That balmy evening found the remaining Razielim seated about a campfire in
companionable conversation. Raziel had told them little of his plans,
apart from the necessity to travel in time in order for him to fulfil the
mission with which he had been charged. As a final preparatory measure
before they set off, he advised his troops that he had no idea when they
might next have an opportunity to feed, and that they should therefore take
advantage of their present circumstances and head out for one final hunt.
As his glowing gaze wandered over his drastically reduced party, Raziel
observed that Isca & Freya were sitting together again. Initially, it had
struck him as rather bizarre that the former Sarafan P'ramma should be
courting his second-in-command. However, if his suspicions were correct,
there would be a new addition to their ranks before too long, and any
remaining trace of Sarafan connections would be forever eradicated. He
smiled to himself as he accepted that things did have a habit of coming
full-circle. A commotion about the fire disturbed his thoughts, and
moments later, the vampires departed in search of prey, leaving Freya and
Raziel alone.
Freya tucked into the remains of the meal she had prepared for herself, glancing up at Raziel when she saw he hadn't joined the others.
"Not going hunting?"
Raziel shook his head slowly, regarding her with a frown as a new train of thought assailed him. Since Isca had informed him that the woman had not come through the chronoplast with them, he was naturally curious about her presence. With so many enemies lurking in seemingly innocuous guises, her being here - not a day older than the last time he had seen her - was a tad suspicious.
"How did you get here?"
Throwing the last of the bones into the fire, she shrugged and grinned. "I have absolutely no idea." Then, seeing no reason why Raziel shouldn't now have the same knowledge as his son, she told him her own story in its entirety.
When she had finished, he nodded his understanding. "Isca told me most of this while you were recovering, although it seems you missed something out this time." Freya raised her eyebrows questioningly, wondering what she had omitted.
"He told me that you knew about my downfall."
Freya's heart skipped a beat. Her worst fears were confirmed. She prepared herself for flight - not that it would do much good if he decided to use that Mutate ability he had recently acquired. She had seen a couple of this age's vampirekind fall foul of that one and was in no hurry to try it out for herself.
To her surprise and immense relief, he smiled. "You are concerned about the possibility of reprisal - there is no need: all things happen for a reason. As Kain once said, (in a rare moment of clarity, I might add) 'free will is an illusion'. Certain pivotal events are immutable. If I were to travel through time now to attempt to prevent my own death, I would fail. The cosmic forces are too strong."
Freya relaxed slightly.
"Besides, Isca tells me you tried to avert it."
The woman nodded vigorously.
"Thankyou."
She looked at him in amazement.
"You were planning to warn me in return for my giving you those texts, were you not?"
Freya nodded again, wondering at his insight and finally finding her voice. "They were my driving force for a long time," she replied, reminiscing. "Whatever happened to them?"
Raziel shook his head, the events beyond his knowledge. He looked up as Isca returned and took his seat next to Freya, licking his lips before offering his own contribution to the conversation.
"Kain appropriated your personal effects after your death, and took them to the Sanctuary of the Clans. No doubt he deposited them with the rest of his hoard in the vault beneath his throne."
Raziel caught Freya's eye and asked mockingly, "Are you in such a hurry to return to your own world?"
Finding herself suddenly and vehemently hauled against Isca's side, Freya replied in the negative, affording the glaring vampire a placatory glance.
"Speaking of Kain," managed Freya when she could breathe again, "What did you do with the baby?"
"We took him back to Coorhagen." Replied Isca. "His entire family was slaughtered, so the orphanage took him in."
With the return of the remainder of the Clan, they made ready to depart for the nearest time-streaming device. As they travelled, Freya found herself musing on what changes these new circumstances might wreak on Kain's life: whereas before he had been the spoiled son of a nobleman, how would early life as an orphan affect the scourge of Nosgoth?
A few hours' march brought them to their goal. As the vampires trouped through the grand entrance, Freya hung back, one last question burning in her mind. Catching Isca's arm to delay his passing, she asked him,
"Why am I still alive?" The vampire stared guilelessly back, his face giving nothing away. "I thought you wanted . . ."
"Oh I do," he interjected, "And I will. But not until you're back to full health."
That made no sense. She twitched her brows in query. Isca grinned back in that inimitable, predatory way of his.
"Otherwise, where's the challenge?"
A multitude of tumultuous thoughts were swept away as he ushered her into the time-streaming chamber where Raziel was even now activating the controls.
Time warped.
*
As the Razielim emerged from the dilapidated building, their steps slowed as these sons of Nosgoth's Vampiric Empire beheld for the first time the ruin to which the Master Vampire had condemned their land. Horrified at the devastation, they followed Raziel's unerring steps towards the nearest Warp Gate, the activation of which took them quickly back to their own Clanlands. As Raziel pushed open the heavy door that led onto the raised dais at the back of the main hall, the out-of-time vampires became keenly aware of the true desolation that this future held. The lofty roof had long ago fallen in, its rubble appropriated sometime in the distant past for use in other areas. In its place there was nought but mist and the occasional circling raven. Along every wall, the bases of toppled columns rose like yellowed teeth in an aged skull, their upper reaches lying in formless heaps on the cracked floor. Despite this, the faded, tattered Clan banners still fluttered in the feeble breeze, and the blazing pyre that marked the centre of the dais still burned with a flame that would endure as long as but one of the Razielim yet lived.
Cutting across his Clan's despondent thoughts with a voice imbued with resolute strength and messianic purpose, Raziel spoke:
"This is where it begins. Nosgoth's past is beyond redemption. It is now, in this forsaken time that the healing will be undertaken."
Raziel turned his to face his men once again, his eyes ablaze as he informed them that he had at last discovered a way to restore the Pillars, and thereby the land. Every eye in the room was fixed on him in rapt attention. A heartbeat later, that unmistakeable shimmering sensation split the air between Freya and the Vampire Lord, and the woman screamed her defiance at the whim of whatever being was making her shift again. She had finally become accustomed to life here on Nosgoth with all its quirks, and she didn't want to return to Earth - especially not now. This time however, something was different. Although the vista before her was shimmering as though with heat haze, the rest of her surroundings were not. In fact, it only seemed to be affecting Raziel.
The room fell into utter chaos as Nosgoth's intended deliverer vanished from sight.
Freya tucked into the remains of the meal she had prepared for herself, glancing up at Raziel when she saw he hadn't joined the others.
"Not going hunting?"
Raziel shook his head slowly, regarding her with a frown as a new train of thought assailed him. Since Isca had informed him that the woman had not come through the chronoplast with them, he was naturally curious about her presence. With so many enemies lurking in seemingly innocuous guises, her being here - not a day older than the last time he had seen her - was a tad suspicious.
"How did you get here?"
Throwing the last of the bones into the fire, she shrugged and grinned. "I have absolutely no idea." Then, seeing no reason why Raziel shouldn't now have the same knowledge as his son, she told him her own story in its entirety.
When she had finished, he nodded his understanding. "Isca told me most of this while you were recovering, although it seems you missed something out this time." Freya raised her eyebrows questioningly, wondering what she had omitted.
"He told me that you knew about my downfall."
Freya's heart skipped a beat. Her worst fears were confirmed. She prepared herself for flight - not that it would do much good if he decided to use that Mutate ability he had recently acquired. She had seen a couple of this age's vampirekind fall foul of that one and was in no hurry to try it out for herself.
To her surprise and immense relief, he smiled. "You are concerned about the possibility of reprisal - there is no need: all things happen for a reason. As Kain once said, (in a rare moment of clarity, I might add) 'free will is an illusion'. Certain pivotal events are immutable. If I were to travel through time now to attempt to prevent my own death, I would fail. The cosmic forces are too strong."
Freya relaxed slightly.
"Besides, Isca tells me you tried to avert it."
The woman nodded vigorously.
"Thankyou."
She looked at him in amazement.
"You were planning to warn me in return for my giving you those texts, were you not?"
Freya nodded again, wondering at his insight and finally finding her voice. "They were my driving force for a long time," she replied, reminiscing. "Whatever happened to them?"
Raziel shook his head, the events beyond his knowledge. He looked up as Isca returned and took his seat next to Freya, licking his lips before offering his own contribution to the conversation.
"Kain appropriated your personal effects after your death, and took them to the Sanctuary of the Clans. No doubt he deposited them with the rest of his hoard in the vault beneath his throne."
Raziel caught Freya's eye and asked mockingly, "Are you in such a hurry to return to your own world?"
Finding herself suddenly and vehemently hauled against Isca's side, Freya replied in the negative, affording the glaring vampire a placatory glance.
"Speaking of Kain," managed Freya when she could breathe again, "What did you do with the baby?"
"We took him back to Coorhagen." Replied Isca. "His entire family was slaughtered, so the orphanage took him in."
With the return of the remainder of the Clan, they made ready to depart for the nearest time-streaming device. As they travelled, Freya found herself musing on what changes these new circumstances might wreak on Kain's life: whereas before he had been the spoiled son of a nobleman, how would early life as an orphan affect the scourge of Nosgoth?
A few hours' march brought them to their goal. As the vampires trouped through the grand entrance, Freya hung back, one last question burning in her mind. Catching Isca's arm to delay his passing, she asked him,
"Why am I still alive?" The vampire stared guilelessly back, his face giving nothing away. "I thought you wanted . . ."
"Oh I do," he interjected, "And I will. But not until you're back to full health."
That made no sense. She twitched her brows in query. Isca grinned back in that inimitable, predatory way of his.
"Otherwise, where's the challenge?"
A multitude of tumultuous thoughts were swept away as he ushered her into the time-streaming chamber where Raziel was even now activating the controls.
Time warped.
*
As the Razielim emerged from the dilapidated building, their steps slowed as these sons of Nosgoth's Vampiric Empire beheld for the first time the ruin to which the Master Vampire had condemned their land. Horrified at the devastation, they followed Raziel's unerring steps towards the nearest Warp Gate, the activation of which took them quickly back to their own Clanlands. As Raziel pushed open the heavy door that led onto the raised dais at the back of the main hall, the out-of-time vampires became keenly aware of the true desolation that this future held. The lofty roof had long ago fallen in, its rubble appropriated sometime in the distant past for use in other areas. In its place there was nought but mist and the occasional circling raven. Along every wall, the bases of toppled columns rose like yellowed teeth in an aged skull, their upper reaches lying in formless heaps on the cracked floor. Despite this, the faded, tattered Clan banners still fluttered in the feeble breeze, and the blazing pyre that marked the centre of the dais still burned with a flame that would endure as long as but one of the Razielim yet lived.
Cutting across his Clan's despondent thoughts with a voice imbued with resolute strength and messianic purpose, Raziel spoke:
"This is where it begins. Nosgoth's past is beyond redemption. It is now, in this forsaken time that the healing will be undertaken."
Raziel turned his to face his men once again, his eyes ablaze as he informed them that he had at last discovered a way to restore the Pillars, and thereby the land. Every eye in the room was fixed on him in rapt attention. A heartbeat later, that unmistakeable shimmering sensation split the air between Freya and the Vampire Lord, and the woman screamed her defiance at the whim of whatever being was making her shift again. She had finally become accustomed to life here on Nosgoth with all its quirks, and she didn't want to return to Earth - especially not now. This time however, something was different. Although the vista before her was shimmering as though with heat haze, the rest of her surroundings were not. In fact, it only seemed to be affecting Raziel.
The room fell into utter chaos as Nosgoth's intended deliverer vanished from sight.