Chapter 17: Not Alone Anymore

Gelebor...

"Great. A dead end. What now?" Serana huffed.

My eyes flickered back and forth between the journal and the wall of ice. "I do not understand. The map states that there is a passage through these glaciers, but, I do not see it."

Serana strode over and threw her hand out in front of me. "Give me that old book; you're probably reading it wrong."

My grip around the journal tightened and I kept it out of her reach. "I have a better understanding of the journal than you do, and I highly doubt you could comprehend the meaning of some of the words, even if you could read it. I am the only one out of the both of us who can read my kin's language, so I doubt you could find something that I do not already know."

"Well you're the one that brought us here," she argued and rubbed her temples. " Look, I'll search this side, you search that side. Maybe the passageway is hidden or something."

"Perhaps you are right."

She placed her hands on the ice in an attempt to find the passageway. I looked back at the journal.

It had been two days since Emelin was taken. The burden of her loss weighed heavily on my mind, and each time I closed my eyes, I was reminded of what had happened. I should have seen the betrayed, if it even was a betrayed, before it snatched her and dragged her away from us. I should have protected her. I should have turned around sooner. I should have-

I leaned my forehead against the ice, the coolness dulled my senses and allowed me to think. Even though my thoughts lingered on what happened, I knew thinking about it would not change any of it, but I had been like that for the previous two days. I argued with myself, played the scenario repeatedly in my mind and thought of ways I could have prevented her fate. But in the end all I could do was pray to Auri-El, but it seemed that even He had left me to my guilt. It was like back at the Chantry, just after the betrayed had slaughtered all but my brother and I. I prayed to Auri-El, but he did not answer. Even after years, decades of waiting for an answer, none came. Traveller after traveller braved the pilgrimage in search of Auri-El's bow, but none survived. When Emelin arrived, I thought nothing of her. I knew by her attire that she was no simple traveller. Her robes spoke of magic, a mage no less, but even mages fall at some point. I told her my story, like I did to countless others, and even though I had learned long ago not to waste my hope on a feat that I thought would never be accomplished, I did for her.

My eyes parted and I sighed heavily, the guilt slowly disappeared, but I knew it would always be at the back of my mind, like an illness.

The light from my armour reflected off of an object imbedded into the snow. I tapped the object with my foot and a wave of bewilderment and joy overcame me. I wasted no time and grabbed the necklace as if it would disappear within a matter of seconds.

The necklace bore the symbol of Auri-El, one that I knew Emelin kept on her at all times. It was her necklace, which meant that she must have come through our way.

"Serana!" I yelled which got the Nord to sprint over to me.

"What is it? Did you find something?" She asked.

For the first time in the last few days I allowed myself to smile. "Here," I said and showed her the necklace, "is this not Emelins?"

Her eyes widened and a smile tugged at her lips. "It is! She must have come through this way, but where? I still don't see anything but ice."

I knelt down and searched where the necklace was. Out of the corner of my eye I caught the smallest movement within the ice and a flash of white, almost like a small bolt of lightning.

I stood up and carefully placed my hand upon the ice. To both our surprises, the ice faded away and in its place was a mirror image of us. The tiny bolts of lightning danced in the corners of the portal and around my hand were ripples on the watery surface.

"Is that-"

"A portal," I stated and allowed my hand to pass through. After a moment I pulled my hand back. There were no damages which proved that the portal was safe to enter.

I stepped forward but was pulled back by Serana.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked. "We have no idea where this portal leads. We may find more of those creatures."

"If Emelin is through there, we must risk it."

She knew what I said was true and let go of my arm.

I slowly inhaled and pressed my hand against the portal's surface once more. I was about to pass through when both Serana and I heard the snow shuffle behind. On instinct, I unsheathed my mace.

We were outnumbered, but not by the beings I had expected.

"Impossible," I whispered, the shock must have been evident in my face. I was aware that my mouth was open and that I almost lost my grip on my mace.

My kin surrounded us, swords and bows aimed and ready for battle. The fair skinned race kept their eyes pinned on us and waited for their commands.

One of the snow elves left the crowd. He took off his helmet and kept his attention on me.

"You there, you are one of us," he commented, but to my surprise, it was in my language, not Nordic that Serana would understand. "Who are you?"

I lowered my mace and stepped forward. "I am Knight Paladin Gelebor, the last of the knights and priests that worship the god Auri-El in the Chantry of Auri-El."

The mer tilted his head, as if he did not recognise my status and authority. "Chanty of Auri-El?"

My eyes narrowed and I started to suspect that something was wrong. "You must be aware of the chantry's existence."

The expression on the mer told me he did not, however he must have believed that what I said was true, as he asked: "What happened to the rest of your people, paladin?"

I lowered my gaze. "The betrayed, our fallen brethren, were the cause of the attack on the chantry. They swept through the chantry without pause and killed any snow elf that stood in their way. I led a small group of paladins to try and turn the battle in our favor, but, we were no match for their sheer numbers."

The snow elf pinched the bridge of his nose. "More deaths," he sadly muttered. "How did you find your way here?"

I took the journal from my satchel and handed it to him. "This is a journal a friend of mine came across. It has a map to your location. I feared I was the last of my kind, but it seems that I was mistaken."

The mer smiled. "That you did, paladin."

He swept through the journal but paused at the second to last page. "Niribor Angnar..."

"You know of him?"

"Not for many years. You say you found this with him? Is he still alive?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm afraid not."

"That's a shame. He was a good mer, but not many would have said that about him."

He returned the journal to me, but his gaze quickly narrowed at Serana. He clenched his fists and drew his sword.

"What are you doing travelling with a traitor?" he yelled.

I held my hands up. "Traitor? I do not understand."

"You are accompanying a Nord! Her kind is what brought the downfall of our race and you dare travel with it!"

Serana blinked, obviously confused. "Wait, what?"

"You are mistaken," I said. "She is a friend of mine, an ally. She would never hurt one of our kind. I assure you."

"You are wrong, paladin!"

"It is you who are wrong! She has helped me a great deal in getting here. I give you my word as a Knight Paladin of Auri-El, no harm will come to you from either her or I!"

The mer narrowed his eyes at the both of us and turned to the other snow elves. "You will follow us, paladin and Nord. Our lord will determine whether you are telling the truth or not."