Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter III - As Arkay Demands

The dreams were no better the second night.

Bishop still seemed to be unable to get the phantoms of his family members out of his mind. Taunting him, threatening him, making him doubt this course of action more and more each second.

But there was no more time for hesitation. They were here.

Fortunately, the third day proved to be the charm and, just as Bishop had assumed, they could leave right after one more night after the execution. They never found out what happened to the dissidents. They heard some people whisper that they were all caught, some whispered that they found a way to escape the city and the guards followed them out in the wilderness. Aeyrin hoped for the second, but she also hoped that the dissidents weren't actually headed to the secret chapel in the Rift, leading the investigators there. But that was surely not the case – the access from Cyrodiil was far from complete. There was no way to get there from here now, except for the legal passes and the very arduous journeys through the mountains. It was unlikely that her allies in Skyrim would orchestrate all this.

They managed to get out of the city right after breakfast, just as they had planned the previous day. The roads in Cyrodiil seemed decidedly more peaceful than in Skyrim – or maybe they just felt that way without the constant paranoia hounding them. But the large paved Orange Road with numerous patrols of the Imperial Legion did seem to be much more relaxing. Even with the bad experiences with the Legion that they had in the past several days, once they were sure that nobody was actually eager to stop them for searches or questioning, they felt much more at ease.

Several hours on the road led them to their destination at last – Shadow's Rest Cavern, as Bishop had remembered it. This was where Kari's cult had been hiding eleven years ago. It was only a short distance away from the road – a somewhat large cavern system, hidden away beneath the canopy of blooming spring trees and flowery bushes. Cyrodiil was always so gorgeous and vibrant, but that didn't mean that there was no shade and darkness underneath. Just the sight of that cavern filled Bishop with instant unease.

"So... this is really it?" Aeyrin asked uncertainly. She wasn't sure why – she had been told that this was no 'order', that this was only a cave system full of crazy cultists. She still kind of thought that Bishop may have been exaggerating a little, mostly out of spite for his sister. But this place looked kind of... ominous. There was one lantern hanging outside the rickety old door leading inside the caverns. It was wine-colored, just like Kari's robes. And then there was the symbol on the door. It was drawn in something equally... wine-colored, which Aeyrin didn't want to think about too much. It was a somewhat familiar symbol – two twining circles. But somehow, here, it looked far from the usual secular comfort that Arkay's symbol should represent.

"Unless they moved. It's a long fucking time to stay in one cave," Bishop shrugged morosely. He was kind of suspecting that it wasn't the case though. The lantern was lit and nobody even tried to clean the symbol. In fact, it looked relatively fresh – definitely not eleven years old and worn.

"It doesn't look like it," Aeyrin pondered, likely following the same clues he had.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled. Ugh, dealing with crazy again, it was going to be a pain. Not to mention dealing with Kari altogether.

But they were here, they were set on at least trying to talk to her. He just had to grit his teeth and get it over with.

With a resigned sigh, he opened the rickety door and stepped inside the caverns.

The inside looked just as ominous as the outside. The first chamber was decorated by the wine-colored lanterns as well, along with a few banners depicting Arkay's circle. There was one table and a chair, with one Redguard woman sitting at it with a bored expression on her face. Her robes were exactly the same as Kari's. It was all the evidence they needed to know that this was still the right place.