Chapter Forty-Eight

Serana sat upon the undead dragon as they soared through the sky, the misty clouds whisking past them like fleeting thoughts, there one moment and then gone the next. She half listened to the dragon and redguard as they discussed the Thu'um, specifically the shout he had promised to teach the redguard should she bring him back into the waking world of Nirn. As curious as it was, the pair chatting animatedly about the subject with Yosa'Min making gestures with one hand and occasionally glowing after he had instructed her another word in the trio used for the full Thu'um, Serana's attention was on the ground below. Durnehviir had agreed to expedite their journey by flying them around the Forgotten Vale until at last they found the Inner Sanctum or the final wayshrine. Before they had taken off from the frozen lake, the undead dragon had returned to the Soul Cairn for a short while in order to avoid requiring to return mid-flight else he should cease to exist.

Burning eyes roamed over the snowy mountainsides and rocky peaks, trying to spot any sign of where they were supposed to go. It was difficult to keep her mind on task however, her father and Auriel's bow was filling her thoughts and swirling in a tumultuous whirlwind. She knew what she must do, that she would have to fight her father and more than likely kill him. There was no stopping him otherwise, aside from imprisonment and that would always lead to the opportunity for him to be freed and return with a vengeance. She knew her father, and Harkon was not one who would give up. Serana pictured him standing before her with disappointment and anger as she turned on him to his face and held the bow, defying him and what he had worked towards for centuries. He-

"RII VAAZ ZOL!"

"Yosa!" Shouted Serana, clutching one of Durnehviir's back spines with alarm as she glared at the redguard behind her, a purple magic spilling from dark lips and disappearing a few feet away from them in the air. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," replied Yosa'Min with an easy smile, "just checking to make sure it and your ears work. We've been trying to get your attention for a while now."

"Oh," she said slowly with a growing blush, "I was thinking."

"I noticed," Yosa'Min said as she gestured to the snowy ground beneath them, "but flight's over, we found it."

Blinking, Serana peered over the dripping dragon's neck down to where he was slowly drifting down to a clearing. They'd gone over ridges and what looked like frozen over ice caves, and at last had found where they came out. The snow covered stone top of a wayshrine was nestled against where the passageways let out, the prelate already manifesting as Durnehviir landed. Across from them where the sheer rock walls let out, was an abyss that was almost as wide as the one separating the College of Winterhold from the rest of the ruined town. An ornate bridge connected the two sides, the other a frozen over structure with elegant carving and ice dripping down from it in long fingers. Only the face of it was free from the ice and rocks surrounding it, masking it well. If they hadn't been flying slowly they might have overlooked it entirely.

Sliding down from the massive undead dragon's body, the pair of vampires set foot on the snow. "Thanks," Yosa'Min said as she waited for Serana to fill the ewer one last time, a hand resting on yellowed scales. "It's nice to have a dragon ally who'll actually help."

Durnehviir watched Serana's swift movements, something clearly weighing down upon her as she entered the wayshrine. "It is my zin, honor, to assist you."

"Too bad Odahviin doesn't think so," she remarked with a half grumble.

"Next time you speak with him summon me and I shall teach him fir, respect."

With a laugh, Yosa'Min shook her head. "I would most enjoy seeing that, though I doubt he'll even come if I were to call him."

"You are Alduin's Qahnaarin, if he refuses to heed your call he is vobalaan do ok faan, unworthy of his name."

"I think that's a bit vahkaas, don't you think?"

"It is only harsh to deny bel do sahrot dovah, the summons of a mighty dragon."

"I'm a redguard," spoke Yosa'Min a bit softly, watching Serana's return, "I am no true dovah."

Eyeing her with clear disagreement, the corpse dragon rumbled, "your soul is all that matters Qahnaarin, and yours is the mightiest of all dov."

"Too bad I don't have it anymore," grimly replied Yosa'Min. As Serana reached them, filled ewer in hand, the redguard straightened up. "I suppose we ought to cross that bridge and hope that's the Inner Sanctum and not some more trials for the pilgrimage. I'll see you again soon Durnehviir."

"Guur laat dovahkiin, goodbye," he replied, and nodded respectfully, "guur Serana Volkihar."

"Goodbye," said the sire, smiling at him with gratitude as his scales began to glow with a purple magic, waves of fire sparking up his body before he was consumed in a violet inferno. It raged for only a moment, before he faded from Tamriel. "I must admit that's impressive," commented Serana as he departed, turning to Yosa'Min with as confident a smile she could manage. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," replied Yosa'Min with a shrug, drawing her bow from her back. "You? Thoughts all straightened out?"

Grimacing as they started towards the bridge, Serana spoke, "As they'll ever be. I just can't wait for all this to be over. We're so close but I can't help but feel awful."

"If you're worried about your father," said Yosa'Min with confidence Serana was jealous of, "I'll protect you, you're my Lady remember?"

Serana gave her a grateful smile, and with one arm gave the redguard a half hug as they walked. "And you're my fledgling, and I'll protect you just as well."

"I couldn't ask for anything more."

They'd crossed the bridge and come into a courtyard, various curving stairs around them leading up into a corridor ahead of them while a statue of who they could only assume was Auri-El stood tall and proud. Despite the ruin and decay surrounding them, frozen in place by the cold and time, the statue seemed to radiate power and strength, filling the pair with an unusual sensation as they passed it and went up the stairs. The upper platform had a door that held no discernible way to open it, raised curving lines decorating its tall face with Auri-El's sun across it, aside from the basin before them. "Let's hope I lugged this thing around for a reason," said Serana as she slowly poured the water into it.

A rush of magic filled their ears as the water drained into some sort of piping beneath their feet, and funneled down towards the door into a small dip where a mold of Auri-El's sun was impressed into the stone floor. Once the water reached it, a wave of green light bursting from it as the sun on the door spun and unlocked, the pair shared looks. "I wonder if we actually needed to get it from each of the wayshrines or could have just filled enough from one," wondered Yosa'Min.

"Ancient religious traditions probably have some way to counter lazy pilgrims," replied Serana as she pushed the door open, "or clever ones too."

The pair walked through the ancient door and into a central chamber that was more ice than stone, half destroyed pillars supporting a frozen ceiling as massive icicles hung from it. What drew their attention immediately however, was what rested at the center of it, an alter to Auri-El surrounded by frozen solid falmer and chaurus, their bodies hidden beneath sheets of bluish magical ice. They were all turned towards the alter, as if they'd been attacking something or someone standing besides it or the alter itself. Whatever it had been, they were twisted statues of an even more twisted form, Yosa'Min looking at them with horror and disgust. She brushed passed one that held a bow, ice encasing the carapace crafted weapon, and the duo quickly moved towards the sole door they could see.

The halls of the Inner Sanctum were covered in just as much ice and snow as the rest of the Vale, Yosa'Min wondering if there was some sort of hole allowing the harshness of nature to take it's toll or this was a result of magic and the fighting. The falmer lacked siege weapons, so whatever damage they had inflicted on the former Church of Auri-El would have been from brute force alone. Yosa'Min could see signs of the fighting as they walked through the sacred halls, more frozen falmer littering the way. They seemed shoved to the side now, standing on platforms and posed with weapons slid into their hands rather than frozen with them. "Creepy," remarked Serana idly as they opened another door, and twisted around a corner. Soon the elegant and impressive stone work, frosted over as it may have been, gave way to stone and snow that pressed in from all sides. A long slab of stone had collapsed in from the weight of the frozen ceiling, forcing them to crawl under it. Once they'd cleared onto the other side, they felt a shift in the air, and the vampires looked across the blue icy cavern they had found themselves in.

Giant spires of ice jutted inwards with a menacing look, two large pillars upholding the icicles that were longer than battleaxes. More of the frozen falmer lined the way, all turned towards the far side of the Inner Sanctum where a body sat upon a throne raised above them. At first Yosa'Min mistook the body as just another corpse, until glowing eyes opened and stared at them with primal power.

"At long last," he said slowly, fixing the pair with a sneer as he draped one leg over the arm of his chair. "I have waited ever so long for your arrival my sweet Serana."

Instantly the pair stiffened, not drawing any closer to him. "How do you know my name?" Demanded Serana with as icy a tone as their surroundings.

The snow elf, Arch-Curate Vyrthur, let out a long unnerving laugh as his blazing eyes settled upon them. "I know many things," he replied, flicking a hand idly, "such as how you would one day come here to me, seeking Auriel's bow. That you hope to seize it for yourself... Do you know what it requires by now, that I do wonder." Vyrthur's eyes flickered over to Yosa'Min who had stepped in front of her sire, and he cackled darkly. "Oh you do, don't you. Splendid. My apologies Serana but I don't intend on keeping you around to escape or kill me so let's go ahead and get this out of the way shall we?"

Snapping her bow up, Yosa'Min let loose an arrow that sailed across the sanctum and shattered into pieces as it crashed into the glass clear ice wall between them. "Shit," uttered the former thief as Vyrthur cracked an amused smile, waved his hand, and the frozen falmer around them began to shake. Explosions of ice rang around the sanctum as a trio of twisted snow elves broke free of their stasis, their skin still made of ice and bodies cold. Yosa'Min shoved her sire aside just as one swung at them, catching its blade with her bow and kicking it in the chest with a hiss. The nord vampire bolted across the floor in a blaze of shadows and bats, snatching one of the frozen falmer and attempting to drain it only for her fangs to glance off solid ice. She'd hoped that beneath all that frozen water was flesh but as it hissed and struck at her she was rewarded with nothing.

There were dozens of the frozen falmer, one by one awakening though Vyrthur seemed to be the one in control of that rather than them all coming at once now that they had been awoken. Yosa'Min picked up the discarded sword of one falmer Serana slew with lightning and stabbed it into the chest of another. They ducked and danced with ease around the blind sightless creatures, Yosa'Min firing arrows as quickly as she could but the ice creatures were not as easily dissuaded. One shuffled towards her, two arrows already protruding from its skull, and swung with wild strikes. Dodging to the side, she brought her bow into the side of its face, blood escaping icicle teeth as its skull caved in. With a great heave of effort she removed the lodged bow.

A snarling falmer rushed her side, and Yosa'Min was grateful when Serana blasted it away with another thunderbolt spell, it's smoking body smashing into another that had tried to attack the redguard and send the two whirling. "This is pathetic!" Snapped Serana with boiling rage, the frozen falmer frail in comparison to living ones. Their limbs shattered in bursts of snow and ice, explosions bouncing off the frozen walls as more and more of the creatures were awoken to do Vyrthur's biding. "Face us yourself you coward!" She glared furiously up at him as she used her unnatural strength to tear the arm off a falmer.

"Why would I put myself at risk when eventually you'll surely succumb? I've waited centuries for your arrival, I can wait until you fall to my thralls," easily replied the snow elf, dark menacing on his face as he flicked his hand. "Though, we could stand to speed this up." A pinprick of darkness appeared on the other fighting side of the ice wall shielding the Arch-Curate from them, and exploded with a ripple of purple magic and a dark boom. Standing several feet taller than most of its kind was a frost atronach, its hulking faceless form already rushing them before the summoning magic had even worn away. Dodging to the side with shadows rippling across their bodies, fledgling and sire both avoided the massive swinging frozen limbs of the atronach that sent sheets of snow sailing wildly. Yosa'Min instantly started to cast a spell, beginner level and weak, but still useful against a frost atronach. Flames began to eat away at its hulking form, a glisten of melting ice catching their eyes but it wasn't fast enough.

Bringing its spiked limbs down into the snow covered floor, the atronach rushed them with limbs stacked atop the other, legs pushing it and anything in its way at them like a massive wall. Yosa'Min swore violently as she felt Serana grab her collar and pull her to safety, several of the frozen falmer not so lucky to avoid being crushed against a wall and shattering into a thousand pieces. Hissing, Serana lanced its back with one spell after another, trying to penetrate it's powerful form while Yosa'Min set an arrow on fire and shot it directly into the back of its head. If it had a brain it certainly would be dead as the flaming arrow pierced far more easily through the layers of frozen magic and came out the other side, shattering against a wall. Yosa'Min seemed to like the result, and with a dark smile she knocked another arrow and with magic set it aflame once more. The atronach reeled as more and more flaming arrows began to rain down upon it, Serana focusing on keeping any falmer that rushed them away.

There was a heavy noise, and Serana looked up in time to see a whole section of stone falling down towards them. "Yosa!" She shouted, shoving her aside and barely rolling out of the way as the ceiling collapsed in on them. She glanced back to the throne where Vyrthur, visibly frustrated, had magic around his hands. "He's bringing the ceiling down on us!" Warned Serana, the pair now having to worry about what was coming down as well as at them. However, once a section of the roof was gone, the ice still above and concealing them but no more stone, they were safe to venture back under it. Vyrthur snarled as he realized that all he was doing was killing his own forces and left the roof alone.

It seemed every last falmer was awakening and coming to Vyrthur's defense, an endless tide of shifting frozen bodies. Yosa'Min caught sight of them crawling under the collapsed pillar, over the ice spikes that jutted into the room and manifesting out of the darkness like ghosts. There was at least twenty of them speeding towards them as the atronach lumbered over, arms raised to smash them into Oblivion. Holding a hand up to signal to her sire not to cross in front of her, the redguard lowered herself some and took in a deep breath. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" The natural blue light in the Inner Sanctum was consumed by orange and red as dragonfire spewed forth from the redguard and obliterated anything in its way. With shrieks of terror and agony the falmer shattered, melted and destroyed by the powerful flames. The atronach stumbled backwards, trying to shield itself with its arms from the brunt of the flames that kept up as Yosa'Min shouted like a dragon. She stepped forward, mouth still open as the jet of flames continued, Yosa'Min focusing on eliminating the atronach. It backed up further, hoping to get out of her reach, when the redguard sneered around her Thu'Um as it flickered out of existence. Just as the atronach was to charge, Serana jumped forward and struck it solidly in the chest with a thunderbolt. Without a scream or groan, the frost atronach was sent back into one of the many jutting ice spires on the far side of the room, the spike piercing its melting form, and then it imploded into Oblivion.

"Enough of this!" Snarled Vyrthur, furious now as his forces had been defeated. He stood up from his throne, seething down at them as he realized they were far stronger than he had anticipated. "Just lie down and die!" Magic collected around his fists, lifting him up off the ground as golden light radiated outwards. The jutting ice spikes around his throne quivered, faltering under the force of the magic as his head tilted back and he was raised higher into the Inner Sanctum. "Just die!"

Yosa'Min hadn't a moment to think before her vision was filled with white, the magic erupting outwards and thunder echoing in her ears. Waves of pain consumed her, every nerve in her body on fire as she lay on the ground, something heavy moving around her but she couldn't tell if it was her own limb or something else entirely. Something shoved her, urgent and afraid, and Yosa'Min opened her eyes to see Serana hunched over her. "Yosa," she said, the redguard's ears ringing so loudly she hardly understood her sire. "Yosa can you hear me?" She managed a weak nod, the taste of blood in her mouth. "Come on, we have to finish this. I saw him run that way."

Looking over her sire's shoulder, Yosa'Min took in the open sky and ruined Inner Sanctum. The roof was gone, blasted away by magic, and all that was left was stone that fell away and crashed into the ruins below. Yosa'Min's breath came in pained bursts as she took note of the expanse opened up behind Vyrthur's shattered throne, some grand balcony with sparse pavilions and ruinous statues of Auri-El. What caught her attention most however, was the clouds that had been bent around the Chantry and let the sun in. Instantly Yosa'Min felt the burning sensation of sunlight, her skin aching and itching, but unlike before it did not seem to be strong enough to kill her instantly. Relieved that she had at last moved past her immediate weakness, she stumbled to her feet alongside Serana who seemed worse for wear but only visibly. Light shone in blazing eyes, and Yosa'Min couldn't help but smile before they pursued Vyrthur onto the balcony.

The wind was loud, whipping at them from such a height as they moved further out, the pair instantly noticing how high they had come as they could see the entire Forgotten Vale before them, the mountains giving way to the Sea of Ghosts and Serana could almost swear she saw Castle Volkihar in the far distance. Kneeling on the very edge of the balcony was Vyrthur, clutching his side and gasping in pain. Yosa'Min couldn't tell if it was a ruse, or if the spell had harmed him as well. The clouds swirled above, a tear in the grand blanket and the yellow orb roared down at them in fury. Yosa'Min stared at it for a few moments, something so profoundly sad about what she felt, before looking at their enemy.

"Vyrthur," snarled Serana, magic readied, "give up. It's over."

"No!" He screamed, Yosa'Min at last close enough to notice the fangs he possessed. She stiffened, and stepped closer to Serana. "No it's not over! I just need your blood, give it to me! One drop, one drop is all I need for my revenge!"

"Revenge on who?" Demanded Serana, snarling louder, "the falmer? Your brother?"

"Auri-El!"

They blinked, confused, before Serana gave a disbelieving laugh. "You want to take revenge on a god? That's impossible, it's a god."

"Look up and tell me what you see there, trying to burn us all away right now."

"The sun."

"Auri-El!" He screamed, trying to rise to his feet but the movement instantly made the pair hiss in warning. Yosa'Min had an arrow aimed right for his skull, and she tisked her tongue as she shook her head to let him know not to try again. "The moment I was turned He cast me out, forgot all I had done and given to Him. I had His ear and that of the rest of the pantheon and they all forsake me but He... He did so with such fervor and first! I'll make Him pay for dooming me, for not protecting me, for allowing that initiate into His most sacred of places. I was His Arch-Curate, and now I am nothing more than this monstrosity. Even if I cannot harm Him I will rip his influence from this world!"

"You want to darken the sky," concluded Yosa'Min, staring at him with horror. "You... You made..."

"You made the prophecy!" Snarled Serana, surging forward and grabbing him by the collar and lifting him into the air. Yosa'Min had almost forgotten how strong her sire was until then. "Because of you all of this nonsense is happening!"

"Nonsense? No this is destiny, and it is time that you realized yours!" He replied, something about his expression causing mental alarms to ring throughout Yosa'Min's mind and she started forward but was too late. Vyrthur bit down into Serana's neck, the nord screaming in pain and trying to force him to let go as he stole her blood. Yosa'Min reached him, grabbed him by the neck and pulled back with the full intent on snapping him in two. Instead, he disappeared just as they loved to and reappeared a few feet away with magic in his hands. "So give it here!"

Serana was slowed, collapsed on the ground and unable to dodge the magical ice shards that he sent at her. Exposed to sunlight, her body wasn't naturally mending itself after an injury. Rather she was like a mortal, helpless to stop the bleeding and pain. Instead, Yosa'Min stepped in the way and shielded her sire with herself, trying to melt the spikes with flaming magic. A pained cry escaped her as one of them pierced her shoulder, and she dropped her arm and ended the spell. Vyrthur surged forward, and grabbed Yosa'Min by the neck to slam her down into the stone below. "I'll take yours too!" He brought a fist down into her skull encased in ice, stunning her and hit her again and again until her face was bloodied. "You might not be a Daughter of Coldharbour but you're still powerful, I can tell. I'll have great use for you in the dark age that is to come! A fledgling like you will help me take back this world! Perhaps if you serve me willingly I'll even keep Serana around for your pleasure, a fresh source of her blood would be preferred anyways!"

Vyrthur went to strike her again when a dark hand grabbed him, and held him still. "No," snarled Yosa'Min with serpentine pupils, a transformation starting to rise within her as her rage hit a boiling point. "I am no one's slave!" Vyrthur wasn't prepared for the flaming fist that sailed into his jaw, burning his skin and sending him reeling. She kicked him off with ease as scales began to appear on her body, bursting from her skin and streaming blood. Her bones began to shift, readying themselves to transform when a hand was on her shoulder and she caught Serana's eyes.

"Not with the sun out," said her sire in warning, "it will leave you far too weak to endure as you cannot heal without blood."

"But-"

"We don't need you to transform to beat him," added Serana, "you're strong enough as it is."

With more effort than she possibly could have ever given to something, Yosa'Min obeyed, and the scales shed from her body, leaving pinkish raw skin in their wake. The roar deep inside of her was furious, raging at the fact that she would dare deny it, but with Serana's reassuring gaze she was able to swallow it down and ignore it. Vyrthur stared at them with horror, before snarling. "You would dare deny such power?"

"Power isn't everything," snapped Serana, her neck still bleeding but she seemed to have regained enough strength to fight. She drew their remaining blood potion, and sipped it some, being careful not to finish it before she and Yosa'Min straightened. The sun bore down on them with spite, almost making Yosa'Min wonder if there really was a god trying to incinerate them. "Last chance Vyrthur, give us the bow."

"You'll kill me anyways," he snarled.

Smiling almost, Serana prepared her spells. "True, we did promise your brother we would."

"Gelebor!" He screamed, "He's as much a fool as you are! Power is everything!" He gathered magic around his hands, and Yosa'Min recognized the spell the prelates used to raise the wayshrines as he cast it onto a symbol of Auri-El nearby. With a thunderous heave it rose up, and the pair gasped as they saw the bow glistening within alongside a quiver. It was of white and gold hue, elegantly crafted with a sharp and elven quality to it. Before they could move towards it, Vyrthur beat them to it and grasped the bow in his hands. He wiped the blood from his fangs and coated one of the elven arrows with the blood he had stolen from Serana. Yosa'Min rushed forward in an attempt to stop him while Serana cast spells, but the vampire was just as unnaturally swift as them.

The arrow sailed through the sky, directly at where the clouds were torn to reveal the slowly setting sun, and then it struck. A deep boom resounded first, deafening and yet distant, and then the sun exploded into darkness. They watched in terror or awe as the great burning orb became black, and a wave rippled outwards the same color as blood into the sky. The clouds darkened, the sky quaked, and a great tear was ripped into the heavens. The sun shed streams of black, and shot forth the crimson light, so powerful and terrifying that Yosa'Min almost thought it would reach down and touch them. The sun bled waves of it, almost as if it were in pain, the light swirling around it in a vortex like motion. "By the Gods," uttered Yosa'Min as the darkness settled, "the prophecy is real."

Then she felt it, the change it brought about, the pain of the sun was gone. She no longer felt as if her skin was slowly melting away but almost invigorated, as if she'd just fed and her body yearned for blood. The wounds inflicted upon her instantly began to mend themselves, an enhanced strength granted to them by the phenomena occurring with the sun. Before she could say another word, Serana wheeled on the snow elf and slammed him into the wayshrine. "Do you know what you've done! Every mortal will hunt us down and kill us now! You've doomed us all for your petty revenge!"

Vyrthur laughed, "It does not matter. I have it now, you cannot stop me."

Hissing with fury, Serana bit into his throat and tore her head back. Vyrthur gurgled as his throat was forcibly removed, Serana spitting his flesh out from her mouth and staring at his collapsed body that twitched and spewed blood. "I just did," she snarled as she wiped her mouth clean, disgusted by the taste of his blood. Taking Auriel's Bow from his grasp along with the arrows, Serana turned to Yosa'Min and gave them to her. "You'll be able to use this much better than me."

"Serana," slowly said Yosa'Min, hardly able to look away from the foreboding sun. "Are you okay?"

The sire idly moved a hand to her neck, and looked away. "Yes. I just... I feel foul. Let's get out of here, do you think-"

Her words were cut short as a voice rose, and they turned to see Gelebor standing just inside the wayshrine, an internal portal image shimmering as if to signal he'd used it. "He's dead," he said, shock upon his face as he took in the brutality of his death. "I know I asked for it but please forgive my grief, he was my brother after all."

"He used the bow, and an initiate turned him into a vampire, not the falmer," said Serana sharply, Gelebor's eyes tearing from his brother's corpse to the sky. His knees gave out beneath him, and he instantly began to weep.

"Great Auri-El, no... please no."

"Is there any way to turn it back to normal?"

"I... I do not know. Perhaps it will wear off in time?" He tried to come up with a solution, and while it seemed plausible it felt like a stretch to the vampires. Yosa'Min walked towards him, carrying the bow and he sighed. "I promised you it, so do not fear that I might turn on my word. Just please, do not use it for this darkness, protect it from those that might."

Serana gave a heavy nod. "It will never be used again for such a purpose, not so long as we live." With a small nod, he turned to his brother. "Yosa, can you summon Durnehviir? I'd rather not have to walk through the Forgotten Vale back to Castle Volkihar."

"I'm sure he won't mind," replied Yosa'Min as she stepped towards the more open expanse of the balcony. "DURNEHVIIR!" The pinprick of darkness exploded quite beautifully just as before, shaking them where they stood and there roared Durnehviir with iridescent magic.

"Qahnaarin," he bellowed with a dip of his head and a dragonic smile, "If you summon me this much the Ideal Masters might grow jealous." Then he turned his gaze up to the sky, and even he was taken by surprise at the state of the sun. "Fos las daar, what is this?"

"Something bad," simply said Yosa'Min as she approached him, Auriel's bow upon her back alongside the other. "We need another ride, else we'll take too long to stop it."

Nodding his head and lowering himself so they might mount him, Durnehviir spoke slowly, "Whatever you require of me, I shall do it Qahnaarin." The vampires climbed onto the undead dragon's body, and Serana looked back only once at where Gelebor sat destroyed by his brother, the sole snow elf in existence now, before they took off into the bloodied sun. The vampires both watched the sun that was shrouded in darkness yet still clearly there, their stomachs twisting into knots of uncertainty on how to react. They wouldn't have decided until the trip was over.

AN: Happy New Years everybody!