Torbin

The doorway led to, surprise, more dusty, old tunnels. As we entered into the next room, the first thing I noticed was a wooden table, splattered in blood. A small section of the ceiling had caved in over in the corner, where more blood had been splattered on it. In fact, there was blood all over the room.

"What happened down here?" I asked, turning to Serana "It looks like a murder scene."

"It probably is," She shrugged "As to what exactly, I can't say for sure."

"Do you know this place?" I asked

"Always just assumed the other tower was completely destroyed," She said, looking around "My mother kept this a secret, even from me. She must have been up to something she thought was dangerous."

"I guess your mother was sneakier than you thought." I noted

"It would appear so." She agreed "Follow me."

We headed deeper into the tower, hearing the water drip and the wind blow. There was only a single set of stairs leading up, so we followed them, opening the door at the top.

The moment we opened the door, the torches in the room magically lit, and several skeletons rose from their seats at the table. Serana raised her eyebrows at me, clearly unimpressed by the trap.

"FUS RO DAH!" I shouted, watching a few of them fly backwards

Serana sent a spike of ice, impaling two in a single blow. Three more ran up the stairs and into the room on the other side, giving us no choice but to follow. Upon emerging inside the room, however, I noticed a statue of a Gargoyle.

Before I could warn Serana, who had rushed after the skeletons, it sprang to life, jumping at her. She dove to the side, turning and hitting it with a flurry of lightning, causing it to rear back, allowing me to step in and stab it. I had to do so four or five times before it finally died, during which time Serana had dispatched the skeletons.

"Did your mother keep these here?" I asked her

"Not that I ever saw, she had a thing for magical constructs," She said "Not what you're thinking, she just found them fascinating."

"You seem alright," I shrugged as we continued on "Your mother, however, is beginning to sound more and more like a mad scientist."

Serana was quiet at this and did not speak for a while. I had come to notice that the closer we got to our goal, the less and less she had to say. Two more skeletons awaited us in the next room, which Serana destroyed with a simple flick of her hand. Another thing I was becoming aware of was exactly how powerful she was, even by vampire standards. As we continued up the stairs, more torches magically lit around us.

"Why does that keep happening?" I asked her "I don't like it, and it's creepy."

"At least we can see," She shrugged "But that might be the point."

Even more skeletons and another gargoyle awaited us at the top. Serana sent a wave of fire into the gargoyle while I went to work dispatching the skeletons. One by one they fell, but even more came from the shadows. Serana killed the gargoyle fairly quickly, returning to help me with the skeletons. She tossed the bow I had given her over her shoulder and drew the ebony sword and her dagger. She tossed the dagger into a skeleton's head and swept aside a blade from another, parrying and removing his head in the same motion. By the time we had fought our way up and cleared them out, I was exhausted. Serana, however, was having a blast.

"How do we open this gate?" I asked her as she dispatched the last skeleton

"That seems like a good place to try." She remarked, nodding towards a Gargoyle statue

I turned to look at it, and my mouth dropped. It crouched down, poised, ready to attack. Above it's head hung a pull chain, almost as if the Gargoyle were guarding it. I almost laughed at how ridiculously hopeless that trap was, stopping myself by thinking that we were the poor saps who had to go through it, and it was beginning to look like that was our only option.

"That can't be it," I said, shaking my head "Your mother is trying to get us killed."

"She didn't want anybody to find her," Serana said thoughtfully "Which one of us is gonna pull it?"

"I'll pull the chain," I groaned "You get ready to incinerate the damn thing when it jumps, you're better at magic anyways."

Serana nodded and began preparing a spell. I watched the ball of fire in her hand get a little bit bigger as I stepped towards the chain, reaching out hesitantly. I paused for a moment when I reached the statue, holding my breath and grabbing the chain, yanking it down as I did so.

I braced myself, leveling my sword at the statue and jumping backwards. Serana raised her hand to release the spell.

And nothing happened.

Serana and I looked to eachother for a moment, not sure what to make of it. I wondered if maybe it wasn't a trap, just something meant to deter you when it suddenly sprang to life, leaping up in the air at us.

"FUS!" I yelled, the only word I had time for

At the same time, Serana's fireball slammed into the beast, sending his ashes scattering as he was incinerated on impact. I looked to Serana, beginning to appreciate the power she held as a daughter of Coldharbour.

She was a damn fine swordsman too

We continued through the door, Serana taking out the skeleton archer on the top of the stairs with an ice spike before I even saw him. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, we found two doors. One was an iron spiked gate, and the other was a simple wooden door. Serana tried the wooden door first.

"It's locked." She said, jiggling the handle

"No it's not." I said, motioning her out of the way

She stepped off to the side and I kicked the door hard, grinning with satisfaction as the lock broke and the door flew open, revealing a narrow hallway.

"Don't you know how to pick locks?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow

"Of course I do, I was a thief," I shrugged "But where's the fun in that?"

We stepped inside and crossed into the next room, hearing the chattering of more skeletons. I headed up the small set of stairs while Serana turned towards the hallway across from it. I found a bridge along with a skeleton, who charged me with his sword held high. I crossed my axe and sword above me, catching his blade and kicking his foot out from under him, sending him falling off and towards the ground where he shattered apart.

I turned just in time to see more of them heading through a door I could only assume was leading to where Serana was at. Sure enough as I rushed back down the stairs, five of them came charging in, their weapons raised and at the ready. Serana pulled a scroll from her bag and opened it. I had barely just enough time to jump back down the hallway we had come from before the entire room was engulfed in a fiery explosion around Serana, destroying the skeletons instantly.

"I can think of a few other instances we could've used that," I grumbled "Like in the middle of Castle Volkihar and we could've killed your father and ended this whole thing."

"It'd take a lot more than a scroll to take him down," She laughed "He's a vampire lord, remember?"

"But," I countered as we continued onward "I'm the Dragonborn."

We crossed the next few rooms in silence, the two of us both tensed up and ready for a fight around any corner. Finally, we reached a giant wooden door, towering above the two of us.

"Please tell me this is it," I said, looking to her "Right?"

"Almost," She promised, opening the door "Watch the Gargoyles."