Right, first of all apologies for the fluff in the last chapter between
Lara and Raziel. But I needed that for some of the future plot to work!!
Not my fault (cries).
Here we go...
Disclaimer – see previous chapters. Am still collecting for the 'Buy Raziel' fund (shakes collecting tin). Donations?
Sigh. Let's get on with the story, shall we?
Chapter 4 – Portals.
It had been three days since Kain had drunk Kat's blood and become infected. And he had not improved one bit. He was still partially unconscious, covered in sweat and unable to change to his human form. Occasionally, he would scream something incoherent in a language nobody could understand before falling silent again.
Vorador had taken it upon himself to look after Kain, by way of an apology for putting all of Nosgoth's history on record for all the world to see. Raziel was still variously angry and amused at that, and had gone out and bought the games just to see what all the fuss was about. Needless to say, he was not impressed the first time he saw his Sarafan self in Soul Reaver 2.
'I was much more attractive than that when I was human!' Raziel grumbled, as he watched the cut scene. 'Honestly, Vorador...'
'It's not my fault,' Vorador said. He had a bowl of water in his hands, on his way to soothe Kain's pain. 'I just wrote the story.'
Raziel snorted. 'And they got that wrong too.' Frustrated, he turned off the console and looked at his watch. 'I have a lecture. I'm going.'
'I'll stay and look after Kain alone, shall I?' Vorador said, a little bitterly.
Raziel shrugged on his coat and shouldered his bag. 'You volunteered. Have fun babysitting.' And with that, he left.
As he walked through the town, Raziel did what he always did and started to think. He was very worried about Kain. There were very few things that could kill the old vampire, but somehow Kat's blood had knocked him back, almost to the point of death. Janos was devious, using a human as his vessel, Raziel thought, as he paused at the crossroad just by Blackwells. Crossing the road, he hurried past the huge shop and to the sandwich shop just down from it where he was due to meet Lara. Right on time, Lara came out of the shop and waved, her eyes lighting up as she saw her love hurrying towards her.
'Eek!' Lara squealed as Raziel lifted her off her feet in a massive hug. 'Hey! What's up with you today?'
'Nothing,' Raziel said, grinning. 'So what did my favourite human get me for lunch?'
Lara handed him a paper package. 'Tuna. I know you like it.'
'Yum.' Raziel tore the paper and took a massive bite of the bread. 'Fank oo,' he said, his mouth full.
Lara giggled. 'Silly. We'd better go or we'll be late.'
Hand in hand, they walked to the lecture theatre. As soon as they entered, Kat slunk over to them, her eyes coloured a strange red. 'Well, well,' she said, putting her hands on her hips. 'If it isn't the freaks.'
Raziel snarled. 'Speak for yourself.' He pushed her down to a seat and held her there as she struggled. 'Stop squirming or I'll tear your heart out. What did you do to Kain?'
Kat laughed, once. 'Stupid man couldn't resist my charms. He got what he deserved. I carried out my task. You two don't seem to be carrying out yours very well, do you?'
Raziel's eyes flared with white light as his ire rose. 'Janos has corrupted you,' he said, his nails digging into Kat's shoulder. 'You're his little assassin. What's in it for you, Katrina?'
Kat smiled. 'Immortality,' she said, before throwing Raziel back with such force that he fell over into Lara. 'Janos knows you are here, wraith. And he knows just what you're trying to do. With Kain out of the picture, there is no way you will find the book before we do. Not even with a Hylden half-breed at your disposal.'
'Just where is Janos?' Raziel demanded.
Kat laughed. 'That would be telling, my dear.' And with that, she strutted away.
Raziel did his best to hold his temper throughout the lecture, but Kat kept turning round and blowing him little kisses. Eventually it got too much for him and he excused himself and walked out. When he was outside, he found the nearest wall and gave it a damn good kicking. 'Bitch!' he swore, pounding his hands against the wall until they bled. 'Damn her! And Janos...' He aimed one last kick at the wall, lost his balance and fell over, landing on the grass with a thud. 'Fuck.'
Students started to stream out of the buildings. Lara hurried over to him. 'You ok?'
'As ok as I can be,' Raziel said, with a sigh. 'Why is Janos using her, Lara? There is no reason.'
'What, apart from the fact she's my mortal enemy?' Lara said. She hooked onto Raziel's arm and guided him out into the street. 'You look so stressed. You need to get away from this place for a while.'
Raziel shook his head. 'I can't leave Kain,' he said. 'He needs me now more than ever. Vorador is doing a great job of looking after him but...' He sighed. 'Kain relies on me. And now he is sick...'
Lara hugged him. 'He will recover, in time.'
'I hope so,' Raziel said, darkly. 'But for now, it's just you and me, kid...'
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That night, Kain's condition worsened. Vorador shook his head as he laid his hand on Kain's forehead. 'He's burning,' Vorador said. 'He's as hot as hell.'
Raziel looked down at his sire, concern written all over the portion of his face that was visible above his cowl. 'Keep him as cool as you can,' he said. He moved his arm and the Reaver hummed into life. 'I have some hunting to do.' He vanished with a slight hiss.
'I hate it when he goes spectral,' Lara said. 'He can see us, but we can't see him. It scares me a bit.'
'But it is a great skill to have,' Vorador said, opening the window even more. Kain's breathing was shallow and he was now sweating blood. 'In truth, Lara, I do not know how long Kain can last. He gets worse every day and now...' He gestured to the rivulets of blood pouring from Kain's body. 'I will search for a cure. But Hylden blood is usually fatal to vampires. Kain's body is crashing and I can't do anything.'
Lara took Kain's hand and looked at his eyes. They were as white as Raziel's. 'He doesn't look good.' She yelped as Kain's claws closed on her hand, digging in slightly. 'I wish there was something I could do.'
'I guess just keep him company and pray,' Vorador said, cleaning his hands of the blood. 'I must go. Please, if there is any change, just call my name and I will be here as soon as I can.'
'Ok,' Lara said. She turned her attention back to Kain, who had started to move on the bed again. She knew there was no way she could keep him still. He started to mutter. She didn't understand what he was saying, but she caught one word...
'Lincoln...'
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Raziel crouched against the dome of the observatory, trying to keep himself as inconspicuous as possible whilst looking everywhere. Tonight had not been a good night – Kat and Janos were nowhere to be seen. He sat down on the parapet with a sigh. 'We're getting nowhere,' he declared to the world in general. 'Absolutely nowhere.' He flicked the Reaver into life and began to play with the energy streams. He did this for a while until he heard a noise in the alley just across from the observatory.
Jumping lightly down onto the pavement, Raziel crept closer to the alley. It led up the side of Blackwell's bookstore. As he approached, he thought he saw something move. But by the time he arrived, whatever had been in the alley was gone. 'Damn,' Raziel cursed, using the Reaver as a torch, sweeping the light around the alley. He was about to jump up onto the roof when he realised that the back door was ajar. Strange, he thought, hooking his claws round the door and tugging it open gently. When it was fully open, he stepped into the delivery bay, expecting alarms to go off at any second. But the room remained silent.
Raziel was always tentative about walking down any badly lit corridor – usually it meant something nasty was waiting for him at the other end or things were going to try and eat him on the way down. He skulked down the slope and opened the door at the bottom – nothing. Pushing his way past a heap of boxes, he opened another door. Nothing. Just the Blackwell's store lay before him, in total darkness. The absolute silence made him uneasy too, so he crept through the theology section as silently as a ghost, always wary, always alert.
He got to the main balcony and looked down into the basement, his favourite place. Down there lurked the books of the occult, which he had been searching through in the hope that he might find something about the Hylden book. But tonight, Raziel sensed something odd about the basement, so he vaulted lightly over the balcony and glided noiselessly down to the floor.
One of the bookcases was at an odd angle. Curious, Raziel pulled it away from the wall to reveal a small hole leading into pitch blackness. He clambered through the hole and held the Reaver up to give him light. But even the wraith blade could not penetrate this darkness – it was absolute, surrounding Raziel like a velvet cape. He had no choice but to press on, so he did. As he walked, he heard noises above his head – student noises. 'These must be the tunnels under the observatory!' he said to himself. Rumours abounded about these tunnels – that some mad professor had dug them as a hidey hole should a comet ever fall to earth. But nobody had ever found the entrance – until now.
Raziel kept on walking, convinced that soon he would reach the end of the tunnel. He kept his hand on the wall just in case there was a side turning. But the tunnel kept on resolutely straight, sloping upwards now and again before twisting another way. As he took his next step, he realised too late that there was nothing beneath his foot except thin air. He yelled in shock as he plummeted downwards, not knowing where he would land. He shut his eyes and hoped for the best.
A large crash and a splintering noise, followed by a hefty thump, told Raziel he had landed. But where? He got to his feet and looked around. 'What the?' He was back in Blackwell's! But on the top floor – he had fallen through the roof. Looking up to where he had fallen, he saw a portal spinning in the air. He smiled. Bookshops were rumoured to contain dimension portals – this one clearly did. Perhaps this is to our advantage, Raziel thought, as he made his way back home.
On his way home, however, his mobile phone trilled, hidden in a pocked of his cowl. Fishing it out, he answered it. It was Lara, and she was frantic. 'You've got to come home!' she said, practically in tears. 'Kat... Kat came and she...' Her voice broke. 'S-she...'
'Just calm down,' Raziel said, his level voice belying the fact that he was scared. 'I'll be there soon.' He broke into a run, praying that his feet were fast enough to get home before anything bad happened.
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When Raziel arrived home, it was to find Lara crouched on the floor, shaking. She was covered in blood. 'Lara?' Raziel's voice brought her round to consciousness and she grabbed him into a hug. 'What happened?'
Lara began to speak, her voice quavering. 'K-Kat came and... she took Kain! She's taken him and I don't know where she's gone...' She burst into tears. 'Vorador asked me to look after Kain and I couldn't even do that right!'
'Hush... It's ok,' Raziel said, holding Lara close to him and rocking her soothingly. 'We'll find him. We will find him.' For a moment they just sat together on the floor. 'Did Kain or Kat say anything that may give us a clue to where they have gone?'
Lara sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. 'When...' She coughed. 'When Kain was delirious, he said "Lincoln".'
'As in the city?'
'Possibly,' Lara said. 'Or he could mean Lincoln Books.'
'Where is that?'
'It's down in the town,' Lara said. 'It's just the other side of the park. It looks like it's been closing down forever, mind.'
'So it's the perfect place to hide a vampire or a magic book,' Raziel said. 'Hmm.' He appeared to be thinking. 'It's too close to dawn now to go there. I suggest that we go tomorrow night again.'
'What if Kat kills Kain?' Lara asked.
'Then she will have me to deal with...'
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'Are you quite sure about this, Raziel?' Vorador was not happy. 'He could have just cried the word out unknowingly. And he might mean the city.'
Raziel sighed. 'Look, Vorador, I am not hauling my undead blue ex- vampire ass up to Lincoln when I have another avenue of investigation here. Exhaust all immediate possibilities before travelling further afield. That is one good thing Kain taught me.' He paused at the door. 'Lara, are you sure you don't want to come with me? You were up for it last night.'
Lara shook her head. 'I'd rather stay here. I don't want to get into trouble.'
Raziel ruffled her hair. 'That's my girl. Keep searching for anything that might give us a hint as to where Kain is.' And with that, he was gone.
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Awaken. Awaken. The word kept going round and round in Kain's mind. Awaken... A familiar voice was telling him this. I know that voice, he thought. That's Janos' voice...
'Janos!' Kain yelped and sat bolt upright. A hand instantly drove into the side of his face, knocking him back down to the bench.
A pair of red eyes met his. 'Move again and I will rip you apart.' It was Kat, but she was much changed from the student Kain had briefly met. Her hair was white as chalk and her skin was a pale blue. Fledgling wings protruded from her back – Kain had to fight down a terrible urge to rip them off. Something was telling him that these were Hylden wings.
Kat moved to straddle the old vampire, running her nails down his chest and making him squirm. 'You like that?' she enquired. Kain gritted his teeth in pain as she drove her talons into his flesh. 'Ah, you really like that,' she said, with a laugh.
'Where the hell am I?' Kain demanded, struggling to keep his mind away from the sultry woman currently mauling him. Kat had moved to using her mouth on his chest. He hissed as her tiny fangs nipped at his skin. 'Answer me!'
Kat snarled and leapt off him. In almost the same movement she had him pinned against the ceiling with a red bolt of light. 'I will not tell you anything!' she said. 'You want the book. You want to kill Janos!' She moved away, leaving Kain dangling there. 'You want this, don't you?' She caressed a black box that was covered in red sigils. She made a show of playing with the clasp and it sprang open. 'Oops. Silly me. Janos said I wasn't to show you this...'
Kain's eyes widened. 'The book...' For inside the box, nestled on the black velvet, was the book they had been searching for. It was nothing special – it just resembled a tattered journal. But Kain knew the power in those pages. 'Where...?'
Kat tutted as she locked the box once more. 'That would be telling,' she said, sweetly. With a growl she leapt upwards, using her tiny wings to hover. 'And I will never let you go, because you'd just tell dear little Raziel and his bitch where the book is. So I'm going to kill you before I let you go.'
'Raziel will still find you,' Kain said. He had absolute faith that his lieutenant would burst through the door at any moment and save him. 'He will kill you and he will destroy the book before Janos has a chance to write in it.' Raziel, now is your cue, he thought frantically, as Kat advanced, fangs bared.
'Raziel isn't here to save you this time.' Janos' voice boomed through the chamber. Kat instantly grovelled at his feet as he walked in. With a flick of his hand, Janos snapped Kain's spine. He released the old vampire from Kat's spell and he fell, lifeless, to the ground. Janos knelt down and smirked. 'And with one flick of a wrist, the mighty Kain has fallen. The balance guardian is dead. Long... Live... The... King...'
EEEK!!! What's happening? Had to leave Raziel's encounter with Mr Sykes (the bookstore owner) till the next chapter due to a huge edit. So NEXT time Raziel has an encounter with a scary bookstore owner, Lara has bad news, and Vorador and Janos face off. Till next time....
Here we go...
Disclaimer – see previous chapters. Am still collecting for the 'Buy Raziel' fund (shakes collecting tin). Donations?
Sigh. Let's get on with the story, shall we?
Chapter 4 – Portals.
It had been three days since Kain had drunk Kat's blood and become infected. And he had not improved one bit. He was still partially unconscious, covered in sweat and unable to change to his human form. Occasionally, he would scream something incoherent in a language nobody could understand before falling silent again.
Vorador had taken it upon himself to look after Kain, by way of an apology for putting all of Nosgoth's history on record for all the world to see. Raziel was still variously angry and amused at that, and had gone out and bought the games just to see what all the fuss was about. Needless to say, he was not impressed the first time he saw his Sarafan self in Soul Reaver 2.
'I was much more attractive than that when I was human!' Raziel grumbled, as he watched the cut scene. 'Honestly, Vorador...'
'It's not my fault,' Vorador said. He had a bowl of water in his hands, on his way to soothe Kain's pain. 'I just wrote the story.'
Raziel snorted. 'And they got that wrong too.' Frustrated, he turned off the console and looked at his watch. 'I have a lecture. I'm going.'
'I'll stay and look after Kain alone, shall I?' Vorador said, a little bitterly.
Raziel shrugged on his coat and shouldered his bag. 'You volunteered. Have fun babysitting.' And with that, he left.
As he walked through the town, Raziel did what he always did and started to think. He was very worried about Kain. There were very few things that could kill the old vampire, but somehow Kat's blood had knocked him back, almost to the point of death. Janos was devious, using a human as his vessel, Raziel thought, as he paused at the crossroad just by Blackwells. Crossing the road, he hurried past the huge shop and to the sandwich shop just down from it where he was due to meet Lara. Right on time, Lara came out of the shop and waved, her eyes lighting up as she saw her love hurrying towards her.
'Eek!' Lara squealed as Raziel lifted her off her feet in a massive hug. 'Hey! What's up with you today?'
'Nothing,' Raziel said, grinning. 'So what did my favourite human get me for lunch?'
Lara handed him a paper package. 'Tuna. I know you like it.'
'Yum.' Raziel tore the paper and took a massive bite of the bread. 'Fank oo,' he said, his mouth full.
Lara giggled. 'Silly. We'd better go or we'll be late.'
Hand in hand, they walked to the lecture theatre. As soon as they entered, Kat slunk over to them, her eyes coloured a strange red. 'Well, well,' she said, putting her hands on her hips. 'If it isn't the freaks.'
Raziel snarled. 'Speak for yourself.' He pushed her down to a seat and held her there as she struggled. 'Stop squirming or I'll tear your heart out. What did you do to Kain?'
Kat laughed, once. 'Stupid man couldn't resist my charms. He got what he deserved. I carried out my task. You two don't seem to be carrying out yours very well, do you?'
Raziel's eyes flared with white light as his ire rose. 'Janos has corrupted you,' he said, his nails digging into Kat's shoulder. 'You're his little assassin. What's in it for you, Katrina?'
Kat smiled. 'Immortality,' she said, before throwing Raziel back with such force that he fell over into Lara. 'Janos knows you are here, wraith. And he knows just what you're trying to do. With Kain out of the picture, there is no way you will find the book before we do. Not even with a Hylden half-breed at your disposal.'
'Just where is Janos?' Raziel demanded.
Kat laughed. 'That would be telling, my dear.' And with that, she strutted away.
Raziel did his best to hold his temper throughout the lecture, but Kat kept turning round and blowing him little kisses. Eventually it got too much for him and he excused himself and walked out. When he was outside, he found the nearest wall and gave it a damn good kicking. 'Bitch!' he swore, pounding his hands against the wall until they bled. 'Damn her! And Janos...' He aimed one last kick at the wall, lost his balance and fell over, landing on the grass with a thud. 'Fuck.'
Students started to stream out of the buildings. Lara hurried over to him. 'You ok?'
'As ok as I can be,' Raziel said, with a sigh. 'Why is Janos using her, Lara? There is no reason.'
'What, apart from the fact she's my mortal enemy?' Lara said. She hooked onto Raziel's arm and guided him out into the street. 'You look so stressed. You need to get away from this place for a while.'
Raziel shook his head. 'I can't leave Kain,' he said. 'He needs me now more than ever. Vorador is doing a great job of looking after him but...' He sighed. 'Kain relies on me. And now he is sick...'
Lara hugged him. 'He will recover, in time.'
'I hope so,' Raziel said, darkly. 'But for now, it's just you and me, kid...'
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That night, Kain's condition worsened. Vorador shook his head as he laid his hand on Kain's forehead. 'He's burning,' Vorador said. 'He's as hot as hell.'
Raziel looked down at his sire, concern written all over the portion of his face that was visible above his cowl. 'Keep him as cool as you can,' he said. He moved his arm and the Reaver hummed into life. 'I have some hunting to do.' He vanished with a slight hiss.
'I hate it when he goes spectral,' Lara said. 'He can see us, but we can't see him. It scares me a bit.'
'But it is a great skill to have,' Vorador said, opening the window even more. Kain's breathing was shallow and he was now sweating blood. 'In truth, Lara, I do not know how long Kain can last. He gets worse every day and now...' He gestured to the rivulets of blood pouring from Kain's body. 'I will search for a cure. But Hylden blood is usually fatal to vampires. Kain's body is crashing and I can't do anything.'
Lara took Kain's hand and looked at his eyes. They were as white as Raziel's. 'He doesn't look good.' She yelped as Kain's claws closed on her hand, digging in slightly. 'I wish there was something I could do.'
'I guess just keep him company and pray,' Vorador said, cleaning his hands of the blood. 'I must go. Please, if there is any change, just call my name and I will be here as soon as I can.'
'Ok,' Lara said. She turned her attention back to Kain, who had started to move on the bed again. She knew there was no way she could keep him still. He started to mutter. She didn't understand what he was saying, but she caught one word...
'Lincoln...'
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Raziel crouched against the dome of the observatory, trying to keep himself as inconspicuous as possible whilst looking everywhere. Tonight had not been a good night – Kat and Janos were nowhere to be seen. He sat down on the parapet with a sigh. 'We're getting nowhere,' he declared to the world in general. 'Absolutely nowhere.' He flicked the Reaver into life and began to play with the energy streams. He did this for a while until he heard a noise in the alley just across from the observatory.
Jumping lightly down onto the pavement, Raziel crept closer to the alley. It led up the side of Blackwell's bookstore. As he approached, he thought he saw something move. But by the time he arrived, whatever had been in the alley was gone. 'Damn,' Raziel cursed, using the Reaver as a torch, sweeping the light around the alley. He was about to jump up onto the roof when he realised that the back door was ajar. Strange, he thought, hooking his claws round the door and tugging it open gently. When it was fully open, he stepped into the delivery bay, expecting alarms to go off at any second. But the room remained silent.
Raziel was always tentative about walking down any badly lit corridor – usually it meant something nasty was waiting for him at the other end or things were going to try and eat him on the way down. He skulked down the slope and opened the door at the bottom – nothing. Pushing his way past a heap of boxes, he opened another door. Nothing. Just the Blackwell's store lay before him, in total darkness. The absolute silence made him uneasy too, so he crept through the theology section as silently as a ghost, always wary, always alert.
He got to the main balcony and looked down into the basement, his favourite place. Down there lurked the books of the occult, which he had been searching through in the hope that he might find something about the Hylden book. But tonight, Raziel sensed something odd about the basement, so he vaulted lightly over the balcony and glided noiselessly down to the floor.
One of the bookcases was at an odd angle. Curious, Raziel pulled it away from the wall to reveal a small hole leading into pitch blackness. He clambered through the hole and held the Reaver up to give him light. But even the wraith blade could not penetrate this darkness – it was absolute, surrounding Raziel like a velvet cape. He had no choice but to press on, so he did. As he walked, he heard noises above his head – student noises. 'These must be the tunnels under the observatory!' he said to himself. Rumours abounded about these tunnels – that some mad professor had dug them as a hidey hole should a comet ever fall to earth. But nobody had ever found the entrance – until now.
Raziel kept on walking, convinced that soon he would reach the end of the tunnel. He kept his hand on the wall just in case there was a side turning. But the tunnel kept on resolutely straight, sloping upwards now and again before twisting another way. As he took his next step, he realised too late that there was nothing beneath his foot except thin air. He yelled in shock as he plummeted downwards, not knowing where he would land. He shut his eyes and hoped for the best.
A large crash and a splintering noise, followed by a hefty thump, told Raziel he had landed. But where? He got to his feet and looked around. 'What the?' He was back in Blackwell's! But on the top floor – he had fallen through the roof. Looking up to where he had fallen, he saw a portal spinning in the air. He smiled. Bookshops were rumoured to contain dimension portals – this one clearly did. Perhaps this is to our advantage, Raziel thought, as he made his way back home.
On his way home, however, his mobile phone trilled, hidden in a pocked of his cowl. Fishing it out, he answered it. It was Lara, and she was frantic. 'You've got to come home!' she said, practically in tears. 'Kat... Kat came and she...' Her voice broke. 'S-she...'
'Just calm down,' Raziel said, his level voice belying the fact that he was scared. 'I'll be there soon.' He broke into a run, praying that his feet were fast enough to get home before anything bad happened.
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When Raziel arrived home, it was to find Lara crouched on the floor, shaking. She was covered in blood. 'Lara?' Raziel's voice brought her round to consciousness and she grabbed him into a hug. 'What happened?'
Lara began to speak, her voice quavering. 'K-Kat came and... she took Kain! She's taken him and I don't know where she's gone...' She burst into tears. 'Vorador asked me to look after Kain and I couldn't even do that right!'
'Hush... It's ok,' Raziel said, holding Lara close to him and rocking her soothingly. 'We'll find him. We will find him.' For a moment they just sat together on the floor. 'Did Kain or Kat say anything that may give us a clue to where they have gone?'
Lara sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. 'When...' She coughed. 'When Kain was delirious, he said "Lincoln".'
'As in the city?'
'Possibly,' Lara said. 'Or he could mean Lincoln Books.'
'Where is that?'
'It's down in the town,' Lara said. 'It's just the other side of the park. It looks like it's been closing down forever, mind.'
'So it's the perfect place to hide a vampire or a magic book,' Raziel said. 'Hmm.' He appeared to be thinking. 'It's too close to dawn now to go there. I suggest that we go tomorrow night again.'
'What if Kat kills Kain?' Lara asked.
'Then she will have me to deal with...'
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'Are you quite sure about this, Raziel?' Vorador was not happy. 'He could have just cried the word out unknowingly. And he might mean the city.'
Raziel sighed. 'Look, Vorador, I am not hauling my undead blue ex- vampire ass up to Lincoln when I have another avenue of investigation here. Exhaust all immediate possibilities before travelling further afield. That is one good thing Kain taught me.' He paused at the door. 'Lara, are you sure you don't want to come with me? You were up for it last night.'
Lara shook her head. 'I'd rather stay here. I don't want to get into trouble.'
Raziel ruffled her hair. 'That's my girl. Keep searching for anything that might give us a hint as to where Kain is.' And with that, he was gone.
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Awaken. Awaken. The word kept going round and round in Kain's mind. Awaken... A familiar voice was telling him this. I know that voice, he thought. That's Janos' voice...
'Janos!' Kain yelped and sat bolt upright. A hand instantly drove into the side of his face, knocking him back down to the bench.
A pair of red eyes met his. 'Move again and I will rip you apart.' It was Kat, but she was much changed from the student Kain had briefly met. Her hair was white as chalk and her skin was a pale blue. Fledgling wings protruded from her back – Kain had to fight down a terrible urge to rip them off. Something was telling him that these were Hylden wings.
Kat moved to straddle the old vampire, running her nails down his chest and making him squirm. 'You like that?' she enquired. Kain gritted his teeth in pain as she drove her talons into his flesh. 'Ah, you really like that,' she said, with a laugh.
'Where the hell am I?' Kain demanded, struggling to keep his mind away from the sultry woman currently mauling him. Kat had moved to using her mouth on his chest. He hissed as her tiny fangs nipped at his skin. 'Answer me!'
Kat snarled and leapt off him. In almost the same movement she had him pinned against the ceiling with a red bolt of light. 'I will not tell you anything!' she said. 'You want the book. You want to kill Janos!' She moved away, leaving Kain dangling there. 'You want this, don't you?' She caressed a black box that was covered in red sigils. She made a show of playing with the clasp and it sprang open. 'Oops. Silly me. Janos said I wasn't to show you this...'
Kain's eyes widened. 'The book...' For inside the box, nestled on the black velvet, was the book they had been searching for. It was nothing special – it just resembled a tattered journal. But Kain knew the power in those pages. 'Where...?'
Kat tutted as she locked the box once more. 'That would be telling,' she said, sweetly. With a growl she leapt upwards, using her tiny wings to hover. 'And I will never let you go, because you'd just tell dear little Raziel and his bitch where the book is. So I'm going to kill you before I let you go.'
'Raziel will still find you,' Kain said. He had absolute faith that his lieutenant would burst through the door at any moment and save him. 'He will kill you and he will destroy the book before Janos has a chance to write in it.' Raziel, now is your cue, he thought frantically, as Kat advanced, fangs bared.
'Raziel isn't here to save you this time.' Janos' voice boomed through the chamber. Kat instantly grovelled at his feet as he walked in. With a flick of his hand, Janos snapped Kain's spine. He released the old vampire from Kat's spell and he fell, lifeless, to the ground. Janos knelt down and smirked. 'And with one flick of a wrist, the mighty Kain has fallen. The balance guardian is dead. Long... Live... The... King...'
EEEK!!! What's happening? Had to leave Raziel's encounter with Mr Sykes (the bookstore owner) till the next chapter due to a huge edit. So NEXT time Raziel has an encounter with a scary bookstore owner, Lara has bad news, and Vorador and Janos face off. Till next time....