Defender of Man, Slayer of Vampires
Buffy steeled her resolve, ready to go through the portal, ready to sacrifice herself for the world once more.
She hesitantly stepped towards it when a loud bang could be heard over the noise of the roaring wind spiraling from the menacing vortex. Less than a second later, she felt a sharp pain in her leg and collapsed as it could no longer support her weight. She turned her head in horror at what she might find, only to see Xander standing behind her, a 9mm Beretta in his hand.
"Xander!?"
"Sorry, Buff, but I can't let you do this. Not this time." Xander looked down at her sadly, knowing that what he was doing could very likely earn her eternal hatred.
"It's my choice!" she snapped back, holding her leg in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.
"And this is mine," He replied as he tossed the gun away as he walked towards her. He shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you that those higher mystical forces don't know jack? You're not alone in this Buffy. Your greatest gift, it's not death. It's life." He walked passed her. "And it's one that you'll be able to keep giving tomorrow and the day after that."
"Xander! You can't!" Buffy called out frantically, desperately wishing her leg would heal more quickly. She tried standing, but her leg wouldn't hold her weight. She desperately crawled towards her friend and the portal.
"I have to," he said with grim determination. More and more dust was being thrown about by the swirling vortex.
"Xander, don't!" Buffy pleaded desperately. "Please! Xander! You can't do this!"
"Sorry, Buffster, it's the only way," Xander replied with a smile. He then turned and walked into the vortex.
---
"Uuuggghhh..." Xander groaned.
"Good, you're awake," said the voice of an angry sounding man. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've been trampled and then kicked repeatedly," Xander replied.
"Considering the fall you took, it's not surprising," the man told him.
"All things considered, the fact that I woke up at all and not being tortured is a surprise," Xander admitted as he sat up.
"Where did you expect that portal to take you?" the man asked.
"Somewhere a lot worse than this. In fact, despite how run down this place looks, it's a helluva lot nicer than what I was expecting," Xander told him. "Pretty neat castle. My name is Xander."
"Isran," the man answered. "This is Fort Dawnguard, which is situated in a hidden valley in the mountains that border Skyrim and Morrowind."
Xander's focus sharpened immediately and he took in Isran's look, particularly the fact that the man was wearing armor and had a weapon strapped to his back- a warhammer, if Xander wasn't mistaken. A few of the girls, like Faith, liked to use one from time to time, but most preferred swiftness to stopping power like Buffy and used swords, though some, like Vi, often used axes as some sort of middle ground. "Can... Can I see a map?"
Isran nodded and helped Xander off the cot after he kicked off the blankets. Though he wasn't wearing most of what he was, he was glad to see that he still had a shirt and his boxer's on. Given the amount of time that people had seen him in less, he wasn't all that modest anymore. Taking care of each other's wounds, one was bound to see various people in various stages of undress- though he tried to keep a modicum of modesty when he could between him and any under-aged Slayer.
It was as they were walking that Xander suddenly paused, not believing what it was he'd just realized.
A friendly looking man wearing similar armor to Isran, only gray with a single metal pauldron walked towards them. He carried and ornate war axe on his right hip. "Sheesh, Isran, what did you do to the poor kid?"
"What makes you think I did anything to him?" Isran asked.
'I have two eyes!' Xander thought to himself. He quickly mentally shook himself from his incredible revelation.
"Because I know you too well," the friendly man said to Isran before addressing Xander. "I'm Celann. It's good to see you up and about."
Xander shook his hand. "Xander. And if what I suspect is true… Well, I don't think anyone would react well under those circumstances. Especially given something else I just realized."
"Well, the least he could do was gotten you some clothes," Celann pointed out.
Isran merely shrugged. "He asked for a map. A need for clothes seemed like a secondary concern."
Celann shrugged this time. "I'll find you something to wear."
"Thanks." Xander replied gratefully.
Celann turned to Isran. "Durak has headed out to try and recruit more people, but I question how successful he'd going to be with what's been going on."
"What's been going on?" Xander asked.
Both Isran and Celann looked at him in disbelief. It was the latter who spoke up. "Have you been living in a cave? Dragons have returned and have been ravaging the whole of the province, though there are rumors of what the Nord people call a 'Dragonborn' going around slaying them."
"Uh… Wow… Looks like my suspicions are proving to be more and more true…" Xander replied. "That map?"
"C'mon," Isran said in a suspicious tone. Celann followed them, his offer of clothes for Xander momentarily forgotten.
On a nearby table there were two maps. One was of a place called Skyrim, the other was a map of a place called Tamriel, of which Skyrim was a part of. Xander's shoulders slumped. "I'd been afraid of this…"
"I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear, am I?" Isran asked.
"Depends. What's your stance on extra dimensional beings?" Xander answered. "Because as far as I can tell, I'm on a whole new world."
"Could care less, honestly," Isran replied. "You don't attack us, we'll let you live. Just to warn you though, we don't have the magical expertise to send you back where you came from."
Xander nodded, unsurprised by the declaration.
"So are you like a daedra?" Celann asked in mild concern.
Xander shrugged. "Not even sure what a daedra is."
"How did you get here?" Celann inquired.
"I'm not sure how much you'll believe, but the fact that you mentioned things like dragons and magic give me hope you won't think I'm crazy," Xander replied. "My friends and I were investigating a strange vampire cult who were trying to raise some sort of Vampire God. We managed to interrupt their ritual, but they still managed to open the portal anyway. In order to close the portal, one of us had to sacrifice our life. I decided it should be me."
"Which is why you expected to wake up someplace unpleasant if you woke up at all," Isran stated.
Xander nodded. "My friends and I have been hunting vampires and demons since we were teenagers."
Isran looked as if he was thinking something over.
"Isran?" Celann asked.
"I think we could help each other out," Isran said after a moment.
Xander looked at the man warily. "How so?"
"We can't help you get back home. In fact, I'm not certain anyone can," Isran replied. "For that, your best bet would be to go to the College of Winterhold up north."
"As much as I'd like to get home, it was always meant to be a one-way trip," Xander told Isran who nodded. "What do you want and how will it help me?"
"We're an order of vampire hunters. Call ourselves the Dawnguard," Isran informed Xander. "We've been renovating this place to be our new base of operations. Join us and we can keep a roof over your head, food in your belly and possibly put coin in your pocket, until such time as you decide to return to your world."
Xander grimaced. "Pretty sweet deal, not that I have a lot of choices, really. What do you need me to do?"
"Get kitted out before you do anything else," Isran told him. "From there, we'll have to see how well you fight."
Xander shrugged. "I do okay. I'm pretty handy with an axe or a crossbow."
"That's a nice surprise if that's true," Celann said.
"What do you mean?" Xander asked.
"I'll explain on the way to the 'armory'," Celann told him. Xander followed after his new brother-in-arms. "Most of our prospective recruits have never even heard of a crossbow unless they're from Morrowind, and even that's not a sure thing."
It was sometime later before Xander was properly outfitted.
"If nothing else, this looks good," Xander replied wearing brown armor like Isran. Like the others he opted against wearing the helmet- for now at least.
"I said much the same thing," Celann replied.
"So… Other than you, me and Isran, how many of us are there?" Xander inquired.
"Five, though one of our number went out in search of new recruits," Celann informed him. "His name is Durak, he's an Orc."
"Orc?" Xander asked.
"Do you not have Orcs where you come from?" Celann asked.
Xander shook his head. "Only in fantasy stories. There's only been one dragon attack that I know of in the last couple centuries, not the hordes you talked about earlier."
"Things are bad out there," Celann replied, "Though we're relatively safe here. Dayspring Canyon is isolated enough that I don't think we'll have to worry about dragon attacks."
"I wonder what else is different," Xander speculated.
"Like what?"
"Vampires, for one," Xander said. "In my world they were demonically possessed animated corpses who were repelled by holy symbols and holy water and could only be killed by decapitation, exposure to sunlight, being set on fire or a wooden stake through the heart."
"As far as I know, holy symbols have no effect on vampires," Celann told him. "I don't know about the whole demon thing, but they are undead. Our weapons are enchanted specifically against vampires, though you could kill them with any weapon you have on hand. Weaker vampires are hurt by sunlight. The stronger ones are merely weakened."
"Strength, speed?" Xander inquired. "Vampires, even fledglings, in my world were much faster and stronger than regular humans and even acquired an unnatural, instinctual, ability to fight."
"The older, more powerful ones, sure. They have all sorts of abilities fledglings lack. The younger ones are not much different from regular humans," Celann replied. "What about magical abilities?"
"Vampires could only use magic if they had the ability to use magic as a human," Xander told him.
"That's mostly true for ours as well," Celann commented. "Though they have a few racial abilities you should be aware of."
Xander and Celann continued to talk until time for the evening's meal, which was where Xander met the cook for this particular meal and mysterious fifth member of the Dawnguard, Vori. She was a big woman, definitely stronger looking than either Xander or Celann. Her armor, Xander could tell, was thicker, heavier and like Isran, she wore a warhammer across her back, unlike Xander or Celann who each had a war axe. Xander differed from them all by also having a crossbow strapped to his back.
"Xander, this is Vori. She's the one who found you out in the canyon," Celann introduced them.
"Thank you," Xander replied gratefully. "If not for you, I'd probably be a goner."
"A… What?" Vori asked in confusion.
"Sorry, figure of speech from where I'm from," Xander replied. Isran, Celann and himself all decided it was likely a bad idea to reveal to anyone else that Xander was from another world, one that was beyond the boundaries of both Oblivion and Aetherius. "It means, I'd be dead if not for you."
"Anyone else would have done the same," Vori told him.
"Maybe, but you're the one who did," Xander responded.
"You any good with those weapons?" Vori asked with interest.
Celann laughed. "Any good!? He's the best raw recruit we've gotten in some time! His axe work is a bit shoddy- good, if a bit unrefined. His marksmanship with the crossbow, however, he's the best I've seen in a long time."
Xander shrugged self-consciously. "I've been doing this a long time."
Vori simply nodded. It was an unspoken rule to not ask how someone got into the business of vampire hunting as few did it out of duty and most people's reasons were deeply personal.
"Celann, I want you to take the boy up to Riften at first light," Isran ordered. "Get him familiar with the lay of the land. With luck, the two of you might quickly catch up with Durak before he leaves for another hold." He then turned his attention to Xander. "Durak is one of our best fighters and can train you up while you're both on the road and can help you gain a familiarity with the lay of the land."
"Do we just hunt vampires or do we take care of other things?" Xander asked.
Isran shrugged. "Our first priority is the vampire menace above all else. Defend yourself as needed. I'll leave it up to you and Durak if you want to play hero or mercenary for anyone who just randomly walks up to you wanting to pay you coin for doing stuff for them. Just don't forget that while you wear that armor and bear our arms that what you do reflects on us."
"Understood," Xander replied.
It was still mostly dark when Celann and Xander exited the castle, both armed and armored. Both were wearing the brown leather, silver lined helmets.
"No horses?" Xander asked.
"While they would be nice luxury, especially given how removed we are from the rest of the province, bringing them in and out of the canyon would be a bigger hassle than they're worth and we barely have the manpower to post a guard in the valley, let alone outside of it." Celann explained.
It only took a little more than a day and a half for Celann and Xander to reach Riften.
"Halt!" a hold guard ordered. There were two guards posted at the gate.
"What's going on?" Celann asked.
"Murder investigation," the guard informed them. "No one in or out of the city."
"Grelod, the old lady who runs the orphanage, was murdered," The other guard added. "Rumor has it that it was the Dark Brotherhood."
"Who would wanna kill an old lady who runs an orphanage?" Xander asked.
"Almost anyone could hire the Dark Brotherhood," Celann answered.
"And, the list of anyone who wanted to kill Grelod isn't exactly small," the second guard added. "She was known as Grelod the Kind in name only."
"We're looking for an associate of ours, an Orc by the name of Durak," Celann told them.
"I know who he is," the second guard said. "He's still in the city, last I heard. He was trying to appeal to the Jarl to be allowed to leave. You might be able to catch him at the main gate. Unfortunately, I can't let you in through here."
"Meaning, we'll have to go around," Celann said. "Looks like we got a bit more of a walk ahead of us."
Xander nodded, but added sarcastically, "I am just giddy with anticipation."
Xander was currently glad he'd spent all those years in Africa. While much of the terrain could be traversed by Jeeps or Humvees, a lot more, particularly were some of the more predatory demons dwelt, areas were inaccessible to any form of vehicular transportation and required to be traveled through by foot. Africa had been eye opening for him in many ways and he both loved and hated his time there. The long travel from Dayspring Canyon to the hold capital of Riften had him praising the fact that he was already used to walking long distances in much harsher terrain- granted the temperate climate was far colder than the sweltering temps he'd had to deal with on the Dark Continent, but he'd manage all the same.
"Ho' carriage master!" Celann greeted. "Are you the only one in town?"
"Aye," the carriage master acknowledged. "If you're lookin' to purchase my services, you have a bit of a wait. An Orc, armored like you lot, paid for my services in advance last night. We were supposed to have left already, but with the whole town barricaded..."
"Believe it or not, it is a bit fortuitous for us," Celann explained. "We were actually hoping to catch up to him before he left The Rift."
"Not a moment too soon," boomed a deep voice. Xander was glad he had been warned ahead of time about Durak's appearance, because he'd have automatically have assumed that the Orc was a demon. "I had planned to be gone sometime this morning, unfortunately the Dark Brotherhood had other plans."
"We'd heard," Celann replied.
"Didn't expect to see anyone else. What're you doing so far from the fort?" Durak asked.
"Escorting our new recruit here to join you on your travels," Celann explained. "Durak, this is Xander. Xander, Durak."
"Can you fight?" Durak asked neutrally.
"I can hold my own," Xander replied. "This is less about training me to fight and more about me getting the lay of the land. I'm not exactly from Skyrim."
Durak grunted in acknowledgment. "All right, I suppose we'll have to see what you can do. You got coin?"
"I'll be covering the cost of his travel to your first destination, old friend," Celann answered. "Where are you headed to anyways?"
"Hjaalmarch. There are rumors of something strange going on in Morthal," Durak informed him. "Probably nothing, but we can never be too sure."
"I see. Well, I'm back off to the fort. May the Eight watch over both you," Celann said as he handed the carriage master 30 coins. As the guards still weren't allowing anyone back into Riften he went back around the city the way they'd come.
Both Durak and Xander got into the back of the carriage. Durak set his crossbow next to him while Xander kept his on his lap. It was Durak who spoke up first. "You know how to use that?"
"Vampire Hunting 101, big guy," Xander replied. "Celann said I was the best he'd seen with a crossbow."
"Huh, that right?" Durak said contemplatively. "I suppose we'll just have to see about that then."
"What do you think we're gonna find in Morthal," Xander inquired.
"Hard to say. Nords can be a superstitious lot. Either way, we'll likely find something. There's a lot that lurks in the marshes at night," Durak replied. "We could find anything from giant frostbite spiders to wraiths. Not exactly out mandate, but they'll make us a bit of coin and hopefully earn the Jarl's favor."
"That's always of the good," Xander agreed. "It'll be nice to get paid. Back where I come from, the only time we ever got paid for killing bloodsuckers was if we raided a den."
"You did that often?" Durak inquired.
Xander shook his head. "Not so much. Not a lot of vamps in my hometown had dens, unless they were masters. There were enough abandoned buildings and caves in the area that it was often too hard to really check any and every known location on a regular basis- not that we needed to. The vamps back home could get territorial, so we rarely had to deal with too many master vampires at any given time. Of course what we lacked in quantity, we more than made up for in quality. Only the smartest, strongest and most powerful masters ever lasted long enough to do too much of anything."
"It's not like vampires to converge on a town like that, especially with active hunters in the area," Durak replied with a frown.
This line of inquiry had been brought up. Isran, Celann and Xander had each figured it was best to stick as close to the truth as possible.
"My hometown was the site of a moderately active portal to Oblivion. Even when it wasn't active, the energies it put out attracted all sorts of badness- everything from vampires to various types of daedra," Xander explained.
"Given that level of exposure to the darkness, no wonder you got involved in this line of work," Durak commented.
Xander shook his head. "Believe it or not, most people were oblivious that there was a war between use and the things that go bump in the night going on. Every night they went to bed secure in their own little realities, not knowing of the true nature of the world. And I was the same way."
"The how did you find out, if you don't mind me asking," Durak inquired.
"Nah, I've been at this for a while," Xander replied. "It all started with a girl."
Durak snorted. "Doesn't it always?"
"Only the best stories. Now, are you gonna let me finish?" Xander asked with a grin. Durak grinned back as he nodded affirmatively. Despite his fearsome visage, Xander couldn't help but like the middle-aged orc. He had a feeling they'd become friends as well as comrades-in-arms. "This girl came from a long line of vampire and daedra hunters- a lineage the creatures of darkness feared by reputation alone and she was one of the absolute best of them. She opened my eyes to the world of darkness and I never looked back, especially when the same day I met her, my two best friends were kidnapped by vampires. We managed to save one of my friends, but the other one was still taken. She tracked them back to their lair and I followed, but by the time we got there it was already too late, he'd already been turned. Despite overwhelming odds, we managed to escape and stopped a small scale invasion of the town. In the process, I killed the creature that used to be my lifelong best friend. I swore that day that I wouldn't rest until every last one of them was killed."
"In some ways, that's not too different from my tale. I was a chieftain once, had two wives. We had a good sized stronghold, not all that big, but not small," Durak explained. "One of our own showed up one night, beaten. Said they'd been out hunting and were attacked by some creatures. Didn't think nothing of it, that sort of thing just happens. We took him in, gave him shelter. He slept through the day while the Wise Woman tended his wounds. That night he killed her before going on a rampage. He killed several, including my wives, before I was able to put him down. I couldn't face my kin after that, after letting that creature… I failed my god and as a man, so I left in disgrace. I hunted on my own a bit before I met up with Celann and Isran."
"I don't think I've met anyone who ever really did this sort of thing out of duty," Xander replied solemnly. "I don't doubt they exist, just that they're rare. I was the normal one of our group. We had two girls who were born to kill vamps- that special lineage. My best friend, the one we rescued, was probably the most powerful mage I ever heard of and our mentor was a retired Warlock whose family has been fighting the darkness for generations. We even had two vampires join us for a while, as well as a minor vengeance granting daedra and another witch."
"Working with daedra and vampire hunting vampires?" Durak exclaimed in disbelief.
"I know, but they each had special circumstances. One of the vampires was cursed to feel remorse after killing a favored daughter of a nomadic tribe while the other had a geas- a magical compulsion- placed on him that wouldn't allow him to harm mortals," Xander explained.
It wasn't the exact truth, but close enough. Vampires in this dimension retained their souls, but were more often than not slaves to their instincts- particularly lust and hunger. It was the huge amount of remorse Angel had felt upon being ensouled that had forced him to actively seek out penance and redemption- eventually. Spike's situation on the other hand, Xander doubted that Durak, or anyone else, would understand the concept of microchips and computers given the level of tech he'd seen, or rather, not seen in Tamriel. He'd equated their individual situations to their closest equivalents in this world. It wasn't precise or exact, but even the most thorough of magical researchers would be hard pressed to discredit anything he'd said to anyone else.
"As for Ahn... She was a nord woman whose husband was cheating on her. She made a pact with another daedra, turned her husband into a troll, and turned into a wish granting daedra of vengeance. For a thousand years she was the Patron Saint of Scorned Women," Xander further informed Durak.
"She became a daedra!?" Durak asked in shock. "I didn't know that was possible."
"It's rare," Xander replied. "It takes a special set of circumstances for it to happen. Our group came to her attention due to something that happened between me, my mage friend and the woman I was courting. To make a long story short, the pendant that contained her power got destroyed and she became human once again."
Durak shook his head. "A story like that has to be true."
"Why?" Xander inquired.
Durak snorted. "Because that story is too unbelievable to not be true. I doubt any bard could come up with a story like that."
"Uh... Thanks... I think..." Xander replied.
The carriage ride to Morthal took a couple of days. As Xander took in the sight of the misty marsh land, he couldn't help but shiver.
"As my friend Buffy would say, this place gives me the wiggins," Xander declared. Durak grunted and nodded in agreement. While not quite sure what 'the wiggins' were, he could guess the sentiment behind the words easily enough.
"The marshes are said to be haunted by any number of spirits," Durak informed him.
"What can we expect?" Xander asked.
"Frostbite spiders at least, maybe bandits or even a rogue mage," Durak supplied.
"But no vampires?" Xander inquired.
"Vampire activity is on the rise, but not enough that we can focus solely on them," Durak explained.
"Ah." Xander replied. "So what's the plan?"
"I'll scout the marsh while you take to the townspeople about anything out of the ordinary," Durak told him. "Hopefully, we'll be able to take care of any issues they might have preemptively."
Xander snorted. "In my experience, that never happens."
"Just so you both know, I'm not sticking around more than a couple of hours," Siggar, the carriage master told them. "The marshes make me uneasy."
"We can find our own way out of Morthal," Durak assured him.
The carriage began to slow down as they reached the outskirts.
"That doesn't look promising," Xander noted the three men in front the Meade Hall.
Durak grimaced, which was an odd look on his face as it made him look like he was angry. "Damn Civil War. It seems like everyone in the province is going crazy. Civil war, vampire activity on the rise, dragons and early winter."
"What?" Xander asked.
"It'll be best if we don't stick around here too long," Durak said as he jumped off the carriage.
Xander was quick to follow. "I'll check the inn first to see if the inn keeper knows what's goin' on."
Durak nodded and grunted in agreement as he set off into the marshland.
As he made his way to the inn, Xander noticed the burnt down house. It had only recently burned down, he noted.
He frowned. While not exactly a mystical occurrence, it was unusual.
He entered the Moorside Inn. When he did, he was 'greeted' by the proprietor. "Wow! Someone new. What can I get for you stranger?"
"Information, mostly, but I wouldn't say no a pint of mead," Xander replied with a smile.
"We don't get many customers out this way, so we don't have any of that fancy Honningbrew or Black-Briar stuff, but it gets the job done. I'm Jonna, by the way," the innkeeper informed him.
"Xander," Xander responded in kind.
"What sort of information are you lookin' for, because there's very little to be had here," Jonna stated.
"Well... Let's start with the burned down house," Xander replied, placing a few extra septims on the bar.
"Hroggar's house? As you can probably tell, it burned down not too long ago," Jonna informed him. She got a sad look on her face, however, as she continued. "It's a real pity about his wife and kid. The screams woke half the town."
Xander shuddered. "What started it?"
"No one really knows," Jonna replied. "No one will go near the place, thinking it's cursed and everything. Hroggar claims it was a hearth fire, but a lot of folk around here say Hroggar started it himself."
Xander frowned. There was something he was missing from this picture. "That's... Pretty insensitive. Especially since he lost his family in that fire."
"It's just what people say, but there is no real proof," Jonna elaborated. "See, the thing is, he's living with Alva now. Moved in with her right after it happened. It ain't right, movin' in with a new love the day after your kin die like that." The last part was said with a great deal of disgust.
"Is it certain they're... Together?" Xander asked. "While admittedly it looks bad and his choice in who to stay with after the tragedy is in poor taste, what something looks like and what something is aren't always the same."
"Couldn't say for certain. All I can go by is what I've seen and what people tell me," Jonna said honestly. "Something's not right about the whole situation though. Jarl's been offering a reward for anyone who wants to investigate what happened, but there haven't been any takers."
"I guess I'll look into it," Xander said. He finished his pint of mead. "Thanks for the drink."
It didn't take him long to back track to the burnt out house. He suppressed a shudder as he stepped over the threshold.
'Something is still here...' Xander thought to himself. He stilled when he heard a child's giggling. "Hello?" He walked further into the ruin and as he did so, heard footsteps. Xander turned to face them, but heard nothing. The girl's giggling came from behind him. Forcing himself to remain calm, he called out to the invisible being. "Helgi?" To his left, a spectral visage appeared.
"Hi!" Helgi cheerfully greeted Xander and approached.
"Hi there to you too," Xander replied with a smile.
Helgi looked up to him hopefully. "Are you here to play?"
He had to work to keep the smile on his face as he knelt down to her level. "I'm afraid not, kiddo. You're Helgi, right?"
"Yep! Yep!" she responded cheerfully.
"Do you remember what happened here?" Xander asked.
"Not really. I was sick, cold. Everything was dark and then it wasn't," Helgi answered. "Laelette said she was gonna take care of me forever and ever. She plays with me!"
Xander frowned. "Who is Laelette?"
"She's my friend! She plays with me and said she's gonna take care of me now that mommy's gone!" Helgi declared.
A chill ran down Xander's spine. 'Something Hellmouth-y is definitely goin' on here!'
"Do you know where she is? Can a talk to her?" Xander asked carefully.
Helgi frowned. "I don't know where she goes, but she visits me every night."
Xander thought over the situation for a moment. "Tell you what, kiddo. I'll play with you tonight if you take me to meet this Laelette."
"Really!?" Helgi asked excitedly.
"Really, really," Xander confirmed.
"Oh, it's gonna be soooo much fun!" Helgi replied. "Meet me here tonight and I'll take you to her."
"Sure thing," Xander replied with a crooked grin. As Helgi vanished, he frowned and was nearly shaking with anger. 'Looks like vampires are involved after all!'
Swallowing down his anger, Xander left the ruin and headed back to the inn.
"You're back rather quickly," Jonna replied. "Find anything?"
Xander went straight to the bar and leaned in close so that the Orcish bard did not overhear. "Found something all right. Spoke to Helgi's ghost."
Jonna's countenance turned sympathetic, almost mothering. "She was a sweet little girl. Poor thing. She's probably beggin' us to string up her murderin' father. You best tell the Jarl."
"Still no solid proof of anything just yet," Xander replied as he shook his head. "But I have a hunch that he didn't do it." 'Or at least he didn't do it willingly.' He kept that thought to himself, however. There was no need to panic the townsfolk until he knew exactly what he was dealing with and how many were involved.
"Really!?" Jonna gasped.
"Yeah, but I'm still investigating, so if you can keep quiet about that fact for now, I'd be much appreciative." As he said this, he slipped her five septims.
"You don't have to bribe me," Jonna replied a bit tersely.
Xander shrugged. "You're helping me out with this investigation. Consider it payment for services rendered."
Jonna reluctantly took the coins. "All right..."
"There seems to be a bit more going on than what people realize," Xander informed her.
"Anything to be concerned about?" Jonna asked.
"Plenty, so stay indoors after dark and stay on guard. Encourage others to do the same," Xander told her. "I don't want to say anything until I know exactly what's going on. If it's as bad as I think it is, I'll go straight to the Jarl with what I find."
"Okay, but be careful," Jonna whispered. "You're the first paying customer I've had in ages."
Xander chuckled. "If I kick it, you get first refusal of all my stuff when they find my body."
"That's morbid," Jonna responded grimly.
"If you'd seen some of the things I've seen, you'd come to find that having any kind of sense of humor is a must for the line of work I'm in," Xander told her.
"And what exactly do you do?" Jonna asked in concern.
"You really don't wanna know right now," Xander told her. "Trust me on that much, for the time being."
"Is there anything else you needed?" Jonna asked, dropping the subject.
"Have you heard of anyone named Laelette?" Xander asked.
Jonna's eyes widened in alarm. "Do you think she did it?"
"I'm not sure at the moment, but I believe she's involved in one form or another," Xander answered. "Who is she?"
"Thonnir's wife," Jonna informed him. "She disappeared weeks ago- long before the fire happened. Most folks just assumed she ran off to join the rebellion."
"Where can I find Thonnir?" Xander inquired.
"He'd be working at the mill right now," Jonna told him.
"Thanks again," Xander said gratefully as he headed out to meet Thonnir.
As he got there, he was greeted by a blonde man with a green tunic. He had a worn and haggard appearance about him. "Ho, there stranger! What can we do for ya?"
"I'm looking for Thonnir," Xander replied grimly.
"I am he," The nord man said carefully.
"Xander," Xander introduced himself. The two men clasped arms.
"Well me," Thonnir stated. "Now, what business do you have for me?"
"That's something I think we should discuss in private," Xander told him.
"It's about my Laelette, isn't it?" Thonnir replied sadly.
"In a manner of speaking," Xander acknowledged.
"Sh-She's dead... Isn't she? Thonnir inquired sadly.
"I believe so," Xander told him.
"You believe so!?" Thonnir exclaimed angrily. "How can you be unsure!?"
"That's... Complicated..." Xander answered.
"Make it not complicated!" Thonnir snapped.
Xander steeled himself. "Answer some questions for me first and I'll see about getting you some closure."
"What do you want to know?" Thonnir asked angrily.
"Before she disappeared, did anything seem strange to you? Any odd changes of behavior?" Xander asked. "Weird changes in her routine?"
Thonnir looked startled at the line of questioning. "I... Yeah, now that I think about it. She started spending more and more time with Alva."
"What was so weird about that?" Xander asked.
"My Laelette, she despised Alva," Thonnir informed him.
"Really?" Xander asked startledly. The Hellmouth-y feeling came back a hundred fold. "What about the night she left?"
"The night she left, Laelette was supposed to meet up with Alva, only according to Alva, she never showed," Thonnir said. "What's going on? What's with all the questions?"
Xander thought over what he was going to tell the Nord man. After everything, the man deserved some sort of answer. "Meet me at the burned out cottage tonight. You'll get your answers there."
"Hroggar's house?" Thonnir asked in confusion. "Does he have to do with my wife's disappearance?"
"Nothing. At least not directly," Xander answered honestly. "If anything, your wife's disappearance has something to do with what happened to his family."
"I don't understand," Thonnir admitted.
"I can't explain it. I'm not sure you'd believe me," Xander replied. "It's something I'm gonna have to show you. If I'm right... If I'm right, you're wife, Thonnir, didn't rush off to join the Stormcloaks."
"Then what happened to her? Where did she go?" Thonnir demanded to know.
"That's something we're gonna find out tonight," Xander informed him.
It was several hours later, just before sunset, when Durak returned to town.
"Find anything?" Xander asked him.
Durak shook his head. "Nothing. There is a cave I want to check out. Looks like it's seen some use lately. Bandits or smugglers probably."
"Or worse," Xander muttered grimly.
"You found something," Durak stated.
"Vampires," Xander stated with a look of cold anger in his eyes. If Durak didn't know any better he would think Xander an Orc about to enter into a berserker rage. He then recounted investigating the burned cottage and speaking with Helgi's ghost, his conversations with Jonna and Thonnir and the link between Hroggar and Laelette: Alva.
Durak grunted, looking impressed. "I had my doubts about you, kid, but that's impressive work. How do you want to handle this?"
"You're following my lead?" Xander asked in surprise.
Durak shrugged. "You've done just fine without me. This is your investigation. Where you go, I'll follow."
"No pressure," Xander grumbled. "All right, we'll wait for Thonnir and then head to the burned out cottage."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Durak asked.
"No, but he deserves closure and it will help to have a local with us and on our side when we go to the Jarl with our findings," Xander replied.
"I don't like it, getting a civilian involved, but I understand your reasoning," Durak acknowledged.
"Good, because he's on his way," Xander informed him. "He doesn't know about his wife or Alva being vamps yet. I haven't told anyone anything just yet, just in case I was wrong in any of my conclusions."
"Smart," Durak commented. "It also lessens the chance of a panicking the local population or tipping our hand to the vampire menace nearby."
Xander nodded and then walked up to greet the newly arrived Thonnir. "Ho, Thonnir!"
"Xander," Thonnir replied, clasping his arm with Xander's. "Who's your friend?"
"Durak," the Orc answered as he clasped Thonnir's arm in greeting. "You ready?"
Thonnir hefted his steel war axe. "As I'll ever be."
"Good." Durak stated.
"What're you expecting to find?" Thonnir asked. By this time, the sun was set and the stars had begun to appear in the sky.
"A ghost," Xander answered.
"A-A ghost...?" Thonnir replied nervously.
Durak and Xander exchanged a quick glance at one another.
"Are you gonna be able to handle this?" Xander asked Thonnir.
Thonnir straightened up, checking his own resolve- bolstering it. "I need to know."
Durak grinned. "Looks like you have some spine after all."
"Durak," Xander warned. Thonnir looked more than a little offended at the insinuation that he was a coward.
Durak simple grunted as the trio continued towards Hroggar's burned down home. Each of them shivered as they stepped over the threshold of the once home.
"Helgi?" Xander called out softly.
"Shhhh!" Helgi replied as she materialized before them. "She'll hear you. She's really close by." The young girl vanished once more, before materializing outside of the ruins. "C'mon!" she whispered. She started up the hill, but vanished once more.
"I don't like this," Thonnir grumbled.
"What's up that way?" Durak asked Thonnir.
"The cemetery," Thonnir answered.
"Let's do as Helgi said," Xander suggested. Durak, hefted his shield and drew his war axe while Xander unslung the crossbow from his back. Taking a cue from the, unbeknownst to him, vampire hunters, he drew his own war axe as well. The three of them moved swiftly and silently as they crested the hill. When they got there, they noticed one of the graves had been dug up. Judging by the size of the coffin, Xander guessed that this was Helgi's grave.
"Who would do this?" Thonnir asked as they approached the coffin.
"MAKE LAELETTE GO AWAY!" Helgi shouted as she pointed off to the side.
They each turned as Laelette emerged from the tree line, steel dagger in hand as she charged them. Durak intercepted her and bashed her with his shield, full charge. She went sailing into the air, and landed with a hard thud. Seeing Durak approaching her menacingly, Laelette scrambled to her feet, only to receive a crossbow bolt to the leg, crippling her. Xander was quick to reload and shot another bolt at her, striking her shoulder and causing her to stumble. Another well placed bolt to her other leg finally halted her escape. She turned to face them and hissed at them, her vampiric features visible for them all to see in the light of the moon.
"L-Laelette…?" said a heartbroken Thonnir.
The vampire looked stricken at the sight of her husband. "Th-Thonnir… I…"
"Oh, Laelette…" Thonnir said as he dropped to his knees.
Laelette stuttered. "I… What's happened to me!?"
Thonnir swallowed. "You… You're a vampire… How? How did this happen?"
"It was Alva, wasn't it, Laelette?" Xander asked. "She did this to you."
"Y-Yes…" Laelette sobbed. "I-I'm so sorry! The… The things I've done! I'm so sorry!"
"So am I." Xander empathized before firing a bolt straight into her chest, killing her instantly. Laelette's body turned into a pile of ash, which was promptly and carefully collected by Durak.
"Why?" Thonnir asked devastatedly.
Xander and Durak looked at one another, trying to figure out how to explain what happened.
It was Helgi who answered him as she rematerialized. "She was told to burn mommy and me. She didn't want to though. She wanted to play with me forever and ever, so she kissed me on the neck. I got so cold that the fire didn't even hurt. Laelette thought she could take me and keep me, but she couldn't cuz I was all burned up."
"I… I don't know what to say…" Thonnir said to Helgi. "I… I'm sorry…"
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault," Helgi assured Thonnir. She then turned to Xander and Durak. "It isn't done yet. The bad lady still has daddy. You have to hurry. The bad men might come soon!" Helgi then vanished from sight.
"What's going on? What did she mean by all that?" Thonnir demanded.
Xander and Durak exchanged glances once more. Durak nodded at Xander.
"A lot of this is just hearsay and guesswork, but as far as I can figure, a group of vampires set up a nest somewhere nearby," Xander explained. "Alva was sent ahead to infiltrate the town. As for as I can tell, Hroggar wasn't turned, so she probably took him as a thrall."
"And my Laelette? How does she figure into this?" Thonnir asked piteously.
"I'm not entirely sure," Xander admitted. "She might have found out Alva's secret or she might have just been a target of opportunity. Either way, Alva turned her and likely ordered her to kill Hroggar's family while making it look like an accident. Probably so she could use Hroggar as a live in servant and daytime bodyguard."
"This… This is too much…!" Thonnir told them.
"It's not over yet," Durak reminded him. "We still have one more abomination in town to take care of and then we gotta tack down that nest."
"I'm willing to bet my weight in gold that they're holed up in that cave you spotted earlier," Xander commented.
"Agreed," Durak replied.
"So what do we do now?" Thonnir asked.
"Confront Alva," Xander stated. "But we have to be careful when we do. While he's still under her thrall, Hroggar will attack us if he even suspects Alva's in danger. So we need to knock him out first. Durak."
Durak nodded. "I'll take care of it."
"I'll confront Alva directly," Xander stated decisively. "Distract her."
"For what purpose?" Thonnir asked.
"For you to alert the guard and ransack her place and see if you can't find proof of what she is and what she's done," Xander said. "Durak, it would probably be a good idea for you join me after you've dealt with Hroggar."
Durak nodded in agreement. "Sound good."
"And after she's dealt with?" Thonnir asked.
"Then me and Durak go hunting," Xander informed him.
"I want to help!" Thonnir declared.
"Thonnir…" Xander began before the angry nord cut off what he was going to say.
"Those beasts took my wife from me! My son will grow up without a mother because of them!" Thonnir argued.
"And if something goes wrong, he'll grow up without a father." Xander rebutted.
"I… I can't just do nothing!" Thonnir complained.
"You're not," Xander replied. "Live well and raise your son like your wife would have wanted. If you die and leave your son an orphan, they win."
"He's right," Durak added. "You have proven yourself a courageous and honorable man, but you are no warrior and even if you were, these are not men, but vicious animals who can think and reason and hold a blade just the same as you or me. We are trained for this. Allow us to do our duty and avenge your wife in your stead."
"I… Okay… You've made your point," Thonnir reluctantly agreed. "But you better get those bastards. Leave none of them alive!"
"On my honor," Xander pledged as he thumped his fist over his chest. "So, we all know what to do?" Upon receiving two positive confirmations, he then gave them the order. "Let's get to it then. Moonlight's a-wastin'."
The three men then went their separate ways.
It didn't take long for Xander to find Alva.
"Oh, hello," she said to him seductively. "Are you new in town?"
'No wonder Hroggar was so quick to fall under her mind whammy,' Xander thought as he struggled to keep his wits about him. "As a matter of fact, just got in today, lookin' for some sort of work."
"Oh!" She gasped excitedly, which did wonderful things to her chest, which was all but bared to him under the pale light of the moon. "So are you an adventurer or a mercenary?"
Xander unslung the crossbow from his back, though he didn't point it at her. "Vampire hunter, actually."
Alva's demeanor shifted rather quickly at that point. She was no longer flirty and the glare he leveled at him would have sent lesser men running in fear. Her tone was positively frosty. "I see…"
"Is it just me, or did the temperature out here just drop several degrees," Xander inquired. "I suppose even if it did, you likely wouldn't even notice, being room temperature and all."
"I'm going to kill you," Alva hissed.
"I'd like to see you try," Durak taunted from behind her, war axe drawn.
"Stop right there!" shouted a Hjaalmarch guard.
"Oh thank the Eight!" Alva gasped dramatically as she went to run to the guard. She was about to discover her act was all for naught.
"Stay back, creature!" the guard ordered her, his sword drawn and pointed right at her.
She dropped her act and her eyes began to glow brightly. "I see…"
"Can we kill it now?" Xander asked the guard.
"You have permission to dispose of the abomination," the guard told them.
Before she could react, Xander shot her. Alva's head tilted back as she cried out in pain, which didn't last long as Durak stepped forward and decapitated her in a single swing. He then began to collect her ashes, though with less reverence than he had Laelette's. Laelette's ashes had been kept separate from the common alchemy ingredients and given to her husband.
Alva's would get no such considerations.
"Is it done?" asked Ingrod Ravencrone, the Jarl of Hjaalmarch.
"There's still the nest to take care of," Xander informed her. "We'll go there at first light and take care of them."
"Good," Jarl Ingrod said approvingly.
It only took them a few hours that morning to clear out the den. They were joined by a mountainous Nord man named Brenor, who had been in love with Alva and felt betrayed by her actions against his hometown. The master vampire in charge of the coven was a former vampire hunter named Movarth. Xander would never forget what had happened when they'd slain the last vampire.
It had been a long morning as the trip trudged their way out of the former vampire lair when Helgi appeared before them. "Thank you! Thank you for getting the bad men! Now me and mommy can finally go to sleep!"
He then faded, for what Xander suspected was for the final time. It took great effort to hold back the emotions he was feeling. Regardless, he still whispered back to her. "Sleep tight, kid…"
Durak placed a comforting hand on Xander's shoulder for a brief moment before he and Brenor made their way out of the cave. Xander stood looking at the spot where Helgi had once been before following them out.
Hroggar was horrified by everything that had transpired when he finally came to. Xander had no idea how the man would cope. They were also paid handsomely by Jarl Ingrod. Thonnir, Durak and Xander each received 75 septims a piece for discovering the truth behind the murder of Hroggar's family. Xander, Durak and Brenner each received another 150 septims for clearing the nest.
Xander, since he'd led the investigation and discovered everything independently was made a Thane of Hjaalmarch and was granted the services of Valdimar who was assigned to be his housecarl. This was in light of things revealed in Alva's journal. The vampires had been working on sacking the town and covertly taking over the hold and could have quite possibly succeeded if not for the efforts Xander and Durak when they arrived in Morthal.
They stayed a few more days at the Moorside Inn before they decided to move on with Valdimar in tow, Xander now in possession of an enchanted steel longsword called the Blade of Hjaalmarch, which was to serve as his badge of office while within the borders of the hold.
Despite leaving Morthal in high spirits, Xander was in troubled by something he'd found in Movarth's lair- a glowing orb that spoke to him.
Meridia's Beacon.
"Thane Xander, I don't presume to tell you your business, but I recommend against getting involved," Valdimar said as he made his opinion on the matter known. "One shouldn't interfere in the affairs of daedra."
Durak, however, disagreed. "You don't want to risk offending a Daedric Prince."
"I can't say I've really heard anything about Meridia," Xander told them. "Can either of you tell me about this Prince."
"Not much is really known about her," Durak replied. "She doesn't appear to really have any cults based around her like most of the other Princes do. I do know she hates the undead, so it's possible that either the vampires stole the beacon or she planted it there to get our attention after we wiped them out."
"Admittedly, she is seen as a good daedra, or at least not one that's not wholly evil," Valdimar added.
"Because as a higher being we cannot always know what motivates her," Xander guessed.
Valdimar and Durak both nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna see what she want," Xander decided. "If she hates the undead as much as you say, Durak, then she might be able to give us something to fight vampires with."
"Then I will join you," Durak declared. "It'll do me some good to test my mettle against whatever this prince throws at us."
"Valdimar," Xander addressed his housecarl.
"Yes, my Thane?' Valdimar responded.
"I'm not going to force you to help us if seeing what this Daedric Prince wants makes you uncomfortable," Xander assured him. "So if you want to head back to Morthal or wait in Solitude for us, I'll understand. Would it be okay if he made his way to Fort Dawnguard, Durak?"
"As long as he isn't a vampire, I don't see Isran having a problem with it," Durak said with a shrug.
"I appreciate the thought, but I am sworn to your service, my Thane and I will protect you wherever your adventures take you," Valdimar declared.
"Good to have you with us then," Xander replied with a grin.
She hesitantly stepped towards it when a loud bang could be heard over the noise of the roaring wind spiraling from the menacing vortex. Less than a second later, she felt a sharp pain in her leg and collapsed as it could no longer support her weight. She turned her head in horror at what she might find, only to see Xander standing behind her, a 9mm Beretta in his hand.
"Xander!?"
"Sorry, Buff, but I can't let you do this. Not this time." Xander looked down at her sadly, knowing that what he was doing could very likely earn her eternal hatred.
"It's my choice!" she snapped back, holding her leg in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.
"And this is mine," He replied as he tossed the gun away as he walked towards her. He shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you that those higher mystical forces don't know jack? You're not alone in this Buffy. Your greatest gift, it's not death. It's life." He walked passed her. "And it's one that you'll be able to keep giving tomorrow and the day after that."
"Xander! You can't!" Buffy called out frantically, desperately wishing her leg would heal more quickly. She tried standing, but her leg wouldn't hold her weight. She desperately crawled towards her friend and the portal.
"I have to," he said with grim determination. More and more dust was being thrown about by the swirling vortex.
"Xander, don't!" Buffy pleaded desperately. "Please! Xander! You can't do this!"
"Sorry, Buffster, it's the only way," Xander replied with a smile. He then turned and walked into the vortex.
---
"Uuuggghhh..." Xander groaned.
"Good, you're awake," said the voice of an angry sounding man. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've been trampled and then kicked repeatedly," Xander replied.
"Considering the fall you took, it's not surprising," the man told him.
"All things considered, the fact that I woke up at all and not being tortured is a surprise," Xander admitted as he sat up.
"Where did you expect that portal to take you?" the man asked.
"Somewhere a lot worse than this. In fact, despite how run down this place looks, it's a helluva lot nicer than what I was expecting," Xander told him. "Pretty neat castle. My name is Xander."
"Isran," the man answered. "This is Fort Dawnguard, which is situated in a hidden valley in the mountains that border Skyrim and Morrowind."
Xander's focus sharpened immediately and he took in Isran's look, particularly the fact that the man was wearing armor and had a weapon strapped to his back- a warhammer, if Xander wasn't mistaken. A few of the girls, like Faith, liked to use one from time to time, but most preferred swiftness to stopping power like Buffy and used swords, though some, like Vi, often used axes as some sort of middle ground. "Can... Can I see a map?"
Isran nodded and helped Xander off the cot after he kicked off the blankets. Though he wasn't wearing most of what he was, he was glad to see that he still had a shirt and his boxer's on. Given the amount of time that people had seen him in less, he wasn't all that modest anymore. Taking care of each other's wounds, one was bound to see various people in various stages of undress- though he tried to keep a modicum of modesty when he could between him and any under-aged Slayer.
It was as they were walking that Xander suddenly paused, not believing what it was he'd just realized.
A friendly looking man wearing similar armor to Isran, only gray with a single metal pauldron walked towards them. He carried and ornate war axe on his right hip. "Sheesh, Isran, what did you do to the poor kid?"
"What makes you think I did anything to him?" Isran asked.
'I have two eyes!' Xander thought to himself. He quickly mentally shook himself from his incredible revelation.
"Because I know you too well," the friendly man said to Isran before addressing Xander. "I'm Celann. It's good to see you up and about."
Xander shook his hand. "Xander. And if what I suspect is true… Well, I don't think anyone would react well under those circumstances. Especially given something else I just realized."
"Well, the least he could do was gotten you some clothes," Celann pointed out.
Isran merely shrugged. "He asked for a map. A need for clothes seemed like a secondary concern."
Celann shrugged this time. "I'll find you something to wear."
"Thanks." Xander replied gratefully.
Celann turned to Isran. "Durak has headed out to try and recruit more people, but I question how successful he'd going to be with what's been going on."
"What's been going on?" Xander asked.
Both Isran and Celann looked at him in disbelief. It was the latter who spoke up. "Have you been living in a cave? Dragons have returned and have been ravaging the whole of the province, though there are rumors of what the Nord people call a 'Dragonborn' going around slaying them."
"Uh… Wow… Looks like my suspicions are proving to be more and more true…" Xander replied. "That map?"
"C'mon," Isran said in a suspicious tone. Celann followed them, his offer of clothes for Xander momentarily forgotten.
On a nearby table there were two maps. One was of a place called Skyrim, the other was a map of a place called Tamriel, of which Skyrim was a part of. Xander's shoulders slumped. "I'd been afraid of this…"
"I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear, am I?" Isran asked.
"Depends. What's your stance on extra dimensional beings?" Xander answered. "Because as far as I can tell, I'm on a whole new world."
"Could care less, honestly," Isran replied. "You don't attack us, we'll let you live. Just to warn you though, we don't have the magical expertise to send you back where you came from."
Xander nodded, unsurprised by the declaration.
"So are you like a daedra?" Celann asked in mild concern.
Xander shrugged. "Not even sure what a daedra is."
"How did you get here?" Celann inquired.
"I'm not sure how much you'll believe, but the fact that you mentioned things like dragons and magic give me hope you won't think I'm crazy," Xander replied. "My friends and I were investigating a strange vampire cult who were trying to raise some sort of Vampire God. We managed to interrupt their ritual, but they still managed to open the portal anyway. In order to close the portal, one of us had to sacrifice our life. I decided it should be me."
"Which is why you expected to wake up someplace unpleasant if you woke up at all," Isran stated.
Xander nodded. "My friends and I have been hunting vampires and demons since we were teenagers."
Isran looked as if he was thinking something over.
"Isran?" Celann asked.
"I think we could help each other out," Isran said after a moment.
Xander looked at the man warily. "How so?"
"We can't help you get back home. In fact, I'm not certain anyone can," Isran replied. "For that, your best bet would be to go to the College of Winterhold up north."
"As much as I'd like to get home, it was always meant to be a one-way trip," Xander told Isran who nodded. "What do you want and how will it help me?"
"We're an order of vampire hunters. Call ourselves the Dawnguard," Isran informed Xander. "We've been renovating this place to be our new base of operations. Join us and we can keep a roof over your head, food in your belly and possibly put coin in your pocket, until such time as you decide to return to your world."
Xander grimaced. "Pretty sweet deal, not that I have a lot of choices, really. What do you need me to do?"
"Get kitted out before you do anything else," Isran told him. "From there, we'll have to see how well you fight."
Xander shrugged. "I do okay. I'm pretty handy with an axe or a crossbow."
"That's a nice surprise if that's true," Celann said.
"What do you mean?" Xander asked.
"I'll explain on the way to the 'armory'," Celann told him. Xander followed after his new brother-in-arms. "Most of our prospective recruits have never even heard of a crossbow unless they're from Morrowind, and even that's not a sure thing."
It was sometime later before Xander was properly outfitted.
"If nothing else, this looks good," Xander replied wearing brown armor like Isran. Like the others he opted against wearing the helmet- for now at least.
"I said much the same thing," Celann replied.
"So… Other than you, me and Isran, how many of us are there?" Xander inquired.
"Five, though one of our number went out in search of new recruits," Celann informed him. "His name is Durak, he's an Orc."
"Orc?" Xander asked.
"Do you not have Orcs where you come from?" Celann asked.
Xander shook his head. "Only in fantasy stories. There's only been one dragon attack that I know of in the last couple centuries, not the hordes you talked about earlier."
"Things are bad out there," Celann replied, "Though we're relatively safe here. Dayspring Canyon is isolated enough that I don't think we'll have to worry about dragon attacks."
"I wonder what else is different," Xander speculated.
"Like what?"
"Vampires, for one," Xander said. "In my world they were demonically possessed animated corpses who were repelled by holy symbols and holy water and could only be killed by decapitation, exposure to sunlight, being set on fire or a wooden stake through the heart."
"As far as I know, holy symbols have no effect on vampires," Celann told him. "I don't know about the whole demon thing, but they are undead. Our weapons are enchanted specifically against vampires, though you could kill them with any weapon you have on hand. Weaker vampires are hurt by sunlight. The stronger ones are merely weakened."
"Strength, speed?" Xander inquired. "Vampires, even fledglings, in my world were much faster and stronger than regular humans and even acquired an unnatural, instinctual, ability to fight."
"The older, more powerful ones, sure. They have all sorts of abilities fledglings lack. The younger ones are not much different from regular humans," Celann replied. "What about magical abilities?"
"Vampires could only use magic if they had the ability to use magic as a human," Xander told him.
"That's mostly true for ours as well," Celann commented. "Though they have a few racial abilities you should be aware of."
Xander and Celann continued to talk until time for the evening's meal, which was where Xander met the cook for this particular meal and mysterious fifth member of the Dawnguard, Vori. She was a big woman, definitely stronger looking than either Xander or Celann. Her armor, Xander could tell, was thicker, heavier and like Isran, she wore a warhammer across her back, unlike Xander or Celann who each had a war axe. Xander differed from them all by also having a crossbow strapped to his back.
"Xander, this is Vori. She's the one who found you out in the canyon," Celann introduced them.
"Thank you," Xander replied gratefully. "If not for you, I'd probably be a goner."
"A… What?" Vori asked in confusion.
"Sorry, figure of speech from where I'm from," Xander replied. Isran, Celann and himself all decided it was likely a bad idea to reveal to anyone else that Xander was from another world, one that was beyond the boundaries of both Oblivion and Aetherius. "It means, I'd be dead if not for you."
"Anyone else would have done the same," Vori told him.
"Maybe, but you're the one who did," Xander responded.
"You any good with those weapons?" Vori asked with interest.
Celann laughed. "Any good!? He's the best raw recruit we've gotten in some time! His axe work is a bit shoddy- good, if a bit unrefined. His marksmanship with the crossbow, however, he's the best I've seen in a long time."
Xander shrugged self-consciously. "I've been doing this a long time."
Vori simply nodded. It was an unspoken rule to not ask how someone got into the business of vampire hunting as few did it out of duty and most people's reasons were deeply personal.
"Celann, I want you to take the boy up to Riften at first light," Isran ordered. "Get him familiar with the lay of the land. With luck, the two of you might quickly catch up with Durak before he leaves for another hold." He then turned his attention to Xander. "Durak is one of our best fighters and can train you up while you're both on the road and can help you gain a familiarity with the lay of the land."
"Do we just hunt vampires or do we take care of other things?" Xander asked.
Isran shrugged. "Our first priority is the vampire menace above all else. Defend yourself as needed. I'll leave it up to you and Durak if you want to play hero or mercenary for anyone who just randomly walks up to you wanting to pay you coin for doing stuff for them. Just don't forget that while you wear that armor and bear our arms that what you do reflects on us."
"Understood," Xander replied.
It was still mostly dark when Celann and Xander exited the castle, both armed and armored. Both were wearing the brown leather, silver lined helmets.
"No horses?" Xander asked.
"While they would be nice luxury, especially given how removed we are from the rest of the province, bringing them in and out of the canyon would be a bigger hassle than they're worth and we barely have the manpower to post a guard in the valley, let alone outside of it." Celann explained.
It only took a little more than a day and a half for Celann and Xander to reach Riften.
"Halt!" a hold guard ordered. There were two guards posted at the gate.
"What's going on?" Celann asked.
"Murder investigation," the guard informed them. "No one in or out of the city."
"Grelod, the old lady who runs the orphanage, was murdered," The other guard added. "Rumor has it that it was the Dark Brotherhood."
"Who would wanna kill an old lady who runs an orphanage?" Xander asked.
"Almost anyone could hire the Dark Brotherhood," Celann answered.
"And, the list of anyone who wanted to kill Grelod isn't exactly small," the second guard added. "She was known as Grelod the Kind in name only."
"We're looking for an associate of ours, an Orc by the name of Durak," Celann told them.
"I know who he is," the second guard said. "He's still in the city, last I heard. He was trying to appeal to the Jarl to be allowed to leave. You might be able to catch him at the main gate. Unfortunately, I can't let you in through here."
"Meaning, we'll have to go around," Celann said. "Looks like we got a bit more of a walk ahead of us."
Xander nodded, but added sarcastically, "I am just giddy with anticipation."
Xander was currently glad he'd spent all those years in Africa. While much of the terrain could be traversed by Jeeps or Humvees, a lot more, particularly were some of the more predatory demons dwelt, areas were inaccessible to any form of vehicular transportation and required to be traveled through by foot. Africa had been eye opening for him in many ways and he both loved and hated his time there. The long travel from Dayspring Canyon to the hold capital of Riften had him praising the fact that he was already used to walking long distances in much harsher terrain- granted the temperate climate was far colder than the sweltering temps he'd had to deal with on the Dark Continent, but he'd manage all the same.
"Ho' carriage master!" Celann greeted. "Are you the only one in town?"
"Aye," the carriage master acknowledged. "If you're lookin' to purchase my services, you have a bit of a wait. An Orc, armored like you lot, paid for my services in advance last night. We were supposed to have left already, but with the whole town barricaded..."
"Believe it or not, it is a bit fortuitous for us," Celann explained. "We were actually hoping to catch up to him before he left The Rift."
"Not a moment too soon," boomed a deep voice. Xander was glad he had been warned ahead of time about Durak's appearance, because he'd have automatically have assumed that the Orc was a demon. "I had planned to be gone sometime this morning, unfortunately the Dark Brotherhood had other plans."
"We'd heard," Celann replied.
"Didn't expect to see anyone else. What're you doing so far from the fort?" Durak asked.
"Escorting our new recruit here to join you on your travels," Celann explained. "Durak, this is Xander. Xander, Durak."
"Can you fight?" Durak asked neutrally.
"I can hold my own," Xander replied. "This is less about training me to fight and more about me getting the lay of the land. I'm not exactly from Skyrim."
Durak grunted in acknowledgment. "All right, I suppose we'll have to see what you can do. You got coin?"
"I'll be covering the cost of his travel to your first destination, old friend," Celann answered. "Where are you headed to anyways?"
"Hjaalmarch. There are rumors of something strange going on in Morthal," Durak informed him. "Probably nothing, but we can never be too sure."
"I see. Well, I'm back off to the fort. May the Eight watch over both you," Celann said as he handed the carriage master 30 coins. As the guards still weren't allowing anyone back into Riften he went back around the city the way they'd come.
Both Durak and Xander got into the back of the carriage. Durak set his crossbow next to him while Xander kept his on his lap. It was Durak who spoke up first. "You know how to use that?"
"Vampire Hunting 101, big guy," Xander replied. "Celann said I was the best he'd seen with a crossbow."
"Huh, that right?" Durak said contemplatively. "I suppose we'll just have to see about that then."
"What do you think we're gonna find in Morthal," Xander inquired.
"Hard to say. Nords can be a superstitious lot. Either way, we'll likely find something. There's a lot that lurks in the marshes at night," Durak replied. "We could find anything from giant frostbite spiders to wraiths. Not exactly out mandate, but they'll make us a bit of coin and hopefully earn the Jarl's favor."
"That's always of the good," Xander agreed. "It'll be nice to get paid. Back where I come from, the only time we ever got paid for killing bloodsuckers was if we raided a den."
"You did that often?" Durak inquired.
Xander shook his head. "Not so much. Not a lot of vamps in my hometown had dens, unless they were masters. There were enough abandoned buildings and caves in the area that it was often too hard to really check any and every known location on a regular basis- not that we needed to. The vamps back home could get territorial, so we rarely had to deal with too many master vampires at any given time. Of course what we lacked in quantity, we more than made up for in quality. Only the smartest, strongest and most powerful masters ever lasted long enough to do too much of anything."
"It's not like vampires to converge on a town like that, especially with active hunters in the area," Durak replied with a frown.
This line of inquiry had been brought up. Isran, Celann and Xander had each figured it was best to stick as close to the truth as possible.
"My hometown was the site of a moderately active portal to Oblivion. Even when it wasn't active, the energies it put out attracted all sorts of badness- everything from vampires to various types of daedra," Xander explained.
"Given that level of exposure to the darkness, no wonder you got involved in this line of work," Durak commented.
Xander shook his head. "Believe it or not, most people were oblivious that there was a war between use and the things that go bump in the night going on. Every night they went to bed secure in their own little realities, not knowing of the true nature of the world. And I was the same way."
"The how did you find out, if you don't mind me asking," Durak inquired.
"Nah, I've been at this for a while," Xander replied. "It all started with a girl."
Durak snorted. "Doesn't it always?"
"Only the best stories. Now, are you gonna let me finish?" Xander asked with a grin. Durak grinned back as he nodded affirmatively. Despite his fearsome visage, Xander couldn't help but like the middle-aged orc. He had a feeling they'd become friends as well as comrades-in-arms. "This girl came from a long line of vampire and daedra hunters- a lineage the creatures of darkness feared by reputation alone and she was one of the absolute best of them. She opened my eyes to the world of darkness and I never looked back, especially when the same day I met her, my two best friends were kidnapped by vampires. We managed to save one of my friends, but the other one was still taken. She tracked them back to their lair and I followed, but by the time we got there it was already too late, he'd already been turned. Despite overwhelming odds, we managed to escape and stopped a small scale invasion of the town. In the process, I killed the creature that used to be my lifelong best friend. I swore that day that I wouldn't rest until every last one of them was killed."
"In some ways, that's not too different from my tale. I was a chieftain once, had two wives. We had a good sized stronghold, not all that big, but not small," Durak explained. "One of our own showed up one night, beaten. Said they'd been out hunting and were attacked by some creatures. Didn't think nothing of it, that sort of thing just happens. We took him in, gave him shelter. He slept through the day while the Wise Woman tended his wounds. That night he killed her before going on a rampage. He killed several, including my wives, before I was able to put him down. I couldn't face my kin after that, after letting that creature… I failed my god and as a man, so I left in disgrace. I hunted on my own a bit before I met up with Celann and Isran."
"I don't think I've met anyone who ever really did this sort of thing out of duty," Xander replied solemnly. "I don't doubt they exist, just that they're rare. I was the normal one of our group. We had two girls who were born to kill vamps- that special lineage. My best friend, the one we rescued, was probably the most powerful mage I ever heard of and our mentor was a retired Warlock whose family has been fighting the darkness for generations. We even had two vampires join us for a while, as well as a minor vengeance granting daedra and another witch."
"Working with daedra and vampire hunting vampires?" Durak exclaimed in disbelief.
"I know, but they each had special circumstances. One of the vampires was cursed to feel remorse after killing a favored daughter of a nomadic tribe while the other had a geas- a magical compulsion- placed on him that wouldn't allow him to harm mortals," Xander explained.
It wasn't the exact truth, but close enough. Vampires in this dimension retained their souls, but were more often than not slaves to their instincts- particularly lust and hunger. It was the huge amount of remorse Angel had felt upon being ensouled that had forced him to actively seek out penance and redemption- eventually. Spike's situation on the other hand, Xander doubted that Durak, or anyone else, would understand the concept of microchips and computers given the level of tech he'd seen, or rather, not seen in Tamriel. He'd equated their individual situations to their closest equivalents in this world. It wasn't precise or exact, but even the most thorough of magical researchers would be hard pressed to discredit anything he'd said to anyone else.
"As for Ahn... She was a nord woman whose husband was cheating on her. She made a pact with another daedra, turned her husband into a troll, and turned into a wish granting daedra of vengeance. For a thousand years she was the Patron Saint of Scorned Women," Xander further informed Durak.
"She became a daedra!?" Durak asked in shock. "I didn't know that was possible."
"It's rare," Xander replied. "It takes a special set of circumstances for it to happen. Our group came to her attention due to something that happened between me, my mage friend and the woman I was courting. To make a long story short, the pendant that contained her power got destroyed and she became human once again."
Durak shook his head. "A story like that has to be true."
"Why?" Xander inquired.
Durak snorted. "Because that story is too unbelievable to not be true. I doubt any bard could come up with a story like that."
"Uh... Thanks... I think..." Xander replied.
The carriage ride to Morthal took a couple of days. As Xander took in the sight of the misty marsh land, he couldn't help but shiver.
"As my friend Buffy would say, this place gives me the wiggins," Xander declared. Durak grunted and nodded in agreement. While not quite sure what 'the wiggins' were, he could guess the sentiment behind the words easily enough.
"The marshes are said to be haunted by any number of spirits," Durak informed him.
"What can we expect?" Xander asked.
"Frostbite spiders at least, maybe bandits or even a rogue mage," Durak supplied.
"But no vampires?" Xander inquired.
"Vampire activity is on the rise, but not enough that we can focus solely on them," Durak explained.
"Ah." Xander replied. "So what's the plan?"
"I'll scout the marsh while you take to the townspeople about anything out of the ordinary," Durak told him. "Hopefully, we'll be able to take care of any issues they might have preemptively."
Xander snorted. "In my experience, that never happens."
"Just so you both know, I'm not sticking around more than a couple of hours," Siggar, the carriage master told them. "The marshes make me uneasy."
"We can find our own way out of Morthal," Durak assured him.
The carriage began to slow down as they reached the outskirts.
"That doesn't look promising," Xander noted the three men in front the Meade Hall.
Durak grimaced, which was an odd look on his face as it made him look like he was angry. "Damn Civil War. It seems like everyone in the province is going crazy. Civil war, vampire activity on the rise, dragons and early winter."
"What?" Xander asked.
"It'll be best if we don't stick around here too long," Durak said as he jumped off the carriage.
Xander was quick to follow. "I'll check the inn first to see if the inn keeper knows what's goin' on."
Durak nodded and grunted in agreement as he set off into the marshland.
As he made his way to the inn, Xander noticed the burnt down house. It had only recently burned down, he noted.
He frowned. While not exactly a mystical occurrence, it was unusual.
He entered the Moorside Inn. When he did, he was 'greeted' by the proprietor. "Wow! Someone new. What can I get for you stranger?"
"Information, mostly, but I wouldn't say no a pint of mead," Xander replied with a smile.
"We don't get many customers out this way, so we don't have any of that fancy Honningbrew or Black-Briar stuff, but it gets the job done. I'm Jonna, by the way," the innkeeper informed him.
"Xander," Xander responded in kind.
"What sort of information are you lookin' for, because there's very little to be had here," Jonna stated.
"Well... Let's start with the burned down house," Xander replied, placing a few extra septims on the bar.
"Hroggar's house? As you can probably tell, it burned down not too long ago," Jonna informed him. She got a sad look on her face, however, as she continued. "It's a real pity about his wife and kid. The screams woke half the town."
Xander shuddered. "What started it?"
"No one really knows," Jonna replied. "No one will go near the place, thinking it's cursed and everything. Hroggar claims it was a hearth fire, but a lot of folk around here say Hroggar started it himself."
Xander frowned. There was something he was missing from this picture. "That's... Pretty insensitive. Especially since he lost his family in that fire."
"It's just what people say, but there is no real proof," Jonna elaborated. "See, the thing is, he's living with Alva now. Moved in with her right after it happened. It ain't right, movin' in with a new love the day after your kin die like that." The last part was said with a great deal of disgust.
"Is it certain they're... Together?" Xander asked. "While admittedly it looks bad and his choice in who to stay with after the tragedy is in poor taste, what something looks like and what something is aren't always the same."
"Couldn't say for certain. All I can go by is what I've seen and what people tell me," Jonna said honestly. "Something's not right about the whole situation though. Jarl's been offering a reward for anyone who wants to investigate what happened, but there haven't been any takers."
"I guess I'll look into it," Xander said. He finished his pint of mead. "Thanks for the drink."
It didn't take him long to back track to the burnt out house. He suppressed a shudder as he stepped over the threshold.
'Something is still here...' Xander thought to himself. He stilled when he heard a child's giggling. "Hello?" He walked further into the ruin and as he did so, heard footsteps. Xander turned to face them, but heard nothing. The girl's giggling came from behind him. Forcing himself to remain calm, he called out to the invisible being. "Helgi?" To his left, a spectral visage appeared.
"Hi!" Helgi cheerfully greeted Xander and approached.
"Hi there to you too," Xander replied with a smile.
Helgi looked up to him hopefully. "Are you here to play?"
He had to work to keep the smile on his face as he knelt down to her level. "I'm afraid not, kiddo. You're Helgi, right?"
"Yep! Yep!" she responded cheerfully.
"Do you remember what happened here?" Xander asked.
"Not really. I was sick, cold. Everything was dark and then it wasn't," Helgi answered. "Laelette said she was gonna take care of me forever and ever. She plays with me!"
Xander frowned. "Who is Laelette?"
"She's my friend! She plays with me and said she's gonna take care of me now that mommy's gone!" Helgi declared.
A chill ran down Xander's spine. 'Something Hellmouth-y is definitely goin' on here!'
"Do you know where she is? Can a talk to her?" Xander asked carefully.
Helgi frowned. "I don't know where she goes, but she visits me every night."
Xander thought over the situation for a moment. "Tell you what, kiddo. I'll play with you tonight if you take me to meet this Laelette."
"Really!?" Helgi asked excitedly.
"Really, really," Xander confirmed.
"Oh, it's gonna be soooo much fun!" Helgi replied. "Meet me here tonight and I'll take you to her."
"Sure thing," Xander replied with a crooked grin. As Helgi vanished, he frowned and was nearly shaking with anger. 'Looks like vampires are involved after all!'
Swallowing down his anger, Xander left the ruin and headed back to the inn.
"You're back rather quickly," Jonna replied. "Find anything?"
Xander went straight to the bar and leaned in close so that the Orcish bard did not overhear. "Found something all right. Spoke to Helgi's ghost."
Jonna's countenance turned sympathetic, almost mothering. "She was a sweet little girl. Poor thing. She's probably beggin' us to string up her murderin' father. You best tell the Jarl."
"Still no solid proof of anything just yet," Xander replied as he shook his head. "But I have a hunch that he didn't do it." 'Or at least he didn't do it willingly.' He kept that thought to himself, however. There was no need to panic the townsfolk until he knew exactly what he was dealing with and how many were involved.
"Really!?" Jonna gasped.
"Yeah, but I'm still investigating, so if you can keep quiet about that fact for now, I'd be much appreciative." As he said this, he slipped her five septims.
"You don't have to bribe me," Jonna replied a bit tersely.
Xander shrugged. "You're helping me out with this investigation. Consider it payment for services rendered."
Jonna reluctantly took the coins. "All right..."
"There seems to be a bit more going on than what people realize," Xander informed her.
"Anything to be concerned about?" Jonna asked.
"Plenty, so stay indoors after dark and stay on guard. Encourage others to do the same," Xander told her. "I don't want to say anything until I know exactly what's going on. If it's as bad as I think it is, I'll go straight to the Jarl with what I find."
"Okay, but be careful," Jonna whispered. "You're the first paying customer I've had in ages."
Xander chuckled. "If I kick it, you get first refusal of all my stuff when they find my body."
"That's morbid," Jonna responded grimly.
"If you'd seen some of the things I've seen, you'd come to find that having any kind of sense of humor is a must for the line of work I'm in," Xander told her.
"And what exactly do you do?" Jonna asked in concern.
"You really don't wanna know right now," Xander told her. "Trust me on that much, for the time being."
"Is there anything else you needed?" Jonna asked, dropping the subject.
"Have you heard of anyone named Laelette?" Xander asked.
Jonna's eyes widened in alarm. "Do you think she did it?"
"I'm not sure at the moment, but I believe she's involved in one form or another," Xander answered. "Who is she?"
"Thonnir's wife," Jonna informed him. "She disappeared weeks ago- long before the fire happened. Most folks just assumed she ran off to join the rebellion."
"Where can I find Thonnir?" Xander inquired.
"He'd be working at the mill right now," Jonna told him.
"Thanks again," Xander said gratefully as he headed out to meet Thonnir.
As he got there, he was greeted by a blonde man with a green tunic. He had a worn and haggard appearance about him. "Ho, there stranger! What can we do for ya?"
"I'm looking for Thonnir," Xander replied grimly.
"I am he," The nord man said carefully.
"Xander," Xander introduced himself. The two men clasped arms.
"Well me," Thonnir stated. "Now, what business do you have for me?"
"That's something I think we should discuss in private," Xander told him.
"It's about my Laelette, isn't it?" Thonnir replied sadly.
"In a manner of speaking," Xander acknowledged.
"Sh-She's dead... Isn't she? Thonnir inquired sadly.
"I believe so," Xander told him.
"You believe so!?" Thonnir exclaimed angrily. "How can you be unsure!?"
"That's... Complicated..." Xander answered.
"Make it not complicated!" Thonnir snapped.
Xander steeled himself. "Answer some questions for me first and I'll see about getting you some closure."
"What do you want to know?" Thonnir asked angrily.
"Before she disappeared, did anything seem strange to you? Any odd changes of behavior?" Xander asked. "Weird changes in her routine?"
Thonnir looked startled at the line of questioning. "I... Yeah, now that I think about it. She started spending more and more time with Alva."
"What was so weird about that?" Xander asked.
"My Laelette, she despised Alva," Thonnir informed him.
"Really?" Xander asked startledly. The Hellmouth-y feeling came back a hundred fold. "What about the night she left?"
"The night she left, Laelette was supposed to meet up with Alva, only according to Alva, she never showed," Thonnir said. "What's going on? What's with all the questions?"
Xander thought over what he was going to tell the Nord man. After everything, the man deserved some sort of answer. "Meet me at the burned out cottage tonight. You'll get your answers there."
"Hroggar's house?" Thonnir asked in confusion. "Does he have to do with my wife's disappearance?"
"Nothing. At least not directly," Xander answered honestly. "If anything, your wife's disappearance has something to do with what happened to his family."
"I don't understand," Thonnir admitted.
"I can't explain it. I'm not sure you'd believe me," Xander replied. "It's something I'm gonna have to show you. If I'm right... If I'm right, you're wife, Thonnir, didn't rush off to join the Stormcloaks."
"Then what happened to her? Where did she go?" Thonnir demanded to know.
"That's something we're gonna find out tonight," Xander informed him.
It was several hours later, just before sunset, when Durak returned to town.
"Find anything?" Xander asked him.
Durak shook his head. "Nothing. There is a cave I want to check out. Looks like it's seen some use lately. Bandits or smugglers probably."
"Or worse," Xander muttered grimly.
"You found something," Durak stated.
"Vampires," Xander stated with a look of cold anger in his eyes. If Durak didn't know any better he would think Xander an Orc about to enter into a berserker rage. He then recounted investigating the burned cottage and speaking with Helgi's ghost, his conversations with Jonna and Thonnir and the link between Hroggar and Laelette: Alva.
Durak grunted, looking impressed. "I had my doubts about you, kid, but that's impressive work. How do you want to handle this?"
"You're following my lead?" Xander asked in surprise.
Durak shrugged. "You've done just fine without me. This is your investigation. Where you go, I'll follow."
"No pressure," Xander grumbled. "All right, we'll wait for Thonnir and then head to the burned out cottage."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Durak asked.
"No, but he deserves closure and it will help to have a local with us and on our side when we go to the Jarl with our findings," Xander replied.
"I don't like it, getting a civilian involved, but I understand your reasoning," Durak acknowledged.
"Good, because he's on his way," Xander informed him. "He doesn't know about his wife or Alva being vamps yet. I haven't told anyone anything just yet, just in case I was wrong in any of my conclusions."
"Smart," Durak commented. "It also lessens the chance of a panicking the local population or tipping our hand to the vampire menace nearby."
Xander nodded and then walked up to greet the newly arrived Thonnir. "Ho, Thonnir!"
"Xander," Thonnir replied, clasping his arm with Xander's. "Who's your friend?"
"Durak," the Orc answered as he clasped Thonnir's arm in greeting. "You ready?"
Thonnir hefted his steel war axe. "As I'll ever be."
"Good." Durak stated.
"What're you expecting to find?" Thonnir asked. By this time, the sun was set and the stars had begun to appear in the sky.
"A ghost," Xander answered.
"A-A ghost...?" Thonnir replied nervously.
Durak and Xander exchanged a quick glance at one another.
"Are you gonna be able to handle this?" Xander asked Thonnir.
Thonnir straightened up, checking his own resolve- bolstering it. "I need to know."
Durak grinned. "Looks like you have some spine after all."
"Durak," Xander warned. Thonnir looked more than a little offended at the insinuation that he was a coward.
Durak simple grunted as the trio continued towards Hroggar's burned down home. Each of them shivered as they stepped over the threshold of the once home.
"Helgi?" Xander called out softly.
"Shhhh!" Helgi replied as she materialized before them. "She'll hear you. She's really close by." The young girl vanished once more, before materializing outside of the ruins. "C'mon!" she whispered. She started up the hill, but vanished once more.
"I don't like this," Thonnir grumbled.
"What's up that way?" Durak asked Thonnir.
"The cemetery," Thonnir answered.
"Let's do as Helgi said," Xander suggested. Durak, hefted his shield and drew his war axe while Xander unslung the crossbow from his back. Taking a cue from the, unbeknownst to him, vampire hunters, he drew his own war axe as well. The three of them moved swiftly and silently as they crested the hill. When they got there, they noticed one of the graves had been dug up. Judging by the size of the coffin, Xander guessed that this was Helgi's grave.
"Who would do this?" Thonnir asked as they approached the coffin.
"MAKE LAELETTE GO AWAY!" Helgi shouted as she pointed off to the side.
They each turned as Laelette emerged from the tree line, steel dagger in hand as she charged them. Durak intercepted her and bashed her with his shield, full charge. She went sailing into the air, and landed with a hard thud. Seeing Durak approaching her menacingly, Laelette scrambled to her feet, only to receive a crossbow bolt to the leg, crippling her. Xander was quick to reload and shot another bolt at her, striking her shoulder and causing her to stumble. Another well placed bolt to her other leg finally halted her escape. She turned to face them and hissed at them, her vampiric features visible for them all to see in the light of the moon.
"L-Laelette…?" said a heartbroken Thonnir.
The vampire looked stricken at the sight of her husband. "Th-Thonnir… I…"
"Oh, Laelette…" Thonnir said as he dropped to his knees.
Laelette stuttered. "I… What's happened to me!?"
Thonnir swallowed. "You… You're a vampire… How? How did this happen?"
"It was Alva, wasn't it, Laelette?" Xander asked. "She did this to you."
"Y-Yes…" Laelette sobbed. "I-I'm so sorry! The… The things I've done! I'm so sorry!"
"So am I." Xander empathized before firing a bolt straight into her chest, killing her instantly. Laelette's body turned into a pile of ash, which was promptly and carefully collected by Durak.
"Why?" Thonnir asked devastatedly.
Xander and Durak looked at one another, trying to figure out how to explain what happened.
It was Helgi who answered him as she rematerialized. "She was told to burn mommy and me. She didn't want to though. She wanted to play with me forever and ever, so she kissed me on the neck. I got so cold that the fire didn't even hurt. Laelette thought she could take me and keep me, but she couldn't cuz I was all burned up."
"I… I don't know what to say…" Thonnir said to Helgi. "I… I'm sorry…"
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault," Helgi assured Thonnir. She then turned to Xander and Durak. "It isn't done yet. The bad lady still has daddy. You have to hurry. The bad men might come soon!" Helgi then vanished from sight.
"What's going on? What did she mean by all that?" Thonnir demanded.
Xander and Durak exchanged glances once more. Durak nodded at Xander.
"A lot of this is just hearsay and guesswork, but as far as I can figure, a group of vampires set up a nest somewhere nearby," Xander explained. "Alva was sent ahead to infiltrate the town. As for as I can tell, Hroggar wasn't turned, so she probably took him as a thrall."
"And my Laelette? How does she figure into this?" Thonnir asked piteously.
"I'm not entirely sure," Xander admitted. "She might have found out Alva's secret or she might have just been a target of opportunity. Either way, Alva turned her and likely ordered her to kill Hroggar's family while making it look like an accident. Probably so she could use Hroggar as a live in servant and daytime bodyguard."
"This… This is too much…!" Thonnir told them.
"It's not over yet," Durak reminded him. "We still have one more abomination in town to take care of and then we gotta tack down that nest."
"I'm willing to bet my weight in gold that they're holed up in that cave you spotted earlier," Xander commented.
"Agreed," Durak replied.
"So what do we do now?" Thonnir asked.
"Confront Alva," Xander stated. "But we have to be careful when we do. While he's still under her thrall, Hroggar will attack us if he even suspects Alva's in danger. So we need to knock him out first. Durak."
Durak nodded. "I'll take care of it."
"I'll confront Alva directly," Xander stated decisively. "Distract her."
"For what purpose?" Thonnir asked.
"For you to alert the guard and ransack her place and see if you can't find proof of what she is and what she's done," Xander said. "Durak, it would probably be a good idea for you join me after you've dealt with Hroggar."
Durak nodded in agreement. "Sound good."
"And after she's dealt with?" Thonnir asked.
"Then me and Durak go hunting," Xander informed him.
"I want to help!" Thonnir declared.
"Thonnir…" Xander began before the angry nord cut off what he was going to say.
"Those beasts took my wife from me! My son will grow up without a mother because of them!" Thonnir argued.
"And if something goes wrong, he'll grow up without a father." Xander rebutted.
"I… I can't just do nothing!" Thonnir complained.
"You're not," Xander replied. "Live well and raise your son like your wife would have wanted. If you die and leave your son an orphan, they win."
"He's right," Durak added. "You have proven yourself a courageous and honorable man, but you are no warrior and even if you were, these are not men, but vicious animals who can think and reason and hold a blade just the same as you or me. We are trained for this. Allow us to do our duty and avenge your wife in your stead."
"I… Okay… You've made your point," Thonnir reluctantly agreed. "But you better get those bastards. Leave none of them alive!"
"On my honor," Xander pledged as he thumped his fist over his chest. "So, we all know what to do?" Upon receiving two positive confirmations, he then gave them the order. "Let's get to it then. Moonlight's a-wastin'."
The three men then went their separate ways.
It didn't take long for Xander to find Alva.
"Oh, hello," she said to him seductively. "Are you new in town?"
'No wonder Hroggar was so quick to fall under her mind whammy,' Xander thought as he struggled to keep his wits about him. "As a matter of fact, just got in today, lookin' for some sort of work."
"Oh!" She gasped excitedly, which did wonderful things to her chest, which was all but bared to him under the pale light of the moon. "So are you an adventurer or a mercenary?"
Xander unslung the crossbow from his back, though he didn't point it at her. "Vampire hunter, actually."
Alva's demeanor shifted rather quickly at that point. She was no longer flirty and the glare he leveled at him would have sent lesser men running in fear. Her tone was positively frosty. "I see…"
"Is it just me, or did the temperature out here just drop several degrees," Xander inquired. "I suppose even if it did, you likely wouldn't even notice, being room temperature and all."
"I'm going to kill you," Alva hissed.
"I'd like to see you try," Durak taunted from behind her, war axe drawn.
"Stop right there!" shouted a Hjaalmarch guard.
"Oh thank the Eight!" Alva gasped dramatically as she went to run to the guard. She was about to discover her act was all for naught.
"Stay back, creature!" the guard ordered her, his sword drawn and pointed right at her.
She dropped her act and her eyes began to glow brightly. "I see…"
"Can we kill it now?" Xander asked the guard.
"You have permission to dispose of the abomination," the guard told them.
Before she could react, Xander shot her. Alva's head tilted back as she cried out in pain, which didn't last long as Durak stepped forward and decapitated her in a single swing. He then began to collect her ashes, though with less reverence than he had Laelette's. Laelette's ashes had been kept separate from the common alchemy ingredients and given to her husband.
Alva's would get no such considerations.
"Is it done?" asked Ingrod Ravencrone, the Jarl of Hjaalmarch.
"There's still the nest to take care of," Xander informed her. "We'll go there at first light and take care of them."
"Good," Jarl Ingrod said approvingly.
It only took them a few hours that morning to clear out the den. They were joined by a mountainous Nord man named Brenor, who had been in love with Alva and felt betrayed by her actions against his hometown. The master vampire in charge of the coven was a former vampire hunter named Movarth. Xander would never forget what had happened when they'd slain the last vampire.
It had been a long morning as the trip trudged their way out of the former vampire lair when Helgi appeared before them. "Thank you! Thank you for getting the bad men! Now me and mommy can finally go to sleep!"
He then faded, for what Xander suspected was for the final time. It took great effort to hold back the emotions he was feeling. Regardless, he still whispered back to her. "Sleep tight, kid…"
Durak placed a comforting hand on Xander's shoulder for a brief moment before he and Brenor made their way out of the cave. Xander stood looking at the spot where Helgi had once been before following them out.
Hroggar was horrified by everything that had transpired when he finally came to. Xander had no idea how the man would cope. They were also paid handsomely by Jarl Ingrod. Thonnir, Durak and Xander each received 75 septims a piece for discovering the truth behind the murder of Hroggar's family. Xander, Durak and Brenner each received another 150 septims for clearing the nest.
Xander, since he'd led the investigation and discovered everything independently was made a Thane of Hjaalmarch and was granted the services of Valdimar who was assigned to be his housecarl. This was in light of things revealed in Alva's journal. The vampires had been working on sacking the town and covertly taking over the hold and could have quite possibly succeeded if not for the efforts Xander and Durak when they arrived in Morthal.
They stayed a few more days at the Moorside Inn before they decided to move on with Valdimar in tow, Xander now in possession of an enchanted steel longsword called the Blade of Hjaalmarch, which was to serve as his badge of office while within the borders of the hold.
Despite leaving Morthal in high spirits, Xander was in troubled by something he'd found in Movarth's lair- a glowing orb that spoke to him.
Meridia's Beacon.
"Thane Xander, I don't presume to tell you your business, but I recommend against getting involved," Valdimar said as he made his opinion on the matter known. "One shouldn't interfere in the affairs of daedra."
Durak, however, disagreed. "You don't want to risk offending a Daedric Prince."
"I can't say I've really heard anything about Meridia," Xander told them. "Can either of you tell me about this Prince."
"Not much is really known about her," Durak replied. "She doesn't appear to really have any cults based around her like most of the other Princes do. I do know she hates the undead, so it's possible that either the vampires stole the beacon or she planted it there to get our attention after we wiped them out."
"Admittedly, she is seen as a good daedra, or at least not one that's not wholly evil," Valdimar added.
"Because as a higher being we cannot always know what motivates her," Xander guessed.
Valdimar and Durak both nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna see what she want," Xander decided. "If she hates the undead as much as you say, Durak, then she might be able to give us something to fight vampires with."
"Then I will join you," Durak declared. "It'll do me some good to test my mettle against whatever this prince throws at us."
"Valdimar," Xander addressed his housecarl.
"Yes, my Thane?' Valdimar responded.
"I'm not going to force you to help us if seeing what this Daedric Prince wants makes you uncomfortable," Xander assured him. "So if you want to head back to Morthal or wait in Solitude for us, I'll understand. Would it be okay if he made his way to Fort Dawnguard, Durak?"
"As long as he isn't a vampire, I don't see Isran having a problem with it," Durak said with a shrug.
"I appreciate the thought, but I am sworn to your service, my Thane and I will protect you wherever your adventures take you," Valdimar declared.
"Good to have you with us then," Xander replied with a grin.
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