Chapter Forty
Jenise and Stephin stood facing each other silently. A gap of about fifteen feet separated the two for now. All focus and attention were on the other. Kain's ongoing battle against the Sarafan did not distract them. Nor did the energy of the pillars swirling in the air. Nothing mattered to the two now, except for the desire to kill the other. They knew, that this would be the final battle. Only one would walk away the victor.
"Have any last words before I cut your tongue from your throat?" Stephin crudely taunted.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. When I've got you hanging off my sword at the brink of death, remember these words: You should have been trying to kill me instead of cutting out my tongue!"
Stephin gritted his teeth at her audacity. Fueled by anger and hatred, he charged at his long time foe. He brought his sword down on Jenise, who blocked the blow with her shield. They glared directly into each other's eyes momentarily before breaking apart. The priest studied the priestess for a second before continuing his assault.
The Sarafan swiped at his enemy. Swords clashed throwing sparks into the air. Every attack thrown was either dodged or blocked. Both were finding difficulties penetrating the other's defenses. Neither had even managed to scratch the other. But neither was complaining. They both had a sickening pleasure for the challenge the other offered. An easy victory would be a very anticlimactic end to their rivalry.
"You couldn't defeat me before Jenise. What makes you think you can best me now?"
The priestess chuckled. "I don't think I can. I know I will."
"You are such a naïve little girl," growled Stephin. "My power is greater than yours. You shall die by my hands!"
"That's where you're wrong. This here...everything around us...this is my destiny! And I shall fulfill it!"
The priestess's defiance arose anger within Stephin. With a feral war cry, he charged. In a frenzy of attacks, he swung his sword at Jenise from several directions. The priestess defended herself successfully, deflecting the sword with her shield or her own weapon. Stephin was wearing himself out.
Jenise sensed this, and took the opportunity to strike. She lashed out at her attacker. Stephin saw the attack, but was too late to avoid it completely. He turned at the last moment, but the blade still drew across his skin. The blood slowly flowed from the flesh wound in his upper left arm. Jenise grinned at him with an aura of triumph, having been the first to draw blood.
"Don't get arrogant now, wench! All you've managed to do is scratch me! And that's all you'll manage!"
Stephin went on the offense again. And again Jenise upheld her defenses. The priest was growing frustrated by his repeated failure. He thrust his weapon at his foe's face, but she ducked down below the strike. Crouching, the priestess jabbed the Sarafan in the left thigh, leaving a deep puncture wound. Luckily for her enemy, she missed the major arteries.
Stephin stepped backwards in pain. Jenise may have missed the arteries, but she did nick a nerve. He clenched at the wound, gritting his teeth through the pain, all the while glaring at his opponent. Jenise rose snidely to her feet. She was cherishing every moment.
"Little bitch! Is this cowardice your new method of fighting?"
"You may call it cowardice... I call it strategy."
"Strategize this!"
With that threat, Stephin's aura flamed to life. He manifested glyph energy within his sword for a severe attack. Jenise was alarmed at the rate of which Stephin could complete such a feat. Less powerful Sarafan required a few moments to conjure the strength. With Stephin, it was instantaneous.
Stephin's blade flared with the extra energy. The priest charged, swiping his blade from his lower left to his upper right. The tip of the blade sliced through Jenise's leather briefs, tearing through the tender flesh beneath. She hissed in pain as blood seeped from the wound. Stephin brought his weapon down upon Jenise, catching her across her right shoulder. She staggered backward attempting to avoid further injury.
Stephin easily regained any distance lost by Jenise's retreat. However, the priestess was by now able to adapt to her enemy's momentum. The priest thrust his weapon. Jenise was able to sidestep, suffering only a glancing blow. Stephin continued swinging his weapon. Jenise was now able to keep up, blocking every attack. This went on for several moments.
"Why do you not try to attack me, little priestess?" he goaded.
The priestess smirked a reply. "Patience is a virtue."
Stephin continued his assault until fatigue resulted in the glyph energy receding from his weapon. He stepped back, panting slightly. Though Jenise had been injured, she wore a sadistic look on her face. Stephin grinned maliciously. He was now aware what she had been doing.
By concentrating on defense, Jenise had not only been deflecting his blows, but had in fact been absorbing the energy within his blade. Stephin may have mastered the ability of glyph manipulation, but Jenise had mastered glyph absorption.
Having vampire ancestry, Jenise could not conjure glyph energy on her own. To compensate, she created a way to absorb the energy from her attacker. But she could only do this when her attacker had manifested the energy into their weapon. Her ability was not without flaws, however. Being partially a vampire, she could not absorb large quantities of glyph energy at a time.
Jenise used this energy to build up her offense, summoning strength for attack. She converted the glyph energy into that of her own. Her eyes glazed over as her strength, speed and senses heightened. Stephin crouched defensively in preparation.
Jenise charged at her enemy with tremendous speed. She allowed her lust to overtake her as she swung her weapon at the priest. He attempted to dodge the strike, but she compensated by redirecting her attack. The priestess's weapon connected with Stephin's side, slicing him open just beneath his ribcage. Her turned with the force of the blow, avoiding a more severe injury.
The priestess swiped a backhanded strike, tearing through the Sarafan's torso. He grimaced in pain. Jenise pulled back, and then thrust her sword, impaling Stephin's left shoulder. She pulled her weapon from the wound, a sick suctioning sound permeated through the air as droplets of blood sprang from the wound with the force of the retracting blade.
Jenise continued her frenzied assault, her reasoning giving in completely to the lust. She slashed at his face, sliced his arms and wounded his back. Her attack was short lived, however. After the last attack, her mind came back to her as she panted for breath. The act of absorbing and using glyph energy was very wearisome for her.
Extreme fatigue was one unfortunate side effect of using this ability. Another was that she completely loses control of herself during the attack. She also had a short amount of time to deliver enough blows to cripple her enemy. As the haze of her lust subsided, she was able to assess the damage she had dealt to her foe.
Though his wounds were severe, Stephin was far from crippled. In fact, he laughed sardonically at the priestess's futile attempts. He had never experienced this type of attack from Jenise beforehand. Why he had thought it was more devastating, he did not know.
"Is that all you have to offer me, Jenise?" Stephin taunted.
The priestess gasped nervously. Her attack was nearly ineffective. It seemed he had intentionally allowed her to strike him, as if he was actually testing her strength! She took a backwards step, seeming to be very hesitant of her new predicament. She now realized that he had simply been toying with her during their previous encounter.
"What's the matter?" the priest jeered as he matched Jenise's step back with a step forward. "Is the mighty Sarafan priestess afraid?"
Jenise's brows furrowed. "I am not afraid! And I am not a Sarafan!" she boldly argued, though she continued stepping backwards.
The priestess's eyes widened slightly, as she watched Stephin's aura glow, indicating his use of his glyph manipulation ability. She hastened her retreat, though it did little good. Memories of her prior encounter with this tactic stirred in her mind, furthering her uncertainty.
Distracted by her fears, Jenise failed to notice the Sarafan corpse behind her feet. Stepping backwards, she unknowingly placed her heel on the corpse's wrist. Shifting her weight to that foot, she lost balance and fell over the bloodied mass. She landed on her rear, losing her weapon during the fall. She was completely vulnerable to an attack.
Looking up at her attacker, Jenise's eyes filled with fear. Stephin was approaching her slowly, maliciously. His eyes were filled with a sick craving for murder. He seemed almost inhuman, especially with the glyph energy surrounding his body at its maximum. The supernatural power, offered to him so long ago by the Sarafan Lord, seemed to eat away at his sanity.
"And now, priestess, you die!"
The priest raised his sword high over his head, readying it to impale his victim. Jenise raised her shield defensively over her head, for protection. The shield did little good to protect her. Though it prevented Stephin from damaging any vital organs, he was still able to severely injure her.
The maddened priest stabbed his sword downward, impaling his weapon through the right side of Jenise's stomach. She cried out in excruciating pain. He pulled his weapon from her torso and brought it down again, stabbing her just below her breastplate. He pushed down on the hilt, turning the weapon from side to side to create further injury. Tears of suffering streamed down Jenise's face. Stephin savored every last moment of her pain.
Kain had eliminated all but five remaining Sarafan knights. Those were the five who were nobly guarding Moebius. The future vampire lord approached the time streamer with confidence.
"You hide behind your loyal dogs, as if they'll save you Moebius."
"I do not need them to protect me, Kain."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed," the time streamer replied, as he hefted his staff in the air for Kain to see. The master vampire hesitated as he realized how he had walked into yet another of Moebius's traps. The staff shone with light and Moebius used its power to weaken Kain.
"Unfortunately, I could not depend of Raziel to complete this act, but perhaps my men will. Kill him," the ancient time guardian commented to himself before ordering his men to attack the vulnerable vampire.
Raziel became impatient as he waited for the pillar energy to open the portal Janos had described to him during his lecture. The swirling clouds of power sparked with electricity as the pillar energy climbed. Despite this, Raziel was unsure if the energy was even coming close to its climax as of yet.
Barely audible over the crackling of the pending energy, Raziel could hear a soft cry of pain. He turned towards the battlefield for the first time since leaving Jenise and Kain to deal with the Sarafan. What he saw shocked him. Though most of the knights were now nothing more than bloody piles of corpses, a few were still standing. And with Moebius's aid, they were outnumbering Kain.
But that was not what was the most shocking. At the opposite end of the battlefield from Kain, Raziel could see a lone Sarafan torturing his victim. A flash of lightning momentarily illuminated the scene, confirming Raziel's fear. Jenise was on the ground, fatally wounded, suffering at the hands of the insane priest, Stephin.
Raziel quickly made up his mind. He decided to abandon the pillars to try to rescue Jenise. He made a lunge in her direction. Suddenly, an explosion overhead knocked him off his feet.
In the sky, the build up of energy had finally reached its peak. A ripple of energy exploded from the epicenter of the energy storm in a flash of blinding white light. After a moment, the ripple seemed to pull back in on itself, like a gigantic supernova. Once the energy had converged on itself, a giant vortex tore through the atmosphere.
The sudden appearance of the spectacle caused all the present warriors to cease what they were doing. The knights who had surrounded Kain turned their attention skyward. The master vampire, too, gaped in awe at the vortex overhead. Moebius gasped at the sight, realizing he was too late to stop his enemies.
Stephin, though still in his psychotic rage, was also distracted by the vortex. With his attention drawn upward, his next intended attack was hesitated. His sword hung in the air above Jenise's bleeding body. The priestess had taken notice to the vortex in the sky as well. However, her situation was of greater importance.
With Stephin distracted, she quietly fumbled the ground for her lost sword, hoping that her movement would not cause her attacker to take notice of her. Her right hand fumbled over broken limbs, soiled rock, and cooling pools of blood. Finally, she felt a narrow, metallic object. A quick glance to her side confirmed her sword on the ground.
Jenise clenched her fist around the hilt, her eyes carefully watching Stephin for any signs that he may continue his assault. The priestess slowly drew her sword back with the intention of defending herself. As she patiently pulled the weapon into a suitable position, the blade scraped against a rock. The noise was loud enough for the priest to hear.
Stephin snapped his head back towards Jenise. His eyes were ablaze with fury when he saw she had taken up her sword. He pulled his own weapon back up over his head with the intention of finally ending her life. In the blink of an eye, swords flew towards their intended victims. Metal tore through flesh. More blood spilled on the already saturated ground.
Jenise grasped the hilt of her sword tightly. Her eyes clenched shut. Pain flared through her right shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and with hesitant fear, looked down at the new wound. Stephin's blade was still embedded in her body. She followed the red-stained metal up to its hilt, to its wielder.
Stephin stared silently down at Jenise. The rage that had been there a second ago, had faded. His right hand was still loosely wrapped around the hilt of his weapon. His left hand had subconsciously clutched at his chest. Stephin's glazed eyes moved from Jenise to his torso. To his disbelief, her weapon had impaled him directly through the heart.
Stephin looked back at Jenise, staring directly into her eyes. His expression seemed to ask 'but how?' The life faded from the priest's eyes. His strength leaving him, he could no longer hold himself up. He began to slump towards the ground, slowly at first. As he fell, momentum caused the fall to quicken. He hit the ground with a thud.
Relief washed over Jenise. She mustered all her strength to pull the still protruding weapon from her body. She growled in pain as the blade exited her body. The priestess sat up carefully, now devoting her attention to the vortex in the air. Soon, all their hard work would pay off.
Raziel intently studied the anomaly. Something did not seem right. Janos had said that the pillars would open a gateway to another dimension, one that would consume and imprison the Hylden and the corruption they caused. However, this vortex seemed still. The cleansing the ancient vampire spoke of was not transpiring.
Kain could sense Raziel's uncertainty. He, too, stared at the vortex, curious as to what his first-born could be weary of. Suddenly, he could make out an object inside the vortex. As it grew larger, it took on a humanoid form. But then, he could discern a set of glowing green eyes. Kain's breath caught in his throat at his realization.
"The Sarafan Lord! But he should be fighting my past self at this moment!" the vampire stated to himself with shock.
Moebius filled Kain in with an explanation. "Not exactly. He had been fighting you moments ago, until you cast him into the gateway he had been opening. However, he had the Nexus stone with him, thus allowing him to use this vortex as his new, makeshift portal!"
"No! It can't be!"
"It is. Prepare yourself, Kain! The Hylden are about to invade Nosgoth! And once they do, you and your kind will be eliminated and Nosgoth shall be saved!"
Jenise and Stephin stood facing each other silently. A gap of about fifteen feet separated the two for now. All focus and attention were on the other. Kain's ongoing battle against the Sarafan did not distract them. Nor did the energy of the pillars swirling in the air. Nothing mattered to the two now, except for the desire to kill the other. They knew, that this would be the final battle. Only one would walk away the victor.
"Have any last words before I cut your tongue from your throat?" Stephin crudely taunted.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. When I've got you hanging off my sword at the brink of death, remember these words: You should have been trying to kill me instead of cutting out my tongue!"
Stephin gritted his teeth at her audacity. Fueled by anger and hatred, he charged at his long time foe. He brought his sword down on Jenise, who blocked the blow with her shield. They glared directly into each other's eyes momentarily before breaking apart. The priest studied the priestess for a second before continuing his assault.
The Sarafan swiped at his enemy. Swords clashed throwing sparks into the air. Every attack thrown was either dodged or blocked. Both were finding difficulties penetrating the other's defenses. Neither had even managed to scratch the other. But neither was complaining. They both had a sickening pleasure for the challenge the other offered. An easy victory would be a very anticlimactic end to their rivalry.
"You couldn't defeat me before Jenise. What makes you think you can best me now?"
The priestess chuckled. "I don't think I can. I know I will."
"You are such a naïve little girl," growled Stephin. "My power is greater than yours. You shall die by my hands!"
"That's where you're wrong. This here...everything around us...this is my destiny! And I shall fulfill it!"
The priestess's defiance arose anger within Stephin. With a feral war cry, he charged. In a frenzy of attacks, he swung his sword at Jenise from several directions. The priestess defended herself successfully, deflecting the sword with her shield or her own weapon. Stephin was wearing himself out.
Jenise sensed this, and took the opportunity to strike. She lashed out at her attacker. Stephin saw the attack, but was too late to avoid it completely. He turned at the last moment, but the blade still drew across his skin. The blood slowly flowed from the flesh wound in his upper left arm. Jenise grinned at him with an aura of triumph, having been the first to draw blood.
"Don't get arrogant now, wench! All you've managed to do is scratch me! And that's all you'll manage!"
Stephin went on the offense again. And again Jenise upheld her defenses. The priest was growing frustrated by his repeated failure. He thrust his weapon at his foe's face, but she ducked down below the strike. Crouching, the priestess jabbed the Sarafan in the left thigh, leaving a deep puncture wound. Luckily for her enemy, she missed the major arteries.
Stephin stepped backwards in pain. Jenise may have missed the arteries, but she did nick a nerve. He clenched at the wound, gritting his teeth through the pain, all the while glaring at his opponent. Jenise rose snidely to her feet. She was cherishing every moment.
"Little bitch! Is this cowardice your new method of fighting?"
"You may call it cowardice... I call it strategy."
"Strategize this!"
With that threat, Stephin's aura flamed to life. He manifested glyph energy within his sword for a severe attack. Jenise was alarmed at the rate of which Stephin could complete such a feat. Less powerful Sarafan required a few moments to conjure the strength. With Stephin, it was instantaneous.
Stephin's blade flared with the extra energy. The priest charged, swiping his blade from his lower left to his upper right. The tip of the blade sliced through Jenise's leather briefs, tearing through the tender flesh beneath. She hissed in pain as blood seeped from the wound. Stephin brought his weapon down upon Jenise, catching her across her right shoulder. She staggered backward attempting to avoid further injury.
Stephin easily regained any distance lost by Jenise's retreat. However, the priestess was by now able to adapt to her enemy's momentum. The priest thrust his weapon. Jenise was able to sidestep, suffering only a glancing blow. Stephin continued swinging his weapon. Jenise was now able to keep up, blocking every attack. This went on for several moments.
"Why do you not try to attack me, little priestess?" he goaded.
The priestess smirked a reply. "Patience is a virtue."
Stephin continued his assault until fatigue resulted in the glyph energy receding from his weapon. He stepped back, panting slightly. Though Jenise had been injured, she wore a sadistic look on her face. Stephin grinned maliciously. He was now aware what she had been doing.
By concentrating on defense, Jenise had not only been deflecting his blows, but had in fact been absorbing the energy within his blade. Stephin may have mastered the ability of glyph manipulation, but Jenise had mastered glyph absorption.
Having vampire ancestry, Jenise could not conjure glyph energy on her own. To compensate, she created a way to absorb the energy from her attacker. But she could only do this when her attacker had manifested the energy into their weapon. Her ability was not without flaws, however. Being partially a vampire, she could not absorb large quantities of glyph energy at a time.
Jenise used this energy to build up her offense, summoning strength for attack. She converted the glyph energy into that of her own. Her eyes glazed over as her strength, speed and senses heightened. Stephin crouched defensively in preparation.
Jenise charged at her enemy with tremendous speed. She allowed her lust to overtake her as she swung her weapon at the priest. He attempted to dodge the strike, but she compensated by redirecting her attack. The priestess's weapon connected with Stephin's side, slicing him open just beneath his ribcage. Her turned with the force of the blow, avoiding a more severe injury.
The priestess swiped a backhanded strike, tearing through the Sarafan's torso. He grimaced in pain. Jenise pulled back, and then thrust her sword, impaling Stephin's left shoulder. She pulled her weapon from the wound, a sick suctioning sound permeated through the air as droplets of blood sprang from the wound with the force of the retracting blade.
Jenise continued her frenzied assault, her reasoning giving in completely to the lust. She slashed at his face, sliced his arms and wounded his back. Her attack was short lived, however. After the last attack, her mind came back to her as she panted for breath. The act of absorbing and using glyph energy was very wearisome for her.
Extreme fatigue was one unfortunate side effect of using this ability. Another was that she completely loses control of herself during the attack. She also had a short amount of time to deliver enough blows to cripple her enemy. As the haze of her lust subsided, she was able to assess the damage she had dealt to her foe.
Though his wounds were severe, Stephin was far from crippled. In fact, he laughed sardonically at the priestess's futile attempts. He had never experienced this type of attack from Jenise beforehand. Why he had thought it was more devastating, he did not know.
"Is that all you have to offer me, Jenise?" Stephin taunted.
The priestess gasped nervously. Her attack was nearly ineffective. It seemed he had intentionally allowed her to strike him, as if he was actually testing her strength! She took a backwards step, seeming to be very hesitant of her new predicament. She now realized that he had simply been toying with her during their previous encounter.
"What's the matter?" the priest jeered as he matched Jenise's step back with a step forward. "Is the mighty Sarafan priestess afraid?"
Jenise's brows furrowed. "I am not afraid! And I am not a Sarafan!" she boldly argued, though she continued stepping backwards.
The priestess's eyes widened slightly, as she watched Stephin's aura glow, indicating his use of his glyph manipulation ability. She hastened her retreat, though it did little good. Memories of her prior encounter with this tactic stirred in her mind, furthering her uncertainty.
Distracted by her fears, Jenise failed to notice the Sarafan corpse behind her feet. Stepping backwards, she unknowingly placed her heel on the corpse's wrist. Shifting her weight to that foot, she lost balance and fell over the bloodied mass. She landed on her rear, losing her weapon during the fall. She was completely vulnerable to an attack.
Looking up at her attacker, Jenise's eyes filled with fear. Stephin was approaching her slowly, maliciously. His eyes were filled with a sick craving for murder. He seemed almost inhuman, especially with the glyph energy surrounding his body at its maximum. The supernatural power, offered to him so long ago by the Sarafan Lord, seemed to eat away at his sanity.
"And now, priestess, you die!"
The priest raised his sword high over his head, readying it to impale his victim. Jenise raised her shield defensively over her head, for protection. The shield did little good to protect her. Though it prevented Stephin from damaging any vital organs, he was still able to severely injure her.
The maddened priest stabbed his sword downward, impaling his weapon through the right side of Jenise's stomach. She cried out in excruciating pain. He pulled his weapon from her torso and brought it down again, stabbing her just below her breastplate. He pushed down on the hilt, turning the weapon from side to side to create further injury. Tears of suffering streamed down Jenise's face. Stephin savored every last moment of her pain.
Kain had eliminated all but five remaining Sarafan knights. Those were the five who were nobly guarding Moebius. The future vampire lord approached the time streamer with confidence.
"You hide behind your loyal dogs, as if they'll save you Moebius."
"I do not need them to protect me, Kain."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed," the time streamer replied, as he hefted his staff in the air for Kain to see. The master vampire hesitated as he realized how he had walked into yet another of Moebius's traps. The staff shone with light and Moebius used its power to weaken Kain.
"Unfortunately, I could not depend of Raziel to complete this act, but perhaps my men will. Kill him," the ancient time guardian commented to himself before ordering his men to attack the vulnerable vampire.
Raziel became impatient as he waited for the pillar energy to open the portal Janos had described to him during his lecture. The swirling clouds of power sparked with electricity as the pillar energy climbed. Despite this, Raziel was unsure if the energy was even coming close to its climax as of yet.
Barely audible over the crackling of the pending energy, Raziel could hear a soft cry of pain. He turned towards the battlefield for the first time since leaving Jenise and Kain to deal with the Sarafan. What he saw shocked him. Though most of the knights were now nothing more than bloody piles of corpses, a few were still standing. And with Moebius's aid, they were outnumbering Kain.
But that was not what was the most shocking. At the opposite end of the battlefield from Kain, Raziel could see a lone Sarafan torturing his victim. A flash of lightning momentarily illuminated the scene, confirming Raziel's fear. Jenise was on the ground, fatally wounded, suffering at the hands of the insane priest, Stephin.
Raziel quickly made up his mind. He decided to abandon the pillars to try to rescue Jenise. He made a lunge in her direction. Suddenly, an explosion overhead knocked him off his feet.
In the sky, the build up of energy had finally reached its peak. A ripple of energy exploded from the epicenter of the energy storm in a flash of blinding white light. After a moment, the ripple seemed to pull back in on itself, like a gigantic supernova. Once the energy had converged on itself, a giant vortex tore through the atmosphere.
The sudden appearance of the spectacle caused all the present warriors to cease what they were doing. The knights who had surrounded Kain turned their attention skyward. The master vampire, too, gaped in awe at the vortex overhead. Moebius gasped at the sight, realizing he was too late to stop his enemies.
Stephin, though still in his psychotic rage, was also distracted by the vortex. With his attention drawn upward, his next intended attack was hesitated. His sword hung in the air above Jenise's bleeding body. The priestess had taken notice to the vortex in the sky as well. However, her situation was of greater importance.
With Stephin distracted, she quietly fumbled the ground for her lost sword, hoping that her movement would not cause her attacker to take notice of her. Her right hand fumbled over broken limbs, soiled rock, and cooling pools of blood. Finally, she felt a narrow, metallic object. A quick glance to her side confirmed her sword on the ground.
Jenise clenched her fist around the hilt, her eyes carefully watching Stephin for any signs that he may continue his assault. The priestess slowly drew her sword back with the intention of defending herself. As she patiently pulled the weapon into a suitable position, the blade scraped against a rock. The noise was loud enough for the priest to hear.
Stephin snapped his head back towards Jenise. His eyes were ablaze with fury when he saw she had taken up her sword. He pulled his own weapon back up over his head with the intention of finally ending her life. In the blink of an eye, swords flew towards their intended victims. Metal tore through flesh. More blood spilled on the already saturated ground.
Jenise grasped the hilt of her sword tightly. Her eyes clenched shut. Pain flared through her right shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and with hesitant fear, looked down at the new wound. Stephin's blade was still embedded in her body. She followed the red-stained metal up to its hilt, to its wielder.
Stephin stared silently down at Jenise. The rage that had been there a second ago, had faded. His right hand was still loosely wrapped around the hilt of his weapon. His left hand had subconsciously clutched at his chest. Stephin's glazed eyes moved from Jenise to his torso. To his disbelief, her weapon had impaled him directly through the heart.
Stephin looked back at Jenise, staring directly into her eyes. His expression seemed to ask 'but how?' The life faded from the priest's eyes. His strength leaving him, he could no longer hold himself up. He began to slump towards the ground, slowly at first. As he fell, momentum caused the fall to quicken. He hit the ground with a thud.
Relief washed over Jenise. She mustered all her strength to pull the still protruding weapon from her body. She growled in pain as the blade exited her body. The priestess sat up carefully, now devoting her attention to the vortex in the air. Soon, all their hard work would pay off.
Raziel intently studied the anomaly. Something did not seem right. Janos had said that the pillars would open a gateway to another dimension, one that would consume and imprison the Hylden and the corruption they caused. However, this vortex seemed still. The cleansing the ancient vampire spoke of was not transpiring.
Kain could sense Raziel's uncertainty. He, too, stared at the vortex, curious as to what his first-born could be weary of. Suddenly, he could make out an object inside the vortex. As it grew larger, it took on a humanoid form. But then, he could discern a set of glowing green eyes. Kain's breath caught in his throat at his realization.
"The Sarafan Lord! But he should be fighting my past self at this moment!" the vampire stated to himself with shock.
Moebius filled Kain in with an explanation. "Not exactly. He had been fighting you moments ago, until you cast him into the gateway he had been opening. However, he had the Nexus stone with him, thus allowing him to use this vortex as his new, makeshift portal!"
"No! It can't be!"
"It is. Prepare yourself, Kain! The Hylden are about to invade Nosgoth! And once they do, you and your kind will be eliminated and Nosgoth shall be saved!"