Chapter Forty-One
The Sarafan Lord slowly emerged from the vortex. He fell from the gateway, landing squarely on his feet. He rose to his full height, taking a moment to assess everything around him. Silently, he approached the pillars. A feeling of impending doom filled the air around him.
"Ah, so you are the little demon Raziel. Moebius has told me so much about you. I believe I shall have to thank you. If you hadn't played out the role that Moebius especially designed for you, than I wouldn't be here now."
Raziel growled in irritation. He did not share in the Sarafan Lord's amusement. He hadn't even had his eyes on the Hylden ruler for more than a few moments, and already he was telling Raziel how he had been further manipulated. The wraith blade flared to match its host's fury.
The reaver of souls crouched into a fighting position, ready to battle the beast. The Sarafan Lord chuckled amusedly. Suddenly, the wraith blade abandoned its energy form of the material realm. Raziel stared at his arm in alarm. Moebius was too far away to affect the blade.
"What's the matter little Raziel? Don't know where your little toy went to?" the lord sneered. Raziel glared at the Sarafan Lord, who was fingering a bizarre gem hanging from a chain around his neck.
Kain struggled against the Sarafan knights. With the Sarafan Lord's arrival, they seemed to grow stronger. Their fear and reasoning also seemed to abandon them. It was as if the Sarafan Lord was directly controlling them somehow. Kain noticed that the knights had an overwhelming amount of glyph energy roiling off them.
The toxins of the glyph energy stung at Kain's senses and dulled his nerves. Moebius no longer needed to use his staff to subdue the master vampire. Kain groggily watched the Sarafan Lord approach Raziel. Through blurred vision, the vampire could barely make out the sight of the Nexus stone hanging around the lord's neck.
Upon seeing the Sarafan Lord arrive, Jenise's entire being filled with anger and betrayal. She still had yet to get her revenge against the beast who manipulated her and then destroyed her life. She struggled to her feet, slowly to reduce the pain from her wounds. Grabbing Stephin's sword, and with her shield in hand, she began the painful trek towards the pillars.
The Sarafan Lord stalked towards Raziel, but the much smaller opponent held his ground. The lord swung at Raziel with a giant fist. The vampire wraith attempted to block the blow with his claws, but the force of the giant's swing was too great. Raziel was sent flying to the ground.
The lord took his time to approach Raziel again. Raziel quickly rose to his feet. The Sarafan Lord swung again at his foe. Raziel ducked below the attack, then attempted one of his own. The reaver of souls lashed out with his talons. He struck at the lord's midsection. The lord chuckled with amusement.
Raziel halted his assault, realizing his attempts were futile. He hadn't even left a mark on the Sarafan Lord's skin. Apparently, Hylden skin doubles as armor like an exoskeleton. The lord's fist connected with the side of Raziel's head. The former vampire was sent skidding across the pillar base, falling off the edge of the platform.
With Raziel out of the way, the lord pulled on the Nexus stone, snapping the chain around his neck. He approached the Soul Reaver, still protruding from its 'keyhole' in the pillar base. Carefully, the lord placed the Nexus stone at the center of the energy beam directed in the air. As he did so, the pillar energy altered from that of a holy white, to that of a toxic green.
The vortex in the sky matched this color. It pulsed as it struggled to accept the changed that the Nexus stone had caused. The vortex, once meant to liberate Nosgoth, was now being used to enslave the world. By introducing the stone, the Sarafan Lord successfully opened the gateway he had attempting to open for nearly two hundred years. 'If only it had been this simple,' he pondered.
The lord stepped back to admire the work of his meddling. From the gateway, an army of Hylden warriors appeared, charging through the portal and landing on the ground below. As they amassed, they waited for their commander's orders. The Sarafan Lord turned to his army.
"Complete my orders as I have commanded! Invade Meridian! When the capital of Nosgoth has fallen, the rest of the world will follow!"
A war cry resounded amongst the ranks of the hideous beasts. They stormed through the pillar gates, eagerly heading for Meridian. Hordes of Hylden monsters continued to pour from the portal in the sky, following the minions already on their way to purge the city. A sadistic laugh escaped the Sarafan Lord's lips.
Raziel slowly rose to his feet, shaking the cobwebs from his head that fogged his mind. Upon opening his eyes, he saw, to his horror, the legions of Hylden stampeding through the area. The Sarafan Lord seemed to be gloating his success while watching over his swelling army. Kain was still suffering from the knight's glyph energy, though he appeared to be breaking free.
The pillar guardians were all still focusing their energy into their pillars, though now it seemed against their will. Raziel could tell they were becoming fatigued, but they were unable to pull away from their pillars. The reaver of souls then spotted the stone that incapacitated his wraith blade. It was hovering in the midst of the energy beam.
Raziel realized it was the stone that altered the portal, and it was also trapping the guardians. He knew that if he didn't remove the stone soon, that the guardians would be drained of all their energy, causing their deaths. He was about to attack, when he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. It was Jenise!
Though badly injured, the priestess was filled with determination. She held her shield up close to her body. The strength in her right arm was drained due to the puncture wound in her shoulder. She still held tightly onto the hilt of her sword, though the tip was being dragged through the soil. Her eyes were locked on her target.
The Sarafan Lord was too caught up in his musings to notice Jenise. She struggled up the steps to the pillars, quietly sneaking around behind the lord. Though she would have plenty of time to deal with her oppressor, her immediate attention was on that of the Nexus stone. As the protector of the guardians, she felt it was her duty to remove the stone from its harmful locale.
With all her strength, she hefted her sword and swung it at the stone. With a direct hit, the stone was sent careening towards the edge of the pillars. Instantaneously, the stone's influence over the portal ceased. The Hylden who were currently emerging from the vortex found themselves unable to exit the portal and cross into Nosgoth.
The Sarafan Lord spun on his heel at the sudden interference with his plans. He glared at the perpetrator. Jenise stood as best she could through her pain, defiance radiated off her. A grin of malice spread on the lord's face.
"Ah, Jenise! It's so good to see you again. I take it by your presence here that your difficulties with that fire demon weren't too great."
"Cut the pleasantries! I've waited so long for my revenge! For all the pain you've caused me, I will kill you even if I kill myself trying!"
The anger and adrenaline within Jenise allowed her to forget her pain and concentrate on her attack. She charged at the Sarafan Lord, weapon drawn. She brought the sword down attempting to strike her enemy. The Hylden lord caught the blade in a single hand with ease. Jenise's eyes were wide in alarm.
The Sarafan Lord fisted his other hand, intending to strike Jenise. The priestess drew her shield up at the last moment, protecting herself from the blow. However, this did not stop the Hylden ruler from lifting her up off her feet and throwing her across the platform.
Jenise rolled from the force a few times before coming to a stop. She lifted her head up, spotting her own blood on the pillar base, before raising her eyes up to the Sarafan Lord. He was approaching her with a taunting slowness. She rose to her feet, preparing to defend herself.
The lord approached Jenise with a swinging fist, which she sidestepped to avoid. She thrust her sword at the lord's abdomen. However, what was intended to be an impaling blow instead glanced off the lord's armored skin. The blade left a small gash, but it was enough to anger the lord.
The Hylden ruler wrapped a massive hand around Jenise's throat, lifting her into the air by her neck. The priestess dropped her weapon, using her free hand to hold onto the lord's wrist. Slowly, the Sarafan Lord tightened his grip around her neck, slowly suffocating the priestess.
Just when Jenise was on the brink of unconsciousness, the lord released his grip, dropping her to the ground. Between coughs and through watery eyes, Jenise could see the reason for his diversion. Raziel had taken up a war axe and had struck the Hylden ruler in the back.
The Sarafan Lord turned towards his attacker, clenching his teeth in pain, though the attack barely left much of a wound. Raziel swung his weapon again, but the lord caught the attack. With ease, he lifted the weapon in the air; Raziel still attached to it, and flung the blue demon like a rag doll.
The lord stepped forward to pursue the irritating vampire wraith. As he did so, he felt his foot connect with something on the ground. Looking down, he spotted the Nexus stone. He snatched the jewel up, securing the precious item. He returned his attention to Raziel, who had since risen to his feet. The Hylden was about to go after Raziel when Jenise interrupted him.
"I'm not through with you yet!" she yelled as if she had ever had any advantage over the Hylden.
The Sarafan Lord turned upon hearing her taunt and was met with the sight of Jenise gripping the top of her shield with both hands. She swung her shield at the ruler of the Hylden, intending on striking him with the face of her shield. The lord brought his arms up defensively to block the blow. In his right hand, he still clenched the Nexus stone, the bottom point facing outward.
The shield connected. But it did not directly strike the Sarafan Lord. The Nexus stone took the blunt of the blow, sparing the lord. His unintentional defense was not without repercussion. The mysterious powers within the stone, combined with the force of Jenise's blow, caused her shield to shatter down the middle. The destruction of the shield released a powerful wave of energy, pushing back both combatants.
Jenise fell backwards towards the pillars, while the Sarafan Lord fell outside of the pillar base. The Nexus stone flew from his hands towards Raziel. The Sarafan Lord rose to his feet. His patience had worn down to nothing. He turned to a flank of Hylden warriors still present.
"Attack them! I want you to kill them all!"
The Hylden warriors obeyed their new command. They charged towards the pillars. Before they came even close to their objective, their efforts were thwarted. With Jenise's shield now destroyed, the spirit within it was now free. The energy of the shield's soul engulfed the pillars and its base, surrounding it in a blanket of its protective energy.
The warriors that attempted to approach the pillar base were forcefully cast away by the power of the energy barrier. Furious, the Sarafan Lord attempted to penetrate the shield. He was not so easily thrown back like his minions, but the barrier repelled him with sparks of electrical energy. He could not get near the shield.
Raziel stood up, inspecting the turn of events. He spotted the Nexus stone only inches from his location. Realizing the Sarafan Lord was helpless to stop him, Raziel hefted his war axe over his head and brought it crashing down on the Nexus stone. The gem shattered into tiny fragments. The dull glow that had once emanated from within the stone faded. The Sarafan Lord witnessed every second of Raziel's destruction.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed in fury.
At that moment, the vortex overhead seemed to regain control over itself. It turned back to its original intention, ridding Nosgoth of the Hylden. The parasitic warriors suddenly found themselves being pulled against their will into the gateway. Hordes of the enemy race were sucked into the sky and into the portal. Waves of cleansing energy rippled across the sky to the horizon.
Several long moments passed as the Hylden were pulled back into their prison dimension. As the last of the Hylden was trapped inside the parallel realm, the vortex sealed itself up. The energy of the pillars suddenly halted. Each of the guardians relaxed, no longer needing to feed their energy into the pillars. The sky grew quiet. With the Hylden gone, the energy barrier faded and the spirit that guarded the pillars retreated back within the fragments of Jenise's shield.
Having seen his master's failure, Moebius quickly fled before any harm could come to his being. Without the influence of his staff to aide the Sarafan knights, Kain regained his strength and disposed of the menacing pests, feeding upon the last unlucky victim to regain his strength.
The pillar guardians took a moment to assess the now silent valley. Blood and carnage was everywhere. But not a single Hylden warrior remained and the Sarafan oppressors were overthrown.
"We- we did it!" Alma exclaimed, breaking the silence.
The guardians exploded in a victorious cheer. Though exhausted, they still found the energy to celebrate their success. Raziel dropped his war axe and headed towards the Soul Reaver, pulling it from its slot. After retracting it, the 'keyhole' vanished as if it were never there before.
Jenise slowly rose to her feet. She took in the serenity of her surroundings. Her heart leapt with joy and pride at seeing the exuberant faces of the guardians. She turned towards Raziel and seeing his solemn expression caused her heart to sink. The vampire wraith stood alone, staring at the blade in his hands. Thoughts of his own impending fate had darkened his mood.
"Raziel, what's wro-" she began to ask of him, but a sudden blow to her back caused her to choke on her words.
Raziel looked up upon hearing his name, but his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. Somehow, the Sarafan Lord had avoided the doom of the vortex. Their carelessness had allowed him to grab a discarded mace undetected. This mace was now embedded in Jenise's back. Raziel stared at Jenise in horror. Her own shock-filled eyes stared back at him in silent terror.
The Sarafan Lord slowly emerged from the vortex. He fell from the gateway, landing squarely on his feet. He rose to his full height, taking a moment to assess everything around him. Silently, he approached the pillars. A feeling of impending doom filled the air around him.
"Ah, so you are the little demon Raziel. Moebius has told me so much about you. I believe I shall have to thank you. If you hadn't played out the role that Moebius especially designed for you, than I wouldn't be here now."
Raziel growled in irritation. He did not share in the Sarafan Lord's amusement. He hadn't even had his eyes on the Hylden ruler for more than a few moments, and already he was telling Raziel how he had been further manipulated. The wraith blade flared to match its host's fury.
The reaver of souls crouched into a fighting position, ready to battle the beast. The Sarafan Lord chuckled amusedly. Suddenly, the wraith blade abandoned its energy form of the material realm. Raziel stared at his arm in alarm. Moebius was too far away to affect the blade.
"What's the matter little Raziel? Don't know where your little toy went to?" the lord sneered. Raziel glared at the Sarafan Lord, who was fingering a bizarre gem hanging from a chain around his neck.
Kain struggled against the Sarafan knights. With the Sarafan Lord's arrival, they seemed to grow stronger. Their fear and reasoning also seemed to abandon them. It was as if the Sarafan Lord was directly controlling them somehow. Kain noticed that the knights had an overwhelming amount of glyph energy roiling off them.
The toxins of the glyph energy stung at Kain's senses and dulled his nerves. Moebius no longer needed to use his staff to subdue the master vampire. Kain groggily watched the Sarafan Lord approach Raziel. Through blurred vision, the vampire could barely make out the sight of the Nexus stone hanging around the lord's neck.
Upon seeing the Sarafan Lord arrive, Jenise's entire being filled with anger and betrayal. She still had yet to get her revenge against the beast who manipulated her and then destroyed her life. She struggled to her feet, slowly to reduce the pain from her wounds. Grabbing Stephin's sword, and with her shield in hand, she began the painful trek towards the pillars.
The Sarafan Lord stalked towards Raziel, but the much smaller opponent held his ground. The lord swung at Raziel with a giant fist. The vampire wraith attempted to block the blow with his claws, but the force of the giant's swing was too great. Raziel was sent flying to the ground.
The lord took his time to approach Raziel again. Raziel quickly rose to his feet. The Sarafan Lord swung again at his foe. Raziel ducked below the attack, then attempted one of his own. The reaver of souls lashed out with his talons. He struck at the lord's midsection. The lord chuckled with amusement.
Raziel halted his assault, realizing his attempts were futile. He hadn't even left a mark on the Sarafan Lord's skin. Apparently, Hylden skin doubles as armor like an exoskeleton. The lord's fist connected with the side of Raziel's head. The former vampire was sent skidding across the pillar base, falling off the edge of the platform.
With Raziel out of the way, the lord pulled on the Nexus stone, snapping the chain around his neck. He approached the Soul Reaver, still protruding from its 'keyhole' in the pillar base. Carefully, the lord placed the Nexus stone at the center of the energy beam directed in the air. As he did so, the pillar energy altered from that of a holy white, to that of a toxic green.
The vortex in the sky matched this color. It pulsed as it struggled to accept the changed that the Nexus stone had caused. The vortex, once meant to liberate Nosgoth, was now being used to enslave the world. By introducing the stone, the Sarafan Lord successfully opened the gateway he had attempting to open for nearly two hundred years. 'If only it had been this simple,' he pondered.
The lord stepped back to admire the work of his meddling. From the gateway, an army of Hylden warriors appeared, charging through the portal and landing on the ground below. As they amassed, they waited for their commander's orders. The Sarafan Lord turned to his army.
"Complete my orders as I have commanded! Invade Meridian! When the capital of Nosgoth has fallen, the rest of the world will follow!"
A war cry resounded amongst the ranks of the hideous beasts. They stormed through the pillar gates, eagerly heading for Meridian. Hordes of Hylden monsters continued to pour from the portal in the sky, following the minions already on their way to purge the city. A sadistic laugh escaped the Sarafan Lord's lips.
Raziel slowly rose to his feet, shaking the cobwebs from his head that fogged his mind. Upon opening his eyes, he saw, to his horror, the legions of Hylden stampeding through the area. The Sarafan Lord seemed to be gloating his success while watching over his swelling army. Kain was still suffering from the knight's glyph energy, though he appeared to be breaking free.
The pillar guardians were all still focusing their energy into their pillars, though now it seemed against their will. Raziel could tell they were becoming fatigued, but they were unable to pull away from their pillars. The reaver of souls then spotted the stone that incapacitated his wraith blade. It was hovering in the midst of the energy beam.
Raziel realized it was the stone that altered the portal, and it was also trapping the guardians. He knew that if he didn't remove the stone soon, that the guardians would be drained of all their energy, causing their deaths. He was about to attack, when he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. It was Jenise!
Though badly injured, the priestess was filled with determination. She held her shield up close to her body. The strength in her right arm was drained due to the puncture wound in her shoulder. She still held tightly onto the hilt of her sword, though the tip was being dragged through the soil. Her eyes were locked on her target.
The Sarafan Lord was too caught up in his musings to notice Jenise. She struggled up the steps to the pillars, quietly sneaking around behind the lord. Though she would have plenty of time to deal with her oppressor, her immediate attention was on that of the Nexus stone. As the protector of the guardians, she felt it was her duty to remove the stone from its harmful locale.
With all her strength, she hefted her sword and swung it at the stone. With a direct hit, the stone was sent careening towards the edge of the pillars. Instantaneously, the stone's influence over the portal ceased. The Hylden who were currently emerging from the vortex found themselves unable to exit the portal and cross into Nosgoth.
The Sarafan Lord spun on his heel at the sudden interference with his plans. He glared at the perpetrator. Jenise stood as best she could through her pain, defiance radiated off her. A grin of malice spread on the lord's face.
"Ah, Jenise! It's so good to see you again. I take it by your presence here that your difficulties with that fire demon weren't too great."
"Cut the pleasantries! I've waited so long for my revenge! For all the pain you've caused me, I will kill you even if I kill myself trying!"
The anger and adrenaline within Jenise allowed her to forget her pain and concentrate on her attack. She charged at the Sarafan Lord, weapon drawn. She brought the sword down attempting to strike her enemy. The Hylden lord caught the blade in a single hand with ease. Jenise's eyes were wide in alarm.
The Sarafan Lord fisted his other hand, intending to strike Jenise. The priestess drew her shield up at the last moment, protecting herself from the blow. However, this did not stop the Hylden ruler from lifting her up off her feet and throwing her across the platform.
Jenise rolled from the force a few times before coming to a stop. She lifted her head up, spotting her own blood on the pillar base, before raising her eyes up to the Sarafan Lord. He was approaching her with a taunting slowness. She rose to her feet, preparing to defend herself.
The lord approached Jenise with a swinging fist, which she sidestepped to avoid. She thrust her sword at the lord's abdomen. However, what was intended to be an impaling blow instead glanced off the lord's armored skin. The blade left a small gash, but it was enough to anger the lord.
The Hylden ruler wrapped a massive hand around Jenise's throat, lifting her into the air by her neck. The priestess dropped her weapon, using her free hand to hold onto the lord's wrist. Slowly, the Sarafan Lord tightened his grip around her neck, slowly suffocating the priestess.
Just when Jenise was on the brink of unconsciousness, the lord released his grip, dropping her to the ground. Between coughs and through watery eyes, Jenise could see the reason for his diversion. Raziel had taken up a war axe and had struck the Hylden ruler in the back.
The Sarafan Lord turned towards his attacker, clenching his teeth in pain, though the attack barely left much of a wound. Raziel swung his weapon again, but the lord caught the attack. With ease, he lifted the weapon in the air; Raziel still attached to it, and flung the blue demon like a rag doll.
The lord stepped forward to pursue the irritating vampire wraith. As he did so, he felt his foot connect with something on the ground. Looking down, he spotted the Nexus stone. He snatched the jewel up, securing the precious item. He returned his attention to Raziel, who had since risen to his feet. The Hylden was about to go after Raziel when Jenise interrupted him.
"I'm not through with you yet!" she yelled as if she had ever had any advantage over the Hylden.
The Sarafan Lord turned upon hearing her taunt and was met with the sight of Jenise gripping the top of her shield with both hands. She swung her shield at the ruler of the Hylden, intending on striking him with the face of her shield. The lord brought his arms up defensively to block the blow. In his right hand, he still clenched the Nexus stone, the bottom point facing outward.
The shield connected. But it did not directly strike the Sarafan Lord. The Nexus stone took the blunt of the blow, sparing the lord. His unintentional defense was not without repercussion. The mysterious powers within the stone, combined with the force of Jenise's blow, caused her shield to shatter down the middle. The destruction of the shield released a powerful wave of energy, pushing back both combatants.
Jenise fell backwards towards the pillars, while the Sarafan Lord fell outside of the pillar base. The Nexus stone flew from his hands towards Raziel. The Sarafan Lord rose to his feet. His patience had worn down to nothing. He turned to a flank of Hylden warriors still present.
"Attack them! I want you to kill them all!"
The Hylden warriors obeyed their new command. They charged towards the pillars. Before they came even close to their objective, their efforts were thwarted. With Jenise's shield now destroyed, the spirit within it was now free. The energy of the shield's soul engulfed the pillars and its base, surrounding it in a blanket of its protective energy.
The warriors that attempted to approach the pillar base were forcefully cast away by the power of the energy barrier. Furious, the Sarafan Lord attempted to penetrate the shield. He was not so easily thrown back like his minions, but the barrier repelled him with sparks of electrical energy. He could not get near the shield.
Raziel stood up, inspecting the turn of events. He spotted the Nexus stone only inches from his location. Realizing the Sarafan Lord was helpless to stop him, Raziel hefted his war axe over his head and brought it crashing down on the Nexus stone. The gem shattered into tiny fragments. The dull glow that had once emanated from within the stone faded. The Sarafan Lord witnessed every second of Raziel's destruction.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed in fury.
At that moment, the vortex overhead seemed to regain control over itself. It turned back to its original intention, ridding Nosgoth of the Hylden. The parasitic warriors suddenly found themselves being pulled against their will into the gateway. Hordes of the enemy race were sucked into the sky and into the portal. Waves of cleansing energy rippled across the sky to the horizon.
Several long moments passed as the Hylden were pulled back into their prison dimension. As the last of the Hylden was trapped inside the parallel realm, the vortex sealed itself up. The energy of the pillars suddenly halted. Each of the guardians relaxed, no longer needing to feed their energy into the pillars. The sky grew quiet. With the Hylden gone, the energy barrier faded and the spirit that guarded the pillars retreated back within the fragments of Jenise's shield.
Having seen his master's failure, Moebius quickly fled before any harm could come to his being. Without the influence of his staff to aide the Sarafan knights, Kain regained his strength and disposed of the menacing pests, feeding upon the last unlucky victim to regain his strength.
The pillar guardians took a moment to assess the now silent valley. Blood and carnage was everywhere. But not a single Hylden warrior remained and the Sarafan oppressors were overthrown.
"We- we did it!" Alma exclaimed, breaking the silence.
The guardians exploded in a victorious cheer. Though exhausted, they still found the energy to celebrate their success. Raziel dropped his war axe and headed towards the Soul Reaver, pulling it from its slot. After retracting it, the 'keyhole' vanished as if it were never there before.
Jenise slowly rose to her feet. She took in the serenity of her surroundings. Her heart leapt with joy and pride at seeing the exuberant faces of the guardians. She turned towards Raziel and seeing his solemn expression caused her heart to sink. The vampire wraith stood alone, staring at the blade in his hands. Thoughts of his own impending fate had darkened his mood.
"Raziel, what's wro-" she began to ask of him, but a sudden blow to her back caused her to choke on her words.
Raziel looked up upon hearing his name, but his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. Somehow, the Sarafan Lord had avoided the doom of the vortex. Their carelessness had allowed him to grab a discarded mace undetected. This mace was now embedded in Jenise's back. Raziel stared at Jenise in horror. Her own shock-filled eyes stared back at him in silent terror.