Author's Note: I realized I made an error in the last chapter about Cavortius' arrival in Gnisis, written as if it was his first time there when, in fact, it wasn't. He had used Divine Intervention in Chapter 2 and ended up there. That's what I get for putting off my own story haha. Here we go.

The Illuminated Order

Chapter 8 - The Pool of Forgetfulness

Cunius Pelelius was sitting by the fireplace in the Governor's Hall reading the latest reports on the Caldera Ebony Mine when there was knock on his door.

"Enter," he stated gruffly.

His aide walked in with a manila envelope sealed with red wax. "This just came in, sir. I was told by the courier who brought it that it was most urgent. He didn't say from who it was from."

"Bring it here." The aide swiftly walked across the room and handed it to the Lawman. He walked back across the room and put his hand on the latch, setting it to lock behind him after walking out. "Anything else I can do for you, Cunius?"

The Lawman shook his head. "Nothing more tonight, but thank you. I'm going to bed after I read this letter."

"As you wish." The aide closed the door gently, the lock clicking into place. Cunius tore open the envelope and began to read the parchment within it.

"To Cunius Pelelius, Lawman of House Hlaalu, Vvardenfell District of Morrowind:

The targets you have requested to be executed have been considered and the operations are a go. Grandmaster Eno Hlaalu will take some time in regards to resources, but rest assured, we will send our best men to complete the contract. Your other request has already been put into motion, and you shall receive notification upon completion of the contract.

--DV"

Cunius smiled cruelly. Everything was going according to plan. He placed the parchment back in the envelope and tossed it into the fire. He stood from the chair and stared intently at the flames as it burned. Then he doused the flames with a pitcher of water before crawling into bed.

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Cavortius estimated that it was midnight as the Silt Strider carrying himself and his new companion reached Seyda Neen. They stepped off the massive creature onto the port and they strolled off the ramp.

"I know of a perfect place where we can just sit and relax," Helga Swift-Hands said as they walked away from the quaint town. She stopped abruptly. "I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

The necromancer shook his head. He reasoned that Decius could wait a little--he really needed time to relax. "No, not at all. I'm really glad we met, by the way."

The Nord beamed. "Me too. I was beginning to think I'd be all alone here. Maybe that won't be the case."

The pair continued down the pathway toward a fork in the road, one way leading to Pelagiad and the other towards Vivec. "Here it is," Helga announced and she stopped walking to sit down on a small bank that faced the water. The torch lights from Seyda Neen could be seen burning inside people's homes even from this distance.

Cavortius laid next to Helga, scooting closer after adjusting his position to be more comfortable. They just laid on the ground, staring at the stars, admiring how beautiful the night was.

What more could I ask for? A beautiful night with a beautiful girl, he thought. It can't get any better.

Pelelius had his eyes closed, but they opened suddenly when the beautiful body of Helga Swift-Hands appeared over him. "Hi, sweetie. Want to play?"

The Imperial was struck by the randomness of this act, as well as wondering how he got so lucky. She winked at him as a further incentive to join.

Come on, what do you have to lose?

"Yes, I would love to play," he replied with a mischievous grin. She giggled, and slowly slid her hands down his chest until they hovered over his crotch. Helga lifted up the bottom fabric of his robe, dragging her nails softly down his inner thighs before putting her mouth between his legs.

Cavortius gripped the ground firmly, finding immense pleasure from what she was doing. He closed his eyes and arched his back. This can only lead to something better, he thought with glee.

He was so into what Helga was doing that he almost didn't hear the sound of a bladed weapon clearing its sheath, and a part of his mind wondered why it was happening as well as how he could've been so stupid. Regaining his senses, he slammed both his knees together into Helga's head, roughly hitting the temple on each side. Her mouth unclamped around his crotch, and he kicked her down the bank into the water.

Cavortius stood and unsheathed his dwarven sword, ready to charge down and strike, only to be assaulted and tackled to the ground by Helga. They rolled along the bank, exchanging head butts, knees, and punches until Pelelius managed to gain the upper hand by ending up on top of her.

Holding her arms down with his legs, he put the blade of his sword against her throat and yelled, "Who are you really? Why did you try to kill me?"

All he got in reply was an evil sneer, and a glob of spit on his chin. Taking that as a sign that she wasn't going to speak, Cavortius shrugged. "That's fine by me."

He quickly slid the short-sword across Helga's throat, leaving a clean, deep cut. The sound of blood gurgling inside her throat as she struggled to breathe was not a pleasurable sound and she finally expired after it stopped.

The necromancer began to pat her down, looking for any indication of who she might be. He eventually found a piece of paper inside of her robe.

"Your target is an Imperial male from the province of High Roc named Cavortius Pelelius, a necromancer who formerly worked with Mannimarco himself. This makes him extremely dangerous, so you might have to get creative. He was last seen in southwestern Vvardenfell, so start there. I trust you will complete the task swiftly, Irena.

--DV"

Cavortius stared at the crimson red signature at the bottom of the parchment paper—it was the unmistakable sign of the Dark Brotherhood.

What the hell could they want with me? he wondered. He didn't think he had irked anyone that bad but in Tamriel, one could never be sure. After sorting through Helga Swift-Hands/Irena's belongings, taking and leaving what he wanted, Pelelius rolled Irena's body into the water, and pushed it until it began to float away. Fog started to roll in, and as the body of the assassin disappeared, so did the necromancer as he activated the amulet around his neck.

He landed back in the Sanctuary right in front of Decius. Funny how he always happens to be right here waiting for me, he thought.

"I've gotten quite peckish waiting for your return," the vampire said with a tinge of excitement. "Have you obtained the shipment of books?"

The necromancer nodded and pulled all three books from his rucksack. "Got all three of them right here. They weren't hard at all to grab."

Decius Mus grinned broadly as he took the books and sat them on his desk. He then reached into his shirt pocket and produced a glowing amulet. "I'm most pleased by your commendable efficiency. Here, take this as a small reward for your work on your mission. I hope you find it useful."

Cavortius took the amulet and put it in his rucksack, telling himself that he would take the time to experiment with it later. Right now, the teleportation amulet was infinitely more useful. He also decided that he wouldn't tell Decius about the Dark Brotherhood assassin—especially considering his reaction to the Imperial Legion soldiers who were currently snoozing in Molag Mar's underworks. Instead, he asked what he could do next for the vampire.

"The head of the Armiger stronghold, Ulms Drathan, is becoming suspicious. I prefer not to kill someone of his stature, so we must rely on alternate means of ending his threat to me."

"How is that going to work?" Pelelius asked.

"We shall simply make him forget that he has any reason to suspect anything," Decius replied, not trying to hide his glee. "We will accomplish this with water from the Pool of Forgetfulness, which you will find just east of the Ghostgate in a cavern named Sharapli, located outside the fence itself."

The vampire of Order walked to his desk, and produced a flask from one of the drawers. "Take this special flask, fill it from the Pool, then go to the Armiger stronghold here in Molag Mar and look for Drathan. Near him will be a pitcher of water. Pour the water from the Pool into the pitcher and he'll forget all the recent events once he drinks from it."

Before he left, Cavortius pulled out his map of Vvardenfell and had his fellow Imperial mark the location of Ghostgate as well as Sharapli. From the looks and sounds of it, he had a long journey ahead of him.

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Off in the distance, through a thick heavy ash storm, Cavotius could barely make out the Ghostgate. Behind it was what the natives called the Ghostfence, a massive shimmering blue force field of magic that had kept something called the blight at bay for centuries. Supposedly at the center was an evil being from the past who dwelled under Red Mountain, but it was only speculation from what the necromancer could gleam off the populace. Either way, this ash storm wasn't natural.

With his hand covering the slit in his helm, Pelelius made a right at a passage between two large hills, and then a left. He followed this all the way to the end until he reached the Ghostfence and an old wooden door etched into the hillside. The word 'Sharapli' was carved into the frame of the door.

Cavortius took a deep breath, removed his dwarven short-sword, and quietly opened the door. He peeked around the frame, and seeing nothing after casting Night-Eye, he stepped in. It was very difficult to see and the entire passageway was bathed in dim red light. He didn't know why, but something felt very off about this place. As he crept down the corridor of the cave, he soon came into a large room with a natural dirt and stone catwalk that twisted over a pool of lava.

Down in the center of the catwalk was a creature he had never seen before and the sight of it sent shivers all across his spine. It appeared to be the color of ash, with a piece of cloth fitted around the neck that covered the shoulders as well as a long skirt of sorts. It was the face that truly terrified him, though—it was eyeless and nose less, and had a long snout extending out of where the face should be. He had seen many things as a necromancer that would terrify most people, but what he saw before wasn't human…or at least, it used to be. This was one time out of a very few moments in his life where he was afraid.

What in Oblivion is that thing? Cavortius' mind shouted.

Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly, as it soon spotted him standing at the top of the cavern and began to make its way toward him. With a flick of his wrist, Cavortius casted the most powerful lightning spell he could muster, and hoped it would connect.

It did, and the spell hit the creature with such force that it became off-balance and fell into the lava below, effectively incinerating it. The necromancer knew that what had just happened was purely out of luck, and the only reason he had used such a powerful spell was because he had no idea how strong the creature was.

Right after the hideous creature expired, he heard feet sprinting double-time up the catwalk and was almost dumbfounded at the sight of the Dark Elf in a loin-cloth wielding a spiked club.

So it begins, the Imperial thought as he raised his short-sword for the inevitable attack.

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Thirty minutes of intense sword-play, spell casting, and retreating soon yielded lots of blood, corpses, and Cavortius standing before the Pool of Forgetfulness. He took out the tapered flask that Decius had provided, uncorked the top, and dipped it into the Pool, which resembled a small fountain. Pushing the cork tight enough to be able to get it off again, he stuffed it in his rucksack and began to backtrack out of Sharapli for the ride back to Molag Mar.

He hoped that the creatures he had encountered within the cave would be the last time, but somehow Cavortius had the feeling that it wouldn't.

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Once Cavortius got back to Molag Mar, he entered the waistworks and quickly found the Armiger stronghold. He had to keep in mind that the two Imperial Legionnaires could emerge at any moment, so it served to put him on edge.

He casually strolled around the stronghold with the flask in his hand, and after careful surveillance and finding only one room with a pitcher, he walked in, poured the contents of the flask, and walked out of the stronghold. Cavortius was confident that he hadn't been spotted. With a smile on his face, he teleported back to the Sanctuary and appeared before Decius Mus.

"You know, I heard footsteps outside the hidden door earlier," Decius stated uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. "I do believe it was Drathan nosing around. There isn't much time—"

The necromancer held up a hand to silence the Imperial vampire, and handed him the flask. "Relax. I just poured the water, and soon he won't remember a damned thing."

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "He'll surely have a sip soon and that, as they say, will be that. For your success in this mission, I once again elevate you within our ranks. Henceforth, you are Cavortius the Inquisitor of Shadowy Visions."

"Thank you," Pelelius replied with a warm smile. Something was nagging at him, though. "Forgive me for sounding callous, but what have I learned?"

"You're not being callous, so don't worry. What you're learning while under my wing is how a vampire lives, what he has to do to keep hidden in plain sight, and also you're getting a taste of Vvardenfell."

Cavortius nodded, though inwardly he wish he could have learned a bit more, but he figured he shouldn't argue with a man who could probably kill him a number of different ways.

Little did Cavortius know that a series of irreversible events was about to occur, all from the killing of Irena, Dark Brotherhood Silencer.