Walk by the Shadows

XXV. Darkness Returns

Perched on top of a frozen hill was Nightgate Inn, the owner of the smoke rising from a chimney. The drenched, exhausted, beaten, bloody, and freezing Nightingales quickly slipped inside and hurried straight for the inviting fire burning in the center. There was only one person present in the inn and the innkeeper eyed the semi-frozen trio curiously. Brynjolf came up with an excuse of them falling into the lake when the ice broke.

Once they thawed enough where they could feel their fingers again, they asked if the innkeeper had any clothes they could borrow as their armor dried. He found some of his daughters' old dresses for Macayla and Karliah, and some of his own clothes for Brynjolf. They ducked into separate rooms to change, then re-emerged to lay out their Nightingale armor near the fire to dry. They bought some food and ale from the innkeeper and purchased a room for the night.

It remained silent as they recovered their energy through the food and ale.

"Twenty-five years in exile and it's over, just like that," Karliah whispered, still shell-shocked.

"Now you can breathe, lass," Brynjolf said.

She took a heavy sigh. "Not entirely until we correct what Mercer did: now we have to return the Skeleton Key."

"What do we have to do?" Macayla asked.

"It's not going to be simple. When the Skeleton Key was removed from the Twilight Sepulcher, it eliminated our access to the inner sanctum. The only way to bring it back is through the Pilgrim's Path."

Macayla glanced at Brynjolf, knowing that he didn't know what she talked about either, from the blankness on his face. She looked back at the Dunmer. "What's the Pilgrim's Path?"

"The Twilight Sepulcher propagated a group of priests, and this group created all sorts of baseless rituals and ceremonies. One of these ceremonies was known as the Pilgrim's Path, a so called 'test of worthiness'. If a pilgrim completed the path, they would become one with the shadows."

"I take it you've never used the Pilgrim's Path..."

She shook her head. "It wasn't created for the Nightingales; it was created to test those who wish to serve Nocturnal in other ways. As a consequence, I have no knowledge of what you will be facing."

"Is it dangerous?" she asked.

"I can only assume so, or it wouldn't be a test."

"Now, you only said 'you' as in Macayla; we're not going with her?" Brynjolf asked.

"We can travel with her to the Twilight Sepulcher, but we can't go in with her. She's the only one with the Key so she has access." Karliah ducked her head. "And I can't bear the shame of entering the Ebonmere from not being able to protect it. I won't go in until the Key is returned." She looked back up at Macayla. "So, yes, you will be alone."

Brynjolf looked at her with discomfort—he didn't like the idea of her being by herself.

"I can do this," she asserted. "I'll return the Key and you'll meet me inside later. This isn't going to be a problem."

***

The Nightingales were extremely grateful they had found The Nightgate Inn, for they slept like the dead and didn't want to wake early to head for Falkreath, a three day's journey on foot. But they did head off before the sun rose.

Falkreath Hold was primarily heavily forested; not the beautiful golden colors of the Autumnal Forest around Riften, but everything green and thriving. The extreme darkness in the woods though at night made them uncomfortable; they expected some creature of the night, like a werewolf or a vampire, to attack them, and the thick fog hanging in the trees in the mornings wasn't comforting either.