Serana

We made fairly quick work of the Gargoyles, With Torbin shouting all of them into a wall, giving me a chance to finish each of them off. After they were dead, Torbin looked to me for directions, and I walked to the fireplace at the end of the room, turning the unlit candlestick on the left side of it.

We headed up another seemingly endless flight of stairs, finding my mother's laboratory through a door at the top. I was amazed at how intact it was, surprised that my father had not yet destroyed it.

"Look at this place," I said, looking around "I knew she was deep into alchemy but I never expected all of this. This circle…I'm not sure, but it has to be something!"

"Let's look around," Torbin suggested "Maybe we can find something. What exactly should we be looking for?"

"She was meticulous about her research," I said, thinking "If we can find her journal, we may find something in her notes."

"So what was she researching?" He asked as we set off

"I'd say trying to advance in Necromancy," I guessed "Just judging by the setup."

"To what end?" He asked

"I'm not sure," I admitted "I'd say longevity is out of the question, that's waste of time for a vampire."

I stopped as I found a red, leather bound book sitting on the shelf. I snatched it up, flipping it open as I did so. Sure enough, it was my mother's notes. She spoke of entering the Soul Cairn to get away from my father, and she even listed the ingredients to get us inside.

"What's the Soul Cairn?" Torbin asked when I showed him

"I only know what she told me," I said "She had a theory about soul gems, that the souls inside them don't just vanish when they're used, they'll go to the Soul Cairn."

"Why'd she care where the souls went?" He asked

"It's home to very powerful beings, Necromancers send them souls and in return get powers of their own in return," I explained "My mother spent a lot of time trying to contact them, to get into the Soul Cairn."

"If she made it there, then we'll find her." Torbin said, determined

"The circle must be the portal," I said "The formula should give us passage into the Soul Cairn."

"What do we need?" He asked

"Soul gem shards, finely ground bone meal, some purified void salts," I said, reading "And…...ugh, dammit."

"What?" Torbin asked

"We're also going to need her blood." She said "If we could do that, we wouldn't be trying to do this in the first place."

"What about you?" He asked "You share her blood."

"Hmmm, not bad," I shrugged "Could work, but we'd better hope it does, mistakes with these portals can be…..gruesome."

"Let's get started." He said

"Mother should have everything lying around the laboratory," I said "We'll just have to find it."

It didn't take us long, Torbin seemed to know what he was looking for, but he still double checked with me, a couple times he brought me regular void salts.

"Anything you can tell me about the Soul Cairn?" He asked as we placed the ingredients in the vessel

"It's a tiny sliver of Oblivion," I said "It's ruled by these unseen beings called the Ideal Masters."

"Why was she so fascinated with it?" He asked

"Don't know," I told him "But Necromancers are always interested in souls though, so it's a safe bet to say that had something to do with it."

"And the Ideal Masters?" He asked "What exactly are they?"

"Nobody really knows," I shrugged "As far as I know nobody's ever seen them and returned to Tamriel to talk about it."

How do you know they exist?" He asked

"I've heard stories," I said "About fools that managed to communicate with them. You give them souls and they give you powers to summon the undead. Very business-like

"Fools?" He repeated "Why do you say that?"

"Because most of the stories end with the Ideal Masters duping the Necromancer who ends up dead," I replied "Or wishing they were dead."

"Oh." He said, going quiet

"The rest is up to me," I said, steeling my nerves "I'm not sure how this thing will react once I add my blood."

"Can I ask you something first?" He interjected

"Of course," I said "What is it?"

"What will you do when you find your mother?" He asked me

"I've been asking myself the same thing, she was so sure of what we did to my father I just went along with her," I said shamefully "Never thinking of the cost."

"It sounds like she did it all for your sake." He said

"Possibly," I admitted, sighing "I suppose even a vampire mother is still a mother, she wanted us as far away from my father as possible."

"We won't know until we find her." He said gently

"Of course," I nodded "I just didn't expect anybody to care about how I felt about her. Thank you."

"Are you ready?" He asked

"Yes," I said, turning and cutting a small slice in my arm "Here it goes."

As my blood dripped into the vessel, the room rumbled and shook as the bricks in the circle swirled around and the portal and I stood in silence for a moment, staring in shock at it. I hadn't actually expected the portal to open, and now that it had I could hardly believe we were really doing it.

"After you," I said, gesturing down

Torbin stepped down the stairs, heading towards the portal, but stopping and crying out as he began to enter it, a sizzling sound being heard throughout the room as he stepped away.

"Are you alright?" I asked as he fell sitting down at the top of the steps "That looked painful."

"It was," He groaned "What the hell happened."

"Sorry," I said sheepishly "I should've expected that, the Soul Cairn is, well, it's hungry. It wants your soul as payment."

"Is there any way in?" He asked

"There is, but you may not like it," I warned him "Vampires aren't counted among the living, I could go through no problem."

"So I have to let you bite me?" He guessed

"Not your first choice I guess?" I asked

"Not particularly." He admitted

"Well, we could try giving them a portion of your soul," I suggested "It will make you weaker within the Soul Cairn, but it will appease the Ideal Masters."

"Those are my only two options?" He asked

"I'm sorry," I told him "I wish I knew a better way."

"I'll need all my strength," He said "Turn me into a vampire, I don't see any other way."

"Are you sure?" I asked him, surprised "I'm willing to turn you but you need to think it through, you'll become the very thing you swore to destroy, what would the Dawnguard think?"

"I could care less what the Dawnguard think," He said, undoing the buckle at the top of his armor, exposing his neck "I took no such oath to destroy vampires. I took an oath to destroy threats to Tamriel above all else, to protect her no matter the cost, besides that I'm sure Florentius knows a way to cure it."

"I don't want you to feel as though I'm forcing you into this, turning somebody is a very personal thing for vampires," I said nervously, getting closer to him "It's….intimate….for us."

"In that case, I'm glad you're the one doing it." He whispered to me

"I promise, I'll make this as painless as possible," I whispered back, tiling his head upward to see his throat "Hold still."

I now stood close enough to feel his body heat, and I began to feel goosebumps. I slowly opened my mouth and gently sunk my teeth into him, feeling his sharp inhale of breath as my teeth pierced his skin. As I faltered, I felt him grip my hand, letting me know to keep going. After a moment, I lifted my head, looking him in the eyes.

They were no longer brown, but a glowing orange. He gave me a small smile, which I tried to return but felt as if I failed.

"How do you feel?" I asked him

"Powerful," He breathed "Like I could take on every vampire in the castle."

"Good," I laughed "Then let's go."

We turned and, once again, headed into the Soul Cairn, only this time, we made it through. It looked just as foreboding on the other side as I imagined it to be.