XVI: The Volkihar Clan

For a moment, I just stared at Lokir, speechless. "A vampire?" I finally repeated. "But your family…"

"Yes," he said, his voice still lowered, "vampires killed my family, and here I am helping one. That should tell you that there's something very important going on."

"Either that, or she's enthralled you," Fultheim said warily.

"No," I said slowly, "I don't think that would work. He's a werewolf too." I looked over at the vampire, then back at Lokir. "If you have somewhere quiet we can go, I'll hear you out."

"Let's go back to the inn. You left all your stuff there."

I nodded warily and waited for Lokir to lead the way. He and Serana obligingly headed back to Riften. The rest of us followed at a distance.

Back at the inn, I found all my gear just as I had left it. I thought about changing back into my elven armor, then decided to wait until I had heard the vampire out. I didn't want her catching me off guard while I was changing.

Lydia, Fultheim and I stayed at one end of the room. Serana calmly settled down in the chair. Lokir stood beside her and addressed us. "Right after you disappeared…" He trailed off, looking at me. "I still don't know how they managed that."

I thought back to the guard who had whispered in my ear right after I killed Grelod the Kind. "I have reason to believe at least one of the city guards is in league with the Dark Brotherhood, but we'll discuss that after you tell me why you're helping a vampire."

"Fair enough," he said. "The Thieves Guild didn't have anything else for me to do right now, so I went to Fort Dawnguard to see if they could use my help. Their leader, Isran, is looking for new recruits. He let me join and sent me out to help clear out a vampire cave. On the way back, we met up with another group Isran had sent to investigate a place called Dimhollow Crypt. They had noticed a lot of vampires taking an interest in the place. Serana was traveling with them."

I looked at her curiously. "How did you convince vampire hunters to let you travel with you?"

"I've been… sleeping in Dimhollow Crypt for a long time," she said. "Centuries at least. I'm not sure. The Dawnguard knew the vampires were trying to solve a puzzle to open a secret chamber in Dimhollow Crypt. When the Dawnguard solved the puzzle and found me in the chamber, they were surprised enough to let me explain myself. It might have helped that I didn't try to attack them." She swung her knapsack off her back, reached in and pulled out a large oblong object. "Do you know what this is?"

At first, I thought it was a sword in an ornate sheath, but then I recognized it. I had never seen one – few had – but I had heard stories. "That's an Elder Scroll, isn't it?"

She nodded. "I was sealed away in Dimhollow Crypt to keep this out of my father's hands. I need to take it somewhere he won't be able to find it. I know a place, but I need your help reaching it."

I was only half-listening, still fixated on the Elder Scroll. They were said to be remnants of the creation of the world. They said inside the scrolls was written everything that had ever happened, but most who tried to read them went blind. I fought the urge to reach out and touch it, forcing my focus back on Serana. "Why is it so important to keep it away from him? Won't he go blind if he tries to read it?"

"It's not that simple," she said unhappily. She looked around the room, as if weighing her options. "Look, I really don't know all the details…"

"Just tell me what you do know. I'm not following you blindly."

"The vampires recorded a prophecy centuries ago called the Tyranny of the Sun. Under the right circumstances, it told a way to block out the sun forever, allowing vampires to hunt at will."

"Wouldn't that be to your benefit?" I asked cautiously.

She gave me a reproachful look. "Becoming a vampire doesn't make us evil, any more than becoming a werewolf would."

I looked down. "Sorry. I just had a bad experience with vampires a couple nights ago, and I'm not happy with them right now. A pack of them attacked a town we were staying in but didn't count on me being able to see them in the dark. It was a bloodbath."

"Or a dustbath," Fultheim offered.

"Don't remind me," I groaned. "I can still feel dust in my lungs. Anyway." I looked at the Elder Scroll. "So this prophecy, it's recorded there?"

"A third of it is. It's spread out over three Elder Scrolls. My father had collected all three, but before he could arrange for someone to read them, my mother stole two of them. She left this one with me and kept the other herself. In order to block out the sun, I know he needs all three Scrolls and either me or my mother. That's all I could figure out before my mother sealed me away."

"Why would he need you or your mother specifically? What's so special about you?"

"He needs a Daughter of Coldharbor, and as far as I know, we're the only ones in existence."

"Does that mean you got your power directly from Molag Bel?" Lokir asked, sounding faint.

She grimaced. "Yes, it was degrading, but I have no regrets. The power I received was worth it."

I suddenly felt queasy. I had heard the first vampire was created when Molag Bel raped a woman and infected her. I pushed that thought out of my mind. "So you're sure you know a place they won't be able to find you? Somewhere safer than staying with the Dawnguard?"

"I overheard some of my father's followers talking. They still don't know where my mother is, but I do. If I go to the Dawnguard, my father will know right where to find me."

I nodded. "So how did you get this Isran to let you leave?"

She raised the Elder Scroll. "Prophecy or not, this is a powerful item to possess. I told him my father just wanted it, but my mother kept it from him out of spite. I asked for an escort to help me deliver it to the College of Winterhold." She glanced at Lokir apologetically. "Your friend was deemed expendable."

"Okay," I said. It sounded logical. "So where do you need to go?"

She winced slightly. "Actually… I don't know exactly where my mother is, but I know she's hiding somewhere around the castle grounds."

"The castle? Your father's castle?" I asked incredulously.

"She helped the Dawnguard who found her fight off her father's people," Lokir added. "If she just wanted to run back to her father, she could have joined the vampires. "

I growled softly. "I suppose…" I glanced over at my followers.

Lydia shrugged. "Sounds plausible."

I started pacing across the small room, going over the details in my mind, and finally had to conclude it sounded plausible. "Okay, where is your father's castle?" I asked.

"It's on the north coast, near Solitude," she said.

I stopped pacing. "Solitude?" I asked through my teeth.

"Something wrong?" Lokir asked.

"You would have come through Whiterun on the way, wouldn't you?" I growled.

"Well, yes…"

"By the gods, I could have taken a break!" I moaned, leaning my back against the wall and slowly sliding to the floor.

"Maybe when we're through…" Lokir began.

"Yes, once this is over, we're taking a few days off," I said firmly. I leaned my head back against the wall. "When do you need to leave? Do you need to travel at night?"

"I can travel in daylight. It hurts and it's not great for my skin, but I can handle it," she said wryly.

"Great," I said wearily. All the running I'd done lately was starting to catch up with me, but I couldn't rest just yet. I thought of the two notes in my pack, one from the Dark Brotherhood, the other from a complete unknown. I kicked off my leather boots, climbed back to my feet and pulled off the rest of my armor. "Lokir, you want to walk me down to the stables so none of your new friends try to pick my pockets? I finally have enough for that gray horse." I put the armor in my knapsack and held it out to Lydia. "How about you go sell my extra gear for me?"

"Can't you…?" she began reproachfully.

"You and Fultheim can each have a third of it," I interrupted.

"Oh," she said, practically snatching it out of my hands. She glanced inside it. "What about all these cheese wheels?"

"Don't touch those," I snapped.

I pulled my old knapsack out from under the bed and donned my elven armor. Once I was suited up, we left Serana in the room and headed outside the city walls.

"So, do you think she's sincere?" Lokir asked once we were out of earshot of the guards.

I shrugged. "Sounds like it. I don't see any benefit if she's lying to us."

At the stable, they still had a dapple gray mare named Freyfaxi available, so I happily purchased her. I climbed up into Freyfaxi's saddle and set out down the path west of Riften on the pretense of seeing how she compared to my other horse. Lokir followed me on his black horse, and once we were far enough away from any eavesdroppers, we slowed our horses to a walk, settled in side-by-side, and I told him what had happened to me.

He was silent for a long time, then he finally said, "I hate it, but you'll have to go to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. If they have a guard on their side in Riften, they might have spies elsewhere. We can't risk them going after the girls. But they didn't give you a deadline?"

"No," I said. "We have to deal with Serana for now, then I want to sleep for three days straight, then we can deal with this unknown in Riverwood, then I'll go find the Sanctuary."

Lokir nodded. "I don't think it's a trap. There isn't room to hide much in Riverwood. I'm willing to bet they're on your side."

"Yeah, but one problem at a time. What are we going to do about Lydia's aversion to riding horses? I'm going to insist on Fultheim borrowing my black horse, but Lydia is going to slow us down."

"I guess I could buy another horse for her. I've certainly made enough from the Thieves Guild to afford one. But I don't really like gray horses."

I gave him a mortified look.

"Hey, that leaves more for you," he said, leaning over and slapping me on the arm playfully. "I heard they breed pintos in Markarth, but that's on the other side of the country…"

"We'll probably be sent there soon enough," I said.

As we rowed, I looked out over the water off the north coast. In the moonlight, through the thick mist, I could just barely make out a stone castle on an island. "I'm surprised the Nords haven't tried to clear that out yet," I muttered.

"Skyrim is covered with abandoned forts filled with bandits," Lokir observed, "and they don't seem too concerned about those either." He was staring out over the water, but I doubted he could see the castle. Humans had such poor vision at night.

"Still, it's close to Solitude…" I shrugged and turned away.

It had been a long journey to Solitude, longer than I expected. Serana said her father's castle was close to Solitude, but she meant that relatively. After spending all day riding in the cart to reach Solitude, we spent the night crossing the mountains west of Solitude. Now, near dawn, we had reached a small boat tied to an old wooden dock on the north coast. A short ride would take us to the vampire castle.

Fultheim and I had spent the day sleeping in the cart and were ready to keep going. Lydia and Lokir had gotten more rest while we were apart and hadn't felt the need for a nap until after dark, but we had chosen to keep going rather than stop for the night. Serana thought it would be best to try to sneak into the castle during the day, when her people would be less likely to be out patrolling. Once we reached our destination, I had suggested pitching camp, but they both agreed that they'd rather not sleep so close to a vampire den. They had elected to bring along plenty of stamina potions to keep them going until our mission was completed.

"So, do you have a plan?" I asked Serana.

"When I last saw my mother, she said she was heading back to the courtyard," Serana said thoughtfully. "I think she had some secret passageway hidden there. There's a rear entrance to the castle that leads to the courtyard."

"Assuming they haven't found her yet," Lokir observed.

She frowned. "Yes. If she's still hidden, then wherever she is would be a good hiding spot…"

"So you're just going to spend the rest of eternity hiding?" Lydia asked, sounding disapproving and vaguely scornful, as usual.

Serana gave her a withering look. "It's either hide or have my father declare war on whoever I ask to shield me." She looked back at the island through the mist. "Pull the boat in beside that boulder. The back gate should be nearby."

As we docked the boat and started to climb out, I thought I saw movement through the mist. I motioned for them to be still as I slowly climbed up the rocky slope onto the island and surveyed the area.

Everything seemed quiet. The walls of Castle Volkihir rose up high in front of me, but there seemed to just be empty ground between us.

Then I saw a shadow move. Two red eyes appeared in the middle of the shadow, and I realized it was one of the vampiric Death Hounds that often traveled with vampires. It had seen me and started baying as it charged.

Our cover was blown, so I leaped up onto level ground and drew my sword. I saw more hounds coming, and several vampires coming around the castle wall.

Suddenly Serana leaped in front of me, facing our opponents. "Stop!" she shouted.

To my surprise, the hounds skidded to a stop and the vampires obeyed her. "Lady Serana?" one of them called uncertainly.

"Yes, I've come back," she called. "This Khajiit is not to be harmed. I paid her to guard me on my way back to the castle."

The vampires looked at each other uncertainly.

Serana sighed in exasperation. "Does she look like a raiding party? She's just a mercenary who was looking for a job. I promised she would not be harmed if she helped me."

"Very well," the lead vampire said, motioning for the others to back away. "But your father will want to thank her."

Serana turned to me. "They're not going to attack you. Put your sword away."

"Are you sure I can trust them?" I hissed.

"Yes. My clan keeps our word." She cautiously approached the nearest Death Hound, reached out, and scratched it on the head. It started whining excitedly and wagging its tail.

I unhappily sheathed my sword and approached her. I swiveled my ears, trying to catch any sound made by my companions, but I heard nothing. Good, I thought. Maybe the vampires won't find them.

The vampires and their dogs formed a ring around us and led us around the castle to the front gate. I kept a wary eye on them, but they made no move to attack us.

We walked through the front gate onto a landing overlooking the castle's dining hall. The vampire who had spoken with Serana walked to the edge of the landing and called, "Lord Harkon, Lady Serana has returned!"

Dozens of vampires looked up at us and started calling excitedly, most sounding genuinely happy to see Serana again. I barely noticed as I looked down on the tables the vampires were gathered around.

Humans were lying on the tables, moaning in pain as vampires fed on them.

Serana leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Please don't try anything heroic. Those humans live here. They weren't abducted."

"They… they want to be there?" I whispered weakly.

She looked away. "Some of them might."

I followed her down the stairs, forcing my revulsion down. Right now, there was nothing I could do about it. I could always come back later…

The vampire at the head of the central table arose and approached us. "Serana!" he called. "Do you still have my Elder Scroll?"

"You haven't see me in centuries, and that's the first thing you ask about?" she asked scornfully.

He sighed dramatically. "I thought you would need no reminding of your father's love."

I thought back to the last time I saw my father, how he had given his life to save me. I watched Serana's cold reunion with her father, unable to comprehend how he could care so little for her.

They spoke for a moment, discussing things that had happened around the castle while Serana was gone. Apparently her mother had not been seen since she ran away with Serana and the Elder Scrolls.

What if they had captured Serana's mother already? What if this vampire already had the other two scrolls and I had just delivered the last things he needed to blot out the sun? Suddenly I realized I had not thought this mission out very thoroughly…

My inner turmoil was interrupted by Serana's father approaching me. "And who might you be?" he asked, almost sounding cordial.

"I am Indoril Ra'wati, former trader turned mercenary," I said, keeping my voice level.

He laughed mockingly. "You don't talk like a Khajiit."

I started to growl before I could stop myself. "I talk the way my parents taught me to," I said levelly, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"Your parents must not have taught you much about vampires, if you were so quick to accept a contract from one."

"All the other vampires I have encountered tried to kill me on sight, so I killed them first. Serana never tried to attack me. She asked for my help." I straightened myself up, remembering what Lokir told me about appearing confident. "Besides, I am both a Khajiit and a werewolf. I know about people making assumptions about me before they get to know me."

"Fair enough, Khajiit," he said. "I only have one thing I can offer you in return for bringing my daughter safely home. I can make you one of us."

I looked at Serana warily. "Ah… I'm a werewolf…"

"Yes, that curse will protect you from the diluted, inferior strain of vampirism you're familiar with. Ours is the pure form handed down straight from Molag Bel." His form seemed to disappear in a black cloud briefly, then was replaced by a humanoid creature with gray skin and dragon wings, standing taller than an Altmer. "Have you ever seen a common vampire become this? This is our true form. This is what I offer you."

Directly from Molag Bel? Does that mean he and Molag Bel…? I quickly drove those thoughts from my mind. I motioned at the humans lying on the tables. "I'm sorry, but I will have to respectfully decline your offer. I could not comprehend having to treat another creature like that to survive." I looked up at him, feeling my ears lowering in submission on their own. "But you do look impressive," I added meekly.

"Very well," he said. "Serana promised you safety, so I will see that you are taken back to the mainland and released. If we meet again, you will be our prey."

"I expected as much," I muttered.

He turned back to Serana. "It would be most unfortunate if my Elder Scroll fell into the wrong hands. I am pleased you kept up with it so well, but I must insist you return it now." He held out his hand.

Serana froze, then very slowly removed the Elder Scroll from her back and handed it to him, looking defeated.

He tucked the Elder Scroll under his arm smugly and turned to the vampires behind us. "Take them to the dungeon."

"Father…!" Serana began.

"We are in the middle of a meal," he interrupted condescendingly. "We still have much to discuss, and your Khajiit will be escorted safely off the island. Until then, I can't have you two wandering off and getting lost."

We were too outnumbered to fight. We reluctantly let a group of four vampires escort us out of the dining hall. I paid attention to the path we took, in case we had to sneak back out later.

We were taken to the dungeon, where most of the cells were occupied by Nords. They looked to be in the same shape as the ones I had seen lying on the banquet tables.

"So, when you said those humans lived here…" I began, my voice a soft growl.

"Yes," Serana said, looking down. "This wasn't my idea…"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it looks," one of the vampires interrupted. "Some of them come willingly." He opened one of the occupied cells. "Like this one. You must be thirsty after all this time, Serana. I'm sure he won't mind."

They shoved her in the cell and locked the door. To her credit, she turned her back on the Nord curled up on the floor.

They led me over to another cell. I grudgingly let them take my sword and pack. If they meant to feed on me, they could have put me on the table in the banquet hall…

The lead vampire opened up my pack. "Lord Harkon said we would release you, but he never said anything about your possessions…"

"That's not being a very good host," I growled.

"Well, you pulled us away from dinner, so…" he trailed off, his expression shifting to confusion as he looked inside my pack. He shook it a few times, then looked up at me. "Why do you have so many cheese wheels in here?"

I turned my nose up at him. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you."

He dropped my pack on the floor. He motioned to the other vampires, and next thing I knew, one had me by each wrist, pulling in opposite directions.

"Since you're making us late for dinner, how about you compensate us?" he asked, giving me a malicious smile. "We haven't had Khajiit in ages."

"No!" Serana shouted from the other side of the room. "I promised her nobody would harm her!"

"Oh, relax, Lady Serana," he said as he walked up to me. "It won't kill her."

I tried to back away, but the grip on my wrists was too strong. I sighed and steeled myself. "There are plenty of others here to feed on. If you try to feed on me, I'm going to interpret it as an attack."

"Go right ahead," he said mockingly. He put his hand behind my head, grabbed my hair and pulled my head back.

"Wuld!" I shouted.

For a split second, I felt like my arms were being pulled out of their sockets as I flew forward. The vampire who had been in front of me, preparing to bite my neck, served as a cushion as I collided with the far wall. The vampires gripping my wrists had no such cushion and struck the stone full force. We all bounced off the wall and skidded across the floor.

"Gods, how did you do that?" the last vampire gasped.

"The knowledge would do you no good," I wheezed as I dizzily pushed myself up on all fours. Supporting my weight on my pulled shoulders was agonizing, but I had no choice, with at least one vampire still ready to fight.

Beside me, the would-be neck-biter let out a final groan and dissolved into a dust pile. I glanced to either side at the two wrist-grabbers, in time to see one of them dissolve into a dust pile. The other was motionless. I looked back up at the last vampire, who was advancing on me, ready to fight.

I was unarmed, so the werewolf was my only option. The vampire leaped on me in mid-transformation. He bit and clawed at me, but my teeth and claws were much larger once my transformation was complete. He only lasted a few seconds.

Coughing and wheezing from the vampire dust, I tried to climb to my feet, but I was still too sore and dizzy from the impact with the wall. I looked over at the dead vampires and shuddered, glad I hadn't struck my head on the wall.

I frowned thoughtfully. I bet I could knock down a wooden door with that Shout in an emergency… Maybe wrap myself in deer pelts first…

"Ra'wati?" Serana called. "Are you in control?"

I turned to her and started to nod, but the motion made me dizzy and I fell over again.

"Can you bring the key over here?"

I crawled over to the neck-biter's ash pile. After a moment of digging and sneezing, I found the key. Trying to pick it up taught me that my fingers were no good for tasks requiring dexterity, so I picked it up in my teeth and carried it over to Serana.

"Everyone should be at the banquet," she said as she fiddled with the lock. "Your fight might not have been overheard. It's not far to the courtyard from here." She gave me an apologetic look. "I'm afraid I can't heal your wounds. My healing magic only works on the undead."

She opened her cell door and hurried out. She paused to pick up my pack and weapons. I hung back, looking at the Nord in the cell. He was just sitting on the floor, staring off into space.

Serana cautiously put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ra'wati, there's nothing we can do for them. They don't seem to have any free will or desire to escape."

I crawled to my feet and wobbled after her, vowing that I'd come back here one day and clean this place out.

Thankfully, we saw no more vampires as we made our way to the courtyard. I'm not sure I could have used my arms in another fight, as sore as my shoulders were.

She froze as she opened the door to the courtyard. In the center of the courtyard stood what looked like a huge sundial taller than I was, with a ring of symbols on the ground around it depicting moon phases. The walls were lined with many long-dead gardens. I didn't see anything moving inside.

"This place was so beautiful when I left," Serana said sadly. "Mother was a master gardener. But it looks like nobody else cared to tend the gardens…"

I closed the castle door behind us and warily followed her into the courtyard, scanning the area for any threats. A few seconds later, I heard Lokir call my name.

I glanced up to see him peering over the edge of a walkway above the door we had entered through, holding his bow ready. I motioned that it was safe, and he put the bow away and hurried down to the ground level, followed by Lydia and Fultheim.

"I see you found the Moondial," Serana called to them.

"Yeah, it looked significant, so we took a gamble that this is where you needed to go," Lokir said. He looked at the door we had come through. "Are you sure you aren't being followed?"

"Everyone should be at the banquet," Serana assured them. "My father sent a small group to escort us to the dungeon for the night, after which he had promised to release Ra'wati. But… well, they broke the rules of hospitality, so she broke their necks."

Lokir clapped me on the shoulder. "When this is over, you have to take me vampire-hunting sometime."

I nodded, then cocked my head to one side and gave him an inquisitive look.

"Oh, right. Well, right after the Death Hounds spotted you, Serana said to let her handle it. If they had attacked you, we would have come to your rescue, but she seemed to have everything under control, so we thought we'd secure the courtyard and wait for you. I guess they were so surprised to see her again that they didn't think to check the beach for more invaders."

I nodded, and clapped him on the shoulder to show there were no hard feelings. His knees almost buckled under my enhanced strength.

While we were talking, Serana had walked over to the Moondial and was looking at the ring of symbols on the ground around it. "Some of these are wrong," she muttered as she knelt down and started fiddling with one of the symbols. She turned it slightly and we heard a click come from the Moondial. She slowly walked around the Moondial and made small adjustments to the moon symbols, and after she turned the last one, the circle of blocks around the Moondial slowly dropped down to form a spiral staircase leading under the courtyard.

I motioned for the others to stay back and squeezed through the hole in the stone floor. I descended the steps slowly, scanning the room beyond for any threats, but all was quiet. It looked like an old library with a closed door on the far wall.

My limbs suddenly started to quiver. I lost my balance and rolled down the stairs as I changed back to a Khajiit, with all my weapons and armor clattering down the stairs with me.

"Ra'wati! Are you okay?" Lokir called as they all rushed down the stairs into the darkness.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I wheezed. "No sense trying to be quiet now, I guess." I located my clothes and started pulling them on.

"I think I've got a torch in here somewhere…" Lokir began.

"Wait until I'm dressed!" I snarled.

Once I had my clothes back on and Lokir had his torch lit, we found a lever than raised the stairs again, concealing our hiding place. Then Serana took an old key out of her pack and unlocked the door. The room beyond was clearly meant for alchemy. There were dozens of alchemy ingredients and potion bottles on shelves around the room, and an elaborate alchemy table on either side.

There was a series of rings set into the center of the floor, each one smaller than the one above, almost like a round set of stairs. A pedestal holding a silver offering bowl stood beside the circles.

Serana walked over to the alchemy table and picked up a dusty old book lying on the corner. She spent a moment reading while the rest of us investigated the shelves.

"My mother was doing research on the Soul Cairn right before we parted ways, and it looked like she succeeded," Serana said, sounding worried.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds bad," Lokir said.

"I know," Serana agreed. "My mother believed the Soul Cairn is where souls go after they've been soul-trapped with Black Soul Gems."

I suddenly started feeling sick. "I thought all souls went back to the Nine or the Daedra."

"That's not what my mother thought," Serana said, setting the book down and walking over to the nearest shelf. "She believed the Soul Cairn was a region of Oblivion where mysterious entities called the Ideal Masters resided. She believed she could go there. Her last journal entry here says she found a way to open the portal and planned on hiding there." She picked up several bowls off the shelf and examined them closely. "Finely ground bone meal… soul gem shards… purified void salts… yes, everything we need to open the portal is right here."

"Did she say anything about what the realm was like?" Lokir asked.

"No, but it sounded like she had gone there and come back at least once."

"I'm not sure I'd feel right just sending you through a portal without being sure where you're going," Lokir said uncertainly.

Serana looked surprised. "I'd… never ask you to come with me, but if you wish, it shouldn't be a problem. If we find my mother, she may be able to tell you more about the prophecy."

Serana collected several bowls of alchemy ingredients off the shelves and took them over to the silver offering bowl beside the stone rings. After pouring the ingredients in the offering bowl, she bit one of her fingers and let a few drops of her blood fall on the ingredients.

The floor started to shake as the stone rings rotated. They formed a staircase descending into a new hole in the floor. Strange purple flames burst out of the floor briefly, then subsided, leaving the hole suffused with their purple glow as mist drifted out. It was hard to look directly at the light, but I could see a different realm through the haze and the portal.

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked, shrinking away from the purple light.

"It's just another plane of Oblivion," Serana said with a shrug. "Plenty of mortals have journeyed to the Daedric realms and returned to tell their stories. This should be no different."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm coming along. No," I interrupted as Lokir started to protest, "If you're putting yourself in danger, I'm coming with you. I guard your back, you guard my left side, right?"

"Right," he said, sounding relieved. "What about you two?" he called to Lydia and Fultheim, who were hanging back against a wall, staring wide-eyed at the portal.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather not," Lydia said, pressing herself against the wall. "I'd rather not draw the attention of the Daedra or anything else from Oblivion if I can help it."

Fultheim just squeezed his eyes shut and looked down silently.

"I understand," Lokir said. "This isn't part of your sworn duties to your thanes."

"And it would be nice to have someone out here to make sure we don't run headlong into vampires on our return if any show up," I said. "It's not likely to happen, but if you two want to stay here and guard the portal on this side, we won't take it personally. If we're not back in… three days?" I glanced at Lokir and he nodded "you're free to head back to the mainland without us."

They both nodded silently. The portal really seemed to have spooked them.

I turned back to Lokir and Serana. "Ready when you two are."

I followed them as they walked down the steps and through the portal.

If I had known how the things I would learn in the Sould Cairn would affect my mind, my very worldview, I might have chosen to stay with Lydia and Fultheim.

SOUNDTRACK: "A Banquet for Traitors" by Oh, Sleeper, "In the End" by Linkin Park, "Waking the Demon" by Bullet For My Valentine, "Seize the Day" by Avenged Sevenfold

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the long time between updates. I was having a hard time making Serana's case sound convincing, and I want there to be a reason why Ra'wati does the quests beyond just pursuing more quests. Plus I had come up with a more streamlined way for Ra'wati and Lokir to join up again, but I didn't want to significantly alter what I had already posted. I also thought hearing Serana out and journeying to Castle Volkihar should have been two separate chapters, but the first one would have been too short. These things made my muse unhappy, and when she's unhappy with what we're writing, my drive to work on it dries up. Then I went back for my final semester at college and it was grueling, leaving me no time to write. And then I went completely crazy over Steven Universe in January and I've been watching it instead of playing Skyrim all year. But this should be the last hump in the story for a while, and I'm really looking forward to writing about the Soul Cairn and Thalmor Embassy.

I altered the means by which they enter the Soul Cairn on the grounds that there's no way Ra'wati and Lokir would let Serana partially Soultrap them, even before finding out what the deal is with the Soul Cairn.

I forgot to mention in chapter 14's note that I decided to have vampires dissolve into ash piles like reanimated corpses to add variety to the fight scenes. I also thought collecting Vampire Dust from dead vampires would make more sense that way.

Eventually we'll have some vampire-vs-werewolf fights that don't end so quickly, but most of Ra'wati's opponents have been the unarmed type that run backwards while casting Vampiric Drain, which doesn't strike me as a good werewolf-fighting strategy.

Freyfaxi was the name of a horse from one of the Norse sagas. No significance, I just liked it.