23th Sun's Dusk… 1647…
"I swear to Talos, if we cross another Gargoyle… I'm killing your mother, Serana." Aela grimaced as Azriel's magic mended the bones in her face.
"Then you can bring her back for me to kill next." Azriel added, irritated. "Aela, hold still!"
Serana ignored them both as she walked around the small room. She was just as exasperated, but her desires to find her mother were superseding it. "It can't just dead-end here. It doesn't make sense." She was mumbling to herself, tearing the wardrobes away from the wall. Her frustration was bubbling inside of her. They were close and she knew it, but the room had no outlet and it bothered her. Something was out of place.
Azriel ignored her and focused on healing Aela. "That should take care of your cheek bone, but I want to make sure you don't scar."
Aela watched Serana for a moment. "Scars don't bother me…"
Azriel flipped her hair back away from her face. "Ones like mine would, they're hideous. Trust me and stick with the war paint. Now hold still."
Serana stopped digging around the wardrobe and looked over at them. She watched the wounds closing on Aela's face, the blood still trickling down her cheek and dripping from her chin. The claw marks were almost identical to Azriel's and on the same side. She studied the pair as Azriel worked the magic around Aela. "Where did you learn that level of restoration magic?"
Azriel maintained her focus, but still answered. "Colette at the College taught it too me."
Aela opened her eyes and looked at her. "After Lydia, right?"
Azriel nodded.
"What happened with Lydia?" Serana gave up trying to find a secret passage and walked to her lovers, sitting down beside them.
"I was in an old ruin with her near Winterhold. I knew enough to get me by and had figured out how to heal others, but only from minor injuries. Damn Nord tried to save my life and I nearly killed both of us trying to save her. I managed to stop the bleeding inside her and close the wound before I passed out. Back then, I didn't have my ruck sack, so I could only carry so much. Lydia was still conscious enough to drink a healing potion while I was out. After that, I went back to the college to learn restoration magic. I couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt again, so I never let her come with me since."
Azriel used the magic to search Aela for any other injuries. "Do you feel better?" Finding none, she let her hand drop, exhausted from their journey and fighting.
"I do." Aela watched her for a moment. "You need to rest and so do you, Serana."
Serana rubbed her temples. "We're so close. There has to be something we're missing."
Azriel got up and walked to the door. She sealed it and walked back to them, pulling two bedrolls from her bag and dropping them to the floor. "Later, that seal will keep any vampires out. I'm too tired to think and so are you two. Aela's right, we need to rest."
Azriel pulled out her bear skin blanket and laid down on the floor. The other two crawled in next to her and Serana wrapped her arms around Azriel. "I can't believe my mother would go through all that trouble, only for it to be a dead end."
Aela rubbed her face and sat up. Azriel was already asleep.
"Later, Serana! Even you need to rest. You haven't slept for days." Aela's arm wrapped around her, Aela's hand rubbing her chest though her armor.
Serana mentally kicked herself for crawling between them as Aela fell asleep. She wanted to search for a secret entrance, not sleep.
Azriel rolled in her arms to face her, her warm breath heating Serana's skin. Serana sighed softly. Maybe it could wait… She stroked Azriel's hair and enjoyed the warmth of their bodies around her. It pulled her towards sleep. Aela shifted and pulled Serana closer.
Serana finally let her eyes close and hoped for a few hours of sleep…
Azriel sat up suddenly. What was that…?
She looked down at the two sleeping women next to her. She watched them for several minutes, letting a soft smile play the corners of her lips. She grudgingly turned to look at the door. The magic of the runes flickered softly across it, ensuring the seal was intact.
She stood, walking to the door, listening intently to the hallway beyond.
She heard the sound again, like a whisper. The sound of something shuffling just outside reached her ears and she bit back a growl. Her wolf paced in her mind, prodding her to investigate it. Azriel turned back to Serana and Aela and thought about waking them. She discarded the thought, justifying that they needed sleep and she only ever had nightmares. At least they look peaceful lying together... The sight of the two made her ache deep within herself.
Azriel turned back to the door.
"Bex." She whispered and the enchantment fell away. Opening the door as quietly as she could, she looked down the hallway and saw nothing. Damn place is falling apart… probably just the mortar crumbling. She moved back into the doorway, when the shuffling sound caught her attention once more.
Azriel narrowed her eyes and peered into the darkness. There's nothing there… why am I so jumpy? This is ridiculous, I'm going to take a look and prove to myself we weren't followed.
Her hand slipped from the door and she wandered the familiar hall. After a hundred steps she found the source of the sound. Mice were busily digging a new burrow and she stifled a giggle when they squeaked at her. Dumbass, you're just scaring yourself to death over mice!
Azriel turned to go back and the blade flashed in front of her, slicing open her throat.
The moon-lit eyes of the sneering Elven vampire frightened her more than the flash of light. Her hand fled to her throat when she tried to shout and the vampire laughed.
She felt the blood pouring from her neck.
"How does it feel to die, Dragonborn?" The vampire's smooth drawl came easy as he watched her knees buckle.
I left them alone! The door… open… Azriel collapsed, her vision growing dark. She felt the heat of her blood as pooled around her face.
The vampire leaned down over her. "Before you do, know I will enjoy their deaths…" Azriel tried to scream, but only a gurgling sound escaped her throat.
Her last sight was the vampire stepping over her, walking towards her sleeping mates.