"I am absolutely against this."
Serana introduced herself and requested that we take her home.
However, Tolan refused to the bitter end, claiming that walking straight into a vampire's den was utter madness.
"If they realize we protected her, they won't be so hostile toward us."
"He's right!"
The Dragonborn chipped in from the side to support me.
"No matter how I look at it, this is a dangerous decision."
"I think staying away is the right call too..."
It seemed Meriden Eloise and Lydia found Tolan's argument more rational; neither of them looked particularly thrilled about heading to a vampire castle.
'Well... I can't blame them. No one in their right mind wants to hang around a place crawling with bloodsuckers.'
I understood their judgment perfectly well.
"Then how about this!"
Ultimately, the Dragonborn suggested a decent compromise.
We stepped away from Serana and Tolan, huddling together so only the four of us could hear.
"The plan is..."
Serana, the Dragonborn, and I would head for the castle, while the other three would return to Fort Dawnguard.
As a precaution, I had Lydia take a Soul Gem infused with my Magicka.
That way, if things went south, I could use a teleport to return to safety instantly. It was a solid backup strategy.
"That sounds acceptable."
"I think that's for the best..!"
"Then it's settled?"
Fortunately, they all agreed.
And so, the Dragonborn and I set off to escort Serana to her home, while Lydia, Eloise, and Tolan made their way back to Fort Dawnguard.
"Mister, we're really going to be okay, right?"
The Dragonborn walking beside me asked with a worried face. For the record, Serana was trailing about three meters behind us.
The girl trusted my game knowledge, but she was still inherently anxious.
"Don't sweat it."
In the game, once you entered that castle, the player couldn't even draw a weapon—it was purely a dialogue zone.
Naturally, the vampires wouldn't attack us either.
It might not play out exactly like the game, but as long as we stayed quietly by Serana's side, nothing major should happen.
We descended the mountains surrounding Dimhollow Crypt and headed toward the nearest city, Morthal.
Since the sun was already setting, we decided to spend the night there and hire a carriage the next morning.
"I'm sorry... but we only have one double room left."
The innkeeper at the Moorside Inn spoke with an apologetic shrug.
Only one room available for rent in the entire inn.
"What do we do...?"
The Dragonborn wouldn't care much, but Serana was the problem.
A noblewoman born to royalty spending a cramped night in a shabby inn room with two other people—that seemed unreasona—
"It doesn't matter to me."
Serana spoke flatly.
She knew she was the one receiving help; she wasn't so shameless as to complain about something like this.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"Yes. Don't worry about it."
So, the three of us filed into the double room.
A large bed sat in the center, flanked by a desk, a table, and a small wardrobe in the corner.
"This is enough for me."
Serana sat in the chair in front of the desk, yielding the bed to us.
"Can you really sleep at a desk?"
"I don't need to sleep. I've done nothing but sleep for over a century, haven't I?"
"Ah... right."
Besides, she was a vampire. She'd be even more wide awake during the night.
In any case, thanks to her yielding, the Dragonborn and I got to sleep on the soft bed. Exhausted from the journey, I succumbed to sleep almost instantly.
'Suspicious...'
Unlike me, who was snoring away, the Dragonborn kept her eyes half-open, glaring at Serana, who was staring blankly from her seat at the desk.
Even if I said it was safe and the girl didn't feel any immediate threat, she couldn't easily fall asleep with a vampire sitting right next to her.
She was likely thinking that Serana might be pretending to be harmless just to trick us.
Whether she watched or not, Serana simply leaned against the desk, lost in thought as she stared into the void.
In the end, while I had a peaceful slumber, the two women spent the entire night awake.
"You okay? You look pretty ragged."
"Yawn... just eat, Mister..."
The next morning, we were having a simple breakfast at the inn, and the Dragonborn's condition was clearly terrible.
She had heavy dark circles under her eyes.
'I told her a dozen times it was fine... I guess she didn't get a wink of sleep after all.'
Well, she's the Dragonborn. She'll manage. She can sleep all she wants once we get back to Breezehome.
More importantly, unlike me and the Dragonborn, Serana hadn't even touched her food.
She just watched the soup and bread grow cold with a vacant gaze.
'In the game, hunger wasn't a thing for her... but does she really only eat human flesh and blood?'
As far as I knew, the vampires of Skyrim—much like those in movies and novels—relied on blood and flesh as their staple diet.
I had never seen Serana tearing into human meat in the game, but now that this was reality, she almost certainly shared the same diet as any other vampire.
The Dragonborn seemed to be thinking the same thing as she watched Serana skip the meal.
Then, she whispered to me.
"Can't we just... not go?"
It looked like the journey to Castle Volkihar was going to be an exhausting one.
**
—Slice!
In the depths of a cold, dark dungeon, Camilla Valerius decapitated a Draugr.
"Phew..."
"Looks like we've cleared out the vermin."
She was currently at Snow Veil Sanctum with Mercer Frey, searching for the traitor, Karliah.
After mopping up the Draugr and other monsters, they pushed deeper into the ruin in search of their target.
Eventually, they reached a dead end. It wasn't a mere wall, but more of a puzzle.
A groove was carved into the center, designed to fit something like a claw.
"What's this?"
Camilla asked, tracing the animal engravings on the wall with her hand.
"A puzzle I know all too well."
Mercer pulled a set of tools from a small pouch at his waist and solved the puzzle with expert proficiency.
—Rumble!
The stone wall slid downward, revealing a vast chamber beyond.
It was good that the problem was solved quickly, but the keen-witted Camilla found it slightly odd.
'Between the entrance and this... he seems to know this place far too well.'
However, she brushed the thought aside and moved on.
"Well then, after you?"
Once the wall was fully open, Mercer gestured for her to go first with a mocking air of gallantry.
Camilla didn't like how this man—who normally didn't possess a shred of consideration—was acting so polite and yielding now, but she didn't voice her complaint and took the lead.
—Whizz!
Suddenly, an arrow flew out from the darkness.
Her sharp senses picked up the sound, but it was already too late to dodge.
"Urgh!"
The moment the arrow sank into her arm, her muscles seized up. She couldn't even twitch a finger.
"Who's there!"
Mercer, following behind her, shouted into the gloom.
"How disappointing. I was aiming for you, Mercer."
The culprit behind the arrow was the very woman they had been hunting: Karliah.
"Karliah... purchasing Goldenglow and supporting Honningbrew. An impressive series of maneuvers."
Karliah replied from the distance.
"To defeat an enemy, first collapse his alliances. Gallus's first lesson."
Mercer let out a chuckle, as if genuinely impressed.
"Haha, you always were a quick study. Had you been even quicker, perhaps Gallus wouldn't have had to die."
'Wait? What does that mean?'
Though her body was paralyzed, Camilla's mind and hearing were perfectly functional. She heard every word.
Karliah's voice thundered with rage at his shocking revelation.
"Have you forgotten the oath we three took as Nightingales? Do you truly think you'll get away with this!?"
"Shut your mouth and come at me! I'll send you to join Gallus!"
Mercer drew his blade and spat back, but Karliah seemed to have no intention of fighting a losing battle.
"No. Crossing blades with you would be nothing short of suicide."
Karliah told Mercer that the next time they met would be his last breath. Then, she downed an Invisibility Potion and vanished on the spot.
"Ha! Pesky little stray..."
Mercer was frustrated that he'd lost Karliah right in front of him, but he quickly regained his composure.
He turned and walked slowly toward the collapsed Camilla.
"You heard it all, didn't you? I'm sorry, but I can't let you walk away knowing the truth."
He added a brief thank you for her work for the guild thus far, and then—
—Stab!
He plunged his sword into her left shoulder, right through the artery.
"Savor your death slowly."
With that, Mercer left Camilla on the freezing dungeon floor and calmly walked away.
'Damn it..! I can't move.'
Camilla desperately wanted to reach for her wound and staunch the bleeding, but her body refused to obey.
Normally, the effects of a paralysis poison should have faded by now, but for some reason, she remained completely immobile.
'This is... bad...'
She felt her consciousness flickering. The oxygen reaching her brain was thinning.
Because Mercer had severed an artery, it was certain she would bleed out given enough time.
Camilla knew this all too well, yet there was nothing she could do.
'Mother, Father, Brother...'
They say when a human is about to die, the brain replays about seven minutes of happy memories.
Memories of birthday parties with her family, playing joyfully with friends her age, and running the shop with her brother back in Riverwood.
And...
The man who, despite their short time together, had taught Camilla the bittersweet sting of a first love.
"Hehe..."
Immersed in those happy memories, Camilla let out a faint smile and slowly drifted into a sleep from which she would never wake.