Metamorphosis part 2
"Master Raziel." Dogen's voice awoke me from dreamless sleep. I let in the
waking world and turned towards the voice. The manservant was standing at
the side of the bed.
"Dogen," I asked, "What is it?"
"There is a message from Lord Kain. He wants to see you at once."
"Immediately?"
"Yes, you are to meet him in the throne room as soon as you are ready. The
messenger is waiting for confirmation." Kain was obviously not asleep. A
night meeting in the throne room? We only met there when urgent matters
that touched us all had to be discussed or when there was celebration to be
done. The last time there had been an assembly on a sudden notice in the
throne room was during the wars almost nine centuries ago after an entire
phalanx had fallen in an ambush by the humans.
I rose from the bed and saw that appropriate clothing displaying the clan sigil
had been laid out on the chest at the foot end of the bed. I asked Dogen to tell
the messenger I would be in the throne room as fast as possible, then thanked
him. Dogen bowed and exited.
As I entered the hallway to walk to the stables, Dogen approached me.
"Master," he began. I stopped.
"Yes, Dogen?"
"If I may be allowed the boldness," he started, "please let me suggest an
advice." I looked at him.
"Yes, of course. You have always been my adviser, even when silent."
"I suggest you wear a mantle on the way to the meeting with Kain," he said.
"To shield your gift against unfriendly eyes." At this, a sensation of unease
rose in me.
"And whose eyes would that be?" I asked. Dogen didn't reply, merely bowed
his head and presented the dark fabric that was folded in his hands. I knew he
would not disclose anything more. Reminded of the reluctance I had felt
earlier in the evening of displaying the wings to others, I took the heavy
mantle and draped it around my shoulders.
By the stables, the stable hand greeted me with a reverent bow. When he
rose, I saw his eyes were dark with hunger. I hoped to be able to set off
quickly so he could have his meal.
"Master Raziel, how has your period of change been?" the elderly stable
hand asked.
"Very good, thank you, Lieser. And how are you and your family?"
"We are well and thriving under your protection, my Lord." He smiled. "I
have taken the freedom of readying the fastest of the horses for you, since I
heard you are in a hurry. If you prefer another steed, please let me know and
I will prepare another." Not recognizing the animal he presented, but trusting
Lieser's choice, I nodded at him.
"This one will do well, thank you." Lieser smiled again and bowed.
"Master! How it is good to see you again." I turned. Phaidos, my second in
command, was standing behind me, twohander hanging at his side.
"Phaidos!" I exclaimed, taking two quick steps towards him and embracing
him for a moment. "It is good to see you. I take it from your countenance you
have fared well since last we parted." Phaidos nodded and smiled.
"I cannot complain. The domain prospers and almost takes care of itself
these days. And you, Master Raziel. You look fit after a long period of
sleep." I nodded and smiled.
"I am well, thank you."
"How was the change?"
"Unexpected, as always. But good." Phaidos smiled at this, then his face
grew darker.
"Master," he said. "There are strange tidings about. Something may be
amiss."
"What strange tidings? What have you heard?" Phaidos looked down.
"I have heard little specific," he said. "It is more the lack of information that
causes me to conclude all is not well. No one is willing to tell the reason for
the sudden assembly in the throne room. The second in command are not to
be present. No one knows why." The second in command? Then Kain had
not intended this to be a meeting between himself and I only, but with all the
clan leaders present?
"In addition," Phaidos continued, "Nevel tells me her brother received orders
tonight to seal all gates leading to the Melchiahim." Phaidos looked at me.
"The only way to tell what is going on is to be present at the meeting," I
replied. "I shall inform you amply of what transpires at the assembly. If there
is an external threat, the clans will reunite and destroy it. If there is an
internal threat, our clan will plan accordingly and meet it with the
appropriate means. Do not worry." Phaidos nodded, then looked down.
"If you wish," I continued, "we may meet by our gate at the Sanctuary of the
Clans once the meeting is through and discuss matters further. As it is now, I
cannot wait for you."
Phaidos bowed. I took hold of the horse's reins and mounted.
"At the Sanctuary of the Clans then," he said, looking up at me. "I shall
depart at once to wait for you there until the assembly is over." I leaned
down and clasped Phaidos' shoulder.
"Once again you prove your loyalty and trustworthiness. I thank you."
Phaidos nodded and bowed. I spurred the horse and then there was only the
wind and the way and the sound of the steed's hooves on the hard ground.
Beyond the gate of the Sanctuary of the Clans, I dismounted. A short walk to
the north led me to Kain's gate, holding in its center his sigil, a stylized bat
with outstretched wings. The gate was open but unguarded. Crossing the
small footbridge that led into the corridor of the throne room, I met Milen,
Turel's second in command. We bowed at each other and exchanged
greetings. His unhurried behavior made the unease I felt in my stomach more
pronounced. His presence confirmed my suspicion that the rest of the
brothers were present at the meeting with the secondary clan leaders waiting
to be called in afterwards. Phaidos' words that Melchiah was shutting down
the gates of his domain, kept repeating themselves in my mind. Was my
brother's clan barricading themselves? Who or what was threatening them?
Passing the last gate leading into the throne room, I turned left. There were
two guards stationed by the open door. I nodded at them, then, steeled myself
and removed the mantle from my shoulders before entering the throne room.
The rules of the clans demanded that the changes after a period of sleep be
disclosed at the first assembly with everybody present. We held no secrets
for each other.
Feeling the movement of air against the wings reduced the unease I had been
feeling. In its place, pride rose in me. The wings marked a freedom from
human and vampiric constraints my clan would soon experience by
themselves. It heralded a new future.
I walked down the platform to the middle of the brightly lit room. In the
corner of my eyes I could see Turel, Zephon and Dumah straighten their
backs and stare. Kain was sitting on the throne at the far end of the platform.
At the circle at the throne room's center, I customarily kneeled and bowed to
greet Kain and my brothers. Then I rose the wings and folded them out,
enjoying the sensation of their fluid movement.
Kain rose from the throne and descended onto the floor with an expression of
intense interest. The fine veins covering the skin of his face and chest
seemed darker than I remembered. I stood and lowered the wings, meeting
my creator and master's pale eyes. I could sense he was inordinately focused,
concentrating not only on me, but on something beyond I could not read. He
was less surprised than I had anticipated, but all the more poised to act. His
focused energy made me steel myself, but I could not in the most paranoid of
deliriums have anticipated what happened next. Kain approached me in
silence and upon turning behind me, passed his hand across the left wing.
The intense heat of his touch startled me. It was only by strength of will I did
not fold the wings in. The reactions of my surroundings were inscrutable.
Kain's aloofness and hostile concentration was at once disappointing and
incomprehensible. I could only let myself be carried away on the waves of
the events as they arose and try to act on to them as necessary.
Kain passed his hand once more over the surface of my wings and this time a
dark impulse escaped his mind and found its way into mine: directed,
controlled anger. I had seen this side of Kain during the wars, his hatred for
those who chose to withhold acceptance for our presence and powers in
Nosgoth and instead trying to fight us in their blindness. His hatred for the
humans who kept on insisting that they be fought and defeated, his hatred for
selfish defiance. Yet I had never seen this rage directed towards any of us
and had certainly never experienced it aimed at myself. I could not find the
reason for such emotion.
Then, Kain closed his hands around my wing bones and with a quick
movement, ripped them out of my back. Pain exploded inside my mind. The
world disappeared in a cloud of agony. I could not see or think. The floor
came up to meet me, and my own hands ineffectively strove to keep it
beneath me. Attempting to hold onto consciousness and get up, I
nevertheless felt the world close around me, leaving nothing but darkness.
When I regained consciousness, I was being moved. My back felt as if it was
bleeding, the touch of air against the wings which previously had provided
such sweet sensations, had now been exchanged for excruciating pain.
Strong hands were holding me and pulling me along the ground. I twisted
and looked up. Dumah and Turel, those of my brothers whom I held most
dear. Where were they taking me?
The sudden acrid smell of water, the uncomfortable touch of moist wind on
my skin and the sound of a deep roar transmitted by the ground beneath us
answered my question. We were high above a churning, spinning vortex of
water, sucking in material from seven waterfalls, the center of Nosgoth: The
Lake of the Dead, the execution grounds. I was about to be executed? I did
not comprehend. What had been my wrongdoing? In what way had I failed
my brethren? The wings? But that was ridiculous. My allegiance to Kain had
not changed.
In an attempt at understanding the motivation of Kain and my brothers, I
tried opening my mind to them. Nothing. There was an absolute silence.
Despite my two brothers being close enough to touch me, I could not sense
the presence of their minds. They were simply not there. Neither could I feel
Kain. He was gone too. The isolation was complete. I had been abandoned.
To confirm the fact, I heard my creator say:
"Cast him in!" At that, my confused disbelief turned to terror. Dumah and
Turel increased their grip on my shoulders. With my last pieces of will, I
tried to wrestle out of their hands. But to no avail. I felt their strong hands
heave me into the air, then I was falling, hurtling towards water's surface. I
reached out to take flight, but the wings did not respond, there was nothing
there that could obey the orders of my mind. I screamed upon seeing the
frothing, moving face of the spinning vortex. Then the water engulfed me,
wrapping itself around me.
The water seared over the surface of my skin, burning with the intensity of
fire. I clawed at the water to grab hold of something, anything that could stop
the falling and the burning. But there was no getting away from the water, I
plummeted through it like air. The burning sensation took hold of the body.
It was like a blanket of flames and with each second it cut deeper and deeper
into my flesh. Body and mind screamed in agony. I could feel the burning
water eating my flesh away. It penetrated the inside of my mouth and throat,
found its way into and behind my eyes, destroying everything it touched.
Inside this boundless agony, my body and mind twisted and squirmed
helplessly, desperate in its attempts at finding a way to escape the pain. But I
was trapped. There was nothing but pain inside and out.
Turning away from the horror of the body towards itself, the mind
encountered yet more pain. My master had reduced a millennium of service
to him to nothing and ordered me to this fate of agony and shame. My
brothers had forgotten all about our common origin and assisted in carrying
out the execution. Had I not served them all as faithfully and loyally as I
could? Had my sacrifices for the good of the empire not been enough?
A sudden and intense anger directed at those who had condemned me for a
crime I could not comprehend appeared, quickly growing in strength. My
brothers and Kain. I had not failed them. They had betrayed me.
From the deepest recesses of my being, I began to hate them.
With that, the torture was complete. The emotional pain of abandonement
and humiliation and the rage of betrayal and hatred sublimated my mind into
a cloud of impenetrable confusion and blinding madness. I could not think, I
could not see. I could not exist. I ceased to be and time disappeared. An
eternity passed.
Then, the pain of the physical body slowly and inexplicably receded, little by
little, leaving my mind to condense into something akin to its former state. I
regained the ability to think and with it, the bitterness and anger returned
with renewed strength. And a voice. At first I thought it merely a mirror of
my own ruined mind. But the voice told me of things I had not been aware
of. How the world was created and to what purpose. Who my master really
was. Of the pillars and the true dawn of the empire. Of hunger and souls.
The voice offered me revenge against Kain if I manifested his power and
took back the souls that were now stalking Nosgoth as undead vampires.
Souls which the voice, the Elder, regarded as his own. I had lost everything I
held dear, my brothers, my clan, my home. I had only one desire, to leave the
present state of agony and enter oblivion. Yet, with the Elder's offer came the
lust for revenge, the growing wish to let my treacherous brethren have a taste
of the pain and humiliation they had condemned me to. And with the Elder's
promise that I would be allowed to leave as soon as I had freed the souls he
wanted, I accepted his offer.
I felt myself drawn back into the body. There was no pain any more. I got
hands and legs beneath me and stood. I looked down at myself. The water
had seared away my skin. Muscle and tendons lay exposed, yet they worked
as well as before. My lower jaw and throat had been burned away, but I
covered that with the old clan sigil, which had followed me in the descent
through hell. I was alive. A deep and heretofore unknown need was vibrating
inside me in resonance with my craving for revenge; the hunger for my
brothers' and Kain's souls. It was stronger than the hunger for blood had ever
been, because that had been a hunger of the body. This was a hunger of the
soul. I had indeed changed. Now these changes would make themselves felt
in Nosgoth.