Into the Darkness

by Aurora Nova

Marcus of Whiterun, called "Dragonborn", has defeated Alduin, and now looks forward to settling down to the quiet, peaceful life of the retired adventurer. But as he finds out, the life of an adventurer is seldom peaceful or quiet, as darker forces rise to threaten this newly-adopted world he has come to love. Rated "M" for adult language. Sequel to "Into the Maelstrom."

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

[I apologize for the long delay in updating this story. I recently became employed again after being unemployed for over six months, and I have a schedule that's all over the place. I will update this as I can, all things considered. Thanks for sticking with me.]

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Marcus led his small group down the road that led to the Western Watchtower. Lucia was right behind him, staying close to her father, with her older brother Alesan right behind her and Lydia watchfully bringing up the rear. Alesan was wearing a newer set of leather armor; the amount of growing he'd done as a werewolf precluded his ability to squeeze into his Blades' armor any longer.

Lydia had slipped quickly into a suit of Orcish armor Tamsyn had found in a barrow and had held onto. Enchantments that boosted the wearer's ability to fight well with one-handed swords lay upon it, and Tamsyn knew Lydia preferred that fighting style.

Lucia was not wearing armor of any kind, and this worried Marcus. He had a private word with Barbas, however before they set out.

"Stick close to Lucia, would you please?" he asked the Daedric mutt. "I wouldn't have brought her along, but she's the only one who can tell me if the place we've found is her old farm. I'm concerned because this is farther out from the city than we've been on this hunt."

"Hey, don't worry," Barbas assured him. "I'm getting' pretty fond of da kid myself. I'll look aftah her."

They walked for at least an hour before they reached the Watchtower, where Marcus had fought his first dragon, Mirmulnir, nearly three years before. So much had happened since then, it all seemed surreal. He pointed out to Alesan where the dragon had first been spotted, coming out of the mountains to the south, and showed both his children the spot where he had struck the final blow, killing Mirmulnir and taking his soul.

"And that's when you knew you were Dragonborn, Dad?" Alesan asked, eyes shining.

"Yes," Marcus confirmed. "But your mother knew I was even before I did."

"That's because she's a Seer," Lucia pointed out, her voice just short of hero-worship.

While the two children chattered like magpies, Lydia hung back and asked her Thane, "What will you do if Lucia's aunt and uncle refuse to leave?"

"I'll get an injunction against them from Balgruuf," Marcus said. "Hopefully it won't be too difficult to prove that Lucia is the rightful owner of the land. I'll let the law handle it."

"Most people would take it out of their hides," his Housecarl remarked.

"I'm not most people," Marcus reminded her. "There's no point in driving them off, since we aren't living there, but Lucia deserves a tithe for allowing them to remain in residence all this time. They either pay the tithe, or we find new tenants, simple as that. I doubt they'll argue with the Whiterun guards."

"You surprise me, Thane," Lydia said. "When you first learned about it, you were ready to go out and kill somebody for driving a child off her own land."

"I've had time to think," Marcus admitted. "Let's just wait and see what we learn. We might not have to flex our muscles."

"I'll be sorely disappointed if we don't, Thane," Lydia said blandly.

They continued west along the road, seeing deer and rabbits bounding away into tundra. Butterflies flit from lavender to tundra cotton to mountain flowers and a warm breeze blew in from the south, despite the snow-capped Jeralls reaching into the sky.

Marcus and Lydia stayed alert to trouble, and on a couple of occasions shot down wolves with their bows before the predators could get too close. Lucia was getting tired, however, and already whining about her feet hurting.

"But you walked all the way to Whiterun, didn't you?" Alesan asked her.

"I was a lot younger then," the girl sniffed. "And I think it took me more than a day to get there. I really don't remember a lot about it."

"We're not far from Fort Greymoor, from the looks of it," Lydia commented, pointing. Sure enough, though it was still several miles away, they could see the large, gray stone fortification sitting on a rise in the distance, the setting sun lengthening the shadows of the massive structure.

Lucia stopped dead in the road, staring.

"I remember the castle," she whispered.

"You mean the fort, chica?" Marcus asked gently, crouching down next to her.

"Mama…" Lucia said in a low voice, eyes brimming. "My real Mama…she said it was a castle….she said a fairy princess lived there."

Lydia exchanged a look with her Thane. "I don't think a fairy princess lives there," the Housecarl said carefully.

"I know," the Imperial girl said brusquely, brushing a hand over her eyes. "It was just a silly story."

"I don't think it was silly, Lu," Alesan said quietly, slipping his hand into hers. "I think it's fun to pretend things about places we haven't been to. I like to make up stories about people I don't know and things I've only heard about."

"Really?" the child asked, gazing adoringly at her big brother, and Marcus could have hugged the boy right then and there.

"Sure," Alesan grinned. "I used to pretend, when I lived in Dawnstar, that some of the ships that came in were pirate ships. Or that one of the miners would dig too deep and uncover a Dwemer city filled with treasure. I used to pretend I had wings on my feet that would help me run faster, too."

Lucia laughed in spite of herself. "Wings on your feet? How would you put your boots on?"

"Silly," the boy mock-scowled. "They came with the boots!" But he was grinning, proud he'd made his sister smile again.

"Come on," Marcus said gently, getting to his feet. "If you remember the fort, then your farm must be around here somewhere."

They continued down the road, and Lucia began pulling ahead as little things began to trigger memories in her young mind.

"There's the funny-looking rock where the peddlers would stop to sell their wares," she cried. "And there's the crooked tree I could see from the front door!" She ran ahead as Marcus and the others hurried to catch up. The Dragonborn was getting worried. The only thing he could see was a broken-down building set back from the road.

Lucia noticed it, too, and she slowed to a walk.

"That's where it was," she said, puzzled. "I'm almost positive. I remember the crossroad, and the castle – I mean, the fort over there. But where's the barn? Where's the house? Where are my aunt and uncle?"

She ran ahead of the others.

"Lucia!" Marcus called after her. "Wait!" He took off at a dead run, quickly catching up to the child as she reached the rotted timbers of what had once been a fence surrounding a yard.

"I love it when dinner walks right into my arms!" a voice called out from the ruined house.

Lucia shrieked as a child who appeared to be her age, with red glowing eyes, stepped into the doorway.

"Get back to the road!" Marcus yelled, giving her a shove, but he could see it was already too late.

Shouts from behind him, and Barbas' barking, let him know there was trouble there as well.

"Never mind, Lucia," he told her. "Stay behind me!" He drew his swords and Shouted, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" spewing a gout of flame towards the vampire, who screeched as the conflagration hit her. She immediately extended her hand and began draining the life from Marcus. Though she appeared to be a child, he could feel how powerful she was as a wave of faintness hit him. As a werewolf, he knew he couldn't be turned, but having Lucia here compounded the issue. She could be turned, if the child vampire succeeded in landing an attack.

A child vampire? his mind reeled. What kind of abomination was this?

A deep, guttural growling came from behind him, but Marcus couldn't spare a glance to see what was going on.

"Death hounds, Papa!" Lucia cried. "There's two death hounds attacking Als and Lydia!"

Dammit! he swore softly to himself. He couldn't call Odahviing to help because it was too soon to Shout again, and he couldn't take the time to go wolf – it would leave Lucia vulnerable for the few moments it would take.

"Don't worry, Dragonborn," Barbas called out. "I got dis!"

A yelping whine that didn't come from Barbas came from somewhere behind him.

"Hah!" Barbas barked happily. "I've fought tougher mutts dan you, ya big lug! C'mere and lemme bite ya again!"

Feeling a bit more hopeful, Marcus concentrated on the vampire in front of him.

"So what happened to the people who lived here?" he demanded of her.

"You mean the old man and woman?" the child vampire gloated. "They were…delicious. It was fun for a while, keeping them enthralled so I had a steady supply of blood. They seemed to think I was some relative of theirs, and I let them believe it. But eventually they outlived their usefulness, and the woman was a complete pain in the ass. She never stopped whining and complaining…at least, not until I shut her up for good. The old man got scared after that. Promised me all the gold he had hidden under the floorboards if I would just let him leave. Ha! As if I cared about gold!"

Marcus felt a knot tighten somewhere in his gut. Lucia's aunt and uncle might not have treated his daughter fairly, but no one deserved to die like that. The tightness in his throat had eased, and he knew he could Shout again.

"It's the last life you'll ever take, blood-sucker," he growled. "FUS RO DAH!"

The percussion from his Shout flung the vampire head over heels backwards, smashing her against the far wall of the house and propelling her through the broken boards. Another yelp behind him told him one of the Death Hounds had met its end. Marcus ran into the house, pursuing the vampire, who was now outside the building and attempting to get to her feet.

"PAPA!"

Lucia! In his haste, Marcus had momentarily forgotten about his daughter, assuming she was sticking close to him. Now he saw she had remained in the yard, and a Death Hound – the second and last one – was closing in on her. Lydia and Alesan were too far away to reach the child in time. He quickly retraced his steps outside, but Barbas was there first.

"Not my mistress, you don't!" the Daedric dog howled, tearing into the Death Hound relentlessly. Teeth snapped and claws raked out on both sides as the two unholy hounds fought for supremacy. Marcus rushed to Lucia's side and hugged his daughter close, pulling her away from the fight. He would have assisted Barbas, but the two canines were so closely locked together, each scrabbling to grasp the throat of the other, that it would have been too risky to interfere. The dogs tumbled together and flew apart before launching into each other again and again, and Marcus was actually afraid Barbas might get hurt.

Eventually, the Daedric dog found the throat of the Death Hound and gripped so tightly that Marcus could hear the larynx being crushed. The Hound gave a keening whine before going limp, falling at the feet of Barbas, who seemed no worse for wear.

"Barbas!" Lucia cried happily, running to hug him. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"He'd have t' be some kinda mutt to hoit me, kid," Barbas barked happily. "He nevah laid a claw on me!"

This was not strictly true, as Marcus had seen several hits land on Barbas, but he wisely said nothing.

"They were both tough dogs," Alesan admitted. "I was afraid we weren't going to be able to stop them. But Barbas jumped at the other one just before it leaped on Lydia."

"You had my back out there, Barbas," Lydia said solemnly. "I'm grateful. Thank you."

"Hey, no problem, sweetness," the Daedric dog replied, tongue lolling out. "I'm getting' kinda fond of you, too. Just trying t' earn my place in da family."

"I'd say you've done that," she nodded. "My Thane, what about the vampire?"

Shit. Marcus muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "Kids, stay here with Lydia and Barbas. I'll be right back."

As he expected, the vampire had long since taken advantage of the distraction and had vacated the premises. Where had she come from? How long had she been a vampire? He searched the remains of the house to see if there were any signs of Lucia's aunt and uncle, but there were none. He did find a locked chest under some broken floorboards and managed to get it open. It was filled with what must have been the life-savings of Lucia's relatives. It was hers now. He carefully extracted the chest and brought it outside.

"She killed my aunt and uncle, didn't she, Papa?" Lucia asked him somberly when he returned.

"I'm afraid so, chica," he told her. "They left this behind, though. It belongs to you now." He opened it again to show her the contents.

"Wow, Lu!" Alesan said, impressed. "You're rich now! What are you gonna do with all that gold?"

"I'll have to think about it," Lucia said seriously. "Papa, is there enough here to rebuild my farm?"

Marcus considered this carefully. From his estimate of the contents of the chest, there wouldn't be enough to build a house much larger than the original. It would be an adequate farmstead, but not elaborate.

"We'll have to look into that, sweetie," he said. "This is your land, not mine. I won't be moving the family out here. You can probably re-build the house and barn, but you'll need to find someone who will live out here and pay rent to you until you decide if you want to live here yourself or not."

Lucia nodded. "I don't think I'll be living here," she said slowly, "at least, not for a long time. I want to live in Solitude, so I can be close to the Bard's College. Maybe renting the farm out is the best idea. Will you help me with that, Papa? Where would I find someone to live here?"

They talked about it all the way back to Whiterun. They headed to Dragonsreach first, so that Marcus could set the wheels in motion to confirm Lucia's ownership of the farmstead, before they returned home. By now it was very late, and Marcus insisted Alesan and Lucia get to bed. The thought of the child vampire still bothered him, however, and he asked Serana about it when she finally emerged from the basement upon waking.

"I've never actually heard of one," Serana admitted, "though that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. The vampirism disease, sanguinare vampiris, can affect anyone who is bitten or scratched by a vampire, either a Volkihar like myself, or a feral one, such as the child you saw earlier tonight. If she was turned while still a child, she would remain that way in form, no matter how old she actually is. She might be several hundred years old."

"And has somehow managed to survive all this time as a vampire?" Marcus asked, quirking an eyebrow. "That seems pretty unlikely."

"Not really, when you think about it," Serana said, shaking her head. "Having the appearance of a child would definitely make people underestimate how powerful she is. They certainly wouldn't suspect her of any foul intent until it was too late."

"Lucia knew she was a threat right away," Marcus pointed out.

"Lucia's not much more than a child herself," Serana explained, "but even she knows that children don't normally go around with glowing red eyes. She's also your daughter, or at least, she's been living with you for a few years now. She's come to accept that things are never what they seem to be at face value."

"True," Marcus conceded, though he was still troubled. In his mind, Serana herself wasn't much more than a teen-ager. "So, are you ready to leave in the morning?"

"You don't want to stick around for a few days?" Serana asked, surprised. Marcus shook his head.

"No," he answered. "I feel like time is slipping away too quickly. The fact that your father had people watching the Ancestor Glade worries me. I think we need to find Auriel's Bow quickly, before your father somehow figures out where it is."

"I don't see how he could, without the Elder Scrolls," Serana shrugged. "But if you want to leave, I'm ready to go."

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet," the vampire girl admitted. "I thought I'd check out a place Lydia mentioned to me last time; Halted Stream Camp. She said it was a mine that's a haven for poachers and bandits."

"Well, be careful," Marcus cautioned her. "I'm going to grab a few hours of sleep myself. We can leave when you get back."

"You should know me well enough by now to know I'm always careful," Serana grinned.

"I can't help it," he shot back, smiling himself. "It's the father in me. I feel very protective towards people I care about. I'll see you in a few hours. Take care."

He turned and headed up the stairs, then, completely missing the look of forlorn longing that crossed the vampire girl's face.

---

Odahviing had taken them as close to Darkfall Cave as he could manage, and Marcus and Serana dismounted, shouldering their packs and hiking the rest of the way through the pines up the piedmont to the cave itself.

The narrow tunnel led for a short way, twisting and turning, but always descending. It was completely black inside, and Marcus was forced to light a torch he'd found on the ground just inside the entrance to be able to see. The smell of frostbite spiders was prevalent, but bearable, and from the bones that littered the floor of the tunnel, he could see that more than spiders called this place home.

"I don't know about you," Serana said in a low voice, "but I've been in enough caves to last me a lifetime. Let's find Auriel's Bow and get out of here!"

"I'm not seeing any place yet where it could be hiding," Marcus replied, also in a low voice. "I think there may be a passage or an offshoot cave behind some of the webbing over there. We should look. We can't afford to walk right past it."

The torch effectively burned away the webs, but also alerted the gigantic spider behind it. Marcus had seen some rather huge frostbite spiders in his time in Skyrim, but this one was the biggest yet. The spider's first reaction was to spit its venom at them. Serana dodged out of the way, but it caught Marcus full frontal.

"Gah!" he cried. "That's it, Shelob! You're going down! YOL TOOR SHUL!"

A high-pitched keen came from the spider as the flames hit, and it attempted to retreat further back into its cave, but there was no place left for it to go. Marcus advanced into the narrow side tunnel alternately slashing with Alduin's Bane or thrusting the torch forward. Eventually, the spider shuddered and lay still, its beady black eyes still glaring sightlessly at the Dragonborn.

"Gods, I hate those things!" Marcus exploded.

"Why did you call it 'Shelob'?" Serana asked, mildly amused.

"It was the name of a spider I read about in a book, long ago," Marcus explained. "It was a big, damn spider."

"I see," Serana murmured, realizing she would get no further explanations. "Hey, is that a chest over there?"

Marcus turned and saw a large trunk partly hidden by the spider's body. "Yeah, it is!" he grinned. "Hey, maybe the Bow is in there!"

But the unlocked chest only contained some gems and gold, which Marcus pocketed, as well as a lightweight glass sword that seemed to have an enchantment on it. He had no idea what the nature of the magic might be, though he knew Tamsyn would be able to tell at a glance.

"You take the sword," he told Serana, handing it to her. "I insist."

"I've got magic, and my other…abilities," Serana protested.

"But you know how to fight with a blade," Marcus said. "I've seen you use that little toothpick of yours there," he continued, pointing to the steel dagger at her belt.

"Toothpick?!" the vampire girl exclaimed indignantly.

"Take the sword," Marcus insisted again. "It will set my mind at ease. You'll need something to defend yourself if you run out of magicka. Even Tamsyn will conjure a magical blade when she needs to."

"A bound sword, hmm?" Serana mused. "I've heard of the spell, but I don't know how to cast it."

"When this is all over, I'm sure my wife will teach you if you ask," Marcus smiled.

"Alright," Serana said, relenting. "You're right, of course. I do know how to use a blade, and it would be foolish to leave this beauty behind." She fastened the scabbard to her belt and adjusted the straps for comfort. "Well, since the Bow isn't here, where do we go now?"

"There's still a lot of cave to explore," Marcus pointed out. "We've barely scratched the surface, so to speak. Let's keep moving. Hopefully there won't be anymore Shelobs running around down here."

There weren't. At least, not while they explored to the limit of the tunnel, which apparently ended with a rickety rope-and-board suspension bridge over an impossibly deep chasm. There was a ledge on the far side, but the torchlight didn't extend far enough for them to be able to see anything on the other side.

"I'll go across first, and check it out," Marcus told her. "You wait here."

"Uh-uh," Serana said, shaking her head. "I'm not being left behind. We've come this far together."

"I'm not going that far," Marcus scowled. "It's just to the ledge on the other side to have a look around. I just don't trust this bridge."

"And what if you find some kind of secret door or hidden passage we can't see from here, huh?" Serana pointed out. "Like you said before in the Ancestor Glade, if it will hold your weight, it will hold mine. Go ahead and cross, but I'll be right behind you."

Sighing in frustration, knowing he had no right to order her around, Marcus gave up. "Fine," he said, "but wait until I'm completely across before you come over."

The bridge creaked and groaned alarmingly, and at one point it shuddered, causing Marcus to freeze before he proceeded. He'd never really gotten over his fear of heights, but at least he couldn't see how far he would fall this time. He could hear water rushing from somewhere down below, but the noise rebounded and reverberated up and down the chasm, so it was impossible to tell how deep it was.

Serana dutifully waited until he was across, before lightly making the trip herself. They searched all over the ledge, but could find nothing. It appeared to be a dead-end.

"Now what?" Serana demanded. "There's nothing here!"

"I don't know," Marcus admitted. "Let me think for a moment."

"Could the Elder Scrolls have been wrong about the location?" Serana asked.

Marcus shook his head. "I don't think so," he replied. The Elder Scrolls might be wrong, but he was convinced Akatosh wouldn't have sent him on a snipe hunt like this.

"Maybe we missed something back there on our way in," he suggested. "Let's go back and look again."

Without thinking, the two began to cross the bridge together. A sharp crack echoed through the cave, and Marcus immediately grabbed Serana to try and throw her to safety, but it was already too late. The strain of two people was too much for the ancient bridge, and the rotted boards snapped as the ropes which anchored it to the far ledge disintegrated. Marcus' worst fear came to life as he felt himself plummeting down.

Serana's shriek filled the air as they fell, but the torch – which Marcus realized he still held in one hand – had gone out due to the sudden rush of wind, like a candle flame being snuffed out from a forceful breath.

It may only have been seconds, but it seemed a lifetime for Marcus as they fell, his entire double-life passing in front of his eyes. His biggest regret was not seeing Tamsyn again before he died. Suddenly he hit water. It was deep and cold, and rushing through the chasm like a stampede of mammoths. One second he was falling freely, the next he was soaked to the skin gasping for breath. The current carried him along, helpless as one of Lucia's dolls, and all he could do was try to keep his head above water. That wasn't always possible, as the river often went under solid rock, and he was forced under without warning.

The only light came from phosphorescent fungi. Desperately, Marcus scrabbled in a side pouch and found the necklace he had stashed there that the reveler had given him. Somehow he managed to slip it over his head, after removing his Talos amulet, and breathing became a little easier. The river carried him over a steep falls, and he braced himself for impact, only to find that he was still subject to the whims of the current, which pushed him further along, under another shelf of stone.

He had no idea if Serana was anywhere close to him, either ahead or behind. He could see nothing in the darkness, hear nothing but the rush of water. He felt battered, beaten and bruised, and when at last he was deposited on a sand bar, after going over yet one more falls, he immediately was set upon by frostbite spiders. At least these weren't as big as Shelob, back in the entrance cavern. Still there were two…no, three…no, wait, make that five of the big bastards.

"Where'd you come from?" he heard, and his heart lifted.

"Serana!" Marcus cried, relieved. "You're alright!"

"I've been better!" the vampire girl said sourly. "That was quite a ride."

"I don't want to go again," Marcus gritted, swinging at a dark shape looming towards him. There was just enough light from the glowing mushrooms to see a few feet in front of him, but it was a tough fight, nonetheless, and several minutes passed before the only sound in the cavern was rushing water, and the labored breathing of one exhausted adventurer.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Marcus asked Serana as they paused to take stock of their surroundings.

"I'm fine," the vampire girl said. "Water is not my favorite element, but I'll take it over fire. Where do we go from here?"

"It looks like there's only one way," Marcus pointed out. "Let's follow this river and see where it leads."

The river eventually disappeared under another ledge of rock, but there was a path to one side which seemed to lead deeper into the tunnels. Marcus and Serana followed this path in near-total darkness, until the darkness seemed to lessen somewhat.

"Is it my imagination," Serana asked, "or is there light up ahead?"

"I see it too," Marcus confirmed. "Let's go see what's there, but be prepared to fight."

"Always," Serana said grimly.

The light grew a little bit, the further along they went, and eventually they found themselves at a sort of crossroads of tunnels. The light came from a torch, lying on the ground next to the body of a dead Breton woman.

"What is she doing down here?" Serana wondered.

"She probably got lost, like us," Marcus surmised, searching the area for clues. A campfire had been set up, but it had long since gone out. Marcus relit it with the torch, and as the circle of light from it expanded, he could see more clearly that this was some kind of encampment. A bedroll was set up in a small hollow of rock, with a chest next to it. A cookpot sat near the fire, but whatever had been in it was gone now.

"What's this?" Serana asked, picking up a piece of parchment she found lying near the dead woman.

Marcus came over. "What does it say?" he asked. He had found a few lesser potions and some coins, but didn't feel right about taking them, so he left them alone, confiscating only the torches he'd found.

"'Sister, I know that you'll come find me, but it will be too late. If you find this letter, get out of this forsaken cave as soon as possible. We were fools to think we could live so close to such creatures and live peacefully…'" Serana broke off, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't want to read the rest," she said quietly. She handed the note to Marcus.

"'I should've headed back to camp with you after we placed the torches down here,'" he read in a low voice. "'I thought these trolls would be different, that they would somehow understand that we didn't want to hurt them. I am now cornered and it's only a matter of time before one of the trolls decides to finish me off. I hope it is a quick death. Farewell, my sister.'"

Marcus solemnly put the note back where Serana had found it. "So that's the story," he said. "I thought I smelled trolls." He said nothing more, but headed up one of the tunnels that seemed to lead upwards. It ended in a shaft too steep for them to climb, but through which daylight and fresh air came down. The tumbled-down stones seemed to indicate that this had been a way in and out of Darkfall Cave at one time, but now it was strictly one-way in. They returned to the crossroads. The only other way from here was down, so down they went.

Marcus didn't see the trip-wire trap in the dark until too late, even with the torchlight, and he just barely managed to pull Serana back against the wall before the boulders came rumbling down. Covering her with his body, he took the brutal pounding as they passed, wincing when he was finally able to stand straight again.

"Thanks," Serana said gratefully. "That would have hurt!"

"Trust me," Marcus grimaced, "it did. Who sets up a trap like that in a cave?"

"It might have been that woman back there, trying to keep the trolls away," Serana suggested.

"Possibly," Marcus said doubtfully. "But how did she lift those heavy boulders into position?"

For that they had no answer, and so resumed their descent, after Marcus retraced his steps back to the campfire to relight his torch. The tunnel continued to descend, leading deeper into the bowels of the mountain. Eventually, it opened into a chamber illuminated here and there with more of the luminescent fungi. It seemed to be a large area, but they couldn't be certain, as it was still quite dark. To their right, along the wall as they emerged, they could see the glow of another campfire, and in that light they saw the silhouettes of two cave trolls, prowling nearby. One was up on a ledge above the fire, the other was down at their level.

"Two of them!" Serana hissed. "Can we take them, do you think?"

"I'm not even going to tangle with them," Marcus muttered, unslinging his bow. "I'm going to peg them from here." I hope! he thought to himself.

He took careful aim and let the first ebony arrow fly. It sunk up to the fletching in the chest of the first troll, prowling around the campfire. The other, sensing something was amiss, began growling, jumping up and down, and posturing.

"That's it," Marcus grinned. "Make yourself a perfect target!" The second arrow planted itself between the troll's three eyes.

"Nice shooting!" Serana said, impressed.

"Thank you," Marcus smiled. "I see water over that way, and I have no idea how deep it is, so let's hug the wall and work our way around."

"Good idea," Serana grimaced. "I've had enough of water for a while."

There was a chest near the campfire, covered in blood and viscera from the trolls' last feast. Marcus looked at it in distaste, and gingerly opened it. There was a bit more gold and a few more gems in here, which he added to what he had already found, but there was nothing else of interest beyond some common armor and weapons he had no intention of lugging through the caverns.

They continued to follow the path that seemed to follow around the perimeter of the cavern, leading to another winding tunnel that merely marked a transition from one chamber to another. The next cavern, however, was lit not only by the glowing mushrooms, but by braziers, burning brightly, set near a large, domed structure embedded in the ground. A figure stood near the structure, and it turned as they approached. In the light of the braziers they could see it was an elf – a male – but paler than snow on the mountains.

"Come closer," the elf smiled in a welcoming tone. "I will not hurt you."

Marcus hadn't realized he was crouching until the elf spoke. Sheepishly, he straightened. "Who are you?" he asked, marveling at the sight before him. He had read the book, Fall of the Snow Prince, by Lokheim, and the man before him seemed to fit the description to a "T."

"I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor," the pale elf said. "Welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El."

"This cavern is a temple to Auriel?" Serana asked, bewildered.

"Auriel," Knight-Paladin Gelebor mused, "Auri-El, Alkosh, Akatosh…so many different names for the sovereign of the snow elves."

"You're a Falmer!" Marcus couldn't help blurting out excitedly.

Gelebor frowned. "I prefer the name 'snow elf'," he said, not unkindly. "The name 'Falmer' usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers. Those twisted creatures you call Falmer, I call the Betrayed."

"I guess you know why we're here, then," Serana drawled.

"Of course," Gelebor nodded. "You're here for Auriel's Bow. Why else would you be here?" His mouth quirked at the corners, as if at some private joke. Marcus warmed to the man immediately. "I can help you get it," Gelebor continued, "but first, I must have your assistance."

Serana, however, didn't seem as impressed. "How could you know we would come here looking for the Bow?" she persisted.

Gelebor shrugged. "For the thousands of years I've served as the Chantry's sentinel, there hasn't been a single visitor here for any other reason. They request Auriel's Bow, and I request their assistance. It's been repeated so many times, I can't imagine it any other way."

Serana scowled. "Sounds like we don't have a choice, then."

"Not at all," Gelebor frowned. "You absolutely have a choice. You could turn around now and travel back from wherever you started empty-handed." He shrugged again. "Or, you could assist me."

Marcus decided to step in before Serana could say something that might offend the snow elf. "How can we help you?" he asked in a placating tone.

Gelebor's eyes were sad, but his voice was firm as he replied, "I need you to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur…my brother."

"What?" Marcus gasped. "Kill your brother? I don't understand. Why?"

"The kinship between us is gone," Gelebor said quietly. "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."

I would ask him for you, if only I could speak with him, Marcus thought sadly. Aloud he asked, "What did the Betrayed do?"

Gelebor's eyes hardened. "They swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone without pause." The snow elf's face was haunted as he continued speaking, almost as if to himself. "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."

"How do you know if he's even still alive, then?" Serana asked impassively, and Marcus could have kicked her.

"He's alive," Gelebor answered stiffly. "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."

"Have you tried going to the Inner Sanctum yourself?" Marcus inquired.

Gelebor shook his head. "Leaving the Wayshrines unguarded would be violating my sacred duty as a Knight-Paladin of Auriel," he explained. While Marcus could understand that, Serana snorted in derision. Gelebor ignored her and went on, "And an assault on the Betrayed guarding the Inner Sanctum would only end with my death."

Serana opened her mouth to say something, but Marcus cut in to forestall an argument. "What are the Wayshrines?"

Gelebor smiled. "Let me show you," he said. Turning to face the dome behind him, he paused as though to summon an inner power, then cast a spell at the sun symbol on the top of the dome. Instantly the ground trembled beneath their feet, and Serana's orange eyes opened wide as she staggered to keep her balance. The dome began to rise from the ground, bringing with it a structure similar to a Dwemer elevator, or lift. But the architecture of the Wayshrine was unlike any Dwarven construction Marcus had ever seen.

"This structure is known as a Wayshrine," Gelebor explained. "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."

In spite of her recent scathing comments, Serana seemed impressed, and her manner was much less confrontational as she asked, "What does the basin in the center signify?"

"Once the Initiate completed his mantras," Gelebor said, "he'd dip a ceremonial ewer in the basin at the Wayshrine's center and proceed to the next Wayshrine."

"So these Initiates had to lug around a heavy pitcher of water?" Serana blinked. "Marvelous. How long would they have to do that?"

"Well, once the Initiate's enlightenment was complete," Gelebor said patiently, "he'd bring the ewer to the Chantry's Inner Sanctum. Pouring the contents of the ewer into the sacred basin of the Sanctum would allow him to enter for an audience with the Arch-Curate himself."

Serana sniffed. "All that just to end up dumping it out? Makes no sense to me," she said sarcastically.

"It's symbolic," Gelebor said stiffly. "I don't expect you to understand it."

"Serana," Marcus said sternly, "there's no need to be rude."

Stricken, Serana swallowed hard, nodding in submission. In the short time she had known Marcus, she had developed an abiding respect for him. He could have killed her the first moment she fell from her tomb, weakened and helpless, but he had not; in all their dealings together, he had always treated her with kindness and fairness. It was the way he treated everyone they met, attempting to reason with people and avoid a confrontation, fighting only when he had no other option. She felt suddenly ashamed, as though she had let him down. It was not a feeling she liked. "So let's get this straight," she said, more politely. "We need to do all this to get into the temple, so we can kill your brother and claim Auriel's Bow?"

Gelebor nodded. "I know how it all sounds," he admitted. "But if there was another way, I'd have done it long ago. The only way to get to my brother is by following in the Initiate's footsteps and traveling from Wayshrine to Wayshrine, just as they did. The first lay at the end of Darkfall Passage, a cavern that represents the absence of enlightenment."

He turned to Marcus and continued. "There are five in total, spread far apart across the Chantry."

Marcus nodded. "Okay, how many caves are there?"

"Caves?" Gelebor echoed. "Oh, no. The Chantry encompasses far more than a few caves, as you'll soon discover. But before I send you on your way, you'll need the Initiate's Ewer." He handed Marcus a large vessel of pure white marble, with a handle and a narrow neck above a rounded lower section. Intricately carved with symbols and decorated with scales that jutted out at the bottom, it was a thing of beauty unlike anything Marcus had ever seen before, and he accepted it reverently. It was surprisingly lighter than he expected.

"Once you've located a Wayshrine," Gelebor was saying now, "there will be a spectral Prelate tending to it. They will allow you to draw the waters from the shrine's basin as if you've been enlightened." He paused and smiled at the Dragonborn. "This may be the last time we're able to converse, so if you have any questions before you leave, I suggest you ask them. Otherwise, all I can do now is grant you my hopes for a safe journey."

"You mentioned spectral Prelates," Marcus began. "Who are they?"

Gelebor nodded. "Ah, yes. They are the ghosts of the snow elf priests that tended the Wayshrines before being slaughtered by the Betrayed. Through the grace of Auri-El they were restored to their spectral form to enable them to continue their duties."

"Well, that's great," Marcus enthused. "They'll be able to help us."

Gelebor shook his head. "I'm afraid that in their current form, they still believe the Chantry to be an active center of worship. They won't respond to you in any way other than believing that you're an Initiate and you're undertaking the journey to the Inner Sanctum."

"Oh, bummer," Marcus muttered.

"So just what is this Chantry?" Serana asked, curious.

Gelebor spread out his hands, gesturing in a vague manner. "This is – or was – the epicenter of our religion. Most of the snow elf people worshipped Auri-El. The Chantry was constructed near the beginning of the First Era to provide a retreat for those that wished to become enlightened."

"Only most of them?" Serana repeated, puzzled.

The Knight-Paladin nodded. "Our empire had temples to some of the other deities: Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster rounded out the rest. But those temples paled in comparison to the glory of the Chantry and its Wayshrines," Gelebor continued.

"Are the Wayshrines part of the Chantry?" Marcus inquired.

"Oh yes," Gelebor confirmed. "They were an important part of the process here. They represented the steps the Initiate took on the path to total enlightenment. Sadly, the magic used to construct these wonders were lost long before I arrived here."

"Could you tell me more about your people?" Marcus asked now. He'd only ever encountered the Falmer – what Gelebor had called 'the Betrayed.' To actually meet an ancient Snow Elf untouched by the perfidy of the Dwemer – and a Knight-Paladin, no less – awed and inspired him. He was fascinated by the Snow Elf, and reluctant to leave him. What would Tamsyn think when he told her? He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she found out he'd met a real, live Snow Elf.

"We were once a wealthy and prosperous society that occupied a portion of Skyrim," Gelebor explained. "Unfortunately, we were constantly at war with the Nords who claimed the land as their ancestral home. We had always maintained an uneasy alliance with the underground-dwelling dwarves, and when faced with extinction we turned to them for help. Surprisingly, they agreed to protect us, but demanded a terrible price…the blinding of our race."

"That's horrible!" Serana exclaimed. "How could your people have allowed that to happen?"

"We didn't have much choice at the time," Gelebor replied sadly. "There were splinter groups that resisted the agreement, and even some that sought alternate alliances. But when it was all said and done, those elves were either slaughtered, vanished or gave up and took the dwarves' bargain."

"What exactly was it that turned them into the Betrayed?" Marcus asked. "My wife, Tamsyn, is a renowned healer. She might be able to help them."

"After all this time," Gelebor said sadly, "I doubt that very much could be done for them. I've often asked myself that same question: what caused the blindness? I had heard it was accomplished with a toxin. But that certainly wouldn't have been enough to devolve them into the sad and twisted beings they've become." He sighed as he continued, "The Chantry is quite isolated, so it took some time for word of the dwarves' offer to reach us here. By the time the compact had been completed, it was too late for us to even attempt to intervene."

"So that's why you're not blind," Serana observed. Gelebor nodded.

"Correct. We only numbered perhaps a hundred at a time, so our presence remained a secret to the dwarves and the Nords. Ironically, our undoing came at the hand of our own people."

"You mean the Betrayed?" Marcus clarified.

"Yes," Gelebor replied. "They swarmed the Chantry in vast numbers until we were completely overrun. We never really stood a chance. I assume that the Arch-Curate was corrupted by them when they found a way to breach the Inner Sanctum."

"Are you the only Snow Elf left, then?" Marcus hesitated to ask, but his curiosity was flying high. "Are there any others in the Chantry?"

Gelebor shook his head. "Vyrthur and myself are the only two Snow Elves that remain," he said stoically. Whatever he felt about that fate, he kept to himself. "Now you must go. You would not have come all this way for Auriel's Bow on a fool's errand. You must need it for some important reason, or you would not be here. The sooner you can reach the Inner Sanctum and kill my brother, the sooner I will be able to retrieve the Bow for you."

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Marcus asked, concerned. "He's your brother, after all."

"Not anymore," Gelebor said firmly. "He hasn't been my brother since long before you were born. And you're procrastinating," the Snow Elf continued with a ghost of a smile. "Go. I will be fine. But…thank you for your concern." He paused a moment, before given them a few final words of instruction. "I'm sure you will find more of the Betrayed in the tunnels beyond," he told them. "Follow the tube worms. They will lead you on the right path. From the Wayshrine of Illumination, you will be able to reach the next four Wayshrines in the Vale beyond. You must draw water from each before you can reach the Inner Sanctum. Good luck!"

There was nothing further Marcus or Serana could do except step through the wall that became a portal to Darkfall Passage, which would eventually lead to the Wayshrine of Illumination.

"He's willing to have us kill his brother," Serana remarked, thoughtfully, once they were through. "I…kind of know how he feels."

"Sometimes the people we love change," Marcus said gently. "It isn't always for the better. When that happens, we sometimes have to accept that they aren't the people we thought we knew."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Serana remarked.

Marcus nodded. "My…first wife, Lynne, had a falling out with some of her family members. They disagreed over something, and her brothers basically cut her off and refused to have anything to do with her anymore. Problem was they were custodians for the care of her parents. When she was cut out of their lives, it meant she was unable to see her own mother and father again. She wasn't invited to their funerals when they died."

"That's pretty harsh," Serana sympathized. "What did she do about it?"

"Nothing," Marcus replied grimly. "There was nothing she could do. Her brothers controlled her parents' estate. She didn't have a legal leg to stand on. They even put a restraining order on her so she couldn't visit the graves. She had a few…old portraits of them," he said, quickly covering his near slip. "It was all she had to remember them by. She inherited nothing else."

"Want me to go bite the brothers for you?" Serana offered, making Marcus laugh.

"No, Serana," he said with a smile. "That won't be necessary. They died before I came to Skyrim. The gods will judge them."

"Well, if you change your mind, the offer is still there," the vampire girl grinned, showing her fangs. "If there's anyone who does something you don't like, I'd be more than happy to educate them on the finer points of…well, my finer points." She grinned again, her fangs gleaming in the subterranean glow.

"Good to know," Marcus nodded, but privately he was hoping Serana might change her mind about her vampirism and seek a cure. He hadn't missed how she had perked up when he'd mentioned Falion to Clavicus Vile.

---

Gelebor hadn't been wrong about the Falmer – Marcus still thought of them in that term. "Betrayed" implied he felt some measure of sympathy for them. While that might be how the Knight-Paladin felt about his kin, the Dragonborn simply wanted to pass through their tunnels and caverns in one piece, without breaking the ceremonial Ewer. But while the Falmer were bad, the chaurus and the hunters were worse. Half the time, unless he used Aura Whisper, he never saw them coming. He was using Aura Whisper a lot. It was almost completely black inside Darkfall Passage, and even Serana complained that her usually perceptive night vision needed some source of light to separate almost complete darkness from 'inside-of-a-tomb' darkness.

"You've got those tube worms," Marcus pointed out as they crept along. They deliberately kept their voices low. "They give off some light."

"And they disappear when we get too close," the vampire girl groused. "Gelebor didn't tell us they'd do that."

"There're those glowing mushrooms," Marcus continued, "and those phosphorescent rocks."

"Not enough of them all along the way," Serana grumbled. "Though I have to say, these blue and purple flowers are pretty and unusual."

"Yeah," Marcus admitted, pocketing a few to give to Tamsyn later. "I don't remember seeing anything like this in Blackreach."

"What's Blackreach?" Serana asked.

So Marcus told her a bit about the place he'd had to explore with Argis to get the first Elder Scroll, the one concerning dragons. He told her about the Falmer there, the ore veins that produced soul gems crystals, and the dragon he'd had to fight.

"He almost killed me," Marcus said soberly. "Thank goodness Argis was there, or we wouldn't be here now."

"Sounds like a lovely place," Serana drawled. "Why would you go back?"

"Because the Thalmor don't know it's there," he replied. And he told her a little bit about his plans to get rid of the Aldmeri Dominion, once and for all. Serana listened attentively until he finished.

"That's…quite a lot to think about," she admitted. "And these Thalmor…they really want to kill off everyone who isn't an Altmer?"

"That's what we've been able to learn so far," Marcus said. "But they're not ready to strike yet. That's why they keep stirring the pot between the Empire and Skyrim."

"And that's why you keep sending them…what did you call them?"

"Red herrings," Marcus grinned. "It's a term to describe a diversion, a false lead. They go running off where they think there's trouble, just to watch and enjoy, and so they can report back that their plans are moving along smoothly. And when they're gone, everyone gets up off the ground and heads back into hiding."

"How are you so certain they all leave?" Serana asked. It was a fair question, but Marcus and Tamsyn had thought this out thoroughly.

"Illusion spells and Detect Life work very well, when I'm not around to use Aura Whisper," Marcus replied. "Any Dominion stragglers usually get picked off and don't return to report what they might have seen."

"Doesn't that make them suspicious?"

"Probably," Marcus shrugged. "But after a few times they tend not to stick around after a 'battle.' They can't prove anything's amiss, and Tullius, Balgruuf and Ulfric play up the hostilities in public. In private, they grudgingly agree they work pretty well together. Madanach's the only loose cannon. Tamsyn keeps a pretty tight rein on him, and Delphine has a lot of influence over him, but we really need the Reachfolk for this plan to succeed."

"Why?" Serana asked.

"Because they have an inborn resistance to magic," he replied. "They use it themselves, and they have no reluctance to use it on their enemies. They're also masters of guerilla warfare."

"I don't know that term," the girl said, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means they're masters of stealth," Marcus explained. "They can get in, strike and get out unseen. They're fast, quiet and deadly. So yeah, I want them on my team."

"It all sounds rather exciting," Serana admitted. "All that plotting and planning. I almost wish I could be a part of something like that."

"I thought that's what we're already doing," Marcus grinned, and saw in the dim light of the fungus they passed that Serana looked thoughtfully pleased.

They continued on through the tunnels and caverns, fighting the nests of Falmer and their hellspawn pets. They rested for a time in a small side chamber, taking turns at keeping watch. Fortunately, nothing bothered them, and they pressed on after a few hours of sleep and food – for Marcus, at least. Serana claimed she wasn't hungry, but finally admitted she was reluctant to 'try Falmer.'

"Well, if you get hungry enough, you'll eat what I put on your plate, little girl," Marcus warned her. "This isn't the Bannered Mare where you can order off the menu." Serana giggled.

There were traps to avoid. Of course there were. Tripwires were nearly invisible in the blackness, and could trigger either a deadfall of boulders or an enormous claw made of chaurus hunter legs spring-loaded to pierce the unwary. Marcus had experienced these before in other Dwemer ruins taken over by Falmer, so he knew to expect them. Seeing and avoiding them before setting them off was another matter entirely.

"I hate this place!" Serana exclaimed after she pushed Marcus out of the way of another claw trap.

Marcus could only agree. The sooner they got out of this cave system, the happier he would be. He had only just avoided dropping the Ceremonial Ewer when Serana pushed him. He really didn't want to have to backtrack to get another if it broke – even if that would be allowed.

There was another tripwire further along, just under the bone chimes that served the Falmer as an early warning alarm, but this time he saw it just before breaking it, and he stopped short.

"Hold on a minute," he said, passing the Ewer to her to hold. He crouched down and followed it back to its origin – the trip-latch of a boulder platform. "I saw Brynjolf disarm one of these once," he said. "Let me see if I can do what he did."

"Who's Brynjolf?" Serana asked. "That's the second time you've mentioned him."

"An associate of mine," Marcus explained. "One of the people heading up our intelligence network. He's also a thief, and a very good one at that."

"You associate with thieves?" Serana asked incredulously.

"A Dragonborn's gotta do what a Dragonborn's gotta do," Marcus said wryly. "I'm up against the Aldmeri Dominion itself. I need every advantage I can get. Now hush while I see if I can disarm this without setting it off."

Keeping tension on the wire with one hand, he severed it with his dagger between the ring pins holding it low to the ground. Replacing his dagger he then wound the wire tightly around the pin closest to the wall where it was anchored. Only when he was certain he had it secured did he remove his other hand from the wire. Nothing happened, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, that's got it, I think," he said. "Slip through quickly, and don't breathe!"

Serana laughed. "I don't, remember?" she gently mocked him as she glided past.

"That's right," he growled playfully. "Make fun of the old man and his memory loss. Pretty soon I'll be joining the Greybeards up on their mountain."

"You're not that old," Serana soothed. "I'm still older than you."

"No offense, little missy, but you've been hidden away for a while. I don't think that counts towards world experience."

"I still lived for a couple hundred years before that happened, though," Serana confessed.

"As a vampire," Marcus clarified. "I believe there's a world of difference between living as a human, with all of the emotions, strife, toils and love we pack into one short lifetime, and existing as a vampire, removed from all of that. And I've been fortunate enough to have been granted a second lifetime, so the joys I've experienced, as well as the tragedies, are that much more precious to me." He said nothing more, but led the way up the passage that dog-legged first to the right, then back to the left. Serana followed along behind him, a troubled expression on her face.

Eventually they came to a dead end, though obviously, it wasn't exactly an end. It was clear to Marcus, who by now knew what to look for, that there was a concealed door here. A glance upwards revealed the claw trap waiting to be sprung, and he and Serana judiciously took a few steps backwards. On the tunnel wall to their left were two rope pulls.

"Which one?" Serana asked. "One of them is bound to open the door, and the other…"

"Sets off the trap," Marcus finished grimly. "There's no way of telling which one is which. Look here," he said, pointing at the floor. "These holes usually mean spikes of some kind that shoot up when the trap is sprung. And these angled holes here, pointing right to where we're standing, is a good indication of poisoned darts."

"You know a lot about traps," Serana said, impressed.

"Personal experience," Marcus said drily, mentally wincing at the memories.

"I wonder what they were keeping in there," Serana mused.

"Or what they might have been keeping out of their tunnels," Marcus added. "Alright, here goes." He waved Serana back a few more steps, then reached over and pulled the rope on the left.

A grinding, grating sound rumbled through the tunnel as the hidden door at the end slid open.

"That's it!" Serana exclaimed, moving forward.

"Hold it!" Marcus' arm shot out, holding her back. "Laas yah niir," he whispered, taking note of the most immediately life-forms beyond the door. Chief among these was a sabre cat, of all things, resting not more than ten feet away. It raised its head lazily and began sniffing the air. Its coat was unlike anything Marcus had seen before, green and white with stripes as well as spots. It was the perfect camouflage for its environment, hiding in a cavern filled with phosphorescent fungi. If Aura Whisper hadn't lit the creature up, he would never have seen it until too late.

Serana saw it too, and shot off a blast of Ice Spikes from one hand while draining its life with the other. Caught off guard, the cat never stood a chance and went down swiftly.

"Almost seems a shame to kill it," Serana murmured. "Look at that beautiful pelt!"

"It would have tried to kill us," Marcus reminded her. "Come on. I think I see a path this way."

It was a rocky path, not a smooth one, and it led downward to their right hugging the outer wall of the chamber which contained a pool of water, inky black in the gloom, but which reflected the light of the hundreds of phosphorescent fungi and rocks that littered the chamber, making it seem brighter than usual. Green and white striped and spotted deer bounded away from them as they descended the path to a central column made of rock that stretched to the ceiling, lost overhead in the shadows. The column appeared to be partly natural, and partly worked by ancient hands.

More of the gleaming, glowing flowers were strewn along the path here, as well as another type they avoided after Marcus inadvertently bumped into one and received a faceful of toxic spores for his efforts. Choking and gagging for several minutes, his vision swimming before him, Serana frantically scrabbled into his backpack for him to find a curative as he convulsed. When he was finally able to breathe again, and the pinpoints of bright lights in his vision subsided, Marcus hoarsely declared, "Don't bump those flowers, Serana."

They continued on the path, winding their way upwards again, crossing over the lake. Aura Whisper showed them two more of the unique sabre cats in hiding, directly along their course, so they reluctantly had to kill the beasts to get past. A brighter light ahead in the distance drew their attention, and they could see over a rise in the path the warm, yellow glow of firelight from braziers placed around another dome in the ground.

"I think that's the next Wayshrine!" Serana cried happily. "We made it!"

"We made it to the next one," Marcus reminded her. "We still have several to go."

"I know," Serana said, "but it means we can get out of this cave!"

"So you can complain about the sun?" he teased with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm allowed to change my mind," the vampire girl said defensively.

Marcus said nothing, but grinned as they approached the Wayshrine of Illumination. A ghostly figure hovered nearby, waiting for them.

"Greetings, Initiate," the ghost said. "May Auri-El's brilliance illuminate your path. I am Prelate Sidanyis. This is the Wayshrine of Illumination. Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El and fill your vessel with His enlightenment?"

Since Gelebor had already warned him that the Prelates wouldn't respond to any other questioning, all Marcus could do at this point was to agree.

"I am," he said, though he wasn't exactly sure what mantras he was supposed to honor.

"Then behold Auri-El's gift, my child. May it light your path as you seek tranquility within the Inner Sanctum."

The figure turned and cast a spell at the sun symbol on top of the dome, as Gelebor had, and once more the ground trembled beneath their feet as the Wayshrine rose into the air. Inside the shrine, the basin awaited, and Marcus dipped the Ewer into it. As he did so, he reflected on everything that had happened so far to bring Serana and him to this point. There really was no turning back, and there hadn't been from the moment they agreed to kill Gelebor's brother Vyrthur. He still didn't feel comfortable about that; there had to be some reasonable explanation why Vyrthur had turned against his brother. Perhaps they could reach him, but Marcus intended to talk to the Arch-Curate first; there was a chance it was all some horrible misunderstanding, as it had been in the case of his brothers-in-law, and perhaps there would be no need for violence. It was worth a try.

Satisfied with his decision, and certain Akatosh would want him to make the effort, he already felt more enlightened, and was pleased to see one wall open up to a new view; it was still a cave, but a brighter one than Darkfall Passage, which could be seen through another wall.

"Are you ready?" Serana asked, oblivious to what had been going through the Dragonborn's mind.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm ready. Let's do this." They stepped through the wall.

---

"It's still a cave!" Serana complained.

"It's brighter than the one we left," Marcus pointed out.

"But it's still a cave!" she whined.

"Look," Marcus soothed, "there's a path here, and it leads up and out. Let's keep going."

The trail wound up around a central shaft, with more of the gleaming blossoms – still pretty, but not as impressive in full daylight – scattered along the way. The edges of the path crumbled dangerously, and they had to scramble back against the side wall of the shaft as it became narrower and narrower, but eventually they emerged at the top and found themselves on a plateau overlooking a wide, snow-covered valley hidden behind the mountains.

Serana made a gasping sound. "Wow! Look at this place!" she whispered. "I've never seen anything so beautiful! It kind of makes it all worthwhile." She turned and smiled at Marcus. "I'm glad you're here with me to see this."

"No more complaining?" he grinned.

"For a while, anyway," she promised, still looking around. "Hey look! Down there," she pointed. "There's another one of those sabre cats!"

"So I guess we'll have to be on our guard, then," Marcus mused. "Let's avoid them if we can. If they attack, of course, all bets are off."

"Which way do we go from here?" Serana asked. "And where do you think the next Wayshrine is?"

"I have no clue," Marcus admitted. "I don't have a Shout that will help me locate things I'm looking to find. I might be able to do a spell Tamsyn showed me, but I suck at magic, and it will only give us a general direction."

"Go ahead, then," Serana said. "One direction out of eight is a good start, at least."

Marcus concentrated on the Clairvoyance spell Tamsyn had taught him, but what came out of his hands spilled away from them for only a short distance before dissipating.

"Try it again," Serana urged.

"I can't," Marcus gasped, breathing hard. "I'm out of magicka. I told you I wasn't good at this."

"Well, it appears to be going off that way," the vampire girl said helpfully, pointing to their right. "There might be a way down to the valley floor there, and maybe you can try it again from there."

Marcus nodded, feeling he had failed them, and led the way wordlessly from the edge of the plateau. The path took them over treacherous, rocky terrain, and Marcus offered his hand to Serana several times to help her over the slippery surface, where small pebbles threatened to twist an ankle or cause a small landslide that could plummet them down several painful yards. At last they reached the relatively level plain of the valley floor and looked around. Tumbled arches and piles of worked stone told the story of a thriving civilization that had collapsed ages ago. It saddened Marcus, even though he knew the Snow Elves had once been a warmongering race. Their downfall was not a victory for anyone, even the Nords. No one deserved to have their entire species degenerate into what the Falmer had become.

He attempted the Clairvoyance spell again, and before it puttered out he could see it led away from them, up a wooded hill past the tumbled arch.

"This way," he told Serana, who followed in his wake. It took some time, and they were forced to kill two more of the sabre cats on the way. They also passed another cave, studded with the hallmarks of Falmer occupancy.

"I don't think I want those things creeping up behind me," Serana insisted, and Marcus agreed she had a point. They cleared the cave before leaving it to continue up the hill. They were rewarded by the sight of another dome at the top, and the ghostly Prelate, who called himself Athling, opened the portal for them as soon as Marcus agreed to follow the mantras of Auri-El. He filled his ewer for the second time, nothing with some dismay that it was impossible to do so without losing some of the water he had gained from the first attempt.

"Maybe you're supposed to mingle all the waters?" Serana suggested.

"That's a good point," Marcus agreed. "I didn't think of that."

"Probably more of that symbology Gelebor told us about," the vampire girl shrugged.

The walls only showed where they had been, however, and since going back was not an option, they left the Wayshrine to explore more of the valley.

"Why didn't they take us to the next place?" Serana wondered out loud.

"I guess all we really did was unlock this one," Marcus reasoned. "This one is the Wayshrine of Learning, from what Athling said when he greeted us. So I guess we have to learn how to navigate our way around this lost valley."

"That makes sense, in a way," Serana nodded. "If we needed to come back here from one of the other Wayshrines, it might be faster, but we have to have visited each one in turn to take advantage of it."

"And if Falmer – the Betrayed, that is – were attacking the Chantry in the past, it makes sense for the Knight-Paladins to shut down the Wayshrines to keep them from being able to move freely through the valley," Marcus finished.

"That must have been awful for them," Serana said with sympathy, "to have to fight their own people or die, all while trying to defend the Chantry and the Inner Sanctum that was already overrun. They must have felt helpless."

"When you take an oath, or make a vow," Marcus said, "especially to a god, it's binding. There aren't too many ways you can get out of a commitment like that." It was a thought that troubled him. Hircine had been very quiet, and Marcus worried if the Daedric Prince was saving up to spring a transformation on him at the worst possible time. He had the Ring, but didn't really trust the Lord of the Hunt not to disregard the ability it gave him to control his transformations. And Marcus had deliberately not "gone wolf" through Darkfall Passage, hoping to wean himself off the dependency. He was the Dragonborn, not the plaything of a Daedric Prince, and that meant he had to rely on what he already knew to get through, though he was forced to admit that some of the werewolf abilities had come in handy.

They retraced their steps back down to the valley floor and explored more of the area, finding a path up to a troll's lair at the southernmost end of the basin. Serana launched a blast of fire from her staff at it and it went down with a whimper. There appeared to be a slope to the west of this area, leading up, but it was too steep for either Marcus or Serana to climb.

"We'll have to go back around," Marcus said. "There has to be a path or something we missed. This can't be all there is to this place. Gelebor made it sound huge, and I don't see any of the other Wayshrines around here, much less the Chantry itself."

After some searching, they found a trail leading up to a pass they had overlooked. Frostbite spiders attacked them at the top, but again, Serana's staff made short work of them.

"I could get used to fire like this," Serana grinned.

Once through the pass, the trail led down again, and opened into another valley, larger than the one behind them. A frozen lake dominated this area, with a rocky island jutting up in the middle. Marcus felt there was something familiar about the curvature of the stone.

"That's a Word Wall!" he exclaimed with delight. "We have to get down there before we leave this place!"

"Okay," Serana agreed, "but which way do we go from here? Do we follow the lake shore to the left or right?"

Marcus concentrated once more on the Clairvoyance spell and saw the purplish smoke drifting to the left before it evaporated. "That way," he pointed.

"What about that chest over there?" Serana asked. Marcus blinked and looked where she indicated. A skeleton draped over a box-like shape stuck in the snow.

"We check out the chest first," he amended, "then we go to the left."

The chest contained some gold and gems, which Marcus felt was always good to have. In addition, however, there was a small book, written in some strange language that seemed to be all sharp angles and sickle-like curves. It was bound in fine green leather and embossed with a gold filigree border on the cover. Centered on the cover was a solid gold applique of an eight-pointed sun. he couldn't read a word of it, but slipped it in his pack to show Tamsyn later. Perhaps, if he was lucky enough to see Gelebor again, the Knight-Paladin might be able to translate it.

The Wayshrine, ghostly Prelate Celegriath told them, was the Wayshrine of Sight. Marcus filled the Ewer once more, but again, the walls only showed them places they had been.

"I guess we keep exploring," Serana said glumly.

"I guess so," Marcus agreed. "But look on the bright side: we haven't had anything really tough to fight since we got here, and we've already found three of the Wayshrines. We only have two more to go!"

"That's a positive, I suppose," Serana allowed. "Where to now? Did you want to check out that Word Wall down at the lake?"

"Not yet," Marcus said. "It's not going anywhere. We turned left to get here, so let's go see what was in the other direction."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Serana acquiesced happily. "Though I will warn you, I'm feeling…hungry."

"Noted," Marcus said easily. "We can go back and kill a sabre cat if you like."

"I can hold out a little longer," she promised. "But I'll need to eat soon."

"Not much on the menu here," Marcus said, "but I'll see what I can do for you."

He led them away from the Wayshrine, and once more, Serana was struck at how accepting he had been of her vampirism. Most people would have distanced themselves from her as quickly as possible. Marcus, on the other hand, actively found food sources for her that he had few qualms, if any, about offering up as a sacrifice. Bandits, mainly, but also wildlife while they'd been on the road. He'd step away and find something else to do while she fed, or turned a blind eye to her evenings out when they were in town. She knew the limits since she began travelling with him: it had to be someone who had forfeited the right to live, by preying on others weaker than themselves. And what did that make her?

Serana squirmed uncomfortably. She didn't want to answer that question, even to herself. She knew Marcus would be delighted if she decided to seek a cure, but she had been a vampire for so long, she wasn't sure she could function as a normal human being anymore, and she was afraid to make the attempt. On the one hand, becoming a vampire had given her an enormous amount of power; power she had sacrificed much to obtain. On the other hand, it hadn't been her choice, and it had ruined her family. At least she had reconciled with her mother, but Serana wondered what Valerica would say if she knew her daughter had even contemplated a cure. That was an argument she didn't want to have.

Marcus and Serana followed the shore of the frozen river that fed into the lake, winding their way back to its source as well as they were able. It ended in a waterfall that tumbled over the precipice above which was part of the chain of cliffs that hemmed in the forgotten valley. A grunting noise came from their right, and Marcus immediately dropped into a crouch, Serana following him. They edged closer and saw the biggest giant Marcus had ever seen – except for the Keepers in the Soul Cairn – lumbering around a hollow that had been washed out of the cliff face eons ago when the river had taken a different course.

"Let's get out of here—" Marcus began, but Serana was moving forward, fireball staff out and ready.

"I haven't had giant in a long time," the vampire girl said dreamily. The fire in her eyes glowed preternaturally bright.

Fighting a giant was something Marcus always tried to avoid. As he had once told Serana, he didn't see the need to disturb them unless they threatened civilized areas. One look at Serana's face, however, and he realized any protests he might have had would have gone unheeded. There was a taut, sinister look on the girl's face. Her glowing eyes were practically incandescent, and it almost seemed as though her fangs were growing as her skin darkened to a stone-like gray. As he watched with mounting horror, wings sprouted from Serana's back, her hair receded and her brow began to bulge. The tips of her ears lengthened and became more pointed, and her fingers extended into claws. She looked the very image of her father, Lord Harkon, in his full vampiric form, only female.

She's got this, Marcus thought in dismay. She doesn't need my help.

And indeed, the staff fell from Serana's clawed hands as she extended them with lightning in one and her life-draining ray in the other. Her wings lifted her into the air as she hovered and floated around the giant, darting in to slash with her claws, and maneuvering to get behind it to sink her fangs into its jugular. Marcus wanted to look away, but found himself unable to as Serana brought the giant down single-handedly and drank deeply of its lifeblood. It was over in less than ten minutes. Marcus could tell she was finished as her features returned to normal – or at least, what was normal for Serana – and her wings disappeared back into her body.

Marcus found he could move again, and turned his back to spare her any embarrassment. It didn't work. Serana cleared her throat as she approached him and began hesitantly, "Marcus…I'm sorry…"

"For what?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"For scaring you like that," she said, spreading her hands helplessly. "I shouldn't have waited so long to feed, I know, but…I could smell all the blood from its lair and I just…I just lost control. But I promise you I would never hurt you."

"You didn't scare me, Serana," Marcus said honestly. "I've seen scarier things. Your father, among them," he added, quirking a smile, and eliciting a faint lift of the corner of her mouth in return. "I have to admit, though, that it intimidated me. I know what you are, but more importantly, I know who you are. I know you wouldn't knowingly hurt me. But as you said, you lost control. I think from now on we both need to make sure you…feed within a reasonable time frame. If the need comes over you again, it won't matter what promises you make. You will have to satisfy that basic urge. So let's just make sure that we reduce the risks as much as we can, okay?"

Serana nodded miserably. Marcus was being extraordinarily kind and understanding at this point, but it only served to make her feel worse. She was scared to admit she had lost control, and if the giant hadn't been there, she might have had to attack him to feed. It wouldn't have ended well for either of them, and the quest would have failed. Not for the first time, she began to question why she should remain as she was. What advantages did it give her, when it put her friends in danger? She had been very careful, while Marcus had gone to Ysgramor's Tomb, to make sure she stepped out every other night to feed. She would not willingly have risked the lives of Marcus' family simply because of hunger. He had trusted her too much for that.

Now it was his life that was at risk, the longer they traveled together. But they were so close to finding Auriel's Bow and stopping her father, she couldn't back out now. And what would she do if they succeeded? What if they were actually able to find the Bow and stop Harkon from his mad scheme? What then? Where would she go? What would she do with her life? She had lived for so long even before being entombed with the Elder Scroll, but had been so isolated from the outer world that centuries had rolled by unnoticed. Everyone in her father's castle had been vampires or thralls. While the thralls had come and gone, cattle for the feeding, the vampires remained, so nothing had changed the whole time she had lived there. When she had returned, it had been as though she'd been gone only a few moments, not three eras.

She thought of Marcus and his life. By his own admission, he was on his second, granted a return to this world by the power of the gods. Even in the short time since he had come back, he had carved out a life for himself that included a wife and family. Talking with Sofie, Lucia and Blaise – Serana smiled when she thought of Marcus' older son – she felt deeply envious. They had everything she had wanted in a family life, but had been denied. They belonged; they were part of a greater whole, made stronger by the joining, and she wanted that.

Her words to Valerica in the Soul Cairn came back to haunt her. "I want us to be a family again. But I don't know if we can ever have that. Maybe we don't deserve that kind of happiness. Maybe it isn't for us." There didn't appear to be a solution, Serana thought sadly to herself. At least, not one she was willing to contemplate at this time. With a sigh she followed Marcus, who was carefully crossing the ice that had built up in the river past the waterfall.

"Be careful!" he called out. "It's thinner over there." He pointed. "Stay over to this side here," and he gestured again.

Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she realized once more that he had been more concerned for her safety and well-being than her father ever had been. She kept her head down and watched her step as she crossed the ice.

"Why are we going this way?" she asked, when she got her voice under control.

"I saw something on the bank on this side that I want to check out," he told her. "And I found this on the giant while you were...recovering." He held up an oval shaped stone, which glowed a peaceful blue. It was encapsulated in a filigreed cage of hammered gold, and Serana gasped at its beauty.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Marcus admitted, "but my keen wolfen eyes saw something over here that I think it goes to." He led the way up a path which climbed the bluff on this side of the river, but picked his way carefully across the rocks and down what appeared to be little more than a deer trail to a ruin of stones by the water's edge.

Standing in front of the two broken columns, Marcus and Serana searched the area for some kind of door.

"There's nothing here," Serana pointed out, "unless you count this pedestal here. Looks like something's supposed to go in it."

"And that hole is just the right size to fit this," Marcus agreed, placing the blue stone in the well.

Immediately, light shimmered between the columns and the two stepped back.

"What is it?" Serana asked again.

Marcus shrugged. "It looks like another portal of some kind. The ancient Snow Elves had a grasp of magic that rivalled the Dwemer, if my reading has taught me anything. This probably leads to another place in the valley."

"Should we step through?" Serana inquired nervously. "What if we can't come back?"

There was that, Marcus had to admit. "I'll go first," he said. "I'll try to come right back out. Don't move or touch anything, okay?"

Serana nodded and waited while he stepped through the portal. In a moment, he was back, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"It looks like some kind of room inside the Chantry itself," Marcus said, gesturing for her to follow him. "But we can't get through this way. There's been a collapse."

Sure enough, when they stepped back through, it was clear there had been some sort of cave-in that sealed this room off from the rest of the Chantry. They found a chest at the far end of the room containing some gems and gold, with other gems scattered across a ledge and the floor. Marcus scooped them all up and pocketed them. There was a set of Elven armor, as well, and Serana admitted she wouldn't mind trying it on for size. Marcus dutifully stepped back out through the portal to give her some privacy while she changed.

When she emerged a few minutes later he smiled. "No one will mistake you for an elf," he grinned, "but it should protect you better than the armor you were wearing."

"It's too bad you didn't have anything back at Breezehome for me," Serana agreed. "I could have used something like this before now."

"I'm afraid I tend to wear heavier armor," Marcus apologized. "I don't have any light-weight stuff around. Tamsyn usually summons a spell to protect her when she needs it. She says she doesn't like wearing armor."

"I don't mind this," Serana said, admiring as much of herself as she could see. "It feels very comfortable and easy to wear. And the bow and arrows are nice, too," she added.

"Here," he said, giving her some of his ebony arrows. "Save the elven ones as a last resort. These will do more damage if you hit."

"'If' I hit?" Serana spouted. "What do you mean, 'if'?"

Marcus grinned. "Even I miss every now and then," he said. "Come on. We still have two Wayshrines to find." He started up the path once more, with Serana following behind him, still muttering, "'If!' I can't believe he said 'if!'"

The trail they followed this time led them up and around the bluff surrounding the lake, giving them a breathtaking view of most of the valley. Ahead of them in the late afternoon sun, they could see a chasm extending for several miles, disappearing into the haziness of distance to the northwest. This chasm emptied into the lake, and expanding across this canyon was a natural stone bridge that would take them to the other side. At the far end of a clearing they could see another dome.

"There it is!" Serana exclaimed excitedly, immediately elevated out of her funk by the sight of the fourth Wayshrine they needed to find. This one, the ghostly image of Prelate Nirilor told them, was the Wayshrine of Resolution.

"Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El and fill your vessel with His enlightenment?" he asked Marcus. The Dragonborn agreed that he was, and the Prelate smiled. "Then go forth, child. May the enrichment of Auri-El strengthen your resolve as you undertake your journey to the Inner Sanctum."

He opened the dome and the shrine rose into view. Marcus filled the Ewer once more. With each successive filling, he became more nervous that he would spill it, or it would break, and it would all be for nothing. Morosely, he mused to himself that he didn't feel much more enlightened than he had at the beginning of this leg of the quest.

"Where to now?" Serana asked. "The sun will be behind those mountains soon."

"And there's no place to sleep safely around here," Marcus rumbled. "We keep going."

"Did you want to check out the Word Wall at the lake?"

"Might as well, before we push on," Marcus agreed. "I don't know how much further we have to go, and we might not come back this way. Let's go."

Most of the lake was frozen with a thick layer of ice that looked as though it had been there from Day One. Marcus and Serana easily crossed the icy surface, slipping a bit here and there as they went. Marcus could hear the thrumming of the chant from several yards away, and moved quickly towards it, eager to discover what new Word of Power he might find there, but a trembling of the ice underfoot sent his early-warning system into overdrive.

"Get to the island, quickly!" he yelled to Serana, pushing her ahead of him, just as a dragon burst through the frozen surface a few yards away with a crack that echoed repeatedly off the surrounding mountains.

"A dragon?" Serana yelped in disbelief. "Under the ice? How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Marcus called above the chanting inside his head, "but get ready. Here he comes!"

"Zu'u los Naaslaarum!" the dragon roared, spewing fire from his maw. "Faas dii thu'um!"

"Naaslaarum, eh?" Marcus growled, as much to himself as to anyone present. "Well I've got a few Shouts of my own, Naaslaarum. I'm not afraid of yours. Bring it!" He gathered his vital essence and sent Unrelenting Force after his foe, and to Marcus' satisfaction, the dragon did flinch. But Naaslaarum was old, one of the more ancient dragons Marcus had ever seen, and was more than capable of withstanding a Shout from a mere joor.

For his part, Naaslaarum wheeled around in the air and hovered out over the lake.

"Voslaarum, dii zeymah!" he shouted at the lake. "Alok vok ahrk frey zey!"

"Uh oh," Marcus frowned.

"What did he say?" Serana demanded.

"He's bringing his brother into this," Marcus warned, as the ice thundered again and another dragon as ancient as the first burst into the skies, streaming frost behind it.

"How can we fight two of them?" Serana yelled.

"I'm working on it!" Marcus called back, firing off two arrows in quick succession. Serana recollected herself and began shooting ice spikes at one of the dragons that bounced harmlessly off its thick hide.

"Wrong dragon!" Marcus shouted. "Hit the other one with ice! Hit that one with fire!"

"They both look alike to me!" the vampire girl protested, twisting her head around to try and keep track where both dragons were. This proved more difficult than it sounded, with the setting sun glaring in their eyes, and the dragons twisting around each other to confuse their foes. In addition, one or the other would dive back under the ice and come up in a different spot moments later. The surface was cracked and pitted with the entrance and exit holes. It would make returning to the shore more precarious, and Marcus didn't trust its stability enough to move out onto the ice where he could see both dragons more clearly.

Flames erupted seemingly out of nowhere as Naaslaarum did a strafing run, roasting the two where they stood. Serana shrieked.

"Here!" Marcus gasped, ripping his ring off his finger and handing it to her. "You need this more than me."

Serana didn't protest, but slipped the fire protection ring on her finger. It didn't ease the pain she was already under, but it helped when Naaslaarum landed on the Word Wall above their heads and belched out another column of flames.

"Gah!" Marcus gasped. Without the ring, the fire hurt a lot more than he was used to. Frantically, he dug into his pack for the resist potions. Serana covered him with bolts of electricity aimed at both dragons.

Voslaarum swept in low over the ice, bellowing, "GAAN LAH HAAS!"

The wave of the thu'um hit them both, and they staggered, each feeling weaker, drained of strength, health and magicka.

"We need to do something," Serana gasped. "We can't take on two ancient dragons by ourselves!"

"I've got an idea," Marcus said, suddenly remembering something. "Here, drink this quick!" He handed her a fire resistance potion, downing one himself, before facing out over the ice.

"DUR NEH VIIR!" he bellowed.

The other two dragons paused, hovering, in surprise.

"Drey rok zeyda saag Durnehviir?" Voslaarum queried.

Naaslaarum tilted his head in the dragon equivalent of a shrug. "Zu'u lor rok lost dilon," he rumbled.

A shimmering, warping, rift of light appeared out on the ice, expanding and growing to accommodate the massive form of Durnehviir as he appeared, summoned from the Soul Cairn.

"Ah!" the undead dragon sighed. "The free air of Vus at last! You have summoned me, Qahnaarin, and I have come. As promised, I now teach you the first word of Soul Tearing: 'Rii'…the essence of your enemy's life force."

Marcus felt the knowledge of the Word flow into him, but not its deeper meaning. He would need a soul to unlock it. Fortunately, he grinned to himself, there were two unwilling donors nearby. He just needed to convince them they'd be better off dead.

"Durnehviir!" Voslaarum challenged. "Hei fend ni lost meyz rigir! Zu'u fen krii hei nu!"

"Voslaarum, you pathetic weakling," Durnehviir rumbled as he launched himself into the air, "you may try, but you will not succeed! GAAN LAH HAAS!"

With Durnehviir on their side now the odds had been evened somewhat. Marcus and Serana kept up a barrage of archery and spells, being careful to avoid Durnehviir. For his part, the undead dragon seemed to have a personal vendetta against the two dovah from the lake.

"You two are no match for me," he taunted them. "I cannot be killed. I am already dead!"

Naaslaarum seemed intent on avoiding the decaying dragon, however, and concentrated his attacks on the two figures running in opposite directions along the shore of the tiny outcropping of rock that held the Word Wall. Perching on its ridge, he ignored the lightly armored figure in favor of the one who insultingly wore the bones of his brothers for protection.

"Hei aal tinvaak voth fin sahkren do dii zeymah, nuz hei los nid dovah," he jeered at the Dragonborn.

"I know enough of your tongue to know how wrong you are," Marcus shot back, letting an arrow fly for emphasis. "Better dragons than you have fallen to my bow and my blade. Just ask Alduin. Oh, that's right…he's dead!"

He was quite certain the dragon understood more of the common tongue than he spoke, and was pleased to note the snarl that curled Naaslaarum's upper lip, and how the eyes narrowed in hate.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" the Dragonborn Shouted, just for good measure. He never got tired of seeing the panic in a dragon's eyes when Dragonrend hit them. Naaslaarum attempted to claw his way into the air, but the weight of his own mortality dragged him down, and he landed hard on the ice, cracking it alarmingly.

Sluggishly raising his head, Naaslaarum glared at Marcus, who approached with Dragonbane in one hand and Alduin's Bane in the other.

"Fos lost hei drehlaan?" Naaslaarum wailed. "Fos luh los daar?"

What have you done? he wanted to know. What sorcery is this?

"The best kind for fighting dragons," Marcus grinned ferally. "The kind that allows me to do this!" He leaped on the dragon's head, nimbly avoiding the razor-sharp teeth that snapped at him, and slashed downward over and over again with his dual-wielded blades.

"Nid!" Naaslaarum keened as he died. "Zeymah, frey zey! Bormah…"

Marcus felt only a small measure of regret as Naaslaarum called upon Akatosh with his dying breath. But the body ignited, and the soul poured forth, and Marcus knew everything the dragon had once known. He used the soul immediately to unlock the deeper meaning of gaan, the Word he had learned in Dimhollow Crypt, and in that moment he knew the Shout would enable him to leech away his opponent's strength. It might come in handy very soon.

Quickly looking around, he saw Durnehviir and Serana double-teaming Voslaarum as the dragon was backed against some broken columns on the near shore. Clearly, they had hurt the dragon enough to force him to land, and as he approached, Serana struck the final blow with her fireball staff. Voslaarum shuddered and lay still, his soul pouring forth into Marcus, as he came up to them. He applied the soul to haas, which was the Word he had just learned on the island Wall. It meant 'health', and was part of the Shout both Durnehviir and Voslaarum had used, but without the second Word, Marcus knew he wouldn't be able to use the thu'um as effectively as the dragons had done.

"That is still the strangest thing I've ever seen," Serana commented. "You just sort of light up when that happens."

"It feels pretty good on this end," he grinned back. "Great work there, by the way, Serana, thanks. I'm glad you had my back."

Serana beamed under the praise, and Durnehviir, shook his head, bits of flesh flying off at all angles. Serana edged away as several pieces hit her. "I will use the time I have left to fly the skies of Keizaal once more. My thanks for the summons, Qahnaarin."

"I wish it could be more permanent, Durnehviir," Marcus said wistfully.

"Do not be sad, Dovahkiin," the dragon told him. "I have had many ages to become…accustomed to my situation." With that he gave a mighty heave of his tattered wings and called out a joyous roar as he soared into the darkening sky above them.

But Marcus wasn't satisfied. Calling Durnehviir to Tamriel would only give the dragon a few moments of life before he would be forced to return to the Soul Cairn. He deserved better than that, and Marcus resolved to find a way to make that happen.

---

[Author's Note: We are not done with the Forgotten Vale yet. Next up, Marcus and Serana confront Vyrthur, and discover the true origins of the prophecy that has brought them to this point. I will update as soon as I can.]

Notes on the Dragon Speech:

Zu'u los Naaslaarum! Faas dii thu'um! - I am Naaslaarum! Fear my thu'um!

Voslaarum, dii zeymah! Alok vok ahrk frey zey!– Voslaarum, my brother! Rise up and aid me!

DUR NEH VIIR – "Curse-Never-Dying"; Durnehviir, the dragon from the Soul Cairn

Drey rok zeyda saag Durnehviir? – Did he just say Durnehviir?

Zu'u lor rok lost dilon. – I thought he was dead.

Durnehviir! Hei fend ni lost meyz rigir! Zu'u fen krii hei nu! – Durnehviir! You should not have come back! I will kill you now!

GAAN LAH HAAS – Drain Vitality Shout

Hei aal tinvaak voth fin sahkren do dii zeymah, nuz hei los nid dovah. – You may speak with the tongue of my brothers, but you are no dragon.

Nid! Zeymah, frey zey! Bormah… - No! Brother, help me! Father…