Chapter 5 Lost Memory

Even though the man was so much larger than her, he was afraid. She observed him closely, and he didn't like it at all.

"Are you sure you can pull this of?" he muttered. "Otherwise I.."

"I have already preformed the spell several times, and it's flawless." Kalma smiled coldly.

"But you're to weak to use it properly," said Panahasi crudely. The smile disappeared from Kalma's face.

"Weak? You couldn't even kill that old man yourself!" Panahasi froze. He knew that it was dangerous to anger her, even for him. Kalma calmed down and put on a fake smile. "Trust me.." she leaned closer to him, ".. emperor. Your plan will work perfectly. The war will be over in no time, and you will stand victorious." Of course it was her plan, but her minor influence over the imperial legion didn't allow her to carry it out on her own. Standing on Panahasi's side would strengthen her power drastically, and when she didn't need him anymore she could just kill him and take over herself.

Panahasi nodded. "But how are you going to make that spell work in such large scale?"

"That's why he is here," Kalma said and pointed towards the hooded figure.

Vicente sighed. "I will, of course, honor the contract that I made with your grandmother, but I advice you to come up with something else. There is a reason that this spell is forbidden." He had been sitting quietly on one of the benches by the wall, examining an old scroll.

"Have you found a mage powerful enough to preform that spell?" Kalma asked, ignoring Vicente's warning.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I found one right after the oblivion crisis."

Kalma didn't look pleased. She knew that the person casting the spell needed a strong, young body. "An old fossil can't do it," she hissed.

Vicente smiled devilishly. "I am well aware of that. I gave him the dark gift as soon as I had made sure that he was strong enough." He put the scroll into one of his pockets. "I actually found another mage who was nearly as strong as him, but he managed to escape."

Kalma shook her head reproachfully. "One is good enough. Where is he?"

"He should be somewhere in the city." Vicente looked somewhat like a proud father. "Hopefully he has gotten out of the golden tower by now."

Panahasi looked up. "What is he doing in the go.."

Kalma ignored him. "Hopefully?"

"He won't get caught, I trained him myself."

Kalma walked over to a bookshelf and viewed a dusty old book. "Does he know what he's supposed to do?"

"No, but when the time comes, he will follow my orders."

"You sound a bit too confident."

"Is that a bad thing?" Vicente smiled. Kalma frowned and put the book back in the shelf.

"Panahasi, reme.."

"Call me emperor!" he shouted.

Kalma took a deep breath. Oh, if she could use the enemies explode spell on him.

"Forgive me, my emperor. I just wanted to make sure that your highness remembers to include me in the council."

Panahasi waved his hand towards her. "Yeah, yeah."

Idiot, she thought. "It's not like you'll have a hard time convincing them. How can they say no to the arch-mage?"

"They probably want to keep their heads," Vicente muttered. Kalma glared at him. Panahasi didn't react, he probably didn't understand the joke.

"Bring the mage here." Vicente bowed and left the council chambers.

He and the other two were completely unaware of the fourth person hiding in the shadows.

"Are you sure this will work?"

Kalma frowned. "We've already been through this. If the mage is as powerful as Vicente says, then it will work."

"Why can't I just use my army?" Panahasi sounded like a squeaky little kid.

"Because it's too small! If it had just been Skyrim attacking, you would've won. But you're facing two armies, and if we don't do something soon.."

"They're gonna start cooperating and we won't stand a chance. I get it, I get it.." Panahasi looked down on his feat. "But opening an Oblivion gate?"

"Oh, little brother.. You've always been such a wimp." Kalma snickered. "With that spell we can control it! Mehrunes Dagon has been defeated, you can take his place and become a daedric prince." Panahasi still looked doubtful so Kalma added: "You would be invincible!"

A greedy smile spread across Panahasi's face. "Okay, my dear sister, we'll do as you wish."

"Good.. Now go, and seize hold of this empire."

"I've already been in charge of it in over ten years."

"Not officially." Panahasi nodded and left the room.

Kalma sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots. Too bad that the spell will kill that mage, he might have been interesting," she mumbled before stepping on the portal to her quarters.

Thanatos could not believe what he just had heard. Vicente had betrayed him and the arch-mage had a spell that could open a Oblivion gate. Now he knew why Kai hadn't been recruited. They wanted to keep their best fighters alive, in case the spell backfired. He raised his hand to cast a new invisibility spell on himself and then he sneaked out of the Arcane University.

The streets were packed full with people. Panicky voices filled the air with a high pitch lament. The guards were ordering people to go home, but no one listened. They wanted to find out what had happened, and who was behind it. It was dangerous for Thanatos to stay invisible in such a crowded space. At first Thanatos plan was to return to Kai, but then he picked up Vicente's weak scent.

After following Vicente's scent to a room in the Tiber Septim hotel Thanatos became hesitant. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't angry, just.. Empty. Vicente had been like a brother or father to him, but apparently that had just been a facade. After taking a deep breath he knocked on the door. There was definitely someone moving around inside the room, but no one opened. Thanatos knocked again. This time he heard a voice.

"Yes?" It was Vicente.

"Could you let me in?" said Thanatos with a low voice.

"Thanatos?" He sounded quite surprised.

"Open the door." Vicente quickly opened the door and nodded towards the bed.

"Take a seat."

"I'd rather stand." Thanatos didn't know what to say. The whole situation was so bizarre.

Vicente could see that something was wrong. "Did you want to talk to me about something."

Thanatos looked down on the floor. "Tell me about the day you found me."

Vicente looked surprised. "I've already told you this a thousand times."

"Tell me," he insisted.

Vicente sighed and sat down on the bed. "Well.. You know the story already. I found you laying on the blue road, close to Cheydinhal, with your scull crushed. You were dying so I turned you into a vampire to save you, end of story."

"Stop lying!" Thanatos clutched his fists so hard that his arms started to shake. "Tell me the truth.. Just this once."

Vicente stared at him, dumbfounded. Now his whole body was shaking, and he had a hard time holding his tears back. Pathetic, Thanatos thought. He had always thought that he had good control over himself, but obviously that was just another thing he had gotten wrong.

"Thanatos.. Whatever you believe that you know, it's wrong. I've never lied to you."

"Then what the hell is that?" Thanatos shouted and pointed at the scroll on the nightstand.

"It's just a scroll.. Are you feeling alright?" Vicente looked worried, but Thanatos couldn't tell if he was upset about him discovering the truth, or because he was so upset.

"I know. You don't have to lie anymore."

"What is it that you think you know?"

"That I'm supposed to use that scroll to open an Oblivion gate, and that I will die because of it.. And that you were the one that made me lose my memories." He whispered the last words. It was as if all his anger had been washed away and left him completely powerless.

Vicente didn't answer. It looked as if he was contemplating hos next move.

"You were eavesdropping."

"Why?"

Vicente sighed. "At the last Oblivion crisis the former arch-mage received a spell with the ability to reopen the great Oblivion gate, but the spell required a tremendous power to work, so no one was able to use it. The arch-mage signed a contract with me, an unusual contract. I was meant to find a really powerful mage and make him or hear preform the spell, and in that way.. Kill that person." Thanatos couldn't hold his tears back anymore. Vicente was the only person he had ever trusted. When Vicente tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder he backed away, into the corner.

"Go on," he said with a shaky voice.

"I heard about two promising mages, a wizard and a warlock, bothers, working for the mages guild. I followed them for a couple of days, to make sure that at least one of them were powerful enough. After confirming that they both had what it took I set up an ambush on the blue road." Thanatos felt the taste of blood in his mouth, he had been biting his lip.

"I knocked one of them out and Teinaava took the other one. We took them to the sanctuary and, since I knew that they had to be young and healthy to cast the spell, I gave them both the dark gift. Unfortunately one managed to escape, and I still haven't found him. The other one.. Well.. I gave him a new name and put him to work." Vicente smiled. "And you can probably guess which name I gave him."

"Thanatos.." he mumbled. Is not my real name.

"What are you going to do now, when you know the truth?"

"Haven't decided yet. I'm trying to choose between killing you slowly or simply running away."

"Don't you want to know?" Vicente didn't look especially afraid.

"Know what?"

"Your real name, for a start."

Thanatos blinked. Of course he wanted to know his name. Why didn't I think of that? And he wanted to know the name of his brother too. Suddenly the idea of killing Vicente didn't seem so smart.

"Tell me."

Vicente smiled. "Your thirst for knowledge will be my lifesaver."

"Just tell me," Thanatos said. He was starting to get annoyed. Well, at least I'm not crying anymore.

"Lihau Summergrove. It's a pretty nice name, don't you think?"

"What was my bothers name?"

"Do you really think I'll tell you, just like that? You'll have to work for it."

"What do you mean work? If I cast that spell I'll die."

Vicente shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, it's quite simple. You know that man you always visit when you're in the Imperial City?"

"Yes?" There was something weird about this. Why would he mention Kai?

"I need you to kill him?"

"What?" Thanatos could actually feel his own world crumble under his feat. He wanted to know, and he wanted it so bad.

"Kill him and I'll tell you everything you want to know." Vicente chuckled. "And who knows, I might even know where your brother is, Lihau."

It had gotten dark again. Two hours, he had said. More than ten hours had past, and Thanatos still hadn't arrived. Hunger and thirst didn't matter anymore. He wasn't afraid anymore, just curious. How hard can it be? he thought. If Thanatos managed to live as a vampire, why couldn't he? And besides, the puncture wound was so small he could barely see it. Maybe it was just a red spot or something.

Slowly Kai got up from the stone he had been sitting on. His arms and legs had fallen asleep so he started to move around a little. Maybe he should go back home? Thanatos probably wouldn't show up tonight, so Kai might as well go home and get some sleep.

Something moved. In the corner of his eye, Kai saw a bush move unnaturally, against the wind.

"Hello?" he said, feeling like an idiot. It was probably just a stray dog or something.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Instinctively he pulled a dagger and turned around, ready to face whoever it was.

Thanatos pulled down his hood. "It's just me," he said with a monotonous voice. Kai immediately sheathed his dagger.

"You scared me." Thanatos didn't look alright. He was even paler than usual and his eyes, that usually had a warm, vibrant color, looked dead.

"Since you didn't get recruited to the legion you can leave right? Like I said before."

Kai blinked. Leave? "Why? I can defend myself, you know."

Thanatos expression didn't change. Kai couldn't see properly in the dark, but he could feel the smell of blood coming from Thanatos, and his robe looked wet. He doesn't seem affected at all.

"I've been told to kill you. You have to leave."

With a calm that almost surprised himself he said: "Are you going to do it?"

Thanatos mouth twitched. "No. Leave now."

"Aren't you coming with me?" Kai said, trying to sound disappointed. It was no use. Thanatos didn't react in any way.

"That wouldn't be safe."

"Safe?"

"I can't see you anymore, it's too dangerous. I almost killed you this morning, and I don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

Automatically Kai put his hand on his neck. A scarf hid the scrape marks. "You might not have to worry about that anymore."

His eyes widened. With a brusque movement he teared Kai's scarf of. His sharp eyes noticed the mark immediately. "No.." He pulled Kai closer and tried to catch his scent. Kai's heart pounded so hard that it felt like his chest were going to split open. Thanatos quickly backed away. His face was distorted by pain. "I'm sorry," he cried.

"It can't be cured, right?" Kai didn't know how to react. Was he happy or sad? Or maybe he felt nothing.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Thanatos wavered unstably from side to side before falling to his knees.

Kai sat down next to him and put his hand on Thanatos head. His attempt to smile was ghastly, he knew it, but he didn't want to see Thanatos like that. "It's okay."

Thanatos stared at him in disbelief. "Okay? I've cursed you! Condemned you to roam this land forever! You have no idea what it's like.."

This time his smile looked more believable. "I'll learn to live with it. You'll help me, right?" Thanatos didn't answer. He looked lost. "I trust you," Kai mumbled.

"Don't. I'll let you down. I let everybody down." It was unusual to hear Thanatos talk like that. He was always so calm and collected. Almost cocky.

Kai gently patted him on the head, as if he was a dog. "You won't let me down."

"That's what Vicente said to, before I killed him." The blood, Kai thought, it's from Valtieri. That's why he seemed so unaffected by it.

"Why did you do that?"

Thanatos looked as if he suddenly remembered something. "We'll talk on the way to Skingrad. Come with me." With a graceful movement he got up from the ground.

"Skingrad?" Kai didn't know what to think. Thanatos acted as if all their problems had suddenly been washed away.

"We're gonna have a chat with the grandson of the Champion of Cyrodiil."

Kai stood up. "Wait a minute! Isn't he the leader of the rebels?"

Thanatos looked at Kai with a raised eyebrow. "Rebels? They're a bit more than just rebels."

"Are you going to meet him like that?" Kai pointed at the blood soaked robe that Thanatos was wearing.

"I'll wash it of in a stream or something," he mumbled. He sniffed the air with a glimpse of curiosity in his eyes. He took a step forward, placing himself as close as he could to Kai. Then he just stood there for a long time, staring at Kai's eyes. "I'm no longer drawn to your scent." A little smile appeared on his lips. "Now when it doesn't burn, it's actually quite nice.. Reminds me of the autumn. Damp soil and dead leafs."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Yes.. You smell good." Then he did something unexpected.

He leaned forward and carefully placed his lips on Kai's neck. Slowly he pierced the skin with his fangs.

"Wait, what are you.." Kai suddenly felt very weak. A strong arm caught him when his legs gave away.

Thanatos carefully pulled his fangs out and healed the puncture wounds that they left. "I'm sorry, I just had to taste."

"Doesn't it taste.. Tainted?" Thanatos helped him regain his balance.

"Vampire blood has a much purer taste than human blood." Together they started walking towards the stable.

"So you could survive just on vampire blood?"

"Yes, but the vampire that who's blood you drink would have to drink twice as much human blood."

"Oh.." He had a lot to learn. Two horses stood saddled close to the stable. Thanatos mounted the darkest one. "I didn't know you owned any horses," Kai said and mounted the other one.

"I don't," mumbled Thanatos before he got the horse to trot. Kai smiled and followed him. Stupid of me to think that he had actually changed.

"Now you can tell me what happened," Kai said.

"Yes.. I'm not sure were to begin though."

"Just tell me what happened after you left my place."

Thanatos sighed. "You won't believe what I'm going to tell you.."