Chapter 23 - Streets of a forgotten giant

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The storm's assault on the city showed no signs of abating any time soon, the rain cascading down over the rooftops with a steady drumbeat that had all the buildings gently vibrating to its rhythmic pattern. The streets flooded with water, flowing over ancient paved stone in small rivers which ran unimpeded between the buildings and into any crevice and opening it could into the equally ancient sewers below.

Ewoden's route through Meridian was not a straight one. He crossed streets swiftly, zigzagging back and forth from doorway to doorway leaving as little of himself exposed to the open air as possible. Kain had no problem following his swift darting motions but a regular Human would have been hard pressed to keep up with him. For even in his less feral form, Ewoden was swift, silent and focused.

As they moved, Kain was cognisant of the fact that they were not alone. Dark shapes travelled with them, above across the rooftops or in the side streets either side of them. Kain caught enough glimpses of them to know what they were. More werewolves, members of Ewoden's great pack, chaperoning them like an honour guard as they made their way through the dark streets of the forgotten giant of Meridian.

"You take to this city well." The Vampire remarked as he stepped in beside Ewoden as the Lycanthrope leader paused in a half open doorway. He stood there needless of his half nakedness and the rain which matted his thick hair down either side of his face. His eyes kept moving constantly, surveying the street for potential dangers. His movements and manner were furtive and restless.

"My pack and I have spent centuries traversing the passages and crawl spaces of Fanum-Divus, a city easily ten times the size of this one." He said in his accented voice, before glancing back over his shoulder, agitation showing in his expression. "But it is for that very reason we do not wish to stay here."

This remark caused Kain to study his face more closely. The agitation he had noticed now seemed to be something far more intense, a deep dread caused by surroundings that provoked the worst instincts and reflexive thoughts.

"Bitter memories?" The Vampire asked.

Ewoden nodded grimly; "The most bitter." He said, turning back to gaze into the shadows cast by the many towering buildings all around them. "And while it is not the fault of this city, we shall be glad to be free of it once we have defeated our enemy." Kain found himself smiling at the confidence the lycanthrope leader displayed by speaking of their victory in such an assured tone.

"How sickeningly optimistic everyone is lately." He said, shaking his head while remembering ruefully how Umah was also already planning what to do after they had put down the threat of the Divus once and for all. "And where precisely do you plan to take your pack at the end of our fated successful campaign?" His tone was notedly sarcastic.

At this question Ewoden paused in his surveying of the street and his expression seemed to relax, a soft smile tugging his beard up at either side of his face. His eyes glittered as if the query had called to mind a happy memory. It was so nakedly innocent a look that it almost took Kain aback to see it.

"Far to the north east, beyond the mountains and off the distant coast there is a single island." Ewoden began and his voice was reduced to a hushed whisper. "It is isolated and long forgotten by the world, as bleak as everywhere else in this era, but I still see its potential. There we could live as a free independent people for the very first time." His tone was reverent. "Once we are there, I'd be content if the rest of the world just forgot we ever existed."

Kain stared back at him with an eyebrow raised incredulously.

"Is that truly all you desire? To simply be left alone?" The Vampire asked, making no attempt to hide the bafflement in his voice. Ewoden just kept smiling.

"I spent centuries being hunted through the corridors of a slave masters city. To be left alone is all I could ever dream of." He said.

The two of them exchanged a long look as the rain fell all around them. Finally Kain lowered his head and chuckled almost to himself.

"Oh, your kind are so refreshingly uncomplicated." He laughed, amused all by himself even as Ewoden did not seem to share the mirth.

Before long they had crossed through a section of closely knit streets and into a larger enclosed space set between the walls of several towering buildings, many of which served as expansive warehouses and factories. It was the storage area for such industrial buildings, where supplies could be stacked before transportation. The only entrance from ground level was an old stone archway. Set into the wall beside it was a rusty iron plague riveted in place. The words 'Ducket's Traders' were still just about visible outlined in relief against the red patterns of corrosion.

The square beyond was bustling with activity. Large spreads of canvas had been raised and spread up like a roof to keep the rain off while people worked below, sorting out crates, barrels and boxes full of supplies. Stacks of weapons, clothing, food and other bundles were being sorted and ordered out to people by women with at least two large guards in accompaniment. Small pavilions had been set up to tend to the wounded and the smell of blood came from those areas with an acute pungency as Kain detected the tell-tale muffled cries of amputations on those whose limbs could not be saved.

Many were setting aside area for forgework, hammering out dents in armour and repairing weaponry, ranging from simple swords and axes to the most complex crossbows and motors. But also manufacture and repair of more mundane items seemed to be occurring, such as hammers, shovels, knives, spoons and other such tools. The golden haired slave peoples of Fanum-Divus seemed to be handling this work, used as they were to handling the immense masses of metallic resources of their former masters, with a few of them even setting aside time to teach their modern Nosgothic counterparts what they had learned in small huddled classes.

A lot of repair work was being done here, not just on armour and equipment but on the surrounding buildings as well. Windows were being replaced, cracks shored up, debris cleared away and tumbled down rooftops patched over. The sound of hammering, sawing and welding from so much construction was a near constant din which joined the constant chatter of voices coming from such a crowd. There was so much activity and noise that was so diverting that had Kain not been looking specifically for it, he might very well have missed the dark bulk of the Endurance. It sat upon the rooftop of the sturdiest building, roped down to keep it in place as man worked on its hull to repair the damage it had taken in its various battles. Clearly this was where the bulk of Lorenzo's Forsaken had set up shop.

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"If there is one praise worthy quality which I had to, even begrudgingly, grant to Humanity it would be that they were a species of builders. Despite everything that had been thrown at them, calamities pushing them to the brink of extinction, here they were putting all their effort into rebuilding the city to shelter them from the oncoming storm. Perhaps I had been a Vampire so long I had lost sight of that determined strength?"

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He cast a glance sideways at the companion only he could see. Moebius was gazing through the archway at the people with a surprisingly troubled expression on his face, a frown that had a longing so naked it was like reading an open book; a far cry from the cultivated and practised face which had manipulated so many. So many thousands of years of enforced isolation in that ancient labyrinth might very well have robbed the Time Streamer of his once fabled deceptive skills. But Kain was not fool enough to simply assume that as far too many manipulations had been thrown his way to relax his guard.

Ewoden made his way into the square and as Kain stepped behind him, a few heads turned to note their arrival. Ewoden's appearance, half naked as he was, caused no stir. When eyes were laid on the Vampire behind him however there were startled exclamations and cries of alarm. More heads turned and as news of the arrival of the Emperor of Nosgoth spread through the Human encampment the din of activity came to a sudden halt. Kain could not help but let a smile flow across his face at being the centre of attention, the focus of so many angry, frightened stares.

"It's him!" Someone in the crowd could be heard to gasp.

"Kain!" Another one whispered back in a tone of fear.

"The monster!" This voice was angry.

"Devil!" The next was dripping with hate.

As he strode openly into the midst of the Humans, Kain saw out of the corner of his eye one of the Vampire hunters who had been repairing some of the weapons reach for a Crossbow and haul it up. Beside him, another Hunter quickly reached down to place a restraining hand on his companion.

"Don't be fucking stupid!" The man hissed in a low, scared voice. "He'll kill us all if you provoke him!"

Kain turned his head to look directly at them and his expression was cruelly sardonic, lips curled into a mocking smile.

"No no, by all means. If he wants to attack me you should let him." He said with wry amusement, raising his voice so it carried. The new silence that followed was filled with shock, broken only by the constant drum of the falling rain. Several people took a startled step backward away, not just from Kain but from the man holding the crossbow. The hunter suddenly looked a lot less sure of his position. Kain turned and swept them all with his smug expression.

"In fact, if any of you wish to charge in and deliver swift and brutal justice for all that I've done to your race then please have at it!" He held out both arms as if to embrace them, head tilted to one side, still smiling. "Or perhaps the reality that revenge is a luxury none of you can afford has finally set in?"

Dozens of people surrounded him, their faces pensive, tools and weapons gripped in their hands. But no one stepped forward. Many pairs of eyes glanced around to see who, if anyone, would be daring enough to make that first move. No one did. Too many were glancing about looking at all they had built, all they were striving to save. Humans could be dim witted and slow, Kain knew. But they were not a species of idiots. They had the ability to weigh risk and clearly that calculation was going on in every head around him and no one was liking the outcome of their mental mathematics.

"No?" Kain asked, sounding mockingly disappointed. He lowered his arms with a shrug. "Oh, just as well. You all have a pleasant evening." He inclined his head in a polite gesture of farewell and then he turned and started out after Ewoden. The Lycanthropewho had not paused even as the confrontation took place. He seemed not to even register it had occurred, pushing his way through the crowd. Everyone stepped out of the way to give the Vampire a wide berth. Women crowded their children away as quickly as possible while the men put themselves between their families and the Vampire, although even they were keeping as wide a berth as possible.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Moebius demanded in Kain's ear and the angry reaction made Kain's smug smile widen.

"Making sure they understand their position." Kain muttered in a low voice so no one was likely to overhear and imagine him talking to himself. Moebius hovered by his side, his face an angry sheet of flame.

"No, you're antagonising them! It's like you WANT them to attack you." The Time Streamer stated. Kain shot him a sidelong look.

"And if I do? What precisely are you going to do about it, Moebius?" He asked.

"You won't manipulate me that easily, Vampire." Moebius replied with disdain. "If you wanted to kill all these people you don't need an excuse, you could just lay into them. No one here could stop you."

"Perceptive as always." Kain chuckled, head tilted forward. After a moment he went on. "I'm a controversial figure here, Moebius. Circumstances have driven us together but before their 'kill all vampires' instincts return, I need them to remember just who I am." His look at the spirit of the Time Streamer was very direct. "It'll save their lives in the long run."

The building furthest across the wide square had the Endurance perched upon its rooftop and it was into this place Ewoden was leading him. It had once been some sort of administrative building, perhaps a set of depot offices for the warehouses all around. It had more windows and doors for one thing and seemed to have suffered less damage then the buildings around it. Inside there were even pieces of carpet still left even after centuries of neglect and abandonment. Guards stood at every corner and doorway, all armed with various weapons and each of them watching Kain like a hawk; albeit while keeping a safe distance.

Many of the rooms inside had been refitted as sleeping dorms, with bedrolls laid out in neat rows in those chambers where less damage had been done over time. Quite a few people were already laid out sleeping, all of them looking exhausted from recent labour. They had probably been the last shift, working through the night while the current people out there now working slept. Under normal circumstances so many sleeping Humans would be a veritable banquet but Kain kept a tight lid on his appetite. No need to ruin his intimidation factor by feeding on their helpless fellows. At least openly.

Finally they entered a larger space set at the back of the building, a smaller warehouse perhaps once intended for official carriages of important nobility or tradesmen to come see their merchandise. It was a square area with a high vaulted roof and a bolted iron door at the far end. Set in the middle of the room was a large circular chamber strewn with various maps, some showing Nosgoth in its entirety, others of the southern coastline and the numerous offshore islands and more of the various districts of the city of Meridian itself. Several plates were stacked up along with empty flagons, all stained with recent food and drink.

Sitting around the table were three figures that Kain knew. The first was the stout, blonde haired form of Lorenzo, the coordinator of the Forsaken. The metallic prosthetic left arm, styled like the limb of a vampire, made him immediately identifiable. He was busy looking over one of the maps, occasionally turning to speak with one of his hunters standing behind him. A woman with three raking scars running across her face. Kain dimly remembered someone mentioning her name to be Enya.

Opposite from Lorzeno was the darkly robed shape of Ophiel, clad in black with a wide brimmed hat shading her face. She sat there alone with her face down, averted from everyone else who were giving her a wide berth, but raised it slowly as Ewoden and Kain entered. Her face was drawn with acute stress lines and her eyes blackened from lack of rest. There was still that same forlorn regret in those eyes Kain had seen before, the regret of having to play the role of the Divus oppressor in order not to blow her cover as a double agent.

At the far end of the table from Kain, facing him directly, stood the armour clad form of General Skelim. The General looked no less haggard than his compatriots, with fresh dents and scratch marks across his armour. His unkempt beard had increased its share of grey and the strain of the current circumstances seemed to have visibly aged the man by at least a decade. However his gaze was fixed on Kain and his expression was one of unbridled outrage.

"What precisely do you think you're doing?!" He demanded at once in a bellow that had Lorenzo looking up from his contemplation of the maps. "Goading us into attacking you? So you have an excuse to slaughter us like livestock?" Skelim emphasised this by slamming his gauntleted fist down on the table producing a loud bang that echoed in the confines of the room.

Kain snorted dismissively as he came up to the table.

"As much sense as that might make in a mind riddled with paranoia, let me assure you…" He fixed the General with a flat look. "...you're not that important."

Skelim's nostrils flared in angry indignation and his hand flinched, as if acting on instinct to go for the sword at his side. Lorenzo was on his feet in an instant, moving around the table to place a firm restraining hand on his compatriot's shoulder.

"Skelim, no." He said simply, shaking his head firmly. Skelim shot the shorter leader of the Forsaken a hot, angry look but did not protest. He sat back down in his seat, fists clenched on the table.

"The fact that foul circumstances have made me allies with this damn monster, churns my stomach." The General growled. Kain only grinned at him.

"You're a refreshing bastion of honesty." The Vampire said. Lorenzo glanced over at him and while his expression was far more controlled, it was determinedly quite bleak.

"Don't be too amused, Vampire." Lorenzo declared as he made his way back to his own seat. "While I might appreciate the necessity of the alliance more than my friend here, I'm not exactly enthralled by the prospect either."

"You seem to be getting along with Janos and Vorador fairly well." Kain observed, tilting his head to one side.

"That's different, they didn't enslave our species for aeons." Skelim told him flatly.

"And you are Kain." Ophiel added, speaking for the first time. She emphasised his name and all the terror the mention of it might invoke for those who had experienced the weight of his rule.

Kain grunted and placed his hands on his hips.

"Did humans not domesticate cows, pigs and sheep to serve as sustenance for them?" He asked as the expression around the table stared back at him with alternating levels of incredulity. "Did you not breed cats, dogs and many other animals to perform tasks as hunters and companions?" He swept them all with a hard stare. "And now you complain when a more powerful species does it to you?"

"We are Men, not farm animals!" Skelim snapped, hands flat on the table.

Kain looked back at him undeterred.

"You are a species that gathers and works in herds, the only thing that makes you truly different from a bovine is the size of your brains. And even those you use sparingly." He said as if merely stating a fact. This time everyone looked at him with varying expressions of righteous anger. Even Ophiel managed to look perturbed. Beside him, unseen to the others, the flaming head of Moebius was glowering in that classical way of his.

Kain might have let them stew in their rage but Umah's conversation with him before he left Vorador's Island castle intruded on his mind. It was an unwelcome thought right at that moment and it sat there, squatting in his brain like an ugly gargoyle. Her accusing tone mixed with her progressive suggestions of Imperial reform were front and centre. Despite every attempt by an ego once large enough to literally conquer the world, Kain found himself raising a hand quickly to forestall anyone from interrupting.

"That being said…" He began in a slow voice. "It is possible that I treated your race too harshly. After all, you are not deliberately cruel to the animals you use. And I honestly can not say the same. Perhaps I let my own prejudices control my actions."

The admission killed any response anyone might have cared to give and they all just kept staring at him. But while their expressions were incredulous they were hardly less angry either.

"So I may be open to negotiating better protections for Humanity until the laws of my Empire." He started but never got to continue.

"Better protections?!" Skelim snapped, rising back to his feet so swiftly he knocked over the chair he had been sitting on. "Oh well are you not bloody merciful?! How wonderful, your imperial fucking majesty!"

"Aye, better treatment but still expected to bleed for our lords and masters!" This time even Lorenzo looked incensed, his mechanic hand scraping across the table loudly. "Up from farm animals to pampered pets! A marvellous improvement!"

"Enough!" Ophiel cut in sharply, finally raising her voice into a shout loud enough to be heard above the others. The two men at the table glared at her but she did not relent, fixing them with an equally hard stare. "I'm hoping you come here with some news worth sharing, not just to stir up a bunch of frightened desperate people, Kain." She told the Vampire.

Kain pursed his lips, half torn between indignation for their response and embarrassment for what he had to admit at least to himself was a bungled delivery. This was why an Emperor needed diplomats.

"Yes of course. My apologies." He said, gesturing with one hand. The tension in the room remained high for a few moments, before both men relented and finally settled. Skelim had to right his chair to sit back down on it, his armour jangling. Kain watched them all waiting for the angry set of their shoulders to relax before he went on.

"The Serioli have taken refuge on an island off of the southern coast." Here he was happy that maps were laid out on the table and taking one of the coastline he indicated the island chain in question with a talon. "There Ajatar-Cadre is gathering fresh forces of the Turelim and Rahabim clans and awaiting the command to engage the enemy."

General Skelim was a military man so when the topic of conversation turned to tactical matters his instincts seemed to get the better of his indignation and he lowered his gaze from Kain down to the map.

"We had gotten word of the destruction of the mountain fortress and feared the worst." Lorenzo remarked, gesturing for his Lieutenant Enya to approach. She handed him a long metallic measuring tool which he began to take stock of the distance from the indicated island to the mainland coast on. "Is that force capable of defending this city if the need arrives?"

"Ajatar will follow my orders and go anywhere I deem it necessary for her to go." Kain replied firmly. Lorenzo glanced up, still grim.

"Well that certainly sets the tone, doesn't it?" He remarked. Skelim only grunted in response, still studying the map.

"We have no reason to believe that the blasted Divus and their forces do not know we are here." He said.

"Indeed it would be arrogant and foolish of us in the extreme to presume otherwise." Ophiel agreed, looking relieved that the meeting had not escalated into further bitterness.

"Do you believe you can not defend this city should it come under attack?" Kain asked, glancing at each of them in turn for their sour attitude. At this Ewoden came forth and tugged the map of Meridian out from under the others.

"Meridian has seen better days, aye." The Lycanthrope leader admitted, gesturing with a finger around the outside edges of the once grand capital of Nosgoth. "What repairs can be made are being done and we can to her defences but given how…limitless those enemy legions appeared to be, I admit I feel those efforts to be less than sufficient." Though with firmness he added; "My pack will help defend the walls if it comes to that."

"You are adopting a siege mentality." Kain told him, shaking his head. "You will not win this struggle by sitting in this ruin and hoping it protects you."

"Then what do you suggest we do? March out there and engage those endless legions head on?" Skelim asked sourly, turning his attention to the city map.

"Of course not." Kain scoffed and turned their attention to the north of the city, where the rugged mountains, fjords and cliffs rose high and continued east and west for a considerable distance. "You are engaging an enemy with superior numbers. Ambushes and guerrilla warfare will be key. You have the advantage of the canyons surrounding the city on the landward city. Entire armies might become trapped in such valleys should a rockfall happen at just the right time."

Lorenzo nodded and managed a smile.

"We have thought of that. Some of my men have been scouting out natural choke points and lining them with explosives." He gave Skelim an amused look. "You're welcome for those, by the way." Then the man turned his gaze toward the ceiling and the rooftop beyond.. "The Endurance however is still being repaired. We're at a disadvantage without aerial support."

Kain tilted his head and looked at him sidelong.

"No offence little man, but your elaborate balloon is no match for Thanatos. Should they decide to call upon the Dragon." He reminded him. Lorenzo visibly winced and slumped in his chair.

"Believe me, that fact has been well and truly hammered in." The Coordinator of the Forsaken groaned. "I've been racking my brains trying to come up with something, anything, to even the playing field there but frankly that beast's power is nothing short of absurd!"

"Have you thought of stuffing those explosives down its throat?" Skelim asked with a grunt.

"And who's going to get close enough to try that, you?"

"The dragon, as powerful as it is, can not be everywhere at once. It is the legion that is the true dilemma." Ewoden remarked. Ophiel nodded in response.

"True…and we have been making some inroads into uncovering their secret." She glanced at Kain. "Just how they created such a vast army so quickly, despite having no recruits."

The Vampire looked at her, slowly raising an eyebrow.

"Now you have my attention." He said in a deliberate tone of voice. Without any telling expression of her own she rose from the table and turned, gesturing for them all to follow.

"Come." She said and Kain complied and was led over to a smaller table set against the right hand wall. It had been covered by a sheet but Ophiel pulled it aside, revealing what was beneath. Laid out on the table were dismembered limbs, heads, arms, hands, feet and segments of torso. They appeared human at first glance but the lack of blood, viscera or any gore whatsoever revealed their true nature; these were segments of the strange human shaped things wearing the Legionary armour.

"We recovered these from the battle site near the old ruins." Lorenzo said as everyone joined Ophiel to examine the pieces. "As you can see, they all have the same features." He picked up the head in his replacement hand and turned it around. "The same face, the same build, the same scar, the same skin. Everything about them is utterly identical. Right down to the mole on the right buttocks!"

Kain deliberately avoided looking at that part.

"They may look Human but it's only skin deep. Inside they're…well I don't know how else to describe it but they're like plants. No bones, no organs, just this…wood!" Lorenzo turned the head over to examine the stump of the neck. Inside, just like back in the Razielim ruins, was a complex series of rings made up of different layers of a strange substance that had the texture of tree bark. It looked as if random but bloodless muscle and skin were simply folded over like paper to produce the shape of a man.

"This I already knew." Kain said, though admittedly this discovery had been made in the heat of battle and they had not had the luxury of time to explore the mystery.

Ophiel reached out and took the head from Lorenzo. She looked down into the blank face and her expression once more took on that tragic tone.

"I however can tell you more, for I know this face." She said and for that statement, everyone turned to look at her sharply. She held head up in both hands, fingers tracing the scar that ran down the left cheek to the jawline. "His name was Ivar, a slave from the deep pits of Fanum Divus. I even know how he got this scar, an accident with a hammer and chisel when he was young." She gazed at the visage of the man she had known sadly. "But he was perhaps the one man amongst them who truly was more loyal to the hierarchy of the Divus then to me, his own patron saint. He revered Metatron for his steadfast devotion to duty and service to the Divus."

"And so when the other slaves fled with us, he stayed behind." Lorenzo guessed in a voice filled with what sounded like morbid curiosity.

"I would imagine so, yes." Ophiel replied, closing her eyes and slowly placing the head back down on the table.

"And this was his reward for that loyalty." Kain grunted, shaking his head at this grim revelation. "To be duplicated over and over and over, so that he and he alone could fill the full ranks of the Legion."

Skelim ran a hand over his face.

"Bloody hell, that's just some fucked up irony." He said. At that, Kain could only smile.

"You get used to it."