By DarkDaemon
| ‘Now, at last, this little
charade is over’, Kain thought as he held the Soul Reaver after the fight
with the Elder God. And for the first time in his life, a tear fell out
of his eye, as he remembered Raziel. ‘His sacrifice bears more irony than
his entire life ever did’, he smiled as he glimpsed at the Reaver again.
And as the tear reached his upper lip, he whispered ‘Hope is a lie…’ At
that point, Kain looked towards the damned Pillars, far north of the Vampire
Citadel. The burning blue eyes of the Reaver’s skull kept reminding him…
’His sacrifice for my vengeance…’ Kain had never been sad before, and now this feeling seemed to cover him entirely, and it brought with it both frustration and despair. History had been for him and Raziel both prey and hunter. He felt overwhelmed by its violent twists and its revenge on being unable to prevent the birth of a creature who truly had free will. At that point anger got hold of him and as he turned he noticed a mural of the foreseen battle between the two Champions on a wall. The next second the Reaver, along with Kain’s horrible scream, leveled the wall to little pieces. It took the vampire a few seconds to calm down and review his status….he had realized before, after he rescued Raziel from being imprisoned in the sword half a millennium before, and now he still didn’t realize why Moebius had said that he was the fulcrum upon which the entire world would turn. It was only a matter of days before the Hylden would break free from their damned dimension and gain a foothold on this world once more, and apparently there was no way he could prevent it. War was imminent and as Kain knelt, still tired after his tragic battle, he wondered where Hash’ak’gik was, hoping that Janos would manage to somehow overcome this demon. He closed his eyes, only to open them again a moment later. ‘There is no hope…’ he thought but then suddenly stopped. When entering the blade, Raziel’s thoughts reached Kain, and so now the vampire knew of Vorador’s beheading a few days earlier. Thus he realized that if speared, Vorador could prove to be not just a priceless ally, but the key to this seemingly endless drama. Immediately he bat flew to Moebius’s time cavern in the mountains, where he had eluded Raziel at their second encounter since his former lieutenant’s rebirth. He would attempt to go back in time and hopefully rescue Vorador. He reached the cave and for a brief moment stopped to look around. This was where Dumah’s clan had reigned centuries before. Kain could not stop a somehow demonic smile. After this spiritual reunion with what had once been the citadel of his lieutenants, he descended into the cave and entered the Warp Gate room. It was still standing, after several millennia and Kain hoped that the streaming mechanism would still work. And it did. After shifting the three levers, Kain jumped once more into the time stream, in a desperate attempt to prevent a loosing battle. The time swirls seemed endless, but after a while, Kain reached the end of his dimensional journey: he had arrived in the same room, only 2 days earlier…But just then he felt a violent headache which forced him to kneel. He was alone in the room, and yet he could distinguish a voice… a familiar voice… a voice that gave him chills. It was the voice of Raziel… ‘Kain…’ the voice whispered. At first the vampire was shocked, but immediately (and without even realizing it) he reached for the Soul Reaver. Its eyes seemed to burn according to the intensity of the voice, with the now eternal blue fire. ‘Raziel…How is this possible?’ he spoke, looking at the sword. ‘You see…when I was imprisoned in the blade, my mind was revealed to you as yours was revealed to me…my spirit can never leave the sword and the Reaver can never truly imprison me as long as we are one and the same… and through the bond between it and you, I can still reach you’, Raziel spoke, now with a harsher voice. ‘This is madness!’ Kain cried, attempting to throw the blade away. ‘No. You must listen to me…You cannot proceed before you take into account all the consequences of your future actions!’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘If you prevent Vorador’s death, you will face history with a new paradox…A new order will be brought to accommodate your choice, and thus all the future will be changed irreversibly. I am the irrevocable proof of how history deals with this. Vorador must die otherwise my sacrifice may have been for nothing!’ Kain realized that Raziel spoke the truth…he hadn’t thought about this essential detail. If he indeed rescued Vorador from Moebius’s blade then he would face this epic story with yet another fatal dilemma. Once again overwhelmed by the truth of his former lieutenant’s voice, the vampire closed his eyes and tried to consider his options. ‘It seems we’re playing a loosing game, no matter the direction we turn to…’ he thought. Again Raziel had an answer for him. ‘Maybe not…Vorador indeed must die, but you can still reach him for council. He is after all one of the oldest vampires to walk the earth. Maybe the truth is indeed beyond our grasp, but its roots can be traced through time. Go seek Vorador before it is too late…’ and with these final words, the voice fell silent. It seems history is indeed relentless, as Kain once said. He decided to take his chance and reach Vorador for council, before his death. Through the means of his bat flight, he managed to reach the Sarafan Stronghold. Kain wasn’t the careless type. As his own destiny pulled him towards his true calling, he knew that he could not afford to make any mistakes throughout this new quest. Although he didn’t realize it, the vampire had been somewhat devastated by Raziel’s sacrifice, but he was relieved to still be able to speak to him. Unaware of the fact that this would be his last act against the strings of fatality, Kain assumed his mist form and proceeded to the dungeons, hoping that Vorador was still there. Fate smiled at him and after a short while he found Vorador, locked up in a cold rocky cell. He was weak and needed to feed. Realizing this, Kain placed his palm in front of the vampire’s mouth and spoke in a gentle tone: ‘Drink, vampire…’ Vorador slowly opened his eyes and looked at Kain. Then he sunk his teeth into his palm and quenched his thirst for blood. After regaining his power, though still weak, he turned his eyes from Kain and whispered to himself: ‘This is the word of the prophecy…’ ‘Vorador, I am here because I need your help. I come from…’ but before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted. ‘I know. This is the word of the prophecy! You may find this difficult to hear, so I suggest you sit back and listen to what I have to say. Time is not our ally. Not any more.’ The old vampire took a deep breath and started what would become in the end Kain’s final redemption. ‘This moment has been anticipated by Janos Audron long before I was even born. This is the Scion of Balance’s true calling, and I was destined to reach this moment so you could learn the truth. The…’ ‘I don’t believe in truth anymore, old one. It is the reason…’ ‘Be silent! The Hylden of your time are desperately fighting for their return to our world. You are the only one who can stop them…‘ ‘You speak in riddles, old one, and my mind is clouded’ Kain said in a tired tone. ‘You must listen to me…When the Hylden were banished they foretold their own return. The Pillars were never meant to imprison them for all eternity, just enough for you to reach this moment. The vampiric prophecy said: The One would face the Hylden…By means of reunion and sacrifice the Scion of Balance would close the gates to our world and seal them with blood so that no Hylden could ever set foot on these grounds for as long as time would turn the world… He would use Death’s gift to…’ Just then Kain heard Moebius’s voice and realized that his promised enlightenment was over. Vorador’s time was up and he had no choice but to flee the chamber, disguised in mist. He looked at Vorador for the last time and said: ‘Good bye, noble one…’ To this, Vorador responded with another advice. ‘You must seek Janos’s crypt in your time. That is the place of the reunion…Go now and remember: use Death’s gift…’ Kain flew back to the time cavern only to realize that he found himself in front of another apparently pointless riddle. Reunion, sacrifice, Death’s gift…these words seemed to be the babbling of an old man, not a prophetic call. He stopped for a while to think this over. In an attempt to reach Raziel, Kain grabbed the Rever and gazed into its flaming eyes. ‘Raziel…’ ‘I am here, Kain’, the spirit replied from within the blade, ‘and I know of Vorador. But I’m afraid I cannot help you. If this is indeed your true destiny, then this task must be left up to you. Return to the Mansion, as he said. There we’ll see what can be done…’ Without any second thoughts, Kain activated the time gate and jumped in for the last time. Returning to his time, he bat flew to what had been Vorador’s Mansion. From there he descended to the crypt were Raziel first encountered the heartless body of Janos. Kain proceeded with inexplicable respect, or at least that’s what he felt he had to do. Inside the crypt some candles were still burning. Suddenly the Reaver started to vibrate. Kain tried to grab it, but the Blade slipped from his fingers. Like magic, it flew above the vampire’s head and placed itself where Janos’s body had lain for half a millennia. A calm sound filled the room as the Blade was engulfed in flames. The skull’s eyes turned from blue to red and in an instant Kain could see the spirit surrounding the Reaver slowly coming back to life. Then he saw those ghostly white eyes that he knew so well… ‘Raziel…How is this possible?’ he cried, both rejoiced and amazed. After the smoke caused by the flames lifted, the vampire saw his former lieutenant standing in front of him. His decayed body was no more; instead Kain recognized Raziel just as he was before his damnation. ‘I dare not wonder how or why you are now standing in front of me. Though I feel we are about to witness the true plans fate has with us, I am glad to see you again’ Kain spoke with his calm voice. To this Raziel had no reply. He felt for the second time reborn. But this was different: he didn’t feel the shackles of the Elder God and nor could he wield his wraithblade anymore. It seemed the master and his true servant were once again united. Just then he heard a whisper so fragile that it took him all his attention to distinguish the words. It was undoubtedly the voice of Ariel. How this was possible didn’t matter anymore. ‘Now you are free. Go to the Pillars. The end is near. This is the Scions of Balance’s true calling. You have been rendered pure by spirit and thus your can now fulfill your true calling…’ Kain looked at Raziel for an answer. ‘I heard it too. There is no time to waste. We must depart for the Pillars immediately!’ They left the crypt and headed west. As they ran, the sky above them turned dark as thousands of thunders scorched it. The two didn’t need an answer to this sinister sight. That this was caused by the demonic Hylden who had started to break out of their prison, it was no doubt. ‘We must go faster!’ Kain spoke. Now the Pillars became visible…but what they saw shocked them both: a greenish fire surrounded what had once been Kain’s throne, and a voice reached them from the distance. It belonged to Hash’ak’gik: ‘This is the dawn of our reign. For too long have we been imprisoned. And now that the vampires are gone, we shall take over the world. All shall fear our mighty race. Come, my children. I call you to me now. We have won!’ Just then Kain and Raziel reached the Pillars. In the instant they touched the cold stone of the structure’s foundation, that odd sense of displacement Raziel had felt when Kain rescued him from the Reaver overwhelmed them. But now it didn’t mark history’s denial. It was different, as if the land prepared itself for the oncoming clash. Also sensing the shock, Hash turned his glowing eyes and saw Kain. ‘YOU!’ he screamed. ‘YOU ARE DEAD!’ and with these words, he flew violently towards the two. Confident, Kain grabbed the Reaver and prepared himself for combat. A lightning struck the Balance Pillar just as Hash was passing it by. Its violence somehow stunned him, and he fell to the ground. The very next second he was back on his feet, but the greenish fire that burned in his eyes, the fire that both Raziel and Kain had encountered so many times before, disappeared… ‘JANOS!’ Raziel cried. Then they heard Janos’s desperate voice. ‘There is no more time: I…bear…the gift…Death…take it and release me…’ and these were his final words before Hash reappeared. With a demonic laughter, he jumped Kain. The vampire was thrown to the ground as he dropped his sword. ‘I may have failed to kill you before, but now I shall not fail again!’ Hash screamed as he started to conjure bolts of energy from his hands, just as he had done with Raziel during their encounter in the Vampire Citadel. Kain could see the end in his eyes, but just then… ‘Vile bastard, you are the one to die!’ Raziel spoke as he ran for the Reaver, managing to gain Hash’s attention. He tried to grab with the blade, but he could not lift it from the ground. Hash laughed as he directed his energy towards Raziel for the second time. And as they approached him, the vampire knew that at last his end had arrived, for the Elder God wasn’t there to call his spirit back. He looked at Kain for the last time. ‘I always was your sword…’ The next second, he fell dead on the ground. But his words had a more powerful effect that he could imagine, for in that very moment, Kain understood everything. All of a sudden, the words of Ariel and Moebius made sense. ‘The Scion of Balance … armed for his true endeavor … the fulcrum upon which the world turns’. Now he knew the meaning of his destiny: this very hour, in which he would fight the Hylden god. It was clear that he would die in this fight, as Vorador had told him, but through his death the gate between the worlds would be sealed forever, locked with his own blood. Then he remembered ‘Death’s gift’ and almost involuntarily thought of Mortanius, the Death Guardian. The one gift his maker had given him was the heart of Janos Audron. This was indeed the final piece of the puzzle. He knew that the last remaining vampires were Janos and himself. No other being could supply Hash’ak’gik with the power he needed to open the gate between the worlds. So if both vampires would die, there would truly be no way for the Hylden to return. Kain’s only solution proved to be the thing that kept him alive so many centuries: the Heart of Darkness. This was ‘Death’s gift’ and it had to be destroyed. Realizing this would be his only chance against the Hylden god, Kain wasted no time in mourning Raziel. He got back on his feet and before Hash could notice him, he grabbed the Reaver without any difficulty and instantly jumped near Hash. ‘THIS IS IMPOSS…’ the beast cried just before a swipe of the Reaver detached Janos’s head from his body. The bleeding carcass fell to the ground as the head screamed in despair. Now there was only one thing left to do. Using his claws, he cleaved the flesh around the heart, and tore it from the body, just as the Sarafan Raziel had done half a millennium before. Kain looked at it beating in his hand. He had no choice. He threw it in the air, grabbed the Soul Reaver with both his hands and with two amazingly fast swipes he cut the heart in three. The pieces hit the ground igniting instantly and burned until there was nothing left out of them. Slowly, the fire disappeared and all fell silent. Kain knelt as he started to feel cold. He now realized why Raziel could not lift the blade: it was his destiny, not Raziel’s, to end this battle between the races and the Reaver could not go against it. Calmly, Kain surveyed the surroundings and saw the body of Raziel. He managed to crawl to it and say ‘Now we have both fulfilled our purposes. You truly were my sword. My Soul Reaver…’ The powers were leaving Kain, but he was able to see how the Pillars rose from their own decay and now stood proud before him just as they did when he made that fatal decision. All around him he could see Nosgoth slowly restoring itself, as if it had been awaken from an eternal slumber…And for the very first time, he could feel something new: peace. He had fulfilled his destiny. The Reaver fell from his hand and because it had also done the job given by Janos when Vorador forged it, shattered into a million pieces. Kain could no longer bear the irony of his race, and so for the last time he looked at Raziel. ‘Redeemer and Destroyer…this it the one thing that Moebius was wrong about: all the time, you weren’t meant to be it…I was…’ and with this last thought, Kain fell dead on the ground. Drops of rain came from the sky when he closed his eyes and washed away the ash, as if it tried to clear the land of the corruption it had sustained for so long. A war that had begun eons before between the Vampires and the Hylden was finally over, but nobody had won. History is indeed relentless… |