Torbin

Without our horses, the progress was slow to start. But we had not made it far past Riften before Midnight came into view, trotting up the road.

Back on our horses, we covered the distance from Fort Dawnguard to Lakeview manor by mid day. After we had set out, I told Serana that I had a home I had built off by the lakeside on the way to Castle Volkihar. We could rest there for the night, and it would be good to feel the comforts of home even if just for a night.

Illia was just finishing up with a few new enhancements on the house to keep trespassers out. I saw a few of the guards we kept paid moving in between the trees and by the lake, our first line of defense.

"I didn't expect you for a while," Illia said, surprised "I thought you had rejoined the war effort."

"I have other pressing matters at the moment," I told her "We need to talk, tell the guards to go wake up the next shift and get some sleep, then meet us inside."

She nodded and headed off while I headed inside. Illia had the only key, seeing as she lived here and would rarely ever be gone, I felt that having a key would just be asking for it to come off in the middle of a battle and some bandit pick it up. Serana and I headed inside where Uthgerd, Arelan, and Ahtal were seated at the table, eating.

Uthgerd the Unbroken was the head of the guard, she handled the payments, the length of the job, shift changes, she kept the woods around the manor secure. Arelan was an Altmer and he was my cook. I had found him wandering the road with a bag of cooking supplies and a bow, searching for new recipes. I offered him a place to live, a warm bed at night, and freedom to cook whatever he wanted, which he gladly accepted. He still journeyed out once every few months to find other things to cook, he always came back though.

Ahtal was the most curious of all of my stewards. He was a Redguard, he handled the business. We kept Skyrim supplied with weapons and ore from the mines in the area. Ahtal was the best blacksmith in Skyrim, no question about it. While the war was going on, we kept the Stormcloaks supplied with plenty of weapons, and we were always working on new ones. I would collect any weapon designs I found, and Ahtal would send people out to do the same, or he would often go and do it himself. I'd had a forge built and Ahtal helped make the weapons and sell them, the Companions, the Dawnguard, the Stormcloaks, and anybody else with gold. He didn't talk much about his past, and there were still things I didn't know about him. Despite the secrecy, he was an excellent warrior and wielded a pair of twin scimitars with mastery.

"Well look who decided to stop by," Uthgerd said with a mouthful of food "Just in time too."

"Allow me." Arelan said, jumping up and running to the kitchen, bringing out plates for Serana and I

"We've got a lot of issues," I began as I sat down "More than usual."

"Something I think you should know first," Ahtal spoke up "One of our shipments got hit by a Thalmor ambush, and some of the guards reported seeing a few Thalmor agents watching the house across the river. We gathered some men and swam across but they got away."

"The Thalmor are the least of my problems," I sighed as Illia entered the house. "Serana, this is Illia, Uthgerd, Arelan, and Ahtar."

They all nodded to her, either not noticing or ignoring the fact that she was a vampire.

I explained what was happening while we ate. The others were silent until I finished, Ahtal appeared to be in deep thought. The four other people at the table with us were among some of my most trusted advisors in all of Skyrim, people I confided in and often sought advice or guidance from. I asked for Ahtal or Illia's help more than the Greybeards' or Blades'.

"And this seems like a good idea to you?" Illia asked "Just running off into a prophecy, knowing nothing for sure but speculation?"

"If you've got a better one, I'm all ears," I shrugged "Seems pretty serious to me."

"Why not simply destroy the castle?" Ahtal asked "If it's that serious, have Paarthurnax help you raze the castle and just end it."

"I don't think it's that simple," I admitted "Harkon is far more powerful than you realize, we'll need to understand the prophecy better if we're actually going to defeat him."

"This is why I don't deal in magic," Uthgerd huffed "There's always too many complications, things you must understand before going to battle, real warriors wield weapons of steel and iron, not magic."

"Then by all means," Arelan said, rolling his eyes "Go find this Castle Volkihar do your thing, I'll send some men for your body."

"You don't have to be such an ass about it," She grunted "I get the point."

"If my father gets what he wants, this entire world will be nothing but ash," Serana said, speaking for the first time "This entire quest is a long shot."

"A long shot is better than no shot," Illia said "How can we help?"

"Isran can't spare the men to scout out the castle," I told them "Send some scouting parties to watch the comings and goings, keep tabs on anyone leaving and what they're up to. Where they go, what they do, and how long they're gone."

We went on to discuss how many men still guarded the house. Most of them were retired adventurers or soldiers with trouble finding work, but they were all handy in a fight. Many of them lived in the nearby towns or were recruited from the road and I kept a few small barracks built around the place for them to rest in before they rode back home if they wished to. They'd want extra pay for long distance assignments, but with most of our shipments having made it to their destinations on time without any trouble on the road we could afford the expense.

"I think there's been enough excitement for tonight," I said, finishing my food "We'll start in the morning, I haven't slept in almost two days, and even the Dragonborn needs to rest."

When we had finished eating, I had Illia show Serana to one of the guest bedrooms where she could sleep. I checked up on a few of the enchantments around the house before heading back inside and removing my armor, placing it on the stand above the dining room and heading to bed. As usual, nightmares haunted me all night.