The Dawnguard

Chapter 2: Awakening

I finally reached Dimhollow Crypt by the afternoon, after a three day trip from Fort Dawnguard. There was no sign of Tolan. After he gave me the location, he was off like a rabbit to this place. I would've assumed that he would wait outside, but maybe he would be inside. I had decided to leave Tully at the stable at Whiterun, and walk the rest of the way. I knew that I could withstand the cold, but Tully was a more sensitive horse, and moved slower and acted out when she got cold. I learnt that when I decided that it would be a smart idea to swim over to Solitude from Morthal. She wasn't a very happy horse after that. I counted how many bolts I had left in my pouch. Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty... I had forty one bolts left, since I used a few to deal with some bandits and a sabre tooth. I entered with my crossbow ready, in case there was an ambush. After a few steps, I could hear voices speaking to each other.

"These Vigilant never know when to give up. I thought we'd taught them a lesson at their hall." I reached the ledge and I could see a doorway to the left. Then another voice replied;

"To come here alone... a fool like all the rest of them." When they said that, I instantly thought of Tolan. He did wish to avenge his comrades, and I must have taken too long. I approached more slowly, keeping close to the cave walls, and the first voice replied;

"He fought well though. Jeron and Bresoth were no match for him." I stopped, as I could see a black creature, with dark fog dripping off it, and it sniffed the air, much like a dog.

"Ha. Those two deserved what they got." The second voice said; "Their arrogance had become insufferable." The Death hound stopped moving and looked in my direction. Then it slowly move closer, and when it passed behind one of the pillars close to the centre of the room, and appeared on the other side, I loosed a bolt at it and the bolt penetrated its skull, killing it thankfully, for it would surely have found me otherwise. The first voice then said;

"All this talk is making me thirsty. Perhaps another Vigilant will wander in soon." I could hear how arrogant they were. I retrieved the bolt I shot earlier and slowly reloaded my crossbow.

"I wish Lokil would hurry up." The second voice said; "I have half a mind to return to the castle and tell Harkon what a fool he's entrusted this mission to." I thought;

"Who's Harken?" I then considered it to be the vampire's leader. He must be quite a dangerous man to have planned the attack on the Hall of the Vigilant, and all these splinter strikes everywhere else.

"And I have half a mind to tell Lokil of your disloyalty." The first said. I began to think that if I waited this out, they'd kill each other, but then the second replied;

"You wouldn't dare. Now shut up and keep on watch." I took that as a sign to make a move, and moved over to the metal gate blocking the path forward. I then turned to face the vampires and loosed another bolt at them. The bolt hit one of them in the forehead and he dropped dead instantly. The second turned in shock as they saw their guard mate fall, then scanned the area for an enemy. They drew their sword, but I loosed another bolt that hit the same spot on the next target as the last one. I retrieved the bolts, as I'd probably need all the bolts I could get, and moved back to the closed door.

After examining the gate, I knew that there would be a lever or chain somewhere that I'd need to use in order to open it. And from that thought, my eyes moved directly towards the tower that was opposite of the door.

"Figures." I thought; "I would miss the one building that stood out in a cave." After entering the tower and pulling the chain to open the gate, I moved onward, ready for combat. The next room had chanting echoing through the room. As I snuck forward, hoping to catch the person chanting by surprise, a skeleton broke out of the ground in front of me and drew an ancient, rusted blade. It began to make groaning sounds, and a pair of skeletons came running around to aid. I didn't bother firing a bolt at it. The bolt would have either flown through the gaps of its bones, or would've hit it and stuck into the bone, not stopping its advance. I put the leather strap that was connected to my crossbow around my shoulder and neck, and after letting it slide a bit down my back, drew my own sword and ran at them, gripping my shield that sat on the left side of my back. The skeleton that emerged from the ground swung a simple outward arc, but I easily breezed under the swing and smashed my shield into its chest, detaching the body and all above from its legs. The bones thudded and cracked as they landed, and one of the pair came charging forward with an ancient axe. It attempted the exact same move, so I instead blocked the attack with my shield, and keeping the axe head locked onto the side of my shield, forcing it to let go of the axe.