Fog rolled across the bay in heavy waves. Torina, sitting in the center of a rowboat as Durak and Sorine manned the oars on either side, held her knees to her chest to keep from getting seasick. No matter how many times she'd ridden on the water, the only way she didn't immediately get ill was on larger vessels. Floating across to the island Castle Volkihar rested on made her feel like losing her meager meal of bread and cheese over the side.

The group had made this trip across twice now to scout around the island during the daylight hours when it was less likely to be spotted by any vampiric watchmen. Harkon undoubtedly knew with his daughter out of his sights that he could not keep the same guard schedule as when she was there, but they didn't run into any trouble. They were able to follow what Serana knew of the castle's habits like a bard playing Ragnar the Red for the thousandth time. Flawlessly.

"Arrogance," she'd called it back at their camp. "My father either doesn't think we'll come to his doorstep or he's arrogant enough to believe that when we do that his victory is indisputable."

From the little interaction Torina remembered with him, she agreed.

"If I've learned anything about men with large egos it's that they can rarely follow through," Ingjard said.

The nord woman wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis at the crude joke to break the tension. It only half worked. Sorine and Durak huffed a bit with quiet laughter, Sorine rolling her eyes as well at the implication. Durak appeared as though he wanted to say something crude as well but held his tongue. His eyes sparkled with mischief across the campfire from the dunmer.

Torina and Serana tried not to make light of the fact that Harkon's ego wasn't exactly misguided. The vampire was powerful. Even with the bow safely tucked in between protective skins, Torina found herself muttering prayers before laying down on her bedroll each night. She'd never been religious since her extrication from Windhelm years ago. A bitter taste coated her tongue whenever she thought of bending her head to any aedra or daedra. Though, recently, she'd found herself on better terms mentally with Talos and Auriel. The godking was a Dragonborn like herself, and Auriel - Akatosh - was the reason for the state of her soul to begin with. Coming to terms with that was hard won. Being Dragonborn had brought her nothing but suffering until recently. She couldn't begin to understand the decisions of a god but she was trying to see how her status could be used in her favor instead of a way to influence her.

And, she would admit privately to herself, thinking on Auriel kept the Vale at the forefront of her mind. There was a missing piece she couldn't see yet between herself, the god of time, and the falmer wronged by fate, but she could feel it.

Now, sitting in the middle of the boat that was barely more than a raft, she tried to clear her mind of all those musings to focus on what had to be done. The rest of the Dawnguard had arrived that evening. Their entire company rode in similarly rickety boats across the bay with oars padded for silent rowing, the shadow of the castle rising from the fog, backlit by a slowly rising sun.

Out of the pack she kept at her side constantly, Torina plucked a small set of vials. Three total, each one held a different hue to indicate a boost of regeneration for health, magicka, and stamina. She knew after her fight with Vyrthur that she would need the best to aid her now. All around she could see her comrades moving slowly to poison crossbow bolts. Even if Florentius wasn't here in person, he was here in spirit through the concoctions developed to be especially deadly to vampires.

Torina made a mental note to keep an eye on Serana's back during this fight. She trusted her Dawnguard compatriots to not hurt her on purpose now, the Dragonborn's vokun, but that didn't mean accidents wouldn't happen.

As the bottoms of the boats scraped against the smooth pebbles on the shore of the island, Torina felt her stomach lurch with both relief and anxiety. The relief at standing on land again evaporated as quickly as it appeared.

Isran issued orders across the line of Dawnguard. The number was impressive, to be sure, dozens of man and mer alike standing awaiting the signal to surge forward. Sparks of restoration spells lit up a few warrior's hands like tiny fireworks. The flashes of gold and white lit up faces locked into sneers or schooled into a calm mask of readiness. Torina was glad these people were on her side of this battle.

But she still didn't know if they'd be enough. With one last silent prayer to Talos to guide her hand, and an afterthought of a request thrown towards Auriel, Torina unwrapped the bow from behind her back.

The entire movement was for show. She had orchestrated this with Isran before leaving the fort with the advanced guard. Bolstering their troops with a dramatic reaffirmation that they were the ones with the bow would go far in boosting morale in their ranks.

With purpose, she withdrew one of the precious arrows Gelebor enchanted for her, allowing it to catch the light of the sun rising over the water. By now the grey was erased from the sky and some of the fog burned away, though the light never seemed to fully reach the shores of Castle Volkihar, some trickery by Molag Bal no doubt to protect his vampiric followers. Her arm shook with the force that she held that arrow notched and ready to fly.

At the moment she stepped close enough on the bridge to trigger the castle's alarms, she stopped moving and held steady. The doors to the keep burst forth with more vampires than she'd encountered before rushing towards her.

Still she held onto the arrow.

Behind her the low thrum of a war chant rose to a cry. The bridge beneath her feet shook with the power of their thundering steps running towards her and the vampires headed her way.

Still, she held the arrow.

A moment longer…

At the last moment she loosed the arrow up into the sun, calling forth the rain of sunfire. The vampires screamed in agony, allowing her and the half-hidden Serana to run forward through them into the keep. Their comrades would hold the masses.

They had a far larger target in mind.

And so the assault on the castle begins. Thank you for reading, and a special thank you to AnotherGuest for commenting on each chapter - your commentary is so appreciated.