The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Story of Octavian

Light in the Darkness

So now I was a vampire. I took stock at the mouth of the cave. The weapon M'Razzar had been using was a piece of crap among swords, despite its elegance. It couldn't have been any younger than M'Razzar himself. I had spent three days before the vampirism could take hold of me. That was three days lost.

But, as you know, I was a vampire, and a damn powerful one.

I stepped out of the cave, faced south-ish, and began to run. I ran far faster than the horse did. I came to a small pond, and I jumped clean over it with plenty of room after landing. I kept running. I plowed right over smaller things in my way , and either destroyed or jumped over the larger.

Despite what I'd heard, vampirism wasn't so bad.

I ran for an hour, seeing perfectly in the darkness, when I saw the slightest change in the color of the sky, that no mortal being could have noticed. I began to run faster, and look out for any form of shelter. In minutes I found a cave to hide in. Inside it I waited out the day. I left again at night, thirsty in a way that I knew could only be satisfied one way, but I wouldn't bow to that, yet. I had to get to Kvatch, human or no.

On I continued, until, two days later, I stumbled out of the woods, starved and weak, and far to the west of where I needed to be.

I had reached Skingrad. I stumbled toward it, not being able to go on. I fell somewhat far from the gates, and watched the sky start to change. I thought I was going to die. You all know I didn't, or else I wouldn't be telling you the story, but I didn't have the advantage of hindsight. At the last second before the dawn came, Something was thrown over me and I was roughly carried off.

I awoke at dusk to blood dripping over my lips. I flung myself at the source and drank until I was forced off. I breathed again, coughed, and blinked the death-haze out of my eyes. I then did it again, to ensure I wasn't seeing things.

I wasn't. In front of me Count Hassildor of Skingrad was closing a wound on his arm. I had seen him at social gatherings, back in my nobility days, but I hadn't seen him like this before. Perhaps it was the new acuteness of my vampire sight. Perhaps it was the fact that we can sense eachother. Most likely it was because the taste of his blood was akin to M'Razzar's. He, too, was a vampire. I stared upward, and could tell I was in the castle infirmary.

"I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but if you do that again, you won't have me to help. Your lucky I was the vampire who found you. Anyone else would have killed you at your weakest." Hassildor said to me, aware of my wakefulness without casting a glance.

"Why did you help me?" I asked him.

"Because… you are the one who can bring us together."

"Bring us… together?"

By this time I was thoroughly confused. I wanted answers, and I could tell he knew my thoughts. I didn't even bother to ask aloud, I just sent the consious intention of knowing. He seemed very surprised.

"Most of us can't send out thoughts for at least a year or two. If you want answers, then your lucky. Vampire kind has always been divided. Warring covens, conflicts over hunting grounds, and the limited mortal population are sources of endless problems. Adding fuel to the fires are the Mad Ones, who are basically animals with vampiric strength and form. Mortal fear of us is even worse, but we have a few things going for us." He said.

I replied, "First, you still didn't answer the question, and second, what do we have on our side?" I thought as I spoke how odd it was that despite my sensory and physical changes, my mind was still the same. Vampirism didn't seem as bad as I'd thought until Hassildor's little monologue.

"Right, I didn't. I was getting to that. You have a youthful, strong body. You will keep that form for all eternity. People respect who the years have been kind to, and you can use that to win over some of the covens, and those who will not agree to alliance, and the Mad Ones, will fall before your strength." He said.

"Hold on! You want me to do what?" I asked, bewildered. "I'm just some guy with a curse, how can I unite all the world's vampires? How can I fight centuries-old vampires if I've been one for mere days?"

"Well…" He said, but I could glimpse thoughts already, and the news was bad.

"Mortals, too? You want a random nobody who stumbled into the wrong cave to kill off superstitions and predjudices as old as vampirism itself, and unite men, mer, and immortal? Fuck that, I quit."

"If you quit," he threatened, "I won't teach you what you'll need to know to survive as a vampire."

"You are a tenacious son of a bitch, you know that?" I said, relenting. "I'll do it, but you're teaching me first."

"Alright, first lesson," he said, appearing right next to the bed and lifting me up by the throat. Even my vampire eyes couldn't trace the movement he'd made to get from his chair to the infirmary bed. He placed me down and rolled his orange-tinged eyes. He clearly hadn't fed. "Always be prepared for anything." I was powerful for a fledgeling, but this guy was no fledgeling.

"Can moving like that be the second lesson?" I asked, hopeful.

"That will come with time. I can do it and it's only been fifty years. For your second lesson I'll teach you how to feed, and third will be our advantages."