LEGACY OF KAIN: BLACK HEARTS
CHAPTER 3: EVOLUTION
Kali woke with her head pounding. Her vision was a blur, and her body was tingling. She touched her surroundings to find out where she was. She was able to locate her sword, the gift from Raziel.
She felt cold, and her senses were on overdrive… except for her sight, which was beginning to clear slightly. As it cleared, she brought herself to stand.
"Raziel?" She asked into the air.
Her vision cleared completely, and she found the exit to her former training room. She walked into a corridor where all of the Razielim fledglings were gathered. Clearly it was daylight outside.
Kali stepped out into the sun, and the other fledglings gasped. She quickly turned, but didn't see any danger.
"What is it?" She asked them.
"Are you not a fledgling?" One of them asked.
"I… I don't know," She replied honestly. Then Kali remembered Raziel's last gift. She began to realize that he had transformed her. But why didn't she burn in the sun?
"Kali!" She heard a familiar voice call from behind her.
"Raziel!" She turned around to see a nervous expression on his face, "What's wrong."
"N… Nothing, it's just…" Raziel struggled to speak, "You shouldn't be out here. Not in the sunlight. Do you feel alright?"
"Yes, I feel fine," She said, and embraced him. But she quickly drew back when she realized others were watching.
"Kali," Raziel said gently, "Go back inside. You should learn a few things about being a vampire from the fledglings."
"Wait," Kali demanded, "Where are you going?"
"We found another human city," Raziel replied, "They won't expect an attack in broad daylight."
"Where is this city?" Kali asked him.
"Just a few miles south of the Sanctuary," Raziel answered, "Now, please, go back inside."
"Hold on," Kali said, "I want to go with you."
Raziel looked shocked by this, "Kali, it's too dangerous."
"I can defend myself," She argued, "You know I can."
"It's not that, it's just…" Raziel trailed off.
"What? Are you worried that I'll embarrass you in front of the boys?" Kali chuckled.
Raziel sighed, "Never mind, you can come along. Just stay close to me."
Kali excitedly followed next to him, but then suddenly felt weak. She fell to one knee, being overwhelmed with fatigue. Raziel quickly kneeled to her side. He tilted her head up, and saw her eyes were now a piercing blood red.
"Get me a goblet," He ordered one of the Razielim, and he did so without hesitation.
With his claw, Raziel made a small cut on his arm, and drained some of his blood into the goblet, and offered it to Kali. At first, she was repelled by it, disgusted with the entire idea. But soon, she felt compelled to take it, and did so.
As she drank, Raziel watched her eyes fade back to their original icy blue color.
"Better?" He asked.
"Better," She replied.
"Very well," Raziel chuckled slightly, "Let's move along."
Raziel turned to the other clans, Razielim, Dumahim, Rahabim, Melchiahim, and Turelim.
"Time to move! We attack now!" Raziel shouted, and his brothers repeated his words to their clans.
All at once, the clans marched passed the Sanctuary, and to the human city. Kali stayed close to Raziel. Every once in a while, they would separate a little from the major group, and take each other's hands. Now that Kali was a vampire, nothing could separate them.
"Raziel," Kali said, "Can I ask you about something?"
"Of course," Raziel said reassuringly.
"Why did I not burn in the sunlight?" Kali asked, "I mean, I'm glad I didn't, but it isn't right."
Raziel thought, or at least looked like he was thinking. She could tell that Raziel already had an answer.
"The method I used to change you was a very old one," Raziel said, "Normally we raise the dead from their graves to recruit fledglings. But that would require me to kill you. And you possibly could have lost your memory."
"Is that how you were changed?" Kali asked.
Raziel nodded in response.
"So you don't remember anything about being a human?"
Raziel shook his head, "Nor do I want to. For all I know, I could've been a vampire hunter, or a priest. That would just be shameful, for me and Kain."
A priest being turned into a vampire. Kali thought about how horribly wrong that was. It was a sick and twisted irony. Kain wouldn't do something like that.
"There it is! Charge!" Turel's voice boomed through the crowds.
Raziel mumbled something under his breath. Kali heard something about strategy going down the Abyss, and shoving something up a particular body part of Turel's.
Raziel and Kali joined the charge, and the hoard of vampire's stormed the human city. As the generations passed, the humans seemed to forget that the sun only affects fledglings. They were completely unprepared, and the defenses were over passed with ease.
Inside the battle truly began. Swordsmen confronted the vampires, while others with bows fired from above. Civilians defended themselves with buckets of water, torches, or even hot coals. But it was useless against their enemy's numbers.
Raziel's senses suddenly shifted to high alert. From a distance he heard a human shout, "Break the dam!"
Raziel quickly turned back to see the humans firing catapults at their own structure that held back a lake.
"Get to higher ground!" Raziel shouted, "Quickly, climb the walls!"
With one more war machine fired at the dam, it split, releasing a wave that would have brought their doom. But the vampires were all quick… except for Kali.
Raziel looked down to see her swept away by the large wave.
"No!" Raziel shouted. Dumah and Turel grabbed him by each arm to keep him from diving after her.
"You fool!" Turel shouted, "You will die in there!"
"Kali is down there!" Raziel snapped at his brother, "I will burn if it means saving her!"
"And leave your clan without a leader?" Dumah said, "Don't start anarchy over one fledgling!"
"She's not just a fledgling!" Raziel said, infuriated, "She's…"
"Raziel!" Another voice called.
Raziel looked back down to the water. And sure enough, there was Kali… swimming.
"How is she doing that?" Turel asked.
Raziel sighed with relief, "She's a half blood."
Kali climbed her way up the building to meet them. Kali's gaze locked with Raziel's. Turel and Dumah stepped back to avoid that water dripping off of her.
"It is mine!" Rahab's voice echoed through the city, "The Drowned Abbey is now Rahabim!"
Rahab held the captains head, and thrashed it victoriously. Raziel, Kali, Turel, and Dumah leaped across rooftops to get to him.
"Rahab, don't be foolish," Raziel said, "With the structure of this city, this water will never drain."
"I don't care if I have to raise fledglings from the fish," Rahab said, "I will build my settlement here."
Raziel did not argue any further. Instead, he regrouped with his clan.
"This place belongs to Rahabim," He said, "Let us return to our place."
The clans left Rahabim to build their settlement. Raziel and his clan returned to their own sanctuary, while the rest of the clans plotted out their next actions to establish their own territory. Raziel and Kali went to the training room where they could be alone.
"You fought well today," Raziel said, "Like a true vampire."
"Thank you," Kali responded, "Raziel, can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Raziel said.
"Can you tell me about Kain, and this empire?" Kali asked.
Raziel chuckled, "Most fledglings don't ask about Kain, but the occasional curious one comes along. I will tell you what I can."
Kali leaned closer as Raziel cleared his throat.
"Kain was deified," He began, "The clans tell tales of him. Few know the truth. However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brethren. I, Raziel, was the first born of his lieutenants. I stood with Kain, and my brethren, since the dawn of the empire. I have served him a millennium. Over time, we became less human and more… divine. Kain would enter a state of change and emerge with a new gift. Some years after the master, our evolution would follow. These traits are then passed on to our fledglings…"
Raziel was cut off by a sudden sharp pain in his back.
"What's wrong?" Kali asked.
"Nothing, just…" Raziel was cut off again by another sharp pain. The last time he felt this kind of pain was when his fingers turned into claws. But this time, it felt like something was trying to push through his skin, rather than transform.
"Raziel," Kali jumped up, and kneeled at his side, "Are you alright? Do you need blood?"
"No, I need…" Raziel was cut off by another pain, but this time, something ripped his skin.
"My god!" Kali shouted. This caught the attention of several Razielim, who busted into the room to see their master on the ground.
Raziel stood up, and revealed a pair of bat-like wings. The clan gasped in amazement, and Kali was frozen in shock. Raziel was also dumbstruck by his new limbs. He was sure Kain hadn't evolved anything like this.
Raziel gained his focus, and looked at his clan members.
"Call the clan leaders to the Sanctuary," Raziel ordered, "I must tell Kain of this."