Storming the Castle 1

Nero sat on his bed in the Dawnguard Fort. His armor from the waist up had been removed and now lay scattered on the floor. The dragon bone of his boots made a sharp clicking sound as he absently taped them on the stone floor. It had only been a few hours since he and Serana had returned with Auriel's bow. The same bow that he had sat staring at for over an hour. Even at this time of night he could make out every detail of it. Whether that was because of it unworldly origin or his werewolf eyes he wasn't sure.

The soft steps coming up to his room brought his attention to Serana who now stood in his door way arms crossed leaning against the frame. Her eyes glowed in the darkness. On anyone else, such eyes would put him on edge. Hers didn't. Well not anymore at least.

"So what now?" Serana asked. Ever since they had returned Nero had become very quiet. She normally couldn't get him to shut up. She didn't like it when he was quiet.

Reclusive.

Alone.

Nero turned his gaze up to her, "well the original plan was to take you and the bow to some tropical island far away, but I don't think you'd like all that sun."

Serana laughed, "I think I could get used to it." There's that horrible humor she knew.

Nero sat in silence, while Serana's laugh soon slowed, not sure how to say what he knew she needed to know. What he had heard Isran planning.

"Isran," Nero paused before continuing, " wants to take the Dawnguard and storm Castle Volkihar."

Serana sighed, "Take the fight right to my father huh?"

Nero could hear the acceptance in her voice. She knew her father had to be stopped. Still, "he's your father Serana, are you sure you're ok with this?"

"I've known this day was coming when I left and came here, looking for you."

"Still it's a horrible thing we're asking you to do. Going against a parent can be…" Nero couldn't find a right word to describe the action.

Serana moved off the stone wall arch, "you sound like you've had some experience with standing against family."

Serana watched Nero go tight lipped. It was just like before when she had asked him if he had anyone there for him. When asked about friends he described some rather eccentric people with a broad smile and booming laugh. When she asked if he still had a family, his answer was a soft 'not anymore' and 'I miss them.' Something painful had happened to him. She wouldn't push him to learn what that was, but she would stay by him just in case he ever wanted to let it out.

Deciding to change the subject Serana moved over to him, and her eyes fell on to some black and blue marks that were covering his back and shoulders.

"You should really get those wounds looked at. Vyrthur dropped a roof on you after all."

"I've had worse. A giant smacked me with a club once. And there was that one time a dragon named Alduin landed on me. Besides I've already healed myself well enough for now. No more broken bones."

"Nord men are so stubborn."

The mattress shifted as Serana sat next to him and placed a hand on one of the larger bruises on his back. Her hands felt cool against his skin. His back felt hot to her hand.

Nero chuckled, "we have to be. Have you seen Skyrim? All those bandits, bears, saber cats, dragons and then there's the women. Divines save you if you anger a skyrim woman."

Serana just glared at Nero for a bit before pinching one of his bruises.

"Ow ok ow."

Turning around, Nero grabbed hold of Serana's wrists, while at the same time Serana pulled back with a surprised but playful yelp. She fell back onto the bed, pulling Nero with her so he was now leaning over her, with her hands over her head, deep into the soft fur of the covers and their faces only a few inches apart. It was quit the compromising position. Nero found that he was unable to look away from her. Starting at her soft glowing eyes to her soft dark lips, that were just slightly parted, then the gentle curve of her neck. Finally his eyes were drawn to the cleft of her breasts.

Serana was just as entranced with Nero as he was with her. Unlike most nord men who had long blond hair, his brown hair was cut short, barely a fingers width long. His eyes showed a man with experience beyond his years, while his face showed that he had only just become a man a few years past. Pale jagged scars ran across his nose and right cheek where some large animal had marked him with the swipe of its paw. She strangely wanted to trace those scars with her fingers or scratch at his jaw and chin that was covered in short scruff from not shaving for the past few days. With his top off she could also make out every muscle along chest and stomach, every mark where a bandit or maybe dragon had gotten through his armor. She could also feel the heat coming off him, and fast pounding of his heart. She felt surrounded by his life. Life and heat that she desired to get closer to. She arched her back and grinded herself into him, and a low moan escaped her dark lips as she did.

Before either of them could act out there desires however, the sound of more footsteps echoing into the room forced them to move apart just before Isran himself walked in. His normally 'pleasant' face soured seeing the vampire so close to Nero. Fortunately they had moved back to just sitting next to each other before he had walked in.

Isran after eying both of them for a bit, before he decided to get down to business, "Most of my men are still preparing but we should ready to storm Castle Volkiha by dawn."

Nero shook his head, "how many men do the Dawnguard have? No where near enough to storm the castle and leave some hear to defend the fort. I don't want to leave all those people down there without some form of protection since we've already been attacked by a group of vampires. That and even if I was ok with leaving all those people that have moved here unprotected, there is a huge power difference between the Dawnguard and those vampires."

Isran sneered, "Are you calling us weak?"

Nero didn't let up, but he never raised his voice to match Isran. His time as a student and, soon after, Arch Mage of the College of Winterhold had taught him the value of patience. Or as much patience as a Nord warrior could have.

"When I was inside that castle I counted over triple the number of vampires to men we have here. And those are only the ones I could see. And that's not even counting all the gargoyles and death hounds they have. And then there is Harkon himself. I could feel his power just from walking into the same room as him. And this was before he transformed into that vampire lord form. The simple truth is the vampires have the upper hand in terms of raw power and numbers. And if he was smart he's pulled in even more vampires to protect himself the moment Serana left."

Isran grumbled a few choice words to the eight divines, "So we wait and gather our strength then."

"No. If we do that we'll get over run. I'd say we only have a few days before Harkon hears that we have the bow. The moment he hears that, and figures out, he out numbers us we'll get over run"

Serana leaned forward slightly so she could get a better look at Nero's face. Unlike Isran who was brooding over this situation, Nero had a smirk and a glean in his eye.

"So what are you planning?" Asked Serana.

"You'd be surprised how many people end up owing you a few favors after you end a civil war…or save the world a couple of times."

Isran and Serana looked at the dragonborn before a huge grin split Isran's face, "you're raising an army."

Nero nodded, "I've sent word to my housecarls to talk to the Jarl's, I've summoned the Companions and I'm having the college send some mages. Once all our forces are here, then we go after Harkon."

Authors Notes:

The Legends of the Dovahkiin will be a collection of stories centered around the Dovahkiin, his friends and allies. Most will be one shots based on quests or little ideas that I come up with, while others will be multi part stories like this one. There is no real chronological order to these unless I specifically state in the story if something happened before or after. This first arc, Storming the Castle will follow Nero (Dovahkiin) as he readies to make the final push against Harkon with Serana and the Dawnguard. Please be sure to leave a review and to point out if you see any grammar errors since I did this without a beta reader...or any real understanding of the English language.

Characters: (since there are so many characters in Skyrim I'm going to add this little bit to the end just in case you need reminding of who is who)

Nero: The Dovahkiin of these stories. Aged between mid to upper twenties. Mostly Lawful Good, but can easily swing into the chaotic good/neutral range if pushed. Supported the Legion since Ulfric Stormcloak was a damned racist and he has ties to both Skyrim and Cyrodill but that's for another story :D

Serana: Vampire and daughter to Harkon. Is now generally considered the ultimate vampire waifu.

Harkon: Leader of the Skyrim vampires and all around evil douchebag.

Isran: Leader of the Dawnguard. Douchebag but with a heart of gold…maybe silver…no bronze. Heart of bronze.

Arch-Curate Vyrthur: Snow elf and boss of the Touching The Sky quest to get Auriel's bow.

Alduin: You should really know who this guy is. That big black dragon? The final boss of Skyrim? Yikes...

Dragon Language: None used.

Random Thought: After I got the bow and made it back to the Dawnguard Fort I thought for sure there would be a quest where I would need to find some weapons or more men for the Dawnguard before we went after Harkon. I kept thinking there is no way this little group is going to attack all those vamps, and yep they did. I had to use a lot of potions since all the damn vampires kept going after me and not ANYONE else. Man those vamps and Harkon gave me more trouble than Alduin .