With winter only a recent memory, the long nights still closed in with abrupt swiftness, shadows spilling out and consuming the land almost as quickly as the evening fog rolled in from the marshlands. Daylight was almost a commodity in itself in these northern reaches, but it did not mean that a settlement like Morthal restricted its activities to the sun. Fishermen returned with their boats full of the day’s catch, peat harvesters laid down their tools, but others continued working on through the dark hours.

  It had taken Sofia and Lydia over an hour to make their way through the streets and reach the outer edges of Morthal, guided a little by their own sense of direction and the occasional local who assisted them in finding the graveyard. It was strangely enough slow progress, as the twisting, winding streets of Morthal forced them to backtrack on several occasions as they ran into dead ends and compressed alleyways, or simply ran out of street to walk on as cobblestones gave way to jetties rising out of the water laden soil. But finally, as the sun dropped below the horizon and the last of its light was snuffed out, they reached Morthal’s western outskirts.

  There were signs that Morthal was in the process of becoming something more, and despite the increasing shadows and fog rolling in from the marshes there were many still hard at work into the night. Built onto the edge of the enormous graveyard, a lumber mill was still operating with sounds of its workers talking, chatting and even singing and the sound of saws cutting planks echoed in the night. Sofia and Lydia had passed by the enormous earthen mound that was being constructed around the settlement, and the large number of stones, planks and logs being used in the construction of a protective outer wall. While it had been described as the ‘palisade’ by the guards from earlier in the day, even Sofia could see that it was going to be a curtain wall instead.

  "What a miserable evening this has turned out to be." Sofia muttered, feeling the chill as clouds finally won the struggle to hide the moons and the evening’s first stars from view.

  Lydia, appearing to have returned to her dour, silent ways once more said nothing, choosing to walk alongside Sofia and her lantern, as the pair moved through the buildings on Morthal’s edge. Handfuls of smaller houses made from thatch, mud brick, stones and localised wood were scattered about, some with small gardens of hardy vegetables, chicken coops and the odd handful of tiny pastures containing sheep and goats. It was almost quaint, especially compared to the stone majesty of the likes of Whiterun, but Morthal gave Sofia the impression of a hardy, but self-sufficient community living in an area that she wouldn’t be caught dead in.

  "Where do you think he would be?" On their way through Morthal’s outskirts, Sofia had ‘acquired’ a battered iron lantern from the side of a building, and as the ground gave way to a field of gravestones and markers she adjusted the shutters for more light. Not that it did much with the way the fog was shrouding everything further than a dozen metres away in a blanket of grey chill.

  "Searching for the ghost I guess." Underlined by the sound of her boots crunching onto the dusty path between the rows of graves, Lydia’s voice was even colder than normal. "Maybe we should find someone to ask where she was buried?"

  "Sure beats wandering around a graveyard at night." For a moment Sofia tried to work out whether she was concerned, or amused at how she was yet again in a situation involving the undead for yet another time because of Kaius. At least it wasn’t a barrow full of draugr this time. "And the sooner we find her, the sooner we can get back to the inn. And mead."

  "The amount you drink is going to get you killed."

  "And following Kaius isn't going to?"

  Lydia returned to her usual, silent self at that, and Sofia couldn't help but grin in a small measure of triumph, even as she frowned and looked about with the assistance of the lantern's feeble light.

  “Usually gravediggers live next to, or even in the centre of graveyards they look after. If anyone would know where the little girl was buried it would be them.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  “I get around a bit.” Sofia replied, looking around for any indication of where the centre of the graveyard would be through the mist. “Cities like Whiterun usually cremate their dead to save space, and I once thought that crypts were good places to acquire loot.”

  “You would steal from the dead?”

  “In my defence, I was cold and hungry, and the last time I checked dead people don’t need money to buy food, so what’s the harm in it? Besides…” She continued, ignoring the way that the Huskarl’s expression had hardened into disgust and how Lydia was staring daggers at her. “No one has any problem if I go and raid a barrow or tomb, and I’ve even been paid several times to do just that. I wish someone would explain to me just how long someone has to be dead, before it's no longer considered grave robbing.”

  Through the gloom and fog, there were no sounds. No night life, crickets or nocturnal animals calling out from the shadows, and other than the soft crunches of their boots and the movement of their armour it was deathly quiet. That joke however died the moment before Sofia could speak it aloud, as she saw the way that Lydia had come to a stop, staring off into the fog with narrowed eyes, and an even grimmer expression than usual.

  "What is it?"

  "Someone is close by." An armoured gauntlet lifted with a finger spearing into the direction they were facing. "Over there."

  “Is it Kaius?” Despite staring and holding the lantern with its opened side facing where Lydia was pointing, Sofia couldn’t see anything beyond a vague semblance of a shadow moving in the night, at the very edge of their vision.

  "I don't think it is."

  "One way to find out." Some gravel crunched under her boots as she took a few steps forward, lifting the lantern a little higher and waving with her other hand. "Hey! Kaius!"

  The figure stopped in mid movement, and for an uncomfortable second Sofia felt the presence of eyes resting upon her. Whoever it was, they were too far away to identify and despite her best efforts it still remained on the very edges of her vision. That was right up until it vanished like it hadn't existed at all.

  "Um... What?" Blinking in confusion, she lowered the lantern and took a step backwards. There had definitely been someone ahead of them, no less than thirty or forty metres away and in a flat, open space such as the graveyard there were very few places to hide. "We must be just seeing things."

  A scrape of metal on leather was the loudest noise in the graveyard as Sofia turned and saw how the Huskarl was standing, and the way that Lydia had unclasped her spectacle helm and pushed it down over her head. Not a single flicker of emotion had crossed Lydia’s face, but there was certainly something forboding about the way that she slowly, and carefully dragged her heirloom axe from her side.

  "That wasn't the Thane." Axe in one hand, shield in the other, and her face hidden behind banded steel and jingling aventail, there were no traces of Lydia’s femininity left to be seen. Only the armoured warrior of Whiterun remained.

  "Thank you, Legate Obvious, I kinda figured that out for myself."

  A feeling of dread had somehow washed over them, a dread that made the typical, almost normal unease of being in a graveyard during a fog filled night inconsequential, and Sofia could feel herself sweating under her armour. Her sword however was a comforting weight as it always was, gripped in her hand with the other holding the lantern close.

  "I love it when dinner walks right into my arms." The hiss came from their right, making them both twirl in surprise, but by the time they had turned there was nothing there. "I bet you both taste delicious..."

  Cackling, the unseen speaker floated around them in the mist, hidden and invisible in the shadows. There was no physical sign of them, but the words and the tone were distinctly feminine.

  "Lydia..." Barely a whisper, Sofia had to choke the word out and she soon felt the reassuring presence of the plate armoured housecarl only centimetres from her spine.

  "I know. Quiet."

  "Yes. Be quiet. Cattle shouldn't speak."

  Threatening and terrible, there was no mistaking the unnatural aura of dread that was holding them tight, seeping through the pores of their skin in a foul sweat despite the cold. Short sword tightly gripped in her hand, Sofia was desperately trying not to think of the way her palms were growing increasingly damp in her gloves. Fear had always been something that had been part of her life, from the years living in Skyrim’s wilds, the barrow-delving and the countless times where death was so close that she could feel its breath on her face. Recently though, facing such fear was suspiciously easier than it had been after the encounter with the dragon.

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  Just beyond the edges of her vision, like a shadow refusing to take form, there was something lurking, swirling around them in the darkness and the mists. Only ever in the corner of her eye, it was less visible than felt, a presence of creeping dread and deadly threat. There was something about it that built pressure into the back of her mind similar to Kaius's magicka, but it was not the same as casting a ward, creating a ball of light, or even summoning the shades of the dead.

  "Open the lantern." Lydia hissed between clenched teeth, the glints of eyes the only parts of her flesh that were visible under the spectacle helm.

  Without thinking or hesitating, not even her usual habit of sarcastic quips for every response, Sofia flicked the shutters with a thumb, opening the metal slats and letting the light from the burning wick to pour out. While it wasn't much and did little to break the stifling pressure of the night, it was enough to suddenly reveal the darkened figure less than five metres away.

  Pallid, pale flesh, burning red eyes like dying coals, and the glint of fangs was all Sofia’s mind managed to perceive before the figure launched itself at them with a roar. It was too quick, crossing the distance between them with inhuman speed, and as adrenaline flooded her body she instinctively realised that she wouldn’t be able to defend herself in time. Until the leaping, shadowed monstrosity was smashed out of the air by a thick, banded steel shield wielded by a hundred kilograms of nordic muscle.

  "Sofia! Get it!"

  A vampire. Sofia had heard tales of them, as had anyone who had ever lived in Skyrim but this was the first time she had encountered such a creature in the flesh. Its face was twisted and horrific, lips peeled back over a pair of lengthened incisors, cheekbones jutting forward and eyes sunken into a skull whose skin had been pulled taut from its curse. Barely any trace of humanity remained in what had once been a middle aged, nordic woman, especially as the vampire rolled, twisted and bounded up from where Lydia’s shield bash had violently thrown it.

  "Why fight me?" The being hissed, gliding away from the lantern in Sofia's hand, and the axe and sword that the two women were wielding. "Your blood is already mine."

  "I think not, bitch!" Holding her sword out and pointing at the heart of the vampiress to keep it at bay for a moment, Sofia carefully, but quickly placed the lantern on the ground at her feet, all four sets of shutters open and illuminating the space around them in its feeble light. “You’re not going to be the ugliest thing I have ever killed.”

  Hissing, mouth opening wide, the vampiress dragged its own blade from its side, a dagger appearing in a sturdy, if uneasy grip that gave Sofia some confidence at least. Despite its obvious, unnatural strength, speed and abilities, it was no trained fighter. On top of that, Sofia found herself grinning manically as confidence grew within her. Six months of travel with Kaius equated to six months of training with a sword master who had been spending a lot of time teaching her how to fight things stronger, faster and tougher than she was.

  Claws and the dagger ripped through the air as the creature attacked them in a flurry of blows, slashing and swiping, and snapping a fang filled mouth in its hunger to taste their flesh and drink their blood. It was relentless, moving with all the supernatural speed that its curse afforded it, but against Sofia and Lydia it was quickly struggling. With her heavier armour, shield and fighting axe, Lydia was the rock of defence to Sofia’s quick bladed offense. Careful, experienced footwork ensured that Lydia’s roundshield was between the two of them and the circling creature as it darted in for some opportunistic blows before retreating. Sofia on the other hand was doing her damndest to stab or cut the thing somewhere important each time, but it was too quick for that.

  Within seconds the air was ringing with rippling snarls, and the sounds of metal on metal as it turned its attention to Lydia. Blow after blow was forcing grunts of effort from the huskarl, forcing her to inch backwards from the unholy strength behind the blows of the vampiress’s knife. It was little more than a butcher's blade, or something used for chopping up or preparing meals, but wielded by something with a vampire's strength it struck with devastating force. Time and time again it would twist its edge in attempts to get it around Lydia's defence, only to find the experienced housecarl moving slightly, shifting her bodyweight, and deflecting the knife on the metal rim.

  Alternating between one and both hands on her sword and remembering all of the techniques that Kaius had spent the months of travel drumming into her, Sofia cut and stabbed in her own series of attacks and blows. Against a foe that was stronger, faster and more agile, it was useless and almost suicidal to make any attacks that were at all extended from the body. Kaius had taught her to fight close, to stab and slice in short sharp movements where she could easily roll the wrist into a block or parry of her own. Each time she fended the creature off she was thankful she had actually listened to someone for once, and hadn't been too drunk at the time to forget his lessons.

  Fabric and cloth ripped as a slice managed to cut part of the robes that billowed like smoke from the writhing vampire. A chunk of hood fluttered lazily into the air as Sofia came within centimetres of cutting ear and scalp, but with its characteristic speed it had managed to duck and weave away from the blows. Even Lydia’s axe struggled to touch the creature as it twisted away, but it was also struggling to have any effect on the two women.

  Lydia’s armour protected her from the knife, claws and fangs, and her shield was a barrier as impervious as the mountains, and Sofia’s blade was dancing between them in a flurry of steel. On the journey from Whiterun they had briefly fought side by side against a small band of bandits attempting to attack the wagons they travelled with, but in the middle of a graveyard Sofia and Lydia fought as though they had been training for months together. Armoured defence combined with a dexterous offense holding a vampire at bay, while also seeking means for their axe and sword to taste its tainted flesh.

  "Oh hey, you dropped something." Sofia’s sword flashed against the creature again, ripping another jagged slice down its robed torso that missed the skin by mere millimetres. “Oh… It was your dignity.”

  Lips like blue-grey leather peeled back further over its fangs, eyes burning with an annoyed hatred as it turned and snarled at Sofia, but even a moment’s distraction cost it. As though she was attempting to split a log in half, Lydia swung her axe down in a powerful, one handed blow that slammed into the creature's shoulder. Polluted blood sprayed, the vampiress practically yelped like a wounded animal, but twisted aside just enough not to lose the arm or have the wicked head of Lydia’s axe Hahkunstun buried into its chest.

  "Not so fun now is it, bitch?”

  Hunching and clutching its wounded shoulder in its free hand, the female vampire growled, a deep throbbing note that was felt almost more than heard, but it was smiling. Standing shoulder to shoulder, Sofia and Lydia watched with mutual expressions of horror as the darkness seemed to reach in and wrap itself around the vampiress, pulling it out of sight, and into the shadows.

  They had moved too far from the lantern, and Sofia’s stomach clenched in horror and realisation but there was no time to react. Moving with all the speed of a lightning strike, the rictus grin of the vampiress reappeared, unfolding itself from the shadows by Lydia's side with knife in hand, fangs bared, and latching onto the huskarl like some demented spider. Only Lydia’s armour, especially her plated gorget, and chainmail aventail kept the creature’s fangs away from her throat and she roared with the effort of trying to pry the vampiress off. Lashing out with fists, shield and even twisting and slamming her armoured forehead into the vampiress’s face did nothing to deter its frenzied stabbing and biting in its attempts to injure or bring Lydia down.

  "Lydia!?" Almost before she committed to the strike, Sofia knew that she was overbalancing herself in a move that Kaius would have admonished her for. It was sloppy, but it still managed to achieve its purpose as the vampire leapt off Lydia and wrapped itself into the shadows once more, a split second before the sword took its throat away.

  "Get… into… the light!" Forcing the words out, Lydia staggered and stumbled slightly, and to Sofia’s horror she could see a streak of blood running down her side. Her armour was exceptionally impressive, and provided considerable protection, but a sharp pointed knife with the strength of a vampire behind it had still managed to find a weakness. A gap, a seam less than a finger wide between her armoured breastplate and the faulds protecting her legs, had been enough for the vampire’s knife to sink into her hip.

  Drawn out and with a mouth unhinging like a snake, the vampiress reappeared directly in front of Lydia as she tried to raise her shield once more. It was too fast, too agile, and striking from the shadows with the smell of blood on the air made it even faster than it was before, punching the huskarl in the chest like a kick from a mule. Even the sound was forceful, ripping through the air and making Sofia jump, as Lydia was thrown backwards in a clatter of metal.

  The commotion of their fight had been echoing louder than they had realised, and questioning shouts and bouncing lights were quickly making their way through the mists from the direction of the town. Unfortunately, Sofia knew that in the best case those coming to investigate the disturbance would be able to save them from the vampire, but in the worst case, would be little more than fodder for the beast. Within a heartbeat of Lydia being thrown backwards in a dazed tangle of armour plating, she had stepped sideways, putting herself between the vampiress and the huskarl.

  "Lydia! Get up!" Fending off a pair of blows from the knife and feeling the wind on her face as a handful of sharpened fingernails only just missed blinding her, Sofia was gritting her teeth, trying and using everything Kaius had taught her to keep the damned being at bay. There was nothing else in the world at that moment, her focus shrinking down to the fanged expression of hunger and the crimson covered blade seeking her blood. It was impossibly fast, inhumanly strong, and only the months sparring Kaius allowed her to meet the creature’s bloodlust with technique and skill alone.

  The mist was broken with the sights of jogging figures, some carrying torches, others a lantern or two as guards and the lumbermill workers responded to the commotion in the graveyard. Chainmail could be heard chiming as their wearers jogged towards them, and subconsciously Sofia could hear the sounds of bells ringing as other guards summoned the night patrols to the settlement’s outskirts. Help though was going to arrive too late. She couldn’t fight the vampire off for more than a handful of seconds, and with Lydia dazed and trying to rise to her feet, she was on her own.

  Once again flicking the knife away with her sword as it sought out her mailed stomach, Sofia found herself completely unprepared as the vampire chose to leap upon her once more. This time there was no shield to smash it aside or block it. No distance to dodge or twist aside, it struck her like a charging bull and she felt its full weight slam into her, both hands scrabbling for purchase on the chainmail and brigandine armour she wore. Finger sized pieces of metal ripped or popped away from where they had been riveted to the chainmail, and as she jammed her elbow into the vampiress's throat she could feel a series of links begin to part and give way under its feral strength.

  Shouting and curses of horror and shock rippled around her over the panting and hissing less than a dagger's width from her face. Her entire vision was filled with the sight of salivating jaws, teeth and fangs gleaming with whiteness and the pale tongue twitching in anticipation of her blood. Despite their comparative weight and how the vampiress was roughly the same size, the unnatural nature of the curse afforded her a much greater strength. All Sofia could do was jam an elbow into a pallid throat and try to keep the drooling maw at bay as those running to her aid drew closer.