Lara sat in a tram of sorts and looked out the window at the smoothed rock walls. Across from her sat the vampire, who was glaring at her. After a moment, he turned away and looked out the window as well.
"You might as well tell me your name, mortal."
"Lara Croft."
"And what kind of name is that?"
"An English one."
Kain sighed and snarled the answer, "I should have expected such a response."
A tense silence fell between the two, and Lara glanced out of the corner of her eye at the vampire. He was dressed in a full-out covering of gray with black, gold, and red accents. He leaned back on the seat and adjusted the gauntlets he had on over his hands, long, deadly claws breaking from the tips of his fingers. Her backpack sat next to him.
"You could return that to me, you know. I'd be on my way and out of your hair if you did."
"Hm. I don't think so, no," he retorted with a slight shake of his head. "I do not trust you, nor do I need you, but I'm going to humor my old . . . 'friend' by taking you along with me. While we're on this little journey, just stay out of my way, and let me do all the fighting. I don't need a mortal to help me with that."
Lara raised an eyebrow at his little speech, but shrugged nonchalantly.
"If you wish."
The tram slowed to a stop and Kain stood in a swift, cat-like motion. Lara stood up, looking around at their surroundings. The tram came to a stop in what must have been a station, and there were two normal humans standing, apparently waiting for it. One was male, the other, an eccentrically dressed female. Kain stalked past the two, Lara taking her time to study the people and their clothing style. She caught up to Kain as he walked out into an open courtyard and was almost immediately accosted by two guards in fullplate, wielding longswords. Lara watched with a raised eyebrow of surprise as Kain slaughtered them using his claws, and catching any errant slashes with the gauntlets on either arm. Once both bodies were on the ground, he extended his arm toward them and Lara's eyes widened as blood seemed to be literally ripped from their bodies in a steady stream toward Kain's mouth. The stream abruptly ended, and he wiped his mouth across the back of his hand. Lara looked up at him.
"If we're going to be fighting men wielding swords and wearing armor, can I at least have some of my more powerful weapons out of my pack?"
"If I have to stick with the basics," he hissed, grinning maliciously, grabbing her chin with his clawed hand and letting his talons drag across her skin gently, "so do you."
He released her and turned away disgustedly, and she rubbed her chin as if trying to get something invisible he had left on her skin off. He walked down a long alley, Lara following slowly behind, very unhappy with the situation. He turned around a corner and walked down a set of stairs, and Lara caught up to walk next to him. The two glared at each other from the corner of their eyes.
At the bottom of the stairs, they found a gated tunnel and a male being waiting for them. He was dressed in long, flowing black robes, and his fingers as well had the same long claws that Kain sported. He smirked at them, and ran a hand over his bald head.
"So, the rumors speak true."
"Marcus, my old friend," Kain growled.
"A poor choice of words, Kain, we were not friends."
"Now will you sour this reunion with old grudges? Granted, we parted on poor terms."
"You tried to murder me!"
In an almost happy tone, Kain responded, "I seem to have failed." He seemed thrilled by the prospect of getting a chance to do it again.
"You feared my great powers; you knew one day they'd surpass yours. Is that why you begged me to fight at your side when you waged war on Nosgoth?"
"Begged?" Kain snarled. "I never begged!"
"In your arrogance, you presumed me dead," Marcus shook his head, "but I was stronger than you knew. I crawled from my haven and flew into hiding."
"That's the Marcus I remember," Kain chuckled darkly.
"When the Sarafan were victorious, I knew my destiny lay with the Sarafan Lord."
"I always knew you for a sneaky, cowardly opportunist. How unfortunately that my poor aim caused you so much suffering. This time, you will die completely, I promise you."
"No, Kain, once more you underestimate me. The Dark Gifts manifest differently in each of us. During the years of your absence, my powers have increased enormously. I now have the power to charm all living things, to subjugate their mind and make them do my bidding. You will kneel to me, Kain. The Sarafan Lord will be pleased with my new slave. Now, obey me." Marcus pulled back and pointed at Kain, looking like he was concentrating. During the conversation, Lara had hopped up onto the post that the gate's winch mechanism was on and sat down, watching the entire scene play out with a kind of detached interest. She watched as Kain winced, claws going to either side of his head, and he shook off whatever it was that Marcus had tried to do to him.
"What?!" Marcus cried. "Impossible!"
"What manner of creatures have you been practicing on? Dull mortal fools, with their minds full of commerce and dung? My mind is far too strong for your powers."
"No matter," Marcus tossed the encounter aside lightly. He turned toward Lara. "You travel with a mortal, and that will suit my purposes."
As Marcus glared at her, Lara felt a strong pressure on her mind, almost as if it was trying to take control of her. Lara, who was fiercely independent, didn't like such a feeling, and promptly pulled out a pistol and shot a single time, the bullet taking Marcus in the head.
"AGH!" The vampire fell back a step, holding a hand to his forehead. "That HURT!"
"Of course it hurt, you fool," Lara snapped back.
Marcus hissed. "My mental powers still allowed me to read your thoughts, Kain. You see the Bishop of Meridian, do you not? He has information you require."
"A clever trick," Kain snarled slightly as Marcus stood straight and removed his hand from the wound. It had already almost completely healed, but it looked like it still hurt.
"I will ensure that you never get that information. You may find the good Bishop, Kain, but when you do, he will be dead."
"Not if I reach him first," Kain retorted as Marcus concentrated a moment. There was a noise from the top of the stairs and both Lara and Kain glanced up to see two humans with little glowing lights above their heads. Marcus turned and ran down the hall and Kain turned on Lara as the mortals ran toward them.
"Why didn't you kill him?!"
"Wasn't it you who less then five minutes ago told me to let you do all the fighting?" she answered calmly. He hissed in annoyance at her and she sighed, looking at what must have been human thralls, noting they were almost up to them.
"We don't have time for this."
She jumped off the post, pulling both pistols out in a smooth move, and unloaded two clips into the bodies of the hapless thralls. Behind her, Kain quickly twisted the gate winch and headed under the gate into the tunnel. Lara raced in after him as the gate slammed shut behind her. Both vampire and human raced down the tunnel after Marcus and came out into a room with a large rotating chamber over water. Marcus stopped on the other end, concentrated a moment, and a few more thralls raced out toward the two. Lara shot down two of them, then watched as Kain headed toward the room that apparently held the rotating mechanism.
"Why don't you just swim across?" Lara demanded, intent on moving on so she could get this entire trip over with.
Kain glared at her over his shoulder as he headed into the smaller room. There was the sound of combat, then the cylindrical rotation device turned, the walkway moving around to where Lara stood. Kain jumped back to where she stood and noticed her still confused expression. He snorted.
"You really don't know, do you?"
She shook her head. "Keep in mind, I come from a world where we don't have vampires."
"So you didn't mean it as an insult." He smirked and shook his head, amused at how quickly he wanted to take everything she said as an insult. "Water burns vampires like fire does to humans."
"Ah," Lara stated in acceptance. "Why?"
She followed him down the walkway and watched as he twisted the handle, and the cylinder started to turn.
"Because water is the essence of life to humans. Without it, they can't survive. As such, to us, it is death."
Lara nodded as the walkway lined up with the one on the opposite side of the room.
"I suppose that makes sense."
"I still don't need you," Kain snarled as he shoved past her.
"I still don't want to be here," she shot back, glaring at the vampire. They quickly raced up the walkway and out into an open area with a ladder against a wall. Kain jumped up it and climbed up it with the speed of a man possessed, but as far as Lara could tell, it was his normal, almost slower than normal pace. He climbed out into a small area that had a fence around it with a gate near them. Lara jumped up just as on the other side, Marcus faced down a guard.
"You there!" Marcus called to the guard. "You are to conduct me to the Bishop's manor on the instant!"
"We were told to be on the lookout for a vampire."
"Not me, you fool. You know me. Kain. Kain is the one you seek."
"He's not going to stop and tell us his name," the guard protested.
"You're to kill him on sight!"
"Those are our orders!"
Marcus ran and slid into a coach that immediately raced off, taking him to his destination. Kain twisted the lock mechanism and raced out, quickly slaughtering a few guards. Two of them he didn't get to tear apart, however, as Lara simply picked them off with her pistols. They ran down the street and over to a large door. Lara quickly grabbed a switch and flicked it up and the door shifted and started to rise.
"Why are we racing this 'Marcus' to a bishop?"
"Because Vorador is having me go and find his creation, and only the Bishop can tell me how to get to where she's being held captive."
"Ah." Lara shook her head. "Been on a different planet for about an hour, and already I've gotten drawn into the politics of the world. How I loathe my life at times."
"I'd be happy to end it for you," Kain looked back at her, a hopeful expression on his face.
"And make your life easier? I think not."
Kain snapped his fingers and they headed past the door only to be attacked by two women, apparently thieves of some kind. Kain simply caught one by the neck and snapped it easily, throwing her into the second. He calmly headed past and Lara followed shaking her head. They walked in what looked like the space between two buildings, and it abruptly ended at a broken ladder and a large block. Kain turned to her smugly.
"All right, if you insist that you can be of some use, get up there without my help."
"Give me my backpack."
"No."
"Then let me have access to it."
He eyed her, but held out the pack. She quickly flipped it open, looked through it, and pulled a large gun about a foot and a half long and pulled out what Kain recognized as a grappling hook.
"Are you going to tell me that small piece of metal tubing is going to shoot a ten pound grappling hook?" he asked, smirking.
Lara didn't answer, slid the hook into the gun, and aimed for the balcony. She fired calmly and watched as the hook caught onto the wall. She smirked in triumph at the vampire and climbed easily up to the balcony. She unhooked the grappling hook and wrapped the rope up. Kain grabbed the block, pulled it out like it was a cardboard box, jumped on it, and caught onto the broken ladder. He pulled himself up next to her and they climbed the next ladder. At the top, they found a large glass ceiling with an open window, and a female thief watching the proceedings below. Kain killed her, feasted on her blood, and dropped down in time to kill another thief and a human. Lara carefully grabbed hold of the glass and dropped down so as not to hurt herself. Kain twisted a circular winch and a pair of glass doors opened. He walked out onto another balcony, the end of this one apparently broken by the wear and tear of time. Across the way was a large, open window. As Lara walked up behind him, Kain crouched and lunged forward, activating his jump ability. He landed on the balcony, then glanced back to see Lara standing on the other balcony, her arms crossed, a raised eyebrow. Kain swore to himself quietly, jumped back, grabbed her, and lunged back across the space. He dropped her unceremoniously, but she had been expecting as such, and caught herself, standing smoothly. Kain quietly hissed at two guards who were in the next room, quickly killed them and the two continued. They head through the labyrinth of the Upper City and finally came to the Bishop's manor. There were guards all over the place, and Kain headed up a side walkway. He quickly climbed up a ladder, only semi aware of the fact that Lara was still right behind him and keeping up admirably. At the top, she found herself in a bell tower, and one of the windows had been broken. Kain grabbed her and jumped across the way to the manor. Racing through the house, Kain intimidated a butler into telling them the Bishop had fled to the cathedral to avoid Marcus.
Kain seemed to move at a more frenzied pace, realizing that the time was drawing closer when either he or Marcus would reach the Bishop first. The street they were on took them out through a cemetery. Kain took out most of the thralls he found, but Lara would not be let out of the fun. She took to heading out in front of him to kill a few before he got there. Kain found himself wanting to insult the human, or anger her in some way, but she always kept up with him, didn't saw anything he found outright annoying, and, most surprising, was actually helping him. Of course, he'd never tell HER that, but that was beside the point. He still wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.
They finally made it through the cemetery and made it into the cathedral. She walked calmly behind Kain as he headed into the main hall where an old man stood, looking back at them as they came in.
"Greetings, old man," Kain addressed him. "I assume I address the Bishop of Meridian."
The old man made a long syllabled 'yes.'
"I seek information on gaining access to the Sarafan Keep. You are to give me passage inside. I am sent by Vorador."
There was a strange mumble from the old man, and Lara moved up next to Kain, her head cocked to the side, a confused expression on her face. Something wasn't right...
"What ails you? Speak!" Kain demanded.
"He speaks only at my command," another voice interjected. Marcus walked out toward them.
"What?!"
"You are too late, Kain. He's entirely in my power."
"Release him and I may spare your life."
"I hold the cards now, Kain. Surrender yourself to me and I won't kill him."
"What do I care for the life of some mortal? But the thought of killing you at last entices me. Tell me, Marcus, do you truly believe you can stop me?" Kain stepped toward him menacingly.
"Stay back!" Marcus commanded. "You cannot win! The Bishop will tell you nothing while he remains under my power, and you will never catch me!"
He turned and raced out of the room, and Kain immediately darted after him. Lara noticed the Bishop fall to his knees as she ran after Kain, and upon catching up with the vampire, demanded, "We'll never catch him? What pathetic excuse for a gibe was that?!"
"The best the brainless fool could come up with, apparently."
The two chased the vampire through the large street they had passed through at the beginning of the excursion. Marcus raced through a door and climbed a ladder up to the roofs of the buildings. Kain and Lara followed and found him already jumping across a great span of air and through a stained glass window. Kain quickly grabbed Lara and jumped after him, chasing the vampire across rooftops. Marcus ran through a gate and over what must have been the stained glass ceiling of a chapel of some kind. When they arrived, Kain grabbed Lara and jumped after him. Marcus pulled away and looked like he was about to say something when there was an ominous cracking from their feet. Both vampires and the human looked down to see the stained glass cracking.
"Bugger," Lara stated bluntly before the glass broke. Marcus and Kain hit the ground after a near forty-foot drop. Realizing Lara would never survive such a drop, and acting on a kind of 'much smaller and helpless creature, must defend it' impulse, Kain rolled over and caught Lara before she hit the ground. He set her down as he stood, and Marcus pulled his cloak up over his head and vanished. Her pack had been dropped near her, and she quickly pulled out her Uzis for more firepower. Kain glanced around and looked at Lara.
"Get up to the second level. It's me he wants, not you."
Lara nodded once, and headed up to the stairs. Kain quickly took stock of his surroundings, then headed toward a lever that activated the bells of the chapel. The bells started ringing joyously, and from behind him, Kain heard Marcus cry out in pain. He turned to see the pain the bells caused in his sensitive ears had interrupted Marcus' spell, and he was visible. Kain took the opportunity to slash at him with his claws, feeling his natural weapons dig into the other vampire's skin. Marcus pulled back and called to his minions, who eagerly raced out and broke the ropes that held the bells down so Kain could no longer use them to his advantage. Marcus shot back at Kain, the two quickly exploded into a full-out brawl.
Abruptly, Marcus got a lucky hit in, and slammed Kain back into one of the pillars and started to vent his frustrations on his once-lord. Lara from above, realized this was a major step backwards and glanced around for a way to rectify this. She grinned maliciously and quickly moved.
"Oh Marcus," she called. The vampire's head jerked up to where she was to see she was sitting on the railing, an Uzi aimed at one of the bells, and she pulled the trigger and held it, letting the entire clip empty into the bell. The constant ringing made Marcus cry out in pain and Kain took the opportunity to beat down Marcus. Finally, Kain spun around and slammed down on Marcus, sending him sprawling across the altar. Marcus groaned, then stopped moving completely. Lara back flipped down from off the railing and landed softly, then walked up to Kain. They both looked down at Marcus' body for a long moment.
"Thank you for catching me from the fall," Lara stated plainly. Kain was silent for a moment, uncomfortable.
"Don't look too far into it, human."
"I'd never dream of it, vampire."
He promptly pulled the Uzis out of Lara's hands and dropped them into the pack, which he slung over a shoulder. He then stepped up to the altar and concentrated a moment, then his body and Marcus' began to glow with bright energy. He threw his arms up, and at the same time, a form of white energy rose from the body and raced into Kain. He held his stomach as if in pain, then stood and stretched as the power coursed through his veins.
Suddenly, there was the sound of feet as the Bishop ran into the room. Kain began speaking to him as Lara looked over the body of Marcus. Finally, the Bishop agreed to take them to the Sarafan Keep, and the three walked toward the double doors of the chapel.