1st of Frostfall, 4E 201
Time no longer meant anything to Serana. After months spent wandering the Soul Cairn in search of the gems that would allow her and her fellow vampires to summon this fabled Reaper, her mind and body felt as though they were at a breaking point. After countless ambushed from the undead that roamed this plane, far too many dead ends, and nothing but the thought of finally reuniting with Valkyrie to push her forward, Serana finally had the damned gem, and upon returning to the central fortress, was relieved to see Valerica and Garan waiting for her.
"You certainly took your time," said the Dunmer before letting out a yawn.
"Fuck off, Garan," said Serana, clearly in no mood to joke. "How long have you two been back?"
"A week for me," answered Valerica. "Garan arrived yesterday, and we... ahem... got it out of our systems so you don't have to constantly act disgusted with us."
"Too late for that," Serana said with a scowl. "Anyway, we have all three gems. What now?"
Valerica simply motioned to the door, and three vampires made their way into the courtyard where they had first battled Durnehviir nearly two years ago. Despite the eerily quiet nature of the Soul Cairn, Serana couldn't help but feel that something was off, and the vampire hoped that they weren't all about to die horribly. They all stopped dead in the center of the court, and Valerica gestured to form a circle, which Serana and Garan quickly complied with. They all placed their respective gems at the feet, and the eldest vampire began to focus her magic.
The gems levitated into the air, drawing closer to one another and began to circle each other as Valerica's hands began to brim with magic, and she raised them into the air. "Ideal Masters," she called out. "You have violated the terms of our agreement, and as such you have no claim on my soul or any soul that I may have provided. Bring forth your Reaper so that we may destroy him, and I may finally be rid of you!"
For the briefest of moments, nothing happened, and Serana couldn't help but wonder if they had done something wrong. Her worries were soon replaced by larger fears, however, as suddenly the stone floor between the three vampires began to crack, a blinding light shining through from underneath from the ground. Just above their heads, three shapes began to materialize, a dark violet hue emanating from them, and Serana almost swore they were giant soul gems. Suddenly an otherworldly voice sounded out, seemingly from all directions.
"We broke no promise, Valerica," said the Ideal Masters in perfect unison. "You offered lesser souls to us, but we found yours to be of much greater value."
"Regardless," the eldest vampire said. "My soul is not yours to claim. Now summon your precious Reaper!"
"As you wish," the gems above their heads began to glow a dark shade of crimson, and drift closer to one another, before a blinding flash of red light erupted when they finally made contact. From the cracks in the floor, a figure drenched in shadow began to rise. It towered above the three of them, its only clothing a tattered black robe that obscured most of its body, disfigured skeletal hands and feet protruding from the openings, and gripped deathly tight in said hands was a long, rusty scythe. At its head, nothing but a seemingly empty hood, save for the glow of two red eyes that pierced. The Reaper had finally come, and the vampires were ready.
Valerica fired a blast of magic, hitting the Reaper square in the chest, but the creature didn't even react. Instead it reared back, letting forth a swing of its massive scythe that all three vampires just barely managed to dodge. With almost unfathomable speed, the figure rushed towards Valerica, swinging again and attempting to end the battle before it began. With no time to avoid the attack, the vampire raised a magic barrier to protect herself, but it shattered on impact with the Reaper's scythe, sending Valerica skidding backwards on her feet.
Serana now retorted with several bolts of her own magic, only to immediately regret doing so when the Reaper turned to face her. The creature extended its arm out, spinning and twirling the scythe with masterful precision, before charging in Serana's direction. But she was ready, managing to weave between the swings of the Reaper's weapon, and even managed to land a few of her own blows, but it was as if the monster didn't even realize it was being attacked. Finally, the scythe came down vertically, and Serana just barely managed to side step the attack, but the resulting impact of the blade becoming lodged in the ground was enough to knock the vampire off balance.
In one fluid motion, Serana managed to roll backwards and land on her feet, just in time for the Reaper to rip its scythe out of the ground. Garan came at the monster from the side now, attempting with just as much futility to hurt it, but was caught mid pounce by the scruff of his tunic. With its free arm, the Reaper reared back it scythe, before swinging it forth wildly so as to cleave the Dunmer vampire in two. But just before the blade hit him, Garan shifted his physical form to a swarm of bats, being missed by the scythe entirely and reappearing just behind him.
For a moment, things were eerily still, with all three vampires exchanging glances back and forth between each other and the Reaper, silently trying to come up with some sort of strategy to defeat the beast. It was then that the ghostly voices of the Ideal Masters invaded their senses yet again. "Three powerful souls for the price of one," they said mockingly as the Reaper began to spin his weapon once more. "We should have let you escape eons ago, Valerica."
In perfect unison, all three vampires fired a stream of magic directly at the Reaper, which finally succeeded in staggering the monster, causing it to drop to one knee. But it was back on both its feet in no time, once again showing no signs of damage or pain. The Reaper's entire frame spun around, its scythe extended far past its arm, and all three waves of magic were directed right back at the vampires. Serana's hit her square in the stomach, and she was sent flying back, hitting the ground hard and struggling for breath.
Managing to sit up, she saw the Reaper making a beeline for Valerica, scythe at the ready, while her mother and Garan were still very much dazed. Seeing no other options, Serana stumbled to her feet, closed her eyes, and began to shift. In less than a moment, her limbs extended, her skin became sickly grey, and her facial features began to distort. With her heightened speed, she made a mad dash for the monster, crashing into it just before it reached her mother, tackling it to the ground. Extending her claws and letting forth a vicious snarl, she swiped away at the Reaper's frame, landing a few deep gashes before the creature held an open palm to her face, and blasting Serana backward with its own magic.
Serana stumbled, still managing to stay on her feet, but it took no time at all for the Reaper to return to its own. Scythe in hand, the monster prepared one final swing of its weapon, ready to claim her soul, but was stopped by two more vampire lords from either side pouncing on it and forcing it to its knees. Valerica and Garan's combined assault finally proved too much, and the Reaper was forced to let go of its weapon before disappearing in a puff of smoke, and reappearing some distance away.
Serana immediately saw her chance, making a break for the scythe before the Reaper could reclaim it. She wrapped her claws around the weapon's handle, but found herself unable to even lift it off the ground. She continued to struggle for a moment, before exclaiming, "What the fuck is this thing?!" Her question was almost answered, when suddenly, it began to levitate on its own, before ripping itself away from Serana's grasp, and returning right into the Reaper's extended hand.
"Mine," the creature's hollow, rasp voice sounded out.
The Reaper charged, closing the gap between itself and the three vampires with incredible speed. Its scythe began spinning once more, almost acrobatically around its hand, arms, and the remainder of its body. Serana, Valerica, and Garan attempted to dodge and block the creature's blows with their magic, but finally Garan was unlucky enough to be caught in the side of the head by the scythe's blunt end. He crashed to the ground, and the Reaper made ready to finish him off, only for Valerica to crash into the creature, forcing it to the ground as well. But she was thrown off less than a moment later, and the Reaper refocused its attack, scythe high in the air, ready to claim Garan's soul for the Ideal Masters.
Before the beast got the chance, a familiar roar sounded out, as though coming down from the sky itself, and in that moment, Serana couldn't help but smirk. From over the battlements of the fortress came none other than Durnehviir, flying a circle above the battle and letting loose another roar before landing just in front of the Reaper. The undead beast showed no fear, quickly swinging its weapon, and unfortunately the dragon's sheer size put him at a disadvantage, while Durnehviir attempted to duck his head underneath the blade, it managed to strike true, and removed just a few scales from the top of his head, causing a furious roar of agony.
But the dragon did not simply wait for the Reaper to strike again, instead he reared his head back, and smashed the full weight of his skull into the creature's frame, causing it to stagger backward. Then opening his maw, Durnehviir caught the Reaper in between his jaws, shaking the monster violently for a moment before tossing it aside. The Reaper hit the ground hard a moment later, rolling back a few feet, but it was clear that the dragon's attack had only served to anger the creature. Regardless, Serana was glad to have another ally.
"Good to see you, Durnehviir," said the vampire.
"You as well, nightwalker."
"Any ideas on how to defeat this monster?" Valerica chimed in, she and Garan now stood on either side of Durnehviir.
"Krosis. I am unsure," said the dragon, before beating his wings and rising into the air again. "But I will make sure this bruniik diil feels my wrath, and the Ideal Masters after him!" With this, Durnehviir nose dived straight at the Reaper, a wall of fire emerging from his maw as he Shouted, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" The undead's body was completely engulfed in flames, so much that the three vampires lost sight of it, but only for the briefest of moments. When the fire almost immediately began to die, the Reaper emerged, still seemingly unharmed.
"By the Creators," said Garan in frustration. "What do we have to do to kill this thing?!"
His question remained unanswered for now, as suddenly a beam of brilliant violet light struck down from the sky, immediately making contact with the Reaper, whose entire frame began to resonate with the same aura, a sign that Serana simply knew couldn't be good. The creature extended a hand straight towards Durnehviir, and in less than a second, tendrils of a brilliant violet light began to emerge from the tattered sleeve of its robe, ensnaring the dragon and forcing him out of the air.
"Durnehviir," came the Ideal Masters' voices yet again. "How very disappointing. So many centuries of service thrown away by fantasies of revenge."
"Lo nok praal!" Durnevhiir snarled in response as his massive body crashed to the ground. "You tricked me! I would sooner have my soul destroyed than it ever be claimed by you!"
"As you wish..."
The tendrils binding Durnehviir changed to a dark crimson color, and the dragon let out a roar of indescribable agony. His body began to disintegrate, bits and pieces of his flesh beginning to brim with the same red hue as they floated upwards to the sky.
"Durnehviir!" Serana yelled, firing a bolt of magic at the Reaper, attempting to stop it. But just like before, the foul creature didn't even acknowledge that it had been attacked. As the last of the dragon's body disappeared into the air, the tendrils of light that had trapped him retreated back into its robes, but still remained visible and wrapped themselves around the Reaper's skeletal hands.
"Ladies," said Garan. "I'm beginning to think we may be in over our heads." Serana prepared a retort, but was cut off when the Reaper swung its scythe downward into the ground, a ray of light shining up from underneath the barren soil. Then suddenly, the ground around them began to shift, and countless undead began to claw their way to the surface, just as they had upon the vampires' initial entry into the Soul Cairn. Within moments, the three vampires found themselves surrounded by undead closing in on them. Serana began to beat her wings, attempting to fly out of reach of the monsters, with Garan and Valerica following suit a moment later, but just before she took off from the ground, a skeletal hand ripped through the dirt and clasped onto the eldest vampire's ankle.
She struggled to break free, but more hands sprung forth from the ground, now covering Valerica's entire leg. Serana attempted to swoop in to help her mother, but out of nowhere the Reaper's tendrils reached her first. Upon contact, Valerican screamed in agony, the tendrils moving to cover every inch of her body. "NO!" Serana began to panic as she and Garana attempted to cut Valerica free, but the Reaper's appendages were visibly impervious to their claws and spells. More undead still began to rise from the ground as Valerica was slowly pulled towards the Reaper's grasp, and tears began to form in Serana's eyes.
"Mother!" She begged and pleaded, spinning around and desperately flailing her arm to destroy a group of skeletons with a wave of blood magic. "Mother, what do we do?!"
"It's... too late," said Valerica. "He... has me."
"Don't say that, my darling!" said Garan, still trying frantically to cut the wires of light that had wrapped around Valerica's body. It was no use. The eldest vampire sunk to the ground, her body slowly being dragged through the dirt and ash into the Reaper's grasp.
"Mother, please!" Serana cried. "What do we do?"
Valerica strained to speak, but looked directly into her daughter's eyes when words finally escaped her. "Go," she said, clear as day. "Both of you, get out of here." Serana attempted to protest, still trying to pull her mother from the snare of the Reaper's light, but still more undead began to claw their way out of the ground, and were now attempting to drag both she and Garan down as well. Finally, Valerica spoke once more, this time with her palm emitting what little energy she had left. "They will not take you..."
These were Valerica's last words before she struck Serana and Garan with a blast of magic, sending the both of them flying through the courtyard, and less than a moment later, both vampires found themselves outside the fortress, with the doors seemingly locking behind them. Serana dropped to one knee, much of her energy suddenly drained, but forced her body upward to attempt to open the door and save her mother. It was no use, the entrance doors did not budge. "Mother, no..." Serana struggled with tears in her eyes. "Please, not you..."
There was a sudden bang on the other side of the fortress doors, the force of which knocked Serana onto her backside. She knew what it meant, Valerica was gone, and the Ideal Masters were coming for her and Garan next. No, Serana thought. There has to be a way to save her. Suddenly, Garan, stone faced and emotionless, stepped between Serana and the door that was in danger of being ripped off its hinges.
"You'd better get out of here," the Dunmer said quietly. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."
"Garan, are you fucking kidding me?" Serana's voice was raw and hoarse. "We have to go back in there."
"It's too late, Serana. I'm sorry," he said, magic now radiating in his palms. "Now go. Don't let your mother's sacrifice be in vain."
"Why are you doing this?"
Garan only briefly looked back at her. "You still have someone to go back to."
Fighting the lump in her throat, her overwhelming urge to throw the Dunmer out of the way and go back in for her mother, Serana spun on her heel, and ran. From behind her, she hear the deafening sound of the Ideal Masters' undead minions breaking through the fortress barrier, and Garan trying his damnedest, but ultimately falling victim to the creatures. Serana dared not look back, dared not give the Ideal Masters a chance to take her soul as well. Her muscles burned ferociously, and her vision was slightly blurred from the tears in her eyes, but the vampire did not allow herself to stop, tearing across the barren wasteland at inhuman speeds until she finally eyed the portal back to Mundus.
The ground once more began to give way just as her feet passed over, and countless undead attempted to grab at Serana's ankles, to pull her down into the abyss for her soul to be claimed by the Ideal Masters. But for the first time since she had set foot in this cursed place, luck was on the vampire's side. She crashed through the portal, just barely avoiding the clawing grasps of the undead skeletons, and behind her, the portal ceased to function. She was at last back inside her mother's laboratory at Castle Volkihar, but the last thing Serana felt was a sense of home.
She collapsed to the floor, tears now freely flowing from her eyes, heavy breaths involuntarily escaping from her mouth. She had failed. Valerica, her own mother had counted on her to free her from the grip of the Ideal Masters, and now instead, because of Serana's ineptitude, Valerica as well as Garan had been surely damned to a fate worse than death. Serana laid on the stone floor for what seemed like an eternity, weeping, lamenting that one of the last people who truly cared about her in the world was gone.
Suddenly, a pang of anger struck her. "No," she said aloud, forcing herself to her feet and wiping away her tears. "No more of that." She looked dead at the crevice in the floor where the portal had once been, gritting her fangs. "Mother," she said, hands balling into fists. "I swear on everything I love, I will find a way to free you." For a brief moment, Garan's last words flashed in her mind. You still have someone to go back to. The Dunmer was right. It was time to find Valkyrie, to take her rightful place at the Dragonborn's side.
Serana took a moment to collect herself, she needed to be strong. She would find Valkyrie, help her save the world like they always did, and then free Valerica from the Soul Cairn. And there was not a damned thing in this world that was going to stop her...
6th of Frostfall, 4E 201
Much to Serana's preference, not one of the very rowdy, very drunk patrons of the Winking Skeever noticed her slip in. It bothered the vampire a bit more than she would have liked to admit, not knowing where Valkyrie was or what had happened while they had been separated, but Serana figured the best course of action was to ask around the taverns, which led her to nowhere else than Solitude. Making sure her hood continued to obscure her eyes, the vampire made a beeline for the bar, carefully sidestepping the inebriated guests who stumbled just a little too close to her.
"Barkeep!" She said, taking a seat at the bar. "What's on tap tonight?"
"Same thing as always," a man's voice answered from behind a door, before the same man burst through, arms heavy with two crates full of bottles. "We got mead, either Honningbrew or Black-Briar, take your pick. Ale, whiskey, and even a few imports of Surlie Brothers Wine."
Serana gave the man a smirk before putting a few coins down on the bar. "I think I'll give the wine a try."
"Excellent choice," said the inkeeper, reaching underneath the bar and fetching a rather ornately decorated bottle. The vampire wasted no time downing a sizeable swig.
"Not bad," she said, before focusing her attention on the man. She knew she had to be careful with her line of questioning, Gods only knew what had transpired while she'd been in the Soul Cairn. "So, friend," she began, leaning forward onto the bar. "I've been away from Skyrim for some time. Have I missed anything interesting?"
"Interesting is quite the understatement!" The barkeep said, seemingly excited to share gossip. "There's this girl, slayed a dragon out near Whiterun, then another over by Kynesgrove. Folk are saying she's the real Dragonborn, not Ulfric."
Seems like the secret's out, Serana thought to herself, before she finally registered another detail he spoke of. "Hold on, did you say this girl slayed a dragon?"
"I did," he continued. "They came out of nowhere, started attacking villages a few months ago."
"And she slayed two of them by herself?" Serana asked, unable to contain a twinge of pride. "Impressive."
"Yeah, well," the inkeeper shook his head. "Now it looks like this new Dragonborn might be even more trouble than Ulfric, seeing as she went and got herself thrown in prison a few days ago."
"Prison?!" The vampire exclaimed.
"Oh yeah," the man said. "They found her guilty of murder down over in Markarth. Damned mess." Serana most certainly didn't like what she was hearing. Murder? Killing in cold blood was definitely not the Valkyrie she knew. She chugged the rest of the wine in one swig, before sliding the bottle back to the barkeep and placing a few more coins on the counter.
"Thanks for the drink," Serana said quietly as she headed straight for the door, a moment later gripped by the cool night air of the city. The vampire's mind was a whirl of emotions and confusion as she headed towards the stables.
Val, she thought. What have you gotten yourself into?