Chapter Thirteen
The moment she regained control of her body Khila screamed and flung the Soul Reaver away from her. She then wrapped her arms about herself as though in comfort and backed towards the wall, away from the sword.
Kain approached carefully, picking up his Reaver as he went. "Are you hurt?"
She screamed out loud and moved away from him so fast that she tripped over a corpse and dropped as her claws skittered on the floor. "Don't bring that thing near me!"
"Listen to me, it is not going to happen again." he held out his hands to her almost imploringly, apologising on Raziel's behalf. "I promise."
She cringed back away from him but then gingerly took both sets of offered claws in her own and allowed him to pull her up.
All the energy seemed to leave her and she collapsed against him. She was still conscious but her body too was weak…the reason being that another mind had been forcing her body to do things it was not used to. "Kain…it hurt."
"It would have hurt a lot more if that had not happened. You could not have won that fight, you were not ready." he said, supporting both his weight and hers.
"I tried…I tried so hard…but in the end I was just as useless as ever. I'm so sorry."
"You needn't be. With the minor ability you have you did admirably well and I'll hear no more on the subject. There is still much, much more that needs doing. There must be someone already waiting to take Caucahn's place, like an heir of sorts in case of emergencies such as this. But right now…I think that we have both earned a rest."
"Yes." she agreed weakly. "And you promised that we would go back for Jor."
"Hmm? Oh…yes. My, your memory appears to have improved."
"What do you mean?" she lifted her head off of his shoulder. "You expected me to forget something like that?"
"Would you mind removing yourself from me, I cannot move with you draped about my front."
Somewhat unstable but able to just keep her balance, she rocked back and headed for the second Reaver which still lay where the dead fingers of Caucahn had released it next to his frail cadaver.
With a surprisingly steady hand she picked it up. "What do we do with this now?" she asked, gazing into the glaring, angry, empty sockets, her previous fear apparently gone.
"I'm not entirely sure." he replied. What do you do with two Reavers?
She offered it to him but he shook his head. "No, you keep it."
"What? Me? But…but…"
"I do not like that word." He reminded her.
"Ah…uh…hnnh…alright then, if you think that it's safe." She seemed fascinated by it, no longer in the least bit afraid. "Oh…are you sure? I mean…it's the Soul Reaver that we are talking about not any old blade."
"I will not have it fall into another Hylden's hands, and neither do I need to carry two."
The situation really did seem wrong with the lack of paradox. Was this world so beyond help that not even the Reaver could stir time as it always had before?...or maybe Raziel was right and this Nosgoth really was dying in the name of some unknown sacrifice and would not allow any change.
Khila pulled the belt from a nearby corpse, figuring that the dead Hylden didn't really need it any more and used it to fashion a strap she could use to keep the Reaver tied to her back. It was too damn long to be worn on the hip.
"You may also want to find something in the way of clothing." Kain suggested. "That dress of yours appears to be near the end of its days."
She looked down at herself. The accumulated rips and tears and cuts had taken their toll and her present sartorial predicament could make Umah look dressed for the winter. The tattered remnants of her dress barely covered what it was supposed to and looked ready to fall off her completely, clinging to her body by mere threads.
"You're right. I hadn't even noticed…" she dusted her rags. "Caucahn always used to be so picky about the way I looked. Not that it matters now."
"Shall we then?" He gestured to the door.
"Are we going to go back to the Refuge? After we find Jor that is…and if someone hasn't already removed him."
"Yes. We will return to the Refuge. It is the only place we can go." Oh, how infinitely depressing.
"Please don't start arguing with Maddrell again. I just couldn't bare it."
"I'll try not to but I will promise nothing. Remember that it takes more than one side to forge a peace." He pressed on the door and then remembered that it had been locked. "Mm..?" he looked to the other side of the hall and to the door set in the far wall past the almost battlefield-like scene of blood and carnage on the floor.
Khila shook her head. "Even if it isn't locked there are no other ways into or out of the library unless you feel the urge to fling yourself out of a window."
"It was worth a thought." And with that he focused a telekinetic bolt on the offending exit door.
It took time and it took the deaths of many more Hylden before they were through but eventually they retraced their steps through the castle and left the way they came through the pipe line after filling both of their blood hungers and replenishing their energy (which had been lacking, to say the least). They emerged in the Wild Lands again with chaos, panic and disorder following behind them and with death walking by their side…two incarnates of the same soul; equal, individual and united.
Kain smiled and, for the first time in a long time, he walked towards tomorrow.
The night was cold.
There was a thin, sharp wind that blew through the canyons of the Wild Lands that seemed to be bearing grudges against the three vampires that stood atop the cliff that overhung the mouth of the Refuge.
Kain, Khila and Maddrell ended their respectful silence and then Maddrell stepped forwards to the funeral pyre that had been built before them.
Upon the brittle wood and coal bed had been laid the body of Jor and the skeleton of the 'Abomination' which had both been retrieved from the very late Caucahn's castle.
Maddrell placed a flaming torch between the bones and the cadaver and then stood back as the pyre caught light and the flames leapt up towards the moon.
Khila, now dressed in trousers and a shirt taken from one of the Vetus' many victims left behind in the Refuge, sighed and felt the weight of the Soul Reaver upon her back. "Now what do we do?" she whispered as she watched the hungry flames begin to consume the corpse of the man that had given his life to aid her. His body blackened and his skin began to peel away, flaking off and floating into the wind alongside tiny glowing embers like so many mournful fireflies. So too did the bones turn the colour of pitch and begin to smoke.
"Now we reclaim Nosgoth." Kain told her. "We have both Soul Reavers, the clans will be reformed under my guidance once again and we will rid Nosgoth of the Hylden for good."
"Genocide again." Maddrell sneered. "Can you not move your twisted thoughts from death for just five minutes?"
Khila sighed. "I don't think I'm cut out for this."
"It is far too late for that, Kitten." Maddrell flapped his wings a few times to fan the flames and make them grow. The fire danced as Jor's body collapsed in on itself as the internal organs burned to ash. "Even if we do not go after them, the Hylden will come after us; there is not doubt about that. Thank you very much for getting us Vetus involved in your mess by running back here, I don't think!"
"Nosgoth will be mine again, you may count on it." Kain said defiantly.
"And then what?" Maddrell wheeled round. "Do you remember the disaster you made of your last attempt at ruling, dear Emperor?"
"The tragedy you dwell upon had a purpose of great significance. That which you consider a disaster was actually my greatest act as ruler; a world does not consist of a few individuals, sacrifices must be made. This is not the end; this is merely a fresh and clean beginning for us all. It all starts here anew."
Khila sighed again.
"You do not have to do anything." Kain told her. "If you really feel you cannot do more then stay back. You do not have to follow me wherever I go. I already have two shadows according to you, so I do not strictly need a third. I am not your master."
"I want to help though, it feels right...I don't feel so lost."
"I hope for my own sake that you know what you are doing, Kain." Maddrell pouted.
Kain turned his eyes to the pyre and felt almost relieved as he watched his own ashen bones fall inside it as the branches beneath them disintegrated into a cloud of golden sparks. The fire crackled loudly, almost like a kind of primal music to accompany the flame dance. Yes, this was where it all began.
He then remembered something…and pulled the small gold coin from where he had secreted it, the coin that had caused all of this. Yes, he thought to himself in the privacy of his own mind, this will have to be the edge. With a flick of his claws he sent the coin spinning into the pyre. Now he felt complete.
No…now he felt sick…
As the coin hit the flames it too turned black, black like thick oil that rippled in the heat. The nauseous sensation began in the pit of his stomach and then spread painfully through his body, first to his chest, and then to his limbs before finally making its way through his mind like the marching of an unstoppable army. He clutched at his stomach and watched as the coin evaporated from its greasy mass into a pearlescent vapour. What the hell is happening to me?
He tried to call to Khila and Maddrell but found he could not make his voice work, his mouth opened and closed but no sound passed his lips. Distressed, he grabbed at Khila and fell to his knees.
She looked down and saw him on the ground, his eyes wide in panic.
"Are you feeling alright?" she asked, kneeling beside him.
He shook his head and bent over double and his arms crossed over his abdomen.
Maddrell too looked down and wrinkled his little nose in disgust. "Ugh, if you are going to vomit do it in that direction." He pointed towards the edge of the cliff.
Kain gazed up at Khila almost pleadingly.
She took in his expression. "What's wrong?" she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Maddrell giggled and imitated her voice as he laughed out - "Awww poor little baby Kain. Feeling sick?"
Kain tried to focus on Khila but found that his eyes were also failing him. Shadow was creeping in around the corners of his vision and with distraught certainty he realised that he was going blind. He had had perfect eyesight for well over a thousand years but now all he could see was a blur.
Then it all went horrifically dark. Khila, Maddrell, the cliff and the pyre all disappeared into a darkness so thick he felt as though he could reach out and hold it. Then the sounds around him slowly faded into silence, the crackling, Maddrell's sniggering and the wind all vanished as his ears too betrayed him. Finally he stopped feeling. Khila's comforting claw was replaced by a numbing cold nothingness that wrapped itself around him until he could not even fell the warmth of the fire.
He was alone…but…he could still feel the Reaver on his back and his clothes against his skin…
The feeling of sickness subsided and slowly dissipated until it was gone.
Then came a sound…a strong female voice that carried in the silence like the voice of an ancient and beautiful, yet forgotten, deity.
"Stand, Kain" it said kindly. Although it was not truly a voice he had heard. It was as though the voice had just appeared in his mind, nothing like the Whisper; this was more like simply knowing what had been spoken without hearing it…it was like remembering.
He did as he had been asked. "What…who are you?" his voice was back under his control, as was the rest of his body.
"You know me, Kain. You know me very well. Please accept my apologies for the discomfort you have suffered. It must have been hard to judge what you could and could not tolerate."
"You did this? You sent me to that place?"
"In a way, yes, I am the cause of your arrival in both this 'between' space and the time that you have just encountered. You have fulfilled a great duty even though it is unknown to you."
"What do you mean?" Kain growled.
"Listen to me carefully…you have just played your part in something of integral importance to your own future. This may be hard for you to understand, but I know that you will try."
Kain said nothing and simply made himself content to patiently wait for the explanation that he had been longing for.
"It is possible, Kain, to have two timelines playing out simultaneously. Two timelines that, although they come from the same origin, are very different. What you have just witnessed is not what will happen to you. That timeline continues to ensure that you shall never encounter the Nosgoth-born Hylden."
"That makes no sense."
"Allow me to try and explain." The voice was patient, but form in the tone of its words. "Originally in that timeline, yes, you were killed but that exact world was not the result. Because the completed Soul Reaver fell into the hands of the Hylden it could not continue with its historical cycle and the world as you knew it at the time crumbled apart and a new one was forged in its death throes. The people involved in this event were not erased from the time line because they were part of the change. All those who existed in your old Empire remained 'forgotten' by history…still alive but with no purpose for their being. A world almost identical to the one you saw was made with human slaves, vampire pets and Hylden sovereigns."
"But why was Nosgoth dying? If history was changed that much then why had the rot a reason to be there at all?"
"It is the Hylden and their foul technology that damned that time line and that is why they must be contained. Their black magic that they call 'science' must not spread. You see, Kain, they toyed with destinies. Even if they end up altered destinies still exist. When the pets took on the Essence of an older past vampire they not only took the older vampire's form but also a fragment of their soul and thus their very destiny. But the destinies that attached themselves could not play out because they were acting in the wrong timeline. That is why the pets always seem so lost and so forgetful. That is also why the body of Jor did not disintegrate; his original soul was trying to properly return to his corpse, but ultimately failed to fully integrate again because part of it had been devoured by the Soul Reaver and his destiny had become too twisted."
A memory echoes in Kain's head; Khila's voice – 'I feel as though I am living the wrong life.'
"By taking another's destiny the original destinies laid out for the pets were lost and so time itself began to unravel completely like a frayed cloth in a strong wind. The Hylden could not be allowed to do that. I had to intervene."
"I does not seem that you succeeded." Kain scoffed.
Again the voice showed its patience. "Oh, but I did, to a degree. I sent visions to Maddrell, the leader of the Vetus rebel army and he chose to follow the plan that I had shown him."
"What Plan? He spoke of no such visions…"
"The Maddrell you met is not the Maddrell I am speaking of. The plan is something as follows; first, a joint resistance force between humans and vampires was created. There was no harmony between them but there was co-operation. They agreed together that Maddrell's visions were the only solution. They decided that they would allow a second hopeful timeline to continue 'running', with you still alive, but at the cost of keeping their timeline active but isolated in a stagnant time loop that would consistently repeat in such a way that the Nosgoth-born Hylden would never encounter you and would instead be pulled and locked into the loop that they would not realise was I a lie."
"That, you have already told me…loosely."
"To create the loop much would have to be completed. Their first task was to forge a false Soul Reaver sword-"
"-a fake? Is that even possible?" he interrupted.
"Hush, now." such a tone and phrase was so motherly and warm he could not help but comply. It struck something inside him, something from his human past from, perhaps, when he was a child. "Yes, they forged a replica and then over a period of many years imbued it with a potent curse. After lengthy discussions a human volunteered to complete the second key part of the plan. A human male by the name of Tyal agreed to take on your Essence and become you in form through Hylden essence technology. He was dressed correctly, given the Cursed Reaver and was sent back to the past, before the Hylden killed you and created the alternate future."
"How is that possible, how could he go back to a time that no longer existed."
"The curse allowed the reversal of history and it reset everything to that moment. Tyal intercepted the Hylden patrol and took your place. He allowed himself to be 'lured' to your empire, to be defeated and to be beheaded. As the Cursed Reaver killed him the curse was activated and the loop began, setting every event after that moment for the Nosgoth-born Hylden in their own isolated dimension parallel to the true time line. They were effectively removed from your line and placed into their own. The Pillars broke because of the curse and the fact they had been separated from their purpose."
"I think I follow now…"
"I am glad."
This statement brought another rare smile to his lips. It was as though he was a child again and had just been praised by his mother for doing well in his studies…
"Now…things progressed as you saw. In the loop the curse ensured that a Hylden novice would accidentally make a 'faulty' pet for the Hylden sovereign Caucahn."
"Khila."
"Correct." the matriarchal voice said happily and again Kain felt praised. "You were briefly brought into the loop so that you could free Khila, give her your Dark Gifts and kill Caucahn so that she would gain the Cursed Reaver. Just as Raziel equipped you for your task to come, you have equipped Khila for hers. Once you have returned to your time I will send her a vision to show her what she must do. She must renew the curse."
"How?" he did not like the way that the mysterious voice seemed to be able to hit all of the right chords inside him; it made him feel vulnerable and it was not the kind of feeling he was used to. He attempted to pass the darkness but no matter how many steps he took he still found his sight empty except for himself…there was nothing but the voice in the great black void that surrounded him.
"She will become the Abomination and will go back via the curse and repeat what Tyal performed."
"But she is a woman and she looks like my younger self, not me as they expect me!"
"First, with the aid of Maddrell she will create a dimensional link-way, the focus of which will be centred in a small gold coin. She will then wait until she has evolved, evolved to a form that looks like you. She will work on her muscle structure and voice to make them seem masculine and then when she has done that she will cut the flesh from her chest and cauterise the wound to scar it and remove all obvious outward sign of her gender. She will dress herself correctly and then the curse will collapse the time pool, destroying everything within it while shunting her back to the place of its creation in the true timeline whereupon she will take Tyal's place, for he no longer exists to do so. But not before she has briefly gone further back in time through a Time Streaming Device to deliver the coin to you to bring you into her own past. They will kill her instead of you. To ensure the pretence is kept up, just as the Reaver is about to strike her she will use her Charm ability to convince every Hylden that she is male and just to be sure she will use her Immolate Gift against herself, burning her body black to cause her skin to be so fused and melted her gender could never be identified. The Skeleton of the Abomination that you saw in the museum was of a past Khila. The reason you never looked hard enough at the bones to realise they were female was because the potency of the Charm she used was so great it lasts to this day."
"No…" his voice rang out in disbelief. She would burn herself…just so he would stay alive…just to keep the loop active and keep the Nosgoth-born Hylden contained…all for him…she would do this… "No…" such a terrible way to die…wrapped in flames…
"It had to be female you that was created by the novice because any male ones would have been destroyed out of fear of being unable to break him. A female Kain was a highly amusing joke to them."
"No…that isn't right…it isn't fair…is her only purpose to die in such agony and torture?" he could not deny it…he had grown attached to Khila like a father to a child they never knew they had…or perhaps to a twin sister.
"She chooses to do so, Kain. I gave her a vision but it was her decision to carry it out, just as it was the first Maddrell's to initiate the construction of the loop. I can only offer; I cannot directly instigate…that is not in my power. And even to send such visions of possibilities hurts me so, I could not even bring you to that timeline myself. It is not my place to decide things for others. It disgusts me to think that there are those beings out there that feel they have the right to control lives that are not their own."
"I see…"
"Good. Now, you have played your part. It is up to Khila now. You have prepared her and she has many centuries ahead of her before she dies as the Abomination. Her life will be the same as the Khila's before her, it will be a happy one and all her memories of you will be fond. She will regret nothing and will feel honoured to have helped you."
"Then why do I not feel any better?"
"Because you are already mourning. It will pass. Every creature dies in the end; not even a vampire has true immortality. Do not pity her; be proud of her and continue on with what must be done. You still have to ensure your rightful destiny, don't you? The loop was made to give you the opportunity to do that, do not waste their sacrifice."
"I won't."
The voice sighed happily. "Go forth then, Scion of Balance and continue what has begun. The future is what you make of it, as it always has been. Good bye, and good luck."
His senses began to return to him and the shadows and darkness began to fade away. He could feel the presence of the voice lifting. "Wait! At least tell me your name!"
"My name? Just think, Kain; you should know my name after all that you have done for me." The voice seemed to smile and then was gone.
Kain was looking back out from his vantage point in the ancient Vampire citadel at the Pillars…back where he had left off. Not a second had passed since he had left and returned…he could feel it.
As he gazed he thought of the voice and he realised that he did know her name.
He had known all along.
He closed his eyes and felt the Reaver, the true Reaver, humming with power on his back.
'The future is what I make of it.'
He smiled.
He knew her name.
Her name was Nosgoth.
The End
Author's Note – And there you have it. It's finally over. Y'know, I actually hate that ending…it sounded a lot better in my head. I'm satisfied with the content but the actual explanation just doesn't convey what I hoped. I spent forever on it and I still can't say it's what I had planned. Ah well.
That aside, I hope you all enjoyed it, those who reviewed and those who did not; I thank you all heartily for sticking around. I give you all have hugs of appreciation.
A Note To All - Keep your eyes peeled for a couple of extra's I have on the way, one request and one or two bits that never made it to the final edit, but might be worth a read. I'll bung 'em on the end later as they wont qualify as separate fics. I may well be posting the prequel to this called 'Flight of the Butterfly Man', which will be Maddrell's back-story…though at the moment I'm not sure, we'll see how it goes…the title may change too.
I've also got a couple of one-shots (unrelated) in the making.
Thank you again.
If anyone has any last questions they want answering, I'll e-mail back if you give me the address (if you're not a signed in member that is)
Replies!
Lunatic Pandora1 – It was the only way I could get Raz in there! I'm sorry…y'know, Kain is my fav too…maybe I just interpret him differently. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews!
Smoke – what can I say? Thank you for consistently reviewing, you've been there from the start. You have no idea how happy it makes me to get regular updates on my progress, as it were. Again, my apologies for the typos…maybe I'll fix and repost someday. As you can now see, Khila has no insight as to what Raz knows because they were not sharing the same space; they switched. They themselves never made contact, he just pushed her out of the way and took possession of her body. Also, I have to thank you for putting me on that C2 list… I'm so happy you think of it that way. Though after recent events, I'm not sure if the characters are a bit out now…Anyway, hope you like the conclusion.
Shadow Kage – Hope you likes. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
gryps incedio – Nah, I don't study latin…I just have many books, an internet connection and far too much spare time. I love Latin. Originally the chapters were going to end with 'Narratio resumetur' (roughly translates as 'To be continued) but I figured it would be too confusing and left it in English. In defence of my version of Kain I shall say this; I refuse to write him perfect. In my opinion there is no one who can be the ultimate undefeated god-like entity we wish existed. Yeah, he goes through a lot in BO1 but not after lengthy processes of trail and error involving a lot of resurrections (or at least he did when I played it). I needed him down and out to Raz into the fic and in my opinion losing one fight where the odds are highly stacked against you doesn't make you a wimp, it makes you more real. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and reading. 'Solve lora infernis! Et futue te ipsum!' (roughly – Unleash Hell! And have a nice day!)
Foo – Now you have no reason to break things. My thanks for the return and the review.
Biohazard – Hiya. What do I say that we haven't already been through? I'll e-mail soon with the next part of FotBM. Catch y'later.
Jadefire – I'm glad you enjoy. Thank you for the reviews.
Varyssa – I'm so glad someone out there likes the way I write him. If you enjoy this version of his character than keep an eye out for the one shot I'll be posting…it's untitled at the moment, but once that's fixed it'll be ready to roll. Like Smoke you have been here from the start, and that makes me so happy it's unbelievable. You have the biggest thanks I can give, and I hope you enjoyed the ending…even though I know it's as confusing as hell. Sorry. P.S. The bonus chapter I promised you is just about done and will be posted in while. No longer than the usual update wait, maybe shorter.
Urd Goddess and Demoness – Thank you for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the end.
Manus Dei – How do I fit it all it? I squeeze it like a sardine. I was trying to keep in line with the games in how they throw all the explanation in one big chunk (The Big Exposition, as Michael Bell put it) but I think it was just a bit too much to do in one go. Oh well too late now. Thank you for sticking around so long, and I hope you're not disappointed with the end. Thank you for the reviews.
Shrike-v2 – Ta for the review, Mike…though I can't think of anything else to say that I didn't in that e-mail. Haydn will soon have the next bit of FotBM, so if y'bug him I'm sure you can read it if you want to. Just let me know what you think if you do.
les enfant – Sorry I couldn't post as might as you might have liked. This is it, I'm afraid. Hope your opinion of the fic hasn't changed and thank you for reading reviewing.
The Twisted Sister – Thanks for thinking this fic was worth it to be your first review. I know Raz was strange but that was because I just can't pinpoint his character. He's very complex and evolves a lot mentally as the games progress…I was trying to take him to the next logical step but seemed to have failed miserably. Hooray, I'm a favourite! Thanks for the review.