Chapter five ; Secrets of Naryah
General Leiman blinked in a splitting headache as he rose from the mud and observed his surroundings. Tentacles of gray fog slowly glided over pounds filled with weeds and the isles of damp soil. Clouds above were so thick it seemed like one could poke them with a finger and pool out a chunk. Dead and moldy trees stretched their naked thorny branches covered with nods and wooden claws like frozen guardians to serve as a warning of trespass and their shades reached out of the mist like they were trying to get him. A squeaking sound of some bird came from the distance and made him jump back on his feet. That's when he noticed Kain who was watching a crumbled stone structure slowly sinking into the mud. The swamps of Termagent finally swallowed Vorador's residence, claming it for oblivion.
" …what happened ?"; he asked trying not to panic
" You don't know how lucky you are. "; Kain answered calmly
He seemed to be in some kind of pain, holding for his chest with his red talon, but it was gone when he turned and faced him. In that moment General remembered what happened in his quarters :
" Adella ! What did you do to her ?"
" This isn't my doing, General. "
" She said it was you who killed Regent Sandra !"; he pointed his gun at him but it found it self in Kain's hand before he fired it.
" Let me simplify that ; This… isn't… my… doing. "; he came and gave him his gun back
General took it in disbelief :
" Than who's doing is it ?"
" Vorador's. "
General recognized that name. Vorador was an ancient vampire decapitated on a public square thousands of years ago. Not many records of him survived their journey trough history but those that did, regarded him like an ancient evil, dead and defeated. Enough was remembered to know that if Kain was telling the truth, they were all in big trouble. It disturbed him greatly, next to Kain who wasn't paying the slightest attention.
" What I don't understand, "; Kain started :" is why did he want me to kill you ?"
At the sound of those words General's gray eyebrows lifted. He realized why he was as lucky as Kain labeled him.
" Why, why, why… "; Kain considered loudly and his palm passed over his forehead :" What could he possibly gain from that !"
General pooled his senses together :
" Okay, don't get upset. Let's look at this logically ; what would have happened if… you have killed me ?"; he swallowed half loudly
" Nothing ! I would still find him and destroy him. Except that I would have one more reason to do so, since Adella would never speak to me again… "
A period of silence followed as they looked at each other :
" It seems to me, "; General started :" that he wants to provoke you. This is all about you. "
" No, you are wrong !"; Kain realized :" I was a fool ! I know now what he wants. I should have seen it earlier. "
" What ?"
Kain finally turned his attention to him :
" Go home, General. "
" O, no ! I'm going with you. "
Kain snorted, and placed his palms together summoning his teleportation magic once more. A white orb flashed between his claws but a splash of swamp water fell upon him and he lost focus. The liquid left brown burn marks over his skin but they shrunk and faded the next second. General stood at the pound looking at him in a determined manner and with very little fear in his heart.
" And there's more where that came from. "
Kain could leave him behind at any time, but there was always a possibility that he'll do something stooped, so he politely said :
" Death just passed by you so close you could feel its breath. It won't pass by again. "
" I don't care. I won't let anyone takes away what little is left of Adella. "; he turned away and continued as if speaking to him self :" She is my friend. Do you know what that is ? A friend ? She joined NUC because of my council. We always took care of each other… And than you had to give her your curse. It already brought her down. I won't let her sink all the way. Not while I have any strength left. "
" And so you'll die. Even if she is restored after this, you'll still be dead. I'm leaving you behind, General. For your own good. "
He begun to cast his magic again but General swiftly yelled :
" I call upon your debt !"
The white orb dissolved between Kain's palms and he looked at General Leiman as if he cornered him. General continued :
" You still owe me, vampire. I could have even killed you once or at least turned the NUC against you, but instead I've left you alone. You owe me for that. Take me with you. "
Kain observed him carefully.
" When I clash Vorador, I will throw all that I am against all that he is and you'll find your self alone on our battle ground. "
" I've bean on battle ground before. "
" You're not listening. You are asking for a front road seat for the clash of titans. A human won't survive this duel. "
" If you are trying to scare me, it won't work. There's little that ether of you can do to me for which I'm not prepared already. "
" You underestimate us. "
" Maybe, but that's not the point ! Do you want to know what I'm afraid of ? I fear that I have made a mistake by leaving you alone. I constantly look over my shoulder to see if you aren't plotting to take over the world again and think about all those who will die if you suddenly decide to do so. And now I want to know are you at least a monster of your word ?"
Kain listened with a noticeable attention and it was obvious that he was considering something. After a while he took the sparkling blade of the reaver off his back and stabbed it in the ground to illuminate the area. He than sat before it, crossed his legs, placed his palms on his knees and closed his eyes. It seemed like he was sleeping or something.
" What are you doing ?"; General asked
" You have aged General. You feel you've lived long enough and you don't have much reason to go on. Sometimes a good reason to survive can help more than a vampire's protection. Sit here as I did. "
General Leiman was a little confused but he sat opposite to Kain with the soul reaver glowing between them.
" You'll feel my presence in you. "; Kain continued :" Don't be alarmed. I will guide you trough this. "
" Trough what ?"
Kain just went silent trying to reach something in his mind. Somehow, it seemed pointless to ask him anything right now, so General closed his eyes and begun waiting for him to do what ever he was planning to do. At first he felt a slight whisper in the back of his head and than something took over a piece of his focus. It frightened him slightly, but he didn't protest about it, allowing Kain to resume. It felt strange for a moment. He was focusing on certain spots along his spine and over head and suddenly he felt like something was flowing trough these points. Something warm and calming. It started to fulfill him and to flow trough his being feeding his spirit and removing his desires. In that moment his body and flesh seemed like shackles but they dropped and pure essence remained of him, free of its bonds and bathing in the golden strings of energy that were running everywhere around. The world faded into this boll of silken web leaving only its strings to run like thin currents everywhere around.
He observed his arm. It was made of his feelings and thoughts bonded together by strings of these golden flows. They had no beginning and no end meandering into the infinity and connecting everything into one. The sky the earth, the air his flesh was breathing it was all just another ripple in the pattern and another imperfection added to the puzzle of perfection. The energy was intoxicating as it flowed trough him. He felt like the very juice of freedom and the breath of life that nurtured and nourished him. Trough its strings he could recognize the life of grass beneath him or the history of a rock next to him. There were things that couldn't be described but every one was completing the other and it made such a perfect whole that its smallest detail made sense. It was a view on the force that holds the world together.
Floating around like a straw on a river he begun to look around in wonder. Kain was nowhere in sight but instead he found any other life. Insects, plants and animals were ripples here too and he could see into them and observe them in a way no lens ever could. He had to remind him self not to wonder a couple of times before calling for his so called guide :
" Kain ? What is this ?"; even his words were just waves in the pattern
" Welcome to Naryah, General. "
Kain stood behind him looking exactly as he always does. He alone wasn't made of thought and feeling and did seem like flesh and bone, but he too was a pattern made of the strings only so thick and complex that he seemed like in real life. But it wasn't him. Every being here had its inside and Kain's form was hollow with nothing but unstirred strings of energy passing trough his inside.
" This isn't you. "
" This is a form my imagination made for you to communicate with. "
" Why ?"
" A mortal mind cant see my depths without falling apart. My soul is too overwhelming for you. "
" Too overwhelming ? This… this world is overwhelming ! What is this place ?"
" Perhaps another layer of the universe. A crossroad between spiritual and mortal. Here life took root and of this energy, "; at these words golden strings stirred a little as if responding :" the very soles were textured. "
" The fabric of soles… Yes… I can feel it… it is liquid life it self !"
" How ever, this discovery isn't mine. It was humans who first caught the glimpse of it, priests of Shandaren temple. "
" I've never heard of Shandaren temple. "
" It would surprise me if you had. Time has swallowed it long ago… Cruel time. So much has bean drowned in its waters. "
Kain turned and behind him strings formed a giant hover glass. Its top was too high to be seen except for the stream of falling sand that formed a huge mountain on its bottom. A moment later they were at the peek of the mountain and the falling sand was dusting and enlarging the mountain unnoticeably.
" If you could imagine time like I imagined this contraption, "; Kain continued :" than the Shandaren temple and its knowledge is somewhere at the bottom, buried by a mountain of ideas. "
" Ideas ?"
" Every grain of sand is an idea born in history. But this whole thing is just my interpretation. We can only see the surface of the mountain, current ideas which progress buried the old knowledge… How sad. So much has bean lost in careless hurry. "
He placed his hand in the sand waterfall and held it there while it made a small pile over his palm. The act made an impression that he too will one day be buried under the falling sand.
" Shandaren vanished in a cataclysmic war which made vampires into blood thirsty beasts eons even before my birth. Its priests were preparing most of their life before they would reach this sacred place. They named it Naryah, the root of the world or the place where it all begun. The energy here was named Saih, the building river and its strings, Zan or creator's dreams. Ripples and imperfections in Zan and Saih make the spirit of the world and are the raw essence of every soul. "
" But if the temple was lost how did you know abut it ?"
" Being a ruler of Nosgoth gave me a view into its secrets. The temple was destroyed and priests who survived rarely had any further contact with other persons, but a higher rank priestess Eleanor Ortem was wise enough to leave a few records behind. I didn't really care about their studies, until the end of my rule, when I stumbled here by accident searching for a cure for a madness that held me. Since than I have spent most of my spare time plunging into its secrets, secrets which I now share with you. "
" You held this for your self all along ! It is more than greedy !"
" And what sane man would have me as a tutor ? No, General. I'm giving you this knowledge so you could share it with those who you consider worthy. Survive my duel with Vorador and teach others about Naryah. "
In any other time or place he would have thought it to be absurd ; a military commander to become a priest and a teacher ! But in this place this root of the world it was the most logical thing in the world. It too amazing to stay hidden any longer and he was the only one who can make it come into the light.
While an aspect of Kain was searching for Vorador's sanctuary, another begun to instruct him of how to use the energy for his own purposes. He could use his will to shape his imagination into life, like Kain did with his own image and the hover glass, but it required practice. The energy was also feeding his own being and he could collect it into him self and grow stronger in will and vitality, perhaps even prolong his life for a couple of decades, and he was devouring it with great appetite.
But than, at one point, he took a look at the mountain of sand and all those buried ideas within it. Almost irresistible urge came to him to uncover them and he plunged his arm in, making it erupt like a volcano. It was wonderful. Thoughts and ancient knowledge bloomed in every grain and it all became apparent to him like they were his own. But there was too many of them and it begun to overwhelm him. Thoughts of great men usurped his fragile mind, thoughts of worship, experiments, battles, love, good, evil and many more he didn't have time to observe. He was too small to hold it all and it begun to uncoil his own pattern. He would have fall apart if Kain hadn't pooled him out of there, and as he glared back at the spot it was unstirred and a sigh of relief left him :
" I taught I was done fore. "
" You must be careful. Evil can be a part of this world as well. It will destroy you if you don't take care. "
" I… I just couldn't resist. "
" You've allowed the energy here to feed your greed. "
" My greed ?"
" Saih can feed every aspect of you. It can make the evil inside you take over, even destroy you. "
" How do I protect my self from… my self ?"
" Leave it behind before you step into this place. It is the best protection you can ask for… ah, I've found him. "
" Vorador ?"
" Yes. It is time to move on. "
Kain united them both with their flesh again and General Leiman stood up joyful and refreshed. This experience has renewed his strength and determination and he looked forward to the challenges ahead.