The Soul Cairn…
"I promise to make this as painless as possible," Serena had promised, and began her work. But it had hurt. A lot. The dagger carving a wavy line into her left arm so as not to mar the tattoos on her right, touching the black soul gems to the cuts, and Belinda feeling a piece of herself ripped from her very soul. She had screamed bloody murder at that. Her mana was sapped and she slumped against Karr, letting out a gasp. If this was 'as painless as possible,' then Belinda didn't want to know what it was like to feel all of the pain…
Once she recovered enough of her strength to at least stand, she kissed Karr's cheek, pat Lucien's head, and handed Spyro and her beautiful mantle over to them. Neither woman was sure how long they would be in there for, so Belinda packed up on carbs and drank plenty of water in fear that anything she brought would quickly turn inedible. Once Serena made the offering to the Ideal Masters, they entered the Soul Cairn, descending down the stone stairs through the portal. The swirl of bright colors was disorienting, and Serena almost lost her footing. Belinda, a frequent traveler of the Blind Eternities, was able to stable her and kept them on the stairs, all the way down. Once in the Soul Cairn, they took in their surroundings.
The sky was similar to Sovngarde's, only darker with no stars or bright colors. It was a dark, stormy blue with stormy clouds and thunder and lightning every other minute or so. Surprisingly, leafless trees seemed to grow, as well as gray, dead-looking grass, and here and there were tall, furling, fungi. Plenty of rocks and bones, as Belinda had expected. There were fissures that hissed, strange, bright platforms; and tall ruins, like a lost civilization. Souls wandered around, talking, saying things like, "That's the last time I argue with a Dremora" (Belinda's personal favorite) or "I told them we shouldn't have gone into that Oblivion Gate!" or "I wonder if my family misses me…" It was depressing.
"This all feels so wrong," Serena pointed out, shuddering. "You'd think being a vampire I'd be right at home here, but you'd be wrong."
"That's because you're not braindead," Belinda retorted, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. She gave a sigh and said, "Right, first order of business: Let's find the soul gem you offered the Ideal Masters so I don't feel so weak and crappy."
They were in there for days, fighting off powerful undead the likes of which Belinda had never seen on Nirn before, talking about Valerica, the Ideal Masters, and Necromancy; and exploring the ruins. They collected quite a bit of treasure. The slew giant creatures the souls called Keepers, whom wore Dragonbone armor and wielded Dragonbone weapons. That required Belinda to be crafty when fighting. Serena usually stood back and fired spells at them. The one on top of a floating tower was the hardest, and it seemed that the Ideal Masters were out to knock one of them off and to their deaths with lightning or a strong gust of wind.
"I swear to Talos, if it rains and it's acid rain, I am so fucking done," Belinda told Serena.
They eventually found the spirit of a soldier who was looking for his horse. The soldier had nothing but praises for the missing steed, Arvak. Belinda and Serena decided to search for the horse. They found its skull surrounded by Bonemen, the wicked and strong black skeletons that attacked with ancient iron weapons. Despite their strength though, they were still just bones and Belinda opted to use the Dragonbone warhammer she retrieved from one of the keepers. It was odd, using a two-handed weapon for a change, bone blunt weapons were better for killing skeletons. After the skeletons were dispatched, Belinda carefully lifted the blackened, and strangely fiery, horse. They returned to the soldier, who was elated that they had found Arvak.
"I'm sure he would be happier somewhere sunnier," the soldier pointed out. "I'll teach you two how to summon him! It might help you get around this wretched place, and when you leave, you can summon him to the world of the living! I'm sure he would like that!" The soldier taught them the summoning spell and then faded away, free at last.
Belinda turned to Serena and said, "You should summon him. You need your own horse and that way, you won't have to saddle up with someone else."
Serena smiled. "Thank you." She summoned Arvak, who looked incredible! He was a bluish-black skeletal horse with bright violet flames surrounding him. Serena touched him, relieved his fire didn't burn her. He came with black leather tack. They mounted up and rode.
There was a merchant that they traded the ugly fungi, Soul Husks, to for interesting odds and ends. Belinda slipped the spell tomes into her pack, figuring Dione would be interested in seeing them. Serena flipped through the tomes that had Necromancer spells in them. She was especially interested in the Necromancer tomes that summoned creatures from the Soul Cairn. Eventually, they happened upon the soul of a Dunmer, whom was angrily muttering to himself.
"Um, are you okay?" Belinda asked, quickly regretting it.
"No I am not okay!" the Dunmer answered in frustration. "My notes! Scattered all over this damned prison! And if it don't find them, I will have write the second volume of my opus from memory! Confound these interruptions!"
"That's really rather relatable," Belinda responded, having flinched back. "Perhaps we can help you find your notes?"
"Finally, someone offering to help," the Dunmer sighed. "There were ten pages of my notes in all." He looked around. "They're somewhere around here." He stroked his chin. "I remember it was night, I was in my home writing diligently when a cadre of Dremora kicked in my door. One through a spell at me, holding an odd, black crystal. Then I remembered falling, my notes scattering as I did. I've heard from others about Daedra, and Oblivion Gates, and such."
"What city were you living in when this happened?" Belinda asked.
"Kvatch," the Dunmer answered.
Belinda flinched. "Ooooh…" She bit a finger.
"What? What is it?" the Dunmer asked.
"Yeah, I have bad news; you're very, very dead," Belinda answered bluntly.
"I'm-. I'm dead? That means the spell was…"
"Soul Trap," Belinda confirmed. "You're in the Soul Cairn, where the souls of people who've been soul-trapped go once the black soul gem has been used."
This shook the Dunmer to the core, and he had to sit down to come to terms with the new information. "That explains so much," he said. "I'll never get out of here. My writings will never see the light of day. I'll be forgotten." He looked up to them. "Kvatch? What happened there? And the Oblivion Gates? And how long has it been since I died?"
"I kinda wish we had brought Lu; he would know more about it than I do, but I'll try to tell you the gist of it," Belinda answered.
"Wait, you don't know the whole story? How long has it been?" the Dunmer asked, looking mortified.
"Over two hundred years," Belinda answered.
"T-two hundred years," the Dunmer gasped. "Then no one remembers me…"
"Don't worry, once we get your notes, we'll make sure your writing sees the light of day," Belinda promised. "What's your name?"
"Saint Jiub, Eradicator of the Winged Scourge and Hero of Morrowind," he answered.
Belinda and Serena searched the Soul Cairn for Jiub's notes after Belinda told him what she knew of the Oblivion Crisis and the stories she heard of the Nerevarine, a figure Jiub knew of, having met her long ago. Last he had heard of her, she had gone to Akavir and vanished without a trace.
Finding the notes was a pain, though Belinda had collected a few before they found Jiub. The rest were in various structures across the Soul Cairn, some of them guarded by the Undead and others guarded by the giant soul gems that sapped their life when they got too close. Arvak certainly made the journey easier for them, seeing as how big the Soul Cairn was. Serena took a liking to the horse, and Belinda agreed. The horse was loyal and helped fight off the Undead. Eventually, they gathered all of Jiub's notes and returned to him.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Jiub cried, elated that his notes were returned to him. "Now I can finish my opus! Here is the first volume and something else that came to the Soul Cairn with me." He handed them a book and a locket. Belinda put them in her pack. When she looked back up, Jiub was gone…
Before reaching Valerica, Belinda was drawn to a building to the left. Serena followed her inside. There was no roof, but there was a wall that certainly did not belong in the Soul Cairn. It was a Word Wall, and Belinda felt her blood run cold. Until that moment, they both knew they really shouldn't be in the Soul Cairn. Now, Belinda really knew they should leave, and the feeling of dread she had made her feel sick to her stomach. After they made off with the loot in the chest by the Word Wall, they hurried over to Valerica.
They went up some steps, and Serena called out, "Mother!"
"Serena?" a voice replied. She looked weak and underfed, much like Serena did when she and Belinda first met. Her black hair was thin and wrapped up in a bun while her clothes had clearly fell to rags. Not feeding wasn't a death sentence to Vampires, but it certainly made them look livelier, especially with how red her eyes were. Still, she maintained her civility. "Serena? How are you here? Where is your father?" she asked hurriedly.
"It's fine; he doesn't know we're here," Serena answered, holding her mother's arms.
"Yeah, he's too busy making himself look like he's running a cannibalistic cult," Belinda pointed out.
Valerica glared at her. "And who are you, Vampire Hunter?" she demanded, glaring virulently. There was also hunger in her eyes, but Belinda chose to ignore it. After a thousand or so years, Belinda was certain she looked pretty damn tasty to Valerica.
"I only hunt ferals and douchebags, thank you very fucking much," Belinda responded.
That didn't let up on the glare. She sniffed the air, eyes going black. "You freed Serena?!" she demanded.
"To be honest, it was an accident and your douchebag husband's forces had already deduced her location by the time we arrived," Belinda pointed out. "Though, they were probably expecting some ancient artifact. Well, she had the Elder Scroll but clearly she's the more important of the two and when she politely asked me to take her home, I did so. And when I met Harkon, I really wanted to put his big, stupid head through a wall. Actually, I still want to put his big, stupid head through a wall."
Serena giggled.
"You're a mouthy one," Valerica commented.
"I've been told that's part of my charm," Belinda pointed out. "Look, the point is, we heard you might have the Elder Scroll that will tell us where to find Auriel's Bow so we can keep it out of Harkon's hands. Though honestly, if someone needs an Elder Scroll to find it, it's pretty well hidden and one only needs all three of the Elder Scrolls associated with the bow to find it-. And I just realized how stupid this all sounds. We can just walk up and stab Harkon a bunch of times and he'll die. Why the Hell do we need the bow again? We can just leave the Elder Scrolls here until we kill him!"
"Unfortunately, Harkon cannot be slain with regular, mortal weapons," Valerica pointed out. Then her eyes went wide. "Wait, three Elder Scrolls?"
"A Moth Priest translated Serena's and made mention of an Elder Scroll pertaining to Dragons," Belinda answered, producing her Elder Scroll. "My Elder Scroll in other words."
Serena held out hers. "I think yours might be what we need to find the bow," she stated. "If regular weapons won't kill him, then the bow will. After all, it is weapon of a god."
Valerica contemplated this. Then she looked to Belinda. "You remind me of someone…"
"Amanisa Dragonspeaker? I get that all the time from people who knew her," Belinda stated.
Valerica nodded. "She always said what I was doing was unwise, that higher powers always have a way of punishing those whom try to outrun fate," she pointed out.
"Was she right?" Belinda asked.
"Only she would rub it in my face, so yes; I will trust you," Valerica answered, sighing. "Come, I'll take you to my Elder Scroll."
"What about the Dragon though?" Belinda asked, following Valerica, though the question made the Vampire pause.
"There was a barrier around here," Valerica explained. "Obviously, you killed the Keepers that kept the barrier up. The Dragon was my warden, and he'll come to investigate soon enough. We must hurry." She pushed open the doors to a place called the Boneyard. The trio ran out into the Boneyard, and soon, a rancid, sulfuric stench assaulted their noses. The whoosh of a large beast flying overhead was their next clue, dragging Belinda's attention skyward to a large, decaying, green Dragon with curling horns. They bellowed a roar, acidic breath spewing from their maw. Where once were eyes, now were gaping sockets. The Dragon's roar had awaken the dead, Bonemen, Mistmen, Wrathmen, and a couple of Keepers rose from the ground, unsheathing weapons of Dragonbone, readied powerful spells, and notched arrows to bowstrings.
Belinda blinked. "God fucking damn it," she groaned, and saw the Dragon grin.
Two spirits appeared then: Arvak's master and Jiub, both armed with weapons. Jiub said, "I was an assassin for hire before I was dragged before Vivec, and after that, I eradicated every Cliff Racer in Morrowind. That's how I met Dralsi."
Dralsi? That's Dione's grandmother's name, Belinda thought. "Funny you should mention that name," she commented as the Undead charged. Valerica and Serena summoned Undead of their own, and Belinda sighed. She really didn't like performing Necromancy, but nothing else would survive here. She reached for Valerica's necromantic power and for the land around her, feeling a surge of black and colorless mana. Lightning shimmered around her hands and she conjured a powerful Elemental composed of the Soul Cairn and Undead. Strangely, she expected the Ideal Masters to pull back on what was theirs, yet somehow, she knew they were content to stand back and watch what happens when a powerful Planeswalker finally unleashed her own inner darkness.
The Dragon flinched visibly, never having seen anyone so mighty that the Ideal Masters were content to sit back and watch. They jumped from their perch, lunging at the Elemental. The Elemental punched the Dragon in the face, causing them to fall onto half of their horde. Serena, Valerica, Jiub, and the soldier all looked to Belinda with looks of shock on their faces. Belinda looked back to them.
"What?" she asked.
"N-nothing," they all answered, before charging into battle.
Belinda sent her Elemental to fight the Dragon's horde. The Dragon managed to get back onto its feet, shaking their dislodged jaw back into place. They snarled at her. Belinda rolled her eyes and simply responded with: "Rawr." She drew her sword and charged at them. The Dragon tried snapping their jaws at her, but she spun around them and sliced at their face. The Dragon's head snapped back. Belinda did not relish being so near this Dragon, for their smell was so overpowering. She end up fighting with her right hand over her mouth and pinching her nose. Sure, the Soul Cain itself reeked of the very things she was sure Namira's realm of Oblivion smelled of, but the Dragon also had sulfur breath to boot and Belinda wanted to make this fight quick before she had to vomit.
"Okay! STOP!" she snapped at the Dragon, making them pause.
"What?" came a deep, aged, male voice.
"I'm sorry, but the smell you're giving off is overwhelming," Belinda told him. She wretched. "So glad I left my mantle with Karr and Lu. I would never get the smell out." She coughed up more of her stomach's content, granted it was mostly liquid at this point. "Fuck, I need food." She spat, mouth dry. She wrapped a scarf around her mouth and nose before turning back to the Dragon. "Sorry. Had to make this more bearable." The Dragon nodded and they and Belinda resumed their fight until she defeated them. Half of her expected to simply absorb their soul upon death, but she was unsurprised when he just shimmered away. The remnants of his horde crumbled to dust. Belinda turned, thanked the Ideal Masters for allowing her to borrow the Elemental, and released them back to their world.
"You okay?" Serena asked.
"I'm mortal and just threw up whatever was left in my stomach," Belinda answered. "I am very much not alright."
"We should hurry then," Valerica pointed out. "She will perish and become one with this world if she does not leave soon. I can sense she is starting to become dehydrated." She led them to an area where she performed alchemy. Serena decided to help Belinda, whom was tired after her fight, and famished and dehydrated. "She mustn't consume anything from the Soul Cairn," Valerica continued. "The Ideal Masters will likely wanted someone like her to be bound here." She took out a key and unlocked and long chest. Belinda and Serena recovered the Elder Scroll.
Once they excited the Boneyard, Belinda took a moment to sit. She shivered, feeling icy. Death was reaching for her, and she was starting to see things. She blinked her eyes irritably, trying to dispel the visions Ideal Masters were sending her. Serena put her cloaked around her and helped her to her feet. "I'll summon Arvak," she told Belinda. She then turned to her mother. "I'll come back for you, I promise."
"Serena, I'm more worried about you," Valerica pointed out. "Once your father discovers our places in the Tyranny of the Sun, no Daughter of Coldharbor will be safe."
"Well, hopefully by then, Harkon will have been sent screaming into the bowels of Oblivion," Belinda chuckled weakly.
Valerica sighed. "And you: Take care of Serena. She's all I have left."
Serena felt her heart beating at that as she summoned Arvak and got Belinda onto the saddle.
"Your mother's not so bad," Belinda commented. "I half expected myself to punch her in the throat."
Serena nodded, getting up behind Belinda. "Yeah. Let's just get you out of here. Let me know if you start seeing things."
"Too late."
