Fan Fiction ❯ The Soul Reaver and The Spirit Shield ❯ Secrets of Nosgoth: Part One ( Chapter 24 )

Chapter Twenty-Four

Raziel and Jenise crossed the three bridges over the lake. Raziel couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the architecture of the structures. Not thirty years from now, and they will have been destroyed, the remnants resting forever on the lakebed. The same fate waited for the staircase up ahead. Whether the Sarafan had destroyed the stone bridges or if the vampires destroyed the easy route to Janos, Raziel did not know.

After climbing the stairway, the duo opened the doorway into the retreat. They followed the long corridor down to the end, where it opened up into a large open space, which Raziel recognized to be the place where he let down all the bridges in order to reach Janos's lookout. The place where he had created the path the Sarafan would use to ambush Janos and murder him.

But Raziel need not worry about that now. The Sarafan have not been created as of yet. From their place at the end of the corridor, Raziel and Jenise were about halfway up to Janos's look out. Leading the way, Raziel ascended the stairs, ramps, and bridges, with Jenise following behind.

As they climbed the last set of stairs to Janos's chambers, several elite vampires emerged from within the chamber, blocking the path, protecting their lord and master. Jenise and Raziel stopped in their tracks. They were clearly outnumbered seven to one. And they were several feet from solid ground. A battle under these circumstances was clearly unwise.

"Let them pass," an ancient and accented voice called out from behind the vampire fleet. They all turned questioningly behind them.

"But milord, one of them is a vampire hunter," protested one of the vampires near the front.

"No, she is not a hunter. I have been expecting their arrival. They are no threat to us," came the calm, soothing voice. The vampires parted, allowing Raziel and Jenise to pass. As they entered the chamber, they were welcomed by the sight of Janos Audron himself.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting you so soon," Janos replied with a grin. "You made excellent time, given that you even stopped along the way."

"But how did you know…" Jenise curiously demanded, her voice full of wonder. She was already astonished that she was face to face with the legendary vampire. Though the legends she was told made Janos out to be a monster, she had always felt deep down inside, that he was not what the Sarafan made him out to be. Now she was witness to that fact first hand. He was not a hideous monster from hell. He was calm, peaceful, non-threatening. Overall, she was awed by him.

"Vorador had already contacted me, to inform me of your eminent arrival," replied the ancient vampire.

"So you know why we're here then?" inquired Raziel.

"To a certain extent," Janos vaguely answered. He allowed himself a quick assessment of his two guests. "But before we get into that, perhaps you should rest after your long journey."

"Janos, we have traveled a long way, and we have waited a long time to see you. Forgive me if I may seem a little hasty, but I would prefer not to wait any longer. The last time I took my time…" Raziel replied, trailing off towards the end in remembrance of his last encounter with Janos.

"Raziel, you must have patience. Do not fret, you will get the answers you seek," reassured Janos. They were interrupted by Jenise yawning.

"Come one, Raziel, it's late. Let's get a little rest and then we can listen to Janos in the morning," insisted the priestess. Raziel sighed with defeat.

Jenise was taken to a private bedchamber, where she settled in for the remainder of the night. Raziel was restless, so he didn't retire right away. Instead, he stood on the balcony for several hours, lost in his own thought as he gazed downward at the lake below. Even when Janos had tried to convince the reaver of souls to get a little rest, he declined. As the morning hours approached, Raziel found himself wandering around the retreat, exploring the home of Janos, considering he never had that chance last time around.

Eventually, Raziel made his way back into the main chamber. Waiting for Janos and Jenise to rise, he stood at the mantle displaying the Soul Reaver. Though he did not feel the strange pull of the Reaver he had previously experienced, he was still captivated by its sight. He was so entranced by the blade that he almost did not notice Jenise walk up beside him.

"Hey, is that…?" she began to ask, but her question was stifled by a yawn.

"Ah, I see you two have found the Reaver," came the sound of Janos's accented voice. Jenise and Raziel turned to face the vampire. Janos approached the reaver, his guests following his movements with obvious anticipation. This was the moment they both had been waiting for. Janos lightly ran his hand down the hilt of the weapon, before taking it up, examining the craftsmanship put into the blade. Resting the blade in his left hand, the vampire turned his right underneath the hilt and held the weapon out to Raziel.

"Go ahead, take it," he coaxed the former vampire. Raziel hesitated at first, but then slowly took the blade, fully trusting Janos. When he felt no different than before, Raziel let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding until now.

"You should probably know by now, Raziel, that you and the Soul Reaver are the key to the pillars of Nosgoth," Janos calmly replied. Raziel snapped his head away from the reaver to look at Janos.

"But how did you know…?" he wondered aloud, trailing off towards the end.

"Kain and Moebius are not the only one's with access to the oracle's caves," Janos simply stated, leaving the obvious explanation unspoken.

"I know my destiny is intertwined with the Reaver, and I know what destiny fate has written for me, however, I do not know how it will unfold not that Kain has tempered with the order of events," Raziel stated, as he gazed solemnly at the blade in his hands.

"Unfortunately, Raziel, I cannot help you with that," informed the vampire. He rested a comforting hand on Raziel's shoulder.

"One question that has been plaguing me is that of the Hilden. Who are they?" the reaver of souls inquired.

"Ah, the Hilden. They are a terrible race of beings," Janos explained. "One thousand years ago, the vampires of my species and the Hilden were at war with each other. No one knew for sure how the Hilden came into our world, but we knew that they were a race of demonic beings. Their intentions were to take control of Nosgoth and enslave the human race. At that time, the vampire race was well secluded and unknown to humans. We were they overseers and protectors of Nosgoth, sworn to ensure Nosgoth's prosperity.

"Then the Hilden appeared, and in vast numbers. Immediately, they began ravaging the human civilizations, reaping towns and villages for slaves. Humans for the most part were helpless to stop them. What few resistance groups were formed had been crushed by the Hilden with little effort.

"The vampire race, since the beginnings of time, were sworn not to interfere with human activity, but with the Hilden's atrocities, we were left with no choice but to reveal ourselves to save our fellow inhabitants of Nosgoth. We fought the Hilden in many battles. Humans and vampires fought side by side, both species suffering heavy casualties at the hands of the Hilden. The land of Nosgoth itself was also suffering because of the Hilden. It seemed there would be no end to the war, until we were blessed with a stroke of luck.

"The commander of the vampire army and the best lieutenant of the human army had gone into one of the bloodiest battles against the Hilden. When they returned, they had with them a Hilden prisoner, one of the Hilden elite. The elite did not cooperate well, but we were able to learn from him that the Hilden race were in fact from a realm of demons. They had broken through the boundary between our worlds, and we became determined to send them back.

"The vampires devised a plan to free Nosgoth of the Hilden. We began building the pillars of Nosgoth deep within the safety of vampire and human territory. To each pillar, a vampire guardian was designated. Humans were not initially chosen, as their life spans were much shorter than a vampire's. The pillars would be used to repel all demons from Nosgoth and purify all evil when activated. But a key was needed to activate and deactivate the pillars; thus the forging of the reaver…"

"Couldn't the pillars have been left active?" Jenise interrupted.

"Unfortunately no," Janos patiently replied, slowly shaking his head from side to side for emphasis. "In order to activate the pillars, each of the guardians was needed to be present, channeling their energy into their respective pillars. The activation of the pillars requires a great deal of energy. The guardians would run out of energy after a short amount of time, and if left active, the pillars would absorb all the life energy from their guardians. If that were to happen, then a tear between our world and the demon world would form permanently, and all hopes of freeing ourselves from the Hilden would be lost."

"I see," replied Jenise, slightly disappointed, but understanding.

"The construction of the pillars was almost complete, when disaster struck. The Hilden had been quiet for quite some time, and we had become slightly naïve. We became overconfident with thoughts of our success and we believed that the Hilden might have begun to give up. In reality, they were regrouping and planning a massive attack. And they took us by surprise, attacking cities well within the boundaries of our safe zone.

"The commander of the vampire army led our closest troops into battle, trying to fend of the overwhelming attack. We began to believe we were fighting a losing battle. The vampire army was failing. If they were unable to stop the Hilden, then the demons would have free reign to destroy the pillars.

"Even though the situation looked dire, the vampire commander refused to give up. He fought harder as each comrade fell. Soon, he found himself fighting face to face with the Hilden ruler. Though the ruler had never before been seen by our forces, the commander knew he could be facing no one else, for he had never laid eyes on another Hilden such as he. This one contained both the brute strength of the lowest Hilden and the intellect and mage abilities of the elites.

"The vampire commander and the Hilden ruler fought a brutal battle. However, the vampire had already suffered many injuries, and he could not win the fight. As the Hilden finished off the remainders of the commander's troops, the Hilden ruler moved in for the kill. Fortunately, reinforcements had arrived. The lieutenant of the humans had arrived with strong healthy men. The tide of the battle had turned.

"Angered, the Hilden ruler made out to swiftly kill the helpless vampire commander. Seeing this, the human lieutenant was filled with rage. You see, by this time, the lieutenant and the vampire commander had become very close."

"I don't understand. What do you mean by `close'?" Raziel inquired, slightly confused by Janos's last sentence. Jenise's bewildered expression matched that of Raziel's. Janos chuckled lightly before continuing, knowing why his audience seemed confused.

"Do not assume so much, Raziel," suggested the ancient vampire. "The human lieutenant was a woman." Raziel and Jenise both shared a brief moment of surprise, before accepting the tidbit of clarified information.

"The human leader attacked the Hilden while he was distracted with his murderous attempt. She had dealt a lethal blow to the Hilden, momentarily incapacitating him. She took the valuable moments to assess the vampire commander's wounds. Before the Hilden ruler could retaliate, she retreated with the prone vampire on horseback, as the humans and vampires forced the Hilden to retreat.

"The lieutenant returned to our sanctuary with her beloved so that he could heal. It was during this time that their forbidden romance had been discovered. Under normal circumstances, vampires were not to mingle with humans. To be romantically involved with a human was blasphemous. However, given the situation with the Hilden, all had been overseen for the most part. The lieutenant's brave efforts to save the vampire commander had won over the vampire population. Within a few days, the vampire commander had recovered.

"The pillars had been completed, and guardians were assigned to each pillar. The key had been forged, and the Soul Reaver had been given to the vampire commander to protect. As an afterthought, a shield was crafted, designed to protect the bearer of the Reaver and the guardians of the pillars. For her bravery in battle, her dedication to the vampires, and her willingness to sacrifice herself for others, the shield was given to the female human lieutenant. That same shield is the one in your very possession, Jenise," Janos enlightened his awestruck guests.