Fire And Fangs

Chapter 47

"Serana? No offence, but your fathers castle is a skeeverhole."

Serana chuckled softly as Jordis' statement. She agreed though with what the young woman said. Even after a thousand years, Castle Volkihar still had the look of an impenetrable yet uncomfortable ruin on a small rocky outcrop, the sea bashing the shoreline in a relentless onslaught. She felt Morgans arm circle round her waist and she smiled at her touch, leaning into her.

The group had made excellent progress as they headed northwest away from Solitude. The weather had stayed clear, which was a blessing for them as it meant that they could spot potential threats as they journeyed to Castle Volkihar. They had only come across a small group of bandits, which had made the mistake of thinking that four women were easy prey. Of course, when they found out that two of them were vampires, it was too late.

Only one of the bandits had survived the initial slaughter, and he was obviously deranged, trying to attack Morgan as she stood above him, debating on his future. So she had broken his neck with a sudden kick in his jaw and that was the end of the bandits. The sun was lowering now as the evening approached, and Morgan knew that they had to move soon before Harkon sent out any vampire patrols.

"Come on," Serana said as they walked away from the small boat which had ferried them there, heading to the western side of the island and away from the massive stone bridge that led to the entrance of the castle. "There's a small inlet nearby. One of the original owners of the castle used it to ferry supplies so that no-one on the mainland knew what was going on."

Morgan nodded, eying the rocky shoreline warily. She felt nervous knowing that they were so close to that sick bastard that called himself Seranas father. The knowledge that she had a few friends with her made her feel better however, and by the time they reached the inlet, she was focused again, eager to get moving.

"SHIT," Morgan whispered hoarsely as she dodged an arrow.

Everything had gone well...until three or four skeletons suddenly awoke and began pelting them with arrows and one of them evens started firing off Ice Spikes. They had been forced to take cover behind the side of the entrance, and she could hear the bones rattling as the enemy approached. She knew they had only seconds to think of something, and then she smirked, getting Seranas attention.

"Get ready. Morgan is going to do something daft again," she grinned.

Morgan stuck her tongue out at her before allowing her thu'um to build, the sense of such power now familiar to her as though it had always been a part of her.

"TIID...KLO....UL!"

Only Serana could follow Morgans movement as she suddenly seemed to vanish from their covered position, and even then she was blurring with the sheer speed that she moved. In an instant, two skeletons were slashed in half from her dragonbone sword, and the other two had barely managed to figure out that they were being attacked when a volley of Ice Spikes fired from Serana hit their marks.

Aela and Jordis wore amazed expressions as Morgan slowed down again, the Shout wearing off. Serana snorted with laughter as Morgan came over and gave them an exaggerated bow. She thumped her playfully on the shoulder as they headed inside, hoping that things would get easier.

Morgan sighed as they cut through another of those damned gargoyles. She had always hated the way they screeched before attacking, it reminded her of the stories about cliff racers that her mother had told her about as a child to make sure she behave herself.

"I would rather take on a cliff racer than these fucking things mother," Morgan whispered softly as they continued heading up the stairwell that would lead into the courtyard.