Chapter 38

It was almost noon when we ventured outside again. The sun was shining, with no snow blowing, a nice change. Heading to the west, we found a small trail. To our south the imposing peaks of the Jerall mountains showed why this realm was so cut off from the south. After an hour of walking back down the mountains, being careful to not get surprised by any bears or cats, we found a cave entrance. “This must be it. Let’s go see what Dexion was talking about.”

We entered the cave. Inside it was much warmer, with several trees and other things growing. “Not very impressive, is it? If this turns out to be a waste of time, we’ll have to have a chat with Dexion,” Serana said.

“This way.” I found a fallen log that led across a small rift in the floor. I could feel warmer air blowing on my face from ahead. The scent and warmth led me into a rock lined corridor, and then down a sharp pathway. The sight that awaited me at the bottom of the pathway filled me with awe at what Kynareth had created here.

A vast cavern lay before us. Sunlight streamed in from an opening in the top, with thick pine forests guarding and hiding the edges of the opening, far above. Waterfalls lined the walls of this cavern, cascading down into warmed pools of water. Steps had been carved into the rocks ages ago, swarms of moths visible throughout the cavern, their wings glistening in the reflected sunlight.

“Wow. Look at this place. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for centuries. I doubt there’s any other place like it in Skyrim. It’s ... beautiful.”

“It’s is beautiful. Just as beautiful as you are, Serana.”

“You’re sweet to say that. You ... always say what you think, don’t you?”

“You’re beautiful to me, and I mean that, Serana.”

“Yes, I know you do. I can see it in your eyes. Thank you.”

“Anyway, the scrolls are dangerous, so ... give me a minute.”

“I never trusted those damned scrolls. Just look at Dexion. Anyway, whatever happens, being out here with you makes everything else worth it. I care about you so very much. I promise you, I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“Now you’re being the sweet one.”

“The world is alive after all these years. It’s exactly what I imagined when I was a girl. In my books, anyway.”

“A bit of a young romantic, were you?”

“I was. Obviously that didn’t appeal to my mother. Honestly, it took me until now to figure out that my mother was really just as bad as my father, in her own way. I guess ... it’s never easy with families, is it?”

“Are you saying that we’re family now, you and I, all of us?”

“Yes. I’m ... we’ve been through so much, it’s only proper that I accept you fully, here.”

I saw Argis and Annekke reach over to Lydia and hand her something. “Making little bets, were we?”

“We all knew it was going to happen, just not when and where. Congratulations, Serana. May your heart be filled with love and joy from now on.”

“Thank you, Lydia. I ... I think it will be. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

“Come, give us all a welcome home to the family kiss for now. We’ll have your formal welcome party a bit later. Right now I want to find this draw knife and get these scrolls read.”

“Of course.” She gave everyone a deep and welcoming kiss. She came to me last. “I do love you. I know it now. And I look forward to everything.”

We followed the pathway to the bottom. Many different trees were growing in this cavern, as were an assortment of flowers as well. Obviously the moths had all the food they needed here. There was a strange, round shrine of stone in the middle of a lake at the bottom of the cavern, almost like a millstone standing on its side with a large hole in the middle. Magically suspended in the middle of the shrine was a draw knife.

I took the knife from the shrine without encountering any resistance. Walking towards one of the trees, I noticed some yellow flowers I’d never seen before, so I gathered some of them for potion ingredients. A tree with glimmering leaves stood beyond the flowers, and I used the knife to scrape some bark from the tree. “Hope those moths like this bark as much as Dexion said they would.”

I began walking around the cave, towards a swarm of moths, hoping they would be attracted to the bark. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When I approached the group of moths, suddenly they started gathering around me instead of feeding upon the flowers. I continued walking, more moths gathering around me as I proceeded. Lydia said, “Is it just me, or are you shimmering?”

I kept walking around, exploring this huge cavern. I said, “Dexion was right. I ... can almost hear them.” After about half a candlemark, and walking through numerous swarms of moths, suddenly a column of light began streaming up from the floor. “Whoa! I think that must be what we’re looking for.”

Everyone gathered round. “Here’s hoping I don’t go blind.” I pulled out the first Elder Scroll and tried to read it. Instead of words, part of a map of Skyrim filled my vision. I pulled out the second. More of the map filled in. I read the third one. The map showed me where cities were in Skyrim, with a glyph showing where we needed to go next. It became very clear to me, but different from when I used the Scroll at the Time Wound. I felt my vision grow not dark but white, then I couldn’t see anything for a moment. Suddenly the map was gone from in front of me, and I could see normally.

There was concern in Serana’s voice. “Are you okay? We almost thought we’d lost you. You became white as the snow.”

“That felt ... strange.”

“I could see it in your eyes. You looked about a thousand leagues away.”

“That’s all right. I know where we need to go, to find the bow. It’s in, or through, a place called Darkfall Cave, north of Markarth, west of Dragon Bridge. Let’s ... hang on, we’re under attack!”

Coming down the pathway from above were several vampires and their thralls, along with a gargoyle. We quickly got our bows out and started shooting them before they could get into range. My companions concentrated on the thralls and gargoyle, which had continued down to our level. I moved to get into position to shoot the vampires, who had remained on the steps and were firing ice missiles at us. Their problem was simple, to shoot at me, they had to expose themselves. And my arrows flew faster than the ice spike. I was able to use a rock outcropping to duck behind, then slide out, take aim, and fire.

Having taken them all out, we started up. As we passed their corpses, Serana noted that this master vampire was also of a similar age to the one in the fort. “Martina, I’d guess that they followed us from the fort. Probably reinforcements, or another section of troops. Perhaps they have already blocked things off in Pale Pass.”

“Yes, well, hopefully we’ve put at least a small crimp in their plans. So, while I know where we’re going to end up, I’m still a bit unsure about what exactly Auriel’s Bow is.”

“It’s one of those mysterious artifacts that shows up in history from time to time, although I don’t think it’s ever been held by a vampire. Auriel is one of the elven gods that’s with the rest of them in Aetherius. His bow is supposed to draw it’s power from the sun, although I’m not sure how. That’s something we’ll have to figure out when we find it.”

“From the sun ... damn, of course. Oh, how could I be so stupid?”

“What do you mean, my love?”

“It’s not Auriel’s Bow. It’s Auri-El’s bow. Hear the difference? The elven god Auri-El. No wonder I need to find it. Gods, it’s clear now.”

“Um, Martina, maybe it is to you, but some of us don’t have your knowledge.”

“Sorry, Annekke. To the elves, the first god, god of the sun, is named Auri-El. We humans know him by a different name. Akatosh.”

Annekke looked stunned at hearing that. Serana nodded. “Of course. Now it does, truly, make sense. The Last Dragonborn is the child of the avatar of Akatosh. This prophecy needed you to be fulfilled. It truly was only your blood that could release me from my imprisonment, and we truly are fated to be together.” She giggled. “I guess it’s a good thing I love you.”

“Come on, we could discuss this until we’re old and in rocking chairs. Let’s get out of here, go get our horses, stop off at the Luxury Suite for another quick rest, and then head for Markarth. We’re going to Darkfall Cave.”

While en route back to where our horses were hobbled, we ran across a tent with bandits. I felt like we were, if nothing else, improving the breed of Nords as any group that was stupid enough to attack six well armed people was too stupid to live. It was a quick trip back to Whiterun. We went into the Luxury Suite for a meal and bath before hitting the road again. Both Ysolda and Adrianne were there, talking excitedly to Elise. “Ladies, what’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing, my liege. It seems that our merchant here has managed to procure some rare ingredients for making armor, and is discussing with Adrianne the possibility of acquiring more.”

“Well, what is it you’ve found?”

Ysolda said, “I managed to get in half a dozen Daedra hearts.”

I stopped what I was going to say when I heard that. I turned to my companions. “Go rest up and get things ready for an extended trip. All except you, Lydia. I know you like that set of Blades armor and the sword. Keep them as a memento, but ... it’s time for us to update things for you a little. Adrianne, you know what I’m wanting to make, right?”

“Yes, Martina. It’s difficult, but we have everything here.”

“I have something that will help. I’ve made potions to increase the ease with which we can work and improve metal.”

“Oh, that will help. Should we get started right away?”

“Let me give Ysolda a quick thank you kiss and then yes, we shall.”

I took Ysolda in my arms, giving her a good kiss. “You did good getting these. We’ll be staying the night. You’re welcome to join me in my bed later if you wish.”

“I’d like that, my liege. What I’ve had of you, I want more.”

Adrianne, Lydia, and I went to the smithy. “Okay, Lydia. Strip down to your smalls. While I’m very familiar with your body, we’re going to need to make sure this fits you correctly.” While she did that, Adrianne was laying out the Daedric hearts, a pile of ebony, and the leather strips and pieces for under the armor. I got the forge fired up.

With two master level smiths working at the same time, it didn’t take long for us to get the basic armor forged. We did a rough fit on Lydia, then stopped for the evening, as the infusion created from the Daedra hearts would have to soak into the worked metal. Adrianne and I bathed, then joined Ysolda for an evening of pleasure, followed by sleep. After breakfast, Ysolda left for Whiterun with instructions to find more Daedra hearts if she could, while Adrianne and I returned to the basement to finish the armor.

When we had it done, I looked at Lydia admiringly. “Well, sweets, what do you think?”

“It’s glowing.”

“It’s supposed to. That’s part of it. I know you prefer heavy armor. I can repair dragon scale and plate, but I’m still not good enough to make you a set of dragon plate. I know how, I just ... can’t, not yet. And with what we’re going to be getting into, I want you to have the best protection I can give you. You’re too important to me.”

“Thank you. But ... it’s glowing, red, even. And right over my boobs!”

I smiled. “Yeah, it is. You look ... imposing and threatening, just standing there. That’s perfect. Watch this.” I took a regular iron dagger and plunged it into her breastplate right over her heart. She stepped back a pace from the force of the blow.

“What was that all about?”

“Look at your armor. Not a scratch on it. And look, it even bent the dagger. Even as improved as I could make it, that still would have penetrated your steel armor.”

“You know, I sort of like that glow.”

Adrianne laughed. “I’d like it, too, if I was wearing armor that expensive. Even with what Martina is wearing, that’s probably the finest set of armor in all of Skyrim. If I was selling it in my shop, if I could find someone wealthy enough to buy it, it’d be eighty to ninety thousand gold.”

Lydia gave a very soft “Wow.” Then she took both of us in her arms, giving us kisses of thanks. The three of us cleaned up the debris left over, then went back upstairs to finish our preparations for leaving. The rest of my warriors examined Lydia’s new armor with interest. I promised that when and as we could, I would upgrade their gear, it’s just that as rare as Daedra hearts were, I didn’t know when that would happen.

The next morning we left for Darkfall Cave. We’d actually already found the entrance to the cave previously, when searching for Sorine. So that made things considerably easier. While crossing the plains west of Whiterun, we saw a battle between Stormcloak and Imperial forces in the distance. I came close to stopping to help my troops, but I also realized they weren’t officially my troops yet.

“I know, my Thane. It’s tough. I would ... normally be fighting for the Stormcloaks. I know better, now. We can’t keep all those boys from dying, but the sooner we get things fixed, we’ll be able to stop some of them from dying.”

“I understand, Argis. It’s just ... it’s a damned waste is what it is. If they knew the truth, knew that Ulfric had actually worked with the Thalmor, I think they’d join forces. It hurts, seeing this, knowing what we know. It’s just ... dammit ... priorities. I had to take out Alduin. Now we have to take out the threat of Harkon. It’s not like I can just run down to Cyrodiil and kill the Emperor and take over the Empire, I have to figure that out, too, but that has to come after we’re done. I hate it that good men have to die until that is done.”

Serana said, “And that’s why you’ll make a good Empress, Martina. Now, let’s get going, we have a ways to go.”

We kept going, the sounds of battle fading behind us as we continued on. We were well into the wilderness before a couple of wolves tried to attack us. That was a bad idea for them. Other than that, we had no other issues getting to the entrance to the cave. Upon entering the cave, we ran into a spider, but that was it. The path through the cave was pretty straight forward, ending in a very rickety looking bridge that crossed a stream. After crossing the bridge, there wasn’t any where else to go.

“I don’t understand. It doesn’t look like this has Auriel’s Bow in it. How is that possible, Martina?”

I looked around. Then I looked down, at the stream. I sighed. “I really hate swimming, even if I have a helmet that lets me breathe underwater. Come on, let’s go.” With that, I jumped over the edge.

The pool was deep enough that there was no issue hitting the water. But coming back to the surface, I abruptly found myself on a quick ride, swept along by the rapid currents. I saw several spiders along the ceiling as I passed under them. After a few minutes of a wild ride down a dark and watery corridor, I finally saw some light ahead that appeared to be from glowing mushrooms. As the ride came to an end, I cast magelight so I could see. I heard several thunks and crashes behind me as the rest of my companions landed.

The sounds of combat flared briefly in the tunnel as the spiders that had followed us with the hopes of an easy meal were dissuaded permanently. “Okay, let’s gather around and see where this goes, shall we?”

Another spider came out to attack us and quickly paid the price for doing so. I kept casting the light spell while two of my companions held torches up so we could see. I could see where the name of the cave came from, it was basically pitch black down here. After looking around in near total darkness for a few minutes, we found a path to follow upwards. We carefully started going up the path.

It went up then started back down again. Once it did that, we found the remnants of a campfire as well as the dead body of a woman. There was a note of warning on her body to her sister about living in close proximity to trolls in this cave. “Okay, quick pause here. It appears relatively safe, so let’s get something to eat and short naps. Set standard watches, but for only a couple hours each. Get that fire going again, and let’s get dried out.”

“Aren’t you worried about getting attacked by whatever killed her?”

“Look around you, Jordris. Do you think any trolls could get through all of us, let alone two of us?”

“Disregard what I just said.” She started piling some wood on the fire so it could warm us up. We ended up resting for six hours, then carried on. An exit from this campsite led downwards from here. We also saw another exit that led upwards, but we’d follow that one later.

Our torches and my spells helped pierce the darkness a bit. Finally we ended up in a larger cavern. A faint light from the far end of the cavern gave a little back light to things here. In the dim glow, I could see a couple of trolls wandering in the distance. I quickly slew both of them with long distance bow shots. There was water covering the floor of this cavern, but nothing deep, just enough to get our boots wet. We continued pressing on, and after a few more minutes saw something that amazed us.

A campfire, illuminating the figure of an elf and what looked like a shrine, was at the far end of the cave. “Um, are you seeing this, or am I hallucinating?”

“This qualifies as something a bit ... different, that’s for sure,” Serana replied.

We walked closer. The elf saw us. “Come forward. You have nothing to fear here.” We walked up to him. He was wearing an ancient form of armor I wasn’t familiar with, which surprised me, and his skin was white as snow. “I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor. Welcome to the great Chantry of Auri-El.” His accent was ... different, precise, refined.

“The cave is a temple to Auriel?”

“Auriel, Auri-El, Alkosh, Akatosh ... so many different names for the sovereign of the snow elves.”

“Snow elves? You’re a Falmer?”

“I prefer snow elf. The name Falmer usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers. Those twisted creatures you call Falmer, I call the Betrayed.”

“I imagine you know why we’re here.”

“Of course. You’re here for Auriel’s Bow. Why else would you be here? For thousands of years I’ve served as the Chantry’s sentinel. In all that time, there hasn’t been a single visitor here for any other reason. They request Auriel’s Bow, and I request their help. I can help you get it, but first I must have your assistance. I need you to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur ... my brother. The kinship between us is gone. I don’t understand what he’s become, but he’s no longer the brother I once knew. It was the Betrayed ... they did something to him, I just don’t know why Auri-El would allow this to happen.”

“What exactly did the Betrayed do?”

“They swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone without pause. The Chantry was a place of peaceful worship. I led a small group of paladins, but we were no match for the Betrayed’s sheer numbers. They slaughtered everyone and stormed the Inner Sanctum, where I believe they corrupted Vyrthur.”

“So you don’t even know if he’s alive.”

“He’s alive. I’ve seen him. But something’s wrong. He never looks as though he’s in pain or under duress. He just ... stands there and watches, as though waiting.”

I was confused. “So have you tried to get into the Inner Sanctum?”

“Leaving the wayshrines unguarded would be violating my oath as a Knight-Paladin of Auriel. And an assault on the Betrayed guarding the Inner Sanctum would only end in my death.”

“Wayshrine?”

“Yes, let me show you.” He walked over to a dome rising from the floor. A small beam of light from a hole in the ceiling illuminated it, and the symbol of the sun that was on the roof of it. He cast a spell on it, and a room rose from the floor. “This structure is known as a wayshrine. They were used for meditation and for transport when the Chantry was a place of enlightenment. Prelates of these shrines were charged with teaching the mantras of Auri-El to our initiates.”