Dovahkiin POV:
Serana and I enter the cave, go down a small path, and cross a bridge. I open my mouth to say something, but the bridge collapses. I scream as I'm forced underwater, gurgling and kicking. Finally, I surface. Serana splashes up beside me, and I hear the clicking of frostbite spiders. Serana takes care of them as I recover. I slowly stand and keep walking, my friend following me. We find two dead bodies and Serana mentions how horrible the sight is, but we both just walk by it. We enter a large cavern in the cave, a small lake filling up most of the room. A troll snarls at us, but we manage to avoid it. Damn this is boring. Then, we see a pale man standing up ahead.
Serana and I look at each other, shrug, and Serana takes the lead as I walk behind her. The man blinks when we approach him, introducing himself to us. I don't even pay attention to the conversation, but pick up a few things. He's an ancient snow elf, he wants our help, blah blah blah blah. Finally, he stops speaking and becomes useful. The man walks over to an altar, uses a spell on it, and a small shrine like thing rises from the ground. The snow elf hands me a pitcher and blabbers on about something. I take some water from the pool inside the altar, put the pitcher in a safe place on my person, and examine the alter. I see a small portal, turn to Serana who's just walked in, and ask, "Ready?". When she nods I step through the portal.
I almost instantly want to flee when we enter the cave, the sounds of far-off enemies greeting us. But knowing Serana is watching me gives me the ability to fake courage, and I force myself to keep walking. The dark cave twists and turns, claustrophobia setting in. I begin to breathe heavy despite the fact I don't need to breathe, my chest heavy and my hands shaking as they hold my bow. An arrow is ready to fire, but no enemies come at us. That's what worries me the most. I can hear the unseen enemies slowly crawling around the cave, but I can't find a single trace of them.
Since I can't find them they could be anywhere, waiting to strike out and kill me. Serana is the only thing that keeps me from panicking, her presence calming me as we slowly make our way through the cave. Finally, we spot our first enemy. A falmer stumbles towards us, grumbling and dragging his mace behind him. My arrow finds his skull before he can do any real damage, but his dying groan alerts his fellows. An entire hoard of falmer come rushing at us and I feel my feet twitch, begging me to run away as fast as I can and never return. But then I see Serana begin to fight the monsters, and I know I could never leave her. I begin firing as quickly as I can, as if the fate of all of Skyrim rested upon my shoulders. I suppose it really does, but I try not to think that hard about it.
Falmer begin dropping left and right, but there's always two more to take every dead one's place. Serana eventually runs out of magicka, and is forced to fight the enemies with a dagger. That's when I remember I'm a vampire lord. I really need to remember that, it could save our lives multiple times. The monsters briefly pause as I transform, but then they once again attack full force. My claws and fangs are ready for them. I begin slashing left and right, snapping my gigantic fangs whenever I get the chance. The disgusting creatures' blood splatters everywhere, leaks into my mouth, and stains my thin coat of fur. Ugh, I'll need to bathe before I face Harkon.
Eventually, the tide of monsters subside. Serana and I both take a small rest, and I quickly transform back. I don't even bother to try to fix my armor, allowing the fabric to loosely hang from my body. Serana slowly gets up and says, "Come on, let's get going. A magic bow's waiting for us.". I nod and follow her lead, picking up my bow and loading it. The cave continues to twist and turn, leading us up and down. We fight our way through what seems to be a thousand falmer camps, multiple dark cave rooms (even our vampire sight can't help us), and even pass through a waterfall or two. Our enemies include falmer, gigantic flying bugs, and tremendous crawling bugs. I'm not longer terrified, I'm just too tired to be.
Finally, we reach what appears to be a cave wall. I'm about to turn around and look for another way, but Serana stops me and points at the wall. A few ropes are hanging there, and I realize what I need to do. I step over the skeleton of the last person who made it this far, pulling a cord at random. Rocks fall from a trap far above our heads, nearly crushing Serana. I mumble an apology, the other vampire too tired to even nod. The cave was longer than I can even describe in words, there were enemies every step of the way, and we occasionally got lost along the way. Not even the best adventurer in Skyrim would think this was fun.
I'm even certain the heroes of old would get tired going through this cave. I pull another cord, sighing in relief when the stone wall slowly goes up. A glowing saber cat roaring at me is what greets me, but an arrow to the eye stops him from leaping at me. I walk into the lighted area of the cave, Serana closely following me. I don't even bother taking the intended path, simply stumbling off the side of a cliff and landing on my front. I groan as I hear the growl of a saber cat, and look up to see a glowing predator gnawing on a glowing deer. I kill the giant cat, stripping them of their skins while I wait for Serana. Serana comes down the intended path, every step screaming her tiredness and unwillingness to go on.
Finally, we're both together and ready to go. We slowly stumble up the stone path, Serana practically leaning on my shoulder. When we reach our destination a ghost greets us, a grin splitting his face as he ask, "Are you ready to-". I snarl, "Yes!". The man looks stunned, but simply turns and casts a spell upon another altar or wayshrine or whatever that guy called it. The second I can fit, I shove my way into the small room and gather more water in the pitcher and carefully put it back where it won't spill. Serana makes her way beside me, motioning at the next portal.
I sigh and step through it, the uncomfortable feeling of teleporting and magicka once again overtaking me. I'm now standing in what appears to be a small cave, the opening up top. My friend pats me on the shoulder, making me aware of her presence. We both silently walk up the stone path, finally reaching moonlight. I walk over to a small cliff, and can't help gasping at the sight. A beautiful landscape is stretched out before me. Gleaming snowy grounds, a few frost kissed trees, and frozen flowers of every kind. I hear a gasp from beside me, and Serana whispers, "It's beautiful. I'm glad you could be here with me.". Our hands find each other's, and we're suddenly standing closer than we were a minute ago. We both seem to turn our heads at the same time, our tiredness brushed to the side.
Our freezing lips touch and we both seem to sigh, relaxing against one another. When we pull back we rest our foreheads against one another, my eyes slowly opening to meet hers. The woman smiles and mournfully says, "I wish we didn't have to keep going.". I squeeze her hand and agree, "I do to.". We just stand there for a few moments, but eventually we pull back and acknowledge we have to keep finding the wayshrines. We clamber down the rocks, stopping and deciding where to go. In the end I spin in a circle, stop in a random direction, and begin walking.
Serana follows me, but complains, "Do you know how we're going to find all of the four other wayshrines? We aren't. They're scattered all around and we have no idea where to go. We're meant to die. Nothing else, this quest is just a mask for two murders. And-". She stops speaking when we reach the pearly wayshrine, another ghost waiting for us. As I climb up to it my friend composes herself and ask, "How in oblivion did you know where to go?! I'm highly concerned.". I sigh and ask, "Why?". Instantly, Serana tells me, "It's weird. You knew where the guy that showed us where the scroll was lived, you found the scroll almost effortlessly in Blackreach, and you just happen to find this wayshrine in less than a minute? It's creepy and concerning.". As I near the wayshrine I tell her, "I know it is, but we'd better just accept it. Besides, it helps us.".
We stop talking as we near the ghost, the man beginning to speak. Before his speech is done I snarl, "Yes!". The ghost looks shocked, but simply blinks and uses a spell on the shrine. I get more water, the pitcher becoming heavy. It's hard to keep it from spilling since it's tied to my waist, but I don't want to carry it yet. Carrying it is too much work, and I'll probably just end up dropping it and losing all the water. Once we're done here, I once again begin walking. I choose a random direction, the path leading up into a small mountain path. A few frostbite spiders try to attack us, but we easily take care of them. It's surprising to me that I'm able to fight them, a few months ago they were one of my biggest fear. It looks like I've come a long way. I feel pride swelling up in my chest at the thought. I'm getting better.
Slowly but surely I'm getting better. We pass through the tiny mountain pass, a swift river greeting us. We begin to walk along the banks, another wayshrine not too far along. Serana and I playfully race to it, but the other woman easily wins. By the time we reach the shrine we're laughing at our behavior, but both of us quiet down as we approach the next ghostly figure. I just scream, "Yes!". The man doesn't even have the time to ask his question. He looks a little upset, but turns and performs his spell. I quickly take the water, my arms straining under the weight of the water.
I tie it back to my waist, taking Serana's arm as we continue our walk. We pass a gigantic icy giant, a flowing river, go up some stairs, and across a small part of a frozen lake. We keep going up more stairs, the air around us getting thin. We see the next shrine a ways away, so we speed up our pace. We go across a shallow river and up a small icy hill, another ghost happily greeting us.
He sees the look on our faces and doesn't even bother asking, turning around and instantly casting his spell on the wayshrine. I gather some water in the pitcher, my arms nearly buckling under the weight. Serana has to take it from me, the older vampire significantly stronger than me. I prepare to leave the area, but turn to the ghost and ask, "Where is the next shrine?". He blinks before answering, "Through a maze of falmer and their creatures.". He points in a direction, Serana and I sighing in unison. We both begin walking, our journey hopefully almost over.