256 Chapter LXXVII: The Ancestor Glade

"I swear I need to do this kind of thing more often." I sigh contentedly as smoke leaves my mouth, the wooden chair below me squeaking as I lightly move back and forth, a light hum coming to mind as one of those songs you can't ever identify stuck itself in my mind.

An annoyed grunt drew me from my relaxation, Isran's eternal frown coming into my sight as I tilted my head "Something bothering you?" I ask conversationally.

It takes him a moment to respond "I despise this waiting." He grinds out, the mere act of complaining looking as if brought him actual physical pain.

"Well, brooding about it won't make our departure any swifter so you might as well relax." I wave his concerns off with a shrug.

"Hmph" He exhales "It is easy for you to think that. Each moment we spend here is another the vampires might be using to reach us or achieve some other goal."

"Even if they were to reach us Scorch would alert me immediately." I point out needlessly "And even someone as stubborn and strong willed as you needs to relax from time to time or you will just burst from the tension."

"I will relax when I die." He grinds out almost instinctually.

"And you will die because you refuse to relax." I quip "You are not an idiot, you know how these things work."

I can see him visibly force himself to nod "Fine."

"That's what I am talking about." I give him a cheerful thumbs up, much to his confusion "So, Isran care to tell me a bit about yourself? All I know is the broody leader of the Dawnguard, what about the you before this?"

He takes a long gulp of mead and looks into the distance, where some of my people were sitting in a circle and playing some kind of game with tossing rocks "It is not a happy tale." He says finally.

"Well duh." I immediately say, earning a light glare "You wouldn't be this constantly wound up if your life was pretty, I meant if there was something you are fighting for beyond merely surviving."

He is silent for a while yet but then speaks "Fighting is all I've ever known." He says as somberly as he is able "Ever since my family was slain in front of my eyes by Balite cultists I've dedicated my entire existence to seeking them out and putting an end to their evil."

"And so you joined the Vigilants." I finish for him.

"Yes." He nods, a tinge of pride in his voice "Celann and I joined at the same time, we dedicated everything to our training and studies, and we finally seemed to have found purpose in our lives, to go beyond mere revenge and to protect those who can not protect themselves." His gaze turns wistful at that.

"But something changed, no?" I ask "Something that forced you to leave the order."

"Too extreme they called us." He says bitterly "I admit that we may have gone too far in some of our assignments, our zeal was blinding and we ended up harming an innocent in our pursuit of the Daedra and their pawns." He pointedly avoids saying anything about my own entanglements.

Yay for Dunmeri privilege I guess?

"And so we were expelled from the order, our arms and armor the last gifts they would grant us." He continues after a short pause "From then on we worked as mercenaries, hunting down the Daedra for coin instead of a sense of duty, we were too dedicated to waste the money so when we finally saved up enough we managed to buy the rights to Dayspring Canyon after eradicating a particularly troublesome group of vampires near Riften."

"Hey if you can do something well you should get paid for it." I shrug, completely ignoring his surprise at my lack of judgment "You need to eat and arm yourself, nothing wrong with taking honest pay for honest work. And let me guess, you managed to get the 'Law-Giver' to sell the land for cheap?" 

"Not fond of the good Jarl?" He raises an eyebrow and quickly adds "Besides the obvious."

"Yes, I am indeed not fond of the rebels." I deadpan and note a hint of amusement in the man's eyes "But no" I shake my head "My gripes with Laila are her complete and utter failure to bring her hold to a semblance of order. I see more than most and Riften was a genuinely disgusting place to find one's self in."

"Ergo someone that incompetent would sell a powerful fortress for a mere pittance." Isran finishes for me.

I nod easily "Exactly. But let us get back to the point, what does Isran the man, not Isran the Dawnguard want from life? What do you plan to do after we've dealt with Harkon?"

He turns completely silent at my question, a silence that stretches on for minutes as he contemplates his life, only for him to answer with a defeated sigh "I do not know."

"Well you better start thinking about it before it is too late." I get up and pat him on the back, much to his irritation "You can't ever win if you accept defeat before the battle had even started."

As I walk away I hear him mutter "As if a child needs to tell me this much."

Without turning around I twist my fingers and hear a light snap as his chair breaks and he falls on his ass. His glare following me all the way as I went to seek the others.

The atmosphere within the glade was one of joviality, yet the subtle supernatural aura of peace was always at the edge of my senses, allowing me to let my guard down without the usual worries.

Dexion was still seated in his earlier place, stuck in his meditative state. I could feel the remaining light the ancestor moths brought with them slowly being channeled into him, slowly but surely relieving him of the strain he had put himself under while reading the scrolls.

The little game the guards were playing was joined by a curious Alor, the soldiers under my command treating him with great respect as he was known to be in my favor did put him off for a bit but the ever-curious Falmer had them relaxed and treating him as one of them before long, his youthful enthusiasm about anything and everything making it quite hard for people to keep him at a distance, respectful or no.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Davos talking to Nightshade, both of them still kept a somewhat awkward distance from each other but even if they remained looking serious I could easily see them enjoying each other's company. It was almost cute how they pretended nothing was going on the moment I purposefully looked their way.

A moment of staring later I let out a chortle as Davos flipped me the bird and grabbed the surprised Falmer by the shoulder, leading her away.

"Oh, I am so going to annoy the shit out of him for that later." I rub my hands conspiratorially and let out another burst of laughter as I see him slightly stumble before leaving my sight fully.

As I approach my destination a hushed string of words reaches my ears "-you don't understand mother, it wasn't just my soul that was released, it was as if my whole being was changed and for the better at that."

"That is what you say, but did you not take a moment to consider the risks?" The voice of Valerica retorts harshly, though I feel the hidden motherly worry behind the cold tone.

"What is done is done." Serana responds with equal firmness "And are you not listening to me? He saved my life!" She hisses.

"From a situation you would not have been in if not for his demands in the first place!"

Before the squabble can proceed any further I clear my throat "Ladies."

I can see Serana visibly sag in relief as I make myself known, the flash of stink-eye she directs toward her mother was so human I could almost forget she was a being more ancient than most nations.

"You!" Valerica rounds onto me, though her demeanor swiftly becomes a bit more respectful and subdued after I simply raise my eyebrow.

I wasn't taking any shit from her, no matter the situation.

She takes a calming breath and speaks "What did you do to her?"

"If you are referring to the sudden lack of hate the sun holds for her, I simply freed her from her bindings." I say easily as if that explained everything.

"And what about the consequences?" The worried mother asks, almost frantically "Did you check to make sure your actions did not leave her weak or worse, mortal?"

"Firstly she is a capable enough mage that mortality really isn't the issue here." I give her a pointed look "And secondly we have been testing the consequences ever since and she has shown no negative results, in fact she has grown stronger and far more powerful than before, even unlocking a new ability."

"And you are certain of this?" Valerica taps her foot "Is there nothing you could have missed?"

I roll my eyes and assure her "I had the other archmages give her a check, she is in no danger."

"Fine." The older vampire exhales, visibly deflating before she turns to her daughter "And what of this... new ability?"

Serana gives me a questioning look but I merely shrug. She turns back to her mother "I can... drain other vampires and steal a fragment of their power."

Valerica turns completely silent, her eyes moving from her daughter and then to me, the cycle repeating itself for a good couple of minutes. The words that leave her mouth next leave me palming my face and Serana looking at her with complete and utter disappointment.

"You must be the one to slay Harkon then." Valerica declares with complete certainty.

"What?" The younger vampire mutters flatly.

Already used to the song and dance Valerica immediately explains herself "If you wish to never be anyone's tool again then you should become so powerful that no one will be able to even consider it. Harkon will die, of this I have no doubt." She gives me a nod "But we must consider what comes after."

"I do not know..." Serana says uncertainly.

"It makes a fair amount of sense, actually." I interject after a brief consideration "If you can stomach doing it then you would be taking both his power and position, which would allow you to keep what vampires remain under control and any mortal forces from demanding your head."

"You agree?" Both the mother and daughter say at the same time, then share a surprised look.

"I do indeed, it would be foolish to waste such an opportunity." I nod "Though obviously if you don't want to do it then no one will force you." I give Valerica a pointed look "No one."

"Of course." The mother nods easily.

Serana fidgets uncomfortably, obviously confused and surprised by the development, so instead of forcing her to decide now, I speak "In any case, that is something that can be dealt with later. This place is too bright for that kind of gloomy talk so we should make the most of it." I turn to Valerica "So how about that woodcarving technique?"

Seemingly amused by my blatant change of topic, the elder vampire lets out an amused huff "Fine, sit down and take notes, I will not repeat myself."

We spend the rest of our time discussing far less worrisome things, both of the vampires finally managing to relax after an entire hour of my prodding. I even managed to make Valerica admit that I was her superior when it came to enchanting, and all it took was summoning my shroud.

Damn does that woman have some high standards.

Our rest lasted for almost the whole day, the tense group of Dawnguards joining in with the soldiers after they realized nothing would happen in my presence. We spoke and made merry until everyone was content and rested.

Then, as Dexion rose from his meditation, we marched north.

It was finally time to get me some prime real estate.

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(General POV)

A mere three hours after Reyvin's party left, a large group of heavily armed vampires arrived at the glade only to find nothing at all save for an extinguished campfire and the tracks belonging to the holy ground's previous visitors.

It did not take them long to come to a conclusion about what happened and as blame was assigned a bloody fight erupted leaving only a couple of them alive at the end of it. They all ran to Cyrodiil in hopes of avoiding their master's wrath.

The imperial province's vampires had them hunted down within the week.

No one wanted the heat of Harkon's brood anywhere near them, especially not the masquerading nobility of the heartland.

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If you do not rock the stone

you ain't going back home.

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