Chapter Eleven
"Caucahn will most likely still be waiting for us. I get the feeling that he wouldn't have expected Lorfae to succeed if her whole plan rested on that one arrow." Khila said as they passed through more corridors and halls.
The pictures and statues were really beginning to get on Kain's nerves. He felt like breaking something on general principals. "How far is it to the library?"
"Not far now; we just go up the next set of stairs, along the corridor after then through the private museum and it's along the hall just after."
"Splendid."
"Sarcasm?"
"Just a little, yes."
"It feels so wrong…"
"What, my being sarcastic?"
"No, not that. Nothing to do with that. I meant Jor; just leaving him all curled up on the floor like that, covered in his own blood and still with his muzzle on…it isn't right."
"I'm not going to stop to bury him, there is too much happening now."
"Still feels wrong…"
"After this is done with we'll do things properly for him, does that make you happy?"
Khila looked over her shoulder at him. "So you can care."
"When it suits me."
"I need to thank you for so much but I don't know how." She said sincerely. "You freed me, kept me safe, comforted me, put up with me and my crazy self…I don't know how to pay you back…I owe you my life and more."
Kain considered what she was saying. "All I want from you is a promise that no matter what happens you will keep yourself alive. Jor…Jor did what he did as a penance for his betrayal. He righted his own wrong, but you have no need to do that. Don't die on me." If you're anything like I am it will take one hell of a lot to finish you off but still…we've lived in different worlds…
"I think I can do that," she told him, "but don't expect me to be brave; it doesn't come naturally to a slave."
Not brave…Khila, don't make me laugh…anyone else could have had a nervous breakdown because of what you've been through. "I know you'll do what you can and that is enough."
That brought another smile to Khila. Kain couldn't help but wonder if, before they met, she had ever had the opportunity to smile at all.
More bloody stairs…
They had to be near the roof just because of the amount of stairs they had wound their way up…
Another door…where does this one go? He thought to himself as Khila leaned an ear against it to check for movement beyond.
She seemed satisfied that it was empty but was still very cautious as she slowly swung it open. She realised that Kain seemed to have noticed the change in her attitude towards moving onwards. She had never checked the doors before now.
"We are close to the library now…so he may be people around." She told him. "And sometimes there are people in this room besides Caucahn."
The open door revealed Caucahn's private collection, the contents of which had once filled much of the Pillars museum.
A lot of it was yet more statues and portraits of Hylden but there were things that Kain was able to recognise.
There were stones and wall sculptures that were once apart of the old Hylden city…fragments of the catacombs that had one surrounded the Device...even a piece of the Mass itself, preserved in a tank of formaldehyde.
The huge room was stuffed full of items and other grizzly relics…among the other pickled exhibitions were the children of Kain's sons…the fathers of the Vetus vampires…
"This is…there is no word for this…" he passed by each tank, disgusted and shaking his head as each wrinkled, colourless corpse came into his vision.
"I know." Khila said. "You recognise them?"
"Yes…but I wish I didn't…"
He wanted to just pass this room…he wanted Khila to lead him out of it with his eyes closed. He couldn't bear to see all of these stolen portions of memory…little pieces of past on display. They were kept here as trophies…vampire corpses…so much just left in this room to be looked at…not so much as in preservation of past events, but almost as though to mock it. He had the same feeling for that sickening museum room that Khila had for leaving the body of Jor behind.
Along with the flesh exhibits there were other things he knew, things that tugged at his emotions and evoked feelings of sorrow uncommon to him…he recognised stained glass from the Ruined City that Dumah had taken as his own…a gargoyle from the Drowned Abbey…a gates and metalwork from the Necropolis…a bell from the Silenced Cathedral…an example of every symbol emblazoned flag from the Sanctuary of the Clans…the golden cauldron from deep within the Oracles Caves before the mountain had been levelled…cogs from the giant clockwork mechanism that had also been there…a collection of spears from different clan areas…human vampire hunter crossbows and flame throwers…examples of clothing, both vampire and human…and there…in the centre of the hall…
Kain gazed at the central exhibit, a prized possession, locked in its glass case with a small copper plaque stating – 'The Skeleton of the Abomination'.
He gasped. "They…kept me."
Could it be? His own bones? The skull…so recognisable…
"But why?..."
"I don't know." Khila said, standing beside him. "But Caucahn was very pleased when he found that his bid for it had been accepted."
"Bid?..."
"Yes, nearly every Hylden wanted to own this piece…you…I guess that you hold more significance to them that they let on."
"They auctioned me?"
"Yes."
"I can't believe this…" he said as he stared, mesmerised, into his own empty eye sockets. The skull still seemed to carry his perpetual frown.
His hand, almost subconsciously, reached out and touched the class with a click as his claws connected. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, firstly, because you didn't ask and secondly, because it didn't seem important…but you knew all along, didn't you? I saw you staring hard at that paper in the attic space of the old museum."
"I had a feeling, but I never really thought that it would be like this…"
He looked down at the second item within the glass case; a card on which was an image of himself before his execution…a somewhat edited picture.
Though the small painting was undeniably him it was a version of 'him' that he was unfamiliar with. They had taken the vampiric side of him and given it a visual twist, emphasising it. He was depicted in his present state of evolution but they had made him appear slimmer, with a thinner face and a mass of scarring on his chest. His clothes were torn and ripped in a dozen places and his chin, neck and chest were stained with old blood while his blood matted hair whipped in the painted wind. His eyes seemed to burn with a primal, animal bloodlust that was far from the truth. The creature they depicted was nothing more than a monster, ruled by its desires and with barely a shred of comprehension of the world around him. He was depicted standing over human, Hylden and vampire victims, as though his rage was uncontrollable and permanent, as though he had no distinction between friend and foe…mindless…desperate…
"That is not me…that was never me…" he sounded as though he was trying to reassure himself. Was this truly how he appeared to others? A wild animal? No, that couldn't be right…Yes, there were times when his lust got the better of him and he couldn't deny that there were times that the suffering of others brought him thrills but he was no animal…surely… "That can't be right…"
Behind him Khila picked up what appeared to be a decorated stone of Hylden origin, she tested its weight by tossing it in the air a couple of times, aimed it and then threw hard it at the lower right corner of the glass case.
The entire case shattered with an almighty crash, leaving only the metal frame and contents in tact.
Kain lowered his arm which he had raised to protect his eyes from falling shards while he took a dash backwards.
"What was the meaning of that!" he exclaimed.
She then crossed over, claws crunching the glass underfoot and snatched the small painting up out of a pile of glass. She tore it into quarters and then held it out in her open hand. "Rubbish." She said and then closed her fist around it. "Not a shred of truth in a single brush stroke." She opened her hand and it fell to the floor.
"Smashing the case wasn't such a bright idea, Khila. People will probably have heard."
"Oh…sorry…I wasn't thinking…"
"Not to worry." He assured her, and gave his skeleton a final glance…the skull drawing his eye. "It's time we carried on."
After the quiet emptiness of the rest of the castle the next hall after the private collection came as one hell of a surprise to both of them.
There was a small army of blade arm Hylden warriors waiting for them as they stepped through the doors into the wood panelled meeting hall.
As the door clicked closed behind them the Hylden all flexed into fighting stances; ready for the attack.
Beside him, Kain heard Khila gasp. "Caucahn!"
At the very back of the great hall was the elusive Hylden himself, the ruler of the city and Khila's former owner. He stood at just above average height, dressed in a suit of polished armour and was flanked by his four best guards. The five of them all wore the same anti-Dark Gift amulets that Lorfae had had. In Caucahn's hands was the infamous weapon of the ages; the Soul Reaver.
With lips skinned back from bony chisel teeth Caucahn spoke. "Kain, I presume?"
"Correct." Kain called back over the heads of the warriors.
"Have you come to return my property? You seem to be in possession of my pet."
"No, I am in possession of no pets. I have, however, acquired a companion if Khila is whom you refer to."
"I do not care how you decide to address it, that pet belongs to me. Bought and paid for." Somehow Caucahn's lipless mouth managed a sick, twisted smile. "Although why I am conversing with Vetus filth such as you I don't know."
Caucahn clicked his skeletal fingers and the Hylden warriors prepared to make their attack
Kain heard the door behind him being bolted from the other side…and it was only them that he realised that they were indeed on the top floor of the castle. For a moment he scolded himself for allowing such a pointless commentary to pass through his thoughts but then realised why he knew that seemingly useless fact.
This room had a stained glass roof though which could be seen the great silver disc that was the nights moon.
"Khila," He said quietly, "I need you to scream for me."
"Why?"
He nodded to the ceiling. "Do you think you can reach that pitch?"
"I will try my hardest." She promised and drew in a lungful of air while Kain did his best with his claws to protect his hearing.
The scream rang out as true and as strong as the one in the canyon but this time with a little added force behind it; the force of true purpose.
As soon as it began a useful effect was achieved, the same pain that had blazed through Kain and Maddrell was now assaulting the eardrums and every Hylden present.
But unlike before; it did not stop there…the pitch began to grow higher as Khila doubled over with the strain.
Cracks began to slither across the glass as the Hylden squirmed and then, with an echoing smashing that seemed to last an eternity, the entire glass centre of the ceiling shattered.
Khila gratefully stopped screaming as Kain grabbed her middle and pulled her out of the way of the falling razor sharp shard.
The Hylden, however, were now so fortunate as to have someone to drag them to safety. The broken glass rained down like serrated bullets and sharpened blades, lacerating skin and burying deep into Hylden flesh. They hollered and screeched in disorientation, distress and pain as they tried to hold their wounds together. Slit arteries spewed out blood at a shocking rate across the floor, making it slick enough in places to cause Khila's careless victims to fall back on the shard scattered varnished wood causing yet more glass to be driven into their backs.
Moonlight glinted uncaringly on blood-spattered glass while pleas and screams echoed into the cold night.
Caucahn, unfortunately, had been out of harms reach as he had backed up against the far wall along with his bodyguards.
"Do you think that will be enough!" he roared and then snapped out an order to his wounded fellows. Those who were not bleeding to death or hadn't had vital tendons slit were doing their best to clear the floor.
Kain sniffed disapprovingly and began a short nonchalant walk to the centre of the hall after whispering "Stay here." to Khila.
He strolled into the very centre, kicking glass aside and then waiting with his arms folded across his broad chest…a contented, knowing, smile washing over him. Smiles made by Kain were generally things to watch out for.
With a single hand gesture Caucahn had his able guards surround Kain.
Yet…Kain did nothing…that was something else to watch out for…
"What are you playing at, Kain?" Caucahn called.
"My game." Kain called back. "My game with my rules and my rules say that I win."
"Win! Pah! How, when you are surrounded and when I have countless more loyal warriors waiting to rush here, ready to die protecting Nosgoth from filthy cancers such as you."
"Any fool can die for a cause, Hylden. It is only those with the will to succeed and survive at all costs who matter." He tilted his head back and turned his eyes to the glinting diamond stars past the shattered glass. He seemed satisfied. "I think this will qualify as outside, don't you?"
In one swift motion he unfolded his arms and raised his claws to the sky. An aura of pale blue light flickered into life around them and the sky suddenly became filled with dark cloud and thunder. A cold blast of electric energy flared invisibly from deep within him and then without a second's warning spears of lightning erupted out and shot down around him from the clouds high above. Every Hylden under the shattered roof was struck and the lightning burned, scorched and disintegrated all that it touched.
As the Hylden again tried in vain to run, Kain could be heard at the centre of it all laughing the legend - "He shall come when the moon is full and learn to call death from the sky!"
The barrage of lightning strikes ended, leaving the floor littered with smouldering corpses and the hall smothered in the thick stench of burnt flesh and boiled blood.
The only survivors were Caucahn, his four flanking guards, Kain and Khila.
"And how many times can you do that? How long can you keep it up?" Caucahn asked. "You will run out of magic eventually and all I have to do is stay sheltered to avoid it."
"Where are these other suicidal guards that you promised me, Hylden?" Kain sounded almost disappointed.
"They will be here as soon as they are called!" Unlike Kain, Caucahn sounded as though he had not planned for this in the slightest and didn't have anything even resembling patience within him. "Go!"
With that single word the four personal guards sprang into action.
Slowly Kain drew the Soul Reaver, waiting for the first move. The keen blade hummed in anticipation of the souls it lounged to consume.
The fight began almost instantly with Kain matching all four Hylden move for move and blow for blow. The Soul Reaver would cut though and break their defences only for Kain to find that they could still manage to dodge the killing strike. Kain's talents with his mist form were tested to his limits as the warriors began to learn the patterns of his attacks and aversions.
There was o point in even contemplating employing the full capacity of his extensive range of Dark Gifts due to the amulets the possessed and he found that he could barely keep on top of things as the battle progressed. In addition to their Glyph protection the warriors were highly trained and well prepared. Unknown to both Khila and Kain they were from the very elite of the Slayer Forces; the Hylden dedicated and trained to patrol the Wild Lands and defend the connecting roads between the cities.
He held his ground well but he just could not manage to do any serious damage to a single one of them.
Then the tide turned as Kain heard Khila scream.
The Hylden warriors stopped their attacks and stood back, allowing Kain to see Caucahn with one hand locked firmly around Khila's neck and the Reaver's blade against her midriff.
"It's a long shot I know…" Caucahn said as she wriggled. "I thought to myself; surely the great Kain would not hold a care for the life of another, but after seeing your peculiar, protective, behaviour towards this pet when the glass shattered and the way you called it 'companion' I may have just changed my mind. So be a good vampire and give up or I may just be forced to hang it by its own intestines; that's something I've always wanted to do, to be frank so please, don't spoil it for me." He gave a perverted smile and slowly began to draw the blade across her stomach; blood began to bead out of the thin line he cut. She struggled harder but he only cut deeper.
"Stop it!" Kain roared and tried to run forwards, only to find the four warriors in front of him again and beating him back.
Khila could feel the sides of the wound beginning to split apart, coming away from each other as the Hylden ruler pushed the blade harder against her muscle. He wasn't going to stop. He didn't really care for using her as a hostage; she was his property after all. He jut wanted a good excuse to punish his pet for all the stupid little mistakes it had made through the years and, most of all, he wanted Kain to see another vampire with his appearance being tortured to death, screaming and crying whether Kain cared for it or not. His pet was nothing more than a visual aid, he had paid for it and he could discard it as easily as he had had it made for him. It was defective; he should have destroyed it years ago but had grown fond of hurting it; it made him happy.
Caucahn laughed. "You're going to like this, aren't you Pet." He told Khila, as though she should agree. "Do you want to scream for me?"
Although why he said that was quite a question because he was no fool. His hand closed tighter around her throat so a true scream could never be emitted; only a strained, painful gasping followed by muffled squeaks.
He crushed her closer against him; so close she could feel the pulsing heartbeat in his chest, even through his armour, against her back while he pushed the length of the blade deeper into her gut.
To be continued…Author's Note – Gyaa! What a mean place for me to cut it off! Bad, bad me! I had to, the chapter was getting long.
The minute I post this I shall continue with Chap 12…sigh…a couple more chaps and it'll be done…
I hope that you understood the BO1 reference I shoved in there about the Lightning Spell…you did say I needed to put in more about the original game, I just pray it wasn't too obscure.
Smoke – Why should all vampire fluids be blood? Do humans pee tea? I think not. But that aside, yeah…it was supposed to be similar to Raziel…you know…history has a thing for cycles and all that…Jor is no way related to Razzy (except as a clone nephew or something) but I liked the idea at the time. I hope the whole skeleton thing wasn't a disappointment…but be warned that its not as simple as it appears, more will be revealed. Thank you for always reviewing, it makes me feel so much better.
Jmartinz – You're back! Hooray! Taadaa the big boss battle begins. Enjoy.
Darkmaster2 – Well that was different…thank you…
Varyssa – I said I'd do it and I'm not in the habit of picking and choosing which promises I keep. It's a good challenge for me to expand my writing. I'm still glad you like the way I write Kain's part. I always worry people are going to think I make him too emotional. (Which some do…which sucks.)
AllNightDreamer – I'm so happy you came back! Thanks for reviewing again.
Greenlady247 – Always good to see a new face (well…pen name). Thanks for taking the time to read my madness and comment on it.
Biohazard – Yeah, I know the Maddrell story idea was you, I just didn't know if you wanted the world to know…I might do it, but I don't have a proper plot in mind yet…anyway, big big thank you and hug for reviewing. I feel happy.
Manus Dei – You're baaaaaaack. Hello again. Maybe I will do the Maddrell thing…but it'll be a while off. Hugs for the review. Thankeee!