The walk was unexpectedly long on the way to Ivarstead. It took them about two days of travel.
They had stopped once for a few hours by a river to bathe themselves and give their legs a rest but Serana could see the determination in Irina's eyes and she could tell she didn't want to waste any time making it to the small town.
By the time they arrived Serana and Irina were more than just a little tired. It was almost night and the dovahkiin and her companion were just entering the town. The elf glanced at the mountain that they were to climb with a sense of dread, all her energy had been spent walking from Whiterun to Ivarstead.
As they walked down the road delving further into town the bosmer's eyes perked up slightly when her eyes caught the sight of a certain beggar.
The bosmer cleared her throat nonchalantly, "I'm going to feed on that beggar, nobody will miss him."
Irina had only fed on animals on their way to town, as had Serana but the nord was smart enough to bring potions of blood with her in case she became excessively hungry. She offered Irina one but the woman shook her head and opted to use her own only in battle.
The pale woman followed the elf's eyes and caught sight of the beggar whose name, unbeknownst to her was Narfi.
Irina had seen him many times when she came up and down High Hrothgar for food and supplies to bring her masters and herself. On top of aligning herself with the Dawnguard, she'd also joined the Dark Brotherhood. Not exactly by choice... seeing as how the whole initiation process had gone.
All that aside, Narfi was a contract. Irina could probably guess whomever wanted Narfi dead lived in the town as well.
"I'm not going to stop you, go on ahead" Serana said casually.
The beggar was on the other side of a river running through the small town. He resided in an old abandoned house on the opposite side of the river, the old thing was worn down and looked like one of the houses you'd find in Helgen. The elf easily jumped over the stretch of water landing on her feet gracefully. Narfi had his back to her drinking a bottle of ale mumbling something incoherent.
The beggar was half drunk as he stumbled over to the broken house, he leaned against a destroyed wall with his head resting on the wood. She made no move to hide the sound of her footsteps and he noticed her almost immediately.
As the bosmer approached him Narfi cast her a backwards look, he was just covered by the destroyed house perfectly. "are you here to just waste Narfi's time, elf?" he asked her gruffly. The tone of his voice and the way he said the word 'elf' made her eyebrow twitch and she murmured "and here I thought I was going to regret killing a beggar" He gave her a distasteful look, glancing at her from head to toe before meeting her gaze once more.
After another few moments of silence his face twisted into that of annoyance and asked her aggressively "You elves make Narfi nervous, do you need something from me or am I going to have to ask the guards for help?" He was a loud one, to be sure.
Irina quashed her annoyance and approached him before she spoke calmly.
"There is something I want, actually … try to guess what it is" she said sweetly baring her fangs causing the man's eyes to widen in shock and drop his bottle of ale, not even a second later he bolted from her arm's length.
Irina easily caught up with him and twisted his arm behind him, her other hand went to his mouth to muffle the small scream that erupted from his throat, she pushed him up against an intact wall of the rundown house that shook from the impact.
He sobbed into her hand from the pain while the bosmer stood upright, her grip tightening all the while. She sunk her teeth into his neck not even trying to drink his blood just bleed him out, his muffled screaming grew louder in her palm which enticed her to sap even more blood from him, can't have a guard seeing her do this, killing people and guards were a different level of…difficulty.
After a minute his shoulders slumped and he began to shake from the amount of blood he lost, she retracted her teeth from his neck and licked her lips. He didn't taste horrible, but his blood didn't compare to the potions Serana gave her. Not even close.
The dovahkiin turned him around and noticed how deathly pale his features looked, yet he was still alive. Narfi had already been thin but now, his cheeks were nearly hollow and his eyes looked sunken in. She drank so much that he hadn't the strength to move, she winced in disgust at how his skinny chest rose and fell, he was thin enough for his ribs to be seen clearly through his skin.
Irina reached for her ebony dagger that hung at her waist, holding it deftly in one hand while using her other to heal the puncture wounds on his neck. "does this mean you'll spare Narfi?" he asked weakly while she healed his puncture wound, she had him sit on the floor gently and checked his face and arms for any bruises.
The dragonborn glanced at him curiously, "Oh dear. No, I'm not."
Narfi's eyes widened as much as they could from their half lidded state and opened his mouth to scream for help but had no strength and instead only managed light wheezes.
Irina took ahold of his wrist and slashed into it deeply, blood seeped out of his skin at an alarming rate and the bosmer found herself mesmerized with how much gushed out despite her feeding on him. The blood pooled around him and she took a small step back as to not step in it. She took a hold of the iron dagger that hung at his waist and left it in the palm of his other hand.
The bosmer looked around the broken-down house in search of anything else that might convince the guards that the man had driven himself to suicide. Her eyes perked up when she found a few bottles of mead, she poured out the contents and laid the bottles around the nord's body. She glanced at his body and tilted her head to the side thinking of what else was needed to look convincing.
After a few moments, she shook her head, "I suppose not" she mumbled to herself.
"You suppose not, what?"
Irina glanced behind her, not even worried since she already recognized the voice that belonged to Serana. "It's not important" she spoke dismissively moving over to her.
Serana glanced down at her and to Narfi whose breathing had slowed down immensely, the man glanced at Serana and asked her with a desperate tone "Please, help me" his eyebrows were scrunched and his lips were already turning violet.
The pale woman glanced at the nord's wounds and then spoke to the elf, completely ignoring him "this looks rather convincing, what did you mean to make it look like he killed himself?" the bosmer was taken aback at how calmly Serana was processing the situation, "yes…but let's not talk about it here I'd rather not be seen with a corpse"
Irina moved to head out of the house but Serana took ahold of her wrist and pulled her back. "Just a moment."
The dovahkiin was about an entire foot shorter than the nord so she had to look up at her "what are you doing…?" Irina trailed off slowly, the nord leaned down and squinted towards her lips. The elf remained silent when the nord placed her palm on the elf's cheek with her thumb resting on the edge of her mouth.
The taller used her thumb to wipe away some leftover blood that was on her lips and chin, "you need to drink more gracefully" she said almost like a mother. She took a step back from the bosmer and wiped the blood off her thumb onto her palm while Irina rolled her eyes.
"I've never drank from a human before, I should have a few attempts before you judge me."
"That'll be noted, but even still." Serana said with a half-smile.
Once inside the Vilemyr Inn, Irina walked up to the counter and set a fat coin purse down. Her exhaustion was apparent and she had few words at the moment.
"Twenty for two rooms and the rest for how many ales that can get me. Please and thank you." Irina said.
Wilhelm, the innkeeper, opened the coin purse and laid out the golden septims. His hands glided over the coins and precisely counted them before glancing back to the dovahkiin, "I only have a single room left. As far as the ale goes, do you want quality or quantity?" he asked her.
"A single room is fine. Give me quality, but one that burns a bit" Irina said the last bit as an afterthought.
In a matter of moments he ducked under his counter and reached for two aqua colored glasses. He presented the Black Briar Reserve to the dragonborn and grinned when she seemed to have some light shine back in her eyes. She thanked him and continued off to her room along with her companion.
Serana eyed the bottles with distaste but said nothing.
As soon as they entered the privacy of their own room did Serana comment on the drinks. "Is this something that nobody told you was a bad thing?"
Irina set her bottles down on the dresser, a half-smirk given to the nord "I'm quite aware of the supposed harm. Even so, a strong drink never failed to put me down to bed."
"Sounds like a dependancy."
"Nonsense."
Serana merely dropped the subject but still eyed the bottles with distaste.
Irina neatly arranged her armor by the foot of the bed while Serana made to look for any comfortable clothes to slip into. The only fabric available for the both of them were men's clothing but that did not seem to faze either of them. Serana settled into a miner's shirt, it was a cream color that complimented her pale skin.
Lazily the bosmer followed suit and donned a long red-sleeve. Made for an orc by the size of it, it looked like a dress on the dovahkiin. The sheer size of the fabric went past the elf's hands and Serana stifled a laugh in her palm. Irina had a built frame to be sure, but she was also small.
Irina threw herself on the bed and mindlessly rolled her sleeves up to her elbows. Even rolled as they were when her arms hung loosely at her sides the fabric dropped to just past her knuckle.
"So, I don't mean to pry but is there a reason you went out your way to kill the beggar? Or was drinking from a human so good you couldn't control yourself?" Serana asked while moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She leaned back and rested her weight on her palms. She looked over her shoulder to meet the woman's gaze.
"Not quite. I had been assigned a contract, someone paid for his death."
Serana's mouth formed a visible 'o' at the response. Irina decided to turn herself on her back and stare back at the nord, "I'm an assassin. Although, I can see how that's hard to believe."
"Not entirely, not after the Molag Bal explanation." Serana said.
"You flatter me, my lady." Irina said with a half-smile. The woman rose so that she sat against the headboard of the bed and reached for her bottle of reserve. Something told her that Serana would be asking a million questions and she hadn't any real reason to deny her anything, after all, they were fresh comrades now.
Better to get acqauinted, at least somewhat. Irina would learn from her mistakes, being too distant from the members of the Dawnguard had animosity brew amongst them and she hadn't a clue until only recently.
"I've been meaning to ask you something, Irina." Serana began with a musing voice.
"By all means, my lady" Irina said as she took a long drink of her reserve. The liquid ran down smooth, for the first few seconds, and then the signature burn came all too soon. She had almost made a face at the strength of the drink.
"Why did you choose to turn on the Dawnguard so easily? I didn't expect this sort of outcome, your choice... it baffled me." Serana explained with suspicious eyes. They bore into the dovahkiin, and Irina couldn't blame her. Under the circumstances in which they had met, they were quite easily identifiable enemies.
Under a temporary truce.
Irina had wanted knowledge of her elder scroll. That was what started their beginning as accomplices, and then fast forward only a few days later the offer of vampirism was on the table.
Irina gave her a curious look. When her housecarl asked her reasoning, she had been vague on purpose. To not let the new company know too much of the elf without her absolute need to know. Lydia knew the subject was touchy for many reasons and for another to even have the knowledge of Irina's selflessness was only if Irina herself had wanted to let them know.
There was an unsteady silence broken by the dovahkiin, "I do hate to disappoint you, but the reason is not as complicated as you're expecting. I don't expect you all to trust me either, given how easy of a choice it was for me."
"Is that all I'm going to get from you?" Serana asked with a half-sigh.
"I promise you, if you care to ask again later on, you will have an answer that makes sense. However, yes. That is all you're going to get from me." Irina said with a charming smile. She slouched some more against the headboard and nestled into her sitting position, the nord turned her body so that her knees were pointed to the elf but her feet were behind her.
The conversation wasn't going to end so soon.
"I can't force you to say anything to me. Although aren't you comfortable enough already? We are going to sleep with each other tonight after all."
The bosmer scoffed at her wording and responded coyly "on how you're phrasing it, it almost makes me think that you want to sleep with me" Serana gave her a smirk that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. When the silence between them stretched itself, Irina took another long drink of her reserve.
The dovahkiin gathered her wits rather quickly and cleared her throat "since It's time for questions, I have one for you" this made the nord raise a brow, "what is it?"
"Why did you happen to kiss me?"
This made the nord blink in surprise. Her composure had broken and Irina could see plain as day.
"I didn't know you were awake for that." Serana said with a hand to her neck in embarrassment. Her cheeks were beginning to flush a light rosy color and Irina fought the urge to smile behind her glass.
"Did you want me to be? I'm not upset, if that's what's making you so red." Irina reassured.
The nord rolled her eyes. Her hand fell back down to her side and she shook her head, "It was on a whim. I was examining the extent of your beating, for medicinal purposes and... I just did it. It's strange I know" She said clearly. Truth be told, the woman was well aware of why she kissed the woman.
She was beautiful. Serana had never been one to discriminate against men and women, not that she ever had the chance to bed a woman, she understood beauty when she saw it. Although, it would be safe to say that she'd never lusted for another woman until Irina. There was an allure to the dovahkiin that had the nord focused on her. Was it the curve of her bodice or the many scars that contrasted her brown skin? The shape of her eyes or the fullness of her lips?
She was uncertain of what she found so mesmerizing, only that she plagued Serana's mind far too many times.
"Hmm, I won't press you further on it. Though, I suppose I should thank you, my looks have never gotten me so far before" Irina spoke with a teasing tone to her voice. Serana flushed a little deeper this time.
Serana was thankful that she decided to drop the subject because she didn't know for how much longer she could keep a composed countenance.
They both left each other to themselves after that.
Serana moved off the bed and fumbled through the dresser looking for anything to entertain herself with. She found a book titled 'The Black Arrow' and decided to immerse herself in the book despite not expecting anything promising from the title. She settled herself back onto their shared bed and laid by the foot of the bed.
Every now and again, she would sneak a glance at the dragonborn who had leaned against the headboard of the bed and slipped her eyes closed. She sat still and the only movement coming from her was her steady breathing and occasional sip of her reserve.
Her mind was preoccupied.
Serana bit her lower lip and moved her eyes back to the pages of her book, she scanned through sentences and tried to find entertainment in the story but to no avail. Just as she was about to chuck the book aside, the bosmer asked her a question.
"Serana, what do you know about the elder scrolls?"
She slowly set the book to the ground and stared back at the bosmer, "I mean... not much. You'd think a couple hundred years locked away with one would've given me some insight but no. Turns out you don't learn much from just sleeping with something."
"Huh... Shame...- wait, are you saying you want to learn more about me?" Irina asked with a teasing voice.
Serana kept her composure and smirked, "not at this rate, no."
A lie and yet all the same, Irina's eyes flickered with interest. Serana made no move to initiate anything from the small glimmer of lust she saw and instead made to get herself comfortable on the bed. Two days of travel and she had no energy other than to playfully suggest something.
A silent sigh escaped Irina's lips when her eyes opened. The sky was bright and blue, sometime during the middle of the day she'd guess. She swung her legs over the bed and stretched her limbs when she stood, each joint giving a satisfying pop as she pulled them. Irina swept her hair behind her head and just now noticed that her bed was empty.
With a curious arch of her brow the bosmer glanced around the room and noticed the elder scroll was gone as well. The only thing that proved Serana had not left was her elven dagger set on the dresser and her cowl hanging at the edge of the bedframe.
Irina dismissed her absence and made to check her supplies for their journey up High Hrothgar. They would need a fair amount of potions for the hostile wildlife they'd find, and feeding didn't sound like a bad idea either considering they'd most likely spend a fair amount of days up the mountain.
As Irina sifted through her rucksack, a loud shattering noise startled her from her musings.
The noise was sharp, it sounded like glass was thrown. Irina materialized her rucksack back into It's plane of oblivion before she straightened herself up. With slow and silent steps she inched toward the door of her room, and opened it just a crack.
The innkeeper, Wilhelm, knelt before a familiar faced breton. Celann, her former comrade from the Dawnguard.
Her orange eyes moved around the room and darted between the innkeeper and the dawnguard. There were a total of three dawnguard soldiers, Celann and two others that wore helmets. The steel covered their faces so Irina was unsure of who they were, if she even knew them at all.
"I know not of who you're looking for...-" Wilhelm spoke with wheezing breaths. Irina could only see half of his face but his eyes looked sunken in and she was unsure if she could see blood running down from his nose.
Celann knelt down to his level and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, his countenance cold and focused. His gaze pierced through the innkeeper, but Wilhelm stood his ground and glared right back.
"You don't know what the dragonborn looks like? The savior of Skyrim... you would have me believe you? I am no fool, old man" Celann said with venom in his voice. His sword was sheathed at his waist but Irina saw the way his grip became tight, his patience was thin and Irina had heard enough.
With only one goal in mind, the dovahkiin strapped her gauntlets to her forearms and donned her Deathbrand helmet. The absolute bare minimum for coverage, and if one of those masked brutes behind Celann were to step in to fight one blow would be all it would take for Irina to go down.
Even so, her body moved faster than her mind did.
Within a matter of moments, she burst through her door with her ebony sword at the ready and her glass sword sheathed around her waist. Wilhelm snapped his head back and quietly cursed under his breath, "you fool, you should have ran away!"
Celann scoffed and shoved Wilhelm against his bar with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Wilhelm fell to his knees on broken glass and cut his hands.
Irina stared at the scene with a disapproving look in her eye.
"What do you need from me, Celann?" Irina asked.
"Pardon me, Irina. Where are my manners? Good morning, I hope you slept well considering you had to walk here from Whiterun." he said his words with direct eye contact. He wanted her to be shocked.
Well, it worked. He noticed her blink a few times in succession. At that, a small smirk formed itself on his face.
"I am rested well enough to best you in combat, don't try to intimidate me. What do you want from me?" Irina asked with more force to her voice. Her eyes flickered over to the other two clad in heavy armor, she could hear them shift on their feet, the armor was too heavy and it gave away their movements.
"Always to the point, you were never the charmer. But I suppose I'd be inclined to give you an answer...-"
"Celann, I swear to all the gods in this world. If you don't get to the point." Irina threatened. To prove her point she unsheathed her glass sword and took a step forward. This move challenged the two in the back, because within the minute they had crossbows locked and loaded and pointed at her.
Irina wasn't worried though, one proper use of the thu'um and they'd all be blasted through the walls of the inn.
"Right, yes. Well, I guess I can state the obvious. You betrayed us. I can see it in your eyes, they used to be so beautifully green. Now they're... undead. I had received word from one of our scouts who happened to be in Whiterun gathering supplies. He saw you with your housecarl, Lydia wasn't it?" Celann asked with a sarcastic tone.
Irina clenched her jaw.
"I was also in the area, he informed me of your change just the other night. I was in shock at the words that left his mouth, I almost thought him to be lying but he was always a serious man... Anyway, we apprenhended your housecarl and she's on her way to Fort Dawnguard as we speak" Celann mentioned off-handedly.
Irina's eyebrows furrowed and her expression turned into a scowl. Just as she was about to speak, the sound of metal hitting wood was heard. All heads turned to the two soldiers behind Celann, their crossbows fell to the ground. The weapons were covered in a thick layer of ice, their eyes followed the direction of the frost and Serana stood with her arm outstretched.
"You two can enjoy watching the sidelines, just as I am. Three against one is hardly fair" Serana said with a look of distaste. She lowered her arm and watched the two clad in heavy armor with cautious eyes. They both had a warhammer and greatsword strapped to their backs but in the time it would take to draw them Serana would have an ice spike pierce their throat.
Irina focused back to Celann who drew his own sword a silver beauty. She eyed the metal uneasily, one good slash from that blade and her skin would light itself on fire. Not literally, but if Irina had been in immense pain from a silver bolt... she could only imagine what an entire blade could do to her.
"No need to be worried men, should the dovahkiin refuse we can simply return her body instead. You are the witness to her betrayal, Isran should be satisfied with her head. Perhaps, I'll your head to your housecarl as well-?" He was cut off.
Irina had had enough of the man's pompous speech and at the mention of Lydia the bosmer wasted no time to strike. She rushed forward and raised both swords above her head before bringing them down together. Celann blocked her attack but the weight of the weapons had forced him to shift slightly to avoid the blades.
The sound of metal sliding against each other rang in Irina's ears.
Celann tilted his head to the side and smirked at her, now it was him who rushed forward and made to strike her midsection. She easily blocked his attack with her ebony sword and used the proximity to step forward and pivot. Her glass sword just barely missing his torso.
"Hah. Irina you are quite deadly with two swords, I'd almost forgotten how great of a swordsman you were." He chuckled. He sidestepped away from her frontal strike but only just barely, the blade nicked his armor and tore his leather.
Irina ignored his compliment and moved her wrists in circular motions to free up the tension.
He was backed up against the bar, with an annoyed huff he kicked a stool out of the way to give him some more space to work with. At this point Wilhelm had crawled to the back of said bar and was silently picking out the glass from his hands.
Within moments swords clashing against one another was heard, Irina was the more skilled swordsman to be sure. However, even still she had to be cautious to not get herself cut by his blade and so she had to fight with tact. It was hard to do when her housecarl plagued her mind, why would they need her? What would they do to her?
Irina had no faith in men and could only imagine the worst.
Celann noticed her eyes were unfocused and used the oppurtunity to sidestep and slash at her midsection, only the upper half of Irina's shoulder was cut. The rest of his blade simply cut through air since he got the trajectory of his swing wrong.
Irina released a deep groan and in a flash of rage kicked his sword from his grasp. She used the dull side of her blades to forcefully push Celann against his comrades and she used her thu'um on them all.
"LIZ SLEN NUS!"
The entire inn's temperature dropped and Celann and his comrades were frozen in place. The only thing to keep them from dying was their heads poking free from their ice enclosure. Irina narrowed her eyes at them and leaned against the bar, her breathing deep and ragged. The cut burned and she found it difficult to breathe.
Serana hurried over and hoisted her upright, "Let's grab our things and leave, I don't imagine you want to go to High Hrothgar anymore."
"Oh my, what gave it away?" Irina asked with a strained voice.
The nord couldn't give her the luxury of a laugh, if her wound begins to worsen, as silver attacks are want to do, then they needed to go someplace safe and with enough supplies to heal. The castle was their best bet but it was too far, they would need to travel back to Whiterun and hire a carriage.
Her cut wasn't too deep but shouldn't be left untreated.
Serana swallowed and glanced down to her travelling companion.
"I hope you're ready for a long journey back then, I'll try to take care of the wound as best I can but you need... to feed." Serana said the last part in a whispered tone so that the people surrounding them wouldn't hear.
Irina simply nodded in understanding.