A/N: Not including as many enemies in Darkfall cave as there are in-game. I feel like it would be redundant.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Serana, I have an ancient magic map emblazoned in my mind," Destra says.

"Fair enough. But we've been wandering this area for hours. I think even the horses are bored," Serana gripes. Destra's mount whinnies on cue.

"Don't worry, you three. I think this is the cave up ahead." Serana groans.

"Why is it always a cave?" Destra shrugs in return.

The cave, Darkfall Cave, as Destra claims, is more hidden than the Ancestor Glade. Destra and Serana dismount and enter with a modicum of reluctance. The entry passage is dark and cramped. Serana casts a candlelight orb, but even the magical luminescence barely cuts through. Destra curses when she stumbles into a giant web. She curses again when she realises the maker must be nearby. The Frostbite Spiders are easy to kill, but the elf is annoyed anyway.

As they enter a wider portion of the cave, they hear the rush of water. A rapid roars below them. Serana tells Destra to be careful as they cross a wooden bridge. Falling could mean hypothermia, broken bones, and -

The bridge snaps. The women plummet into the river, and the current throws them against rocks and the walls of the cave. Destra reaches for Serana, but they are too far apart. It feels like ages before they finally wash up on the bank. When they do, they cough up several bouts of water each.

Serana lights a fire with pieces of the bridge and an intense flame spell. Destra shivers, but her lycanthropic blood keeps her from mortal danger. Serana is uncomfortable but largely unaffected by the cold. While they dry, Destra finds herself unable to stay awake. She rests against Serana, who holds her close. Serana wakes before Destra, her face buried in the elf's neck. She flushes and carefully removes herself before Destra wakens, but the action is enough to pull her from her sleep.

"Serana?" Destra calls, voice gravelly with sleep. Serana hums in response. "I was going to, you know. Before the moths."

"Why didn't you?" Serana whispers.

"I wasn't sure if it was okay. With you, with-"

"Aela?" Serana finishes. Destra shifts against her.

"She's gone. I know she is. I also know that I'll never see her again. But we were married for so long. I guess it still feels like a betrayal." Serana is silent for several moments before she sighs.

"I understand, I think. I definitely respect it. I'd never pressure you or do anything to make you uncomfortable, but I want you to know that I want you to. That it's okay with me." Hesitantly, she kisses Destra on the forehead and helps her to her feet.

They continue down the river's bank. The further they go, the brighter the cave grows. Finally they arrive in a larger cavern. At the end of it, an armoured figure kneels before a grand altar. The altar is surrounded by candles, and upon it rests a golden shrine like a many-beamed sun. As they approach, the figure stands.

"Come forward. You have nothing to fear here," he says. Destra and Serana step closer. The man is unlike any being either has seen. He is mer, but he is not of any race they have encountered.

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

"You say the name as though it were two words," Destra says.

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

"Snow elves?" Serana says. "You're a Falmer?"

"I prefer 'snow elf.' The name 'Falmer' usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers," Gelebor says.

"But you are kin?" Destra asks.

"Yes. You may call them 'Falmer,' but I call them the 'Betrayed.' But you did not come all this way to discuss semantics. You are here for Auriel's Bow," he says. "I can help you get it, but I require your assistance first."

"What would you ask of us?"

"I need you to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur. He is the leader of the Chantry and my brother."

"Why would you want us to kill your brother?" Serana says.

"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 tells them. "It was the Betrayed. They corrupted him somehow. I don't understand why Auri-El would allow this to happen."

"How could they have corrupted him? Is the Chantry not guarded?" Destra says.

"They swept in without warning and killed everyone without pause. I led a small group of Paladins when I learned of the invasion, but we were no match for the sheer numbers of the Betrayed. After slaughtering everyone, they stormed the Inner Sanctum. That is when I believe they corrupted Vyrthur."

"Are you certain he yet lives?"

"Yes. I've seen him. There is something wrong though. He does not appear in pain or under duress. He simply stands and watches - as though waiting. I cannot go to him. To leave the wayshrines unguarded would be to abandon my sacred duties as Knight-Paladin. And I am still no match for the Betrayed."

"What are these wayshrines?" Serana says.

"Let me show you," Gelebor answers. He walks toward a domed platform in the shallow reservoir the river becomes. He whispers an incantation, and his hands begin to glow. He extends his magic over the dome, and the ground begins to quake as the dome rises from the platform to reveal a font housed by several archways.

"So this is snow elf magic? Incredible," Serana marvels.

"This structure is known as a wayshrine. They were used for meditation and transport when the Chantry was a place of enlightenment," Gelebor says with regret. "Prelates of these shrines were charged with teaching the mantras of Auri-El to our initiates."

"What does the basin in the center signify?"

Gelebor explains that the initiates would meditate upon the mantras associated with the shrine and undergo a spiritual transformation. They would then dip a ceremonial ewer into the basin of each wayshrine's centre and proceed to the next. Once the initiate's enlightenment was complete, he would bring the filled ewer to the Inner Sanctum and pour its contents into the sacred basin of the Sanctum. This would allow the initiate an audience with the Arch-Curate himself.

Gelebor tells them that they must follow the initiates' way in order to reach Vyrthur. It is the only way for the Chantry to open. The first of the wayshrines is at the end of Darkfall Passage. He warns them that this will not be an easy journey, physically or psychologically. The mantras of the wayshrine force one to reflect upon the aspects of one's life that are most represented by their meaning. They may well have visions, or they may experience nothing at all. Gelebor cannot say. Reach the Inner Sanctum, defeat Vyrthur, and they shall claim Auriel's Bow. He gives them the ewer and opens the portal to the first wayshrine.

Destra is fifty-six years old. She knows she won't live forever. She now must face the greatest ghosts of her life and emerge stronger - or succumb to their wrath and be destroyed forever.

A/N: We're getting to the cool part of this fic in the next chapters. Stay tuned.