//------------------------------//
// Vampire: Darkfall Cave 
// Story: Skyrim: The Faces of Death 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With their visit to Ancestor Glade finished, and the vampires who followed them had been defeated, the group returned to their carriage without delay and departed without delay, where Za'kera directed them from that point onward, as she was, thanks to the Elder Scrolls, the only one who knew where they were going next, this time more like a leader than what all of them were used to. It was like the three Elder Scrolls had awakened something inside her, boosting her own power for both this quest and the future that she wanted to set Skyrim on, building an army that would lay waste to the Aldmeri Dominion, but for now they had to focus on defeating Harkon and stopping his mission, hence why they were gathering Auriel's Bow to stop him. Such a thing was a repeat of what they did with Alduin, they found the weapon to take him down and convinced him to join up with their army, though he had been convinced by his father at some point as well, but time would tell if Harkon stepped down once he realized they had Auriel's Bow or if they were going to have to destroy him to make the vampires fall in line. Some of them had to see that joining forces with Za'kera's army was the smart thing, as it would allow them to preserve a place in history as saviors, instead of being dark beings who ruined everything, though she also knew that there was a chance that they would be foolish to stand against them and if that happened she knew that all of them would trample the vampires who chose to walk down the violent path.

What they discovered as they traveled was that Za'kera was leading them somewhere that was between Markarth and Solitude, while also being near the border with High Rock, though nothing seemed interested in attacking them, where it told them that Kynareth had to be on their side and was having the wildlife ignore them, something they were thankful for since it saved them precious time. Another thing they discovered was that no bandits or Forsworn bothered them, why she had no idea and honestly she didn't care about those who lived out in the Reach, but at the very least it allowed the group to rest up, especially since they had no idea what was waiting for them in Darkfall Cave, since it was where Auriel's Bow was supposed to be resting. Amaryllis had to wonder why no one had found the bow if it was hidden inside a cave, but as she thought about that she realized that all sorts of artifacts were rumored to have been found, or at least some of them based on the rumors that had been going around the guards, though there was also the chance that the bow might be in a deeper part of the cave, one no one has found yet, so she guessed they would find it first. Other than that there was nothing she could do and remained sitting in the carriage as they followed Za'era's instructions to reach the cave that held the bow, knowing that this part of their quest would be over soon enough and they could focus on Miraak before worrying about the other provices that existed on this continent.

With nothing to interrupt them Amaryllis found that they were able to reach the area that Darkfall Cave rested in and, as soon as Za'kera nodded her head, brought the carriage to a stop outside it, where she climbed out and everyone else did the same thing, though as they walked towards it each of them readied their weapons for whatever might be guarding the cave and the bow. As Za'kera followed the cave's path they found a frostbite spider along the way and Wind took it out as she loosed a Lightning Bolt at it, allowing everyone to continue moving forward, because since they were after a bow like this there was no telling how many guards might between them and their final target, such as Falmer and whatever else might be hiding inside this place. One thing they walked by was a secret entrance that was blocked off right now, no that any of them were surprised by that since most caves and ruins had such a thing carved into their walls, though most of their attention was on what they found at the end of the path, it was a lone wooden bridge that looked like it was about to collapse, despite the appearance it gave off. When they walked onto it, however, they discovered that it lead nowhere and that it rested above a drop, one that would land them in a river that likely flowed to another section of the cave, though as soon as everyone stepped onto the bridge their weight caused the rope to snap without delay, causing them to fall into the depths of this part of Darkfall Cave.

The river snatched them without delay and pulled everyone deeper into the cave, where it dropped them into a cavern of sorts that had a few large spiders hanging from the ceiling, where Amaryllis forced herself out of the water and stabbed all three of her targets before they could drop down into the river and attack them when they reached whatever was at the end of the river, which seemed to be a stream.

"Is everyone alright?" Za'kera asked, though as she said that, after reaching the end of the river and pulling herself free from it, she realized that her attire was drenched from what they had been through, where she was pleased to find that Amaryllis had taken care of some of the spiders so they didn't have to deal with any surprises before exploring the rest of the cave that was in front of them.

"It would seem so." Wind remarked, as while everyone was drenched from traveling in a river, something they hadn't been expecting when they decided to come to this cave in the first place, it seemed like no one was injured from it and that all they had to worry about was sitting by a fire to dry their attire, least they suffer from hypothermia or something, before she glanced at the section of the cave that was in front of them right now, "Though it looks like we might be dealing with a few more spiders."

Sure enough they had to slash and blast their way through a few more of the smaller spiders, as the area was covered in cobwebs and opened egg sacks lined the walls, and there was a short tunnel that happened to have a massive spider at the end of it, one Amaryllis stabbed from behind before it even realized they were there, allowing the others to continue through this section of Darkfall Cave without having to worry about it attacking them from behind. After that they headed up a hill and found a campsite, as in someone else had come to this place and set up a place to rest, despite the spiders that were here and whatever else was in front of them, but there was a lit campfire and they took a few moments to stand there, allowing the flames to dry their attire before worrying about heading even deeper. While they did that Amaryllis did locate a rope connected to a trap and activated it without delay, finding that whoever made the camp had set up a rock trap to deal with whatever might be coming from the path that they needed to travel down, though once all of them were no longer moving she and Wind used their telekinesis to move some out of the way, forming a path for everyone to take when it was time to move. A few moments later they headed down the other hill and passed through their makeshift path, though Za'kera made sure everyone was armed this time, as there was no telling what might be waiting for them and she wanted everyone ready to go in case they got into a fight with whatever enemies were lurking in this cave, bringing them to a cavern that had two trolls and, more importantly, a figure off in the distance standing near something.

As it turned out the trolls were easy to take down and they walked around the cavern so they could see who they might be dealing with, where Amaryllis and Wind discovered that the figure in question was a fair skinned elven figure who wore a set of armor that was unlike anything they had seen before, as while it seemed elven in nature it was different from what all of them had seen, and he was standing near a domed structure that was resting near him, plus he had a sun shaped shrine off to his left.

"Come forward." the elven being said, where he stopped his praying, as it looked like he had been holding his hands up as he faced the shrine of his god, since it had to belong to one of the many gods that resided in this world, before turning to face Za'kera and the others as they walked out of the area that both trolls had been resting in, though his tone felt warm and inviting with no sinister intentions, "You have nothing to fear here."

"What is that? I can feel some kind of power resonating from it..." Serana inquired, referring to the sealed structure that was behind the figure, showing that her focus was more on the dome and less on the elf, though she kept her voice low so only they could hear her speak, despite the fact that Amaryllis was sure that he might have heard her speak, but if he did it didn't look like he cared to share anything just yet.

"I am Za'kera, the Dragonborn of legend, and these are my traveling companions," Za'kera stated, figuring that since they were in a somewhat peaceful area, since the shrine and the area surrounding it seemed totally peaceful, she might as well speak to the figure, hence why she sheathed her weapons and everyone else followed her lead, Amaryllis being first once more, which she figured would happen since she had a habit of following her lead, while taking a moment to introduce all of them to the elf.

"I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor. Welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El." the elf said, something that caused them to pause for a moment, because they weren't expecting him to say something like that, especially since this cave didn't seem like the sort of thing that would be attached to a god's temple or even a place of worship, though Amaryllis could tell that this place once held some sort of significance to the elf.

"Wait... this cave is a temple to Auriel?!" Wind asked, which she supposed made sense in some manner, given that he had a shrine and a building of some kind resting near his camp, a small thing that looked like it was only a bedroll and a table, so he didn't have much comforts in this place and made her wonder why he would reside in a place like this, though she was also surprised by the information he was sharing with them.

"Auriel, Auri-El, Alkosh, Akatosh... so many different names for the sovereign of the Snow Elves." Gelebor remarked, where it sounded like he was highly amused by something, no doubt how each god seemed to have multiple names, given all of the various cultures that existed in this world, before he held a hand up as several of them noticed that he used the term 'Snow Elves', speaking about a long dead species of elf, the original form of the Falmer, "No, I do not mean Falmer, as I can see that all of you thought about that when I said the term 'Snow Elf', which I prefer... the name you all thought about, as I uttered those words, usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers. Those twisted creatures that you call Falmer, I call the 'Betrayed'."

"I see, then we will address you as you desire." Za'kera said, where she stepped up to be the speaker of their group, which the others were fine with since it meant she might ask the right questions while they imagined what else might be lurking in this cave, even though she glanced over at the structure for a moment, returning her attention to Gelebor, "I imagine you know why we're here."

"Of course, you and your companions are here for Auriel's Bow. Why else would you be here?" Gelebor stated, showing all of them that he clearly understood why they were here and that he might be willing to assist them in finding the bow, or at least Amaryllis hoped so, even though she knew that they could just leave and Harkon wouldn't be able to find it, not with them possessing all three Elder Scrolls, "I can help you get it, but first I must have your assistance. I need you to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur, my... my brother."

"You want us to track down and kill your brother?" Amaryllis repeated, because while she could understand it if Gelebor had asked them to kill someone like Harkon, or someone who was an enemy of the Snow Elves, the fact that he wanted his own brother dead caused most of them to pause for a moment, though Lynthia was the only one who didn't care, given her nature as one of Molag's kids, "Why would you ask such a thing?"

"The kinship between us is gone." Gelebor replied, where Amaryllis and Wind could tell that while he had no trouble asking this of them, in fact there might have been others before them that he asked to do this and they failed to defeat Vyrthur, he was also saddened by having to ask someone to kill his brother, even though he was hiding that fact from all of them, as if he didn't want to show weakness, "I don't understand what he's become, but he's no longer the brother I once knew. It was the Betrayed... they did something to him, I just don't know why Auri-El would allow this to happen. What happened was that a large number of the Betrayed swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone there, without pause. Let me tell you this, before you ask questions and voice your outrage: the Chantry was a place of peaceful worship, with no need for any real guards. I led a small group of paladins, but we were no match for the Betrayed's sheer numbers, as they slaughtered everyone and stormed the Inner Sanctum, where I believe they corrupted Vyrthur."

"You don't even know if he's alive." Serana stated, because while she was fine with going through all of that to get the bow, since it sounded rather straightforward when she thought about it, part of this conversation screamed that he had next to no idea that his brother was still somewhere in the Inner Sanctum, wherever that was, and that they might be fools to aid him in this mission.

"He's alive, as I have seen him during my time surveying the Betrayed... but, well, something's wrong, as he never looks as though he's in pain or under duress." Gelebor continued, showing them that he understood how all of this sounded and that he had more information to share with them before they came to a conclusion on the matter, even though they knew that to get Auriel's Bow this was the only thing they could do, "He just... stands there and watches, as though waiting for something specific to happen. I know, most of you are thinking that I could have gotten into the Inner Sanctum and ended this on my own, but I'm afraid that it's not quite that simple, as leaving the wayshrines unguarded would be violating my sacred duty as a Knight-Paladin of Auriel, and an assault on the Betrayed guarding the Inner Sanctum would only end with my death."

In that moment, as Wind asked about the wayshrine, Gelebor beckoned for them to follow him as he quickly walked over to the odd structure that was resting nearby, where he gathered some magic in his right hand, which looked more like a bit of solar energy, before launching it into the air and it struck the top of the structure, causing everything to shift as they watched as a shrine pulled out of the ground. What they discovered was that there was a basin in the center of it and that there were several walls that looked blank, with a single one that had what appeared to be a portal of some kind, though as that happened Gelebor told them more about what needed to be done to enter the Inner Sanctum, as they needed to carry an elegant ewer and collect water from the basins of five wayshrines, so there were five more for them to find after they left this area. Of course the wayshrines were guarded by spectral Snow Elves, Prelates he called them, and they were going to allow them to access each basin as if they had been enlightened, something he told them about, but once all five wayshrines had been visited they would be required to pour the contents of the ewer into a basin that rested right in front of the Inner Sanctum, to unlock the door and bring them one step closer to Vyrthur. Serana and Lynthia, as they expected, either didn't care or didn't understand what the elf was talking about, where Gelebor informed them that it was symbolic to his people and he didn't expect them to actually understand a new culture as soon as they discovered it, even if he was happy to see Wind taking notes on his words, no doubt to show them to Ma'jera later.

Once they were done talking about the plan, and that there was more to their task than just wandering through some cave for an undetermined amount of time, Za'kera collected the ewer and handed it over to Wind, who would keep it safe while they faced their new test, before heading through the portal that was in front of them and disappeared, causing Amaryllis and the others to follow after her without delay.

On the other side of the portal they discovered that they had appeared on an ancient Snow Elf structure that seemed to be a shrine, a broken one, so the magic was enough to bring them here and wasn't strong enough to make a stable passage, so they were stuck in this cavern, to which everyone turned their attention to the path that was in front of them, a carved out path the Snow Elves had created, as they drew their weapons. Sure enough it became clear that they needed to guard themselves against the dangers of this cavern, as several Falmer dropped down into the areas in front of them and hissed, drawing the Chaurus that lived as their terrible pets and guardians, where Za'kera, Lydia, and Sharva stayed in front of the others as each hacked into the enemies that came at them. Serana, Wind, and Lynthia focused on using magic to smash all of the ranged foes that dared to strike at them, though Wind made sure to use some of her magic to heal any wounds that Za'kera and the others sustained, all while Amaryllis stuck to the shadows, using her new powers to disappear and attack the Falmer from their own shadows, taking them by surprise before they could react to her presence. Once more it made her wonder what in the world Dagon was going to ask of her, because it couldn't be good, though she had to admit that it was a good power this time around, especially as she swung both of her daggers and silenced a pair of Falmer at the back of the pack, allowing the others to catch up with her once they took out the enemies that were in their way.

What they discovered was that this cave was far darker than the other ones they had been in the past, including some odd plants that produced light and pulled themselves into their stems when someone was nearby, though they had to be very careful since there were all sorts of Falmer scattered around this part of the cave, especially in the larger areas that some camps were set up in. Despite all of that it didn't seem like there was much difference between this cave and the others, or at least it seemed to be that way when Amaryllis thought about it, though it didn't stop them from lashing out at all of the Falmer who called this place home, while avoiding traps by activating them before hand and occasionally drawing enemies away from larger groups to make their mission easier. No one wanted to speak while they walked, mostly signaling at each other with either head movements or even hand gestures, even Lynthia, despite all her attitude before this point, stayed silent and seemed fine with following Za'kera's lead, once more making Amaryllis and Wind wonder what her father might want from her, since she already recovered his mace and did whatever needed to be done to recover it. That part about all of this made Amaryllis wonder what the Daedric Princes were planning, because they wanted their children to recover or earn their artifacts, that part she understood since it proved their were their heirs or something, but after that she had no idea, since it seemed unlikely that they would willingly assist in Akatosh's plans.

She stared at Mehrunes' Razor as she stabbed a Chaurus Reaper, the biggest form the Chaurus could take before turning into a chrysalis and transforming into a flying bug, and wondered if Dagon was planning on using this for his own gain, to use the war against the Thalmor to do something foolish or stupid, before she sighed as she focused on their mission as the others slew more Falmer and progressed deeper into the cave.

In addition to all of that they passed by some areas that had large sections of flowing water, making them wonder where in the land they were, since the area near Darkfall Cave didn't have this much, save for the rushing river they had landed in earlier, but with all of the enemies that were in here there wasn't much time for them to talk about things, not when some of the Falmer noticed something was wrong and hissed at the others. The real disturbing thing was that some of the huts, as Amaryllis spotted them, seemed to be made out of massive Chaurus corpses, ones that were far larger than both the normal ones and the large Reapers, making her hope they didn't run into any of them, even though in this state she was sure that she could deal with any of them, even if the others were hoping to avoid such an encounter. Other than that the group focused on lashing out at any Falmer that dared to come near them, where Amaryllis focused on either the bow or her daggers, though eventually they found a set of odd shaped pull chains that looked similar to what the Falmer might make, where the first one opened a stone door at the top of the hill they were on, meaning the second likely activated the traps in this area. With that done they entered a place that seemed to be the heart of this section of Darkfall Cave, with a few purple and brown furred sabre cats and some odd deer, creatures that meant they should be close to the surface, to which they followed the path as the animals glanced at them before ignoring everyone, allowing them to follow a path that lead right to where another wayshrine was resting, along with a ghostly Snow Elf standing near it.

Sure enough the Prelate informed them that this was the Wayshrine of Illumination and asked if they were here to honor the mantras of Auri-El, and when Za'kera confirmed his assumptions he used his power to raise his shrine, allowing them to watch as it raised up before Wind claimed some water from it, though once that was done they stepped into another portal and traveled to a new cave... though as they walked forward, however, Amaryllis had a feeling that this was only the start of a rather long trek through the Chantry.