A/N: Auriel's Bow time! Now the Forgotten Vale is lovely but also huge, so I have cut a lot out with regards to exploration and stuff, and gone straight for the action. We're also nearing the end! I think we've got about two, three chapters max after this. Finding of the Bow in this one, then the final battle and aftermath, and then an epilogue when the twins are born. But that's a way off. For now, this is how to find Auriel's Bow with rather more back-up than you get in game.
Summary: With Eola's information, and ReachGuard support, the fearless vampire hunters should be able to clear out one cave and find one treasure, right? One cave, yes, but Darkfall Cave turns out to contain wonders the like of which they've never seen... and horrors that will test all their resolve.
Dark, dank, quiet. Nothing here but a few frostbite spiders, easily dealt with by a firebolt to the face. Kaie loved doing that. Of course, once that was sorted out, that left them all facing the fact that this was not a big cave complex. Of course it wasn't, Kaie had had to shelter in this place before now from the rain or snow. There was nothing here. Eola's hardwon info? A waste of time.
"Kaie, Kaie, lovely Kaie, what do we do now?" Cicero asked, bouncing up to her. "We have cleared and searched the cave, but Cicero cannot see a bow anywhere."
"It's not here," Borgakh growled. "Let's get back to Hag's End and tell Elisif this was a waste of time."
"I refuse to believe the Scrolls would lie," Serana said fiercely. "My father must have spent his entire life searching for this, ruined our family over that prophecy, I refuse to just give up! Look, that passageway back there had what looked like a possible doorway in it, there must be a switch… Cicero, no!"
Cicero had ignored the Forsworn safety signs at the start of the rickety wooden bridge over the deep dark abyss, skipping blithely over the bridge's rotting timbers to see if there was anything on the ledge at the other side.
"Are you kidding, that bridge's not safe, what is he doing?" Kaie cried, not wanting to be the one to have to break this news to Eola if anything happened to Cicero. Maybe the little idiot was completely off his head, but Eola still loved him. "CICERO! There's nothing over there but an old mining plot!"
Cicero had already crossed the bridge and was poking around, desperately turning over everything over there in hope a legendary bow of the gods was hiding underneath a pickaxe or something, but with no luck.
"I'll get him," Athis sighed, gingerly making his way over the bridge and tersely telling Cicero to leave it, there was nothing over there, they'd have another look at the earlier passageways. So Kaie waited until Cicero eventually gave up and agreed to have another look elsewhere, following Athis miserably back over the bridge.
That was when, with two men on the bridge, the ancient timbers finally decided they'd had enough and gave way, plunging Cicero and Athis into the abyss beneath, Cicero's shrieking audible until he hit the water beneath with a splash. Then nothing.
"Cicero!" Kaie cried, appalled. "CICERO? ATHIS?"
Nothing, and a cast magelight revealed nothing but water down there.
"Oh no," Kaie whispered. "What do I tell Eola?"
"He died bravely," Borgakh said, shrugging. "Is it his lot who go to Sovngarde?"
"That's Nords," Kaie said, desperately casting Detect Life and not seeing anything. And then Serana returned, despondent.
"I didn't see anything back there, but Eola was so sure," Serana said softly. "Hey, why are we all staring into the… pit..." She saw the broken bridge and no sign of Cicero or Athis and guessed what had happened. "Wait, they fell in? Why aren't we going after them?"
"To retrieve bodies? No point," Borgakh grunted. "Shame about the gear though, Cicero's knives were pretty fancy."
"Bodies – but there's water down there!" Serana cried. "They might not be dead!"
"Well, I don't see any signs of life, and..." Kaie tried Detect Dead as well, remembering Athis wasn't technically alive anyway, but nothing. "No, no undead either. They're not there. They must have been knocked out and… and drowned."
Kaie just about managed to keep her voice level, dimly aware of Borgakh patting her on the back, and then Serana shook her head, refusing to just abandon them.
"Vampires don't need to breathe, we can't drown!" Serana snapped. "Athis would have made it if not Cicero, and I know Cicero can cast the Waterbreathing spell – he's not a bad swimmer either. How do we know there aren't tunnels? Current might have carried them down them."
"Current might have dashed them against the rocks as it sucked them under," Borgakh said, shrugging. "But she's got a point, Kaie. Bodies float."
Kaie pursed her lips, thinking… and then she summoned one of the ReachGuard, the one tasked with looking after the gear… including a long length of rope.
"Bring me that rope and tie it to something secure. Then I need a volunteer to go abseiling..."
"I'll do it," Serana said instantly, and the entire ReachGuard contingent had never looked so relieved. "I can't drown, can see in the dark, better it be me."
All good points, and so it was Serana went abseiling down the wall of the pit, eventually hitting the water and realising, yes there was a tunnel and a current flowing strongly along it. No sign of any floating bodies or blood in the water, so they'd clearly been pushed along that tunnel. Serana surfaced and shouted this up to Kaie.
"I'm gonna release the rope!" Serana called. "I'm going after them! If I'm not back in an hour, get help from Keirine."
"Serana, are you sure that's wise?" Kaie called, but next minute the rope had gone slack, and Detect Dead picked up a flash of orange disappearing under the water and then gone, swept off in another direction entirely.
"Bugger it," Kaie cursed. "Now we've lost all three of them. What the hell do I do?"
"What Serana said, I suppose," Borgakh said, going to sit down and make herself comfortable. "Wait for her and report back to Hag's End if none of them show up."
Keirine's response would likely be 'leave them, this is their mission, they either turn up with the bow or they don't', but Kaie still had her empathy intact and she couldn't help but worry about two brothers-in-law she'd got fond of. So she set guards, and ordered them all to make camp while they waited. They could be some time.
Kaie was sure it had been more than an hour before there was any sign from beneath, and she'd long ago dozed off against Borgakh's shoulder, blanket and a strong Orc arm around her to keep her safe and warm.
But the sound of stone against stone had them all on alert, and cries from the ones on guard calling for someone to identify themselves or be killed had Kaie running to find out what was going on.
"Humble Cicero!" Cicero squealed, excited. "With Spouse-Brother Athis and nice Serana!"
"Kaie, where's Kaie, you won't believe what we found down there!" Serana cried, sounding delighted, and Kaie turned the corner to see the three of them, hair still wet and armour still damp, standing in the open door of what Serana had sworn earlier looked like a passageway… and behind them, a path leading down.
"What did you find down there?" Kaie asked, about ready to squeal as she realised there must be a whole complex down there.
"Not a lot, not yet," Athis admitted, the voice of reason compared to his more excitable companions. "Lots of spiders, lots of underground caves… and signs of other people having been down there. Looks like they may have been killed by trolls, so there's probably some there, be warned. We didn't explore all of it."
"Cicero wanted to!" Cicero chirped. "But Athis said we should come and find you first so you did not worry, or go home and declare us dead and break Eola's heart." His cheery demeanour did fade a bit at that as the prospect of Eola unhappy made him pout a bit.
"Good thing you did," Kaie admitted. "So you mean there's a whole underground set of caves down there? Which might just have Auriel's Bow? Well then, we'd better get down there. You, you and you, get yourselves to Hag's End and tell them we've found an entire cave complex and are exploring. See if they can send back-up. Meanwhile, the rest of you are with me. We have a bow to find."
There were indeed trolls – but several Forsworn and a Reach-Princess with fireballs at her command dealt with them. And then the passageway led into a wider cave… and they weren't alone.
A makeshift campsite, a strange dome-like structure that none of them had seen the like of before… and an elf. An elf the same height as an Altmer with similar features, but pale white skin and gleaming white armour. And he was watching unsmiling as they approached.
"Should we stab him?" Cicero murmured in Kaie's ear.
"No," Kaie hissed. "Honestly Cicero, he might know where the bow is!"
Cicero muttered but subsided, absolutely sure it would not be that simple. It never was. But on the bright side, chances were there'd be lots of things for them to stab.
"Hey," Serana said, stepping forward first. "Er, do you live here? We were just passing through..."
"So I see," the elf replied as he approached. He didn't look armed but that didn't mean anything, he was likely a mage for all they knew. Of course, Kaie and friends were very skilled at countering magic.
The elf seemed to notice their wariness.
"Come, come closer, and lower your weapons. I don't mean you any harm. My name is Knight-Paladin Gelebor and I have the honour of guarding the Great Chantry of Auri-El."
A little murmur of excitement – Auriel was familiar to the Reachmen as an aspect of Anu, equivalent of Akatosh and a source of all life and indeed fertility. A few of the ReachGuard were even now looking him over appreciatively.
"The Great Chantry?" Serana gasped. "I had no idea such a thing even existed, did you, Athis?"
"Never heard of it," Athis said, shaking his head and glancing at the dome. "That thing's not it, is it?"
Gelebor raised an eyebrow.
"No," Gelebor said shortly. "The Chantry encompasses far, far more than you see before you. Maybe you'll see its wonders for yourself. Tell me, is it Auriel's Bow you are after?"
"He knows!" Cicero hissed, dagger snicking into his hand. "The strange pale elf knows too much!"
Kaie reached out and placed a hand on his arm. Last thing they needed was Cicero stabbing their one lead.
"Cicero," Kaie said through gritted teeth. "Let the nice man speak. He might be able to help." She turned her most polite smile on Gelebor. "I'm so sorry about him. He's a little… excitable. You were saying about Auriel's Bow? We were looking for it. Do you know where it is?"
"Of course," Gelebor sighed. "It is the only thing anyone ever comes down here for. The location is a secret but occasionally people hear of it and find me. They ask for the bow, I request their assistance, and they never return."
"So wait, we offer to help and you give us the bow?" Serana said, surprised. "Well all right then, we can do that!"
"You don't know what he wants yet," Borgakh could be heard muttering, while Athis was of the opinion that it couldn't be that simple.
"It isn't," Gelebor admitted. "You'll need to kill someone. My brother, Vyrthur."
Cicero audibly inhaled, actually squeaked, and then stepped forward, beaming.
"Is that all? Cicero is happy to help!" Cicero cooed. "Where can humble Cicero find him?"
Kaie mentally recited an invocation to the gods to give her the patience to deal with Cicero. Patting him firmly on the back, she kept smiling. Eola liked him. He had kids on the way. Pushing him off a cliff would be bad, even if Madanach had told her that if Cicero died, he'd deal with breaking the news to Eola for her, which was sweet of him.
"Perhaps first you can tell us more about you and Vyrthur and this… Chantry," Kaie said. "We had no idea it was even here, who built it?"
"I'm not surprised," Gelebor said, half-smiling. "It is a well-kept secret these days, and its history largely forgotten. But once, when my people were a widespread and prosperous civilisation, it was a centre of worship across all North Tamriel."
"Your people?" Athis queried sceptically. "You're no kind of elf I ever saw, what are your people?"
Gelebor hesitated, sadness in his eyes.
"I'm the last of the snow elves," Gelebor admitted. "Once we were a thriving and prosperous civilisation. Then Ysgramor and his heirs came and… no more."
"You're a Falmer!" Athis gasped, and everyone was subconsciously going for their weapons, the mere mention of the Falmer giving everyone the jitters. They'd all fought the bastards, and many of the ReachGuard present had had to patrol Markarth's Dwemer underbelly before now to ensure no Falmer were likely to invade the city. Gelebor likely knew of his modern kin too, for he was quick to respond.
"I prefer the term Snow Elf," Gelebor said swiftly. "I find the term Falmer has negative associations for many travellers, and I see in your eyes you've all encountered my kin. Those twisted creatures you call Falmer, I call the Betrayed."
"Who betrayed them?" Serana asked, not having heard the story. So Gelebor told her – of the coming of the Nords, the fall of Snow Elf civilisation, and the Daedra's bargain with the dwarves – the Falmer would have sanctuary but at the cost of their sight, and later, it turned out, their freedom. Something in whatever the dwarves had been feeding them had corrupted them yet further, and the result was the modern Falmer – betrayed by the dwarves.
"But you're not like that," Kaie pointed out. "I have fought Falmer, we all have, you're nothing like them. You've got eyes, you've been reasonable and able to hold a conversation with us. Did the Chantry never get attacked?"
"Not by the Nords," Gelebor sighed. "We were isolated, hard to reach. We sealed ourselves off as the rest of our civilisation crumbled, we took in elven refugees but most took the dwarves' bargain in the end. We hadn't even heard of the bargain before most of our race had taken it. And so we lived on, a few hundred of us, until at length our undoing came at the hands of our own people."
"The Betrayed?" Kaie asked. "Or… you said you wanted your brother dead."
"Vyrthur," Gelebor confirmed. "He was the ArchCurate of the Sanctuary. Until the Betrayed came. I had a few Knight-Paladins at my command but we weren't enough for the sheer weight of numbers. The Sanctuary was overrun, nearly everyone was killed… and somehow they corrupted my brother. He survived when everyone else died, and he's still there now. Watching. Waiting. But he's not the brother I knew. So I need him to die."
A corrupted Snow Elven ArchCurate to murder. Part of Kaie was pouting at a wasted opportunity to study him. Part of Kaie wondered if this Vyrthur might be more use to the Reach. But most of Kaie knew she'd never get the bow otherwise, and Cicero was already squealing, Borgakh fingering her sword (a shiny ebony one that Kaie had given her), and while Athis was debating the wisdom of assassination, Serana seemed resigned to doing this.
All right then. So Kaie agreed, and a deal was struck, and all that remained was tracking Vyrthur down. Gelebor could help with that as well. Magic came to his hands, and the entire cave shook as the dome rose up out of the floor, revealing an entire chamber with a basin of some sort in the middle and what looked suspiciously like deactivated portals in the walls.
"Wow, what's that?" Serana gasped.
"A wayshrine of Auriel," Gelebor explained. "There are five all told, scattered across the Chantry. Follow them and they will take you on a pilgrimage to the Inner Sanctum. You'll need this Ewer."
He stepped into the wayshrine and handed a jewelled jug to Serana.
"What's this for?" Serana asked, already dubious. "And do we really need this?"
"Yes," Gelebor said firmly. "The only way into the Sanctum is to follow the pilgrimage. At the other wayshrines, you'll find ghosts of the previous prelates who will activate the shrines… but they'll only do this for people they believe to be acolytes of Auriel. So you will need to pretend to be pilgrims. For which you'll need the Initiate's Ewer. You'll need to step into each shrine and add some water from the font."
Serana's eyes were already glazing over at the mere prospect, and Kaie could see she was going to have to draw up a rota for the jug-carrying job.
"And what do we do with the jug when we've been to all five shrines?" Serana sighed.
"You take it to the Sanctum and pour it out in an offering to Auriel," Gelebor said, glaring at the vampire, and Serana's face said it all about what she thought the utility of this was.
"It's symbolic," Gelebor said through gritted teeth. "I don't expect you to understand. But it is the only way to get into the Sanctum, find Vyrthur and kill him. With him gone, the bow is yours."
It didn't look like they had a lot of choice. So Kaie agreed, Cicero picked up the ewer and drew some water from the font – and a portal opened in the shrine. Leading to another dark cave apparently, and Gelebor confirmed they'd start out in dangerous caves. It represented the soul before enlightenment by Auriel's light apparently.
Kaie was already certain the tedious elven mysticism was going to get old very quickly, but she thanked Gelebor and led the way into darkness. She had a feeling they'd all need their wits about them. She wasn't wrong.
The Chantry wasn't big. It was beyond big. It was immense, with caves with a whole new ecosystem, they'd been isolated for so long, and some of the more naturalistically minded ReachGuard had been eagerly making sketches and taking plant samples and the pelts of the Vale cats that had tried to kill them were being carefully preserved and taken back for further study, along with samples of blood and flesh for the Matriarchs to study. After the whole vampire thing was dealt with, Kaie was absolutely sure the Reachkin would be back to study this place in more detail, and so they should because it was amazing.
And then there'd been the Forgotten Vale, and everyone had gone into squealing hysterics, even Serana a little bit, and even Athis and Borgakh were impressed.
The Falmer were less pleasing, especially having to fight their way through an entire settlement after the fourth wayshrine, but they all made it, Serana and Athis's immunity to poison helping considerably, and Cicero's Brotherhood gear was also poison-resistant.
So it was the final wayshrine was passed, and then the Sanctum itself loomed up.
"Wow, look at it!" Serana breathed. "Is this Snow Elf architecture? It's beautiful!"
"It's very pointy," Cicero noted, being rather more used to rounded Cyrodiilic styles and Nordic styles that were either intended to impose or to be a cosy bulwark against the elements. "Isn't it pointy, brother? Kaie, look at the pointy arches..."
"I see the pointy arches," Kaie sighed. "Yes, they're lovely. Can we get inside? It's snowing."
"In a sec," Serana said absently, barely noticing the cold. "Gods, look at that Auriel statue!"
"I see it," Athis said softly. "By Azura, that's old. There's books back home with pictures of ancient Auriel statues from when our ancestors were still Altmer. They looked like that. Even Alinor doesn't build them like this anymore."
"Can we please get inside?" Kaie whispered, huddling next to Borgakh for warmth, and Borgakh didn't hesitate before putting an arm round Kaie to warm her up.
"Hey. Cicero. Go find out what we're meant to do with the jug. We're done carrying it for you."
The Reachman currently designated Carrier of the Ewer took this opportunity to put the thing down, healing spells chiming as he summoned feeling back into his arms. Borgakh indicated for Cicero to do something with the nearly-full jug.
Cicero looked at it, pouted, huffed, whined and waved his hands around in protest at poor, helpless Cicero having to carry heavy jugs of water about that weighed nearly as much as he did, and in the end Borgakh growled, picked the ewer up like it weighed nothing and carried it herself, before tersely dumping the contents in the receptacle at the top of the steps.
"There, that wasn't hard, was it?" Borgakh growled at Cicero, who responded by cooing and sighing happily and generally commenting on how strong Borgakh was, and Cicero wished he had muscles like that.
"Does he ever stop?" Borgakh muttered to Kaie as she made her way back to her. Kaie patted Borgakh's back sympathetically, giving her a quick hug.
"He sleeps sometimes," Kaie told her. "And he's got a very short attention span."
"I can't help feeling we should have done that with a bit more ceremony," Athis mused, watching as the water started pooling in the basin and flowing down a trench to the sealed doors… and the sun-shaped seal on the door glowed and began to turn, and the doors clicked open.
"By the gods, it worked!" Serana gasped.
"Oh thank Sithis, topping the ewer up from the lake after we dropped it didn't stop it working," Cicero said, relieved, and more than one ReachGuard shared his feelings.
"You mean we lugged the entire thing across the Vale for nothing?" Serana snapped. "I am having words with that elf when we see him again!"
Athis patted Serana and led her into the Sanctum. Time enough for recriminations later. They had a bow to find.
Inside turned out to be colder than outside, in fact it was freezing. More than one of the ReachGuard contingent ended up casting a flame cloak for warmth, and Kaie began casting some diagnostic spells, something not feeling right. The roof was intact, why would there be so much ice inside? She soon had her answer.
"Something's not right," Kaie announced. "I'm getting major ambient frost magic. Someone's intentionally turned this entire temple into an icehouse." Which took some doing, as Kaie knew from personal experience with food storage experiments. Food storage…
Kaie looked around, and there were frozen Falmer and their chaurus pets everywhere.
"Did someone use frost magic to kill them?" Athis said, frowning at one.
Kill them, maybe, but keep the spell going to preserve them? Not unless you wanted a ready food source, and while chaurus were edible, Falmer were not. So why keep the corpses on ice… oh no.
Kaie cast Detect Dead and promptly cried out.
"Don't touch the bodies!" Kaie cried. "They're undead!"
Alarm all round as Athis promptly hauled Cicero away from where he'd been about to help himself to the staff in one's hand, and Serana yelped as her own magic confirmed Kaie wasn't wrong.
"Frozen reanimated corpses," Borgakh growled, hand going to her sword. "Whoever did this wanted an army of undead on tap and ready to go. Kinda smart."
Worryingly smart, and the magic involved would need regular renewing. Which meant…
"Whoever did this is still here," Kaie said softly, and they all knew who it was.
"Vyrthur," Serana said grimly. "You think this is his doing? Gelebor said he was still alive and conscious."
There weren't likely to be any other candidates, and if there were, that boded ill – it meant two dangerous mages to fight. But Gelebor had said the Falmer had corrupted Vyrthur… yet here was Vyrthur apparently having turned the Falmer into a fighting force quite literally being held on ice?
"What is going on here?" Kaie said softly, having told the others her thoughts. "And who corrupted Vyrthur?"
"I don't know, but we need to be on our guard," Borgakh said, glancing round the room. "Hey. Kaie. Think fire would hurt any of these? I was thinking we could take them out one at a time, slowly unpick this army. Charred corpses can't rise. Also some of these have some nice loot."
A fine idea, and Cicero and several of her soldiers were all looking excited, and Athis saw the strategic sense too. So Kaie gave the order, and slowly but surely, targeted fire spells did for the Falmer corpses, leaving their stuff for the taking.
They'd managed to clear most of the temple like this, and eventually there was only one place left to look – a tunnel leading through a corridor filled with more snow, ice and rubble than the main hallway had been. But it seemed to lead into a bigger hall.
"Think he's through there?" Athis asked, peering ahead.
"Yes," Serana whispered, pointing ahead to where someone was sitting on a throne. Someone who appeared to be another Snow Elf. Vyrthur, and he seemed to be waiting for them.
Kaie motioned silently for her troops to move and, with Cicero creeping behind them, the Forsworn slipped ahead into the throne room.
Sadly, Vyrthur was waiting for them.
"Don't bother sneaking, I know you're there," Vyrthur drawled from his throne. "I am ArchCurate of this temple still, I know when someone enters. My, but there are a lot of you. Ah, but no matter. You have brought me what I required. I will claim that pretty creature you brought with you, and my pets will deal with you others."
"Wait, does he mean me?" Serana whispered, at the same time as Cicero shrieked "YOU ARE NOT HAVING CICERO, CICERO IS ALREADY PRETTY EOLA'S!"
Had Vyrthur left it at that, or indeed kept toying with Cicero's vanity, he might have induced a mass stabbing and saved himself a lot of trouble. But alas, Vyrthur had already unleashed his pets, the frozen Falmer statues starting to uncrack.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Kaie shouted, and battle commenced.
With several Falmer unfreezing at once, this was a far tougher prospect than the controlled unfreezings Kaie had been overseeing earlier. But the Forsworn had fire at their disposal, as did Athis, and Cicero could now breathe the stuff too. It also turned out that blood magic still worked on undead Falmer too.
As the last Falmer met true death, and Cicero's fire breath laid waste to Vyrthur's Atronach, Vyrthur himself got to his feet, enraged.
"So, you can fight," Vyrthur snapped. "And you have mastered fire, very well. But fire will not avail you against this!"
Vyrthur cast a spell, and the entire chapel began to shake, the ceiling starting to disintegrate as rocks fell around them and pillars began to collapse.
"He's bringing the entire roof down!" Serana cried, and Cicero shrieked, taking cover underneath a half-fallen pillar and dragging Athis with him.
"Take cover!" Kaie ordered, casting about for a place to hide… and then Borgakh crashed into Kaie, flinging her to the ground and shielding her as the temple collapsed around them.
Screams all around her, and Kaie knew not all her people would survive this one… but with solid Orc steel and muscle protecting her, Kaie's own chances were good. She just hoped someone dealt with Vyrthur for her.
"Cicero!"
Cicero whimpered a bit. His head hurt. He ached all over. It was dark and cold and something big and heavy was on top of him and something not-warm but feeling fleshy was snuggled next to him and…
Magic blazed and the stone lying on top of him went flying, and Serana was there with two of the Forsworn at her back. It was them who'd used telekinesis to free Cicero and Athis.
Athis. Who'd dived and rolled them over to get Cicero out of the way of a falling rock and under where two pillars had wedged themselves. And now he was lying there, unconscious.
"Brother?" Cicero whispered, shaking Athis's shoulder. "Brother, please wake up."
"He's a vampire, it'll take more than a cave-in to kill him," Serana said, coming to kneel by Cicero. "Are you all right? Are you in pain? Can you move your limbs?"
Cicero nodded, trying to get up and managing it, just about.
"Does anyone have any potions?" Cicero whispered, feeling in dire need of painkillers, and one of the ReachGuard passed him one, while another was rousing Athis with some healing spells.
And across the courtyard, a whole group of ReachGuard was gathered round a kneeling Reach-Princess who was clutching Borgakh's hand.
"Sweetie?" Kaie cried. "Sweetie no, no, no, please wake up!" Kaie sobbed.
"Princess, she's still breathing," one of the guards was saying.
"So why won't she wake up?" Kaie cried. "Borgakh, please..."
"What happened?" Cicero whispered. "Did we all make it?"
"They're still digging out some of the Forsworn, and a couple died but… look, we can't focus on that," Serana sighed, before turning a restoration spell on Athis, who gasped and woke under its influence. "We've got more important things to think about."
"Like what?" Athis gasped, bleary-eyed as he winced in the sunlight. "Azura, what happened?"
Serana reached down and pulled Athis to his feet.
"Vyrthur lost patience and pulled the entire chapel down on us," Serana said grimly. "And he's still here. He's over there. By the balcony. Waiting."
Waiting. Like Gelebor had described. He'd tried to kill them and then neither finished the job nor fled. Strange. Very very strange.
But Cicero was a Dark Brother, and a Dark Brother with a job to do, and Dark Brothers did not just let their quarry go or give up because things were odd.
"So, we end him, yes?" Cicero murmured, knocking back a potion and feeling the aches fading.
"This has got trap written all over it," Athis growled, but he followed Serana and Cicero anyway. They'd got this far after all. Might as well see it through.
"Give us the bow, Vyrthur!" Serana shouted, racing up the stairs. "Give us the bow and we won't kill you!"
Vyrthur just laughed bitterly, shaking his head.
"I was Arch-Curate, girl. I had the ear of a god once!"
"Yeah, once," Athis muttered, drawing his sword. "Not seeing any sign of him now, do you, Cicero?"
Cicero drew his knives, skipping up with a cheery grin on his face as the three of them cornered Vyrthur.
"Start praying!" Cicero cooed. "Auriel might save you."
"Auriel hasn't answered my prayers in millennia, you stupid mortal," Vyrthur growled, staggering back and clutching the balustrade.
"Until the Betrayed corrupted you, yeah we heard," Serana sighed, rolling her eyes. "Look, give us the bow or Cicero kills you. Don't think he needs telling twice."
"The Betrayed?" Vyrthur laughed. "Gelebor is so easy to manipulate. Look into my eyes, woman. You tell me what I am!"
All three of them looked, and Cicero realised that while he couldn't really tell much visually, Vyrthur smelt wrong. Musty. Stale. Not blood and fresh meat and musk, no. In fact, he smelt a bit like Serana (except Serana smelt a bit nicer and more fragrant) (not that Cicero was ever telling Eola this) (or Serana) (that was just asking for trouble). No, Vyrthur smelt like a…
"Wait, you're a vampire!" Athis cried, having worked it out the same time Serana had.
"But Auriel should have protected you..." Serana whispered. Vyrthur just shook his head, the wind whistling through pale hair as undead eyes stared back at her.
"I was infected by one of my own initiates and Auriel turned his back on me," Vyrthur said bitterly. "So I swore revenge at any price."
"What, on a god?" Cicero said, confused. "That is not an easy thing."
"Auriel was beyond my reach, but his influence on our world was not," Vyrthur said, grinning. "All I needed was Auriel's Bow, and one critical ingredient – the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour. So I created a prophecy, sent word of it out… and waited. And here you are."
"Prophecy..." Serana whispered, horrified. "It was you? You created that prophecy? So that someone with my blood would come along?"
Vyrthur nodded, smirking at her… and then the smirk faded as Serana advanced on him.
"Well, too bad for you, I intend on keeping it!" Serana shouted, and then she shifted into her vampire lord form, shrieking as she descended on Vyrthur.
"We should help," Athis said, glancing at Cicero who, to his surprise, was showing no inclination to move.
"We should perhaps let her get it out of her system, brother," Cicero said delicately. "She's being very enthusiastic in her bloodlust, isn't she?"
Serana was unleashing all sorts on the hapless Snow Elf, from blood magic to her claws ripping him to pieces – but she was a vampire fighting in daylight, and Vyrthur had his own powers. One spell later and Serana had been sent flying back into the courtyard.
"Serana!" Cicero cried, before turning back to Vyrthur.
"All right, brother, now we stab him!" Cicero announced cheerfully, just as Vyrthur summoned an Atronach again.
"I'll deal with this, you get the vampire," Athis said, casting fire at the Atronach and Cicero darted past, knives out.
"Cicero has a contract," Cicero announced. "But don't mistake me – Cicero is going to enjoy this!"
"You're pathetic, mortal," Vyrthur replied, unimpressed, and then he hit back with a life-draining spell.
The resulting scuffle was not the most dignified of encounters. Cicero closed despite the blood magic and there followed several seconds of scuffling, biting, magic, scrapping, knives and much swearing… and then Cicero found himself pinned to the floor with Vyrthur's teeth about to sink into his neck. And then Vyrthur smelt the beast blood and withdrew, hissing.
"Ugh, you're one of Hircine's," Vyrthur sniffed. "I'd rather stay a vampire, all things considered."
Cicero couldn't care less. Vyrthur had left himself wide open, and no Dark Brother turned down an opening like this. Before Vyrthur could get over his disgust at Cicero's beast blood, Cicero's knife had slipped between the Snow Elf's ribs, vampire blood pouring out onto the stone.
Before Vyrthur could fully process he'd just been mortally wounded, magic flared behind Cicero and Vyrthur's blood began to bubble, smoke rising from it, and the vampire screamed in pain.
"Noooo!" Vyrthur screamed. "How… how are you doing this? You're mortal!"
"Yes," Kaie said smoothly, clearly finding the whole situation hilarious. "I am. Oh come on, you honestly didn't think vampires were the only ones who understood blood magic, did you?"
From the horrified and somewhat pitiful look on Vyrthur's face, it was clear he'd thought exactly this. Kaie, her wrist gashed open on a Forsworn axe and blood dripping down her arm, just tutted and shook her head.
"Cicero, hurry up and finish him, I can't keep this up all day."
Cicero didn't need telling twice. He drew the Blade of Woe across Vyrthur's throat and shoved the Snow Elf off him… then stabbed him a few more times for good measure, and then Athis was there with a bit of fire magic to finish the job, and then the penultimate Snow Elf was crumbling into dust.
"We did it!" Cicero squeaked, the familiar post-kill euphoria kicking in, as it always did. "We killed the Arch-Curate, we did!"
"We did," Athis said proudly, patting Cicero on the back and helping him up. "Come on, let's see how Serana's doing."
Serana was back in human form, downing one of her blood potions and looking a little healthier now she'd had a chance to rest, although frankly darkness was what she really needed.
"It's over," Serana gasped. "The whole prophecy… everything… I can't believe it was all him wanting revenge on Auriel the whole time!"
Athis patted Serana on the back and Cicero sidled as close to her as he could without actually quite touching or cuddling her… and then Serana surprised them both by putting her arms around them and pulling them to her.
"Thank you," she said softly. "For… for everything. I didn't expect all this, I didn't expect anyone would actually help or listen or understand or… thank you. Both of you. And Eola too."
Cicero had gone a bit pink, muttering something about it being "no trouble" and "needed an adventure anyway" and "always happy to stab people, sweet Serana knows that".
"I think we all know that," Athis commented, wry grin on his face. Then the stone shook as one last wayshrine rose out of the temple floor… and Gelebor the last Snow Elf stepped out.
"It's done then," he said, surveying the scene.
"It's done," Serana confirmed, indicating Vyrthur's remains. "Have you got the bow for us now?"
"Of course!" Gelebor said, stepping aside and indicating the wayshrine. "Now you've undone Vyrthur's magic, the final wayshrine's open again… and Auriel's Bow is yours."
Sure enough, suspended in mid-air above the font was a gleaming elven bow. It had to be it. Auriel's Bow, not a legend but real, and right there!
Cicero promptly squealed and ran to collect the prize, snatching it from the air and scampering back out cuddling it.
"Not Auriel's Bow any mo-ore!" Cicero sang out, stroking it lovingly and Athis could see that getting that bow off Cicero now would be more dangerous than the trek out here had been. So he decided to leave it. Let Elisif take it off him. She was good at persuading the immature to hand over dangerous objects without too many tears, although it was usually her baby she needed to win over.
"You got the bow then," Kaie said, coming to stand next to them and looking it over. "It's… not as shiny as I thought. Does it work for killing vampires then?"
"It will work for killing your enemies, and it is particularly effective against undead," Gelebor promised. "Here, take these. Specially blessed Sun-Hallowed Arrows. Fire directly at a vampire or a creation of blood magic, or fire at the sun and watch Auriel's Fire rain down on your foes. Bring me more elven arrows, I'll bless some more for you. It's the least I can do. The Sanctuary may be no more, but you deserve some recompense."
The ruined Sanctuary was a depressing sight, it was true, and there wasn't one of them who didn't feel a little bad at all the destruction, even though Gelebor reassured them he'd suspected it might end this way, and no, not to worry, there might be other Snow Elves out there somewhere and it wasn't like Vyrthur had given them the option to not kill him.
"It just seems so sad for this place to be abandoned though," Serana said softly. "It's just beautiful out here."
"If it is the will of Auriel, so be it," Gelebor sighed. "We have long held that Auriel created the world then turned from it in despair at the sins of his children. We allowed ourselves to be corrupted and could not preserve his Sanctuary as a result. Perhaps it does not deserve to survive."
Which was a sad and depressing thought, but Athis couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right here… and there was something he could tell Gelebor.
"It wasn't the Betrayed corrupted your brother," Athis told him. "He got turned into a vampire by one of his initiates."
"It's true," Serana confirmed. "In fact, we think he might have used blood magic to summon the Betrayed to kill everyone else. He controlled them, not the other way around."
From the stunned look on Gelebor's face, he'd clearly not known this.
"So they were innocent," he breathed. "That… that does cheer me. I had no idea. Then there may even be hope for them. I don't hold out a lot of hope for them, and they'll likely never be what they were… but over the years I've noticed a rise in their intellect. Maybe one day they'll remember what they were, be able to communicate. Maybe they won't always be the malignant horrors they've become."
It was a slim hope… but not an impossible one. And Kaie had been looking very thoughtful throughout all this.
"Might not be the end of the Sanctuary either," Kaie said, stroking her chin. "Gelebor, my father is a king, and his kingdom rich, and my people venerate Auriel too. And the only entrance to the caves lies within our borders. We could move out here, some of us. We could help rebuild. It wouldn't be fast and I'm not sure if we could duplicate Snow Elf workmanship – we're mages, not architects. But we could learn, and in the meantime you'd have Auriel worshippers again. We'd even have a few people do the pilgrimage."
Gelebor's eyes had widened as he stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Are you… my goodness… human Auriel worshippers? Coming to live here?"
Kaie nodded.
"Sure! This place is gorgeous, won't be difficult to find a few hardy souls willing to move out here. We could build a settlement in the vale just outside the cave exit, it's not as snowy there. Maybe even see if the wayshrines can be linked to the Reach's portal network – Auntie Keirine's special grimoire seems to imply it's possible to link them to mirrors somehow."
Gelebor raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Interesting. I did not know that knowledge had survived anywhere. I am a Knight-Paladin, child, I am a warrior and a priest, not a summoner or a weaver of the Beyond. But I'd be interested in learning more of this grimoire of your aunt's."
"I bet," Kaie grinned. "Well, if you're willing to let us move into the Forgotten Vale, we can arrange to let you read it."
Gelebor agreed and a deal was struck. And then it just remained to head home. Which took longer than planned, what with needing to lay the bodies of the dead ReachGuard to rest, and tending to everyone's wounds… including those of one Orc who swore she didn't need healing.
"It's fine, it's just a few aches and pains," Borgakh growled, glaring mutinously at Kaie.
"It's concussion, a dislocated shoulder, cracked ribs, extensive bruising, and a hairline fracture to the skull. Healer Briala says you're lucky not to be dead," Kaie snapped, staring her down.
"Yeah, whatever, she's used to treating you lot. We Orcs are tougher," Borgakh muttered, trying to stand up and not quite managing to hide the wincing.
"I've treated your brother's wounds," Healer Briala, a dark-haired Reachwoman with light brown skin and slightly pointed ears, told her. "Orcs get injured too. Do I need to give you the talk on Namirene organisms?"
"Oh Sithis no," Cicero whispered, going a bit pale. He'd had the talk on the dangers of infection as well before now. Eola's version was particularly detailed.
"You'd do well to listen," Athis pointed out. "No one wants to die screaming in agony because a wound went bad."
"I'm not bleeding," Borgakh said, before grabbing her shoulder, gritting her teeth, and forcing it back into place with an audible popping sound, at which point Cicero made some high-pitched meeping sounds and fled the scene whimpering.
"Sithis's sake," Kaie breathed before shoving some painkilling potions at her. "Just drink these if nothing else. It's a long way back to the Reach, and we are not carrying you."
Borgakh muttered but did as told, muttering something about it being a good thing Kaie was pretty. And so once everyone was rested, it was an easy thing to use the wayshrines to get back to Darkfall Cave, and from there Hag's End was only a few hours away.
"Are you ready for this next bit?" Athis whispered to Serana, who'd got quieter and more pensive the closer they'd got.
"Can you ever be ready to kill your parent?" Serana said softly, eyes downcast and her arms wrapped around herself. "Even Eola probably couldn't have killed Mireen herself."
Athis wasn't entirely convinced that was the case, but he knew even Eola might not have been able to do it without consequences.
"You don't have to do this," Athis said quietly. "Everyone would understand if you sat this one out. No one expects you to be the one to kill your own father."
Serana shuddered but shook her head.
"No, I – I want to be there," Serana said stubbornly. "I need to see this through. I need to – I don't know. Talk to him. Try and get him to see reason. I don't think he'll surrender but I need to give him that chance."
"He's not going to take it, you have to know that," Athis told her, knowing Serana had a tough time ahead of her no matter what happened.
"I know," Serana said softly. "But whatever happens, I want to be there."
Athis patted her on the back, understanding.
"All right then," Athis said as the outskirts of the vast military camp presently surrounding Deepwood Redoubt's entrance came into view. "Whatever happens, Cicero and I will be there to help."
"I know. Thank you," Serana said, smiling faintly. "Come on. We've got a Formerly Auriel's Bow to show off."
They did indeed. Mission accomplished and a success story to tell. All that remained was to finally take on Harkon.
A/N: Next chapter we have the final battle! And wrapping up all the loose ends, hopefully. Haven't actually written it yet but I'm sure it'll be awesome.