Little Brother

Disclaimer: Legacy of Kain belongs to Edios and Crystal dynamics, they are not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create.

Rating: PG-13 – For mild references to violence.

Part: One of One

Set: Post Raziel being thrown in the abyss, pre Raziel's return.

For all my reviewers, who without I would have surely given up a long time ago.

Little Brother

{Melchiah PoV}

No one knew why it had happened and no one would ask why. It simply wasn't done, no one questioned anything Kain said or did. At least not anymore, not since Kain had become so dangerously unpredictable. Even when they had been young none of them had been comfortable asking Kain why he did what he did, except for Raziel. Raziel had always been the exception.

Melchiah took a deep breath, shifting his oversized bulk, the effort tired him. His limited mobility meant that most of his time now was spent reminiscing, he lived in his memories now, partially the simple times. His favorite memories were during the building of the clan grounds when they had all lived together in the sanctuary and the times before then when they had lived hiding amongst the humans in houses barely big enough for all of them. Times of quiet had been few and far between but they had existed, times when they would simply sit. Raziel would often strategically place himself somewhere where he was in easy reach of his father who had the habit of petting his eldest whenever they sat still long enough.

There had always been a front put on for the others, Kain had always been the God while Raziel had always been the eldest, the fastest, strongest and most deserving of Kain's children. Melchiah often felt that he was the only other person who ever saw just the men they were.

It was his secret.

But even Melchiah could not ask why Kain had done what he had done. Could not ask why Raziel had had to die, why his entire clan had had to die. It had been the event that had separated the clans. It had sent the clan lords running scared from their Master.

In the centuries since Raziel's death, the communication between the clans had stopped, everyone had hidden, then the fighting had begun, vampire against vampire then vampire against human. The wars had been brutal and had lasted for years and when they ended Melchiah had changed. He had become grotesque, his children called him God but he knew he was still just the man he had been before. He had not changed on the inside, not like his father seemed to have. The last Melchiah had heard was that all his brothers had begun to change as he had, they had all receded into their clan holdings and the land itself had truly begun to die.

He hadn't seen any of them in longer than he could remember. He couldn't remember what most of them looked like, but it didn't really matter anymore. He couldn't remember what his clan holdings looked like either, what the outside world looked like, what the sky had looked like before they had filled it with smoke to protect the young. He sighed, a deep rumbling sound, even if he could get outside there would be nothing he could do.

He was starving, but it was all in his head, or so he told himself. Since he had aged passed eight hundred he didn't really need to feed unless he used his power, feeble as it was. He could remain down here in the dark and stay 'alive' for an unlimited time.

He was beginning to contemplate sleep once more when something forced him to full awareness. Something had changed, something in the land and air. A tension that had always been there had suddenly become stronger. It was suddenly far too quiet; he was always able to hear his children, moving slowly over the ground and through it. The sound had always given him some small measure of comfort, but now . . . now there was nothing.

Raising his head, the youngest of the clan lords frowned, something was defiantly wrong.

The smell of blood began seeping down through the soil, something up there was killing. The humans had always stalked his clan grounds, more so than any of the others and it was not uncommon for them to kill the occasional fledgling or be killed themselves, but this was different. Something was killing a lot and a power echoed through the soil, seeping down.

The air was thick and for the first time in centuries Melchiah felt fear. He had always been the weakest of the clan lords but even he had little to fear in this land now. But what was coming now was more than strong enough to destroy him. Melchiah reached out trying to get a sense of what was coming for him and felt fear, death and a feeling of such wretchedness that it hurt to be alive, it terrified him. He was going to die, this thing that was heading towards him now with an almost deliberate slowness was going to be his end. He couldn't fight against something like that; something that could feel the way this thing felt and still be walking would not be stopped by him.

He felt it reach the doorway and he raised himself up, if this thing was going to be his end he would face it like what he was. He was a son of Kain, a clan lord of Nosgoth, and he would not die cowering in some cellar. He opened his mouth to speak and stopped dead when his father turned to mist and slid through the gate, turning to face him.

He had not recognized his father.

Melchiah squinted through the darkness at his father. Kain's appearance was much the same, his hair was perhaps a little longer than when he had last seen him, the tip of the tail was now touching the waistband of his trousers. But he had changed, his scent was different, he smelt of blood, death, and disease.

"Child," Kain said, looking up at his youngest son, and to Melchiah, he seemed tired.

"Father," Melchiah answered reveling the feeling of smugness that always came when he called Kain father, with Raziel gone he was the only one who would still use the title.

"It will happen soon now." Kain seemed distracted as he spoke looking around the room as if he had never seen it before. "You must be ready."

"Father?" Melchiah spoke again, feeling his voice crack; it had been years since he had last used it. "Your words . . . they confuse me." Kain who had been looking down at the floor looked up and smiled.

"They confuse me also," Kain answered, "he is coming back to us, and he will kill us if we let him." Melchiah frowned at his father, "but do not fear we shall not let him." Kain turned as if to leave, and Melchiah lunged forwards

"Father!" he wanted to say more but the words died in his throat, he wanted to ask why he had not seen him in so many years, why now and why for such a short time, what did he mean, why did he reek of such wretchedness. "What . . . what do I do?" Kain stopped in the entranceway and turned, for a brief moment Melchiah swore he could see a look of grief but it was gone too fast and the strange empty looking smirk came back.

"Why not use that?" Kain gestured up to the huge grinding wheel suspended from the ceiling and then cool magic filled the room as Kain teleported from his Childs sight.

Melchiah looked up at the great grinder and sighed what a wretched way to die.

End Fic

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My first Novel, Grey Wings has now been released!

GREY WINGS

Jason is stranded in a dark city, and is in desperate need of help when he has no idea how he will get home.

So, when he collides with Aurelius, an Angel only in the mildest sense of the word – who has committed a crime worthy of great punishment, but has been handed a rare chance at redemption – Jason can see a way home.

However, their journey will be hampered by Fallen Angels, Earth Spirits, and Griffons – and none can say if everyone will make it home.