Chapter Ten
Like the manor house of Lorfae, Caucahn's castle was of an older and more familiar style, although was integrated with Hylden art and architecture where it seemed acceptable.
Warm candles burned rather than harsh Glyph powered lights in niches in the walls and they cast their light over polished woods of varying shades and thick pile carpets.
Portraits of noble looking Hylden glared down contemptuously at the two intruding vampires between other paintings and elegant marble busts and statues.
The warmth within the castle was a far cry from the bitter cold of the tunnels and the canyons of the Wild Lands, which Kain wished he had not left…the warmth of the place seemed to be creating a false comfort as if to bring down his guard.
"Have you any idea where Caucahn may be?" Kain asked Khila, trying hard to be quiet and being thankful that the carpets were muffling his heavy footfalls.
"He should only have just arrived back here…he could be anywhere." She replied.
"That isn't the most useful of things you've told me thus far."
"It is quite probable that he has gone to his library. Recently he has developed quite a fondness for books."
"Well, we'll try there first then." At least it's a start.
"It's this way, follow me."
"That was rather my intention."
A smile flitted over Khila's lips before she turned and showed the way.
There was something distinctly worrying about the whole situation. The castle was far too quiet for Kain's liking. It is a strange thing to say but there are different kinds of silence. This one was the kind of carefully created, full silence that might be produced by a conspiracy of some kind…as though it was a deliberate silence.
"Something is not right." he said, stopping Khila by raising his arm in front of her, "I can feel it."
She tilted her head down and listened to the quiet. "You're right, it's like something's missing. Do you think they're expecting us?"
"It feels like a trap."
"Are we going to walk into it?"
"Yes." he said with a firm nod.
"I hope you know what you are doing."
"Just carry on the way you were going, but be a little more careful about it. Just because we are heading for a possible trap it doesn't mean we can get careless."
The castle was a labyrinth of wood and stone, and though it was lavish and extravagant there was no denying the purpose for which it had been originally built; to be an impenetrable fortress during the times of war in ages long since past.
The windows were all coldly practical arrow slits from which archers could take their places and do their part to take down an advancing enemy. Any weaponry on the walls were not just for show; some swords and battle axes, though razor sharp, had dents in their blades as signs of use and Khila could have told him about the murder holes above the castles entrance…yet another grizzly defence. There was no doubt that the castle's use was always in the architect's mind. However, changing fashion had added to it and so had times of peace…so though still practical, it would not be terribly efficient.
Kain kept his senses open to all input, suspicious of every door, shadow and turn.
As they reached a new stretch of corridor he could have sworn he heard a noise not unlike a sharp intake of breath.
Again he had Khila stop and signalled for her silence by raising one claw to his lips, then he waved his hand in a motion that indicated she should remain where she was.
Making less noise than a falling down feather he crept forwards to one overly large bookcase, the shadow cast by which had a rather humanoid shape to it.
After a brief pause he mist dodged around the bookcase to greet the unsuccessful lurker with the Reaver drawn.
Jor screamed as he saw soul stealing death reaching for him.
Kain's hand slammed against Jor's mouth to silence him and with his other hand gestured with the Reaver for Khila to come forward.
"Be quiet." Kain told Jor.
The vampire obeyed, as was expected.
"You know, Kain…" Khila said, "You really shouldn't have surprised him."
"What?" It was then that Kain noticed the unfortunate dark stain spreading across the crotch of Jor's trousers.
Kain couldn't help but pull a face and take a step away after rapidly releasing Jor.
"I have a weak bladder." Jor whimpered to excuse his accident. "Especially when it comes to near death experiences."
"Jor, why are you hiding here?" Khila asked.
"My Lady Lorfae and Lord Caucahn told me to hide if I should see you. She told me to stay out of sight and keep quiet…oh no! I spoke!"
"Keep your voice down." Kain warned. "Now, what is going on here? Caucahn knows that I am coming for him?"
"He has an idea." Jor squeaked. "He knows that you have returned from death and that you have his pet with you, so his first thoughts were that you would come for him."
"So he is expecting me."
"Yes, he…he had a feeling you would come tonight or tomorrow; he knows that you came to my Lady's home and that you ventured into the Wild Lands…it did not take my Lord long to come to the conclusion that his pet would suggest to you the use of the pipe lines, that she witnessed being sealed some fifty or so years ago, to reach him. That is why he ordered the door to the pool room be unlocked."
"I knew it shouldn't have been this easy." Khila sighed.
"So, Jor," Kain continued, "tell me where Caucahn is and what he has planned."
"He…I…I…I won't say!" Jor wailed almost mournfully.
"Yes you will." Kain told him, letting the wickedly sharp tip of the Reaver blade hover uncomfortably close to the poor pet's eyes. "Unless, of course, you wish to learn how to cope with only four senses." He didn't like to threaten a pet vampire, especially now he knew that they were clones of people he may have known, but it seemed the only way to get things done.
"He's in the library waiting with guards to ambush you because he thought his pet would take you there! I value my sight, please take that point away!"
"Damn it man, be quiet." Kain growled and did as requested.
"I'm so sorry." Jor whispered, although his quiet voice was still shrill with fear.
"You were right about the trap, then." Khila commented. "He knew we would do this…I suppose it doesn't take a genius to work it out."
"Hnh…alright, let's keep going as before. Oh, and Jor?" Kain said.
"Yes?" Jor replied.
"You will be accompanying us."
"Eh!" Jor's eyes managed to widen even further than they already had.
Another rare and almost disturbing smile manifested itself on Kain's face. "Come now, what is there to be afraid of?"
"You." Jor said as Khila patted his shoulder and took point again. "I am going to die…"
"Do stop being so fatalistic." Khila told him. "It's depressing.
"It suits my mood, leave me alone."
Door after door opened silently before them, leading further into the depths of the castle. Just like the tunnels, these brightly lit corridors seemed to almost be inviting them forwards.
Kain kept the Reaver drawn so that if Jor looked ready to complain he could thrust it menacingly in his direction.
"This is bullying." Jor grumbled.
"No," Kain replied, "I prefer to think of it as attitude adjusting."
After the passing of additional fruitless minutes Khila showed Kain and Jor through a large room, with an upper glallery accessible via a winding metal staircase. The room appeared to be dedicated to past events.
The walls were adorned with tapestries and paintings depicting scenes of war with Hylden warriors dominating the battlefields. The ceiling was a fresco of triumphant Hylden figures standing over defeated ancients and more familiar vampires alike and the floor…the floor was one huge mosaic showing the Hylden's full conquest of Nosgoth at the centre of which was an image of Kain himself being put to death by the Reaver.
"After I have killed Caucahn," Kain began as he paused at the bottom of the stairs as Jor and Khila made their way up, "The first thing I am going to do is personally demolish this room, starting with that floor."
"I'll help." Khila said brightly.
A sound then caught Kain's undivided attention…an electric buzzing noise mixed with a faint humming.
Before he could locate the source an arrow struck his back, the tip buried itself deep in his flesh and a boiling surge of sharp paralysing pain exploded through his body. The Reaver slipped from his twitching claws and he fell to the ground as his knees buckled underneath him.
"Kain!" Khila yelled out and was about to run back down the stairs when Jor grabbed her tight around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides and bearing her to the floor of the gallery.
"I'm sorry!" he screeched at her. "I'm so sorry! I had no choice…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he then clamped a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.
Khila struggled and kicked but Jor held on regardless.
Back down the stairs, Kain lay sprawled on the floor in agony. The arrow in his back was ten times worse than Moebius' staff…he tried to reach behind him to pull the arrow out but his hand and arm were shaking too hard to be of any use to him.
From a side door that had been hidden by shadow, Lorfae emerged with a longbow in her hands.
"Easier than I could ever have dreamed." She said as she came towards the prone vampire lord. "How amusing; you'll die on a floor depicting your death." she barked out a grating high pitched chuckle.
Like her manor house, Lorfae's clothes emulated older fashions. Her rich dark blue velvet dress fell to her ankles and had a basque that could create a descent bust on even the flattest of chests. Jewellery, however, did not appear to be something she was fond of except for a heavy silver and emerald amulet around her neck that glowed slightly.
She stepped over Kain's reaching hand, dropped her bow and took up the Soul Reaver he had been trying to grasp. "Now, tell me this, vampire; how in the name of the exile are you here and how can you have this sword when I know that Caucahn also has it with him right this very second. Did you use a time device? Tell me, vampire."
Kain's teeth clamped together against the pain while his face contorted into one of his many expressions of rage.
"Tell me." Lorfae repeated. "Are you deaf?"
Again, Kain said nothing.
"Fool." She said disdainfully. "This time, just to make sure that you stay dead, I'll suggest to Caucahn to have your head and body separately cremated and then the ashes scattered across the sea. That should keep you where you belong."
She paced to the bottom of the stairs and back again. "Well, Jor, it seems you have a use after all."
Traitor. The word burned coldly in Kain's mind. "Traitor!"
On the balcony, Jor heard the strained cry. "Why say that, what did I do? I did what was right…."
Khila, who was still wriggling in his arms bit down hard on the flesh between Jor's claws until he let go of her.
"How could you!" she screamed, wheeling around to face him. "You knew!"
"I had no choice; it was do this or die!"
"You let us walk straight into her…you didn't say a word!"
"I know! I'm sorry…but you never asked me to say…"
"Do you know what you've done! Do you realise what is going to happen now! Kain is going to be killed unless a miracle happens and Caucahn will take me back! I can't go back, I wont! Damn you, I'd rather die than be a toy for his games again! I won't have that sick freak near me again, do you hear?"
"No, no, no…Lorfae said that she would let you go, she said that all I had to do was make sure that Kain came here and she would allow you safe passage into the Wild Lands."
"And you believed her!"
"She is my owner, my Lady, I have to."
"How could you trade in Kain's life!"
"Lorfae told me to!" he clamped his hands over his ears.
Khila scrambled to the edge of the gallery and peered between the bars of the edge barrier.
Lorfae seemed to be thinking, looking thoughtfully at the Soul Reaver she held in her hands. "What shall be done with this?" she asked herself out loud.
"Gi-ive….I-I-It-tt…back-k-k-k." Kain growled through his firmly clenched teeth.
"I think not." Lorfae knelt beside him, took hold of the arrow shaft and started twisting it.
A new shock of pain ran over his nerves. He had to do something…anything!
On the gallery the arguments continued.
"Jor, I'll never forgive you for this, even after death you will hear me screaming 'Traitor' for the rest of your rotten life." Khila growled.
Jor now had his arms wrapped around his chest as though to comfort himself. "I've only done what she told me to do; it is my duty to serve her…" His eyes suddenly looked pleading as he stared straight into Khila's "When I was chosen and made I was told 'Serve and your life shall have meaning.' So that is what I do. She told me to do it so I did…that's right, isn't it?"
"Do you really have to ask? Jor, they told me the same thing but I've questioned every single second of my life."
"I'm sorry, Khila."
"…you've never called me by my name before...Jor?"
"I'm a fool and a traitor and I know it. I couldn't stop myself…but I wanted to, more than anything in the world. She told me to find you…but I tried to hide when I saw you coming, tried to pretend that I couldn't find you. But you found me and I was too stupid to say anything."
Khila resisted the sudden urge to hit him and instead looked on…after all, Jor was only a pet…servitude was all he had ever known; the poor creature was incapable of making his own decisions.
Lorfae was beginning to enjoy herself far too much.
"We shall have so much fun." Lorfae said as she continued to twist the arrow.
"No…we…shan't!" and with those defiant words spat out in a grunt of anguish Kain pulled himself sharply away from her.
Her hand was tight to the arrow shaft and as he yanked himself away she inadvertently jerked the arrow free.
"Noooo!" Lorfae screeched in fury as Kain rose to his feet.
He lunged for the Reaver but she was prepared for such a move and struck out with the blade.
He had no choice but to dodge.
Relatively safe again he hit her hard with a telekinetic shot. It knocked her off balance and he attacked…however she brought the Reaver into play again.
He repeated his method and every time he managed to get a little closer to her. Unfortunately, just as he was getting the hang of things Lorfae got the hang of the Reaver…and worked out how to channel her own slight magical ability through the Reaver.
The blast from the Reaver hurled Kain across the floor; he rolled and came to a halt when he slammed into the wall. As he climbed back to his feet again, he managed to mist-dodge the next attack and start trying to get close enough to Lorfae to commence his own attacks again. But using telekinetic bolts just wasn't helping anymore. As well as this, Lorfae had protection from his Dark Gifts; they were cancelled out by the amulet she wore…yet another Glyph based vampire-control method the Hylden had created. The only reason his telekinesis worked was because she still felt some of its impact, just not its full force and power.
Jor watched and winced in sympathy as Kain was hit yet again. "He'll never get close enough to do any damage whilst she can use the Reaver."
"Really? I hadn't thought of that." she said and then punched him neatly in the small of his back. "If you cannot say anything useful, do not say anything at all."
He yelped in pain but soon learned the value of silence.
They continued to watch.
"We must do something!" Khila exclaimed. "He's going to be killed!"
"Oh I reckon he's used to it. He has died two or three times already." He was rewarded with another punch for his statement.
"Stop being so childish! This is deadly serious…maybe we could catch her attention in someway; provide a distraction that would allow Kain a chance to reach her."
"We wouldn't last five seconds, Khila. Oh, why did he have to come up with such a stupid idea?"
Khila grabbed his shirt front and pulled him forwards until their noses were nearly touching. "You snivelling coward, this is your fault so don't you dare try to pass the blame!"
"Be that as it may it was still his decision to come to the castle. It was he who came up with this suicidal scheme and thus if he hadn't thought of it I would have nothing to be a traitor for."
"You bastard!"
"But a truthful bastard. I tried to stay hidden from you but you had to go and find me…and you had to make me go with you…it isn't all my fault."
Khila turned away from him and snuggled up against the barrier, watching the rather one sided fight.
"We just need to prevent her from using it…just for a moment."
Jor peered over the rail beside her with his claws curled over the bar and little more than his eyes showing above them.
Kain was holding his ground surprisingly well but it could not stay that way forever.
Something had to be done.
Now.
"Aright." Jor said. He knew what to do. "I have an idea."
"Well there is a first time for everything."
"I thought that this wasn't the time for jokes."
"You're right, I'm sorry. So, what did you have in mind?"
He stood up. "First we need to get off this balcony and down to the floor, after that you just do as I say and don't question me."
"That sounds very stupid coming from you, traitor."
"Just trust me, Khila." He looked to the walls and then selected a wide bladed knife from a collection there. He then handed it out to her.
"What is this for?"
"Take it."
She did, though somewhat grudgingly and then together they ran towards and down the stairs where they watched the fight progress from the shadows of the stairwell…if 'progress' was the right word for the mess that the battle was becoming. Kain was growing weaker and tiring whilst Lorfae needed to expend little energy to keep him at bay with the stolen Soul Reaver's unique abilities and her amulets protection.
Jor placed one hand on Khila's shoulder. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what? You still haven't told me your plan." she reminded him sharply.
"I know…right…good, now, when the right moment comes all you have to do is run over and kill Lorfae. Just stab her in the heart; that should do the trick."
"What do you mean when you say 'the right moment'? I do not like the sound of that sentence."
"I thought you promised not to question me."
"I said nothing of the sort; you just assumed that I agreed."
"Well that's settled then. You'll know the moment when it arises." He patted her shoulder. "You stay here and I'll disable the Soul Reaver." And with that he began to creep away. "I'm going to make it up to you."
Khila waited and hoped that he knew what he was doing.
She was not prepared for what happened next.
Jor came sprinting out of nowhere towards his owner. She struck out with one hand to knock him aside and still keep the Reaver in play with Kain but found that Jor ducked under her half hearted swipe and somehow got in front of her. He lunged forwards as if to grab her and just as he had expected she raised the Reaver to defend herself.
Just what he wanted.
Instead of grabbing the Hylden he grabbed the blade of the Reaver, pulled it so that it faced him and took a sharp step forwards, forcing it through his own stomach.
As it slid through his body he let out an ear piercing scream and then instantly felt his entire body begin to numb as his soul was leeched away. All the while the Reaver was occupied with devouring his life force it could not be used as a weapon, especially since Jor gripped Lorfae's hands with both claws around the hilt to prevent her from withdrawing it.
With his energy hungrily being drawn out of him he locked eyes with his former owner. "Born…a worker…" he began, every syllable a gasp of agony. "Re-born…a…pet…but…I…I'll die…a free…vampire." He struggled with the last few words and tears began to roll freely down his cheeks.
He didn't want to die…but knew it was the only way to make up for his treachery, the only way to prove to Kain and Khila how truly sorry he was. In a small way, it was comforting for him to know that he had finally done something of his own free will and not cared for the consequences of his actions.
Khila screamed as she saw him turn the blade against himself. For a moment her whole body and mind seemed to freeze up and then she remembered the cold steel she held in her hand and the purpose it had…
What occurred next, in truth, took only a few short moments but it felt as though it spanned an eternity.
A cold red wave seemed to wash over Khila's vision and envelope her heart, something changed in her eyes, as though something had just been released deep inside her soul; something old, something wild.
The bloodlust rose within her and empowered her with a strength she had never experienced before and as the new rage wrapped itself like unbreakable chains around her thoughts she charged towards Lorfae; her target, her prey.
Lorfae saw her running, saw the bloodlust in her eyes and was paralyzed with ice cold fear. Khila charged straight into her, bearing her to the ground and as she did so Jor released the Hylden's hands and fell aside, blade and all.
With Lorfae now helpless, Khila showed no mercy; she plunged her knife repeatedly into the Hylden's chest and slashed at her flesh until her torso was little more than a shredded mass made of ribbons of clothes and skin, blood and lacerated muscle.
Lorfae screamed out with blood bubbling in her mouth but Khila was not yet finished with her. Next, the lust struck vampire took a tight hold of Lorfae's head and began to smash her skull against the mosaic floor until the tiny tiles shattered and blood began to seep from her victims ears.
Lorfae was still alive, barely; her mouth opened and closed, blood escaped her throat rather than sounds and her whole body was twitching but Khila still wasn't finished. She let out a long loud hiss like an enraged cat, bared her fangs and then bit down hard on the Hylden's windpipe. She jerked her head back, tearing her throat out and spitting away the grizzly section of trachea she had so violently removed. As a final insult she fed on the body in the last few seconds before death.
Kain watched Lorfae's demised with horrified fascination. He had never expected Khila to be capable of such things, she had always been so calm, naïve, almost slightly helpless and the kind of woman you felt obligated to protect. But now…now his female re-incarnation was lost in her lust and as sadistic as a madman. Even though the Hylden female was obviously now dead Khila took up the knife once more and stabbed the corpse over and over again whilst laughing like a little girl.
He took cautious, quiet steps towards her, knelt by her side and snatched the knife from her hand as she raised it again. As she felt it slip from her grasp she wheeled around and slashed at him with her claws. He did not attempt to stop her.
The resulting claw marks on his face took a few seconds to heal. Some sanity seemed to return to her as she realised what she had just done. She looked down at her now bloodstained claws and then up at Kain with an almost mystified expression, as though she didn't quite understand what had occurred. But that didn't occupy her thoughts for long, for then she realised that although she didn't exactly know what had just happened, she did remember why it had happened.
She scrabbled on the ground to stand and then dropped down again when she saw Jor barely a meter away; lying curled, motionless on the floor in a foetal position around the sword that pierced his body. There were still tears on his skin even though he was dead.
Khila covered her face with her claws, regardless of the blood and gore, whilst Kain gently rolled Jor over and reclaimed the Soul Reaver.
"Why did he do it?" he heard Khila whisper.
"I cannot answer that." he replied. Only Jor had possessed that knowledge and now it was too late to ask.
Khila's claws lowered and she clasped them in her lap. "He was always so…so…so obedient. He never said a word against Lorfae no matter what she did to him. In fact, he hardly said anything at all from what I know of him. I know I haven't known him very long at all but…he seemed like a child; he always seemed so lost."
"Perhaps he finally found his way." Jor may have been a traitor…but had made amends, and right now Khila didn't need things made worse by bringing the bad points up.
"You make it sound so poetic," she said, "but there is nothing beautiful about this. He's dead. He killed himself just so we could have a chance at reaching Lorfae. It isn't right, it isn't fair, he could have just walked away; I could see that he wanted to…oh no…no, no, no, no…he did it because of what I said!" she punched the floor and more tiles cracked. "He did it because I called him a coward…" she sniffed.
"There is no point in crying," Kain adjusted his half cloak and began to walk away, "neither is there time." he didn't have the patience for comfort.
"How can you be so cold!" she shouted after him.
He made his way up the stairs and paused at the only door on that upper floor, the one they had originally been heading to. "When you have lived as long as I, when you have buried countless good men, friends and family; you'll learn to stop caring, and if you can't…the weight of it all will crush you." He kicked the door open and allowed it to swing closed behind him as he passed though.
After an uncomfortably long silence with only the sound of his own clicking claws on the floor he heard the door open again and then the lighter clicking of Khila's smaller claws as she followed him.
He didn't have time to feel sorry for her, didn't have time to spare a thought for Jor who had thrown himself upon the Reaver blade to aid them and almost as a punishment for his treachery.
He hated himself for being able to discard his emotions so effortlessly, but would never admit it.
"Our best chance is to still head for the library…you don't have to come if you don't want to; you have already done enough, just tell me the way."
"No. I'm coming. You'll get lost without me." She said, passing in front of him.
"Are you sure you will be alright?"
"Yes, so long as you give me the chance to pay Caucahn back for all he's done.."
Kain smiled and nodded. "As long as you need, Khila."
To be continued……
Author's Note – Sheesh, thiswas another longonelong...maybeI should cut the length down.Well how's this then? I tried to make a complete break from the rampant silliness of the Refuge…well except that bit with Jor near the start. Why did I do that? Anyway. Hahaha, Khila go crazy! Had to happen. And out goes another two OC's. Hmm…someone suggested via e-mail that I could do a fic that documented Maddrell's time out of Nosgoth. What do you think? But it would be all OC except the very beginning…bear that in mind.
Now for the usual -
Darkmaster2 – Thank you for reviewing again. It's great to see people coming back.
J martinz – Again, thanks. It's nice to know I'm getting something right.
Nightmare Man – I'm afraid that I never left space for EG in the plot. If I added him in it would all get a million times more complex and the 'big exposition' I'm working on now is already a bit hard to understand. He did get a mention as 'The Deep' to prove I hadn't forgotten about him completely but my excuse is that in the Hylden dominated Nosgoth he doesn't have much influence anymore. Maybe I can do a bonus chapter with him in or something like I'm doing for Varyssa.
Biohazard – Yeah, I'm happy he's out of the way too. He's kina hard to write as he's got two sides to him; the protective warrior side and the complete and utter twat side. There you go; mindless violence. Happy?
Varyssa – Glad you liked it…it just came to me. Anyway. I've started attempting some pieces for this romance chapter I promised you but I'm not happy with any at the moment. I'll get there in the end but it may take time and won't be posted 'till the story is over.
Smoke – I usually never write anything unless it has links to plot or back history. I'm a bit pedantic when it comes to that, though I do sometimes forget I've done things spur-of-the-moment 'coz they sounded good at the time. Kain didn't forget the Light spell…I just forgot to mention so. He couldn't use it because the pipeline is connected to others that lead to other openings. People would get highly suspicious if bright light suddenly poured out of an abandoned tunnel. Oh, the Skeleton…you'll just have to wait…but I really don't think that it's what you're thinking of.
gryps incedio – Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope to cut out the childishness out at some point. I never planned it…it just kinda happened.
Manus Dei – Hehehe, that's what I was planning. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought 'Darth Vader' when I saw that cut scene.