I leave the city via the back gate and head along the road. The sun is just peeking over the mountains, and the birds are happy in the golden trees. We pass a mercenary near a farm just off the road, and a little further on we meet our first opponent of the day; a lone, foolish thief. He proves to be as weak as the others we've met, and so does the crazed Orc we encounter a short way on. I decide to run with my crossbow drawn, as it's actually quite difficult to draw and fire in one go.
Ducking around a wandering farmer at a crossroad, we take the left turn and jog down the road through more silver-barked trees. The insect noise has finally died down, and I can finally hear myself think. Not that I'm thinking much in the first place; I'm concentrating too much on keeping an eye on our surroundings so we're not taken by surprise.
My alertness pays off, as just as we pass through another crossroads, an angry bear rears up from a thicket near the road and starts lumbering towards us. I manage to get one shot off, and Serana finishes off the brute as I reload. These things may be slow, but they don't half pack a punch!
At the entrance to the pass through to Helgen, a pair of wolves try their luck against us, and fall short of their expectations. The nearby trio of Thalmor leading a prisoner don't even flinch when one of my shots flies wide and zips past their leader's face, tugging a hole in the edge of his hood. Luckily they don't seem to care about that either, and so we are able to pass them without any trouble.
A short way up the road, not even out of sight of the Thalmor, we meet a trio of Imperial soldiers, also guarding a prisoner. Dodging around them is a little difficult in the narrow pass, but we manage it with little fuss and continue on, past a hunter shooting at a fox. Her horse waits nearby, and it watches us as we leave the pass and take the trail around Helgen.
About halfway around, we are spotted by a bandit carrying a massive battleaxe, and he comes charging towards us. Aiming carefully, I pull the trigger of my crossbow, and the bolt slams into his face so hard he does a backflip before landing heavily on his back, dead.
Reaching the road again, I decide to detour to Riverwood for a short time to deposit some things in my borrowed chest and to sell the things I'd recently gathered and made. Taking the right turn at the end of the short approach to the ruined town, the cobbles peter out into a dirt track that winds down the cliffy mountainside and into the back of the small logging town.
Heading into the inn, Serana elects to stay in the common room while I head downstairs and drop the things I want to keep into the chest. Returning to the common room, I head out and go next door to the Trader to sell off the things I don't want to keep. A few minutes later, we're leaving the store, several pounds lighter and many septims richer. The sun hasn't yet reached its midday peak, and as we head back down the road south-eastwards, everything is quiet – until we pass a pair of wolves near the road.
I barely have time to raise my crossbow when Serana finishes them both off. Leaving them where they fell, I lead Serana up the road, taking the right turn where the road joins the lead up to Helgen and heading through a small patch of ruined stonework. Ahead of us, I spot a bear lingering on the edge of the road, so I decide to strike first and hit the beast square in the flank. I seem to be getting the hang of using a crossbow – my reload time is my quickest yet and the bear has barely closed half the distance before my second bolt slays it.
The road turns as it approaches the lake – Ilinalta, I think it's called – and follows the bank and the edge of the start of the pine forests of Falkreath Hold. That reminds me – I got a letter from the Jarl of Falkreath, didn't I? Something to look into when I can, I suppose.
A pair of wolves, seemingly overhearing my thoughts, decide that that is a bad idea and try to pose an argument against it, but their attempts at debate fail, and we leave them behind to the crows. Nodding to a hunter as we pass, we follow the road further into the hold and are surprised by a pair of skeletons from a nearby burial site. They're too close to even really bother with my crossbow, so ducking under the first's attack, I lash out with a strong kick and send the skeleton scattering across the grass towards the lake. Serana deals with the other just as swiftly and we carry on, taking the left turn deeper into the forest.
The sun, having reached its zenith, casts a brilliant light through the thick needles of the dense trees, and a little way ahead of us a young deer bursts out of the undergrowth and darts across the road. I glance at Serana, and she's wearing the same goofy grin I feel on my face. There's something so cheering about a quiet walk through peaceful woodland.
As we reach the road down into the town of Falkreath, I instead take the right hand road up around the back of the buildings and up atop a hill. We soon find a track leading towards the mountains where the glade is marked on my map, so I head along it; only to find that it leads to a ruined tower just inside the trees. A broken sign outside it marks it as Peak's Shade Tower, and its only occupant is a spriggan. As much as I hate killing these forest guardians, I don't hesitate to raise my crossbow and shoot first, slaying the creature in one shot.
The chest inside the tower doesn't hold much, but there are still a couple of things of worth inside, so after tucking my proceeds into my bag I return to the road and continue in the north-easterly direction that it leads. A little way beyond where the road through Falkreath re-joins our path, a pair of bandits guard a wooden structure constructed across the road. Crouching just in front of a nearby bush, I manage to snipe one then the other without either noticing me or having time to react. One of them, however, must have fallen onto a lever or something, because two boarded panels, one on each side of the structure, fall to release a load of large rocks onto the road. One of the boulders hits an unfortunate elk who had chosen that moment to run underneath, killing the poor beast in one blow.
About half a mile up the road, we encounter a troll hanging around where another track up into the mountains joins the road. While the beast is attempting to look threatening by jumping and pummelling at the ground, I raise my crossbow and land one good shot in its third eye, before finishing it off using my Fire Breath Shout.
Following the track, we approach a small brook babbling down the rocks – and a trio of bandits welcome us to their tiny camp. Shooting a crossbow while walking backwards is no mean feat, but I somehow manage not to trip over anything while slaying the trio. When the last falls, I turn to see Serana has only just caught up. I don't know what could have – oh, wait. I think I understand the delay.
I take advantage of the tanner's rack to create leather and lessen the weight of my bag before continuing up the track and across a part where a landslide has covered the path. We're beyond the snowline now, and the wind is almost strong enough to blow us off of the mountain, but somehow we manage to make our way towards a cave that must be our destination.
"This must be the place." Serana says as we step inside, beyond the point where the snow has been blown in. It's quite dark, and moss hangs from the rock and a fallen log across a miniature chasm. The roof is high enough for the other small trees to flourish.
"Hmph… not very impressive, is it?" My vampire companion grumbles as we balance across the log. "If this ends up being a wasted trip, your friend Dexion and I are going to have some words when we get back."
Just as she finishes her complaint, we enter the main cavern, and by the Nine it is amazing! A crack in the roof allows a beam of light to hit a spot in the centre of the cavern, and the walls rise steadily, covered in bushes and flowers, most of which are surrounded by beautiful big brown moths. A few trees dot the cave, a couple of which I've never seen before; pretty pink flowers cover the branches instead of leaves. Those must be Canticle Trees.
"Wow – look at this place! No-one's been here in centuries. I doubt there's any other place like it in Skyrim. It's beautiful!" A very sudden change of tune from Serana.
I descend the steps cut into the rock, and head towards a plinth near the beam of light, upon which, somehow floating, is a strange double-handled knife – the Draw Knife. I take it and settle it in my hands, the wooden handles carved so that they fit perfectly in the palm.
"Well, we got the knife. Now all we need to do is track down one of those Canticle Trees."
There is one growing nearby, so I approach the short trunk and carefully scrape off a length of bark and tuck it up my sleeve. I attempt to replace the knife, but it just won't stay, so I tuck it into my bag – maybe Dexion can do something about it, being a Moth Priest.
"Hope the moths like that bark as much as Dexion said they would." Serana mumbles, and I head towards a small swarm of them. They immediately catch the scent of the bark up my sleeve, and start fluttering around me instead of the yellow flowers.
"Look at them… they've definitely taken a liking to you. And unless I'm seeing things, you're starting to… glimmer." I start trotting around the cavern, heading for every group of moths I see, until I have quite a number flittering around me. I feel so pretty!
"Whoa!" Serana says, and even I can see the glow around me, and the moths are… singing, is the only word I can find to describe it. "I think that might have been what we were waiting for. Let's head back up there and see if we can read the scrolls."
I head back to the centre of the cavern, making sure the moths can keep up with me, and when we reach the beam of light I retrieve the Elder Scrolls from my bag, and unfurl the first.
My surroundings disappear, and all I can see is the outline of Skyrim's north-western border. I let the scroll re-roll itself, and I open the second, adding a river to the image along with some mountains. This must be Haafingar I can see! Reading the third completes the image, adding the rest of the mountains, the roads and the symbols for Solitude and our destination, near the spring of the northern tributary of the Karth River. The image fades, and all I can see is a brilliant screen of white for a few seconds, until it fades, and my eyes readjust.
"Are you okay?" Serana asks worriedly. "Almost thought I lost you there… you went as white as the snow."
"Don't worry; I'm fine." I try and reassure her.
"I never trusted those damn scrolls. Who knows what those things could have done to you… just look at Dexion. What about Auriel's Bow? Do you know where we can find it?"
"It's in a place called Darkfall Cave."
"Then it's almost over. We can finally put an end to this ridiculous prophecy. Where is this Darkfall Cave?"
Wary of any followers, I respond: "The scroll gave me its exact location."
"Then let's get going. I want to get there before my father has a chance to track us down."
Judging by the gargoyle lumbering down the stairs towards us, it's already too late. I hurriedly draw my crossbow and slay the beast before it can get any closer, and Serana then raises it to aid us against the three thralls following it. The poor people – though probably bandits before being enthralled – have no chance to fight back. Leaving their corpses behind, I feel a small pang of regret that we have sullied the place by leading them here in the first place.
I guess it was lucky chance that I was sneaking up the stairs, as the pair of vampires controlling the thralls suddenly appear around the corner to see what happened – and die just as fast as their minions.
Along the trail outside, we are attacked again twice by vampires before we reach the road, and since the sun set while we were in the Glade, the creatures are in their element, putting up a stronger fight than those we've fought in daylight. Time to see what Falkreath has to offer by way of services, I turn down the road towards the town, famous for its graveyard.
"Did you see a dog out there?" a guard asks as we approach the edge of the town.
"No; some wolves, but no dogs."
"Ah, well." He sighs. "The blacksmith is offering a reward for a dog he saw on the road. I was hoping you'd seen it. I guess I'll stay on the lookout. Keep your nose clean while you're here, outsider." He returns to watching the road, and I lead Serana through the town to the Dead Man's Drink.
At least the bedrooms are quiet, even if the common room isn't!