//------------------------------// // 33: The Vampire's Artifact // Story: Sunset's Adventure in Skyrim // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Sunset spent an hour speaking with Isran and his right hand man, the orc named Durak, and laid out the specifics of what it meant for them to be allies with her alliance. In the beginning Isran seemed annoyed that his soldiers wouldn't be able to hunt down vampires and kill them where they stood, to which Fiona informed him that not all vampires were out to destroy Nirn. At this point both Sunset and Fiona were convinced that Revan had some plot working in the background, one that Fiona was also convinced had something to do with Lord Harkon, who she also refused to offer any information on. In the end Isran finally accepted the terms of the agreement that came with the Dawnguard, to which he decided to send a squad of ten soldiers with Sunset, her friends, and Vigilant Tolan. He said that they were supposed to get the lay of Fellglow Keep and settle into a routine with the factions that were already allied with Sunset, so that when the threat Revan posed was over the others would be free to join the cause. Sunset was sure that she'd be seeing them a lot sooner than that, if Tirek was still wandering the land and destroying whatever he came across. With her group now doubled, or even tripled, Sunset and her band departed from Fort Dawnguard, but even as they departed the fort Sunset had to wonder how they were going to get everyone to Fellglow Keep. The answer, however, turned out to be the horses that the soldiers had gathered and trained, which meant that they would be riding alongside Sunset and her friends when they reached Riften and got on the carriage. Reaching the city was the easiest part of the journey, though the carriage driver didn't seem to mind the fact that he was going to be followed by a group of heavily armed soldiers. Sunset was no longer surprised that they had stopped running into enemies to fight along the road, as the bandits were basically all gone, the Forsworn had been destroyed, and anyone else that would cause harm to others wouldn't dare attack her. As they began the journey towards Whiterun, and the soldiers fell in around the carriage, Sunset sighed and stared out at the open sky, trying to figure out what Revan and Tirek would want with the vampires. She was sure that Tirek wanted them removed from the equation, which lead her to believe that Revan was waiting for a weakness before he struck the vampires down... that was if he was involved with Tirek. "I see that your thinking about him as well," Fiona commented, causing Sunset to look at the vampire for a moment, "Its okay Sunset, I've been thinking about Revan since I saw him in Falkreath... thinking back to all the times I tried to kill him for everything he's done. Back to when I thought he was dead, only for him to show up a few years later with a new plan aimed at everyone else across Nirn. I trust you know enough about the Oblivion Crisis by now?" "Of course," Sunset replied, having read about one of the most dangerous times in the empire's history about three days after she arrived in Skyrim, "It was when the Emperor and his known heirs were killed and Mehrunes Dagon tried to enter Tamriel in his true form, only to be stopped by Martin Septim." "Revan was alive during that time period," Fiona explained, sighing as she recalled what happened, "According to what I've heard him say he was actually an active member of the Mythic Dawn, the cult that nearly destroyed the world, but he never followed the rest of his comrades to the promised 'Paradise'. Instead he chose to stay on Nirn, so he could watch the end of the world for himself, but what he got was a front row seat for Dagon's defeat and the sealing of Oblivion. After that fateful day he's been biding his time, looking for a way to shatter the barrier that protects our world, so he could finish what he started an era ago. As I previous said, I've been trying to kill him for the better part of the fourth era, but every single time I think I've finally killed him he appears somewhere else. It would not surprise me if he was serving Tirek, as it seems like that dremora actually has a chance at shattering the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion. If Revan actually stands against us then all I can hope for is that we find him swiftly and deliver to him a true death, so that he may never bother Nirn again." Sunset was in agreement with Fiona, as the more she learned about Revan the more she began to think she had been right with her feeling not to trust him when she first spotted him. He had been one of the reasons that the Oblivion Crisis had happened in the first place, which told her that he might be getting ready for a similar event... one that hadn't happened yet. Tirek's plan was to shatter the barrier between worlds so he could return to Equus, which would also allow the forces of Oblivion to enter whatever was left of Nirn... if anything survived his departure. Sunset was determined to destroy Revan the next time they met, so she could avoid whatever disaster he was planning on creating for the rest of Nirn. ---------------------------------------------- When the carriage arrived at Whiterun Sunset and her companions immediately set out for Fellglow Keep, where she was ready to introduce the newest addition of allies to the other faction leaders. Truth be told she was somewhat concerned for how quickly they were eating the area around the keep, as she feared that Jarl Balgruuf would eventually put a stop to their expansion. What continued to happen was the allowance of land that continued to be added to their keep, where Jarl's Ulfric and Ravencrone added bits and pieces to the additions that Balgruuf was already giving them. In fact the entirety of what used to be Winterhold Hold had been handed over to them as well, giving them plenty of places where they could construct new buildings for their allies. Fellglow Keep was, in essence, the new ninth Hold of Skyrim, replacing what Tirek had destroyed and giving hope to everyone that ended up displaced by the demon. Sunset was sure that the Jarl's wanted her to become the new Jarl of the newest Hold, but she was too busy with making sure that Tirek and his allies didn't burn down Nirn, so she was sure that Elenwen had elected Korir in her stead. She was sure that the act made the middle aged nord happy, as he was important to Skyrim once more after the majority of his Hold had been destroyed many years ago in the Great Collapse. As Sunset and her friends walked into the fort she immediately noticed Delphine and Elenwen walking over to them, though their eyes were on the soldiers behind them. "I see you found another faction to enlist the help of," Delphine commented, taking a look at the soldiers was they dismounted their horses and nodding a bit, "and, if I'm not mistaken, the symbols on their shields means that we're including the Dawnguard into our list of allies. So, when should we be expecting the leader and the rest of his faction to arrive?" "We have an arrangement set up at the moment," Sunset explained, glad that Delphine was pleased by what she had seen, "We help Isran destroy whatever foul plan that Revan is cooking up and then, when he's dead and Nirn is safer, the Dawnguard will be free to join us. These are some of the soldiers that Isran is willing to send to us at the moment, so I guess you'll want to see what they can do before assigning to a post in the keep." Delphine nodded and beckoned for the soldiers to follow her, no doubt taking them to Orak so the two of the could test the soldiers skill in combat. Before Sunset moved to the main keep, and retired for the evening, she noticed that Elenwen was still patiently waiting for her turn to speak, to which Sunset sighed and nodded to her. "Is there anything else that's happened since I left?" Sunset asked, wondering if she could get an idea of where Tirek might actually be located, so they could begin planning the assault on his base. "Only one thing I'm afraid," Elenwen told her, a sigh escaping from the altmer, "A few of our scouts went back to the town of Falkreath to pick up some of the lumber that had been left behind during the evacuation, only to discover something horrible. The town was completely destroyed, swallowed by the earth around it like some violent earthquake had hit mere hours after the people had left their homes behind. I'm sure you know what this means?" "Tirek has struck at last," Sunset replied, almost moaning at the news, because she knew what his next move would be, "and he won't be in Falkreath anymore... he's likely gone somewhere else to hide, so we don't find him before he gains his full power. That's two Holds this demon has destroyed... two places that people called home and raised their children in." "We are still searching the Reach and the Rift," Elenwen said, mentioning Sunset's suggestion to both Tullius and Ulfric a few days ago, "but while we haven't found anything yet the search has been expanded to the others Holds. A few of our scouts have visited the various Forsworn camps and found that they had been capturing people, so that they could be sacrificed to whoever they worshiped. Men, women, and even a few children, all girls for some odd reason, were found, but it seems that the moment they were ordered to stop their operations and begin marching they did so without pause. Don't worry about us Archmage, we'll find wherever that foul dremora calls home and begin planning our assault... we just need the time to find where that location is." "And we'll win this war against him," Sunset promised, knowing that they had decent chances at besting him now that the Daedric Princes were safe from his grasp, "that I can promise you and everyone that's allied with us." Elenwen nodded and returned to what she had been doing before their arrival, allowing Sunset and her friends to retire to their beds for the evening and get some well deserved sleep. ---------------------------------------------- When morning arrived Sunset was pleased to find that the activity of her forces matched what both Solitude and Windhelm could produce from their soldiers. Everyone was doing something, whether it was building new buildings for those that were recently joining the alliance, digging up ore and smelting them into weapons and armor, or preparing to leave the fort so they could patrol wherever Delphine and Elenwen were sending them. Orak and a number of soldiers lined the various walls of the fortress, giving them the ability to see all around them and spot anything that might be out of the ordinary, such as an army if one happened to show up unannounced. Even as Sunset walked out to the courtyard, where she spotted several new trees being added to the area, she noticed that several of the residents of Whiterun had come to the fortress, seeking to add their strength to the cause. The Fellglow Alliance, a name that Elenwen, Delphine, and the other factions leaders agreed on, was beginning to take on the shape of a formidable army. Sunset did have to wonder how much more her forces would grow when the Dawnguard was fully integrated into her army, but she also knew that wouldn't happen until Revan was dealt with. Once the morning meal was out of the way, and her friends were ready for the trek to Dimhollow Crypt, they bid farewell to their home and ventured out into the wilderness once more. After a few hours they spotted what appeared to be one of the thirteen Standing Stones, the Lord Stone according to Vigilant Tolan, before spotting what appeared to be a pathway that could wrap around the mountain. Tolan, knowing exactly where to go, beckoned for them to follow him forward and silently led them right to a cave opening, one that happened to have a torch waiting outside. Tolan then beckoned for them to draw their weapons while he pulled out his massive warhammer, uttering a prayer to Stendarr before walking inside the cave. Once inside, however, they found a group of three vampires and what appeared to be a blackened corpse dog, something that Tolan referred to as a Death Hound. Sunset was all for the death of the demonic hound, though her friends focused on the vampires and soon the entrance of the cave was clear of enemies. Sunset looked around the area before finding a lever in a nearby tower of sorts, allowing them to continue deeper into the cave, where they found another draugr crypt with several of the undead fighting three vampires. They waited a moment, just to see what would happen between the two forces, but as they did so Sunset found that several of the iron doors were opening as more of the undead poured into the chamber. In a manner of seconds the three unlucky vampires were dead, their bodies almost looking like they had been discarded, before the draugr stood by the sides of the walls. Tolan began to get up so he could rush in and destroy the undead, but Sunset held him back and beckoned for him to wait a moment, while she wondered if these undead were going to act like the others she had met. She walked into the chamber and watched as the draugr lining the walls knelt before her, while one of them, a Deathlord she realized, walked up to her. "We have been waiting for your arrival, Dragonborn," the Deathlord said, speaking in the Dragon Language, to which Sunset's companions were confused by, "We felt the Priests' spell a week ago, but remained here, knowing that you'd come here for what the vampires hid here long ago. Shall we clear the way to the lake for you?" "Yes, if you would be so kind," Sunset replied, replying in the Dragon Language, again to her friend's confusion. The Deathlord nodded his understanding and started shouting at the other draugr, to which the other undead roared and began gathering their weapons and armor. Sunset was somewhat amazed that the undead were still able to function in a military manner, though it also never ceased to amaze her that the undead were willing to follow her orders. She wondered what spell Morokei and Krosis had cast, as whatever it was apparently allowed the draugr in other barrows to know what was happening and awaken them from their ancient slumber. The good thing was that this gave her a force of warriors that would tear whatever vampires were still ahead of them to pieces, while confusing some of her friends in the process. "Did... did I miss something?" Tolan asked, not understanding what was going on as he turned to Sunset for a moment, "I understand the Dragonborn business, but how in Oblivion are the draugr under your command?" "Sunset is, technically, the last Living Dragon Priest," Fiona replied, though she was sure that she hadn't seen something like this since they woke Rahgot up, "or Priestess, as she prefers to be called. The draugr see her as one of their superiors, so they are willing to follow out whatever commands she has for them... even if its one that they came up with. Trust me on this Tolan, Sunset's not going to bring about the end of the world with an army of the undead, rather she's going to use their power to destroy the creature that wants to shatter our world." The next chamber they came to Sunset found one vampire gathering at least a dozen skeletons, each of them carrying a sword or an axe and waiting for the command to attack something. The Deathlord gave the command and the draugr surged into the chamber, their weapons hacking the skeletons to pieces as the vampire, realizing that she was doomed, retreated to get reinforcements. Sunset snapped her fingers and the undead nords charged deeper into the ruins, hacking and slashing whatever happened to be coming their way. Vampires and their Death Hounds fell before the force of the draugr, opening the way for Sunset and her friends to advance into whatever happened to be ahead of them. The next area of the crypt that they entered happened to have a rather large open chamber, one that had some strange structure sitting in the middle of a small lake. Sunset held up her hand for a moment as she heard some voices ahead of them, coming to a stop near a railing as she listened to the vampires questioning another Vigilant about the structure in front of them. She motioned to the draugr and then to the vampires, to which the undead leapt down into the vampires and cut them down before they had a chance to defend themselves. With the Vigilant saved, and reunited with Tolan, Sunset and her friends approached the structure in the middle, where they found a vampire and his thrall waiting for them. Sunset flashed behind the vampire and cut him down before he knew what was happening, while Bjorn put an arrow into the thrall and prevented it from harming anyone else. Once the deed was done Sunset approached the middle of the structure and found what she assumed was a button, but she didn't immediately press it, choosing to study it. She approached the vampire and dragged him over to the pedestal, where she pressed his hand against the button and drew her own back in time as an iron spike punctured the hand with ease. The moment the spike withdrew a bunch of purple flames began to appear around them, causing everyone else to back up to the edge of the area and watch what Sunset was doing. Sunset studied the flames for a moment, immediately seeing where the flames were going after a moment, and moved the brazier the flames pointed to until it clicked into place, causing more flames to point to where the next brazier was to be moved to. She followed the flames and studied the puzzle, pushing the braziers to where they needed to be, until the circle had been completed, where she stepped back to wonder what the flames were going to do next. Then, as if something had read her mind, the floor began to shake until it began to lower beneath their feet, causing her to step back to where her companions were standing. Eventually the shaking stopped and the floor came to a screeching halt, revealing a stone monolith directly below where the button had been standing. Sunset approached the monolith for a moment and pressed her hand against it, feeling the stone lower until the monolith had split in half, revealing a women resting in what she then realized had been a tomb of sorts. Sunset immediately reached for the women as she fell, preventing her from hitting the floor and allowing her to catch her breath as her reality seemed to come back to her. "Ugh... where am I?" the women asked, opening her eyes and realizing that she wasn't alone, which allowed Sunset to notice that her eyes were glowing blood orange, "Who... who are you?" It was at that moment that Sunset spotted something on the women's back, something that she immediately recognized as an Elder Scroll, and began to wonder why she had been locked down here in the first place. "I am Sunset Shimmer," Sunset told the women, helping her onto her feet, "Archmage of the College of Winterhold and Leader of the Fellglow Alliance." "Fellglow... Alliance?" the women asked, though it was clear that the information told her that something was wrong, "I must have been gone longer than I thought. I need to get back to my family home and figure out what's happened. Oh, and my names Serana." Sunset had no idea why Serana was locked away in Dimhollow Crypt, but she knew that if she was carrying an Elder Scroll then that meant that something big was coming her way. Something that she assumed Revan was somehow involved in. ---------------------------------------------- Tirek smiled as he walked into the fortress he had been held in until Sunset Shimmer appeared in his cell, the fortress that the guards had called Fort Neugrad. He thought it was amusing, to hide in the last place that his enemy would ever think to look, while he slowly drained the remaining Princes of their powers. There were plenty of cells for him to store the drained Princes in, giving them the opportunity to feel despair before he had all of their individual powers inside his body. Ever since the dragons had appeared the fort had been abandoned and, from what he could tell, there had been no patrols in the area for him to worry about. He grinned as he walked into the fortress, making his way towards the prison as he wondered when he would see that mysterious man once more. It had been that man's fault that he had to leave the Temple of Nocturnal behind, as it was already falling apart and he had to find another place to drain his targets in peace. Still, it would give him the time and privacy he needed to complete his goal, which is why when he opened the door to the prison wing his magic was already flowing around him. "Come forth Chest of Sunset Shimmer," Tirek called out, holding the Skeleton Key in his left hand while a large chest appeared at the top of the stairs that lead to the cells, to which he forced the locks off of it and forced open the lid, "now then, I call forth the Dawnbreaker of the Daedric Prince Meridia." He watched as a shining longsword was forcefully pulled out of the chest, to which he suspended it in midair as he redirected his spell towards Oblivion itself. "I call forth Meridia," Tirek continued, grinning as runes etching into the air between him and the chest, forming a summoning circle of sorts, "the Daedric Prince of Life and Infinite Energies." The circle flashed and a women dressed in flowing robes, light colored instead of the dark colors that Nocturnal had worn, appeared in the air before him. He took notice of the women's wings, matching the supposed description of the Prince that the rest of Nirn made in regards to the Prince's actual form, and continued to grin. As the Prince took a moment to realize exactly where she was Tirek's right hand reached forward and grabbed her neck, choking her as he began to forcefully drain her powers. "I shall take great pleasure in adding your power to that I stole from Nocturnal," Tirek said, enjoying the feeling he got from making such a powerful being scream in agony, "and then, once I have the rest of your fellow Princes, I shall shatter this pathetic world."