Chapter XI

Pulled in all directions, voices shouting all around, white hot fire, burning flesh, burning hair, blood in my eyes, 'I'm being ripped apart!' Where's my room, where's Fenrir, where's my world? Screaming in silence, deafening silence, someone please make it all

"STOP!"

I shot upright, chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath, looking all around like a frightened rabbit. My vision…something was horribly wrong with my vision. Out of my right eye I could see my library, the desk, my room, all things I knew. But out of my left eye I saw the Pillars of Nosgoth, surrounded by burning wasteland and ruin. I screamed and closed my eyes tightly, clutching at them, trying to pull them out of my head.

"No don't, you'll hurt yourself."

My head snapped up at the sound of this alien voice. For a fleeting instant I hoped it was Raziel, but this was not so and I knew it. My vision settled on the Pillars, and a bald robed man now stood bent over me in concern. Upon seeing my recovery, he smiled and straightened with the grandeur of one who considers himself under-appreciated but knows he isn't.

"Ah good, you seem to have recovered," he said with a nod. "Please let me be the first to welcome you back to Nosgoth. I am Moebius the Time-Streamer."

"Of course you are," I said, sitting up slowly. "What am I doing here? How the hell did I get here? Why welcome me back to a place I never left? This place doesn't even exist!"

"Are you so certain of everything?" he asked. "What if I were to tell you that the world you knew doesn't exist?"

"It does," I said flatly, even though I was somehow inclined to believe him. "I've been living there for the past sixteen years."

"It hasn't been so long, really. Those memories are all fabricated, except for the past year."

"What are you rambling about, you old kook?" I rose unsteadily to my feet, but struck Moebius's hand away when he reached to steady me. "What am I doing here?"

"Whether you like it or not, you've lived here all your life even if you don't remember it now. There's a war raging, as you must know, a war between races."

"Yes, humans and vampires. But what does your war have to do with me?"

"My war?"

"Yes, your war. It was you who incited all this, tricking Kain into slaying William the Just and so starting a genocide against the vampires. And again, what does your war have to do with me?"

"Everything. You see, a war isn't started over just one incident. It is comprised of many different smaller battles. True, the most well known battle is the genocide that I did indeed start – glorious, isn't it? - but that is not the most important one. The most important battle is actually among the vampires themselves. And it's all centered around you."

"Me!"

"Yes, you. There are many sides to this battle: those who would destroy you, those who would protect and hide you, those who would use you for their own ends."

"You're not making any sense. Use me for what? How?"

"You do not wish to know these things." He held out his hand to help me up. I glared at him and rose on my own without even pushing myself up.

"Funny, because I usually ask questions when I want to know something," I said coldly. "After all I've gone through lately, I think I deserve to know."

"You would. But these things are not for you."

"A plague on your drivel, old man! They're about me! If you won't tell me, I'll just have to find someone who will."

"That's not very likely."

"Bite me."

He didn't. Instead he slapped me hard across the right side of my face. I stood perfectly still for a moment, my face turned to the side. Then, slowly, I turned to face him again, regarded him for a moment, then turned my head to present him with a clear view of my left cheek and tapped it lightly. He stared at me.

Matthew 5:38-39.

I didn't know what impact Biblical insults would have here, but it was all the more amusing for me if he didn't know he was being insulted. I tried to grin insolently, something I'm particularly good at, but all I managed was a grim, twisted mockery of a smile. Still, it made Moebius step back a few paces, so at least I had scared him or something. I was glad. I didn't like him. He glared at me and approached again.

"Don't come any nearer," I said in a low voice, my eyes narrowed.

"Or you'll what?" sneered Moebius. I scowled at him, but unfortunately he had a point. I had no weapon. At least, I didn't have a conventional weapon…quick as a flash, I lashed him with the only thing available to me – my black leather belt, triple-studded with metal pyramid studs. Not much, but pretty damn painful since I cracked him one good. He screamed, dropped his staff, and stumbled back. I grabbed the staff and held it out warningly. Having recovered himself, he gawked at me when he saw me wielding his staff.

"Give me that!" he cried. "You damned fool, you don't know what damage that can do!"

"Oh, but I do," I said softly. "And even if I didn't, just seeing the fear in your face would be enough to tell me I should hang on to it." He grabbed for me, but I danced back and smacked his hand with the staff. "Naughty, naughty. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"I'll tear you to pieces!" he shouted, drawing a sword I hadn't noticed he had before and attacking. I cried out, screaming out a word I couldn't hear but burned with such power that my mouth grew hot. There was a blinding burst of light and Moebius was blasted back. I gasped, trying to cool my mouth. Moebius climbed to his feet, staring at me in a mixture of shock and horror. With a growl, he vanished. I knew him too well to think that he was gone. I spun around, readying myself for another assault, but he wasn't there. My eyes darted all around. Nothing. I was alone, though I wasn't sure if that was for better or worse, all things considered. Suddenly the moon-scar on my forehead began to tingle and itch. I spun around instinctively, and caught a flash of colour. I was blasted from behind with a burst of energy and fell forward.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, YOU BASTARD!"

"I know that voice," I mumbled to myself, pushing myself up and turning around. There was a skeletal blue figure battling Moebius. Blue…? "Raziel." I wasn't thinking clearly anymore, my head pounding, my hand gripping the staff so tightly blood was starting to appear in tiny pinpricks around my nails. I didn't care. I just watched Raziel, fascinated by his graceful movements. His swordplay was almost like a dance. Without warning, he turned to me and grabbed me hand, pulling me along with him as he ran.

"Come on…move…come on."

I was still in a daze, allowing him to yank me more freely. I started running alongside him, not through my own volition, but because I couldn't do anything else. He pulled me with him deep into a mountain pass, slinging me unceremoniously over his shoulder when it became necessary for him to scale a wall that no human could climb. Once at the top, he gently placed me down on the stone and stood regarding me. The daze evaporated like morning mist in the dawn and I found my voice.

"What in the name of Hell is going on here!" I demanded shakily. "Oh, and thanks for saving me. But what's going on? You, Moebius, this place, none of it should even exist!"

"No, child, you have it backwards," he said gently, kneeling in front of me. "It is your world that shouldn't exist."