Chapter 30: Auriel's Bow
Serana ripped Sithia's cowl off, baring her neck.
A twinge of regret was all she could spare. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
She bit down.
Turning someone was all about intentions. Serana had to want to do it, or the bite wouldn't turn them. She wasn't even sure how it worked, just that she could taste her own blood in her mouth afterwards, mingled with her new fledgling's. She was never aware of biting herself.
Serana drew away, the last taste of Sithia's mortal blood lingering on her tongue. The flavour was tainted from the battle and Dragonrend; boiling with the heat of unparalleled rage, and bitter with the shock of the cold and pain of the dragon crushing her. Sour with the fruitless struggle to hold her breath underwater when it had been almost completely forced out of her by the weight on top of her.
She cradled Sithia's head on her lap, anxiously looking for the signs that the change was successful. Normally she'd know from the closeness inherent in turning someone, feeling her own blood mixing with her fledgling's, an intimate moment of connection as she glimpsed not just emotions but thoughts too. For an instant she should have known Sithia better than she knew herself, even as Sithia experienced the same thing in return.
But the dragon had robbed them of that. Sithia needed to be conscious for that fleeting connection at the moment of turning. For all she knew, the dragon had taken Sithia from her completely. She'd never turned someone drowning before.
Wait. She could smell it. Her own blood, spreading within Sithia. It was working. It was working! Serana gently lifted one of Sithia's eyelids enough to see glowing orange.
Sithia's bones cracked back into place, healed from the dragon collapsing on top of her by the blessing of the night.
A gasp of relief escaped Serana when Sithia started coughing, choking and spluttering.
Serana helped to force the water out of her lungs, clasping her hands below Sithia's breastbone and pushing upwards. It was only a reflex to choke, as Sithia no longer needed to breathe. A painful reflex. Serana grimaced in sympathy.
Once Sithia recovered and no longer wheezed, Serana took her face in her hands and kissed her. It was… different. Their lips the same temperature, both as cold as ice, thanks to their dip in the lake and the chill air.
"You're all right. I didn't know if that would work." Serana drew back, eyes roaming over Sithia's face, taking in the changes. Gaunt, deathly pale, eyes burning like twin fires. To be honest, mortality had suited Sithia better, but she was now only a half-blooded vampire, and they didn't fully retain beauty possessed as mortals.
Sithia blinked up at her. She clutched at her throat, a confused whine escaping her. Of course. The thirst.
"I'm sorry. I had to turn you."
"It burns!" Sithia whimpered. She suddenly clawed at her chest too, snarling until she ripped her amulet off. She tossed it away. An Aedric influence around her neck like that must have been a nasty thing to wake up to as a vampire.
Serana caught it by the end of the chain and got up to put it in Sithia's pack. It might be worth selling, after all. "I know. I'm sorry. Let me get you a blood potion, but be warned, it won't satisfy you for long."
Serana searched her own pockets, but the only bottle remaining there had already been downed during the fight against the dragons. She checked the pack next. There had been at least two more in here, where were they… Her search only turned up three broken bottles, all empty. The enchantment on the bag must have taken care of the spillages. One of the dragons must have landed on the pack and crushed part of the contents. They were lucky it hadn't ended up in the lake, if it could be called that when they'd both go thirsty. Damn it!
"Serana?"
Serana winced. "I'm sorry. I think a dragon landed on them, they didn't survive that fight."
Sithia hissed. She breathed in, eyes fixed on Serana. "You smell good."
"Uh. Thanks. So do you." If not as good as when she was mortal, now blended with Serana's own scent. Muted by it. Besides, no vampire thirsted after the blood of another vampire. It wasn't just Sithia's dragon blood she was attracted to. But then she already knew that.
Wait. Sithia had lisped that, her fangs out. She'd never had mortal blood. She didn't know Serana's blood wouldn't satisfy her bloodlust. Quite the opposite. Normally her fledglings instantly had a blood potion. Normally her fledglings felt the instinctive deference to a Daughter of Coldharbour and would never dream of biting uninvited. But they weren't Dragonborn.
"Sithia, no, it won't help!"
Sithia yes. She pounced. Serana found herself underneath her fledgling, eyes wide as Sithia scrabbled at her brooch, unfastening it. A moment later Serana lost her cloak, leaving enough of her shoulders bare for Sithia to nip at the bare skin, fangs grazing against her.
For a moment Serana was torn between outrage and disbelief. That a fledgling would dare! Yet lust also blindsided her, making her breath catch. This wasn't just any fledgling, this was Sithia. Her Sithia.
"Sithia…" What was supposed to be a stern warning came out as a breathy gasp. Something Sithia took as an invitation. Serana could have stopped her if she hadn't still been paralysed by her inner conflict.
Sithia's fangs pierced her skin, a deep growl escaping her fledgling as her bloodlust worsened with the taste of Serana's potent blood.
Serana hissed and finally moved to restrain her impossible fledgling. Sithia growled and twisted free of Serana's grasp. She grabbed Serana's wrists, pinning them either side of her head onto the ice, and kissed her deeply. A painful kiss with fangs unsheathed, but Sithia couldn't help that. It was what the taste of Serana's blood did.
It clearly made Sithia lust for things other than blood too. And the renewed tang of her own blood from Sithia's kiss triggered Serana's fangs, piercing Sithia's lip in return. With that, the taste of their mingled blood overwhelmed Serana. Sithia's blood wasn't as good as when she was mortal, but it was still delicious, and as intoxicating as Serana had expected from her own combined with Sithia's dragon blood.
But what truly overcame Serana was finally tasting Sithia's emotions, feeling the intimacy that fate had robbed her of when creating her fledgling. She could feel Sithia's shock and growing wonder as she tasted Serana's emotions in return. The pain from fangs piercing lips cleared Serana's mind enough to draw away.
"I can feel it… What you're feeling. Oh, fuck, this is intense. It's like I don't know where I end and you begin." Sithia's breathy whisper was slightly spoiled by lisping around her newly gained fangs.
"I know. It's part of what I love about feeding from you." Serana growled. She'd also lisped. She forced her fangs back into their sheaths, catching Sithia before she could pull her back into another kiss. "I know it's hard, but you have to sheathe your fangs. Think about how much you want to kiss me instead of how much you want blood. You don't want to hurt me, right?"
Sithia shook her head, her expression a mirror of the feelings Serana could somehow still taste. Frustration. Chagrin. Lust. After a couple of false starts, her fangs retracted to a safer height for kissing.
At least the blessing of the night healed the minor wounds more or less instantly. Sithia touched her lips where Serana's fangs had pierced them, wonder flooding her.
"Good. Now wash your mouth out." Serana led by example, rinsing the blood out of her mouth with some extremely cold water from under the ice. Sithia hissed and Serana felt the shock of the cold secondhand.
"All right. Now you can kiss me."
Serana could feel Sithia's triumphant glee as she leaned in to reclaim her lips. That shouldn't be possible. There was no blood left in their mouths, and even when there was the emotions tasted should only reflect what was last felt when the blood was drawn.
'How is this happening? Something isn't—'
The rising tide of Sithia's passion swept Serana with it, smothering her unease, both of them affected more and more by the lust they could sense from each other, the spice Serana could almost taste.
Yet was this really the right place to get carried away? What if there were more dragons hidden away? Or Falmer, or… Serana almost broke off the kiss, only for Sithia to do so herself. Not to stop. Instead she pinned Serana's hands back onto the ice and trailed kisses down Serana's throat, growling in annoyance when interrupted by the ugly silver choker. Sithia moved further down to the skin exposed above Serana's cuirass.
Sithia released her hands, but only to loosen Serana's armour. This wasn't the time or place. Serana knew that. She should push Sithia off, remind her they had a job to do. Except it was so very tempting to either pull her closer or work on removing Sithia's armour too. Serana hesitated. She'd soon be half naked, breasts exposed to Sithia's attentions.
Sithia tugged her cuirass down, and the shirt underneath it, her mouth caressing exposed skin. Her lips closed around a nipple, sucking gently, sending a jolt of pure arousal through Serana. The urge grew to let Sithia have her way with her. But…
"Not here!" Serana grabbed Sithia's wrists and gently forced her to keep her hands to herself. She was stronger as a Daughter of Coldharbour, and further strength came from being ancient. She could stop Sithia from going too far… if she wanted to.
Sithia growled and ground herself against her. Serana inhaled sharply, her grip slackening enough that Sithia escaped. Her hands slipped under Serana's armour and clothing to bare skin, and Sithia resumed kissing her, tongue slipping back in her mouth to stroke against hers. Sithia wrapped a leg around her, pressing against her intimately.
Serana gripped Sithia's thigh, almost held it in place, but lowered it instead. She firmly pushed her back, breaking off the kiss. "Later. We have a bow to find and a Snow Elf to kill." She tugged her clothing and armour back up, refastening the ties. Serana picked up her discarded cloak and put it back on. She retrieved Sithia's cowl and handed it back to her. It was undamaged despite tearing it off as she'd had to. Sithia took it and pulled it back on, frowning.
Serana could feel Sithia's lust ebbing away, eroded by dawning realisation and suspicion.
"Serana, what… When does this end? Tell me you haven't been spying on my feelings ever since you first tasted my blood."
"No, it fades with the taste of the blood. I don't understand, it's never lasted—" Serana choked on her words as something occurred to her. Of course…
Long ago, back before everything fell apart, her mother had mentioned the bond she shared with her father. Like vampire marriage, she had explained, sharing emotions with him as if they always fed from each other. That she hoped Serana would one day find someone special to share such a bond with. She hadn't mentioned how the bond had formed. It clearly must have been through sharing the taste of each other's blood.
Serana had been hoping that Sithia might want such a bond with her after choosing vampirism. A willingly formed bond. But unwillingly, accidentally like this?
"Oh." Serana avoided Sithia's eyes. She really wasn't going to like this. Damn it.
"Oh what? You know what's happened." Sithia had no doubt felt the moment of realisation as if it had been her own.
"I think so," Serana admitted. "My mother shares a bond with my father. An emotional bond. It's why he'd sense her return."
"And you think that's what this is… Did you know this would happen?" Sithia's suspicion deepened.
"Of course not, or I'd have known to stop you from kissing me, would have known not to draw your blood in return. No fledgling of mine has dared do what you did."
"So it's my fault, is it?" Sithia snapped, lisping, her fangs flashing. She growled, irritation mingling with her anger. No doubt at lisping when she least wanted to. Her eyes flickered as she screwed them up with effort at forcing her fangs to retract. "You like feeding from me, and not just for my blood. You like knowing what I feel, you wanted this." The addition of resentment made Serana cringe.
"No. It was an accident. My blood does that, it makes bloodlust worse. It made my fangs come out when I tasted it, and we both know what they did. And I don't want this. Not like this. Not when it's not what you want. This isn't how a bond is meant to feel, not like an invasion, not something you resent. It's not meant to be something you want to end. It's wrong, it's twisted already like what happened with my parents, but theirs took centuries to do that." Serana bit her lip, forcing herself to stop talking and breathe. If she talked much faster Sithia wouldn't be able to understand her.
"You're terrified. Why?" Sithia asked.
"You really need to ask? I saw what their bond did to them. It made things so much worse when it went bad between them. Feeling not only their own hate but each other's too. You felt it just now with lust, it's overwhelmingly intense when we both feel the same thing."
"How long will this last?"
Serana swallowed hard. Sithia was really not going to like this. "I'm so sorry."
"That's not an answer, and stop drowning me in regret!"
"Like I said, the bond between my parents is why my mother couldn't return. It's a life bond."
"Are you telling me that this bond is permanent?"
Serana winced at Sithia's fury. "Please stop it. Hate is the only thing that would be worse than your anger."
"You should have asked first! Not forced this on me. Get out of my head!"
"I didn't do it on purpose, it was instinct! An accident! It's no more my fault than it was yours. And I'm not in your head, the bond shares emotions, not thoughts."
"I'm supposed to be thankful for small mercies, am I? Damn it, Serana. I'm not comfortable talking about my feelings, let alone having them exposed to someone the moment I feel them. Even you. I wouldn't want this with Tiber either."
Serana held her hands up. "I'm sorry, I… It's not really any different to feeling your emotions when feeding—"
"Oh yes, it is! There's a difference between feeling them only when feeding, and feeling them all the fucking time!"
Serana flinched at the backlash from Sithia's emotions. Mostly the anger, knowing it was directed at her and not the constant background heat of it. But she could feel the mortification and violation just as strongly as her own fear and regret. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this."
"Is that supposed to make it so much fucking better? Thanks ever so much for not doing this to me on purpose. Just… Make it stop!"
"I can't. Bonds like this are only broken by death, or my parents would have ended theirs."
Shock morphed into rage. Sithia grabbed her shoulders, hands trembling. Something else bled through the consuming fury, something that made tears well up in Serana's eyes. Hate.
Sithia froze. Guilt broke through, adding to the maelstrom of negative emotions. "I don't hate you." Her hands shifted to Serana's arms and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I hate this mess, I don't hate you."
Serana swiped at her eyes, dashing away her tears before they could fall. "Don't start lying to me. I can tell who your emotions are directed at, you know. It's how I knew from the first taste of your blood that you were attracted to me and not thinking of someone else."
"I'm not lying!" Sithia's anger and annoyance flared up again, fading away into grudging acceptance. "Not exactly, anyway. Thanks to Dragonrend I hate everyone, including myself. Especially myself. Why should you be any different?"
"I guess you have a point. It's just a little close to home, you know, with what happened to my parents."
Sithia's fingers stroked against Serana's back as curiosity bled through her constant anger. "How did your mother manage to plot against your father? Surely he'd suspect from her feelings."
"Like I said, sharing emotions doesn't share thoughts. And with enough self control it's possible to deaden things." It's what her mother must have done to escape without him feeling it coming.
"So you can dampen things on your end, right? You've got plenty of self control."
Serana sighed. "If that's what you want, I can try to do it."
Sithia nodded against her shoulder. "It is. I don't want to know what you're feeling all the fucking time, any more than I want you to know what I'm feeling. Privacy is important, even when we're… close. Will it help stop you from feeling things from my end?"
"No. Well, I'll have to concentrate on reining in my emotions, so I won't be conscious of so much, I guess."
"All the more reason to do it, then."
Serana's shoulders slumped. This was going to give her such a headache. "Can't we… Can't we try to get used to this?"
"Making it so this isn't quite so overwhelming will help with that."
Serana sighed heavily. Trying to control her emotions took a lot out of her, and made it hard to focus on anything else.
She could feel Sithia's scepticism. "Are you even trying to dampen things?"
Serana stifled a hiss. "Controlling my emotions is very different to controlling my bloodlust!"
Sithia drew away, frowning up at her. She caressed Serana's cheek. "I'm asking too much from you. You might not have my anger management issues, but it's not fair to demand that you deaden yourself inside. Sorry." Her eyes dropped as her emotions were muted for a while, deep in thought.
"That wizard in Morthal…" Sithia finally murmured.
"I told you, I won't—No… You mean to seek this 'cure' yourself."
Sithia raised her chin. "Needs must. Besides, it might just get rid of this bond."
Serana felt tears threaten again. "Is it really so terrible to be bonded like this?"
Sithia's eyes hardened, lips thinned. "When this was forced on me? What do you think?" Her eyes narrowed. "You tell me, you know exactly how I feel about this."
Serana flinched and looked away. She knew all too well how much Sithia hated this. It blended with the constant heat of her anger, a knife to Serana's heart.
"It doesn't have to be this way." Her voice broke as Sithia's mingled anger and hatred spiked.
"No, it doesn't. It soon won't be, not if I have anything to do with it."
"It might only break the bond on your end." Except as a bond only between vampires… The bond surely couldn't survive the cure. Would it feel like Sithia had died? What would it do to Serana herself? Serana clamped down on that thought before it could bleed into her emotions. She didn't want Sithia to feel that.
"So be it," Sithia snapped. "At least I won't be constantly reminded that you can feel everything I feel just as well as I can feel everything you do."
"Sithia, please—"
"No. It's bad enough feeling what I'm doing to you without having you guilt trip me verbally too."
"I'm not—"
"You might not mean to, but you are. The sooner we get to Morthal the better." Sithia snatched up Dragonbane, sheathed it, and stormed off. She headed towards a rocky wall jutting from the ice. A Word Wall, as it turned out. Although not like any other.
Serana stared at it. The Dragon Cult hadn't found their way here, or at least not in enough numbers to make a wall like the others in Skyrim. Unless this was the work of one or both dragons? Had they been in this forgotten vale all this time? Going by what she could make out of the text, it was a dedication to a fallen warrior. That still didn't tell her who carved it. A fellow follower of the cult, or a dragon for a loyal servant? She sighed. She couldn't muster anything but vague curiosity, consumed instead by the tangled mess unhappy accident had made of her relationship with Sithia.
Sithia bounded up the steps to it and ran her hand over the largest word, whispering, "Haas."
'Health.'
Sithia inhaled deeply, her anger fading a little as she focused on something. A Shout? Serana wondered if she was about to try this new one from the ancient carvings on the wall.
"FEIM!" Sithia and her emotions faded completely as she touched the Void. It was more than just the absence of those feelings, it made Serana touch the Void with Sithia, although she didn't fade to a ghost like her Dragonborn. She even held up a hand in front of herself to check. Serana shivered. She preferred the heat of Sithia's anger, even if it was directed at her.
Sithia returned to corporeality, her emotions returning gradually as the touch of the Void left her. She sighed. "So much for that," she muttered, resignation tangling with her rekindled constant anger. She must've been hoping that particular Shout would help her calm down.
Serana followed Sithia, joining her at the top of the steps. Sithia turned, her face just as regretful as the feelings Serana couldn't help but catch. "I'm sorry."
Serana beckoned Sithia into her arms, bleakly staring out at the valley over Sithia's shoulder. Sithia had meant every word, including the apology. It didn't change anything. As things stood, her fledgling would seek that cure. And be justified doing so. If only they'd known what would happen. If only Sithia had chosen this bond.
Serana mentally slapped herself. 'If only' wouldn't help. They had a job to do. Of course if she could persuade Sithia to give vampirism and their bond a chance on the way, so much the better.
Sithia drew away slightly to look up at Serana, but kept her arms around her. "I just hope I'll have your control over my bloodlust when it comes to meeting any innocents on the way to Morthal."
"I hope not. I told you that Isran had it right when he called me a bloodsucking fiend. Control doesn't come naturally. It took quite a while before I could get anywhere near mortals without draining them dry. But don't worry, I won't let you do anything you'd regret."
Sithia huffed. "I do remember that you told me before. I meant the control you have now. It's probably a futile hope, what with the issues I already have with self control." She sighed. "Like taking my temper out on you. You deserve better."
"Fledglings lack control. It's a thing. I understand. As for your bloodlust, it's just a pity my blood won't satiate it. That it actually makes it worse. Tasting it triggers my fangs, you know."
"Yeah, I noticed." Sithia fingered her lips. "There's a real Daedric kick to it, a bit like Daedra hearts, but worse."
"That's because my vampirism came directly from Molag Bal, like the first of our kind." To be able to say 'our kind' to Sithia… Serana ached anew that it could only be fleeting.
Sithia hugged her tighter, Serana feeling her regret as if her own. But it changed nothing.
"I'm sorry. We have to move," Sithia murmured.
"Yes." Serana briefly held Sithia tighter before stepping back. "Yes, we do. We only have so long before the sun comes up, and you can't feed. That's not going to be pleasant for you. I'm sorry too."
At least they could move faster now that Sithia was vampired too, while out of sunlight. But once the sun was up it wasn't going to be pleasant for either of them. There were no blood potions left. No one to feed on except Falmer and animals, and neither would really help. Perhaps this Vyrthur once they reached him…
It was just a pity that Sithia couldn't feed from the dragons. There was nothing left of them but charred bones. Maybe she'd meet another dragon before making this fateful trip to Morthal, and get to taste dragon blood for herself before he died.
Sithia was already most of the way across the frozen lake, heading for the pillars she could now see, no longer needing a Magelight. Serana ran to catch up with her, slowing to Sithia's pace as she drew level. They passed the pillars and headed up a snowy path to find the dome of the next wayshrine ahead of them, with its spectral priest.
Sithia flinched, hissing. "Why didn't you mention how nasty that sun symbol is to look at?! Ow, worse to get near. Giving me a headache. Like my amulet was."
"It's what an Aedric influence does. It's a wayshrine. A type of shrine. You know what shrines do to me, I figured you knew. Sorry."
Sithia rubbed at her temples. "Feels like it's worse for you. My poor walking piece of Oblivion. Of course, I'm getting the echoes of that on top of my own."
"Just as I'm getting the echoes of yours on top of my own. We're both getting the same amount of Aedric headache."
Sithia hissed again, forcing herself to walk up to the spectral priest.
"You've arrived at the Wayshrine of Resolution. Are you prepared to—"
"Yes! Please shut up and get on with it!"
The priest continued as if Sithia hadn't spoken: "—honour the mantras of Auri-El and fill your vessel with His enlightenment?"
Sithia groaned. "Yes."
"Then go forth, child. May the enrichment of Auri-El strengthen your resolve as you undertake your journey to the Inner Sanctum."
They both flinched as the ghost activated the wayshrine, the pain magnified by that damnable echo. At least Sithia appreciated that Serana was suffering from their bond too, although that didn't make her Dragonborn any less grumpy.
The first flakes of a blizzard started falling even as Sithia filled the glorified jug and opened another portal back to the previous wayshrine. They hurried on across a rocky bridge blanketed in snow, over the frigid waters below. The path descended to the river on the other side. By then it was difficult to see where they were going, the blizzard falling in earnest. At least it couldn't really hurt Sithia anymore, although she still felt the cold more than Serana. Or at least more than Serana could directly; she was left shivering with Sithia from the echo passed along their bond.
They struggled on through the snowfall. It at least deadened the stink of the Falmer ahead until the strange hive-like homes of the foul things came into sight through the blizzard. Sithia coughed and gagged, covering her face with her cowl's facemask, not that it could do much to help against vampiric sense of smell.
"Void take those stinking bastards! Void take me, I knew it was worse for you, but not how much worse!"
"Hold your breath," Serana advised. "It's uncomfortable, I know, but better than breathing in that stench. Remember you don't need to breathe anymore."
They followed the path winding around the cliffs, across bridges either made of rock or chitin. This time they didn't sneak past the Falmer, as Sithia lacked the control and tore them apart instead in her need for blood. She made the mistake of tasting the foul blood and had to backtrack to the river to wash her mouth out.
"Ugh," Sithia groaned. "They taste as bad as they smell."
Serana could tell that much from Sithia's feelings. "Unpalatable. Worse than werewolves."
Sithia whined. "So thirsty!"
Serana winced. Sithia's need to feed wasn't helped by the echoes of Serana's own constant burning hunger. Hopefully they'd reach Vyrthur soon. And maybe Gelebor would be willing to provide some blood. Serana couldn't go bloodstarved and feral, but Sithia could. They had a few days yet, but… Sithia needed blood in a way Serana didn't.
They retraced their steps through the Falmer huts, continuing down to a hut with a mammoth skull on the roof. The path led down to the riverside, and then upriver as it cascaded down the rocky riverbed. They soon reached a cave at the bottom of a glacier where the river sprung from. They had to swim through the river to get to where the cave opened up into a vast cavern.
"V-V-Void take it! That was worse than the lake. I'm never going to feel warm a-again. Or dr-dry again."
Serana shivered along with her poor grumpy fledgling. Vampirism at least meant Sithia could survive the frigid water. It didn't make it comfortable for her.
"Don't you dare pity me!" Sithia snarled. She sighed. "Sorry."
"Sympathy isn't pity. There's nuance."
"Feels an awful lot like pity," Sithia grumbled.
"It's not. I'm not lying, I can't."
"Hmph. I guess—" Sithia staggered, yawning widely. The sun was up outside the cavern. They could both feel it, and it was having a soporific effect as expected, although not yet on Serana herself.
"Sunrise," Serana murmured. "Need a nap?"
"No. I'm fine." Sithia yawned again. "You don't need to sleep, so I'm getting the echoes from that."
"But you're also feeling the instinct to sleep during the day like most vampires. I don't need to after so long sleeping in Dimhollow. You, though?"
"I said I'm fine," Sithia snapped, the edge to her voice softened a bit by her drowsiness. "Is it this bad in sunlight even after feeding?"
"No. Sunlight brings a headache, but it's not so bad when you've just fed from a mortal."
"Pity there doesn't seem to be anyone to eat in here." Sithia heaved a sigh. "Come on. The sooner we get to someone suitable the better."
"If you're sure…"
Sithia started walking in response, stumbling a little at first. Her drowsiness soon passed as soon as she caught of whiff of something nasty. Falmer, but something else too. Something almost as foul: troll.
It caught sight of them, roaring. Sithia hissed, dashing forward and cutting it down before its flailing clawed hands could do the same to her.
Serana sighed. "Poor thing. I know it would've tried to kill us, but…"
Sithia stopped and stared at Serana. Bemusement was what she was feeling, but about what Serana didn't know.
"What is it?"
Sithia shook her head. "You feel sorry for trolls. What next, spiders? Falmer?"
"I certainly feel sorry for the way they smell, but sorrier for us that we have to suffer from it."
Sithia's nose wrinkled. "Why does everything we meet have to smell revolting and not remotely appetising? I'm so thirsty. If I ever meet a Dwemer, I'm murdering the bastard for what they did to the Falmer. I bet they used to be so tasty!"
"Used to be? Remember there's still at least two unaltered Falmer. Snow Elves as Gelebor prefers. At the end of all this there's Vyrthur. You can drain him dry," Serana promised.
"Wherever the end is. This path seems to go on forever."
They kept their conversation hushed, too quiet for even the sensitive ears of Falmer to catch, killing the ones blocking the narrow path winding around the cavern and through the glacier, ever upwards. They crossed numerous chitin bridges, including one they had to jump - it had collapsed.
"Not the most solid construction here," Serana commented. "About what I'd expect from creatures like this."
They ran into more Falmer, putting them down as they continued up the path. A trap blocked their way, chaurus claws lashed together, triggered by a tripwire. It was rather like the trap that had pinned Sithia down in Alftand while she was poisoned.
"Looks like they're better at making traps than they are at making bridges," Serana observed.
They finally emerged out into the fresh air, or what passed for it in a Falmer city. It was at the bottom of a narrow valley with sheer rock walls, and an elegant stone bridge across it far above. At least they were still in the shade out of direct sunlight in the deep valley.
The Falmer city was a mass of more crude buildings made of chitin, with a narrow winding path through it, paved with more chitin. Did the Falmer build with anything else? How many chaurus did they harvest for it? Serana had no way of getting answers unless Gelebor somehow knew, which she doubted. It also seemed a little tactless to ask him anything about the Betrayed.
They got through the city in one piece, although not without bloodshed. Many more Falmer fell to Sithia's sword and Serana's spells. Both of them almost got hit with chitin weaponry, although vampiric speed helped them dodge. If they'd been in sunlight it would have been different. Fortunately it would be midday before any penetrated the depths of the valley.
At the end of the Falmer city was a gate made of chaurus claws. Serana forced it open and led the way up a steep slope in yet another cave, with more Falmer construction inside. Including another trap, a tripwire triggering falling boulders. Sithia pulled it and they darted around a corner, allowing the boulders to fall harmlessly.
"Falmer and their traps," Sithia muttered.
After that it was an easy if steep walk out of the cave and out into the open. It would've been in sunlight if not for unusually tall Falmer buildings surrounding them, towers of chitin. In the middle of them was the dome of the last wayshrine and the spectral priest waiting for initiates who would never come.
"You've found the Wayshrine of Radiance, Initiate. Are you prepared to honour the mantras of Auri-El and fill your vessel with His enlightenment?"
Sithia interrupted him several times. Her poor fledgling lacked patience even more than she had as a mortal. But to no avail: the ghost just continued on until he was ready for a response. Sithia buried her face against Serana's shoulder and growled. Serana pushed her cowl down so she could stroke her hair.
"Yes," Serana said.
"May the blessings of Auri-El protect you as you climb the road to the Inner Sanctum and final enlightenment."
They both hissed with irritation at the Aedric resonance spell ringing out and raising the last wayshrine. Gelebor had said there were five wayshrines and this was the fifth, not including the one by Gelebor. Besides, the ewer only had room for one last dip in a basin, so this had to be it. Sithia got it out and filled it. All portals but one were active now, all showing where they'd already been.
Sithia stepped out from the shadows cast by the Falmer towers and cringed. She pulled up her cowl and facemask, hissing. "Nasty sun! Void take it!"
"You don't mean that."
"Well, no, but I can sympathise with your father for a moment. That said I'm not about to side with him, don't worry."
"Glad to hear it. Come on, let's get out of the sun as soon as possible. We don't have time to wait for sunset. That was the last wayshrine, we can't be far from the Chantry now." Serana pulled up her hood and walked out into the sun, Sithia following.
There was only one path to take: north east beyond the last Falmer tower, with pine trees lining it up to an archway with radiant sun symbols. The bridge they'd seen from the valley floor was beyond the archway. In the bright sunlight they had to reach the archway before they could see what lay beyond the bridge: a ruined stone building with three tiers, and many windows within arches. Serana had never seen a building like it before. Icicles hung down all over it.
They crossed the bridge and passed through an archway to a courtyard with a statue standing in the middle of it: a crowned Elven man holding up one of the radiant sun symbols. Serana recognised the symbols from an illustration in a book about the Divines.
"This is a statue of Auriel, but it's using the older signs of his power. This temple must be ancient. The Bow has to be in here."
Sithia grunted an acknowledgement, hurrying as fast as she could under the glaring sun for the entrance and blessed release from the headache inducing light. She led the way up a staircase to a platform behind the statue. A basin stood there, much like those within the wayshrines, but this one had gutters leading from it to an indentation of the radiant sun on the tiled floor below another archway.
Serana peered up at the ceiling beyond the archway and spotted a green crystal sphere above it. There was an ornate metal door beyond the archway with an intricate lock formed of the same radiant sun. Sithia tried the door, futilely rattling against the strange lock.
Serana walked back to the basin. "Sithia, I think the time's come to empty the ewer. Do you want to do it or shall I?"
"I don't care, just get this fucking door open!" Sithia huddled under the archway next to the door, as far from the sunlight as she could get.
Serana unceremoniously tipped the water into the basin. The water drained from the basin into the indented sun under Sithia's feet. Green light shone down from the crystal above, making Sithia flinch away from it, and the door unlocked. Serana almost discarded the ewer. She stashed it in the pack instead, just in case Gelebor wanted it back.
"Finally!" Sithia burst through the doors. Serana followed. She almost ran into Sithia when she skidded to a halt, hissing, hands thrown up in front of her face.
"Aedric influence. But it's nowhere near as unpleasant as the Temple of Divines in Solitude, and diluted even more than the shrine by Gelebor. It must be because this place has been abandoned for millennia. This is nothing, my poor dear fledgling."
Sithia snarled at her. "It's bad enough! It's worse than the wayshrines! I almost prefer the sunlight."
"It's still not pleasant, I'll admit." Especially as there was a shrine up ahead, Serana could feel it, her eyes skittering away from it.
Sithia grumbled under her breath, reluctantly walking forwards. She paused. "Is it just me, or is it getting even colder?"
Serana drew level with her, frowning. "It is. And look, just up ahead."
"What in the name of…"
It was a Falmer, frozen solid. Holding out a potion. Sithia took it. "Looks like this poor bastard could have done with drinking this, it's frost resistance." She dropped it. "It's been here who knows how long, probably long since spoiled."
Serana stepped beyond it to glance around the chamber beyond, eyes still avoiding the shrine in the centre. The frozen Falmer near the door had company. "These Falmer are frozen in ice… I wonder how long they've been like this." She grimaced, shivering in sympathy with Sithia. "And I thought the Soul Cairn was creepy."
"At least they don't stink while frozen."
They moved into the room beyond the first frozen Falmer, skirting around the edges to keep as far away as possible from the shrine. At the sight of several damaged pillars, Serana eyed the ceiling a little nervously, hoping it wouldn't suddenly collapse on them. It had stayed up this long, surely it'd stay up a while longer?
They sidled past the shrine to more doors, similarly ornate to the first, but with open latticework. The doors swung open, the creak of the hinges eerie in the frozen Chantry.
"More Falmer icicles," Sithia muttered, pointing inside the shadowy hall beyond the doors.
"And some skeletons." Serana saw the bleached bones easily in the gloom, presumably of the Snow Elves slaughtered by the Falmer.
Sithia nodded. "Gelebor said almost all of them were killed during the Falmer attack… But I'm surprised to see it looks like the bodies were left where they fell. Falmer eat people, man or mer." She sighed. "Yet are we really any better than them? Being vampires and all."
"I don't literally eat people. Just drink their blood." Serana attempted not to sound too insulted out of habit, but knew Sithia could feel it through their bond.
"Unlike most vampires. Or were the hunks of… bodies… on the tables in your father's hall just for show? I've also seen plenty of bloodied bones that had been gnawed on in caves infested by lesser vampires."
Serana winced. Much as she wanted to claim those vampires gave the rest of them a bad name, it was the majority who seemed to feast on flesh as well as blood. "…I'm admittedly not your average vampire. My mother doesn't eat flesh either, even if my father's more barbaric sometimes."
"While I don't intend to remain a vampire for long… Don't let me sink to his level, all right?"
Serana grimaced. She closed her eyes and tried to dampen the fresh surge of pain at the thought of Sithia breaking this bond, but probably wasn't entirely successful. When she opened her eyes, she found Sithia had moved to inspect the nearest frozen Falmer. It was clutching something shiny. A circlet? Sithia prised it loose from the frozen grip.
The Falmer moved. It hissed, flailing at Sithia. She screamed, more in shock than pain, catching its hands before it could do more than scratch her. Serana hurled an ice spike into its head, smashing it. The rest of it shattered too, falling to the floor.
Sithia picked up the circlet, admiring it before stowing it in her pack. She looked upwards, sighing with relief as she felt the same thing Serana did: outside the sun was setting. Good. They might need the benefits the night brought against Vyrthur. Who knew what a priest of Auriel could use against them?
Serana eyed the rest of the frozen Falmer. Were they about to come alive too? She blinked. Sithia was sidling up to the next one, eyes on the staff it was holding.
"Sithia, no."
Sithia took the staff. Serana groaned. The Falmer came alive again, only for Sithia to whack it with her newly acquired staff. With vampiric strength behind the blow, the Falmer shattered. Sithia cackled and skipped over to the next one. Serve her right if she ended up snapping the staff…
Taking a necklace from the next one woke all but one of the Falmer, and one of the frozen overgrown bug pets they kept. Serana sighed, and helped her impulsive fledgling smash all of them into smithereens.
Sithia collected the shiny bait they'd dropped and stashed it in her enchanted pack. Then she approached the last Falmer. It held a scroll. Serana swatted Sithia's hand away before she could take it.
"No. Enough play, we have a job to do."
Sithia pouted but followed Serana. They passed under some more archways, the stone underfoot sometimes cracked and broken. The Chantry was a bleak place, especially in the cold blue light emitted by some plinths. Closer examination revealed glowing ice. Had the Chantry always been so cold? Did Snow Elves have inborn frost resistance to rival Nords or something?
They went through an open doorway into another hall with some broken pillars, and an icy wall to the side with a gap in it, wide enough to slip through into an icy cavern with cold blue light shining from above. A cavern that became an icy passage around a curve and past frozen, broken stone pillars and walls leaning in, forming a long archway with a passage underneath.
"Where is this sodding Snow Elf? I'm so thirsty…" Sithia's snarl ended with a plaintive whine. Poor fledgling.
Finally they emerged into a hall lined with more pillars and frozen Falmer, the roof with large cracks in it but otherwise intact. And at the back of the hall… A short stairway up to a throne, with what had to be Vyrthur lounging on it, head propped up, leaning on one elbow. He looked very much like Gelebor, and was clad in the same sort of white armour.
A sheet of clear ice blocked the way to Vyrthur, also concealing his scent. Come to that, it also masked his heartbeat. Was he responsible for the ice? Both the sheet protecting him, and for the rest of it in the Chantry? And for the frozen Falmer?
"Did you really come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?" Vyrthur's voice was as imperious and drawling as an elf's could be, somehow unmuffled by the ice. Golden eyes glared down at them. Gelebor's eyes were an icy blue, weren't they? Maybe that was the difference between him and Gelebor? Besides the hair length, Gelebor's shorn short, Vyrthur's worn long.
Vyrthur's smirk was clear even through the ice, his eyes fixed on Sithia as she stalked up the steps.
"You've done exactly as I predicted and brought your fetching companion to me," he sneered.
Serana paused at the foot of the steps. "Wait, is he talking about me?"
Sithia looked back at her. "I guess so? He probably doesn't mean it like a Dunmer would. Fetcher is a Dunmeri insult."
Vyrthur ignored them. "Which, I'm sorry to say, means your usefulness is at an end!" He raised the hand which he wasn't leaning on, casting some sort of spell.
"I'll drain you dry!" Sithia snarled, punching at the ice. Even with vampiric strength it only left a tiny crack.
Vyrthur laughed.
Serana looked around, wondering what his spell had done. Cracking ice rang out behind them, and she readied her favoured spells. As she expected, the frozen Falmer came alive. All of the ones they'd seen had to be Vyrthur's work.
Sithia joined her, drawing Dragonbane. It cut through frozen Falmer every bit as easily as it did dragons. Soon all of the awakened Falmer were so much shattered ice on the ground.
"An impressive display, but a wasted effort," Vyrthur scoffed. "You delay nothing but your own deaths!" This time he raised both hands, casting a different spell.
Serana looked up at the ominous rumbling. "Watch out! He's pulling down the ceiling."
"No shit," Sithia hissed.
They both dodged the chunks of stone raining down, some coming uncomfortably close.
"Finish them!" Vyrthur's voice cut through the hall before the dust from the broken ceiling had even settled. The rest of the frozen Falmer and their chaurus pets attacked, only to reach the same shattered fate as their brethren.
"This has gone on long enough!" Vyrthur cried, casting yet another spell… A summoning spell, purple light fading away to reveal a giant frost atronach. It would be easier to kill Vyrthur than his frozen pet, and it should vanish with his death.
Serana dashed for the stairs, slashing her dagger at the ice blocking her way while Sithia kept the atronach busy. She wasn't having much more luck than Sithia's fists, but it was slowly chipping away. "Your life ends here, Vyrthur!"
"Child, my life ended long before you were born!"
Serana didn't have time to wonder what Vyrthur meant by that. He threw fallen parts of the ceiling at them, using telekinesis. Serana left her attempt at breaking through the ice to dodge, and gave it up as futile when the chunks of stone bounced off the barrier, leaving only surface damage. Instead she joined Sithia in killing the atronach.
The fall of his frosty pet enraged Vyrthur into standing. "No… I won't let you ruin centuries of preparations!"
Serana advanced again on the steps, Sithia beside her. "Surrender and give us the Bow!"
Vyrthur charged up some sort of advanced spell, glowing red-gold light building up around him. "Death first!" He released the magic, an almost blinding flash.
The roof and the pillars collapsed, and the wall behind him. Serana somehow managed to dodge it, breathing a sigh of relief that froze in her chest when she realised she couldn't see Sithia.
She frantically dug her out from under the rubble. Sithia looked up at her, dazed, blood trickling down her face from a gash just under her hairline.
"Are you alright? Come on, we can do this. I know we can!" Serana helped Sithia up.
Sithia at least healed fast with the blessing of the night, with no need to find out if her healing spells still worked. The foggy feeling Serana was getting from her vanished when she shook her head, presumably to clear it. She certainly didn't give a negative answer when she spoke:
"Right. Let's get that bastard."
They followed Vyrthur out onto the balcony, cornering him there. It was a long way down to the frozen lake below, the frigid wind blasting into their faces. Vyrthur was slumped down. Clearly his magical tantrum had taken it out of him.
Serana stepped closer, but still kept a wary distance. "Enough, Vyrthur! Give us the Bow."
Vyrthur glowered up at her. "How dare you! I was the Arch-Curate of Auri-El, girl. I had the ears of a god!"
Serana rolled her eyes at the outrage in his voice. "Until the Betrayed corrupted you. Yes, yes. We've heard this sad story."
"Gelebor and his kind are easily manipulated fools," Vyrthur jeered and straightened up. He stepped closer. "Look into my eyes, Serana. You tell me what I am."
Golden eyes. Wait… Glowing eyes… Serana abruptly realised what the ice barrier had blocked: there was no mortal heartbeat. Just another sluggish vampiric one. His scent wasn't Volkihar, of course, just a lesser vampire, if a very ancient one.
"You're… You're a vampire? But Auriel should have protected you…"
Sithia snarled. "You have got to be fucking kidding me! Isn't there any mortal around here I can eat?!"
"There's Gelebor, but… We need him. No eating Gelebor, got it?"
"No promises. I mean, I know we need him, but… I'm so thirsty!" Sithia clawed at her throat.
Vyrthur cleared his throat, looking most put out when they turned back to him. Oh, right, they were supposed to be paying attention to him. "As I was saying, the moment I was infected by one of my own initiates, Auri-El turned his back on me. I swore I'd have my revenge, no matter what the cost."
Serana exchanged an incredulous look with Sithia. "You want to take revenge on a god?"
Vyrthur waved a dismissive hand. "Auri-El himself may have been beyond my reach, 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…" That sounded all too familiar. Her mother's words rang in her mind. 'The Blood of Coldharbour's Daughter will blind the eye of the Dragon.' Serana stiffened as she realised what he meant. "It was you? You created that prophecy?"
"A prophecy that lacked a single, final ingredient… The blood of a pure vampire. The blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour." He sounded so very smug. Serana wanted to tear his head off. Her family, torn apart because of this corrupted priest?
"You were waiting all this time for someone with my blood to come along." Serana grabbed Vyrthur by the throat and lifted him up, his feet dangling. Her fangs extended in her fury, which made her lisp, but she was far too angry to care. "Well, too bad for you… I intend on keeping it. Let's see if your blood has any power to it!"
Vyrthur used strangely radiant magic to blast Serana away before she could bite him, freeing himself. Serana hissed. It burned like the sun. What business did a vampire have using magic like that?!
"Serana!" Sithia shouted, fury in every syllable. She stepped in front of Serana, facing Vyrthur as he readied more spells.
But not a ward, to his cost.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Vyrthur smashed through the barrier at the edge of the balcony, his haughty face a picture as shock mingled with pain.
Serana recovered fast, rushing to join Sithia at the broken railing, watching as Vyrthur plummeted to his doom on the frozen lake far below. He landed with a sickening crunch, the ice thick enough that it only splintered around him, but didn't dump him into the frigid water below.
Serana flinched as one last wayshrine rose behind them in the middle of the balcony. Gelebor stepped out of it, bringing with him the drumbeat of a mortal heart… and a mouthwatering scent after the stench of the Falmer.
Sithia stiffened, her eyes glowing brighter. Serana felt the secondhand burn of her thirst intensify through their bond. She pounced, pinning Sithia to the floor, interrupting her lunge towards Gelebor.
"Sithia, no! Gelebor, get back!"
Beneath her, Serana recognised the contortions heralding a transformation into the monstrous vampire lord form.
"Don't you dare transform!" She gritted her teeth and murmured an apology for Sithia's ears alone… and slapped her hard, halting the transformation. "Gelebor, go! I'll come to you when it's safe."
"…I see. She's a newly turned vampire. If you can keep her restrained, we can talk through one of the portals."
"Right." She'd still need to keep a very close eye on Sithia while they talked to Gelebor. The prospect of mortal blood might be too much for her, even where she could only see the bearer and not smell him. Serana considered getting Sithia to stay behind at a safer distance, but she couldn't risk it. Her fledgling needed to be within Serana's reach.
Gelebor's retreat was heralded by his heartbeat cutting off as he stepped through the portal. Serana stood, kept a tight hold on Sithia, and frogmarched her over to the wayshrine. The proximity to the Aedric influence on top of the shrine should help her get some semblance of control… Serana hoped. It had better be worth their mutual headache.
Gelebor was visible through the nearest portal, beckoning them closer. "Can you hear me?" his voice was faint, even to vampire ears.
"Just about. Don't speak any quieter." Serana raised her voice to be sure he could hear.
Gelebor nodded. "Is she all right?" He glanced at Sithia, still straining in Serana's arms.
"She will be."
"I presume you had to turn her for some reason?"
Serana nodded grimly. "She would have died otherwise."
"I see. I am sorry." He sighed. "There's not much else I can say. Except that the deed has been done. The restoration of this wayshrine means that Vyrthur must be dead, and the Betrayed no longer have control over him."
Serana shook her head. "They weren't to blame. Vyrthur was a vampire, he controlled the Falmer."
"A vampire? I see. That would explain much. Deep inside, it brings me joy that the Betrayed weren't to blame for what happened here."
Though still tense against Serana, Sithia had come back to her senses enough to clear her throat and ask: "Why?"
"Because that means there's still hope that they might one day shed their hatred and learn to believe in Auri-El once again. It's been a long time since I felt that way and it's been long overdue. My thanks, to both of you."
"You're welcome," they chorused. Serana looked away from Gelebor. It would be beyond tactless to tell him that the Dwemer had changed the Betrayed so that their souls were like those of animals, not people. That would crush Gelebor's hope that the Falmer could remember who they were. But was it right to withhold it from him when it was a false hope? Serana didn't know. Sithia didn't speak up either, and it felt like she was similarly conflicted beyond the ache of thirst.
Gelebor continued speaking, distracting Serana from the ethical dilemma: "You both risked everything to get Auri-El's Bow, and in turn, you've restored the Chantry. I can't think of a more deserving champion to carry it than either of you. If you wish to learn more about the Bow, or obtain sunhallowed arrows for it, I'd be more than happy to help. You've but to ask. Please, take the Bow. It's yours."
The Bow materialised behind them, where the water basin had been in the other wayshrines. Serana turned to look, taking Sithia with her. "It's not as shiny as I was expecting. Still, it's beautiful."
That said, she had to look away. It was as bad as a shrine to look at for longer than a few seconds. At least it wasn't as bad as a shrine to be in close proximity to, but every bit as unpleasant as the midday sun.
"Let go," Sithia murmured. "I promise Gelebor's safe. I need to try to take that thing."
Serana released her, muttering another apology. She felt deep inside that she wouldn't be able to take it or use it herself. Not in its uncorrupted state, anyway, and that was exactly what they were trying to avoid. It meant it should be a lethal weapon to use against her father; he'd have a similar reaction to her.
"So this is the bow Auriel supposedly used against Lorkhan…" Sithia murmured, audibly gritting her teeth as she stepped closer to it.
"Yes. Its craftsmanship has no equal anywhere within Tamriel and possibly beyond." Gelebor sounded a little too like Vyrthur while extolling the precious Bow's virtues. "It draws its power from Aetherius itself, channelling it through the sun. Therefore, when an arrow is loosed from the Bow, it produces a magical effect very similar to being burned by fire."
"Sounds powerful," Serana said, for lack of anything else. Gelebor was helping them, it'd be rude to ignore him. She regretted it when he continued.
"That's actually only a fraction of its potential. With sunhallowed arrows, it produces a much more spectacular effect, causing bursts of sunlight to envelop your foes. The sunbursts would certainly hurt anything, but are especially devastating to the undead."
Change the subject, change the subject… Serana latched onto the madness started by Vyrthur and continued by her father. Not the happiest subject, but it was of course on her mind. "Vyrthur said something about using blood."
"Well, using an arrow with the Bow that's been dipped in blood may cause it to function differently, corrupting its purpose. That's of course if you're foolish enough to try it."
Foolish. That was an understatement, considering the chaos that would erupt. But wait… Gelebor was talking about doing it to just an arrow, not to the Bow itself. Did that mean it wouldn't be permanent? Not that it changed anything. Her father would settle for nothing less than a true end to the Tyranny of the Sun.
Sithia started to reach for the Bow, but paused, looking back over her shoulder at Gelebor. "How do we get sunhallowed arrows?"
"I can assist you in that regard. With good quality elven arrows, I could imbue them with the proper incantations and rituals. It takes time, though, so I can only prepare a few."
"I don't have any arrows," Sithia stated. Unsurprising for someone who didn't carry a bow.
"I have some, but only a limited number. For the favour you did me, I will provide them free of charge. I shall get started on making them now, it should only take a day or so." Gelebor moved out of view, presumably to find these arrows to bless.
"Guess we could go hunting and then return for the arrows," Serana suggested.
"Yes. So thirsty... " Sithia shuddered. "But first, the Bow. I'd rather not leave it here, in case your father's minions find this place."
Sithia's hand closed around it. She stifled a scream, snatching her hand away. The gauntlet over it was smoking and crumbled away before their eyes. Her skin underneath was an angry red, burned even through the gauntlet. Sithia paced up and down, hissing, until the pain Serana could feel almost like her own faded. She didn't even need to ask if Sithia was all right, but still felt the urge.
"Well, shit. Void take me, I can't take it. Can you?"
"No. I'd have even more problems than you, purer blooded, remember?" Serana murmured.
"Could a thin blooded vampire?"
"I don't know. I'm more worried about thralls. Aedric influences won't put them off. While we could get our own thrall, I won't enthral Gelebor. He's suffered enough." Serana looked away, swallowing hard. "A thrall won't be good enough with the Bow anyway. We have to go to Morthal." Perhaps they could find a suitable thrall in Morthal or on the road, but Serana wasn't about to trust any thrall with Auriel's Bow against her father. Another reason for Sithia to cure herself. They needed the Bow. She pulled her hood up. Not that it would make any difference, even if Sithia couldn't see her crying, she'd feel it. Hear it too, with her vampiric senses.
Sithia embraced her from behind. "I hate that I'm hurting you. Don't you see, there's no other way?"
"I know," Serana whispered, her voice raw. She swiped at her cheeks. "The Bow—"
"I don't just mean the Bow. Or how I don't want this bond. No, I mean for us. This is going to poison things between us if it doesn't end. I don't want to hate you."
"It might… We might…"
"We might get used to it?" Sithia shook her head. "I don't want to risk it. I don't want to risk us. But it's a moot point. Whatever this cure will do to this bond, I have to do it. We need the Bow. And after your father is dealt with, I need to go to Sovngarde. With what mere shrines do, there's no way vampires can go there." She looked down at the remains of her gauntlet. "And I need a new gauntlet, but that will have to wait until I'm cured."
Serana nodded. "We need to move. If we take the portal back to Gelebor's campsite, there must be a route he uses to get supplies from the surface." She looked through the portal and spotted the elf. "Damn it, it's the same one he went through. I need to restrain you."
Sithia tried to stifle a whine. "I know, I know, we need him still. For those arrows, if nothing else. I don't get the impression he cares what we might do with the Bow, even after what you asked about the effects of blood. It's just as well we're here before your father's minions, I just hope that'll still be the case after I do what I have to in Morthal."
"I'd better have a word with him." Serana figured she'd better do it, as Sithia would probably be lost to bloodlust instead.
They passed through the portal, Serana keeping a tight hold of Sithia. Gelebor was fiddling with some golden arrows by the shrine in the cave.
He looked over. "I still need time to make these sunhallowed."
"We know, we just have something important to do," Serana explained. "We can't take the Bow yet. And while we're gone, there's a chance that hostile vampires might come. They can't get the Bow. They want to use it to corrupt the sun. We want to use it to stop them, but to do that one of us has to be mortal again."
"…I see. There's a hidden passage over there that will return you to the surface. I'll be on the lookout for other vampires. Don't worry, I'll see any off with the Bow even if I haven't got sunhallowed arrows ready by that point."
"Glad to hear it. We'll be back as soon as possible." Serana spoke for Sithia as well as she was currently incapable of coherent speech, struggling in her grip.
"You'll find me by the Bow. As an added security measure. You see, the Bow and I will be safe enough unless these vampires somehow perform the pilgrimage without an ewer. Only those that have performed it can use the portals, Vyrthur as Arch-Curate did something to sever that connection, and even then it only worked until the next pilgrimage."
"That's good. Speaking of the ewer, do you want it back?"
"It seems you have your hands full at the moment. Give it to me when you return for the Bow. I'll have those arrows ready for you then too."
"Sithia, come on…"
Sithia growled, straining towards Gelebor. Serana sighed and lifted her off her feet, walking away from the Snow Elf. If she had to carry Sithia out of here she would. Hopefully they'd find someone her poor fledgling could feed on between here and Morthal… And that Serana could keep her from murdering any innocents. Maybe there was a Forsworn settlement nearby? Or some bandits?
"Come on, I know it's dinnertime for you, but we've got to find a suitable meal first. Outside."
"Out… side…" Sithia rasped, far enough from the meal she desperately wanted to regain her wits.
"Yes. Not Gelebor."
"Not Gelebor?"
"Absolutely not."
Sithia sighed. She wasn't struggling anymore, and Gelebor was distant enough for Serana to let her go, although she stayed behind Sithia in the passage, blocking the way back.
Serana grimaced. She had a bad feeling about this. Time to check the map, and get Sithia to make it show their route. If the enchantment hadn't been broken by turning Sithia. A frantic check revealed it hadn't, although Sithia was clawing at the map and trying to lick the drop of her own blood off. Damn it. They'd have to risk it without the magical map. Sithia couldn't focus enough to use it.
Serana wondered about going back to ask Gelebor to provide some blood. Not directly, they couldn't risk that, but perhaps there was an unbroken bottle he could bleed into? It would delay their leaving though, and they couldn't afford to waste time when her father's vampires might be on their trail… with thralls who could take the Bow. No, they'd just have to hope they'd run into someone suitable on the way to Morthal. While going there without the map to help them. This wasn't going to be easy… Unless it made it more likely they'd run into suitable trouble? A Thalmor patrol would be ideal.
AN: I'm aware that readers might not be best pleased with Sithia. Rest assured she's not best pleased with herself either. In her defence she didn't ask to be vampired, and she'd be overwhelmed with being a fledgling vampire even without the intrusive bond with Serana. If Sithia had no flaws she would have reacted differently. But as I'm sure you're all aware by now, Sithia is far from flawless.
Thanks to Gaunty for alpha reading.