The Attempted Resurgence of the Illusionist, Part Six

Trials and Tribulations

27th of Sun's Dusk

Adruin could not find a reasonable option for getting out of this mess. There was no way to communicate with the others, and they were being tortured for hours on end. It seemed that the group's newfound confidence had ended with a whimper. It was still hard to digest that Vincente was actually behind all of this. Sure, he was the one who said everything about Jagar Tharn, his incarnate, but they thought he was being controlled. Adruin just couldn't comprehend a man so evil, even in his days working as an  . So, Adruin figured there was no way to fight this man, and bowed to him. Without torture or threat, Adruin asked to be the servant of the future emperor. Adruin requested to eliminate his former companions, and Vincente accepted.

Cornelius woke up on the floor of the Imperial City Arena. Or was it an illusion? Next to him was Varus, who had woken up from what looked like a daze himself. Seated upon the Emperor's throne was Vincente himself, admiring his stature once more. And directly in front of them was a helmed figure adorned in terrifying daedric armor, mounted on a black horse and pointing a lance right at them.

Cornelius realized right away who was behind the mask: none other than Adruin himself. "Adruin!" Cornelius yelled. "We have not given up yet! Do not spend your energy on us, but go after the real enemy!" This obviously had no effect, as Adruin charged them.

Cheers rang out from the stands as the Cult looked on with glee. The master illusionist had once again proven himself as the true force. Until the former Legionnaire blocked the rider's great daedric lance, pulling it violently from his hands, piercing him in the neck, throwing him off the horse, and mounting himself in one fell swoop. Cornelius let out a blood-curdling cry, attempting to strike fear into the enemy. Cornelius ordered Varus to go after Vincente, while he'd attempt to hold off the cult members. Cornelius knew he'd die here, but they only had one chance to stop this illusionist from taking the throne.

Varus levitated to meet him in spell combat. Varus, schooled in the arts of Destruction and Restoration, would have to combat illusion with flurries of fireballs, shock spells, and   effects.

The duel started with Vincente chuckling. "Varus, nice to see you. It's interesting to see you have a bit of hope. Congratulations on killing Adruin, who had fallen to my own fear I bestowed upon him." Trying to take away what little confidence Varus had, instead, it made him bellow with rage. He concentrated on Vincente, hoping to find some magical solution to this problem.

He found it. Vincente, had carelessly left the Staff of Chaos on the throne. With a quick telekinesis spell, the staff was in the air, and then in Varus's hand. With a quick spark, the arena changed back into the familiar confines of the Old Way. Now the battle was more even - Cornelius was wounded, but the cult was in disarray. Anything Vincente tried, Varus could counter, and with a deadly bolt of lightning, Vincente fell harmlessly to the ground.

So ended the rule of a tyrant who never truly saw the light of day.

Epilogue, 30th of Sun's Dusk: The burial of Cornelius and Na-Wur was tragic to Varus. They represented to the hope and confidence that Varus himself had with his attack on Vincente, and to see them go meant Varus was alone once more, tired, and not knowing what to do with his old age. He would hide this story from Ocato, instead saying they died tragically against bandits, which was somewhat true. It was not the time to share such things, on the eve of an empire in crisis.