Kain sat on his throne, under the crumbling balance pillar; soul reaver leaning next to said throne, idly looking at the back of his claws, thoughtful. Recalling days long since past.
With the help of Vorador, giving Kain an example, he helped to demonstrate how to raise a corpse into a vampire. The two needed that, after a moment of debating who would lead after Kain had defeated the sarafan lord. They first needed to create more vampires and get rid of the rest of what remaining sarafan were there, after the hylden recreated the vampire-hunting group, practically brainwashing men to join, perhaps out of fear of the vampires. In any case, Vorador had some extra vampire lackey's that Kain put to good use, using their help to break into the tomb of the ancient sarafan which the hylden got their idea from. Kain remembered thinking that two could play at that game.
Raziel, the sarafan's leader, was chosen first. Vorador's devotees helped to carry the corpse out of the tomb, until Kain replaced the flesh on the sarafan skeleton, and used part of his soul to turn the dead sarafan into a vampire. There had been magical wards to prevent this. But Kain had dealt with those, easily enough.
Of course, not all of the sarafan of that time remembered the 'legendary' Raziel. But Kain remembered, with unmasked sadistic delight, the reaction of those sarafan who did remember. The effort felt worth it. And so Kain, one by one, raised the dead sarafan priests (barring Malek, the pillar guardian of conflict). He only had enough power to bring six vampires into being. It was nothing compared to the quantity that Vorador created. But then again, it was quality, not quantity that mattered. Besides, the sarafan's strength was an added bonus. Stronger than the average human, and thus stronger than the average vampire, Kain put his new lieutenants to good use. He removed the remaining sarafan menace, and took control of Nosgoth. Vorador, though having a greater number of vampires, fell under Kain's rule. He and what vampires he had disappeared. Kain saw them now and then, but paid them little heed. He had done what he wanted; obtained rule over Nosgoth.
But apparently there was a downside, considering current events.
He had considered it incredibly lucky that the sarafan that he raised had no memory of their previous life. And unlucky that Raziel had just started to remember his previous existence now. Of course, Nosgoth was under Kain's rule, and he didn't really need all of his lieutenants so much any more. But over time, he had started to grow fond of them, including Raziel. The sarafan realizing that he had become a vampire had been interesting. But he preferred to have his lieutenant back. He had thought that maybe a few quick reminders of what it was to be a vampire would have snapped him out of it, but that didn't work. Dumah's suggestion of hitting him silly was at least an option. It had worked with Magnus, ages ago. It could work, although Kain didn't necessarily need to hit him... There were still other, albeit more physical means to do that now, he thought with a grin. It was worth a shot.
Smirking, he got up, and concentrated on teleporting himself to Raziel's room...
Raziel woke up again, fortunately still satiated. He shook his head, hoping again that now he had woken up, all this time being a vampire would turn out to be a bad dream. He spotted the mirror on the other side of the wall. But again, though it was his face that stared back, it was pale. His hair was darker; the eyes that stared back were a cat-like yellow. And fangs still protruded from behind his dark lips. Frowning, Raziel hung his head. There was to be no awakening.
He then wondered what time it was. There were no windows in his room. Perhaps he could at least take a glance outside to see if there was a sun behind all that smog that now hung in the sky. So he opened the door, expecting to face a group of vampires guarding his room, as always...
... To find that there was none!
Raziel laughed relief and surprise flooding him. It was incredible! No one was guarding the door! Raziel could now escape, and at least avoid the vampires, and stop any brainwashing that they might attempt on him. He stopped himself for a split second, wondering if this was some vampire trick. But he shoved the thought aside. There was no sense, no possible benefit that the vampires could accomplish by doing that. No, he just thanked his luck, and ran off, not even considering why his guards had vanished. This time, though, he wasn't going to get caught again. If he went to take revenge on Kain, he would lose, and just be caught again. No, this time, he was going to stay as far away from this vampire lair until he had some sort of help or had planned a strategy of some sort.
He ran away, laughing. Freedom was so sweet...
Kain teleported just outside Raziel's room again. He preferred to use the Turelim he had placed on guard there, to help carry Raziel away. Besides, it was usually customary for a leader to have an escort. But as he approached the wooden door, he saw that there was absolutely no guard there. No razielhim, no turelim. Odd...
He looked around. Usually in a clan's territory there should have been at least a few vampires lurking around. But he couldn't spot anyone. And there was a clan leader that he had SPECIFACLY ordered to be guarded. Containing his anger, he went over the door, and checked inside. Sure enough, there was no one inside. No Raziel, No razielhim. No one.
Kain was more than angry. He was furious.
He spotted movement towards his left. He stormed towards it. It turned out to be a razielhim. She spotted Kain marching towards her, the look on his face sending chills down her spine. She stood still, hoping that his anger wasn't directed at her, and that if she would just do what she was told, she would get through Kain's wrath.
"YOU!" He yelled.
"Lord Kain." She bowed.
"Where are the other Razielhim, and the Turelim? Why isn't this place guarded, like I ordered? AND WHERE IS RAZIEL?" He yelled at her.
"I I I don't know, my lord." The girl stuttered. "I I I I only just got here."
"Wrong answer." He snapped, and sliced the razielhim's neck with his claw, a fatal wound. The girl fell onto the cold stone floor, blood leaking.
Matt and Kat returned in time to see Kain kill a random razielhim who had the misfortune to turn up at a bad time like this. They hid behind a wall before they ran off. They all knew. Never cross Kain when he was in a temper. It was safer to walk into a sunlit pool of water than to mess with him. Before they ran off, though, they watched Kain storm off, probably looking to see if he could spot any more Razielhim. They stayed well hidden.
"Oh crap we're in for it now." Matt muttered. Sure enough, the next time the Razielhim were summoned, they were chewed out. Although some were fortunately absent from Kain's anger over the fact Raziel had escaped, and that his Razielhim let him do so due to their incompetence.
Rouge hid in the branches of the dying tree. The trees in Nosgoth, at least around the Sanctuary of the clans, were mostly gone. But there were still some still standing, at least at this point in time. And so, Rouge hid in the early night, like a leopard in a tree.
She couldn't help but muse; in her life before she was a vampire; she was kicked out of home, forced to live on her own out on the streets. No parents to look after her, she had to survive on her own, until the razielhim she met showed her that she could live a better life. And while trying to survive on her own, she had learnt a few things.
She was a predator now, and she didn't have a field of grain or vegetables to provide her next meal. No, she had to hunt and get it on her own. Although, vampires did tend to share and share alike, so she might be allowed to have a drink provided for her, at times. Vampires did share and share alike. But it was preferable that she got it herself. Yet, ironically enough, her leader, Raziel, who now thought he was human, a Sarafan no less, would refuse to hunt and kill another human. She couldn't fathom why; in his previous life, he had hunted vampires. Of course, the Sarafan were more brutal, but they didn't think of themselves like that.
Predator. Prey. Everyone does what he or she must to survive. Rouge guessed, shrugging her shoulders.
She stopped her musing abruptly. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. There was little sunlight, of course. A vampire couldn't exist in any other environment. And the dull gray of the day had already long since passed dusk. Rouge's eyes easily adjusted. She saw Raziel running quickly away from the fields, wary. Rouge shook her head.
What's going on now? She wondered to herself. Then she noticed the irony of the situation. She had escaped a life without parents, living on her own. But now she had a new life, she had lost her leader. Again, she had to live without a parental figure, and it's support. If she was to get him back, though, she had best follow him. She couldn't help but smirk to herself, as she set off. If there was any rule that dominated Nosgoth, it was Murphy's law.
Shedropped downfrom the branches of the tree she was sitting in.She had Raziel to catch up with.
Raziel still couldn't believe it. He was finally free!
But still cursed...
But even if that were so, he was now free. He could at least find help of some sort. There had to be humans somewhere. What else would the vampires feed on? But where would the humans be? He had hoped that not too much had passed, and that the villages he once knew of would still be in their same locations. He needed to remember where such towns lay, and tried to remember the geography of Nosgoth. That, at least, should be constant. Judging by the sun's setting, from what little of such sun through the cloud he could see, he was heading west. The area seemed to be mostly rural and sloped up so he could, after a distance, see most of Nosgoth. Looking back, in the darkening (but oddly see-able, being a vampire) east, he saw the fortress he had just escaped. He remembered vaguely seeing the pillars, corrupted from the vampiric presence, no doubt, and housed within some gleaming citadel, where Kain seemed to center his rule.
Judging from the pillars' location and his own, he looked right, towards the south, where the sarafan stronghold should have laid. But there was what looked like a large body of water separating the stronghold from his position, although there seemed to be some sort of abbey in it. In any case, from what little he could see from his position, the stronghold seemed to have become derelict. It's former magnificence Raziel had known it to be in real life seemed to have faded.
Indeed, if what he saw of the large vampire population wasn't enough proof that the age of the sarafan was over, the cold, tomb-like stronghold confirmed it. Raziel's heart sank. There didn't seem to be any hope or help there. But perhaps he could find other humans. He looked north, and saw what looked like the remainder of Vasserbunde. It was not the best of places; he rarely went there as a human. Beyond that, eastwards, lay what should have been Coorhagen, a growing city from what Raziel remembered. It, at least, still looked alive, and a citadel seemed to be in the process of being built there, with the river being redirected around it. And Vasserbunde was worth a look. Hopefully he wouldn't see too many vampires there. He needed to be ready, first.
Further east he saw another city. Raziel didn't remember it from his previous life. Perhaps, that too, could be checked out, later, if he had the chance. He couldn't see any further than that, as the smog which blocked out the sun seemed to coalesce in the far east land, perhaps originating from there. But he had seen enough. He set off northeast.
But then he stopped himself. What would he do with humans when he was cursed himself? Would he come to them, only to have his thirst drive him to kill everyone?
Perhaps, like before, he could use cattle and such. It worked before...
And he wanted his revenge.
