Once again the events from two days before flashed by in his head. First Lieutenant Raziel walking up to the throne with that ever-present smirk on his face. Raziel, kneeling down in front of the Father and then presenting his wings in his typical peacock fashion. Raziel the vain, Raziel the proud, the first born... Daddy’s favourite.

        He remembered Father’s surprise and the flash of anger that passed over His face before He was able to mask it. It was a wonder that Raziel missed that brief expression of rage, or perhaps he didn’t. Perhaps he just could not imagine that Kain would ever bring himself to lift a single talon to His beloved Raziel, no matter what the provocation.

        His mistaken assumption was quickly (and brutally) corrected.

        He remembered the undercurrent of excitement that ran through the rest of his brethren during the execution... and even quite a bit of self-righteous satisfaction, for not a single one of his brothers was not jealous of Kain’s First Chosen.

        Strangely enough it was Melchiah who was the least envious of Raziel and his special place beside Father. He knew that he was the least gifted and the weakest amongst the circle. Father, Raziel, Turel, Dumah and even Rahab were the unattainable ideal to him. He did not see them as his family, but rather he viewed them as superior beings, more to be worshipped rather than envied. And he was well aware of his place. This perspective gave him a certain emotional detachment from his brothers and Father. 

        It was because of this that he felt more or less immune to the emotional cyclone that seemed to have temporarily blinded the rest of the circle. Even during the execution he kept thinking that this was a huge mistake. Yet what could he do? He was just barely a part of Kain’s circle, and had no influence whatsoever. Speaking out on his eldest brother’s behalf would have just drawn Father’s anger and jealousy towards himself.

        It was just one day after the horrific event that his brethren slowly started to come to their senses. They began to realize that if the Master could turn against his first lieutenant, he could turn against any other of His sons. They began to feel anxious, worried. The first tendrils of panic were beginning to gnaw at the circle.

        Turel had shared a strange love-hate relationship with Raziel. He and Raziel had the closest relationship amongst the circle. They would often hunt together and fight together. Their bond was almost the same as a pair of human twins.

        Yet there was no doubt that Turel was insanely jealous of his older brother. Kain was the Master; Raziel was first born... Turel was second. Forever he was considered second-born, second-favourite, second-best. For that he hated his older brother. And yet he also loved him, and paradoxically he hated Raziel all the more for that.

        After the execution he had celebrated (in his own peculiar fashion), ecstatic that the competition was gone. But after a while, he realized that his closest brother was gone, that he had no-one to celebrate with. So he went off and got roaringly drunk, and has been that way ever since. Sooner or later he will accept reality and sober up, but until then he’ll try to numb his senses with alcohol.

        Dumah and Rahab had not been as close to Raziel as Kain and Turel had been, but they also felt the loss. Their perfect circle had been broken, and things were going to change, fast and for the worse. They had a vague feeling of fear and apprehension, yet they could not pinpoint the reason. 

        They also sought a way to numb themselves from what they are feeling. Unlike Turel however, they did not descend to the use of alcohol. They took out their feelings in true vampire therapy. They went off on separate hunts and reports have been coming back on the brutality and senseless violence that they have been wreaking on humans and weaker vampires across the countryside.

        Zephon was the only one who did not feel any regrets whatsoever over our brother’s execution. None of the circle felt that Zephon was to be trusted. He was selfish, petty and vindictive. Although there was no actual proof about the matter we all suspected that it was Zephon who had been the mastermind behind that little fiasco last year. That he had been the one who had told the vampire hunters about the secret tunnels leading to the Sanctuary of the Clans throne room. That he had been the one to tell them about the meeting taking place that day... The meeting in which he conveniently chosen to not make an appearance.

        Kain and Raziel had brutally interrogated him. But Zephon maintained his innocence. Finally Kain decided to just forget about the matter, but not before giving Zephon a warning that if anything happened that even slightly resembled the attack, then Zephon would be stripped of his Clan cloak and he would be thrown into the Abyss.

        Although all of us had suspected that Zephon had masterminded the assassination plot, it was Raziel who had voiced a formal charge against him. So although Zephon hated and feared all of us (with the possible exception of little insignificant me), he nurtured a special kind of rage towards Raziel. 

        As for Master Kain, he has disappeared. He left the Sanctuary yesterday and none of us have any idea on where he is. Even Turel cannot sense him, but then again that drunkard is not in any condition to sense anybody. The circle has fallen into utter desolation. The Clans are close to an outright panic. Please Father, come back! The Clans need you! Your sons need you!

*******************************************************************

        Kain was in a bad state. He was beginning to come to his senses. The white-hot anger and jealousy was finally beginning to leave him and was very quickly being replaced with regret. Although He was scarcely able to admit it to Himself He was beginning to feel He might have made an error in judgment. A VERY bad error in judgement. What could have possible made him do such a thing? He had to get away from the Sanctuary. He had to find some way to think clearly.

        All he remembered was seeing those beautiful wings on Raziel. Seeing that smirk of superiority on his face. The fact that Raziel then bowed to show his subservience actually made him feel that Raziel was mocking him. And that only served to enrage him further.

        Yet he had never lost control like that, not ever. Not even that time when Zephon had betrayed them. Everything seemed to pass by in a blur. Ripping the wings off Raziel, carrying him to the cliff, telling his sons to ‘Cast him in’. Sanity had returned, and with it came the realization that he had lost control and done something damn stupid.

        He remembered when he had resurrected Melchiah. There had been an almost audible click. It was then that he realized that he had intuitively formed his own circle to replace the Nine that he destroyed. This circle was just sufficient to provide the balance that Nosgoth needed so badly. This was of course a dark circle, and it was a lot less stable than the Pillars had been. But better something than nothing.

        But now there was nothing. The circle was broken. He had once again single-handedly managed to destroy the balance of Nosgoth. He asked himself again; What could have driven him to do such a thing? He entertained the thought of influence from that accursed Demon Hash'ak'gik (but he was dead, wasn’t he?), or perhaps even from that doubly accursed Ariel- still trying to achieve her idea of the perfect balance...

        He morphed himself out of the bat form and was only mildly surprised to find himself near Dumah’s strong-hold. Lately he had found himself being drawn to this place. Or to be more specific to an area North of the strong-hold, further into the Canyon. He had not yet had time to explore this region yet, but now he ran towards the place, as if running fast enough would put some of ugly thoughts and memories behind him.

        He found himself in front of the Oracle’s Cave. It has been a long time since he last visited this place. Not since the time he first met Vorodor in fact. The entrance was sealed shut, but he noticed a spindle in front of it. After some experimentation he managed to figure out how to work the mechanism to unlock the front door.

        The place was laden with all manners of traps and locking mechanisms. Some of these traps were dangerous enough to kill a vampire. But then, Kain was not just a vampire. Eventually he found his way to a long hall-way littered with strange windows.

        The first one he went to he saw himself as a mortal; he saw the time of his first death. Then suddenly the scene changed and he saw himself as a young vampire, Ariel was in front of him and giving him the choice between Balance and Damnation.

        The second one showed him breaking into the Serafin tomb and breaking open the caskets that held his future vampire circle. He passed by them seeing glimpses into his past. Thankfully he did not see anything about the execution. At this point he would not have been able to with-stand that.

        Then he came across scenes that were much more interesting. These showed the future. He saw the rest of his sons changing, evolving... developing some specific talent or trait. Raziel was not an exception or anomoly, but just the first to evolve. There had been no reason to fear him, for just as his sons were evolving, so was he. And he would have always remained more powerful than the rest of his sons.

        He then saw something else. He saw Raziel. Somehow he knew it was his first born. But he had changed horribly. The water had eaten away his flesh leaving a skeleton, yet he could sense great power in this walking husk of a vampire. He saw the confrontation between himself and Raziel.

        He saw himself hitting Raziel over and over again, yet Raziel would simply shift back and forth from the spectral realm, powering himself up in between. He suddenly experienced some strange double vision, and realized that it was a result of two possible futures stemming out from this time stream.

        In one he saw himself finally summoning the Soul-Reaver’s full power and cutting down Raziel. This would not only destroy his pitiful excuse of a physical body, but would shear his very soul in half. Raziel would be effectively destroyed, and yet so would Nosgoth. Any possible chance for balance would be gone forever. ‘No’, thought Kain, ‘This option is unacceptable’.

        In the second one he saw himself weakening during the course of the battle, not so much from Raziel’s attacks as much from the drain of the Soul-Reaver. Eventually his strength would give out and the Soul Reaver would fall from his hands. Raziel would than pick up the Sword and strike him down. Thus Kain would be destroyed. The Pillar of Balance would be restored, and that witch Ariel would have her fondest wish fulfilled. This option was also unacceptable.

        Kain stood in front of the window musing whether over the options he had. Destroy himself or destroy Nosgoth. The same old choice all over again. The Wheel of Fate turns and it comes back to the beginning again.

        Then he saw yet another option surfacing in the window. This one was faded (probably because it was the unlikeliest one), but the more he stared at it the clearer it became. He saw himself using the Reaver on Raziel. But in this case the magical energy of the Blade was directed inwards. He used the Blade to destroy its physical self. The result was extraordinary. The Reaver would then become Raziel’s and Kain would make a quick getaway. 

        No wait! The Reaver did not just become Raziel’s, it actually became a part of Raziel, making him more powerful than ever. This particular option would trigger off a whole cataclysm of events. This option not only restored Nosgoth’s Balance, but it allowed Kain to live. It was perfect.

        Yet it was still faded. This option could yield the highest reward, but at the highest risk. Unless things were handles carefully, both Kain and Nosgoth would be destroyed. A smile spread across Kain’s face. It was a challenge, he now had a purpose. 

        He was laughing as he left the cave. He left with a clear head, and with a clear purpose in mind. Let his son come. Kain will give him the Soul Reaver and lead him to their shared destiny.

This was the first fan-fic I ever wrote. Probably the only one I will ever write for that matter for I have no idea what possessed me to write this one. Any comments about the story? U can send them over to s_siddiqi@myworldmail.com
This was my first fan-fic... Those of U who found the story wonderful are more than welcome to write and tell me so. I will of course also accept any criticism and any suggestions on how to make the story line better...