A/N: I don't own the quote from "The Soulforged".

Chapter XVII

I opened my eyes, gazing around the pit where the demonized Turel had, until recently, lurked. Kain should be here, but in a different dimension which I could not remember how to access. It didn't matter, really; I knew Kain would appear here in a few minutes…unless I had missed him, in which case everything was lost. I knew how to save Raziel from his ghastly fate, but I needed to tell Kain first so he didn't do something stupid. I waited anxiously as the minutes dragged by. Just as I was about to rush back to the citadel and pray I wasn't too late, a portal opened near my arm. I jumped back, not wanting to get sucked in by mistake, as Kain appeared.

"Oh thank the gods," I sighed in relief. Kain was startled by my presence.

"Soul? What are you doing here? Where's Raziel?" he asked.

"Back at the Vampire Citadel," I said. "We cannot linger here. I have set a ball rolling down a hill, and it is gathering momentum at an alarming rate without my aid. I will cast a spell that will transport us back."

"You know how?" asked Kain in surprise.

"I remember," I said. I grasped his arm and we vanished together. We rematerialized in the council chamber of the citadel. Kain gazed out at the ruined Pillars.

"I know what ominous hour this is in Nosgoth's history," he said with some regret. "For here is the event that shaped my entire existence – I cast my fate, refusing the sacrifice, damning the Pillars, and founding my doomed empire upon their ruins. I raise the Sarafan priests to be my closest lieutenants, and one day cast the strongest of them, my servant Raziel, into the Abyss – dealing one last hand to play against Fate. But in the end, did it make any difference? Did I misread the signs, as Moebius told me? In my arrogance, did I miss my cast at destiny?" I looked at him curiously.

"That coin of yours still has not struck the ground," I said. "Haven't you realized yet? On the one side of your coin we see you, Kain, vampire lord of Nosgoth. On the other side we see Raziel, strongest of you lieutenants, condemned to an unspeakable nightmare when he was cast into the Abyss by your order. But on the edge you see…me. A Hylden/vampire hybrid whose destiny outshines that of you or Raziel. Didn't you know? I am the edge of the coin, the one who binds both sides together to make something entirely new and unexpected." Kain looked at me thoughtfully.

"You may be right," he said at length.

"I am right," I said. "But there's no time for that now. Come on; follow me, quickly." Taking his hand I pulled him down into the chamber where I had sent Raziel such a short time ago. Moebius was below us, groveling like the worm he was before a God he could not see. Kain and I looked at each other and nodded, knowing what to do. We floated silently to the bottom of the great pit, landing soundlessly behind Moebius, who was completely unaware of our presence.

"...the Hylden would have merely been an inconvenient consequence. They would have been dealt with in time," Moebius was saying to the unseen Elder God. Kain quietly drew the Blood Reaver as Moebius continued, "It's a small price to pay for Kain's death."

"You're a bit premature," Kain commented, almost conversationally. Moebius whirled around, aghast.

"Kain!" he cried in horror and disbelief. Oh how I loved to see him like that. I smiled at him insolently, reflecting back all his contempt and malice onto him.

"Is there a crack in your omniscience after all, Moebius?" Kain inquired. Moebius repeatedly activated his staff, with no effect. I laughed at his desperation. Kain also was amused.

"First your omniscience, and now your powers," he said with a mocking sigh. "You're slipping badly."

"This is not possible..." began Moebius, but he never finished. Kain struck the staff from Moebius's hand and seized him by the arm. He held Moebius's palm against the hole in his chest so he could feel that Kain had no heartbeat.

"The part of me that staff affected is no longer in its place. But you already knew that, didn't you," sneered Kain. It was then that I remembered our old friendship and wondered briefly how I could ever have thought that he was a sadistic monster.

Kain pushed Moebius away roughly. "I always was considered heartless. And now, Moebius, it is time."

"To kill me? Again?" demanded Moebius. I tried, and failed, to disguise a laugh as a cough at the word again. How many times can one die? "Your only solution, for every problem: kill."

Kain only shrugged. "This is not a debate. You see, this time, you have nothing that I want." He seized Moebius again, this time impaling him on the Reaver. I grinned in malicious delight at the bloody scene, relishing Moebius's peril, which even he had not foreseen.

"You think this will matter?" choked Moebius, struggling to speak. "I serve One who has power over life and death."

"He doesn't care," I informed him.

"Then go to him," said Kain at the same time. He pushed Moebius off the blade. The Time-Streamer fell and lay dying on the floor.

"I am his obedient...his devoted servant..." he gasped, struggling to maintain a dignity which he never really possessed. "Soon, all pain will fade, and my master will bring me life once more."

"Yeah, uh, no he won't," I said, but Moebius was dead. I nudged his body with the toe of my boot. I straightened, satisfied that I wasn't too late. "By the way," I said, not turning to face Kain. "I'm…sorry. For what I said about you in my room to my friend. I didn't understand then."

"It's all right," replied Kain, remembering how I had called him "scary beyond all reason". I smiled and turned back to him. "So what are you planning? I remember that light in your eyes. No one who has seen it can ever forget. What's on your mind?"

"It's like this-" I began, but stopped, frowning. "Did you feel something?"

"No," said Kain, puzzled at my actions. I shrugged.

"It was probably nothing," I lied, but I knew what it was. Moebius was dead. Permanently, I mean. Raziel had impaled and consumed him, learning the secret of the Spirit Reaver. I gazed thoughtfully at the staff Moebius had left behind. "I wonder if that thing still has its power now that its bearer is dead."

"I'm not sure," said Kain, examining the staff. I tensed, waiting. I could feel movement behind me and I knew what it was: Raziel was back, possessing Moebius's body.

'So, that accursed Time-Streamer had a use after all,' I mused inwardly. When what happened next happened, I was ready for it.

"Kain," said Raziel through Moebius's mouth and in Moebius's voice. Kain turned and reacted quickly, but I jumped between them and caught Kain's arm, holding him with a strength I never knew I possessed.

"Stay your hand!" I cried. Kain stared at me. "It's Raziel!" With those words, Kain gasped and looked up again. Moebius's body had fallen away and Raziel stood there, stunned.

"Soul, what are you doing!" cried Raziel. "You should know better than anyone-"

"I do," I said. "And I know better than you. I'm telling you, you cannot do this." I released Kain's arm when I knew he wouldn't attack, and turned to face Raziel, tears burning my eyes. "Raziel, I love you. I can't let this happen, not when there's another way."

"What other way?" asked Raziel.

"I am the edge of Kain's proverbial coin, and you two are the two sides," I said. "The edge of a coin holds the sides together to form one solid object. That is what I do to our destinies. This isn't the only outlet to the Spirit Forge. This isn't the last element. There is one more."

"What one?" asked Kain. In response, I half-sang:

"And from the flames, as chance would have it
The Soul Forge will come into light!
And from the flames, as chance would have it
The Soul Forge, the stainless will rise!"

"Soul Forge?" repeated Raziel. I nodded.

"Now I know what it's for," I said. "Now I know what I'm for. Only I know where it is!"

"How?" asked Kain.

"Because I built it," I said. Both Kain and Raziel stared at me with an unrecognizable emotion in their eyes. "Don't look at me like that. Let's get out of here, back to the surface, and I'll show you where it is." I made my way out, Kain and Raziel following me as I led them back to the council chamber. Once there, I stopped in the centre of the room, frowning as I tried to remember.

"Mornie," I muttered, "Kala, Uur, Linde!" There was a small flash as four different-coloured lights flared and settled in the air in a certain way. "These," I said, gesturing, "are the four main Forges in Nosgoth. That is, they are the four which are above ground and are of the most consequence geographically. In the centre here-" I broke off, making a silent apology to my geometry teacher and connecting the lights with my finger so that a line of light appeared between them, and then I whispered, "Galadriël," saying the word as a spell, not a name. The words I had spoken meant darkness, air, fire, light, and soul respectively. When I said the word for 'soul', a new mark flared up in the middle of the others. "That," I said, "is the Soul Forge, a few miles to the east of Vorador's manor. That is where I can work my strange magick at its strongest. I remember that now. That's what's been pulling at the back of my mind this whole time. In that place is where my blend of necromancy and alchemy works its best." I looked at my companions, waiting for something, anything.

"What do you plan to do?" asked Raziel finally.

"I have spun a new coin, and that is where it will land," I answered. "On the one side of this coin, you allow yourself to be absorbed into the Reaver and are lost to me forever, the Scion of Balance's mighty weapon. On the other side, you do not, and the Scion of Balance never rises to restore Nosgoth, but you remain with me forever as you are." Raziel gazed down at his ragged appearance with some dismay. "But," I said, making sure I had their full attention, "but then we have the edge of the coin, on which I extricate your soul from your body and weld it irretrievably to the Reaver blade forevermore and you die completely. Then I use the Heart of Darkness to resurrect you, once more restored to your former glory and strength, more powerful than ever before. What say you?" Raziel didn't say anything, nor did Kain. I doubted that they would anyway. I just stood and waited patiently. However, they stayed silent longer than I had anticipated, and I was growing anxious. "Raziel," I said gently. "You yourself said that I was unnaturally strong. You said you trusted me completely. Do you doubt me yet? Or do you doubt yourself?"

"Not you, never you," said Raziel. "But…are you certain?"

"Certain?" I repeated. "If you want 'certain', hire yourself a witch; I'm just your lover." I sighed. "This is getting us nowhere, so I'll make the decision for you, K?"

"Wait, what are you-?" began Kain, but my spellcasting was faster than his protesting. We materialized outside a great Forge door made of black marble. I placed my left hand on the door and it slid open for me easily. I knew Kain and Raziel would follow me, so I walked inside. Just as I thought, they hurried in behind me before they were locked out. The inside of my Forge was similar to the others, except without the unnecessary puzzles and challenges to pass through first. There were murals, more accurate and self-explanatory than the others, depicting the winged race in their prime and the rise of the Hylden, all the way up to this point. Deep inside, where I led Raziel and Kain, was the altar. Or at least, an altar. Nothing came out of it at the moment. I didn't need it to. On three of the walls were three separate murals: one depicting Raziel's terrible fate of being trapped forever in the blade of the Soul Reaver while Kain wielded it for the salvation of Nosgoth, one depicting Kain and Raziel together watching as Nosgoth sunk ever deeper into pestilence and ruin, and one in the middle of these two depicting me working my magick to try and spare Raziel while still forging the weapon of the Scion of Balance. I sighed and sat on the edge of the altar.

"This is your Soul Forge?" asked Kain quietly. I nodded, gazing around.

"No one else knows this place exists," I said. "Not Janos Audron, not even my parents. All the murals I painted myself, though they're not very good. I'm sorry I never shared this place with you, Raziel, but the time wasn't right. I knew you'd understand."

"I do understand," said Raziel, gazing around. "And I do trust you. And I want to be with you forever. I want to ride the winds of Eternity with you, like you said that warm spring night nearby the tree, remember?" I looked at him in surprise, then thoughtfulness.

"I do remember," I said softly. "The thorny acacia tree, wasn't it? Yes, I remember that." I rose slowly, gazing at him. Raziel looked at the mural of me casting my spells to save him from his fate one more time, then he nodded. He turned back to me with an air of determination and decidedness.

"Cast your spells, then," he said. "I'm ready to be free of my fate."