"Kain." Raziel and Turel bowed before their Lord and Sire. To a fledgling as young as Jarle, Kain was almost terrifying. But once again his attention was drawn away from Kain and the others to stare at the Pillars.

His attention was brought back to the here and now when Kain stepped in front of him. "Raziel tells me that they found you on the side of the road. Is this true?" Jarle had the feeling Kain was only asking to make sure Jarle was competent. He didn't know why he thought this, but he did.

"Y-yes, sir." Fortunately for Jarle, he remembered his manners.

Kain nodded once, glanced at his sons, and left. With the Lord gone, the air seemed to relax.

"Raziel?" Jarle looked up at the Elder vampire before his gaze returned once more to the Pillars.

"Yes?"

"When did that happen?" Jarle said pointing to the ruins of the Pillars.

"Eons ago. Why?" Raziel was trying to have his voice sound causal, but Turel noticed the under laying suspicion. He knew Raziel was only helping Jarle because Jarle's Sire had broken a law of Kain's and once the convict was brought to justice, his kindness would disappear.

"They look different."

"Different than what?"

"The way I remember them."

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Just because it happened when he was no more that five, does not mean he does not remember.

He remembered his mother told him not to go, but he did. And what he saw there, he would never forget.

White slabs of stone lay in rows. Nine white rows. And nine Ancients.

Something flow over his head. Ten Ancients. A few minutes passed and then there was a such a bright green flash of light that he couldn't see.

He remembered when it faded, the sections of the white stone were floating. They were floating above a round stone platform to form nine incomplete pillars. The gold letters around the platform glowed and suddenly the stone sections moved. Slowly at first but quickly the sections joined one and another until.

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"What do you mean?!" Both Turel and Raziel thought they must have misheard the boy. "What do you mean when you say they look different than you remember? Have you seen them before?" Raziel asked. If the answer was 'yes', he would have to talk to Kain.

Jarle nodded. "I saw them when they were raised."

Raziel started walking towards the door Kain went though. He called back to Turel, "Get Jarle set up with a room and some one to wait on him. I must speak to Kain."

Turel looked down at the boy. Sighing he said, "Come on, child. Let us find you a room."

"But why does Raziel have to--"

"Later."

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He remembered a large room, brightly lit. Not by torches, by the stars above. There was a large orb that hung from the ceiling. It seemed dormant. The strange levers that surrounded it did not move. The arms that carried him set him down.

He remembered an Ancient moving to one of the dials. He remembered watching as the Ancient moved the dial, and then set the next one.

He remembered his attention being brought to a portal. As the last dial was set, the orb began to spin and glow. He remembered jumping as a bolt of lighting reached out and struck the portal. Light streamed out of it and seemed to distort reality.

"Come on." A hand reached out and held his own. "Come, I have something I want to show you." It was another Ancient. He remembered being led to the portal and being unsure. "Go on."

He remembered taking a deep breath and walking into the portal. Time didn't exist here. It seemed to warp like the light did. And then it stopped. In a bright flash of yellow and red, it stopped and he remembered floating down.

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His room was nice enough. It was large and spacious. Turel also found someone to take care of him. It was a human named Evie. She was nice, and very polite. And scared. But she did well containing her fear. It wasn't that Jarle could see or hear her fear, it was that he could smell it. At first he didn't know what he was smelling and he was confused. But he finally asked Turel what he was smelling and the Elder vampire laughed and said, "That is fear, my child. Remember it. And when you must, use it to your advantage."

It was summer, which brought short nights and long days. This night was almost over. Evie brought him some fresh blood before he turned in.

After his first sip, Jarle said to Evie, "It's still warm!"

"Aye, sir. There are ways of keeping it warm for days, or nights if you beg my pardon," she said, almost smiling.

"How?"

She lead in and Jarle caught a fresh breath of her fear. She said softly, "You keep it in the body. But bodies cool quickly too, so you have to keep the bodies, well, not bodies, if you get my meaning."

He laughed. "You mean keep the people you use for blood alive!" Evie nodded. "How many know they will die?"

"Oh, I think all do, for the most part."

"Then how do you keep them here?"

"In the dungeons, o' course."

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He remembered the pain of the fangs in his neck. The pain of the gash on his shoulder, where the blood still flowed freely.

He remembered someone shouting. Lots of people shouting. He remembered feeling dizzy.

The pain of the taloned hands holding him.

It was all too much for him. And finally, he just let go.

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Kain had his back to the door when the knock sounded. "Enter."

Raziel entered and bowed, not nearly as formal as in the Throne Room but enough to let Kain know Raziel respected him.

"What do you need to talk to me about?"

"My Lord, the fledgling I found tonight said something interesting about the Pillars."

"Interesting?"

"Yes, my Lord. He said they looked different than he remembered."

Kain turned to face his eldest child. "How old did you say he was?"

"Not a week."

"And where did you find him?"

"Near the ruins of the old Sarafan Stronghold, my Lord."

"How far was he from the ruins? In days how long would it have taken him to get to where you found him?"

Raziel paused to consider. "About three days, if you take in his state, of course."

"Of course." Kain's eyes shifted. "If he tells the truth."

"My Lord, there is no reason for Jarle to tell anything but the truth." Raziel watched as his Lord's eyes shifted, as if he were looked at a plan.

"This changes everything."

"My Lord.?" Raziel had never seen Kain like this before. Kain looked up and, to Raziel's great surprise, smiled. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Everything is more than alright." Kain said in a softer voice as he reached out and touched Raziel's face. "If I can use him to." He seemed to come to himself. His voice hardened. "Do not concern your self with it. I will talk to the boy, but ," he glanced out the window at the rising sun, "not now. I will want to talk to you later. But for now. Go to bed. Rest. If I'm correct, you shall need it."

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Author's Note: Maybe I can count this as school, and if I can, maybe I will get even more writing time. Thank you to all who have reviewed! I have found that it's much harder to write Kain and Raziel than I thought. Oh well. I'll do my best.