Rise of the Dragonborn

Chapter Three- The Cold One

I began to explore the immense rooms surrounding the main entrance hall as Isran was still warning Tolan of the dangers of using his anger as fuel for fighting the vampires in Dimhollow, he then began to train Onmund and Agmaer to use a crossbow. As far as I was aware, there were no others in the fortress as I examined the untouched cobwebbed corners of its quarters. The stone walls reflected a silver light as the candle light flickered onto its surfaces, I remember thinking it almost didn’t look real. The kitchen was clearly the heart of the fortress at present, it was full of food and supplies and orientated around a homely fireplace, I decided to sit for a while and warm myself.

I let my mind wander. I let it wander to my days travelling all of Tamriel, after fleeing Skyrim as a young adolescent after a dragon attack on my hometown of Riverwood years before. I recalled the day I had met an equally young Marcurio in Bruma, a town in the southern Jerall Mountain range in Cyrodiil. It wasn’t long after I had run away when I met him, Bruma was the first place I had come across after passing Falkreath. Marcurio took me in after seeing how dehydrated and exhausted I was. His hair was short back then, he had a short beard and wore simple robes, not like the mage robes he would take pride in many years later. He told me stories of Cyrodiil, of the Oblivion crisis. I had never heard of the Oblivion crisis before that day. It was while I was staying with Marcurio I learned how to harness magicka. He was already by that point an excellent mage, I was intrigued by magic and all of the different schools you could learn. After a while, he decided to show me the rest of Cyrodiil, so we travelled all over the province, It was so beautiful, nothing like the towns I had grown up used to, especially the Imperial City, to this day it is the most captivating sight I have ever laid eyes on.

I suddenly became aware of barks echoing throughout the fort, drawing me back to the present. I rose from the bench and began following the barks and howls, trailing the dimly lit halls. Soon after, I discovered a cave-like room, with an archery station and two Huskies. I had never seen Huskies in Skyrim before, only Wolf hounds like my own Vigilance. My face lit up into a wide smile as I gravitated towards them. “Hey there, I’m guessing you’re here to fight vampires too then” I said crouching down to stroke their gorgeously soft coats. They couldn’t have been any older than a year old, seemed a shame to use such beautiful creatures to hunt down such vile monsters. They even had armour on, I have to admit, I thought that was the cutest thing I had ever seen. “You know they’re trained killers” a deep voice behind me said, making me jump out of my own skin “Gods, you terrified me!” I exclaimed, turning to face the unknown voice. As I did, I immediately stumbled backwards at the sight of his eyes; golden, like the sun. “You. It’s you…” I managed to whisper, not sure whether I was afraid or not. “ I didn’t mean to startle you. Please, don’t be afraid of me” he said, putting his hands out in front of himself in reassurance and slowly walking forward, out of the shadows. “You’re a vampire, what are you doing here of all damn places! Do you have a death wish?” I nearly shouted at him before I calmed myself, aware that if Isran heard, I would not be able to find out more about him.

The vampire took me to the back of the cave area where there was a secret passage into another part of the cave. There, he told me why he was at Fort Dawnguard. “My name is Kaldmir, my father used to be the ruler of the vampires in this area, he was a good man. He aimed to prevent un-needed bloodshed through promoting the peaceful coexistence of our people with mortals. Not long ago, he was murdered by his brother, Lord Harkon due to Harkon’s belief that my father had betrayed Molag Bal. Harkon is behind the recent attacks on your towns and cities. I tried to stop him, but he is much stronger than I am, there is nothing I can do alone. He wants to block out the sun so that vampires may rule the day as they do the night. To do this, he needs to sacrifice a Daughter of Coldharbour. Namely, his daughter, my cousin, Serana. The only problem is, no one knows where she is. That is why I am here, Harkon will be looking for her and the Dawnguard is looking for whatever Harkon is after. It’s my best chance of saving her and stopping Lord Harkon.”

So, he wasn’t bad. I was right; he had been haunted by his past, by his demons. I couldn’t just hand him over to Isran, not when he is trying to help us, trying to save us. It was under the light of a wall sconce that I was finally able to see him clearly; tall, muscular and broad with almost snowy blonde hair that shined and almost glistened in the flickering torch light. His eyes were so mesmerising, there was no doubt in my mind those were the same eyes that had been imprinted on my soul that fateful night in Whiterun. Whether Kaldmir recognised me was a question that escaped my mind. He came closer to me and placed his hand on my arm, “If you would help me, I would be forever in your debt. Please.” The sincerity in his voice told me how much he really needed help, how could I abandon him after that? “Of course,” I said “I’ll help you find your cousin and I promise I will keep your secret.” He was so close to me now, I could feel his icy breath tickling my neck.

 “Sárkány? Sárkány where are you my love?” Onmund was shouting at the top of his lungs now. I stumbled backwards into a wall, it was the only way I could gain some distance from Kaldmir. I then started back towards the archery area, where I could hear my husband calling me from.

Kaldmir, in an old language it meant “Cold one”... it seemed he was appropriately named.