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Realms Converge	By : Candice Category: +G through L > Legacy of Kain Views: 3562 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.Don't get to Nosgoth itself til chap 5

Chapter List
- 38
- 39
- 40
Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Inter-meaning Years Part Two
More POV jumps.
Thank you again everyone for reading! Please review!
*-*/-Katrina POV-**-*
I took my time exploring the changes wrought by the Torpor. Kain's hands no longer had quite the sensitivity from before, at least not past the second knuckle where the serrated, bladed portion of the talons were. The backs of his hands and taloned fingers, as well as a portion of the sides of said talons, were still somewhat responsive to light touches, which explained why his Eldar self had only touched my wings with the backs of his talons. It was where he could best feel the softness of my feathers. The palms of his hands, already roughened by centuries of sword-work, had taken on an odd leathery pattern at the top and middle parts of the palm and left the very heel of the palm still mostly smooth. Kain's now cloven feet were just as wickedly sharp as his talons and would enable him to climb nearly anything without having much in the way of a hand-hold. They seemed to have much of the same sensitivity issues as his hands. I also took note of the fact that he would no longer be able to wear the leather boots he was so fond of. In fact, he would have to undergo a complete refitting for armor considering the rest of the changes.
What I had thought was merely a hardening of the outer layer of skin had actually been a sub-dermal change as the lower layer of skin had thickened. When I probed firmly at the changed flesh, it almost felt like there was a hidden layer of scaled armor beneath the skin. The change had wrought in him a layer of natural armor that could be felt along nearly every inch of his body. Even smaller scales seemed to be hidden along the sub-dermal flesh of his length and stopped only at the base of the flared head. It made him thicker and gave him a strange ribbed texture that I had eagerly, and slowly, explored. Kain had cursed a blue streak and left deep rents in the stone by the time I was finished with that bit of exploration.
Overall, it took Kain several months to get used to the new strength and speed available to him in order for him to not only fight properly again but to handle the more delicate things. Vorador took to sparing with Kain regularly to help him get used to the changes and also made the new armor within that same time frame. It was a pleasant and heady period of time where I was allowed near complete control in our room in order to avoid inadvertent injury to my person due to the danger those talons now posed to my own, unarmored, flesh. Occasionally Alma, when Kain was in the mood to watch me with her, or Leon and Emrys, depending on Kain's mood and my willingness to just be stuck watching him with the males, joined us as he mastered his new strength.
The years that followed that change went smoother as far as any potential unrest in the vampiric ranks. The talons Kain now sported marked him as more then a young vampire and made him a far more lethal foe to face if one thought to challenge him for his role as leader, as King. More then one vampire who had thought to challenge Kain backed down the moment he made a sharpening gesture by scraping his thumb talon against the other talons. The reminder of those vicious points compared to the narrow five-fingered claws that the rest of Vorador's get, who were all of them centuries younger then Kain, zipped mouthy lips faster then the cracking of a whip.
Slow but steady progress was made on the foundations of the buildings that would surround the Pillars and to the additional buildings to the north that would eventually house guests and those of rank amongst the growing army once done. The structures were to be made primarily of granite from the quarries in the mountains near Coorhagen. The main focus was the fortifications that were being lain across the eastern edge of the Termogent Forest, as we needed to protect our borders. I found myself more often then naught at the edges of said borders, wrapped in my Gift to keep out of sight and always mindful of my shadow, to ensure that the Sarafan armies did not take our forces unawares. The eagle's eye view my wings gave me allowed for me to warn our forces when the enemy armies began to gather for even the stealthiest of attacks that the human-only forces could muster. Still, the Sarafan had dug deep in the eastern lands and were proving difficult to uproot.
Roughly a hundred and thirty years after Kain's Torpor, I made my way back from one such aerial patrol, Alma beneath me as my constant shadow, though once more freed and reinstated to her previous rank in the army. I was returning with more then just news of a triumphant rout of the enemy forces, but also with necromatic tomes successfully pilfered from Avernus Cathedral by a small group of four vampires that I had sent out on a quiet raid during the Sarafan attack. It had been a tactical risk and I had made sure that the males that I had sent out were fully aware of the danger if they were caught, as well as the potential for reward if they were successful in the raid. I had not told Kain of the success of my plan over the Whisper, merely having told him that I was on the way back after our men had fought off the enemy forces. I meant this to be a surprise. A surprise made all the better for the simple fact that I could read some of the penned in annotations within the tomes as they were written in what I knew to be English.
My landing upon our return was far rougher then normal and Alma had to steady me as I straightened and rubbed at my head with a faint grumble. I offer her a faint smile even as my wings twitched faintly with my agitation and then started for the mansion without further word. I clearly heard the sound of Kain and Vorador arguing yet again and had to fight back a heavy sigh of annoyance as I approached the War Room. I came to a halt with a confused blink when I found Janos, Nikolai, Emrys, Leon and Stefon all standing outside the room, the doors badly damaged by some sort of impact. I started to ask what the hell had set the two males to blows when I heard Vorador roar in rage.
"I will not allow you to raise those monsters! If any are undeserving of the Gift that is un-life, it is those things!"
"Once I have the tomes on hand and the texts translated, I will raise whomever I please!" Kain roared back and there was the creak of a large wooden object being lifted.
Emrys saw me out of the corner of his eye and yanked me to the side just as the rest of the males dodged out of the doorway in time to avoid a large bookcase. I let out a faint sigh as I watched the wood break and splinter against the stone wall before I, and the others, peaked around the corner into the room. The two males were circling each other slowly, each ready to launch at the other at a moments notice. The room was... mostly... intact.
"If you raise them Kain, I will slaughter them slowly like those they tortured and tormented! My Childeren! My Brides!" Vorador lashed out violently with sharp talons and Kain barely dodged the Eldar's enraged strike. "What they did to my Sire! They will suffer for all of it!"
That pissed me off. I pulled free of Emrys worried grasp and dodged the hands of the others as I stalked into the room and let my Aura flare. The energy drew the attentions of both males and they snarled in my direction.
"Leave now Katrina! This is not a fight for you to be involved in!" Kain snarled.
I ignored him to walk in front of Vorador and then slapped the green-skinned Eldar as hard as I could across the face. The blow took him by surprise as the five claw marks that were left behind by my strike healed almost instantly and everyone else nearby froze, even Kain. I took advantage of the surprise to jab a claw against Vorador's chest and stood on tip-toe to get into his face as I snarled at him.
"What you are saying is that you would slaughter new-born babes for something they had nothing to do with," I bit out. "Did I or did I not hear you correctly?"
"Those Sarafan Priests are no ne-" Vorador started and I shoved him back a half step.
"They will remember nothing of their human days!" I roared out as I interrupted him. "Not one thing! They will be as new-born babes mewling in the night! Kain will be their Maker, their Sire, their Alpha and Omega! They have been dead for too long to remember anything but him upon their raising."
Vorador let out a low growl at my words and stood to his full height to tower over me, his eyes white with power. He looked over my shoulder at Kain but I didn't dare move to see the expression on the silver-haired vampires face. Instead, my wings shifted outwards in a threat-gesture as I carefully shifted my stance to a slightly more defensive posture. Vorador's hand closed suddenly on the collar of my leather cuirass and he used that grip to shove me backwards into Kain who caught me and steadied me as we both issued low snarls at the taller vampire. Vorador let out an answering growl that echoed deep to the bone before he straightened the cuffs of his sleeves with a motion that was both forceful yet mindful of the delicate silk. He stalked toward the broken doorway and paused long enough to glare at Kain over his shoulder.
"I am leaving for my mansion. I will continue to assist with the Path Stone, but nothing else. I would also know the moment you raise the six Sarafan Priests," Vorador growled out in a deadly tone. "If even one of them show signs of their human memories, I will slaughter the entire lot of them. Do not mistake me Kain, I will do as I say even if I have to tear through you to do so."
Kain let out a snarl of warning at the threat and I saw a strange expression pass over Vorador's face before he could turn away completely. I pulled away from Kain and moved to the door way as the lot of us watched the Eldar vampire walk down the halls and toward the buildings exit with his hands behind his back, one hand gripped over the other wrist. It... for some reason felt as if that entire fight was somehow... staged... for Kain's benefit? I blinked as I realized why things felt wrong concerning this argument; Vorador had already met Raziel multiple times in his wraith form before now. Had helped the blue-skinned wraith in his journeys through the past and even, if I remembered things correctly, spoke of Raziel redeeming himself by finding Janos' heart and restoring it to the winged Ancient. I glanced at Janos and saw that my Adopted Sire's expression was shuttered, closed as best the Eldar could manage considering how open of an expression he normally had. He knew exactly what Vorador had just done; played to Kain's contrary nature to ensure that the silver haired vampire would raise the six Priests in question.
~Sire, what the hell brought this on?~ I asked as I settled my ruffled wings on my shoulders.
~Kain was merely contemplating aloud as to whom he planned to raise once he finally figured out the method behind how he might create his own Childe,~ Janos answered. ~He mentioned raiding the Sarafan Tomb and Vorador grew upset.~
~That is not the whole of it and you know it,~ I said with a small burst of annoyance. ~Vorador knows who Raziel is, just as you do. You've both met the older version of the vampire Kain is to raise! In wraith form yes, but you both knew of him because of the prophecies!~
~And you yourself know of Raziel due to your own origins,~ Janos pointed out as his wings gave a small twitch. ~That does not mean that Kain might not yet attempt to change his mind. Raziel, at the least, must be raised.~
~Honestly! Must you both play mind games?! He had already decided whom to raise years ago! You did not need to attempt to manipulate the situation! Fuck, shit and damnation. You might have affected things poorly!~
~And your own words solidified his choice beyond a doubt,~ came the slightly smug response. ~'Alpha and Omega'? A good touch, if an unintentional one, my Childe.~
I turned away from him with a mental snarl of upset at his words and walked back toward Kain as I dug through my magically expanded pack that had been hung over my shoulder.
"You should not have gotten involved," Kain said with a low grumble of noise as I approached him again.
"You two stopped fighting, didn't you? And the building yet stands," I said with an answering grumble as I pulled out the four tomes that my men had liberated and set them onto the somehow undamaged table. "Here; a gift."
Kain frowned at the tomes and then moved to open one of them carefully with the edge of his talon. He let out a surprised hiss of noise as he shifted the book and leafed lightly through a few pages, talons somehow butterfly light against the delicate pages as he turned them. He seemed both darkly pleased and yet equally upset. He caught my chin in his taloned hand a moment later as he looked at me.
"I told you not to go to the Cathedral as it was too dangerous for you," he said in a low, warning growl.
"And I did not go there," I answered firmly. "Four of my swiftest vampiric soldiers volunteered to carry out the raid when the Sarafan troops made their most recent attack on our borders. With the recent illness that struck the city around the Cathedral, I felt it the opportune time to send a stealth raid as people are barricading themselves inside to avoid getting sick. I also believe that these might well be the tomes you need Kain, or at the least that the section of the building the men obtained these books in will need to be the area we focus on in future raids. Look, this annotation here..."
I moved to open the second book, the leather of the book far too smooth to be anything other then human skin, and he let go of my chin as I moved. I paged open the book to a particular passage and tapped a claw lightly against the edge of the parchment as I began to read aloud.
"'The current Balance Guardian has been located, a young lord from Coorhagen named Kain. I will have to move swiftly to contain both his soul and keep the magic of the Pillar of Balance linked to him as I work the spell to restore him to a state of vampiric un-life. In this one act of rebellion against the Dark Entity, I hope to undo the damage I caused by slaying Ariel. Let the Scion, my un-dead son, be born anew with vengeance in his heart and let Nosgoth be saved from my foolish choice to listen to Moebius... even if that means I must die by my un-dead son's hand,'" I shook my head and then shrugged my shoulders and wings. "I can't read the rest of what is in here, the writing isn't one I've learned as yet, but this book alone seems the most promising of the tomes that my men found."
"It does indeed," Kain said thoughtfully as he turned to the next page. "Janos, will you assist me?"
"Of course Kain," Janos said as he walked over to peruse the pages.
"Get me the names and ranks of those who retrieved these, mine Little Queen," Kain rumbled with dark satisfaction as he looked back at me. "I will see to it that they are appropriately rewarded for their success."
"I will," I said with a nod of my head as I turned to leave.
He caught my arm and yanked me back against his body before I could take more then a step. I let out a low snarl of sound at the rough treatment and he nipped at my neck right over his Mark before he let me go. I shivered at the pleasure, but it did not get rid of the annoyance I felt.
"This was a pleasing gift, mine Little Queen, but next time consult me first," he ordered firmly.
I tugged my leather cuirass back into place and nodded once to acknowledge his command even as I moved from the room. I felt agitated and annoyed after having stopped both the fight and getting man-handled. I was used to him being occasionally grabby so my current agitation was... odd. I didn't feel angry or anything, just on edge. I felt... too full of energy, which was strange with how little sleep I'd gotten this past week. I needed to let loose... to fly... now. I let out a huff of breath as I started out of the room. Nikolai offered me a small smile as I moved past him and I returned it with a fleeting smile of my own even as I continued past him. I had no desire to... endure... social time with anyone, even one of my closest friends. I offered a small nod to the Captains and they each nodded their heads to me as I walked past them at a fast but controlled clip. I moved past Alma and jerked my head toward the door.
~I need to fly... stay with me,~ I Whispered to her in a clipped mental tone.
~Very well deary,~ Alma said as she eyed me with a small, confused frown. ~Are you alright?~
~I just need to fly for a while,~ I muttered in response as we stepped outside and I took wing once more into the freeing arms of the sky.
*-*/-Eldar Kain/Raziel POV-**-*
This time Eldar Kain brought Raziel to a tall cliff that overlooked a small outcropping which led to a single cave that could only be reached by someone who could fly or teleport. A single vampiric rune was carved, worn by time and barely visible, just above the cave's entrance. Raziel's wings twitched with surprise as he realized the cave was the entrance to one of the ancient blood fonts. Fonts that were, in this time period, being sought out and destroyed within the Sarafan controlled eastern lands. The ones in the western, vampire controlled lands would eventually be guarded zealously by vampiric priests.
"Are we not going into the cave?" he asked his Sire.
"Not at the moment. Katrina should be along shortly," his Eldar rumbled as he crouched down to scrape talons through the soil. He spoke again a moment later though he did not stand from his crouch. "Janos showed Katrina where all the Fonts in the western lands were years ago, including a few I had been unable to reach in my youth, though all of them remained silent in her presence and only act as sources of sustenance for her. She will land at this one shortly and hide herself away for her Torpor."
"Why would she not stay closer to your younger self if she is so close to entering a Torpor?" Raziel asked with a small frown.
"The Torpor doesn't affect her as strongly as it does one of us. The normal, obvious signs of aggression are muted to the point where she is merely mildly annoyed by the presence of others. She becomes highly anti-social. She also feels the intense need to fly at this point, to expend a sudden burst of excess energy made available to her in order to find a suitable place to nest. She will only realize it is the Torpor..." Eldar Kain broke off and nodded his head skyward. "Ah... there she is. Watch."
Raziel watched curiously as his Lady approached, randomly diving and looping through the air as if she were desperately trying to spend the excess energy his Sire had mentioned. During a complex series of loops she faltered and fell several feet before she caught a thermal in order to regain the height lost. Below her was Alma, whose face suddenly twisted with concern and the taller woman leapt to higher ground. Raziel let out a soft hiss as Katrina faltered again mid-air before she caught sight of the small outcropping and winged toward it. Hidden by the trees as they were, she did not notice them as she roughly landed on the edge of the outcropping. She sat up slowly and rubbed at her head even as she yawned heavily. Alma moved as close as she could yet still remain in a place where she could yet see Katrina's legs as they dangled over the edge of the outcropping. The taller woman's face grew worried and it was obvious that she was trying to talk to Katrina over the Whisper. She finally resorted to yelling out loud.
"Katrina! Deary, are you alright?" she called.
"Yeah... just sudd..." Katrina broke off as she gave another yawn. "Just tired all of a sudden. I'm gonna catch a small nap."
"We can go back to the city for that deary," came the bemused response from Alma.
"Eh..." Katrina eyed the marking above the cave's opening and shook her head as she stood up. "Blood Font up here. Safe enough for a quick bit of shut eye and not like anyone can reach me easily."
"That may well be true, but this is not exactly the time to be catching a cat-nap deary," Raziel had to stifle a laugh as Katrina had already stumbled into the cave and had not heard Alma's chastising words. "Katrina? Katrina!"
The two males shared a bemused look as Alma started to fruitlessly look for a way up to the outcropping, her smaller claws unable to find purchase in the sheer, loose graveled wall. Eldar Kain grabbed onto Raziel's arm and teleported them into the circular room that housed the Blood Font so that they were standing right on the Font's platformed steps. Katrina had already knocked over a half dozen large spools of magically preserved cloth that had been stored on stone shelves, a rough looking, make shift mattress being formed as a result and she was rather tiredly unraveling yet another spool with jerking tugs that tore more cloth then what was safely unraveled. Her head jerked up in their direction after a moment and a weary sounding warning-growl escaped her before she continued to unravel the cloth. Raziel couldn't help but blink in surprise at the lack of violence at their sudden presence in the room and he then let out a chuckle of noise when she fell back so that she was sitting on one of the Font's lower steps as she issued yet another yawn.
"N'ver felt this bone tired before," she murmured as his Sire moved to rearrange the make shift mattress and torn cloth into something a little more tidy and nest-like. "This the Torpor..?"
"You are indeed entering your version of Torpor," Eldar Kain answered with a soft murmur.
"Truly?" his Lady asked as she started to tug at her vambraces with a soft grumble of noise. "Don't feel like mangling anyone like you did to Emrys and Leon..."
"You are only a half-blood, Dear Katrina," his Sire said with a chuckle. "Help her with her armor Raziel, I will have this straightened in but a moment."
"As you wish," Raziel said as he moved over to assist.
A soft growl of annoyance escaped her at his approach, a reaction far milder then any full-blooded vampire might have offered him in such a situation, even his own Childe. More often then naught he had had to force his Childe to submit if not simply render them unconscious before bodily tossing them into a suitably protected room for the duration of their Torpor. He helped her with vambrace, greaves and boots first before he assisted carefully with the cuisses at her thighs. She let out a brief snarl of annoyance as she gave up on the cuisses she was working on unbuckling and slashed her claws through the leather straps that held it in place before he could stop her. Before she could do the same with the straps that held her leather cuirass in place, Raziel grabbed her and spun her about to deftly undo the straps himself.
His reward for that kindness? To be buffeted by powerful wings and knocked back into the Blood Font itself.
He pushed back up with a sputter of breath that he did not need and he let out a low warning-growl of his own as he forced his now blood soaked hair back and out of his face even as his wings flared wide with his annoyance. Eldar Kain chuckled at his predicament, yet Katrina seemed oblivious to either Eldar's mood as she tugged off her shirt, snapping the delicate clasps at the back in the process, and then tore off her leathers as she started for the roughly made nest. Raziel's annoyance disappeared in an instant as he took in her nude form with a raised brow. Vampires were not overly conscientious creatures when it came to nudity, least-wise not by the time they had reached the end of their first century. That Lady Katrina had remained skittish in that regard after so long had surprised him at first but, given what he now knew of her past, he had to consider it an honor to be trusted enough to see her in such a revealing state even if she was not quite fully aware of her surroundings at the moment. He'd only been granted a glimpse of one pale pink breast flushed with living blood when he and Eldar Kain had fed lightly from her at the Pillars. This though...
Raziel spared a glance at his Sire, who was watching her with a hungry, proprietary air, before he turned back to watch as Katrina slumped lazily onto the make shift nest. She growled suddenly, an almost pained sound and rolled onto her stomach as her wings started to shudder and flare violently above her. A cascade of feathers fell around her form as she curled into a near fetal position and his Sire placed a restraining hand on his shoulder when he moved out of the Font and made to approach out of concern. Her wings withdrew slowly, seeming to melt into her body and a mess of feathers were left to cover her from head to toe like a blanket that almost immediately started to solidify around her like the magically created cocoons that coiled around a full blooded vampire. Raziel let out a hum of thoughtful noise and then walked over to brush the back of his hand over the now hardened, and sharp, feathery cocoon that covered Katrina. He eyed the small nicks that were briefly opened on his hand and let out another hum of noise as the wounds healed almost instantly.
"An interesting defensive mechanism," he said to his Sire.
"Indeed," came the rumbling response. "Something unique to the type of vampiric breed she is descended from. The Draconian's, as they are called in the realm of her birth, are all enveloped in such a viciously sharp Torpor cocoon to better aid in protecting what is normally an isolated nest that can only be reached by others that are capable of flight."
"How long until Alma contacts your younger self or Janos? Or perhaps vice-versa?" Raziel asked as he set to cleaning off the blood that coated his person with a large bit of torn cloth.
"By this eve's end. My younger self will arrive with Janos at dusk three days from now when Katrina remains unresponsive to my calls over the Whisper," Eldar Kain said as he watched Raziel. "Shall I cast a Cleansing Spell for you, mine own? You will have difficulties cleaning your wings that way."
"...I would find myself appreciative of such a spell, yes," Raziel said slowly as he dropped the ruined cloth to the ground.
His Sire raised one hand idly and waved it in Raziel's direction. The dark-haired vampire couldn't help the faint tremor of his wings at the distinctly unpleasant sensation caused by the spell, even as the rest of his body remained still and unmoving. The pair then settled into an amiable silence, each finding a blood free patch of the Font's steps to sit on. The silence lasted for several long minutes before Raziel spoke up.
"My scent has been all but neutralized by the blood of the Font and your own spell. Your own yet fills the air heavily," he started with a faintly amused tone. "Tell me, how long will you believe yourself to be the one knocked into the Font?"
"Until the point in which you took vampiric shape once more after having feasted upon the souls of the warriors that I slew in that clearing, venting my rage at your apparent loss," his Sire said in a soft tone that Raziel rarely heard from the older male. "I... will admit that I was... relieved... to see you whole once more."
"It was good to be whole once more," Raziel murmured softly.
"It was also quite amusing in the subsequent days to see you make the same blunders in learning how to land properly as Katrina did in her early years on Nosgoth," Eldar Kain said with dry amusement as he looked over his talons.
"...Must you continue to bring that up?" Raziel grumbled in response.
"As long as it continues to amuse me, yes," his Sire said with a smirk and Raziel couldn't help but chuckle softly.
*-*/-Younger Kain POV-**-*
Kain was not one prone to 'worrying' about a problem or a situation. If something came up that was... unexpected... he would decide on an appropriate course of action and then act. Bemoaning a sudden change of circumstance was not his way as say, perhaps, Vorador, when the green-skinned old fool lost one of his Childe. Even Janos Audron, Father of Vampires, was more thin-skinned then Kain had initially expected from the legends, up to the point of personally ensuring those that he had fed on recovered properly and never killing unless he had no choice, but then the Sarafan were prone to demonizing those who got in their way. That kindly nature was also the reason Kain kept the blue-skinned, winged Ancient amongst the ranks of the healers, beyond the males outright skill with healing magic. The male in question was prone to worry about the smallest thing at times, even with his young consort to keep him occupied and out of Kain's hair.
When his Little One failed to return the following morn, Kain thought nothing of it after ensuring that Alma was yet near her. If the woman needed to rest after a successful rout of the enemy and an exhausting bit of aerobatic flight, and did not feel inclined to return immediately after finding a suitable place to rest, that was all well and good. She had the teleportation earring still embedded in her ear and knew precisely how to use it even now, having had to evade a few traps using that self same method of transportation. When she did not return the morn after that, he still did not find himself overly concerned with the situation. While Katrina did not need as much rest as a human, she still needed to sleep eventually. Several days, up to a week maximum without sleep, busy with a task at hand or a fighting off a long siege, would be made up later with a full day and night cycle of rest to recover from the sleep deprivation. She had just returned from helping the eastern border fight off one such siege, so it was likely that she had stayed as alert as possible during the month she had been gone.
It was the third full day without sight of, nor word from, the emerald-eyed half-blood that Kain found himself... mildly concerned with the situation. The woman had become... precious... to him quite swiftly, a bizarre feeling in and of itself as it went beyond even the protectiveness he felt due to his Marking of her, giving her the Gift of his protection. Two-hundred and two years now since her arrival... Willful, yet pliant. Complex, yet discernible. Loyal, yet willing to offer him a challenge. Bold, yet still delectably shy at times. And most of all... his.
And now she was no longer responding to anyone's Whispered call, even his own...
Kain stalked out of their mansion with a small snarl curling his lips. Janos was waiting to meet him just outside the open main doors, wings half-spread in what he had learned to be an indication of one eager to take flight. Being around two winged creatures had taught him much in how to read their moods just by the subtlest twitch and shudder of those appendages. Janos' young consort stood beside the blue-skinned Eldar, the worry plain on Nikolai's face. Kain paused in the shadows in order to briefly listen in on the conversation.
"I worry and cannot help it," the younger vampire was saying. "Kat has never remained unresponsive this long. I know that Alma says that she is safe, ensconced within one of the Ancient Fonts, but..."
"I am concerned as well, my fair one," Janos said with a soothing purr as he ran taloned fingers through the younger vampire's hair. "I am certain she is fine though. It may even be the Torpor."
Nikolai offered a soft scoff of sound, "She has not torn into anyone like Kain did years ago, verbally or otherwise. More then one fledge was left insensate when he returned that day merely for the 'crime' of walking too close to him."
"True enough," Janos said with a soft chuckle.
"Indeed," Kain said with a sub-harmonic growl as he moved from the shadows of the doorway. "A healthy dose of fear does you younglings good and reminds you not to get in my way."
Nikolai tilted his head in a faint baring of his throat at the bone-shivering sound even as he let out a worried sounding growl.
"May I join the pair of you?" the younger vampire asked.
Kain shook his head firmly even as Janos let out a soft sigh. It was plain that the younger vampire had been pestering his older lover into allowing him to travel with them, despite the fact that the youth's lack of a flight form would simply slow the older vampires down.
"You cannot fly," Kain said with a firm growl that caused the male to duck his head. "You will only slow us down. Remain here. Janos, let us go."
"Of course Kain," Janos responded with a small bow of his head before he brushed the back of a talon along Nikolai's jaw.
A moment later and the Eldar was up in the sky, his leap enhanced by powerful leg muscles and wings beating a heavy rhythm that filled the air. Kain spread his hands and allowed the magic of his Bat Form shiver through him, a distinctly uncomfortable sensation as he was split into several dozen smaller forms. Each set of eyes, ears and wings had taken him months to get used to at first and even now it took a strong push of willpower to keep the smaller forms together as one solid colony and not have one of the bat shapes dart off mindlessly toward fruit, insect or human and to make sense of the echo-location used to traverse the skies. He honed in on Janos' form with several controlled bursts of echo-location and moved after the Ancient as he led the way toward the hidden cave.
Within the hour Janos had led them to the Font and he winged over the outcropping. Kain allowed his form to return to normal as he landed easily on the small ledge. Janos, instead of landing, swooped down to grab up Alma and winged her up to the entrance that she had been unable to reach despite the obvious, dogged efforts to reach the ledge. Once on the ledge next to Kain, Alma bowed her head respectively.
"There has still been no response from her, Lord Kain," the buxom woman said with a worried frown as they started into the hidden cavern.
"Hnn," Kain responded only with that wordless noise as he took point.
He paused inside the ornate archway that led into the circular room that housed the Font and raised a brow at the sight. Clothes and armor lay strewn about, most of it in tatters or with leather straps ripped asunder. A small nest of cloth lay to the left of the Font, covered in a layer of feathers and magic that shaped an odd Torpor cocoon. There was a wide spray of blood that covered stone and loose gravel alike in a wide splash area as if someone had landed roughly in the Font itself. Lastly there was a single, bloody trail of cloven foot prints that led out of and away from the Font to the cocoon itself. A slow scenting of the area, taking in the air over tongue and through the nose revealed to Kain that the only scents in the room were the magically enhanced and preserved blood, Katrina's scent and his own scent, stronger and laced with power and time. Kain raised a brow at that knowledge and then let out a huff of breath.
"Oh my," Janos murmured as the small group approached the somewhat neat nest. "How intriguing."
"So she can indeed enter a Torpor state," Kain humed softly. "Without the usual signs. What was her mood Alma? I would know what to look for in the future."
"Irritible, but only in the sense that she shook off anyone's touch rapidly," Alma reported thoughtfully. Kain found himself reminded of how swiftly she had pulled away from his nip after having delivered the gift of tomes and he let out a hum of breath as he too had believed that she had merely needed rest after a long period of wakefulness. "She acted similarly to how she is when she goes a week without rest. I had thought that was why she was upset as she did not rest much nor often while we were at the borders, yet instead of the near immediate lethargy upon returning to the mansion, and thus making her way to your rooms as she usually would, she sought me out and said that she needed to fly. She seemed frantic and full of energy."
"What were her flight patterns like?" Janos asked as he examined the cocoon.
A misplaced movement of palm against feather proved the points were sharp as any talon or claw and the scent of the Eldar's blood momentarily filled the air. Alma and Kain both politely ignored the blunder. The wound on the Eldar's hand healed swiftly at any rate.
"Erratic, my Lord," Alma said with a tilt of her head. "Daring at times to the point of foolishness what with some of the dives she made."
"Burning off energy the best way she could," Janos said thoughtfully. "Intriguing."
Kain started to look around the small space and his gaze focused on the runed archway. He moved over to it and tapped at a few symbols that he was coming to recognize thanks to Janos' tutelage regarding several of the complex writing and runic languages the Ancients had used ages ago.
"Janos," he called in a firm tone. "These runes; the archway can create a barrier?"
"Hmm?" Janos looked up briefly from his examination of the feathered cocoon. "Oh, yes. The runes can create a solid barrier, harder then normal stone, to seal over the passage. From this side the blockage is obvious. From the other, it will merely seem as if the outcropping leads only to a small cave and not a Font."
"What about teleportation spells?" Kain asked thoughtfully.
"They will work only if a teleportation marker is placed before the archway is sealed and only by the ones to place such a rune. The rune that looks like the sun closes the way," came the distracted reply.
"Good," Kain said with a thoughtful nod as his instincts purred with satisfaction. Katrina had found a good place to wait out the Torpor. "Out with you both."
Two heads whipped around to look at him in confusion and he glared at them as he let out a hiss of breath.
"I said, out with you both," Kain snarled out.
The pair shared a look before they moved out of the main chamber. Kain carved a swift teleport marker into the ground at the center of the room before he moved to activate the sun-image rune. A flash of light pulsed over the archway before a smooth rock wall appeared to block the path. He nodded his head once and then briefly teleported himself from the Font room to the mansion and then back to the Font. Once more he nodded to himself before he teleported just outside to the cliff ledge. Alma and Janos awaited him.
"You could have allowed me the time to set up my own marker Kain," Janos said to him after Kain appeared by their side.
"Too many individuals with access become a liability," Kain said with a sneer.
"You consider me a liability?" Janos asked in an incredulous tone.
"I consider everyone other than myself a liability at this time," Kain responded as he bared his fangs in warning at the winged Ancient.
The Eldar frowned at that and yet looked pleased at the same time as his wings flared briefly before settling once more along the line of his back. Janos' genial, dueled nature that was so like his Little One's meant that the Eldar felt offended that he was being considered a potential threat and equally satisfied that Kain was taking such extreme measures to keep his adopted Childe safe.
The next month was spent building and moving forces in long term preparation for yet another siege on Sarafan lands, which would be implemented within the year as the human forces were being weakened by the illness that was still spreading through the human controlled lands, and looking in on Katrina once a week to check the strength of the Torpor cocoon. With her half-blooded nature, the norms for such a change could not be counted upon to judge just how long she might be hidden away. Finally, one of the firm taps with his talons during such a check in resulted in several sharpened feathers flaking apart into dust beneath his testing touch.
Kain nodded to himself and then returned to Sanctuary long enough to put things into order for the next few days and he then gathered up a handful of magically unconscious prisoners slated for execution before he teleported back to the Font chamber. A bit of magic kept the murderous humans bound to the circular wall closest to the nest.
He settled in on the steps of the Font to wait with the Soul Reaver braced against his right leg.
He would not have to wait for long...
One more TBC... thank you for the reviews and the Favorite, Strife VII
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