Chapter 30

We ended up spending three days in Whiterun getting everything ready to head out again. Argis got to meet Irileth and Jarl Balgruuf when we had dinner with the Jarl the second evening. Proventius was unhappy at the influence I had in the Jarl’s court, and did a poor job of hiding it. Farengar, on the other hand, was ecstatic that I was able to provide him with some samples of dragon blood and bone, courtesy of the dead dragon just outside the walls, and begged for me to do that more often – and if possible, to get one inside the walls, so he wouldn’t have to travel so far next time.

The third day was spent, as Lydia called it, stinking up the place. Either Estria or I was continually making potions all day. She was making regular healing potions, while I was busy with some of the more esoteric things needed, such as invisibility. I also made sure that additional enchanted rings and necklaces were available for my companions. If at all possible, I wanted us to have every advantage going into future combats.

Finally we headed out, fully equipped and ready. I was still in dragon scale, Lydia wore her Blades armor, Annekke was in her glass armor, and Argis proudly wore his new heavy orcish armor. He cut an impressive figure in it. The only flaw, which bothered me, was that he still had to use his steel shield. We’d run out of orichalcum to make him an orcish one. We rode out following the roads, and it was quickly apparent to the others we weren’t heading straight for Fort Dawnguard. By mid afternoon we’d arrived without incident at Windhelm.

“Are you sure this is wise, my Thane, after our last visit here?” Lydia was concerned.

“We’ll be fine. And I want to give these things to Quintus, if Nurelion still lives.”

The guards grumbled a bit at seeing me come back into the city, but not much. I think the minor detail that our party was larger than before disconcerted them. We walked into town and right to the White Phial. “Quintus, I have those things you needed.”

“Excellent. I’ll get to work on the Phial right away.” He took everything to the alchemy lab and began repairing the Phial. I could hear him casting some spells while he mixed everything together. After several minutes, he finished and looked at it in wonder. He ran upstairs, with me following him.

“Master, look! It’s the Phial.”

“What? How?”

“It doesn’t matter. Look, it’s refilling with your tonic as we speak.”

“Marvelous.” Nurelion then gave out a gasp and died.

Quintus looked both sad and triumphant at the same time. “He is gone. But thanks to you, he died knowing his life’s work was not in vain. Now, well, I’ve always been content to be an alchemist, so I will remain here, running this shop. But you earned this, so please, keep the Phial. You are as much a part of its legend now as Curalmil was.”

As we left Windhelm, I gazed north thoughtfully. “You miss the college, don’t you? And a certain mage up there that showed you something.”

“You know my heart, my shield maiden. But for now, we have other places to go. I bet our ranger is eager to see her daughter again ... as am I.”

“Of course you are.” Lydia giggled. “If I have any guess, I’d say you need to change your smalls because of thinking of her.”

I refused to answer her comment, if merely because she was right. We made it to Shor’s Stone without incident. “Um, Argis, this may be a bit ... intense inside. I suggest that you stay out here with the horses. I have to instruct Sylgia in certain Dibellan arts.”

“My thane, I ... uh ... yeah, I’d rather wait outside, especially if ... you know, I can’t participate in the teaching.”

“Don’t worry, Argis, I’ll stay here with you and keep you company,” said Lydia. “Wouldn’t want to get between a mother, her daughter, and our Martina.”

“A mother, daughter, and our thane? Oh ... my armor seems to not fit well, excuse me.”

Ignoring their byplay, Annekke and I entered the house. Sylgia was reading a book. “We got the Mark of Dibella for you. But you know that this Mark cannot be bought or bartered, it’s a symbol of Dibella and her ceremony.”

Sylgia nodded. “I understand.”

“You know what you have to do to get it. Is that what you want?”

“Mother says there’s nothing a Nord woman can’t do if she puts her mind to it. I’m aspiring to earn that Mark of Dibella, yes.”

“Then let us proceed, and may Dibella bless and protect you.”

“You truly are my gallant heroine. It’s wonderful to have someone around who understands. Now ... please ... bed me.”

With that she rose from her chair and limped towards her bed, slipping her clothes off as she proceeded. Both Annekke and I followed, removing our armor and weapons. The three of us lay in bed, Sylgia in the middle. “First, let us teach you of the tongue.” Annekke and I came together and kissed deeply while Sylgia watched. Then we each took turns kissing her. Then we both latched onto her breasts, suckling and nibbling upon her nipples.

“There are three traditional arts, oral, vaginal, and anal. As you can tell, our breasts are very sensitive, especially when stimulated. Kiss your mother’s breasts as she was doing to yours a moment ago.”

Sylgia complied eagerly, taking first one, then the other of Annekke’s breasts into her mouth. “While you are doing that, I will instruct you in oral.” With that, I moved down and spread her legs, first kissing her inner thighs, then opening her slit and swirling my tongue around her nubbin. “Move down and do what I’m doing to you to your mother.” She readily complied, and I could hear Annekke moan with pleasure as her daughter buried her nose into her fragrant private place, tongue eagerly lapping her juices.

Our instruction in vaginal and anal continued through the evening hours, and we finally fell asleep, satiated, with Sylgia having received the traditional training. The next morning when we awoke, Sylgia noticed it first. “I’m ... I’m not crippled any more!”

“Dibella be praised. Thank you, Martina. I had hoped ... as a mother, of course ... that this would happen. I’m thankful for you even more, and I ... I think I love you.”

“That’s good, for I feel deep affection and love for the both of you as well. Come, let us break our fast, and make sure everything is okay with our other companions.”

We found Lydia and Argis outside, dead ... to the world. They were both asleep, and in the same sleeping bag. “Well, if I were a betting woman, I’d say that the two of you felt something last night.”

Argis stirred, then looked up at me with both eyes. “My Thane, it was almost like we couldn’t help ourselves. I don’t know what that magic is you have, but ... please don’t take this the wrong way, but I truly love it.”

“That, and I bet Lydia helped keep you warm, too.”

“Oh, gods, that one is a fireball in bed. How do you survive her tongue when she does that swirl?”

I laughed at that, because I knew exactly what he was talking about. It made my insides quiver thinking about it. “Okay, well, we’ve completed our mission here with Sylgia. So now it is time that we head onward, to Fort Dawnguard.”

We briefly stopped in Riften to get some fresh boiled water for drinking. I was still getting used to having four horses and people together, and more importantly a large man, who simply ate more than any of us, so having enough supplies was important. Lydia asked me about stopping in to see the new Jarl, perhaps she might have a reward. I demurred again. Something about Maven just didn’t sit well with me.

No assassins jumped from hiding places in vain attempts at ambush as we neared Dayspring Canyon. Argis looked at the canyon walls with interest. “My Thane, if fresh water were inside here, and you had enough food for a siege, this would be almost impossible for an invading army to attack.”

“Agreed. You’ll like Isran, I think. He’s a little odd, but he’s a warrior, like you.”

A new wall with gate and watchtower was at the base of the castle. Tilde was on guard. “Greetings! Isran will be glad to see you’re back.”

“Made some improvements to the defense, I see.”

“Yes. That vampire attack made us more aware of their threat, and we’ve had several new recruits come in as well.”

We went on up to the castle. Gunmar and Sorine had been told to wait for me, so they had been resting inside until I got there. With my arrival, we gathered together in the entry. Isran said to all of us, “Welcome to Fort Dawnguard. I’m sure you’ve heard a bit of what we’re up against. Powerful vampires, unlike anything we’ve seen before. And they have an Elder Scroll. If anyone is going to stand in their way, it’s going to be us.”

Under my breath, I muttered, “Us? My companions and I, mostly.”

Sorine said, “This is all well and good, but do we actually know anything about what they’re doing? What do we do now?”

Isran gruffly replied, “We’ll get to that. Sorine, you’ll find room to start your tinkering on that crossbow design you’ve been working on. Gunmar, there’s an area large enough for you to pen up some trolls, get them armored, and ready for use.” He turned towards me. “As for you, we’re going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you. Let’s go have a little chat with it, shall we?”

He turned and stomped off. Sorine looked at me apologetically. “I hope you’re getting along okay with Isran. He does take some getting used to.”

I smiled back at her. “I think I can handle him.”

She looked at me, at what I was wearing, and then at my companions. “By the Nine, I think you can. Good luck. Oh, and ... if you happen to run across anything that can help me improve our crossbows, be a dear and collect it for me.” She giggled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then hurried away.

I turned to Lydia. “Okay, that one’s not on me.”

“I think your personality is starting to truly show through, as well as your leadership. Well, that, and Isran is an ass.”

Both Annekke and Argis chuckled at that characterization of him by Lydia. She was right about Isran, though. We followed the stairway up to the second floor of this massive castle. I knew from previous visits that the room he was standing outside was the torture chamber. A familiar face, attached to a gorgeous body, was standing in a corner of the room.

I think it was totally apparent at that point how much they trusted me, because neither Annekke or Argis acted startled to be meeting a vampire like this. Isran said, “This vampire showed up while you were away. I’m guessing it’s the one you found in Dimhollow Crypt. Says it’s got something really important to say to you. So let’s hear it.”

Serana turned towards me. “You probably weren’t expecting to see me again.”

“Oh, at some point, yes. But after the way your father kicked me out of your house, I figured it’d be a while. What are you doing here?”

“I’d rather not be here, either, but I needed to talk to you, and this was the only place I knew I could find you. It’s important, so please just listen before your friend here loses his patience. It’s ... well, it’s about me. And the Elder Scroll that was buried with me.”

“What about you?”

“The reason I was down there ... and why I had the Elder Scroll. It all comes back to my father. I’m guessing you figured this part out already, but my father’s not exactly a good person. Even by vampire standards. He wasn’t always like that, though. There was ... a turn. He stumbled onto this obscure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it.”

“If by lost himself, you mean that he is, and you’ll pardon the expression, completely bat shit crazy, then you’re right. I’ve already fulfilled one prophecy, though, so what prophecy is this?”

“Well, this one is pointless and vague, like all prophecies. But the point he latched onto said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun. That’s what he’s after, to control the sun, to have vampires control the world. Anyway, my mother and I didn’t feel like inviting a war with all Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That’s why I was sealed away with the Scroll.”

“Well, that explains why you came here, even if was a big risk to your personally. We just have to convince the others that you’re on our side.”

“Well, I’m nothing if not persuasive.”

I turned towards Isran. He was still being gruff. “All right, you’ve heard what it has to say. Now tell me, is there any reason I shouldn’t kill this bloodsucking fiend right now?”

“There’s four of them in this room with you right now. I didn’t save this world from Alduin simply to lose it to vampires because you’re an obsessed ass. You may not be able to set your hatred for her kind aside, but you will keep a civil tongue in your head when addressing her. This may be your castle, but this is my realm. Is that clear?”

“Set my hatred aside? Not a chance, it’s what keeps me strong. But ... what do you mean, your realm?”

“You have Nords here. Ask them about the Dragonborn. That would be me. Since I saved Skyrim from destruction, to me that makes me responsible for it, doesn’t it? So yes, my realm. No, you don’t have to trust Serana. But trust me.”

He looked disgusted, but finally agreed. “Fine. It can stay for now, but if it ... she ... lays so much as a finger on anyone here, I’ll hold you responsible.”

Isran then turned to Serana. “You hear me? Don’t feel like a guest, because you’re not. You’re a resource, an asset. In the meantime, don’t make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity, because if I do, your friend here is going to pay for it.”

Serana drolly replied, “Thank you for your kindness. I’ll remember it the next time I’m feeling hungry.” She then looked at me. “So in case you didn’t notice, I still have the Elder Scroll with me. Whatever it says, it will have something that can help us stop my father. But of course, neither of us can read it.”

I remembered the last time I read an Elder Scroll. “You’re both right and wrong. Under special circumstances, it is possible. But there are risks involved that we don’t need to take at this point. So since these are normal circumstances, who can?”

“The only ones I know of for certain are the Moth Priests. They spend half a lifetime preparing for this, though, due to the dangers involved in reading one. Not that it helps us anyway, because they’re all half a continent away in Cyrodiil.”

“Maybe in your time. Here, straight line distance and their temple isn’t that far from here. But there are no passes through the Jerall Mountains anywhere near here, so we’d have to go through Morrowind and the Velothi Mountains. And that isn’t going to happen.”

“Some Imperial scholar arrived in Skyrim a few days ago. I was staking out the road when I saw him pass by. Maybe that’s your Moth Priest.” Isran volunteered.

Serana asked, “Do you know where he’s staying?”

“No, and I can’t waste good men looking, not with fighting a war against your kind that I intend to win. I’d suggest talking to any who’d meet a traveler, but otherwise you’re on your own.”

She turned back to me. “Any ideas? Skyrim is a pretty big place.”

“Well, if he’s a scholar, then there’s one place that I can think of, and that’s the College of Winterhold.”

“Of course. Back when I was, you know ... the College of Winterhold was the place for magic and historical things. The wizards there know all about things that many people shouldn’t know about. And ... I owe you an apology. I think I was a little short with you. I’m sorry. You’re my savior. You freed me. I’m grateful to you.”

With that, Serana came up to me and flowed into my arms, giving me a deep kiss. I could feel my blood stirring from her lips touching mine, our tongues dueling back and forth in that duel of shared passion.