Chapter 9
And there he was, the objective of the mission, standing right in front of me. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Maybe I was dreaming. Perhaps I really did fall on my head…
"I must be dreaming," I said out loud.
"Dream?" Said the Elf with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, this must be a dream. You can't be Dalamus Venim, you were kidnapped. You should be locked away in a cell or something." I claimed.
"This is no dream Vitellus Bentien. This is reality."
"How do you know my name?" I asked curiously.
He gave no response to my question, but simply strolled around the room, appearing to be thinking deeply.
"This wasn't supposed to happen, though I have only myself to blame. I should have taken care of you when you first arrived at my island, but there was something about you that made me reconsider," he said, totally ignoring my previous question.
"I never would have guessed in a million years you'd kill one of my minions, yet alone two of them. You were able to do what no one has ever even pondered. You slew two of my creations with ease, something that I both regret [iand[/i feel happy about. I regret only because my creations aren't yet strong enough for my plan, but I am happy because I believe I have found the one thing that will help me break the barrier of my endless struggle."
I had no clue what he was talking about. I still didn't want to believe any of this, it made no sense. This [imust[/i be a dream. I was almost sure of it, but what happened next dismissed those beliefs forever…
"I am dreaming, I am sure of it now. You can't…"
Suddenly I was lifted into the air pressed up against the wall aggressively. My head hit the side with such force that I almost went unconscious again.
"As I said before, this is not a dream. The pain you are feeling now must surely tell you that," He said, again with the same eerie calmness in his voice.
He was right; I [iwas[/i feeling pain, something that wasn't supposed to happen in a dream. Unfortunately I came to my senses and realized that this [iwas[/i indeed reality.
He then transported me back to my chair. "You know, slinging me into the air is starting to annoy me." I was trying to sound brave, even though I was scared beyond imagination. It was clear on Dalamus's face that he could see right through me. He knew I was afraid.
"Then sit and listen without interrupting me. I am trying to be civil with you but if you keep interjecting with me I will be forced to use harsher actions. Now, Vitellus, let me tell you a story…
I listened on as he began his tale, one filled with absolute amazement. What he told me lead to the turning point in my life. From then on things would be much different…whether I liked it or not.
"As a young Dunmer child I switched back and forth between different families through my entire childhood. It seemed like nobody wanted me, a feeling I had been accustomed to early on in life. As you already know I am the son of Bolvyn Venim, but that's another story we'll get to later."
"I went through so many families during that time I cannot remember any of their names, not that I want to. It didn't matter where I went I was always eventually given the title of "strange" and was sent away to yet another family. They all gave up on me until the day I turned thirteen years of age, when I was brought into the possession of a lonely Imperial whose name no longer holds any importance."
"The master adored me for what I truly was, which was something nobody could have guessed. As it turned out the master was a necromancer, though nobody could have guessed that either. He told me that he could sense something deep inside of me, something that desperately wanted to escape and grow to its fullest potential."
Dalamus then paused for a second to let everything he said so far sink in.
"Soon after I met the man we moved to an isolated cabin in the Northwestern part of Vvardenfell. There he taught me all the schools of magic until I was almost a master of the arts. Throughout my "training" I was never given a reason for what I was doing, only that I was living out the "true meaning" of my existence."
"I came to love that man like the father I never had. Then one day, while practicing telekinesis spells in the woodlands, the master was struck down by a volley of arrows. I was so stunned I could barely breathe. I watched as the master wiggled and squirmed on the ground, trying frantically to get up until his struggle was ended by the sharp edge of an Imperial officer's blade."
"Rather than kill me where I stood the soldiers had pity for me, only because I was still a young lad. They merely gawked at me for a few seconds before taking me into custody. After traveling for a few days we arrived at the city of Ald' Ruhn, where I meant my biological father, and the reason for the master's death…..Bolvyn Venim."
As it turned out the House Redoran Leader was both my real father, and the reason the master was killed. He told me that the "dirty necromancer" was a nuisance to the country and a danger to me. He told me he was only trying to save me from an awful fate, but the damage had already been done. It was too late for apologies."
"I attempted to take my father's life just as he did the master. When I failed at my attempt my father decided it was best that I lived somewhere else, under the close eye of the Empire of course. He didn't want his precious House members putting their lives in danger by watching over me, but he didn't mind paying the Empire to do the job."
"So I was sent to the Province of Cyrodiil, where I was kept under the watchful eye of an Imperial officer in Anvil. It didn't last for long however, as I easily slew the officer and then traveled to where I am now."
"It's been fifteen years since then and I am now a grown adult, capable of doing whatever I please. My father knew what had happened and was well aware that I escaped the Empire's grasp, yet he did nothing other than surround himself with the most feared bodyguards he could find. When I never showed up for months he assumed I was gone out of his life forever, but he was sadly mistaken."
"Oh I could have slain him [iand[/i his bodyguards with great ease, but I had bigger and better plans in store. When I ran away I traveled by boat to the snowy island of Solstheim. It was there that I finally decided it was time to end my father's life, along with the rest of Vvardenfell."
All of this was so crazy. How could any of this be true? I knew that it was but suddenly I wished I had never taken up on Bolvyn's proposal. Dalamus then continued his story.
"For the past several years I have created, and trained, an army of minions that will help me takeover House Redoran, and make it my own. I decided long ago that the only way to avenge the master's death was to eliminate the original cause and everything that it associates with, thus meaning I will "recreate" House Redoran, and who knows after that..."
"And there's something else you should know. During my stay in Solstheim I was deliberately spent the night at a cave filled with many vampire corpses, so I could become one myself. I knew that this disease would only make me stronger, giving me yet another edge over my father and his troops. With my taught powers, combined with the luxuries of a vampire, I knew I would be unstoppable…if it wasn't for one thing."
"Despite my powers far exceeding my father's and his "army", I am still missing one thing, until now that is. Whether you know it or not you are, in some way, part of me. You are a vampire."
What? A vampire? No, it couldn't be, it just couldn't.
"I believe you are mistaken, there's no possible way I could be a vampire," I told him.
"Oh, but there is Vitellus. Don't you remember? One of my minions bit you on the wrist. Go ahead and take a look. You have been marked."
I looked down at my wrist to see that an anciently crafted symbol had been formed into my skin, with two small holes in the middle. I was bitten!
"You [iare[/i a vampire Vitellus, but you are much more than that. You have been given the gifts I was given as a child. You see, before my master died he gave me an amulet with old writing inscribed on the inner part of the jewel. It was only a couple years ago when I noticed the writing. Trough old textbooks I was able to decipher the writing and when I read the words aloud I was magically given a power, something I cannot even begin to describe," Said Dalamus.
"How could this be? I can't possibly…"
"It is true Vitellus, and now I have a proposition for you. Will you aid me in my mission to "purify" House Redoran?"