Chapter 40

Adrianne looked at me in amazement. “Ah, now I see how you do that. I didn’t think it would fit in there that way. That makes doing this so much easier.”

“Exactly. You just have to have the proper lubrication, so it slides in properly.”

“I’m just ... I don’t know, I didn’t think I’d ever learn how to do this. You make it look so easy.”

“I learned how to do this a long time ago, in the Shivering Isles. Overlapping the scales is a pain. That’s why repairing dragon armor is typically so much easier than actually making it new.” I sighed. “I’m just glad that I’ve finally gotten those skills back. This will make life so much easier.”

From behind me, I heard Serana say, “Speaking of easier, I feel much better after our talk this morning. But ... I have a question for you.”

Adrianne said, “Go ahead. I’ve got this. I’m going to start working on a full set of dragon plate and dragon scale both. You’ve made me the happiest smith in Skyrim.”

I followed Serana back upstairs and then outside. Some of the residents of the Suite were taking advantage of the warmer day to use the bathing pools. I could hear two different bards, working together on a song. There were birds singing in tune to their harps. Serana led me to one of the benches, overlooking the field of wildflowers behind the Suite.

“I sense that whatever you want to say to me is important. I hope you know I’m here for you, Serana.”

“I do. I don’t know how you can share your love with all of us, even be married, but you make it work. I just want you to know ... I know we’re going to have to kill my father. I ... wanted us to be a family together again, he, mother, and I. I see now that it’s never going to work that way. I’m not sure what the future holds for me after this, but ... I want you to know that I’m here for you, too, no matter what.”

“You’re not that little girl that was brutalized by Molag Bal anymore. You are your own woman now, Serana.”

“Thank you. I know that now. I just wanted the approval of my mother.”

I thought back to my own childhood, taking my first potion ever brewed to mother so she could see what I’d done, remembering her having one of the Mazken drink it to see what it would do, and the congratulations I got for not killing someone. “I think that all daughters want the approval of their mother. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Yes, but they were so caught up in their own fights that how it affected me was ... I don’t know, secondary. I mean ... I know that Father wanted the power. But Mother never stopped him, never fought him, to keep ... to even try ... and then Molag Bal...”

I took her in my arms and held her as she cried. Her tears were those of a child betrayed by everything and everyone. I just brushed her hair with my fingers, patted her on the back, and tried to give her comfort while she got the years and centuries of betrayal and hurt out. It was a good half an hour before she finally pulled back from me.

“Oh, my, I’m sorry. Your clothes are soaked.” She blinked. “Wait, I can cry like a normal woman?”

“I believe that would be from your tears, yes. You cried before, just not this much, you know. You are a normal woman, you just have a different heritage is all.” Elise walked up from where she had been patiently waiting and handed me a dry shirt. I quickly changed tops.

Leah brought over mugs of spiced cider for us, and then pulled up a chair to join the conversation. “My liege, Lady Serana, I hope I’m not intruding here, but I think I may have an explanation, based upon my studies and further discussion with Annekke.”

Serana took a sip of her mug of cider. “I can taste the spices in this.”

“That’s one reason I brought that for us to drink. Forgive me if this sounds rude, but we all care about you very much. Not just because of your relationship with our liege, but because of who you are. You’ve proven yourself to us that you are a friend.”

“And not a blood sucking abomination and monster?” Serana’s voice was frosty.

Leah smiled and shook her head slightly. “That’s why I said it might sound rude. None of us here think of you that way.”

“I’m ... sorry. That just slipped out.” Serana blushed with embarrassment. “Hey, why do my cheeks feel warm? I’ve not felt that before, I don’t think.”

“That was what I wanted to talk to you about. No doubt you’ve noticed that you’re ... well, you’re experiencing things that are perfectly normal for people, whether they’re man, mer, or even most beast folk. But I’ve been in touch with both Urag at the College of Winterhold and Giraud at the Bards College. We’ve had some lively missives about the nature of the Divines and the Daedra, simply due to Martina’s personal history.”

Leah continued, “The Daedric princes are the masters of their realms, and their will is reality in those realms. But what separates them from the Aedra, the Divines, is that the Aedra are who created Mundus. Thus, Nirn is part of the realm of the Aedra, and here is where their will is reality.”

“So what does that have to do with me and how I’m changing as a vampire?”

“You’re a pure blooded Daughter of Coldharbour, so presumably you could change into a Vampire Lord if you chose to do so. But you weren’t born that way, you lived here on Nirn. Molag Bal had to come here and ... make ... you that way.”

Serana sighed. “He raped me to death is what you mean, then shot his foul seed into my corpse which brought me back as a vampire. I’ve been avoiding saying that for so long, because my Father is the one who not only allowed it, he’s the one who made sure it would happen to all of us in his quest for power.”

“Um, yes, exactly. But here’s what’s key to this. He did that here on Nirn, which isn’t his realm.”

I sat up straight. “Of course. I was sort of kidding around with Sybille when I said that if she drank my blood that it would cure her of her vampirism, since hers is the disease. Not really kidding, of course, because it will. But you have been drinking my blood, literally the blood of Akatosh. And you’ve been a faithful student of the teachings of Dibella as well. I saw that again last night. Quite impressive, actually. And the will of the Aedra is reality here. It’s just we don’t see them anymore, because their very beings are our worlds, because they gave themselves to create the world, the moons, everything here. That doesn’t mean they aren’t acting here, though.”

Leah continued excitedly. “Exactly, my liege. Don’t forget that you are also a Septim, and this is Skyrim, where we worship Talos as well. I read your notes about when you found that sword for Hjalti. In any event, all that to say, we suspect that at some point you will become human, maybe even cured. If that’s what you want, of course.”

“What I want?” Serana took her empty flagon and crushed it with one hand, showing she still had vampiric strength. “What I want? Is it a cure? Gods, I don’t know what I want. My Father gave me to a Daedric Lord. My Mother willingly allowed it. Fun, wholesome, family activity ... allow the rape, the violation, the destruction ... all for what? Power? What has it gotten them, gotten me? If it had been anyone other than Martina that found me, I’d be dead now. If Martina hadn’t stood up for me at both Castle Volkihar and at Fort Dawnguard, I’d be dead now.”

She looked around, where several of my companions were watching with concern on their faces. “And you? All of you! You accept me. You’ve dined with me, you’ve slept with me, you’ve shown me nothing but trust and love. What do I want? Nothing more than to be a part of whatever this is that Martina has created here, to be a part of your lives, and to put this nightmare behind me as quickly as possible.”

I led the applause at her speech. She again blushed. “You’re even cuter than normal when you do that. Come on, let’s get some lunch. We have a few things to wrap up here and then we need to go see Isran.”

The next morning, we headed out for Fort Dawnguard. Some bandits had moved back into the Valtheim Towers, and thought to waylay us. That was their last mistake. We passed Fort Amol and Darkwater Crossing, then started up the mountain road. Instead of going straight and visiting Shor’s Stone, I took the pathway to the right and continued climbing the mountain. A couple of bears found out the hard way that we weren’t prey.

At the top of the mountain we came across a small pool. A couple of hunters were resting there. “May we join you here for the evening?” I asked.

“Please feel free. This is Clearspring Tarn. We use it as a safe resting place while hunting. I was just getting ready to light a fire and cook some elk, if you have some mead that would be welcome.”

It was getting dark and I didn’t want to be on the road in the dark if we could avoid it, so I took them up on their invitation. Lydia came up to me as we were getting the horses situated for the evening.

“Okay, my liege. I know you didn’t come this way by accident. What’s going on?”

“Oh, not much. Isn’t this a bit more scenic of a route?” I tried to look innocent. It didn’t work well. “Okay, you remember we’ve found a few slain Vigilants of Stendarr? One of them had a map with some locations of known or suspected vampire dens. I thought we’d spend a little time tomorrow ridding Skyrim of one of them on our way through.”

“Any particular reason other than they’re vampires?”

“Well, I might also want to see how this bow works in combat before our lives truly depend upon it as well. It’s not like I’m going to shoot an arrow at Serana with it.”

She smiled. “What are we going to do with you? You’re nothing but a hopeless romantic, you know that?”

“Yes, well ... when this is all done, hopefully you’ll still have a positive opinion of me. In any event, let’s get some sleep. Normal watches.”

The next morning, after eating and refilling our water skins from the pool, we headed out. It was a fairly short ride south up and over the top of the hill, then down into a valley. We could see the shack in the woods ahead. There was someone standing out front.

“Welcome to Redwater Den. The entrance for you is just around the corner. No trouble from you while there, okay?” He motioned us around to where a Redguard woman was also standing guard. “Down there.” He turned and went back around front.

Jordris looked puzzled. “That’s ... odd, my Thane.”

“Did I fail to mention that this is also supposed to be a skooma den? They think we’re all addicts.”

“Warriors like us as skooma addicts? That’s laughable.”

“We’ll see what happens. Come on, this way.”

We went down the ladder into the den. It led into an ante room with another guard, standing beside a closed door. “Hold it. If you’re going in, keep your weapons to yourselves, or we’ll be getting better acquainted. Head on in and behave yourselves.” He opened the door. We went further downstairs.

This room held a counter with a cage over it on one side, with a Bosmer behind it. She smiled at me. “Welcome, welcome. I don’t believe we’ve seen you here before, have we? You can buy from me, then join any booth you like.”

“So, what’s so special about your skooma?”

“It’s our mystic Redwater Spring. The magic in the water opens the mind to experience skooma in a way never before. Our skooma is better than anything you can get outside of Balmora.”

“I don’t know. Can I have a sample to try?”

“I shouldn’t ... okay, here, go to one of the booths. Come see me when you want more.”

There was a corridor with openings on either side of it heading away from the cage. A thin red mist was hovering through the air. The openings were all small rooms, with addicts sitting in them. The coughing from them as they drank their skooma made it sound like they were all full of lung sickness.

At the far end of the hallway was a gate that led further down. I stopped in front of it and examined it. “Hey, get away from there!” There was an attendant walking through the rooms, checking on the addicts.

“Where does this lead?”

“None of your business. Now use a booth for your skooma or get out.”

“How about you open this door for me and I let you live, instead?”

He pulled a mace out. He never got a chance to use it, as three warriors skewered him with their swords at the same time. From inside the locked cage, I heard the dealer cry out, and she pulled out a bow. I sent an arrow her way first. The attendant had a key on his corpse that opened the cage, so we looked through there, including the room behind it. My suspicions were confirmed, this was an old tomb of some kind that had been remodeled a bit, as a dead draugr was sprawled on the floor in the storeroom.

We went the other way next. A walkway led into a room with large brewing vats that had the red mist rising from them. I could see someone standing upon a raised platform near one of the vats. I took out Auriel’s Bow and a Sun Hallowed arrow. I shot the figure with it. There was a bright explosion of light, and the vampire died. Another vampire was on the bottom level of the brewery, and started up the stairs towards me. He was met by three implacable warriors, who chopped him to pieces.

Continuing through the brewery, I found shelves with an assortment of vile ingredients to make skooma, including Sleeping Tree Sap. I wondered who was gathering it now, as I knew Ysolda would not be involved with this. Another guard was watching for trouble. He didn’t see it, or the arrow that ended his life. I activated the lever that brought a bridge down so we could proceed.

This was something of a combination tomb and mine, as we then found the remnants of an iron mine. Another guard also died to my arrow. Lydia found a chain that opened a hidden passageway down. At the bottom of this corridor, two Death Hounds and a vampire were working on something. I killed the vampire with an arrow, but missed the dogs. Argis pushed me out of the way and took them on himself. They tried to bite him, but missed and he quickly killed them both.

We followed the path around. There was a short flight of stairs leading up, with a puddle of red water seeping under it. “Martina ... this isn’t just water,” Serana said. “I can smell ... taint. It’s ... oh, gods, this must be the Blood Spring.”

“I figured there was something nasty here, that’s one reason I’m not drinking the skooma. But what is the Blood Spring?”

“It’s a fabled power source for vampires. There’s a book about it that I read once. It’s supposed to be blood bubbling from the ground, a source of strength.”

“I bet your Father knows all about this place, then. He probably helped set it up.”

“Just ... be careful. This is dangerous water. If you drink any of it, even accidentally, it can fully infect you with vampirism.”

We went through the door. An altar was ahead, ablaze with numerous candles. We could hear voices ahead, from around a corner in the room.

“I don’t understand, mistress. Why do we use the skooma addicts?”

“Venarus explained it to me. Drinking from the spring itself can give us strength, but no sustenance, and when the strength wears off, we’re actually weaker. By giving it to addicts, they’re the ones who become weak both physically and mentally, until they’ve less brains that the cattle in the field.”

“That makes sense, giving us a steady supply of food. But ... why is he in negotiations with the Volkihar?”

“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Venarus yourself.”

As I came around the corner with my bow drawn, I said, “I think we will,” and let fly. Neither vampire stood a chance against us. From inside cages against the far wall, several death hounds began barking at us, trying to get free to attack. They couldn’t do so, and I used them for practice of my destruction magic.

From there we followed corridors into another room where several vampires and death hounds were walking around doing something. We crept in and killed all of them with long range bow fire. There were more than a dozen coffins along the walls here, as well as an assortment of personal belongings, dressers, and chests.

“Well, this is ... or was ... a thriving little community. Let’s keep going and see what else we find.”

A locked door led into a corridor simply laden with traps. I don’t think that someone who wasn’t trained by a master thief would have seen them all. As it was, I was able to point out all of them so that my companions missed them as well. “Damn, my Thane. Just one spike wall would hurt badly. What is that, six of them?”

“Yeah, Jordris. Let’s be careful here. Ah, this must be the door to the spring itself.”

I opened the door. In the center of the room, blood was bubbling up from the ground itself. Two vampires, one older than the other, were off to one side, talking about something. I motioned Serana forward, then whispered to her, “Talk to him. See what’s up with him.”

She moved forward into the room and into the light. The older vampire noticed her. “Who are you, and how dare you enter my spring?”

“I am Lady Serana, from the court of Lord Harkon of the Volkihar. I need to speak with ... I believe I’m looking for Veranus, if I have the name correct.”

“Ah, Lady Serana. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Veranus. Have you brought the Chalice?”

“It is ... available to me. My Lord Harkon wanted me to confirm in person why you needed it.”

He sounded a little upset. “I thought I made it perfectly clear in my missive. Very well. Basically, it allows us to purify the waters ... erm ... blood from the Springs. Drinking the blood straight will allow us to drain from our victims for a full day, even if we’re not actively feeding from them, but we are weakened while this happens. By drinking from the Bloodstone Chalice, especially if the Chalice has been infused with the powers from ancient vampires that are, unfortunately, no longer with us, we can drain from the human for a full week or maybe slightly more, from one feeding.”

Serana looked thoughtful. “So that would allow us to ... stretch ... our food supply, then, and even to increase our population.”

“Yes, of course. I thought I’d made that perfectly clear to Lord Harkon. Who are you, then, from his court, that you required this further explanation?”

“As I said, I am Lady Serana. Daughter of Lord Harkon. A pure blooded Daughter of Coldharbour, made vampire by Lord Molag Bal. Do you wish to challenge me?”

“Forgive me, Lady Serana, it’s just that ... Lord Harkon said something about someone coming from his court, it’s just...”

“Just what, Veranus?” I admired the way she did cold and haughty.