Kain stood silently on the wall of the fortress.  The night air had a pleasing feel to it, as it always did to a member of the undead.  He surveyed his surroundings.  His eyes first met the battle that was raging below.  His sons, joined by their respective clans, fought like demons against a great host of human warriors.  He next gazed upon the fortress itself, built by Raziel and his clan five decades ago as a border fort between Kain’s pacified lands and those that still belonged to the human kingdoms.  He had to admit, Raziel had an eye for architecture, it was both practical and aesthetically pleasing, it had never fallen and he doubted it would, at least not while he himself was present.

       “DIE VAMPIRE”.  The human swordsmen whirled at Raziel, only for Raziel to sidestep and the human to run straight into Turel’s pike, and then only to be promptly blasted away with telekinetic force.  The brothers were fighting back to back and clearly enjoying themselves.
       “That was interesting, first humans turn out to be feeble and now they throw themselves on to our weapons,” said Turel flatly.
       “Getting bored brother?” said Raziel, elegantly dispatching another warrior, a grin appearing on his face
        “No just stating the obvious, where’s Dumah, he was here a moment ago?” said Turel.
       “Look behind you” Raziel said pointing in the direction and this time he let out a roar of laughter.

Dumah was fighting alone, not one ally with him.  His clan elsewhere on the battlefield.  Human warriors encircled him, this however was exactly what he wanted.  Three warriors ran at him, and with the two broadswords he had chosen from his vast armoury, cleaved them simultaneously in two.
“HA IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO, COME ON SCUM,” roared Dumah.  More charged and Dumah began to whirl around hacking, slashing and tearing, cutting down hordes of enemy soldiers, proud and defiant, an unstoppable whirlwind of blades and rage.

“STEADY” yelled Melchiah holding his hand in the air “STEADY…AIM”.  He was waiting for the right moment.  “RELEASE ARROWS”.  With this order a hail of arrows tore at a group of warriors.  He had made sure his archers were rotating their volleys, as one man fired, the other reloaded. An effective tactic and one he had pride in creating and drilling his children into using.  He was proud of them, and afflicted with fathers guilt; for the weakness he had passed on to them, which was their physical frailty.  He shook the thought from his mind.  We have our purpose, we may not be as powerful as Dumah and Turel or as graceful as Raziel, swift as Rahab or as cunning as Zephon, but I am Melchiah, and you are my children.  Let your arrows fly true, we are last, but certainly not least.

Zephon was running as fast as possible, hordes of human warriors were following with grievous intent.
        “Come this way fools.”  A grin appeared on his face.  As he ran he noticed the small white chalk mark positioned as he had ordered.  “Perfect” he thought.  His army had not yet joined the main battle and was intent on luring a sizeable portion of the enemy away from the main force and so far it was working.  He passed the second white chalk mark and began to slow down to feign weakness.  He passed the last marker and gave the order.  Within seconds the ambush parties burst from their burrows that had been dug and threw the humans into total confusion.  The humans were divided and being ruthlessly cut down.  Zephon could only stand and watch with glee.
        “Like a fly to the spiders web.” he stated, a smirk appearing across his face.

Rahab spun round and decapitated a swordsman, he then swiftly avoided another’s spear, took hold of it, wrenched it from the mans hands and threw it at another warrior.  He then proceeded to cut the now unarmed spearman down.
        “These humans are no match, we are simply to fast,” he thought to himself.  He deftly avoided a few attacks from his enemies and finished them off, he then took a moment to survey his children in action.  They were fleet of foot, as if they were swimming in the air, fluid like movement and perfect composure.  He felt it in himself, it made his body and mind lightning fast, he just seemed to know how and when to move.  In the face of such righteous hate and aggression from these humans it was more than a blessing, this speed, and precision, this pure unadulterated instinct was utterly deadly and he and his children had mastered it and he thanked his creator, his master, and his father for this gift.  Every enemy he cut down, he felt his loyalty affirmed ever stronger.  “Let us see who is righteous.”  He said calmly as a smile appearing on his face.

        “I am proud of you.”  Thought Kain, “but now is the time to show you why I am your master.  Why I am your father.  It is time to show you what power is and why you are so strong and moreover, why you inherited such strength.”  With this in mind Kain withdrew the Soul Reaver from its sheath.  He tensed and leapt from the battlements of the fortress.

A brilliant arc of lightning turned the three swordsmen closest to Raziel into dust.  There was a stunned silence.  The battle in the area stopped dead.  Both sides were anxious to know were this came from.  As the dust began to settle Raziel heard footsteps; slow, calculated and methodical, never without purpose.  He reached the only possible conclusion.  His father.  Kain.

He was proven right.  Kain took a slow, almost casual walk.  No expression on his face.  No flicker of emotion.  Not one human or vampire moved.  The humans were frozen to the spot with a mixture of awe and fear.  The vampires (some had never seen their master, their ultimate creator), and his sons had very rarely seen him grace a battlefield with his presence.  The footsteps came to a stop and Kain viewed his surroundings, waiting, calculating every possibility and outcome.  Silently daring anyone to step forth.  One human warrior gathered his courage, raised his sword, yelled, and ran at Kain.  He attacked.  Kain blocked with lightning fast dexterity and precision, then ran him through.  The Reaver sang as it drew in the mans soul.  Kain held him by the head and finally threw him to the floor.  Others charged, but Kain simply dodged and parried, whirling and spinning, turning into mist, casting his magic and lighting up the battlefield.  Every few moments the Reaver sang its eerie song as another soul was drawn in.  Lightning arced as another man was reduced to cinders and all Raziel and Turel could do was watch in astonishment as their father left his mark.
Raziel could have sworn he had seen a malicious smirk appear on Kain’s face as he tore through the masses with sheer satisfaction.  With that and their father now taking to the field, victory was guaranteed and so the battle continued to rage.

        “Victory.” said Turel calmly.
        “Indeed brother.  Where is Kain?”  Raziel replied
        “The master disappeared after the last warrior fell,” answered Turel “I do not know where to.  I cannot sense him.  But let us go.  A feast is in order and I think we have all earned it.”  Turel motioned inside and began to walk away.
        “Thank you father.  With your assistance our children lives were better protected, and hope given to them evermore.  Thank you” murmured Raziel softly as he walked through the fortress gates and followed the sounds of celebration.

The flock of bats hovered in the central area of the sanctuary of the clans and formed into the shape of a man.  Kain walked forward and put his hand on the broken pillar of balance.
        “Once I thought fate and destiny were just words used by foolish old mystics and soothsayers.  Words humans gave to describe events that seemed out of their control.  I called them fools because I thought they were too stupid to find the answer for themselves, and yet, I came to see that fate and destiny are indeed very real.  It can be manipulated for another’s purpose or personal gain.”  Kain clenched his claws and struck the balance pillar as he continued, “Rendered corrupt at birth, my murder and resurrection all part of another’s machinations, used by members of the circle to do their dirty work.”  Rage took hold of him now, “THEY EXPECTED ME TO SACRIFICE MYSELF.  END MY LIFE AND DOOM MY RACE TO OBLIVION.  ALL IN THE NAME OF BALANCE!”  Kain sat on his throne and calmed down.  He collected his thoughts.  “No, there is always another way.  There are always different paths one can take.  I for one intend to find these hidden truths.  Morality, good and evil does not figure in this twisting winding tale, only what is beneficial in the long term matters.”  With this Kain closed his eyes and returned to more restful thoughts, remembering the battle in his mind, replaying the looks on his son’s faces and the sweet smell of yet another victory.

Written by Edge of the Coin