Ice Veins

The interior of the large bar echoed with the conversation of its patrons: loud, drunken and boisterous talk echoed about as ponies socialized. It was one of the lower end bars in Canterlot, making it the perfect hiding place for those who didn’t want to be found: and a perfect place to plot against the crown. While the bar itself was busy; deep beneath the bar was busy as well.  Close to ten feet below the grubby bar was a secret amphitheatre large enough to seat hundreds of ponies: and it was currently filled to the max with an army of cloaked and masked figures.

“So; the plan has failed?” came the deep voice of a dark furred unicorn sitting in a throne in front of the gathered conspirators. He was blocked from view by the dark and unnatural shadows that seemed to loom over and

surround him. A trembling noble stood from his seat and approached the throne.

“Y-yes milord; it was an utter failure.” he stammered.

“And Count Red Brand?” asked the mysterious unicorn with the sound of disappointment in his voice.

“Captured and feared dead milord.”

“That is most unfortunate. What of the surviving sell swords?”he asked the quivering noble pony.

“They have been silenced as you ordered milord.”

“Very good: we do not need loose ends that could lead to our discovery. Unfortunately we are back to square one. With Celestia still alive; our plans cannot move forward my fellow nobles. We will continue to stay in the shadows until such a time as we can strike out against Celestia and the other foolish Alicorns: The nobility will rule as the Great Creator intended: without the aid of these damned princesses! Celestia will fall; as will Luna and Cadenza: and a new era shall dawn. The old ways shall be restored, but with the Unicorns ruling the others as they were meant to! The Pegasi shall form our mighty army, and with the Earth Ponies as our workers, Equestria shall be strong! The rule of Celestia: The Tyranny of the Sun shall be but a footnote in the history of Equestria, and our land shall be strong, powerful, and beautiful as it was meant to be!” The other nobles applauded their leader’s impromptu speech, hooves stomping on the ground.

“That’s not all milord.” continued the committee member.

“Oh? And what else do you wish to add?” The dark unicorn asked with annoyance.

“They had help from an unknown creature milord.” said the noble shivering in fear.

“Truly? What did this “creature” look like?” the leader asked rising from his throne.

“The few who described it said it was tall and bipedal; and that it wore golden armor with a dark blue cloak. It apparently has hands like a minotaur as well.” reported the noble.

“Hmm; this development may cause us some trouble. Find out more on this creature: for some reason he seems… familiar.”

“It shall be done milord.”

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Twilight lay in her bed: sleep had finally taken her, yet her dreams were still troubled by how Rurik had reacted to her inquiry. The dreams were more like a constant replay of that exact part of the conversation; like a bad memory that refused to leave, and it made her feel awful for even bringing up the subject. She was shaken from her thoughts by a deep booming voice that seemed to resonate with power.

“You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it: how were you to know the tragedy he suffered?” it said.

Twilight felt a chill go down her spine: the only other being she knew of that could enter a dream was Princess Luna; and the voice she had heard definitely did not belong to Princess of the Night. It sounded masculine, deep, and radiated with the same power that she had sensed when Rurik used his shouts.

“Wh-who are you?” she asked more out of fear than curiosity.

“I am someone who knows Rurik.” boomed the voice

“Are you a friend of his?” she asked nervously.

“Hmmm, I would not call the one who cut me down and absorbed my soul a friend: though he was certainly an honorable foe.” Twilight was becoming more annoyed than she was afraid. She wanted to see who this was.

“Can I get a face to go with the voice?” she asked with a bit of venom in her tone.

“How rude of me; of course Miss.” he replied.

A thick mist rolled in and the dreamscape was covered with fog. The billowing mist also began to take form; the form of another human. Once the form of the man solidified, Twilight looked him over.  He was a bit taller than Rurik, and wore dark blue robes with golden threads that formed a sort of zigzag pattern on the robe’s borders and his hands and feet were covered by scale like gauntlets.  Hiding his face was a golden mask that had slits for eyes, and carved tentacles where the mouth would be: he stood silently for a moment before speaking.

“Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Miraak.”

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Kingdom of Skyrim; Haafingar Province

The twin moons were glowing brightly in the sky as a ship plowed through the waters of northern Skyrim. On board the ship, High King Ulfric watched with a rising sense of dread as his ship neared the huge castle’s port. On the list of all the things that the high king had wanted to avoid; telling Lady Serana about her husband’s disappearance or death had been at the top of that list. Ulfric had known full well what Serana and Rurik were, that they were not normal people and that they were in fact vampires. He overlooked this fact however; as both were heroes and more than that they were his friends. They had been there in times of hardship to help Ulfric, weather it was a war or just some decree that the nobles disliked; Rurik and Serana had always been ready to give their support unless they deemed something morally wrong, then he was on his own. As soon as the ship docked and the plank connected both the wharf and the ship, a trio of warriors clad in full ebony armor strode onto the deck. The leader was a tall woman who removed her helmet; revealing dirty blonde hair and a strong, pale face. The lack of glowing eyes was probably due to the camouflage spell that Rurik had designed.

“And what business does Skyrim’s royal guard have in Castle Volkihar, hm?” she asked suspiciously.

“That would be escorting me Captain Hestla.” said Ulfric.

“Ah, King Ulfric, welcome to Castle Volkihar. It has been a while since you have graced us with your presence.” she said as she inclined her head in deference to the High King.

“I just wish I were for a nice relaxing visit: not to bring ill news. Is Lady Serana in? I must speak with her.” replied the king.

“Of course, follow me your majesty.” answered Hestla.

The vampires of the Volkihar Clan had always fancied themselves royalty amongst the vampires, and with the current regime ruling over the clan; they also fancied themselves warriors. Ulfric knew that each of the ebony clad vampire  guards were more than a match even for his elite guards: he knew this because on top of the fact that they were vampires; they had also been trained by Rurik. Each one was a very dangerous battle mage clad in full suits of ebony armor; one of the strongest suits of armor in all of Tamriel. In short, the small security force was a private army of armor plated, vampiric killing machines.

The old castle was a sprawling labyrinth of passageways, but the new renovations to the ancient fortress had turned it from an eerie and haunted looking old castle into a mighty and elegant castle that Ulfric was happy to have guarding the Northern coast.  Hestla led the High king through several hallways until they finally came to a large door.

“Wait right here your highness; I will tell Lady Valerica that you are coming.” said Hestla. Ulfric knew that this was so the vampires could use their camouflage spells as not to alarm Ulfric’s guards.

A minute later, the large doors were opened to a huge banquet hall. Said location was packed with vampire courtiers who were enjoying goblets of what Ulfric could only guess was blood. It mad Ulfric cringe slightly, but the treaty that he had signed with the Volkihar vampires made sure that it was only the blood of Skyrim’s criminals that was filling those cups. From what Rurik had told him: very few of the original vampires from Serana’s father’s court still remained after the Dawnguard assault on Castle Volkihar; Hestla being one of them. Many of these nobles were newly promoted by Valerica to help her keep the other vampire clans in Skyrim in check.

Sitting at the head of the tables was a dark haired woman who didn’t look a day over thirty; a gold and ruby crown upon her head, and she wore a suit of red and black vampire dress armor that was worn only by the higher ranking members of the vampire nobility. Despite being thousands of years old, Lady Valerica was stunningly beautiful: her pale skin was as smooth as porcelain, and her deceptively delicate face appeared as if it had been carved by a sculptor. Beside her sat the young woman he was looking for, and she had inherited many of her mother’s features: The flowing dark hair, the hourglass figure, the flawless face and skin, and luckily a similar disposition. Ulfric had never met Serena’s father; Lord Harkon, and for that he was thankful. According to Serana, Rurik, and even Valerica herself, he had been an egomaniacal psychopath whom both Serana and Rurik had been forced to destroy.

Despite the beauty of Valerica and her daughter, he knew that their delicate appearance was deceptive in the extreme. During the war with the Dominion, he had seen Serana in combat, and she was anything but delicate. The dainty lass had thrown Elven warriors twice her size and clad in full suits of plate armor into crowds of their comrades as if they were nothing more than children’s’ toys.

“Ah, High King Ulfric, welcome; to what do we owe this unexpected visit?” asked Valerica standing and inclining her head in deference of their guest’s rank.

“It is about Rurik; please, may I speak with your daughter privately?” asked the king.

“Of course Ulfric.” said Serana. She and the king walked into the nearest room, two of the royal guard standing on either side of the door. Once the door closed, Ulfric turned to her and his serious face changed to one of sadness.

“Ulfric, what’s wrong?” she asked with concern.

“Lady Serana; two days ago I summoned Rurik to the palace and asked him and the court mage’s under study to look into some unusual weather patterns. Only the mage’s student returned. He reported that Rurik and Odahviing were struck by a bolt of lightning; but no remains were found. I’m so sorry Serana.” The king thought that Serana would either break down in bloody tears or fly into a rage, but her response was none of the above: it was a look of confusion.

“I mean no disrespect Ulfric, but you are wrong. My husband is still very much alive.” said Serana raising an eyebrow.

“But, he was hit directly by lightning: no one could survive that, not even a vampire from how the assistant described it,” said Ulfric. “And besides how could you just know he is alive?”

“How much do you know about vampires?” asked Serana tilting her head to the side.

“Aside from that they are stronger than normal men and mer, drink blood, and use magic; not alot.” admitted the king while shrugging his shoulders.

“Well; when a vampire turns a mortal, we share a connection. The strength of that connection varies with the relationship that we share with that person; for instance Rurik and I are husband and wife. Our connection is very strong: so strong in fact, that if he were to die I would feel physical pain. This connection that we have would hold even if he were in a realm of Oblivion or theoretically on another world. Therefore, my husband is very much alive your majesty.” explained Serana.

“I see, so how do we find him if there is no trace of him anywhere in Skyrim? It is possible that he is somewhere else on Tamriel.” said Ulfric.

“Well, tomorrow I will set out for the College of Winterhold. I’m sure that the Archmage will be able to do a locator spell. All he will need is something from the person we are trying to locate, like a piece of clothing or even a bit of jewelry.” said Serana turning to the chest at the foot of her bed and opening it and digging through its contents before pulling out a small gold ring.

“Well, when you do find something, please let me know. I would tag along, but the damned nobles can’t live a day without complaining about some new reform I have instated: you should have heard them complain when I allowed Argonians and Khajiit to buy property in Windhelm. I had a headache the entire next day.” said Ulfric massaging his temples.

“Yeah, Rurik has told me about them. My heart may not beat but it does bleed for you, at least here if the nobles get out of line my mother won’t hesitate to make an example of one of them.” Serana said sympathetically as she stood, walked over to him and patted his shoulder kindly.

“Heh, if only my life were so easy!” chuckled Ulfric.

The king took his leave and headed back to Windhelm on his ship while Serana began to pack her clothing and a few weapons. Tomorrow she set out for the College of Winterhold, where she would hopefully find some answers. Normally getting the Archmage to perform such a spell cost a goodly amount of gold, but he owed both her and Rurik quite a few favors for his position in the college and a few other things. Despite knowing that her husband was alive, she could not help but worry about him. Since even before they were married, Serana had accompanied Rurik on every adventure and expedition that he had undertaken since they had met six years ago and she hated the fact that she didn’t have his back. She hoped most of all though, that she could just get her husband back home safe and sound.