"Lasirah? May I have a word please?" I paused in my morning rituals to see Sorine leaning against a pillar nearby, her posture just a bit too casual.

"Sure. What's on your mind?" The water in the wash basin had been freshly heated on the morning fire. I gratefully began washing my face without having to put a fist through a skin of ice on the surface.

The Breton grimaced a little then said in a soft voice, "Gunmar and I have been talking and, well, we're worried about what we're up against. We both realized that if Isran's even allowed us in here, he must be really concerned. He's very stubborn." I nodded in agreement and she continued, "To find out that he backed down and admitted that he needs us… well… the situation must be pretty bad."

"It is bad," I agreed, shaking water from my hands and grabbing a linen to dry my face, "So yes, there's a reason to be worried."

She looked relieved that I had validated her concerns, "Yes. These vampires are a new threat, and a truly deadly one. Gunmar and I agree that we're going to need a man named Florentius Baenius to help. Gunmar and I have a lot of work to do here, so we were hoping that maybe you could track him down."

"Who is Florentius?" I ran a brush through my hair in short, brisk strokes, but kept my gaze on her to show I was listening.

"He's a priest of Arkay. Well, he was." She paused and said hesitantly, "It's... it's complicated. He's a little eccentric, but we can trust him and we could definitely use his skills."

"Fair enough. Where can I find him?"

The Breton shrugged, "Well, that's the thing. We don't know where he is. Haven't seen him in years. I think he had regular contact with the Vigilants, and I know Isran kept track of them... So maybe you could ask Isran if he knows anything? Just keep in mind that he... well, he might not like the idea."

I gave an exasperated sigh and put my hands on my hips, "Come on Sorine, don't send me into the bear's den empty-handed. Why wouldn't Isran like me asking about Florentius?"

She looked away, "Well, the two of them just never got along, is all. That's why Isran didn't have you go looking for him when he sent you after us."

"Sorine Jurard, don't dare try to sell me cow flops and try to claim they're apple pies. I will kick your Breton butt all up and down the crenellations of this fort for that kind of nonsense." I crossed my arms and gave her my best stern glare, "Tell me the truth."

"Okay, okay," she held up her hands in surrender. "Look, I don't know if he's Sheogorath touched or the genuine deal, but he carries on whole conversations with a voice in his head. He claims he has a direct connection to Arkay himself."

My eyebrows hopped up to meet my bangs, "Okay."

Encouraged by the fact that I wasn't laughing in her face, but still nervous, Sorine ran her fingers through her hair. "I've never heard of the Divines speaking directly to someone before. I'll admit, at first, I wondered if he did it for the attention. He's… well, you see when you meet him. But now and then he'd say something that would make me reconsider."

"And Isran is creeped out by this?" I guessed, deciding not to mention the week-long argument Meridia and Stendarr had had over my own services. My dreams had been broken by snippets of them arguing over minutiae the entire time.

She shrugged, "Creeped out, suspicious, paranoid, whatever. This is Isran we're talking about; probably all the above." I nodded and she continued. "The point is, Florentius is a priest; maybe ostracized by other priests, but still a priest. There are rituals that a priest of Arkay can perform that prevent the body from being raised and used to fight. I think he will be the best counterstrike we can get against the vampires' powers of necromancy."

I let out a long breath and nodded, "All right, I'll see what I can do."

I had Serana pack our bags while I went to Isran, figuring he'd be easier to talk to without the vampire lurking nearby. "Hey Isran, I need to find someone named Florentius."

Isran scowled, "Who brought him up: Sorine or Gunmar? I thought they'd have learned their lesson by now. I don't trust that man, and I don't want him here."

"Sorine thought we'd need his help," I admitted, "and I agree. We need a priest. You said that faith was but one tool that a vampire hunter can use. At this point, we need all the tools we can get our hands on in this fight. If nothing else, I'd be happy to have a blessing on standby if we run out of potions. The Vigilants we have could also use some proper lessons on the faith side as well as the physical side."

Isran grumbled into his beard, but reluctantly nodded, "I suppose you're both right. I shouldn't let my personal feelings get in the way. All right: last I'd heard of him, he was aiding the Vigilants of Stendarr at Ruunvald. He may still be there."

My fellow Redguard pointed to a location about a day's trip to the north, and just east of Shor's Stone. It wasn't even out of our way; the road to Winterhold and the College would take us directly past the place.

"Look, the man is as scattered as a Khajiit chasing after thrown Septims. However, if he can maintain some appearance of normalcy, I'll allow him to stay. Recruit him, send him here, then get going after that scroll of yours. Don't worry about escorting him; the damn fool knows how to find us, and has the uncanny ability to get himself into and out of situations all the time."

.

Serana and I left Fort Dawnguard quickly, and on foot. We didn't speak, save for my cursory farewell to the men and women at the gates.

We left the canyon for the autumn-colored forests around Riften and I heard the faint sound of Serana let out a breath of relief. I smiled a little, glad to know she felt she could at least relax in my presence.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, now that Dawnguard members were no longer breathing down her neck and lurking to listen to every word she said. "No one tried to hurt you before I arrived, did they?"

She looked up at me in surprise, then smiled and shook her head, "No, nobody touched me. Nobody seemed to want to." A few emotions flickered over her face too quickly to identify and were gone. "I approached the gates openly and asked for you. The way they reacted, I was half a mind to run like the gates of Oblivion were opening behind me. Helskr was on gate duty, lucky for me. He convinced Isran to let me in to wait for you."

To walk into a place full of people who would kill you on principle, just for a chance to talk to me… I gave my head a tiny shake. Out loud, I said, "That was brave of you, but also incredibly risky." I swear it was safer for me to be in Castle Volkihar than it was for her to be in Fort Dawnguard.

Serana hesitated in mid-step, and I turned to face her almost immediately. Her expression was deeply uncertain, "You really aren't mad that I came looking for you again, are you? I mean… after what you saw in my father's castle… What he, and the whole clan, does to people... and with what happened to you… I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want anything to do with me."

I closed the small distance between us and reached out toward her chin. I was not touching her, but was close enough that the gesture could guide her eyes to mine. "Serana, trust me on this, okay? I believe you when you say that Clan Volkihar doesn't represent you. I'm glad you came to me, and I'm glad you chose to trust me to help you stop your father."

She gave me a tiny smile. I returned it.

"You don't hate me for… what I am." She said the words softly, and with surprise and wonder in that simple fact.

"No, of course not!" I burst out, then blew out a breath and drew my hand back. Great, I thought sarcastically. I knew the whole vampire versus vampire hunter conversation was coming sooner or later…

I took a slow, deep breath and let it out, settling my thoughts, "I don't hate vampires for being what they are. They're infected with a disease. I know that, and I understand it." I tucked my hands behind my back and paced a little. In the decade and a half of learning all I could about vampires, I had quite a lot of information. "The thing is, blessings at temples are free. Potions of Cure Disease are cheap and available to anyone who dabbles in Alchemy. It's incredibly easy to escape the fate that befalls someone who becomes a vampire."

Serana looked away, looking a bit like she had swallowed a bug.

"But even those who have dug themselves into a hole don't deserve to be killed on sight," I added, and her expression relaxed as she looked back at me again. "I've also studied what Sanguinare Vampiris does to its victims… I know that three days in, they turn comatose, and it... it usually does something to them. They lose all sense of compassion and empathy. There's a… thing in humans. More than just knowing the difference between right and wrong, most humans tend to either actively or passively avoid going too far. There's a line that most humans simply won't cross. Vampires just... lose that avoidance. When they do, when they cross that line, they become the monsters that I slay."

Serana's dark amber eyes tracked me, and she bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. "And me?" The words were tiny; barely a murmur.

I looked at her and tilted my head, frowning slightly, before deciding on the plain truth. "I don't know exactly what you have, but it's not the same as Sanguinare. I found a book that mentions another vampiric strain, called Noxiphilic Sanguivoria. Those with that specific strain can go out in direct sunlight and appear human… that's pretty close to what you have, but not quite. Regardless of the type of vampirism you have, the barrier is still in place."

Something else flickered across her face this time; something I couldn't identify, but I could see pain lurking behind it.

"In any case, I trust my instincts, and my instincts see you as more human than a vampire," I finished.

I could almost watch her push that odd, unnamed feeling aside, and grasp something else. I let her pull whatever it was she was willing to talk about to the surface.

"I do need to drink blood though," Serana's fists clenched. Despite her efforts, I could see them tremble a tiny bit with the tension that was coiling inside her. "It has to be human. I've tried animal blood. It doesn't... it won't slake my thirst."

I sighed deeply, and sagged my shoulders a little. "Yeah, I guess that could be seen as a sticking point with most people." I grimaced internally. Well, that and my whole history… I guess with a situation as complicated as ours, she's bound to have questions and fears.

I spoke carefully, "You've also been honest and honorable with me. Don't get me wrong… I won't excuse monstrous behavior simply because you don't affect my tiny part of the world. But I do understand that you have needs that cannot be ignored. My question in return is; how will you handle it?"

"I think I understand," Serana's hands slowly unclenched, "Well, you may have noticed but... I tend to feed on bandits. But the only way to make sure I don't infect them is to kill them." She looked away from me, her mouth tightening, "For the record, I do it quick, and clean."

I tilted my head in thought before nodding, "Ruthless as it sounds, it's preferable. There are a lot of bandits out there, and they're a threat to civilians as surely as wildlife or rogue vampires. They do, and have done, some pretty hideous things in their own right. You have to feed, but you do it out of necessity and you choose to feed only on those who are themselves a threat to others. That in itself is a moral decision that vampires with Sanguinaire simply don't make."

We started walking again, Serana's expression growing thoughtful. She eventually began to relax, satisfied that I wasn't going to turn around and shove my sword through her chest.

The two of us lapsed into a more comfortable silence. The road led us through an expanse of the same kind of forest that I had been admiring before being ambushed by the vampires dressed as Vigilants.

I had been right; Serana loved the riot of color and the peaceful woodlands. "While I don't like Riften, the Rift is truly something else. Just look at the leaves - you don't typically see anything like them anywhere else in Skyrim."

I couldn't help but laugh when a falling leaf bopped her on the nose and then stuck to her cheek, thanks to a playful breeze.

Serana gave me a small smirk and peeled it off her face, "Glad to hear my misfortune... leafs an impression on you."

"Don't start!" I mock-growled, then chuckled and shook my head. "I guess I deserved that. Come on, if we can make it to Shor's Stone, Filnjar will give us a spare bed for a few coins. He told me I could use it whenever I passed through, after clearing out the mines."

Serana blinked at me in surprise, "Clearing out the mines? Of what?"

"Nasty brood of Frostbite spiders; six of them. Two were the size of ponies, the other four were the size of dogs, and they were definitely trying to set up shop. I had to burn several egg sacks, and the village got to help me drag the carcasses out once I killed them off." I gave a full-body shudder, "Not my favorite job in the world, but they paid well."

In Shor's Stone, Filnjar had no problem with the pair of us bedding down for the night. No one asked questions when Serana slipped away from the fire, and returned well after everyone else had gone to bed. She politely refused my sleepy invitation to grab the other half of the guest bed, and lay out a sleep roll in front of the fireplace.

The next morning had us rising with the miners. After a small breakfast and a few words of thanks for the shelter, we headed back onto the road. According to my map, Ruunvald was only half an hour's walk away.