The Story of the Red Witch
Chapter Nine: Awakening
Even though it had been three days since that intense stare down, Liri couldn’t calm herself. Every waking moment had been a chore for her, and her nights were worse.
That were interrupted by the overbearing presence of the two vampires.
Having been once again been denied sleep, Liri sat up and sighed.
Liri: (I can’t escape them… How in the world did I think I was going to take on these vampires on my own…)
???: But you’re not on your own.
Tensing, Liri looked at where the voice came from and glared.
Liri: I thought you said you weren’t going to read my thoughts!
The vampire came from the darkness with a smirk on his face.
Silas: Sorry, but I couldn’t help it. I told you that you could trust me, so why do you doubt me.
Liri buried her head into her knees and remained silent. A quick glance at Silas confirmed that he was still in her head, and could see how hard she was trying to push him away.
Liri: (Just go away… I don’t want to see YOUR kind more than I have to.)
Silas: Normal vampires… aren’t like us. They’re not as strong as us. In fact, among my clan I’m an oddity as well.
Liri: (Not helping…)
He closed his eyes and turned from her.
Silas: If that’s the case I’ve got an assignment for you. It’ll both keep Tinira off your back and gain her favor.
Liri: I don’t want to gain her favor! I want to—
The look Silas gave her made it feel like her veins had completely frozen over.
Silas: You want to get away from us for a while, right? Then do as I say!
Threatened by his overbearing presence, Liri instinctively began gathering magicka in order to defend herself from the vampire.
Seeing Silas’s smirk, she realized what she was doing and calmed down.
Liri: *sigh* What do you need from me.
Silas: Tinira wanted me to go and meet with a powerful Vampire Lord, and I’ve been avoiding it for a few decades… The main reason is because she wanted to merge our clan with theirs.
Liri raised an eyebrow.
Liri: What’s wrong with that?
Silas shrugged.
Silas: How about the fact that doing so would put my plan of getting rid of my clan in jeopardy. Not to mention I don’t want to be under that arrogant Harkon’s rule.
Silas sighed and collected himself.
Silas: Anyway. All you have to do is go and retrieve Harkon’s daughter for me. That’s it.
Liri: (That seems simple… what’s—)
Silas: The catch? Well, apparently they don’t know where she is, which while helpful to me, has infuriated Tinira to no end.
Liri: *frowned* GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!
Silas: Force of habit, but I’ll try.
Liri: *rolls eyes* So when they turn me away what then?
Silas: That my pet, is up to you…
Silas vanished.
Silas: Just make sure you tell them I sent you and that you must speak to Harkon and Harkon only.
Not only did he vanish, Liri couldn’t feel his presence anymore.
Liri: Might as well…
Liri headed to the front door and could feel herself getting more and more annoyed with her situation…
Liri stopped when she reached the manor’s front door.
Liri: (You GAVE me freedom? What a joke!)
Liri: (As long as I’m your ‘pet’ I can never be free…)
Silas hadn’t told her where to go, but somehow deep within her she knew exactly where her destination was. Probably one of his vampire tricks that she would bring up with him later.
Nevertheless, Liri soon found herself at an isolated dock far west of Solitude, near Northwatch Keep, and off in the distance she saw a castle that had to be where this Harkon dwelt.
Liri: He actually has a castle… And I thought vampires having a permanent residence in the middle of Solitude was outrageous…
Liri: Eeeeeh? There’s not even a boat for me to use to get across? *sigh* Nothing's ever easy, is it?
Liri began to simultaneously stretch and gather her magicka.
Liri: It’s been a while since I’ve done some big nondestructive magic. Let’s see if I still got it.
Closing her eyes...
Liri’s vision filled with the dock on the island to the northwest, where the castle was located...
She then drew in more and more magicka until she couldn’t tell where she ended and where the magicka began.
When she finally had gathered enough magicka, she released it all to that point on the castle she had viewed before...
And within moments she vanished…
Liri screamed out in pain as she materialized on the island’s dock. The spell was the same as the teleportation spell she used against Urzul, but the distance traveled caused a major strain on her.
She was about to pass out, when a presence in the dark put her on alert.
She gathered lightning in her hand and looked around worriedly.
Liri: W-who’s there!?
???: I should be asking that of you, meat.
No matter how many times Liri saw it happen, seeing anything just apparate before her weirded her out, which was funny because she used to teleport everywhere before all of this.
The vampire, a male Dunmer that had a thirst look in his eyes, didn’t attack her immediately, but his eyes held no kindness.
Dunmer: What business do you have here, ‘meat of Volstikar?’
Liri: (Oh right, they have heightened senses…)
She looked in his eyes clearly ascertained his agitation with her.
Liri: (Oh… right…) You guys can read minds as well…
Dunmer: Annoy me once more mortal, and Volstikar be damned you shall meet your end.
Liri could sense the truth in his words, but showed no fear.
Liri: I must have a word with Harkon, and Harkon alone.
The Dunmer’s face contorted and Liri feared that she had made a fatal mistake.
Dunmer: Who in Oblivion do you think you are to spit out Lord Harkon’s name as if he were an ignoble cur!?!
Liri swallowed hard, but did not back down.
Liri: I was sent here by Silas of Clan Volstikar, and I only repeated the words he imparted upon me. If you’ve a problem, then take it up with him.
The Dunmer looked like he could rip her throat out, but then suddenly his rage subsided and only a smirk remained.
Dunmer: Lord Silas, huh? With that arrogance, of course you’d be his ‘pet’.
Liri: You bastard! How dare you!!!
Feran: Calm down former matron of Clan Faith-Broken. You want to enter the castle? Lord Harkon will never allow it, unless your actions satisfy him.
Liri scowled and dispersed her lightning.
Liri: Then what do I have to do.
Feran: Heh, Lord Silas always knows how to pick them. Anyway, I need you to go to Dimhollow Crypt. Some base vampires have held up in there, and Lord Harkon is displeased with that.
Liri: ‘Base vampires’? What’s the difference between—
Feran: If you dare to compare Volkihar or Volstikar blood to that of those ‘creatures,’ then I believe that your head deserves to be severed from its neck. You understand?
The fact that he was threatening her still though he knew who had sent her worried Liri, and she took a step backward.
Liri: S-so go to Dimhollow Crypt, and?
Feran: Murder all the impure bastards!
Liri nodded and everything passed in a blur. She didn’t know how she’d crossed the sea or how she ended up knee high in swamp water, but she had a feeling that she was close to where she needed to be.
Liri looked backwards with a worried expression on her gave.
Liri: (This is like before… Am I being controlled?)
Feran wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Tinira or Silas, and Liri knew that she could handle the Dunmer easily in a fight, but there was something in her, something primal that told her to run…
Shaking the thought from her head, Liri continued east until she stood before the entrance of a cave reeked of blood and death.
Liri: Vampires… I don’t know how, but I can feel them here…
Seeing as her province wide ‘vacation’ couldn’t begin until she did this for Feran and Harkon, Liri gathered her nerve and went inside…
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