Skryim III: The Dawnguard Wars.

Part Sixteen: The Last of the Falmer.

"So Auriel's Bow is in here?" Serana says as stand outside of Darkfall Cave.  I nod, that's what the Scroll had showed us. The way that was supposed to lead us was by an old stone shrine that would lead us to another realm...where the bow hid.  Serana sighs, "I'm kinda sick of going into dark caves, but here we go." I smile. Together we are about to step into the cave when a nasty chuckle sounds behind us. 
   "Ah, Princess....I knew you would lead us to the bow." 
We whirl around as Orthjolf stands just a few feet from us. His yellow eyes gleam in lust as he snarls. "I knew you would be so easily coerced, princess. Harkon should of never gave this bitch his power." He glares at me. "Let me take you home, princess and kill your spy...and your father will never have to know of your betrayal."   Serana shakes her head. "No, my father was foolish to trust you and Vingalmo." 
  I look at Serana in alarm, "Serana, get into the cave and fine the shrine, I'll keep Orthjolf busy." I say. 
   "I won't leave you, Taniiaae. Not after what you have done for me!" Serana says. Before I can retort back Orthjolf lunges at me. I duck as he smashes his fist against the stone of the cave behind us. Serana backs up and readies her hands and starts to shoot ice shards from her magicka.  I grab Maiden-Sing from my belt and hold it out in front of me as Orthjolf laughs. "Such a pathetic vampire. I swipe at his hand and dark blood pools from his missing fingers as he screams. Gritting his teeth, he rushes at me and kicks me to the ground. He stands over me as I'm pinned to the earth. His hands reach around my throat as he squeezes.  Thanks to my current immortality, I don't lose consciousness but the pain is extreme.  "No one will get in my way anymore." Orthjolf hisses. I try to reach for his face, towards his eyes to gouge at them when his head flies off, black blood spraying my clothes and the air. 
   Orthjolf's headless corpse falls to the ground as I sit up. Serana gasps as she holds Orthjolf's longsword in her hands. She looks at me as I stare at her in shock. "Are you alright?" 
I nod, "Yeah....thank you for that." 
   Serana throws the sword on top of Orthjolf's headless body and says "I have no need to keep the sword of someone like him. Let him be found like that." She gives me her hand and pulls me to my feet.   "If he was here, Vingalmo could only be right behind him." I say, shuddering at the thought. Serana nods, "Then lets get going before we have any more visitors from my father's friends find us." I nod as I follow behind her. My neck felt sore where Orthjolf was gripping it, but we were alive, that's all the mattered now. Serana takes my hand and we plunge into Darkfall Cave. If we were human, we would have a hard time seeing, but since we were both blessed with the Vampiric vision, seeing in the darkness was easier than expected. As we slow ourselves down, I point to a small tunnel ahead of us. "I believe that is the Darkfall Passage that we need to get to to enter The Forbidden Vale." 
   Serana nods. 
I still feel my nerves on end as we enter the tight tunnels. The fight with Orthjolf was a shock, and it only made me wonder who was following to hunt us down. 
"Taniiaae, are you alright?" Serana's voice cut in the darkness.  I nod, "Yes, just a little....."
"Afraid? I am too." Serana murmurs.
   I look at her in surprise. 
"Don't be so surprised, Taniiaae. I loved my father once, but...." Serana hesitates. "The man I loved, is gone. That man is no longer my father. I'm ready to stop him if need be." She sighs, "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." 
I shake my head, "Serana, it's alright. It's behind us."
"Maybe its because I'm a little jealous of you. And not due to your rank, but because you have a family who loves you." Serana says, "I wish I had your life." 
  I shake my head, "No, you don't. Other than my family, I wish I didn't have this life. I wish I wasn't Dragonborn, look at all the trouble it's gotten me to?" 
"Maybe, but I wouldn't have met you otherwise." Serana whispers. "You're the closest thing I have to a friend, Taniiaae." 
   I stop to look at her, and I swallow. "You know, after this is over, whatever happens, you can stay with my family and I.....just until you decide what to do with your life..."
  Before I could say another word, Serana's gold eyes trailed over to the room beyond me. It was open,  room with small waterfalls trickling down the stones. Ahead of us, was a large, stone shrine, and kneeling before it in prayer, was an elf. He didn't look like any elf I had ever seen before. His cream colored cropped hair stood up like a Bosmer's. His skin was white as snow and he was adorned in beautiful silver and bronze armor.  Serana took a few steps ahead of me as the elf stands to his feet. "I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor, welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El." He lifted his hands towards the shrine behind him. 
   "You are a Falmer?" I asked, studying him.
"I am what the Falmer should be, but I prefer the term 'Snow Elf', dear girl." Gelebor says politely. "I know what brings you both here, to me." 
  "You do?" Serana asks, crossing her arms over her chest. 
"You want Auriel's Bow, to end the prophecy of the Tyranny of the Sun." Gelebor says.  
  "How did you know?" I ask. Gelebor chuckles. "I've been alive for centuries, my dear. I know why people have come here. But maybe you two maidens will be different than all the others before thee." 
  "What do you mean? Others have searched for the Bow?" Serana asks. 
"And failed, but it is not what you think." Gelebor says, reaching towards a small table and picks up a ewer. "I will give you Auriel's bow, if you kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur." He says, facing us as he pours the water from the ewer into a basin. 
   "And who is this Vyrthur?" I ask, feeling that it's something more than just an easy kill if he is having us do it.   
"He is the last of the Snow Elves, with myself. He was the first one to created the Prophecy of the Sun, and for that, he was spurned to become a Vampire by our god, Auri-El." Gelebor sighs. "He is also my brother." 
I hear Serana sigh and I feel myself get anxious. "So, this is a personal matter you want us to take care of?" I ask, softly. 
   Gelebor laughs as a portal forms before us, just past the basin, it's clear to see through, but I can only see shimmers of a icy palace within.  "It is for the safety of all of us, my child. He is the one who created the prophecy. With him gone, the prophecy dies. Will you do this for me?"
I look at Serana and she gives me a slight nod. "Alright, we will do it."
   "Excellent. As soon as he is gone, the bow is yours." Gelebor says, with a bow of his head. 
"So, where do we go to kill this brother of yours?" Serana asked, her arms crossed over her chest. I nod in agreement. 
   "Step through the portal, and you will be in Vyrthur's realm, once the chapel of Auri-El." Gelebor says, gesturing to the open door to the other realm. I think briefly of my family, and how once we get this bow, it's one step closer to going home. I take a step forward through the portal as Serana follows me. "Good luck, young ones." Gelebor says behind us.   There is a blinding light for a moment and the temperature plummets to freezing.
  I gasp for breath as the portal fades away behind Serana and I, taking in the view. The room is coated in ice, but beneath it I could make out that it was once a throne room...or still was. I remember Gelebor mentioning that this was Auri-El's Chapel.  I heard a deep, malicious laugh cut through the silence of the room. "Well, well, well. Is it not the little girls that Gelebor planned on sending to stop me? Pathetic." 
   Sitting on a throne made of ice, was another snow elf. But unlike Gelebor, this man's hair was long as it was white. He too adorned the same silver armor as his brother did, but what made him stand out, was his eyes. His eyes were piercing gold, like the Volkihar's coven. 
"At least he sent the worthy sacrifice for me to use." He stared at Serana in desire. With a hand, he snapped his fingers and creatures burst from the frozen ice. I remember seeing pictures of these hideous monsters in Kodlak's old tomb. These were what the snow elves truly became. Falmer. 
   Maiden-Sing sings as she slices through two of the necks of the falmer while Serana used her magicka to destroy them, they were easy enough to slay. Vyrthur growls. "Fine, I guess if you want things done right, you have to do them yourself." 
  "You will die before you can touch us!" Serana snaps. 
"I'm already dead." Vyrthur says, "I've been so since before you were ever born." He raises his hands high and the room shakes. Pieces of the ceiling and walls collapse and I fall to my knees as I can feel the room break down.  The sun glares over what little was left of the castle as now we are no longer surrounded by the walls. 
  "Hey, Taniiaae? Are you ok?" Serana asks as she helps me to my feet. I nod, "Yes, I'm alright." "Then let's finish this." Serana says as I stand beside her. Vyrthur stands a few feet ahead of us, now looking at the horizon at the edge of the cliff where the throne of the Chapel once stood.  "It's over, Vyrthur." Serana says, taking a few steps before him. 
   "Did my brother tell you why you must kill me?" Vyrthur says, looking at the sun. "Did he tell you if you took care of our family matter, he would give you the bow?" 
I grit my teeth. 
  "He's lying you know. He doesn't have the bow, the coward was too weak to even admit it?" Vyrthur turns and glares at us as he raises his hand and a beautiful, ornate bow forms in his palm. 
   "I have the bow,  and with you here, my dear, I will finish what I've started." He licks his teeth at Serana. "Wait, what do you mean?" I ask, fear gripping my belly. 
  "My prophecy requires two things in order to take away the sun, first is Auriel's Bow and second...." he stares at Serana, a nasty grin on his face, "Is the blood of a daughter of Coldharbour." 
  "My blood.....that's it, my father....." Serana's voice cracked at the realization.  "You....you are a vampire!"  
Vyrthur's gold eyes gleamed. "I am the reason behind everything you know and everything you have existed for. Your blood is meant for me, and no other, Daughter of Coldharbour!" He reaches for her when I grab my dagger and leap into him. I blunge the steel into his neck and he screeches, reaching for me.  His hands enclose around my neck and he strikes the side of my face near my eye. Dark blood trickled down his throat where the knife was embedded and other than the sound of his labored breathing and the gargling of the blood in his throat, he wasn't giving up. I look into his gold eyes, seeing my own death in them when he collapses on top of me, my back on the wall of the Chapel. "Auri-El, forgive me....." I hear him whisper as I shove him to the ground. I look up to see Serana behind him, her knife is coated in dark blood up to her elbow. I look down at Vyrthur's body, and see his dark blood pool underneath him. On the ground, a few feet away from him, is Auriel's Bow. 
   "Are you, alright?" She asks me and I nod, slowly. "You?" 
She shudders, "So....it's true then, my father... only saw me as a means to an end." She looks at me, then at the bow. I stand to my feet and feel something trickle down my face near where my right eye and I remember that the Snow Elf had hit me in the face. Serana picks up the bow as the air in front of us shimmers. Gelebor steps out of a portal and kneels by his brother's body. "Good bye, Vyrthur, maybe we will meet again in better circumstances." 
  He stands and looks at us as Serana says, with the bow in her hands. "You lied to us, Gelebor." 
"Vyrthur had the bow the whole time, why didn't you tell us the truth?" I ask, glaring at him. 
 Gelebor sighs and says, "You needed the bow, and it was better this way for you to know why it was pertinent that you got it yourselves. To prevent the Tyranny of the Sun, that would only come to be if it was your blood that was spilt. You took away the founder of that curse, now, it's up to you to make sure it never comes to be." His piercing blue eyes stare into Serana and he says, "It always had to be you, Daughter of Coldharbour, you always had the choice to either make the prophecy come true or prevent it." 
   He opens another portal, and says, "The bow is yours. This portal will you lead you back to Castle Volkihar, but be prepared as the Dawnguard are awaiting your arrival."   
  I remember what Sinding had said before he left, that he had planned to go back to Fort Dawnguard to warn Isran to prepare for war, and why we had Fennorian take Ronthil and Hestla to safety in his home. It was time to finish this.  "What will you do?" I ask the Snow Elf. 
  "I will stay here, and lay my brother's body to rest and then I will see to repair this Chapel in honor of Auri-El." Gelebor bows his head, "You have both done me a great service, and I hope and pray that this ends in triumph." 
   Serana points at the portal and says, "Alright, let's get this over with." Holding the bow, she steps through the portal, and I follow her lead.