((Sorry for taking an insane amount of time, guys, stuff came up. ; ))
The meeting began upon the cliff face.
The atmosphere was tense, and for good reason. Five soldiers stood on one side, four of them framing a heavily armored man, one who wore the engravings of high rank upon his breastplate. All five of them kept their hands upon their sheathed weapons, glaring at the other end of this little negotiation.
On the other end, an equally odd looking party glared back. Zanarath, dressed in his usual sparse attire, moved anxiously from foot to fist, hunched over like a gorilla as wiry muscles quivered slightly. He glared at the party with animalistic hatred, snarling slightly under his breath.
The second was calmer, steadier, but twice as frightening. Raziel's glowing eyes did not flicker, his blue-tinted form did not budge, his clawed hands hanging loosely at his side, still stained with the dried blood of the unfortunate patrols from the night before. His posture was also slightly hunched, though it was much straighter than that of the man-wraith, and perhaps it was for this reason that the five soldiers paid the most attention to him, though it was Zanarath they had come to kill.
The commander of the Sarafan mercenaries spoke, his voice deep, yet cultured. "When I was told that our task was to cleanse this cliffside of a corrupted creature, I had never expected to find two beasts that needed extermination."
"Well, circumstances can change," Raziel replied, eyes narrowing. "For example, another change would be the one in which you do not exterminate anything."
"What, begging for mercy?" The commander was quick to demand, his chest already starting to puff out slightly.
"No, just granting a bit of advice," Raziel replied amiably, hands behind his back. "So you can live to see retirement."
"We Sarafan do not retire," the commander spat in reply, puffing out his chest.
"True," Raziel mused over that, then shrugged and continued cheerfully; "I guess you just die, then."
Stepping forward until he was nose to... erm... face with Raziel, the large man tried his best to look threatening, but he nonetheless seemed a bit unnerved by the fire burning in the wraith's eyes and the sash obscuring much of his face. "You shall burn in the fires of eternity, or my name is not Geron!"
"Oh, is that what your name is?" Raziel asked mildly, blinking. "I can certainly see why you'd be so angry at the world, then."
"You forget that we outnumber you!" Came the heated reply, and Geron took a step forward, trying to force Raziel back. When the demon did not give any ground, the mercenary was forced to back up himself. "There are ten more men awaiting my command down below!"
"Yes, and there used to be fifteen, at least until that unfortunate nighttime incident," Raziel replied innocently, tilting his head. "Whittled down the numbers a bit, did it not?"
There was a long pause. "It was you!"
Raziel lifted an eyebrow, scoffing slightly. "Well, what did you think it was? A particularly strong wind? Honestly, did you think your little camp so untouchable, out there in the open with a fire beckoning brighter than any beacon?"
Geron's four escorts were paling noticably, something that their commander noticed. Evidentially trying bravery for their sake, he stepped forward once more, hand on his sword pommel heroically. "Your own blood shall spill to pay for the lost lives of our bretheren!"
Raziel didn't answer, at least not with words. Rather, he just drew his palm inward slightly, focused, and then pushed his hand forward, releasing a jet of telekinetic energy. It was an inherent ability that, fortunately, he had not lost along with the Wraith Blade.
Warping space as it traveled the five feet between the two men, the blast struck Geron in his breastplate, denting it considerably. The man emitted a squack as he went hurling back through the air, nearly hitting the ground. Immediately all four escorts caught him, stumbling back slightly under their commander's bulk. One tripped on a loose stone, however, and a moment later all five of them landed flat on their backs, Geron on top the lot of them.
Raziel and the man-wraith beside him watched, both laughing, as the four escorts pried themselves from under their leader, spun on heel and fled down the ledge, tripping over themselves in their haste to get away. Geron took a bit longer to get to his feet, weighed down by his armor, but after a venemous look at Raziel, he also turned and fled.
"They gone now?" Zanarath asked, looking up at Raziel.
"No, they will return soon enough," Raziel replied, turning away and stepping into the cave they shared. "And in force. Fortunately, it is likely that their commander will be so ticked off, he'll make a mistake... or several."
As it turns out, he was right on both counts. It was less than an hour before five men came charging up the cliffside, evidentially to test their strength. Raziel and Zanarath, the former battling with the spear he had pilfered and the latter with his sharp nails, teeth and strength, had succeeded in killing one and sending the other fleeing back down the cliff once more, sporting various deep gashes and bruises. Raziel fed on the vanquished foe, gaining more strength for the next attack.
The second attack did not come for another three hours, and this time it was a bit more cautious, and with thirteen of the remaining fourteen men, including Geron. On the one hand, the slower approach of the forces made it less likely that Raziel and Zanarath would be able to launch a surprise attack, but on the other, both demonic beings saw them coming long before they arrived.
Night was once more beginning to fall as Raziel and Zanarath crouched in their cave, hidden behind a rocky protrusion and listening to the approach of heavy boots. Both were tense, ready for battle, but the footsteps halted just outside the cave entrance, going no further. It was then that Raziel realized their plan; they were just going to wait them out...
Another few hours went by, the sounds of armor and conversation so close, and more than once Zanarath tried to leap out of the cave and attack. But Raziel restrained him, knowing that they would both be scewered the moment they stepped out.
Still, it was hard for him. Seated deep in the cave, his breathing slow, he could already feel the hunger in him beginning to mount, his body starting to weaken. Without any fresh soul energy to absorb, his stores of strength were dwindling, bit by bit, his senses becoming less sharp and his movements less coordinated. Soon he would lose his strength all together.
Whether he would die, or just slip into the spirit world when that happened was unknown, but either way he would be useless without a...
"Oh God," He murmured, sitting up straighter.
"What?" Zanarath asked. The man-wraith did not seem weakened at all, despite the fact that he was without nourishment as well. "What wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, except for my own latent stupidity," Raziel muttered, shaking his head. "I'll be back in a moment, I promise."
And, before Zanarath's very eyes, his body crumbled into dust.
Renin, honored fighter of mercenary of the great Sarafan order, found himself with the safest, and yet least prestigious task. While his bretheren went to cleanse this area of the filth that lived in the cavern above, he was stuck with purifying the corpses of their fallen bretheren, the ones that had been lost to one of the creatures above.
He had already purified all but one of the corpses, the flames that consumed them flickering as the smell of burning flesh was partially drowned out by the sweet smelling oils they had been douced in. Tending to the last one, he placed a small drop of the oil upon the forehead of the last corpse, shut its eyes, then looked up at the nearly-set sun as he began to speak the final Rites.
"And may the purity of Moebius reach into the soul of our Bretheren and bring him to the place of Balance, and so his great sacrifice may be rewarded until time ends and the universe falls to dust. The oils symbolize the purity of his death, whilst the fires consume the sins of those that killed him."
The final Rite complete, his took a torch and prepared to ignite the corpse... but then he noticed something peculiar.
The eyes had opened again. In fact, they appeared to almost be staring straight at him.
"What in the name of the Elder-?"
It was then that cold, clammy fingers wrapped about his throat, the corpse sitting up with new life. But as it moved, its skin seemed to flake off, revealing new flesh underneath. The fingers seemed to grow in strength, cutting off his air as they squeezed mercilessly.
The last thing Renin saw before death claimed him was the face of his bretheren crumble, revealing flaming blue eyes underneath...
"Do you surrender, Abomination?" Geron called into the cave, a few of his men surrounding him, others further down the path. All were armed with pikes, facing the entrance as well as they prepared to slaughter anything that emerged. "Give up now and I will pray to the Elder God for your sake."
There was an odd noise behind him- a whimper?- but he was too focused on the cave entrance to pay much attention to it, wanting nothing more than to sink his spear into both of their fleshes and claim their carcasses as his trophies.
"What say you?" He asked, and again there was a noise, this one a gurgle. He almost turned around, but then he saw movement in the cave, movement that took his full attention. He could see the despicable little man, the one they had come to eliminate, clamber out, his posture hunched as he glared at Geron with... amusement?
"Surrender, creature, and your death will be swift." The commander said harshly, lifting his spear higher, even as he wondered where the man's accomplice was. "You and your fellow swine are outnumbered seven to one!"
"Actually," A dry voice spoke from behind him, a voice that made Geron's blood freeze in his veins. "It looks to me to be an even match."
Turning slowly, Geron beheld the carnage; all but one of his men dead, their throats and vocal cords slit, some missing entirely. He had no doubt that if he looked off the edge of the cliff, he would find them far below.
And there, in the center of the massacre, leaning in a bloodied sword, was this... this... thing, watching him calmly, smugly, coldly...
Immediately his last man lunged forward, pike raised, but a quick sidestep and slash sent the man falling to the ground, bloody spilling from a slash in his side. He tried to rise but then Zanarath was on him, snarling as he sunk his teeth into the soldier's neck, all while the commander of this supposed extermination watched, frozen... helpless.
"Then again," Raziel corrected himself. "I think we now have the advantage of numbers."
Then he leapt, sliced, and Geron saw no more.
"You sure you go?"
Raziel, who had been watching the rising sun, glanced at the man-wraith and nodded slightly, shrugging. "It seems the best thing to do. I have to see how long has past since I last drew breath, and how much has changed. Are you certain you will not come with me?"
Zanarath shook his head, giving a lopsided grin. "My home here. Be stupid to defend home then leave."
"I guess," Raziel mused, thinking over that. "It should be many months before that group is missed and the Sarafan send more mercenaries… hopefully I will have returned to help then as well. I look forward to seeing you some time in the future, my friend. I am certain our paths will cross once more, one day."
Squinting of into the distance, the direction that the Sarafan mercenaries had come from, he decided to retrace their path. It would lead to at least a facsimile of civilization.
"Live long," he said, smiling as best he could with his distorted features, then released his corporeal form, slipping into the spirit realm. The landscape distorted and grew harsher, and Zanarath faded into nothingness.
It may be many days before he found any signs of habitation, but, he mused to himself wryly, he had all the time in the Universe… perhaps he would even find Kain one day.
Taking three quick steps and launching himself off the cliff, he spread his tattered wings and sped through the silent void, an Angel of Vengence.
((That's not all, folks, keep tuned in for more installments. ))