Thirty-seven:

Wayshrines

The cave they found themselves in led up and out, into a valley that defied description. It held some of the glowing plants of the underground, and some of the more ordinary plants of the natural world.

"Where are we?" Serana asked.

Auriel just shook her head.

"Undoubtedly off of any map we've ever seen," she murmured softly. "Oh, I am so going to have to return here after we've found this bow."

There were ruins in the valley, and the way they were laid out suggested that there had, at one point, been a path. Seeing as they had little else to go on, they followed the pieces of what had once likely been a well-tended and grand place. The path led them upwards, into cold, crisp winter air, and into a small pass guarded by a handful of spiders. While not terribly pleased, with the spiders, they were no more difficult to defeat than they had been innumerable times before.

Eventually the pass led back out into another valley, this one more normal and snow covered. If not for the fact that Auriel was looking for things unknown, she probably never would have spotted the book, half-hidden under the snow.

"What is it?" Serana asked.

"It's... written in the snow elf language," Auriel sighed. "I'll have to take it back to the college and see if Enthir, or Urag can translate it for us. It will wait, however. Look, I think I see our next shrine."

"Like it'll be that easy," Serana snorted a little.

"Well, hush then, and let's find out, hmm?"

They did end up having to backtrack, for the shrine that had walked right on past in the valley was the Shrine of Sight, and until they went there the Shrine of Learning would not open. They were the easiest of the five shrines to reach. Their rough guide of ruins led them up to a lake that seemed frozen, but made alarming popping and creaking noises when stepped upon.

"Does this ice feel a little... thin to you?" Serana asked hesitantly.

"It does, but I don't see much of a choice about crossing it," Auriel said grimly. "Do me a favor and don't let me drown, okay?"

"I keep telling you that you need to switch to leather or something," the vampire chided.

Auriel snorted.

"I like my malachite armor, thank you. It takes less damage than you in a fight."

Ir probably shouldn't have been a great surprise when two dragons burst out from underneath, knocking the two women to the ground. It was a fight that could have gone very badly, if not for Auriel summoning Durnehviir.

After that, however, they stuck to the edges of the ice. Which was how they found a Word, without the typical word wall. Auriel shook her head a little and sighed.

"This trip is not going anything like I'd expected," she grumbled a little.

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Serana asked.

"It's a troublesome thing, smart ass."

"Well, someone's got to keep the mood light. Come on, there's our next shrine."

It was the Shrine of Resolution. By raising it, not only did they get their fourth filling, the portals enabled them to move far more swiftly around the valley. Not that there was a portal that opened to the Chantry itself. Serana sighed a little in disappointment, and Auriel chuckled ruefully.

"You too, hm?"

"Well, it was a hope, but it was also a longshot," Serana sighed. "I suppose we should be lucky we got this far without spilling any of the water."

"Especially with those dragons," Auriel nodded a little. "I think if we take this bridge, we might find a way through, though."

"Might as well try it," Serana nodded. "Good thing you're not afraid of heights."

"Never have been, never will be," Auriel chuckled.

The bridge led them upriver, and straight back into Falmer territory. Keeping them from spilling the ewer was not the easiest thing in the world. But there was little choice; the path wended its way through their territory, and farther up the mountainside. Night crept in while they moved, but when Serana suggested they stop, Auriel shook her head.

"Bad idea. Falmer territory means they'll just keep coming, and there's no point in trying to sleep with them lurking," she said quietly. "Best to just press on and hope there will be a safer nook farther up."

"...all right, if you're sure," Serana replied.

"Mmhm. Now hush."

There was no escaping the creatures, of course; every step forward led them deeper into Falmer territory, which meant more death and killing. Auriel found herself going numb from it, and also found that she didn't much care. Maybe, whenever this was over, she would feel bad. But right now, the Falmer were in her way, and she needed them gone. She could not afford sympathy or squeamishness.

While the Falmer bridges did, on occasion, creak alarmingly, they were surprisingly sturdy for the materials used in them. Apparently the charrus creatures were good for something.

They found another of the Falmer books, though the number on it indicated that they'd missed one somewhere back in the valley. Auriel just shook her head a little; she would go back and find it at a later date.

The mountain paths eventually led them to a cave from which the river seemed to be sourced, and they went in warily; it was mostly ice inside, at least on the ledges they attempted to walk on. And the water, when the did have to go in to cross the cavern, was icy cold. Auriel resolved to have a number of hot baths the moment she had the chance, because at this rate, she would be lucky if she didn't lose some body parts to the cold.

Healing spells kept her blood circulating as it should; though she felt no warmer, neither did she actually risk losing fingers or toes. She couldn't do much for her hair, however, and tried to avoid moving the frozen mass to keep it from breaking apart. It had taken her years to grow it so long, and she was very vain of that fact.

The slipped and slid across the ledges, occasionally going onto hands and knees for better balance and grip. The ice was not their friend, and seemed, in fact, to be attempting to thwart them at every turn. And the Falmer were, naturally, of no help at all. One of their traps could have easily knocked one, or both, women down into the icy water.

"Better at making traps than making bridges," Serana muttered. "What a strange race."

Auriel nodded, though her attention was more focused on not sliding back down the ice. If this kept up, they were going to have to start using daggers to keep from slipping, and that was just wrong. Though if there was some humor to be found in the situation, it was that the Falmer occasionally had the exact same troubles. Watching them slip on the ice was worth a good portion of the fight to stay upright, though trying to not laugh certainly didn't help any.

Finally finding a path that was more snow than ice, and led out into a narrow canyon was such a relief that both of them had to sit, and massage aching muscles. It was hard to hold a non-slipping angle, and to scramble up without falling over layers of ice. Once they caught their breath and gotten the worst of the cramps out, they pressed on, even deeper into Falmer territory. Auriel was reminded very intimately of the Dwemer ruin where she, Karliah, and Bryn had all finally tracked Mercer. Unfortunately, this time there wasn't really much of a choice to avoid these creatures; they would simply have to kill them all.

There was no low road or high road here. Just the road, and unfortunately for most of the way they were killing Falmer. Auriel didn't even notice when the sun came up, and paid little mind to how cramped her fingers were getting, or how much her arms ached. They were not safe, they could not stop, she could not rest.

Eventually the road shifted, and led them down, though not for long. Making their way past more huts they found themselves traveling upwards through a dim pass. And fighting upwards through a dim pass when an errant noise meant they were caught.

To their surprise, at the top they found yet another Wayshrine, with another prelate waiting outside of it. It seemed almost blasphemous that they should encounter no more after fighting for so long, but the area was deserted, and so they wearily approached the spectral prelate. It was the Wayshrine of Radiance and it was the final shrine. Auriel was so tired that she almost curled up in the shrine itself, and possibly would have, if turning around had not revealed the Chantry to her.

Awe briefly displaced exhaustion as they crossed the bridge, leaving her to wonder again what sort of knowledge had been lost when the Dwemer had performed their cruel trick.

They stepped into the courtyard, and she looked up at the immense bronze statue, briefly unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

"This is a statue of Auriel," Serana said after a moment. "But it's using the older signs of his power. This temple must be ancient. The bow has to be here."

"As does the Arch-Curate," Auriel said grimly. "not to mention who knows how many Falmer."

"...right. Let's get in there and get this done with."

"Agreed."

The basin for the water from the ewer was at the top of the stairs, and Auriel was glad to pour it out. It might not have been a heavy weight, but it had been a nerve wracking one, and she didn't mind seeing the water go. It flowed down three channels cut into the stone, and filled the sun symbol which glowed for a few moment, and the lock on the door rotated, then popped free.

In they went.

The inner Sanctum was no less impressive than the outside had been, but it was in far worse repair. Beings that had been frozen into statues remained, some with weapons, others with potions, and some with empty hands. A crowd of them were around the flame symbol in the center of the room, and Auriel felt a touch of empathy; death by being frozen could not have been kind or gentle.

"And I thought the Soul Cairn was creepy," Serana muttered.

"...it was."

Auriel crept through the statues, and reached out to touch the shrine of the god with whom she shared a name Warmth slid through her, and peace. Her exhaustion lifted, and she breathed the faintest of relieved sighs; whether it was the god himself, or simply the magic of the shrine, she didn't much care. She felt better, and that was much appreciated after such a never-wracking, exhaustion trip.

The ewer was their key to several interesting side passages which held mostly gems and gold. Though she felt a little guilty about it, there was little point in leaving such treasures behind, so Auriel gathered them up, and then they went further into the temple itself.

Beyond the frozen bodies were some skeletons, in various positions that suggested they'd been trying to hide, or escape. Auriel and Serana both ended up muttering various prayers to their spirits. It just seemed like the right thing to do, even if it wasn't terribly logical.

They found, after some hunting and feeling the air currents, another tunnel of snow and ice that led to a ledge, with no discernible way back up.

"Ready for this?" Auriel whispered.

"No, but we can't exactly turn back now, can we?" Serana replied.

"Not so much, no. All right, come on."

The hallway beyond was uncomfortably narrow, but led to a cavern filled with a dozen or so ice statues, and the far end was Arch-Curate Vyrthur himself.

"Did you really come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?" he demanded. "You've done exactly as I predicted, and brought you r fetching companion to me!"

"...wait... is he talking about me?" Serana murmured.

"Which, I'm sorry to say, means your usefulness is at an end!"

He did... something, Auriel wasn't precisely sure what, and then the ice statues came alive. Granted they were shattered in short order, but still, it was a nasty surprise.

"An impressive display," the Arch-Curate sneered. "But a wasted effort. You delay nothing but your own deaths!"

"Watch out!" Serana yelled. "He's pulling down the ceiling!"

The warning came in good time; Auriel dove out of the way as chunks of ice hit the place where she'd been standing not moments before.

"Finish them!" Vyrthur commanded, waving a hand at the ice statues again.

His statues did not fare any better, nor did the Ice Antranoch he summoned to help them.

"No!" he snapped. "I won't let you ruin centuries of preparations!"

"Surrender and give us the bow!" Serana demanded.

The Arch-Curate's response was to blow up the room. Auriel flew backwards and made friends with the nearest wall before falling to the ground. Serana hurried over and helped her to stand.

"You all right?"

"...Lemme at him," Auriel growled.

"Let's do this," Serana nodded grimly. "He's up there on the balcony, let's go."

The cornered him there, and Serana took an impatient step forward.

"Enough Vyrthur," she snapped. "Give us the bow!"

"How dare you," he sneered. "I was the Arch-Curate of Auri-El, girl. I had the ears of a god."

"Until the 'Betrayed' corrupted you, yes, yes, we've heard the sob story," Serana shook her head a little.

"Gelebor and his kind are easily manipulated fools," Vyrthur snapped. "Look into my eyes, girl. Tell me what you see."

Auriel frowned a little, and Serana started.

"You're... you're a vampire," Serana breathed in surprise. "But Auriel should have protected you..."

"The moment I was infected by one of my own initiates, Auri-El turned his back on me," the snow elf said bitterly. "I swore I'd have my revenge, no matter what the cost."

"...so, wait," Auriel held up a hand. "The snow elves, some of the most learned elves in all of existence save the dwarves, did not have a cure for vampirism? Even though there is one? And let's not forget the ridiculous idea of attempting to take revenge on a god, of all beings."

Serana shot her a sour look; Auriel simply crossed her arms over her chest. Vyrthur glared too.

"Auri-El himself may have been beyond my reach," he growled, "but his influence on our world wasn't. All I needed was the blood of a vampire, and his own weapon, Auriel's Bow."

"The blood of a vampire... Auriel's Bow..." Serana stammered a little, surprised. "It was you? You created that prophecy?"

"A prophecy that lacked a single, final ingredient. The blood of a pure vampire. The blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour!"

He made the mistake in coming within arms reach; Serana reached out and grabbed his neck, lifting him up over her head.

"You were waiting, all this time for someone with my blood to come along," She said lowly. "Well too bad for you, I intend on keeping it. Let's see if your blood has any power to it!"

Vyrthur was just tall enough to kick off of her, and launched a blinding flash of light and sound as disorientation. He then launched a furious attack on Serana, but he forgot one very important thing. Auriel was standing there as well, and she'd just been waiting for him to finish talking.

It was, perhaps, a little anti-climactic to watch him drop, whispering a last farewell as he died. The most interesting thing didn't happen until after his death, actually, when the wayshrine in the center shot straight up with a rumble of grating stone. Gelebor stepped out, and looked down at the body of his brother with sadness.

"So, the deed has been done," he murmured. "The restoration of this wayshrine means that Vyrthur must be dead, and the Betrayed no longer have any control over him."

"...yeah, about that..." Auriel sighed a little. "They weren't the ones at fault here."

"What? What're you talking about?" Gelebor demanded.

"It was sort of the other way around. He was a vampire, and they answered to him."

"A vampire?" Gelebor blinked several times. "I see... that... that would explain much. Deep inside, it gives me joy to learn that the Betrayed weren't to blame for what happened here."

"That's... an odd view to take," Serana said after a moment.

"It means that one day they might learn to shed their hatred, and learn to believe in Auri-El, once again," he smiled a little sadly. "It's been a long time since I felt that way, and it was long overdue. My thanks, to both of you."

"You're... welcome, I think," Auriel blinked a little.

"You risked everything to retrieve Auriel's Bow, and in return, you've restored the Chantry. I can't think of a more deserving champion to carry it than you. If you wish to learn more about the bow, or obtain Sunhallowed Arrows for it, I'd be more than happy to help. You have but to ask."

He handed over the bow, and Auriel accepted it gingerly. It was a beautiful weapon of elven design, crafted of white wood, and strung with silver.

"What, may I ask, is your name, my lady?"

Serana immediately started giggling. Auriel sighed.

"My mother named me for the sun god," she said ruefully. "My name is Auriel."