10th of Sun's Dusk
Every eye looked to Velatin. He casually walked the steps to the very edge without a single change in demeanor. His arrogance oozed with the bouncing of his armor. Nothing seemed to bother him from the looks of it. For everything they heard, he didn't even walk to them fully guarded or prepared without even wearing a helmet. The man looked as rough as all of them imagined. Tenaya eyed him up seeing the brute of a man before her.
Velatin stood almost a foot taller than Tenaya did. His arms barely stuck out of the armor he wore from their size. Even the armor seemed to carry his strength. She saw nothing like it ever before. In the past, Tenaya dealt with Dremona helping the Dragonborn. Other times she dealt with them on her own while adventuring. His armor looked similar but different. Velatin's armor wasn't the same as the ones she saw many times before.
His armor carried a certain glow, almost unworldly. The cuirass itself didn't have spikes on the shoulders or scales on the spikes. No, his was much more devious. Where the spikes and scales sat now had ebony shards. It wasn't even the armor catching Tenaya's eye as much as the sword. It dripped blood which vanished from the ground after a few moments. A truly demonic creation she knew came from the masters he served.
"You must go! I will aid your escape." Astronica urged.
"There is nowhere to run anymore. The three chose your death and I must fulfill it. Unless you plan on jumping to your deaths, the only way through are these steps." He replied, emotionless.
Velatin pulled out the blade with its dripping blood. He swung it around just to prove how much skill he had with the weapon. Serana wasted no time sending ice spikes his direction. Everyone of them bounced off his armor to the ground. The one intended for his head broke with a swipe of the sword. In her haste to try to help, she quickly tried to take some of his life to find him immune. Not even she could overcome the will of the three Princes.
The look in his eye wasn't even anger, he seemed to enjoy this. Velatin charged her swiping his sword. Tenaya jumped backwards with Astronica, but Serana had nowhere to go. He slammed into her shoulder first. Serana went through the air and crashed against the stone structure. She crumpled to the ground without any fight, unable to pull herself up from the pain.
"Well now, two to go. Your pathetic excuse for a Daedra will just have to watch me end this. Go be useful Azura and wipe the feet of the rest." Velatin boosted.
"Enough! You want me, then you have me." Tenaya yelled.
Her sword unsheathed and hand lit up with fire. She wasted no time swinging his direction only to cut through air. He moved out of the way with such speed and agility, even under the armor. Tenaya swung again, missing by inches, no matter what she did. His hand however, it didn't miss. He caught her on the side of the head with a jarring blow. Tenaya stammered backwards to regain her composure.
Astronica quickly conjured a flame atronach between them. It didn't even survive a few seconds with Velatin cutting it down. The explosion rocked Tenaya while Velatin walked through it like nothing happened. His sword swung down to her body on the ground. Tenaya lifted her sword with only a moment to spare. Sparks flew from their blades as she pushed the hilt and the blade up.
"You have a little fight. I give you that." Velatin said, laughing as Tenaya quivered to hold the blade from cutting through her face.
"I am full of surprises…" She grunted through clinched teeth.
Her hand started to crackle quickly, unleashing a bolt of lightning up through the sword. His hand released the sword as a result of the shock. He grunted only for a second when she kicked the sword away. He wouldn't get it again, not that easily. It didn't seem to bother him one bit. He flexed his hand a few times and looked at Tenaya. Astronica backed away to get Serana to her feet. Both stood back watching the exchange.
"Guess I have to do this the old-fashioned way." Velatain said with a shrug.
Tenaya swung the sword down only to have him lift a gauntlet up. Her sword clanged down without as much as a scratch. A twist of the arm sent her sword flying. Velatin moved in a solid motion with a backhand across her face. Tenaya spit blood to the ground, spinning from his impact. She stumbled for a moment trying to remain on her feet. The shot hurt, more than she imagined it would.
He showed no mercy with another punch to her face, using the gauntlet to cut her open wide across the cheek. Tenaya pushed forward swinging for his face. Even as a vampire, the shot had little impact. He pulled the gauntlet off and wiped his mouth, looking to the small trickle of blood she managed to get. That was her best shot, she knew it, he probably did to. She put everything she had into the punch.
"You are weak and pathetic!"
Velatin backhanded Tenaya across the face. He wasted no time moving and pulling her back by the armor. Each punch connected with no defense at all. Tenaya bled from her mouth and nose. Serana fired an ice spike only to have it shatter repeatedly on his armor. She couldn't get a clear shot to his unprotected face thanks to Tenaya. Astronica conjured another flame atronach to try and distract him. Even with both going after him, he didn't stop.
Tenaya went weak as her armor started to bust open. Her stomach took the punches one by one as she coughed up blood. When he had enough of the distractions, Velatin walked to his sword and destroyed the atronach. Serana jumped through the air while he turned his back and hit with a thud only. Not even with the speed and strength could she knock him down. An elbow to her face sent her back to the ground beside Azura who watched helplessly.
"This is your champion? You deserve to die for the poor choices you made."
Velatin lowered a finger from Azura. He grabbed the sword and slowly walked to a struggling Tenaya on the ground. Her face swelled from the beating and bled heavily. Her stomach throbbed but she refused to give in. When he swung for the kill, she moved back to her sword just out of the way. She kept her balance looking his direction, eyes fixed on whatever he planned to do.
His movements stalked her. She circled opposite of anything he did. He took a swing and the swords met. She counted and he counted. Both danced for a short time with metal clanging every few seconds. Only when Tenaya screamed did the clanging stop. She looked down at her arm, seeing the armor ripped open like it wasn't even there. The cut went deep on the side and across the front. She dropped to a knee in agony and a fire feeling shooting up her arm.
The sword had no equal. He knew it and she found out. It didn't matter what it touched, it managed to cut through anything. Her armor didn't even matter. He swung again in her weakened state. Tenaya moved to the side and managed to land a hit but it didn't even go through his armor. The sword cut along the stomach and left only a scratch. The ensuing flame burned hot but didn't penetrate. His yelling from the heat only angered the monster.
He punched her again as she tried to attack again leaving her dazed. Velatin raised his sword with both hands and came down. Tenaya raised hers only to have it cut in half. The hilt and a fragment stayed in her hand. She dropped to the ground from the force of it alone. For a second, Tenaya wished the sword connected. His boot went across her face, lifting her up and snapping her neck backwards.
Tenaya had no fight left after the kick. He watched her struggle on the ground with blood pouring from her nose at increasing speeds. His foot planted on her stomach with blood spitting into the air. Tenaya cried out, agony overcoming her. She looked down to see the sword stuck through her stomach to his ensuing laughter. Tenaya's screams awoke something long lost.
Serana drove shoulder first into Velatin's side, knocking him down to the ground. She looked at the sword and yanked on it, both screaming in agony together. The sword stung Serana for every moment she touched the hilt. It was a pain unlike anything she ever felt. Astronica quickly put everything she had forward, sending a wall of fire forward between them.
"Go!" Azura yelled.
Serana grabbed her by the side. Velatin ran through the flames like they didn't even exist. He ran for the stairs and would be there quicker than either of them could make it down. Astronica did everything she could to slow him, but he was too fast. His armor didn't slow him down a single bit. Serana looked at Tenaya who spit up blood and chose to go the other way, the one way she wasn't sure they would even live through. Serana turned to go over the edge, taking Tenaya with her.
Velatin yelled as they went over the side. She looked down seeing nothing but mountain the entire length. The force going over the side pushed them off the far side. They stumbled down the entire length for what seemed like an eternity. Serana hit a tree with blistering speed. She crashed with her legs shaking. It didn't stop her from trying to find Tenaya. She called out to hear nothing. Her eyes looked around the snow for a sign of her body.
"Tenaya!" Serana yelled, looking around, hubbling. "TENAYA!"
The howling wind didn't make it any easier. Serana scampered around trying to find her. The trail of blood helped lead the way. She followed it further down the hill to Tenaya on her stomach trying to push herself up. Serana walked to her side and lifted her carefully. Tenaya winced in heavy pain with so much blood spilled. Her thoughts went only to the woman on the ground who begged for help. Without a care of the ancient garb, Serana ripped off a large piece of cloth to stick on Tenaya's stomach.
"We need to move quickly. No telling what that guy will do. I do not want us being seen heading back to the castle." Serana added.
"Whiterun…" Tenaya tried to talk clearly through spitting up blood.
"What is in Whiterun? You need to get help."
"Trust me... Find Lydia." Tenaya whispered, barely able to talk.
"I never imagined someone would be like that. You… He just… How?"
Tenaya never replied. This was her turn to be dead weight with Serana. As beat up as she was, every step she managed on her own. Serana wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her tight. Her other hand slipped to the side reaching for Tenaya's hand who struggled just to stay up. Tenaya felt the touch and looked her direction. Serana's hand quickly retreated the moment their eyes met. She tried to put herself out there, she wanted to show her she cared.
For Tenaya, every step proved worse than the last. Each looked over their shoulder for Velatin knowing he could reappear any moment. The hunt wouldn't end until they died, or he did. Their champion was a foe to be reckoned with. Tenaya couldn't think of a time she ever managed to be discarded like a child. Even with the Dragonborn, she stood her ground in their sparring. Molag Bal and the others chose their champion wisely while giving him the weapons to bring destruction.
"I am burning up…" Tenaya said, teeth chattering.
Serana noticed something didn't seem right. Tenaya felt colder than she ever was, vampire and all. Her body had a chill to it, almost unnaturally. For her to be so hot worried Serana. This wasn't Tenaya, she never complained. She pushed through. Their journeys never stopped, even for a cold or illness.
When the walls of Whiterun approached, Serana felt nervous. These walls didn't feel so welcoming with two vampires. Who knew what kind of Dawnguard wondered around the city or if someone would figure them as vampires. It wasn't like either could hide who they were so easily. The hood worked only in bad weather and Whiterun was as sunny as ever. She couldn't slide it on to try and hide it or hide the way Tenaya looked. The piece of cloth Serana ripped from her armor already dripped.
A guard halted them before they made it to the gates. Each of them stood there as still as their bodies allowed. Serana looked to the guard who approached, drawing his sword from the sheathe. His attention went straight to Tenaya with chattering teeth and a quiver naked to the eye. He lifted her face to see the look of a beaten woman, trembling in his sight.
"State your business traveler." She asked with her weapon poised.
"I ha…have a h…h… house here…" Tenaya mumbled.
"I am sure you do traveler. Turn around and seek a better place or it will be the jail for you both."
"She is not lying. Lydia, she can speak to her."
She turned to walk back to the gatehouse. Nothing she said could motivate her further. Tenaya reached her hand forward to grab hers in an attempt to plead her case. It didn't have the same affect she hoped in getting a plea across. The guard kicked her down the hill screaming to arrest Tenaya. She only yelled to Serana to find Lydia. Tenaya knew they would focus on her now. All Serana could do was watch the entire thing happen with Tenaya getting beat up more by the guards.
Serana slipped through the gate with everyone occupied. She had no clue who this Lydia was or where to find her. The first person she saw was a blacksmith hammering on a table. It seemed like no better place to start. Even when she tried to charm her, the woman refused to give anything up. That woman was even more stubborn than Serana cared for.
The commotion Tenaya made started to come to the gate. Serana ran up the hill towards the marketplace while the others drug Tenaya through the streets. Crowds gathered around to see what happened. Serana watched the parade hoping someone might recognize her. She wanted someone to scream her name to put an end to Tenaya's misery, but it didn't happen. All she could do was try.
She burst into the general goods store to the waiting shopkeeper. This one loved to talk from the looks of it. Serana walked over a little more casually to the counter as he went on about the goods in the shop. All she wanted was information.
"Of course, I will buy something. I haven't seen my friend to give it to her. Do you know where Lydia is?" Serana asked batting her eyelashes.
"Oh, well that Lydia always hangs out at the keep. Funny woman that one is." Belethor said, much louder than a regular person.
"Thank you. I will be back to get her gift soon."
Belethor didn't have much left to say. He looked to the ceiling and back down to Serana. She left quicker than he could put out a reply. Serana ran up the hill to the keep as quickly as her legs let her. People stopped talking to see her moving much too fast for human speed. Guards moved to stop her path, but she went around them quicker than they could react. Her hands threw open the doors to the keep in the same manner she did the shop.
Guards surrounded her as quickly as she went in. Every weapon in the place raised with the Jarl being surrounded like she was on a rampage to attack. Her hands went up to the air showing she wasn't planning to attack and walked forward slowly until guards brought it to a halt. She stood at the top of the stairs unable to move further.
"What is your purpose?" The Jarl yelled.
"I need to find Lydia and speak with her. It is of an urgent and personal matter." Serana replied.
A woman stepped forward from the group wearing a fashioned version of steel armor. She lowered her weapon and shield. "I am Lydia. Do I know you?"
"Tenaya was denied entry to the city and she is in bad shape. They just arrested her."
"Tenaya Darix?" Lydia replied, walking quickly towards Serana. Each guard lowered their weapon. "She is my Thane. What do you mean arrested?"
"Arrested. She did it so I could get in the city when they denied us entry I think."
Lydia looked none too pleased. Her eyebrows narrowed and the words came out in anger. "Follow me."
Lydia lead her down to the cells in the jail. She walked briskly with a sense of urgency on the news. In one of the cells sat Tenaya, stripped of all her armor and weapons while given nothing for the bleeding in her stomach. Lydia became enraged seeing the treatment of a prisoner like this, let alone one that was her friend.
"You idiots! What did you do to her? Release her now!" Lydia yelled at the first guard she saw.
"She attacked a guard. They roughed her up a little for attacking."
"That is a Thane you sorry excuses for guards!"
All the guards scurried around to get the key to the cell and her items together. Serana noticed quickly the dagger from the armor wasn't there. She stopped in her tracks wanting to know where it went. That dagger meant something, even the most awful of things, but it belonged to someone other than them.
"The dagger?" Serana asked irritated.
"What?" Lydia asked turning to see Serana pointing at the missing spot in the armor.
A guard walked over to give it back. Serana wanted nothing more than to bite into his neck and rip the very flesh from his throat. They had no respect for anything from the looks of it. Serana dropped the entire thing to the floor seeing Tenaya fall over when trying to stand up. The guards let it all happen without even offering a level of assistance. Lydia glared and walked over with canvas clothing rather than try to make her strap the armor back on.
A guard picked up her elven armor from the floor and walked behind Serana and Tenaya. Lydia opened the doors to the side instead of going through the keep. She didn't want to have Tenaya be embarrassed given everything she did for this city. After all the effort she put forward to solve the problems of the city's people, the guards left her like this. Lydia had no words anymore.
Eyes looked their direction as Lydia walked through the town and marketplace to her house. It wasn't much compared to the one Tenaya built in Hjaalmarch. None of it mattered as Serana lifted her up the steps to the bedroom. Lydia threw the guard out the first opportunity she had and returned to Tenaya's side. She spent a few moments looking over the wound in her stomach which seemed to be festering. It was not until she checked her eyes did Lydia gasp.
"She is Lydia. So am I. Now that it is out of the way, she needs something for her stomach." Serana said.
"I can't get her anything for this. I do not know how to treat a vampire. When did this happen?" Lydia said shaking her head.
"Only a few days ago. She isn't what you think she is, and I am not either. We are different, but that doesn't matter. We can be treated the same way. Our food is mainly the difference."
"Let me go to Arcadia's and get everything she has. Do you need anything?"
"No, I will be fine. Go for her sake."
Lydia rushed out of the house leaving Serana and Tenaya alone. Tenaya looked more vulnerable than she ever did. It felt wrong. Serana was the vulnerable one and they both knew it. Seeing Tenaya like this tore her inside. This shouldn't be happening. Tenaya came back to help her and now pulled herself in to a battle between Daedra. Something said she always knew Tenaya was special.
From the moment they first met in Dimhollow Crypt to how things progressed, she always knew deep down. There wasn't a reason to think otherwise. Her heart was one of the purest she ever knew. Anything Tenaya touched became something special, Serana not immune to those effects either. Damn these Daedra and the one who gave her everything the most for trying to take it all away.
"I was so stupid. I wish I had the strength you did to see through everything. If I had half of your strength and heart, I never would have walked that path." Serana said to Tenaya, motionless, whimpering in her sleep. "You gave me reasons to live and now you are the one who fights…"
Serana grabbed her hand squeezing it softly in reassurance. Serana couldn't hold her emotions back before she started to cry and went back for her hand. Both hers wrapped around the clammy one of Tenaya. She didn't know what to do or how to make this better. Everything felt so wrong right now.
Lydia came running in to the house and up the stairs as quickly. The hour she went to get things felt like an eternity. Arcadia gave her some of everything she had and then some. Belethor heard the name and quickly gave every pelt he had in stock. The news spread quickly through town and everyone knew what happened to a certain point. Guards were no longer seen in the best light. Others rushed to her aid knowing she might need something, sitting outside the house. It wasn't a matter of what she needed; the entire place came to help.
She forced as many of the potions down Tenaya's throat as she could without drowning her. Lydia wiped the sweat from her forehead wondering what would work. Serana remained at her side when Lydia went downstairs. Leaving her alone felt wrong. She doubted Tenaya would leave her if the situation was reversed.
Lydia didn't get a single opportunity to rest. Adrianne stopped by to pick up the damaged armor to make the necessary repairs. After Tenaya helped with a few problems and not to mention rushing to deliver the sword to her father, it would be a disgrace not to support her. Even the priest of Talos paid a visit to give his blessings in the event it could help.
When she returned to Tenaya, little changed except for the worse. Tenaya shivered uncontrollably with sweat all over her face. Lydia looked at her eyes to see them rolled back into her head. She sat down defeated, no clue what was going on. This was unlike anything she ever saw. Checking the wound on her stomach almost made her sick. The festering grew much worse with the skin almost peeling away.
"This wound looks poisoned with something I never saw. What was it?" Lydia asked unsure.
"It came from a blade by the name of The Cursed One. No medicine exists to treat it."
Astronica walked up the steps to both their astonishment. Lydia pulled out her sword until Serana touched her shoulder. This woman walked in the room looking at Tenaya without a bother of the other two. Her demeanor changed seeing the wound on the stomach. It went cleanly in much to her displeasure.
"Tenaya Darix, you have to fight this on your own. No one can help you. This is now a fight for your life."