Once and Future King

Legacy of Kain: Once and Future King
(A continuation fan-fiction for Legacy of Kain: Defiance)

/../- implies vampiric ‘whisper’ a.k.a. telepathy/mental projection.
The Soul Reaver isn’t capable of speech as such, but I gave it dialog anyway to show that Kain can interpret its wordless snark without difficulty? I have no idea. Just go with it.

**********

The End: Chapter 2-

The neglected highway and woods surrounding the cave of the blood shrine were hauntingly familiar, as were most things of this era. Kain mused on the circular nature of life even as he checked himself over for any signs of mischance that had occurred during his bat flight across country.

Overhead he could hear the whistle and crash of Hash’a’gik’s magic as the creature defended itself from an unexpected attack from above. Twin screams of pain and rage boded well for Raziel’s distraction. Both of them sounded as though they were more involved with tearing at each other than anything going on below the tree line. Keeping to the shadows of the forest, Kain picked his way along the bluff parallel to the wagon furrowed road and then jumped down the steep hillside to where a rocky outcropping revealed a deeper shadow than the others.

Ducking within the promising darkness, Kain took a breath and smiled at the welcoming aroma. The cave’s air was thick with the clean sweet smell of fresh blood. The ancient fountains - eternally welling with their primal drink - still flowed and bubbled in this timeline. Moebius must have been too busy dealing with his and Raziel’s antics to remember to dispatch his Saraphan armies out to sabotage and bury the unwanted watering holes of the ancients.

It wasn’t true blood, Kain was nearly positive, but something that Janos’ tribe had wrought immediately following their curse. They created a way to feed without harming any living creature, deriving the much needed sustenance from the very heart of Nosgoth itself. It was a point of debate, whether it was more or less parasitic to draw life from the earth directly, or from the other creatures that lived upon it. But Kain supposed that at the time, the ancient vampires were content with anything that would both feed them and postpone their eventual moral quandary.

He stepped further into the comforting darkness, eyes adjusting readily to the low red glow of the decorative carved skulls atop the fountain’s central column. With the shadowy quiet came fatigue. Kain felt every tendon in his neck and shoulders as he unconsciously relaxed a little. Rubbing at a particularly sore spot, he sighed and acknowledged that immortal or not, invincible or not, he wanted nothing more than to sit down awhile. Even half an hour would do. He hadn’t stopped moving since breaking free from the Hylden realm, and his time lying there hadn’t felt particularly restful. His chest still ached with the memory.

Bracing his hands against the edge of the fountain, he tried to rest a moment before his next ordeal. He didn’t imagine trying to reason with the Kain of this age was going to be at all easy. The urge to rub at the thick mass of scars on his chest, re-opened then healed so recently only reminded him of his own long forgotten origins. It was something he and the young one would have in common at least. They had both lately walked-off a fatal impaling. The boy had transformed from man to vampire with that fateful stroke. Where as he had turned from vampire to… something else.

/ I hope you enjoyed that, by the way. / He commented sarcastically to his sword.

Enjoyed what? The Reaver buzzed, attentive but not helpful.

/ Taking my damned heart out with your bare claws? Was that truly necessary? / Kain projected towards the weapon, trying to enunciate as if speaking across a long distance. He had no idea if it was helpful to the being in the sword or not, but it seemed a little concentration made their piecemeal discussions slightly easier. He felt a blossom of complex impressions from the blade almost immediately in response.

It wasn’t yours in the first place.

The uncharitable meaning was clear. He would be getting no sympathy from _that_ direction. He couldn’t say he was surprised.

Kain sighed and left it at that. There was no reasoning with Raziel before, when he was feeling self-righteous. Now that he was a sword, there was little difference. Besides, arguing with the sword was doubly frustrating when he was obliged to puzzle out every rebuttal. It completely ruined the easy rhythm of their old squabbles. That thought brought him back to the present.

He could smell the other vampire in the cavern. And the youth had undoubtedly noted his arrival by now. Kain waited, curious to see how the fledgling would react.

“Who goes there?! Who dares disturb my solitude?!” A voice commanded him from the darkness on the other side of the ornate fountainhead.

Kain fought the urge to draw the Reaver at the autocratic tone. He remembered enough of his youth to suppose that the young vampire crouched across from him would take it personally if he drew steel. Instead he stooped to the fountain, filling his cupped palms with the blood and quietly refreshing himself for the upcoming argument.

In the shadows in front of him he could easily make out the sounds of the other vampire jumping down from a ledge and stalking closer. The slip and shuffle of gravel beneath booted feet made Kain smile into his drink. In this age, he still was human enough to have fingers and toes. How long had it been since he had need of something as common as boots? What had ever happened to his collection of ridiculous armor?

The fledgling was not inclined to be patient with his wool-gathering. “Name yourself, stranger.”

The damn fool, had of course, drawn his own weapon. Kain glanced up at last, and received his first nasty shock. The blade his alter ego wielded was _not_ the Soul Reaver, but rather the flaming brand of a blade he had favored during the first half of the quest he had undertaken for Ariel’s ghost.

Hooked into the fledgling’s belt were the matched pair of axes he had also loved once, but of the Reaver there was no sign. For a moment Kain panicked, and then the blade resting against his spine pulsed, aura heavy with irony, to remind him of its presence.

Of course the youth didn’t have the Reaver. _He_ did.

From the moment years ago when he had deflected Raziel’s attack in front of William the Just’s tomb, it had been in either his, or his lieutenant’s possession continuously. His fledgling-self would have never been able to take it up for the simple reason that it hadn’t been there to be taken. Had he died as he was supposed to, his sword would have returned to its resting place, ready at hand for its ‘new’ master. But Raziel had spared him, and in the ensuing chaos, the timeline had compensated as best it could. Instead, the young vampire seemed to have defeated his final foes handily with the lesser weapons of the era. That at least was a small blessing.

Feeling the mounting paradoxes, Kain resisted the urge to rub his forehead. What in the hell would this change do to affect the outcome of his duel with William the Just? Had the duel even taken place? Did it even matter anymore, was the real question. Kain couldn’t begin to hazard a guess. His own memories remained unchanged, so somehow it seemed everything would work out as it had once done, but he couldn’t see how it was possible. Best to plow forward and save the worrying for a moment when he wasn’t being held at sword point, he decided.

The tip of the flaming blade pricked at his shoulder as he lowered his hands, letting the last of the blood drip off his claws and back into the pool. The implied threat provided by his former self caused his own blade to murmur menacingly. But seeming to understand that subtly was required, Raziel stayed inert on his shoulder, his fiery aura muted until called upon.

Kain dearly hoped it wouldn’t come to a fight. He hadn’t gone through all the trouble of staying out of his own way throughout several millennia of time bending insanity just to have this young idiot take his head off in a fit of pique. Shaking his fingers clean methodically, he spoke to the pool; not wanting to shock anyone pressing a sword to his person.

“Just another vampire. Much like yourself.”

“Impossible.” The youth cut him off coldly. “I am the last. The Pillars told me so.”

“The Pillars?” Kain tested gently. “Surely you mean Ariel. Or rather her ghost. She would say that of course, she had no knowledge of my presence here.”

“You know of Ariel? Are you party to her treachery?!” The flaming sword scorched his shoulder as his young alter-ego snarled. “Face me, villain, I am in no mood to talk to the back of your head forever. Turn- if you are no coward.”

“And if I do not?”

“Then I shall kill you even as you stand.” The vampire’s smirk was audible.

Kain closed his eyes and summoned an eon’s worth of patience. “I can understand wanting to break free of those tedious chains of civility and pointless politeness that mortal men suffer under, boy. But at least demonstrate some small respect for your newly acquired ancient lineage. Vampires have no need for petty threats. When eternity is yours, you can afford to spare an occasional moment for forethought and calm reflection.”

“What?”

Turning fluidly, Kain easily knocked the fire-blade aside and caught the young vampire by the wrist and throat; hoisting him off the ground entirely. “And once you have reflected on the present situation, I feel certain that you will come to realize that you are in the presence of one whom is deserving of more than a small measure of humility from an ignorant ankle-biter such as you!”

Squeezing until his younger version had to choose between releasing his sword or suffering the indignity of a broken hand, Kain sighed in relief as the vampire chose to let go of the blade in his grasp. Raziel’s mutterings on his shoulder faded slightly as the weapon dropped to the ground and extinguished itself. Strangling slowly as the claws of Kain’s other hand dug into his throat, his past-self hissed and struggled to gain freedom with his one remaining hand and feet. Luckily the long centuries of evolution had somewhat hardened Kain’s skin to the weak attacks that fledglings could put forth, no matter how precocious.

“If you think you can muster composure enough to speak and act rationally for a period of time, I will put you down.” Accepting the vampire’s wince and lack of flailing for a positive answer, Kain lowered the fledgling until the youth’s feet touched the floor. Releasing first his arm and after a careful pause, the vampire’s neck, Kain stepped back and folded his arms across his chest.

Noting the mutinous look on the former nobleman’s features, he took the precaution of establishing one foot on top of the fallen blade keeping it out of Kain’s reach. It was a mere toy when compared to the might even the old Reaver blade had possessed but he still didn’t feel the need to be stabbed by it. Sparks and incidental contact with fire he could brush off easily. A burning brand thrust into his guts would undoubtedly sting.

At least he wouldn’t need to fear two Reaver’s coming together in battle and causing a cataclysm similar to his duel with William the Just. Still it was a pity his earlier self had missed the opportunity to experience the Reaver’s killing glory first hand. Sharing in the blade’s vicious joy during the final moments of his battle with the Dark Entity, all those years ago, had been one of the headier moments of his short life.

Kain remembered his awe the first time he had picked the Soul Reaver up. Never before that moment had he lent credence to the mythic idea of a sentient weapon. Feeling it in his hands, the frustrated hunger and malice, he had feared that its hatred of him would burn through his bone and cartilage. And yet, it hadn’t hurt him, fed, certainly, but never to the point of harm. Somehow the maddened spirit within the blade had bent to his will, and together they had cut through entire armies.

It had taken weeks to get used to the idea of an eternally thirsty weapon at his side. Months before its maddened aura stopped troubling his dreams. Grimly glad to not be facing off against the demented soul-sword, Kain rolled his shoulders and forced his thoughts to the present. Raziel’s aura brightened visibly, cool light igniting all along the length of the blade, but burning especially bright in the skull’s eye sockets. His former lieutenant was alert and actively aware of his momentary burst of reverie.

/I won’t let you become like that, child./ Kain whispered to his blade. /I will not abandon you to madness and despair./

He could tell by the reflected light on the walls of the cave around him that his weapon flared once in moody brilliance before quelling its flames again.

And what if there is nothing that can be done to stop it?

/Unacceptable./ He replied to the wordless burst of bitter resignation that washed over him. /As you did not forsake me then. I will not abandon you now./

Kain, the younger Kain, drew back several paces at the silent burst of magic, eyes narrowed as he rubbed his bruised neck. He only remained cowed for a handful of minutes however before he regained equilibrium. “Well? Am I supposed to be overawed by your petty theatrics? Speak, demon, or let me pass. I see no point in wasting civility on those with no words of their own.”

“Patience, Kain.” Wondering where it was best to begin, Kain stared at his younger self in the half light. In a fit of impatience, he summoned a globe of occult fire to illuminate their discourse. The magical sphere rose out of his hand to hover near the ceiling, the entire cave’s aspect changing with the luminous glow it provided. The fledgling’s pallid skin and hair looked paler still under the flickering white light. The youth was singularly unimpressed, folding his arms in silent annoyance. “I only wish to speak with you a moment. After that you can go about your business unmolested.”

“And my sword?”

“I believe it would be best if it stays where it is until our conversation is over.” Kain smirked at himself. “You seem a trifle hot blooded, vampire. I have no wish to cross blades with you today.”

“I don’t need a weapon to deal with you!” Came the angry reply.

“No you have a host of other tricks by now, don’t you.” Kain chuckled as he dredged up old memories. “Flay was a favorite. Blood Fount had its uses. And then there was that one with the spectral vines that poisoned even as they…”

“How is it that you know these things?” The younger vampire stared at him in horrified amazement. “And my name! You called me Kain, yet I know you not.”

“Look closely, vampire. Look very closely and see the truth for yourself.” Kain offered cynically. “You know very well who I am.”

Looking across a span of a few feet, and several thousand years, the pair of Kain’s examined each other. It was hard for him to imagine ever being so young. He looked so _mundane_; human and weak. It was truly amazing to realize that he had survived his youthful stupidity. Destiny had clearly had worked hard to ensure he lived through his years of blundering about.

Seeing the young vampire brought back strange memories. The feel of his long-lost Wraith armor, how it chaffed against one of his ribs particularly. It had been constructed for a different man originally, and had never quite fit comfortably, no matter how much he had fiddled with the padding. At least the discomfort wasn’t visible. Kain eyed his past and acknowledged that the glossy black armor was elegant enough in its way. Far more palatable than that disgusting suit of magical flesh he had worn while fighting Bane and the other Guardians.

The wraith armor, had done its duty well over the early years of his crusade. It had kept him alive when all manner of men and fiends sought his death. As a fledgling he would have been lost without it. He had no interest however in ever wearing it again. The handicaps involved with full suit armor were considerable. If nothing else there was the annoying surplus of goods that went with it, oil, rasp, polishing cloths, spare pads, belts and buckles, not to mention the expense of a blacksmith should serious mending be needed. The daily maintenance of the suit had required a pack all its own. Added to that were the goods and supplies needed to maintain his youthful vanity and comfort, blankets, brushes, cologne, clean shirts, knives, and all manner of other luggage. Comparing his own economy of lifestyle to the boy in front of him with his pony’s worth of necessities, it was almost funny to think of how far he had come. Certainly the fledgling looked, and probably smelled, prettier. But he was hopelessly overburdened with the trappings of his recent humanity.

After several eons of practice, and evolutions past-count, Kain found he could survive adequately just about anywhere with only a belt-pouch and blade to supplement his wants. He had become minimalist in his years in the dark future, both by intention, and by natural lack of resources. If fast movement was necessary, he could depart in an instant, confident in the knowledge that he left nothing behind. He doubted the boy could manage half so well.

The only benefit to youth, as far as he could determine was entirely superficial. As a fledgling he had been more than passing handsome, in a pale, arrogant, sort of way. His features were not overly narrow, and were well made. He looked well in armor, and had a tone enough build to pull off most continental fashions without embarrassment. Caught from the side and in a good mood, he might have even described the fledgling as pretty, although he wouldn’t have labeled himself such, so many years ago. Pretty enough to catch Umah’s jaded eye a few hundred years later, as badly as that had gone. Pretty enough to even turn Raziel’s head perhaps, had he had any interest at the time in being attractive to his fledgling. The thought almost made him laugh.

After dealing with the failures that his first batch of fledglings had turned out to be, Kain’s only true desire from his second batch was that they follow orders, and not rise above themselves. Even the consistent excellence of his first lieutenant had inspired nothing more than a moderation of contempt he held for the others. It wasn’t until his empire was several centuries old that he relaxed enough in Raziel’s presence to concede that there was anything between them beyond orders given and obeyed.

Silently he wondered how it would have been different, if Nuraptor’s madness hadn’t infected him, and through him his fledglings. He would have to ask his latest ally, when the current events were settled. The templar-Raziel providing his admirable distraction outside would be the perfect source of answers in regards to that particular line of ‘what if’.

At last the younger vampire jerked back, recognizing something in his thoughtful gaze that gave him pause. “You… are… the same as me?”

“I am Kain. Just as you are.” He agreed calmly. “But you are the Kain that I once was. Where as I am the Kain that with any luck you will never become.”

“You’re the- What?”

Watching his younger self try to puzzle through the logic was a sad exercise. He cut the youth off in favor of a new line of reasoning. “You know by now, that it is your fate to be the Guardian of Balance.”

“I am not giving up my life just to satisfy the xenophobic demands of that vaporous tart haunting the Pillars!” The vampire hissed. “For all her noble words, she has wished me dead from the beginning, fearing the power of my blood, the future of my empire.”

“All this is true.” Kain agreed. “Although to be fair, in her misguided way she has Nosgoth’s best interest at heart.”

“Misguided? Misguided how?” Curious, the handsome vampire gave him a quizzical look.

“She believes earnestly that the total destruction of vampires is the only way out of our current dilemma.” He settled himself on the edge of the fountain, glad that his audience was warming to him a little. “When in fact the exact opposite is true. Had you allowed yourself to be her sacrifice, the world would even now be overrun by demons of every stripe and size; doomed to destruction even before your lifeless husk dissolved back into dust.”

“So my choice was the correct one?” Young Kain sneered. “How then is it that you exist, old one, so scarred and monstrous? If _you_ are to be my future, I find I’d have rather chosen death. You’re almost as green as Vorador! Thank god you don’t have the pelt! Although in looking at you I wonder if it might not be better if you did have fur, it would cover up some of your ugly, wrinkled old carcass.”

“Callow vanity does not become you, Kain.” Kain glared at his past-self in irritation. “Victory is the thing. It always was. Do you not seek it now? The time has come for war. Mobius is no longer a threat to you. The mercenary army is ripe for slaughter. By the end of the century this corner of this world will be at your feet.”

“All of this sounds passing fair.” The youth conceded. “But if everything is sweet blood and victorious trumpeting, what are you doing here, looking for all the world like a demon’s moldering corpse?”

“Mind your tongue, child.” Kain growled. “I am here to warn you. And to arm you against an anomaly that has arisen. Before you can embark on your quest to conquer the world there is one last enemy you must overcome.”

“Where is this prey? Show him to me and I shall drink his life’s blood!”

“He is not prey, not exactly.” Kain tilted his hand back and forth. “His name is Janos Audron. He is author of your very existence, in a round-about way. He is currently possessed by the same Dark Entity that has overcome various members of the Circle in turn and has orchestrated this whole Pillar-calamity. You need to release him from this evil, or destroy him before he can do as much for you.”

His past-self tapped his chin in carefully choreographed contemplation. “You come into the past to tell me some old bogeyman of the First Saraphan Crusade is here to destroy me? Surely you jest.”

“Do not underestimate him, or the Entity within him, Kain.” Kain resisted the urge to shake the egotistical fledgling until his teeth rattled. “He is the last of the true vampire race, functionally immortal and damn near indestructible.”

“He was killed by a mob of jumped-up human crusaders five-hundred years ago.” The pale vampire sneered. “His heart was cut out of his chest even while he yet lived. Hardly a serious threat, even if he is a vampire.”

“His heart still had enough magic within it to restore you from death these five-hundred years later.” Kain pointed out grimly. “With it restored to him, he has risen again. Even possessed, his powers and his strength are considerable. As I see it you have only one possible path to victory.”

“I’ll humor you, old man. Name your path.”

Kain eased Raziel’s blade off his back. For all simple appearances it was the twin to the blade that ought to have been his former-self’s weapon of choice. The skull’s eye sockets flared sullenly at what he was about to do. /It is necessary, child. Tolerate him for just a little while. Maybe his personality will improve after being bathed in your fire as I was./

It’ll take more than a little scorching to knock his ego down to size.

He almost smiled again at the cynical glare the skull sent his way.

“Exchange blades with me, Kain.” He held out the weapon which appropriately enough, flared with cold fire again. “I would grant you the greatest weapon you could ever hope to wield. A weapon destined for the hand of the Scion of Balance. You could say it is your birthright.”

“What’s wrong with it?” The young vampire winced at the brilliant flames.

“It is the light of Balance.” Kain felt foolish at the need to explain. Surely the fledgling could see for himself the value of the gift he was offered? Apparently not.

“The blade was recently forged in the spiritual fire of the Balance Pillar’s Guardians throughout the ages, both vampire and human. All their strength and wisdom, endowed within the sword, have granted it with unique and incredible power. With it at your side all illusions will be dispelled, all barriers will crumble, all injuries shall be healed.”

“Sounds like snake oil to me.” His younger self muttered. “What will you do with _my_ sword?”

Kain blinked at the question, not having considered that his younger version would be able to resist the immediate temptation of awesome power free for the taking. “I… am not entirely sure, child. Doubtless I shall find its service an adequate replacement for the blade I am surrendering to you.”

“You’re just going to give me this supposed religious relic of a sword - a sword that in your own words has _no_ equal, in exchange for my own? You’re either a madman or a liar.” The young vampire crossed his arms, glaring. “What sort of fool do you take me for? Do you honestly think such a feeble trick would work?”

“I do not understand your meaning, Kain.” Kain murmured threateningly at the younger vampire.

“You just want to deceive me into surrendering the flaming sword! You know perfectly well my weapon is the only one of its kind and you mean to take it from me! Probably to exact some revenge for your former masters the Pillar Guardians.” The vampire flipped his white-blond hair over his shoulder, pleased with his deductions. “You’re some sort of fiend, summoned by that madwoman who claimed to be Mistress of Dimension; you and your so-called-holy sword both. Look at the pair of you! I’ve seen lepers more comely, and that evil hilt! Disgusting. This blade you offer me is no doubt some sort of trap, probably will vanish into a wisp of swamp effluence the minute you are out of sight!”

“It is no trap, I swear to you.” Kain gritted his teeth, determined not to let his temper get the better of him. “You have only to take it up a moment to see the truth for yourself. If you still find you’re displeased with it you can trade it back to me.”

“I shall do no such thing, pretender.” The vampire gestured imperiously. “Remove your foot from my blade, beast, or prepare to defend yourself!”

“Surely we can be reasonable about this.” Kain argued grimly. “I wish for nothing but your future victories, boy.”

“And I wish for nothing but that which is rightfully mine, specter. Go back to whatever hell spawned you, pretender, and mock my ambition no more.” His younger self made a vague attempt to snatch the sword still pinned beneath Kain’s foot. Almost on instinct, his grip shifted from offering Raziel’s blade up to holding the idiot at bay with it. The fire along the edge of the Reaver shifted from white to nearly invisible blue flames. He could feel the heat of Raziel’s outrage trembling up and down the length of it.

/Easy, child./

Even for you, Kain, this vampire is insufferable.

Kain winced at the palpable disgust. /Never-the-less./

“Fount of Putrescence!”

/That was the name of the damn spell!/ Bemused by the sudden reminder of his long forgotten magic, Kain almost forgot to dodge the acidic blob that was summoned and flung his direction.

Kain!

Twisting his arm even as he shifted to the right, he found the Soul Reaver and his body moved in instinctive accord. The blade swept up to cut through the enchanted slime even as his thoughts came together. Rather than creating a noxious spatter on the floor from which the enchanted flesh eating vines could erupt, the viscous spell combusted on contact with the edge of the sword, igniting into vapor and vanishing with a wet hiss.

A secondary impulse had Kain lunging forward to slide his captured blade out of his assailant’s reach. The young vampire rammed forcefully into his arm instead, his grab for the weapon thwarted.

“Now now.” He chided firmly, seeing his younger self summoning his energy for another mystical attack. The fledgling ignored him, which wasn’t much of a surprise.

“Die fiend! Evicer-”

Kain’s fist impacted squarely in the center of the handsome vampire’s face before the spell ever left the youth’s fingertips. Doubtless the aborted magic would leave a nasty burn behind.

Kain, the younger, wouldn’t discover that unfortunate side effect for at least half a day it seemed, because the force of the sudden blow to his skull - easily capable of cracking solid oak beams - left the vampire completely insensible. Patting the boy’s face paternally, Kain quashed the sudden childish regret that he hadn’t broken the creature’s pretty nose. No doubt someone else would have the honor in the near future. Probably Vorador, looking back it was a wonder the older vampire hadn’t strangled him in his sleep as a young creature.

"You'll have to be many years older boy, and centuries wiser, before you could have a hope of defeating me." Kain shook his head as he stood over the comatose vampire.

Finding some useful looking cord in the younger Kain's pack, he smirked and proceeded to hog-tie him. "Then again, by the time you get to be my age, I'll be that much older and wiser still."

*****

Leaving the younger vampire to sleep off his hotheadedness, Kain returned to daylight, admitting defeat. There would be nothing useful forthcoming from _that_ quarter. It really should have been no surprise that what needed doing fell, as ever, to him. Scanning the sky, he couldn’t tell what the outlook on his ‘distraction’ was, but distant crash of timber promised something interesting was happening nearby. He opted to stay with the shadowy pines for the first leg of his journey to the Pillars’ sanctuary. Even between the fragrant trees, the smell of charred stone was carried by the breeze. Any bandits in the area were probably still cowering from the initial explosion. No one tried to interfere with his progress as he cut across country.

Kain found himself at the top of a reasonable outcrop looking down on the pitted highway and valley beyond. He paused, crouching in the tall grass to appreciate the excellent view. In the sky above were two winged vampires, still dueling brutally between the shattered remains of the nine columns. Black and grey wings beat the air as the pair circled and clashed.

Directly ahead lay the shattered gates and surrounding guard-towers that protected the ancient clearing beyond. Hunks of polished white stone lay scattered everywhere, their smooth sides catching the sunlight despite the dusty haze. A fragment of column easily twelve meters long lay half-embedded in the hillside to his right, at rest atop a pile of shattered trees. Looking out over the surrounding forest, Kain could easily spot a dozen more gaps in the tree-line where similar fragments had fallen. Pieces had probably been flung as far as Stenchenroe, possibly even Willendorf. He couldn’t remember caring particularly, as a young man, but in seeing it now, the magnitude of the disaster was remarkable.

A clash of magic overhead drew his attention back to the battle of the moment. Audron and Raziel circled each other like a pair of vultures, each trying to gain advantage of height over the other. At some unidentifiable signal they closed again, one diving down while the other banked sharply. Their mid-air collision was audible despite the distance.

Kain wasn’t sure whether he was surprised or not, to see his lieutenant was the more agile flier. Audron had been airborne his entire existence. Even his Hylden body-thief was supposedly capable of flight once upon a time. But Hash’a’gik was not able to keep up with the harassing tactics that Raziel applied. For all his future-child’s wings were monstrous when fully fanned, the knight had a knack for flitting and diving between the obstacles of their battlefield, using finger and toe claws for leverage just as readily as feathers for lift. His enemy on the other hand was slower to press his physical advantage, and resorted more often than not to magical attacks. The green bolts of energy and repulsing shields were more than passing familiar to Kain. The Saraphan Lord of Meridian had used very similar tactics in their battles. All Hylden had the same tutors when it came to war-craft it seemed. Either that or they were the same fiend. Kain wouldn’t have been surprised either way.

Feeling rather ignored by the two fliers, Kain abandoned stealth in favor of the road. The broken gates of the Pillars’ Sanctuary provided no obstacle. Any Saraphan mercenaries that hadn’t been killed outright had long fled the area of the cataclysm.

The Pillars themselves had completed their initial phase of collapse. Building-sized blocks of polished stone lay strewn about the vicinity of their platform, but the rain of destruction had abated. Dust hung heavily in the air, and the scent of ozone teased the nose, but the main event was over. He appraised the calamity with long practiced competence, and felt it safe enough to settle himself on the broken off stump of the Pillar of States. The earth had settled to a tenuous rumbling beneath his feet, rather than the steady quakes of earlier.

It was beyond-odd to find himself on the platform without receiving some immediate rebuke from Ariel’s ghost. Kain frowned when he suddenly realized the truth. Ariel was already gone. No longer would they hiss and call each other names throughout the long centuries to come. No more would he be obliged to put up with catching glimpses of the two-faced ghost as she prowled mournfully amongst the broken columns. His very own personal conscience, and an unwanted one at that, she had haunted him for eons. But now Ariel and the other Balance Guardians had been invested into the Reaver he wore across his back, and from Raziel’s blade their powers also fed into him. She had found her peace at long last, or, from her perspective, perhaps a few days early? For a moment he wondered that he would actually miss verbally fencing with the easily-flustered specter, but truly, the Pillars were far more peaceful without her sharp-tongued presence. It had been fun to annoy her for the first few hundred years. After that she became more of a nuisance than anything.

Still, nothing could be considered peaceful so long as his new Raziel, and the damnable Hylden continued their aerial dog-fight. From his front-row seat, Kain watched another volley between the two vampires. He was impressed to see that at some point his hesitant ally had put the spear he found to good use. Audron’s right leg had been pierced clean through by the pike’s tip. A good half-meter of the shaft had broken off in Audron’s thigh as the Hylden-possessed man fought on. Raziel on the other hand was favoring his shield arm but using a sword to harass his enemy whenever an opportunity to get in close arose.

It was apparent that their skirmish had become a battle fought by inches. Raziel was agile enough to dodge most of the older vampire’s attacks, but the ones that hit, hit hard. Audron was a clumsy flier, but more than fast enough to block any close attacks. The ancient left few openings for Raziel’s short-ranged weapon.

Even as Kain watched, Raziel feinted a moment too late and was caught by the face in one of the ancient’s oversized hands. With no leverage to be had while air born, his lieutenant tried to buffet the ancient with his wings as he struggled with the Audron’s grip, but it was to no avail. Flung away like piece of rubbish, Raziel was tossed across the short span between the Pillars of Dimension and Nature, and impacted with a painful sounding crack against the top half of the second column. The Pillar of Nature shook and rained fragments on the platform with the strength of the blow. Shedding a trail of broken feathers and blood as he slid down to the base, Raziel somehow managed to stagger to his feet and summoned a shield of fire in a desperate attempt to avoid destruction. A torrent of raging orange flames erupted outward and upwards at the vampire’s wordless cry, pushing the air with their heat in a concussive burst.

Hash’a’gik easily changed his angle of decent and veered off, narrowly avoiding the summoned flames. The creature laughed mockingly as he turned in the air and gained altitude. Raziel staggered and braced himself against his Pillar, gathering his wits, but the Hylden had no such handicap.

Audron grinned like a maniac as he ripped the remains of the spear from his leg. The broken weapon clattered uselessly down against the Pillar’s platform and rolled into the tall grass. Beating massive wings against the dusty air, the possessed ancient circled over his prey, enjoying his impending victory over the exhausted vampire.

Kain stood instinctively even as Raziel stubbornly attempted to take wing and face his tormentor. From his perch, he could see what his battered lieutenant was too dazed to realize. One of Raziel’s wings was in tatters, stained with the vampire’s blood from where the fragile bones had pierced the skin. Well into his first thousand years, the vampire might be, but reknitting the damage would not be instantaneous. Kain grimaced, supposing that the man was too dazed, or the injury too severe, for him to be fully aware of the extent of his own peril. Raziel discovered it quickly enough. His attempt to fly ended as soon as he flexed the damaged limb. Instead of leaping airborne to anticipate the next attack, he crumpled to the ground with a choked cry, clutching awkwardly at his shoulder, the real damage unreachable. His left wing dragged limply along the stone platform as vampiric regeneration warred with injury and exhaustion in mending the shattered bones. Kain moved to intercept before his surrogate son was torn apart by the creature diving for him.

It was pure luck that the Hylden had eyes for nothing but his prey. Raziel’s distress provided the perfect bait for the creature. Kain didn’t bother to draw the Reaver from its sheath. Instead he gathered a force projectile in the palm of his hand, timing the blast of magical energy to catch Hash’a’gik broadside. Releasing the first bolt, Kain mustered a second with a vicious twist of will and sent it chasing after. The blue-skinned vampire was oblivious to the threat even at it hit; limbs and wings bent sideways as the invisible wall of violence caught him and threw him through the air. Getting nothing less then he deserved, the Dark Entity was slammed against the nearest Pillar and flattened against its crumbling bulk with an angry cry.

Kain winced slightly as his projectile proved more durable than the fragile Pillar it impacted with. The totem of the elemental force of Death, already weakened by the cataclysm, shivered and then shattered anew as the force of his first attack rolled over it. The second blast pulverized the top-most segment completely, mashing through the broken stonework like a cannonball and casting a barrage of stone shards, and Audron, over the meadow as the Pillar disintegrated.

Tossed end over end through the air with the last of the force bolt’s energy, the ancient vampire’s body was flung well and away across the field to crash into the trees. Kain didn’t delude himself into thinking it would stun the Hylden for long. The injuries to the host might inconvenience it somewhat, but something more permanent would have to be done before he would consider the battle over.

Moving quickly he hooked a hand under Raziel’s shoulder, hauling him onto to his feet. Up close the scent of blood and feathers made an odd combination. “Can you run?”

“Run?” The knight looked at him in pained amusement, accepting his presence as a matter of course. “I _crawl_, dread lord. But yes, I get your meaning.”

Wearily glancing around, Raziel frowned in confusion. “But where is your other-self? The one from this era… Isn’t it _he_ whom is supposed to defeat this devil?”

“There’s been a slight change of plans.” Kain drawled, still irritated by the vampire he had once been. “I will deal with this Hylden first, and then will see what can be done about the rest.”

“I wish I could stay and help.” His lieutenant was mauled and covered in filth, but his tired smile was oddly endearing. “I fear I will be of little use even as bait now that the Adversary knows you are here.”

“Can you heal yourself?”

“I think so.” The vampire sagged into his supporting grip and then mustered the strength to stand on his own. “Just don’t ask me to fly before sunset. I landed badly just now.”

“I saw.” Kain smiled without humor. “Don’t look back, just head for the trees. I will make sure Audron doesn’t ruffle your tail feathers.”

“Very funny, my lord.”

“Less back-chat, and more retreating, child.” He gave the knight a gentle push towards the edge of the platform. For a moment he was afraid the vampire would simply collapse under the forced momentum. Staggering stiffly, Raziel survived the first few awkward strides and found his feet. Kain shook his head as he watched the vampire begin a torturous sort of limping jog for the nearest line of trees.

Not long after his lieutenant disappeared behind the initial layer of scrub and trees, a crashing rush of noise behind Kain heralded the return of his real prey. He turned, smiling grimly at the sight of the leaf-bedecked ancient hovering in the air above him. The vampire’s wings were looking decidedly tattered after his forcible journey through the forest canopy. The smell of burnt feathers was none of his doing however. His projectiles might crush and shatter, but they weren’t meant to ignite. Kain studied the smoldering effect with interest.

Vampire physiology and Hylden energies were simply incompatible at a fundamental level, Kain was forced to conclude. Audron’s wings were smoking even as they beat the air, reacting to the greenish aura that ghosted over his entire body. Strange growths of bone and muscle slid over the man’s face and exposed arms. His skin cracked and glowed as if containing embers within. Dark blood wept and smoldered from the injuries Raziel had managed to inflict.

Janos was both burning up, and also evolving in front of his eyes. He hadn’t noticed the effect on their previous encounter, but his memories of the various aborted futures he and Raziel’s wraith had inadvertently created were too new to be entirely trusted. He distinctly recalled Audron possessed, and Audron in the form of a monstrous fiend in the bowels of Meridian, but actively being dissolved by glyph energy, no. That at least was a novelty.

Other than the painful looking reaction to prolonged contact with the Hylden, Audron looked much like he had in Kain’s tentative memories. Better dressed, perhaps, but still undeniably and unbelievably blue-skinned. There was no mistaking him for anything but descended from the ancient race from which all vampires came. The vampire’s eyes burned with a sickly green light that echoed his new aura. Kain wondered briefly whether his memories of Janos and the ‘factory’ would remain should he butcher the man here in the past. Perhaps the change would be significant enough to force another realignment of the time-stream, perhaps not. He also wondered if in another, less misbegotten future than his own, if he too had been destined to pick up the outlandish skin-tone. It was a foolish thing to worry about when the faced with a raving lunatic of a Hylden-possessed ancient, but he couldn’t help but wonder.

“Hash’a’gik, I suppose?” Kain buffed his claws against his cape, less impressed by his enemy then he thought he might be. “Or should I call you, Dark Entity.”

“Kain!” The creature hissed incredulously. “But no! Wrong one! Where is your other-self, foolish vampire? Where is the Kain we are destined to meet?”

He shrugged in half-feigned boredom. “You were late in getting here, Hylden. Raziel must have delayed your departure. The Kain you were supposed to seek out finished his work on Moritanius long before you arrived, and then, seeing no reason to stand about with the day _wasting_, he left. It’s hardly his fault you missed your cue.”

Smiling cruelly, Kain raised his arms in a welcoming gesture. “I felt badly for you, Hylden, and so sent another playmate to keep you company. What did you think of my new son?”

“A new Raziel.” Hash’a’gik muttered, bobbing back and forth in the air before slowly descending to the ground. Vampire wings were clearly not cut out for hovering gracefully, Kain noted. It boded well for his chances of confounding the entity, if it found his conversation interesting enough to be willing to sacrifice an aerial advantage to speak without disruption. “You were not content to sacrifice just one, but found another to feed to your false-god? Foolish Kain. You toy with the Wheel.”

“The Wheel is one fracture away from breaking completely.” Kain murmured, shifting his weight in preparation for an attack. The reminder of his repeated need to offer up of his lieutenant’s life for the sake of necessity across several timelines only served to renew his long buried anger over the Hylden plot. If it weren’t for their stupid fanaticism and the unholy squid beneath the Citadel, his future, and perhaps Raziel’s, would have been far more agreeable. “In that one sense, I wouldn’t be surprised to find our goals ran parallel, Hylden. I care not if fate is torn asunder. I find it suits me not at all to be dictated to like an errant schoolboy. That creature is no god of mine.”

“Join with me then!” The creature gestured grandly. “Break the last lock to our prison and we will slaughter the burrowing parasite who claims to be the God of Vampires! Its wheel will be no more, and we all shall be free.”

“Free? You mean ‘free’ until you and your demonic-pets swarm over everything and poison what life there is out of the world.” Kain agreed grimly. “Free until the realization sinks in for you, that without the Pillars, Nosgoth is doomed. Or did you think they were good for nothing, other than acting as your tomb?”

Hash’a’gik hissed in maddened fury. “Treacherous vampire. Just like all the others.”

Kain folded his arms across his chest and sighed at the creature’s irrational attitude. “Not so. I have little use for subterfuge at this point. I freely acknowledge that what my fore-bearers did to your race was foolish in the extreme.” He showed a smile that was mostly teeth. “But what is done is done. Not even I can spin time so adroitly as to go back to the beginning and undo all of your mistakes. I happen to think your current plan for revenge is banal and ill-conceived, and I am more than happy to tell you so. I have no interest in destroying the last of the Pillars just to free your pathetic race.”

“If and when I allow you out of your prison, it will be at a time of my choosing. Be a good little Dark Entity now, and run along home. Perhaps I will consider leniency when the time comes to resolve your people’s situation once and for all.”

“We will escape with or without you, Kain!” Hash’a’gik howled. “We have grown strong during our time in hell! We shall tear this world apart and you with it!”

“If it is a repeat of the old war you want, Hylden, then that is what you shall get. I will be well content to crush the skulls of every member of your pitiable tribe one-at-a-time if I must, until only your demented shades remain to mourn you.” Kain raised his clenched his fist to emphasize his resolve. “Point of fact, I welcome it. I can’t abide the thought of leaving things half-done forever.”

“Soon, vampire. The portal is already opening wide enough to allow us to influence humans. Just a little more, your Pillar shattered, and we will be free to test your promise.” Hash’a’gik crooned.

"Well then, beast. Come and do battle with _me_ if you dare. The final Pillar is yours for the taking." Kain unsheathed his sword, watching as its aura ignited. Aware of the argument or not, the Reaver was as ready for mayhem as he was. Its fire was a ruddy orange. For a silent and paranoid instant, Kain cursed himself for not having the presence of mind to ask Raziel – his Raziel - how the damn blade’s new magic worked while he had had the chance. It was far too late to practice now. He just had to hope that the being inside the blade could give him some assistance as needed.

Audron's possessed body laughed wickedly and flung a wall of lightening at him, similar to what Raziel had been battling against before. The electrically charged air was hardly pleasant, but Kain had developed a certain affinity for elemental lighting over the years. It rolled over his skin without any lingering affects. He ignored the sting and dug his toe-claws into the stone of the platform as the concurrent blast of ionized air tried to knock him off his feet. The attack would have been more effective against a winged enemy, he thought, bringing his sword around to easily block the ensuing physical attack. Clearly the Hylden wasn’t taking him seriously.

Flame erupted from his sword as the blade met Audron’s second magical wave, beating back the blast of dark energy with a ring of fire hot enough to scorch the hem of Kain’s cape. The Dark Entity was obliged to back-wing to avoid the expanding wave of heat, sparks and embers flying through the air. Kain raised his free hand to protect his eyes from some of the blow over.

/ Can we avoid fire in future? I’m not _that_ invulnerable, you know. / He criticized his sword sharply.

To his grim satisfaction the sword's aura shifted rapidly from color to color as if someone was making some judicious decisions. Audron snatched up Raziel’s fallen spear and launched himself at Kain again. The Reaver settled on a vaporous sort of white. At the instant that contact was made between the Hylden's battered weapon and the sword, a surge of gale-force wind erupted from the hilt, almost driving Kain off his feet again.

He couldn't help but chuckle despite the unexpected strength of the attack. The eddying winds tangled in his hair and whipped strands across his face, but again his claws held him firmly against the earth. His opponent had no such luck. Audron had caught the energy full in the face, and had tumbled backwards in the air in a very inelegant fashion. The broken spear had been torn from the ancient’s grip and was lost in the field beyond. Seemingly dissatisfied, the sword switched from white to bright blue with a resolute flare of energy.

"Done?" Kain couldn't help but ask sarcastically.

The glowing skull decoration on the pommel simply flickered malevolently at him. "What are you glaring for? I can hardly be expected to memorize your every gimmick and trick, child. My agenda was quite busy enough in unraveling this plot; while you were trotting around the countryside sightseeing. You neither needed nor wanted my interference into your own strengthening regimen."

If the sword could have, it would have tapped its foot in irritation. Kain sighed and replied with only minimal irony. "Please do as you think best, of course. I defer to your excellent judgment."

Surprisingly he was rewarded with an instant of mental contact. An image danced behind his eyes, depicting himself stabbing at his irksome flying enemy with the blue Reaver. As soon as the blade touched his prey, the vampire was encased in a block of ice. Kain blinked and the projection was gone. He stared in wonder at his sword as Janos winged back to the fight. Raziel was not entirely without means of initiating a conversation, it seemed. Sadly there was no time to explore the hypothesis further. The Hylden-possessed vampire was within range for his more annoying attacks. Kain was not above taking a suggestion in regards to how to get the ancient down on the ground for good, especially one as entertaining as what Raziel had proposed. He grinned evilly. "By all means, let us make an attempt."

Rolling out of the way of the Hylden's first swooping attack, and cynically sidestepping the bevy of fireballs that came next, Kain used his free hand to direct a new kinetic shockwave at his enemy, goading him into diving again.

This time it was child’s play to jump and meet Audron’s dive mid-air. Spinning and thrusting downward as he anticipated his confused enemy's attack, Kain succeeded in opening a wound along one of the ancient's arms. The physical injury closed almost immediately, but an uncanny chill arose from the air. The Reaver drew strength from him and channeled it into a complex elemental pattern along the length of its blade, its steely song triumphant. Moisture condensed and crystallized out of the sky to shroud his enemy, freezing half his chest and an entire wing inside of a miniature iceberg. Audron fell abruptly, unable to sustain or control his flight, and smashed hard up against the ground. Chunks of the frozen debris slid in every direction from the crash, the rest steamed and crackled against the fallen vampire’s skin as it melted.

Kain took no pity on the possessed vampire. Somersaulting to control his own fall, he landed firmly on his prey’s back, letting the damaged wings take the brunt of his weight.

"Too easy," he sneered at his writhing enemy as he dug his toe-claws in to Audron’s chest. "And here I thought you'd be a challenge compared to before. It's just more of the same."

"Do not crow too loud, little vampire." The Hylden hissed angrily. "Do not forget, unlike Moritanius, this one's body is strong. What is a little pain to one who has known hell?! We will never give up. We need no rest. We can continue this fight for as long as it takes!"

“We? Forgive my ignorance, I simply have to inquire.” Kain crouched down to smirk at his prey, sliding the icy cold Reaver along Audron’s neck. “Exactly how many of you does it _take_ to subdue one senile old vampire?! It must be a tight fit, all that ego in such a confined space. Perhaps I’ll cut you apart and count for myself.”

A burst of green light, undoubtedly Hylden glyph-energy, cast him off his enemy before he could strike the fatal blow. Kain rolled and came to his feet, wincing at the scorched feel of his arms. As a young vampire, he had once been fool enough in Meridian to throw himself into one of the damnable energy barriers to test its might. The painful tingle along his skin was much the same sensation as when those invisible walls had repelled him.

Nothing vampiric could withstand the close knit and caustic energies of the glyph barriers. The only thing to be done had been to find a way around the annoying obstacles, or to deactivate them. Sadly neither was really an option today. Kain fell back and considered his attack. Audron slowly pulled himself upright, cracking the remaining ice away from his body as he did so.

The only good news was that the vampire’s left wing looked too frayed to fly effectively. In that at least he had achieved a measure of revenge for Raziel’s injury. It would be a day or so before the vampire would be airborne again, Kain wagered. Unless of course the Hylden spirits had some manner of healing their hosts that he was unaware of. From appearances, they were doing Janos more harm than good with their occupation.

For his part, he could already feel the Reaver’s soothing touch on his scrapes and bruises. The sword was intent on taking care of him it seemed. Ironic really, given Raziel’s furious spite lately, that the sword was so eager to nurse-maid him now. It was all or nothing with the boy, he shook his head. It always had been. Probably the spirit was feeling a little guilty about the whole debacle at Avernus. Other than general exhaustion, it was likely he’d walk out of this fight with nothing more sinister than a paper-cut, if the Reaver had its way. It almost felt like cheating.

Snarling, the Hylden resumed its fight with a waved gesture, releasing another round of fireballs at him in annoyance. “Die, Kain!”

Dodging the brutish magic, Kain closed the distance between them and swung the Reaver against the barrier. The blade shrieked in audible dismay as its fire fought against the glyph wall. Clearly, Raziel was still vampire enough that he didn't appreciate taking the Hylden energies to the face, as it were. In time he might hack through it, he supposed. The Reaver’s fire managed to discolor and drain the enchantment a little, despite its discomfort. But he wasn’t interested in annoying his sword if alternate methods were available.

Kain fell back to consider his options. Not above asking for aid from his troublesome weapon, he cast a glance at it out of the corner of his eye. "I don't suppose you have any _other_ ideas?"

No worse for the wear, the sword flickered through a few different colors before settling on a cool green only a few shades off from the Hylden’s aura. Unable to guess the meaning of the mimicry, Kain cursed as the weapon nearly jerked out of his grasp, moving with a will of its own to plunge down into the packed soil around the Pillars. The earth beneath his feet abruptly began to tremble and crack, fresh fissures opening and radiating outwards through the grasses.

Falling to his knees, Kain had grim fantasies of being swallowed up by a sink hole, but that fate was apparently reserved for his enemy. Several fissures consolidated underneath the baffled Dark Entity and it wailed in frustration as the ground softened and seemed to drop out beneath him. Before wings could be coordinated into an attempt to lift, the creature was swallowed up in a gaping fissure that just as suddenly crushed back together with a low rumble. All that was left was a dent in the grass where the sinkhole had been. The Pillars shook and shed bits of themselves as the mini earthquake abated. Thankfully no further columns toppled from the new upheaval. Kain rose gingerly to his feet, testing the soft-feeling footing gingerly.

The ground seemed firm enough, but he doubted if it would hold against a strong assault. Sure enough, the grassy depression heaved upwards as he watched, the earth and trembling as if a thousand moles were hard at work beneath the surface. The soil mounded and finally cracked in front of him, erupting in a dry geyser as the Hylden broke free of his make-shift grave. Kain rolled out of the way of an omni-directional blast of green fire that the creature unleashed and glared at his independent minded blade again.

“Warn me before you do _that_ trick as well, Raziel.”

The sword merely flickered from green back to translucent blue with a smug twist.

Audron’s shield remained as firmly in place as before, despite his unexpected side-trip. Kain pursed his lips in annoyance. Stymied as far as attacking the creature directly, and limited to irritations when using the Soul Reaver to attack indirectly. Kain looked around for some other options. Glancing at the fragile looking remains of the Pillar of Nature gave him a nasty little idea.

He moved backwards, luring his attacker onto the platform at the base of the shattered monoliths even as he dodged another round of the now-boring projectiles. Raziel had apparently done some thinking too. Kain nearly tripped as the sword unexpectedly planted a new thought, unsolicited, into his head.

The sudden memory of Audron, completing a dizzying series of wind borne attacks, only to land panting and exhausted for a moment, bubbled up from nowhere. It took a moment for Kain to realize that the imagery must have come from his ally’s recent battle against Hash’a’gik at the top of the ruined Vampire Citadel. He glanced down at his blade with harried appreciation. “So the vampire does have a limit to his stamina, you’re saying?” He rolled out of the way of a lightening strike. “Thank you, child. That is useful to know.”

Mulling his options over as he feinted and provoked the Hylden into greater magical expenditures, Kain found he had the definite beginnings of a plan. The new Raziel, the one from the future, hadn’t the resilience of either Raziel’s wraith-body or Kain’s own thick skin to protect him in his battle against the ancient. As a result the two had tangled successfully, but the Hylden hadn’t needed to truly exert itself either. Kain was confident that the mere physical blows and lesser magics that the Dark Entity preferred wouldn’t slow him down nearly as much, especially not with the Soul Reaver so agreeably in hand. All he had to do therefore was push a bit harder, and see if he couldn’t make the Hylden sweat a bit for his victory.

Lunging forward, Kain gritted his teeth against the pain and smashed his fist directly into the green barrier unleashing his own burst of lightening against Hash’a’gik’s shields. The bolt chased around the magical bubble, sparking and scattering, but didn’t overload the spell the way he had hoped. He fell back with a curse and again was nearly taken off balance by Raziel’s impromptu aid.

The Reaver blade dipped earthwards again, this time directing itself at one of the sigils etched into the marble platform. Kain gave the image a cursory glance as he attempted to regain his footing and avoid a lunging attack. The sword seemed to be pointing out the ancient rune for water. Raziel’s reasoning however was somewhat of a mystery. He had stared at the carving thousands of times through the long centuries of his empire, never thinking twice about it. But now he couldn’t help but wonder, as the blade’s point seemed stuck fast. He felt the Reaver gather itself, pulling more energy than before, and braced for whatever insanity might come. What he got, was truly a shock to the senses.

The Soul Reaver chimed almost musically with the conclusion of its mysterious spell weaving. The platform echoed the tone with a deeper note that was immediately replaced with a hollow rushing sound. At the blade’s prompting, a deluge erupted from the sigil. Icy-cold frothing water was suddenly everywhere. It rose waist deep on the platform as it boiled up out of its magical wellspring and poured forth over the raised marble steps.

Kain could only stare in amazement as the torrent rose and washed around him. The entire base of the Pillars was transformed into an oversized birdbath in an instant, liquid-death pooling and spilling down onto the grassy verge beyond. Kain braced for the acidic burn of the forbidden fluid against his skin; more than old enough to survive a casual dunking, but not masochist enough to enjoy the feeling of being slowly flayed by prolonged contact with the flow.

Strangely, the water scorched but did not sear him. It merely tickled unpleasantly and soaked his leggings and feet. Kain stared at the flood in dumb amazement as it eddied and swirled, waiting for pain that did not come. The Reaver had to be to blame. It was the only possible explanation for his sudden immunity. Raziel had found some way to protect him perhaps. Or maybe it was not true water, but some magical equivalent wrought by the Reaver itself.

Only when Audron began shrieking like an accursed thing, did he remember he was not alone in witnessing the spectacle. He had all but forgotten his own immanent peril in admiring Raziel’s minor miracle. Luckily, the Hylden seemed to have other concerns. The glyph shield, so able to withstand his best attacks, could do nothing about the element weaknesses of vampire flesh. It truly looked like water as it came in contact with the ancient’s body. The blue flesh of Audron’s chest and arms sizzled and incandesced as the wave broke around him.

As far as attacks went, Kain realized, the idea was brilliant. Even when the Hylden went to stretch his wings to escape, the black feathers steamed and dissolved as they were splashed with the cruel liquid.

“Well done, Raziel.” He breathed a fervent compliment even as he felt his sword swing free of the sigil. The water stopped almost as soon as it started, gurgling to nothing between his feet and leaving only puddles behind. Kain stepped gingerly, feeling the lingering wet trapped in his clothes. Still, the Reaver’s immunity seemed to remain, and he was able to move without injury.

The same could not be said for Hash’a’gik. The creature pawed at its sodden and somewhat flayed skin as it regenerated, still wailing in agony. Somewhere in vampire’s distress, the shield had been forgotten.

Kain found he had little pity for the Hylden. First mocked, then repetitively shot at by an irritatingly invulnerable enemy, he wasted no time in taking advantage of his upper-hand. Belting the possessed vampire across the face with the hilt of the Soul Reaver, he mist-shifted to predict the exact location his prey reeled to, and curled the claws of his free hand to duplicate the punch again, putting his shoulder behind it this time. Audron’s body curved backwards in the air from the force of his fist, collapsing hard against the center of the platform with the satisfying sound of skull hitting stone.

Unleashing a fury inspired force-projectile against Nature’s unsuspecting base. Kain crushed the bottom of the Pillar to gravel, leaving the top five meters of the column to topple to the ground. Even breaking into chunks as it fell, the Pillar did a tidy job of crushing Audron under a quarter ton of fractured weight. The vampire’s feeble cry was the most satisfying noise Kain had heard yet. He rolled one of the remaining bits of column out of the way to inspect his handiwork with a smirk.

The creature lying at his feet looked about done in. Feathers and clothes were all but mauled to ribbons, the vampire’s handsome blue-skin still struggling to regenerate over the open sores the water had left. The collapsed Pillar had done him the favor of shattering a fair number of the ancient’s bones. All in all, a rousing success as far as fights went. Despite the obvious difference in difficulty between this adversary and the one he had fought as a youth, the fight had lasted about as long as his first round with the Dark Entity.

Kain had no doubt what the outcome would have been should it have been the other Kain standing here in his stead. Even with Raziel’s help, and a Reaver blade willing to do eight-tenths of the work for him, Kain would have been completely out classed. The thought made him frown. If Kain had died this afternoon, then the Hylden would have won. There would have been no Pillars, no Janos Audron, no Scion, just the Soul Reaver. Raziel would have been damned to become the baleful weapon of blight portrayed in the vampire prophesies, wielded by the Hylden race’s savior. Memories of the Hylden Lord and the creature’s temporary ownership of the Reaver, made Kain hiss in fury. The hell he would allow these insufferable maggots to take the Reaver now. What life had been like for the blade during those long years that he had lain defeated was anyone’s guess, but it was hard to imagine they had be pleasant ones.

This time at least Raziel’s imprisonment wouldn’t have lasted long. Kain thought morbidly. Kain doubted the Hylden had a plan to restore balance to Nosgoth. Like his own reign over the sorrowful world-to-come, they would happily ride the world into the ground until all that was left was dust and ghosts.

Feeling his resolve grow, Kain stepped forward to finish his fight. Magical barriers broken, and physically crippled, Hash'a'gik was all but defeated. Kain laughed breathlessly at his hard-earned victory. Raziel's inexplicable affection for the ancient vampire was unfortunate, but hardly enough to sway his hand.

Audron dead was far easier to plan around than Audron alive. He had survived this long with out the ancient's council. There was no particular purpose for the blue-skinned vampire’s continued existence. Kain remembered fragments of their conversations in the alternate timeline of Meridian. Audron had exhibited a death wish at the time, hardly surprising given the miserable events of his life. From all he had read, the ancients were described as damnably suicidal in general. In a way he was doing the man a favor.

If he was very lucky, he could even get his heart back when he was done. It was uncanny to be walking around without one.

Forcing his wrenched shoulder to cooperate, Kain raised the Reaver to finish off his prey. "May you find your next attempt at life more enjoyable than this one was, vampire." He offered in cynical benediction. Kain drove the blade down, intending to pierce the sage's throat; the swiftest and cleanest death he could provide at this point.

The instant the tip of the Reaver made contact with Audron's skin, it, and his arm, were frozen into immobility. Growling in dismay he found that he could neither loosen his hold on the blade, nor press down further. The sword and his limb were stuck fast.

It took only one guess to determine where to lay blame. "Raziel, stop this foolishness at once!"

The blade flickered malevolently in his grip. Kain grimly realized that the sword had now claimed control of his legs as well. The sensation was wholly without comparison. He could feel his body as easily as ever, there was no numbness or pain. But he could no more stir then he could dictate what color the sky ought to be.

"Raziel, kindly consider. While we dither here, the Hylden heals and gathers strength. Do you really want to spend the better part of eternity fighting this creature? We must strike _now_."

For once he had to admit he had no idea what his lieutenant was thinking. The Reaver simply flickered and vibrated in his hand, seemingly indecisive.

"It was you that forced this fight in the first place." Kain reminded the sword bitterly. "I told you to leave well enough alone!"

That at least provoked a response. The skull on the blade's hilt flared angrily, blue light burning in its empty sockets. He gritted his teeth, feeling the cold burn of Raziel's annoyance down the length of his arm. Kain hissed at the idea that he was obliged to reason with the fool at a time like this. "I realize that you have formed some sort of odd attachment to the vampire, Raziel. But consider. He was dead before you revived him! It's not so much a murder as resolving an unwanted paradox."

The fire burned colder still, Raziel's fury almost a flavor on his tongue. Still the sword made no move. Kain had little doubt that if it wanted, the Reaver could drive him off his victim without difficulty. Yet it didn’t. He was stuck dangling like a puppet while his thrice damned sword hung dithering about what to do. For the first time he wondered if this was how his offspring had felt with the spectral Reaver embedded in his arm. The blade was a contented servant only when it wished to be, the rest of the time, like now, it was a damned nuisance.

Bending his will to the effort Kain found that he could resist the Reaver's influence if he focused. Slowly he regained control of his left leg, fighting for every inch of movement as he made lift his foot onto Audron’s throat. If Raziel refused to obey him, he had other means at his disposal. A snapped neck was just as quick as a sword stroke, if perhaps not as permanent, but he bet with himself that once the deed was done, his sword would be more reasonable about finishing the job. Or at least it might let him go so _he_ could get on with it.

Do not do this, Kain!

The Reaver shuddered again in his grip, more than aware of what he was attempting.

"What would you have me do, child? What other option is there?!"

For a minute the sword went inert, all aura dispelled. Feeling the strength of the charge building in the blade’s core, Kain didn't attempt to break the lingering paralysis. Having witnessed several of the sword’s ‘tricks’ in the past half hour, he was willing to bet that this magic too, was going to be unpleasant for both victim and wielder. Kain took the opportunity to turn his face to the side and averted his eyes, the only real defense he could muster while still holding the blade.

No sooner than he had looked away then the blade erupted into a magical fireball. White flames enveloped the length of his arm as the Reaver let loose the full might of the Balance Guardians. For all the ferocity of its brilliance, Kain found the sensation to be wholly benign. Rather than blistering heat there was a cleansing coolness. For a moment at least, exhaustion was dispelled, his spirit buoyed. He squinted down to see what the gentle attack was meant to accomplish.

Beneath the blade’s point, the Hylden possessed vampire writhed as if burnt, mouth open in silent scream. Where the spirit-light met Audron's broken body, it drew forth the sickly green aura, forcing the alien energy out of its unwilling host. Kain winced and watched out of the corner of his eye as the dueling magics seemed to contend over the ancient vampire a moment before Raziel won, burning the Hylden away to nothing with a half audible wail of despair. Without the tainted aura, Audron’s body grew quiet, almost glowing as it absorbed the healing energy.

Half blinded, Kain could just make out Audron’s gradual awakening. The ancient gaped in disbelief as he looked up at his terrifying salvation. No doubt feeling the brutal strength of the cleansing magic as well as felt the auras of those long gone. As abruptly as it started, the spectacle was over. The light, his paralysis, and Hash’a’gik, all vanished as if they had never been.

Kain staggered backwards as Raziel released control of his body, cursing his sword even as he watched Audron’s body complete an unnaturally fast recovery. Detached from its prey, the Reaver flickered harmlessly in his grip. He had a sudden and undeniable impression of his child whistling with patently false innocence after doing something he had deliberately forbidden.

Of the Hash’a’gik there was no trace. All that remained behind was a rather battered and bedraggled looking vampire curled against the damp ground. It was safe, Kain supposed, to say the battle was over.

*****