"Shut up," I growled at my brother. "We have no time for foolishness. We must kill Vorador before he kills us."
"But it is our destiny…" He argued.
"A pox on our destiny. We will destroy him."
"You have such audacity to think so?" He shot back, breathless.
"You have the audacity to believe that old fool. I have the audacity to destroy Vorador." I snapped.
"If the Oracle says we shall die then…"
"Raziel!" I shouted. "There is no such thing as destiny. Now either help me or wait for that vampire to kill you." Raziel said nothing in return but followed me out of the twisting caves and towards the nearest village.
We were at the gates to Vasserbunde when Vorador appeared. "I'm surprised Serafan would run. I was under the impression that you were the bravest of them all." He said, his laugh mocking. "You fall easily."
"That may be so, vampire, but you shall fall quick enough." I spit at his feet.
"And you…their loyal dog." He took his sword and pointed it at my chest.
"I am loyal only to myself." I sneered shoving the sword aside. Stealthily, I reached for mine.
"Ovelin…" Raziel warned. He yanked out his sword and threw himself at the green skinned monster. The two fought with a ferocity I'd never seen. I could think of nothing but victory as my brother pushed the vampire into the waters surrounding Nupraptor's caves.
"You did it!" I shouted in triumph. "We are free of the vampire scourge!" Raziel turned to me smiling, but once again, my celebration was premature.
"Perhaps your were right broth…" His words were cut short as Vorador's sword protruded from his chest.
"NO!" I screamed my words from the past echoing off the surrounding canyons.
So, Raziel was my brother? Kain's elite, first-born Lieutenant? My brother condemned for his wings, dead at the bottom of the Abyss.
He was not my brother in this life but even so my plan to reveal the past to Kain's Lieutenants had failed. I would need to find another way to reveal the past and better my future. How difficult could it be to remind the Serafan of who they were and then manipulate them to kill Kain? There was no one to argue this point or stand in my way.
"Ovelin." His voice was a gurgling whisper. I knew whom the voice belonged to long before I saw the fledgling. I turned, a cold chill sweeping over me.
There he stood, barely recognizable with his smoldering flesh. Gathonel's breath came out in watery gasps. He was broader and didn't seem to care about his appearance. He held a silver staff with a skull on the top of it, trimmed in gold. "I was betrayed by my master." He said. "Betrayed and murdered."
"Murdered? You don't look dead to me." I answered coldly. "You smell terrible."
"I do not have time to talk." He still sounded as if he were underwater. "I am here to pay for services rendered."