Sheogorath ignored her again that night, and Dar'adhavi tried to stifle her disquiet. There was something happening when she slept here, though she had blamed last night's unease on sleeping rough. Apparently, it went deeper than that.

She raided the larder, making a quick meal to break her fast before heading out to find this temple.

The guards at the Bulwark pointed out the location of the temple on her scrap of a map, and she headed out. The trip was mostly uneventful, with only a few ash spawn and some oversized insects bothering her as she walked.

She sighed in annoyance as the drifts of ash slowly gave way to drifts of snow.

Oh, how wonderful. Ash and snow. Delightful. Clearly, this island hates- the thought cut off abruptly as she saw the bones. There, scattered across the hill, were the bones of dozens of dragons. Dar'adhavi knelt, brushing snow off the nearest skull.

"Did you serve him, brother? Or were you slain to sate his bloodlust?" She rested her hand on the center of the skull. "Fly free, brother."

She rose, heart aching as she took in the scope of the slain dov around her. She had felt nothing, watching Hakon, Gormlaith, and Feldir slaughter the dov in her vision of the past, but that had been war. The mortals were fighting for their survival. This, though…

Dar'adhavi stalked toward the temple, hackles raising. This was slaughter for show, and the sheer arrogance of the act infuriated her. She marched up the steps to the temple, noting that there were workers here, too, and seeming under the same spell that had struck Raven Rock. Her tail lashed as she walked.

Three cultists, marked by the same tentacled masks, charged her, spells raised. Dar'adhavi snarled, drawing her bow. She Shouted fire in the face of the first, moving past him to place arrows in the throats of the following two. The first, blinded by her flames, tried to rise, throwing a spear of ice in her general direction. She stabbed him with an arrow, leaving him where he lay.

Her fury and the fight had brought her to the outer walls of the temple, and she took a moment to collect herself. Fighting in a rage like that made her opponent's work easier, after all, and Miraak was her equal, at the least.

Dar'adhavi studied the arena that formed the center of the temple. There were several nords at work here, and a ramp on the far side, heading into the bowels of the temple. She listened to the chant of the enthralled for a moment, silently vowing to find some method of freeing them, when she noticed a discordant note.

The chant was very monotonous, each line coming from a different throat, but this… Dar'adhavi pinned her ears back. There was someone else here, in possession of their own mind. She slunk around the outer edge, ignoring the enthralled and being ignored in turn, and sought out the dissonant voice.

A young nord woman was pleading with several of the enthralled, moving from one to another as they passed her, entreating them to return to her. Dar'adhavi considered her for a while, then rose.

The woman spied her and approached, eyes narrowed.

"You there. What brings you to this place? Why are you here?"

Dar'adhavi studied her, taking in the nearly pristine plate armor and the awkwardness of her movements, and sighed. This woman wasn't much younger than Dar'adhavi, but she wasn't a warrior. Or, at least, hadn't been one for long.

"And who are you, hmm?"

The woman straightened. "I am Frea of the Skaal. I am here to either free my people, or avenge them."

Dar'adhavi shot a pointed glance at the nearest builder. "Save them from what, exactly?"

Frea's face fell. "I am unsure. Something has taken control of most of the people of Solstheim. It makes them forget themselves, and work on these horrible creations that corrupt the Stones, the very land itself. My father, Storn, our shaman, says that Miraak has returned to Solstheim, but that is impossible."

Dar'adhavi huffed a small laugh. "This one believes that there is very little that is truly impossible. This Miraak has tried to have this one killed, and this one is here to return the favor." She raised her head, ears pinning back as she scented some more cultists approaching. She drew her bow, setting an arrow to the string. "Come. You, too, have reason to hunt Miraak." She shot the two cultists in quick succession and sheathed her bow. "Just, stay behind this one for now."

Dar'adhavi headed toward the ramp the cultists had emerged from, trying to keep her tail from puffing up. There was something horrible ahead. Just remember, Skooma Cat, this one will be of no interest if she dies.

She drew her bow again, and started down the ramp.

Dar'adhavi glared upward as the ramp spiraled deeper than she thought, circling down under itself. Finally, they reached a door, and Dar'adhavi held it open for Frea.

The first chamber was empty of life, and Dar'adhavi nodded to the rooms to her left.

"Search there, see if there is anything of use. Dar'adhavi will search the other side."

She took her own orders, walking in through the closest door. There wasn't much she felt was worth the taking, but she bristled at what she found. A body lay on an altar in one room, and three corpses smoldered in iron cages above a fire pit in another. She left, shaking her head, and sought out Frea. The other rooms showed more of the same, with skeletons seated around a table.

Why? This was his temple, yes? So why slaughter his own people?

She shook her head to clear it, then nodded at Frea.

"Come."

She led the away down the passage, Frea at her heels.

"So, how is it you are not affected by the spell that holds your people?"

"My father, Storn, the shaman, holds a barrier to protect what few of our people remain. I fashioned an amulet that protects me, but it is the only one of its kind."

Dar'adhavi held up a hand. There were two more cultists ahead, coming up a flight of stairs. Dar'adhavi slew them as they reached the top, then continued on. She stopped again, halfway through the small chamber.

"See this?" she pointed at a stone that was slightly raised. "That is a pressure plate. Step around it."

Frea nodded, carefully giving the stone a wide berth. Dar'adhavi stepped over it, taking the lead again.

They traveled in silence for some time, Dar'adhavi pointing out the pressure plates as they came across them. They paused when they reached a large chamber, taking it in.

Dar'adhavi's tail twitched at the sign of more torture, stalking to one wall, dominated by a platform. She scaled up the side, glaring at the throne before turning her attention to a large chest. It opened easily under her hands, and she quickly transferred the gold, jewels, and jewelry into her belt pouch.

She hopped back down, ducking into a crouch at the familiar sound of dragur emerging from their sarcophagi. There were only two, and they fell quickly under her arrows.

Dar'adhavi flicked an ear at the sound of movement below. "Wait a moment."

She slunk down the stairs, picking off the three cultists that were approaching, then rose.

"Frea? The way is clear."

She led the way deeper down, tail twitching. It was a crypt, identical to all the ones she had seen in Skyrim. Why have a crypt in a temple? And why torture people above it? She snorted to herself. If I didn't know better, I'd swear this Miraak was one of the Madgod's chosen.

Since none of the dead here seemed inclined to attack, Dar'adhavi left them alone, pulling the release to the gate on the far side of the room.

The gate opened into another section of crypt, this time with a dozen of dragur wandering the area. Dar'adhavi gestured to Frea to stay low and started to pick them off, but they quickly noticed them. Frea lept into the fray, slaying the first two with savage blows from her war axe. Dar'adhavi quietly raised her estimation of the nord, picking off the two dragur who would flank her with shots to the throat.

The armor may be new, but she can hold her own after all.

Dar'adhavi cocked an ear, then fired one last arrow at a dragur guarding the far end of one hall.

"You're good at this," Frea commented as Dar'adhavi saved what arrows she could.

She smiled in response. "Dar'adhavi dislikes pain. Killing one's opponents before they know she is there saves her much pain."

Frea laughed as they walked toward the next door.

Once Dar'adhavi finished collecting her arrows, she led the way down further into the crypt. She pointed out one final pressure plate, then stopped abruptly inside the door. The hall, which had been empty during her approach, now boasted five pairs of swinging axes.

Dar'adhavi scowled at them, tail lashing in annoyance as her ears pinned back.

"I'm not going down there. It would be foolish to attempt it."

Dar'adhavi transferred her glare from the swinging blades to Frea.

"There is a lever on the far side. Wait, and Dar'adhavi will show you how this is done."

She turned back to the blades, watching and waiting. She slunk through the blades, hissing slightly when she made a small miscalculation and lost some hairs from the tip of her tail. She glared at the offending blade, then pulled the lever, halting the blades and opening the way ahead.

While Frea trotted to catch up, Dar'adhavi studied the rubble around the door. She was surprised to see the ruins of a nordic puzzle door, the three rings separated and half buried.

Huh. I didn't think those could be destroyed.

"Thank you. Miraak took great pains to make it difficult to reach him, it seems," Frea said as she reached Dar'adhavi's side. "Let us hope this is the last of these traps."

"It won't be," Dar'adhavi replied, moving on.

The next chamber was halfway collapsed, but the path continued past a grate to their left. Dar'adhavi slowly circled the room, finding a passageway. She froze, arrow on the string when she heard a dragur sarcophagus open, and froze for a moment when the dragur fell out, lifeless.

That's new.

She sheathed the arrow, then searched for the mechanism to open the grate. She found it, then rejoined Frea. She pushed the walkway down, sliding past the two sets of bone chimes hung from the ceiling. She nodded in approval as Frea did the same. She was about to point out yet another pressure plate when three walkways across the room dropped, revealing a cultist flanked by two dragur.

Dar'adhavi rolled her eyes, drawing three arrows, sniping the cultist first, then the two dragur as they milled around in confusion.

"And there's a pressure plate at the bottom of each ramp, as well," she told Frea, heading up the center ramp. There was nothing of interest in the chamber, so she pressed onward.

The next chamber was carved into a cave, with an iron cage along the only available path. Dar'adhavi hissed quietly as she approached the cage, and the skeletons that were impaled by the ironwork.

More senseless violence. These ones had to have been impaled when this was made. But why?

"I do not know what it is Miraak learned that gave him reason to turn on his masters, but his path seems to have been a cruel one."

"Yes," Dar'adhavi replied, moving onward. She could do nothing for Miraaks many victims, save avenge them.

A sound ahead, and Dar'adhavi glared at the half-dozen skeletons approaching. She picked them off easily enough, then continued onward once she was certain they were alone again.

Idly, she collected her arrows, nodding thanks when Frea handed her one she overlooked.

They passed more traps and dragur, heading deeper underground. Dar'adhavi was almost relieved to stumble across a pair of cultists, if only to break up the monotony.

They rounded yet another corner, and found yet another descending staircase.

"How much deeper can this be?" Frea asked, incredulous. "I had been told that Miraak's power was great, but to have built so large a temple… It cannot be much farther now. I feel it in my bones."

Dar'adhavi nodded in agreement, mind racing. If Miraak was truly a Dragonborn, like her, how much power did she have that she didn't even know of yet? And if Miraak was truly one of the priests of Alduin's dragon cult, how much more did he know?

For the first time since fighting Mirmulnir at the western watchtower, Dar'adhavi felt a tendril of fear curl down her spine.

She staggered to a halt near the bottom of the stairs, jaw clenching in renewed fury. The bones of a slain dovah hung from the ceiling ahead, arranged so it appeared to be in flight.

She tamped down the anger and moved into the room, catching sight of a word wall to her left.

"I had heard Miraak had turned against the dragon cult, but to display the remains in such a manner as this…"

The ground beneath them rumbled, and Dar'adhavi drew her bow as the sarcophagi across the room opened. One dropped another lifeless dragur, while the other three were still very active.

Frea met them in battle as Dar'adhavi shot around her. The dragur fell easily, and Dar'adhavi almost smiled. Then the final sarcophagus opened, and Dar'adhavi swore.

The newest Dragur was heavily armored, and made for Frea immediately. Dar'adhavi shot at the joints of the armor, but didn't manage to accomplish much more than slow it down. Finally, it moved just enough. And Dar'adhavi managed to hit it through the torso. It fell, and Dar'adhavi turned her attention to Frea.

She was winded, but still standing. "There is a door behind this one," she said, pointing at the final sarcophagus.

Dar'adhavi nodded and searched the corpses. She found a key on the armored one, and tossed it to Frea.

"Try this."

Frea opened the door while Dar'adhavi collected what arrows she could, then followed.

There was a long table with two ornate chairs facing the door, occupied by two lifeless dragur. Dar'adhavi walked past them to the door opposite, opening it to reveal a back passage overlooking what looked like a dining hall.

The pair entered the dining hall. Dar'adhavi slowly walked around the perimeter, noticing a faint movement of air along one wall. She slowly studied the wall, glaring at the carvings that dominated the wall adjacent. They resembled fish, in a way, and a type of lizard. The statues all showed too many teeth.

Frea hurried across the room to the far doorway, then stopped.

"Dead end? Impossible. There must be something more!"

Dar'adhavi rolled her eyes and walked down a side passage Frea had overlooked.

"There is a hidden passage on the far wall," she announced, finding the handle she was looking for in the small passage. "And here, look. It is open."

Dar'adhavi met Frea in the main chamber. "From what we have seen so far, Miraak does not think in straight lines. He is unlikely to do the obvious."

Frea nodded, standing aside so Dar'adhavi could take the lead again.

They followed the rough-hewn passage in silence. Dar'adhavi slowed when it opened into a rough chamber, taking it in before she entered. There was a staircase descending deeper into the bowels of the temple in the floor, covered by a solid grate. There were pedestals arranged around the edges of the room, but they only held ruined texts. Dar'adhavi nodded to herself, skirting around the edge of the room into the adjacent chamber.

The next room held another of the disquieting statues, this one boasting three heads, looming over a lectern with a handle. The center of the room held another staircase under a grate. Dar'adhavi turned the handle and the grate swung open. She descended the first stair as Frea followed.

"I do not recognize this statuary," Frea mused as they approached the second stair. "I do not like this place. It almost looks as if these statues will come to life at any moment."

"That is an… unsettling thought. Dar'adhavi wishes you had not voiced it."

At the bottom of the second stair, Dar'adhavi hissed. There was a brazier in the shape of a mouth illuminating an empty room, and she could see a second one in the next chamber.

She slid past them, fully expecting something to happen, but they passed the two chambers without incident. The hallway ahead led to a solid wall, a handle set nearby.

Dar'adhavi twisted the handle, and the wall slid down. She was surprised to see that it was a pillar, with yet another downward stair carved within. She led the way down, unsurprised to find an unlocked door at the bottom.

She opened it, revealing a dragon skull mounted over a brazier. She walked past it, flicking an ear at the chamber ahead. It appeared to be a hill, with several more of the fish-lizard statues lining the main walk. Dar'adhavi glared up the path, furious at Miraak for defiling the corpses of the dov that occupied the central aisle. Wing bones arched over either side, embedded in the rock.

Dar'adhavi shook her head, shooting at the skeletons and dragur that milled further up the hill. Once she could make out no further movement, she led the way up the hill, pointing out the handful of tripwires along the path.

There was a single dragur at the top, and Dar'adhavi took it out unawares. She studied the statues on the platform, ears pinning back. It was another three-headed fish-lizard, and a new one, with crab claws and eyes painted in a swirling pattern across the body. Vaguely, it reminded her of Hermaus Mora, and she hissed.

Dar'adhavi passed the statues, pulling the chain on the far wall. It revealed another doorway, and another passage.

"This one is starting to believe that Miraak wishes to exhaust any who try to find him," she muttered as she led the way down the passage. "It would be easier to defeat them then, yes?"

Frea chuckled behind her.

Dar'adhavi rounded a final corner and froze. The chamber ahead was lined with filigree walls, identical to what she had seen in Apocrypha. The floor was more filigree, and the center of the room was a plinth with a book resting on it.

The book had the same feel of magic as the one she had pulled from the mine, and she swore under her breath.

He's hiding in Apocrypha.

She sheathed her bow and strode to the book. She noticed a passage to her left, but ignored it. She was here for Miraak, and the way to him was through the book.

She picked it up, tail lashing as dark tentacles appeared and dragged her within.