Chapter 41: Bringing in Almost Everyone We Can
Thanks to Subaru's portals, the party made their way back to Fort Dawnguard. The were exhausted from their recent side quest, and they needed some R . As they exit the portal, Emilia decides to ask Subaru a question that's been on her mind.
"Hey, Subaru," Emilia called out to him. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
The nasty-eyed Undead turned around. "Hm?"
"How do you... summon your weapons out of nowhere?"
The Japanese man was quiet for a second, before saying, "Hammerspace."
Emilia gave him a funny look. "Hammer... space? Like a... space full of hammers?"
Subaru chuckled a bit from the clueless guess. "Uhh… I'm not sure why the etymology is the way it is, but no. It's basically a pocket dimension I have access to that I can store stuff and pull it back out. It really comes in handy."
Emilia was both impressed and confused. "How does that work? Is it magic?"
The secret Great Sage just shrugged. "Probably."
Emilia looked to the others, hoping for something more clear. "Can... someone else give me an answer?"
"Two plus two is four," Patches said.
Emilia sighed. "Forget it…"
"Hm? What the hell?!" Siegmeyer shouted, as the group made it through the passage to Fort Dawnguard, and were shocked at what they saw.
"What is it- Holy shit!" Erik was startled by what he saw.
"What happened to the castle?!" Aela shouted, still on Erik's back.
Fort Dawnguard was... well, it wasn't in ruins, but it wasn't looking too good. There was smoke coming out from some parts of it, and there were remains of both human, demi-human, and vampire.
"Isran?" Oscar called out. "ISRAN?!"
Isran, who was currently overseeing the injured, turned to see Oscar running up to him.
"I'm afraid you're too late to join a battle, Oscar." It was clear Isran was not in a good mood.
"What the hell happened here?!" Serana asked.
"A Vampire attack. A bigger number of them than I had ever seen in one place before. They were looking for the bow... and you," Isran said, pointing at Serana.
Solaire put two and two right away. "Harkon's minions."
"Erik, J'zargo, get to healing the wounded," Subaru commanded.
J'zargo nodded. "Understood." The two people who could use Water Magic immediately got to healing the others. Erik had to set Aela down for her to rest.
Isran shook his head. "They won't stop. The Vampires only left when they realized that what they were looking for wasn't here. We let our guard down…"
"What are we going to do?" Sieglinde asked.
"We're going to end this," the Dawnguard leader said. "We're gathering all of our remaining forces and spearheading an assault on Castle Volkihar as soon as possible."
"We're coming with you," the silver-haired woman said.
Isran nodded. "Of course you are. We need everything we've got for this. We either turn that castle to ash... or the Age of Dark is gonna be here faster than it should be."
"When do we leave?" Subaru asked.
"We'll need time to recover. We'll begin our assault in three days' time, but we're also vulnerable here." Isran informed the others.
"Understood," the Chosen Undead said, before turning to the others. "Siegmeyer, Sieglinde, see what you can do for the fortifications. Solaire, go help Andre with what you can."
Solaire gave his friend a salute. "Understood."
"Isran, do you need a plan?"
Isran raised an eyebrow at that, but not denying it. "I'm open to suggestions."
Subaru smirked at that. "Great. We have three days, yeah? More than enough time for me."
"Once I rest up, I can head back to Whiterun and get help from the other Companions. They can help make up for the lost manpower," the red-haired werewolf said, clutching her ribs as she recovered. Luckily, her wolf blood helped her heal faster.
"More manpower, huh?" Emilia started to rub her chin.
Subaru understood that emote. "You have an idea, Emilia?"
"Wanna pay Ralof a visit?" she asked.
The nasty-eyed Undead thought it over. "Well, a war is going on for them... but we are looking at a potential end of the world. So, it wouldn't hurt to try."
Emilia smiled at that. "Glad to hear it."
"I need to begin planning with Isran, so if you can convince Ralof and the other Stormcloaks to help us, that will be great," Subaru said.
"Alright, I'm going with Emilia. It'll be better if I explain the situation to them" Serana said.
Emilia chuckled. "Who better to explain the situation?"
"Good luck to you two."
Subaru used Al Shamak to send Emilia and Serana to the entrance of Windhelm. The guards instantly pulled out their swords in defense. "Halt! State your business!"
Emilia spoke first. "We need an audience with Ralof."
That caught them by surprise. "Ralof of Riverwood?"
"Tell him Emilia's calling for him," the amethyst-eyed woman said.
The two put their swords away before the Windhelm guard turns to the other guard and says, "Send word to Ralof. You two, follow me."
Serana snapped her fingers. "Sure thing."
The Guard led the two of the to the inn, and nearly half an hour later, the other Guard came back. "Captain Ralof is with Ulfric Stormcloak in the Palace of Kings. He will see you."
"About time," the princess muttered.
The guard led them to the palace. Upon entering the Palace of Kings, Ralof was seen discussing with Ulfric and his second-in-command, Galmar Stone-Fist. He turned to see Emilia and Serana walking to him.
"Emilia! It is good to see you again. I pray that you have been well?" Ralof asked.
Emilia weakly nodded. "Well as I can be, Ralof."
The man smiled, as he looked towards Serana. "And, who might this be?"
"This is Serana, my friend." Emilia wanted to make Serana seem as non-threatening as possible.
"So, the Dragonborn returns. Might I ask why you requested an audience with one of my Captains? I suspect that this is no social visit," Ulfric surmised.
"Unfortunately, it isn't. I'm going to cut this short; we're dealing with a Vampire problem that, if we don't do anything about, might lead to the end of the world," the half-elf said.
"Vampires? How can they bring about such a catastrophe?" Galmar asked.
Serana stepped up to provide the direness of their situation. "I'll take it from here, Emilia."
Emilia nodded, letting Serana explain everything.
One five-minute explanation later, and the three warriors were processing the information given to them, having realized the enormity of the situation.
"Normally, our war against the Empire would render me unable to deal with such matters. However, if these creatures of the night are to succeed in fulfilling this prophecy... then the future of Gusteko and the world at large is rendered moot," Ulfric said.
"So, will you join us?" Emilia asked.
"It's not that simple. The Empire won't just stand by and do nothing while our focus is on something else, even for a short time, they can seize an opportunity we cannot afford." Galmar didn't want to ignore the threat, but they were stretched thin as it was.
Serana glared at Galmar. "Then send anyone you can spare!"
"That, however, we can do," Ulfric said, making the room calm down. "I will issue a battalion of our finest troops available for you to help quell this vampire threat. Ralof, I trust you to lead them well."
Ralof saluted his superior. "Yes, sir!"
"I am sorry, Dragonborn, but this is all I can do for you at this time," Ulfric said.
"It's more than enough," Emilia said, bowing. "Thank you."
Ulfric bowed in return. "May Talos and the Divines watch over you."
Back with the Dawnguard… the strategy meeting was going on.
"...Thankfully, being on an island has them relatively boxed in, so we don't need to prioritize stragglers slipping away," Subaru said, as he went over the map.
Isran nodded along at what the Great Sage was saying. "Yes, yes, I see…"
Subaru pointed to the front of the castle. "According to Serana, they only stay in the front part of the Castle, with the rest of it largely being abandoned. Emilia and the others said they didn't see any Vampires during their stealth mission there."
"This is quite the strategy," Oscar remarked.
Isran nodded at that. "They'll all be in one place, like a slaughterhouse."
Subaru smirked. "Yeah, I know. I'm good."
"I would expect nothing less from the Great Sage himself," Isran said.
Subaru did a double-take at that, but figured that Andre must have blabbed.
"Are there any structural weak points in the Castle you know of?" Isran asked.
"I might know a couple, but Serana can more accurately place them…"
"Speaking of, how do you think it's going with them?" Oscar asked.
"I'll go check. Al Shamak!"
Subaru arrived in Windhelm, and that caused the Guards to immediately hold him at swordpoint.
"I take it negotiations went south?" Subaru asked.
"Stay your weapons!"
Subaru turned to see Ralof walking up to them, with Emilia and Serana close behind.
"Hey, Ralof," the Undead greeted the rebel. "Long time, no see."
"Aye, it is good to see you as well, my friend. Though, I wished you had given us more warning."
"More warning about my arrival or about the oncoming apocalypse?" Subaru asked in his regular cheeky tone.
"Speaking of which, Emilia and Serana have informed us of the situation. Jarl Ulfric has agreed to send a battalion of troops led by myself in this conflict," Ralof said.
Subaru clapped his hands. "Great! When can we head out?"
"We were about ready to do so, though it will take us some time to reach Fort Dawnguard."
"Don't worry, I've got a shortcut."
After gathering the soldiers, Subaru opened another portal with Al Shamak, which shocked some of the soldiers.
Ralof was in awe of such a spell. "Amazing."
"Yeah, though it does cost a lot of Mana to cast," Subaru said, yawning.
After arriving at Fort Dawnguard, the Stormslock soldiers immediately got to work helping out.
"I see reinforcements have arrived," Isran said, with Ralof stepping.
"Sir Isran, Ulfric Stormcloak sends his aid to the Dawnguard in this time of turmoil."
Isran nodded at what Ralof said. "I noticed. Thank you for your help."
"When will the assault begin?" Ralof asked.
"Three days from now," Oscar answered.
"Enough time to prepare. What knowledge of the enemy do we have so far?"
"Their base is on an island, with the enemy only guarding the front of the castle."
Ralof nodded at what Isran said. "Well then, what do we need to begin our assault?"
"They're boxed in with only one exit. They think that just because they're immortal vampires, they have the upper hand. That arrogance will be their downfall." Oscar explained the situation.
"Well then, let's get to work."
Three days later, the assault was about to begin. The Dawnguard, the Stormcloak battalion, and members of the Companions stood ready on the shore with Fort Volkihar northwest of them.
Serana looks to the castle she grew up in with solemn acceptance. "It's finally time... isn't it?"
Subaru solemnly nodded. "Yep."
Solaire growled, "Then let us end this, once and for all."
"Hell yeah!" Patches whooped.
J'zargo readied his magic, eager to unleash his power on the vampire threat. "Then, shall we, as Subaru would say, start this party?"
Emilia looked with determination as they were ready to end this once and for all. "Let's."
Author's Notes: I promise the next chapter is gonna be the big battle! Seriously!
Well, you've met more of the higher-ups of the Stormcloaks. (Yep. I mostly remember Galmar being Ulfric's most loyal follower, and being voiced by Paul Eiding, aka Grandpa Max from Ben 10.) They may be few, but we've still got comments to go through!
5queso: Eh, I would argue that the Moon Landing was a more important thing in the last century of human history. But it might be interesting to see the inhabitants of the magical world try and comprehend the power of a nuclear bomb. You can mostly thank Infinite for Aela and Erik's major character interaction. (Gives a cheeky smile.)
Kifhjoofff: Siempre es agradable ver a Emilia borracha.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian