Chapter 2

The unmistakable sounds of fighting were what greeted Shae upon her return to Fort Dawnguard. A small group of vampires were attacking the fort but Isran, Celann, and Durak were holding them off well enough. Still, she hurried her pace and arrived just in time to bury her dagger into the last vampire's chest.

Isran sheathed his weapon and approached her. "Look at this. I should have known it was only a matter of time before they found us. It's the price we pay for openly recruiting. We'll have to step up our defenses. I don't suppose you have some good news for me."

"Not exactly." Just great, perfect timing for more bad news, Shae thought irritably.

"Damn. Well what do you know?"

"The vampires were looking for a woman trapped in Dimhollow."

"A woman? Trapped in there? That doesn't make any sense. Who is she? More importantly, where is she?"

"She wanted to go home, so I took her to her castle."

"I'm waiting to hear what any of this means," he said impatiently.

The moment of truth, let's hope he doesn't try to break my teeth. "They also have an Elder Scroll."

"They what? And you didn't stop them? You didn't secure the scroll?" he thundered furiously.

"I'm lucky I made I made it out alive!" Shae retorted, and it was true. During her conversation with Harkon she had noticed a disturbing amount of hungry stares being directed her way just waiting for her to make a wrong move. At the time, she was almost certain that refusing Harkon's "gift" was going to be that move. Dragonborn or not, there was no way she would've come out of that unscathed.

"By the Divines, this couldn't get much worse. This is more than you and I can handle."

"So, what, you're just going to give up?"

"When did I say that? We just need… we need help," Isran said reluctantly. "If they're bold enough to attack us here, then this may be bigger than I thought. I have good men here, but… There are people I've met and worked with over the years. We need their skill, their talents, if we're going to survive this. If you can find them, we might have a chance." He scratched his chin in thought, a plan forming in his mind.

"Alright, where can I find them?"

"We should keep it small. Too many people, and we'll draw unwanted attention to ourselves. I think we'll want Sorine Jurard. Breton girl, whip-smart and good with tinkering. Fascination with the Dwemer. Weapons in particular. Last I knew, she was out in the Reach, convinced she was about to find the biggest dwarven ruins yet."

"She'll help us?" Shae asked. Something told her Isran wasn't exactly best buddies with his former colleagues.

"Might need a little convincing first, but she should. You'll also want to find Gunmar. Big brute of a Nord, hates vampires almost as much as I do. Got into his head years back that his experience with animals would help. Trolls in particular, from what I hear. Last I knew he was out scouring Skyrim for more beasts to tame. Bring the two of them back here, and we can get started on coming up with a plan." He glanced over at the dead vampires and sighed, "And watch your back."

Shae just nodded in response. From what she had heard about him, Shae was lucky the man hadn't put a crossbow bolt through her for her compassion to Serana. And I still have all of my teeth, she thought wryly. Not wanting to push her luck any further, she quickly set out to find Isran's former colleagues.

When Shae finally caught up with Gunmar, his disbelief at hearing Isran wanted to recruit him proved her earlier suspicions correct.

"Isran? Needing someone else's help? Never thought I'd hear that," he said with a shake of his head. "Well, I'm afraid he's a few years too late. I've moved on. I have more important business to attend to. Besides, he can handle anything alone! He assured me so himself. What could he possibly need my help with?"

"We're up against vampires."

"Vampires? That… well, that might change things. Tell me what's going on."

"We're not sure, but they have an Elder Scroll." That got his attention.

"By the eight... " he breathed, "All right. I'll hear out Isran, see if there's anything I can do to help. He's still at that fort near Stendarr's Beacon, I assume?"

Shae quirked a questioning eyebrow. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"He's been working on that place for years now. Never lets anyone in. His own little fortress. Well, I guess I'll go see what he's been up to all this time. I'll meet you there."

At that, Gunmar started packing his things, preparing for his journey to Fort Dawnguard while Shae started on her way to find Sorine Jurard.

After a couple of hours wandering around the Reach with no luck of spotting the second of Isran's former colleagues, someone's cry of frustration caught Shae's attention.

"Just one gyro. One, and I can get back to work. Where are they?"

Peeking around rather a large boulder, Shae spotted what caused the commotion. A woman, standing near a large dwarven contraption Shae couldn't even begin to name was searching through a satchel, seemingly growing more impatient by the second. The collection of dwarven scraps gathered throughout the clearing left little doubt in Shae's mind about who this woman was. Clearing her throat to get the Breton's attention she called out, "Sorine Jurard?"

Said woman turned to face Shae distractedly. "Hey, you haven't seen a sack of dwarven gyros lying around, have you? I'd swear I left it right here. Do you think mudcrabs might've taken it? I saw one the other day… Wouldn't be surprised if it followed me here. Just look around would you?"

"Er-no, I haven't, sorry. Isran sent me to find you." Sorine's eyes snapped to Shae, seeming to only then realize that Shae had called her by name.

"Isran? Wants me?" she scoffed. "No, you must be mistaken. He made it exceedingly clear the last time we spoke that he had no interest in my help. I find it hard to believe he changed his mind." She paused briefly and frowned. "He said some very hurtful things to me before I left. Anyway, I'm quite happy with my current pursuits. So if you'll excuse me…"

Mentally cursing the Dawnguard's paranoid leader Shae blurted out, "Vampires threaten all of Skyrim. We need your help."

"Vampires? Really? Oh, and I suppose now he remembers that I proposed no less than three different scenarios that involved vampires overrunning the population," the shorter woman replied, crossing her arms. "Well, what are they up to?"

"They have an Elder Scroll." Just like Gunmar, that seemed to do the trick.

"I… Well, that's actually something I never would've anticipated. Interesting. I'm not sure what they would want with one, but in this case Isran is probably correct in thinking it isn't good. All right. If nothing else, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn more about what's going on so I can better defend myself." She paused and looked around at the equipment still scattered around her. "Unfortunately, I can't just abandon what I've been working on here. It's too useful. I need at least one intact dwarven gyro. So either I need to find the one those mudcrabs stole, or I need another gyro from someplace. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?"

Shae didn't bother reminding the dwarven enthusiast that she had already said no, and instead offered to help find the one that the mudcrabs apparently took. Twenty minutes later found Sorine packing her things, dwarven gyro in hand, and Shae directing her to Fort Dawnguard.

"Ah. been working more on his secret hideout, has he? It'll be interesting to see how much progress he's made," Sorine said with a small smile.

"Funny, Gunmar said something similar when I mentioned it to him."

"Isran sent you to get Gunmar too? Well, I guess that shouldn't be surprising considering the circumstances. Still, if he sent you to find both of us he must be even more concerned than I thought. I'll finish up here and head in that direction as soon as I can. See you there."

Despite each of them leaving at different times, the Dragonborn arrived just in time to see both Gunmar and Sorine walk through the main doors. Making a beeline for the entrance, Shae was surprised to see the inner gates raised forcing all three of them into the main entry. Gunmar was the first to speak.

"All right Isran, you've got us all here. Now what do you want?"

"Hold it right there." Immediately a bright light erupted from the center of the ceiling, temporarily blinding them.

"What are you doing?" Sorine called, blinking her eyes in an attempt to recover her eyesight faster.

"Making sure you're not vampires. Can't be too careful," the Redguard replied, before shutting off the magical light and lowering the gates.

"So welcome to Fort Dawnguard. I'm sure you've heard a bit of what we're up against. Powerful vampires, unlike anything we've ever seen before. And they have an Elder Scroll. If anyone is going to stand in their way, it's going to be us."

"This is all well and good, but do we actually know anything about what they're doing? What do we do?"

"We'll get to that. For now, get acquainted with the space. Sorine, you'll find room to start your tinkering on that crossbow design you've been working on. Gunmar, there's an area large enough for you to pen up some trolls, get them armored up and ready to use." He then shifted his gaze toward the dragonborn. "In the meantime, we're going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you. Let's go have a little chat with it, shall we?"

A/N: I know there wasn't any Serana in this chapter but honestly, I quite liked Sorine and Gunmar. Anyway, let me know what you think and thank you to anyone who reviewed and/or followed!