Soulstorm (Part 1)
Giovanni Dania
I did not know where I was or how long I had been unconscious, as I stood. My inhuman senses immediately flooded my mind with dense, impossible perceptions: lights that generated no heat, sounds like demonic brass choirs, the heady smell of carbon fuels, a chilling breeze that inundated my skinless, cursed form. This was not the Citadel, not the one I remembered. It was much darker, grittier, as if centuries had passed in the mere moments it had taken to cross the Chronoplast’s membrane. The words of the Time Guardian echoed dully in my memory.
Time-spanned soul, he had called me. Indeed.
What manner of architecture was this, I wondered, and these carriages that moved seemingly of their own volition? And these people? What manner of dress wore they? I began to suspect that I was no longer in Nosgoth, though why Kain’s fate should mean anything to other worlds was beyond my present comprehension. I wisely decided to climb one of these queer buildings, and attempt to gather my thoughts on its roof.
It was at this point that I noticed how weak I was. My Reaver was barely perceptible, faint as I, starved as I. And now I was certain that I was not in Nosgoth, for even before I had left my own time, surely Nosgoth’s blackest days, I had not felt such a drought of souls that I sensed here. For, even as my world had been dying, it had possessed life, of a sort.
I looked down at a human pointing a strange weapon at another, demanding something of him. The fear I sensed in the victim put me at some ease, for the survival impulse surely was a sign of life, even here. Presently, the would-be thief crumpled, a bloodied object of jet-black steel falling beside his suddenly prone figure. I heard a swooping noise like leather in the wind, and saw two other mortals, even more queerly dressed than the others I had thus far seen, land aside the criminal. I watched with growing interest.
"Cuff him, Robin," said the larger of the pair, his voice rough and primal. He urged the victim to leave, giving him what I supposed was his coin purse, while the younger, smaller one manacled the assailant. Their silent efficiency unnerved me, though why I could not at the moment guess. As they were ready to depart, however, the large human (dressed, curiously, as a bat) jerked his head up suddenly. In my direction.
"What is it, Batman?" asked Robin (for I believe I’d heard the name correctly). I felt the big mortal, the Bat-man, peering at me, trying to find me in the dark corner I had chosen for shelter. What fortune that my Reaver was so faint, for it certainly would have betrayed my presence. The Bat-man appeared to have shuddered, then, and said simply, "Nothing. Let’s go!"
As they flew away, – on cables (and I could not help but laugh inwardly at this, until I recalled my own tattered wings), a voice like a plague bubbled behind me. I was never to rid my heart completely of the dark hatred and dread that filled me every time I heard that voice.
Kain said, "And what do you make of these mortals, who would masquerade themselves as the very things they supposedly loathe?"
I turned abruptly, Reaver blazing at the ready, and hissed questions of my own in reply. "It matters not to me where you die, fiend, but why have we come here? What further trickery do you have up your sleeve?"
He chuckled softly, and turned to face the avenue below. "Some of the things I had foreseen I could not believe," he said softly, more to himself than to me. "I simply had to come here. But come, Raziel." And he faced me anew. "Have you spoken to Moebius?"
"That tired, babbling fool? You two are quite a pair. Tell me, Kain, is sense the price for seeing into the future?"
Kain sighed heavily. "I have grown accustomed to your petty insolence, but I have grown weary of it as well. And we simply haven’t the time for it. There is too much at stake, Raziel!"
Despite the hate, this burning thirst for revenge, my curiosity overcame me. The desperation in his voice was unmistakable. Although it could have been a ruse, I lowered my wraith blade. "This had better not be some new scheme, Kain; you only delay the inevitable. Now, talk."
But Kain shook his head. "There will be another time for that. Perhaps. You haven’t yet met Janos Audron, have you? Moebius has changed everything, but it is too late for him and his... God. This detour of history will not serve him in any way. You have seen to it."
"I? How?"
"By simply existing, Raziel. In creating you in your new form to destroy me, the Elder God has condemned himself to an eternity of hunger. The irony is almost too delicious. And in their panic, they toyed too much with the time stream, creating holes that have joined worlds. I am here to fix something that should never have been. They sent you, thinking you to be their willing little pawn. Unfortunately for them, they do not know on which of me they have set you."
"What do you mean, Kain?"
"You see, Raziel," he said, turning, "you will not kill me. I know far more of the past, present and future of all the worlds than Moebius could ever possibly have guessed." Then, incredibly, wings unfolded underneath Kain’s armor, and he readied himself to leap. "They have set you on a Kain from the future, a Kain who has survived their little hunt, a Kain who has evolved, as you once had. Now, I must be about my own quest. Remain here, on the rooftops, and tomorrow night we shall speak some more."
I watched Kain fly off into the horizon of this hellish city, more confused than ever I had been since the Elder God resurrected me. Shall everyone I know leave me with few answers and more questions? How I had managed to lose Kain’s trail so monumentally was one such question. In how many other ways had I erred, and how grave would the repercussions be? Moebius kept me from speaking to Janos; surely he was the one person who could have demystified the riddles placed before me. Due to the machinations and power plays of both Moebius and Kain, however, I found myself not only in a time period in which I would not be able to speak to Janos, but in another world entirely. I would have to tread carefully here; I suspected that my presence would not be entirely welcomed by the inhabitants.
At once I decided on a course of action; I would have to find the time-streaming device, for there had to be one here. Kain left me no clues, however. Yet, somehow, I felt he would not desert me here. Perhaps his advice was not so unsound. Perhaps I should st–.
"That, to say the least, was very strange," said a recognizably rough voice. Twice I had failed to sense a presence near me in one night. What was this world doing to me?
I faced the Bat-man. "I seek no trouble with you, human."
He came out of the shadow, and made his way cautiously towards me. He stopped at about five feet away. "For a couple of days now, gruesome murders have been committed. The victims were bled dry, but there wasn’t much blood around them. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?"
I suppose I delayed overlong in responding. He continued, "No? Not exactly? I didn’t think so. What are you?" Despite his curiosity, he remained at a constant five-foot radius from me, circling me slowly, not a single motion wasted. I felt a sudden urge to laugh; I had become too accustomed to being the predator. It dawned on me that I had nothing to hide from this man, and, although he was just a mortal, this was his world. I could use a friend on this alien place, and his desire to understand also swayed me to be open with him. Perhaps he would surprise me by slaking my own curiosity.
"I am Raziel, of the land of Nosgoth. I was once human, a Sarafan warrior-priest, charged with destroying all vampires. There was one left, Kain, who was just here."
"Yes, I noticed him last night, but I don’t know where he hides... yet."
"After my brothers and I died, Kain resurrected us, turning us, too, into vampires. You see the irony. We became his lieutenants in a new order. Nosgoth was ours."
I continued in this vein for what seemed hours. From my blasphemous evolution, my condemnation and execution at the Abyss, the murders of my brothers at my hands. I recounted my first encounter with Moebius the Time Guardian, when he led me to the physical Soul Reaver, the twin of my symbiotic spirit sword. My conversation with Vorador, the most vicious vampire in history, after I had activated the elemental Dark Forge. All of this he listened to, without interruption, without seeking clarification of one salient fact or another.
"Then, I returned to the Sarafan temple, and demanded that Moebius transport me to a time when I could speak with Janos Audron. But he sent me here instead, presumably because Kain was here."
The Bat-man nodded sagely. "I have to admit, I’ve never heard anything so strange as what you’ve told me. So this Moebius tricked you into coming here, to Gotham?"
"Is that the name of this world? Gotham?" At last, I was gaining new knowledge.
He laughed, a queerly bitter sound. "Oh, no, Gotham is a city. My city. Anyway, I’m not sure that Moebius knowingly brought you here. From what you’ve just told me, and what I overheard Kain telling you earlier, Kain purposely came here, and Moebius had no idea."
I mulled silently over that. Then he spoke again.
"My suggestion for you is to follow Kain’s advice, and wait for him to come back tomorrow night. I have a feeling he’s playing straight, and will help you get back to Nosgoth. I mean, whatever he’s doing here, he’ll eventually have to go back, too. But you can’t very well stay up here all day. Look for shelter. Don’t bring attention to yourself, and definitely no killing. Maybe it was something you had to do in Nosgoth, but the majority of people here are less inclined towards force and violence. Those who are, though, and there are a few, I deal with." This last with what seemed to be a smile.
He readied himself to leave as he had previously, and I asked one more question of him. "Where shall I go?"
The Bat-man sighed, then responded, "Under the Cathedral is a series of tunnels. No one goes down there. You should be okay for a day down there. You don’t eat, right?"
"Not food, no," I agreed, "but I need souls, spiritual energy...."
"Right. Not sure how much of that you’ll find in the Gotham Cathedral," he said wryly, "but... take what you need without killing anyone, ok? It’s just about three blocks due east of here."
And he was gone, leaving me, yet again, with so many unanswered questions.
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Created 02/12/02 / Last modified 08/02/02 by
Giovanni Dania
Copyright © 2002 by
Oh My God I'm Bleeding Ventures
Legacy of Kain and all associated characters and locales copyright Eidos Interactive. Batman and all related characters and locales copyright DC Comics.