Drakenhoff: Raziel is too nice in which story? Just this one or both this and "I'm a what?", if it's just this one he's supposed to look like that, the whole "no villian is really 100 evil the road to hell is paved with good intentions" and so forth. But don't worry further along the story Raziel is going to do something rather cruel.
Disclaimer:- The Legacy of Kain series and it's characters is owned by crystal dynamics and originated from silicon knights. I get no money from typing this up.
Melchiah and Kain stood warily, stopping when they had reached the entrance of the Razielhim clan territory. Emptiness and silence greeted them in return. There was no bustle of vampire activity like the Turelhim territory, but even though neither of the vampires expected that much, there were no gaggles of fledglings dotted here and there before the statues of Raziel and Kain. The only thing either of them could here was a slight breeze whistling through the cracks of the walls, while the weapons decorating the brick walls gleamed dully.
Kain narrowed his eyes, puzzled by the silence, and walked over to a pair of spears adorning the left wall. He studied the weapons a moment before pulling one then the other out with an audible clanging, tossing one of them to Melchiah who deftly snatched it out of the air, then flipped it to get a better hold. Melchiah glanced at Kain who gave him a wary look back, not even needing to say that something was amiss considering how obvious that fact was. Instead Kain jerked his head indicating for Melchiah to follow as he strode up the stone steps, their hooves echoing in the empty antechamber, both of them looking around warily for any sign of activity, be it good or bad.
It wasn't long until the entered the more residential part of the Razielhim territory, opening a door and finally finding a Razielhim, although that one was asleep. As they checked the other Razielhim they found, the rest of that clan was also in a similar condition.
"Odd." Kain said thoughtfully to his youngest son. "Usually, no matter what the time is, at least one of them would be awake and guarding the area. And some of them should be able to be roused. It couldn't be them hibernating, it's too soon after you and your Melchiahim evolved.
"Or could it?" Melchiah replied.
"Hmmm." Kain stood looking at the one currently in front of him thoughtfully. "Then again it could be indeed. But for how long? And if they are, why haven't the Hylden made any moves to finish them off while they are defenseless"
"Maybe they want to use them as soon as they wake up." Melchiah offered.
"Would there even be that many Hylden to take over the Razielhim as well as whom they already have?" Kain added. Melchiah didn't answer. Neither of them knew, nor wanted to know. After a pause, Kain then spoke up.
"And another thing, if the Razielhim are in hibernation, then that also means that Raziel, wherever he had gotten to, is also asleep"
"...Which gives us a bit of a load off of our shoulders." A voice said from the doorway. "Not that I couldn't handle it"
Kain and Melchiah spun, instantly on guard with their spears ready, pointing at the owner of the voice which turned out to be Dumah, who was watching Kain and Melchiah casually.
"Dumah!" Melchiah exclaimed.
"The one and only." He smirked.
"How are we to know if you really are Dumah, though?" Kain asked suspiciously.
"Me? After what I've seen happen to half of my Dumahim, how am I to know for sure that you two are really Lord Kain and my brother Melchiah?" Neither of them replied. "...Besides, if I were one of whatever is trying to take over, the Razielhim wouldn't be hibernating, they would be dead, since I'm the only one that has been guarding them as well as my remaining Dumahim"
"Well that explains the Razielhim." Melchiah shrugged. Kain however still looked skeptic. But he couldn't really come up with any sure way to know if Dumah had been possessed or not. But then, even if he didn't trust Dumah, Kain was sure that he was more than a match for him. "Very well then." Kain said, eyes still narrowed. "But that aside, I still have my empire to take back"
"But how are we to do that? We are now up against Turel, Rahab, and Zephon, as well as who-knows how many vampires they have"
"If we decide to do anything then, we should do it during the day. Rahab, being still sensitive to light, would be out the way then, and we can deal with him afterwards. As for vampires, do either of you know how many of yours are still free"
"Most of mine, from what I can tell." Melchiah replied.
"I only have about half of mine left; although I have been getting them to guard the Razielhim as well." Dumah explained.
"And I still think there are some Turelhim which are still free"
"Then we had better gather them before they are also lost. We should stay here with the Razielhim though, and gather here. Melchiah; you stay here and guard the Razielhim with the remaining Dumahim. Dumah, you and I shall find everyone else and bring them here"
"As you wish." Melchiah and Dumah bowed, before they all went their separate ways.
Elsewhere. . . . .
Turel stood before a tall figure in the shadows, it's dark, almost feather-less wings just visible in the gloom. "So Kain had escaped." The figure commented, although there was no anger in his deep voice. Turel said nothing in reply. "Don't be so concerned. I did not expect Kain to be defeated so easily. If he had been beaten, I would know that something would be wrong. But now everything is going according to plan"
"Perhaps..." Turel nodded. "Although wouldn't it be best if we had one of our own that could keep an eye on him?" Turel asked the shadows.
"There is no need to concern ourselves with that either. Trust me, all is going according to plan. For now, all we need to do is wait for Kain to make his move." "As for that, there has been news of Kain in the Melchiahim territory gathering free vampires"
"Like I said; everything is going as planned." Although Turel couldn't see the figure's hidden face, he could see the confident smile through the glowing green eyes that shone out.
"Could have at least told me those plans." Turel said under his breath. But the figure had heard. "It is simply a tactical way for everything to go smoothly." The figure said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Now, you have your orders"
Turel gave a small bow before turning away and leaving. The figure in the shadows watched him go briefly. "Soon Kain..." Janos smiled.
"We need to attack at sunrise, this at least gives the enemy a disadvantage without Rahab and his kin. Although this would also be a disadvantage to those here who are fledglings, but we need to use as many people available as we can. Therefore any fledglings will be assigned to the third group to stay with the hibernating Razielhim, out of the sun, to guard them, with those Turelhim selected to help. Dumah will lead this group..." Kain spoke to his audience that had gathered in the Razielhim antechamber, the crowd big enough it was spilling outside through the corridors beyond like an overflowing bag of grain. A good sign to Kain. "But as for everyone else, we are going to attack the Hylden which have taken a hold of Both Turel and Zephon, as well as many vampires. They have been amassing in the silenced cathedral more than anywhere else, so that is where we are going to attack.
"The first group will be any of the Dumahim who are no longer fledglings. Lead by me, you will make the first assault. The remaining Turelhim who have not been selected to stay here will be sent ahead before any of this to scout ahead, before reporting back. They will provide cover for the first group, while the second group, consisting of the remaining Melchiahim, will make the second assault on my signal, both of which will be lead by Melchiah. This should be more than enough to break through any defenses that they have put up. After that, whomever remains will form one group and will enter the silenced cathedral itself, and attack anyone else in there. Then both me and Melchiah will head out to find both Turel and Zephon." Kain paused for a moment, looking down at his audience checking to make sure that they were absorbing what he was telling them, and found all eyes were attentively on him.
"Right. Now I'm sure you all recognize the fact that these aren't mere humans that we are attacking, but other vampires. They will not go down like humans, and even if they do, they can get back up again, although all of you also have the ability, it best each of have a weapon available. Not only are these other vampires, however, but they have also been possessed. Although it is best to kill your opponent, if the opportunity comes, try to either knock him or her out so we can deal with removing the hylden influence later when we win. Staking them can also be an option, although another enemy can easily remove the stake again, so you all need to keep that in mind. And, if at any point I give the order to retreat, head straight back here if you can.
"We will attack the next day at sunrise. Until then I suggest all of you get prepared for what all of you have been assigned to do. Any questions?" Someone towards the back spoke up. "Why not make a dash for the cathedral while the attack's going on"
"Because it's best to stay in a group. Besides, the aim of this attack isn't infiltration. We want our old brethren either back or dead. I have dealt with the Hylden before, and although I had found their weakness, by cutting off the portal to their world, I do not know where the portals to their world would be now. That, and even if I did, I do not have the means yet to seal it up. So we'll have to use another tactic to get them out, which is to kill them, or to knock down any host they are in and keep them down until the Hylden hopefully realizes that they aren't going to be doing anything with their host that they are in. Any more questions"
"How will we be able to tell our Turelhim and Dumahim from the enemies?" A female asked.
"We wont. If any of them attack you, don't hesitate to fight back. Any thing else"
The crowd below him asked nothing more.
"Good then. Dismissed." The crowd in front of him turned away from him and began to filter out, most of them heading towards the Razielhim territory to stay. Most of their talk involved the upcoming battle, and they all knew that they might not make it out alive. Kain however felt confident that he would win, as he usually did, however, he frowned as he remembered he no longer had his reaver, which he was sorely beginning to miss. He hadn't for a long time gone into battle without it, and it felt like he had lost an old friend. And speaking of which, he was also beginning to miss his first lieutenant. Hopefully, once this was over, he could return to getting Raziel back. He would have liked to dwell more on a plan to do that, but he had a battle to deal with, and he had to focus on that first.