13th of Sun's Dusk
Astronica left shortly after arriving. Her presence offered no help to Tenaya or the plight she faced. Velatin could track her down too easily, she knew it. Astronica gave nothing more than a small bit of hope within the knowledge she shared. Tenaya had to fight this on her own and one Serana followed to the letter. If things were not awkward enough with the ominous message, the entire city of Whiterun turned out to support in every way possible.
Days passed with the agony of the situation growing only in Serana's heart and mind. The agony tore her apart no matter what she thought. Tenaya's hand laid lifeless in hers, only twitching once every so often as Tenaya fought the curse running through her body. Serana did all she could by cleaning the cuts from the fight and putting cold clothes over her head. The fever became so hot Serana wasn't sure if she was cooking herself alive. Nothing in her years of reading or studying could put into the words this level of struggle.
Her head burned hot enough to dry the clothes within an hour. For a vampire to even feel warm proved a miracle. Tenaya started to show black lines all over her body as the poison ripped through. Serana cried more at the side of that bed than she did in this era. She needed to say she was sorry and be there for her. This wasn't how it was supposed to me. All of it felt awful and wrong. Having another over her shoulder only made the struggle so much worse. No matter the situation, Lydia remained in the house tending to her every need.
"Her armor is completely repaired and downstairs. Adrianne made sure it returned to the exact way it should. She had to get assistance from the companions at Skyforge just to figure the metals out." Lydia said.
"Figures. Tenaya and her armors…"
"They saw no combination of metals like that. It took them a bit of trial and error. I had no clue she could work a forge like that."
"It seems we do not know our friend as much as we thought we did. I for one see how little we know of her."
Truer words never came from her mouth. She looked at Tenaya quivering on the bed, eyes rolled back inside her head. It seems Tenaya never really opened to anyone, only Serana for a time and she blew it. Everything she gave and did made the struggle much harder for Serana. Over the course of the night, she started to realize Tenaya was nothing short of amazing. Their travels together focused on what Serana needed or how she felt, never a single comment about Tenaya really. Tenaya only cared for others and now she had to struggle on her own.
"What of you Lady Serana? You must feed before your rage sets in. It already wears on your face." Lydia said, noticing the look of hunger and hollowing of her cheekbones.
"Please do not call me Lady, I have not earned any title like her." Serana spit out somber, "who will feed a vampire? Think of what you ask."
"Allow me to take care of your problem. If our Thane is a vampire, there will be those who help her unconditionally. Lady Tenaya did so much for this city it would be a wonder if people wouldn't line the street to donate."
Lydia walked down the stairs and out of her house. She had a simple solution and one that almost certainly would be answered. As a Thane, she held more power over people than she ever claimed and never tried to. To Lydia, this debt the entire city owed her, had no limits. When she returned, it clearly showed those who would support their Thane regardless of what she was.
"It appears we have company in the city. Rumors of Tenaya arriving caught the attention of the Dawnguard. I managed to secure you a wine bottle, full of blood from two volunteers. They shall never speak of it for Tenaya saved their lives. The Red Guard in the Bannered Mare will provide you any amount required." Lydia said, pushing the bottle her direction.
Serana knew of no words looking between her face and the bottle. This woman stood before her, offering a bottle of blood, to a known vampire who others feared. Her gaze shifted to Tenaya and she quickly drank some before carefully pouring a little in to Tenaya's mouth. She needed everything she could get.
"The Dawnguard will be a problem. They will come after us regardless of your guards. The Jarls granted them immunity to kill vampires in their holds. We are no exception to this." Serana replied.
"You are exceptions. She is my Thane. I will protect her to my death regardless of her situation. It is the oath I swore. It shall not be broken over her choice in life."
"I am starting to see the person she truly is…" Serana said, moving the hair away from Tenaya's face. Blood spilled out the side of her mouth still not going down. A smile came forward from Serana's face. "Do you think you could ask your guards to have some time away from their posts?"
"I guess it is possible. For what purpose?"
Serana's hand turned icy and the other glowed red. Lydia understood with the Dawnguard walking through the streets while asking too many questions. It seemed the city of Whiterun would be as good of a place as any to send a message. No one would hurt Tenaya regardless of how many came for them. She only needed the freedom to be herself without guards. She wanted corpses, not secrecy.
For a few minutes, footsteps outside the main door made Serana paranoid. Lydia promised this could happen, even for a short time. Serana hated waiting, worse knowing the Dawnguard stalked around the city. Tenaya appeared to have most of Skyrim influenced by her deeds and yet, Serana wondered why the Dawnguard had such power to come into Whiterun and seek them out.
When Lydia returned with the all clear, she opened the door for Serana and pointed towards the blacksmith's house by the main gates. Lydia remained vigilant inside, refusing to leave her Thane's side in the moment she needed protection. It would be over her dead body before someone touched Tenaya if they tried. At the same time, Serana lowered down to stay as close to the ground as she could. Adrianne waited outside her house in the darkness for Serana.
"I will retrieve their items when you kill them to get rid of evidence. Their bodies will be disposed of accordingly. Simply lead the way." Adrianna whispered.
Serana led her quietly up the hill to the mansions with voices talking. The faint glow of a torch made each Dawnguard stand out in this patrol. Two of them, surprising not three, walked the street looking down each alleyway. She readied the ice in both hands carefully. Every step let them grow colder until she felt comfortable with the shots. Two spikes fired ahead with the impaling thud of their armor. Both fell to the ground without as much as a scream.
She walked down the path further while Adrianne started to remove their armor and weapons. Adrianne took everything she could from the Dawnguard, from the crossbows down to the armor, nothing remained. A hulking man walked up the hill after she took their items to remove the bodies. He threw each over his shoulder with little effort. Serana watched in amazement, forgetting the mission at hand. People aided her in the name of Tenaya only.
One by one, Serana removed the Dawnguard from the city and Nirn for that matter. Six in total died at her hands without much effort at all. She took her time with the last one, draining his entire life before impaling him with a spike. There would be no mercy for what they did to her. She couldn't forget the feeling of a wing being ripped out of her back or losing part of her body. Those moments changed her forever.
Lydia greeted Serana with a sword. She took no chances in the house regardless of who came through. To let her guard down would be a dishonor to Tenaya and all she stood for. A simple smile on Serana's face told her all she needed to know.
Serana walked up the steps to Tenaya's side once more. Black lines continued to grow over her body as if the poison kept winning. Tenaya trembled more and more, getting even hotter no matter what she did to cool her down. Dried blood stained the pillow from the small amount Serana poured in her mouth. She lowered her face next to Tenaya who mumbled in some sort of dream state, unable to make sense of anything around.
"I cannot live without you. I know this now… I am sorry… Come back to me Tenaya… Please…" Serana whispered.
A loud bang on the door woke her up from the sleep she never expected. Her head felt hazy from the jarring noise. Lydia pulled her sword without batting an eye while Serana readied a spell the best she could. She threw the door open, ready for battle, but no one waited outside. Lydia ran out to the street with no soul around. Serana stood there patiently to answer the first person who dared come in.
Nothing came. Both waited eager to bring the fight forward with their blade and magic. No one would get to Tenaya. The posturing felt pointless when they both retreated by the fire. The noise startled them. It was not until a creak in the floor did anyone realize something was wrong.
They charged up the steps to see a person hunched over Tenaya, robes covering their entire body. Serana screamed with the inability to stop whatever was going on. An ice spike launched through the air with a direct hit. The robes crumpled to the ground with not a single person inside, half draped over Tenaya and the rest hanging off the bed. Lydia rushed past a dumbfounded Serana who looked at the cloth in Lydia's hands.
"Am I imaging this? Someone was here…" Lydia said.
"If we drank the same wine, I might wonder…" Serana replied.
Both stared at the robes with a lot of questions unanswered. Who was that person and how did they manage to get inside? Neither of them noticed a single soul come in the house. Serana stood inside and Lydia outside. Only the front door gave anyone access to the small home and Serana blocked that path. To believe someone snuck around both would be impossible. No potion in the world could make someone disappear into thin air like they did, no noise or sound at all. This wasn't possible.
Serana sat down on the bed beside Tenaya again, assuming her position of mourning a fallen friend. Lydia refused to go downstairs after the incident. She found the chair upstairs most uncomfortable but safer with the oddities happening.
Hour by hour ticked away with both on guard. A bang came to the door with Lydia jumping up to pull her blade. Serana never left Tenaya's side preparing her magic. The sound of the door opening, and silence once again unnerved them both. No strange person would sneak in with Serana at her side. Lydia closed the door with the locks going on quickly. She ran up the steps to see if anything changed. By the time she made the top of the stairs another smack into the door rattled the house. Items from the walls fell to the ground.
"What in the nine is going on here?" Lydia asked.
"Come outside my children…"
The whisper in the air sent chills down their spines. Neither heard anything like that in their lives. It sounded wrong, demonic, a violation of everything corrupt inside a broken soul. This sound felt cruel just in spoken words.
"Who are you?" Lydia yelled, moving around frantic with her sword in circles.
"I have what you seek…"
Serana didn't waste a moment rushing past Lydia and out the door. She looked around wanting to see someone, anyone. Serana screamed into the night, spinning around in anger. Guards came running while others poured from their houses. Lydia waited inside, refusing to move from the sight of Tenaya.
"Show your true colors to these people… and I will give you the cure…"
"What do you want!?" Serana screamed.
"Reveal yourself… Or she dies…"
Lydia came outside hearing the whispers all the same. She looked to Serana, not sure what the statement meant.
"I am a pure-blooded vampire Lydia. There is a lot you do not know about us. We are different creatures in our true form."
"What do you mean different? All vampires are the same."
"Not quite. We are pure-blooded. Please do not kill me for this…"
Serana closed her eyes about to shift to her other form in the name of Tenaya. The sound of the door slamming shut stopped everything. Lydia realized after it was too late. Her and Serana came back to the door pounding on it. Lydia kicked with everything she had. Guards ran over to try and knock it down. Nothing budged the door no matter what they did. Serana yelled for everyone to move, channeling every ounce of magic her body could bring forth. The fireball erupted against the door. Cinders flew every direction, but the door and house stood untouched. Serana pointed in tears, trembling uncontrollably.
"Fools…" The voice echoed through the night except everyone heard it this time.
Inside, a figure walked up the steps to the upper level wearing no robe. She walked the floor slowly knowing the door wouldn't budge with a magic seal around it. She picked the other robe from the floor before sliding it on. Her fingers ran across the bed having no chance to do what she needed earlier. How they interrupted for no reason.
"It seems our paths meet again Tenaya Darix. You do not remember leaving me hanging, do you?" Ysolda said. "Of course not, I was a simple peasant of no meaning. My life mattered little to you."
She lifted her head off the bed. Tenaya didn't respond, quivering without reprieve. Ysolda didn't forget what Tenaya did. All she needed was a mammoth tusk to change her life. Tenaya never brought it but another did. He killed her that night and she remembered.
"Do you remember me Tenaya?" Ysolda asked repeating herself, lifting open her eyes to see how she was. "Of course, you don't. However, I now hold your fate in my hands."
A small bottle, holding the slightest of liquid, dangled from her neck. Ysolda ripped it off and set it down on her chest, wanting it found, wanting the message received. She walked down the steps one last time to the kitchen flooded with heavy banging. Another figure walked from the alchemy room in the corner, greeting Ysolda in the middle of the room.
"It seems you picked your side." Astronica said.
"I chose for myself. Relying on others got me killed." Ysolda yelled loudly.
"What did Malacath offer you that Azura could not?"
"He gave me power over those who made me suffer."
Lightning crackled from Ysolda's fingers at Astronica. Her ward quickly deflected the shot against the wall with thundering echoes through the small house. Astronica held the ward steady with another shot of lightning her direction. Screams of anger pushed through her lips, sending wider bands towards Astronica.
Flames erupted from Astronica's fingers the moment the ward lowered. Ysolda moved to the side quickly, sending the pot over the fire to the floor. Voices outside the door yelled while they continued to pound. A dagger lowered in Ysolda's right hand. She leaped towards Astronica from the ground, moving like one of the dark brotherhood assassins. Her reflexes seemed unparalleled to what she was before.
Astronica dodged the knife before vanishing into thin air. Her body went invisible with only two words spoken. Ysolda smiled, knowing the game very well. She closed her eyes to listen to the faintest of sounds. The dagger pushed forward when Astronica returned to sight. The rip inside her robe said how close it really came.
"Your master taught you well, but not well enough." Astronica said before Ysolda's eyes shot open wide and panic flushed over her.
She walked towards Ysolda who ran around in circles to escape. It wouldn't hold and she knew it. Ysolda learned so much in such a short period and within a few more seconds, Ysolda quit moving and stared to Astronica. Fire erupted in her palm.
"We will meet again, I promise you." Ysolda yelled.
"I thought you better than this. You had a chance to be at the side of Azura."
Ysolda scoffed, turning her back on Astronica. The moment her hand lifted to cast a spell, Ysolda vanished. The door burst open almost at the same time with those trying to break it down. Serana and Lydia came through with a crash. Their bodies just missed the fire. Astronica helped both up before others peeked into the simple house.
"What are you doing in here? What of the nine happened?" Serana asked, lighting up her hand with fire. She looked around to see the walls scarred while other pieces burned.
"The visitor vanished as I went to kill her. She works for Malacath. You may remember her from this town; Ysolda." Astronica replied.
"Yes. She was killed a couple years ago by some cultists. No one really knew why. A very friendly woman." Lydia added.
"Her loyalties are now to another and not the same. She did no harm to Tenaya, but I would suggest removing the vial she left. I would take no chances."
Serana rushed up the steps the moment Astronica said it. She grabbed the vial and threw it across the room faster than anyone could imagine. The vial smashed against the wooden wall, bursting into pieces. The liquid drained down through the wood with smoke rising from everything it touched. Astronica wasn't lying. Had they been foolish enough to attempt anything, the poison or whatever it was probably would have killed her instantly.
Lydia walked up the steps with Astronica. Neither seemed too surprised. Each stared towards Tenaya who still quivered, dripping with sweat from the fever.
"Do you think she will survive?" Serana asked, arms shaking at her side.
"I believe as a mortal she stood no chance, but as a pure-blooded vampire, she may. You must show her everything there is. Velatin is no ordinary man. We speak of gifts from Daedra. You and Tenaya are both blessed by a gift of your own."
"I do not understand how being a vampire makes a difference?" Serana managed to get out.
"Your gift, being a pure-blooded vampire, is a gift from a dark Daedra. Azura offers the gift of light. Her gift runs through Tenaya's body now and I will help her open it if she lives. You must show Tenaya the true power in being a pure-blooded vampire. Your mother can provide guidance as well. If she is to ever stand up to Velatin, it will be through this only."
"No one will stand a chance against him. I couldn't even hurt him."
"Allow it time. Speak to your mother. Her time in the Soul Cairn will prove useful."
Astronica left through what remained of the front door. Others let her pass without so much of a second look. Lydia went down to speak with Adrianne about the door. It took little to convince her to fix it. Others stayed to assist and before anyone knew it, the door hung properly on the frame once again.
Serana looked on realizing none of this mattered. They dealt with things of power greater than a door. What might keep out the usual suspect or thief had little effect on a Daedra. The entire thing seemed to amuse Serana more than she could imagine. What kind of war they managed to get caught up in seemed unfathomable.
"I will support my Thane to the end, but the words she spoke, is this real? A man stronger than a vampire? I read many books about the strength of vampires."
"I do not know. It seems our journey is only starting. Tenaya has not learned any of what she is. She doesn't know a lot because I failed her."
Lydia walked to her side with a hand on her shoulder. She saw the pain in Serana's eyes. She suffered to the point of madness. The look in her face became one of absolute agony. "You have humility Lad…. I mean Serana. What you lack is conviction…"
Their conversation quickly halted with a moan escaping Tenaya's lips. For the first time in days, something changed beyond sweating and fever. Even the slightest change was welcomed with open arms. Serana and Lydia rushed to her side waiting for something to happen, anything. Their hands felt stillness. Her face no longer felt on fire but icy to the touch, like death.
"Tenaya?" Serana asked, trembling.
No response escaped her mouth or body. Tenaya laid motionless again. The only sign of life came from her rising and falling chest and it seemed to slow down more and more. Serana sunk back into the chair feeling defeated. Tenaya didn't have life about her anymore.
Lydia moved around, checking Tenaya. She moved Tenaya's hand trying to get some sort of reaction. Her fingers moved to her mouth trying to feel for some sort of air. Lydia moved around frantic, trying to find some sign of life. Tenaya sat quiet, unmoving as Serana started to cry. Lydia moved over her trying to work a miracle. None of it seemed to matter. She lowered her head to listen to Tenaya's breathing after struggling to find any sign of life on her wrists or neck. The breathing all but halted.
Serana looked to Tenaya, but something wasn't right. She was too emotionally drained to realize what was doing on. Her reaction wasn't fast enough. Tenaya's eyes shot open and her teeth sunk straight into Lydia's exposed neck.