(pardon the small delay there, I had a lot to do over the last two months)
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-"Bathe in the fires of an inferno!"-
The fire that burst forth from Thanatos' maw was more intense then ever before, the flames a blinding ceaseless white. All three of them dived as one for the relatively safety of the far side of the wall mere moments before the flames blasted its far side. The heat was still intense, the air rippling and distorting about them. The stones beneath their feet quickly began to heat up, cracking in many places under the pressure as the temperature of their material fluctuated so rapidly. The torrent of flame did not stop, a seemingly endless swirling vortex of white hot fire which was gradually causing the stones atop the battlement to begin to melt.
"We have no means of countering him, Kain!" Vorador shouted, having to raise his voice high over the roar of that inferno. He was holding one arm above himself to shield his face from the heat which bellowed about them, tongues of flame shooting through small holes in the wall.
Kain squinted up above, watching the flames shoot overhead to leave black marks across a tower across the courtyard.
"We do not need to counter him. Not just yet at least. Just keep his attention on us for as long as we can." He replied, trying to sound confident. While technically that was true, the Dragon's might on the side of their enemy was a powerful threat and one that currently he saw no mean of neutralising.
"I thought this wasn't intended as a suicide mission." Vorador declared flatly, keeping back from the wall as the stones began to glow a bright red from being blasted.
"Only if you want it to be, Vorador." Kain said with a wry smile. "Had any macabre thoughts of self destruction, lately?"
Vorador looked like he was about to reply with something distinctly unflattering when the torrent of flame came to an abrupt end. A moment later a huge cloven forepaw came crashing down on top of the battlement above, foot long claws carving through the heated stones and sending fragments scattering in all directions. A huge shadow loomed overhead and all three of them dived in different directions instinctively. That instinct saved them as barely an instant later the jaws of the Dragon came down where they had been standing, snapping shut with bone shattering force.
Kain spun around, one hand snatching the Reaver from its position on his back in one fluid motion. Instantly he turned and lunged forward, driving the serpentine sword toward the Dragon's throat. But Thanatos tilted his head to one side in a fast motion that ought to have been too quick for a creature of his size to perform and slammed the front of his snout directly into the Vampire, knocking him backwards. The impact was shockingly powerful and Kain felt the air forced out of his lungs by the simple action. He was sent stumbling backwards and into a half broken old stone pillar.
The Dragon turned his head to glare at him and with a narrowing of the eyes behind his colossal visor unleashed another of his elemental powers, freezing the moisture in the air before his face into long shards of ice. One by one these shards shot forward with the force of cannon shot tired from a mortar, all aimed directly at Kain's chest. Kain reacted instantly, bringing the Reaver up and slicing the first shard in half down its length before dodging to one side to avoid the second. The third he passed through by allowing himself to dip briefly into his mist form before the fourth he slashed across the middle and broke in two with his sword.
Vorador was coming in from the far side, the emaciated Raziel at his side, charging Thanatos' unprotected flank. Thanatos however did not even turn to look at them as his right front limb stretched out and struck Vorador with enough force to send him flying backwards across the courtyard. The ancient Vampire tumbled several times before disappearing into an yawning doorway with a crash. Raziel was more nimble, leaping over the tree trunk sized limb and racing on.
He made directly for the Dragon's throat, his wraith blade erupting from his right hand as he drew in. He was within striking distance and was already putting the force of his run into the lunge. At the last second however the sail like bulk of an immense wing came sweeping around almost out of nowhere, catching the blue wraith in its embrace and scooping him up off his feet. Then with one forceful thrust that wing tossed Raziel's spindly body directly up into the air and the last thing Kain saw of him was his tumbling form, wide eyed with surprise, falling behind a distant wall.
"They tell me you're the last of your kind, Dragon." Kain remarked with a grim smile as the beast loomed over him, its colossal bulk filling the courtyard. "The last living Dragon, at any rate." He amended wryly.
Thanatos' nostrils flared in a snort, hot glowing embers rising from them and spiralling through the air like fireflies.
-"As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion!"- His voice declared hotly, echoing loudly in the vaults of Kain's mind. Those words made Kain pause in startled surprise, gazing up at the reptilian face which hung in the air before him. It could be no mere coincidence the Dragon had chosen that particular phrase.
"Then you are like us." The Emperor of Nosgoth remarked. "All you need is for one of you to survive for your race to recover."
-"You are mutated, degenerative animals onto whom our greatness rubbed off!"- Thanatos' thought spat back in reply, offense and disgust clear in his tone. -"If we had not taken you in as pets and food stock, you would still be living in trees feeding on berries like your furry ancestors! We are not like you!"-
"No?" Kain kept smiling. "My kind were driven to the brink of extinction once, leaving myself as the only survivor. Through me my race survived. You are in the same predicament as I myself was, Dragon."
Thanatos' tail suddenly came arching around and slammed with force into the side of the stone pillar. Kain leapt out of the way, ducking under the tail as it arched over him trailing brick and masonry dust.
-"Do not call me that!"- The thought snarled thunderously in his brain. -"I am Uni! I am one of the first race, the true owners of Nosgoth! I will not be labelled by your insulting names!"- The immense wings snapped out in dramatic emphasis and as they expanded they forced the air before them forward like a sudden immense gale, the full biting force directed right into Kain's crouched body. It pushed him backward, his talons digging into the stone to try and keep himself in one place.
Thanatos' body reared up high, his head rising up on the end of his long neck. His jaws were opening and from between his teeth were not flames this time, but arching spikes of lightning which leapt from tooth to tooth. Slowly those rising sparks were gathering over the tongue in a bright ball which pulsed pile a throbbing heart, tensing and ready to discharge. Having seen the power the dragon had unleashed upon Lorenzo's artillery batteries, Kain had no intension of taking the brunt of such force.
An instant before the strike came his body dispersed in a cloud of bats, each one winging out in different directions to escape. The lightning bolt tore through the air narrowing missed them and leaving each one with lingering static electricity causing their furry bodies to puff out. Several of them, thrown around by the shockwave slammed into each other and tumbled about chaotically. It took some strength of will to control them, to direct them back along the line of that attack.
Coalescing back into himself, Kain propelled himself up and over Thanatos' head. Catching onto the side of the helmet, he swung around until he was positioned directly over the Dragon's snout. Thanatos let out a sharp cry and backed up, tossing his head back and forth trying to throw Kain off. But the Vampire's grip was too strong and he remained in place, raising the Reaver with his free hand and slashing across the exposed flesh just below the rim of the large visor.
The Reaver sank into Dragon flesh and a spray of blood erupted, splattering Kain across his front from head to toe. Thanatos let out a deep cry of mingled pain and indignation, raising his forelegs and wings to try and scrape the irritant away from his face. But Kain held on, ducking beneath every digit and claw which tried to pry him loose. The Reaver blade swept down again and again, striking at the flesh and opening the wound open wider. Each swing brought forth yet more cries of pain from the enraged Dragon.
Finally Kain raised the sword high, ready to drive it point down into the wound. At such an angle it would easily be able to puncture the beast's skull. Before he could strike however, Thanatos whirled his entire body around and smashed his head directly through a thick stone wall. Like a battering ram it slammed straight through, sending blocks of stone flying out in all directions with a bellowing cloud of dust. The impact crushed Kain between several tones of angry Dragon and thick slabs of stone. His vision blurred and he had only a vaguest sensation of movement as his body was thrown wildly through the air and he landed with a painful thump amongst jagged rocks.
-"Your kind have grown strong in our absence."- Thanatos' voice snarled into his numbed mind as Kain tried to push himself back up, a thick layer of masonry dust settling over him. -"That I will readily admit."-
Kain grunted with some pain and brushed the dust away from his face. He could see the Dragon approaching through the fog like obscuring cloud of dust, padding toward him like a colossal hunting wolf. What made the situation that much worse was that laying on the ground between two rocks almost exactly half way between himself and the beast was the Reaver Blade, torn from his hand during the impact.
-"But you can not kill me. Nothing can kill me!"- Thanatos had stopped to rear up, his wings extending high above himself. -"I am Thanatos! My power throughout the centuries has remained undiminished. My name is death. I AM Death!"-
Kain found that despite the ache in his side and the grim seriousness of his situation, he was grinning.
"Interesting claim. One might call it arrogant. And I realise the irony of my recognising that."
-"Then allow me to prove my point!"-
Mouth agape with rows of teeth glistening even through the obscuring dust cloud, the Dragon charged. Its shadow exploding into an onrushing avalanche of claw, tooth and wing. But Kain did not try to dodge or evade the lunge at all. Instead, setting himself with grim determination he raced forward to meet the attack head on. The distance between them vanished in an instant and the Vampire faced opening jaws capable of breaking him in two with one snap.
At the last second however Kain dispersed his body into mist, throwing his essence forward with all the force he had. His form now insubstantial he passed harmlessly through the Dragon's teeth and out the far side of its chin before he came together again. He did not stop running, racing beneath Thanatos' belly before he leapt forward and his hand wrapped firmly about the Reaver's hilt. Turning quickly he reared back and stabbed his reclaimed sword as hard as he could directly up into Thanatos' stomach.
The blade went in deep, piercing the skin right up to the jagged crossbeam. Fresh blood spurted thickly from the impaling wound and Thanatos let out a shriek of agony, his body arching upward and wings beating the air furiously. Before Kain could drive the sword in again however, the Dragon's long tail lashed around and he was forced to retreat in order to avoid being struck by it; darting to one side and then summersaulting backwards over the thrashing limb.
Thanatos backed up several steps, one forelimb curled into himself and over the wound in his underside trying to stem the flow of blood. Kain made forward to recommence an attack but before he could take another step, the Dragon reared his head back and then vomited forward a fresh torrent of boiling white hot flames directly at him. There wasn't time to react with kind of coherent plan as the fire rocketed forward him, threatening to engulf him and turn him to ash.
Kain did the only thing that at this moment his mind and body permitted him to do. He leapt high up into the air, his vampiric ability to reinforce his jumping strength. Fuelled by survival instinct and if he was honest, panic, Kain shot up high into the air like a bolt fired from a crossbow. He cleared the flames shot forward him by several feet, but as soon he did so he found himself facing a new peril.
Thanatos was already moving, breaking off from his attack and propelling himself up towards the Vampire, his mouth was opening wide as he prepared to snatch him directly out of the air as if tending to swallow him whole. In that seemingly frozen moment of time Kain realised he had fallen for the Dragon's ploy and that he had no time to evade those dagger sized jaws. As soon as this moment passed they would close in and skewer him.
Perhaps that is what would have happened, had not without warning a massive bear come charging out of the doorway through which Vorador had vanished and slammed into Thanatos' side with all its fury. The Dragon, taken by surprise, was thrown off course and Kain ended up sliding down its back like a slide. He tumbled head over heals for an undignified few seconds before he leapt free and skidding to a stop on the courtyard floor.
Thanatos had collapsed onto his side, the bear pinning him down and forcing the Dragon up against the far wall. Then with a sudden blurring of its thickly muscled form, the Bear vanished and Vorador was there in its place.
"Run!" He shouted, leaping from Thanatos' sprawled and scrabbling form and racing back towards the cover of the buildings. Kain forward instantly, running with sword in hand through the doorway just as Thanatos got back up to his feet. With an infuriated roar, the Dragon belched forth another torrent of flames after them. It poured down the stone corridor, chasing like a piston through a cylinder as they ran together to escape its reach.
"Now where did you learn how to do that?" Kain asked in a deceptively casual voice, the flames still racing after them.
Vorador said; "Zwergstadar."
"Never heard of it."
"You wouldn't have, it was destroyed before you were born."
The two of them dived quickly into a side passage before the flames could overtake them and the two Vampires pressed their backs to the wall, breathing hard from their exertions as the flames shot past leaving scorched black and smoking stones in their wake. Everything went silent after that, the dim chaotic sounds of battle a distant rumble. The two of them turned their heads to look at one another. Dimly Kain noted that Vorador was still taller then himself, despite the inches he had put on with his own Vampiric evolution.
"We won't be able to withdraw with him stalking us." He said with grim concern, abandoning his appearance of nonchalance. Vorador nodded in agreement, his head cocked to one side and one ear twitching as he listened.
"Then let us use his hunt to our advantage." The ancient Vampire remarked. Kain turned to give him a look but before he could say anything there was a loud crash from almost directly overhead. The roof of the corridor above them shock with a fierce impact and several stones ground against each other discarding dust. This was followed by a second crash further along the corridor and then a third down the other side, a deep and ear grating scraping sound coming from above. Kain knew instantly what was going on. Thanatos had climbed on top of the building and was trying to pry the roof open to get at them.
"Quickly, this way!" Vorador said in a hiss and moved off again down the corridor. Kain didn't argue and followed instantly. The crashing, scratching sounds continued and followed them as they ran. Kain did not know by what sense the Dragon was tracking them, but whatever it was it was allowing Thanatos to remain on top of them every step of the way.
Vorador continued on and gradually Kain realised where he was being led. Directly at the heart of the Razielim territory was the colossal stone castle where Raziel had once held court. They were entering the main hallway down that lead to the central chamber, a wide open space beneath a domed ceiling if he recalled correctly. The war to extermination waged upon the Razielim by the Dumahim and Zephonim clans, plus the centuries of neglect would not have been kind to such a structure.
Vorador quickly moved to the doorway and stepped past the rusted ugly gates which one had been a polished steel engraved with images of the Razielim and their way of life.
"In here!" He shouted back and Kain followed him inside. He saw instantly that his expectations had not been far from the mark. The Razielim great hall had most definitely seen better days. Its floor was marked with cracks and blemishes. Its colossal domed ceiling had several large gaping holes in it. Many pillars had collapsed and lay in pieces where they had fallen. The murals and frescos that had one encircled the walls were all either damaged and ruined beyond recognition or faded with the passage of time to the point where it was hard to tell there had ever been a picture there at all. The only thing to survive intact was the ornate stone throne where Raziel had been exulted patriarch of his clan. The only other throne in Nosgoth higher than this one had been his own, beneath the stump of the Pillar of Balance.
-"There is no escape from me!"- Thanatos' mental voice interrupted Kain's train of thought. The Dragon's words were filled with vengeful malice for his pain. A shadow passed over them and glancing up sharply Kain could see the beast's head peering down at them through a wide hole in the ceiling. -"I will follow you for the ends of the earth if I must!"-
It was then that Kain noticed the true condition of that roof. It was cracked across most of its remaining structure and seemed only to be holding itself together by the sheer forced applied by opposite pieces leaning against one another. It was a structure ready to collapse at any moment. Even leaning upon it, the Dragon's weight was causing pieces to shudder and sway. Thanatos however seemed not to have noticed and was sliding in through the hole like a snake into a rodents burrow, his gaze fixed upon them with flickers of flame pouring out either side of his mouth and dripping onto the floor like molten metal.
"Good." Vorador said with an oily smile crossing his face. Thanatos, his body already inside except for the end of his tail, paused in hesitation at the expressed sentiment. "Now, Raziel!" The Ancient Vampire declared with his voice echoing.
And then suddenly the blue wraith was there, diving free of the concealment of a section of fallen pillars where he obviously had been waiting for his cue. Raising his left hand Raziel unleashed bolt after bolt of his own telekinetic power directly into the ceiling. Seeing their intentions Kain quickly unleashed his own compressed bolts of force, slamming them directly into the cracks around that compromised dome.
It did not take much to disrupt the precarious balance of that ceiling. The segments ground together with a grating sound which caused the air to vibrate, more and more cracks spreading and joining with others with loud tearing noises. Dust began to pour down from the ceiling like rivers and slowly the entire structure began to lean ominously to one side. The entire building shook with a vibration which was building to a final cataclysmic crescendo.
Realising his peril, Thanatos reacted in panic and scrambled for the open hole through which he had come. But in doing so, thrusting his weight upon it, he only hastened the disintegration. With a great terrible eruption of noise, dust and flying debris the dome finally collapsed in on itself. Masses of stone tumbled down in a veritable avalanche, catching the dragon in its path and smothering him before he could even let out a trumpeting call.
The collapse followed the three of them as they raced together down the corridor. The dust cloud caught up with them and engulfed them instantly but they all just kept running, rattling stones clattering around behind them until they burst out of a doorway and escaped into the protection of a small courtyard. Behind them the looming ruin of the great hall was still collapsing, pieces falling on top of one another releasing bellowing clouds of dust so thick it was like smoke in the air. The building was falling, collapsing into its own footprint, the weight of all that rubble pressing down and burying the Dragon their trap had caught all the deeper. The ground was still shaking underfoot and the noise filled the air, drowning out the ground of chaotic battle nearby.
"He will not take long to dig himself free." Kain said once the noise had finally faded enough where he could be heard, although he gave Vorador a grudging look of respect for the plan he had just enacted.
"Indeed. I dropped more on him myself and he emerged within minutes." Vorador agreed with a grim nod.
"Then let us complete our work here and be on our way." Raziel said. The blue wraith looked non the worse for wear from being flung across the ruins but fatigue was clear in the slumped way he held his shoulders. Kain didn't blame him. He was going to need to replenish his energies before too long himself.
The Legions of the Divus' army were as relentless as ever and their siege upon the inner walls of the Razielim city had not ceased or slackened. Their numbers were endless. Each one felled collapsed in silence only to be replaced by a dozen more. Soon their bodies were piled high against the walls and their fellows were using them to form a ramp up which they could climb. So far the Serioli warriors atop the battlements were keeping them at bay, incinerating, eviscerating and impaling any of the monstrosities which came within their sight. They were aided in their fight by Balam and his Turelim, who took hold of any who made it to the edge of the battlement and tore them to pieces.
"Ajatar, what is the situation?" Kain demanded as they arrived back behind the wall, a chaotic din of lashing metal and yells coming from above. Ajatar was slumped against a half collapsed pillar. Her red toga was torn in several places and she had cuts across her left arm and one down the same side on her side, blood dripping from her chin. Her hair had fallen out of its usual ponytail and was a mess about her shoulders. She was out of breath and one of her wings drooped lower then the other although with no immediately obvious injury.
Janos Audron was beside her and he did not look to be in much better condition. His tunic was stained with blood and worse, his red hood pulled up to cover his head with the lower half of his face sporting an ugly looking bruise.
"We will not be able to hold them much longer, Lord Kain." Ajatar replied in a strained voice, wiping her brow with the back of one hand which still held one of her swords. "My soldiers are scattered across the walls fending these things off as it is and their numbers seem unending! Its only a matter of time now."
Kain quickly glanced up to the top of the wall. The Serioli warriors were frantically unleashed their elemental arts at the besiegers with barely a moment to pause for breathe. They were excellent soldiers and powerful warriors but they were close to the breaking point now.
"Have we bought the others enough time?" Janos asked without looking up, one hand holding himself steady against the back of the wall.
"Barely, but I would say so." Vorador answered and Kain nodded in agreement.
"We pull out." The would be Emperor of Nosgoth said. "Ajatar, call in your soldiers and make for the..."
Suddenly all sound of battle and clashing metal ceases from above and beyond the wall came to a halt. The absence of that background chaotic din was just as much a surprise as if an explosion would have gone off a few feet from them. Everyone shivered in reaction and looked up with expressions of surprise and alarm on their faces. After another moment there shuffling noise, a clatter of metal as if a horde of heavily armoured men had begun walking in unison with their steps perfectly synchronized. They all exchanged confused glances.
"Grandmaster, the soldiers...they've just stopped! They're falling back!" One of the Serioli called down from the top of the wall.
Kain ascended the wall in an instant, Raziel and Vorador only a moment behind him and Ajatar and Janos a moment behind them. Across the battlements atop the wall, the Serioli warriors were all poised with their arms drawn back ready to recommence their elemental arts but all staring down at the courtyard below with confused expressions.
The black armoured legionnaires were all reforming themselves into neatly ordered lines and then withdrawing. Expressionlessly and silently they were marching backwards, stepping over the shattered wood like pieces of their fallen as if they were merely walking over elevations on a road. They backed off slowly, one step at a time until they were lined up at the far end of the courtyard. There they finally stopped and stood there silent and still like an army of statues.
"What deranged game is this?" Vorador asked with a growl in his tone, one hand on the edge of the parapet and the other on the hilt of his sword.
Suddenly the ranks of the legionnaires parted directly down the middle, each half stepping to the side to make a passage through their numbers. Down that opened avenue a figure was approaching at a casual walking pace. Kain squinted, trying to make it out, but the shadow of the overhanging archway entrance to the courtyard. As they entered and the light fell over their form, Kain frowned as he recognised the typical toga and armoured vestments common to the Divus.
This one was Human but taller then their typical height as he seemed to tower a good head and shoulders over the legionnaires about him. His height could not have been less then seven feet. He was lean to with limbs that seemed long even for his enlarged frame. He was by no means without muscle though and across his pectorals and abdomens were a crisscross of angry looking old scars. His hair was jet black long enough to tie back into a short ponytail behind him by a wrapping of blue clothe. His face however was hidden from view by a strange looking orange mask which looked to be made out of white porcelain. The mask was almost featureless save for the eye slits, expect for the looping eternity symbol which had come to represent the Divus and their god painted onto the forehead.
In his left hand he was carrying something, a weapon of some description. Kain leaned forward slightly to see what it was. When he saw his eyes widened slightly. He recognised that weapon.
"Apostates, hear me!" The Divus proclaimed in a loud, ringing oratorical voice; coming to a stop just before the front line of legionnaires. "I am Puriel-Divus, grand executioner and proud holy soldier!" He raised his arm and held the weapon aloft, revealing it to them all. A large curving golden axe. Seeing it, Ajatar drew in her breathe sharply and snapped her wings out in reflex. She of course would recognise that weapon all too well. "There is no defence, no victory; against the armies of heaven and the word of God! Your rebellion is and always had been, destined to end in ruin and defeat!"
A figure was being dragged down the avenue of parted legionnaires after him, hung limp and near lifeless in the arms of two of the strange wood like soldiers. This one was an ancient Vampire, it was ready to tell by the mere fact they had feathered wings. Whoever they were was leaving a thick trail of blood as he was dragged along, hanging limply between the two legionnaires.
"Ansu?!" Ajatar gasped in surprise and indeed it was. The Serioli warrior had been beaten within an inch of his life. His body was covered in bruises, deep gashes down to the bone across his arms and legs. They had even cruelly gouged out one side of his chest so his ribs were exposed. His face was badly bloodied that he looked like a hideous caricature of himself, lip spilt open and slack. To make it worse, the crowning indignity, was that both of his wings had been shattered into limb useless appendages coated in blood. Exactly how and when the enemy had taken him prisoner during the battle Kain did not know.
Ansu was dragged forward and then thrust onto his face before Puriel's feet. He was barely conscious, resting on his elbows with blood dripping from his mouth. Puriel stood over him and hefted the golden axe he had taken from the warrior, slowly beginning to raise it.
"Behold, the only possible end to rebellion and resistance!" He declared before he raised the gleaming axe high up above his head.
"NO!" Ajatar cried and made to lunge forward. Kain reached out quickly to restrain her but missed. The Serioli Grandmaster leapt from the parapet with her wings snapped open and both swords drawn.
She did not move fast enough.
"ANSU!"
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"Ansu, soldier of the Serioli order and loyal follower of Ajatar-Cadre was no more. And with his fall, the losses had begun."
-0-
The head hit the ground first and rolled a short distance, slick with blood. The body followed a moment later and lay there, broken and twitching. Ajatar screamed out a cry of outrage as she soured across the courtyard towards Puriel-Divus, all her reason lost in a vengeful fury.
"I will kill you, you bastard!" She screamed, lunging forward at Puriel with her swords drawn break ready to screw him. Puriel stood there, bloody axe in hand, watching her approach with seemingly no alarm.
"Ajatar! No!" Kain cried out but his words fell on death ears. Cursing he vaulted over the top of the battlement and kicked off from it, putting all the strength he could muster into that propulsion. Launching himself forward he shot through the air and caught up with Ajatar. In her fury she had not seen the front row of legionnaires behind Puriel kneeling down while the row behind raised up a line of crossbows and all of them aimed directly at her charging form.
Reaching he, Kain grabbed the grandmaster by the shoulder and tossed her back down onto the ground. She landed with a thump behind him and a brief moment later the bolts flew, filling the air with gleaming metal projectiles.
Each one shot forward with a snake like hiss, passing safely through Kain's body as he hung suspended in mist form before clattering off the stone walls behind. Ajatar looked up as her Emperor stood before her, between her and those who had murdered her right hand.
"And so the dark corruptor himself steps forward to receive his final judgement." Puriel remarked in a rich sonorous tone of satisfaction, hefting the axe and tapping its dripping blade into the palm of one hand. "Your well deserved fate has been overdue indeed."
Kain said; "And you think it comes from the likes of you?" His face twisted into a disgusted sneer of utmost contempt as the Vampire reached back and drew the Reaver blade with both hands. The sword let out a hungry screech as he held it level with his shoulders, its serpentine edge gleaming brightly in the light cast by the still burning fires lit by Thanatos' inferno breathe. Kain eyes narrowed tightly, his lips pulled back to expose both sets of his fangs. "Do not flatter yourself!"