A/N

Hello! Sorry for the late update, I knew quarantine started days ago but I only found the small motivation to write recently. Took this long because I was also playing games but here it is.

Didn't really bother proofreading this one because I was bored out of my mind writing it. :))

But good news is, since we all have nothing to do, my updates would be released in a 4-7 day interval (I think things will become a little bit interesting after this chapter so I'd be writing more). Please comment your thoughts since your reviews are what keeps me going tbh. :D

Hope you enjoy it and stay safe!


"We're here."

Serana stared at the gaping abyss that was Darkfall Cave.

After Dimhollow Crypt and Forebears' Holdout, she thought she had her fair share of caves already. Unfortunately for her, here's another one.

Aside from this, she would be lying if the thoughts she had from that night wasn't lingering in her head. The travel did take her mind off it, but not entirely.

With these, she was in no mood to push through with this mission at all. Still, she knew that it's something she had to do.

"Let's just go." Serana muttered with a sigh as she walked on in, leaving Remus behind.

Remus confusedly watched as the vampiress is swallowed by the cave's darkness. It was a bright and sunny day, so he expected Serana would show more enthusiasm once they've arrived at a shelter.

Yet, if he thought about it, she hasn't been exactly talkative ever since they left Lakeview Manor. Sure, during their travel Serana didn't talk a lot, but she didn't outright ignore him either.

Determining there's no use in looking back, Remus followed behind her with a shrug.

The cave was relatively a little darker than what Remus was used to, but so far it posed no problem.

The duo went deeper into the cave with little to no resistance. They encountered one frostbite spider, but it wasn't big enough to even be considered as a threat. Serana dealt with it easily with a beginner ice spell.

Serana looked back at Remus. "Are you sure we're in the right cave? There's literally nothing in here."

"Of course, I'm sure. I saw this place in the Elder Scrolls. Let's just keep on moving. The Volkihar vampires might already be breathing down our necks so we've got no time to waste."

Remus' reply found its way and struck Serana's nerve.

"Got no time to waste, huh." Serana mumbled annoyingly.

"Sorry?"

"No, nothing. Let's get moving." Serana walked deeper into the cave, in an even faster pace. Scratching his head, Remus trod behind her, wondering what caused the vampiress to be so prickly.

After a few minutes, they happened upon a hanging bridge over some kind of pit.

"I told you. We're at the right place." Remus sneered as he lightly elbowed Serana.

The vampiress gave him a piercing look in turn. "Just because there's a bridge?" She clicked her tongue before crossing the bridge.

"Hey—Wait!" Remus called as he ran after her. Once both of them reached the other end of the bridge, they were surprised by the fact that they happened upon a dead end all concealed in darkness.

"Now, I'm really starting to wonder if we're at the right place. Let's just head back to the surface." Serana coldly said as she slightly bumped into Remus as she walked right past him.

Suddenly, she felt his hand grabbing hers.

"Wait." The annoying tone of Remus' voice that Serana was used to, suddenly dipped low in assertion. Her eyes slowly looked at the man and quickly shied out once she realized that he was staring at her with his dark blue eyes, all in seriousness.

"W-what?" she stammered.

"You've been acting… a little bit different. Is there something wrong?"

She didn't even have to look at him, judging by how his voice sounded, he was genuinely concerned. She pulled back her hand.

"What are you talking about? T-there's nothing wrong. Let's just… let's just get out of here." Serana hesitantly replied before making her way across the bridge.

All of a sudden, the hanging bridge broke down, leaving Serana helpless as she started to fall.

"N-no! W-wait!" Serana screamed as she fell.

"Serana!" Remus didn't even think twice as he jumped right after her. It was a long fall, but Remus managed to catch one of the vampiress' flailing arms.

He quickly pulled her close to his torso, his hand cupping her head.

If it's the last thing I'll do…

He slightly turned his body below Serana's in an attempt to cushion her fall. But, soon as he did, their bodies plunged into an ice cold rapid-flowing stream.

Remus thrashed around the water, trying to find where Serana is. Once he did, he found her being in the same state of panic as she tried to keep her head above the water.

The rapids swiftly carried them deeper into the cave system, which seemed to be the longest of tunnels to them, until both were spat out at a small waterfall.

Once they've recovered, Serana was on her knees coughing out water.

"A-Are you okay?" Remus asked as he gently patted her back.

"I-I'll be fine." She replied as she looked up at the cavern's ceiling. "Better get ready, looks like we got company." Slowly, she pulled herself back up.

Countless frostbite spiders started dropping down the small stream where they were. They were nothing like the previous one they encountered. While the spider from earlier was small, these ones were huge even for the average size.

Sighing, Remus pulled a blade from his back. "Let's just get this over wi—"

"No. I have a better idea." Serana said. "Stay behind me."

"What? But—"

"Just do it, Remus."

The man didn't have a choice to do as she says. He stood behind Serana, but the grip on his blade remained firm.

The vampiress started to cast a lightning spell with both her hands before releasing it at one of the spiders. The lightning spell started arcing towards the nearest enemies as Remus watched in awe. Serana's spell was simultaneously frying the large crowd of spiders.

He quickly sheathed his blade and pulled out his bow and started shooting at the spiders further at the back to provide support.

After a while, they were able to kill the rest of the spiders. Remus strung his bow on his back as he glanced at Serana, "You've… really become strong."

The vampiress smiled deviously in return, "Well, I didn't want to be a burden in the long run."

Remus grinned. Looks like she's back to her usual self, even for a moment. He casted a small flame spell to dry themselves.

There was silence between them which was starting to become deafening as time passes. Remus thought about attempting to break it numerous times, but he felt like Serana didn't want to talk.

After drying themselves, Serana stood up. "Come on, we need to keep moving."

"Are you sure? We could rest for a while… I mean we just almost drowned…"

"We don't have time to waste. You did say that earlier, haven't you?" Serana replied callously. "Let's go. At least now we're not hindered by a dead end. Let's just find a way out of here."

Without waiting, Serana went on her way towards another section of the cave. Still bewildered by the vampiress' actions, Remus followed.

"There's a brighter light up ahead ahead." Serana remarked as they went on a discovered cave path with lit by torches. The light turned out to be a small pit fire of a small camp. Once they got closer, they were met with a dead Breton, sitting at the edge of the cave.

"… Why would anyone want to set up camp here?" Serana asked as she looked over the camp, then the dead Breton.

Remus knelt to examine the corpse. "He was mauled to death by… something. Just died recently." His eyes darted towards the Breton's hand.

He barely held a note.

Remus carefully removed it before he started reading,

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.

I should've headed back to camp with you after we placed the torches down here. 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 dear sister.

Remus looked towards another passage which would lead them further down the cave. "We have to be careful." he mumbled to Serana after reading the note.

The vampiress only responded with a nod.

Mindful of their steps, they threaded down the path and was led to another part of the cave.

Everything was pitch black.

Remus casted the Detect Life spell. Once he did, he saw figures of blue light strolling around the unexplored section of the cave.

Then they stopped. The figures were unmoving for a few seconds.

Serana started to whisper, "Remus, we—"

He interrupted her with a shush.

Almost simultaneously, with a loud roar, the figures slowly made their way towards their direction.

"We need to go back, they're coming straight for us!" Remus blurted before grabbing the vampiress by the arm.

"But I can—"

"There's no time!" he shouted as he dragged Serana back up the tunnel. Once there's a little bit of light from the previous areas, he drew one of his swords. "Get ready." he stood on guard at the edge of the tunnel. Roars from trolls echoed as they approached closer.

Serana rolled her eyes before pushing Remus out of the way at the edge of the tunnel. She started casting spells at the passage before them. Lightning runes along with walls of lightning started to appear.

Once the trolls showed up, they immediately fell victims to Serana's spell traps. The remaining ones were dealt with her powerful lightning spells.

In under five minutes, all the trolls lie dead.

Serana glanced at Remus with a glorious smirk. "I guess it's easier to kill them this way, but you could've left them to me earlier. I was trying to tell you I could see clearly in the dark." Then her face contorted into a scowl before covering up her nose. "Nevermind, you definitely should've left them to me earlier. Now, we're going to have to deal with this… smell."

"Right." Remus also shielded his nose from the burnt smell. "Sorry… I was being too cautious."

Without even looking at him, Serana replied. "Forget it."

Remus was hit by a pang of guilt when the vampiress said that. He wasn't used to pulling the team back.

Still covering her nose, she started to pass through the troll corpses with Remus lagging behind her, now with a torch in hand.

Serana was starting to feel relieved once she caught a glimpse of the tunnel's exit when all of a sudden, she felt something strong grip her leg. She looked down to see a troll, still conscious from the assault earlier.

She started to cast a spell but was interrupted when a flying dagger pierced through the troll's eye.

Hesitantly, Serana glanced back at Remus. "T-thanks…"

"No, it's nothing." The man glumly replied.

Once they got out, Remus realized his torch isn't enough to provide light in the darkness so they can explore the cave easily. He casted a magelight at the cave's ceiling.

The light shone brighter, revealing a huge cavern with a relatively shallow stream. The stream flowed slowly and steadily towards another part of the cavern.

"I think we should follow the downstream." Remus suggested picking his torch up once more.

"Agreed."

The stream flowed through multiple cave chambers. Remus casted Magelight every time the section was too big or dark.

At last, they saw light across the distance with a small dome-like structure.

Remus' eyes lit up as his feet paced faster but he was suddenly pulled by Serana behind a nearby rock.

"What is it?"

"There something… rather, someone, up there. We should be careful." Serana answered.

"Someone?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out. "I sense you out there. Come forward. You have nothing to fear here."

Despite being uncertain, the two of them came out and walked towards the owner of the voice, a pale-looking man with snow white hair to match. An elf.

"Who are you?" Remus asked first.

"I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor. Welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El." He answered eloquently.

Auri-El? Auriel. They were at the right place.

"You mean, this place is a temple to… Auri-El?" Serana crossed her arms.

"That is right. Auriel, Auri-El, Alkosh, Akatosh... so many different names for the sovereign of the snow elves."

"Snow Elves? You mean… you're a Falmer?" Remus followed up. He knew there was something different with the elf but… a Falmer…

Gelebor's forehead slightly wrinkled at Remus' question. "I prefer snow elf. The name Falmer usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers. Those twisted creatures you call Falmer, I call the Betrayed."

"Wait, what does he mean by 'twisted creatures?'" Serana asked.

Right. After all their travels, Serana haven't seen the Falmer… or what they've become.

"I'll explain it to you later." Remus briefly replied.

Gelebor cleared his throat. "I imagine you're here for Auriel's bow."

"How did you know that?"

"Simply because I see no other reason for you to be here. For 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." The snow elf replied. "I can help you get it, but first I must have your assistance."

Remus scratched his head before looking at Serana for input. The vampiress looked at him for one second before totally averting from his gaze. Remus then turned to Gelebor.

"Fine, if it'll take us to the bow. What kind of assistance do you need?"

Gelebor paused for a moment before answering, "I need you to kill Arch-curate Vyrthur… my brother."

Ordered to kill someone. Somehow this was a familiar feeling to Remus.

Almost suddenly, Serana spoke up. "We just met five minutes ago and now you're asking us to kill someone for you? Absurd."

"H-hey, Serana—"

The vampiress ignored Remus and turned to Gelebor. "Tell me, why should we?"

"The kinship between us is gone. I don't understand what he's become, but he's no longer the brother I once knew." Gelebor appeared to be shaken. "It was the Betrayed... they did something to him, I just don't know why Auri-El would allow this to happen."

"What exactly did the Betrayed do?" Remus asked.

"They swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone without pause." he recollected.

"You didn't fight back?" Serana questioned in turn.

"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."

"You don't even know if he's still alive." Serana sharply replied.

"He's alive. 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…" the Knight-Paladin's voice trailed off.

"That's… strange…" Serana thought out loud. "Haven't you tried going there yourself?"

"Leaving the wayshrines unguarded would be violating my sacred duty as a Knight-Paladin of Auriel. And an assault on the Betrayed guarding the Inner Sanctum would only end with my death."

"I'm sorry… Wayshrine?" Remus inquired.

"Yes. Let me show you."

He approached the dome-like structure they've seen before and casted a spell. Soon as he did, the top which looked similar to the sun, lit up and the structure started rising from the ground.

"So, this is snow elf magic… incredible." Serana marveled, but as soon as she saw Remus smiling her way, her expression reverted to its stoic state.

"This structure is known as a wayshrine. 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." Gelebor explained.

An intrigued Serana slowly walked up the Wayshrine and inspected what's inside. "What's that basin in the center signify?"

"Once the Initiate completed his mantras, 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. Marvelous."

Gelebor's brow raised at the vampiress' reaction. As soon as Remus noticed this, he called to Serana,

"H-hey…"

"How long would they have to do that?" Serana asked, cutting Remus off.

"Well, once the Initiate's enlightenment was complete, 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."

"All that just to end up dumping it. Makes no sense to me."

"Serana—"

"It's symbolic. I don't expect you to understand." Gelebor responded in a rather serious tone.

Serana hopped off the Wayshrine before crossing her arms. "So, let's get this straight. We need to do all that nonsense to get into the temple, so we can kill your brother and claim Auriel's Bow?"

Gelebor sighed. "I know how it all sounds, but if there was another way, I'd have done it long ago."."

The Knight-Paladin then turned to Remus. "The only way to get to my brother is by following in the Initiates' 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. There are five wayshrines in total, spread far apart across the Chantry."

"These caves must be massive then." Remus remarked.

"Caves? 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."

Gelebor went to a small camp he set up near the wayshrine and retrieved a white ewer before handing it to Remus.

"Once you've located a wayshrine, 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." The Knight-Paladin looked at Remus intently. "This may be the last time we're able to converse. 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."

"Then… who are these spectral prelates?"

"They're 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."

"That's good then. We might get some information with the way around." Serana commented.

Gelebor sighed. "I'm afraid 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."

"So, they're useless. Fantastic." Serana laughed sarcastically.

Remus shot the vampiress a look before talking to Gelebor. "We're off. We'll try to see what's up."

"Of course, just pass through the portal in the wayshrine and you will be transferred to another section of the Chantry. Auri-El guide you."

"Wait… we have to pass through… that?" Serana swallowed thickly.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go." Remus took Serana's arm before pulling her as he walked through.

Hopeful, the Knight-Paladin watched the two disappear through the Wayshrine Portal.