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Puriel did not waste time. He took one step, then two, and in the span of an eyeblink he had launched himself across the distance between them, the pilfered golden axe sweeping around in an arc aimed directly at Kain's head. It came at him so fast that the air seemed to screech in protest, as though the blade were being moved fast enough to actually cause it physical pain. Had Kain been Human his reflexes simply would not have been fast enough to avoid the blow and his head would have been cleaved in a fraction of an instant.
As it was, Kain swung backwards, pivoting from the hip only just quickly enough to avoid the blade. Its gleaming edge came less than a talon's width away from slicing open his windpipe. The attack had been so swift and sudden, and with such a large weapon, that it had admittedly taken Kain off guard. Normally such a weapon as that was something one could only swing if one had the necessary strength, and even then it would be with difficulty. To bring it to bear so fast suggested that Puriel's strength was much greater than his general bulk suggested.
As though to emphasis this, Puriel brought the stolen axe back in a sharp blur of movement. His apparent musculature really ought not to have been physically capable of performing such a feat. But this time Kain was prepared for him, dancing backwards out of range of the swing before lancing forward with the serpentine blade of the Reaver, the movement a swift lunge towards Puriel's chest.
Puriel, however, slapped the incoming blade aside with one hand, the moment so sharp it seemed that his hand simply translocated from one place to another. Kain dove down more out of instinct than any strategic thought and the golden axe whistled through the space he had occupied a moment before rolling out of the way, then he swung the Reaver up to parry a strike as Puriel came at him too quickly to dodge again.
Axe and sword clashed several dozens of times, blade striking against blade, sparks flying. Both weapons made the air protest with how fast it was being split.
Finally Kain parted from the fray, leaping backwards while letting off a spark of eldritch energy from his palm. The flash shot between them, enough to force Puriel back and give Kain some space.
"So you are fast." The Emperor of Nosgoth observed flatly. Purial chuckled from behind his mask as he stepped back until he was level with the first row of Legionnaires.
"So quick to dismiss me as a common grunt, were you?" He asked. "Fool. Such an error can only be rewarded by death!" His hand rose, clenched into a fist, and Kain recognised a command when he saw one. Immediately he let his body fade into his mist form, and not a moment too soon as the Legionnaires let loose another volley of crossbow bolts. They shot through the misty essense to clatter off of the walls of the courtyard in a heavy bombarding rain. Behind him, Ajatar flattened herself to the floor to escape being hit, holding her hands over her head.
"You have struggled so long and so hard, but in the end you are little more than an ant standing in the way of a raging tidal wave!" Puriel stated as the crossbow Legionnaires stepped back to reload and another line stepped forward to take their place in perfect unison. "Surely you must see that! There are but two options: submit or die!"
"The coin is still turning." Kain remarked in reply. Puriel chuckled and slid back into the protection and anonymity of the ranks of Legionnaires.
The new row of silent soldiers raised their crossbows and fired with all the unnatural unison of a machine and an equal lack of hesitation. Another thick volley of bolts was loosed and once more Kain was forced to slide back into his immaterial mist form, dodging left and right and passing through the projectiles. He was given no immediate reprieve, for as soon as that barrage had passed the next row of Legionnaires stepped forth to fire another.
Grimly Kain realised the purpose of Ansu's theatrical execution had been to lure not just anyone out, but himself specifically, to entrap him. Perhaps it was arrogant to say, but unfortunately it was true. This entire resistance to Divus oppression hinged on him. If he died, then there would be nothing to prevent the Divus from carrying out their plans.
Nosgoth would have no future.
Ajatar slammed her hands down into the earth with a snarl and the ground rippled beneath what passed for Kain's feet as he felt her elemental power surge out of her. The Serioli skill she employed caused the ground to buckle up directly in front of them, a foot-thick wall of debris which provided a barrier against the barrage. Kain took the opportunity to solidify and back off. He doubted their enemies would allow such a barrier to persist for long.
"Kain, we cannot linger here!" Vorador was bellowing from the wall behind them, one hand grasping the edge of the parapet and the other waving in the air. "They're trying to distract us until the Dragon has a chance to dig his way out!"
Kain pursed his lips, quickly glancing back. That, of course, was another concern. They could not hope to hold any position against this army for long, and with Thanatos providing support, there would be nothing they could do. They had to take this opportunity to escape, for staying meant certain death.
There was a sudden crash followed by an intense deluge of dust as the improvised barrier exploded, fragments of stone flying everywhere. A shockwave of energy passed through the air, a feedback of powerful forces that slammed into Ajatar and sent her tumbling head over heels backwards until she fetched up against the far wall. Kain quickly was forced to dodge to the left as a golden axe blade came hurtling past.
Puriel was on him immediately, parting the dust with speed enough to cause a passage of wind to follow in his wake.
"Fool. There is no escape!" He declared, slashing Ansu's golden axe around in an arc that would have taken Kain's head off had he not deflected it with the Reaver. "Your deaths are on my schedule!"
Puriel's agility was nothing short of astounding. Once before Kain had encountered a being possessing reflexes and speed beyond the norm. Sebastian, a vampire who had sold himself in service to the Sarafan occupation so many centuries ago. He had possessed regrettably impressive speed. Puriel, however, put Sebastian to shame. His agility and pace were such that Kain had no time to do anything but block, dodge, and deflect on nothing but centuries of battle-honed instinct. He knew he could not keep on the defensive and expect to win, but Puriel was so quick that his assaults left him no quarter to plan his own attack.
His reprieve came without warning. A blur from above came hurtling into view and a spindly figure dropped out of the air, an ethereal blade screeching as it erupted from the right arm. Raziel had come to his aid, swinging the projected soul he called a weapon around in an almost dance-like flurry of movement, leaving long, glowing bands of light in its wake. Puriel dodged backwards, ducking left and right, stepping back and forth between each swing before finally sliding backwards out of the way in a rapid spin.
Puriel made to advance again, holding his stolen axe up in preperation for a lunge but Raziel preempted him, throwing up his left arm before himself. The device strapped to his wrist snapped out and flared into an elemental surge of energy. A shield formed between their enemies and themselves, swirling with a powerful blue radiance that Kain recognised as elemental water. A wall of ice rushed into being from thin air and the golden axe embedded itself six inches deep into this cold barrier and stuck there.
"Raziel, get her back to the others!" Kain snapped, half turning to glare as Ajatar staggered back to her feet, still dazed and shaken with blood running from a cut above her left brow. Raziel just grunted and did not carry out that order, holding his arm up with his strange device thrust forward. It seemed he could not move or the barrier he had erected would collapse. Puriel had wrenched Ansu's axe free and backed off several paces, seeing his attempt at battering his way through the ice was futile. At once the Legionnaires behind him advanced in a uniform line, leveling large pikes before them.
With a rhythmic ferocity they struck against the shield over and over, the blades chipping into the ice with the regularity of an incoming tide. Raziel was visibly straining as he fought to maintain the barrier, reforming the ice where he could. But there were simply too many attacks for him to fend off, like a horde of ants slowly overcoming a much larger beast. The vibrations created from the battering shook the ground beneath them, causing dust and small debris to leap and twitch around their ankles.
Ajatar did not retreat. Instead she held her ground, her face twisted into a mask of unrepressed fury. Her gaze, even through the ice, was locked firmly onto Puriel and the golden axe he had stolen from his victim. Before Kain could stop her she leapt into the air, beating her wings to drive herself up. As she ascended elemental fire burst from between her talons, running up her arms right to her shoulders. With a scream of utter hatred from her bloodied lips, she soared up over Raziel's shield of ice and unleashed an inferno upon the Legionnaires.
The flames swept forth to engulf the soldiers, none of whom flinched at all and simply stood there engaged in their task even while being consumed. The fire went on, fueled by Ajatar's rage until it arched up and threatened to crash directly to the waiting Puriel.
"No, stop!" Kain realized the ploy, but he was too late. The fire slammed down upon the Divus, who at the last second held forth the golden axe he had stolen and spun it about with one hand. His movements made the weapon blur into a circle of furiously spinning blades. Whether this was some learned Serioli technique or some power of which Kain was ignorant, he did not know, but whatever the method, Puriel took the fire unleashed at him about his spinning circle before sending it straight back.
There was a tremendous explosion of light and sound as fire collided with ice. Steam bellowed out thick as smoke, engulfing everything in a obscuring cloud of white. Raziel was thrown back by the force of the Grandmaster's redirected assault, dropping down to one knee and letting out a gasp of pain. Before Kain could make a move, Puriel was upon them again. His speed was incredible, darting past Kain fast enough to drag the steam after him and laying Raziel down with a kick directly to the face. The blue wraith did not have enough time to defend himself and was sent tumbling backwards head over heels.
Ajatar went for Puriel at once, summoning more fire between her hands. Puriel danced side to side, easily avoiding the torrents of flame that chased him. Her movements by this point desperate, Ajatar slapped her hands together to unleash a shockwave of flame at him. Puriel leapt over it with ease, spinning in midair before coming down at Ajatar. Ansu's golden axe spun with him and in that one fluid motion he would have split her skull in two had the attack connected.
Kain acted as quickly as his reflexes would allow. Lashing out at the only moment where Puriel's attention was entirely on Ajatar, the second just before the strike, he caught the Divus by the ankle. With one strained heave he tore Puriel out of the air and tossed him back. Then, as the Divus was hurled backwards, he raised one hand and shot a bolt of condensed telekinetic force directly into his body. Puriel had just enough time to make one startled grunt before being snapped back into the obscuring steam. His mask was torn from his face and hit the ground, shattering into pieces.
Ajatar made to go after him, fire still raging in her grasp. But Kain quickly seized her by the shoulders to forestall her.
"Release me!" She hissed at him, forgetting the respectful tone she routinely adopted when addressing the one to whom she had sworn allegiance. He snarled back at her, baring his fangs.
"Ajatar, he's antagonising you on purpose! To make us waste our time!" Kain shouted at her, shaking her in his grip. Ajatar only returned his roar with fierce indignation and resistance in her eyes. They were the eyes of someone overcome with emotion and the pain of loss.
Kain slapped her. Hard. The sound echoed about the ruins.
"Damn you!" He spat at her as she leaned back from the strike. "You are a professional soldier, you should know this!" She stared back at him, eyes wide and one hand raised to the cheek he had struck. Her expression was mulish and a half-step short of mutinous.
"He has to die!" Ajatar said and it sounded like the selfish whining of a child who wanted something from a parent. It was so pitiful and juvenile a declaration that it cut through her grief despite its strength. Her face flushed with indignation and she suddenly could not meet his gaze.
"Oh, he will. Trust me, he will." Kain told her, before with utter firmness giving her a shove back towards the blue wraith who was just now getting back to his feet. "Raziel, get her back!"
Ajatar might have made another move to protest and stay, but Raziel took hold of her and bodily dragged her back towards the wall and battlements, his strength more than sufficient for the task despite his emaciated form.
"Finish this, Kain, quickly!" He said, before hauling Ajatar back into the obscuring mists. Kain turned, Reaver in hand, to face the other direction. Through the cloud of steam he could see the dark outlines of the Legionnaires. They remained perfectly still, harmless as common statues. Whatever abominable creations these things were, they clearly were useless without an intelligent commander to give them orders.
"Come forth, Divus. I'm done playing with you." Kain declared in a loud and firm voice, dragging the Reaver's tip across the floor of the courtyard hard enough to produce a series of glowing sparks. "It's time to die."
Puriel reemerged from the steam, one hand held up to his face, blood leaking down between his talons. When he finally lowered his hand to reveal his face, Kain could see that his enemy had hidden severe disfigurement beneath his mask. A series of slash marks ran from left to right across the entirety of his face. He had been fortunate not to lose either of his eyes, but perhaps as cosmic recompense the wound had taken his nose. The entire feature had been cleaved right off to leave nothing but a healed patch of paler skin. It almost seemed like he had been born without a nose at all.
He was bleeding from the ear and from the corners of his lips. The bolt he had taken to the face must have either burst an eardrum or ruptured the lining of his throat. Perhaps both. Puriel spat out a bloodied, cracked tooth as he stretched his neck from side to side. Each turn elicited a series of cracks loud enough for Kain to hear from where he was standing.
"Ominous words, Kain." He said, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. With the other he idly tossed the golden axe into the air over and over, catching it again each time. "But you cannot kill what you cannot touch!"
Kain had been braced for a fast attack and believed himself prepared to spring in any direction, but the speed at which his enemy charged took him entirely off guard regardless. One moment Puriel had been standing a good twenty feet away. The very next instant a kick was being slammed with bone-shattering force directly into Kain's midsection. The blow forced all the air out of Kain's lungs and he staggered back from the impact.
Puriel arched around him like the flow of the air itself and only the glint of light reflecting off of the golden axe blade alerted Kain in time. The serpentine Reaver deflected the oncoming blow, then again, and again. Each time Puriel was darting away and then coming in from a different position, so fast he was leaving a fading afterimage in Kain's field of vision. All Kain could do was deflect the blows aimed at him, defend and nothing more.
"What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Puriel demanded, coming at Kain head-on. Kain lashed out, swinging the Reaver in an arc his enemy leapt directly over. His body spun like a leaf in the wind overhead before he knocked Kain forward with a kick to the back of the head. "And here I thought the great Kain would actually be a challenge!"
The Vampire sprawled onto the ground with a grunt from the blow and the Reaver was knocked from his grip, clattering on the ground and sliding out of reach. On his hands and knees Kain started to rise, knowing that he had to keep on his feet or his enemy would put him down in an instant.
But as he did so something...changed. It was subtle but no less profound, a sort of shift within himself. It felt like something inside him, some sort of barrier or obstruction had just been weakened. It was a paralysing sensation radiating from his chest, forcing itself out through the rest of his body bit by bit.
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"Suddenly I could feel the blood within me surge and roil in my veins. The heart in my chest, the heart which the last of my sister's bloodline had kept safe for me, seemed to expand and swell with newfound strength and power. What manner of strange sensation was this?"
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The barrier was weakening further, like a dam holding back what had grown to a raging flood tide, worn down by physical abuse and ready to snap. Holding one hand over his heart, Kain drew in one deep, sharp breath and in doing so felt the barrier give way. A sudden rush, a surge of energy left him aghast.
Puriel was coming at him, the stolen golden axe held high, ready to strike and deliver the killing blow. A blow which, with that much momentum behind it, would cleave anything in two. But Kain did not move, nor did he make any attempt whatsoever to avoid the attack. Instead he welcomed it, held his ground. Instinct drove him, instructions burning inside his brain telling him what to do.
With one fierce motion he drew his talons down over his own chest, scoring deep into his flesh. Blood spurted from the wounds, a thick spray of dark red. Not a single drop touched the floor. Before him his own blood obeyed his will, totally under his command in a way he had never imagined before. When it burst forth it flew forward to the reach of his outspread free hand, streams of red gathering together and becoming solid.
Firmly he grasped that forming object, spun and gained his feet, and thrust it forth before him. It was a long spear, not an elegant or finely shaped weapon by any stretch, pitted and encrusted with drying blood, but it did have the quality needed for the task. It was sharp.
"What?!" Puriel cried out, but to no avail. His own speed worked against him and he was so close to delivering his own blow that he simply was not able to stop himself.
The two of them came together with a sickening crash. Puriel stiffened violently. His grip slackened and the golden axe of Ansu tumbled out of his grasp, falling to the ground with a heavy clatter. The Executioner of the Divus twitched once, twice, and then bowed his head to gaze down at the wound punched through his chest. The rippling red spear was buried straight through his torso, slid neatly through his rib cage and emerging out his back. Flesh hung from its pointed end and fresh blood ran freely into a steadily spreading pool on the ground around them.
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"The very blood in my veins was a weapon, and a potent one at that. One which, when used with precision and grace, was lethal to any who dared stand in my way."
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"H...how?" The sound was little more than a wet whisper. One of his lungs had been punctured and the air required to make the noise was fleeting. Puriel raised a hand to the spear, trying to dislodge it, but his strength failed him and he lurched forward onto his knees. Kain caught him in one arm, lowering him there with his own grip on the spear as firm as ever. "You don't have… You can't do that..." The shift was just enough that Puriel's life blood now ran from his body in gushing rivers, splattering down Kain's chest and arms.
"It appears that I can." The Emperor of Nosgoth replied implacably. Slowly he reached down one hand and picked up the golden axe. "I will be taking this." He said, rising back up. Puriel stared after him, dumbfounded and paling as the life drained from him. Kain stood there, holding the axe over his kneeling enemy. His face was implacable, steely and filled with angry resolve.
A second head tumbled from its proper place that day.
"Kain! Get back here!" Vorador bellowed. While usually calm and well-spoken, the ancient Vampire could raise his voice to a thunderous roar when so required. Not that Kain needed the encouragement. As soon as Puriel lay dead at his feet, the Legionnaires advanced once more, not in a steady march but this time in a dead run. Propelling himself up from the ground in long bounds, Kain leapt from wall to wall to gain speed before finally hauling himself quickly over the top of the battlements just in time to avoid a flurry of crossbow bolts which hissed through the air after him.
"My lord, how did you do that?" Ajatar demanded, staring at him with wide eyes filled with awe. Her bloodied face had lost its vengeful mask, either through Puriel's death or from witnessing what had killed him. Or perhaps both. Kain glanced down at the golden axe he was still holding, the axe which had been used to cut down a Vampire who had sworn himself to his service and had followed him across time itself to that end. Its curving edge was dripping red.
"A question for another time." The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth replied grimly and handed Ajatar the axe. She took it from him, holding the weapon in both hands, and stared down at it with her lips pressed tightly together.
"Indeed. We must go, now!" Vorador told them both sharply, his voice intent. With one hand holding his sword he was gesturing out with its point towards the towering rubble which had once been the city's central palace. "Thanatos is rising. I can feel him. He'll be free of the rubble at any moment."
Not a one of them needed him to tell them that. The very ground was shaking beneath their feet. The mountain of rubble was trembling and twitching, pieces of it shuddering down its side. The air about them seemed to be growing thicker, as if being compressed in preparation for the unleashing of a titanic storm. Over it all there was an acute and powerful sense of outrage, of burning, white-hot anger. From the expressions all about him Kain could see that there was no one who could not taste that rage, never mind merely sense it.
As designated by the plan he had concocted, their numbers were limited. In order to supply the diversion necessary for the rest of their unlikely alliance to make their escape, they had served as bait to keep the Divus' attention on them. But now those small numbers worked against them, for none of them, singularly or united, was a match for the Dragon.
"In its heyday this city had many passages below ground leading to the territories of distant clans. No doubt some will still be passable." Raziel said, turning to point off towards the west and those districts of the city as yet untouched by the fighting.
"Then we must hurry." Vorador said with a nod, starting forward. Kain reached out and caught the ancient Vampire by the arm quickly.
"No, we must separate." He corrected him. Everyone turned to look at him with expressions that ranged from surprise to confusion to outright incredulity. Even the monstrously hulking Balam with crossbow bolts stuck in his shoulders appeared taken aback. This was certainly not part of the plan which he had told them about. In truth he had not intended this, but after seeing the size and strength of the enemy firsthand, Kain had realised only now there was no other option. "Smaller groups will attract less attention than large ones, especially with such a massive force hunting us."
Vorador frowned, his brow creasing. It seemed like he wanted to argue but simply had no ammunition with which to do so. Finally he sheathed his sword back at his side with a capitulating grunt.
"A bleak assessment, but not one I can find logical fault with."
"And smaller groups can travel faster." Balam added in a deep rumble, nodding but without much pleasure in it.
"You realise, of course, that when we seperate, we will not be able to use the Whisper to communicate. No doubt such telepathic communication would be scrutinized by the Divus' own skilled minds." Ajatar stated quickly, speaking Kain's own thoughts as soon as they occurred to him. "Or use translocation over any appreciable distance. Such magic would be detected."
Raziel placed his hands on his hips with a distinctly unamused expression arching his brow. "On foot, in small groups, devoid of magics and communication with our allies and pursued by the largest army to ever walk upon Nosgoth." He concluded. "Hardly an inviting prospect."
There was a brief pause of silent agreement to that sentiment.
"The sooner it's begun, the sooner it's done with." Vorador said into the silence as the ground shook again, reminding them all sharply of their peril.
"It seems for the moment, I must bid you farewell." Kain replied, his mind already filling with new plans to make on the events which had recently unfolded.
"Kain."
The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth stopped to look back over one shoulder. Vorador raised a hand and pointed a talon directly at the ring which had hung from Kain's ear for many centuries. A ring that he had made himself and given to a young vampire who had sought him out so many epochs ago. A ring which had helped restore its creator to life.
"Don't die." He said with an ironic smile twisting his lips. "It would be such a pity to lose you to the abyss." Those words, spoken once before so long ago, resonated profoundly. Kain could not help but find himself smiling back in return.
Raziel's eyes narrowed dangerously all of a sudden and he demanded in a distinctly unfriendly tone of voice, "Are you trying to be funny?!"