Icy Fingers And Illness
I took a deep breath as I slipped my Dawnguard armor back on. My shoulder was a little stiff, but I was more cold than anything. I ran my hands through my a little past shoulder length dirty blond hair to get it out of my face. I sighed and turned back to Serana who was waiting for me. From under her hood I could see her smile in relief. I could tell just by the way she held me until I was calm just how scared she was. Scared for me.
I pulled my hood up and walked over to her. She was standing over a vampire's body with a paper in her hand.
"I found this on his person." She said as she handed me the note. I opened it and as soon as I read it my eyes went wide.
"We better get moving." I said as I began to make my way down the path. The note had said that they were keeping the moth priest captive in a cave just down this road. The only thing I did not know is how long they planned on keeping him alive. I could only hope that we were not too late.
"Slow down." Serana said as she took hold of my wrist forcing me to slow down. Confused I turned and looked at her.
"We have to hurry." I urged. "They might be planning on killing him." I explained as I tried to hurry but to my surprise Serana was stronger than she looked. Her vampire powers must give her super strength. There was no way I could break away from her grip, at least as long as I was in my human form.
Serana shook her head and pulled me to a stop. I sighed and turned towards her. "Serana?" I asked as I looked up at her. She shook her head.
"You have lost a lot of blood, your body has been weakened. You need to be more careful." She explained. I blinked a few times and pointed down the road.
"But the Priest... He's in that cave.." I said. Serana sighed and still did not let me go.
"Skylar..." She said calmly.
I hung my head for a second and sighed before I looked up at her. "Ok, I will be careful... But we still have to go get the priest, like right now." She nodded and released me.
I stayed close to Skylar as we made our way over to the cave. I stopped just outside and looked into the darkness. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Skylar turned around and looked at me with a confused look on her face.
"I think I have spent more than my fair share of time in caves." I bit my lower lip as I watched Skylar tilt her head to the side slightly. Her brow furrowed for a second but than her expression softened and she smiled slightly. I also noticed just how pale she was. It made my stomach turn with worry.
"It's ok Serana." She said softly. "You can wait out here if you want, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do." She said with a smile on her lips.
I shook my head and I stepped closer to her. "Nor will I let you go in there alone, I am right behind you." I said with my own smile.
I watched as Skylar's face lit up. "Alright, let's move." She said as she spun around on her heel. My eyes went wide and I held out my arms ready to catch her as she stumbled slightly. My brow furrowed as she held her arms out . She regained her balance and looked over her shoulder at me.
"Oops. Haha, I'm ok." She said smiling. I shook my head as I watched her walk on ahead.
"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked her. I heard her chuckle.
"I'm sure, Come on I hear voices down this path." She said as she pointed down a tunnel to our left. I nodded and followed her. I readied my dagger and my spell as voices bounced off the walls of the cave.
"Get down!" I heard Skylar whisper harshly as she crouched down to a sneak position. I did the same and I followed her into a larger part of the cave. We hid behind some rocks and peeked out to see what was waiting for us when we moved on.
"There he is." I said quietly when my eyes landed on the priest. He was trapped behind some kind of magical barrier.
"And it looks like he has made some new friends as well." Skylar said quietly as she watched the group of vampires, who were not too far away from the barrier.
I bit my lower lip as I thought of how to approach this. From here we could try and pick a few off if Skylar uses her crossbow and if I use my Icespikes. Skylar seemed to have the same idea, she pulled out her crossbow and looked at me with a smile on her face.
"Ready?" She mouthed as she motioned to her crossbow. I readied my spells with both of my hands before I looked at her with a smile on my face.
"Ready." I said as Skylar stood up straight. She bit her lower lip as she fired her first shot. I stood up just in time to see it hit the first Vampire in the head killing him instantly. I fired two Icespikes at another vampire. The first Icespike stunned the vampire but the second finished him off as it hit him square in the chest.
I continued to fire my Icespikes as the vampires began to charge over the bridge. Skylar too kept firing at the as well, but I could literally sense her exhaustion. Out of the corner of my eye i could see her arm straining as she pulled back on the crossbow as she loaded it. I could see her trying to shake it off but it was there.
"Serana!" She yelled as she fired another bolt. I turned my attention back to the vampires in time to see her bolt hit one that was less than an arm's length away from me. I gasp as I realized that he had his weapon ready to strike me as he fell off the bridge and into the endless fall below us.
There were three vampires left. Skylar pulled out her Dagger and charged. I wanted to call out to her and tell her to stay back, I could tell that she was in no condition to be fighting but it was too late. She was already in combat. The only thing I could do was pull out my own dagger and charge in there. As I threw an Icespike at one vampire She threw a Firebolt at another. Her firebolt set her vampire on fire making him run around screaming as he tried to put out the flames. My Icespike on the other hand clipped the leg of the vampire who was charging at me. It caused her to stumble and fall off the ledge and into the darkness.
"Too easy." I mumbled as the last vampire charged towards us with his sword high in the air. Skylar fired a bolt and I fired an Icespike but to our surprised he still continued to charge.
"What the...?" Skylar was cut off as He tackled her.
"Skylar!" I screamed as I saw not only the vampire but her as well slip off the edge.
I dropped my dagger as I ran towards the ledge. I fell to my hands and knees and I looked down. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Skylar hanging on to the ledge.
"Heh... umm a little help…" She said with a half-smile. I smiled as I reached down and grabbed her wrist, I lifted her without straining. I was suddenly thankful that my vampirism granted me superstrength. Skylar had a surprised look on her face as I gently set her down on solid ground.
"You are stronger than I thought you were." She said with a smile. I shook my head as my own smile refused to leave my face.
Skylar turned her attention to the barrier that surrounded the priest. "Let's go take care of that spell, Shall we?" She said as she motion with her head towards it. I nodded and I followed her. I approached the Barrier, I hesitated as I went to touch it, when I did it zapped the tip of my finger.
"Ouch..." I mumbled as I pulled my hand away. I turned to Skylar to find her kneeling on the ground. My heart leapt in my chest as I was about to run over to her. But then I saw her stand up straight holding a glowing stone in her hand. She turned to me with a confused look on her face.
"A Vampire must have dropped it in the midst of combat... Eh are you ok?" Skylar said with a worried look on her face. I nodded as I took a step towards her.
"I think it's a key..." I breathed as I took it from her. I examined it for a few seconds. "Yes, it's a key." I said with a nod. I looked up at a pedestal at the top of some stairs. "If I am correct it is supposed to go on that, and then the barrier will lift." I said as I began to make my way towards it.
I shoved the stone into the hole that was in the pedestal and as soon as I did the barrier lifted.
"Good work!" I heard Skylar call up to me. I looked down at her and smiled. I shook my head and my smile was gone as I watched the priest come up behind her with a dagger in his hand.
"SKYLAR! Behind you!" I cried as I ran down the stairs. Skylar turned around just in time to see the priest try to slash her. But Skylar landed on good kick to his stomach sending him flying backwards. She pulled out her own dagger and readied herself for a fight.
The priest hit his head against a rock and for a moment he was still.
"Are you ok?" I asked Skylar when I stood beside her. She nodded without taking her eyes off her attacker.
"I am so sorry." The Priest said as he sat up. "That was not me... The vampires... They had done something to me. But I'm ok now." He said as he pushed himself to his feet. Skylar did not seem convinced, but I understood what he was talking about. Vampires have powers that they can use on people to make them do things.
"He speaks the truth." I said as I put my hand on Skylar's. She slowly lowered her dagger.
We took a moment to tell him what was going on. But in the end we told him to meet us at Dawnguard. It was not safe to be talking about the scrolls outside the walls of that castle. He bid us Farewell and told us that it might be safer if we went our own ways for now. We agreed and left the Cave.
When we were out of the cave I looked up to the sky to see that the sun was still covered. I smiled and took a deep breath. I turned around to see Skylar sitting on a rock trying to catch her breath.
"Skylar?" I asked as I took a few steps to her. When I stood in front of her I knelt down so that I could look up at her face. She was very pale and her eyes were half open.
"I'm ok." She said in a weak voice. "I just need a moment to catch my breath." She said shaking her head.
I placed one of my hands on her knee and my other on the side of her face. "You're hot." I said in a serious voice. "You have a fever." I said looking at her as I thought. I quickly grabbed her arms and looked at them. I looked all over her causing her to arch an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?" She asked quietly.
"Looking to see if you were bit." I said as I knelt down in front of her again.
She shook her head and chuckled. "I'm a werewolf." She said. Hinting that she believed that Werewolfs couldn't be changed. I shook my head and placed both of my hands on her knees.
"It is possible Skylar, a vampire can change a werewolf into a vampire. I have seen it." I explained to her. She looked at me and her brow furrowed.
"Really?" She asked. I nodded.
"Yes, if it is done the right way..." I said reaching for her face again. She closed her eyes as my cold hand cupped her cheek. My icy touch must have felt good against her fevered skin. I sighed and shook my head. "I don't understand... Do you hurt anywhere?" I asked her. I watched as she blinked a few times.
"My shoulder... It was stiff when it was healed, I thought it was normal, but just a few minutes ago it just started to burn like the fires of oblivion..." She said as she hung her head.
My eyes instantly went wide. "No..." I whispered as I stood up and made my way around her. "Take your top off." I instructed. Skylar looked over her shoulder at me with her brow furrowed.
"What?" She asked confused.
I shook my head and sighed. "Just do it." I commanded. She did as she was told and set her Dawnguard armor beside her. I looked down at her shoulder that now had a very angry scar on it. The area around the scar and the scar itself was red, and hot to the touch. I laid my hand on it as I thought. Skylar sighed at my touch. And then it popped into my head. The dagger that was stabbed into her... It was Poisoned!