Darkness Falls.

I had barely enough time to spend some private time with Kiya when we had to move out to Darkfall cave already to retrieve the damned bow. The gods forgive me for saying that, but to be yearning for someone at a very unfortunate and dangerous time is something I have experienced only recently. I am not very good at this, being patient. Thus we set off to the cave with me rushing and at the helm.

I would have guessed the cave was aptly named, as it was extremely dark in there. Luckily, Kiya knew some spells that illuminated our way, as shown in this... illumination. It's one of those times that I concede to the fact that spells really are useful (sure, I could have used a torch, but that would render my shield useless. A hovering ball of light would surely be more than enough, and may even blind unwary enemies). I might some day want to learn a spell or two from her.

Serana? Are you wearing a Dragonplate Helmet?

We reach a large expanse inside the cave, where a peculiar character was standing beside a shrine of some sort. It was white as the light Kiya conjured, wearing an armor I have never seen before. After a few moments I realize it looked quite familiar--familiar, like the hundreds of faces of Falmer I've dealt with before. I was about to attack it from afar when it approached us unafraid but unarmed, and spoke. It--I suppose I should call him a he from here on out--told us that his name is Gelebor, a Snow Elf. The Snow Elves were the race the Dwarves betrayed and left to their own devices in the ruins. He knew we were coming for the Bow, and he would hand it to us if we were to help him first. Of course.

Gele... bor? What kind of a name is that?

I do not understand why we had to go settle this brotherly dispute. Then again, even as a Snow Elf he looked pretty frail and unable to fight the hordes of minions his brother had. I guess I will be reminding myself that being alone won't do me good when faced with an army. We have no choice but to fight our way to obtaining the bow.

So that means I have to keep it full the entire journey?

Gelebor tells us of five different Wayshrines we needed to find. We have to draw the water from it, he said, as it was the ritual that will get us to his brother, the Arch-Curate Vyrthur. Gelebor said his brother was inside the chapel of Auriel, and it was customary to pour water from the five Wayshrines to the entrance of the chapel to get inside. And I thought this sibling rivalry was silly already. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

We take turns taking illuminations and letting the other fight.

We went through the waygate he provided for us to go inside the Forgotten Vale. He was not coming with us on the way to confront his brother, and even if he was one of the last Snow Elves in Nirn, I would have caught him by the neck, dragged him with me through the portal, and forced him to face his brother alone as I take care of his army. All this, if it were not for Kiya willingly giving help to this... this coward! 

I would have lied--I don't know what the mantras of Auri-El are.

We reach the first Wayshrine. There was a ghost that asked us if we were ready to be enlightened. Kiya was the one who answered, and immediately the priest opened up the Shrine. I drew water from it, and I felt no difference from before. I felt silly, instead. I kept thinking that there was no other way to get to the bow, and no matter what we had to do to get to it, we'll do it.

It was a different world, as Serana put it, once we stepped out from the portal of the Wayshrine. I think it was some kind of magic that transported us to this world, but I'm guessing it is still in Nirn. I won't know until I get out. After a few moments of awe for this world undiscovered by civilization, we started on our way to find the remaining Wayshrines.

Coming from Serana, it might as well have been a complaint.

It took us almost a day and a half to find the Wayshrines scattered around the Vale. We encountered various animals and predators that were new to us and in colorful coats. We saw new plants (new plants!) to pick and study. I missed grinding flowers and leaves and making potions, as I have not had the time to do so with all this vampire hunting going on. I am pretty excited to get out of this place and back to my table and be able to study these plants. 

Good thing that ghost can be seen from afar.

There he is again!

...And again.

It is worth mentioning that one of the new creatures we faced inside the Vale was a race of giants called the Frost Giants. They wore horned helmets and, despite the harsh cold of the snow, did not wear any fur or armor of sorts. I guess that is why they're called frost giants: They can withstand the cold. At the time I wrote this, we have encountered five of these brutal giants, and all of them contained large, egg-shaped gems.

Aren't you cold?

We only had one Wayshrine to draw water from, but we got delayed quite a bit because of some occurrences we did not expect would happen. This, for one, is an illumination of dragons inside the Forgotten Vale. We were traversing the ice path quietly, scouting for any signs of the last Wayshrine, when the ice broke from beneath and a dragon emerged from the water. I was about to wonder about how bizarre it was for a dragon to have emerged from underwater like that as though it lived there, when another dragon rose up towards the sky from the water. Dragon-serpents! 

They appeared to attack in combinations, using the ice and the water to go in and out of the sky to prepare for their attacks. We had to keep them from going underwater. Kiya started to use her lightning attacks on the water. It worked--we could see it hurt them, and it slowed them down enough to bring them to the ice path. They staggered when they reached the ground. All we had to do was finish them off. It all seemed easy now, but Kiya looked like she was actually hesitating to kill the dragons. I had to finish them off by myself immediately, as they posed a threat even when grounded, and no amount of mercy for the dragons would save us if they regained their strength. 

The spirits of the dragons rose up from their bodies and went inside of me, as with any other dragon I've ever slain. When bones were all that remained of them, I shot a look at Kiya for hesitating to kill those dragons. I wondered if she would be like that all the time when fighting against these beasts. A time might come when I won't be there to deal the killing blow to a dragon threatening to kill her. 

I even had time to take this illumination!

We all got quite exhausted after that intense battle, so we had to rest for a while before finding the last Wayshrine. I noticed that Kiya looked down, and it might be because we just destroyed two dragons. I know she has started to be fond of Durnehviir and his ilk, but I explained to her that these were not Durnehviirs we fought, but savage beasts that needed to be put down. This only made her stare blankly at another direction. It was as if she wanted to talk to them and get some sense into them. I hope she'll think differently soon, though.

A few moments after starting our journey again, we chanced upon a hill leading down to the river, and the shrine was just across it. We made a run for it, but from the corner of my eye I saw a weird mechanism of sorts. I immediately stopped and headed down that path. Kiya and Serana were behind me and just followed me, and I could tell they looked at each other when I changed courses.

Once they arrived, I was already studying the mechanism I had seen from afar. It looked like it needed some sort of egg-shaped material in order to activate it. Luckily we had found several gems of that shape from the frost giants earlier. I pushed one inside, the ruby one, and the two pillars just beside the mechanism unfolded a portal to another place, as I could see where it would lead us. I turned my head to catch a glimpse of Kiya and Serana, and almost immediately I ran towards the portal, eyes closed. 

Ooooh, what does this button do?

I opened my eyes to an even newer place. It looked a lot like the Vale, or any place else in Skyrim, but there was an different feel to it, like something wretched was holding something pure. My eyes weren't able to see any movements. I started walking carefully, treading the snow as slow as I could without making much noise. I only made a few steps into this new vale that a falmer came up from behind the trees and attacked me. 

In another world, it's still snowing. Damn snow.

This was no ordinary falmer though--In the flurry of blows it was able to land on my shield, I was able to notice that it wielded some sort of extraordinary shield itself. Kiya and Serana were still near the portal, and I can only rely on my own strength to best this falmer. Using Elemental Fury, I hacked and hacked the falmer's defenses until it could no longer hold the shield anymore. I felt that my blows were starting to hurt me, though. Fortunately, it died to one more swing from my sword. I picked up the shield from the corpse just as Kiya and Serana rushed in and said they heard noises from afar. I smiled, and showed them the shield I picked up. Serana gasped, and told me it was the long-lost shield of Auriel. It seemed fitting that I found it just in the midst of the vampire war.

Behold! It is just majestic.

We went back the way we came, and started up the river to the last portal. As I took the last scoop, Kiya pointed our way to the Inner Sanctum, where Vyrthur must be hiding. We hurriedly went down the hill and up the stairs to the statue of Auriel.

Yes, let's get this water-gathering over with.

I write this just before we enter the Sanctum, in preparation for what might come. I expect this Vyrthur to be a powerful mage, able to summon minions at will, and a lot of falmer by his side. It's a good thing I still have a lot of potions in my bags--I am sure that we're going to need it. I will be putting this Auriel's Shield to good use. I have yet to discover what it really does, and I might do so inside. May the gods protect us. May Auriel guide our way.

My, what big amulet you have!