in the air, and the rainclouds disappeared entirely. A soft breeze rippled across the grass that smelled of brimstone. Zanabi looked around them and saw that they were in a clearing on the side of the mountain. Suddenly, a shadow flew over them. Startled, Zanabi looked up but saw nothing. The assassin heard a slight chuckle as turned to see Serana smiling and laughing softly.

"What do you find so funny?" inquired the Khajiit menacingly, as she reached down and held the blade to Serana's throat.

Serana never had a chance, or the need, to answer her captor. The ground shook as the massive form of a dragon dropped to the ground behind Zanabi. The cat swirled around just in time to see the dragon's tail flying towards her at an incredible speed. The blow caught her in the chest and launched her off of Serana, who was slowly beginning to regain control of her body.

The nimble assassin quickly scrambled to her feet, and once again turned to face this new opponent.

"I am Dovah!" roared the dragon, "I am bound by oath to Dovahkiin to protect," its eyes looked to Serana who had clumsily gotten to her feet, and stood propped against a tree.

"I don't care who, or what, you are!" snarled Zanabi. "Zanabi will slay the pesky dragon, and the target too!"

As her nimble paw grasped for another poisoned arrow, the Khajiit heard the last three words that would ever reach her tufted ears.

"YOL..TOOR..SHUL!" shouted the dragon.

A powerful wall of fire quickly consumed Zanabi and launched her, screaming, off the mountainside. The fight over, the dragon slowly turned back to face Serana.

"What..is your..name?" she asked, teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Rest now, young one. I shall see that you are cared for," said her rescuer.

The last thing Serana heard as she lost consciousness,

"The Dovahkiin called me Paarthurnax."