When Sunset returned to Zahkriisos' tomb, and found the Dragon Priest and his soldiers waiting for her, she immediately gave the command for them to find the exit, to which she discovered that one rested up the stairs that that were behind the Black Book's pedestal. She took the book with them, as she decided that, if Neloth chose not to aid them without some form of compensation for his time, that it would make a great item to offer him. She had no need for the book now that she had defeated the first of her emotions, though she knew that the other books would share in its fate once she was done with them.
The instant that they found the exit out of the barrow they poured into a section of the ruin that was guarded by bandits, or what Sunset assumed were bandits, and she watched as the draugr tore into their enemies. The draugr carrying the Bloodskal Blade, the large two handed sword she discovered in the ruin, rained ruin upon the enemies that stood against them, energy waves tearing through the air and either slicing limbs off or outright cutting someone in half. She wondered several times if she made the right decision in allowing the undead soldier to keep the weapon, but when she spotted the creature making sure not to use it when its allies were near she quickly reconsidered that thought.
Once the ruin had been cleared of the bandits that called it home Sunset continued towards Raven Rock, where she planned on dropping off the journal she had discovered in the ruins of the barrow to the man who wanted closure. As she walked up to the Stone that Miraak had controlled she found that the guards continued to stare at her, though it took a few seconds for her to figure out that they were actually staring at the draugr standing behind her. She swiftly walked towards the middle of the settlement, where she asked one of the guards about the man she had offered her help to, before heading towards one of the houses near the wall.
She spent a few minutes in Crescius' house, giving him the journal and the news that he expected to hear, though he didn't seem to know what to think about the draugr that she had discovered in the mine. When she had her reward for the task, something that she really didn't want and accepted so the man didn't get annoyed with her, she bid the man and his wife farewell, where she returned to the street and headed out into the ash once more. The instant she neared the buried barrow, Kolbjorn Barrow she mentally added, the draugr that had been follower her bid her farewell and charged up towards the entrance, where she noticed them fall in with the other draugr she had awakened. She could tell that the draugr were eager to awaken Ahzidal, though from what she could tell they weren't at the tomb where the Dragon Priest was located.
As she and Zahkriisos moved towards the fortress she had to wonder what would happen if she added the forces of a third Dragon Priest to the work that was going on.
When she entered the main chamber of the fortress she found her commanders, and Miraak, standing over the map of Solstheim, though the moment that they passed through the door Zahkriisos summoned his staff and pointed it at Miraak, who merely looked at the Priest before turning his attention back to the map.
"As I was saying, this is where Dukaan should be buried," Miraak continued, telling Sunset that they had interrupted a meeting of some kind, while the former Priest pointed at a place that was north of his own temple, "White Ridge Barrow. There should be a Black Book somewhere near him, so not only can we defeat one of Sunset's emotions but we can ensure that another of the old Dragon Priests is awakened and his power is added to your forces."
"He's... an ally?!" Zahkriisos asked, though when he turned to Sunset to ask the question she could tell that he was shocked by what he had discovered.
"Yeah, funny isn't it?" Miraak commented, turning to face the Priest once more, "My Master has commanded me to aid Sunset Shimmer, known as Konahrik to the Dragon Priests of Skyrim, in her quest to defeat her enemy, the demon known as Tirek. Look, I'd love to rule over Solstheim once again, and crush whoever stands in my way, but this demon, this Tirek, will destroy all of Nirn when he tries to leave this world behind. I can't exactly rule an island if the world ceases to exist, so for the time being we must put aside our hatred for one another and focus on the larger picture... I can't believe I just said that."
"You said that there was another Black Book near where this Dukaan was buried?" Delphine asked, eager to get back to the task at hand as she beckoned to the map, as if she was trying to remember where Miraak had pointed to earlier.
"Ah, yes, Benkongerike," Miraak replied, turning to the map as both Sunset and Zahkriisos walked over to them, to which he pointed at an area that was near the Skaal Village, "There's another nordic barrow near White Ridge Barrow, so you could potentially awaken Dukaan and recover two more Black Books in a single day. This means that you could be halfway done in defeating six of the emotions that are preventing you from fighting Pride in one day, giving you the next two days to defeat the other four."
"I'd rather not face three of them in a single day," Sunset admitted, knowing how much power Despair had packed into her attack, while wondering how the fights with the remaining emotions would go, "but I don't have a choice in the matter. I need to have defeated all of my emotions in three days, because on the fourth day I believe that Tirek will make his move against Nirn and begin the process he's been devising that will allow him to return to Equus. So while the draugr are digging Ahzidal out of his tomb, and my friends are busy with Neloth, I'll head up to these two barrows and see if I can't swiftly eliminate whichever emotions are waiting for me."
Sunset secretly hated the very idea of fighting three different versions of herself in the same day, as there was no telling what types of powers that the other two emotions had up their sleeves. Despair could suck all the hope out of an area, though Sunset knew that if her enemy had continued to enforce that power on the room they had fought in then she could have lost the fight without lifting her magic to defend herself. She was almost dreading whatever power the other two emotions had to bring to the table, but she sighed and knew that she had to do what was necessary to save this world.
"Then I shall come with you and escort you to Dukaan," Miraak said, surprising Sunset for a moment, though she could tell that her commanders were surprised as well, "We're on a timeline that cannot be changed, so if you want to move fast and clear the obstacles that are preventing you from reaching Pride then you had better want someone whose studied the island along for the journey."
"I have the same experience that you have, Miraak," Zahkriisos countered, facing the former Dragon Priest as everyone else in the chamber backed up, though Sunset chose to stay where she was standing, "so just because your Master told you to accompany the Warlord doesn't mean that you can decide when to follow her and when not to follow her. You didn't follow her into the mine and awaken me from my slumber!"
"I was showing her commanders where the other Black Books I knew about were hidden!" Miraak fired back, clearly outraged by what Zahkriisos was saying, "We only have three days to get this whole mess straightened out, before Lord Hermaeus Mora has his power drained by the demon that we're fighting against, and I knew that Sunset needed to know where the other books were located. I spent the last hour telling her commanders where they were which, in case you haven't noticed, means that some of their forces have been sent out to clear the bandits and rieklings out so she can get to her destination faster."
"Will you two stop bickering?" Sunset shouted, summoning the Staff of Magnus and drawing her ebony sword, one of which she pointed at Miraak while the other was pointed at Zahkriisos, "I did not go through the effort to come to this island, find Miraak's temple, and then have seven of my emotions given life just so the two of you could bicker and argue with each other. We all know what would have happened if I didn't step in; you would have attacked each other and this entire fortress would have been blown sky high, giving Tirek the ability to destroy this world. I did not come to this island so Tirek could win and destroy Nirn, I came here to find allies and discover what I'm missing so I can defeat my enemy.
And if it will get the two of you to shut up and stop fighting then you both can escort me to White Ridge Barrow, so we can find Dukaan and defeat whatever emotion is waiting for me."
Sunset glared at Miraak for a moment before turning to Zahkriisos, though as she did so she allowed some energy to gather around the tips of her weapons. It was mainly for show, to dissuade what she knew would come next if someone didn't step in and make them stop fighting with each other, but she had to gamble on that fact. The two Priests looked at her, including her commanders, and studied her for any flaws that might tell them that she might not actually lash out at them if they continued to fight. Eventually Zahkriisos lowered his staff and nodded his head, to which she lowered the ebony sword and turned her full attention to Miraak, waiting for the former Priest to make his move.
Eventually Miraak sighed and raised his hands into the air, indicating that he was surrendering to her will and allowed her to dismiss the Staff once more.
"Fine, you win Dragonbo... I mean, Warlord," Miraak said, though Sunset wondered if he was actually sincere when he said her title or if he was mocking her, "Zahkriisos and I shall escort you to Dukaan... and whatever soldiers of yours are in the immediate area."
"Commander Orak went to Benkongerike," Delphine told them, which informed Sunset as to why she hadn't seen the orc when she and Zahkriisos had arrived, "He and his soldiers might have already cleared the area and are in the process of gathering whatever resources they can find, but you won't know until you reach them."
Sunset nodded her understanding to Delphine and left the fortress by the way she came in, though this time both Zahkriisos and Miraak were following her as they began the journey towards White Ridge Barrow.
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By the time that they had arrived at their destination Sunset had come to the conclusion that before Miraak had been tempted by Hermaeus Mora he had been friends with the other four Dragon Priests, but now he was an enemy that wanted to enslave all of the dragons and dominate the entirety of Solstheim. She knew that the reason behind him suddenly being nice was because of the threat that Tirek posed to everyone, something that Miraak apparently hadn't been told about until Sunset had stepped foot on the island. Whatever game that Hermaeus Mora was playing seemed to be on a much larger scale the more she found out about it, though she had to wonder if he was playing against Tirek or someone that was equal to the demon.
She shuddered at the thought that there might be someone out there that was on equal footing with the demon, excluding the Divines she mentally added, and had chosen to remain hidden from everyone, except for Hermaeus Mora.
When they actually arrived at the nordic barrow Sunset found that there was no sign of her soldiers, which told her that Orak had come out with a team and was likely in Benkongerike, clearing the place out before they moved onto another barrow. Once they had passed through the door to get inside they found a second door that was locked, but Sunset merely moved the wooden bar out of the way and progressed deeper into the barrow. They found more dead bandits and the bodies of strange spiders, though Sunset paid them no mind as they went deeper into the ruin and searched for the missing Dragon Priest.
What they ended up finding was a large number of mind controlled bandits, whether they were corpses or still alive Sunset really couldn't tell, that had strange green spiders attached to them. Several of the people they found were actually normal looking, though they were angered the moment Sunset and her companions showed themselves. Zahkriisos, eager to show off his power, summoned what appeared to be a shield made of lightning as he drew his staff, to which he either blasted bandits with his magic or hit them with a charge from the staff. Miraak, on the other hand, drew his wicked looking sword and stayed beside Sunset, intending to slay any enemies that somehow made it passed the raging Dragon Priest.
Once the area had been cleared of enemies the trio crossed to a section of the ruins that had been covered by spider webs, though they easily tore them down and continued onward. The next area they came to had another Word Wall, with a coffin resting in front of it, though Sunset had no idea where the Black Book was supposed to be hiding. As she walked up to the coffin the lid slid off and Dukaan rose into the air, but the moment he noticed who had awoken him he returned to the ground and bowed his head respectfully. Sunset wasn't sure if she liked being bowed to by the undead, but it was something that came with her Dragon Priestess training and she knew that she'd have to get over it at some point.
"I am honored to have been awakened by you, Warlord," Dukaan said, pulling his head up and noticing her companions, "I see you have already awoken Zahkriisos and partnered with Miraak, so you know who I am already. I take it you are here for my aid in a coming war and the Black Book that I have been guarding?"
"That is correct," Sunset replied, somewhat thankful that this Priest wasn't already charging at Miraak and was being peaceful at the moment, "where's the book in question?"
Instead of answering her question with a response Dukaan pointed to the area they had come from, causing Sunset to turn her head backward and find that the Black Book she had come for was actually hidden below the area that overlooked the chamber. She felt silly for not finding it on her own, but now that she knew where it was she silently approached the book and placed her hand on ts cover, wondering which emotion she'd find inside.
When the world came back into focus, and she discovered that she was in Apocrypha again, she looked around for the path that she was supposed to take, but instead found what she assumed was the same creature that had helped her find Despair. The creature beckoned to her and floated off into what was supposed to be darkness, though a few seconds later the area around it lit up. Sunset fell in with the creature, wondering if this was Hermaeus Mora's way of ensuring that she reached her emotions, or if it was the creatures that called Apocrypha home wanting her to remove them quickly.
She followed the creature through the Black Book, pausing every now and then when the creature paused and nodded its head to creatures that looked almost identical to it. After what seemed like an hour's worth of walking the creature lead her to the peak of the area, where she found a deep red colored version of herself standing at the top, though her back was turned to Sunset.
"So, you've arrived at last," the red Sunset finally said, turning around to face Sunset, giving her the chance to see the anger in her eyes, "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming to fight me, or if you had decided to leave me here with my rage."
"I take it that your Anger?" Sunset inquired, wanting to make sure that she got which emotion this was correct before she started the fight, though she drew her ebony sword as she spoke.
"Of course I am Anger!" the red Sunset, Anger, shouted, while flames danced around her hands, "There are so many things that are making me mad and I shall relieve my stress on you... before you are completely destroyed by my power."
Sunset raised her shield in time to stop a volley of fireballs that had come her way, to which Anger stared at her and sailed into the air, shattering the barrier and tossing Sunset down the steps she had walked up. She immediately felt the darkness around her trying to take away her energy, but then a wall of flames erupted around the entire area, cutting the darkness to pieces and allowing Sunset to get onto her feet. She didn't need to be told that Anger was upset about the area they were in, as she had done through the effort to make sure that they could fight on fair ground.
"Does it not fill you with anger?" her emotion asked her, though she stayed out of reach as she taunted Sunset, "Does the death of Savos Aren not fill you with anger towards the Thalmor, who sent their puppet Ancano to the College to spy on everyone? Does the destruction of the College of Winterhold not make you want to shout to the skies in anger and destroy those that brought ruin to mages everywhere? Does the near destruction of Whiterun not make you want to raise an army of the dead and slaughter everyone that nearly leveled the city before the Forsworn arrived?
Does the fact that your own allies, the very people who trusted you the moment you invited them into your 'Alliance', tried to destroy everything you worked towards and incite a war against the dragons?!"
"Yes, those all fill me with anger!" Sunset shouted in return, before she sighed and faced her emotion, who was still standing on the stairs, "Yes, I should be angry at the Thalmor for sending Ancano to the College of Winterhold, but he made his own choices and paid for his actions with his own life. Yes, when the College was destroyed I got so angry that I wished I could have stopped Tirek sooner, but he played his cards right and there was nothing I could do to stop him in time. And yes, I was upset that the Stormcloaks and Imperials wanted to fight for Whiterun when Tirek was still at large, but that was because they had no idea that there was a monster going around Skyrim, absorbing the power people had inside of them and destroying places on a whim.
I know I should be angrier at the allies that decided to try and destroy me, but I promised them that I could keep the Daedric Artifacts safe and, as a consequence to my own arrogance, I ended up handing them to my enemy. I didn't want to be the leader of an army, Anger... all I really wanted was someplace that people could come to if their homes were destroyed by Tirek, a haven if you will. I was forced into this position because Tirek is going around and destroying whatever he wants, but in the end I was reminded that my mission was to fight Tirek. If there is anyone I should be angry with it me, not the people who have flocked to my side to face this danger, so come at me Anger and let's finish this."
Anger roared and the flames responded to her own anger, to which she leapt into the air and sailed right for Sunset, but that was something that Sunset had been expecting. She ducked to the side as Anger came near her and swung her sword, cutting into the robe that her emotion had been wearing and cutting a gash all the way down her body. Anger, seemingly not aware of what happened, turned around and came at her again, though Sunset sighed and continued her pattern, where she ducked and blocked some attacks before delivering her own to the insane emotion. Sunset almost pitied Anger, as her rage had blinded her to the point where she was unable to see anything coming until Sunset's blade had pierced her chest and ran through her heart.
As her emotion's rage poured out of her, and the flames around them died down, Sunset held onto Anger, sitting there until the two of them were whole once more. With the deed done, and the wall of flames taken care of, she sighed and pulled out the book that had brought her to this part of Apocrypha, to which she returned to the Priests that were waiting for her return.
"I take it that you were successful?" Miraak asked, spotting Sunset the moment she returned, though she could tell that he was eager to hear how she was progressing.
"Yes, my Anger has been defeated," Sunset replied, putting the second Black Book away before turning to Miraak, "So, shall we see what's waiting for me in White Ridge Barrow?"
The three Dragon Priests nodded and escorted her out of the barrow they were in, though it gave her a chance to see the draugr that had awoken and were following them outside.
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Reaching Benkongerike was easy, as the four of them were able to lead the small group of draugr out of White Ridge Barrow, around the mountain, and stopped at the cave that was supposed to be the entrance to the barrow. When they arrived Sunset was pleased to find that there were several of her soldiers inside the barrow, clearing away the bodies of what appeared to be little blue people. She figured that those had to be the rieklings that Miraak had mentioned earlier, though it appeared that they didn't take too kindly to intruders and had fought back with everything that they had to offer.
She found Orak in the first chamber they came to, though he was making sure that the soldiers in that area were looking for anything that they could use before he ventured deeper into the barrow. When he spotted Sunset, however, he pounded his fist on his armor and bowed his head to her, to which the soldiers that didn't know she was there noticed her and bowed as well.
"You may return to what you were doing," Sunset called out, to which she watched as her soldiers went back to work, though she turned to Orak for a moment, "How far did you guys get before I arrived?"
"We got quite far," Orak said, beckoning for her to follow him while he spoke, to which they and the Dragon Priests delved deeper into the barrow, "The rieklings gathered all their forces here, in this one ruin, so we had to put up quite the fight to route them, though I am pleased to say that we did not lose any soldiers in the fight. It is truly a blessing that everyone survived, as the rieklings put up quite the fight and tried to make us leave without securing the Black Book that rests in this barrow. We have not seen many draugr in this place, but I am sure that there are some still intact that will heed the call of the Dragon Cult's Warlord, or the call of any of your fellow Priests."
Sunset nodded and listened to the rest of the report that Orak had been planning on telling Delphine, something that he was still going to do the moment they returned to the fortress. The rieklings had not only gathered all of their forces in this one ruin, but they had brought many of their resources with them, giving whoever managed to slay them all a trove of metals and ores. Orak was having several of his soldiers gather what they could and transport the goods to the entrance, where they would then cart everything to Fort Frostmoth when the secondary party returned with the wagon he had requested.
They eventually arrived at a locked gate, which cause Orak to apologize for not having it opened sooner, but Sunset told him that it was okay and immediately walked to the upper level to see if she could find the missing animal that would solve the puzzle. Once she found a torn off head that bared the likeness of a whale symbol she called to Orak, who nodded his head and swiftly moved the four pillars into the correct positions. When the door was open Sunset found a tunnel to her left, which wrapped around a bit before she found the item that she had been looking for; the third Black Book.
She sighed and placed her hand on the cover, allowing herself to be taken from the barrow and dropped off in another part of Apocrypha, with what appeared to be the same creature from before. She nodded to the creature and followed it through the Black Book, finding another creature she had never seen before, this one walking around as if it was a guardian. The other creatures that looked like the one that Sunset was followed aided them in solving the puzzle that Hermaeus Mora put in the way of anyone else that found the books, allowing her to get even closer to whichever emotion was hiding at the end.
When they arrived at the final chamber, something she knew because the creature didn't follow her inside, she immediately began to search for the next emotion, until she found a grey version of herself standing before a long corridor.
"You doubt your power," the other her side, waving a hand as the area behind her sealed itself, something that Sunset wasn't expecting, "You lack the conviction and the willpower to defeat Tirek... each of which are something that Pride does not lack."
"That's where you're wrong Doubt," Sunset fired back, drawing her sword once more, deciding that this emotion was going to limit her to her weapon, "I once doubted my ability to fight Tirek and defeat him, and even if that were true today I would still fight him... because the people of this world will rise up and continue to fight for what they believe in. I choose to fight Tirek with very fiber of my being, so if you doubt my ability to stand by that conviction then you might as well fight me and test my will. And I don't care what Pride has and what she doesn't have, she's just another piece of me that I should have made peace with a long time ago."
Doubt roared and charged at Sunset, though when she tried to use her magic she found that it was definitely blocked, so she raised her sword and parried the attack that came her way. Her emotion then called upon her frost magic and tried to freeze Sunset to the ground, but she had learned some evasive tactics from her time fighting her Dragon Priest trainers and put them to use. She then continued to dodge every attack that Doubt threw at her, searching for the opportunity to strike her down and close another wound that had been opened, but found none at the moment.
At one time Doubt scored a lucky hit and burned Sunset's right leg, though she wished she had magic to defend as she worked to find some way to end the fight. She sighed and hid behind one of the pillars, wondering what it would take to defeat Doubt, before she realized something and, in a moment of faith, closed her eyes. She listened to Doubt for a moment, tracking her through her footsteps, before leaping out of her hiding spot and planting her sword right into the emotion's chest. When she opened her eyes she found that Doubt had the look of confusion on her face, as if she couldn't believe that she had been cut down.
"How?" Doubt asked, though by how weak her voice was Sunset could tell that she was beginning to return to where she belonged and didn't have much time left.
"I have faith in all my abilities," Sunset replied, wrapping her arms around Doubt, "You told me that I doubted my power and prevented me from using my magic, but you forgot about my weapon skills. Don't worry, soon we shall be whole once more and we'll take the fight to Tirek... and we'll show the demonic centaur our true power."
Doubt managed a smile before fading completely, though Sunset felt tired after defeating the third emotion and immediately returned to where the Black Book had been located. When she returned to Bengongerike she swayed for a moment and caused Orak to rush to her side, though she could tell that Miraak knew that she was tired from her day of fighting her emotions. While she still had energy to spare she gave the order for them to return to Fort Frostmoth, where she intended to get some rest, somehow, before she sought out the remaining four emotions.
She hated giving Tirek more time to do whatever he was doing in Skyrim, but she needed to be in balance with herself before she hoped to have a chance at besting the demon in combat.