Madrar
The Shadow in the Dark.
A/N: Another Short story. May stretch into a longer one, after I finish my Salthar Chapters.
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A cave south of Whiterun
The Imperial is tall, gaunt, clearly undernourished. He has short dark hair, plastered to his face and skull conceal his red-yellow eyes...the eyes of a vampire. If one were to look into this vampires eyes ,it would be abundantly clear that he has long since lost his sanity. On his neck and lower jaws, blood red tattoos were barely visible in the semi-darkness of the cave. The floor of the cave, near the entrance at least, is covered with corpses, all drained of blood. The man stumbled, clasping his hands to his ears.
" Shut up, shut up!" He shrieked, not to anyone inside the cold, corpse ridden cavern, but to the voices that torment him. He made his way to the other side of the cave, the darkest part, and crumpled, snarling and shrieking to himself. He struggled with himself, and could be heard to be saying " I know who I am...I know who I am!" His name was Burris. No, no that was wrong, Burris had been that merchant on the road last night...his name was...it was... It was a practice in futility to try to concentrate, the voices tormented him ceaselessly.
Unnoticed by the miserable, insane vampire, two figures entered, one in a black robe, with red and gold threading, the other in Ebony armour, minus the helmet. The armoured man was clearly Imperial, young, and with red hair that hung down just past his shoulders. His eyes, like those of his taller companion, shone in the darkness. "By the gods... you were right" the hooded and robed man nodded, and sounding smug, said "I did say he would be here, would I not?" The other man didn't answer, as he approached the huddled vampire. "He can't stay here"
Whether or not the hooded man agreed was unknown, he simply shrugged and said " We cannot stay long...my power here is weak, and the DawnGuard may already know of our presence" the red haired man nodded and made a bee-line to their unwitting host. "Brother...is that you?" The red haired man placed his hand on the shoulder of his assumed brother. "B-brother?" Rasped the other vampire...lowering his hands from his ears. When their eyes met, a glimmer of recognition came to the first vampires' face. "Long have I waited in the dark" he muttered.
The reunion of the two Imperials was cut short, as voices from the mouth of the cave. Voices that were certainly not friendly. "In here!"
"Kill the abominations!"
"For the DawnGuard!"
The robed and hooded vampire brought his hands up, magic crackling on each. "Lucius!" He warned, even as the first DawnGuard warrior, clad in full plate armour, was boiled alive by a gout of arcane fire. Lucius, the red haired vampire, turned, and upon seeing the DawnGuard pouring into the cave, swore vilely. " It's too soon! I need more time to deliver the elixir!" The robed vampire snarled "there is no time!" Before turning, and blasting the approaching vampire hunters with a barrage of fire and lightning, nearly drowning the sounds of the rainstorm outside. Brown clad soldiers fell left and right, holes blasted in their chests, and stomachs, burnt alive and sometimes missing limbs.
Swearing once more, Lucius rose to his feet and drew his sword, a magnificent ebony sword, and prepared to join his fellow vampire in battle. Before he could, his insane brother grabbed his arm "There is another way follow me!" With that, the man scrabbled away, dodging a couple of crossbow bolts that bounced off the cave wall. Lucius glanced at the vampire sorcerer "Salthar, this way!" The tall Altmer acknowledged the call, and sprinted, helping Lucius to carry his shrieking and snarling brother. "It's alright brother...we'll get you to safety" the red-haired Imperial assured his darker haired brother.
Keep it up, broseph.
