AUTHORS NOTE: This playthrough takes place OUTSIDE of Dawnguard. I have Skyrim for the PC, so I do not have access to the DLC yet. Also, big thanks to Arthmoor of the Steam Workshop for making the "Live Another Life" mod, which made starting this playthrough so much easier than it would have been if I had gone about it with a vanilla game and console commands
Part ONE: Awakening
"Listen to them. Children of the Night. What music they make"
Fire. Fire everywhere. Burning me alive. Searing me from the inside out. I can hear it roaring in my ears, feel it blistering my skin, boiling my blood. I don't open my eyes out of fear of having them instantly charred and going blind for life. I gasp for air, my lungs not wanting to work as my body goes into shock. Where am I? What's happening? The last thing I remember is... is... I don't know. All I can think about is the pain from the fire. Then I hear it. Water. Running water. A river. Keeping my eyes closed tight, I struggle to move towards the sound. Crawling inch by agonizing inch. Every muscle cries out for release. For this to end. There it is. The river. My hand comes in contact with it first but it's still burning. I have to get completely submerged. I continue crawling, eventually falling completely into the water.
Something isn't right. I can feel myself submerged in the river but I can still feel the fire raging around me. I finally dare to open my eyes and all I see is the clear water around me. I look at my hands, which feel as if they should be blackened and charred to a crisp, but they are as whole and white as ever. I turn my head to look at the rest of my body, all underwater. There are no flames. No fire. No charring. Nothing. Then why do I feel the burning? I look up at the sun from my submerged location and the light, bent and distorted through the water, burns my eyes like nothing I have ever felt. Screaming out in pain, I shut them tight. The river flood my lungs, choking me. Then all goes dark as I black out...
I don't know how many hours have passed. When I wake up, I am laying on the riverbed, face down. The sun is low in the sky and the pain has subsided mostly, but I can still feel the burn. Slowly making it to my feet, I slowly open my eyes and take in my surroundings. All I know is that I'm near Windhelm where I call the inn "home." I don't dare look at the sun again for fear of burning my eyes further. I feel so weak. So tired. What has happened to me?
The sun is out, the sky is clear, and my skin is burning...
All I remember was heading home from the mill down the road from town where I work. I heard footsteps in the bushes. About three sets. Then... Nothing. Darkness. Next thing I knew I was on fire. But I wasn't on fire, was I? There were no flames on my skin. No soot. No smoke. Was it some sort of spell my attackers used? If it was, it wasn't one I had ever heard of. I slowly make my way from the riverbed to the shade of an overhang nearby. As soon as the sun is off of my skin, I start to feel better. I can feel my energy start to return. The burning on my skin subsides and I can think straight, and the first thing I think of is a pain in my stomach. Not one caused by sun or fire, but one of hunger. It had to have been at least twenty-four hours since I last ate, so that was no surprise. I decided to lay in the shade to let some energy return, then I would head to town. People must have been worried when I didn't come home the night before, and here it was, almost night again. Surely they were looking for me...
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