The woman pushed herself up, getting on her feet rather quickly once she realized she wasn't alone. She was understandably disorientated for a moment; gods know how long she had been sealed inside there. Her surprised expression quickly shifted, hidden behind a veil of confidence as she quickly took in the surroundings.
I saw her eyes dart around the room, briefly looking at all of us and making sure she apparently had an escape route.
We weren't surrounding her, but I could tell she felt the slightest bit cornered.
There were things about her that caught my attention, her eyes for one. The obviousness of her fangs when she gasped for her first breath, and the paleness of her skin.
A vampire.
The other ones that were in here elicited no feelings of mercy. But I had no way of knowing if this one was with them, she was apparently sealed here for a very long time if the state of this place was any indication.
"Who are you?" She asked, no one in particular but to us as a group.
Well, words were better than her trying to attack us I suppose. I wasn't going to kill every vampire I met, if they weren't the sort to treat other races as cattle, then live and let live.
"Where I'm from, it's polite to introduce yourself before asking others the same." I spoke up.
Her gaze turned to me, calculative and searching for any kind of information she could gleam form sight alone.
"Serana." She replied. "My name is Serana." She was….polite, if rather neutral in her tone.
"Wilhelm." I would be courteous as well. "These are my companions." I gestured to the others, and they seemed content to allow me to do the talking. "Rin, Artoria, and Thorum." I pointed out each one, Rin and Artoria both gave a curt nod in acknowledgement. I don't think they particularly cared for vampires, but if they weren't dangerous, they probably didn't care to kill them either.
"Well met, Lady Serana." Thorum spoke with a smile.
[He has that same look you get.]
What look?
[When you see a woman who catches your eye.]
What? I don't have a look.
[Sureeeee.] Ddraig replied.
Serana smiled in response. "Well met to you as well, Thorum."
Oh my god, Thorum was looking bashful.
"May I ask how you came to be trapped in this place, Lady Serana?" Thorum asked.
"Oh please, call me Serana." She said with a surprising amount of warmth in her tone.
"Serana then." Thorum had that big goofy smile on his face.
I looked at Artoria, mouthing some silent words to ask if I was seeing things incorrectly.
Artoria seemingly shot some quick gestures and mouthed something back at me to confirm my suspicions.
Sweet Christ.
[Told you.]
"That is a long story." Serana sighed.
"Does it have anything to do with the Elder Scroll on your back?" I asked as her attention shifted back to me. It was a little important to have a conversation about.
"Yes it does, and it's mine." She narrowed her eyes.
"Peace, Serana." Thorum interjected. "We merely wish to understand. There were several vampires we encountered on the way here and they were not the friendliest sort."
Serana pursed her lips, clearly in thought. "They were probably sent by my father."
There was a small shift in the air, from silent acceptance of her presence to something resembling hostility.
"So, you are familiar with them?" Artoria spoke for the first time.
"In passing at most." Serana crossed her arms. "I am not on the best of terms with my father." She scoffed. "If it's all the same to you, I would rather not talk about it. I don't know how long I've been sealed here, and I would like to head home to get an idea of what's gone on in my absence."
"You were hiding from him." I hazarded a guess. "Along with the Elder Scroll." A lot of his notes were starting to make sense now, from what Jinn told me.
She paused "You are not a vampire, so it's unlikely you have any relationship with him." She muttered before shifting her focus back at me once again. "Yes, I was hiding it from him. Does that answer your question?"
"How about a trade?" I offered.
"A trade?" She repeated. "You want my Elder Scroll, what could you possibly offer to me?"
"How about I take care of your father for you?" If my guess was correct, I knew exactly what was going on.
She actually laughed at that. "Take care of my father? You? I don't want to be mean, but my father is an Ancient Vampire, he's ruled for longer than you can imagine."
"Well, it doesn't seem like you're against the idea." I pointed out.
She frowned. "If I could, I would have killed him myself already." Her expression shifted into a scowl.
"So, deal?" I smiled innocently. "It doesn't seem like you have anything to lose."
"If you want to walk to your death, that isn't any of my concern." She didn't seem to pay it any mind. "This Elder Scroll would be useless to me if my father was dead anyways." Her tone made it out as if she didn't believe me, but that didn't matter.
"Wonderful." I took Harkon's sword out of my ring and tossed it onto the ground. "Elder Scroll, please."
She stopped, staring at the weapon I just produced, her expression turning into one of disbelief. "W-what is that?"
"Fought an old vampire the other day, took his sword after I killed him." I said nonchalantly.
"How is that possible?" She widened her eyes. "You are….a mortal, a man."
"You can always go take a look at his castle, or what's left of it." I shrugged. "Besides, how do you think we found this place? I had someone go through his notes and he talked about an Elder Scroll."
"My friend, you faced a vampire lord by yourself?" Thorum looked surprised.
"Yeah, I was coming to Whiterun to see you and got attacked by some vampires. Apparently they were going to try and kidnap you in an attempt to lure me out…..so it got a bit mad and went to confront their leader." I scratched my head. "One thing led to another, and here we are."
"That explains the traces of battle the guards found not too long ago. We had been concerned because there was evidence of vampires there as well." Thorum responded.
"Oh….woops. I completely forgot about that." I gave an awkward laugh.
"Atleast the Jarl will be relieved." Thorum shook his head with a small smile.
"You speak the truth then?" Serana knelt down, picking up the sword. "My father is truly dead?"
"My friend's word is trustworthy." Thorum spoke in my defense.
Serana glanced at Thorum then back at me before sighing again. She took the Elder Scroll off her back, holding it in her arms. "My father would never allow a 'mortal' to wield his sword, even if it was some convoluted scheme to trick me. If you killed him then I can at least give this to you as thanks." She walked forward pushing it into my arms. "I hope you won't allow any vampires to come into possession of it."
That was much easier than I thought it would be.....
"Do you know what's inside?" I asked.
"I dared not read it." Serana shook her head. "All I know are my father's ramblings about how it tells of how we will no longer have to fear the sun."
Now I'm just getting even more interested.
"You hid yourself here to escape your father, now that he is dead, what will you do now?" Thorum asked.
"I….do not know." Serana said quietly. "I haven't thought what to do after he was finally gone. I am still coming to terms with the fact that he was killed."
"You can come with me!" Thorum said happily. "I mean….if you wish to come to Whiterun, you can take a look to see how things after changed since you've been gone….." He awkwardly stated.
It's kind of adorable, the way he's acting. I don't know if he even realizes it himself.
"Whiterun? I don't believe I recognize the name. It wouldn't be bad to get an idea of the era now that I don't have to run and hide anymore." She didn't seem against the idea, and for some reason, she looked like she had a good impression of Thorum.
Then again, he really gave off the feeling of being a genuinely good person, maybe she could tell that as well?
"I will show you around." Thorum beamed.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a vampire around common people?" She raised an eyebrow. "If you're found out, would there not be trouble for you?"
"It's alright." Thorum laughed. "You're a good person, I can tell." He easily waived off her concerns.
Serana just blinked at his words, unsure of how to respond, but I don't think she disliked them either. "If you insist." She looked away, but I think she was a little….happy.
No idea what she was feeling right now, but Thorum was pouring on his good guy charm and it looked like it was working.
"Any kind of short cut out of here?" Rin finally spoke up. "Would rather not go anywhere near where those giant spiders were again if we didn't have to."
"Giant spiders?" Serana scowled. "If anything changed in my absence, I wish those things had gone extinct."
Hah. I guess hating those things is universal.
"But your guess is as good as mine, this place looks different from that last time I was here." She added.
"Mayhaps we keep going forward, it looks like there is something on the cliff over there." Artoria pointed towards the opposite direction we came from.
I put Harkon's sword away and held onto the Elder Scroll under my arm. I didn't want to put it into my Ring, I had no idea what would happen due to the nature of this absurd thing. Honestly, just holding it gave me a really odd feeling.
I did notice as we started going that Serana took a spot near Thorum.
There was an urge to slap him on the shoulder and give him a hard time, but I've never seen him act this way about a woman before, so I wasn't going to make it awkward for him. Atleast when she's nearby, when we're alone I'm totally going to tease him about it.
"Wait." Serana stopped, grabbing everyone's attention. "Those are Gargoyles ahead, they will activate once we get close."
"Gargoyles?" Thorum questioned.
"Stone animations that act based on a predetermined will, they usually are used to guard areas from intruders." Serana explained.
"I have never heard of such a thing." Thorum stroked his chin.
"They are expensive to make by normal means. They contain many rare materials and jewels –"
"Mine!" Rin pulled out her spear and burst forward with Reinforcement covering her body. She pierced through one before it could even move, the others in the area started to come alive.
"Rin." Artoria sighed, before going after the others.
"Wait!" Serana called out to stop them but stopped when she noticed them tearing apart the 'golems' with relative ease. "Or not…."
It was interesting to see Rin move into physical combat. It made sense, not to waste her magical energy or jewels, but it was still a little odd to see. She appeared to have some sense in her movements, still a bit amateurish, but had a feel of knowing what she was doing.
"No need to worry." Thorum hefted his own sword onto his shoulder. "My companions are very strong; these things are no match for them."
"Yes…..I can see that." Serana looked surprised at how easily they dealt with those things.
"Well, no reason to dally." I walked over as Rin began digging through the remains pulling out some hidden gems.
[Hey, there's something strange up there.] Ddraig spoke. [To the side, up the stairs, I feel something calling out.]
I turned my head, not really able to see anything. "Hey Thorum, do you feel something strange?"
"Strange?" Thorum repeated. "I suppose there is sort of a whisper I hear every so often, I was thinking it was nothing."
"Actually, I hear something odd as well." Artoria added.
"I don't hear anything." Rin looked confused.
"I as well hear nothing strange." Serana seemed just as unsure.
Thorum started walking, Artoria behind him as we all followed. Walking up some nearby stairs, there was a strange stone formation with some words carved into it.
"Oh." Thorum exclaimed. "The Greybeards told me of these. They are word walls. Masters of the Thu'um could carve words and put their understanding into them to pass on to future generations. This is the second one I've seen yet." Thorum explained.
"Did you say the Thu'um?" Serana asked. "You know the language of dragons?"
"Aye, I know a little bit." Thorum smiled.
"I've heard that language is astonishingly difficult to learn, you are full of surprises, Thorum." Serana stated.
"Well, he is the Dragonborn." I helpfully added.
"Dragonborn!?" Serana was shocked, I guess the term was known to her as well.
"Ah….well…." Thorum looked a little embarrassed.
Don't worry, Thorum, I'll be your wingman.
"How interesting." Serana's lips curled up, giving him a strange look.
I gave him a thumbs up when Serana wasn't looking and I think he started blushing.
"What a strange feeling, it's like I can understand this, but I can't." Artoria placed her hand on the wall. "I do not think this was meant for me though."
Yeah, we aren't quite the same as the dragons here. "Thorum, how do you acquire the knowledge?"
"Oh." He cleared his throat. "I just have to place my hand on it, like so." He walked up, gently touching a certain word that seemed to brighten, a flow of light enveloped him as he closed his eyes. "And like that I now know a new word."
"What shout did you learn?"
"It roughly translate to….. Drain Magicka?" He muttered. "Yes, that sounds about right."
"Fascinating, we'll have to test that later." To drain someone's magical energy, that could be useful.
"If you will train with it later, I am a little interested as well. Would you mind if I joined in?" Artoria asked.
"Of course." Thorum said without hesitation.
"Thank you, Thorum." Artoria smiled.
Funnily enough, Serana looked at Artoria with a frown.
I walked up and wrapped my hands around her. "We can all take a look later." I kissed Artoria on the cheek.
"Will." She muttered, still getting flustered from public displays of affection.
"God, get a room." Rin made a choking noise. "Can we get going, this place isn't exactly fun to be in."
"I agree, I think I've stayed in this dreary place long enough." Serana agreed.
"Well, lets find the exit." I let go of Artoria. "I do want to get back home soon." At worse, I can just open a portal outside, but I didn't want to reveal too much to this new girl before I got a better feel for her.
Artoria didn't say anything, nor did she try to silently relay any message my way and her instinct is usually on point. Not to mention Thorum seemed to have a good impression of her…..who am I kidding, guy is completely crushing on her.
I'll be open minded for now. The vampires here weren't my favorite people so far, but Serana didn't set off any alarms.
I just hope Meridia doesn't get upset.
***
Second chapter for the day. Serana wakes up, Thorum has a little crush.
Anyways, if you want to read 6 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone.