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Chapter 2 - "We stand together."

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The legion swarmed out of the Ark and across the cliffs of the Abyss like a rolling black carpet, a tide of voracious insects. Within minutes they had swamped the cliff top until they ringed half the whirlpool, spreading out to form orderly blocks of perhaps a hundred by a hundred; all in disciplined lines shoulder to shoulder. They moved purposely, each soldier a single part of a large oozing beast. They made no sound save for the clanking of their armour and the sound of their synchronized footsteps. They were a mass of gathering, pulsating, silent death.

From the cliffs opposite, across the stretch of the Abyss, Skelim was staring at the gathering of military force with his mouth dropped open. His face had turned deathly pale and his arms shook at his sides. In an instant he had turned from battle hardened and well scared veteran into a stunned, frightened novice. The man's hands gripped the rock upon which he perched so hard the leather of his gloves creaked loudly, even more so when a bolt of lightning shot across the sky overhead and cast a gleam upon thousands of armoured bodies. That brief moment revealed the heads of countless numbers of ready and waiting soldiers.

"There...there must be thousands of them!" He blurted out in a strangled, hoarse voice. Beside him, Vorador had been observing the disembarking army with a far calmer demeanour but no less alarm. His long face was set into hard, grim lines and his lips were pulled back to exposed his fangs.

"I personally lost count at five hundred thousand." The old Vampire admitted, his own voice tightly controlled. "And there are twice as many now since then."

Crouched to one side, Kain contemplated that fact with his face wearing a grim sort of ironic smile.

"Where did they get an army such as this?" He mused to himself, his gaze wandering across the expanse of that gathering military. "Were they hiding it in the bowels of Fanum-Divus?" He had not had enough time to survey all of the strange city before it was destroyed, but surely if the Divus had had this overwhelming a force to call upon surely they would have used it in their defence during the raid. Or perhaps, Kain mused, this was the force on the Ark that Asmodeus had been so anxious to call upon but had been denied by his Master?

"Ophiel would have told us if they were." Vorador said with some force, then added with an ironic twist; "Presumably." He turned his head to look at Kain with a very grim frown creasing his brow. "Kain, they outnumber us by at least five to one."

Kain did not need to be a genius at mathematics to see that. Even combined, the Vampires, Hylden and Humans had suffered too many losses to match such an army. The Humans had had their numbers drastically reduced by Uriel-Divus' deceit, the Vampires in all their diversity had suffered many attacks and the Hylden's population had been cut into by the devastating attack Thantos had launched on their colony in the ruins of Avernus. then as if summoned by the thought, the shadow of the Dragon swept down from the top of the golden Ark to circle over the gathering black army; a sentinel and ravaging vanguard for this force of ultimate extermination.

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"So here I was, once more facing the terrible oncoming black tide of the Legions of the Nemesis. No doubt the William of that alternative defunct timeline would have been proud of the homage being paid to him. But I had no intention of making the same military blunder Ottmar made, to face that overwhelming force in open combat. A direct battle would only result in total annihilation."

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Kain watched as Thanatos circled around the gathering army once before the beast came to the head of the force and hovered there, flapping its immense wings vertically to keep itself bobbing up and down in the air. Suspended before the army it opened its massive jaws and roared, the angry bestial call echoing even over the thunderous rolling drumbeat of the waterfalls. At that signal the black armoured men far below turned as one and began a steady forced march around the edge of the Abyss. Like an oily black snake they came, moving inexorably around the edge of the cliffs and towards the north west; towards them.

"Pull your men back and reconvene with Lorenzo and the other Humans." Kain told Skelim in as neutral a tone of voice as he could manage, slipping back from the edge of the cliff before standing up. Everyone else followed his example, but did not divert their eyes from their oncoming mass which shook the ground with its combined footsteps.

"We're running away, aren't we?" One of the Humans breathed, turning to look at his general with frightened eyes staring out from behind a rusty metal visor. Skelim had pursed his lips until they turned white.

"The term is tactical withdrawal." He said slowly, then turned sharply to glare back over his shoulder as Kain could not help but let a short laugh escape him.

"No, Skelim." The Emperor of Nosgoth stated with flat, ironic amusement at the whole deplorable situation. "Make no mistake, we're running. Running for our lives." He strode past all the staring men, paying them no need. "I suggest you get a head start."

Between one step and the next Kain's body evaporated back into a cloud of bats, the swarm of wings rising high into the air leaving the men below scrambling to break camp and make a mad dash back to relative safety. All the while the black army kept on coming, its pace steady but unstoppable, each footstep taken crush anything in its path underfoot.

Kain wasted not so much as a moment in returning to the walls of the Human Citadel, driving himself even dispersed across his bat form as fast as he could. When he arrived, concealing once more back together, he discovered the encampments of the alliance been hurriedly taken down. There was a general energetic and tense pandemonium, shouts going back and forth, figures racing about carrying whatever they could grasp. No doubt Vorador had already informed the others about what had happened over the telepathic Whisper.

Quickly Kain's eyes sought out several figures coming towards him and instantly he recognised the familiar forms of Raziel, the former Divus Ophiel, Enlil and the leader of the lycanthropes; the red headed naked feral man Ewoden.

"There's no fighting that force, Raziel." Kain announced when they joined him, firmly shaking his head.

"I didn't suspect there would be." Raziel replied looking equally as grim. He paused, glancing back over his shoulder as several Hylden ran past carrying the rolled up remains of a large tent with a Turelim behind them carrying a large metal gas cylinder for use in Lorenzo's craft the Endurance. "How many?"

"At least a million, if not more." Kain stated and Ewoden stared at him with wide eyes for that stated number.

"A million!?" He hissed in disbelief, his harsh accent so far removed from modern Nosgothic pronunciation that it "That's simply not possible!" Quickly he turned to look at Ophiel, who was frowning in puzzlement beneath the rim of her hat. "There were simply not that many slaves in Fanum-Divus and they all changed sides during the raid. Where did they get that number of soldiers?!" His question was rushed but there was definitely a note of accusation in it towards the end that made the former Divus stiffen. Kain folded his arms and looked at her himself, his expression implacable.

"Ophiel?" He asked, waiting for an answer. Ophiel hesitated as everyone about turned to look at her expectantly. Finally she sighed and reached up to lower her hat brim, shadowing her face all the more.

"I am afraid I can not enlighten you." She said in a voice which seemed to be struggling to maintain its composure. "I knew the Legion was being rebuilt, but it was to be comprised of conscripted slaves." With one hand she gestured behind her, to where a mass of Humans was gathering to pass word amongst each other of the onslaught that was about to descend upon them. "Clearly they have found an alternative, superior means of recruitment."

"The Divus are not to be underestimated, we all knew that." Raziel remarked with a little shake of his head. "So then, 'general'; what do we do?"

Kain ignored the jibe and lowered his chin to his chest in thought. He knew what had to be done of course. There was only one viable option to take in this situation and because it was his only option he distrusted it immensely. He had rarely come out of situations that had only one solution the better for it.

"Fighting that army directly is simply out of the question. We'd be annihilated." He was finally forced to admit. Raising his head, he increased the sound of his voice as he saw two others coming to join them; a returning Vorador and his sire Janos just behind him. Both of them wore almost identical grim expressions. "Our only option is to spilt apart and conceal our forces out in the wilderness where ever we may. Then we can strike when they lower their guard."

His proposed strategy was certainly not without its flaws and he knew that. If they spilt up then they would be unable to concentrate their efforts to achieve their end objective, but the fact was their enemy was at their throats with a superior force and they were not ready. That was the unspoken bitter truth which clearly resonated and did not need to be spoken aloud.

"Guerrilla warfare is a sound tactic when drastically outclassed." Vorador agreed with a sharp nod.

"Outnumbered, not outclassed." Kain quickly added, giving the ancient Vampire a sidelong look. Vorador folded his arms behind his back in his characteristic pose and ignored the stare.

"Your fragile ego aside, I agree with the assessment." He said. "Each race should split up into small groups, spread out through the wilderness and the ruins left by the Clans. Evading discovery needs to be paramount."

"They're not going to give us the time to disperse like that!" Ewoden declared with an angry twitch, his beard curling at the edges in indignation. "They'll crush us before we have a chance to march!"

"And if they don't catch us, Thanatos will." Janos added with a deep scowl.

Kain quickly glanced out over the disorganised rabble before the walls of the abandoned Citadel. He was ruefully forced to concede their point. Even the organised Serioli would need time to flee with whatever they could carry, even less those limited to ground travel. Time was swiftly running out and if he was preserve the alliance and the force he had finally brought together under one banner he would have to do something fairly drastic.

"Then we need to give our enemy a far more tempting target." Kain said, turning his head to look back over his shoulder towards that unearthly blue beam of light rising unbroken into the sky. Lightning was still flickering around it like the churning surf of the thundering whirlpool below. "Something alluring, something they can't ignore. Something they'd ignore everything else in their attempt to reach."

The others around him exchanged some puzzled glances at his words but Raziel kept his penetrating gaze solely on him, eyes narrowing.

"What other target could they possibly have?" Janos asked sceptically. Kain turned back to face them and his lips parted in a sly grin of amusement.

"Me."

It was a reckless scheme; a risky plan with possible dramatic consequences and he knew it. Those he told it too had one of two reactions. They either thought it utter madness surely to end in bloody defeat or they were eager to stand by his side in glorious battle. Unsurprisingly those who had proclaimed their devoted loyalty to him, such as Ajatar, the Serioli and Balam and his Turelim, had the latter reaction. Everyone else was more sceptical, especially the Hylden, who reacted with near universal disdain for the proposal even though Kain knew they would comply; they had no choice. Oddly, the only exception to this was Ewoden and his lycanthropes.

"My pack are ready to carve our way through the Divus ranks. We would rather end our existence fighting then live under their heel again!" Their red headed leader proclaimed with a full chorus of shouts of agreement from his pack.

Out of all the varied subsets which comprised this alliance they were the most odd to Kain's eye. Once they had all been slaves working in the stone quarries, fields, mines and pits of the Ancient Vampires; simple work gangs made tough through years of labour. Then had come Moebius' uprising and they had been recruited to serve in his army as they overthrew the Vampiric masters which had ruled them for generations. Moebius had shown them no loyalty or appreciation however as he had these recruits handed over to the Divus.

They became less then soldiers, less then slaves, even less then people. They became mere test subjects for the amoral and sadistic experiments of Ambraxas-Divus, the only Hylden to achieve that rank. He subjects them to hideous mutations the likes of which Kain did not care to speculate on, until they became feral dogs Moebius could use as beasts of war in his bloody revolt. Once the uprising had achieved its objective, those werewolves which had not escaped into the wild were rounded up and taken to Fanum-Divus. There they remained, surviving as barely tolerated vermin until he and Raziel had discovered them.

Ewoden, their leader, had sworn three oaths to his people once they had recovered enough of their minds to form a basic sort of community. The first oath had been to tear out the heart of Ambraxas Divus and eat it. He had accomplished that when he had aided Raziel in their first infiltration of the as of yet incomplete Ark, where they found Ambraxas' lab and other experiments and the lycanthropes finally had their bloody revenge.

His second oath had been to seek out for them a place they flee to, a sanctuary to call their own. To this end he had for a time ventured into the wilderness of this inert land. He had returned in time for the battle with Uriel's undead, claiming he had found what he had been looking for. Kain did not know exactly what place he could possibly have found in a land which was slowly dying that would satisfy him, but he seemed immensely pleased with himself for accomplishing the deed.

The third and final oath had been to return to his pack and lead them to this discovered new home. The alliance's first military action, the raid which had resulted in the total destruction of the Tempus Crux lens and the city around it, had given him that opportunity. His pack had joined the raiders in the battle and were now part of the grander alliance. Now the Divus' overwhelming counter attack would place all the progress he had made into jeopardy and clearly neither he or his people were willing to tolerate that.

"Admirable." Kain remarked stoically, stepping to one side and gesturing with one hand for Ewoden to follow him. "But for the moment there is a far more pressing need for the skills of your kind."

Ewoden's momentary confusion was exasperated when Kain led him a short distance to where Vorador was waiting for them, grim faced, beside a large pedestal of circular stone. Ewoden recognised it at once of course. Everyone in the alliance had seen this artefact, been promised that it was the one thing which would make all their struggles, sacrifices and torments worthwhile. Pried from its hidden seclusion in the demon realm, this almost begin looking pedestal was the source of all their hopes.

Eons ago this stone pedestal had been the focus of tremendous elemental energies wielded by the greatest smith ever to be known by the Serioli, the grand craftsman Ukko. Through this focus point he had given birth to the designs of the great architect Ba'al Zebur and created the Pillars of Nosgoth themselves. Now both it and the ignitor in Vorador's hands were in their possession and that fact alone probably frightened the Divus beyond anything else.

"The Pillar Forge?" The lycanthrope leader asked in bafflement. His gaze shot back and forth between the two Vampires as he sought an explanation. "But..."

"All I want you and yours to do is to keep this artefact safe. Keep it protected until I can come to find you." Kain told him, his voice intense.

"This is vital, Ewoden. Without this forge, we all die." Vorador added in emphasis, one hand holding the pearl like Ignitor out in front of himself where they could all see it. Ewoden's troubled eyes gazed over it, his lips pursed.

"You trust me so much you would hand such a value over?" His tone was a confused one, as if he wanted to believe his words but was simply to sceptical to do so. Kain returned him a whimsical little smile.

"I trust you not to hand it over to the Divus. That will suffice." He said.

"Aye, I suppose it will have to." Ewoden murmured as if to himself, his face creasing heavily in through. He looked at that circular stone artefact for a prolonged moment of silence before he drew in a breath through his nostrils and exhaled it loudly through his mouth.

"So be it then." He finally said and turned to call back to others of his pack, gesturing for several of them to follow him. The two Vampires stepped back as the pack moved in on Ewoden's order to lift the precious item up and carry it off. Vorador lowered his head and contemplated the Ignitor in his hands, his hands running over its pale luminous surface as they worked. He seemed almost distracted in his unhealthy contemplation of an orb which had had assisted in not only his death but that of countless other Vampires.

"I doubt this is going to work, Kain." He admitted without looking up, looking deep into the orb's subtle facets and shades of colour. Kain didn't respond immediately. In point of fact he himself had a gnawing doubt deep inside him. Faced with such a situation and the overwhelming odds against him, this was either a spectacular plan or it was a foolish endeavour liable to get them all grisly killed. Exactly which would be revealed within the hour. The thud of that oncoming army, the relentless march of their footsteps was growing louder, more intense with every passing minute.

"Let me survey my assets." The would be Emperor of Nosgoth said instead and left Vorador to his disturbing academic studies. If Vorador wanted to keep possession of that thing Kain was more then inclined to oblige him.

The Serioli, inspired by their brief but blazing invigoration by the spiritual energy within him, had pledged their loyalty to him as their lord and master. They were just as loyal to him as any of the clans, perhaps even more so. Their devotion boarded on the fanatical but as of this moment Kain valued and counted on that loyal and obedience. He was going to half to issue commands and would not have time to explain them or to convince sceptics. He had scarcely explained his intent before Ajatar had been issuing commands to the members of her order which were set to with energetic gusto.

If what he had in mind was to succeed he would have to rely on Ajatar heavily.

"Ajatar, this plan is... is madness!" Just as he was about to reach the gathering of Serioli warriors, the raised voice reached him and he paused. Frowning Kain gazed passed the circle of winged figures to see to the centre, where Ajatar Cadre was rigidly standing. The grandmaster of the Serioli was determinably grinding a whetstone over the edge of one of her short swords, her back turned resolutely to the other winged female behind her.

Of course it was Tiamatu, the winged Hylden who Kain had noticed more and more in Ajatar's company. On this occasion however there was no sign of a casual easy affection or cross species camaraderie. Tiamatu's face was twisted in a complex mixture of emotions. Her eyes were wide, her skin almost pale white and her lips were pulled back in mingled anger and frustration.

"It's going to get you killed!" She shouted at Ajatar's back, her wings flexing out behind her in irritation. Kain could see the grandmaster's face from this angle. Her lips were pressed tightly together and she was squinting. It was a face of one trying very hard to keep themselves under control. She did not seem to be winning that particular battle.

"This is war, people die." Ajatar said and her voice betrayed that struggle to keep calm and rigidly controlled. "And if I must die, it will be for a grand purpose." She emphasized her words by dragging the whetstone so harshly across her blade is produced a shower of sparks.

"You are throwing your life away for nothing!" Tiamatu snapped back. All about them, the Serioli warriors were tending to their own preparations for battle, very pointedly not looking at the unfolding argument but they were clearly listening with interest. "This isn't a strategy, its a sacrifice ploy!"

Ajatar stopped grinding the stone, pausing for a moment; before finally she turned to look back at the winged Hylden.

"I've been prepared for an order like that my entire life." She said in a quiet voice. "Every soldier knows that one day his commander may order them to sacrifice themselves and every soldier has to have faith that they would not be ordered to do such a thing were there any other alternative."

Another silence followed. The two women stared at each other, their wings flexing and unfolding behind them as if they were the only parts of their bodies not to be restrained by any self control. Kain hung back to allow the scene to unfold.

"You would truly throw yourself into such a fate willingly?" Tiamatu asked finally, seemingly unable to come to terms with that.

"That's a question you should ask yourself, Tiamatu." Ajatar returned in a flat voice. "Just what are you willing to die for?"

The Hylden woman stiffened then. Her nostrils flared, her eyes bulged and the remainder of the colour drained from her face. But this was not a reaction of fear but rather blinding anger. She took two quick steps forward and grabbed Ajatar by the front of her red tunic. Ajatar apparently had not anticipated the move and was yanked close so the two of them were suddenly barely an inch apart.

"Accident, violence, disease, old age!" Tiamatu growled into the Serili Grandmaster's face, teeth bared. "There are countless ways to die! Dying is easy! Everyone can die! You don't need a reason for something so simple!" And then she kissed her. It was a fierce kiss born of frustration finding a release. Ajatar stiffened against it in baffled surprise and Kain, watching from beyond raised both eyebrows. He had expected some form of expression of union to be expressed soon enough, but this was certainly beyond his anticipated ideas. The two of them had already done much together to undo the divide between the two war torn races but in one emotional instance they had essentially shattered that line into forgotten pieces.

Tiamatu finally released Ajatar, who just stood there staring in stunned awe.

"Just what are you willing to live for?!" The Hylden asked her and with a flourish her wings snapped out wide. "Live, Ajatar-Cadre." She told her in a voice of intense emotion. "Live or by the Keeper I'll throttle your loosed soul myself!" With those parting words she was in the air, two flaps carrying her up high and away. Ajatar stared after her while all here warriors, who had been caught of guard as much as she, stared at their grandmaster. All of them looked like a gaggle of young people first exposed to adult life rather then beings hundreds of years old.

Kain repressed a bubble of rising laughter and cleared his throat, stepping forward.

"Spirited." He observed. Ajatar actually jumped at the sound of his voice, the feathers on her wings rustling against one another so loudly it sounded like rain against a glass window. She about turned to face him, her face wearing a comical expression that actually had a blush across her cheeks.

"Lord Kain!" She stammered. "I ...I um..."

"We haven't much time." Kain informed her sternly, giving her a look. While normally he would enjoy letting her stew in her own embarrassment there were more pressing concerns. "I will need only your finest warriors for this. The rest must make their escape as best they can."

Ajatar covered her shaken composure well although depsite her best efforts the blush on her cheeks did not diminish even slightly.

"I've already selected them, my Lord." She replied, her voice wavering a little. "Twenty of my best stand ready to enact your will." With one hand she gestured to those closest to her. They were all large winged Vampires, Ansu and his golden axe amongst them. They all have burn scars from time spent at the Serioli forges across their forearms.

Kain looked them over quickly before nodding.

"Twenty will suffice." He agreed. He needed to balance this just right. He needed Serioli power to call upon but he also needed to leave much of it in reserve. Presuming of course there would be a later time to call upon that reserve. Kain raised one hand and pointed with a talon to the hulking, giant forms nearby. "Balam's Turelim are preparing themselves. Have your warriors join theirs for when we begin."

"Yes, Lord Kain." Ajatar replied quickly.

"And Ajatar?" Kain added quickly before she could turn back to issue any orders. She looked at him questioningly. He held her gaze for a moment before he said, in a low but soft voice; "This is not a suicide mission."

"My Lord?" His statement left her puzzled.

"Tiamatu expects you to live and so do I." He told her and the blush covered her face without much resistance. He smiled at her. "Do not disappoint us."

Ajatar-Cadre, grandmaster of the Serioli, pupil of Ukko himself, she who had stepped across thousands of years from the ancient past to the far future; was in fact someone totally out of their depths and merely doing their best with it. To be handed such a life line when their fate seemed as bleak as could possibly be, sent a ray of hope across her face which she tried to hide but her smile and blush lingered.

"I understand, my lord." She said and in her voice was the tell tale signs of a rising, new excitement.

Vorador was waiting for him when Kain was satisfied that the state of all those he intended to put to use were prepared, or at least as prepared as they ever could be for what was about to unfold. The ground by now was shuddering with the oncoming footsteps of that implacable army, the drum beat thud of their march a constant noise humming in the air.

"We're ready." Kain said, coming to the ancient Vampire's side. Vorador was looking over at the distant vista of that pillar of rising blue light, one hand placed upon the top of the orb. That beam of light was even more sinister from a distance as it somehow replicated the visual form of the far more begin Pillars they hoped to raise, but was far more sinister in nature.

"We'll be up against an army a million strong with only a handful of warriors at our side." Vorador said dimly.

"Accurate." Kain agreed, following his gaze. A brief silence between them followed, broken only by the crunch of that rising tempo of oncoming danger.

"I sense you have some ploy beyond the obvious in mind." Vorador added, turning his head to give him a sidelong look. A little knowing smile broke over Kain's lips.

"We need to earn ourselves as much breathing space as possible, Vorador." He explained, folding his arms over his chest. "So to that end, we're going to put on a play. A play so entertaining the Divus will sit down to vapidly watch every act of it and beg us for encores."

Vorador seemed to be greatly amused by the comparison, smiling back at him.

"We have quite the trope of talented actors, to be certain." He remarked, tucking the orb under one arm.

"And what are actors without a stage to perform upon?" Kain asked. Vorador nodded in agreement.

"It would have to be an appropriately large stage of which they could take full advantage."

"Oh indeed." Kain agreed emphatically. "Somewhere with proper atmosphere and large set pieces to enhance the performance."

"Preferably with props on hand?"

"Quite!"

Kain then turned his head to his right to stare across the horizon which stretched from their position and towards the south west. Highlighted occasionally by flashes of lightning from the storm brewing above the Abyss were a series of jagged spires. They were black silent spikes against the sky and the light flashes exposed only briefly various ruined buildings once since abandoned. It stretched off for some distance from the edge of the Abyss towards the banks of the lake of tears. Clearly it had once been a great city, but now was little more then a dilapidated collection of decayed stone.

Vorador followed Kain's gaze, squinting at the ruin.

"Is that...?" He began slowly. Kain nodded.

"Yes, yes it is." The Emperor of Nosgoth confirmed sardonically. The two of them exchanged another sidelong look.

"Raziel will not approve." Vorador predicted sagely, smiling.

"No, not he won't." Kain agreed. "But this is my play and if that's the stage I want, then that is the stage I will have." His almost petulant statement provoked a laugh from Vorador and the ancient Vampire raised a hand to his face.

"Act one, scene one!" He proclaimed with relish. "Audience, take your seats!"