"What is this place?" Raziel inquired, regarding the small cabin dubiously. Kain had led him the short distance to the cabin through the woods east of Nachtholm, and while the isolation made the possibility of their getting interrupted by vampire hunters less likely, Raziel wasn't sure he was comfortable with the seclusion.

Kain kicked open the front door and gestured Raziel in ahead of him. "If Vorador is still in such a snit, I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to avoid the mansion for a while."

"Is it yours?" Raziel stepped into the cabin, blinking fitfully into the dark interior.

"It is now, I suppose." Light blossomed as Kain lit a lamp cautiously, scowling at the flame.

Surveying the room, Raziel noted all of the recent signs of habitation; fresh fruit in the bowl on the table, flowers in the vase on the windowsill, an untouched mug of tea on the counter. The cabin was small but cozy, a quaint quilt tucked around a feather bed, homemade curtains hanging over the windows. He could smell mortal blood nearby and he wandered farther inside until he saw the two humans tied hand and foot in the corner of the room. They were unconscious, but very much alive; he could taste their pulse on his tongue and he took a deep breath to control the immediate hunger their presence awakened within him.

"You even provided dinner," Raziel murmured, unable to hide the sour undercurrent in his voice.

He could feel Kain standing behind him, could feel his breath as he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Raziel swallowed and took a step away. Kain was too close. "A little bit, but I can wait."

"Why wait?" Reaching for a carafe on the counter, Kain lifted it with a smirk. "I've already drained another. We can save those two for breakfast."

Amazed by his boldness, Raziel shook his head. "I never said I would be staying that long."

Kain turned back to him with two filled goblets, a dark smirk curving his lips as he regarded Raziel as if he could see right into his soul and was amused by what he found there. He offered one of the goblets to Raziel with an elegant gesture, arching a brow when Raziel hesitated. He waited patiently in that pose until Raziel finally drew a calming breath and reached for the cup, his fingers brushing against Kain's hand as they wrapped around the stem. Though Kain did not visibly react to the tremor in his hand, Raziel knew he had noticed.

Still smiling, Kain lifted his goblet in a toast. "To our future collaboration."

Raziel hesitated. "I haven't agreed to anything yet."

"Stubborn, aren't you?" Kain took a sip from his goblet. Nodding at one of the chairs by the fire, he said, "Sit. We have much to discuss."

Growing more uncomfortable with every moment, Raziel sat stiffly on the wooden chair, the goblet clutched in his hand and still filled nearly to the brim. He had been tense all week waiting for this encounter and trying to appear normal to his companions. Several times he had thought that he had given away too much or allowed his worry to show, but nothing had ever been said and he had managed to leave the mansion without raising anyone's suspicions. Still, his paranoia was nearly incapacitating at times, and he had been unable to shake the sensation that he was being watched the entire time he was waiting behind the tavern, though he had never been able to find any observers.

Kain lit the fire and stoked it with deliberate caution, finally sitting down when he had created a pleasant blaze, though he kept a wary distance from the flames. "Relax," he said with a soft laugh when he saw Raziel's rigid posture. "I assure you that intend you no harm."

"What do you intend?" Raziel asked, staring into the fire.

Kain swirled the blood in his goblet gently with a wistful expression. "I have a proposal to make, but first I should give you a little background. Nosgoth encountered a crisis recently. You might not even be aware of it since you were only lately raised, but some years ago a terrible event occurred, and the guardians bound to the pillars—the anchors holding our very world in check—were corrupted. One of the circle had been murdered, and her death plunged her lover into a madness that quickly spread among the rest of the nine. The pillars began to decay along with their guardians' minds, and shortly after my rebirth as a vampire, I was set on a mission to destroy them. I was told that when all of the guardians had been eliminated, the pillars would be restored and new guardians would be chosen."

Raziel took a drink simply to keep himself from interrupting; he knew this story all too well—knew more of the truth behind it than Kain did—and he had a hard time listening to it as if he had never heard it before. "And?" he prompted when Kain paused, hoping to finish the narrative as quickly as possible.

"And I did as I was told," Kain continued with a world-weary tone. "I took up the burden and eliminated the guardians one by one—only to find at the last that I had been deceived. I too, was a guardian—had been from the beginning. And my death was also required in order to renew the pillars. Naturally, I refused. But through some stroke of fate, I came across that curious blade in my travels." He indicated the Reaver where it was propped up against the wall, metal glimmering dully in the firelight. "When the time came for me to make my choice, it healed me, and through me, the pillars."

Considering this insight, Raziel fought the temptation to laugh; after everything that had happened, his unknown presence within the Reaver had been the instrument of Kain's salvation. Raziel had saved Nosgoth and Kain both without either being aware of his sacrifice.

"Other guardians were chosen to replace those who had fallen, but I remain the scion of balance, the only guardian to survive the massacre." Kain shook his head, taking a deep drink from his glass and placing it down on a small table beside him. Leaning toward Raziel with an intent expression, he continued, "But that is not the only way in which I am alone. Among the circle, I am once again the only vampire, and the others fear me. I single-handedly restored Nosgoth, but all they can do is proclaim me an outcast." He sighed. "They are weak and small minded. I have no use for them."

Sensing where this was going, Raziel concluded, "You want to overthrow them."

Kain nodded, smiling faintly. "Humans are frail and short-lived. Wouldn't it be better to have immortal guardians safeguarding the pillars?"

Raziel shivered, looking into the fire as he swallowed another mouthful of blood. The power-hungry glint in Kain's eyes made him nervous.

"I'm sure you recognize the problem with my hypothesis, though. There are simply not enough capable vampires left in Nosgoth today to even fill the circle. Moebius, the timestreamer—one of the previous guardians—used me in an elaborate ploy to destroy all vampires. He failed in the end because I managed to arrive just in time to save Vorador, but he did succeed in nearly eradicating our race before I put his holy war to an end."

Smiling, Raziel realized that this was how his Kain had managed to save Vorador. He must have tampered with the timestreaming chamber in the past so that Moebius' plan would fail, allowing his younger self to arrive back in his own time period just in time to save the older vampire. Though the plan was not without its risks, it had clearly worked out well enough.

"We need to replenish our numbers," Kain was saying when he returned his attention to the conversation, "so that the next time the pillars are without their guardians, vampires will be chosen to fulfill that duty. And if any mortals are chosen when that day comes, I will make certain that they are turned from the light before they can do any more damage."

"What about the current guardians? Couldn't they be turned?"

Kain's eyes sparked with anger at that suggestion. "The current guardians are fools. They would be equally worthless as vampires. No, we must start over entirely."

Not entirely, Raziel thought. Kain will continue to serve as the guardian of balance, though his method for creating balance is to simply eliminate the other guardians until he comes up with a combination he likes. Draining his glass, Raziel considered Kain's story thoughtfully and wondered how long he should pretend to be interested before he declined. "This rebellion you are proposing...you must realize that it will be a long process. You would have to raise hundreds of vampires before you could overpower the humans. There are simply too many of them."

"Yes," Kain agreed. "You understand exactly. That's why I need allies like you, vampires who understand that mortals were never meant to rule this land. They persecute us, and yet we are so much more than they could ever be. Once I found my new manner of life to be repugnant, but now I understand the power that has been bestowed on me, passed down from the ancient vampire race. Can you not feel it, Raziel? We are hardly less than gods, and one day we will train the human cattle to respect us again." Raziel barely suppressed a grimace at that statement; the phrasing was disturbingly similar to something Kain had said to him in the chronoplast, not to mention some of the rousing speeches Kain had given in the early days of his empire.

Regarding Raziel with a winning smile, Kain said, "But you are right. We will have a war ahead of us if we are to conquer this world and take it for our own. That's why we need an army. How would you like to be the first of my lieutenants, Raziel?"

Raziel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. While he had not been given a choice the first time around, he had never questioned his place at Kain's side until that place had been taken from him. Kain had never asked for his allegiance—had always assumed it would be given—and Raziel had been utterly loyal until his execution. Looking back now, he wondered why. What was it about Kain that had compelled Raziel to serve him so completely? He had questioned Kain, argued at length with him and challenged his authority outright on occasion, but he had always known that in the end he would be subservient to Kain's will if it came down to that. Kain had created him, and that knowledge earned Kain a measure of undisputed respect.

This Kain had not earned that respect. "While it is a tempting offer," Raziel said carefully, "I'm afraid I must refuse. I already have a master, and you are not him."

"A master," Kain echoed with a soft chuckle. "You are not a puppet, Raziel. You can choose whom you wish to serve."

Inclining his head, Raziel agreed, "Yes, I can choose. And I'm choosing not to serve you."

Kain did not seem to know how to deal with his rejection. Clenching his jaw, he looked back at the fire, and Raziel could feel his anger distinctly. "Why?" he asked finally, shifting in his chair to face Raziel, everything about his posture antagonistic. "Why do you refuse to join me?"

Wondering briefly if Kain had ever been told no before, Raziel searched for a response. "What difference does it make?"

"I want to know." Kain's eyes narrowed, and Raziel was troubled by the dark anger simmering within them.

Unfortunately, seeing that anger only provoked his own, and Raziel found himself slipping into old habits. "Fine," he said. "You claim to be the guardian of balance, orate at length about your various sacrifices and heroic acts on behalf of Nosgoth, and yet I see no altruism in your actions. The world has been restored at last, balance has been attained, but all you can think about is finding a way to earn a little bit of the credit you feel you rightfully deserve. This prattle about restoring vampires to their rightful place is simply a cause to rally your unwitting allies behind, a farce to mask your selfish desire to be king of the world."

Raziel could feel Kain's rage boiling over, but he couldn't stop. The words kept flowing off his tongue with the inevitable weight of complaints that had been repressed too long. Flinging up a hand to point at Kain, he continued, "You think of yourself as Nosgoth's unsung hero, and you want to be recognized for what you've done, but that's not how it works, Kain. Being a hero isn't about being chosen—it's about being willing to do what's right, especially when it's the last thing you want to do, when no one will praise you for it and no one will even know what you have lost along the way.

"You aren't a hero, Kain. You're a pawn, used by every player on the board, and pushed about until the game was over. And make no mistake, the game is over. You can engage in your trivial attempts at world domination, raise your little vampire army from the revered dead of the Sarafan crusades if you like and play at being god, but the fact remains that you are now and will always be a pretender. You saved the world because that was your destiny. Don't imagine it was because of your own ingenuity."

Lunging at him, Kain knocked him out of his chair and down to the floor, smacking him hard across the face. The blow stung sharply enough to wake Raziel from his ineluctable declamation. "What do you know of any of it?" Kain growled in his face. "A fledgling of two mere months... You are an arrogant child who knows nothing of the world or the sacrifices I have made for it."

"I know far more than I wish to know," Raziel murmured, closing his eyes and allowing his head to fall back against the floor.

"I should kill you," Kain breathed, his weight crushing down on top of Raziel though he was far leaner than the Kain that Raziel was accustomed to. "I should eliminate you before you have the chance to stand in my way."

Hope rose in Raziel's chest like a bubble floating to the surface of a deep pool, expectation choking his throat as the wish he had all but abandoned burned within him again. Opening his eyes tentatively, he glanced at the Reaver where it was still resting silently against the fireplace. "What are you waiting for?" he whispered.

"For you to change your mind."

"That's not going to happen."

For a long, painful moment, Raziel waited for Kain to act, but in the end, he only closed his eyes briefly in resignation. "I won't kill you."

Raziel gaped at him in dumbfounded amazement, unable to even formulate a response. Since when had Kain hesitated to kill anyone? He certainly hadn't hesitated to have Raziel thrown into the abyss.

Pulling back slightly and watching Raziel's expression, Kain traced a fingertip over Raziel's lips and along his jaw. His voice dropped into a seductive purr. "I would prefer not to destroy such a beautiful, clever creature without an irrefutable reason."

This was not the direction Raziel wanted the conversation to go. Squirming slightly to test Kain's strength, he hissed, "Must I give you one?"

Kain smirked, easily catching Raziel's wrists and pressing them down against the floor "I wish you wouldn't." Tilting his head with a contemplative expression, he murmured, "There's simply something about you. I feel as if I have met you before, though I know that's impossible if you truly are as young as you claim. You're an enigma, one which I feel compelled to unravel."

Looking again at the Reaver, Raziel wondered if it were possible that Kain recognized his spirit from when his soul had been bound within the blade. That would explain why Kain was so certain that he knew him though they had never met before. It might also explain why Kain was so reluctant to kill him; they had been unspoken allies for some time.

"You have such fire in your eyes," Kain observed as Raziel tried again to break free of Kain's grip and nearly succeeded by twisting out from beneath him. Shoving him back against the rough brick of the fireplace next to the Reaver, Kain tightened his hands on Raziel's wrists and added, "The kind of fire that would muster troops to your side. You truly would make an excellent patriot for my cause."

Raziel glared at him, but was running out of arguments; he had already laid most of his cards on the table with his explosive tirade, and if that wasn't enough to convince Kain that he wasn't worth the trouble, then he didn't know what was. What a stupid mistake it was to agree to meet Kain here. He should have known that it would only end in disaster.

"Why did you lie to me about your lineage?" Kain asked, surprising him with the question. "I know that you don't belong to Vorador. He doesn't like his fledglings as mouthy as you, and he would have forced your sharp tongue to submit one way or another long before now."

Glancing at the Reaver urgently, Raziel tried to think of a way to shift the situation back into more appealing territory, but Kain had noticed his distraction.

"You have an unhealthy fascination with my sword," Kain noted. "You've been stealing lusty glances at it ever since we met in that alley in Uschtenheim." Cocking his head, he added with a stilted grin, "I have to admit I'm a little jealous."

Raziel met his eyes, but refused to respond. Talking about the Reaver was far too dangerous a topic.

"What is it about the sword? Were you planning on taking it from me? Is that why you agreed to this meeting?"

Clenching his jaw tightly, Raziel remained silent.

"You are stubborn." Tightening his grip on Raziel's arms, Kain leaned in close, his lips nearly touching Raziel's. "But the sword does not belong to you and I have no intention of parting with it. Though I would much rather win you over and have you at my side, I will use it on you if you continue this impertinence."

Raziel found himself smiling—barely restraining a laugh. And then the laugh was slipping out and his sides were aching with his inability to hold it in. Kain's eyes widened in surprise and he pulled back a fraction, gaping at Raziel as if he thought him less than sane. And perhaps his sanity was slipping a bit. But it was simply too ludicrous to hear Kain tell him with all the possessiveness of a spoiled child that the Reaver did not belong to him and that he couldn't have it. He had lived inside of the blade for years, a silent passenger in the weapon slung across Kain's back and clutched his hand—and Kain had the gall to tell him that he had no right to the sword?

Trying to compose himself, Raziel looked up at Kain's baffled expression and nearly broke into another fit of giggles.

"Have you come unhinged?" Kain asked with wonder in his eyes.

"Maybe I have," Raziel managed to say when he had regained some control.

Kain studied him for a moment, one of his hands reaching up to cup Raziel's face, his thumb rubbing lightly over Raziel's cheek in a gesture that brought back bittersweet memories; the habitual gesture was one of the few things Kain had ever done to give him the impression there was something more than lust between them. Lost in the moment and swept up in emotions hundreds of years old, Raziel did not struggle when Kain leaned forward and kissed him.

This was the old pattern repeating itself; it always started with an incensed argument into which Raziel poured himself heart and soul, and was followed by Kain's swift move to take the advantage while Raziel was still drained by the dispute. Despite the violence of their arguments and the painful battles that had often accompanied them, Kain could be shockingly gentle when he chose to be, and it was that uncharacteristic gentleness that had always made Raziel weak to the assault.

Breaking the kiss, Kain trailed his lips along Raziel's jaw and down his neck, his hands on Raziel's hips and tugging him closer. Too overwhelmed to even react, Raziel gazed unseeing at the ceiling as Kain's mouth hovered menacingly over a vein, lips and tongue teasing at his throat without breaking the skin. If Kain bit down, he knew he was finished. He wouldn't be able to even summon the motivation to protest. Sharing blood between vampires could be a painfully intimate experience in this context, and Raziel didn't know what it would do to him at the moment.

The harsh knock on the door made Raziel's heart leap into his throat—somewhere just beneath Kain's tongue. Raziel watched as Kain pulled away enough to look sidelong at the door, brows furrowing when the wood shook with another pounding. Apparently deciding that he could risk turning his back on his conquest long enough to answer the door, Kain released him abruptly and crossed the room.

Too stunned to know what to do with the momentary freedom, Raziel watched in shock as the door opened on a brawny, menacing human wearing a scowl that seemed vaguely familiar to Raziel for no reason he could identify. Before Kain could even react, the human swung at his head and felled him with one brutal stroke.

Eyes wide, Raziel scrambled to his feet, gaping at the mortal as it lowered its mace and looked up from the insensate vampire with an expression in its eyes that chilled Raziel to the bone. Thin lips quirked with a small smile as it regarded Raziel before collapsing bonelessly to the ground, the mace landing on the floor beside it with a loud thud.

Suddenly, understanding blossomed in Raziel's mind and a growl of rage erupted from his lips. He had been right to be paranoid, it seemed.

Author's Note: Another evil place to end it, I know. It was just the most natural chapter break considering the next one is quite long and there is no good place to break it. Anyway, I'm curious to find out what you think of young Kain now that we've seen a little more of him. I was forced to really decide on the differences between him and his older counterpart in this one. Some things haven't changed though (does anybody else adore the way Kain kicks open doors? I really enjoy that detail of the games).

Having Raziel unleash on young Kain was satisfying to me in the same way that having Vorador call Raziel a "whiny twit" in the last chapter was. I always enjoy giving characters a chance to vent their frustrations, and Raziel is especially eloquent when he does so—I just hope I managed to pull off his style.