KAIN

Chapter 7: The demon dimension

With all the Hylden in the Settlement looking for us, hiding from them was a near impossibility. I had what I had travelled here to obtain, the cure for the curse the Hylden inflicted on the vampires after their banishment. It was a brass canister with a white liquid inside. According to Janos, this cure; once released in Nosgoth, would cure all the vampires within it. I certainly hoped that were true, but something nagged at me, telling me that this was all a little too easy.

Still, my last task here was a simple one. In order to continue any sort of path, I had to escape this place of evil. Unfortunately I had little knowledge in how to go about doing so. Physically, I could leave this dimension. The pillars held the Hylden back, prevented them from travelling back to Nosgoth themselves, but as vampires, Janos and I could freely leave. All we had to do was find an object of magic that enchantment involved a translocation. My own spells were not sufficient here.

T'kral, the Hylden general of this settlement, warrior of House Pyre lead the search for us himself. While not as strong as the Sarafan lord had been, he possessed skills and immunities that surprised even me. For one thing, he appeared quite immune to the Reaver's elemental fire.

"Find them, kill the ancient and bring the Scion to me!" I heard him screech to his troops, who systematically began searching every building. Slowly, I stepped back into the shadows before descending down into a small door into the cellar of a storage area, closing it behind me.

Inside, Janos sat on a large metal crate, cradling the precious brass canister like a newborn infant. His face half lit in the light from single glyph light above. He was fatigued, my blood already beginning to loose it's positive effects in him. I could not risk giving him another dose either, not in this place were the rules of existence were so different. What he really needed was to return to Nosgoth and feed. If not, I doubted he would survive the next few hours.

"After the centuries of suffering our race endured." He began, the need for rest more than evident in his voice. "It seems strange now that salvation should come in so small a form." I could see his point. The white liquid inside the canister was probably no more than a tankard full, yet if it worked as Janos claimed it would restore the ancient vampire race instantly.

I spurned myself for not planning ahead. Raziel made things up ad he went along. I preferred to take careful considerations of my options before making a move. The Reaver on my buzzed, sensing my dismay. Strangely, it seemed to be laughing at me, taunting me for my mistake. Not in a threatening way, but like a friend would tease a close companion. The sword had not acted like this since Raziel allowed himself be absorbed. Now I was more than sure that somehow, his personality had survived inside the blade.

I expected him to go instantly mad, to complete the circle as the previous sprit inside the Reaver had. But apparently, he had bypassed the cycle completely. In curiosity I unsheathed the blade and looked directly into the skull like hilt. It felt like the crafted eyes were watching me.

When I had raised my six sons from the Sarafan crypt, I used a portion of my own vampiric strength to revive them. As such, I could had a loose sense of their location if I concentrated.

At first all I could feel of the Reaver was the elemental force now captured within it. It took some effort to push past that, but eventually I found the inner depths of the blade. He was there. There actually there. I could sense his presence, as stable and sane as ever even aware of his present surrounding.

Comfortable?- I asked him telepathically. His essence seemed startled, having not expected to here my voice speak to him directly, least of all inside there.

I would prefer not to be here- I heard him reply. I took a moment to steady myself. Despite everything, I still considered Raziel to be my son. A son I had never expected to hear from again. -It's cramped.- He added dryly.

-I thought it might be- I decided then and there I couldn't keep up the banter we had enjoyed over our past. -Raziel, you gave me no warning at all. I was trying to find a way to avoid this outcome- He seemed amused, having put me through an emotional roller coaster.

-I doubt think it could have been avoided.- He told me but a hint of intense reluctance in his voice. -I realized it had to be done, but in a way that cut off the circle. It was that odorous that kept the two of us going round in circles in time. This way I have escaped the madness that claimed the previous sprit within the Reaver,-

-You are still trapped.- I reminded him. Almost as if I could see his ruined form still there, I felt him smile.

-For the time being yes. Don't worry about me Kain, I'm here to serve as your blade for now. As for my future, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.- Raziel went silent for a moment. -You should hurry. The effects of your blood are already beginning to were off on Janos. When that happens, he will be too weak to resist the effect of this realm. And you had best not spent too long here either.-

-I don't suppose you could tell us they way out?- I could here him laughing as the sword's powerful flux I had pushed through to reach him separated the link and I was left alone again. Yet perhaps alone was not quite accurate. I had thought Raziel lost but now I had cause for renewed hope for my eldest sons salvation. If he could survive inside the sword then it was entirely possible to free him from it, once my business was concluded.

If it was ever concluded. I brushed that thought away. Despite many attempts by my enemies to slow be down and even eliminate me, I was making progress. I twitched.

I could sense Hylden moving close by. It would not be long before they discovered us.

Instead of letting them have the advantage, it might prove fruitful to bring the fight to them instead.

"There's going to be more fighting." I told the ancient, edging my way towards the door, holding the Reaver at the ready.

"I thought there might be." He began with a flat unreadable expression. "Leaving the Demon world will not be as easy as entering. We designed it to be so." I stopped. I could here several Hylden just outside the door now. The time for hiding was over.

Taking the Reaver in both hands, I charged out the trap door, knocking on Hylden flat on the floor in the process. The other two were warriors breeds and swung their claws down towards me. I dodged around before slicing one down the chest, leaving a large gaping scar.

Staggering back wounded, I thrust the tip of the sword forward, sinking it into his chest. He made a few gagging sounds, before I let him slide off down towards the floor.

Enraged by his lose, the others screamed and charged. I deflected on blow with my leather bracer before ducking under a burst of magic from another, swinging the Reaver back in an arch, severing a head.

The last one I took hold off with telekinesis and tossed far out of the ally, letting him slide across the ground and into the side of a wall. I leap after him, Reaver held ready.

Before I could sink it's blade into his flesh, I realised my mistake. I had revealed myself a little to earlier than expected. I was out in the middle of the street and a good few dozen Hylden could see me, including T'kral.

Acting on instinct, I picked up my intended victim and tossed him violently back into his fellows, knocking them over into a tangled heap.

T'kral charged, his scythe at the ready.

Deflecting a swing with the Reaver, I retaliated by hit him with a concentrated force projectile. He flew backs, his heels digging into the ground before he stopped a few feet away unscathed. Grinning, he swing his scythe again and again and each time I defended myself, sliding through his clumsily made attacks. I could tell he possessed great skill, but his anger was making his moves uncoordinated.

The thought briefly passed by that, in another time and place, he could have been my pupil. I had trained many vampires in the arts of combat and mental discipline, especially on my rise to power and pained me to see such obvious talent as his go to waste.

Still, I had no time for this day dreaming.

"You're never going to hit me if you remain that angry." I told as we clashed. He simply snarled, swinging his weapon around in an arch trying to slice me across the knees. Evidentially, eons inside this realm had rendered him incapable of perceiving even the basic rules of combat. That you never got emotional. Emotional warriors made foolish mistakes. Often fatal foolish mistakes. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

Pushing through his defence, I brought the tip of the Reaver across his armour chest plate, cutting through to the flesh. It wasn't that deep a wound, but he staggered back at the same, grasping at the scar in his chest, blood slowly oozing from it. He dropped to one knee, gasping for air.

The other Hylden stopped still, looking stunned that one of their generals had been overcome. Evidentially T'kral commanded some respect amongst them. At least he was doing something right with the chain of command.

"We will not rest until your people are extinct Scion." He told me, still trying to find the strength to rise. "You prevented our escape through the eons of the second Sarafan, but one day, when the binding's decay is sufficient enough we will be free."

"Of that, I have no doubt." I told him, fixing his green eyes with a hard stare. "You're people have every right to want and have freedom." That response surprised him. I saw the confusion plain on his face. Ancient resentment had been bread into him ever since his infancy. He had been raised to think that all the vampires had ever done was do their best to keep their race locked inside this realm, inflicting sadistic punishment for a war fought and lost eons ago. "Although next time you re-enter Nosgoth, remember this." I leaned closer to give a more than close up look of my fangs. "I stopped an insane attempt at extinction in Nosgoth once before." Picking him up with Telekinesis, I let him hang in the air for a brief moment before violently tossing him across the ground so he slid ungracefully into the side of a building.

Janos had now escaped the alley was making his way over to me. Apparently outraged by their generals defeat, the other Hylden screeched and charged, bolts of green magic already passing through the air.

Taking hold of the ancient by the hand, I turned and bolted, using whatever vampiric speed I could muster to dodge around the projectiles as we made our way to the perimeter of the settlement. I had no clear plan, only an inclination that it was not safe here anymore. I looked back towards Janos. Despite his faltering strength, he was still clutching the canister to himself.

By now, the Hylden had summoned strange demons I had not seen before. They had four legs and resembled large dogs with several rows of teeth behind frothing lips, the shoulder blades moulded into a near perfect saddle on the back. These the Hylden mounted and began after us with surprising speed, galloping across expanses of wasteland, chasing us through a thick forest of spiked rocks.

Demons knew the lay of the land here far better than I could ever hope to and the Hylden had been here long enough to tame them. Those beasts would track us down in seconds.

With Janos in tow, we slid down the side of a fissure leading into a deep canyon. I presumed from the way those beasts were built, that steep slopes would not agree with them. Sliding down the rock face, I looked back to see that my presumption had been correct. The dogs barked and snapped like they'd been starved for eons but did not follow us. They would find a way around eventually, so I decided not to linger to enjoy the small victory.

Dodging through the large crevices in towering rocks, we engaged in about an hour of hide and seek with these creatures and their masters, making our way down towards the bottom of a valley heading away from the settlement.

The barking of those beasts ran through the air, growing closer and closer despite my best efforts to delay or outrun them. Fighting them directly would be out of the question. I saw how swiftly they moved, and with their superior numbers they would tear us to shreds.

At once point the passed through a large archway of stone and using telekinesis, I tore the large stone arch above, blocking the pathway.

As far as I could see it was the only through. At the very least I had bought us some time. Time to do what I was still not too sure of.

Janos dropped to his knees, more fatigued now than ever. The green corruption of this realm beginning to spread over his wings.

"I…can not go on…" He offered me the canister. "Take it and…go Kain. I am too weak now. Take the cure and go!" Before I could even reply, I raised the Reaver as I heard sounds coming from a dark crevice in the rock face a few feet away, footsteps and whispered voices. They grew louder as their source approach and to my surprise, the two least likely things emerged. I had expected either a Hylden or a demon, the two most common things found in this realm. Instead standing before me was a female vampire with short blonde hair and deep black eyes, a pair of daggers in each hand. She swung back when saw me, already in a fighting stance. Her companion was a human. His green eyes nearly hidden beneath an untidy mass of red hair. He was clad in a very familiar black armour. An armour I had worn myself once.

The wraith armour.