I know,I know.this is the line of least resistance. I posted this a long time ago.but it went in large blocks of text and was visually off-putting. Now I hope it is better. If you are patient enough you can read it again. It goes with small corrections too. I'm working hard on updating the Firstborn, but that mostly is deleting not writing.:P ........................................

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim any EIDOS characters to be mine. Only Damaris belongs to me. :P This is not a continuation of Firstborn, just an episode that might have happened.

A delicate shaft of light penetrated the thick darkness and softly slid across his face. Yellow irises contracted, eyes narrowed. A gust of wind swept down the street, bearing scents of the city...a scent of warm skin, life, blood...an odor of a human. A green lantern light fell on his face bringing it momentarily out of darkness. A shadow in shadow.

Raziel, Kain's first born son was finally free of the exhausting drill of training his master and maker had devised for him. Having had completed nearly all the trials, he was free to explore new face of Nosgoth. Raziel was eager to see how it had changed through the millennium of his absence. From Nosgoth's lore he learnt that the city of Meridian was now Nosgoth's capital - its heart and home of the largest human community.

Inexplicably, the night in Meridian stirred his deepest emotions. He was among humans once again, as he had been before, but this time as a night bred creature -a dangerous predator that came to destroy. The young vampire still could not become free of the self-loathing for what he had become. This deeply rooted emotion accompanied him, as he walked down a crowded street in Meridian, wearing a dark cloak and a hood pulled low over his eyes. He did not wish to inspire panic by revealing his vampiric features. Not yet.

Meridian, Raziel discovered, was not only the living heart of humanity, but also the very cancer that corrupted it, for it was the heart of crime and sin. My presence only added to the dark splendor of the city. Meridian was an impressive sight -lit by thousands of torches and enveloped in an atmosphere of celebration. Streets were crowded with gaudily clad processions, theatre troupes and scantily clad dancers that seemed like red spirits inhabiting he human river that poured down the streets. Raziel inhaled the evening air- it bore a scent of decadence and sin...

A girl clad in a red dress whirled around him -a blur of red. Flinging her arms around his neck, she kissed him passionately and danced away into the crowd. ....A touch of her warm skin- thin delicate layer that could be torn so easily... and the revulsion from the heat of life that fiercely emanated from her....

She probably hadn't realized how cold his dead skin was. A sensation of upcoming thirst reeled in a corner of his mind. The city was intoxicating.

"I have been watching you" A whisper in his mind -a female voice- soft and melodious, yet with a metallic edge to it. Raziel surveyed his surroundings but there was no one in sight. Confused, he proceeded down the hall, his gaze shifting from one ancient weapon to another. He stopped at an array of shields bearing rusted Sarafan emblems.

"The abomination of the vampire race has finally arrived..." the voice echoed derisively in is mind, alerting him. Raziel tried to pierce the shadows with his gaze but the shadow he searched for did not appear. His sensitive hearing picked up a short quiet sound. He turned in that direction but there was only empty space, mocking him...

"Your origin is a blasphemy to us, the Cabal, stranger." The voice was deep, reverberating with sweet female tones, but dulled by suppressed hatred. She was somewhere among the shadows, Raziel could almost smell her -a tempting, fascinating sensation. He hadn't expected that a resurrected corpse like his was able to provide him with such. Raziel quickly shook off his reverie and slowly pulled out his broadsword. The Sarafan in him was taking over.

The vampire saw a shadow drop from a gallery above. Instantly, he followed. Before him, a dark-robed woman was standing, her hands on her hips.

The haughty, aristocratic Damaris. His kind.

"Begone, hell-child, or I 'll have to dispatch you myself!", she called provocatively. Raziel steeled himself, putting on his best air of self- confidence. "Mind your tongue, or I shall tear it out from your blasphemous mouth. I have nothing to fear from a Vorador's pet!". He shot back, weaving a strand of irony into the sentence.

A wave of anger swept through him. He could only hold contempt for her. He should like to see her in Kain's claws...

"Presumptuous, but charming." she returned the irony.

"I am here to destroy you, filthy fledgling, make no mistake, though." She grimaced with anger.

Raziel straightened and threw his shoulders back, posing self-confidence. The stage of taunting and insults was almost over. What next, he kept asking himself. "Try me then, milady. But I must warn you. This is not going to be an easy kill." Raziel -merely a fledgling and she an experienced vampiress -a trained assassin sent by Vorador to simply get rid of him, lord Kain's firstborn and in her eyes -the filth that Kain' dark magic had created. How humiliating.