Back

Chapter Eleven: The Hylden City
"The Living End"

Kain departs from the ship and begins to approach the Hylden City.  Before him we see a flash of magic, and the Sarafan Lord steps forth.  (He is no longer wearing his helm, and his face is now fully visible.)  Kain steps closer.

KAIN
The charlatan emperor rears his head.

SARAFAN LORD
You are far from home, dark one.

KAIN
Spare your speeches, demon.  Your secrets are known to me now.  Your plans crumble like dust, brought down by my will.

SARAFAN LORD
You have struggled longer than expected. But nothing has changed.  You see before you your death.

KAIN
Know you not that your vaunted Device is destroyed?  Your hope of controlling Nosgoth lies in ruins.  This world is mine!

SARAFAN LORD
You understand nothing.  You are a degenerate remnant of a cursed race, doomed to walk the night as a parasite, your life as easily snuffed out as those you feed on to survive.  My race is but a warped parody of our former beauty. We are, like you, fallen gods scratching for our former power.  But we will prevail.  We will cleanse this world of your kind, and bring about a new, glorious age.  Die, Kain.

The Sarafan Lord strikes Kain with the Soul Reaver.  The blade is deflected by a magic shield, created by the Nexus Stone.  The Sarafan Lord draws back, surprised.

SARAFAN LORD
The Nexus Stone!
 
KAIN
(laughs)
Fitting, isn’t it?  The very item you used to defeat me, now turned against you.  You are finished.

SARAFAN LORD
It matters not.  The Gate remains open, and even as we speak, my army, the likes of which this soft world has never seen, prepares to enter.  Nosgoth is still mine for the taking.

Two Hylden converse beside a cell that houses a trapped greater demon. 

FIRST HYLDEN
Have you permission to torment that beast?

SECOND HYLDEN
I need no permission to hate it.

FIRST HYLDEN
Hate, cousin?  Why?

SECOND HYLDEN
I hate every living being from that place!  I await the moment when all of it is destroyed.

FIRST HYLDEN
Ah, as do we all.  And the creatures here, do you hate them as well?

SECOND HYLDEN
I hate them as well.

FIRST HYLDEN
And soon they will all die, and we will have our destined revenge.

SECOND HYLDEN
Yes, our destined revenge.

“Kain” comes upon two humans who are conspiring together.

MALE HUMAN
It’s not that simple.

FEMALE HUMAN
Why not?  If we stay here, we will die.  That’s certain.

MALE HUMAN
And where will we go?

FEMALE HUMAN
We could slip aboard one of those vessels.  They bring people every time.  They must come from where there are others of our kind.

MALE HUMAN
What if we’re caught?

FEMALE HUMAN
If we stay, we will die.  How is that different?

MALE HUMAN
What if the place the ships go to is worse?

“Kain” steps from the shadows, and approaches the pair.

MALE HUMAN
What was that?!

FEMALE HUMAN
He is the one!  He must be – look at him!  He is the one who is working against them.

MALE HUMAN
Sir, is it true?  Are you the vampire who’s been making war on the demons? 

“KAIN”
I am Kain.  Do you know this place well?

FEMALE HUMAN
We do, my lord.

“KAIN”
I must find the mechanism these creatures use to hide their presence in this city.

FEMALE HUMAN
He can show you.  Go on.

MALE HUMAN
It is there, my lord – that building.  I’ve heard them talking.  The device you seek is within.

“KAIN”
I thank you.  Now tell me, what is that?

MALE HUMAN
That is the only way to get within.  The doors to the building no longer function.

FEMALE HUMAN
Like so much of this place.

“KAIN”
And that one there?

MALE HUMAN
We don’t know.

FEMALE HUMAN
But our stories tell us, that is where the demons first appeared in our world.

“KAIN”
Stories?  How long have your kind been in this place?

FEMALE HUMAN
We have been here forever.  Our oldest fables tell us that our gods abandoned us here.

MALE HUMAN
There are others like us – new ones – soft ones.  The demons bring them here from other places to work.  They tell other stories.

FEMALE HUMAN
They had no knowledge of the arrival of the demons.  We had to tell them.

“KAIN”
Enough.  Be silent.  That building surely leads to the Gate, but first, I must destroy the device. 

“KAIN” (VO)
How long had the Hylden held a foothold here, while we, unsuspecting, fought and triumphed in our own petty wars above?

A greater demon spontaneously appears and kills the humans.  “Kain” runs away.

A Hylden menaces a human slave in a research station.

HUMAN SLAVE
It’s not possible!  I beg you!

HYLDEN SCIENTIST
When you were but hairless apes cowering in caves, we gave you all that you had.  And now, we take it back.

HUMAN SLAVE
No!
(screams)

A Hylden speaks to a Hylden warrior behind a stack of containers, in a hall where two human slaves work nearby.

HYLDEN
But we still have need of them.

HYLDEN WARRIOR
Their smell, cousin, it is unbearable.

HYLDEN
When you kill them so quickly, the work slows, and our bretheren will be longer in joining us.

HYLDEN WARRIOR
That is true.

HYLDEN
Be patient, cousin.  Soon we will have no further need to work in secret.

HYLDEN WARRIOR
And the smell will be gone forever.

The Cavalry Arrives

 

Kain is within the Hylden City and has just shut off a large Ward Generator.  He receives a Whisper from Vorador:

VORADOR
(Whispers)
Kain, the Hylden City's defenses have been broached.  Janos can no longer sense a Ward barrier.

KAIN
My doing.  I have shut down their foul magics, at least for a time.

VORADOR
Then we are ready to help you.  Janos is casting a spell that will bring us to you in moments.

KAIN
Excellent.

VORADOR
I look forward to thanking you, in person for saving Umah's life.

KAIN
…Yes, of course.

Magic swirls close to Kain, and Janos and Vorador appear.

JANOS
I will try to detect the location of the Hylden Gate.

Janos begins to meditate.

VORADOR
Where’s Umah, Kain?  I cannot sense her.

KAIN
She will not be joining us.

VORADOR
Umah is dead, is she not?  Were you too late?

KAIN
No.  She suffered the fate she deserved. She stole the Nexus Stone from me.

VORADOR
So you refused to help her? 

KAIN
I dealt with her as I deal with all traitors.  I killed her accordingly.

VORADOR
You did what?

KAIN
I did as you would have done, Vorador, to any, human or vampire, who defied your will.

VORADOR
Monster…!

KAIN
She chose her fate.  Was she acting as the dutiful lieutenant, following her superior’s orders?  I care not.  What’s done is done.

VORADOR
We were wrong ever to trust you.

KAIN
Do you so wish to  return to the grave, old friend?  You are in no position to challenge me.

JANOS
We have no time for this discord.  I sense that The Hylden Gate is nearby.  I can transport us there.

KAIN
(To Vorador)
We will settle this in good time.  Tonight, the Sarafan Lord dies.  Tomorrow, we shall see…

A blast shoots forth that cleaves through Vorador’s chest.

VORADOR
Aaagh!!

Janos whips around, eyes blazing.  He, too, is blasted to the ground.

JANOS
Aaagh!!

The Seraphan Lord is suddenly present with the Soul Reaver raised.

SARAFAN LORD
This round is mine, dark one.

The Sarafan Lord once again teleports away.  Kain turns to see Janos kneeling.

JANOS
I must tend to Vorador.  Proceed without us, Kain.  I can teleport you to a place near the Gate, but you will have to close it on your own. Use the Nexus Stone.  Cast it into the Gate, and the magic of the Stone will destroy it utterly. 

KAIN
Cast your spell then, and let us finish this.

Kain is teleported away.

A Hylden warrior speaks to another Hylden just before the door to the Gate.

HYLDEN WARRIOR
It cannot matter.  It is too late.  We are destined to win this battle.  So it is known to us all.

HYLDEN
But who, of us, knew that one of his cursed race would come this far?  This disturbs me.

HYLDEN WARRIOR
We need only be vigilant, cousin, to prevail.  He cannot kill us all.

The Seraphan Lord

Kain reaches the Gate and finds the Sarafan Lord before it.

KAIN
At last, I had hunted my prey to his very lair. The Hylden Gate was before me, from which the Hylden General, in his guise of the Sarafan Lord, planned to bring forth his alien armies, and destroy us all.

KAIN
Turn, vile demon.  Your reckoning day has come.

SARAFAN LORD
Kain.

KAIN
Did you think you could defeat me?  All your plans are revealed, together with your true nature.  Turn, and enter the Gate you have fashioned, and join your kind before I destroy it, or stay, and be destroyed upon its rubble.

SARAFAN LORD
I confess, I did not expect to find you here, at the heart of my endeavor.  You are, indeed, a more capable adversary than I had thought possible.

KAIN
You can ponder on that thought when you have made your choice – return to exile, or death.

SARAFAN LORD
Do you think the game is over?  Do you think it will end with me?  Have you not wondered why so many of your trusted henchman, time and again, bend their knees before me, accept me as their lord, and join their cause to mine?

KAIN
Cowards and traitors deserve no second thoughts,only their complete annihilation.

SARAFAN LORD
Did it not occur to you that perhaps my cause, and not yours, is the cause of right?  Of justice?  That your ambition to rule this world is but the youthful craving of a petty noble who has gained too much power, but never enough.

KAIN
Silence, demon.  Your need to corrupt is only too apparent.  But every traitor that you turned to your will from my side, even Umah, your latest spy, is dead.

SARAFAN LORD
Umah?  I have no spy called Umah.

KAIN
You lie!

Kain attacks the Sarafan Lord, who leaps back, and draws the Soul Reaver. The Seraphan Lord begins using the Reaver to fire projectiles at "Kain".

SERAPHAN LORD
You and your damned stone!
You are outmatched!
Why won’t you just die?!
That stone won’t protect you from the vortex!

"Kain" is eventually able to kick the Seraphan Lord off the raised platforms.

SARAFAN LORD
Do you still believe you can prevail?  While you posses the Nexus Stone, my sword cannot slay you.  But while you bear the stone to shield your life, you cannot use it to destroy the Gate.  Stalemate, Kain.  And mine is the waiting game.  As long as I have not lost, in time, I am sure to win.

KAIN
But I have not yet made my choice –

Kain takes the Nexus Stone, and hurtles it into the Gate.  The Gate proceeds, ever so slowly, to implode.

SARAFAN LORD
No – No – No –

He now attacks "Kain" with the Soul Reaver at close range.

SERAPHAN LORD
As long as I wield the Reaver, I am immortal!
I have mastered the Reaver.  I am your doom.
I will rend your soul!
I cherish the irony of killing you with your own sword.
Kneel before my might!

“Kain” blocks the Seraphan Lord’s attacks and casts immolate on him.

SERAPHAN LORD
My insides boil!
My powers evaporate!

The battle sends the Reaver sprawling.  All at once, Janos Audron teleports into the fray.  The Sarafan Lord turns on him.

SARAFAN LORD
You!

JANOS
Yes.  Your prisoner, from whose blood you built your evil plans.

SARAFAN LORD
What could be more righteous than to take our revenge and your freedom from the same source?  Tortured eons of suffering are too good for you, Vampire.

JANOS
But not for you, Hylden, who has dared to set a corrupting foot upon this world after your banishment!  Return to the demon dimension in which you belong!

SARAFAN LORD
And by what right, cursed one, did you send my kind to that place of evil?

JANOS
By what right did you lay on us the curse that drove us from the light, and made us predators of human kind?

SARAFAN LORD
It was justice for our banishment from the world. You see what it has made of our fair race.

JANOS
I see you have taken your true form at last.

The Sarafan Lord attacks Janos.  Janos closes and grapples with him.

JANOS
(Fighting grunts)

SARAFAN LORD
Then go – and see what it makes of you!

JANOS
Kain!  The sword –

Kain picks up the sword.  The Sarafan Lord picks up Janos bodily.

SARAFAN LORD
I sentence you to the hell of your own making. A prisoner – for all time!

The Sarafan Lord casts Janos into the Gate.

JANOS
Nooooo!  Kain….!

He is gone.  The Hylden Gate implodes further.  The Sarafan Lord turns on Kain.

SARAFAN LORD
And now, it is your turn.

The battle resumes.

SERAPHAN LORD
Face me, coward!
That sword will not save you.

The Hylden Gate implodes further.  The Sarafan Lord lies dying.  Kain leans on his sword.

SARAFAN LORD
You have won the battle….but the war….between your kind and mine…will never end.  Our banishment…in the demon dimension…also ensures our immortality….one day…we will shall return….

KAIN
Should your kind breach that place of banishment again, I will be waiting.

SARAFAN LORD
(Laughs painfully)
…you will not live that long…

KAIN
I have lived long enough to dispose of you.

Kain despatches him with the Soul Reaver, as the Hylden Gate is destroyed in a final implosion, and all the Hylden die.  Kain stands alone in the wreckage, holding the Sword.

KAIN
Umah…  What was it she said to me in that fatal moment when she took from me the Nexus Stone. How would my rule differ from that of the Sarafan Lord?  If you had lived Umah, you would have learned the difference. You should have trusted me.

The Glyph magic dies, the Hylden perish, and the Gate collapses into itself and disappears.

KAIN
The war was over.  And yet there was another still to be fought.  The cruel masters of Nosgoth, the Sarafan, now leaderless, still had to be put down.  There were cities to be rebuilt, and order be restored.  And a new rule, my rule, would then begin.  To the victor go the spoils.  At last, Nosgoth would be mine.