"What became of Naarifin?"

  "They locked him in a gibbet and hung him from the top of White-Gold. He may be there still, I wouldn't know. I didn’t stay in Cyrodiil long enough to find out. After I returned to the main camp I gave my farewell to Titus and the others, and left to be with Viconia again." Kaius’s sigh was deep and filled with pain. "She didn't take the deaths of our children well."

  "And is that why you returned?"

  "Not really. Sure, it was part of the reason why I agreed to return, but it’s not the whole reason. I spent nearly twenty years in the Underdark, and I was determined never to return to the surface. But there is always yet another prophecy, another threat and no one else seems to be fated or capable of dealing with them. I can’t go anywhere or turn over a rock without uncovering yet another threat to the world or the people that live in it. The Aldmeri Dominion. The Stormcloak Rebellion. Alduin and the return of the dragons. The Gods-damned Volkihar Vampires. All great and terrible threats, and all equally stopping me from achieving what I came back up here to accomplish. It is very… tiresome.”

  "Hi dreh ni gahvon wah dez. To surrender or yield, is not in your nature." The echoing rumble was filled with amusement. "Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong direction. Pogaan miiraad, pogaan vahzen. There are many paths that can be travelled."

  Silence fell between them and Kaius knew that Paarthurnax was deep in thought, contemplating all that he had been told. Other than the gentle breeze over the peak, there was only his own breathing and that of the ancient dragon's breaking the calm.

  "You seek power, but Yol is not suitable for you at this time, dovahkiin. There are others perhaps that call to you more keenly. One in particular you have some understanding of, but now I believe it has immense potential in you." Seeing Kaius's interest, the dragon shifted from his favourite rock, sliding down over it with a liquid like grace despite the way that the ground trembled from his weight. "You know of 'Fus'; it is called 'Force' in your tongue, but as you push the world, so does the world push back. Think of the ways force may be applied effortlessly. Imagine but a whisper pushing aside all in its path. That is 'Fus'. Su'um ahrk morah. You will push the world harder than it pushes back; a concept you seem intimately familiar with..."

  For the coming days that stretched into weeks, Kaius contemplated the understanding of the Thu'um, but the world far below the mountain continued on. The hours and days that he spent on the top of the mountain with Paarthurnax were among some of the most peaceful he could remember, sitting in the snow on ancient stones meditating, talking and listening to the winds and the sky. He knew that such peace wouldn’t last forever, but like several times in recent months it was broken by Sofia appearing with all the grace and subtlety of a minotaur in a pottery store.

  Unlike the last time he had climbed the Throat of the World, Sofia had chosen to remain in the tiny village of Ivarstead, at the base of the Seven Thousand Steps. The immense, difficult climb and Sofia’s adamant refusal to make the pilgrimage a second time unless ‘Kaius gave her a foot and back rub’ notwithstanding, the Greybeards had also taken a dim view of her predilection of drinking all the mead and alcohol she could get her hands on. Most of which included the ancient order’s stocks. Kaius may have been welcomed and accepted by the monastic order, but their silent refusal to allow Sofia’s return had been clear the first time they had stayed. As for Lydia, her attitude, while still cold and forcibly professional around Kaius, had played a similar role in her decision to also remain in the mountain town as, in her words; ‘Sofia needed a handler in any decent society.’

  All of this made the situation even more incredulous when the two of them appeared at the doors of High Hrothgar, practically forcing entry into the Monastery and demanding to any and all in proximity that they needed to see Kaius immediately. From his position a few hundred metres higher on the mountain’s peak and with his vampiric hearing, he had heard the young rogue and huskarl almost come to blows with the peaceful monks in their search for him. Sofia might have been as unsubtle as a catapult, and only marginally less destructive on occasions, but his two travelling companions' behaviour was unusual, even ignoring the fact that they had come to find him.

  Something had brought them up the three day climb to the mountain’s peak, and that something had been death. Ivarstead had been attacked, and not by a Stormcloak raid, an Imperial punitive patrol, or even a dragon, but instead by vampires. A dozen of the creatures had openly attacked during the night, slaughtering several households before making the mistake of attacking the Vilemyr Inn and interrupting Sofia’s drinking. The months of travel, and battles against others of their kind since their first encounter with Laelette in Morthal had provided both women with a vast amount of knowledge in defeating vampires. This combined with the training and skills journeying with Kaius had made surprisingly quick work of the nocturnal creatures.

  Ivarstead had been saved, and with comparatively few casualties, but word was spreading from the rest of the province that many of the other Holds were suffering from an increasing wave of vampiric attacks. Towns had been practically wiped out, several villages entirely enthralled, and rumours of vampiric conspiracy and infiltration into even the larger cities were growing by the day. To make matters even worse, it appeared the Dawnguard were either nowhere to be seen, or worse, losing. Sofia and Lydia had been hearing tales from passing merchants and travellers how vampire hunters, in small teams or as individuals were being discovered dead, or disappearing in their failed attempts to counter their vampiric adversaries. Several stories spoke of the heads and hands of failed Dawnguard being nailed to doors, or impaled on spikes in the towns and villages they had come to protect.

  This was curious to Kaius, despite his annoyance at how ineffective the hunters were turning out to be. He had very high hopes after his encounter with Isran that his skill, knowledge and expertise, combined with the potent might of the Light of Dawn would have been able to keep at least one of Skyrim’s woes in check. Unfortunately, just as the Ayleids had discovered shortly after their forging of the ultimate Vampire killing sword over four thousand years ago; a single ultimate weapon could only be in one place at a time.

  Something needed to be done, and done quickly, as Skyrim was beginning to show signs that it was on the verge of collapse. Between dragons, the civil war, and now the nights being filled with terror and blood drinking monsters, it wouldn’t be long before plagues, famine, and unrest would begin to kill more than the creatures preying upon the people. Begrudgingly Kaius was forced to come to a decision, one that he had been dreading and so, he made one final journey to the mountain’s peak, saying farewell to Paarthurnax and receiving "Aal fin ven aak hin wundun" – "May the winds keep you aloft" in return.

  Ten days of travel, three of which just to return to the base of the mountain once more and a week on the roads east to Riften and Fort Dawnguard. The entire journey, for every. Single. Step. Kaius was begrudgingly moving closer to somewhere that he had been hoping he wouldn’t have needed to return to. He had sent a written report regarding the Volkihar to Isran after his encounter with Serana, and meeting the progenitor of one of the oldest strains of vampirism in Tamriel. Whether the Redguard hunter had done anything with the information was unimportant to Kaius. Isran, and by extension the Dawnguard, should have been more than capable of dealing with one of the several threats to Skyrim on their own, and even Sofia’s usual, sarcastic manner had been quietened by Kaius’s increasingly foul mood the further he travelled from the tranquility of the mountain.

  Arriving at Fort Dawnguard though changed his mood yet again. This time to horrified understanding. Isran, and the Dawnguard hadn’t been resting on their laurels, and despite the number of hunters falling to the fangs and claws of the vampires, their numbers had grown substantially until the better part of a cohort resided in the crumbling fortress. Even some of Isran’s old comrades from his days within the Daedra-hunting order of the Vigilants of Stendarr had come to assist, but it was easy to discern the trouble they truly faced.

  Experience, and most importantly, training was severely lacking. The Dawnguard had the numbers, had managed to scrape, beg, barter and even outright steal equipment, armour, and vampire killing devices, but it was obvious that they were all woefully unprepared. Isran, and the other experienced hunters were stuck in the fortress, trying desperately to train the newcomers, but with so many vampires appearing across Skyrim they had been forced to respond. There had been no other choice, and it was obvious that Isran and the others had been forced to send barely trained, fresh recruits in cobbled together armour and equipment with minimal knowledge, in the hope of stemming the tide of death. Barely one in five were surviving as they were forced to practically ‘learn on the job,’ and it wouldn’t be long before those still left would leave to ensure their survival.

  It was something that Kaius knew he could help out with at least. Not that Isran wanted to, or was going to accept his help willingly. Time had not cooled his choler and attitude towards Kaius, and within an hour of arriving he and Kaius had once again fought. Isran trying out a pair of new spells he had gained in the months since Kaius’s absence and a brand new, firesalt and brimstone matchlock based on an Aldmeri Dominion’s naval cannon redesigned into a hand held device. Like their previous encounter, the attempt to slay Kaius proved ineffective, and begrudgingly Isran had no choice but to accept the help from a vampire, as he simply couldn’t stop him.

  "I am Kaius Treblanus Desin, Thane of Whiterun Hold, the Dovahkiin, slayer of the dragons Mirmulnir and Salhokinir, and the Dawnguard's pet vampire."

  Deep within the fortress, in one of the larger, empty spaces of Fort Dawnguard’s interior, a rough semicircle of the latest recruits stood, staring and facing Kaius as he addressed them all. Until he had arrived with Sofia and Lydia, they had been waiting, mingling and chatting as they awaited Isran, Durak or Celann to arrive for the morning’s training session. Word was yet to travel through all the members of the Dawnguard that a Vampire was present, and somehow un-murdered, but rumours were rampant. Rumours however paled in comparison to finding themselves standing face-to-face with the vampire in question, and hearing him openly admit who, and what he was.

  For some it was shocking to hear that the Dovahkiin was present and was also a vampire, but not as shocking at Isran’s sudden appearance, and equally quick disappearance. Their leader had followed close behind Kaius, his scowling expression and his simple command of ‘Listen and learn’ before disappearing once again, was somehow even more terrifying than the sudden appearance of half a dozen of the more experienced hunters, armed with crossbows and watching Kaius’s every move. His statement about being the Dawnguard’s pet may have been a lie, but it would serve its purpose for what Kaius intended.

  "I am one of the Dawnguard's worst nightmares! Like the other creatures who share my curse, I can enter the shadows at will, I am stronger than six men, can move faster than the eye can see, and can resist some of the worst injuries imaginable. I am as durable as a troll, as dangerous as a starved sabrecat, but unlike other vampires I can exist in sunlight and be just as strong and as fast as I am in the shadows. Silver still hurts, but your prayers, your wards, your blessings are useless against me, as like you, I worship the Divines. So when facing me, don't waste your holy water, as I will simply find it refreshing."

  One or two members facing him stifled giggles despite their nervousness and unease. Before they had come to the training halls, Kaius had told Sofia and Lydia his intentions, and the overall plan but while the assembled recruits stared at Kaius in confusion, Sofia was struggling not to grin deviously. Kaius had all of their attention though, even if that attention was a grim wariness from his admission of what he truly was.

  "Out there." Stabbing a finger in the direction of the fort's entrance, Kaius struggled to hide the grimace as some of their number twisted to look. It appeared that some of the potential hunters had candles lit, but no one home in their skulls. "Awaits a tribe of vampires so ancient and deadly, that I am but a mere youngblood. I have walked the lands of Nirn since the dawn of the Fourth Era, and have seen, and fought, and killed things that you should be thankful you can't imagine. Those vampires however, you have heard of. They are the monsters your mothers’ warned you of if you misbehaved as they tucked you into bed at night. They are the horrors in the stories teaching you to fear the darkness, and safeguard against the night. Out there, await the Volkihar vampires, and it falls to you all to stop them."

  The mere mention of the name was enough to truly get their attention. No matter their backgrounds, or even places of birth, the Volkihar were true legends. There were very few people in Tamriel’s frozen north who didn’t know that name and the evil it represented, and more than one potential hunter’s eyes widened and mouth fell open as they mouthed the word. Several even made various signs with their hands to the Divines to superstitiously ward off ill-luck.

  "The Volkihar clan are among the oldest and most ancient of all vampire-kind. For over four thousand years they have existed, and the tales of their abilities exist in legends. They are the monsters that lurk beneath the frozen surfaces of lakes, waiting to drag travellers and the unwary to their watery dooms. They were the generals and commanders for the Wolf Queen Potema Herself and her necromantic hordes. They are the creatures that lurk in the night, waiting for you and your kin to fall asleep before glutting themselves on your throats. They are dangerous, powerful, and have been waiting a long, long time to claim Skyrim as their own."

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  Silence had fallen amongst the group, broken only by a few muted coughs and the faint scrape of leather, cloth and armour as some of them shifted nervously. Kaius prowled, slowly, and yet carefully pacing back and forth making sure to look each and every one of them in the eye.

  "My companions and I have faced them before, and have won. Sofia and Lydia have fought them at their strongest and have prevailed, and I have slain more vampires than this entire order combined. We will teach you not only how to hunt and to kill these monstrosities, but how to survive while doing so."

  Looking over the recruits he saw how their confidence was building, the slightest smiles growing on their faces at the expectation of what was to come. A few were shifting their gazes sideways and judging by what he could see they were more interested in the way that Sofia was idly sitting on the bench, sitting in such a way that accentuated her curves and drew the attention of all the hot blooded males in the group. Plans and schemes, this too was part of what they had discussed and was something that Sofia was all too happy to oblige in creating such a distraction.

  "You." He said simply, his finger pointing out a young Nord who looked barely old enough to have reached his twentieth winter. "What's your name?"

  "Agmaer.” The young man's attention snapped away from Sofia, and his face reddened in embarrassment, gulping as he saw the way Kaius’s expression had turned into a mask of stone. “Uh... Sir?"

  "I am not a sir, Agmaer. I am a thing; a monster, and a creature of your nightmares. What do you do when faced with such a creature?"

  "I, uh... I attack it?"

  "Don't just say it. Do it!"

  The snap in his voice made the young man jump and slowly, carefully, Agmaer dragged the two handed woodsman's axe from its straps down his spine, rolling his shoulders in the thick brigandine armour common among the Dawnguard. It was slow, careful, and taking far too long for Kaius’s liking.

  Counting to two under his breath while watching the young man prepare himself for what he obviously expected to be a practice bout, Kaius struck, tackling him off his feet, throwing him onto his back with a sharp yell of surprise that was chorused by the others standing around him. He had moved with his full abilities, smashing Agmaer to the ground hard enough to wind but not hard enough to cause any lasting damage. Any doubts of what he really was in any of their minds would have been entirely dispelled at that tiny demonstration.

  "The first rule of fighting vampires is; ‘don’t hesitate!’" Kaius said as he rose from his crouch and left the stunned Agmaer to climb to his feet. "If you hesitate... If you freeze... If you give them a single moment… then that moment will be your last."

  One of the nearby recruits, a woman with short cut hair that hung close to her scalp laughed at Agmaer, but froze in horror as Kaius' head snapped at her.

  "Is this a game to you?"

  "N-no, si... No. It is not."

  "What is your name?" Despite her best attempt she shifted her weight as he approached, moving silently and all-too-smoothly with his vampiric nature rising even more to the surface.

  "Conora."

  "Well, Conora,” Even without his vampirism, the growl that rumbled from the depths of his throat hinted at the monster beneath the surface as he moved within arm’s reach of the woman, ignoring the way that some of the other hunters shuffled back at his approach. “You have just found yourself face to face with a vampire. What do you do?"

  "I attack… I attack it... but surely you don't want me to really attack you?"

  This time Kaius's snarl was not human in the slightest. Lips peeled back over a mouthful of fangs as every tooth in his skull lengthened and tapered to vicious points. Over the snarl the sound of his jaw audibly cracking as it unhinged made several of those closest instinctively flinch away, their faces consumed with terror as the bones of Kaius’s face writhed and transformed his appearance into that of a daedric monstrosity.

  To her credit Conora reacted quickly, her rapier was out of its scabbard in a heartbeat as she drew it and sliced across in a single dexterous movement that would have put some of the Companions to shame. It was lightning fast, almost faster than the eye could see, but Kaius once again proved that he was faster, twisting and catching the naked blade between his breastplate and armoured bicep, wrapping his arm and hand around Conora’s and locking her and her weapon in place.

  “Better.” Nothing human remained, even Kaius’s voice thickening from the changes before the vampire returned to where it lurked in his soul. Many of the surrounding hunters though had their gazes locked onto the way his flesh had changed and hands mutated. Talons like black ivory had erupted from his flesh, the bones of his fingers growing out of his skin and clasping Conora’s swordhand tight, stopping her sudden, uncontrollable shaking at his changed appearance.

  "The second rule to fighting vampires is never to do so alone.” Once again human, ignoring the way that several of the recruits were picking themselves up from where they had tripped over, or the smell of urine making itself felt from somewhere towards the back of their number, Kaius released his grip on the shaking woman’s hand and sword, taking a pair of steps away. “Vampires are stronger, faster and more dangerous than any single one of you. Never fight them alone, as you will die alone before you even realise what happened."

  All the colour had drained from Conora’s face as Kaius stepped further away, his gaze wandering over them all and seeing the way that she was not just the only one who was considerably shaken from the reveal of his true form. Even a dozen meters at his spine he could hear the way that Lydia’s body was humming with adrenaline and tension, and could hear Sofia whispering ‘never going to get used to that’ under her breath, before laughing loud enough to make several of the recruits jump.

  Ignoring the way that Conora was struggling to return her rapier to its scabbard with the way her hand was shaking, or the way she almost cut the fingers of her non-master hand in the attempt, Kaius moved around the group once more, studying the faces of those before him. Most were afraid, nervous or increasingly concerned at their first encounter with a vampire in the flesh, but there were some that appeared to be made of sterner stuff than their comrades. Some, a rare handful, were staring at Kaius with resolution and conviction, which made the next part of his lesson easier to begin.

  "You. You, and you." The three Dawnguard initiates stiffened as he pointed them out, but two of them were the biggest and strongest looking orcs in the entire group. Each outweighed Kaius nearly twice over, their enormous slabs of muscle with shoulders ensuring that they would have to turn sideways to walk through regular doorways. The pair, along with a sharp-faced Bosmer were among the handful that returned his gaze as he studied the group, and whose hearts weren’t beating as fast as the rest. “Your turn.”

  Without any pause or hesitation, the three of them immediately attacked, one of the orcs roaring as he put his full weight behind his first blow of his battleaxe that cracked the stone floor as Kaius stepped aside.

  "Excellent!" Ducking under a following blow from the second orc, Kaius was grinning but there was a measure of wariness, especially as he tried to keep the wood elf in sight as well. “Teamwork, and working together is the only way you will survive against a vampire. You must hem them in, don't give them room to move or breathe or time to think. Make them react to you!"

  The trio did just that, the larger orcs shifting and keeping Kaius on the defensive as the Bosmer moved in with his blade at the ready, and it was obvious that none of the trio he had chosen were strangers to violence. This wasn’t that surprising with the orcs due to their lifestyle and society, but Kaius knew all too well that Bosmer, especially those who had either grown up within Valenwood or had migrated from the Dominion, were equally dangerous. Within the first seconds of the fight it was also obvious that none of the trio were holding back at all and they were indeed trying to kill him, which pleased him immensely.

  "Vampires are typically solitary creatures." Ducking and weaving between his ‘training’ partners, Kaius continued speaking to the rest of the recruits as though he was merely conducting a lecture and not having two Orsimer and a Bosmer attempting to hack him apart with battleaxes and a sword. "There are those that live within nests or what they like to call families or clans, but they do not cooperate in battle. Even when fighting as a group they will all act individually, and it is extremely rare to come across some that will assist others of their kind in combat. Use this to your advantage."

  Ducking another wild swing of the second orc, he swept the greenskin’s legs away, twisting and throwing the larger being into a mass of limbs and armour plates. Even before the orc or the other two dawnguard realised what was happening, Kaius was still moving, twisting and weaving quickly as he slapped the Bosmer’s sword aside with a vambrace, gripping the elf by the front of his brigandine armour and throwing him a dozen meters away onto his back. All that was left now was the first of the trio to attack Kaius; the largest, battleaxe wielding orc gripping his weapon in both massive fists.

  "Some servant of Malacath you are, pig. I thought the Orsimer were a race of warriors, or were you simply the runt of the litter?"

  Such words, spoken in the likes of taverns, inns and taphouses throughout Skyrim would have resulted in the speaker having his skull caved in by an incredibly infuriated orc, and the words had the same effect in the training hall. Lips twisting around thick tusks, a deep growl rippling through the floor, the orc swung his axe with blinding speed and overwhelming, anger-infused strength.

  One second the orc was swinging his axe with enough power to decapitate a horse, the next his double-headed battleaxe thudded and bit deep into a metre wide support beam three stories above their heads. Using his attacker's own momentum and anger against him, Kaius had stepped in closer, twisting the axe further and out of its owner’s hands before throwing it up into the ceiling and picking his foe up by the throat.

  "The third rule when fighting vampires is “fight cold”, to not lose your tempers and to keep your humours balanced.” Kicking in the air, the orc's eyes seemed ready to pop out of his skull as he scrabbled at Kaius's arm and hand that was grasped around his throat. Such a sight was ludicrously impossible, especially how barely any trace of the vampire was present in Kaius’s features as he held a hundred and forty kilograms of struggling orsimer aloft in a single hand. Only Sofia and Lydia could see the tremble of exertion running through Kaius’s arm, and the way that the skin of his face had tightened even as he continued his lesson. “Vampires are creatures of emotion, of passion, desire and hate. You need to have the chill of glaciers in your blood to be able to meet them in battle. Anger, will get you killed."

  Just as the luckless orc’s green complexion took on a purplish hue, Kaius released his grip, dropping him unceremoniously to the floor where he landed heavily on his behind, gasping for air and clutching the welts on his stocky throat. There was a wariness in the orc and his fellows who had finished lifting themselves up to their feet from where Kaius had dropped and thrown them, and especially from the rest of the group. Every single one of them were watching, listening and hanging onto his every word, their hearts racing and muscles clenched in anticipation.

  “The Volkihar are among the oldest and most dangerous, but there are dozens of variations, bloodlines, and perhaps even species of vampire. They are all different in appearance and abilities. Porphyric Hemophilia, Noxiphilic Sanguivoria, Sanguinare Vampiris. These are just some of the names we have given to the strains of the curse, and each of the hundreds of variations are unique in their own way. The Serentin clan are unable to revert back to their mortal forms, but are stronger and faster than most other vampires. The Bosmerau are utterly indistinguishable from uninfected Bosmer unless seen by candlelight. The Bathogorgen, Diodata, and Korgari of Morrowind. Anthotis, Garlythi, Haarvenu, Khulari, and countless others of High Rock. The Vampyrum Order of Cyrodiil. All unique and deadly in their own way but all sharing the same weaknesses to sunlight and silver. The Volkihar though are possibly truly unique in that they are led by their patriarch. Their original progenitor, ‘gifted’ his curse not through infection, but by Molag Bal in person. Make no mistake, a ‘first born’ child of Coldharbour will be unlike anything or any other vampire you or anyone will ever encounter. Which leads me to the fourth, and final rule for when facing vampires.”

  The grin on his face grew larger, his incisors lengthening and eyes filling with shadows and darkness until no whites remained.

  “The fourth rule is very, very simple.” Kaius said, seeing the increasing horror and tensions in those watching his changes. "Be prepared for anything."

  Briefly crouching, hunching over as though he was about to jump into the air, Kaius paused, keeping his gaze locked on the dozens of Dawnguard recruits even, as he exploded into a chittering swarm of bats. Cries of shock, terror and fear rippled out of the group, and even Sofia started with surprise at seeing an ability that she hadn’t before. The swarm swirled and flowed upwards, towards the axe still lodged in the thick wooden support beam before reforming into Kaius once more, allowing him to grasp its handle and drop the full distance.

  Landing softly in a way that made the most agile of Dagi-rhat Khajiit furstocks appear to be lumbering, clumsy brutes, Kaius rose to his full height, handing the axe back to its stunned owner, who was staring open mouthed at him. The entire group was silent, standing as still as the stones under their feet with wide eyes and stunned at his abilities. They all would have heard stories, legends and tall tales about vampires before, some of which may have even been true, but it was another thing entirely to witness such abilities in person.

  Their attention though, was fixated upon him, and despite the shock, Kaius knew that this was a lesson they were not going to forget. No more illusions as to what they faced or the threat that they had gathered to counter remained in their minds now, but their confidence was almost mortally wounded. Kaius could see it in their expressions, see the doubts and the fears and the terror of knowledge of what they had volunteered for. In the space of literal minutes he had crippled their morale and their resolve, but that suited him fine. Now it was time to build them into soldiers capable of facing those who shared his curse, and while they currently lacked confidence in themselves, he knew that something could be made of them.

  Afterall, they were far from the first men and women that he would have trained, taught and mentored in the long decades of his life…