AN: Holy crap! I'm alive!

CHAPTER 26

Lord Vivec sat, legs crossed, suspended a foot above the floor of his temple. The temple had once been a place where his followers could come to seek his divine guidance. Now that Almalexia and Sotha Sil had given up, the temple was a place of seclusion. He had locked the door to all comers, and nobody was to speak with him except by special invitation…which he never had occasion to give. The temple was now the one place where he could meditate and maintain the Ghostfence, free from the distractions of the rest of the world.

Distractions like the golden-masked apparition that had just appeared in the temple.

"Vivec!" Dagoth Ur shouted, jovially.

"Go away…" Vivec growled, not even turning his head in Dagoth Ur's direction.

"Oh, come now. What kind of way is that to treat an old friend?"

"Why are you here?" Vivec asked.

Dagoth Ur stepped back and placed a hand to his chest. "What, I can't drop in to see someone I haven't talked to in hundreds of years?"

Vivec took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "We both know that's not why you're here."

Dagoth Ur began walking around the ovoid room. "Yes, I suppose that's true. You do know me so well, Vivec."

Vivec closed his eyes and made a low growling sound in his throat.

"I just stopped by to tell you that an old friend of ours has returned. You remember Nerevar Indoril, don't you?"

"Don't you dare speak that name in my presence," Vivec hissed.

"Aw," Dagoth Ur said, placing a non-corporeal hand on Vivec's shoulder. "Did I strike a nerve there? Does that name bring back terrible memories? Memories of betrayal, perhaps?"

Vivec still didn't look at Dagoth Ur, but he did clench his fists until his nails dug into his palms. "You're one to talk about betrayal."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. But then, I don't deny it. I didn't make up some story to cast myself as a hero to the most xenophobic people in Tamriel."

Vivec gritted his teeth, and a single tear ran down his cheek. "Why are you doing this?"

Dagoth Ur smiled behind his mask. "Why? Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I'm trying to get to you…which, by the way, I clearly am. Don't lie to me, I know you. I can tell. Maybe I'm trying to use guilt to weaken your focus on the Ghostfence. Maybe. Or maybe I just like watching you squirm."

Vivec sighed and got to his feet. He walked over to a single rune inscribed on the door frame. "I don't know how you got past my cloister, but I'll be renewing it daily from now on." With that, he placed his hand on the rune, which glowed white. The glow began to spread across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the temple.

"Same old Vivec," Dagoth Ur sneered. "When trouble comes knocking, shut it out. You can't hide from this forever, you know. Kagrenac's tools will–" and at that moment, the white glow reached Dagoth Ur's image, which flickered and vanished from the temple.

Vivec shook his head, walked back to the center of the room, and resumed his meditative pose. So it was true. Dagoth Ur was getting stronger, if had found a way to penetrate Vivec's cloister.

Vivec thought for a minute. Dagoth Ur had basically just admitted he liked making him squirm. It was possible this whole thing was a lie. Then again, if it wasn't…

If it wasn't, and Vivec ignored it, the world's only chance of defeating Dagoth Ur would likely be killed by the Ordinators, who had taken his absence as an excuse to take full control of the city. Perhaps he would have to take a personal interest in this.

While he maintained the Ghostfence.

Sometimes, being a god just sucked.