Nate accepted Dumbuk's offered hand to help him up to his feet. Walking back to the watchtower, Nathan collected his dropped bow and collected any of his arrows that hadn't become damaged after killing their targets. Dumbuk waited for him, then together they made their way into the open tunnel. The tunnel was lit up with burning torches that bathed the dusty dark winding tunnel in a warm glow. While walking, Dumbuk asked him in a whisper while staying alert. "Are you a Necromancer? You didn't deny Tolan's claims." Nathan avoided Dumbuk's eyes, his grip tightening on his bow. He didn't know if he wanted to talk about it. Dumbuk let out a sigh, then told him in a low gruff voice. "I honestly don't care one way or another. Just... if I die. Do not bring me back." Nathan risked a soft chuckle, asking curiously. "Why not?" Dumbuk replied with a broad smile. "I want to enjoy my afterlife. My retirement as we Orcs say. I don't want to keep being summoned to fight battles that grant me no additional honor." Nathan shrugged, openly saying. "Your loss." At the end of the winding tunnel, Nathan put out a hand to stop Dumbuk. The cavern before them was very dimly lit and all over the place were coffins that had been freshly dug up.

Crouching low, Nathan crept forward to get a better look. Some of the coffins were made of thick carved stone, but the majority were made of cheap wood. Nathan knew from his studies that these were common for Nord burials and their families or common citizens that helped in some fashion. Based on the symbols he saw on the closest coffins; he could discern this was a Vigilants of Stendarr tomb. Inching out more, Nathen slipped into the shadows to get a better view of the place. Skeletons were walking the place with bows, acting like scouts. While farther up a little river that ran through the place, Nathan could see a vampire digging in the dirt. Notching his bow, he drew back the drawstring to take aim at her. She sat up, extending her hands out over the grave as she started to chant. A skeleton saw Nathan and began drawing his own bow but Nathan stayed focused and released the arrow. His arrow whizzed through the air, causing the vampire woman to turn just in time to get the arrow in her chest. The vampire let out a shrill scream then burst into ash! Nathan then rolled across the ground as the skeleton's arrow whizzed out at him. It struck the stone wall, breaking on impact.

Dumbuk moved out from the tunnel as the skeletons rushed toward Nathan. With one swing from his hammer, two of the skeletons shattered. Their remains floating along the little river. The skeleton archer on a ledge across from them took aim at Nathan again, but before it released the arrow, Dumbuk threw his hammer up at it. The skeleton's bow broke, before the skeleton shattered like the fragile thing it was. Dumbuk walked without fear along the river between the coffins, practically daring any others to take him on. One skeleton sat up in its coffin, but Dumbuk simply took off it's skull and crushed it between his hands. Nathan took to the shadows to look for stragglers and to collect Dumbuk's hammer. Making his way around to meet up with Dumbuk at the top of the stairs where the vampire's ashes were, Dumbuk dug through her ashes and told him flatly. "She was resurrecting Vigilants... Why?" Nathan shrugged, holding out Dumbuk's heavy hammer to him, upon replying. "Maybe they are hoping they can tell them something? Lead them to something?" Dumbuk rose to take his hammer and Nathan winced as he felt a sudden heat come from the handle.

Dumbuk looked him over closer, before suddenly asking him. "Nathan? Are you alright?" Nate flexed his fingers, muttering out as he tried to move to the next tunnel. "Everything is fine. Just sore." Dumbuk grabbed his arm and pulled something out of his pocket to press to Nathan's neck. Nathan jerked at how cold the thing felt and yelped out. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Dumbuk pulled his hand back from his neck to show him the round silver pendant necklace. Nathan touched his neck, his eyes locked on Dumbuk. Dumbuk released Nathan's arm, questioning him seriously. "Have you had reactions to touching silver and anything with sun properties? Like your sword? Had issues with the sunlight? Maybe felt thirstier lately?" Nathan backed away from him, asking defensively. "Why are you asking me this?" Nathan's heart started to race as he thought about what Dumbuk was implying. Dumbuk grabbed his chin, tilting his head to look into his eyes better. Nathan shoved Dumbuk back, prompting Dumbuk to blurt out. "You have. Haven't you." Nathan whirled around to make his way over to the lever to open the tunnel into the next room, snapping out. "I'm not a vampire. I'm sure you'd know if I was."

Dumbuk followed him into the next room of more open stone coffins for Nords. Draugr were laying beside them like they'd been killed and discarded. Nathan started to investigate, but Dumbuk moved in front of him to say seriously. "Exactly. I think you've contracted the virus." Nathan stayed very still as the thought seeped in. Dumbuk pointed at him, telling him sternly. "I'd bet anything you got it from Escher. The symptoms are starting... Here. Take this. Now!" Dumbuk fished out a small potion bottle from his bag and gave it to Nathan. Nathan tried to hand it back, but Dumbuk snapped out. "Drink it! If you don't cure it now while it is in the early stages. It will kill you and you'll become like THEM. A vampire." Nathan reluctantly uncorked it and drank it down. It tasted grainy and horrible, but he had to admit... he did feel a little better. Dumbuk took the empty bottle back, telling him in a calmer tone. "I don't think you should continue. We should go back and inform the Dawnguard of this place. Come back with a battalion." Nathan huffed, walking on to the next tunnel as he said over his shoulder dryly. "Why? We've come this far. Let's just finish. We'd only be wasting time going back."

Dumbuk pushed Nathan up against the wall, telling him a bit shortly. "You don't understand. You are in no condition to fight vampires." Nathan gestured to the bottle, snapping out. "You cured me. It's done. Over with." Dumbuk shook his head, growling out. "No. It's not. It cured the symptoms and neutralized the strain to keep it from spreading. NOT the virus. There is no cure for vampirism! If any of these vampires bite you... it could reanimate the virus and spread it faster! It's too dangerous for you here!" Nathan pushed Dumbuk back with his leg, snapping out. "I'm fine! Worry about yourself." Heading down into the next room before Dumbuk could argue more, Nathan gawked at the place. From floor to ceiling the place was lined with bodies in little coffin nooks. The place was pretty dark, which allowed Nathan to see the sudden light of a torch coming closer. Crouching low, he saw another vampire moving along the walls just around the corner. At her side, a Death Hound walked with her and snorted. The vampire looked over the Draugr in the nooks, talking to herself bitterly. "Oh, sure... Find me a 'Dawnguard', he says... How am I supposed to tell one from the other? All these dead people look alike. I'm telling you, Snots. This fucking artifact better be worth it. It's been nothing but a bitch to find... no offence."

The Death Hound snorted again, sending snot out across the dirt floor. Nathan signaled Dumbuk to come in slowly. The vampire dusted off armor on one of the Draugr, telling the Death Hound hopefully. "Well... This one looks promising. Can you imagine hiding the original Dawnguard among such pathetic Vigilantes? Must have been done just to piss us off!" The vampire woman stepped back and casted a spell on the Draugr. The Draugr's body began to glow as it reanimated and got up off the shelf. The vampire flicked her long white hair off her shoulder, telling the Draugr in a commanding voice. "Alright, you dusty bag of bones. Come with me. The boss wants to- AH!" The Draugr turned like it was going to follow her, before grabbing her throat and lifted her off the ground. The vampire kicked and hissed at the Draugr, but it just looked her in the eyes with no fear or mercy. The Death Hound let out a growl, then leapt at the Draugr to bite him. Sinking its teeth into the Draugr's thigh as it tugged and thrashed. Beside Nathan, Dumbuk asked completely perplexed. "What just happened...?" Nathan swallowed, telling him discreetly. "She wanted a Dawnguard... and she got one. Funny thing about Necromancy... you can't control everything you summon. Especially, if you are the very thing that angered them in life. Takes a lot of will power that I highly doubt she has."

The Draugr said something in a language that Nathan had never heard before, then withdrew a sword that glinted in the dropped torch light. The sword was made of smooth silver, and the handle had the symbol of the Dawnguard etched into it. The vampire screamed for help and kicked wildly. The Draugr stabbed his blade into the back of the Death Hound, killing it almost instantly as the blade melted its flesh off its bones. Then lifting the sword out, the Draugr pointed the blade at the Vampire's chest menacingly. She begged and pleaded with him, but a wicked grin pulled at what remained of his lips before he impaled it into her with an inhuman growl. The Vampire jerked in his arms, letting out a straggled whine before cracking like porcelain and falling to ash. Without her, the Draugr staggered back and fell lifeless to the floor. Nathan got up, walking over to the blade as he said. "That is a pretty sword. Could come in handy." Dumbuk swatted his hand before he touched it, telling him in a nervous tone. "Don't!" Nathan opened his mouth to argue, but Dumbuk bowed to the fallen Draugr and told it respectfully. "Rest in peace." Dumbuk then carefully put the Draugr back into his nook and took the sword to lay over him.

Dumbuk then turned to face him, coolly saying. "Sorry. But a warrior's weapons are sacred to them. To take it would bring bad luck and cause him unrest." Nathan nodded to him but added softly to himself. "It's a waste... but fine." Moving on to another room of more crypt nooks, Dumbuk looked around and said in a respectful voice. "I always wondered where the original Dawnguard were laid to rest. Now it makes sense. The Vigilants never should have kept this place a secret from us. Our dead belong here too." Nathan looked over the robes of a Vigilant in one of the nooks, before telling him casually. "But it doesn't... Why were the Dawnguard laid to rest here? Why not someplace closer to Fort Dawnguard? Why hidden among the Vigilants?" Dumbuk stopped short, thinking it over before blurting out. "You think they were trying to keep something in?" Nathan didn't answer. He didn't want to tell him about the Elder Scroll. Odds were that Dumbuk would want to take it to Isran. However, his father wanted him to take it to the college of Winterhold. So, that is what he planned to do. Dumbuk eyed him suspiciously, asking a little uneasily. "You know something. What exactly is in here?"

Nathan shrugged, trying to think of a lie to tell him. Only to freeze as a singing voice rose in volume from the next tunnel that went downward into darkness. Dumbuk pulled down his hammer from his back, telling Nathan firmly. "This conversation isn't over. But let's keep moving." Nathan notched an arrow to his bow and followed him into the tunnel. At the end, the place opened into a nice little lake with two separate waterfalls feeding into it from opposite ends of the room. Across the little lake was a set of stone stairs that led up to another tunnel that had stone carvings. Sitting on a ledge that overlooked the little lake, was a vampire man with long red hair that was braided back away from his face. The vampire was singing a Nord song in a beautiful voice as he worked on something in his hands. Dumbuk looked to Nathan, then pointed to the vampire. Drawing his bowstring, Nathan took aim and fired. The arrow hit its mark, causing the vampire to puff into ash. However, his sword fell off the ledge and splashed into the water. Nathan's blood turned to ice as the water rippled menacingly. Dumbuk moved toward the water, chuckling out. "These vampires make it too easy. I'm a little disappointed. I expected... more."

Nathan's eyes widened as skeletons started to slowly stand up in the water without a sound. Pointing, Nathan yelled out. "Dumbuk!" Dumbuk turned to look at the water just as a massive skeleton the size of Dumbuk burst from the water grab him. The Hulking Draugr flipped Dumbuk into the water like he weighted nothing, causing the little skeletons to dive into the water after him. Nathan swallowed as the Hulking Draugr turned to look at him. Unlike the other Draugr that Nathan had seen, this one had stretched leathery skin of a dark charred nature. It wore heavy armor with rust and around its neck was a necklace of real clasping human skeleton hands. On the rusted armor, Nathan saw the symbol of the Dawnguard. The Hulking Draugr flashed its teeth at Nathan, revealing two long vampiric fangs. The hair on Nathan's arms rose as he uttered out breathlessly. "Oh, fuck me..." The Hulking Draugr started to make his way after Nathan, raising a frightening black axe that looked to be of Daedric making. Nathan backed up, calling out. "Dumbuk?!" In the water, Dumbuk was thrashing and grunting as lots of skeleton's grabbed at him to drag him under the water.

Taking a deep breath, Nathan put his bow down and drew Dawnbreaker, telling the Hulking Draugr. "Ok. I can do this." The Hulking Draugr sprang forward, and Nathan raised his sword to block his swing. The two blades clashed, causing a mix of red and golden sparks to flare off the blades. The Hulking Draugr shoved Nathan off his feet, rising his axe to bring it down on him. Nathan raised a hand to shoot a jet of flames from his palm, forcing the Hulking Draugr to back away from him. Getting up onto his knees, Nathan put the flat of his blade to his free palm and sent a surge of power into the handle. The sword absorbed it and the mini sun pulsed to life and began to shine brightly. The Hulking Draugr growled as the sunlight scorched it, but it didn't die. Nathan's jaw dropped, rolling away as the wet Hulking Draugr impaled the axe where he was. The Hulking Draugr quickly swung his blade in Nathan's direction, forcing Nathan to block with his sword before it struck his back. Leaning into the force of his blade, Nathan kicked at the Hulking Draugr's leg. The Hulking Draugr's leg buckled under him, but he swung his axe over his head to try hitting Nate's other side.

Nathan blocked the blade, then shot a paralyzing spell at the Hulking Draugr's chest. The rusted armor deflected the spell, catching Nathan off guard. The Hulking Draugr grabbed Nathan's arm, flipping him over to the ground. Nathan landed on his back with a groan. The Hulking Draugr stepped on Nathan's sword wrist to pin it down, his grip tightening on Nathan's other wrist as he raised his axe. Nathan smirked, pulling his legs up to kick out at the Hulking Draugr's chest. As the Hulking Draugr fell backward, he pulled Nathan back up to his feet. Nathan adjusted his sword to impale itself into the Hulking Draugr's chest when he was pulled down over him. The blade pierced the armor, causing the Hulking Draugr to hiss inches from Nathan's face. Nathan gagged at the smell of his rotten breath. The Hulking Draugr tried to lean in to bite him, but his glowing blue eyes faded out to black empty pits. The Hulking Draugr fell limp to the ground and Nathan exhaled the breath he was holding. Upon hearing the splashing of water, Nathan whirled around, bringing his blade up. Dumbuk pushed his blade away with his hammer, spitting a mouthful of water before grumbling out. "You good?" Nathan nodded, shakily mumbling out. "Ya... You?" Dumbuk flicked a small finger bone off his shoulder, answering with a heavy sigh. "Yep. Just a lot of those fuckers in there. Some were stuck in the mud and others were missing legs. Nice little trap. Almost got me."

Nathan got to his feet, looking at the water with a cautious look. Knowing that, he didn't want to walk through it. At the sound of a loud 'CRACK', Nathan jumped. Beside him, Dumbuk had smashed his hammer through the skull of the Hulking Draugr. Seeing Nathan's look, Dumbuk shrugged and told him honestly. "What? I just want to be sure that he's not coming back. The last thing I want is a vampire skeleton sneaking up on me again. Right?" Nathan nodded, then collected his bow and gestured Dumbuk to walk through the water first. Dumbuk blinked at him like he was slightly offended after what he had just went through, but walked across with Nathan at his heels. Going into the next carved out tunnel of stone, they looked at the next set of crypt nooks with worried faces. These nooks were covered in thick spider webs and spider egg sacks the size of boulders were nestled in the corners. Nathan shivered, whining out. "Ugh... That's not what you want to see." Dumbuk walked in first, killing a large Frostbite spider as it charged at him. Shaking his hammer to flick off green spider blood, he told Nathan coolly. "Stay close. Don't touch the egg sacks. We're not here for them." Nathan nodded, he didn't want to risk trying to burn the egg sacks and causing millions of spiders to pop out.

Following the tomb out, Nathan noticed all the dead spiders. Someone had come through here before them. Then when they came to the back of the Nordic tomb, they saw that a massive hole had been put into the wall to reveal something odd. Dumbuk stepped out of the hole first to look at the large stone structure, telling Nathan in shock. "It looks like a fucking castle... But... That doesn't make sense. Why is it here and so far back in the mountain?" Nathan pointed to the stone gargoyle statues that were positioned around a wooden door that was set just inside a gated wall of stone, replying to him lightly. "Vampires. From the look. An old castle of theirs, maybe?" Dumbuk glanced at Nathan with a guarded look, asking in a profoundly serious tone. "Nathan. What did your journal say was in here, exactly?" Nathan sighed. He couldn't hold back anymore knowing that whatever was coming was probably going to be big and mean. Facing Dumbuk, he reluctantly told him. "Ok. We are here because according to the journal... There is an Elder Scroll in there somewhere." Dumbuk's jaw dropped, and he had a look of horror on his face. Nathan shrugged, starting to walk to the door as he told him a little smugly. "I told you it is important."

Dumbuk hefted his hammer, snapping his jaw shut as he stated out with growing confidence. "Alright, then. Let clear this place out." Nathan moved to the wooden door, opening it as quietly as he could. Easing it open, Nathan tensed up as Tolan's voice snapped out to someone. "I'll never tell you anything, Vampire! My oath to Stendarr is stronger than any suffering you can inflict upon me." Nathan and Dumbuk glanced at each other, then moved in. To Be Continued...