LEGACY OF KAIN: BLACK HEARTS
CHAPTER 9: KAIN AT THE PILLARS
Raziel and Kali stepped out of the chapel. Raziel was relieved of his vertigo, and Kali's feeling of anxiety faded as Raziel relaxed. Kali looked back, and saw that Moebius had once again disappeared into nothing.
"He's gone," Kali said. "What now?"
Raziel summoned the Reaver. The spiritual blade twirled around Raziel's arm, as always. But something was different. Now, instead of a subtle weapon, it now appeared threatening and ravenous. Something about meeting its former self imbued it with some strange and uncontrollable power.
"Raziel…" Kali said, gesturing to the sword.
"I know," Raziel said, reading her thoughts. "This blade is now longer a weapon, but a symbiotic parasite. If I allow it to become over-aroused, it will turn its hunger on me."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Kali asked, hoping his words weren't true.
"I'm not," Raziel admitted. "But, based on how it behaved just moments ago, I am not willing to test my thesis."
Kali silently agreed, and they continued through the stronghold. As they walked, Raziel stopped at a particular depiction.
"Who's that?" Kali asked, trying to decipher the image.
"If I'm not mistaken, that is Janos Audron," Raziel explained. "That last of the ancient vampires. According to folklore, he lived high in the cliffs of Nosgoth's northern mountains, and preyed mercilessly on the defenseless villagers below. His reign of terror ended when the Sarafan finally hunted him down and tore his throbbing heart from his still-living body. This relic came to be known as the 'Heart of Darkness' and was supposedly imbued with the power to restore vampiric unlife. The Sarafan therefore guarded it carefully, lest the Heart fall into the hands of their enemies."
"Thanks for the history lesson," Kali smirked. "You know, these images seem a little… dramatic. It almost makes the Sarafan look too righteous."
"I was just thinking that," Raziel agreed. "I wonder… could Janos Audron truly have been as monstrous as depicted here? Or was this merely artistic license by the Sarafan, who sought to lionize themselves by demonizing their darkest enemy?"
"I guess we'll never know," Kali said. "Considering the fact that he's dead."
They continued to a courtyard, honoring several Sarafan priests. Kali looked around, and noticed that there were exactly six chapels… one for each of Kain's lieutenants.
"What madness is this?" Kali said. "Raziel… your name is…"
"Yes," Raziel said. "Ironic, isn't it? Kain defiled the tombs of the high priests of the Sarafan to create his vampire army."
"That's horrible…" Kali trembled in the twisted irony. Raziel walked to her side, and took her shaking hand.
"I know," Raziel said. "It seems that everywhere we turn, we find another reason for Kain to die."
Kali clutched his claws tightly.
"With that said," Kali whispered. "Let's get to the Pillars."
Kali and Raziel emerged from the depths of the stronghold, and onto a balcony over a lake. Kali took a deep breath of Nosgoth's fresh air. She noticed Raziel clutching his fists.
"Raziel?" Kali put her hand on his shoulder. Raziel's muscles loosened at her touch.
"This world," Raziel said. "This, once beautiful, glorious, fragile world… was sacrificed to Kain's decision to preserve his own petty life."
"Don't worry," Kali reassured him. "We'll get him. Which way to the Pillars?"
Raziel scanned the area to gather his sense of direction.
"Northwest," Raziel answered. "If Moebius was telling the truth, then I will not keep Kain waiting."
Raziel jumped over the balcony, and dived into the lake. Kali jumped into the water after him. They both resurfaced at the northwest shore, and continued down the path to the Pillars. Along the way, they encountered several of Moebius's men.
Raziel stopped about halfway down a path, and observed the horrifying scenery. Hundreds of bodies were impaled on giant wooden stakes. Raziel took a closer look at the corpses.
"These are vampires…" Raziel said.
"What?" Kali said, shocked. "These are nothing like the deranged jackals of Kain's empire."
"I know," Raziel said with a slight sympathy. "As dark as vampirism is, this crusade is not noble in their actions… this is only cruel prosecution."
Kali and Raziel forgot about their sympathy as they approached the gates that guarded the Pillars of Nosgoth.
"Are you ready?" Raziel asked.
"I've never been more ready in my life," Kali answered excitedly.
Raziel pulled the large gates open with little effort, even though the gates were designed to require several men to open them. And sure enough, there was Kain, standing at the center if the circle. Kali gazed in awe at the never ending towers. The view was much more beautiful than Kain's throne.
Raziel drew his weapon, and stepped quietly towards Kain, and Kali followed his actions. Not even the most aware of creatures would be able to locate them.
"I know you're there, Raziel," Kain said. Kali wondered how he noticed them, but Raziel went straight to the point.
"Moebius led me to you, Kain," Raziel said. "Although I might have guessed you'd meet me here."
"And if Moebius told you I was hidden on the underside of hell, would you throw yourself into oblivion to pursue me?" Kain asked. "Moebius trawls for the ignorant and unwary, hauling his gasping prey from the streams of their destinies. Stay out of his net, Raziel…"
"Spare me your elaborate metaphors, Kain," Raziel interrupted. "I have pursued you here for one purpose. You will pay for your betrayal, and balance will thus be restored to Nosgoth."
"And who's will is satisfied then," Kain asked. "The will of Raziel, or Moebius?"
"Would I be better manipulated by you, Kain?" Raziel said in a threatening tone. "Now turn and face me; the chase is over."
Kain doesn't turn, but instead steps towards the central Pillar of Balance.
"This isn't a chase, Raziel" Kain said. "We are merely passengers on the wheel of destiny, describing a perfect circle to this point. We have been brought here for a reason. I have seen the beginning and the end of our story. However, and the tale is crude and ill-conceived. We must rewrite the ending of it, you and I. "
"Face me, Kain," Raziel said in frustration. "Even you shouldn't die a coward's death."
Kain turned to Raziel, "Isn't it customary to grant the condemned a final request?"
"Like you did for Raziel?" Kali asked, disgusted by Kain's ironic comment.
"I recall no such courtesy from you," Raziel agreed.
"Indulge me, Raziel," Kain insisted. "All I ask is that you listen."
The three of them fall silent as a disembodied scream wails through the air.
"This is the sublime moment of our undoing, Raziel," Kain continued. "The ineffable fulcrum upon which swings the entirety of our history. This is where all of Nosgoth is betrayed. In this instant, Ariel, the Balance Guardian, is murdered by dark forces bent on overthrowing the Pillars. Her spirit is just now tearing free, lost in the ether, trying to find its way here. You have already seen how she comes to haunt these Pillars…"
"Bound here by your refusal to die," Raziel interrupted. "You are the reason this land becomes diseased. As long as you remain alive you condemn Nosgoth to an eternity of decay."
"Be still, Raziel," Kain urged. "See this."
The world began to shake under their feet. Kali looked up to see birds scattering in alarm, as dark clouds began to fill the sky.
"What is this?" Kali said, trying to contemplate the madness of this situation.
"As Ariel dies," Kain answered Kali's question, "I am being born to take her place as Balance Guardian. Such is my destiny."
A thunderous roar rages across the land. Before their eyes, the Pillars; white, pristine, and beautiful; corrode and crack as the fade into gray with a dark corruption.
"My god…" Raziel said with his eyes focused on the pillars.
"At the moment of my first cry," Kain proceeded with his history lesson. "Ariel's beloved, the Guardian Nupraptor, finds her corpse. Wracked with grief and tormented with suspicions of treachery, Nupraptor plunges into a madness which overflows and infects all of the Guardians, who are symbiotically bound…, including me. The repercussions of Ariel's assassination were expertly calculated... The entire Circle descends into madness, and I am tainted at the moment of my birth, instantly rendered incapable of fulfilling the role destiny has prepared for me."
"Shall I show you the same mercy you showed the rest of the Circle, then?" Raziel asked. "You blithely murdered them to restore their Pillars, yet your hand faltered when it came to the final sacrifice. What makes you exempt, Kain? You're merely the last man standing. Why condemn me for simply carrying out what you hadn't the courage to do yourself?"
"Let's drop the moral posturing, shall we?" Kain said, annoyed with Raziel's persistence on killing him. "We both know there's no altruism in this pursuit. Your reckless indignation led you here; I counted on it."
Kain could tell that Raziel didn't take this insult very well.
"There's no shame in it, Raziel," Kain said. "Revenge is motivation enough… at least it's honest. Hate me, but do it honestly."
Kain's resumes his lesson of Nosgoth History 101, "Thirty years hence, I am presented with a dilemma; let's call it a two-sided coin. If the coin falls one way, I sacrifice myself and thus restore the Pillars. But as the last surviving vampire in Nosgoth, this would mean the annihilation of our species. Moebius made sure of that. If the coin lands on the reverse, I refuse the sacrifice and thus doom the Pillars to an eternity of collapse. Either way, the game is rigged."
"We agree then that the Pillars are crucial, and must be restored?" Raziel urged.
"Yes, Raziel," Kain agreed. "That is why we've come full circle to this place."
"So after all of this, you make my case for me," Raziel concluded. "To end this stalemate, you must die so that new Guardians can be born."
"The Pillars don't belong to them, Raziel," Kain said gesturing to humanity. He then changes his gesture to himself, indicating the vampires. "They belong to us."
"Your arrogance is boundless, Kain," Raziel said in disgust.
Kain laughed softly. "There's a third option… a monumental secret, hidden in your very presence here. But it's a secret you have to discover for yourself. Unearth your destiny, Raziel. It's all laid out for you here."
"You said it yourself, Kain," Raziel said. "There are only two sides to your coin."
"Apparently so," Kain corrected. "But suppose you throw a coin enough times... suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
Kain vanished, leaving Raziel and Kali astonished in riddles that may take an eternity to solve.