Chapter Six
Khila sat cross-legged on the throne, with fragments of symbol from the Pillar of Conflict in her lap. She was trying to fit them together again like a jigsaw and was doing quite well whilst Kain stared thoughtfully at the map Jor had pilfered him.
Eventually the sound of the clicking pieces of stone began to annoy him. "Why are you doing that?" he finally asked. It wasn't as if she could stick them back together again.
"Why not." She replied. "I have little else to do. Hmm, I think I'm missing a piece." She peered around her at the pieces on the floor.
Kain went back to the map to learn the route that would gain him entrance to the castle.
Five minutes later – "Kain?"
"Yes, what now?" he looked round again.
"Have you seen a piece that looks like this?" she drew in the air with one claw.
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "No, I have not. Really, Khila, this is not very constructive."
"This is plenty constructive," she pouted, "I am putting it together again; that's construction."
"What I meant was-"
She cut him off with a laugh. "I know what you meant; I was trying to make a joke of it." She pushed the pieces out of her lap and onto the floor before standing up, dusting herself down and padding over to him. "Are you incapable to smiling?"
"No." he turned away. "I've just never found a reason to."
She scooped up another fragment from the floor. I was another symbol piece. She held it out to him. "I think that it is the Nature Pillar. Do you want to try?"
He blinked twice, and then shook his head. "I think you will find that there are far more pressing matters at hand; such as reaching Caucahn."
"If you stare at those maps much longer you shall go cross eyed and you shall look very silly indeed."
He ignored her comments and continued plotting.
"You do realise that there will be a lot of Hylden in the castle...a lot of warriors. Even with your fighting skills you could find yourself overwhelmed." She picked absently at the sleeve of her dress.
"If that is to be the case then I suppose I'll need someone to watch my back. Do you feel like volunteering? You are the only person really I know here and I may require you to help me navigate the castle interior. I could find my own way but it would take more time. I believe I may need you with me."
Khila seemed to freeze briefly. "F-fight? I can't fight! I've never even pretended to hit someone!"
Kain sighed. "I trust, then, that you will be a dedicated student."
"What!? You want to teach me!" she took a few steps backwards. "I-I-I can't!"
"You can and you will."
"But…I…I don't possess a weapon." Any excuse would do.
Kain drew the Soul Reaver and offered it to her hilt first. "That is easily remedied."
She backed away a few more steps. "No…I couldn't…and…and anyway it is not as if I would be the one to wield it later on. There is little point in learning combat with a weapon you will never use again."
He thrust the hilt at her. "Any sword will do for practice so take it." He carefully selected his 'Don't-You-Dare-Argue-With-Me' tone of voice.
It had the desired effect on her and she nervously wrapped her claws around the handle. Unfortunately as soon as Kain let go she dropped out of his line of sight and the tip of the sword hit the ground.
"Agh! It's heavy." Khila complained bitterly as she hefted it.
"It isn't that heavy. For its size it is surprisingly light."
"Hnh, it probably helps if you're built like a brick outhouse." She grunted and gave the Reaver a few experimental swings.
"Just try to get the feel of it." He advised.
She did as she was told and with his directions she practiced some basic moves. It was slow progress and she found it hard to move because of her long dress so eventually she solved the problem by tearing off her dress from just above her knees down and then ripping slits up the sides of what was left. With that done she found the going much easier. Soon the weight of the sword became nothing to her as her arms and hands became accustomed to holding and wielding it and she began to perfect the moves she had been shown.
"You learn fast." Kain said approvingly. "But it isn't just about knowing the moves; you have to be able to put them into practice and use them effectively as well."
"How do you mean?"
He drew himself up and stood tall (it wasn't hard). "Attempt to strike me down."
"Why would I want to do a thing like that?" she leaned on the Reaver as though it was a walking stick.
"It is all well and good slashing at the air but it is far different when it comes to attacking a living person who can move aside."
"But what if I hit you?"
He finally smiled, if only for a moment. "Trust me; you won't."
She was no match for him, of course, but he was impressed at how quickly she learned his dodges and blocks and how she began to experiment with her own improvised moves to try and catch him off guard.
They sparred around the Pillars for at least half an hour, during which time Kain would launch his own counter attacks to force her to learn how to use the sword defensively as well as offensively. At one point he allowed her to back him into a corner to prove to her that there was a way for your opponent to escape from any situation but before he could demonstrate this she swung the blade too hard, he ducked under it and a good quarter of the blade became buried in the wooden wall.
She strained to try to pull it free but found that it was stuck tight. She couldn't even free it by putting both feet flat on the wall and pulling at it with all of her strength.
Kain was quite amused by this and had to stifle a laugh. "You struck it with impressive force." He applauded.
"Ghhnnnn! Damn! Oh yes, when the city is invaded by a horde of vicious trees I am sure that I will be called upon." She gave up trying to pull the Reaver out. "Kain…help."
He wandered over and yanked the Reaver free with little effort.
"Show off." Khila mumbled.
"That aside, I take it that the Wild Lands are somewhat far from the city."
"You are quite right." Khila then sighed. "The city is vast and the Wild Lands are treated in the same way you would treat a different world. all connections to it were severed. Roads were cut through it to link the cities but other than that the Wilds Lands are a complete no-mans-land. No one has been there for years and no one dares even think about it anymore. Not only is it dangerous once within but it is virtually inaccessible to vampires because of the Glyph barriers built to keep the Vetus contained…although they do always seen to find a way in."
"How do you know?"
"Well, there are always new corpses up on display. Hmm…that isn't right…" the last part of what she said seemed to have nothing to do with the first part, she was giving the floor a thorough inspection with her sight and had her head cocked to one side in thought.
"What?" Kain looked to the point on the floor she seemed so interested in. He could see nothing. Just a dusty floor.
"You have two shadows." She told him.
"Hnh?" he looked to his shadow…singular. It was there as it always was and there was definitely only one of it. "I only have one."
"No, you have two. One is you but the other…the other isn't right…it's a rag man. All tatty. It's beside the one that looks like you; just there." She pointed to the floor just to the right of him.
"I cannot see anything."
"Oh…never mind…maybe I'm going strange. Caucahn always says I'm mad. Mad Pet, he says, gone crazy in the head."
"Are you feeling quite alright?"
"What? Yes! I'm fine. So, you really want to kill Caucahn then…"
"Of course."
"Kain, are you so sure that you wish for me to go with you. I'll only slow you down and get in your way."
"I have already explained my reasons to you; you know the castle, you know Caucahn, thus things should be far easier if you are there to help me find him. Think of it this way; the less time we spend within the less chance there is of being discovered."
"I notice that you never use the words 'get caught'."
"Being captured is not an option and will not happen."
She suddenly beamed. "You really are just like the legends say."
For some reason he found this intensely disturbing. In this time if there was anyone who even knew his name they saw him only as a character in a story. Fiction…brought to life by a power he couldn't comprehend. "I'm sure there are things that he tales have omitted. Such things are rarely the complete truth. It all depends on who recorded the events; bias is something that can never be avoided."
"Really? Damn shame. I suppose we should start on our way then."
"Do you have a short attention span?" Kain asked her sincerely as they began their next journey. He was commenting on her forgetfulness and capacity to totally ignore rather major things that happened to her. She adapted to her situations far too quickly for his liking. He felt that something was amiss (but then again, when weren't they?)
"Huh? No, well at least I don't think so. I suppose that I wouldn't notice. Do you think so?"
"Perhaps. You…well…do you remember when I left you to descend to the time streaming device?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Uh, huh." They exited the museum.
"You said something to me then that sounded as though you had the intention of killing yourself, yet you seem to have forgotten."
"Kill myself? Oh…yes…I did didn't I! I guess I was just being dramatic." She giggled. "I'm not suicidal. Wow, I must have the memory of a goldfish not to remember that." with a smile on her lips she awkwardly clambered up to the roof from which they would resume travelling.
Once he had followed her up she pointed out to a thin fog of green light that rose in a line far in the distance.
"Do you see that?"
"How could I miss it?"
"That is the boundary of the city, the green haze is a Glyph barrier that surrounds the entire city. between that barrier and the next cities barrier is the Wild Lands. You can imagine it like the Wild Lands being an ocean and the cities being continents if that helps. Now, do you see that gap in the barrier?"
"Yes?"
"That is where we are headed. It's the Southside Gate and is the closest gate to the pipeline…I think…we may have to, uh, dispose of the guards before we can pass though."
"Simple enough. Leave that to me."
"Oh good, I was hoping you would say that. Alright then, let's go."
From this place Kain could have used bat flight to reach the Southside gate but that would have meant leaving Khila behind and she really did come in handy….it looked like it as foot work from here on in.
As the city passed under them and the boundary grew closer Kain was reminded of the first time that they run the roofs together and what had preceded. He remembered feeding her his own blood (mentally wincing at the memory) and her indicating that she felt different somehow.
You may have acquired some of my Dark Gifts. Isn't that what I told her?
But she hadn't shown any further signs of power, had not professed a sudden ability to transmutate into other forms or use telekinesis. He didn't even know if she could use the Whisper. If he was honest with himself he would have admitted that he had actually forgotten about the Whisper seeing as he rarely used it anymore.
Even through everything Khila had told him he realised that he knew little about her. He knew enough but got the distinct feeling that he was missing something vitally important. Something had been bothering him about her since he had first set eyes on her.
It's probably just because she looks like somewhat like me. He concluded. For all I know she could have originally been descended from my human family and vampirism has made the same changes to her as it has me.
"Is something wrong?" Khila's voice interrupted his train of thoughts.
"What? No, why?"
"Every time I look back you are staring at me." She told him.
He hadn't even noticed. "I was merely thinking. You needn't trouble yourself over what."
"Alright, I won't."
There she goes again. How can she discard things so easily? In the end he supposed that like her ability to fade into the background her time as a pet and a slave had driven her to be able to erase her own thoughts and concentrate solely on her master's commands.
"You think I'm mad too. Don't you?" Khila piped up again.
"What makes you say that? Why should I presume you to be insane?"
"I hear voices…I forget things and don't care…I'm different to everyone else…I'm just all wrong."
"You don't notice and your differences do not stop you functioning as a person so why should I care. It's just the way you happen to be and no-one came blame you for that."
"I do notice sometimes." She said, clearing an alley from above. "I just try not to let it bother me. I don't realise I forget things but sometimes I feel I'm not supposed to be here, like need to be doing something; something important. I feel as though I'm living the wrong life."
"Living the wrong life?"
"That is the only way I can describe it. But I've been that way, well since forever really. Just another of my little quirks I suppose."
The barrier was growing steadily closer and what had once seemed a far green fog was now a solid glowing wall of emerald light.
It seemed, at first, strange to him that the Hylden would continue the use of Glyph magic when the Mass was long since dead…but figured that Glyph magic was merely a readily available and potent source of power that was easier to use than bulky steam engines and other forms of magical energy that was often more volatile.
Right at that moment he would have given anything to return to the vampire citadel which he had been so rudely snatched from.
But after everything he had been through, everything he had accomplished and discovered he knew that there was no way back from this. To do such a thing would require him to first find the creature that had dared to do this to him. The only clue and link he had was the single small gold coin that seemed to have been the centre of the transportation magic, he had no way of knowing who had done this or, more importantly, why. It was most likely that he had been sent here as a means of imprisonment; to keep him away from something.
And what of it? What was the damn point in complaining about it when there was noting he could do?
Yet his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to control them, curled there way back and set there; pondering the futile thoughts. Someone wanted him out of the way, someone with the power to bend time…
Moebius? No, he was dead. So who else could have such ability? The Elder God seemed a likely candidate but it didn't seem his style. He didn't do things so directly…but it was still an option to keep in mind. Any other nominees? He could think of no one save for the other Time guardians who were also exceptionally dead. Was it possible that some other person had been able to tap into their power?
It was at this point that he ran swiftly into Khila, not looking where he was going. She had stopped quite suddenly and he had not noticed in time to prevent himself slamming straight into her.
Both of them produced noises along the lines of "Ouff!" But both managed to keep their balance.
Kain was then able to see the reason behind the abrupt and painful halt.
His thoughts must have been circling for over an hour because they were now just out of sight of the guards of the Southside gate.
"You were in a world of your own." Khila commented, keeping her voice down.
"No, just thinking." Likewise keeping his voice down.
"You do that a lot, I've noticed. Thinking deep thoughts?"
"Nothing really worth the time"
"We're here."
"I can see that, Khila."
From where they were he could make out only three guards of the variety he had slain whilst Khila had still been unconscious.
Good. He thought to himself. He was rather hungry now and was pretty sure he had heard Khila's stomach growling even though she herself wasn't complaining.
He left her where she was and floated down to ground level to ensure he was not heard. Useful trick if you can do it right.
He briefly entertained the idea of sparking off a call out that would have Hylden flocking to this site. A Battle Royale was something he felt he might enjoy.
He shook his head. Now is not the time to indulge in killing spree fantasies. He berated himself to straying off target. Now is the time to get this done and over with.
One of the three guards fell promptly to the ground with his head bent at a disturbing angle due to his now broken neck whilst the remaining two were neatly chocked and pummelled into a state of dazed unconsciousness.
Khila came down and both of them gratefully fed until their blood hunger was sated. The Hylden did not survive the encounter.
Between the two Glyph walls and their generating towers of stone a double gate of wood and iron blocked the road out of the city. Two switches pulled simultaneously on either tower initiated their slow but steady opening.
The road into the Wild Lands greeted them.
Rubbing her claws as always, Khila led the way.
To Kain the Wild Lands were disturbingly familiar but he nurtured a small comfort from the fact that although Nosgoth was still corrupted to its core it had not become any worse than how he had left it before pursuing the edge of his metaphoric coin in the backwash of history.
This was the Nosgoth he remembered; the Wild Lands were the discarded remnants of his collapsed empire.
The wind whistled relentlessly through the bleached stone canyons and echoed like the ethereal cries of Nosgoth herself, screaming out in despair and pleading for release. Shadows twitched and pulsated in every corner and the twisted limbs of long dead trees whipped around the two vampires like reaching fingers.
Khila clutched Kain's arm tightly. "I want to go back." She wailed.
"No, I need you to at least show me the entrance to the pipe way…after that you may return if you so wish."
"What, alone?!" she was practically hugging his arm now. He had attempted numerous times to shrug her off, with general success, but had long since given up due to the fact that she would only latch on again five minutes later. She was like a limpet and a boomerang combined.
"There is no reason to be so afraid; there is nothing here." This was about the fifth time he had said such things to try and get her to shut up and let go.
"There is far more reason to fear what you cannot see than what is in plain sight, especially when you know what should be here and isn't."
"Have you stopped to consider the possibility that these so called 'Wild' vampires may merely be stories to deter people form entering the Wild Lands?"
"The Vetus vampires are real. Whenever one enters the city it is hunted down and killed and then the body is strung up so that everyone can see it."
"Like trophies…"
"I suppose that could be one way of describing them, yes."
"Tell me what you know of the Wild…Vetus vampires."
"I only know what Lord Caucahn and other sovereigns have chosen to tell me so it may not be entirely correct. Well…so far as I've been told there are five types; the strongest are said to be the Morlocks, they have powerful telekinetic abilities. The Ronins are the most commonly seen and possess incredible physical strength, the Alukas can be found in vast bodies of water and have been known never to come onto land like the sharks they resemble whilst the Wallcrawlers ascend to the higher places for they take the form of giant spiders. The weakest of the five are the Skinners; they've not been seen for many years now. Apparently they would attack anyone and anything to not only drain their blood but to also steal their skin…once one of the Skinners was seen attacking a fellow Vetus to take its flesh. There are rumours that there is a sixth Vetus species but no one has ever seen it."
As Khila spoke Kain listened intently and her descriptions of the Vetus species that were known were clear to him. They were the last remaining members of the Clans. The Morlocks were the Turelim, the Ronins had to be the Dumahim, the Alukas; Rahbim, Wallcrawlers; Zephonim and the Skinners were obviously Melchahim, but what of the sixth species; if they truly existed?
"How can you presume that there is a sixth when no-one had seen it?" he asked.
"I have no idea; it is just what I have heard. I don't know anything about the sixth Vetus species, not even a name. It's all rumour."
They came to a fork in the rocky path. Both sides looked the same, both as ominous, foreboding and bleak as the other.
"Now which way?" he waited for an answer.
"I'm not sure…I have only ever been this way once…I think…maybe…left?"
"Why not right?" It wasn't Kain who spoke those words.
Both Kain and Khila span round and looked up to the source of the voice; up on top of the cliff wall there could be seen a figure obscured by thick shadow. All that could be said of the figure was that it was not human and sounded male. "Why not turn back?"
"Who are you?" Kain demanded, his hand rising to the hilt at his right shoulder whilst Khila released his arm and hid behind him.
"I am the hunter and the hunted." The figure said. "I am the last of the forgotten-"
"Spare me such gibberish and answer me plainly; are you friend or foe?"
"Hmm…the terms 'friend' and 'foe' generally designate a creature that you know well. I, however, am neither. I am simply one who is as yet unknown."
"Then show yourself." His voice was little more than a growl and the Reaver was fully drawn.
"Ah…" the figure sighed. "So my senses do not lie. I thought at first it must just have been my imagination, but alas, no; the murderer has returned…and with a little kitten no less."
"The term 'murderer' when used in such a tone can also imply that the owner of the title is known to the accuser." Kain said to use the figure's own phrase to his advantage. "So, how do you know me?"
"There is a flaw in your statement. Are not all vampires murderers to a degree?"
Khila peered over Kain's shoulder. "But you speak as though his crimes are greater. As though they affected you personally." She pointed out.
The figure shifted in his shadow. "You are smarter than you appear, Kitten."
"Who are you, creature?! Kain demanded once again. "I warn you that patience is not one of my virtues."
"Do you have any virtues? And besides, It is not who but what that you should be concerning yourself with. If I was to tell you my name you would still be none the wiser. A name does not always designate identity."
"Then show yourself."
The figure gave a soft laugh. "Impatient as ever." He then said. "As you wish, Kain"
And so the figure jumped down from the cliff and made himself known.
He stood at least six feet tall, perhaps a little taller, and resembled the 'lieutenant' style of vampire Kain was now so used to seeing around. His hands were cloven claws, his mane of hair was scruffy and black and his skin was the pallor of death…but that was where the similarities ended. His top lip was cleft like a cat and from under it protruded four upper fangs, his ears were large and could be moved independently and he wore only a simple brown cloth breechclout to preserve his dignity. But his most distinguishing feature, the features you could not overlook no matter how hard you tried were the two massive, wide wings upon his back that, like his ears, resembled those of a bat, the membrane of which joined down the side of his body and legs all the way to his ankles (apart from where two small slits had been cut into them close to his skin so that the belt could be wrapped around his middle).
Kain couldn't stop himself from gasping as he realised what he was seeing.
The figure was not smiling. "See, murderer, there is more to identity than just names. I am Maddrell; the sole survivor of the Razielim clan."
To be continued……
Well it's great to see that there are people continuing to enjoy whatI do. Big thanksto Varyssa, Lunatic Pandora 1and Smoke for comming back big cheesy grin. I'm very happy that you think I managed to get Kain right. AllNightDreamer;I will try to remember to keep the comments out of the storyline and I'm glad to hear you think Khila is a good OC.Manus Dei, you should be happy to know that Raziel will be mentioned again, but you'll just have to keep reading.
Thank you all and Merry Christmas!
P.S - how often do youthink Ishould I update?