Y'all, I completely redid this one. Well, not entirely.

When it comes to the interaction between Celann and Irina though... Oh yeah, most definitely.

I'd seen in a viking show that the main character had survived having a a decent length of sword pierce his arm, he left it inside while his comrades had tended to his wounds and while that injury was fucking badass. It would only make sense for Irina to survive the wound if someone had tended to it right then and there... y'all get where I'm with it yuh? Excellent.

My tenth day in quarantine whoop. Four more days left, then once I get back to work... I'm going on leave a week later. Ah... life's good. I hope y'all enjoy.

It is 2022 December. I am still a government slave, but I am updating everything slowly. Again. For the eighth time, most likely.

Irina followed the road with a sense of unease, she was following the trail of splattered blood that was spaced unevenly along the path. She walked quickly and felt herself become more and more cautious following the trail. There was going to be Dawnguard and vampire alike swarming cave and that made her realize that she should have brought Serana.

Despite her worries she wasn't going into the fight alone. She had Sanguine's Rose on her person. She'd hardly used it, save a few times when she was nearly about to die in swarms of bandits, or the overwhelming numbers of falmer in dwarven caves. One other time as well, in her battle against Alduin, but with the World-Eater it was only used as a distraction.

At the entrance of the cavern, Forebear's Holdout, Irina already began to crouch.

As she delved deeper into the cave she noticed a blue light coming from across the way. Irina squinted, she only made out three figures where the light was shining. They looked to be standing atop a platform... the cave itself looked as if there was an ancient ruin inside of it. The three figures were up on the main building's upper platform while there were some more patrols walking around the base of the ruin and some with crossbows standing toward the ledge.

The place was heavily armed... for what reason?

Irina moved her eyes toward the stairs descending to her left, at the base of the stairs was a woman on guard. She looked exhausted which was to be expected considering it was nearly midnight. After a few moments of observation Irina saw a man walking up to her to converse.

Irina let out a silent breath, she could feel something within her stir.

Despite her intial worry, a grin etched its way onto her face as she equipped her bow. The woman would die first. With lightning fast reflexes and speed Irina deftly shot two arrows back to back into the woman's neck and the other into the mans skull. He had foregone his helmet, much to her advantage.

The bosmer stood from her crouching position but kept to the shadows and crossed a small trail of water separating the two sides of the cavern, she crouched again and stuck to the wall of the main building, an old ruin. She equipped Sanguine's Rose and held it in a firm grip. Irina focused her magika into her summoning with closed eyes and complete focus.

She summoned a dremora and watched as it glanced at her passively but sensed the presence of other mortals and bore an expression of rage. As if one of the men had wronged the daedra the being charged into the direction of where the Dawnguard were with a loud cry.

Irina brought out her glass and ebony swords, leaving the staff leaning against the ruin.

The dremora would only stay conjured for one minute so she needed to be quick. Irina ran right after her dremora and saw it easily kill an armored troll by stabbing it's sword through the creatures stomach.

"You shouldn't let your focus wander, you fool."

Irina's attention was brought to a woman who had a restoration spell in one hand and a silver sword in another. Irina shivered at the sight of it, she remembered the burning sensation she had for the days she bore the wound.

The woman was easily killed with the elf sidestepping her attacks and stabbing her through the stomach. Though not unscathed, there was a searing cut on her shoulder as well as above her knee.

There were Dawnguard on the upper platforms aiming their crossbows at Irina and firing from her front and side. The elf left her ebony sword in the stomach of the woman and dodged the bolts by rolling away, she heard them all growl and curse while they reloaded their crossbows.

Using those seconds of time she grabbed the hilt of her sword and with some effort pulled it from the woman's corpse. Blood spilled out of the woman's stomach in loads, it stained her Deathbrand boots and dampened the ground. The wood elf and her dremora scanned the bottom floor for any more enemies and when they found none started up the stairs at a fast pace.

Irina heard crossbow bolts follow her up the stairs and dig into the stone walls leaving behind a trail.

The dremora was slightly faster and moved past Irina acting as a shield to the bolts flying her way. Having taken most of the damage from crossbow bolts, the dremora cut through the first Dawnguard soldier nearest the stairs by grabbing ahold of his crossbow with its bare hand and used the other to stab the vampire hunter through the throat.

With a howl of laughter the dremora sliced upwards and split the man's head in two.

Blood squirted upwards and landed on Irina's armor and nearby Dawnguard who all nearly dropped their weapon in utter shock.

"How dare you...! You vile daedra!" One brave woman cried out charging at the dremora past her fearful comrades with a warhammer. Her voice had cracked and Irina could see the tears spill off her cheeks. The bosmer watched passively as her dremora dropped its sword and thrusted its hand through the woman's chest. The sound of bone, armor and muscle tissue tearing filled the room cavern.

Her warhammer slipped from her grasp and she choked on her own blood when the dremora pulled its hand from her chest.

If seeing their fellow mans brain being sliced in two didn't falter the courage of the remaining Dawnuard, then seeing their comrade's beating heart thrown at their feet did. There were only three remaining but they all stood slack jawed and eyes filled with fear. Nothing more than recruits probably, poor whelps weren't used to such carnage.

"Kill them, now" Irina commanded.

The dremora reached for its sword wordlessly but the order was never executed since a minute had passed. The dremora collapsed onto the stone in a silent groan and dissipated into gentle sparks of lightning.

Irina let out an annoyed breath, she'd left the staff at the lower level... ah, no matter. These men didn't pose as threats, they'd be dealt with quickly.

Since her dremora had fallen two of them had regained their courage. The third still paralyzed with fear, "please... don't be stupid. We can't win, not against the dragonborn... You fools! That dremora she summoned, it's supposed to match her strength!"

The two had charged at her with full speed. One with a sword and the other with a mace and spell at the ready, however, upon hearing their friend's words they had stopped halfway in their tracks the realization of what power stood before them had struck them with another wave of fear. The dovahkiin clicked her tongue, and resisted the urge to shake her head in disappointment.

Sparing them would not prove useful to anyone, though. They would only grow to hate her and seek vengeance for their fallen comrades, she did not need more trouble in future. Lydia's capture was enough to nearly drive Irina insane, she couldn't imagine it happening again.

Swiftly and with grace Irina moved in-between the two of them and cut their throats with a single slash of her sword.

Her orange eyes moved to the third, it was another woman. She seemed young... almost as young as Irina. The dragonborn cut through the air with her bloodied sword to remove the crimson from her blade, "you are too young to die so horribly, I'm sorry. May you find peace in the after life."

Irina raised her sword above the young woman's head who's eyes filled to the brim with tears. "Please... don't kill me... dragonborn..."

The bosmer brought her blade straight down and created a laceration from the girl's shoulder to belly. She dropped to her knees and watched in fear at the amount of blood leaving her body. The red came out of her at a rapid pace, Irina licked her lips at the sight.

"Why...?" she gasped out staring up at the dovahkiin.

Irina stared coldly at the woman. The bosmer could have asked the same thing, why did her housecarl need to taken? A pregnant, innocent woman. Why did so many simply allow that to happen? The audacity of the woman made Irina speak vaguely. "because she deserves some form of justice."

"H-huh...?" she breathed out in confusion. The bosmer didn't spare her another glance before stepping past her.

Irina's eyes flickered up to the light that was being emitted from the upper platform. The moth priest had to be there... but what on earth was that magic?

She was too absorbed in her thought that she almost didn't notice the silhouette of a man come from the platform. She took a stance immediately and heard the familiar sound of a crossbow being fired. She quickly jumped out of the way, the bolt scarring her face.

Irina hissed in pain but focused her eyes to her attacker. The man dropped the crossbow onto the stone and descended the steps that led to her level, her eyes widened at seeing her former comrade.

Celann's steps were slow and deliberate, he wanted to take in her shocked expression before they fought. His arm was in a makeshift sling, tied close to his body. The dim lighting of the cavern shadowed his face and frankly made him look handsome... His eyes were focused only on her and his expression unreadable. The kind of silent anger that the woman knew all too well.

"It would be you. I don't think anyone else could have managed to do this by themselves. Impressive as always" he spoke with a hint of distaste. Irina moved her swords in slow circles, to which he half-smiled in response. "So eager to fight me? My goodness, I guess talking still isn't an option for us is it? You're clearly against the idea"

"I just don't see the point, we're obviously after two different things. Why waste our breaths?"

"I figured that you'd want to know how your housecarl is doing, would that do it? Will you speak with me now?" Celann asked her almost deviously. Irina swallowed a lump in her throat, damn. Begrudgingly the woman sheathed her glass sword but kept her fingers curled around the handle of her ebony sword, seeing this the breton smiled at her charmingly.

"Good to see you've still got your reason about you, anything you'd like to ask of me? Because I have questions for you, dragonborn" he said standing by the base of the stairs. His hand went to the sword hanging on his belt to be poised at the ready. Irina dismissed this, the man only had one arm of any use to him.

"Lydia, how is her health? You know she's with child."

"She's alive, if that answer satisfies you. She's fed enough to stay alive, her and the unborn babe. She's held prisoner in the cells, which is more than generous considering her crimes."

Irina felt anger flare through her veins, "She's done nothing wrong. What should be considered a crime is how you and Isran took her from her home, I came to her, not the other way around" Celann sighed at that and shook his head. The warmth left his face and was replaced with a cool stoic stare, the dragonborn had never seen him so placid. It was almost unnatural to see it on the breton.

"It's my turn. Why did you betray us? I always noticed you never seemed to be as passionate as Isran or the rest of us about the idea of killing vampires, but all the same... I want to know what swayed you. What swayed the dragonborn of legend to betray her comrades?" He almost sounded hurt but Irina knew better, thanks to Agmaer's confession. She knew none of her 'comrades' felt anything but envy towards her.

"You wouldn't believe me, but my reason is simple. I did it for myself. Celann you would never understand because your soul is human. I have my dragon soul beckoning me to claim anything that might assert my dominance and my strength. It's much different than what you'd normally encounter. The Volkihar clan, their vampirism... They are not regular vampires." As she spoke she didn't realize how much truth were in her words.

"Your true nature... is nothing like what you just said. Which is fine, you can lie to me but I know the truth- your housecarl helped me piece everything together. Selfish is what you are, but to yourself. I once respected you, but way you're going... The choice that you made" he spat with disgust. His eyebrows furrowed in anger and remorse.

Celann let his hand fall to his side, off the handle of his sword. Irina still watched him cautiously, the man raised his free arm and approached her calmly. "She told me something shocking, a conversation you two had a long time ago, a conversation that kept being brought up. At first I didn't believe it, I thought she was starting to go delirious."

"But after awhile it made sense in a way... You wish to live your life as a warrior? Right? And you expect this selfless service to be the end of you. Someone as young as yourself, having no free will of her own but to serve the will of others. You're nothing but a slave to your duty. It seems that you will aso walk this path as you please, with no regards to the innocent people slain by your new comrades."

Her eyes widened and her grip on her sword loosened, Irina felt as if as though someone had kicked her in the stomach and spun her in a circle four times. She felt dizzy and sick. He continued his approach until he was an arm's length away, seeing her so absorbed into her mind the man placed his hand on her shoulder. He didn't look her in the eyes. He seemed pensive as well.

"When we fought in Ivarstead and you kicked me against my men, trapped us in ice? It took about half a day for it to melt, you broke my arm and I dealt with it for nearly twelve hours. Now that we're here, I think It's time to settle the score." he said in an icy voice.

What was she doing? Idiotic woman... Move!

Irina couldn't bring herself to lift her sword. In her mental strife, Celann had used the opportunity to remove his hand from her shoulder and quickly strike her in the stomach. He twisted his body and put much force into the punch.

Irina expelled all the air from her lungs and coughed up blood. The woman dropped to her knees with her arms wrapping around her torso. She tried desperately to catch her breath.

Irina gasped for air but she just couldn't compose herself. Meanwhile the breton flexed his fingers from the punch; her armor certainly didn't make the effort easy.

"You'd trained for a year for Alduin. Your body, toned and tight. Your mind clear and your intention focused... three years ago, nobody would have been your equal. I'm sure no one is now, but all the same... You still failed. All the effort was for naught, because you're on your knees now. Your friend is in chains, and you can't even control your breathing. There will be no more dragonbron soon enough. What were you trying to tell me, something about your dragon desiring to assert dominance?" he asked her cruelly.

"H-how have you come to learn so much?" was the only thing the bosmer could ask. Her mind focused on how he'd pried that information out of Lydia, it seemed so insignigcant against the idea of fighting vampires that she couldn't see how it was brought up in the first place.

"I had to really break your housecarl's spirit in order for her to tell me that, I had asked alot of questions. I knew that the two of you had a close relationship in the past. In order to defeat your opponent you must know how their mind operates. For the most part, you're kind and stick to the law and at other times you would kill and thieve as you please. Such a contradciting personality, I had to know more to understand."

Break her spirit... what in oblivion did he mean by that? Irina felt rage course through her veins again. What did he do to her? That bastard...

"What. Have. You. Done" Irina growled whilst tightening her hold on her sword in a death grip. Celann took a quick step backwards and drew his own blade, at this point Irina had stood on her own two feet but the tip of his blade was mere inches away from her throat. What a situation she was in.

Irina spoke with deep animosity, "Does being a member of the Dawnguard help you deal with yourself? Harming a pregnant woman... and you speak of me going the wrong way? I may not desire much for myself, but at least I don't succumb to the pleasure of asserting my power over the helpless, you're a sadistic man, a man who needs praise in order to feel fufilled, a man who knows not the meaning of honor!"

Oh, those words bothered Celann. His face twisted into a disgusting sneer, nothing like the noble and kind-hearted man he attempted to portray.

"Don't talk to me about hurting the helpless, you feed and live off their blood, you drink them dry! You accepted the darkness of a vampire and for what? You have no room for talk when you live your life as a contradiction." his words were ice and fire, passionate and stoic. The man's hand was shaking in rage, so much so that he parried forward and sliced her cheek. To give her a small taste of pain.

The silver sword burned her skin, but she did not falter her piercing eyes.

"You are a hundred times worse than the creatures you slay." she hissed back at him. His mind was lost in thought.

Just as he did to her, taking advantage over the mixture of emotions, Irina swung her sword upwards, against his. His grip was tight on his sword and it did not clatter away like she had hoped. But at least now she was no longer at a standstill, Celann narrowed his eyes and watched her carefully.

He changed the grip from his sword. He held it with the handle up and the blade facing down, and swung with all his might at Irina. The woman cursed under her breath and could only block the man while being pushed back. With only one arm? He was this strong?

"I don't need to hear your excuses, you willingly decided to turn into a vampire. You drink blood, Irina. You feed off of human life! That doesn't mean a damn thing to you does it?" He growled at her as she struck. Metal against metal ringed throughout the cave, the bosmer didn't feel the need to respond and continued playing the defensive. She's gotten to his head as well, and with all these blows that he's throwing at her with full strength he would soon run out of stamina.

His attacks were becoming more and more predictable, and Irina had begun to dodge them altogether.

Celann was growing notably tired and she did not fail to notice, but just as soon as she was about to change from defense to offense the breton took the woman by surprise.

Irina had dodged an attack and her body was already turned slightly, so using the momentum she was about to pivot to swing back around and slice through his torso, her ebony should have sliced deep into his flesh but he ducked out of the way.

Celann smirked and tossed his sword to the side, he lunged forward aiming for her knees. The dovahkiin cursed as her back was slammed against stone, the air was knocked out of her lungs, it was so hard to breathe that it almost burned. The man straddled her with haste and drew a silver dagger that was sheathed on the side of his leg, Irina's eyes widened and she grit her teeth.

His hair was askew, his brow sweaty and his chest heaving... Celann looked crazed. Just as he was about to stab her through the heart, Irina used her legs to twist the man's body off of her own. The dagger missed her heart but nonetheless she was stabbed through the chest, the blade missed her heart by a mere inch.

The dovahkiin gasped at the burning and she felt tears sting the corners of her eyes at the pain, nothing in the entire world burned as badly as this.

Her scream echoed throughout the cavern. The raw power of her voice had shook the ground beneath them, and as she reached for the blade to remove from her chest her hands burned as well.

Celann had landed on his broken arm, his own pain temporarily stunning him as well. Although, he wasn't going to miss an opportunity as ripe as this. The man crawled with urgency to his blade while Irina had managed to get up on a knee, "you should have killed me when you had the chance, bastard."

Celann froze in place at her menacing eyes. Irina felt a surge of vampiric strength course through her. It must have been fueled with the feeling of loathing in her heart. She loathed this man, she despised his kind, every single word he spoke was an offensive waste of breath.

She squeezed his throat in a death-grip. The breton uselessly swung his sword at her but she only stared holes into his soul.

The blade slashed her arm, cutting deep but not even fazing the dovahkiin. The same arm that was being used to choke the life out of him, Irina hardly felt a thing. The physical strength was amazing. She slowly rose to her feet and bringing the man up with her. She raised his body above her own with one arm, something she would never have been able to do before her turning.

The life was leaving his eyes and he dropped his blade. Irina wouldn't be satisfied with that though. No... the dovahkiin dropped the man and watched as he began gasping for air. His forehead touched the cold stone beneath them while his fingers tried gripping the flat ground to try and steady himself.

His face flushed, eyes slightly bulged and fear emanating from him... "I don't think I've ever seen you look so... appetizing." Irina said in a hushed voice.

Irina knelt to his level and stared at his neck.

Before the breton could react and try to defend himself the bosmer gripped his useless arm and twisted the flesh. He screamed out in agony, the sound was pathetic and weak. She brought her lips to his neck and found where his pulse thudded strong. His eyes widened in realization at what she was going to do and he shouted curses at her, "don't you dare, you disgusting beast! Damn it! Kill me... Don't you dar-"

She grew annoyed with his words and silenced him by using her other hand to cover his mouth. She gripped his face tight and his screams were muffled. Finally. The bosmer sunk her fangs into his neck, and nearly moaned in bliss at the warm blood rushing into her mouth. He tasted delicious.

She drank deep, his blood was tangy but a little more on the sweet side. She'd tasted nothing like it before, was it because he was a breton? She hadn't the faintest idea. In spite of herself, Irina released a groan into his neck.

Irina lifted herself once she felt Celann's body go limp and pushed his body off the ledge, when she heard a loud thud and cracks she let herself relax.

Then her eyes shifted to the gash wound in her chest and then to the wound on her shoulder, those needed to be dressed soon, and they would be. She was nearly finished with her task. The woman pushed herself to her feet and hobbled over to where she assumed the moth priest was.

The man was old and he seemed unusually calm, Irina noticed that the blue light around him was a barrier and she begrudgingly looked through the bodies to find a way to deactivate it because she was hopeless when it came to magical affairs. The dovahkiin came across a small waystone with light blue markings and climbed a set of stairs where there looked to be a resting place for the stone.

Irina placed it inside and the barrier came down, she sighed in relief and looked towards the frail old man. His hands were already readied with fire magic.

"For the love of Akatosh, the man was enthralled already..." she said silently under her breath.

Her muscles already ached enough as it is. The moth priest charged his magic, probably to release a fireball that would send her to meet her ancestors. Unfortunately, the scholar was too slow.

Irina unleashed her thu'um.

"FO...KRAH...DIIN!"

He was caught in the icy storm that was the dovahkiin's thu'um, he stumbled backwards having lost his footing on the ice. Irina rushed forward and shoved her ebony dagger into his thigh, she knew there was an artery there but she made sure to miss it on purpose. "moth priest...what's your name?" she asked removing her dagger as she did so.

He whimpered and squeezed the area tight as to not bleed out, "It's Dexion! I submit, please no more" Irina remained passive as she sunk her fangs into his neck, he struggled for some moments but then went still. The elf removed herself from Dexion and pulled him up to his feet, he seemed disoriented but then looked at her as if she was were a goddess and he a humble servant.

"By the divines! It's as if my very were opened, I am blinded by the light of your majesty...I must obey you" Irina scrunched her nose in displeasure. She'd never made a thrall before, and she wasn't sure she would ever make one again considering the man's newfound admiration in his eyes.

"What would you have of me, master?"

"I command you to travel to Castle Volkihar, it's off the northern coast of Skyrim due west of Solitude... and should you arrive ahead of me inform the vampires inside that I will arrive shortly after you. I need to tend to my wounds." the moth priest glanced at her chest and arm. The blood had coagulated already but the wounds still looked horrendous and he cleared his throat before saying "I shall set out at once then, please take care master" he used some of his own robes to bandage himself while Irina moved past him.

Dragonbridge must have healers... She needed one. Desperately.

How she managed to make it to the town was a miracle in itself.

Whatever vampiric surge had taken over her body had left the moment she set foot on the town's famous bridge. Her wounds began to sting and the pain was beginning to register in her mind, Irina grit her teeth and she forced her body to take more steps. She was so close, there had to be someone who knew how to dress wounds, or at least have the supplies on standby so Irina could do it herself.

Her injuries were beginning to become more and more painful and she couldn't hold out any longer, Irina had collapsed the second her boot had touched the dirt ground beneath her.

Luckily for her, there were many witnesses and she was carried to the inn.

Irina awoke in pain.

Yet she was too sore to move, so she lay in her bed that she didn't know how she got into and sighed a loud sigh.

"You're alot more tenacious than I gave you credit for, I thought you were going to die." Faida's voice brought orange eyes to glance to her side. The woman sat in a chair a few feet from the bed with her legs crossed. She had bags under her eyes and Irina could only assume from the long nights work it took to care for her.

"It would take alot of effort, and men." Irina said with a half-smirk.

"Am I in the inn? For how long was I asleep?" the dovahkiin wanted to rise into a sitting position but couldn't because of her shoulder, Faida saw this and pushed herself from her seat to assist the bosmer. Once close enough, the nord placed a hand on the small of her back and helped her sit up. Her hand was very warm.

"About half a day, and yes, you're in a spare room. Some of the residents had found you collapsed and brought you to me, I know a thing or two about dressing wounds. Speaking of which, how does your chest feel?" Irina looked at it and winced, there's another scar that'll form for sure.

Faida had stitched her slashed shoulder in place, and had packed her chest with medicinal herbs. The bosmer placed a hand over her arm and felt the stitching with the tips of her fingers. Irina smiled at the nord, "thank you, for tending to me."

"Not a problem, I'm just glad you were able to survive all this. But then again, you're not like the rest of us." Faida said with a shrug.

"I'm still mortal...-" Irina stopped herself from cotinuing. That would've been incorrect, Irina wasn't a mortal anymore. She was undead. Faida removed her hand that Irina wasn't aware was still there and scanned the elf's condition trying to take into account anything else.

"You should be good to travel again once the healer arrives, one of the residents made his way to Solitude just before the sun set. She'll be here by morning tomorrow." Faida explained. She brought her chair closer to the elf's bed and rested her head in her palm, Irina thought she looked so charming that way. She looked at Irina expectantly, waiting for any questions that might be asked.

Irina had none.

"I want to ask how you suffered these injuries but for my own good I feel it better not to ask." Faida remarked. Her dark hair covered some of her face and she swept it behind her ear passively.

"It's much better for you if you don't get involved with that." Irina agreed. Her orange eyes scanned the nord's expression and she smiled a little, this made Faida raise a curious brow.

"What?" she asked.

"You're pretty." Irina said with a tired expression.

The nord bashfully smiled and then stood from the chair while shaking her head.

"Thanks. You're not bad to look at yourself... well, just give a holler if your shoulder starts to-" the bosmer grabbed ahold of her wrist and with a silent look beckoned the woman to stay. Faida paused for a second, her surprise fading as she sat back down. She moved her chair a bit closer to the bed and her skin looked radiant the closer she got to the candlelight.

Irina kept staring at her lips and Faida noticed this, with a barely contained smirk the nord licked her own lips slow. The sheen of saliva made them shine against the light, the bosmer released a sharp breath through her nose. Her legs shifted closer together, tightly.

Slowly, and deliberately Faida placed a hand on the elf's shoulder. She pressed her palm against the woman's skin and moved her hand over Irina's breasts, her nipple hardened under the woman's touch and Irina held back the urge to pull the woman atop her. Something about being denied what she wanted only fueled her arousal.

Faida moved closer and kissed her softly on the lips, Irina let out a small moan that came from the back of throat. A deep chuckle came from the nord and she brought her mouth to the bosmer's ear, "it would be wise to not move so much, I can give you the release you seek but unforunately, I want to be taken care of first."

Irina wondered how she were to do so given her current state of being. For a moment she frowned but Faida soothed her by placing her lips against her neck, where Harkon's bite was.

"I want you to watch me. Your eyes on me will be enough." she said with a kiss to her neck.

She couldn't help but to squirm in anticipation as Faida slowly began undoing the strings of her dress. As she slowly removed the articles of clothes Irina had found herself replacing her image for a certain black-haired woman with golden eyes instead.