A vampire's sleep is not judged by time, but by the rising and setting of the sun. My own sleep was no different. As dusk prevailed over the land of Nosgoth, I awoke with the unsettling feeling that I was not alone.
"It's about time you woke up." The cackling voice crooned. "I've been waiting for you." I knew whom the voice belonged to long before I saw the fledgling. Gathonel stared at me in the darkness, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.
Why the annoying fledgling from the Melchiaim clan chose to follow me I would never know. But from the day I'd saved his pathetic life, he had rarely left my side. A fact I found myself regretting at the moment.
It disgusted me that Gathonel was so extremely ugly. I'd found it unbearable to watch as he stripped the flesh of his prey and donned them like clothing. But, watching the Serafan do more or less the same to their vampiric victims was no better.
"It's time to feed. " Gathonel was strangely cheerful for one so ugly. I wondered if he even knew how hideous he really was. Glaring at him, I realized his "skin" was rotting.
"You smell terrible." I snapped, but the fledgling only smiled at me. I did not understand him. No matter what I said to him, he stayed with me. It was a nuisance. I stood and slipped on my cloak, bearing the insignia of my master and creator Rahab, and stepped outside.
In the distance I could see Rahab approaching. At that moment I remembered my dream and suddenly realized that I had never quite seen the faces of the Serafan. As I stood contemplating this strange fact, Gathonel broke into a run towards my master, his useless skin fluttering in the wind behind him. "Kain!" He shouted. "Lord Kain is with him!"
I smiled wickedly; my month of waiting was finally over. Kain was coming to give me my orders. "Get away from here, repulsive one." I snarled. He stopped dead in his tracks, his skin slapping his body grotesquely. "I do not wish Kain to see me with the likes of you." I sneered at him. "Feed on your own this night." Whimpering, he slithered off. But not as far as I would have hoped, I could still sense his presence nearby, not to mention smell him.
Rahab stopped in front of me, his porcelain white skin evident in the moonlight. I bowed to him briefly, more a show for Kain than anything else.
Kain stepped up behind Rahab and stood still as stone as if tasting the night air. "Tonight is the night." He said at last. "The rain will begin soon. It will aid us in the act." He turned toward the Abby walls and frowned. "Ovelin guards the gate to Raziel's castle. None shall escape and none shall survive." He seemed to taste the air again, another frown flooding his features. "And Ovelin…" He turned toward me his yellow eyes flashing in the darkness. "Get rid of that thing. It reeks."