Reaver Guardian
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DISCLAIMER:
I do not own anything related to Legacy of Kain apart from legally purchased copies of the games.
All names from the game series used herein are owned by Eidos/Crystal Dynamics/Silicon Knights and are ™ & © of the same.
Any similarity between persons or vampires living, dead or undead created by other writers is purely coincidental.
If you feel I have impinged on any copyrights with the content of this piece please do not hesitate to contact me.
Dulrayth Alabrion is my own creation…please ask before 'borrowing'.
~*LM*~
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Stranger things have happened
, I mused. Here I was, caught in my own domain like the proverbial fly in the web. Not knowing me for what I truly was the humans had presumed that I would fall easily to their blades. A futile wish on their part and endless hours of entertainment for me, my claws were sticky with the congealed blood of the fallen. Its faint but unmistakable copper scent clung to the air and through it all I stood impassive, immovable as the sanctuary itself.Several of the fledglings had fallen in the attack, but more dismembered Sarafan littered the ground at my feet than fledgling corpses. I breathed deeply and checked my grip about my blades hilt clenching and unclenching my claws to take the edge off my rising rage. Damn sorcerers and their spells. The door into my sanctuary was barred by divine enchantment, I had lain my free hand upon the eldritch barrier seeking to counter the spell and had only succeeded in searing the flesh from it's palm. I doubt the guards set had heard such oaths for many a year. I was trapped. I licked a trace of blood from my lips and waited.
My patience was rewarded a short time later with the tramping of armoured boots upon the stone floor outside. A familiar figure came into my line of sight escorted by three Sarafan knights; he still bore that accursed snake twined staff and the mark of infinity upon his brow. Who amongst my kindred would think such a frail creature capable of capturing me, one of the eldest?
That sickening smirk crept over his withered lips as he approached and passed through the doorway without harm then came the simpering and yet somehow chilling laugh as his misted orbs settled upon me. Despite myself I stepped back with a slight shudder, "Moebius."
The timestreamer nodded, his paper dry lips curved into a that familiar devious smile, "Yes Dulrayth, Lord Moebius, guardian of the Pillar of Time." He etched a slight bow, insincere, his next sentence laced with cold venom he continued. "Too long have I waited for this day. I knew with her in my grasp you would follow."
I snorted, feeling the fire creeping through my veins, "Where is she, sorcerer?" my silver eyes narrowed. Why should I cower and whine in the presence of such a pitiful creature as this? "Tell me" I drew forth my blade.
"Dead, Vampire. As your kind rightly should be, it took a great deal of persuasion before the inquisitors learned what they needed of her." He reached into his robe and withdrew a small glistening item, my heart skipped a beat as he cast it at my feet; "There is your proof fiend. I believe you know how she came by that trinket." his eyes sparked with contempt.
"You bastard! You vile, wretched creature!" The words came from me in a torrent of rage and grief, indeed I did know where the pendant had come from, my own hand at the last solstice. The familiar flames flickered to life, engulfing my body as I spread my wings and brought my blade to bear in an attack position.
The accursed staff in the timestreamers hand flared to life, its energies reaching out toward me stealing the fires of my wrath. He came at me with surprising speed for one so slight of build, his grey robe flaring out about him like the wings of some ancient, emaciated crow, "You will be joining her presently, foul creature."
I fended off his feeble attack easily, brushing his staff away almost carelessly. I could have killed him and spared Nosgoth his foul machinations in time to come but the doctrine of my people stayed my hand and held back the rage that burned within my heart. He had come for Janos but found me instead, fiend he named me, vampire, demon, slayer of the innocent and drinker of spilled blood. None of these titles could be further from the truth.
I shoved him away into the wall; "You have not the strength, old man." I grinned maliciously, deliberately showing my fangs, "Were it not for that accursed staff you bear I could strike you down as you stand, but no, I am better than that."
Moebius surveyed the guilty scene in the room; it was a gruesome display, the twisted corpses of several Sarafan guards lay in various pieces around the room. Blood laced the walls and pooled upon the floor. My fledglings had fed well as had I. He arched an eyebrow, "I think not, vampire. I grow tired of this game you play, where is Janos Audron?"
I walked away nonchalantly, flicking my wings in a display of contempt returning coolly, "I am his student not his keeper. I do not know." Turning once more to face the old man I rested a booted foot upon a ruined wooden chest and hissed, "I too, grow tired of your constant shadowing of my steps timestreamer. Begone from this place. Return to whichever incarnation of this doomed land you have come from and trouble me no more."
He glared at me; hatred glimmered in his misted eyes the emotion was mirrored in my heart. "What right did you have to take her life Moebius? Ananyé had done you no wrong." I demanded, fighting back my grief. He waved me to silence and chuckled, "As with all of your revolting race, her existence was affront enough."
I cast my gaze downward and my thoughts inward, this fiend would continue to haunt me but I could not betray Janos. I owed him my life. When the Hylden curse struck us I had fallen into despair and nigh madness, I was on the very brink of death when he found me and took me under his wing. That was many centuries ago, I was not now a student but stayed with him to teach the fledglings the truth of what we were, what our purpose was, though I was not a Guardian myself. "The feeling is entirely mutual, Moebius. I can assure you of that." I grated from between clenched teeth. I cared not whether he heard the remark or no.
Adjusting his robes the sorcerer tilted his chin a little and narrowed his eyes. That disquieting glow within the orb set atop his staff returned in silent threat as he approached me, "You will answer my question Dulrayth or I will tear the answer from your lips agony by agony."
I laughed inwardly at this pathetic display; "I will answer no questions Moebius." The scuff of an armoured boot and the clinking of armour came from outside the chamber momentarily distracting my attention. The wretched sorcerer had brought his lackey, Malek, with him. The Sarafan stood at the doorway eyeing me with violent intent. I adjusted my position somewhat thus making by blade fully apparent to the knight, challenging him to do what he may. He shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of my gaze and tightened his grip upon his pike.
Moebius beckoned the knight into the chamber with a gesture of hand, his visage twisting into a cruel smirk, "Do as you may with him Malek, but summon me in the event he decides to break his silence." His tone sent a chill through my already cold blood. I could well envisage what this Sarafan had in mind for me, I had seen and heard his work before - and humans accused vampires of barbarism. The sorcerer cast me a look that spoke of the infinite torments to come then spun on his heel and left the room.
The paladin's dark eyes narrowed through the visor of his helm as he assumed a battle stance, "I shall carve the answer Lord Moebius seeks from your putrid corpse, fiend. Stand to and fight!"
I purposefully brought my blade around to guard once more meeting his adamant stare and shook my head, hoping to catch him off guard; "Always the obedient dog aren't you Malek? Tell me, has that accursed timestreamer told you nothing of the fate you are bound to? How the Nine will betray and damn you?" The ruse did not work, he growled as a beast would; "I will hear none of your treacherous lies blood drinker." I nodded slowly, almost mockingly, "So it would appear. Very well then, as you will paladin."
The first strike was mine but the human was quicker than I had anticipated, he brought the dual tipped pike up to block the blow spinning the weapon around to push my blade aside. He followed this with a spinning downward feint; I caught the shaft of the weapon in my free hand and dealt him a kick to the chest. The Sarafan grunted at the impact and took a few steps back wrenching his weapon from my grasp in the process. Having a better measure of my opponent, I offered him a slight, gracious nod and muttered, "It is heartening to find one better matched against my blade than these pitiful specimens." I scuffed my toe at a nearby fallen Sarafan in illustration of my point.
Malek looked to the corpse then raised his head to cast a purely venomous look in my direction. His black eyes narrowed to mere slits as he returned darkly, "Do not mock the fallen, you will join them soon enough vampire." He shifted his grip on the pike and adjusted his position to account for the height advantage I had over him. Whatever else he was, murderer, fanatic, lunatic, this Sarafan was a seasoned and skilled warrior. With a scream borne of pure hatred, he hurled himself at me, twirling the pike in a dizzying series of strikes and feints. I countered his attacks with my own, dodging and parrying the whirling blades and seeking a weakness in his defences to exploit. In such a small room as this we were in close quarters, this limited his combat repertoire and hampered my own movements.
Ferocious as he was I knew the paladin could not sustain such a brutal attack for overly long. The weight of his armour would tire him in a short while, so I bided my time picking off and countering his strikes. He swept low attempting to trip me; I sidestepped the weapon and kicked it from his grasp. Malek backed off, his hand going to a sword strapped at his side as he hissed, "You will not make such easy work of me as that, vampire"
Despite the situation I chuckled, "Come then," I beckoned the Sarafan on with a gesture of hand, "Draw your blade and let us have done with the niceties!" I hefted my blade as I took an attack stance, then flared my wings and hissed, giving voice to my hatred. We had sparred long enough. Our blades met in a clash of steel and thus began the deadly dance. The Sarafan went through a well-rehearsed pattern, evidently testing the truth of my skill with the blade. I would not disappoint him, after his first few passes I took initiative reversing his strike and turning the knight's blade aside with a backhand parry, following through with an upward sweep. Malek made a swift retreat, avoiding the blow and bringing his blade around to guard, I could sense his frustration. It wrapped around him like a shroud. He had not expected me to counter him so perfectly, so easily…I grinned, relishing his annoyance and displaying my needle-like ivory fangs to goad him to further action. I could play humans like a well-tuned harp.
He muttered a curse and swung for me again, I parried, the blade missing me by a mere fraction. A grunt escaped me at the ferocity of the blow but there was to be no respite, Malek aimed low, the blade sliced cleanly through my robes and barely grazed my abdomen. The act drew a further hiss from me, my strength returned with every successful strike and counter we exchanged. My opponent was not so lucky, I could see weariness setting in, his movements slowed, his breath came in short, ragged gasps. Still his determination did not falter, those cold calculating eyes were fixated upon me, studying my every move as the Sarafan prepared and executed his attack.
Malek came in at me with an over head slash, I pirouetted away dropping to a crouch and bringing my blade up to block the cross that followed. Taking my chance, I sprung at him from my crouched position knocking him backward over an upturned table and pinned him to the ground, my blade resting lightly against his throat. The Sarafan struggled futilely in my grasp, drawing in closer I growled, "Go back to the Timestreamer, Malek. Tell him this: his time will come and his blood will pay for that of my mate." I could feel the fires within consuming my last shed of clarity and knew that I would kill him if he remained here any longer.
The paladin glared at me through narrowed eyes, still struggling against my grasp as he bit back, "As long as I stand the Nine will never fall to your kind." I chuckled at the irony of his words, having seen the truth of the future with my own silver eyes…would it ruin him, would it break his faith if I shared that forbidden knowledge with him? "We shall see, Sarafan. We shall see," was my reply as I wrenched him to his feet and forced him toward the barred doorway at sword-point. "Now, remove your wretched spell from the doorway!"
He viewed me coldly and returned flatly, "No"
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The years have passed swift since that confrontation and I have grown older if not wiser for their passing. Our numbers dwindle, there are so few of us left, so very few. Janos remains in the sanctuary now, sustained by his guardianship of the great blade, by his unwavering faith in the doctrine and I, I watch as the sun sets on Nosgoth once more. My strength returns as its rays diminish and slip down beyond the western horizon in a blood red haze behind the gathering snow laden clouds. I wish Ananyé were here. I can almost hear her voice upon the wind, I see her in my minds eye as she turns away from the sun to face me. The fire of that majestic orb reflects in her silver eyes, it's flames flicker within her raven locks and surround her with their light, it is but a dream. I gaze into the west and wonder if I truly bear the courage to carry out my charge?
Janos approaches the balcony now to gaze over the frozen lake; our eyes meet but briefly as I stand upon the far cliff top. Below, far below, I hear the approach of armoured feet and spy the advancing banner of the Sarafan legions; the Inquisitors lead the group. I recognise each by their armour: Raziel, Turel, Melchiah, Rahab, Dumah and Zephon. Ahead of them, now within the tunnel, I see their quarry. The strange blue skinned wraith that the Master so desires to meet with, so alike to us and yet ruined, wingless and tortured in form…it matters not. My wings ache for the air. The Master's voice comes to me in my thoughts, "Go, my child, the time is come"
He has turned now from the sun's fire, from the crucified forms of our brothers and sisters that hang martyred upon the islands below the eyrie draped in the banners of the Sarafan crusaders. Our time has indeed come; my time is now. I have waited for this day. I look at his majestic form one last time and take to the air, headed west. We shall not meet again. Despite Janos' words, I cannot forgive the humans for the murder they are about to commit.
"They fear what they do not understand - and they hate what they fear…"
How many times have I heard that particular adage, how many times did you try to make me pity them Janos?
We who once protected them from the Hylden and were turned against them by the same, forced to prey upon them for our very survival. Is it any wonder they hate us? Us gods turned tyrants?
Ah Janos, there are some things all your doctrine and scriptures cannot determine. Guardians, in all your wisdom, you did not see this eventuality. Now it is too late and there are too few of us left to rectify things. You say our hope must be placed in the future and yet we have no future. The blood of us ancients runs thin. We have no heirs, who then will be our 'Hope' of the future?
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**Authors Note: I'm in the midst of a stage show at present so my updates will be staggered to say the least...Bear with me!**
- AmuseMe, Silmuen - Thanks for the reviews. Glad you like it!
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