I defied it. I successfully forced the coin to land upon it’s edge. Raziel, my first-born lieutenant was my right arm once more, the material Reaver was now the Soul Reaver. My sight purified, I now knew the true enemy before me; the Hylden, and their ally, the ‘Oracle of the Vampires’, or as Raziel called it, the ‘Elder God’. It was by no means a ‘God’. With the Soul Reaver, purified by Raziel, I could make the Oracle of the Vampires bleed. And if it bleeds, then it can be killed.

      Mere moments after his encounter with the ‘giant squid’, Kain returned to the Pillars of Nosgoth. Destroyed. The Pillars were destroyed. And at the center of this cataclysm, Janos Audron stood, with his back to Kain, apparently awaiting something. Advancing to the Pillars, Kain was already suspicious of the scene.

      “Kain, the so-called ‘Scion of Balance.’” Janos said over his shoulder.

“Janos? Janos Audron?” Kain said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“I am indeed that ancient Vampire. Tell me, did you enjoy leading ensnaring Raziel in your pathetic trap? Using him to strengthen the Soul Reaver? 

“Who are you to judge me, Janos? I did what was necessary for the good of Nosgoth. You know it, and Raziel knew it.”

“It matters not, Kain. The Hylden shall return from the demon dimension, and rule Nosgoth as it was meant to be ruled!”

Janos turned around to face Kain. His eyes were emanating a strange green light, and his eyes were set upon Kain with intense enmity. His skin suddenly turned almost black, with red ‘cracks’ running along his body. He pointed at Kain.

“Your pathetic attempts to avert Nosgoth’s fate have run amok long enough. Raziel is gone! The only being with Free Will has been destroyed by you!” Janos laughed; it was not a normal laugh, it was a maniacal laugh, an insane laugh. He recovered. “None can defy destiny now! You shall succumb to my will from now on!”

I did not think it were possible for the greatest Vampire to have ever lived, Janos Audron, to be possessed by a pathetic Hylden. But then again, Janos Audron was also kept captive to fuel the Device six hundred years before Raziel’s execution.

The possessed Janos exploded from the spot towards Kain, claws outstretched and eyes wide, his giant wings beating powerfully. Kain readied the Reaver as Janos approached. When Janos was within blade’s reach, Kain let fly with a telekinetic blast at Janos’s face. Kain’s blast, enhanced by the power of Spirit, and wielding the Spirit-imbued Soul Reaver, stunned Janos in mid-air, and he missed his opportunity to slay Kain. Kain, quickly utilizing the surrounding mist to further enhance his movements, moved to Janos’s position, whom hit the ground with a thunderous crash, and impaled him with the Soul Reaver. Janos’s soul ran up the length of the blade and into the blade’s hilt. As his soul was drained, the green light left Janos’s eyes, and flew off into the night; the Hylden possessing the great Janos Aurdon had turned tail and run away.

Janos, his mind free of manipulation, realized what had happened, and began to try and warn Kain.

“Kain...you must stop the Hylden…Nosgoth cannot be left in their grasp…” Janos’s said, gasping for air; he was dying, “You are the prophecy…the Scion of Balance…with you, Nosgoth can be restored…do not fail your ancestors…Vorador is dead…you are the only one left…”

After speaking his last words, Janos Audron let loose one final rattling breath, before his body became still, his soul completely absorbed into the Reaver. I was the last Vampire in existence. It was down to me to thwart the Hylden’s plans and reach my destiny. Unknown to me, however, absorbing Janos’s soul allowed me the ability to speak with my only ally.

Kain gazed up at the Pillars of Nosgoth, the seal which kept the Hylden contained in the Demon Dimension, realizing slowly that with the Pillars weakened so severely, Kain did not have much time before the Hylden utilized such an advantageous situation.

<Kain.>

Kain looked around; the voice was inside of his head, though he did not yet know it.

<You need not look out; you must look within.>

Kain understood, and listened to whoever’s words now spoke to him.

<You have given me a powerful soul. As a result, I can now speak to and advise you once more, as I did the millennia I served you.>

Kain was astonished by the twist in this tale. He was immediately wise to the soul which now spoke to him.

“Raziel!?”

<Precisely. I’ve absorbed such an ancient and powerful entity, new abilities have been granted to me. The ability to speak into your mind, to read your thoughts and intentions, to advise you on particular situations. Your eyes are my eyes. I see what you see. That is my limit. I cannot control your actions, only see them.>

“This happens to be a most interesting twist…” Kain said, more to himself than to Raziel.

And so it came to pass. A turn which was expected by neither I nor Raziel. Absorbing Janos Audron’s soul endowed me with a few gifts. As Raziel once could, I could now transfer between the Spectral and Material Realms. I could now summon the Wraith Blade in my left hand, while in the other I wielded the Physical Reaver. My weakness to water was nullified, fallibility to fire diminished. My eyes now emanated that same energy Raziel’s did, only white in color.

<We must locate the means by which the Hylden are entering Nosgoth.>

Raziel was correct. The means by which the Hylden were entering Nosgoth was essential if I was to stop them. My title as Scion of Balance allowed me to keep the memories awarded to me six hundred years before I established my empire. The capital of Nosgoth; Meridian. That was where the Hylden were entering Nosgoth. That was m next destination.

“The capital of Nosgoth, Meridian.” Kain said to himself. “I find it most interesting that this story in the Book of Fate leads me to that accursed place not once, but twice.”

I knew the situation in Meridian. The Hylden Lord must still be alive; destroying Janos’s body merely prevented that Hylden Lord from possessing a powerful Vampire which could feed The Mass. The Hylden Lord was not an imbecile; he would quickly find a way to further his plans anyways.

Kain walked over to, and placed a hand on the ruined Pillar of Balance.

I used my telepathic abilities to view Meridian from the eyes of an airborne creature. A protective shield covered the city, effectively holding it from the reach of my Bat Form. I would have to find an alternative route in to the city. As soon as that thought entered my now-purified mind, I found the perfect alternative. 200 years after I refused the sacrifice. At this very moment, my younger form will be going on his near-fatal crusade to capture Meridian and secure his place as Nosgoth’s emperor. All I must do is travel back to before my younger form began his crusade to take over Nosgoth, and begin the resistance faction; the Cabal. I must assume the form of Vorador and direct my younger self to attack the city of Meridian. However, one problem persisted; the Hylden Lord’s alternative. Raziel and I have eliminated the Deck of Fate. It will not be long before the Hylden begin playing ’52 Pickup’. I was imperative that I moved quickly.