The hunter entered Whiterun. It had been years since he last left this great city. He was just 18 when he was turned by the vampires of Halted Stream Camp and decided to dedicate the rest of his life to the study of vampirism. Reeves almost felt his childhood wash over him as he could smell the familiar scent of meat and herbs from the market while the clashing of steel on steel from Warmaiden's returned vivid memories of entering the city for the first time with his family. It was enough to warm even his cold heart. For just a moment he felt the pain of his father and siblings' deaths ignite a fire in his heart once more, seething anger causing his chest to tense as he felt the urge to slaughter their killers and mount their heads on their own camp walls flow through him. Then there was nothing.
Farengar Secret-Fire, the court wizard of Whiterun, had been teaching Revus history and philosophy until his departure from Skyrim. He taught the vampire how to deal with his family's passing through understanding of fate and acceptance of what happens to you. It was a philosophy that Revus had always tried to maintain, to ensure that his emotions never got the better of him in order that he could fight tactically in battle but most importantly, so he could live his life in peace. The wizard had told him,
"Whatever happens to you, child, remember this. Holding rage inside you might distract you in the short term, but in the end it won't change anything and you will still be in pain." At the time Revus could not grasp the wisdom in those words, couldn't let go of the rage that possessed him for the next year until he finally slew his family's killers.
It was an arduous task: both avenging his family and letting go of his anger. He remembered returning to his family's house, Breezehome, after a day of tutelage and training under Farengar and the Companions only to see the look on his mother's face. Pale, eyes bloodshot and vacant with then dried makeup down her usually soft features. The image, even now, persists in Revus's mind when he thinks back to that day. That day when she told him that his father, brother and sister had been murdered in Halted Stream Mine after bandits took it over as their camp, a cold anger began to pervade his heart. His mother became a shell of herself, and it wasn't long before she too passed. The physicians merely told the young Breton that she died from a broken heart. It lit a fire within him, driving him to train the hardest and learn the fastest so that one day he might claim revenge on the killers.
Revus Sailaron, aged 18, having lost everything he loved, decided to become a mercenary. Only small jobs at first: rescue the odd damsel, shake up debtors or guard some pretentious Imperial but it wasn't long before he gained a small reputation in Whiterun Hold. The Jarl decided that the bandits in Halted Stream Camp, the same bandits that killed his family had become far too problematic. Both travellers and citizens of Whiterun outside the walls were being taken and they feared a trafficking racket or worse. This was the young Sailaron's chance to not only prove himself as a hero to the people of his city, but to avenge his family and extinguish the flame that was slowly burning him from the inside.
The next few days would impact Revus more than he could have known. He prepared to leave for the camp, equipped his armour, signature double-bladed sword and was all set to leave when he noticed the display case. It contained his father's heirloom dagger, a symbol of his family's noble status from Divines knew how many generations ago in High Rock. The blade was beautiful, pure silver with a cross guard hilt fashioned in the style of intertwining serpents.
"This..." Revus thought "will be a fitting end to these murderers." And so he ventured to Halted Streams Camp and waltzed through the front door, blade in hand. The Breton put his natural magical prowess to work by casting a flesh spell to bolster his physical dexterity before meeting the bandits head on, easily dispatching the untrained thugs in a few minutes before entering the mine itself.
Not a lot of time had passed before he had cleaved his way to the central chamber. There he was, mere feet away with his family's killer. The man, a Nord, turned to face him. He was clad in a dark, ornate set of ebony armour and had a wickedly sharp ebony sword in its sheathe. His eyes were a molten gold. Either side of him were two beautiful, dark haired women with the same burning look in their eyes, only nuanced, more entrancing. That was the last thing he thought. The first few days were a blur, all he could remember was waking up briefly to the see the same women in front of him as he slumped against the cave walls. The days after that he, though still foggy in his mind, was more aware of some memories. He remembered feeling pains in his neck, the cold of the cage door and the pleasure of the beautiful women with him every time he awoke. Then, after what he estimated to be little under two weeks, he came to.
This hadn't happened before. Revus had finally awoken by himself, rather than by the orders of his new mistresses. He looked around, observing his cell, a small cutaway of a cave with a cell door crudely installed by his captors. He noted that all was silent and that his armour and weaponry were racked outside the cage. Beside him was a corpse, long dead it seemed and drained completely of blood. The Breton felt sick when he realised his family's fate must have been as slaves to these foul creatures until there life was literally taken from them. He noticed that the vampires had not given him any clothing to preserve his modesty and that he would be very vulnerable, even with a flesh spell. Revus observed the cage, beginning to try to pick the lock before dropping to the ground in pain. Passing out, all he could remember thinking was that there was something in him.
Three days passed without memory, Revus observed his body and realised that this time he had been left untouched. Strangely he felt nothing but a thirst. Then the two women came around the corner and noticed in delight he was awake as they exchanged relief, having believed that their thrall had died.
"I thought that you said our new boy-toy was dead!"
"But he was! Master and I checked his pulse and then he drained him of what little was left."
"Well, no matter, darling. He is clearly alive now. I say we celebrate with him."
Upon entering the cage, they looked him in the eyes and instructed him to lie down. Though still beautiful, they strangely no longer had the same effect on him they did before, but he played along anyway. They both disrobed and laid by him, and as they went to bite his neck he pulled their skulls in to the rocky ground before kicking one of them further, killing her. He rushed out the room and grabbed his dagger just in time to see the remaining girl approaching him seductively. She tried to enthrall him again, but he appeared immune, playing along until she was about to embrace him before he stabbed the dagger through her heart.
Observing the blood, it dawned on him why he was immune to their charms and what had happened as an unquenchable thirst manifested in him. He had become a vampire. He drank them until they were dry and took a moment to recover and calm himself before reclaiming his equipment and exiting the area. He heard the leader summon for the girls to return to him but instead it was Revus who answered the call.
Revus, unable to resist dramatising the ordeal, called out
"I'm afraid they aren't feeling too well right now. But fear not, I am here in their stead. Now, I do believe that I've waited long enough for this." He gave a mock salute with his weapon before finally engaging in the duel he had waited so long for. The two warriors circled each other for a time, sizing each other up until finally Revus's tentative approach to the fight would scar him forever as his opponent unleashed a torrent of flames without warning which hit Sailaron across the torso, burning straight through his armour and into his skin. Knowing there was only one way that he could survive this, due to his body's new vulnerability to fire, he did what his opponent certainly wasn't expecting. He charged into the flame, relying on his magic and speed, and slashed towards the vampire, who quickly called off the spell in order to raise his sword to block the blow. Revus then followed with an onslaught of strikes which the chief was struggling to deflect until attempting to track both blades proved too overwhelming and he went to block to one side as Revus span around and slashed at the other, slicing open his neck. He stumbled but before he could fall, Revus embraced him as a creature of the night, savouring every ounce of his life.
The vampire chief dropped to his knees, unable to speak but eyes pleading. Revus merely drew his family dagger, whispered a vengeful prayer for his family and a curse for the murderer, before plunging it into his heart. The new fledgling waited for relief to wash over him, to feel the anger inside him subside now that all was accomplished. It was only then, as the fire inside burned brighter than ever, that he understood Farengar's words. Killing them did not change what happened. His family were still dead. His mother's broken face was still in his head. The anger still consumed him. There was nothing that he could do to change what had happened, and he realised that only by accepting this and the fact that his anger did nothing to aid him could he be free from the slain vampire's grasp.
The hero of Whiterun, people started calling him after that. It wasn't an official title but the people and the Jarl showed great appreciation for his feat, though none knew that he was now a creature of the night. Not long after this, Revus traversed the land of Tamriel to make his fortune and enhance his new powers for 3 years, but a new mercenary contract brought him right back to where he had started. Revus, the vampire hunter, savoured the moment of triumphant return. He turned to his enthralled, noble lover
"I'm home."