Touching the Sky part 4

"C-c-cold."

"It is a glacier that we're in."

"Yes… m-my point e-exactly."

Tarrion rubbed his hands together to warm them, but to no avail. He quickly decided to charge fire-spells in his hands. This worked, and yet it did not warm the rest of his body, and to use a Flame-cloak did not seem like a good idea.

The two of them walked through a massive glacier, and found a much travelled path past the slippery, icy walls. The night had come to an end, and the early rays of the sun were reflected throughout the caverns, making everything visible.

They saw that the cavern was long, and higher than either of them anticipated. They saw long pathways high above them, and strange bridges connected the one side with the other. They also saw that they were not alone. Many of the Falmer could be seen from where they were, above them and in front of them. it looked like they would have to fight their way through the glacier.

After a short walk, the path went up and over a small cavern, where they had to cross a small bridge. The bridge itself was strong enough to hold them and yet they heard it creak and crack. It looked like it was made out of the same materials as the huts they had seen before. The remains of large insects, along with bone and rope were used.

"Hmm… not the most solid construction. About from what I expected from… creatures like this." Serana remarked.

"It's still impressive that they can make it."

"How so?"

"Well," Tarrion said. "I heard that these Falmer are blind. They can't see a thing, and yet apparently, they can still make bridges and build these… huts."

"Oh, yea. I forgot. Well, in that case, good job."

As they continued through the glacial crevice they encountered a few small Falmer settlements, and also a few lone Falmer. None of them stood a chance against Tarrion or Serana, and they were quickly cast into the abyss below them, for they now walked on the higher paths with a hundred foot drop to their left. Tarrion was still cold, but after a while he felt more accustomed to the cold, whereas Serana was not bothered by the cold in any way. Tarrion assumed this was due to the fact that she was a Vampire. He knew that Vampires thrive in the cold, and dislike the heat of the sun. But he also knew that Serana was different, and that she felt more comfortable than most of her kind, near the warmth of a fire.

Tarrion's breath made small ice-clouds as he walked behind Serana over another small, shaky bridge and for the first time he saw a few structures. He recognized them, as they were made from the same stone as the wayshrines.

"It seems like we're going the right way."

"Agreed." Tarrion said. "I imagine that this 'path to enlightenment' was once an easier path. We now have to deal with Falmer, massive chasms, dark caves…"

"..Not to mention two Dragons…"

"And that, yes…. I wonder what this place used to look like."

"Me too."

It took them longer than expected, but after another few icy corridors they reached the exit, only to find themselves in another large cavern, but luckily for them it was not another cave. On both sides the mountains raised high up and they walked right between two enormous walls or rock and ice. They immediately saw that the chasm was filled with structures that were made by the Falmer. The unmistakable huts and shaky bridges covered the walls and ground, and Serana, with her vampiric vision could see and sense the Falmer walking from hut to hut.

"Get ready." she said. "I think we may be in for some trouble. I can sense the Falmer walking over there, and it looks like there are a lot of them."

Tarrion drew his sword and charged a spell in his left hand. They both now carefully walked amidst the huts and bridges of insect remains. It kept quiet and Tarrion once again felt that they were about to be ambushed.

"Can you see them?" he asked Serana. "Do you know where they are?"

"Yes…" she said. "But they just stay still. They stand ready to attack, but… it looks like they are waiting."

Tarrion sighed and Shouted.

LAAS YAH NIR

His Shout was not a thundering roar, but a quiet whisper, and he felt the presence of his enemies around him. The Shout had revealed the life-force of his enemies around him, and he knew that Serana was right. They were waiting.

A cry rented the silence apart, and out of the huts over a dozen Falmer appeared. They climbed like ants down the mountainous walls or jumped from the bridges down and surrounded the two trespassers. Serana immediately fired two Ice-Spears, but only one of them hit its target. Tarrion fired a powerful Fireball at another two and they staggered and fell dead to the ground.

The rest attacked at once, and more Falmer came crawling down the walls from higher huts, or running from further down the chasm. The one after the other fell, only for one of its comrades to take its place, not caring how many fell. Within a few moments the ground was slick with blood and copses littered the path. Serana was forced to reanimate two dead bodies to help, while Tarrion summoned a large Frost Atronach and incinerated another two of the onrushing Falmer. He drove his sword through the one, and decapitated another, and with a last powerful Chain-Lightning spell, Serana killed the remaining three.

"Let's hope that was the last of them."

Tarrion hoped so too, but he had a feeling it wasn't, but as they continued past the huts and bridges, he saw that it was abandoned. As he looked up he saw a large bridge, different from the ones made by the Falmer. This one was slightly arced and was clearly made of stone.

"I think we have to reach that there." he said, and he pointed up.

"Maybe…" Serana answered. "but how do we get there?"

"The same way we have reached everything thus far; follow the path."

Tarrion was not mistaken in this, and at the end of the chasm, they found another large cave that led upward. It was clear that the Falmer had built here too, but it was now abandoned and not even Serana sensed their presence. At the end of the cave, they saw the last wayshrine. It was surrounded by more buildings built by the Falmer, but these were abandoned as well. A last prelate stood in front of it, and as Tarrion walked up to it, it started to speak.

"You have arrived at the Wayshire of Radience, initiate. Are you prepared to honour the mantras of Auriel, and fill your vessel with His enlightenment?"

"Yes"

"May the blessings of Auriel protect you, as you climb the road to the Inner Sanctum, and final enlightenment."

Just like the prelates before him, he cast a small spell and the wayshrine behind him rose from the ground, and Tarrion drew from the basin at the centre.

Serana had already walked ahead and as Tarrion walked up to her, he saw another breath taking sight.

A large temple-like structure, ruined but still beautiful was built into the mountainside, on the other side of the canyon. The bridge he saw earlier connected the one side with the other, and Tarrion saw a large gate at the end of the road. The temple had large, high windows and was clearly once a place of long forgotten beauty and stories. It was made from the same stone as the wayshrines and the bridge, and it had an ancient and impressive look.

"That… has to be the place." Serana said.

As they walked across the bridge both Tarrion and Serana had their eyes wide open, for they now had a massive view over the canyon below them and the temple before them. At the end of the bridge they climbed the steps and opened the ancient gate, which opened without a single noise.

They entered a large courtyard with an elevated area, flanked by small, winding staircases, that lead to the temple's interior. In the middle of the courtyard, there stood a large statue of a deity. It was made out of gold-like stone, and it had a crown which had flames like the sun. In its hands it held an object which also looked like the sun, and it was covered with white snow.

"That is a statue of Auriel…" Serana remarked. "but it's using the older signs of his power…. This temple must be ancient… the Bow has to be in here."

"Well, let's find out if it is."

They passed the large statue and climbed the winding staircase to the elevated area. There they saw another basin, but this one was empty and had a hole in the centre of it. Over the floor, hewn into the stone, three small gullies were made that connected a few metres away in a sun-shaped basin right in front of a gate. The two assumed it lead to the interior of the temple, and it was locked by a sun-shaped stone.

"I guess I have to pour the ewer into the basin?" Tarrion asked.

"I'd assume so."

Tarrion held the ewer above the basin, and poured the water he collected from the wayshrines in it. The water flowed away through the hole in the middle, and followed the gullies to the sun-shaped basin right in front of the gate to the temple's interior. Not a single drop was left in the basin, or in the gullies after the water had flowed through it, and it filled the last basin to the edge.

When the last drop had flowed away, it started to glow with a slight green light. A small rumble was heard, and a beam of light rose from the water to a large green jewel above them. With another slight rumble, the sun-shaped stone that locked the gate spun around and then split in two. The gate had opened.

Serana sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness we can enter… for a moment I thought of what would happen if it wouldn't be enough, or if we did something wrong."

"Ha." Tarrion laughed. "Then I would have blasted through the gate or the walls. I didn't come all this way to be locked out. But come on… we are nearing our journey's end."

"Yes." Serana sighed. "The end."

They entered a place that looked unlike any other, and yet it was a sight that Tarrion had seen before. The temple's outside reflected the inside, because it was in ruins. Once massive pillars now lay broken and shattered on the ground, and large cracks were in the walls. The ceiling was largely covered with ice, and so were the walls, while the floor was largely covered with rubble. But what was more unsettling, were the Falmer. As soon as they entered the temple they saw several Falmer standing in the temple, but they had an icy blue skin, and stood motionless. As they passed the first of the Falmer, they saw that it stood like a statue, with its hand stretched out and its mouth open. The others stood no different, some with a frozen weapon in their hands, and others like they were overwhelmed.

"These Falmer are…" Serana started. "they're frozen in the ice."

Tarrion saw that she was right. Every last one of the statues were covered with ice. He walked up to one of them and saw that it had a blue potion in its hand.

'A potion of Resist Frost.' he thought. 'Oh, the irony.'

Serana came standing next to him.

"I wonder what happened to them."

"I'm not sure," he answered. "but I doubt they froze because they stood here so long. Someone… or something… must have cast an incredibly powerful freezing spell."

"Gelebor said that he led a small group of paladins against the Falmer."

"I know… but, he said that they were slaughtered. I don't think that they did this."

They decided to leave the frozen Falmer alone and continued through the temple, but every room and hallway they entered was the same as the one before. The floors covered with debris and ice, the walls and ceiling mostly frozen, and dozens of frozen Falmer.

"Hey… wat's that?"

Tarrion turned around and saw Serana looking at a large room to their left. He looked up and saw that a large number of Falmer stood around one other. All of them were frozen, but one of them stood on a small tribune. This Falmer was wearing a strange type of armour that Tarrion had not seen before. But what was the most strange, is that it had a golden shield in its hands.

They both walked up the tribune and looked at the shield.

"This was not made by any Falmer." Serana concluded quickly.

The looked like it was made out of gold, and yet it looked stronger than any metal. The top and bottom parts of the shield were round, and yet it was curved inward in the middle, with two wing-like parts to the sides. A small ray of sunlight shone down from a hole in the ceiling, making it look like the shield glowed. Tarrion grabbed it and pulled it from the frozen hands.

Immediately the Falmer came to life, shattering the ice around him and it swung its sword at Tarrion, who only had enough time to raise the shield. The blow was blocked, and so was the next, because the Falmer was larger than the others, until Tarrion tried to bash back with the shield.

With a powerful bash the Falmer flew backwards and broke its neck on the icy walls. The other Falmer had come to life as well, and now charged at Tarrion and Serana.

They held the Falmer back without too much effort, because they were both more powerful, stronger and faster, and it didn't take long before fifteen Falmer lay dead on the ground.

"You should've stayed frozen!" Serana yelled as she slit the throat of one of her attackers.

Another Falmer attacked her from behind, but Tarrion jumped on it and crushed it beneath the shield, while Serana sunk her fangs in another's neck.

Tarrion had found out that the golden shield stored blocked energy and released it in every bash, and he kept it. He thought it would be useful later on and he hung it on his back.

After another few long hallways and frozen rooms, they reached a large door. The door looked similar to the gates they passed when they entered the temple, and it was engraved with figurines and imagery of Elves.

"I guess this is it." Tarrion said.

"Yes…" Serana sighed. "This is it… Time to claim the bow."

Tarrion saw that there was more to it. That she struggled with her thoughts… like there was something she didn't tell him, but he also saw that asking wouldn't help. And so Tarrion drew his sword and opened the gate.

They entered a massive hall, with several pillars supporting the roof to carry an arced ceiling. The walls were covered with ice and more rubble lay on the ground. Halfway through the hall, they saw an ice-covered throne, on top of several ice-covered steps, and on the throne a pale figure was seated. As soon as Tarrion and Serana entered the hall, the door behind them shut, and they could hear debris falling behind it. They were locked in. As they walked toward the figure on the throne, they saw that dozens of Falmer, frozen in ice, stood around them, behind the pillars, against the walls, next to the large doors, and around the throne. No other room had held so many Falmer, and they both had a bad feeling… like they were in for a difficult fight.

The figure on the throne still did not move, and did not even seem to notice them, but as soon as they reached the lowest steps, it looked up. The pale skin and elf-like face was unmistakable, and they both saw that he was, just like his brother Gelebor, a Snow Elf. He wore the same type of strange armour that Gelebor was wearing when they met him, but it looked like he was wearing a helmet like a crown. White, with a large, red jewel on his forehead. Both Tarrion and Serana looked at the figure, and he seemed to smile.

"Did you really come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?"

Vyrthur's voice sounded like he was mocking them, and it echoed through the hall.

"You have done exactly as I predicted… and brought your fetching companion to me!"

Tarrion saw how Serana turned ever paler than before, and a look of surprise and shock appeared on her face.

"Wait… is he… talking about me?"

Vyrthur laughed and stood up, and yelled.

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

With a gesture from Vyrthur, a large number of the frozen Falmer jumped to life, an charged at the two. Their eyes were black, and their skin icy pale, and they struck without hesitation or mercy. Even as their companions fell to the ground, they kept attacking, and even if their hands or arms were cut off, they did not seem to notice.

But Tarrion and Serana fought with fury and determination, until the Falmer lay dead around them. Tarrion had incinerated a few and decapitated another, while Serana sliced up another, and drained two more.

Vyrthur did not seemed to be bothered by it and laughed again.

"An impressive display, but a wasted effort… You delay nothing but your own deaths!"

More of the Falmer jumped up and charged at them, and Serana reanimated some of their brothers who already lay dead, and Tarrion summoned a Dremora.

"I smell weakness!" it yelled and with merciless fury, it charged at the onrushing Falmer.

Vyrthur suddenly raised a large part of a crumbled pillar and threw it at another pillar. It cracked and broke and a part of the ceiling dropped down, and Tarrion jumped away.

"Watch out!" Serana shouted as she broke the neck from one of her attackers. "He's pulling down the ceiling!"

"Noticed!" Tarrion shouted back.

He saw three Falmer running in Serana's direction and he Shouted.

FUS RO DAH

The Falmer were shouted away and two of them slammed into the wall, and did not get up, while another was impaled by a large and sharp piece of ice.

"This has gone on long enough!" Vyrthur yelled and with a gesture he summoned a large and powerful Frost Atronach. He raised another piece of debris and shattered another pillar, making the ceiling collapse even more. Tarrion now fought the Atronach Vyrthur had summoned, while Serana fought off three Falmer at once. Thanks to her Vampiric blood, she was faster than all of them and she broke one neck, sliced to others and sunk her fangs in another's neck.

Tarrion ducked under one of the blows of the Atronach and with one powerful punch, he shattered one of its legs. The Atronack fell on top of him, but Tarrion, using his incredible strength, lifted it up and threw it at Vyrthur. It shattered on the steps and it was clear that Vyrthur was surprised and shocked by the strength of both Serana and Tarrion.

"NO! No!.. I won't have you ruin centuries of preparations!"

Vyrthur's voice had become raw and he summoned large pieces of debris and ice around him, until it surrounded him completely.

"Surrender and give us the Bow!" Serana shouted at him.

"DEATH FIRST!"

And with a blast that destroyed the entire hall and threw Tarrion against a pillar, Vyrthur fired the debris and ice.

The pillars shattered and the ceiling collapsed, and Tarrion was buried under large pieces of stone. Serana was able to seek cover from the blast and now jumped away just in time, for a large piece of rock and stone landed where she stood a second ago. Dust and ash filled the air and Serana forced herself on her feet. She looked around and saw Vyrthur run away to the other end of what was left of the hall, to what looked like a balcony. But Tarrion was nowhere to be found.

"Tarrion! Where are you?"

She felt panic come over her. For a few moments she cared for nothing else, and all other thoughts were banished from her mind. She coughed as she breathed in the dusty air. But then she sensed blood. Through her panic she was unable to notice it before, but now she sensed that a living being was covered with rubble, a few metres to her right.

"Tarrion!"

She ran to the pile of rubble and started to remove as many rocks as she could, and after a few moments she heard a moan. Suddenly a large piece of rock was lifted up and Tarrion threw it away.

"Damn!"

He was still unable to stand up, as a large rock covered his legs. Serana helped him remove it and pulled him on his feet.

"Are you alright? Come on we can do this… I know we can."

"Yes.. I'm fine." Tarrion said and he rubbed his shins. "Where is he?"

"He's up there on the balcony. Let's go."

They ran to the balcony, and Tarrion saw Vyrthur standing with his hand on his side. It looked like the spell hurt him as well. The balcony was large and overlooked the valley below, and they could see the large lake with the Word Wall, and the remains of the dragons. An elevated area surrounded a small structure, and Tarrion recognized it as a wayshrine. Two small staircases led up to the elevated area where Vyrthur stood.

Tarrion ran behind Serana and she pulled her dagger as she stood before Vyrthur.

"Enough Vyrthur! Give us the Bow."

Vyrthur looked up and in the light of the sun, Tarrion thought he saw something strange.

"How dare you! I was the Arch-Curate of Auriel, girl! I had the ears of a God!"

"Until the 'Betrayed' corrupted you," Serana said. "yes, we've hear this sad story."

Vyrthur spat on the ground, and his spit was red with blood.

"Gelebor, and his kind, are easily manipulated fools!" and a slight smirk appeared on his face. "Look into my eyes, Serana… you tell me what I am."

Serana's face had an expression of shock, and Tarrion saw the same. Vyrthur's eyes were glowing.

"You… You're a… Vampire?" Serana asked. "But Auriel should have protected you."

Vyrthur again spat on the ground and the words came like venom out of his mouth. "The moment I was infected my one of my own initiates… Auriel turned his back on me! I swore I'd have my revenge… no matter what the cost!"

"You want to take revenge… on a God?" Tarrion asked.

"Auriel himself may have been beyond my reach," Vyrthur continued and his smirk grew. "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…."

And it looked like Serana understood it all now.

"It was you?! You created that prophecy?" and Tarrion could see her eyes flare.

"A prophecy that lacked a single, final ingredient." Vyrthur said as he got up and stood in front of Serana with a strange hunger in his eyes. "Since I already had access to the Bow, I only needed that one thing. The blood of a Pure-Blooded Vampire… the Blood of a Daughter of ColdHarbour!"

Tarrion thought he saw Serana's face change, and for the first time, he saw a Vampiric anger in her eyes, something that he had not seen before. She grabbed Vyrthur and lifted him up without any effort, and Tarrion saw that she was much stronger than he anticipated.

"All this time, you are the reason why my family was torn apart by greed and lust for power. You are the reason behind it all!"

Her voice was filled with both anger and grief, now that she found the reason for the suffering of her family.

"All this time, you have been waiting for someone with my blood to come along! Well too bad for you! I intend on keeping it! Let's see if your blood has any power to it!"

Vyrthur pushed Serana away and she let him go, and he summoned another Frost Atronach, but Tarrion shattered this one as quickly as it was summoned. Vyrthur was weakened and stood no change against Tarrion and an enraged Serana. She fought with more speed and fury than Tarrion had ever seen before, and he realized that the anger for her family's suffering now came boiling up. Vyrthur tried to block and dodge Serana's blows, but she was too fast and too strong for him, and she cast him against the balustrade of the balcony. She walked up to him and Tarrion saw the fear in his eyes as she lifted him up, and he knew that his end had come.

"Auriel… forgive me…" he said to the skies.

"Maybe he will," Serana said to him, and her voice was viciously sharp. "but I won't." and she threw him off the balcony, to the valley below. They heard a long cry, and then silence.

Behind them, the wayshrine came to life and was raised from the ground, and they saw a figure walking out. Tarrion recognized him as Gelebor. Serana did not turn around, but looked out over the valley. It was clear that she felt pain, now that she finally knew who was responsible for the pain that was inflicted on her and her family. Tarrion walked up to her and hugged her from behind, and kissed her on her cheek. He saw a small tear crawling down.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be…" she answered. "Just… give me a little time."

"Alright…. I'll talk to Gelebor."

Serana nodded and she stayed behind as Tarrion walked up to the Snow Elf that stood near the restored wayshrine.

"So the deed has been done." he said. "The restoration of this wayshrine, must mean that you killed Vyrthur and the Betrayed hold no longer sway over him."

Tarrion shook his head.

"The betrayed did not control him. He was a Vampire… he controlled them."

Gelebor's face changed to shock and surprise. "A Vampire?... I see. Deep inside, it brings me joy that the Betrayed were not to blame for what happened here."

"How so?"

"Because that means, that they may still one day shed away their hatred, and start to believe in Auriel once again. It has been too long since I felt that way, but you have made it so."

Gelebor sighed, and Tarrion saw that he felt relieved.

"You have more than earned the right to wield the Bow. You risked everything to do what is right, and I can think of no other more worthy of the Bow, than you…. Please, take it."

Gelebor grabbed a large wrapped object, and removed the silver and white cloth from it, and revealed the bow.

It was made out of gold-like metal, just like the shield that Tarrion found in the Inner Sanctum, and it was engraved with runes and it shone in the light of the sun. Gelebor gave Tarrion a few strange, glowing arrows and explained how the Bow worked.

"The Bow draws its power from Atherius itself, and has no equal anywhere in Tamriel, and possibly beyond. Every arrow that is fired from it glows and burns with the heat of the sun. But these arrows are called Sunhallowed Arrows. Fire one of these at the sun, and fire will rain down on your foes. These sunbursts will certainly hurt anything, but is especially powerful against the undead."

Tarrion looked at the Bow and was impressed. It sounded incredibly powerful and he thanked Gelebor, before wishing him farewell.

He returned to Serana and saw that she felt a bit better. He showed the Bow to her and told her what Gelebor had told him.

"It's… not as shiny as I was expecting." she said with a smile. "Still, it's beautiful."

"It is… let's hope it is just as powerful as Gelebor says it is."

Serana nodded. "Then I think we both know what has to be done next… It's time to face my father. If we don't, he'll keep chasing us for the rest of our lives."

Tarrion nodded. "Agreed, but…. I think we have no other choice; he has do die."

"I know…." Serana said, and she sighed. "I… it's not easy, but I think we indeed have no choice…. No, this has to end here and now. But if we go to the castle now and kick the front door in, we're going to be knee-deep in his friends."

"Then let's get back to Isran. I'm betting he'll be willing to help us."

"Do you think he'll accept me as well?"

"…. I think so…. Isran is not an idiot, and he knows when he doesn't have a choice."

Tarrion suddenly smiled and Serana looked at him.

"And… I can also call in a few favours. I have some friends that will be willing to help us." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"When are you going to learn?" Tarrion asked teasingly. "I have friends everywhere."

=End of Chapter=

=End of Arc=

=Authors Notes=

And that is the final chapter of this arc. Next arc: Kicking some Vampiric butt. But for real, this is it for this chapter. I hope I can squeeze enough story and stuff into the next arc for several chapters, but I think I'll manage. Stay tuned for the next part of the story. We are nearing the end of the Dawnguard Quest-line.

That strange Shield they found is Auriel's Shield. Which can be found somewhere in the Forgotten Vale. You can look it up if you want… it is quite a fun shield.

Dragon Language Used

Fus Ro Dah: Force Balance Push (From the Unrelenting Force Shout)

Laas Yah Nir: Life Seek Hunt (From the Aura Whisper Shout)

PPS: I am Dutch (From the Netherlands) so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar, please let me know.