Chapter 4 Assassination
The sound of the crackling firewood and the dancing shadows in the room made it feel cozy. A big, red armchair faced the fireplace. The soft snores that came from it informed Thanatos of where Audric were, it was almost too simple. The door closed soundlessly behind him.
Silently he sneaked up behind the armchair and pulled his dagger. He took a deep breath, well aware of the seriousness of the situation. The thought of starting a war was hard to accept. But, he thought, the old man had it coming. After Audric had taken over for his father, the late high chancellor, Ocato, the empire had been deteriorating at an alarming speed. He had kept raising the taxes, completely ignoring the increasing number of homeless people on the streets, and he had reestablished the death-penalty in Cyrodiil. In only a month ten people had been executed, all of them had been homeless, and nobody knew what crimes they had committed. The people were unhappy, and because of that they rebelled. Of course the imperial legion had suppressed them quickly, not only by killing the rebels but also by burning down whole villages, but not quick enough. The counties with the strongest leaders had gathered soldiers of their own, to be able to be more independent. As a response to that, the imperial legion had forcibly recruited both young and old. I'm doing something necessary.
"Hello?" Thanatos froze. "Is anybody there?"
Quickly Thanatos jumped up and held the dagger towards Audric's throat. "If you say a word I'll slit your throat," he hissed. Thanatos could not help but to feel surprised at the sight of the frail old man. In all the portraits he was depicted as a huge muscular man, that looked more like a nord than an altmer.
"Are you going to kill me?" The old man behaved in an unexpectedly calm way.
"Yes," said Thanatos, knowing that it would be for the greater good. Not that I would have any choice.
"Oh.. Why?" Thanatos flinched upon hearing the question.
"Many people have prayed to the night mother, many people wishes to see you dead. Although it was only recently that someone could actually afford to pay the price for it." Why the hell was he talking to this man? He should have killed him right away.
"But why? I have led this empire to the best of my abilities, and I thought that the people were happy."
"Your people are starving to death! And despite that you keep raising the taxes. Your executioners are busy with keeping the homeless at bay, and you haven't done anything about it!"
The man blinked, as if he didn't understand what Thanatos was talking about.
"I have not raised the taxes. My advisers have not informed me of this.." Audric suddenly went quiet. He stared into the fire, obviously in deep thought. "I see.." he mumbled. "I am apparently not the one who is ruling over this empire."
"When you die, a war will begin. The greatest war ever heard of. The boarders will be redrawn and a new emperor will be crowned."
"All this years, and I was only a puppet."
"Nothing will ever be the same."
"Merely a puppet."
Thanatos sighed. The old man wasn't even listening. Suddenly Audric looked up so that he could see Thanatos face. The old mans gray eyes were surrounded by wrinkles. Thin white hair covered most of his head. Thanatos felt disgusted. He couldn't even imagine being that old.
"Tell me your name."
"That doesn't concern you. Any last wishes?" Thanatos said coldly.
"Who sent you?"
"Otaktay Avidius," Thanatos said, before he let the edge of his knife slice through the old mans thin skin. Audric made a grizzly gurgling noise before closing his eyes forever.
The burning scent of blood came immediately, and Thanatos had to hurry outside. Self restrain had never been one of his strong sides. After casting an invisibility spell over himself, he sneaked past the guards and started to ascend down the White Gold Tower.
Audric could not possibly have told him the truth. But not even Kai know what state the empire is in. A strong feeling of regret suddenly overwhelmed him. That old man hadn't even done anything, he didn't deserve to die like that. Thanatos shook his head in anger.
"Fool.." he muttered. Like I had a choice.
Quickly he opened the gate and stepped outside into the fresh night air. With the certain smell of midnight and darkness came a feeling of freedom that washed away any feeling of remorse. Maybe.. I should hunt. A devilish smile spread across Thanatos dace as he followed the most alluring scent he could find. It felt somewhat familiar, but since he longed to extinguish the burning fire in his throat, he ignored that.
The arena was completely empty. Above him vultures flew in circles. On the other side, the yellow teams side, stood a lonely figure in the shadow. It was too far away for Kai to see who it was, but somehow he already knew, and he knew what he had to do.
After unsheathing his sword he pointed it against his opponent.
"Kneel before me or meet your demise!" he shouted. Kai was surprised to hear that the voice that came from his lips wasn't his, and neither was the words. The dark figure on the other side just laughed.
"Force me.." A huge grin spread across the mans face. Odd, Kai thought. He could not actually see the mans eyes, nose or ears, put that horrible grin he could have seen from Dive Rock. Suddenly the man rushed forward, towards Kai. He held a black dagger in his hand, a dagger that seemed to long for blood. Kai tried to move, but his legs wouldn't obey him. No, these are not my legs. When he looked down on his hands, they where colored by blood. The whole world had the color of blood. It flowed through the cracks in the walls, into the arena. Kai watched in horror until the arena was filled with it. He was drowning in it, yet he could not move towards the surface. He wasn't sure if it was the man or the blood that had killed him when he fell to the bottom of the blood filled arena.
"God morning." Kai woke up with a jerk. Just a dream. But when he looked around in the bedroom he saw that smile again. That horrible, grisly smile. But this time, the man had fangs. "I said.." Thanatos looked as if he had lost his mind. "God morning." His eyes didn't have that amber-color that Kai had gotten used to, they were red. Like blood.
"Thanatos?" Something was wrong with Thanatos, he looked more like a vampire than he ever had before. He stepped froward and sat down on the edge of Kai's bed, then he leaned forward. Thanatos gazed into Kai's eyes and smiled again. He was so close that their faces almost touched each other.
"Give me.. Your.." The smile disappeared and Thanatos suddenly looked serious. "Blood."
Kai froze when he felt Thanatos soft lips against his throat.
"Stop," he mumbled quietly, too shocked to put up any real resistance.
"Why would I do something so stupid?" said Thanatos.
"Because.. Because.."
"Because?" Thanatos tongue tickled his neck. Kai was starting to panic, but his body would not move. It was just like the dream.
"You swore to protect me."
"Did I? I don't recall ever making such promise." He laughed softly. "Don't worry, it won't hurt." Kai felt Thanatos fangs scrape against his skin.
"Don't kill me." His word were merely a whisper.
"Would you rather become a vampire?" Kai swallowed. The thought of staying with Thanatos forever sounded rather tempting, but to be doomed to roam the streets at night, in search of innocent victims, that was more than he could bear. He could not answer.
Kai closed his eyes and waited. Thanatos fangs kept scraping against his neck, without actually penetrating his skin. Time passed by, it felt like an hour, or two, but nothing happened. And then, without warning, Thanatos pushed Kai down.
"Are you a moron!" His eyes had turned back to their usual color. Thanatos groaned with pain and put his hand over his nose and mouth before backing away from the bed, into a corner. Kai, who was still too shocked to do anything, watched as Thanatos fought his own instincts.
"I can't believe you didn't even try to stop me! I was about to kill you!"
Kai stared at Thanatos without knowing what to say or how to act.
Thanatos shook his head and sighed, he seemed more in control now "Why didn't you do anything?"
"What could I possibly have done?" Kai looked crossed. "You're much stronger than me, and I was unarmed."
"You could have tried!"
"I shouldn't have to, should I?" Kai muttered.
Thanatos looked as if Kai had slapped him in the face. He stepped forward and sat down at the edge of Kai's bed again. "I know. I'm sorry." His face looked cold, but after looking into his eyes, Kai could see that he was actually sad, or ashamed. Or maybe both.
Kai patted him on the shoulder with a shaky hand and tried to smile. "It's okay. I'm not hurt, am I?"
Thanatos didn't answer.
"I haven't been recruited yet," Kai said, hoping that it would cheer Thanatos up a bit.
"You haven't?" Thanatos didn't sound surprised.
Kai shook his head. "Neither have the others at the arena."
"It's true then.." Thanatos mumbled with an reticent look. There was no point in asking him what he meant when he had that expression.
"How often do you lose control like that?" The question surprised Thanatos, who twitched.
"Not often.." He looked down into the floor. "But it happens," he admitted reluctantly. There was obviously something that he wasn't saying.
Kai was just about to ask when he heard some commotion out on the street. When he drew back the curtains he saw guards running back and forth, shouting frantic orders to each other as they went.
"I didn't think that they would notice so soon." Kai felt the blood rushing from his head and for a moment he feared that he would faint.
"You killed him," he said with a cold voice.
Thanatos sighed. "I told you I was going to do it."
"Didn't think you'd actually.." Kai shook his head. "What did he do to deserve something like that?"
"Don't even get me started," Thanatos said before getting up. "I have to look in to something. Meet me outside the stable in two hours." He pulled his hood up and left.
Kai watched him through the window as long as he could. Thanatos was heading towards the Arcane University.
It was hard to believe that Thanatos had actually attacked him. Without thinking he touched the place where Thanatos fangs had touched his neck. Since it felt soar he went over to the big mirror on the other side of the oversized bedroom to take a look. Kai couldn't help but to laugh at the pitiful man staring back at him. His face was still pale and his hair looked like a birds nest. He let his hand drop so that he could take a look at the scrape marks. The first thing he saw was blood. It wasn't much, not even a drop, but even something as small as that was enough to turn him into a vampire. Why didn't Thanatos notice that? Suddenly Kai became afraid. What if he really did turn into a vampire? If he ever lost control like Thanatos just had done, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. Two hours, he thought. He just had to wait two hours, then he could ask Thanatos about it.