There and Back Again

Kiya and I have been in very good spirits since we woke up in her home in Whiterun. Finally! I have waited long enough for her coldness towards me to end, and I was rewarded with her own confession of her feelings for me! I have none but the gods to thank for this. Talos may not even regard this well, putting a woman above extinguishing all evil. But we have not forgotten of our task ahead as we headed again for Castle Volkihar. 

Serana informed us of an entryway around the castle itself. As we scouted around the castle, we came across a sizable port with a sunken ship. We had expected vampires the moment we set foot Castle Volkihar's land, and I, for one, had forgotten about Vampires delving into Necromancy (as Serana had). And so I was surprised when we encountered skeleton warrior with armor in them, obviously guarding the back door of the castle. Better than vampires, I should say.

I'm just gonna watch you crouch like that.

We vanquished our skeletal foes back to the world of the dead quickly, and we entered the door leading to the courtyard. We had to fight through a series of undead enemies once again, and we had to make them dead again, lest we join them in their undeath as their pawns. 

We opened the door to the courtyard, and as we did, a blinding light welcomed us to a view of a derelict, once-beautiful garden. Serana became sad almost instantly, and she told us of how she used to spend a lot of time with her mother there, caring for the courtyard and such. She led us to the middle of the courtyard, where a moon dial stood. She pondered over the reason why her mother had a moon dial, and quickly suggested that it might give us a clue on where she might be. 

Seriously, what's a moon dial for?

Kiya was able to figure out that some of the disks in the moon dial were missing, and that we had to find them. As we were searching the grounds for the disks, all I could think of was, "How could a moon dial help us find Valerica and the Elder Scroll?" Each of us found one disk each, and that completed the dial. As soon as we finished setting the last disk, the dial clicked, and the inner circle turned with the middle circle, revealing a staircase downwards to what appears to be Valerica's secret dungeon. We looked at each other. I went ahead, and they followed me down the steps.

It was almost like any other ruins down there, on the way to Valerica's study. This place has been left to the elements, although there were some that resisted it: Gargoyles and other undead. One time there, I barged in a room and did not notice the skeletons come to life. Kiya called out from right behind me, "Move!" I jumped out of the way and captured this illumination of her taking a shot. I wonder if I really did have time to take one of these. It must be impulse.

That stare. It could set things on fire in more ways than one.

We encountered several Gargoyles along the way, and while we can outrun them, we wanted them dead so we can strip the bodies of the precious gemstones they contain. Luckily, they are not too difficult to take down. Kiya even had the time to take an illumination of me bludgeoning the damned stone monsters back into Oblivion.

Boning the Gargoyle.

In one of the rooms, Serana found one of her mother's old Royal Armor. It was for vampires, and certainly Serana looked good in it. She and Kiya decided they needed a break from hacking Gargoyles to death, and consequently to swap their clothing. Serana wanted to try out wearing heavy armor while Kiya wanted the lighter ones. And so they did, after a few seconds of turning my back so I won't be able to see them swap. They've become really good friends since we left for the Castle and I'm sure it is for the better, unless they're randomly swapping clothes in the midst of clearing a dungeon of the undead! Gods, I do not understand women!

Serana, you look un-Vampire-like.

We finally reached Valerica's study, and I was astonished at what I saw: A large room full of magical experiments, rare ingredients and potions, different animal carcasses and bones, and gems containing souls. I comment out that I have never seen such an extensive library and laboratory for exploratory magic. Serana said she never knew her mother had such a large laboratory.

We searched the room for Valerica's journal, and, once we did, it spoke of an ethereal place where souls get trapped for all eternity, and that she had gone there herself. We must follow her to this place, the Soul Cairn, and retrieve the Elder Scroll from her. To do this, though, we had to find certain ingredients which were conveniently present in the laboratory. Obviously, her mother had saved those ingredients in order to gain access to the Soul Cairn in the future. 

What is it with Vampires and blood?

Serana added her blood, because it closely resembles her mother's blood, and that will allow us to gain entrance to the Soul Cairn. She bit her hand, and let the blood drip onto the mixture. Almost immediately, the middle of the room lit up with a weird, violet light, and the floor collapsed--reformed itself to a staircase, rather. Without hesitation, I ran down the staircase, but I could not enter the gate way. It was blocked by some sort of invisible force, and as I tried to enter again and again, I felt weaker and weaker. Meanwhile, Serana had been telling Kiya that the only way to enter the Soul Cairn is to become a Vampire, or to place an offering of one's soul. Kiya called me, and I ran back up with weak steps. She tells me we needed to choose between becoming a vampire or giving up a part of our souls. 

I felt like going inside the tower and destroying Harkon then and there. I would not have chosen any of the options Serana put forth, if not for Kiya convincing me that we needed to find Auriel's Bow to annihilate Harkon and his evil subjects. We ended up choosing the lesser evil: We did not want to be part of the very thing we wanted to destroy. It would not have felt right to be a vampire, to drink blood and eat human flesh. Serana then agreed to trap our souls for us. I immediately felt weaker having a part of my soul gone, but I went ahead anyway and walked down to the gate way. What lies in Soul Cairn? I wondered as I pass through the portal.

Well, that looks dangerous.